Oedipus – a True Leader Is Born

A leader is like a guide; because others depend on him, he must be confident in his own abilities and be able to direct his followers towards their goal. While anyone can be a leader, a true leader is born, not made; although certain qualities can be taught, a natural-born leader possesses the intrinsic skill to command respect in a way a taught leader cannot. In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Oedipus shows himself to be a true leader. He is a great king and leader, as shown through the eradication of the Sphinx and the cleansing of the city’s miasma.While Oedipus is ultimately the source of the city’s woes, he still did all he could to find and purge the pollution from the city. Unlike Oedipus, Moses was not a natural-born leader. Moses did not possess faculty of commanding others; rather, his capacity for leadership was endowed upon him by God. Before his life changing encounter with God, he was a meek man, aware of the injustice of the world but incapable of doi ng anything about it. Thus, in comparison with Oedipus, Moses cannot be called a true leader. Their difference lies essentially in the source of their powers. Oedipus is born to be a leader; he is completely self-reliant.No divine involvement bestows his abilities upon him. More than anything, the gods are against him. Since his father violated the sacred pact between the guest and host, he has been cursed and doomed to a tragic end. Despite this, Oedipus’ innate skills are still able to bring him to his high status. With his intellect, he correctly answers the Sphinx’s riddle that countless others failed to solve, thus saving Thebes from the Sphinx and becoming king. Oedipus also possesses great resourcefulness. With all of the problems plaguing Thebes, he is not foolish enough to try to do everything by himself.He always knew the right people to ask for help. For example, he sends Creon to ask the Oracle of Delphi the reason behind the plagues. Also, after hitting a dead-end, he sends for the blind prophet, Tiresias, to aid in the investigation of Laius’ murder. Moses, on the other hand, is not a born leader. While Moses killed an Egyptian in defense of a Hebrew, he only wanted to pretend it never happened. He was incapable of leading the Hebrews in rebellion; the only thing he could lead was sheep. He even admits his inability, making excuses to God and imploring, â€Å"’O my Lord, please send someone else. ’(Ex. 4:13). It was only with God’s instruction that Moses was able to become a leader with the power to free the Hebrews. Compared to Oedipus, who relies on his own powers, Moses pales in comparison, as everything he does is reliant on God. God commands Moses to free the Hebrews; He allows Moses to perform miracles; He sends the ten plagues and parts the Red Sea. Moses just uses His words and power, essentially acting as His puppet and the bridge between Him and His people. The distinction in strength between t he two leaders is apparent through their respective relationships with their followers.Like a true leader, Oedipus has an overwhelming presence and commands the respect of his followers. When Oedipus says he will find and bring to justice Laius’ murderer, the citizens never waver or question him. Whether or not Oedipus has proof of god to support him does not matter to them; in fact, they even believe in Oedipus over Tiresias, saying, But that a mortal seer [Tiresias] knows more than I know–where Hath this been proven? Or how without sign assured, can I blame Him [Oedipus] who saved our State when the winged songstress came, Tested and tried in the light of us all, like gold assayed?How can I now assent when a crime is on Oedipus laid? (Socrates) Although Moses is also a successful leader in that he reaches his goal, his relationship with his followers is frail. When Moses goes up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments from God, problems arise following his absen ce. Without his presence, his followers stray from the right path and begin worshipping a golden calf, which contradicts their covenant with God. Moses can not hold the complete faith of his followers like Oedipus can. While anyone has the potential to become a leader, a true leader is one that is born.Without God, Moses would be nothing more than another of the Hebrews oppressed by the Egyptians. In reality, God could have chosen any of the other Hebrews and led them to the same result. Moses cannot be called a true leader because, although he leads the Hebrews, he is nothing more than an intermediary for God. The true leader is actually God. He is Moses’ guide and the perpetrator of the liberation of the Hebrews. Oedipus, on the other hand, proves himself to be a true leader. He achieves everything—defeating the Sphinx, becoming king, saving Thebes—through his own abilities and controls the complete respect of his followers.

Gelatin Hairgel

An Investigatory Project Presented to the Faculty of the Laboratory High School MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY – BUUG Datu Panas, Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay In Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Fourth High School By: GERRICK PAGUIA DHAINA DANE SEIT FERDINAND PABLO DAPHNE NARZABAL GEMMA JOY RUFLO MARCH 2012 Chapter I INTRODUCTION Hair styling products can be expensive and unhealthy, but you can protect your health and your wallet by making some of these products at home. It is possible to avoid the harsh chemicals, artificial fragrances and dyes frequently found in store-bought goods.Creating your own hair care products allows you to have complete control over what goes into them. Making hair gel from gelatin is a very straightforward process that requires only a few ingredients. The investigators believe this study provides evidence that if you are looking for natural hair gel that will not only keep your hair looking beautiful but also save you money and also to prove that ther e are safer alternative hair gel. One of the ingredients is gelatin which is a natural product that comes from collagen, the group of proteins found in the kin, connective tissue and bones of mammals. You’re probably familiar with gelatin as a quick-setting dessert, although it’s also used to make certain confections, like marshmallows. In order to be considered food-grade for humans gelatin must undergo hydrolysis, which is a chemical reaction in which water molecules are split into hydrogen molecules. This breaks down the collagen bonds in the material so that they can be reordered when heated and cooled. When introduced to water, gelatin forms a colloid gel, which means its molecular components are evenly dispersed through the mixture.This is what gives gelatin desserts their texture and form. The investigators want to prove that gelatin is able to serve as an effective and safe alternative to commercial hair gel. Statement of the Study The primary aim of this study is to determine how useful does gelatin in making it as a hair gel. To prove that if you are looking for natural hair gel that will not only keep your hair looking beautiful but also save you money and also to prove that there are safer alternative hair gel.Significance of the Study To the people using commercial hair gel, the result of this investigatory will hopefully help them choose the safer alternative hair gel and less expensive hair gel. They will also be guided on how to make this alternative hair gel. This would be the basis for guiding them in our economy. Scope and Limitation This study will be conducted to determine how useful does gelatin in making it as a hair gel. This is only determined on the result of the investigatory. Definition of Terms Gelatin.Is a natural product that comes from collagen, the group of proteins found in the skin, connective tissue and bones of mammals. You’re probably familiar with gelatin as a quick-setting dessert, although itâ€℠¢s also used to make certain confections, like marshmallows. In order to be considered food-grade for humans gelatin must undergo hydrolysis, which is a chemical reaction in which water molecules are split into hydrogen molecules. This breaks down the collagen bonds in the material so that they can be reordered when heated and cooled.Hair Gel. A jelly-like substance applied to the hair before styling in order to retain the shape of the style. Alternative Hair Gel. is a hairstyling product that is used to stiffen hair into a particular hairstyle. The results it produces are usually similar to, but stronger than, those of hair spray and hair wax, and weaker than those of hair glue. Chapter II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter discusses are reviews literature related to this study. Similar studies, researches and other literature are presented here under.In the study of Becky Mauldin, N. D. (2011), she stated that she have naturally curly hair that needs some type o f hair gel to keep it looking nice and manageable. I had been using very expensive brands of hair gel years ago, not knowing how easy and inexpensive it was to make my own. When I created this recipe I share with you below, I could not believe how easy it was to duplicate those expensive hair products I had been buying all of those years. Although this recipe seems to simplistic, you will be surprised at how effective it is.IngeborgK, Victoria, Permasofty, JKL1234, Lara, CooksterC (2009), said that hair styling products can be expensive and unhealthy, but you can protect your health and your wallet by making some of these products at home. It is possible to avoid the harsh chemicals, artificial fragrances and dyes frequently found in store-bought goods. Creating your own hair care products allows you to have complete control over what goes into them. Making hair gel is a very straightforward process that requires only a few ingredients. Sophie Spyrou (2008), states that he recently came across Extra Hold Styling Gel by Method of Style.It cost just $1. 00 for an 1124ml tub of pink hair gel. This product is alcohol free and is meant to offer long lasting hold. And he do not usually use a lot of extra hair products in my hair other than shampoo, conditioner, hair shine and a de-tangling product by Frizz Ease to calm my natural curls and give them a softer, tidier look. I do not apply heat to my hair after I have washed it, as it makes my hair look frizzy and it becomes unmanageable. But when I am feeling like a different hairdo, I sometimes opt for the â€Å"wet look† by using hair gel.

BADM 3601 †Operations Management Assignmen

Statistics show that students arrive at a rate of four per hour, and the distribution is approximately Poisson. Assistance time averages 10 minutes, distributed exponentially. Assume population and line length can be infinite and queue discipline is FCFS. Using this information, answer the following questions. i. Calculate the percent of utilization of the graduate student P= 4/6 = 2/3 = . 6667 percent utilization ii. Determine the average number of students in the system ?= 4 per hour ?= 6 students helped an hour Ls= 4/ 6-4 = 4/2 = 2 students in the system on average. iii. Calculate the average time in the system Ws= 1/ 6-4 = ? = . 5 hours average time in the system iv. Find out the probability of four or more students being in line or being served P0= 1 – 4/6 = 1- 2/3 = . 33 probability that there are 4 or more students being in line or being served. . Before a test, the arrival of students increases to five per hour on the average. ?Compute the average number of students waiting under this scenario. Lq= 4^2 / 6 (6-4) = 16/ 12= 1. 33 student waiting in line on average. (b) Â  What are the three characteristics of a waiting? line system? 1. Arrivals or inputs to the system: these have characteristics such as population size, behavior, and a statistical distribution. 2. Queue discipline, or the waiting line itself: characteristics of the queue include whether is it limited or unlimited in length and the discipline of people or items in it. . The service facility: its characteristics include its design and the statistical distribution of service times. —————————————————————————————– Question 2. Radovilsky’s Department Store in Haywood, California, maintains a successful catalog sales department in which a clerk takes orders by telephone. If the clerk is occupied on one line, incoming phone calls to the catalog department are answered automatically by a recording machine and asked to wait. As soon as the clerk is free, the party who has waited the longest is transferred and serviced first. Calls come in at a rate of about 12 per hour. The clerk can take an order in an average of 4 minutes. Calls tend to follow a Poisson distribution, and service times tend to be exponential. The cost of the clerk is $10 per hour, but because of lost goodwill and sales, Radovilsky’s loses about $25 per hour of customer time spent waiting for the clerk to take an order. ?= 12 ? = 15 (a) What is the average time that catalog customers must wait before their calls are transferred to the order clerk? Wq= 12/ 15 (15-12) = . 2667 average time to wait before transferred (b) What is the average number of callers waiting to place an order? Lq = 12^2 / 15 (15- 12) = 3. 2 average number of callers waiting to place an order (c) Radovilsky’s is considering adding a second clerk to take calls. The store’s cost would be the same $10 per hour. Should it hire another clerk? Explain your decision. Yes they should hire another clerk because the customer average wait time and average number of callers waiting to place an order indicate that a second representative is needed. BADM 3601 – Operations Management Assignmen Statistics show that students arrive at a rate of four per hour, and the distribution is approximately Poisson. Assistance time averages 10 minutes, distributed exponentially. Assume population and line length can be infinite and queue discipline is FCFS. Using this information, answer the following questions. i. Calculate the percent of utilization of the graduate student P= 4/6 = 2/3 = . 6667 percent utilization ii. Determine the average number of students in the system ?= 4 per hour ?= 6 students helped an hour Ls= 4/ 6-4 = 4/2 = 2 students in the system on average. iii. Calculate the average time in the system Ws= 1/ 6-4 = ? = . 5 hours average time in the system iv. Find out the probability of four or more students being in line or being served P0= 1 – 4/6 = 1- 2/3 = . 33 probability that there are 4 or more students being in line or being served. . Before a test, the arrival of students increases to five per hour on the average. ?Compute the average number of students waiting under this scenario. Lq= 4^2 / 6 (6-4) = 16/ 12= 1. 33 student waiting in line on average. (b) Â  What are the three characteristics of a waiting? line system? 1. Arrivals or inputs to the system: these have characteristics such as population size, behavior, and a statistical distribution. 2. Queue discipline, or the waiting line itself: characteristics of the queue include whether is it limited or unlimited in length and the discipline of people or items in it. . The service facility: its characteristics include its design and the statistical distribution of service times. —————————————————————————————– Question 2. Radovilsky’s Department Store in Haywood, California, maintains a successful catalog sales department in which a clerk takes orders by telephone. If the clerk is occupied on one line, incoming phone calls to the catalog department are answered automatically by a recording machine and asked to wait. As soon as the clerk is free, the party who has waited the longest is transferred and serviced first. Calls come in at a rate of about 12 per hour. The clerk can take an order in an average of 4 minutes. Calls tend to follow a Poisson distribution, and service times tend to be exponential. The cost of the clerk is $10 per hour, but because of lost goodwill and sales, Radovilsky’s loses about $25 per hour of customer time spent waiting for the clerk to take an order. ?= 12 ? = 15 (a) What is the average time that catalog customers must wait before their calls are transferred to the order clerk? Wq= 12/ 15 (15-12) = . 2667 average time to wait before transferred (b) What is the average number of callers waiting to place an order? Lq = 12^2 / 15 (15- 12) = 3. 2 average number of callers waiting to place an order (c) Radovilsky’s is considering adding a second clerk to take calls. The store’s cost would be the same $10 per hour. Should it hire another clerk? Explain your decision. Yes they should hire another clerk because the customer average wait time and average number of callers waiting to place an order indicate that a second representative is needed.

Plant Biology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Plant Biology - Essay Example According to Jimmy Botella, a professor of Plant Biotechnology in University of Queensland, untraditional or genetically modified foods do not automatically mean they are threats to humans. This type of modification already existed decades ago. However, according to Botella, there are more threats to humans caused by nature or natural products such as tsunami, malaria and paralysis than GMOs. Cassava, a natural crop, causes limb paralysis if not properly processed. Genetically modified foods are seen to be threat by people who refuse to accept changes, afraid to grasp the progress in technology or simply because they are â€Å"new.† Most of these people claim that these are unacceptable because they are not naturally produced and some claims these foods are not made by God. They cannot scientifically prove that GMOs are not safe or that these pose threats to consumers. Therefore, in answer to the question whether the United States Government should have a certification program for foods containing genetically modified ingredients, I totally believe that certification program will help the citizens be informed that GMOs are safe to eat and can supply the energy needed by our bodies. This certification program can eliminate the negative thinking or belief of the people regarding this kind of food if scientifically proved that GMOs are safe to eat and will pass the certification programs and

THE DEVILS BRIGADE Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

THE DEVILS BRIGADE - Research Paper Example One of the major milestones in this journey was the establishment of the First Special Service, otherwise called the Devil’s Brigade or the Black Devils’ Brigade. The special unit among the United States forces was formed in the course of the World War II. Initially, the plan was to incorporate Canada and Norway in establishing a special elite force that would help in the activities of the war. However, Norwegian forces withdrew leading to collaboration between the United States Forces and Canada1. The conception of the idea to establish a special elite unit in the Army and the subsequent implementation took place between March and July 1942. This period was characterized by extensive research by a British scientist and extensive analysis by United States commanders. The special unit started their training in Montana at Fort William Henry Harrison before moving to other areas such as Camp Bradford and Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont. The forces lasted for the period between July 1942 and December 1944.1 The unit had three battalions made up of Canadian and American volunteers who engaged in intensive training in skiing, parachuting, amphibian warfare, mountain and demolition operations among other specialized skills. The elite forces were distinct, from their bi-national uniform to their specialized fighting skills. The soldiers engaged with war in Italy and Southern France before their disbandment late 19441. History The historical perspective of the First Special Service dates back in March 1942. The United States forces were allied to the British forces. A British Combined Forces Scientist, Geoffrey Pyke conceived the idea of establishing a special unit that would be capable of among other fighting activities engages enemies under harsh weather conditions in winter. Pyke’s proposed Plough Project involved the creation of traceable vehicles, designed to carry the soldiers and their war paraphernalia across the surface filled with snow. He pre sented the idea to the chief of the Combined Forces, Lord Louis Mountbatten and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill both of whom admired the idea. Pyke’s idea was sold to the United States Chief of Staff, General George Marshall due to several constrains by the combined forces and Britain. The Canadian Department of Munitions and supply came up with a vehicle called ‘the penguin’ while United States engaged its automobile manufactures through the National Research council in developing a vehicle that was named ‘Weasel’2. In embracing the idea, the United States decided to collaborate with Canadian and Norwegian Forces in establishing the Unit. Unfortunately, the Norweian forces failed to participate. The recruitment for the soldiers in was done on voluntary basis, advertisements were rolled calling on young people between ages 21 and 35 years with special preference given to the hunters, lumberjacks, rangers, game wardens among others2. Cana dian commitment was declared on 26th June, 1942 after which the Minister of National Defence of Canada authorized a battalion of six hundred and ninety seven Canadian soldiers for training in the United States on July 14th, 1942. The project was scheduled to start in

International marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

International marketing - Assignment Example The Korean consumer class is able to purchase the product as it is affordable and consumable with 90% craving it and 50% consuming it each day. Its benefits have been found to be such as the reduction of blood pressure and dark chocolate has flavanoids that are good for ones health. The main companies in Korea are Orion, Nong Shim, Lotte confectionery and Crown Snack and they dominate the confectionery sector. However, there is potential for growth in this industry as the market is still small as compared to that of other countries providing Haigh’s a large market that has a great potential for expansion. This is further boosted by the fact that among the countries that Korea imports chocolates from, Australia ranks third and Haigh’s already has an established reputation in Australia. The fact that Haigh’s chocolate has been in business since 1915 gives them a competitive advantage that has equipped the company with the data and knowledge of how the industry works. More so, Haigh’s chocolate already has a reputation for manufacturing and selling high quality chocolates. Chocolate Business In Korea — Presentation Transcript, 2009. Chocolate Business In Korea, Immersion Week Program in 2009. [Online] Retrieved on 17th April:

The Development of Amazon.com in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Development of Amazon.com in Europe - Essay Example They expanded their Seattle distribution center, and added a center in Maryland. This allowed them to offer speedy delivery to customers in the east and in the west. In 1997 they added additional product lines, music and DVDs, but in 1998 it was evident that other online companies such as Buy.com, BarnesandNoble.com and CDNow were offering serious competition. Amazon.com chose to expand quickly to offset competition, adding several product lines. By 1999 in addition to books and music, the company offered video, drugstore, auctions, electronics and toys, software and video games, home improvement, lawn, patio, health, beauty, kitchen, and in 2000 partnered with ToysRUs and launched a computer category (Hammond & Chiron). By that time, their distribution centers had been increased throughout the country. The addition of cell phones, used products, and e-book store increased their volume. The company utilized Six Sigma (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) to improve their i nventory and record accuracy, finding their errors reduced by 50% in a year. With global marketing the way of the future, however, Amazon chose to expand into the European market and found it necessary to meet different challenges. Challenges Addressed in Amazon.eu It was quickly evident that methods that were successful in the United States would not work in Europe. The first challenge was to standardize and improve supply chain processes across Europe in the areas of vendor management, sales and operations planning, customer backlogs, and inventory management. Tom Taylor, Director of European Supply Chain Operations managed to meet these challenges by 2003 (Hammond & Chiron 209). In the meantime, other challenges had to be addressed beyond their acquisition of major online companies in Germany and the UK. For one thing, Germany had only one wholesaler and France had none so different acquisition methods had to be found. Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de offered only books in 1998, adding music in October 1999 and auctions and zshops in November 1999. Amazon quickly became a leading online bookstore in UK and Germany. In September 2000 Amazon entered the French market with Amazon.fr built from scratch and offering books, music, video, and DVD produc t lines all at the same time. Amazon Japan was launched in November 2000 and the international segment of Amazon was beginning to represent a significant portion of Amazon's total revenue. Europeans, however, were less likely to have credit cards, less experience with mail-order shopping, and were more conservative in their shopping habits. In 2000 German retailers were not allowed to discount the price of books, and some online privacy issues were more sensitive in Europe than in the U.S., necessitating an agreement between EU and US government on treatment of personal and confidential data.

Globalization and Impact on Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Globalization and Impact on Companies - Essay Example The major problems faced by the MNCs in the current era are  Problems associated with differences in the culture across the national borders. It is very decisive to recognize that key to winning globalization lies in both economic cultural aspects. Due to cultural differences, the workforce within an organization cannot converse with each other efficiently then this obstructs the overall efficiency of the company. Human resource (HR) management becomes highly complex for the company’s that operates across different markets. There are problems faced by the HR managers in while coordinating diversity in workplaces. Lesser diversity in organizations lowers its business efficiency (International Labour Organisation, 2004). This model will help to analyze that since globalization, the business expansion process of a firm in the international market, makes it go through structural changes. This implies that at different stages of business internationalization, the multinational co rporations (MNCs) should go through separate organizational structures (Veder, 2008). At this stage, an MNC either only increases its geographical spread of business or increases product diversity. If the geographical spread is diversified, then the companies entail less product diversity. However, if the product diversity is more, the firms expand its business within the limited geographical spread.If the scope of internationalization is wide, then a firm should not allocate much money is product diversification. This is because under such cases the strategy of expansion should be guided by duplication or coordination. Hence the firms should encourage specialization of its factors of production under this strategy (Schenk, 2011).  

Smart Form Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Smart Form - Assignment Example The current approach of using a combined qualitative and quantitative research methodology is not capturing the most elusive aspects of offender’s motivations, their own attitudes. Previous studies indicate that female offenders choose to relapse for associative and belongingness needs while men continually seek to assert dominance and defiance through drug abuse (Pelissier, Jones, 2005). The methodology needs to include an attitudinal scaling component that captures how the women offenders perceive the trigger events and conditions that lead to relapse. Evaluate the weaknesses of your project at this time. Indicate areas to be improved before starting your project and areas that cannot be improved. Give reasons for not redesigning to address any of the limitations identified. The ideal evaluation methodology consists of the use of experimental designs, quasi-experimental, and qualitative evaluations. Because of time constraints in the completion of the change project, this was not feasible. Data was extracted from one organization, and therefore it may be hard to generalize the success of the change project. Also, there was not an adequate sample of participants in the relapse prevention workshops. Other agencies with varying client populations, and mandatory versus voluntary participation could have been included. According to Babbie (2007), the problem of internal validity refers to the possibility that the conclusions drawn from experimental results may not accurately reflect what has gone on in the experiment itself. Sojourners’ Place currently houses 10 women residents, with the remaining beds going to men. There are approximately 50 beds in total at the facility. Data analysis occurs after the completion of data collection. It will be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data will include the use of inferential statistics or descriptive statistics while the qualitative data will be analyzed using an inductive

Enron Corporate Culture Essay Example for Free

Enron Corporate Culture Essay Bench was founded in the Philippines by Ben Chan in 1987 originally selling men’s t-shirt in small retail stores. The brand is registered under the trademark of Suyen Corporation. The brand also grew on providing ladies’ line, underwear, fragrances, house wares, snacks, and a wide array of other lifestyle products, Kyle Marco P. de Vera, Justin Andrew Lawrence L. Rigor and Jolo Marco R. Tayag are junior students from the Department of Marketing and Corporate Communications in San Beda College AY: 2012-2013. The researchers have equally contributed to the fulfillment of the research with the help and advice of Dr. Jennifer T. Ramos. with the distinction of being present in virtually every retail space in the Philippines, and with a worldwide network of stores and outlets, reaching as far as the United States, the Middle East, and China. It has also been a pioneer to the use of celebrity endorsers, television, and giant billboards to push for a fashion brand that offers premium quality products at affordable prices in the market. By multiple product line and brand extensions, Bench was able to go through demographic divisions such as age, gender, socioeconomic status having â€Å"Bench is forever† as the company’s article of faith. Emerging as a global brand, Bench has 610 stores worldwide, 67 internationally 543 locally. (Adapted from Bench’s Website) Growing globally resulted to creating new product lines and extensions of the Brand; known for being an apparel brand, Bench as a product-oriented company have evolved into being a market oriented brand not only selling clothes but also extending to the market’s needs in terms of lifestyle such as food and personal care. One of Bench’s promising extensions is Bench Fix, aside from the Fix salon, hair wax is also one of the commonly sought product today in their offerings. Many companies or brand today have been adapting to the trends and needs of the society, by utilizing the brand that they have established in the market, they make their offerings relevant at the fast changing time. Product-line and brand extensions do not only create new markets but it is also one of the strategies in maximizing brand equity to survive in the competitive industry. The intention of the study is to know whether Bench is a strong Brand, by assessing its brand equity, brand positioning and competitiveness in the market and eventually make realizations for other pioneered and extending brand entities. The researchers got interested with this particular study because they want to discover whether a local brand of apparel like Bench, can be a strong brand and if it can be as appealing as those of the foreign brands that Filipinos patronize. Operational Framework Input Process Output Figure 1. 1 showed the three variables that have been assessed to know whether Bench is a strong brand, it can be measured through the independent variables, and these are the brand equity, the brand positioning and how Bench deals with the competition. The dependent variable is Bench being a strong brand because it has been the variable subject for result. The figure also displayed the process that the researchers have worked on. The research is a descriptive type of study. Survey was used to gather quantitative data which had been interpreted by its corresponding verbal interpretations. The person triangulation was intended to check and balance the consumers’ evaluation and be able to supplement qualitative data. Conceptual Framework This concept was adapted from , which suggested that a strong brand is manifested through the following indicators; Strong Brand Equity, Strong and Clear Brand Positioning, and Competitiveness. The main problem of the study is to know whether Bench is a strong brand. It specifically seeks to answer these following questions: 1. What is the assessment of the consumers to Bench’s brand equity? a. Brand Awareness b. Perceived Quality c. Brand Loyalty d. Brand Association 2. What is the consumers’ assessment on Bench’s brand positioning level? a. Attribute b. Benefits c. Beliefs and Values 3. How does Bench deal with the competition? a. The relative strengths and weaknesses of competition. b. The marketing strategies of their competition. Assumptions were used in this study. The researchers assumed that the product line and brand extensions of Bench are only categorized into accessories, apparel, personal care, footwear and food that the consumers have assessed in the questionnaire. They also assumed the determinants used in assessing the brand positioning. The researchers presumed that the close competitors of Bench are Folded Hung, Mint, Penshoppe, and People are People. The researchers assumed that Bench is not a strong brand. The study will benefit local competitive company brands to push for a more valuable product and service to create stronger brands enabling them to prepare for product and brand extensions so that they can survive long in the competitive market, not only that they will focus on their current products and services but they can also focus on the other needs and interests of the market. This study will also be able to provide companies and researchers a basis for assessing whether a brand is strong or not. The study will also benefit Bench, because the study will be able to provide an insight with regards to the brand’s current standing and be able to help them identify their existing constraints that inhibit their full brand development. To the researchers, the study will serve as ground for development, as future marketers. This research will be a good foundation for their career. In this study they will be able to assess, select, and apply carefully theories and concepts that they have learned and to the future researchers, the study will be a good source of information if ever it will relate to their topic well. The researchers are expecting that this will be available to the public since the current researchers also had a hard time finding local studies, this will be a good reference for them. Hopefully, the future researchers will be able to improve on this study and also be aspired to help other local researchers as well. It will also benefit the consumers, with the study conducted they will be able to learn and explore more of a brand’s offerings in the market. With more choices, variation in the brand, it will likely improve their buying behavior as to how they manage their lifestyle of selection and consumption. The scope of this study was limited on the assessment of the indicators of a strong brand, which was adopted from Armstrong and Kotler, namely; brand equity, brand positioning, and how a brand deals with competition in the market. The researchers were only focused on Bench as subject. With regards to the quantitative data, there is an ideal number of one hundred (100) respondents composed of buyers and nonusers of the brand to avoid conditional sampling; For the qualitative data, one (1) of Bench’s brand manager and one (1) brand manager of Bench’s competitor has been interviewed, particularly Folded Hung. Because the study is only good for duration of five (5) months, it has to meet with the researchers’ convenience. The researchers are bounded by time financial difficulty, respondents and lack of expertise. Review of Related Literature Building a Brand, a Strong One Brands play an important role in the purchasing decision of the product or service . Companies establish a brand primarily because they want to be considered a reference for customers when purchasing or availing products and services. Like what have said in their study, brands act as shorthand in the consumer’s minds so that they do not have to think much about their purchase decision. Being a reference provider, the brands are the interface between consumers and the company; on the other hand consumers are subject to commit to brands. Since brand is a cluster of functional and emotional values that promises a unique welcome experience (Chang Liu, 2009) and are fundamentally about relationships, these should form the main source of any company’s connection to the customers so that a brand may be able to avoid negative perception and aim for positive feedbacks. Brand’s influence is not imposed by the company or the business; rather their relevance depends on the needs and wants of the people because â€Å"the power of the brand lies in the minds of consumers† . â€Å"Brand name alone does not make a brand† one has to be strong enough to develop a market-leading brand capacity that is essential for long-term competitiveness. What is a strong brand anyway? In identifying a strong brand, we have to take in consideration some key indicators of such; high brand equity, brand positioning and competitiveness. The Brand’s Labor: Brand Equity Aaker defines brand equity as a set of assets and liabilities inked to a brand’s name and symbol that adds to or subtracts from the value perceived by a product or service to a firm and or the firm’s customer however Keller defines brand equity as the differential effect of the brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand . Aaker’s definition on brand equity is centered on the consumer’s negative or positive perception attached to the brand while Keller described it as the difference between the business’ projection of the brand on the consumer’s interpretation and perception of the brand. Taking it from a study’s perspective, have suggested that brand equity is the outcome that accrues to a product with its brand name compared with those that would accrue if the same product did not have a brand name, simply put it is the outcome of the overall marketing effort of the brand. Since there is already an evaluation of the product and service, brand equity plays a role in how information is learned and then retrieved and used in making choice . That is why brand equity has emerged as a key strategic asset that needs to be monitored and nurtured for maximum long-term performance . Not only that it serves as an important signal to reduce perceived risk but it is also why considers brand equity as the value of a brand to the firm. According to brands with higher equity have an established strength in the market for they are able to generate higher immediate returns from their marketing mix efforts and higher loyalty brands generate greater stockpiling from promotions. Also have mentioned that buyers respond to branding by purchasing the same products or brands or by showing preference toward a particular brand, bringing firms higher in the market share, higher profits or share value. To sum it all up, brands which have higher equity can get the customer’s preference and tendencies and result in higher level of sale . The concept of brand equity has remained a complex phenomenon for many researchers because of the many associated concepts applicable under it. To understand it fully, the researchers would have to identify its key components. Aaker approaches brand equity as a set of fundamental dimensions grouped into a complex system comprising mainly: brand awareness, brand perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand association. The Impression, Brand Awareness For a brand to sustain a presence in the marketplace, people must be aware of it. As such, at its most basic level, knowledge encompasses brand awareness and the extent to which customers recall and recognize the brand. . To define brand awareness, it is the consumer’s ability to identify the brand and can be measured with the help of brand recall and brand recognition. Brand recall is the ability of consumers to retrieve the brand from memory, when the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or some other type of probe, is given as a cue. Brand recognition reflects the ability of consumers to confirm prior exposure to the brand . It is also the extent to which a person able to recognize a particular brand given a set of brands according to . According to the role of brand awareness in building brand equity depends on the strength of the brand’s presence in the consumers’ mind and with that brand awareness had become a vital factor to influence the buying decisions and purchase intentions . It also enhances the prospects of being considered in the future purchase situations. . But awareness alone is not enough according to for the initial work was found that awareness alone was not adequate to build brand understanding. It will also need help of the other brand equity’s dimensions. Perceived Quality: The Judgment To sustain one’s presence in the market, awareness had been the founding principle to perform such but is the image just right to deliver positive quality perception that may even push more knowledgeable consumers to buy or purchase products. Perceived Quality is defined as the customer’s judgment of performance of a performance excellence of a product or service relative to the expectations of quality (Balaji, 2011). In other words perceived brand quality represents consumers’ view of how well a brand meets their requirement and expectations . According to , he stated that â€Å"perceived quality also represent consumers’ judgments regarding a brand’s overall superiority†. To add on Huang’s study, said that consumers’ apparel purchase decisions may be more likely to be influenced by their perceptions of apparel attributes such as price, quality, and style than by their concerns about the ethnical conditions under which apparel is or was produced. Perceived quality is a consumer’s subjective judgment about products or services . It is personal and irrational, quality may only equate to a certain features and benefits that are unique or different from others and these qualities may not be of standard or preference of one prospect, meaning a brand may only be able to be successful if they impress the right people or the target market per se. Brand Association: The Synapse Associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organization members. This means that brand association is something that provides meaning to a brand . In other words, brand association are ideas or descriptions consumers can relate with the product or service offered by the brand. Other definition of brand association stated by and is that it is anything linked in the memory of the consumers to the brand and the thoughts that come up to mind after brand or offering is recalled. Brand associations help consumers retrieve and process information and evoke a positive effect and cognitive considerations of the benefits . By convenience, brand association can actually make the product information more accessible that it can influence faster purchase decisions of consumers. Brand Loyalty: The Corner Stone Another dimension of brand equity is brand loyalty. To define brand loyalty on understanding, it is â€Å"a deeply commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, causing repetitive same brand or same brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior†. In relation to the study, mentioned that loyalty is understood to be a long term attachment to a firm and it is considered to be intimately linked to consumer based brand equity. Now how can brand loyalty be of use, brand loyalty is of strategic importance for companies to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage because it is considered as one of the most important factors affecting consumer choice according to and. In identifying loyalty, satisfaction strength is a vital determinant because it plays a crucial role in the translation of stated satisfaction into customer loyalty and research of indicates that though satisfaction is link to some aspects of loyalty, its impact may depend on facets of the prior relational experience. In addition, the authors anticipate that satisfaction strength will influence both loyalty and the translation of satisfaction into loyalty, also suggested that the willingness of individual consumers, employees, friends the investor personal sacrifices in order to strengthen the relationship may help. One of brand loyalty’s substance is, Brand self-connection wherein according to is the idea that attachment involves a bond with the brand included as part of the self; it suggests that a critical aspect of attachment involves the cognitive and emotional connection between the brand and the self. That’s why trust in a brand is important and is a key factor in the development of brand loyalty according to because it can result to customer retention. In metaphor, brand loyalty is the cornerstone of brand equity and brand itself. Brand Positioning According to marketers need to position their brands clearly to target costumer’s minds at the lowest level; they can position the brand on product attributes. However attributes are the least desirable level for brand positioning. A brand can be better positioned by associating its name with a desirable benefit. The strongest brands go beyond attribute or benefit positioning. They are positioned on a strong beliefs and values. They explained the concept of brand positioning in terms of its three levels. The brand must be aligned to its goals and prospect consumers in order to be positioned well in the market. Like what have mentioned in their study, consistency in value delivered helps brand providers understand the value targets and helps customers understand the brand positioning. In the study of , they stated that it is important for businesses to create attraction in their brand to be better positioned than their competitors. In return, when a brand has a relative advantage in consumers’ mind, its market share should increase or at least not decrease . The study of mentioned that positioning is a very left brained phenomenon, where brands are narrowly defined by either personality or benefits. When one defines brands so rigidly, the advertising gets predictable, and there’s no margin for creativity or expansion. Fluid nature and flexibility is one of the ways for brands to survive. Brand belief works by tracking a particular brand also by trying to see it in the context of other brands of the same category, the comparison creates a distinct positioning. Advantages to Competition

Corporate Restructuring As A Strategic Decision Management Essay

Corporate Restructuring As A Strategic Decision Management Essay The interrelationships between organisation, strategic management and business environmental conditions have been enduring themes of organisation and management theory over the last 4 decades, and restructuring has emerged as a significant mechanism in the successful adaptation of organisations to environmental influences (Clark, 2004). The 1980s were characterised by a wave of important restructuring activities, this wave has become increasingly common during the 1990s (Lin, Lee Peterson, 2006; Park Kim, 2008). The concept of restructuring is still a matter of debate and controversy because of the modernity of the subject. Bowman and Singh (1993) described restructuring as change aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of management teams performance through considerable changes in organisational structure. Staniforth (1994) defined restructuring as opportunities for change, improvements in the organisation, and to achieve the benefits of cost, the benefits of strategic d ecision-making, the benefits of communication, and other benefits to the organisation. Restructuring is a fundamental change that significantly affects the organisation, and takes place either at the organisational level or radically reorganising activities and relationships at the business unit level (Alkhafaji, 2001). Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson (2001) argued that restructuring is a strategy through which the organisation can change its financial or commercial position. Stevenson, Bartunek and Borgatti (2003) described restructuring as attempts to get people within the organisation to work more closely together. Restructuring is a purposeful strategic option for organisation renewal (Brauer, 2006), typically includes a set of activities such as downsizing, sale of a business line, closures or consolidation of facilities, business relocation, or changes in management structure, which often occur as part of organisational strategies intended to improve efficiency, control costs, and adapt to an ever changing business environment (Lin, Lee Peterson, 2006). Thus, modifications of the organisations assets, capital structure, and organisational structure fall into the general concept of corporate restructuring (Singh, 1993; Bowman et al., 1999). Restructuring refers to the transformation of corporate structure (Bowman Singh, 1990), organisational re-configuration (Bowman Singh, 1993), refocusing (Markides, 1995), down scoping (Hitt et al., 1994; Johnson, 1996), and patching (Eisenhardt Brown, 1999; Siggelkow, 2002). The term restructuring is mainly used to denote considerable changes in the assets and structural components of organisations through conscious managerial actions. Bowman and Singh (1990) claimed that restructuring is aimed at achieving individual, financial, strategic, and/or operational goals and objectives. Bowman et al. (1999), differentiate three key forms of restructuring: portfolio restructuring, related to the changes in the portfolios of businesses held by diversified organisations, including acquisitions, mergers, divestitures etc. ; financial restructuring, which includes considerable changes in the capital structure of an organisation, and organisational restructuring, which includes significant changes in the organisational structure of the organisation, including divisional redesign and downsizing. Advocates of corporate restructuring argue that the result of restructuring activities is a leaner and more efficient corporate (Singh, 1993). Critics, however, contend that restructuring damages the organisation and its internal and external stakeholders (Seth Easterwood, 1993). 2.2.4.2 Key Drivers of Restructuring: In the 1960s and 1970s, several organisations diversified their business predominantly via the acquisition of businesses unrelated to their core activities, thus frequently realising conglomerate status (Shleifer Vishny, 1991; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Davis, Diekmann, Tinsley, 1994; Servaes, 1996; Johnson, 1996; Bergh, 2001). During the 1980s and 1990s, many diversified organisations were reorganised as a result of organisational refocusing initiatives intended to cut down both the breath of organisation portfolios (i.e., lower levels of diversification) and overall organisation size, thus eventually translating into organisations holding more related diversified activities (Williams, Paez Sanders, 1988; Markides, 1992; Davis, Diekmann, Tinsley, 1994; Kose Ofek, 1995; Comment Jarrell, 1995; Berger Ofek, 1995; Johnson, 1996, Cascio, 2002, Park Kim, 2008). A related diversified business is one in which the company controls businesses that share similarities in markets, products, and/or technologies with the intent of allowing organisation management to take advantage of the interrelationships between the related businesses (Rumelt, 1974; Palepu, 1985; Hoskisson Hitt, 1990; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994). As already mentioned, a multitude of theoretical and empirical investigations into the antecedents of restructuring have shown that different factors precipitate corporate restructuring. Restructuring literature reveals that there are four key drivers of restructuring. 2.2.4.2.1 The Agency justification: The premier justification as to why companies engage in restructuring is in response to less than acceptable performance (Montgomery, Thomas Kamath, 1984; Duhaime Grant, 1984; Hoskisson, Johnson Moesel, 1994; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Markides, 1995; Johnson, 1996; Markides Singh, 1997, Filatotchev, Buck, Zhukov, 2000, Love Nohria, 2005; Perry Shivdasani, 2005; DSouza, Megginson, Nash, 2007; Hsieh, 2010). In other words, a company divests organisational assets with the intent of improving organisational performance, whether it is their organisational performance in respect to competitors, the overall industry, or a predetermined objective (Greve, 1998). Research has undoubtedly demonstrated that organisations engaged in restructuring often are performing unsatisfactorily prior to the initiation of corporate restructuring (Duhaime Grant, 1984; Montgomery, Thomas Kamath, 1984; Sicherman Pettway, 1987; Duhaime Baird, 1987; Ravenscraft Scherer, 1987; Montgomery Thomas, 1988; H oskisson Johnson, 1992; Markides, 1992; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Hoskisson, Johnson Moesel, 1994; Lang, Poulson Stulz, 1995; Markides, 1995; Johnson, 1996; Markides Singh, 1997; Bowman et al., 1999; Bergh, 2001; Love Nohria, 2005; Perry Shivdasani, 2005; DSouza, Megginson, Nash, 2007; Hsieh, 2010). The majority of large organisations exhibit periodic corporate restructuring involving simultaneous changes in strategy, organisational structure, management systems, and corporate top management members. Such corporate restructuring usually follows declining organisational performance (Grant, 2008). Jain (1985), for example, found that organisation performance began to suffer nearly a year prior to restructuring and caused negative excess stock return of 10.8% within the period of one year prior to the restructuring. Such evaluations of ones own organisational performance are considerable since sound organisational performance is required to ensure the sustenance and survival of the corporate (Child, 1972), as well as offering feedback to the organisations as to the viability of their plans (Cyert March, 1963). Thompson (1967) notes that publicly traded organisations closely monitor changes in the value of their stock since the market exhibits a visible social judgment about the organisations fitness for the organisational future. The agency justification of restructuring, poor organisational performance as an antecedent of restructuring (Ravenscraft Scherer, 1987; Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Hoskisson Hitt, 1994; Markides Singh, 1997; Filatotchev, Buck, Zhukov, 2000) has become the leading justification in the literature to account for the corporate restructuring wave of the 1980s. Mainly, this rationale claims that organisation performance needs to be improved as a direct outcome of past managerial incompetence, which includes excessive levels of diversification, inappropriate diversification, unprofitable investments, and substandard investments in RD. For example, it is argued that decision makers frequently increased organisation size and levels of diversification without comparable increases in organisation value (Jensen, 1986; Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Jensen, 1993; Johnson, 1996). Moreover, it is argued that strategic decision makers have the opportunity to diversify their firms even when doing so does not enhance the market value of the organisation because their personal wealth is associated more with organisation size than to organisation performance (Jensen Meckling, 1976; Amihud Lev, 1981; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993). Grant, Jammine and Thomas (1988) found that increased degrees of diversification gave rise to decreased organisations returns, thus implying that, over time, strategic decision makers sacrificed performance for diversification and growth. Empirical studies (e.g., Rumelt, 1974; Wernerfelt Montgomery, 1988; Lubatkin Chatterjee, 1991; Palich, Cardinal, Miller, 2000; Bergh, 2001; Mayer Whittington, 2003) have substantiated such a conclusion by arguing that organisations pursuing a organisational strategy of unrelated diversification possess lower market returns than organisations pursuing related diversification and growth strategies. Supporter of the agency justification suggest that such managerial inefficiencies occur considerably as a consequence of agency costs (i.e., enlarged managerial consumption of organisational resources resulting from poor, or ineffective governance systems). Essentially, this perspective argues that the board of directors, ownership concentration, and decision makers incentives were inefficient and led to the failure of organisational governance as a mechanism (Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Jensen, 1993; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993; Gibbs, 1993; Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994; Johnson, Daily, Ellstrand, 1996; Johnson, 1996; Chatterjee Harrison, 2001). Although never clearly clarified in the literature, poor governance is believed to be identified by diffusion of shareholdings among foreign owners, certain characteristics of strategic decision makers (e.g., insignificant equity ownership by strategic decision makers and board members or an insignificant number of outsiders sitting on the bo ard), and decision makers and board members passivity (Johnson, Hoskisson, Hitt, 1993; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993; Gibbs, 1993; Johnson, 1996; Westphal Fredrickson, 2001; Dalton et al, 2003). Thus, the agency perspective has made restructuring synonymous with poor corporate governance (Hoskisson Turk, 1990; Bethel Liebeskind, 1993; Markides Singh, 1997). 2.2.4.2.2 The Mimicry Justification: It is argued that organisations restructure as a consequence of mimicking the behaviour of other firms that are engaged in the divestiture activities (Markides Singh, 1997). In line with mimetic isomorphism (DiMaggio Powell, 1983; Oliver, 1991), this perspective claims that organisations, either intentionally or unintentionally, engage in mimicry of organisational patterns of other actors in their networks who are realised as more successful or legitimate. Strategic decision makers engaged in such imitation consider that their actions will be perceived as rational (Meyer Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio Powell, 1983). Such claims were adopt by Davis, Diekmann, and Tinsley (1994) in their justification of the decline of the conglomerate organisation in the United States of America during the period of 1980s. 2.2.4.2.3 The Environmental Justification: Scholars (e.g., Meyer, Brooks, Goes, 1990; Grinyer McKiernan, 1990; Hoskisson Hitt, 1990; Shleifer Vishny, 1991; Kose, Lang Netter, 1992; Chatterjee, 1992; Johnson, 1996; Bergh Lawless, 1998; Robinson Shimizu, 2006; Park, 2007; Park Kim, 2008; Nag Pathak, 2009) have suggested that environmental circumstances serve as antecedents to increased corporate restructuring. It is argued that antitrust policy shifts, tax rationales, junk bond financing, intense competition, deregulation, technology developments and changes, and takeover activities through the market for organisational control are reasons for the significant increase in corporate restructuring activity in the 1980s (Johnson, 1996). A synthesis of studies exploring such associations suggests that changes in the environmental conditions, which increase environmental uncertainty or turbulence, result in a greater likelihood of corporate restructuring. Grinyer McKiernan (1990), for example, suggested that corporate restructuring may result from changes in the industrial sector that create an aspiration-induced crisis built on the current organisational performance or market share and where strategic decision makers believe the firm ought to be. Further support of the environmental conditions argument was conducted by Meyer, Brooks and Goes (1990) who explored organisational strategic responses to discontinuous change at the industrial sector level. They explored the hospital industry in San Francisco state, which was facing considerable environmental turbulence, which led to excess capacity, regulatory changes, and resource scarcity. To deal with these environmental changes the hospital industry engaged in spin-of fs of unnecessary areas, underwent divestitures of peripheral activities, and created networks among the hospitals to respond to the need for managed health care in the San Francisco state. Moreover, a third study to justify the environmental conditions perspective was offered by Bergh and Lawless (1998), who explored external uncertainty and its influence on the strategic decisions the organisation makes. Their study suggested that organisations experienced with highly uncertain circumstances engage in divestitures to cut down the expenses of managing a diverse portfolio. Scholars (e.g., Garvin, 1983; Ito, 1995, Campa Kedia, 2002; Rose Ito, 2005) have contended that restructuring can be a reaction to shocks in the external environment. Dodonova and Khoroshilov (2006) found that divestiture activities tend to occur during economic booms, whereas Campa and Kedia (2002) suggested the opposite. Divestiture activities seem more likely to occur in ever-changing business environments and highly competitive markets (Ito, 1995; Eisenhardt Brown, 1999). Because large organisations form significant parts of the task environments of other firms, one organisations restructuring may tend to create environmental instability for other firms, particularly those in the same industrial sector. Such claim is explicit in Brown and Eisenhardts (1998) perspective of strategy as structured chaos. They argue that the best-performing organisations consistently lead change in their industrial sectors. According to Brown and Eisenhardts (1998) theory, such organisations dominate their markets. In fact, these organisations become the environment for others. Not only do they lead environmental change, but these organisations also set the rhythm and pace of that environmental change within their industrial sectors (Brown Eisenhardt , 1998). The role of restructuring in creating environmental turbulence and change is also implicit in the stream of research based on the hyper-competition concept (e.g., DAveni, 1994; Young, Smith, Grimm, 1998; Thomas, 19 98). The primary idea of hyper-competition is that competing firms engage in a continuous series of strategic actions that undercut the key advantages acquired by their competitors (DAveni, 1994; Smith Zeithaml, 1998). Such process is interchangeable, as objectives of competitive initiatives respond to those initiatives with actions of their own, their goals counter-respond, and so on. Therefore, changes in competition are among the most significant environmental factors for strategic decision makers to consider in corporate restructuring (Johnson, 1996). Competition may intensify because of the diversity of strategies by organisations in an industrial sector, a change in the power balance of organisations, and shifts in market demand (Porter, 1980). To cope with the challenges of increasing competition, strategic decision makers of organisations are usually encouraged to take further risk and often respond by corporate restructuring (Cool, Dierickx, Jemison, 1989). According to G rinyer and McKiernan (1990), competitive changes tend to an aspiration-induced crisis. When the competitive environment changes, corporate restructuring helps organisations to realise synergies, allocate resources, and improve organisational performance (Chatterjee, 1986; Hoskisson Hitt, 1988; Bergh, 1995; Bergh 1998). Another significant environmental antecedent of restructuring, the degree of government regulation, is a tool to control high risk-taking at the organisation level: when an economy is greatly regulated, firms are faced with bounded discretion in their strategic decisions (Wiseman Catanach, 1997). The reduction of governmental involvement increases the strategic decision-making discretion of organisations, improves the effectiveness of governance systems, and decreases the barriers to investments (Ramamurti, 2000). On the other hand, reduced governmental intervention increases the degree of uncertainty for organisations due to the increase in the variety of stakeholders, the rise of newly privatised organisation, and a concomitant increase in the probability of bankruptcy (Megginson Netter, 2001). Moreover, regulatory changes are positively associated with changes in organisation risk-taking strategies and behaviour, such as acquisitions (Ginsberg Buchholtz, 1990; Datta, Narayanan, Pinches, 1992). Under deregulation, according to Rajagopalan and Spreitzer (1997), less-focused, defender-like organisations tend to shift to greater focused, prospector-like strategies. 2.2.4.2.4 The Strategic Justification: Scholars suggest that organisation strategy is a driver of restructuring (Montgomery, Thomas, Kamath, 1984; Duhaime Grant, 1984; Baysinger Hoskisson, 1989; Markides, 1992; Markides, 1995; Johnson, 1996). In other words, restructuring may be associated with an organisations corporate or business level strategy. The strategic perspective claims that organisations decide to restructure for either corrective or proactive goals. Corrective divestiture activities are intended to make up for former strategic mistakes (Porter, 1987; Hitt et al, 1996), to reduce exaggerated diversification (Markides, 1992; Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994), to refocus on core activities and businesses (Markides, 1992; Seth Easterwood, 1993), to react to an increase in industrial sector competition (Aron, 1991), to realign organisation strategy with the organisations identity (Mitchell, 1994; Zuckerman, 2000), to eliminate negative alliances (Miles Rosenfeld, 1983; Rosenfeld, 1984), or to deal with organ isational problems such as bad organisational governance (Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994). On the other hand, the target of proactive divestitures is to restructure the organisational portfolio (Hitt et al., 1996; Bowman et al., 1999) by routinely redesigning, splitting, changing or exiting activities and businesses to cope with changing environment opportunities (Eisenhardt Brown, 1999; Siggelkow, 2002). This restructuring is aimed at creating a more efficient organisational governance system ( Seward Walsh, 1996), improving organisational profitability and performance (Woo, Willard, Daellenbach, 1992; Mitchell, 1994; Fluck Lynch, 1999; Haynes, Thompson, Wright, 2002), obtaining more cash flow (Jensen, 1989; Hitt et al., 1996), decreasing high level of debit (Montgomery, Thomas, Kamath, 1984; Hitt et al, 1996; Allen McConnell, 1998) or tax payments (Schipper Smith, 1986; John, 1993; Vijh, 2002), acquiring better business contracts from regulators (Schipper Smith, 1986; Woo, Willard, Daellenbach, 1992), or enhancing organisational entrepreneurship and innovativeness (Garvin, 1983; Cassiman Ueda, 2006). From a strategic view, most divesting organisations seem to be more diversified than their industrial sector counterparts (Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994; Haynes, Thompson, Wright, 2003). Over-diversification pushes an organisation toward de-conglomeration and de-diversification as a correction of its strategic decisions and choices. Nevertheless, in very specific contexts, divestiture processes are also used to improve diversification (such as spin-offs processes in Japan) (Ito, 1995). Over-diversification decreases innovation and entrepreneurial spirit within organisations. Extremely diversified organisations tend to give priority to financial controls, to ignore strategic controls and therefore create less organisational innovation (Hitt et al., 1996), and to enlarge managerial risk aversion (Hoskisson, Johnson, Moesel, 1994). Thus, according to Garvin (1983), an organisation may engage in unbundling processes to enhance its entrepreneurial spirit and its organisational innov ation, or to enter technology-based and immature activities. Spin-offs processes, for example, can be used to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and organisational innovation in the divested business unit, while the parent gains some advantages from the new product, service, or technology developed in the independent organisation (Garvin, 1983). 2.2.5 Linkage Between Environmental Conditions, Decision Makers, and Restructuring as a Strategic Decision: The antecedents of restructuring show that restructuring is a strategic phenomenon. There are several postulates underlie such a perspective. The first postulate is that strategic restructuring decision is typically an organisational response to changing internal and/or external conditions. The second postulate is that internal and external pressures and influences are largely, but not totally, clear and identifiable in initiating such strategic restructuring. The third postulate is that numerous organisations currently experience these clear pressures and influences for a strategic adaptive response, and that large numbers of these firms seek to respond by strategic restructuring. A fourth and final postulate is that corporate restructuring generally improves organisation performance. Taken together, these postulates form the basis for a strategic view on corporate restructuring; in other words, that there are forces, pressures, and influences that provide a stimulus for strategic r estructuring, that these pressures affect several organisations, large numbers of whom respond by corporate restructuring, which improves organisational performance. However, two important questions should be raised: how do you decide which restructuring strategy to apply to which organisation? And what are the key factors affecting the strategic decision-making process and consequently restructuring decision as strategic choice? Although external environment has been identified as a significant variable in explaining numerous organisational phenomena (Jones, Jacobs, Spijker, 1992), scholars (Hitt Tyler, 1991; Eisenhardt Zbaracki, 1992; Dean Sharfman, 1993; Rajagopalan, Rasheed Datta, 1993, Papadakis Barwise, 1997; Brouthers, Brouthers, Werner, 2000; Hough White, 2003) realise that an organisations economic environment and competitive circumstances alone cannot clearly explain the nature of strategic decisions and its performance outcomes. So, to enhance the performance of their patterns, strategists have begun to focus on the behavioural factors of organisational strategic decision-making. This growing recognition to the significance of the behavioural element has naturally a focus on the individuals characteristics responsible for making these organisational strategic decisions. In public sector organisations the top managers are considered to be responsible for achieving the alignment of the organi sation with its environmental conditions (Andrews, 1971; Child, 1972). These decision makers must gather the significant information by which to make strategic decisions, analyse this input, deduce alternative approaches of action for the organisation, and finally choose and implement a particular strategic action for the organisation. The relationships between strategic decision makers, strategic decision-making processes, and organisational outcomes have been the key focus of top management research. Strategic decision makers, according to this research, do make a difference in the matter of organisation outcomes such as innovation strategies (Bantel Jackson, 1989; Camelo-Ordaz, Hernandez-Lara, Valle-Cabrera, 2005); organisational strategic change (Wiersema Bantel, 1992); and organisational performance (Hambrick Mason, 1984; Murray, 1989; Michel Hambrick, 1992; Peterson et al., 2003; Dwyer, Richard, Chadwick, 2003; Carpenter, Geletkanycz, Sanders, 2004). Such research suggested that certain demographic characteristics of the strategic decision makers (e.g., age, educational level, and tenure) were associated with organisational outcomes. Other scholars (Hitt, Ireland, Palia, 1982; Gupta Govindarajan, 1984; Walsh Seward, 1990; Davis Thompson, 1994; Westphal Fredrickson, 2001) have found that decision m akers characteristics such as experience are linked to the organisational strategic orientations. The empirical relations found between demographic characteristics of decision makers and organisational outcomes suggest that functional backgrounds might have significant ramifications for organisational strategic decision-making. Scholars have found that functional experience tends to restrict the areas to which strategic decision makers pay attention and may lead them to neglect certain stimuli (Beyer et al., 1997). Moreover, managerial experience affects the types of changes that decision makers perceive in the effectiveness of their firm, but not its environment (Waller, Huber, Glick, 1995) Managerial experiences shape the cognitive perspective of strategic decision makers (Hambrick Mason, 1984). The upper echelons theory claims that the strategic decision makers observable experiences affect their orientation and that strategic choice (Hambrick Mason, 1984; Finkelstein Hambrick, 1996; Pansiri, 2007). Therefore, according to Gupta (1984), decision makers differ in the sets of abilities, skills, and views that they bring to a company. Managerial skills, abilities, and perspectives are largely a function of previous functional backgrounds, personal backgrounds, and educational level. In other words, cognitive perspectives brought to bear on strategic decisions are a result of the various experiences that strategic decision makers acquire during their organisational careers (Schwenk, 1988). Research on organisational strategic issue diagnosis has drew attention to how decision makers cognitions can affect several aspects of the organisational strategic decision-making process from environmental scanning (Daft, Sormunen, Parks, 1988; Milliken, 1990; Abiodun, 2009), processing and analysis (Gioia, 1986; Dutton Duncan, 1987; Herrmann Datta, 2005), the evaluation of alternative approaches, and implementation of selected strategic decision (Dutton Jackson, 1987; Ganster, 2005; Kauer, Waldeck, Scha ¨ffer, 2007). Strategic decision makers cognitive perspectives or mental maps represent experientially acquired reference frames which involve sets of different criteria, standards of evaluation, and strategic decision rules that can restrict as well as facilitate the organisational ability to change. While strategic decision makers cognitive perspectives or mental frameworks provide a significant reference point for strategic decision-making, they can also extremely constrain the ability of the organisation to adapt to changing environmental demands. Weick (1979) argued that decision makers act on impoverished perspectives of the world. According to Schwenk (1988) cognitive limitations can thus provide biases into managerial schemata which can negatively influence the nature of strategic decision-making. The experientially acquired nature of strategic decision makers cognitive views makes them probably to be more reflective of previous organisational scenarios and strategic decisions than of present ones. By depending on past images of historical environmental conditions and competitive circumstances, strategic decision makers may not be able to realise or adequately define the need for organisational change. Thus strategic decision makers cognitive perspectives can determine the ability of the firm to cope with changing requirements and times and therefore decision makers can act as a stabilizing power on the organisation. Scholars (e.g. Schwenk, 1984; Wiersema Bantel, 1992; Eisenhardt Zbaracki, 1992; Waller, Huber Glick, 1995; Tyler Steensma, 1998) have argued that strategic decision makers characteristics might limit information search, processing, and/or retrieval in spite of decision makers desire to make strategic decisions according to the environmental requirements and conditions. As stated in social motivation perspective, managers may remain committed to specific courses of action based on their need to sustain consistency (Staw, 1981; Brockner, et al., 1986; Taylor Brown, 1988; Brockner, 1992; Keil, Mann, Rai, 2000; Biyalogorsky, Boulding, Staelin, 2006; Keil, Depledge, Rai, 2007). The incentives and needs that drive managers have significant ramification for strategic decisions: First, strategic decision makers who encounter information consistent with their cognitive perspectives or sets of beliefs will support that information. Second, strategic decision makers who are heavily inve sted in or committed to a specific approach of action are more likely to ignore information that does not consistent with their previous strategic decisions. Finally, only strategic decision makers who are committed to performing under scenarios of change will be willing and receptive to incorporate inconsistent information. Accordingly, research on social motivation argues that strategic decision makers are best at being receptive and willing to information that only marginally deviates from their sets of beliefs, while key changes are more unlikely to be easily incorporated. Moreover, strategic decision makers will probably ignore information that considerably deviates from their cognitive perspectives or sets of beliefs. Finally, Strategic decision makers can become embedded within the corporate routines and organisational processes that contribute to sustaining the status quo (Pfeffer Salancik, 1978; Staw Ross, 1980; Daft Weick, 1984; Tushman Romanelli, 1985). With growing organisational tenure and function experience and considerable familiarity with organisational processes and routines, strategic decision makers become susceptible to the organisational inertias factors. Miller (1991) argued that increasing managerial tenure results in corporate insularity. Over time, corporate exposure tends to lead to consistency to organisational norms and values (Kanter, 1977). Strategic decision makers may act as a stable governance system that determines the organisations ability to change. Decision makers experiences and perspectives reinforce prior courses of organisational strategic decision-making (Staw Ross, 1980). Therefore, managerial turnover provides an important mechanism by which firms can re align themselves with external environmental circumstances (Thompson, 1967; Katz Kahn, 1978; Perrow, 1986). By changing the power distribution within the firm, thus influencing the dynamics of strategic decision-making processes (Pfeffer Salancik, 1978), managerial turnover serves as a key force to overcome organisational resistance and inertia (Tushman Romanelli, 1985). Moreover, managerial turnover, according to Wiersema and Bantel (1993), may help the organisation to cope with radical changes in its external environment by introducing new values, beliefs, and knowledge ba

durkheim division of laber Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Emile Durkheim main concern was social order, and how individual integrated to maintain it. The Division of Labor was one of Durkheim’s first major works. Society is a system of inter-related and inter-connected of not only individuals but also subgroups interacting with one another. Durkheim is interested on how this division of labor changes the way that individuals feel when they are part of society as a whole. As society advances it becomes more complex, and as it becomes more complex, it gets harder to maintain with the rise of conflict. According to Durkheim, this is why society has its division of labor, and in order to survive, society is broken down to certain specializations where people are more dependent on each other. Durkheim believed that the division of labor begins when the social, economic and political boundaries dividing segments begin to break down and smaller segments come together. Within these segments, Durkheim describes another deg ree of integration which is broken down into two aspects; Mechanical Solidarity and Organic Solidarity. Within in these social solidarities, he identifies a system of social relations linking individuals to each other and to the society as a whole.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Societies where solidarity is mechanical, are referred to a bonding of individuals based on common beliefs and values, which more tied by a kinship aspect. â€Å"Mechanical Solidarity is based upon a strong collective conscience regulating the thought and actions of individuals located with structural units that are all alike† (Turner). Individuals are bind together where they share a similar customs and morality. As a result of this type of social link, it is difficult to distinguish the individual’s values versus society’s value. Because people live in a community where each individual must work together to provide a well-being for another, they become far too dependent on each other. This type of livelihood suppresses the individual conscience and in fact encourages the collective conscience. By having such a homogenous population, a system of belief is uniformly shared throughout, constructing a standardized attitude and actions amongst th e people often rooted in religious laws. Social bonds are of responsibility rather than contract, therefore the division of labor is divided into tasks for collective... ... to abide by. According to Durkheim, morality consists of three elements: rules, attachments to groups, and voluntary constraint. Morality is essentially a system of rules for guiding the actions of people. In addition to these guidelines, moral rules attach people into groups. Man does not associate with society as a whole; he on the other hand, has a closer relationship with several smaller groups: for example families, churches, and further more political associations. Morality provides self-control and a commitment to collectiveness. With the presence of moral rules, anomie, safe to say can be eliminated, and social control is strengthened. Another way that morality contributes to social control is voluntary constraint. The people are more disciplined. However, this is does not always apply to any society. In a simpler or mechanical society, where collective conscience is high, â€Å"morality seems to operate automatically.† The natural growth of complexity seems to th e deteriorate morality, where it must be implemented in order to maintain social control. Through moral education and strengthening values within associations, and as society advance, social control will be preserved.

Firewalls Keeping the vandals from your computers :: Essays Papers

Firewalls Keeping the vandals from your computers A research paper written by Janice E Chapman for the Cyberculture: Internet Literacy class offered at St Edwards University by Professor Danney Ursery. August 1, 2001. Welcome to the 21st century, constant Internet access, and hackers. The good news is that every time someone does something destructive with Internet technology, someone else does something to counter that destruction. Hence the reason firewalls were created. So, what is a firewall? In short, it is software that prevents someone from accessing your computer, either over a network or the Internet. This software can be configured to only allow e-mail in, to restrict access of known intruders, or to restrict all outside traffic. An important side note is that firewalls are not designed to screen e-mails or files for viruses and restrict just those e-mails or viruses. You would still need a virus control procedure for that. The reason you should protect your computer from outside snoops is the same reason you lock your car or your house. You want to protect your property, and strangers don?t really know if you have any thing valuable to steal until they gain access and look around. In addition, the Internet has a reputation for attracting malicious hackers. These are people who seek entertainment by vandalizing other people?s computers. They may not seek you out specifically, they just happened to have a program that randomly ?pings? Internet protocol (IP) addresses until it finds an unlocked door. DSL, ISDN, or T1 lines connect your computer to the Internet and keep that connection constantly active and the door unlocked. Now that you understand and see the need to protect your computer, the next step is to find firewall software that satisfies your needs. This means only you can decide what is right for you. The Home PC Firewall Guide at http://www.firewallguide.com/ offers third party reviews for small office and home users. For those users seeking a more technical approach to understanding, analyzing, designing, and/or testing firewall security the SANS Institute Information Security Reading Room at http://www.sans.org/infosecFAQ/firewall/norton.htm provides excellent articles written by GIAC-certified professionals. As a home user, I found Mark Greco?s article on Protecting Yourself with Norton Personal Firewall very informative. This article goes a step farther and steps you through the installation and configuration of Norton Personal Firewall. Still not convinced to buy or download free firewall software? Think about this.

The Chosen Essay -- essays research papers

The Chosen, By Chaim Potok Friendship While many obstacles get in the way of friendship, true friendship still lives, even in silence. In the book, The Chosen , By Chaim Potok, two boys, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, who are very religiously different and both raised in completely opposite ways, develops a deep friendship. Their friendship opens up their worldview to many other different viewpoints in life. The friendship between these two boys is one with great religious significance, starting off with destiny and Gods will. As Danny and Reuven’s Friendship develops, it teaches them to respond wisely to the values of the more complex and secular world. It also teaches the true value of friendship. Because Danny’s father, Reb Saunders, raised Danny in silence, Danny and Reuven’s relationship was also a way that Reb Saunders could talk to his son, through Reuven. There friendship grows and they become closer and closer. Many things were pushing Danny and Reuven to become friends at first, but after being open to the fact of a friendship, they instantly became friends and it was easy for them to discuss there activities, desires and their fears. The two boy’s initial distrust and hatred for each other still didn’t make it hard for them to talk, the talked with comfort and no fear â€Å"Yesterday I had hated him; now we are calling each other by our first names. I sat and listened to him talk. I was fascinated just listening†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pg. 68) Even though there friendship started off with hatred after talking, they got to know each other. They shared their goals, dreams, their education and their families with each other freely. Mr. Malter, Reuven’s father, tells Reuven what a friend is defined as, and tells Reuven to give Danny a chance to get to know him better, because Danny needs him. â€Å"You Know what a friend is Reuven? A Greek philosopher said that two people who are friends are like two bodies with one soul† (pg 74) The Differences between these boys are what set them apart, but when they finally talked, under the instructions of their fathers, they developed a strong connection which later on led to a deep friendship. After Reuven Rejected Danny for what he did to him, Mr. Malter tells Reuven a little bit about who Danny is, and why he needs a friend like Reuven. â€Å"Reb Saunders son is a terribly torn and lonely boy, there is literally no one in the world he can... ...xactly get in the way, but it helped build their friendship. Danny and Reuven became more comfortable with who they are and with each other. After Danny and Reuven’s hate for each other, many things pushed them to become friends and not only Danny and Reuven needed each other to go into a relationship, but their parents needed them too. There friendship was undeniable. Even after there friendship was banned, they became silenced, but lived on. It was hard, but because of there true friendship, when there relationship was renewed and the banned was lifted, they became stronger than ever. There friendship helped each other live their lives and make choices that were from there own heart, and not the heart of there parents or community.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This topic shows us that even though it doesn’t always seem likely that a person needs a friend, some people need someone to talk to or someone to help them open up and to be revealed to a whole new life. We should learn by this topic that our friends shouldn’t always be clones of ourselves and we should be listening and helping our friends. Even through the toughest times, through silence, true friendships always last.

Globalization vs. Nationalism

Nationalism vs. Globalization The debate on whether U. S. domestic and foreign policy should center on nationalism or globalization has been a long standing one. Before I add my personal opinion to it, I would like to state the advantages and disadvantages of both options and how it woild affect our economy in the long run. Nationalism uses trade protectionism as a basis for its concept. The main objective is to protect domestic resources by deterring foreign trade. This is accomplished through raising tariffs, quotas, and embargoes. It also raises taxes for export subsidies, import licensing, and exchange rates. Riley) Initially, people believe that keeping trade domestic benefits the standard of living because it keeps employment high. Unfortunately, there are unforeseen side effects that have damaging results to the economy. One of the biggest factors is quality control. Since competition of the goods and services offered are reduced, there is no real motivation to produce innovat ive and technology advanced products. In addition, ineffective factions of business are safe from being edged out by more competent foreign rivals. In the long run, protectionism diminishes the value of a country’s products and cripples its economy.Globalization, on the other hand, is the opposite of nationalism. It is defined as the â€Å"ongoing process of integration of regional economies into a global network of communication and execution. † (Lovekar) There are many advocates and protestors of globalization. Supporters state how global trade raises GDP, employment, and per capita income for citizens of developing countries. Competition also raises the standard for good, quality products at reasonable prices ultimately benefitting the consumer. Employment, or lack thereof, is one of the hot button topics in the debate over globalization.Some believe that outsourcing manufacturing, a key part of globalization, causes a loss of jobs domestically. Despite the steady c ash flow from trade, developing countries are still growing twice as slow as developed countries. The average worker is still not benefiting from globalization due to their extremely low rate of pay, an enticing factor for outsourcing. So which option is the better policy ti adapt? In my opinion, globalization would be the better option for the U. S. Since they are such a phenomenal force in the global market, enforcing nationalism policies would not only weaken the economy, it would affect other countries as well.High tariffswould spark initiation tariffs from other countries and start a trade war. The outsourcing of lower skilled jobs to low wage countries is not necessarily a bad thing. It opens up the market for high waged, high skilled jobs that make equivalent products. The demand for these jobs raises the education level does to as many pursue degrees to fill them. So in conclusion, while it may seem ideal for the U. S. to protect its own by stymieing global trade, in the lon g run its beneficial to use globalization. In addition to stimulating developing countries’ economy, it benefits the consumer through competitive pricing.

Organisational Culture- analysis of Oticon Essay

INTRODUCTION Oticon, a Danish company founded in 1904 was the first company in the world to invent an instrument to help the hearing impaired. In the 1970’s, Oticon was the world’s number one manufacturer of the â€Å"behind the ear† hearing aids. During the 1970’s and 1980’s as the market for â€Å"in the ear† hearing aid grew, Oticon’s fortune suddenly declined and they lost money and market share. The main problem for all of this was that Oticon was a very traditional, departmentalized and slow-moving company. Even though Oticon had 15 sites and 95 distributorships around the world, Oticon was operating in a market dominated by Siemens, Phillips, Sony, 3M and Panasonic and most importantly, Oticon manufactured the â€Å"behind the ear† hearing aid but its customers preferred the â€Å"in the ear† product. Oticon also specialized in analogue technology whilst its customers were moving towards digital technology. In 1988, a new President of Oticon was appointed, Lars Kolind. With his appointment, he worked hard to turn the situation of Oticon around. Kolind implemented cost-cutting measures; he pared the company down, cut staff and increased efficiency, and reduced the price of a hearing aid by 20%. Nevertheless, this still did not achieve the results he wanted. He never gave up. He had been searching for a sustainable competitive advantage for Oticon. He wanted to create a new way of running a business. One that could be more creative, faster and cost effective and also compensate for technological excellence, capital and general resources which Oticon lacked. Kolind believed that Oticon could no longer compete with its technologically advanced competitors. By reinventing itself, Oticon showed that it could. Oticon drastically changed its organizational structure, ways of working and culture to let loose the human potential of the company. Kolind created a vision of a service-based organization and pursued it to gain a competitive edge. Employee involvement is crucial to successful change; especially in situations as Oticon’s that require attitudinal and cultural change. Planned and emergent perspectives stress that this is a slow, learning process. Rapid organizational transformations can only be successful if focus is on structural as well as cultural change. Kanter _et al_ emphasized that an organization’s structure can be changed relatively quickly through a ‘Bold Stroke’ but that cultural change can only be achieved by a ‘Long March’ requiring extensive participation over time. Oticon’s transformation was that of a rapid organizational change, which was based on the vision imposed on the company in a directive fashion by the CEO. This lead to the widespread change of attitudes and behaviours. Kolind’s vision was the reason for this rapid change in attitudes across Oticon. A more planned approach, facilitated by this change in attitudes was used to achieve this rapid structural change. This was then followed by a period of emergent change where staff had to develop and adjust to new ways of working with and behaving towards each other. Schmuck and Miles (1971) argue that the level of involvement required in a project is dependant on the impact of the change on people concerned. Building on earlier work by Harrison (1970), Huse (1980) developed this difference further. He categorized change interventions along with continuum based on the ‘depth of intervention, ranging from the ‘shallow level’ to the ‘deepest level’. The greater the depth of intervention, Huse argues, the more it becomes concerned with the psychological make-up and personality of the individual, and the greater the need for full involvement of individuals if they are to accept the changes. Therefore, linking levels of involvement to the types of change proposed is necessary. The key is that, the greater the effect on the individual, especially in terms of psychological constructs and values, the deeper the level of involvement required if successful behaviour change is to be achieved. The theory of cognitive dissonance of Burnes and James (1995) helps in seeking to understand and explain why major rapid attitudinal changes at Oticon were successful without a great deal of initial involvement. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that people want to behave in  accordance with their attitudes and usually will take corrective action to alleviate the dissonance and achieve balance. At Oticon, fundamental attitudinal change was achieved relatively quickly because management and employee recognized the need for change and saw why new vision is the only hope for the company’s survival. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, or CORPORATE CULTURE, comprises the attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization. It has been defined as â€Å"the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization. An ORGANISATION’S CULTURE is affected by a number of factors including: The ENVIRONMENT in which the organisation operates. Internally, this is often conveyed by its physical layout which can, foe example, reflect warm friendliness or cold efficiency. The BELIEFS, VALUES AND NORMS of the employees within the organisation, particularly those communicated by top management. The formal and informal LEADERS who personify the organisation’s culture. The PROCEDURES that have to be followed and the behaviour expected of people within the organisation. The network of COMMUNICATIONS which disseminates the corporate image and culture. OTHER FACTORS could include the oeganisation’s size , history, ownership and technology. MODEL OF CHANGE- SEQUENCE OF EVENTS (SOURCE:MANAGEMENT. RICHARD L DAFT- 6TH ED.) Corporate culture is something that is very hard to change and employees need time to get used to the new way of organizing. Many people are not willing to change unless they perceive a problem or a crisis. For companies with a very strong and specific culture it will be even harder to change. Cummings & Worley (2005, p. 491 – 492) give the following six guidelines for cultural change, these changes are in line with the eight distinct stages mentioned by Kotter (1995, p. 2)3: Formulate a clear strategic vision In order to make a cultural change effective a clear vision of the firm’s new strategy, shared values and behaviours is needed. This vision provides the intention and direction for the culture change Display Top-management commitment It is very important to keep in mind that culture change must be managed from the top of the organization, as willingness to change of the senior management is an important indicator. The top of the organization should be very much in favour of the change in order to actually implement the change in the rest of the organization. De Caluwà © & Vermaak provide a framework with five different ways of thinking about change. Model culture change at the highest level In order to show that the management team is in favour of the change, the change has to be notable at first at this level. The behaviour of the management needs to symbolize the kinds of values and behaviours that should be realized in the rest of the company. It is important that the management shows the strengths of the current culture as well, it must be made clear that the current organizational does not need radical changes, but just a few adjustments. Modify the organization to support organizational change. The fourth step is to modify the organization to support organizational change. Select and socialize newcomers and terminate deviants A way to implement a culture is to connect it to organizational membership, people can be selected and terminate in terms of their fit with the new culture Develop ethical and legal sensitivity. Changes in culture can lead to tensions between organizational and individual interests, which can result in ethical and legal problems for practitioners. This is particularly relevant for changes in employee integrity, control, equitable treatment and job security. FORCES CAUSING AND RESISTING CHANGE WITHIN AN ORGANISATION (SOURCE: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO BUSINESS STUDIES- 3RD ED- BRUCE R JEWELL) NEED/ REASONS FOR CHANGE. In order to survive and prosper in a competitive and rapidly changing environment, organisations also need to change. This may be brought about by many influencing factors which may be internally within the organisation or in external environment of the organisation. EXTERNAL FORCES originate in all environmental sectors, including customers, competitors, technology, economic forces and the international arena. EXTERNAL INFLUENCES: POLITICAL factors including legislation or other government measures. Organisations are forced to change in order to meet, for example, health and safety, environmental or consumer protection requirements. ECONOMIC factors such as changes in levels of unemployment and interest rates which can have a major impact on demand. SOCIAL factors including changes in life styles and environmental issues which organisations must respond to if they are not to lose out to competitors. TECHNOLOGICAL progress such as word processing in the office or robots in the factory can change working materials, methods and practices and create the need for new skills. TRADE UNIONS can influence wage rates, working conditions and other aspects of industrial relations. COMPETITION and changes in consumer tastes and demand all impact on business organisations, making change necessary in order to respond. MEDIA reports which can influence consumers’ and employees’ perceptions of an organisation and its goods and services. INTERNAL FORCES for change arise from internal activities and decisions. If top managers select a goal of rapid company growth, internal actions will have to be made to meet that growth. New departments or technologies will be created. Demands by employees, labour unions and production inefficiencies all can generate a force to which management must respond with change. INTERNAL INFLUENCES: NEW PRODUCTS OR SERVICES which require change in order to introduce them. MANAGEMENT CHANGES, due perhaps to a merger, take over or the appointment of  new staff. This may affect the management style and culture of the organisation. QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS which are becoming increasingly important in organisations in order to meet changing customer expectations. PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY IMPROVEMENTS which often require change in systems or procedures in order to control or reduce costs and/or increase output. CUSTOMER SERVICE is now more crucial than ever for organisations in competitive markets because they can only survive and prosper if they satisfy customers. After the need for change has been perceived and communicated, change must be initiated. This is a crucial stage of change management- the stage where ideas that solve perceived needs are developed. Responses that an organisation can make are to search for or create a change to adopt. IMPLEMENTING CHANGE One frustration for managers is that employees often seem to resist change for no apparent reason. To effectively manage the implementation process, managers should be aware of the reasons for employee resistance and e prepared to use techniques for obtaining employee cooperation. Employees appear to resist change for several reasons and understanding them helps managers implement change more effectively. SELF-INTEREST. Employees typically resist a change they believe will take away something of value. A proposed change in job design, structure, or technology may lead to a real or perceived loss of power, prestige, pay or company benefits. The fear of personal loss is perhaps the biggest obstacle to organisational change. LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND TRUST. Employees do not understand the intended purpose of a change or distrust the intentions behind it. UNCERTAINTY. Uncertainty is the lack of information about future events. It represents a fear of the unknown. Uncertainty is especially threatening for employees who have a low tolerance for change and fear the novel and unusual. They do not know how a change will affect them and worry about whether they will be able to meet the demands of a new procedure or technology. DIFFERENT ASSESSMENT AND GOALS. Another reason for resistance to change is that people who will be affected by innovation may assess the situation differently. Often critics voice legitimate disagreements over the proposed benefits of a change. Managers in each department pursue different goals, and an innovation may detract from performance and goal achievement for some departments. These reasons for resistance are legitimate in the eyes of the employees affected by the change. The best procedure for managers is not to ignore resistance but diagnose the reasons and design strategies to gain acceptance by users. Strategies for overcoming resistance to change typically involve two approaches: the analysis of resistance through force-field technique and the use of selective implementation tactics to overcome resistance.