Free

Free Market and Market Character Essay The main difficulty in tackling this question is squaring moral means with moral ends, (Wilkinson, 2008). Moral character, or virtue, is a means to achieving moral ends. As the socioeconomic structure changes so do the means of achieving moral ends. Free markets flourishes along fast socioeconomic change, and therefore market cultures are most likely to see a mismatch between the traits of moral character valued by the culture and the traits of character actually effective as means within the existing structure for achieving moral ends. Due to the indifference of each individual, perspectives vary according to the superannuated standards of our lagging moral culture while the system simultaneously delivers moral goods more effectively than at any time in human history. So, the correct answer to the question is: Yes, market societies corrode traditional moral norms, although this corrosion is an integral part of moral progress. John gray in his view of the effect of free market on market character suggests comparison of realistic alternatives and understanding how different systems promote divergent types of human character. His definition of a free market sidelines the view that free markets emerge spontaneously when state interference in the economy is removed, or simply free markets the ‘absence of government’. Instead markets in his view depend on systems of law to decide what can be traded as a commodity and what cannot. Therefore, free markets not only contain some moral restraints which are policed by the government, but also rely on property rights mostly created and enforced by the government. The free market as in the past mid-Victorian England came about not because the state withdrew from the economy, but rather because state power was used to privatize land that had been under various forms of common ownership, or not owned at all. Historically, it is evident that economic systems are living things, and rarely do free markets operate according to the established economic models; except in economics textbooks where markets are self-regulating. On the contrary, the relation between economics and ethics can be seen more clearly in the light that traits of character most rewarded by free markets are entrepreneurial boldness, the willingness to speculate and gamble, and the ability to seize new opportunities. In order to survive and prosper in free market economies one has to embrace such skills and risk-taking actions as retooling one’s skills, relocating and switching careers. According to Adam Smith, one of the originators of free-market economics, markets cannot be confined to the marketplace because free markets demand a high degree of mobility and an ingrained readiness to exit from relationships that are no longer profitable; a direct reflection of the humanity in our lives. Adam’s fear and Gray’s perception matter the least when it has been proved that though free markets reward some moral traits, they also undermine others. The moral hazards of free markets do not mean that other economic systems are any better. Therefore, no economic system can fully attend to every aspect of moral character; instead all rely on motives that are morally questionable. A sensible combination cannot be achieved by applying an ideal model of how the economy should work. Different mixes will be best in different historical contexts. But one thing is clear: a modern market economy cannot do without a measure of moral corrosion. Tyler (2008) is of the opinion that free markets operate like amplifiers; the abundance placed in our disposal tends to boost and accentuate whatever character tendencies we already possess. He believes that other features of the free market also encourage the better angels of our nature and discourage our destructive impulses; thus allowing people to realize a range of good intentions. Market-friendly societies are attractive to immigrants. Transparency International annually issues an index of the most corrupt places in the world to do business. The countries topping last year’s list were Iraq, Myanmar, and Somalia, while the least corrupt countries were Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand, all of which have active market economies. In relation to such a report, it is obvious that the rise of markets and the decline of corruption are part of a common and consistent thread of progress. Markets purpose to create a consensus around certain moral expectations: that agreements should be binding, that honesty is expected in transactions, and that economic actors are held accountable for broken promises. However not all markets are ‘free’ because ‘corrupt’ markets do not meet the above standards, as a similarly in a variety of other human imperfections. By making more social activity of every kind possible, the market creates greater scope for these vices. As observers of economic life, many of us focus too often on these sorts of negative examples. But we need to take a wider view of human progress. In the midst of our own long era of economic growth and expansion, it is obvious that the positive features of markets decisively outweigh their negative features. This is true not only because of the practical and material benefits of wealth creation but because of its beneficial effect on personal morality as well. Irrespective of the side taken by each market analyst, a common ground runs through in the aspects of moral and social issues. In his judgment, Globalization, leads not only to the creation and spread of wealth but to ethical outcomes and to better moral character among its participants. In contrast Hymowitz believes that market economies weaken the cultural conspiracy in three powerful ways. First, they introduce novelty, which tests established cultural habits and moral verities. Second, they provoke individual desire in ways that can easily weaken the self-discipline and moral obligations that make free markets flourish. And lastly, as they advance, market economies become more likely to treat the yet-to-be-socialized child as an autonomous, adult-like actor rather than as an undeveloped dependent. On the hand, subscribes to the liberal school of thought as pioneered by Adam Smith or Milton Friedman. According to this school of thought, freedom of the individual is the highest aim, and the ultimate test of a ones character is his ability to pursue his own chosen goals in life without infringing upon the freedom of others pursuit of their own goals. From this perspective, free economic activity among individuals, corporations, and nations boosts such desirable qualities as trust, honesty, and hard work. Other panelists on the same big question, has each faithfully attested to his or her view but at one point came to the conclusion that the answer to this question depends on how one conceives the good life; prescribing that at all times we should ensure to take a wider view of human progress. ? References Jagdish, Bhagwati. Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character? London. 2008 December 3, 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. templeton. org/market/PDF/Cowen. pdf Tyler, Cowen. Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character? London. 2008 December 3, 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. templeton. org/market/PDF/ Bhagwati. pdf Will, Wilkinson. Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character, London. 2008 October 6, 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. willwilkinson. net/flybottle/2008/10/06/does-the-free- market-corrode-moral-character/ John, Templeton Foundation. â€Å"Supporting Science-Investing in the Big Questions: An interview with leading scientists, scholars, and public figures,† Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character. 3 December 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. templeton. org/market/ Lockwood, Anne Turnbaugh. Community Collaboration and Social Capital: An Interview with Gary G. Wehlage. Leaders for Tomorrows Schools. 2 May 2001. 19 July 2001 http://www. ncrel. org/cscd/pubs/lead21/2-1m. htm.

Why Did The Soviet Union Not Invade Poland History Essay

Why Did The Soviet Union Not Invade Poland History Essay This essay will primarily analyse the factors that prevented the Soviet Union from intervening in Poland in 1981, when faced with political opposition by the Solidarity movement. There are four main reasons as to why the USSR decided against the invasion of Poland: StanisÅ‚aw Kanias involvement in the decision making process, the USAs pressure on the Soviet government, domestic factors affecting the Soviet Union and Wojciech Jaruzelskis successes in crushing the opposition. When combined, these factors worked as obstacles to the Soviet Unions decision to invade Poland. The Polish crisis officially burst onto the scene in August 1980. Under the leadership of Lech Walesa, some 10 million poles joined the solidarity movement which immediately set off alarm bells for the communist government in charge. Solidarity was an umbrella organisation which consisted of political and social organisations that wanted a change in the state of affairs in Poland. Solidarity aimed to hold the regime to its communistic promises of government by the people and less work for more pay. Furthermore it demanded free elections and called for a referendum on the replacement of the communist government. Solidarity was so influential that it was allowed to register as a political organisation which encroached on the monopoly of power that the communist government had normally enjoyed. The sheer numbers in Solidaritys ranks and position of relative power it held as a political opposition group caused panic in the Moscow Kremlin. The Soviet military reserves were called up and w arships were sent to ports in Poland. Furthermore a special commission was set up by the Kremlin headed by Mikhail Susolov to investigate the roots of the crisis as well as a remedy to tame the uprising. This background to the Polish crisis gives a solid foundation upon which analysis can take place as to why the invasion of Poland did not take place. StanisÅ‚aw Kania played a crucial role in delaying the intervention till a time when the Polish government had proved itself incapable of handling the political opposition. In the early days of 1981 the Soviet Union had drawn up plans for military intervention in Poland. Soviet, East German and Czechoslovak troops would enter Poland, with 18 divisions remaining in close proximity to the city. The short but effective campaign was set to crush the solidarity movement and restore the communist governments supremacy in Poland. This campaign would have no doubt been complete humiliation for the Polish regime and its leaders, who would be viewed by the rest of the world and, Warsaw pact member alike, as a government incapable of controlling its own people. Furthermore this intervention would have left the Polish government with few supporters and a huge loss of faith from the general population. Kania, being a member of the ruling class in Poland, was determined not to let this h appen and thus played a vital role in delaying the Soviet intervention. On December the 5th during the Moscow summit Kania addressed Brezhnev and fellow Warsaw pact leaders of the critical condition of administrative affairs in his country. He acknowledged the threat that Solidarity posed to communist power in Poland however he emphasized that intervention was not the answer. He stated, If there were to be an intervention there would no doubt be a national uprisingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ which would leave socialist ideas swimming in blood. His open and truthful manner of addressing his countries problems gained the confidence of Leonid Brezhnev. At the end of the summit Brezhnev concluded that the intervention would be postponed in order to give Polish officials a chance to regain the confidence of the public and tame the political opposition. Hence Kanias influence proved a crucial obstacle to the Soviet intervention of Poland in 1981. The USA used its influence as the other global hegemony to great effect in deterring the Soviet Union from invading Poland. The USAs constant threats to the Soviet Union, under the Carter administration, leading up to 1980 are often seen as rather inadequate. Upon hearing that the Soviet Union planned to intervene in Poland, Jimmy Carter put out a press release stating that non intervention of Poland would have clear benefits for the USSR and US- Soviet relations. The Carter administration also had an informant within the Polish borders, who updated them on all Soviet military advancements. When informed of the Warsaw Pacts build up of troops around the Polish border, Carter promptly disclosed the information to the press and the Solidarity movement, thus denying the invaders the element of surprise. Although these threats and actions did have some effect on the Soviet decision making process, they were more useful as a foundation upon which the Reagan administration were able to bui ld their own intimidating tactics. Upon its inauguration into office the Regan administration stated that Soviet intervention in Poland would have dire consequences on US- Soviet relations and strongly advised them to stay out of Polish affairs. Furthermore Reagan emphasised that if Polish forces were to intervene in Poland it would be a, Polish matter in which the US would stay out. Rather than just target threats at the Soviet Union, the USA also provided economic incentive to make the Polish crisis a solely Polish affair. Regan ordered the rescheduling of Polands enormous debt to its creditors in order to enable a relatively peaceful political solution, as opposed to a violent military one. This debt postponement meant that the Polish regime could not focus more resources towards crushing the political uprising thus giving Soviet officials a major reason to leave the Polish crisis to Polish officials. Reagans tactics worked in intimidating the Soviet Union; the Soviet Union would ultimately factor in US relations as a big reason to stay out of Poland. The state of domestic affairs and the importance of public opinion are quite naturally seen as the biggest reasons for the Soviet decision to not intervene in Poland. In the 1980s Soviet leaders had a new found sensitivity towards public opinion. In order to continue the spread of communism, especially in the third world, the Soviet Union needed to portray itself as a progressive nation with the peoples best interest at heart. The Polish crisis had cropped up at a time when the USSR was engaged in a failing war in Afghanistan, with a faltering economy based on deteriorating terms of trade and the dà ©tente having all but ended. Yuri Andropov addressed the politburo on the 10th of December stating that it was an enormous risk to go into Poland that would most likely end in catastrophe. He stated that the USSRs priorities had changed since the 1950s and that they no longer needed Poland to maintain their influence. In addition he addressed the economic and political sanctions that the West would surely impose upon them which would prove an even greater strain on the already waning Soviet economy. On the other hand public opinion was of great importance to both the USA and the USSR and whichever side was deemed to be winning the battle would no doubt be in a better position to influence world affairs. Andropov addressed this point as well by clearly stating, that an invasion in Poland was out of the question because, World public opinion will condemn us [USSR]. These claims by Andropov were well found because the USSR was at a crossroads where they needed to focus on their own countries interests above all others. Ultimately the communist regime being replaced by Solidarity would have only proved a small obstacle for the USSR. The USSRs position of power and influence would have been enough to prevent the downfall of communism in Poland to be mirrored in the rest of the empire. In bordering East Germany and Czechoslovakia the polish crisis was received with relat ively neutral opinions. Their firmly rooted conservative regimes did not fear their respective populations to follow suit. This was mainly due to the fact that the populations of the two countries looked down on Poland for their massive debt and economic backwardness. If a large scale war were to have broken out between communism and capitalism, the USSR would have had no trouble in marching through Poland and reclaiming it and thus the leaders of the politburo concluded that there would be no immediate intervention in Poland. In making this decision Brezhnev remarked, Okay we wont go in, although if severe problems occur we would. Hence in this way the Soviet Union proved to be more concerned with long term western pressure and world public opinion than short term loss of a Warsaw pact member. Jaruzelskis success in imposing martial law is, in my opinion, the most crucial reason as to why the Soviet Union did not invade Poland in 1981. In the final weeks of 1981 it seemed as though the Soviet Unions decision not to invade Poland rested solely on the success of martial law in Poland. In the early days of December Jaruzelski held a conference directed towards Solidarity and other opposition groups where he said, If Polish forces do not manage to break resistance by Solidarity they [the public] could expect other countries to introduce armed forces in Poland. On December the 12th, the night prior to the proclamation of martial law, Warsaw Pact forces in neighbouring countries were put on alert in the case of a large scale public uprising that the Polish authorities would be unable to manage. The imposition of martial law on December 13th 1981 caught Solidarity and other opposition groups off guard. All political organisations, such as solidarity, were banned, a curfew was put in place and all telephone and postal mail were subject to censorship. The initial resistance to martial law proved to be weak and no match to Jaruzelskis military patrols that roamed the streets. Over 90 people were killed in the initial uprising which showed that Jaruzelski was liable to resort to extreme brutality in order to ensure that the nation was once again firmly under the grip of the communist regime. Furthermore in order to further hamper the opposition, all known solidarity members were rounded up for interrogation and Lech Walesa, Solidaritys leader, amongst other opposition leaders was arrested. Jaruzelskis tactics were working in the mere weeks after martial law was imposed. Special military courts were set up which had an outstandingly high rate of conviction. Jaruzelski instilled fear within the population to the magnitude that they refused to go on strike because they were likely to lose their jobs and be detained without trial. Underground Solidarity leaders att empted to rally the population to go on strike at their places of work, in response to this water tanks and armoured cars were sent to large factories and mills to combat any opposition. An underground Solidarity leader said, It was too much to ask of workersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ without specific strategy it was unfair to ask workers to risk their jobs. The public began to fear assembling in opposition to the government because they feared the over used police brutality and were no longer certain about receiving a free and fair trial. Lack of strong and organised opposition put Soviet intervention in Poland out of the question. Brezhnev no longer saw the need to intervene in a country where the communist regime had seemed to, at least temporarily, have the public and opposition under control. In the early 1990s Jaruzelski gave an interview to justify his proclamation of martial law in Poland, where he stated that martial law was the lesser evil in the given scenario. Had he not imposed it the Warsaw pact forces would have inevitably invaded the country. Thus the success of martial law stands as the biggest reason for Soviet non-intervention of Poland in 1981. The four main reasons that stood in the way of the Soviet Union intervening in Poland, all have their respective merits. However it is in the last two reasons, internal problems in the Soviet Union and Jaruzelskis success in crushing the opposition, that stand out as the most crucial. Had Solidarity taken power in 1981, all obstacles preventing the USSR from invading Poland would have vanished and an army would have ultimately been sent into Poland. However in my opinion Jaruzelskis success in imposing martial law was the only factor that gave the Soviet Union a finality about their decision to not invade Poland and must thus stand as the main point of analysis when considering the given question.

Importance Of Career Anchors

Importance Of Career Anchors Edgar Schein, one of the founders in the field in modern organizational psychology, pointed out that, every one of us has a particular orientation towards work. As a result of which, we all approach our work with a set of priority and certain values. This concept is known as Career Anchors. It represents ones combination of perceived career competence and includes talents, motives, values and attitudes that give stability and direction to a persons career. It is regarded as the motivator or driver of that person. The Career Anchor depicts ones highest priority needs and the factors of work lives one may not be willing to give up. Many people are not really clear about their need and competencies and make an inappropriate career choice, that lead to dissatisfaction and frustration at work. Knowing their Career Anchor properly, people develop sufficient insight to make intelligent and appropriate career choices. Importance of Career Anchors Almost all organisations claim to serve the best interests of employees. In practice, they manage their workers careers with the best interest of the organization, not the employees. Very often, people tend to select a wrong career and find it incompatible at workplaces with their true values, resulting in feelings of unrest and discontent and lost in productivity. This necessitates becoming self-reliant, to choose and manage ones career. Career Anchors help an individual in conceptualising his own perceived career. It encompasses ones core areas of competence, motives, and career values. Very often, this perceived career anchor goes against organisational career plans and employees develop a sense of dissonance or certain incongruity about their career plans. Therefore, many organisations seek to identify perceived career anchors of their employees to develop matching career development programmes. Edgar H.Schein has identified eight such career anchors. These eight career anchor categories were discovered in longitudinal research. Subsequently, it was confirmed and corroborated in a variety of studies of different occupation, in different countries (Schein, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978): 1. Technical/Functional Competence (TF): The persons anchored in technical or functional competence are quite knowledgeable. They are primarily motivated to produce highly effective work in some particular field of specialization. Persons with such competencies prefer to take technically satisfying job such as engineering, systems analysts or it could be different functional areas of management like finance, production and marketing. Primarily, these types of people are motivated by the work content. They tend to identify and establish themselves with their expertise very strongly. The ability to succeed and get recognized in their own areas of specialty determines their self concept. People with this anchor seldom prefer generalist position. They prefer to be challenged and use their skill to meet the challenges by doing the job properly, better than the others. 2. General Managerial Competence (GM): The advancement up in the corporate ladder to take higher levels of responsibility is the key motivation for people anchored in managerial competence. Unlike technical/functional people, fundamental characterstics of these folks are, they prefer to rise to the top, want to be manager. Managerial competence anchored people need to excel in the skills in three basic areas of management i.e analytical, interpersonal, and emotional. Analytical competence is the ability to identify, analyze, and resolve problems under uncertain conditions and with incomplete information. Analytical competence helps them to identify and analyse problems and develop situations to resolve the same. They thrive on taking higher responsibility. Interpersonal competence is characterised by the ability to supervise and influence people, lead and control and motivate them towards achievement of organizational goals. They possess the ability and desire to handle a variety of interpersonal and group situations like problem-solving and tackling unfavourable situations. Emotional competence refers to the capacity to remain energized and proactive and to maintain calm without excessive anxiety or guilt at the time of high stress, emotional and interpersonal crises and at appearances of failure. They become competent and exert leadership powers to gain control over such type of situations, without much of problem. The persons anchored with man agerial competence is characterised with all three attributes. 3. Autonomy/Independence (AU): People who are anchored by this competence have a primary and overriding need to work with their own rules and procedure. They like to work under their own pace, follow their own format, take their own time, and remain independent of others to the greatest extent possible. Usually, they tend to avoid standards and are more comfortable to work alone. The autonomy-anchored person lacks in terms of loyalty and obligation to the employer organization. They would prefer to refuse promotion or transfer, if their independence is given up. They strive to be free, independent, and self-reliant. For which, these type of autonomous people seek to attain high level of education. Fixed working hours, lack of variety of work, defined work rule etc, prevent them from becoming functionally autonomous and independent for which they leave the job t and start their own consultancy and freelancing. Teachers, professors, advertising professionals, management professionals belong to this category. 4. Security/Stability (SE): Persons with a primary need of security and stability seek and prefer to choose secure and stable employment over challenging and riskier employment. Greater stability and continuity is the primary determinant factor for these types of people to lead their lives. They tend to avoid risks and uncertainty and are generally are lifers in their jobs. This career anchored people prefer to work in Government and public sector undertakings. 5. Entrepreneurial Creativity (EC): The individual driven by entrepreneurial anchor has a strong inner urge to create a new business of his own. He has all the motivation and courage to run the risk by overcoming all the obstacles. He is driven by a strong desire to get personal gain and recognition for his own accomplishment. Being anchored for creativity, such type of people prefers to take challenging work assignments. Through innovative product and process design, they create scope for their own identification. Entrepreneurial need people differ from autonomy driven people. The entrepreneurship is firmly rooted and dedicated for ownership. Creating a marketable and profitable product or service regardless of the technology and irrespective of intellectual discipline is the objective of entrepreneurial activity. Basically, it aims at making large amount of money. These types of individuals seldom work for others for long periods of time. They are much eager to be fully active to work for an enterprise of their own. They put heavy weight to ownership and for them success is characterised by wealth. 6. Service/Dedication to a Cause (SV): Service anchored people are principally motivated to dedicate their work and even if sometimes lives in the service of others. They may dedicate their service by working in a position, in which they get opportunities to serve others directly. The counsellors, physicians, therapists, nurses or other helping or supportive occupations and professions belong to this category. Service may also include providing comfort, entertainment, athletic training, extending personal or business support activities, personal or administrative assistant or any other such type of support services that represents a contribution to others. These people have a commitment for the preservation and realization of certain set of values, that they consider much important for their own lives as well as for the larger world. That causes the manifestation of dedication among them. Usually, money is not an important motivator for these types of people. They seek recognition for their work and cause along with along with financial and working support. Dedication to a charitable cause is not the only option for this anchor. A scientist having strong desire and concern for the environment may take up a job and serve the cause. 7. Pure Challenge (CH): People driven by challenge often seek difficult problems as they can tackle it. Challenges matter at the highest possible level for these type of people. They define success in terms of winning the war or getting success over the game, bidding the contract or the sale. Overcoming obstacles, being the best, ranking the first, beating the competition, reaching at the highest, surpassing previous goals and such is the mantra they follow in their life. Experiencing challenge is primary concern for these type of people than that of area of work or specific job. Most often, they seek variety in their careers as well as in their lives. In the absence or lack of challenge make them highly dissatisfied. They tend to change their jobs with getting bored in the current one and add variety in their career. 8. Lifestyle (LS): Work is not the primary vehicle of self-expression for life-style anchored people. They are basically interested in ensuring a life balanced with various interests. They consider family, friends, hobbies, recreational and leisure activities as well as study and learning and other such work related subjects much significant in their career and life. They tend to develop their self-concepts in consideration of their total life style. The way they define and perceive their life style is the major determinant factor in choosing their careers. They prefer to take jobs, careers, occupations and organizations, that allow them to put all the major sectors of their lives together into an integrated whole. Usually, career decisions do not take over their lives. Other anchors The complexity of behaviour has identified several other categories of career concerns, though none have shown up consistently as anchors. Variety, status or identity, and power have been proposed as additional anchors. For example, the prefixes such as Major, Colonel, Brigadier used before the names of military personnel implicate a specific variety of career anchor. Such identification is so visible that they get special uniforms matching their levels in the organisation. Affiliate needs and interpersonal talents to work for a cause yet another anchor predominantly found in some persons. The search for power, influence, control and job variety are examples of other career anchors which people try to achieve in their occupational roles. People are concerned much with each of these issues and most occupations fulfil these set of needs in several of those areas in different degrees in consideration of their relative importance by different people. Employees nurturing specific career anchors are required to make it explicit to the organisation in order to find a matching occupational role without much of behavioural dissonance. Knowledge of these all career anchors are essential for any organisation in order to plan career development. Management Development Programme:- Management development programme is an attempt to improve managerial effectiveness through a planned and deliberate learning process. Unlike general purpose of training management development programme aims at developing conceptual and human skills of managers and executives through organized and systematic procedures. In India, many professional institutes like Administrative staff college of India, Management Development Institute, Indian Institute of Management, Quality Management International, National Institute of Personnel Management, Indian Society of Training and Development etc, conduct different management development programmes to sensitize managers and executives to various emerging problems of the corporate world. Management Development is defined by different authors as follows At the personal level management development is the process by which you and others gain the skills and abilities to manage yourself and others (Margerison, 1991). I define management development as the management of managerial careers in an organisational context (Burgoyne, 1998). Management development has a deceptively simple sound to it. Clearly it means, developing the ability of people to manage in their own organisational environment (Sadler, 1998). Management development is the entire system of corporate activity with the espoused goal of improving the managerial stock in the context of organisational and environmental changes (Lees, 1992). Components of MDP are: 1. Selection: To identify innate potentiality or managerial abilities of executives. 2. Intellectual conditioning: To educate executives and managers on different managerial tools techniques. 3. Supervised training: To guide executives and managers on application and use of knowledge in the course of day to day activities. MDP objectives For top management MDP intends to develop better comprehension decision-making power, while for middle level it is meant to develop their intellectual capability besides awareness of managerial problems. For specialists MDP is to increase functional knowledge in specific fields and proficiency in various management techniques. One of the interesting study of management development (MD) comparing the processes of UK and Japan by Storey et al (1994), suggested a number of objectives of MDP As a device to engineer organisational change -particularly in cultural change As a tool in pursuit of quality, cost reduction and profitability To structure attitudes To contribute to the development of learning a organisation To assist with self development Characteristics of Management Development:- Continuous Process Management development is continuous process and required to look after the entire professional career of managers and executives. In India management development is considered as a sporadic activity, resulting in failure to meet the organisational requirements. In Japan, UK, management development is a systematic and continuous activity of any organisation. Knowledge updating activity The need of management development is imperative and appreciated in filling up gap between actual and potential performance. Management development provides scope for continuous improvement in all functional areas. It bridges the gap by enriching the functional capacity of executives and managers by continuously updating their knowledge and skill. A vehicle for attitudinal activity- Human behaviour is dynamic and complex. Management development programmes attempt to understand the behavioural and attitudinal aspects of human behaviour through simulating sessions, ensure better interpersonal skill as an important prerequisite for managerial success. Stimulant to higher competence- Managers and executives are stimulated to bear the intricacies of managerial stress and strain through different management development programmes in order to exert their potential for the benefit of the organisation. Management development programme must be designed considering issues like employees motivation, habits, age mix, pattern of conflict and chaos. and this can enable elevation of managerial functions of the executives during the post training phase. Deficiency improver- Management development programmes are catered to the individual requirements to improve functional as well as personal deficiencies of the individual managers, thereby enabling the organisation to derive immediate benefit from such programmes. A self -development process- Management development facilitates self development of managers, as they learn many things through action learning methods, sharing the experience of each other in a simulated classroom atmosphere. Steps of Management Development Programme To look at the Organizations objective. To ascertain the development needs To appraise the present performance of managerial staff. To propose manpower Inventory. To plan establish trainings development Programme. To evaluate different programmes Benefits of management development There are different benefits the MDP seek for different stakeholders like individual employee, managers and organisation itself. Benefits for individual employee include- An increased ability to develop individual performance A reduction in stress about un-tackled gaps in personal performance requirements An increased chance of holding on to a desired present job An increased chance of developing potential for other job A clearer process for establishing personal aspirations A clearer process for establishing commitment of my manager and the organisation to my development Benefits for the manager of the individual include- A reduction in performance problems An increased use of additional opportunities for effective work in the unit A reduction in the belief that my manager does not believe in development More individuals capable of dealing with new or difficult tasks or complete jobs Benefits for the organisational unit include- Increased ability to meet current and organisational needs Increased effectiveness for the unit, through improved performance Increased likelihood that development for individual is based on organisational need Improved motivations for individuals leading to greater commitment to the organisations Increased provision of continuous learning rather than one off-training METHODS OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT The two categories of development methods are on-the-job development, and off-the-job development. Some of the widely used on-the-job development methods are, coaching, job rotation, under study assignments and multiple management. Off-the-job development methods include simulation exercises, sensitivity training, transactional analysis, conferences and lecturers. To ensure the success of the management development programs, they have to be evaluated from time to time. Dilemmas in Management Development Firstly, most of the times management development programme gives more attention to formally designed structured learning than that of informal and accidental learning. That dilemma needs to be reconciled. Management development programme has to embrace both informal and accidental learning opportunities as well as formally created one. A HR director may desire management development programmes, systems and policy primarily to take care of the organisation requirements than that of individual need like easier job mobility, which needs reconciliation to a great extent by sharing views and finding common ground. Secondly, very often management development seems to be looking back even at yesterdays need rather than todays. Somehow management development agenda needs to take balance view of yesterdays need with that of tomorrows. The short-term / long-term dilemma was one identified by Taylor, in 1994 requiring managers to learn to operate across a range of skills at a same time. At the end management development programme always act on a large number of mangers. With the large group there will be a significant difference of need in respect to different functional groups and job requirements which needs to be taken care of. Again management development programme very often ignores relevance of individual difference. Hence an organisation must balance and reconcile all the management dilemmas and take a contingent approach in order to be effective. ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OD is a strategy or an effort, which is planned and managed from the top, to bring about planned organisational changes in order to enhance the effectiveness of organization as well as bring individual well-being through planned interventions based on social philosophy. The Core Characterstics of OD are Planned intervention for comprehensive long term organisation change: It involves identification of the problem, diagnoses the organisation and a planned intervention in the existing organisation that helps to become more viable. Therefore examines present working norms, values and possible areas of conflict of the organisation and develops alternatives for better health. The interventionist needs to diagnose different sub-system of the organisation and develops alternatives in the area of planning, decision making processes, goal setting, team development, organisation structure, culture, value and upgrading employees skill and abilities as well. OD takes months or years to implement. Humanistic Values: It involves Positive beliefs about the potential of employees (McGregors Theory Y). Therefore, focuses primarily on the human and social side of the organization making the organisation employee friendly and adapts business to employee (B2E) approach of management. Managed from the top. To be effective, OD must have the support of top-management. Top management has to model it, not just espouse it. The OD process also needs the buy-in and ownership of workers throughout the organization. Systems Orientation: All parts of the organization including structure, technology, and people, must work together in order to make the OD effective. It views organizations as complex social systems. Experiential Learning: The learners experiences in the training environment should be the kind of human problems they encounter at work. It should not be all theory and lecture. Problem Solving: The approach of OD is the process of identifying the organisations specific problems, gathering and analysing organisational data and taking corrective action are is taken, progress is assessed, and needed adjustments are made to resolve problems. This process is known as Action Research. Contingency Orientation: OD recognises that each organisation is different from all other and problem solving processes vary across organisation. Therefore, actions are selected and adapted to fit to the need and priorities of the organisation. Change Agent: The services of an outside expert are generally retained to implement the OD process. Active intervention of change agent stimulates, facilitate, and coordinate change. Levels of Interventions: Problems can occur at one or more level in the organization so the strategy will require one or more interventions. Collaborative approach: OD uses a collaborative approach and involves all those affected by the change in the change process unlike the traditional management structure in which orders are issued at upper levels and simply carried out by lower levels. NEED OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Human resources People of an organisation certainly make the difference between organizational success and failure. Therefore, how to manage them better is crucial for any organisation. Changing nature of the workplace Modern day workers want feedback on their performance, a sense of accomplishment, feelings of value and worth, and commitment to social responsibility. They need to be more efficient, to improve their time management and of course, to continue doing more work with less people, the processes need to be more efficient. Global markets Our environments are changing, and our organizations must also change to survive and prosper. We need to be more responsible to and develop closer partnerships with our customers. In order to survive and grow, the organisations need to attack the problems, not the symptoms, in a systematic, planned, humane manner. Accelerated rate of change Taking an open-systems approach, the organisations can easily identify the competitions on an international scale for people, capital, physical resources, and information. GOALS OF ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT Organization Development (OD) is the systematic application of behavioural science knowledge at various levels, such as group, inter-group, organization, etc., to bring about planned change. Its objectives are a higher quality of work-life, productivity, adaptability, and effectiveness. It accomplishes this by changing attitudes, behaviours, values, strategies, procedures, and structures so that the organization can adapt to competitive actions, technological advances, and the fast pace of change within the environment (Cunningham, 1990). The important goals of OD are as follows: To develop or enhance the organizations mission statement or vision statement To help in aligning functional structures in an organization for a common purpose To create a strategic plan for the organization is going to meet its future To put in place processes that will help improve the ongoing operations of the organization on a continuous basis To assist in the development of policies and procedures that will improve the ongoing operation of the organization To assess the working environment, to identify strengths on which to build and areas in which change and improvement are needed To emphasise the need for changing from closed system to open system by inculcating various social changes To create more congenial work environment To build mutual trust and confidence and to minimise conflict To make structure and role in consonance with goal accomplishment To promote a sense of ownership and pride in the organisation To decentralise decision making close to the source of activity To emphasise on feedback, self control and self-direction To develop the spirit of co-operation, and interdependency To develop a reward system based upon achievement of goals and development of people STEPS IN ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Organizational development (OD) is a change management strategy, is based on the understanding of behavioural sciences and is concerned with how people and organizations function and how they can be made to function better through effective use of human and social processes. Robert Black and Jane S. Mouton (1963) suggested a six-phase approach to organisational development as under: Investigation by each member of the organisation of his own managerial styles. Examination of boss-subordinate relationship. Analysis of work team action. Exploration of co-ordination issues of interrelated teams. Identifying and defining major organisational problem areas. Planning for executing agreed upon solutions that result in changes in the organisation. However, the OD effort progresses through a series of well designed stages, which can be enumerated as follows: Problem identification and diagnosis-problems that required changes in relation to various units in the organisation should be identified and diagnosed duly examining the feedback from employees. Developing strategy-appropriate strategy is developed by studying people, various sub-systems and organisation as a total system. Implementing the programme-OD programme should be implemented in a phase manner. At the outset it should be tried in a small part of the organisation and on getting positive results only, it should be implemented in total organisation. Reviewing the progress of the programme-review of OD programme should be preferably done by an expert who was not involved in designing and developing the OD programme, for getting an unbiased opinion. However the effectiveness of the OD programme SUMMARY

Canadian Birds :: essays papers

Canadian Birds The Branta Canadensis, better known as the Canada Goose is a magnificent bird which can be found all over North America. People from all over North America look towards the sky when the Canada Geese go honking overhead in their trademark "V" formation, and because they nest all over Canada and some of the United States many people have a chance to witness the birds migration to the nesting grounds and back to the wintering grounds. The Canada Goose is respected by so many of us because of it's dignity and courage and refusal to give up. Over the years the Canada Goose has picked up many slang names, some of these are: Canadian Goose, Canadian Honker, Honker, Honker Goose, Big Honker, Old Honker, Boy Goose, Bernache (French for Barnacle Goose), Big Mexican Goose, Blackee, Blacknecked Goose, Brant, French Goose, Northern Goose, Reef Goose, Ringneck, Wavy, and White-cheeked Goose (Wormer). The Canada Goose has excellent eyesight which makes it difficult to hunt because the Goose can see the hunter well before the hunter ever sees the goose (Wormer). This eyesight is essential for flying though, a Canada Goose can see three quarters of a sphere without moving its head (Wormer). The Canada Goose also has an acute sense of hearing, it's ears are positioned on the side of it's head (Wormer). They have either no sense of smell or a very poor one, but this does not impede the goose in any way (Wormer). Although there is a large variation in size all subspecies of Canada Geese look the same physically (Wormer) The male and female Canada Goose look almost exactly the same except the female can usually be recognized because it is smaller and less aggressive (Wormer). Colors also vary but, the color pattern is generally the same for all the subspecies (Godfrey). The head and neck are dark black with a large white patch on each cheek which meet under the chin, this is the Canada Goose's most easily recognized characteristic because it is unique to the Canada Goose (Wormer). The upper parts of the body as well as the wings are greyish brown, the feathers tipped with brownish white (Godfrey). The tail is black with the upper tail coverts white and the under tail coverts are white also (Godfrey). The under body is brownish grey with paler feather tips, the sides being the darkest and the lower belly is white (Godfrey).

Revelation Essay -- essays research papers

The creation of the earth and all that is within the earth is mysterious yet miraculous at the same time. Although there are probably hundreds of different accounts, they all seem to be different while almost identical in text. I will be comparing and contrasting between account one and account two in the book of Genesis. In the beginning, according to Genesis in the bible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the two creation accounts God is portrayed in two different ways. In the first account God is portrayed as an ultimate or Supreme Being that creates the world by fiat, which are divine spoken words. An example of this is found in Genesis 1:3, which says; â€Å"Then God said, â€Å"let there be light†; and there was light.† This is the fiat command that creates light in the first account of creation and demonstrates the supreme power of God. In the second Genesis account God is portrayed as a much more mortal being, a concept called anthropomorphism. In Genesis 2:7 God creates man, but it wasn’t done through fiat. It says, â€Å"Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.† This account of God creating man is much different from the first account because God is physlically- taking part in creating man instead of using powers by way of fiat. Another instance that portrays God as more humanlike is found in Genesis 2:8 where it says God â€Å"planted† the garden in Eden. The use of the word â€Å"plan...

Decision Making at the Top: The All Star Essay

Sunru Yong prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. This case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration. Copyright  © 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. M I C H A E L B E E R S U N R U Y O N G TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial Emma Richardson squinted at the TerraCog GPS (Global Positioning System) prototype in her hand. She zoomed in until the display showed a clearer satellite photo of the lake 200 feet in front of her and into which her Labrador had already happily bounded. Most weekends, Richardson made the hike to the lake to clear her mind and, on occasion, to test new GPS models from her employer, TerraCog, Inc. Unfortunately, with the â€Å"Project Aerial† launch meeting scheduled for the next day, it was difficult to enjoy this particular hike. Emma wondered how to get all parties to reach an agreement on the price point for Aerial. TerraCog had started losing share to a competitor, Posthaste, and it was imperative to get the new product to market. Arriving at the lake, Richardson gave in to the urge to check her phone and grimaced as she noticed two new voicemails. The first message was from Allen  Roth, the director of design & development (see Exhibits 1 and 2 for an organizational chart and brief biographies of key managers): â€Å"Emma, it’s Allen. Listen, Tony and I have been over these cost numbers on Aerial. We cut all that we could and we ended up with only a 7% or 8% reduction to cost. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will get us to the price point that Sales is looking for. But I don’t need to remind you that we gave Sales the features and functionality they wanted in Aerial, so I’m not going back now to ask my team to do the impossible. We’ll hash it out tomorrow, but I figured it best you hear it from me.† The second message was from her boss, Richard Fiero, the company president: â€Å"Emma, I wanted to check on Aerial. I heard grumbling from Ed and the sales team on Friday. They seemed frustrated with Tony Barren’s production team. Make sure Production has its act together. Tony should know he’s on thin ice after the recent production fiasco on that sonar project-he’s got to succeed on Aerial. We need to have Aerial on shelves at the start of Q3. Some board members are worried, so Aerial will be near the top of the agenda at the board meeting next month.† 2184 A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 0 8 For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. 2184 | TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial 2 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL Neither message was encouraging. The Aerial meeting the next day, involving  the sales, design & development, and production departments, was now guaranteed to be contentious. It was March 2008-only two months since Richardson had been promoted to executive vice president. Fiero had tasked her with moving TerraCog toward greater operational alignment and increasing cross-departmental cooperation. Richardson had already been tested by both inventory problems and quality issues, which had led to significant tension between the U.S. headquarters in Chicago and the production team in Shenzhen, China. Now, disagreement over the proposed price point for Aerial threatened to derail the launch of the prototype in her hand. Company and Industry History TerraCog was a privately held company specializing in high-quality Global Positioning System (GPS) and fishing sonar equipment. Founded in 1977, TerraCog got its start manufacturing high-end sonar equipment for serious sport fishermen and boaters. In the late 1990s, the company had introduced its first GPS products, marketed specifically to hunters, hikers, and campers. Management believed that it was the company’s skill at translating retailer and user feedback into exceptional product design and functionality that fueled the growth of its GPS business. Through attentive channel management and, as Fiero put it, â€Å"a deep understanding of what specialty retailers needed,† TerraCog had developed strong relationships with its key accounts. Fiero also believed that TerraCog’s grasp of its consumers’ preferences and usage had given it an edge over GPS manufacturers whose core business was in automotive applications. The firm had built its GPS line for the serious outdoor enthusiasts’ market, and the products had won plaudits for durability and value-added features like the integrated compass and barometric altimeter. Moreover, industry reports indicated that the TerraCog GPS outperformed competing products on navigation. TerraCog’s proprietary firmware-a custom computer program embedded into hardware that â€Å"ran† functions-optimized the GPS chipset’s Wide Area Augmentation System  capability, which provided more precise navigation. The company was not always first to market. In fact, TerraCog had found it was free to lag in technological innovation with little risk because, when the company finally introduced new products, they surpassed those of competitors in addressing customer needs. Customer word-of-mouth recommendations had given TerraCog strong momentum with its handheld GPS. In early 2007, TerraCog prepared to enter new, underserved GPS sub-markets, including cycling and fitness applications. â€Å"Google Earthâ„ ¢ for your GPS† At the Summer 2006 Outdoor Retailer Show-the biggest trade show for vendors of outdoor goods-a competitor, Posthaste, had unveiled a GPS prototype called â€Å"BirdsI† that displayed satellite imagery. The imagery was not live, but rather static satellite photographs that had been â€Å"stitched† into a single view. This was a marked improvement on the simple, vector-based graphics used by the rest of the industry (see Exhibit 3 for a comparison). This did not impress the TerraCog team. The imagery was crisp and had a certain visual appeal, but TerraCog’s research showed that BirdsI technology did not offer substantive performance improvement over the standard maps in TerraCog’s GPS system. Furthermore, the TerraCog team was convinced that Posthaste’s receiver lagged TerraCog’s product in both accuracy and reception quality. While the TerraCog team dismissed the Posthaste concept, a number of key buyers and product reviewers found it an exciting innovation. One magazine reviewer observed, â€Å"Imagine having For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial | 2184 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES 3 Google Earthâ„ ¢ built into your GPS-it’s much more compelling to look at an actual satellite image than to have yellow for land, blue blobs for water, and grey squiggles for roads.† Based on the buzz, TerraCog’s executives debated whether to upgrade to satellite imagery. However, they realized that adding the feature to the existing GPS platform required upgrades to processor speed and memory, as well as new firmware. After some deliberation, the company dropped the idea as a non-essential fad. TerraCog’s management remained confident that the company’s core customers were discerning purchasers who would value durability and performance over dressed-up graphics. In October 2006, with much fanfare, Posthaste introduced BirdsI as â€Å"the only handheld GPS with satellite imagery.† BirdsI had an exclusive launch at two major national outdoor retailers, both of which were key accounts for TerraCog. Within two months, TerraCog’s sales representatives in the field reported impressive sell-through rates for BirdsI nationwide. While the product’s success surprised TerraCog, management attributed it to the ebullience of the holiday shopping season. The TerraCog team was confident that the popularity of BirdsI wouldn’t last. Project Aerial However, by spring 2007 TerraCog’s sales reps were noticing increasing customer demand for a GPS with satellite imagery like BirdsI. Ed Pryor, vice-president of sales, began pressing for a reversal of the decision not to develop the product. â€Å"It’s embarrassing to have no answers for our retailers when they ask for our version of this,† he said. â€Å"Look at it from our perspective. We’ve changed the compensation plan for the whole Sales team-including me-so we take a real hit if we don’t reach our sales targets. Customers now want something different, and I can’t tell my reps we have no  plans to develop the product they need to hit those targets.† In response to these repeated requests, TerraCog’s president, Richard Fiero, changed his mind on satellite imagery, if only to satisfy the â€Å"gadget† appeal of such an innovation. The initiative was dubbed Project Aerial. In order to speed development and avoid the costs of new moldings and major reconfiguration, the team decided to redesign within the existing GPS platform. Shortly after making the decision to proceed with Aerial, Fiero and Pryor met with Allen Roth, director of design & development. Roth brought his key managers to the meeting: Cory Wu, who oversaw software and firmware, and Alice Gorga, who managed hardware design. RICHARD FIERO: Allen, we’re obviously in a hurry to get to market. But we don’t want something slapped together – let’s make sure we get this product completely right the first time. Our reputation for quality is paramount. ALLEN ROTH: Understood. Are we including all the same features that we have in our current GPS line? ED PRYOR: Yes. We plan to offer Aerial at approximately a $50 retail premium to the current top- of-the-line GPS, so it’s important to maintain the same high-end functionality. ALLEN ROTH: What about speed? Satellite imagery requires a lot of processing power, so without some serious juicing, Aerial might run slower than you’d like. ED PRYOR: I think we’ll be okay there, Allen. Our consumers are tech-savvy-they know there’s an inherent trade-off to get more sophisticated graphics. As the meeting ended, Roth indicated that they would have to do some careful planning to keep costs as low as possible, but he was sure the product design could be completed by year’s end. At that point, they could hand it off to production to develop detailed cost estimates, which would allow the  sales team, in consultation with finance, to determine pricing and develop a go-to-market plan. For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. 2184 | TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial 4 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL Given the manufacturing lead-time, TerraCog expected to get Aerial to stores by the 2008 holiday season (see Exhibit 4 for timeline of events). The product development team members did not greet the Aerial decision with enthusiasm. First, they felt that a redesign of the total platform-including firmware, external case, internal components, and TFT (thin-film transistor) display-was feasible if management could extend time to market by six more months; the resulting product would be superior and the project would be more stimulating technically to the team members. Second, they had several other ideas for new products that they believed would position TerraCog to capitalize on growth in cycling and fitness GPS applications, and Project Aerial was forcing them to put aside these more exciting projects. Finally, with company co-founder Harold Whistler preparing for retirement, Roth was eager to prove his readiness to be the next VP of design & development. The Aerial project impeded his building of a product line he could truly call his own. Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting As promised, the design team completed Aerial by the end of 2007. Late in January 2008, the production team received the design specifications it  needed to establish production methods, conduct a pilot run, and estimate costs. As the new executive vice president, Emma Richardson was tasked with overseeing the product launch. She scheduled a launch meeting in early March with sales, production, and design & development. In the past, Fiero and Whistler had been very involved in new products and tended to make quick decisions. TerraCog’s growth forced Fiero to take a step back from the launch process, while Whistler had cut back to part-time hours. There were many more employees involved in Aerial than in past product launches, and Richardson worried that the size of the group might threaten the focus and thwart decision making. She needed to finalize decisions on costs, pricing, and initial production volume. At the start of the pre-launch meeting on March 7, Richardson looked down the table, seeing Ed Pryor, Allen Roth, production director Tony Barren, Cory Wu representing software and firmware, and Alice Gorga representing hardware. Richardson opened the meeting by asking Barren to present his cost estimates. Barren looked around grimly and did not mince words: â€Å"This thing’s expensive to build. It looks the same, but Aerial’s got higher-end components and it’s more complex to manufacture.† He gave a high-level overview of product-cost breakdown and concluded by saying, â€Å"I’ll be blunt. You’re going to have to sell this product for a lot more than you thought. If anything, we have been too aggressive in our cost estimate. We can’t lower it beyond what I’ve presented.† ED PRYOR: I know you think your estimates are sound, but that isn’t going to help us. With these numbers, we would have to sell Aerial for $550 to maintain our margin. We’d be two years late to market with a price point $100 over BirdsI. CORY WU: Tony, those cost estimates are surprisingly high. We tweaked the firmware without overhauling it, so it’s basically the same components. It doesn’t seem justified that the costs should come out as you say. ALICE GORGA: I’m not sure, Cory. Those costs look realistic, given how my  team upgraded the hardware. Sales probably just needs to reconsider how to position this thing. I think – ED PRYOR: Wait, are we here to talk about positioning or pricing? Fiero and I already figured out how we’ll position the product, so let’s just get the pricing straightened out. For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial | 2184 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES 5 TONY BARREN: Well, we don’t perform miracles. The cost won’t change, and I’m not going to cut corners in production. I had my head handed to me the last time we had quality issues. ED PRYOR: Allen, your designers must be able to tweak something, right? Hate to say it, but maybe you guys need to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to solve this problem. ALLEN ROTH: Ed, we’re well into a couple of other projects now. Frankly, I don’t think this is Sales’ call to make. We already put other projects on hold for Aerial, and we’ve given you what you requested. The discussion continued, but it became clear the group was at an impasse. Richardson suggested ending the meeting: â€Å"Why don’t we wrap it up for now and meet again next week? In the meantime Tony and the Design team should look for opportunities to cut these costs.† As the meeting adjourned, Pryor announced to the room, â€Å"If we can’t lower these costs and fix the finances on Aerial, I can’t sell it. I won’t try.† Resumption of Aerial Pre-Launch Meeting One Week Later Roth and Barren had spent much of the intervening week reviewing the cost estimates. When the team re-gathered on March 14, the participants seated themselves around the conference table (see Exhibit 5 for a seating chart). Becky Timmons, the CFO, was in attendance. At the last minute, Harold Whistler also decided to join the meeting. As Emma Richardson passed out copies of the new cost estimates, she explained that Roth and Barren had agreed to make minor changes to the Aerial prototype, and that they now felt it could be produced for approximately 8% less than the prior week’s estimate. On this basis, the Aerial could be priced at $475, about $100 more than the current full-featured TerraCog GPS. A long silence followed, then Cory Wu spoke up. â€Å"Eight percent-that’s all? I don’t understand it. I’d like to know where the differences lie between our costs and PostHaste’s on BirdsI. There’s got to be room for more cuts.† Barren snorted derisively. â€Å"You can’t wish away the costs,† he said. â€Å"We’ve cut what we can. Last time we got pressured into being too aggressive on cost estimates and then we got burned when the price of plastic went through the roof. I’m not making that mistake again.† Allen Roth concurred, pointing to the drivers of the cost increase: â€Å"Incorporating the satellite imagery requires five times as much memory as our standard graphics. That increases cost-but if you cut it, you undermine Aerial’s value proposition. Then we also did some reconfiguration internally, and that increases the labor required to put one of these together.† He paused, surveying the frustrated faces around him. â€Å"I don’t like the situation any more than the rest of you do, but we’ve got to be realistic. Look at the numbers in front of you-there’s nothing we can do to further reduce costs.† As everyone scrutinized the new cost estimates, the meeting broke into several conversations. Ed Pryor and Richardson huddled together, while Allen Roth and Tony Barren carried on a conversation with Harold Whistler. After several minutes, Richardson realized she needed to get the discussion back on track. She addressed the entire group, saying, â€Å"We have the estimates, so we just have to set a price that makes sense for the company. What do you think, Ed?† ED PRYOR: We have to consider the selling price of the Aerial relative to competition. Posthaste is selling at around $250 to dealers, which means they retail for around $400. Garmin just announced For the exclusive use of B. Shi This document is authorized for use only by Bixi Shi in Organizational Behavior- Fall 2014 taught by Elaine Wong University of California – Riverside from October 2014 to December 2014. 2184 | TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial 6 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL their satellite-image version, which will hit shelves at somewhere around $395 MSRP. You all are talking about $475 retail, and that’s too high. We have to be in the ball park with our list price or we’ll be shut out of the game. EMMA RICHARDSON: What should list price be? ED PRYOR: $425 tops-but we should be lower than that if we are going to be aggressive at recapturing lost share. Let’s not kid ourselves. The way we’re trending, same-store sales will be down 10% this year. And this is with the GPS handheld market growing. HAROLD WHISTLER: What if we relax our margin requirements for once? BECKY TIMMONS: Absolutely not. We’re cutting it close already. HAROLD WHISTLER: Okay, then how about a redesign? Let’s go to market with what we have, and I’ll have my team take another look at possible changes that we can incorporate later. ALLEN ROTH: I’m afraid that’s wishful thinking, Harold. Given the product requirements the sales team called for, the cost is as low as it will get. CORY WU: I don’t know about that. The changes we made to meet sales’ requirements were not enormous. Why would they contribute to such a large increase in projected labor costs? TONY BARREN: Cory, you and Harold can run the numbers for yourself. Then you’ll see that these high costs are real. BECKY TIMMONS: I’d still feel more comfortable if we could price it at $500 retail. With fuel costs still rising, the cost to get these here from Shenzhen will only increase, and we run the risk of our margins really getting squeezed. ED PRYOR: Becky, you don’t understand how competitive this market is! Even at $475, why would anyone give us shelf space? We are late to market and we’d be pricing at a substantial premium. And is the product superior enough to justify that premium? I’ve been trying out our prototypes and I’m concerned about the speed. The update speed is terrible, and switching between functions is just – ALLEN ROTH: Come on, don’t start talking speed now. We were clear from the start that we would trade some speed to get new functionality and features. ED PRYOR: Well, my sales managers are going to be fuming. Fiero told them  Aerial would be available at $400, and now you are talking about a minimum of $75 more than that. I still want to see Cory or Harold take a crack at reducing unit cost. Emma Richardson took a deep breath. The company needed a â€Å"go/no-go† decision on the existing Aerial, and whether to do so at a competitive price in the hope that costs might be cut in the future, or at a high price. She wondered fleetingly what the consequences might be if the company abandoned Aerial altogether. As things stood, the arguments and finger-pointing were bound to continue, and the group would never come to a decision on its own.

Evaluate the Possible Ways to Market a New Business Essay

For my business studies coursework, my new business will be a Junior Tennis Academy for talented tennis players aged 3-18. Its name will be named after where it is based, at St Georges College, Weybridge. Therefore its name will be The Weybridge Tennis Academy. It will provide top coaching for young talent, as well as providing state of the art facilities which include four indoor tennis courts, three artificial clay, eight acrylic and three grass courts, as well as a gym where the players can train to help get fitter and stronger to help give them that physical edge over their competitors. We offer these services because tournaments are played on many different surfaces and we need to train our players to the highest possible standard. We also offer a re-stringing service at extremely competitive prices as well as official Weybridge Tennis Academy merchandise supplied by a top sports company, which is available for purchase at a discounted price. These facilities will help the business because ‘Tennis Parents’ will see that our company has better facilities for their child than another tennis academy down the road. Tennis is a very expensive sport, so therefore our business is not only aimed at the players playing, but also the parents paying. Tennis parents are notoriously pushy people and they are usually quite well off, so therefore the more facilities we can offer, the more likely they will come to us. Usually, when money isn’t a factor, people go for the best product, and by offering so many facilities, we have that competitive advantage over our competitors. With our location being in Weybridge, we automatically have good transport links, such as the M25 and Addlestone and Weybridge train stations. This will target all people living in and around London. London is the biggest city in Britain, so therefore we have many more potential customers compared to a tennis academy in for example Northumberland . My business’ aim is to fill a gap in the market. It will meet a demand for a Tennis academy open to all standards, rather than one where you have to be invited to join. For example the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton, a 32 million pound facility is only open to players who have been invited. The Weybridge Tennis Academy is open to young players of all standards but with the same facilities as the National Tennis Centre. Therefore many more players will pass through the doors of my academy because it is open to a wider range of players. This will then lead to my business making a profit because there is not any other competition in the local area. During this coursework I will need to investigate the potential market and location to enable me to situate my business in the best possible location to help make as much profit as possible. I will also have to research the local competition to identify my main competitors and the buying habits of the local consumers to see what they look for most when investing in a product. The importance of Marketing Marketing is selling ‘the right product, at the right place, at the right time and at the right place.’ The marketing mix, sometimes known as the four P’s is used to describe the key elements that a consumer wants and needs when buying a new product. I will need to find out what a consumer looks for, and make sure I find the right elements to help make my business successful. My business has to offer the customer a better thing than the local competition otherwise my business will fail. This means that my business will have to offer the customer something that no other tennis academy offers in the local area. This is because obviously if every academy offered the same thing as my business my business would have no competitive edge which will lead to failure. The Weybridge Tennis Academy needs to offer the customer what they want and need. This will then identify the first stage of the marketing mix which is product. The second stage of the, marketing mix is place. Place means how the customers are going to access my academy. There are many factors affecting this decision. It has to be in a place where customers can easily get to, as well as somewhere where there are many potential customers. My business will be situated in St Georges College, Weybridge (hence the name of the business). By being in Weybridge, there are many convenient transport links, such as the M25 or Weybridge or Addlestone train station. Addlestone train station is in fact situated less than a mile away from the centre, which means that there are many good transport links. This will then draw customers in from all around London and the South East. The third section of the Marketing Mix is Price. The Price is how much the product is being sold for. The price is very important to any business because it is normally one of the first things to be looked at when a consumer is considering buying a product. The customer has to think that the business is good value for money, and by comparing the prices of local competition, I will come up with an appropriate pricing method for my business. It is important that I take into account how much the business has cost to build because obviously if the expenditure is higher than the income, I will have made a loss rather than a profit There are many pricing strategies available to me, for instance cost plus pricing, which means setting a price by adding a fixed amount or percentage to the cost of making the product. This means that however much I spend on my Tennis Academy; I will add a percentage of money to this amount and charge the customers that amount. By doing this, I will always make a profit because I will be getting my money back on the expenditure, plus an added amount. The second pricing strategy I could use is to set a price based on competitors pricing. This means that I would look at the price of my competitors’ product and I would make that cheaper or better value to help make customers buy into my product. The fourth and final section of the Marketing Mix is the promotion. Promotion means how your product is shown to the customer, obviously if the customer does not know the business is there they cannot buy it. One example of this is advertising. There are many ways of promoting a business; it could be through a newspaper, television, internet and radio. These are examples of advertising through the media. Another way of promoting your business is through merchandising. This is a crucial way that I plan to promote my business through players buying official Weybridge Tennis Academy Merchandise, wearing it to tournaments and promoting the company through people seeing the companies name or logo on a back of a player’s shirt. Most players at my academy will be competing against players from other academies. This is a way of promoting because other players will see the company’s logo and the tennis parents may well look into the possibility of sending their child to my acade my. However ways such as sales promotion, which could include special offers, price discounts or free gifts, would not be appropriate because my business is looking for long term customer rather than short term customers. To get the best results I will conduct numerous experiments and research which will help me to find what the customers want and need. I will conduct questionnaires, surveys and interviews with other people finding out what they look for in investing in a tennis academy. I will also research statistics such as the number of competing juniors in the south east and also the amount of tennis academies in that area. This will then help me gain a competitive advantage over my competitors. Market Research Market Research is used by a business to try and find out what people want and also what competitors and doing and planning. Market Research helps find out who the customers are, whether they will like the product, how the business can be promoted, how much the customers willing to pay, what type of customer will be interested, how the profile of the customers can be built, whether the business is in the right location and how the products will be distributed. There are two main ways of conducting research. Field/Primary research is used to find out new information, and Desk/Secondary research is useful for looking at an entire market, and analysing trends for future reference. I will use both to research how my business can best achieve its goals and how it can beat competitors to getting customers. Field/Primary research is the process of manually entering the population and asking first hand questions. The advantage of using this method is that it is specific to my business, meaning that it is up to date and relevant. This means that I can ask any questions on any subject, and receive answers that are highly relevant and suitable for my research. There are many techniques which can be used, such as surveys, questionnaires and interviews. I believe that by conducting the research in the area where my business will be situated, I will achieve the most relevant and suitable results. However, to ensure that the data is accurate you need to use large field samples which can be expensive and very time consuming. Desk research is useful for looking at an entire market, whilst analysing past trends for future reference. For example I would have to look at the trends of tennis academies across Britain. Desk research has already been researched and accessed by other companies, so it therefore already exists and therefore it takes no time to conduct or find the data you want. The data can be accessed through the internet, newspapers, government records and market research. Desk research is good because it is easy to obtain and it is cheap. The disadvantage is that it is not specific or relevant to your business. It can also be biased or out of date which severely affects the reliability. I will try and collect Qualitative data so I can then see exactly what people want, as well as their thoughts and feelings. This will then help me know what customers want which will help me gain an edge over the competitors. I will do this by interviewing a select amount of people and finding out what they look for in a tennis academy. The questions asked will be based on how much people will pay, how the location will affect their decision and once again what they look for when investing in a tennis academy. After I have found out the information, I will access it and make it relevant to my business. By knowing what customers look for in a company, I will know what to include when I am trying to promote my business. For instance if a lot of people want indoor courts to make sure that it can never be cancelled or so that there child can play all year round, I will make sure that the fact that my academy has indoor courts is highly publicised. Also, by knowing what customers want, I will have an advantage over my competitors. Evaluation Number of Competing Juniors: Berkshire-149 Essex-343 Hampshire-274 Kent-338 Middlesex-450 Surrey-536 Total number of competing juniors in the south east-2090 Information obtained from www.lta.org.uk Juniors includes all players born in 1990 Tennis academies in the south east: Clive Asprey Tennis Academy-Aldershot Sutton Junior Tennis Centre The National Tennis Centre-Roehampton Win Tennis-Bisham Abbey Esporta-Croydon Westway-London These are all TENNIS ACADEMIES this does not include any ‘LAWN TENNIS CLUBS’. Lawn tennis clubs are open to any people and are therefore not relevant to my business. These academies are my main competitors because it is invitational only. There are roughly 2000 competing juniors in the South East and there are six tennis academies (not including my academy) in this area. Therefore on average there are around 300 children to every academy. Obviously this would not be the case in reality but it gives a good idea of the Academy/Player Ratio. INFORMATION OBTAINED BY WWW.YELL.COM 1st Interview 1) What are the 3 main things that you look for in a tennis academy? The three main things I look for are the ability for the academy to get my child to its full potential, therefore I know that I am paying for excellence and I know my money’s being put to good use. The ability to play all year round is very important because I therefore know that sessions can never be cancelled due to weather and my child can therefore train all year round. Lastly the coaches have to be highly qualified and I would like to know a bit about them so I know that they can emphasize with players when they are going through tough times. 2) How would the location affect your decision of where to send your child? There would have to be good roads such as motorways because obviously I don’t want to be travelling all the time. Also if my child is of an age that he could travel on his own, I would like there to be easy to access buses and trains for him/her to use. 3) How important is the cost of the tennis academy? I wouldn’t mind paying a lot of money as long as the results were shown. Also if I had a younger child, I would want to pay less at first until I see that he/she was improving and that he was committed. As he/she improves I would be more inclined to pay more. 2nd Interview 1) What are the three main things you look for in a tennis academy? I would firstly look at the academy’s credentials, for instance its results of members, and the proof of its results. It would also have to be good value for money, so therefore I would need to be seeing an improvement in my child’s progress. Also the location is important because I don’t wish to be travelling all the time. 2) Why is the location an important factor in choosing where to send your child? I have got a busy life and I don’t wish to be travelling all across the countryside after I’ve had a long day at work. It has to be easy to attend so therefore good transport links are vital. 3) How important is the cost of the tennis academy? Obviously there is the factor of whether it can be afforded but the price is not important. I would have to see that my money is being put to good use so therefore the investment has to match the progress. 3rd Interview 1) What are the three main things you look for in a tennis academy? I look at the facilities of the academy, for instance whether it has indoor courts. I would also like to know the standard of the players that attend the academy and the background of the coaches. The attitude and the atmosphere of the academy are crucial because I have to know where I am sending my child. 2) Is the location an important factor in choosing where to send your child? Obviously I don’t want to be travelling too much and it has to be reasonably local otherwise we’ll spend more time travelling than actually playing. Also I don’t want to be paying a fortune for the transport fees, for instance petrol or train/bus fares on top of the price of attending the academy. 3) Is the cost important? The cost is obviously very important otherwise our whole life would be being run by tennis. I would prefer to pay less at the start and once I have seen an improvement or a commitment start to increase the price. Evaluation of Questionnaires: I have found out that what most people want is value for money. This means that however much they put in, they want out. This therefore means that the more they pay, the bigger the improvement in their child’s ability they would expect to see. Therefore I think I will give special offers to new customers, such as they get the first term half price so that they know that it is what their child wants to do and also if they do not see an improvement they have the opportunity to pull out. This was suggested to the people that I interviewed and it seemed a popular idea. Secondly, they found the factor of indoor courts crucial as that meant they could play all year round. As my academy would have this facility, this is a good thing, however many other academies have indoor courts and this therefore does not separate us from our competitors. Many people thought that the location was an important factor. Many parents have busy lives and they do not wish to be travelling all over the place. My academy is situated in a place with good public transport links, there are two train stations within two miles of the academy, and it is situated two miles from the M25. This was once again explained to the interviewees and they seemed to be in favour of the placement of my academy. Many people didn’t mind about the cost of the academy, as long as they saw the results. This was touched upon earlier and I will use a penetration pricing method, which means that I will make the price quite low at the start to try and draw customers in and then increase it as they see an improvement. This was a major aspect that the people that I interviewed would look for in tennis academy and this will help me gain that competitive advantage. Overall the research I conducted was extremely useful as it told me what customers wanted and needed, as well as giving me statistics that would help me gain a bit more knowledge in this type of business. I found out the amount of competing juniors in the south east, as well as the number of academies. It also told me how customers felt, for instance about the price and location of the academy. The information I have found out will help me in making the decisions about the academy, such as the pricing, structure and promotion of the business. Conclusion/Judgement Overall I believe that my tennis academy will work. There are six full time academies in the South East, not including my one, and there are over two thousand regularly competing juniors in the same area. This means that the ratio of Academies/Players is 6:300. Obviously in reality some academies have more players than others because of reputation, facilities, transport and cost. My academy has state of the art facilities, as explained earlier. It is also situated in a place where there are good channels of distribution and good transport links. This means that customers will be attracted because it is easy to get to. The cost will be determined by a ‘Penetration’ Pricing Method. This means that my prices will be low for new customers, so that parents then know that their child is improving, or enjoying the experience. Most parents interviewed wanted their money to be payed back through improvement of their child’s development. Therefore if I charge low prices at the start, for instance half price for your first term, and the child makes a big improvement, the parent is more likely to want to pay more from then on. If the child does not improve, the parent will then be giving the option of continuing with the programme. This will then help company/customer relations. This will then help my academies reputation, which will then attract more customers. As my academies reputation builds, more profit will come in and we can start charging higher prices. To help promote my academy, I will seek sponsorship from sports companies such as ‘NIKE’, ‘Adidas’, ‘Wilson’, ‘Babolat’, ‘Prince’, ‘Head’, ‘Dunlop’, ‘TTK’ and ‘Lacoste’. I will also sell official Academy merchandise such as training kit, match play kit, and tracksuits which will be worn to tournaments by players and other players will see them. This is a way of free advertising as the children/parents would be paying for the kit and wearing it around showing it off to other players and parents. I will also look to gain funding from the ‘Lawn Tennis Association’ who gives funding to academies that have regularly competing juniors. These are called ‘Satellite Clubs’ and they are given funding which helps pay for the costs of balls, rackets and other training equipment. As my academy builds in reputation, I will look to gain more funding which wi ll help me make more profit. Overall there is a lot of potential in this product. I believe that people will be attracted to my product because of the facilities, meaning the product itself; the price, meaning that I will make it cheaper at the start to draw customers in; the promotion, for instance the official merchandise that will be seen in tournaments; and finally the place; meaning the channels of distribution. This will attract customers because of where it situated, meaning that it is easy to get to. However my tennis academy does have a lot of competition, which means that I will have to use the knowledge that I found out through the market research to help gain the competitive advantage over my rivals.