Literature Review

Free Essays on Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson The 28th President of The United States of America (1912-1920) "As some of the injuries done us have become intolerable we have still been clear that we wished nothing for ourselves that we were not ready to demand for all mankind-fair dealing, justice, the freedom to live and to be at ease against organized wrong." Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia on December 28, 1856. He was the first son of Joseph Ruggles Wilson, a Presbyterian minister, and Jessie Janet Woodrow. During this time period Abraham Lincoln had just been elected president and the Civil War was to begin. In 1859 the family moved because Mr. Wilson had been named pastor of a church in Augusta, Georgia. The Civil War was difficult because the elder Wilson was an ardent Confederate sympathizer, and young Wilson witnessed, firsthand, the ruthless behavior of General William T. Sherman and his federal troops who invaded Georgia and South Carolina. He remained an ardent Southerner throughout his lifetime. After the war, the Wilson’s moved to Columbia, South Carolina where Mr. Wilson became a professor at the Columbia Theological Seminary during the Reconstruction time period. Woodrow was educated at home and at private schools in Augusta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina. In 1873 they moved again, to Wilmington, North Carolina where Wilson attended Davidson College, a small Presbyterian school where his father was a trustee. He enrolled at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), where he pursued his interest in English literature and politics the following year. He studied classic speakers and the techniques of public speech and was a leader among the school debaters. From 1879-1883 Wilson went back to school and studied both law and history. He received his degree in law from the University of Virginia and went into business with a fellow by the name of Edward I. Renick. When it b... Free Essays on Woodrow Wilson Free Essays on Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson The 28th President of The United States of America (1912-1920) "As some of the injuries done us have become intolerable we have still been clear that we wished nothing for ourselves that we were not ready to demand for all mankind-fair dealing, justice, the freedom to live and to be at ease against organized wrong." Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson was born in Staunton, Virginia on December 28, 1856. He was the first son of Joseph Ruggles Wilson, a Presbyterian minister, and Jessie Janet Woodrow. During this time period Abraham Lincoln had just been elected president and the Civil War was to begin. In 1859 the family moved because Mr. Wilson had been named pastor of a church in Augusta, Georgia. The Civil War was difficult because the elder Wilson was an ardent Confederate sympathizer, and young Wilson witnessed, firsthand, the ruthless behavior of General William T. Sherman and his federal troops who invaded Georgia and South Carolina. He remained an ardent Southerner throughout his lifetime. After the war, the Wilson’s moved to Columbia, South Carolina where Mr. Wilson became a professor at the Columbia Theological Seminary during the Reconstruction time period. Woodrow was educated at home and at private schools in Augusta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina. In 1873 they moved again, to Wilmington, North Carolina where Wilson attended Davidson College, a small Presbyterian school where his father was a trustee. He enrolled at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), where he pursued his interest in English literature and politics the following year. He studied classic speakers and the techniques of public speech and was a leader among the school debaters. From 1879-1883 Wilson went back to school and studied both law and history. He received his degree in law from the University of Virginia and went into business with a fellow by the name of Edward I. Renick. When it b... Free Essays on Woodrow Wilson Woodrow Wilson graduated from Princeton in 1879 he studied law at Univ of Virginia. After receiving his Ph.D. degree he taught history, at Bryn Mawr and Wesleyan Univ. His attempt to change the social by eliminating the best eating clubs for upperclassmen and introducing the quad system, where the students from all classes would live and eat together. He wasn’t successful. It brought great trouble. Wilson’s bad record brought him to the forefront of national politics. After he got out of the school he went for the president elation because he wanted to be knowen. He was running against Champ Clark. Champ Clark was the leading person for the president at the Democratic meeting in 1912. He could not get the necessary 2/3 of the votes. After he had exhausted his strength Wilson won on the 46th ballot. Wilson got 435 electoral votes Wilson revived the custom in 1801 of addressing Congress in person and immediately called for a series of reforms, which he had called the New Freedom in his presidential campaign. The La Follette Seamen’s Act, regulating labor conditions aboard ship, became law 1915 the Adamson Act, establishing an eight-hour day for railroad employees, was enacted 1916 and the Federal Farm Loan Act, providing for loans to cooperative farm associations, was passed (1916 The Seventeenth Amendment, providing for the direct popular election of U.S. Senators, the Eighteenth Amendment, which instituted and the Nineteenth Amendment, by which women received the vote, were all launched while Wilson was President. The outbreak of World War I in Europe outdoes all other problems. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, who carefully favored neutrality, resigned (1915) and succeeded by Robert Lansing who favors intervention on the side of the Allies. Wilson during his first term nevertheless sought by all diplomatic means to maintain fair objectivity. American public opinion however increasingly mounted against Germany, and t...

A problem solving model for Wal-Mart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

A problem solving model for Wal-Mart - Essay Example The largest retailing company of the world, Walmart has been facing a decline in sales in the US, continuously for â€Å"nine straight quarters†, according to The Wall Street Journal. This has been partially due to the economic recession and partially owing to the negative image that has been there for this company. In order to suggest a package of solutions to get over with this â€Å"sales slump†, this paper invisages synthesizing different organizational theories, with a focus on three- the neoclassical theory put forth by Roethlisberger and Dickson (1943), the socio-technical theory proposed by Pasmore and the contingency theory evolved by Hellriegel and Slocum (1973). This project will put forth innovative and creative solutions to rectify the sales slouch in Wal-mart, using the problem-solving tools provided by these three theories. Access has been gained into the facts about the organizational design of Wal-Mart by conducting interviews with three senior level managers in charge of organizational structure. Basically, the design of Wal-Mart, as an organization, is that of a divisional structure. It has different divisions like, Wal-Mart Realty, Wal-Mart International, Wal-Mart Specialty Stores, Sam's Clubs, and Supercenters which are separate and partially autonomous units. Each division has its own specific set of goals. Step-2 The three theoretical frame works selected for this paper are chosen based on the advantages they have in addressing the specific issue in focus. For example, most of the complaints against Wal-Mart that have led to legal litigations and negative publicity has been regarding labor issues and hence a worker-centered approach put forward by Roethlisberger and Dickson (1943) can help re-model the organization’s functioning in such a way as to avert this criticism. Similarly, the socio-technical theory of Pasmore ((1988, p.87-109) and the contingency theory by Hellriegel and Slocum (1973) have their focus on the environmental aspects of an organization, which can be applied in the case of Wal-Mart which is haunted by many a social conflicts. Neoclassical theory of Roethlisberger and Dickson (1943) has as its core focus, the relationship between â€Å"working conditions† and â€Å"employee efficiency† (p.1). Through an experiment, Roethlisberger and Dickson (1943) had proven that there was a connection between better working conditions and better performance. In this way, this theory had changed the essence of organizational theories evolved thus far by replacing the mechanistic views by a more humanistic worker-oriented view. This theory had asserted that: An individual is not a mechanical tool but a distinct social being, with aspirations beyond mere fulfilment of a few economic and security works. Individuals differ from each other in pursuing these desires. Thus, an individual should be recognized as interacting with social and economic factors (NRMED-FAO, n.d.). Participative management has been another aspect of this theory, whereby employees are given an appropriate role in the decision making process (NRMED-FAO, n.d.). Any application of the neoclassical theory has to be by keeping in mind, the existence of an informal organization within any formal organization, the socio-psychological factors that influence workers, the inherent illogi cality of human mind, the two-way flow of communication within the hierarchy, and the need of teamwork (Pradeep, p.295). Socio-technical theory of Pasmore (1988) has based all its assumptions on the fact that â€Å"every organization consists of the people, the technical system and the environment† (NRMED-FAO, n.d.). In this theory also, the importance of considering workers a human beings and all the more, social beings, is stressed (Pasmore, p.5). It has been observed that what is meant by an organization is actually an agreement, a contract between and among people and â€Å"changes in the organization will affect this agreement and vice versa†

Positioning of Armani Hotel (Dubai) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Positioning of Armani Hotel (Dubai) - Coursework Example Dubai has various kinds of luxurious hotels and Armani hotel is among one of them. It can be indicated that Dubai maintains a high quality of lifestyle and high standard of living. The combination of high standard of living, vibrant nightlife, and good weather makes Dubai one of the most attractive cities for travellers as well as the local people residing in Dubai. The hospitality sector has evolved over the years and Dubai being the favourable tourist destination; it has led to many international hotels and resorts targeting the international business traveller and leisure traveller. The international customers prefer visiting Dubai because of its lifestyle and current economic development and thus it can be concluded that Dubai has been accepted as a tourist as well as business destination for most people. The target market will be analysed with the help of four variables- Measurability, Accessibility, Sustainability and Actionability. The Armani Hotel in Dubai is one of the most luxurious hotels and resorts and it mainly targets the business class people and high end customers who have the required money to spend. Measureability: The Armani hotel in Dubai targets leisure travellers as well as businessmen and offers a luxurious getaway for conferences, meetings, exhibitions and other events (Meet Dubai, n.d). As mentioned above, Dubai’s population is set to exceed 2 million along with better economic development happening, indicating great opportunity for hotels and resorts. The main target market for Armani Hotel Dubai will be the age group of 30-34 years though not ruling out the other age groups. Accessibility: A market segment needs to be accessible with respect to geography and economy. Dubai has changed over time and has become a major business centre with a diversified and dynamic economy. Dubai tends to enjoy a strategic location and it is seen as an investment opportunity by most of the businesses (Dubai eGovernment, 2012). Armani Hotel in Du bai has targeted the business class and leisure travellers who visit the place because of business purposes and also for personal reasons. The age group of 30 years and above has the highest number of visitors or local people visiting the hotel for business purposes. Sustainability: Sustainability of target market segment is highly important and it is important for service

Design for an information system Research Paper

Design for an information system - Research Paper Example Broadly, an information system in the context of an organization is the harmonization of user needs, standard operation procedures, data, software, and hardware to process and manage digitized information. The need to computerise traditional health care information systems is overwhelming. Health care systems need pooling of patient records, better and more easily accessible electronic health records, patient scheduling and billing services for patients. The need for robust and highly functional computerised systems for an urgent care facility are especially critical, and system developers have already made considerable inroads in implementing the use of computerise systems for the management of the facilities. System development depends on a number of methodologies whose overarching mandate is to ensure the entire process of development to implementation goes smoothly, achieves the initial objectives and gives a desirable benefits-to-costs match. In this study, we look at the comput erization at SFO Medical Clinic, a Californian clinic that among other services offers urgent care to its broad range of patients. The goal of this paper is to identify and document a fully functional information system for a small company. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 SDLC Models and Complexity of Software Development 4 Preliminary Investigation 5 Requirements analysis 5 System Design 6 System Development 7 System Integration 7 System Testing 7 Gaining User Acceptance 8 Installation and Deployment 8 System Maintenance 8 Conclusion 8 References 10 Introduction Development of an information system requires more than knowledge and expertise in drafting excellent designs. Information systems have a far-reaching impact, with the principal aim to improve or replace existing systems. Therefore, the need to emphasize functionality over design is the supreme purpose of developing an information system. The goal of making highly functional and more efficien t is self-evidenced in the information system methodologies and the varying approaches to software development through the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). A SDLC is the major concept that fortifies user-oriented software development process. Urgent health care facilities, whether serving children, young people, aged, or emergency cases, require an intricate understanding of local systems. Urgent care facilities are unique in that they serve patients in situations where timely and planned treatment procedures are not possible (NHS Manchester, 2008). Through collaborative contribution to the elements pertaining to a certain urgent health care facility, an efficient information system is achievable. An information system for an urgent care facility should exhibit specificity to the needs of the patients, handiness of use for the staff operating the system, and safety in operation. The information system also helps in prevention redundancy in recording of patient data, and provide s a secure retrieval system, which also stores data on patients for easy recording and modification in subsequent visits. In this report, we consider the urgent department wing of the SFO Medical Clinic, in San Francisco, California. The urgent care arm experiences issues typical of such facilities in the US. The purpose of this report is to document the design and implementation of a new information system for an urgent health care facility. SDLC Models and Complexity of Software Development The SDLC aim is to result in a high quality information system, which meets all user needs and performs markedly better than the existing information systems, manual or otherwise. However, viewpoints differ as to the best model for the system development, a factor that is solely responsible for the

Management Changes Within British Airways

Management Changes Within British Airways Introduction Air travel industry is considered an outsized industry throughout the world. This industry has experienced major growth in the last 50 years due to general improvement in technology. The outcome has been a firm decline in fares and costs, which has encouraged traffic growth. This demanding traffic has made the industry grow at a speedy pace. However the speedy growth had its swindles in terms of the changes that airline industry had to go through. Organizations in the industry went through drastic and somewhat dramatic changes in the past one decade. This decade saw the businesses going through change management programs to gain and keep competitive advantage in the industry. This particular dissertation is focused on the case study of British airways and the change management program that it went through in order to gain competitive advantage. British Airways is one of the highest earning airlines in the world. It is famous for its culture f leadership, virtues and employees welfare. Chief Executive of British Airways plc, Bob Ayling started extensive change management programs in the organization in the late 90s. These programs were started despite the fact that BA was earning record profits back then. Some of these changes brought positive changes in the organization, however most of the changes were perceived negatively among the employees. The negativity eventually led to strikes and low morals. (Balmer et al., 2009) These problems were majorly blamed on the poor leadership of Ayling, as well as the change management programs that the company went through. Ayling, on the other hand argued that these change management programs, including cost cutting and outsourcing of major departments, were indeed necessary for long term benefit of British airways. (Harvey and Turnbull, 2006) The introduction part will now focus on de fining history of British airways as well as focusing on Aylings change management programs and its effects on the organization as a whole. Post Merger Following the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation which bent British Airways, the company had many problems and issues.   One of the issues met by the company is in terms of cultural perspective. The outcomes of culture become mainly apparent in mergers, acquisitions and cross national operations, where not only dissimilar organizational cultures but also organizational cultures entrenched in different national cultures meet.(Carleton and Lineberry, 2004)   Research indicate that when workers from dissimilar cultures interrelate and, especially, when one culture is required to adopt the procedures and policies of the other culture, upsetting tensions come out.   And this occurred between the staff of the two merging industries (BEA and BOAC).   This issue can be explained as (Betancourt and LÃÆ' ³pez, 1993). Another issue or problem faced by British Airways was its forced management system.  The company put into practice a very inf lexible management system which made the system of conversant with rules.   Likewise, another issue was incapability of the management of the new organization to satisfy and see the requirements of their consumers.   The organization gave importance on its limited management concentrates and approach on preserving its various routes which resulted in unsatisfied consumers.   These conflicts and issues had a very negative outcome on the new organization.   British Airways earned the reputation of being the most disreputable company after the post merger.  (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004) In addition, the company could not handle the increased burden of flights and customers. In the late 80s the company was rated as most unpunctual airline and customers were advised to avoid travelling on it. (Eckel et al., 1997) Management changes within British Airways: In order to modify its reputation, British Airways decided to go for CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Businesses, companies, and working organizations have incorporated change into their work system in order to be aggressive and be more competent to satisfy customer or clients needs.   (Hayes, 2002) The Conservative party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher selected John King in early 1981 to be the Chairperson of British Airways plc. During the management of John King, he forced changes resulting in several routes bring axed as well as selling off the cargo planes and service. The company also cut 20,000 workers as part of the change process.   In 1982, Colin Marshall became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of British Airways plc. In this period, British Airways produced its first additional profit which was the outcome of the cost-cutting actions implemented by John King. Colin Marshall decided to pay attention to its customer service in order to ensure that company carries on making profit. M arshall hired Consultants to collect data about workers and customer attitudes. The outcome of this evaluation showed that there is a significant gap between what was delivered by BA staff what the consumer actually required. Another management plan was the transformation of the system from staff- oriented to customer oriented through the formation of customer is king environment within the company. (Heifetz and Laurie, 2002) Marshall also investigated that the workers had an internal problem in terms of having a harmonious and good working relationship; therefore, he decided to generate more unity among the British Airways workers by putting into practice the Staff Development Initiative which anticipated the long-term and inherent cultural development and change in British Airways. The program was intended on having more efficient staff members who could offer excellent and quality service to its consumer. (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) This cultural education training lasted until the late 1990s; it created the awareness for the workers to do their job according to customers requirements. Marshall also started Awards for Excellence in 1987.   The goal of this initiative was to award high performers and inspire the workers to always do their best in offering services.   For the duration of that year, Brainwaves, a proposal system was also launched. The change process imposed by Marshall was in co-operation with Lancaster University to provide MBA course for its workers. This was the part of the cultural education training by British airways to make its workers more efficient. (Prokesch, 1995) Furthermore, the organizational structure of British Airways was also modified to a much slimmer and flatter structure. Five sections of the organization started direct reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and eleven profit centers were formed. This structural replacement aimed at improving staff communication and integ ration. The performance-related pay was also brought in by the management. The change process also comprised major investments in ground facilities, planes, and Information Technology. (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002) Putting people first program The management also started a program for its staff called Putting people first. The program was focused on training the staff become more customer oriented. It was a one day seminar delivered by consultants hired by British airways. In the start the program only included staffs that were directly in contact with the customers. However with the passage of time the program was extended for all employees. The program covered the topics of being a winner or loser, owning the problem, being attentive and empowerment. (Street, 1994) With this help of this program staff was given a chance to become involved in decision making. They were encouraged to make any suggestions that could improve the customer service. This was followed by training the staff to own the problem rather than putting blame on each other. The whole trainings program helped the company dramatically, staff turnover reduced to a great level and customer satisfaction increased. (Tushman and OReilly III, 2006) This successful implementation of this program led to several other training programs being launched by BA management and staff. These programs included A day in the life and to be the best. These two programs also met success and British airways started seeing itself getting ahead of the industry. Winning for customer program This program was launched in 92/93 by the company. It was completely focused on listening to customers views and making changes in the company accordingly. This program was basically a loyalty program for customers as well as gaining feedback from them. (Dowling and Uncles, 1997) This program was also somewhat successful as it gave the company insight into companys service from customers eyes. Managing people first program Another program launched in the same era was managing people first. This program was focused on increasing trust among employees, emphasizing the importance of leadership and feedback. (Bruce, 1987)The program brought in positive changes among the employees. They started trusting each other and delivering the job with more efforts. The leadership aspect of the program helped the managers understand their employees better and leading the organization into better changes. The history of British airways clearly stated that a culture of change existed in the organization. These changes were perceived positively by the employees. These changes also helped the organization get on the top back then. In the case study section of the dissertation, change management programs and its consequences by Ayling will be discussed to understand and analyze that scenario. Research question The primary research question of this research study is, To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. Research aim and objective of this study The main objective and strategic aim of this piece of study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. To understand what went wrong and why it went wrong in the leadership of Ayling Analyze the data and come up with findings regarding change management programs Conclude if change management is necessary for a firm to gain competitive advantage Literature Review The process and practice of globalization and developments with the new technologies are merely few stimuli which continually compel business organizations to transform. Business organizations must be considerate and prepared of the vibrant inner and exterior environment in which they manage their operations. The great challenge facing organizations today is change: employing, retaining and most prominently developing managers, and effectively managing organizational change. (Brandenburg and Binder, 1999) There exist three different verities of change which an organization can experience. These three according to him are smooth incremental change, bumpy incremental change and discontinuous change. In the first variety the organization go through a smooth transition and such a change process is perceived by its managers as inherent to the organization. In the second variety there may be oppositions to it, however according to him it is more like the movement of the continents, where faults are generated and bumps are created. In such a case the created faults readjusts the process and a balance is created with time. (Grundy, 1998) The third and the last variety is a discontinuous one, in which the change process is abrupt. This abrupt change could be in the strategy, culture or the structure of the organization. During the process of change there can be people who may resist it. This resistance in general comes from the individuals, who may oppose individually or as a group. The rationale behind this is that the individuals do not want to come out of their current state. As an example someone might already have convinced himself that he has already got what he wanted, so why to accept the new things? Or there might be some heavy investments involved which may be stop to proceed. What does managing change means? Change management is a planned activity intended at getting the best results from the transformation process. It is about managing the changes that are outcomes of the selected approaches. This is done in such a way so that the results and effects go along with the organizational framework. Devising a strategy is also the part of change management. Such a process and procedure is unique and specific to a certain organization. It is rare that a process devised for an organization do fit to the other. Although this can happen, however the probability is quite low. The procedure for change management and the measures that are element of a specific approach are exclusive and exact to a particular organization. Every organization has its own needs; their resources and circumstances differ, culture changes, relationships and clients requirements become specific, and their ambitions, objectives and aims may differ(Mullins, 2007). It is about discovering options and selecting pathways. (Horton, 2000) According to George Bernard Shaw Development is unattainable without change and transformation, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Managing change means a systematic procedure of taking into consideration the global circumstances disturbing an organization; in addition to specific state of affairs within the organization. The change management technique scrutinizes the existing environment and procedures with high attitude to firm culture, organization design, communication, job design, personnel, infrastructure, knowledge and skills. The most important and significant meaning of change management is the term referred to as the task of managing change. The term itself is used in two contexts. Firstly, it means to make changes in an intended and systematic manner. Secondly, this refers to as managing the reactions for the implemented processes. The acknowledgment of the requirements for timely adjustment to external stimulus has evolved the concept of the learning organization; an organization which is capable of continuous adaptation to the environment. At last, change management refers to an area of constituency of professional performance and the connected body of knowledge that has grown up inside and around the issues. There are several ways for change management, as an example, consulting firms offer a range of services to smooth out the process whereas the business schools recommend training in its theory and practice. (Kouzes et al., 1987) (Kanter, 1989) Approaches to change Management The planned approach to change management is tightly linked to managing and recognizing the procedures intended to make organizations more progressive. All these procedures attempt to offer smooth transition and attempt the productivity with the least confrontation. Change plans formulate the tangible outcomes, guide decision making, help to control the procedures and provide protection around uncertainties. There are six change management approaches to deal with this resistance and reaction. (Hayes, 2002)These six approaches are as following Communication and Education: The most significant ways to prevail over conflicts and resistance is through prior education and awareness. This helps in beforehand observing and perceiving the intensity of the change by the work force. The result of this will lead to suppression of rumors and uncertainties involved during the phase. Involvement and Participation: Wherever the initiators do not have the entire data and information they require designing the change and transformation and others have substantial power to oppose. When workers are mixed up in the change attempt they are more likely to involve in the transformation rather to oppose it. Support and Facilitation: Where people refuse to give in to change due to regulation problems, managers can set off possible resistance by encouraging workers during complex times. Managerial support facilitates employees compact with anxiety and fear during an evolution period. The source of resistance is likely to be the unawareness. Thus support and facilitation approach is connected with condition of counseling, special training and time off work. Agreement and Negotiation: Within an organization somebody or some group may drop out during the transformation process. Managers can fight resistance by giving incentives to workers who are not in opposition to the change and the transformation process. This agreement and negotiation approach will be suitable where those resisting change are strong enough. Co-option and Manipulation Approach: Somewhere there are other procedures which are too exclusive. Schlesinger and Kotter proposed that an effective management technique is to co-opt with counters of change effort and transformation process. This frequently involves choosing leaders of the resisters so that instead of opposition they lead to a contribution in the process. Implicit and Explicit Coercion: Implementation speed is a necessity but should be used as a final option. The process should be made as smooth as possible however the managers can clearly or perfectly compel workers into tolerating change effort by making clear that resisting change can lead to firing, losing jobs, demotions or transferring employees. Framework of change This idea is about the procedure for change management and transformation process, presenting proposals and getting feedback for change. This is further than a beginning step to the real action of accomplishment. There is requirement to comprehend how considered choices are completed and proposals are evaluated within the. The framework of change management used throughout this thesis is presented in Error: Reference source not found. This model investigates further how organizations make the movement from the current to the future state. In particular, we will look at the Three Step Model developed by Lewin based on unfreezing the organization, moving and sustaining the change. (Lewin, 1980) CULTURE The first section culture of the change management framework include authenticating the case for change and transformation process and how the shared service/BPO initiative will add to comprehending the organizations premeditated goals, and readiness of both employees and organization and assessing the capacity to incorporate change. Impending blockers must be recognized and articulated with agreed-upon approaches and strategies thus the initiative is not disrupted. ORGANIZATION The second section wraps the design of the new world, comprising the operating model, role definitions, organizational structures, governance and competency frameworks, and decision-making frameworks. Realistic steps should be used to design effective and realistic interfaces between the retained organization and shared service/BPO capacity. LEADERSHIP The third step in the wheel aims to simplify how the firm will be led, and to furnish the leaders to carry out their leadership roles. Specific and detailed activities comprise how the leader ship team will work together both during implementation of shared services/ BPO, defining the role of the leadership team, and consequently, and the roles and responsibilities of individual leaders. Achievement like this may identify the requirement for coaching and/or training of leaders and potential leaders. PEOPLE CAPABILITY The fourth step of the cycle of change management framework intends to ascertain the competencies and skills necessary and how to gather those requirements, comprising gap analysis, skills audits, career planning and job and role definitions. Participation of talent who will lead the new firm is key to the success of this movement. EXECUTION The fifth step of the cycle of change management framework ensures freedom of the new form. It comprises hard deliverables in the form of milestones, project plans, budget analysis and progress reports, and soft deliverables in the shape of stakeholders management and communications. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The sixth and last step of the wheel of change management cover up life post-change and comprises processes and frameworks (e.g., balanced scorecards, performance management, and reward alignment) to determine the success of the changes, and means to make sure that opportunities for advance improvement are acted upon in a timely manner and identified.   Significance and benefits of Change management in the Organizations: Benefits of Change Management: ACCEPTING ENVIROMENT It is significant for the organization to assess, understand, and measure the dynamics in its exterior environment such as government, society and customers in order to predict and set up an appropriate relationship with these assorted performers like society, customers and government. Hence, managers by deliberating the subject of change management can better be ready to understand anything is going on in this environment. This is a major significance of change management in business organization. STRATEGY FORMULATION IMPLEMENTATION TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE It is very important to knowing the collision of change an inappropriate level on its own interior dynamics, where the main objective is to seek competitive advantage. This is the significance of change management in business organization. EMPLOYEES The employees are the beneficiaries of change process. One such continuous apprehension of senior managers is to make organization highly consistent; therefore workers ought to be high performing and trained one in todays twitchy competitive new world. There is need of trained, reliable organization and high performing work practices. This is significance of change management in organizations. TECHNOLOGY ISSUES Technology is realized as the engine of development in todays new world. May be the greatest challenge for modern organizations is the integration and acquisition of technology in its approach, structure and procedure. As such the apprehension of top managers is how to avoid and mitigate organization being outdated and how to absorb and cope the collision of communication technologies and changing information which have determinedly influencing consumption behavior and production process. This is another major benefit of change management in the organization. Significance of Change Management Implementation The peak five well recognized approaches of change management and significance of change management in the organization, which, when implemented properly, permit organizations to decrease risk and increase IT effectiveness and efficiency. The practices comprise of: Producing the top bottom approach to endorse the requirement for a culture of Information technology change management process that implements a zero tolerance approach to illicit changes across the whole enterprise. It will create significance of change management inside and outside the organization. Examining and monitoring the number of unintentional outages frequently to avert illegitimate changes and maintain maximum control on information technology variations. It will also create significance of change management in the modern organization. Put into practice risk mitigation changes executed and authorized by identifying well-defined change preservation windows and implemented them. The significance of change management will explore through it. Determine change success rates and using them as standard for key information technology management performance gauge. This is one of the major significance of change management. SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways is engaged in air services operations both in international and domestic airfreight. It provides various services ranging in commercial flights service for passengers around the globe, cargo freight and mail services and other auxiliary services. British Airways primarily runs its business in Europe and in United States. Located in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, it employs 42, 755 people in all its departments. British Airways facilitates flight reservation and booking using the online net services in which customers can easily access. Trying to appear competitive and maintain its integrity as one of the best airlines which emphasizes quality customer services, BA strives to create high-end terminal facilities and other services involving comfortable of customers while onboard. BA reaches out to 570 in about 134 countries. Such magnitude of operations offers customers with variety of destinations with world-class services that cater customers ranging from explorers to exec utives. Strengths British Airways strengths include the first-rate new fleet of aircrafts purchased to accolade comfortable traveling of passengers. This move was made to counter the wretched state of travel and complaint received by the previous fleet used by British Airways. The magnitude of Airways operations allows them on pro over their competitors by servicing to a wider variety of customers. Moreover, on the level of knowledge and skills, BA operational research claimed that analytical skills performed by the members of the company and employees become its strengths. The strong customer focus develops expertise in customer areas while in purchasing high-end software for air services and wide selection of it strengthens the companys business orientation. Weaknesses One of the many weaknesses on organizations business and services is the lack of marketing strategy that will help reinforce its competitive standards, more so, to win customers loyalty. Despite the great infrastructure hosted the company, BA needs to carry out better market schemes to attract more customers. Hence, competitive package for customer service must be afforded in order to make the airline more attractive to its clients, prompting an opportunity of earning large revenues. Furthermore, on knowledge and skills management, limited knowledge of simulation software and simulation development, knowledge lost through high level of internal staff moves, teams adopt solution approaches aligned only to their skills, and lack of involvement in choice of software and difficulty to enhance specialist airline software are weaknesses which the company must be aware of. Threats The threats are not necessarily be found outside of companys environment but can be an internal. Internal threats as seen in management centralized and bureaucratic system and all poor decision-making. Moreover, the companys focus on national and local problems pose a threat since much more problems which it neglect found in the global scheme. It neglects the global problems instead focusing deeply on the national and local level. The global problems greatly offer tremendous threats if and when companies will ignore such. Moreover, globalization can be an opportunity and strength but can also be a threat if not to be keen and vigilant of its tricks and treachery. Further, rapid changes on technology and customers behavior can also be a threat if mistakenly interpreted and remedied. Opportunities The availability of immense services and products pose an opportunity to utilize them properly. The global changes can be an opportunity to work with while ignoring certain opportunities can be a weakness. In BA, virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, obtaining network software and share expertise through special interest groups are opportunities which can be utilized and used to further enhance the companys business. Technological trends provide ample opportunities to various business domains, however, if it will be taken for granted, opportunities can be a threat or weakness. Maximizing the global trends is a great opportunity to hold on to. Methodology The proposed methodology for this dissertation is case study research. Case study research is a common and popular method of conducting research in the field of social sciences. In this methodology, an event, individuals, or group are investigated and explained. This in depth investigation focuses on defining the particular instance in either descriptive or explanatory manner. (Hartley, 2004) The methodology is not merely storytelling; rather it describes and explains the event in much detail so the reader could understand the reasons for that event/instance. The case studies are building with multiple sources of data and evidence. They are usually focused on one aspect of the organization rather than the whole organization itself. (Merriam, 1998) Case study method is quite useful if one wants to understand and estimate the impact of a certain event. It is important to understand that case study methodology can only be used when rich amount of data is available so the case can actual ly be built using it. (Eisenhardt, 1989) Although it is quite popular method of conducting the research, it has its weaknesses as well. Researchers have criticized it because they feel that this method lacks reliability. The reliability is questioned when case study is build using the secondary data. This criticism states that the research cannot be relied on as it lacks researchers own research efforts, and the case is built on the research that was already available. (Stake, 1995)However there are more strengths to this methodology than weaknesses. The method is particularly praised due to its usefulness in providing a holistic view of an event or phenomena. It is also admired due to multiple sources of data and evidence that are used to build case study, as it provides multiple insight into the phenomena. (Gillham, 2000) Types of case study Researchers have devised and explained several categories of case studies. One of the popular models used to explained categories of case studies is by Yin. He defines these categories in terms of the number of event and single or multiple methods of analysis. Type 1: Single case design and single unit of analysis Type 2: Single unit of analysis and multiple case designs Type 3: Single case design and multiple units of analysis Type 4: Multiple case designs and multiple units of analysis Yin has also devised three types of case study, Exploratory: Used for new topics and reveals the facts about a certain event. This type of research is normally the first one and sets direction for future research. Researchers agree that this research is more related to What question rather than the Why question. Descriptive: This type of case study research focuses on a clearly define problem or research question. Its focus is on How and Who question Explanatory: the last type of case study research is explanatory, which focuses on Why question. It is usually build in exploratory and descriptive research and tries to find out preseason for an events occurrence. (Yin, 2008) This particular research will be built on using explanatory case study method. As we already know what happened in British airways due to change management programs, however we need to search the question of Why it happened? Sources of Data for case study In order to build up a case study, data needs to be collected. This data gathering can either be primary or secondary. The primar Management Changes Within British Airways Management Changes Within British Airways Introduction Air travel industry is considered an outsized industry throughout the world. This industry has experienced major growth in the last 50 years due to general improvement in technology. The outcome has been a firm decline in fares and costs, which has encouraged traffic growth. This demanding traffic has made the industry grow at a speedy pace. However the speedy growth had its swindles in terms of the changes that airline industry had to go through. Organizations in the industry went through drastic and somewhat dramatic changes in the past one decade. This decade saw the businesses going through change management programs to gain and keep competitive advantage in the industry. This particular dissertation is focused on the case study of British airways and the change management program that it went through in order to gain competitive advantage. British Airways is one of the highest earning airlines in the world. It is famous for its culture f leadership, virtues and employees welfare. Chief Executive of British Airways plc, Bob Ayling started extensive change management programs in the organization in the late 90s. These programs were started despite the fact that BA was earning record profits back then. Some of these changes brought positive changes in the organization, however most of the changes were perceived negatively among the employees. The negativity eventually led to strikes and low morals. (Balmer et al., 2009) These problems were majorly blamed on the poor leadership of Ayling, as well as the change management programs that the company went through. Ayling, on the other hand argued that these change management programs, including cost cutting and outsourcing of major departments, were indeed necessary for long term benefit of British airways. (Harvey and Turnbull, 2006) The introduction part will now focus on de fining history of British airways as well as focusing on Aylings change management programs and its effects on the organization as a whole. Post Merger Following the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation which bent British Airways, the company had many problems and issues.   One of the issues met by the company is in terms of cultural perspective. The outcomes of culture become mainly apparent in mergers, acquisitions and cross national operations, where not only dissimilar organizational cultures but also organizational cultures entrenched in different national cultures meet.(Carleton and Lineberry, 2004)   Research indicate that when workers from dissimilar cultures interrelate and, especially, when one culture is required to adopt the procedures and policies of the other culture, upsetting tensions come out.   And this occurred between the staff of the two merging industries (BEA and BOAC).   This issue can be explained as (Betancourt and LÃÆ' ³pez, 1993). Another issue or problem faced by British Airways was its forced management system.  The company put into practice a very inf lexible management system which made the system of conversant with rules.   Likewise, another issue was incapability of the management of the new organization to satisfy and see the requirements of their consumers.   The organization gave importance on its limited management concentrates and approach on preserving its various routes which resulted in unsatisfied consumers.   These conflicts and issues had a very negative outcome on the new organization.   British Airways earned the reputation of being the most disreputable company after the post merger.  (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004) In addition, the company could not handle the increased burden of flights and customers. In the late 80s the company was rated as most unpunctual airline and customers were advised to avoid travelling on it. (Eckel et al., 1997) Management changes within British Airways: In order to modify its reputation, British Airways decided to go for CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Businesses, companies, and working organizations have incorporated change into their work system in order to be aggressive and be more competent to satisfy customer or clients needs.   (Hayes, 2002) The Conservative party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher selected John King in early 1981 to be the Chairperson of British Airways plc. During the management of John King, he forced changes resulting in several routes bring axed as well as selling off the cargo planes and service. The company also cut 20,000 workers as part of the change process.   In 1982, Colin Marshall became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of British Airways plc. In this period, British Airways produced its first additional profit which was the outcome of the cost-cutting actions implemented by John King. Colin Marshall decided to pay attention to its customer service in order to ensure that company carries on making profit. M arshall hired Consultants to collect data about workers and customer attitudes. The outcome of this evaluation showed that there is a significant gap between what was delivered by BA staff what the consumer actually required. Another management plan was the transformation of the system from staff- oriented to customer oriented through the formation of customer is king environment within the company. (Heifetz and Laurie, 2002) Marshall also investigated that the workers had an internal problem in terms of having a harmonious and good working relationship; therefore, he decided to generate more unity among the British Airways workers by putting into practice the Staff Development Initiative which anticipated the long-term and inherent cultural development and change in British Airways. The program was intended on having more efficient staff members who could offer excellent and quality service to its consumer. (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) This cultural education training lasted until the late 1990s; it created the awareness for the workers to do their job according to customers requirements. Marshall also started Awards for Excellence in 1987.   The goal of this initiative was to award high performers and inspire the workers to always do their best in offering services.   For the duration of that year, Brainwaves, a proposal system was also launched. The change process imposed by Marshall was in co-operation with Lancaster University to provide MBA course for its workers. This was the part of the cultural education training by British airways to make its workers more efficient. (Prokesch, 1995) Furthermore, the organizational structure of British Airways was also modified to a much slimmer and flatter structure. Five sections of the organization started direct reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and eleven profit centers were formed. This structural replacement aimed at improving staff communication and integ ration. The performance-related pay was also brought in by the management. The change process also comprised major investments in ground facilities, planes, and Information Technology. (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002) Putting people first program The management also started a program for its staff called Putting people first. The program was focused on training the staff become more customer oriented. It was a one day seminar delivered by consultants hired by British airways. In the start the program only included staffs that were directly in contact with the customers. However with the passage of time the program was extended for all employees. The program covered the topics of being a winner or loser, owning the problem, being attentive and empowerment. (Street, 1994) With this help of this program staff was given a chance to become involved in decision making. They were encouraged to make any suggestions that could improve the customer service. This was followed by training the staff to own the problem rather than putting blame on each other. The whole trainings program helped the company dramatically, staff turnover reduced to a great level and customer satisfaction increased. (Tushman and OReilly III, 2006) This successful implementation of this program led to several other training programs being launched by BA management and staff. These programs included A day in the life and to be the best. These two programs also met success and British airways started seeing itself getting ahead of the industry. Winning for customer program This program was launched in 92/93 by the company. It was completely focused on listening to customers views and making changes in the company accordingly. This program was basically a loyalty program for customers as well as gaining feedback from them. (Dowling and Uncles, 1997) This program was also somewhat successful as it gave the company insight into companys service from customers eyes. Managing people first program Another program launched in the same era was managing people first. This program was focused on increasing trust among employees, emphasizing the importance of leadership and feedback. (Bruce, 1987)The program brought in positive changes among the employees. They started trusting each other and delivering the job with more efforts. The leadership aspect of the program helped the managers understand their employees better and leading the organization into better changes. The history of British airways clearly stated that a culture of change existed in the organization. These changes were perceived positively by the employees. These changes also helped the organization get on the top back then. In the case study section of the dissertation, change management programs and its consequences by Ayling will be discussed to understand and analyze that scenario. Research question The primary research question of this research study is, To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. Research aim and objective of this study The main objective and strategic aim of this piece of study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. To understand what went wrong and why it went wrong in the leadership of Ayling Analyze the data and come up with findings regarding change management programs Conclude if change management is necessary for a firm to gain competitive advantage Literature Review The process and practice of globalization and developments with the new technologies are merely few stimuli which continually compel business organizations to transform. Business organizations must be considerate and prepared of the vibrant inner and exterior environment in which they manage their operations. The great challenge facing organizations today is change: employing, retaining and most prominently developing managers, and effectively managing organizational change. (Brandenburg and Binder, 1999) There exist three different verities of change which an organization can experience. These three according to him are smooth incremental change, bumpy incremental change and discontinuous change. In the first variety the organization go through a smooth transition and such a change process is perceived by its managers as inherent to the organization. In the second variety there may be oppositions to it, however according to him it is more like the movement of the continents, where faults are generated and bumps are created. In such a case the created faults readjusts the process and a balance is created with time. (Grundy, 1998) The third and the last variety is a discontinuous one, in which the change process is abrupt. This abrupt change could be in the strategy, culture or the structure of the organization. During the process of change there can be people who may resist it. This resistance in general comes from the individuals, who may oppose individually or as a group. The rationale behind this is that the individuals do not want to come out of their current state. As an example someone might already have convinced himself that he has already got what he wanted, so why to accept the new things? Or there might be some heavy investments involved which may be stop to proceed. What does managing change means? Change management is a planned activity intended at getting the best results from the transformation process. It is about managing the changes that are outcomes of the selected approaches. This is done in such a way so that the results and effects go along with the organizational framework. Devising a strategy is also the part of change management. Such a process and procedure is unique and specific to a certain organization. It is rare that a process devised for an organization do fit to the other. Although this can happen, however the probability is quite low. The procedure for change management and the measures that are element of a specific approach are exclusive and exact to a particular organization. Every organization has its own needs; their resources and circumstances differ, culture changes, relationships and clients requirements become specific, and their ambitions, objectives and aims may differ(Mullins, 2007). It is about discovering options and selecting pathways. (Horton, 2000) According to George Bernard Shaw Development is unattainable without change and transformation, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Managing change means a systematic procedure of taking into consideration the global circumstances disturbing an organization; in addition to specific state of affairs within the organization. The change management technique scrutinizes the existing environment and procedures with high attitude to firm culture, organization design, communication, job design, personnel, infrastructure, knowledge and skills. The most important and significant meaning of change management is the term referred to as the task of managing change. The term itself is used in two contexts. Firstly, it means to make changes in an intended and systematic manner. Secondly, this refers to as managing the reactions for the implemented processes. The acknowledgment of the requirements for timely adjustment to external stimulus has evolved the concept of the learning organization; an organization which is capable of continuous adaptation to the environment. At last, change management refers to an area of constituency of professional performance and the connected body of knowledge that has grown up inside and around the issues. There are several ways for change management, as an example, consulting firms offer a range of services to smooth out the process whereas the business schools recommend training in its theory and practice. (Kouzes et al., 1987) (Kanter, 1989) Approaches to change Management The planned approach to change management is tightly linked to managing and recognizing the procedures intended to make organizations more progressive. All these procedures attempt to offer smooth transition and attempt the productivity with the least confrontation. Change plans formulate the tangible outcomes, guide decision making, help to control the procedures and provide protection around uncertainties. There are six change management approaches to deal with this resistance and reaction. (Hayes, 2002)These six approaches are as following Communication and Education: The most significant ways to prevail over conflicts and resistance is through prior education and awareness. This helps in beforehand observing and perceiving the intensity of the change by the work force. The result of this will lead to suppression of rumors and uncertainties involved during the phase. Involvement and Participation: Wherever the initiators do not have the entire data and information they require designing the change and transformation and others have substantial power to oppose. When workers are mixed up in the change attempt they are more likely to involve in the transformation rather to oppose it. Support and Facilitation: Where people refuse to give in to change due to regulation problems, managers can set off possible resistance by encouraging workers during complex times. Managerial support facilitates employees compact with anxiety and fear during an evolution period. The source of resistance is likely to be the unawareness. Thus support and facilitation approach is connected with condition of counseling, special training and time off work. Agreement and Negotiation: Within an organization somebody or some group may drop out during the transformation process. Managers can fight resistance by giving incentives to workers who are not in opposition to the change and the transformation process. This agreement and negotiation approach will be suitable where those resisting change are strong enough. Co-option and Manipulation Approach: Somewhere there are other procedures which are too exclusive. Schlesinger and Kotter proposed that an effective management technique is to co-opt with counters of change effort and transformation process. This frequently involves choosing leaders of the resisters so that instead of opposition they lead to a contribution in the process. Implicit and Explicit Coercion: Implementation speed is a necessity but should be used as a final option. The process should be made as smooth as possible however the managers can clearly or perfectly compel workers into tolerating change effort by making clear that resisting change can lead to firing, losing jobs, demotions or transferring employees. Framework of change This idea is about the procedure for change management and transformation process, presenting proposals and getting feedback for change. This is further than a beginning step to the real action of accomplishment. There is requirement to comprehend how considered choices are completed and proposals are evaluated within the. The framework of change management used throughout this thesis is presented in Error: Reference source not found. This model investigates further how organizations make the movement from the current to the future state. In particular, we will look at the Three Step Model developed by Lewin based on unfreezing the organization, moving and sustaining the change. (Lewin, 1980) CULTURE The first section culture of the change management framework include authenticating the case for change and transformation process and how the shared service/BPO initiative will add to comprehending the organizations premeditated goals, and readiness of both employees and organization and assessing the capacity to incorporate change. Impending blockers must be recognized and articulated with agreed-upon approaches and strategies thus the initiative is not disrupted. ORGANIZATION The second section wraps the design of the new world, comprising the operating model, role definitions, organizational structures, governance and competency frameworks, and decision-making frameworks. Realistic steps should be used to design effective and realistic interfaces between the retained organization and shared service/BPO capacity. LEADERSHIP The third step in the wheel aims to simplify how the firm will be led, and to furnish the leaders to carry out their leadership roles. Specific and detailed activities comprise how the leader ship team will work together both during implementation of shared services/ BPO, defining the role of the leadership team, and consequently, and the roles and responsibilities of individual leaders. Achievement like this may identify the requirement for coaching and/or training of leaders and potential leaders. PEOPLE CAPABILITY The fourth step of the cycle of change management framework intends to ascertain the competencies and skills necessary and how to gather those requirements, comprising gap analysis, skills audits, career planning and job and role definitions. Participation of talent who will lead the new firm is key to the success of this movement. EXECUTION The fifth step of the cycle of change management framework ensures freedom of the new form. It comprises hard deliverables in the form of milestones, project plans, budget analysis and progress reports, and soft deliverables in the shape of stakeholders management and communications. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The sixth and last step of the wheel of change management cover up life post-change and comprises processes and frameworks (e.g., balanced scorecards, performance management, and reward alignment) to determine the success of the changes, and means to make sure that opportunities for advance improvement are acted upon in a timely manner and identified.   Significance and benefits of Change management in the Organizations: Benefits of Change Management: ACCEPTING ENVIROMENT It is significant for the organization to assess, understand, and measure the dynamics in its exterior environment such as government, society and customers in order to predict and set up an appropriate relationship with these assorted performers like society, customers and government. Hence, managers by deliberating the subject of change management can better be ready to understand anything is going on in this environment. This is a major significance of change management in business organization. STRATEGY FORMULATION IMPLEMENTATION TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE It is very important to knowing the collision of change an inappropriate level on its own interior dynamics, where the main objective is to seek competitive advantage. This is the significance of change management in business organization. EMPLOYEES The employees are the beneficiaries of change process. One such continuous apprehension of senior managers is to make organization highly consistent; therefore workers ought to be high performing and trained one in todays twitchy competitive new world. There is need of trained, reliable organization and high performing work practices. This is significance of change management in organizations. TECHNOLOGY ISSUES Technology is realized as the engine of development in todays new world. May be the greatest challenge for modern organizations is the integration and acquisition of technology in its approach, structure and procedure. As such the apprehension of top managers is how to avoid and mitigate organization being outdated and how to absorb and cope the collision of communication technologies and changing information which have determinedly influencing consumption behavior and production process. This is another major benefit of change management in the organization. Significance of Change Management Implementation The peak five well recognized approaches of change management and significance of change management in the organization, which, when implemented properly, permit organizations to decrease risk and increase IT effectiveness and efficiency. The practices comprise of: Producing the top bottom approach to endorse the requirement for a culture of Information technology change management process that implements a zero tolerance approach to illicit changes across the whole enterprise. It will create significance of change management inside and outside the organization. Examining and monitoring the number of unintentional outages frequently to avert illegitimate changes and maintain maximum control on information technology variations. It will also create significance of change management in the modern organization. Put into practice risk mitigation changes executed and authorized by identifying well-defined change preservation windows and implemented them. The significance of change management will explore through it. Determine change success rates and using them as standard for key information technology management performance gauge. This is one of the major significance of change management. SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways is engaged in air services operations both in international and domestic airfreight. It provides various services ranging in commercial flights service for passengers around the globe, cargo freight and mail services and other auxiliary services. British Airways primarily runs its business in Europe and in United States. Located in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, it employs 42, 755 people in all its departments. British Airways facilitates flight reservation and booking using the online net services in which customers can easily access. Trying to appear competitive and maintain its integrity as one of the best airlines which emphasizes quality customer services, BA strives to create high-end terminal facilities and other services involving comfortable of customers while onboard. BA reaches out to 570 in about 134 countries. Such magnitude of operations offers customers with variety of destinations with world-class services that cater customers ranging from explorers to exec utives. Strengths British Airways strengths include the first-rate new fleet of aircrafts purchased to accolade comfortable traveling of passengers. This move was made to counter the wretched state of travel and complaint received by the previous fleet used by British Airways. The magnitude of Airways operations allows them on pro over their competitors by servicing to a wider variety of customers. Moreover, on the level of knowledge and skills, BA operational research claimed that analytical skills performed by the members of the company and employees become its strengths. The strong customer focus develops expertise in customer areas while in purchasing high-end software for air services and wide selection of it strengthens the companys business orientation. Weaknesses One of the many weaknesses on organizations business and services is the lack of marketing strategy that will help reinforce its competitive standards, more so, to win customers loyalty. Despite the great infrastructure hosted the company, BA needs to carry out better market schemes to attract more customers. Hence, competitive package for customer service must be afforded in order to make the airline more attractive to its clients, prompting an opportunity of earning large revenues. Furthermore, on knowledge and skills management, limited knowledge of simulation software and simulation development, knowledge lost through high level of internal staff moves, teams adopt solution approaches aligned only to their skills, and lack of involvement in choice of software and difficulty to enhance specialist airline software are weaknesses which the company must be aware of. Threats The threats are not necessarily be found outside of companys environment but can be an internal. Internal threats as seen in management centralized and bureaucratic system and all poor decision-making. Moreover, the companys focus on national and local problems pose a threat since much more problems which it neglect found in the global scheme. It neglects the global problems instead focusing deeply on the national and local level. The global problems greatly offer tremendous threats if and when companies will ignore such. Moreover, globalization can be an opportunity and strength but can also be a threat if not to be keen and vigilant of its tricks and treachery. Further, rapid changes on technology and customers behavior can also be a threat if mistakenly interpreted and remedied. Opportunities The availability of immense services and products pose an opportunity to utilize them properly. The global changes can be an opportunity to work with while ignoring certain opportunities can be a weakness. In BA, virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, obtaining network software and share expertise through special interest groups are opportunities which can be utilized and used to further enhance the companys business. Technological trends provide ample opportunities to various business domains, however, if it will be taken for granted, opportunities can be a threat or weakness. Maximizing the global trends is a great opportunity to hold on to. Methodology The proposed methodology for this dissertation is case study research. Case study research is a common and popular method of conducting research in the field of social sciences. In this methodology, an event, individuals, or group are investigated and explained. This in depth investigation focuses on defining the particular instance in either descriptive or explanatory manner. (Hartley, 2004) The methodology is not merely storytelling; rather it describes and explains the event in much detail so the reader could understand the reasons for that event/instance. The case studies are building with multiple sources of data and evidence. They are usually focused on one aspect of the organization rather than the whole organization itself. (Merriam, 1998) Case study method is quite useful if one wants to understand and estimate the impact of a certain event. It is important to understand that case study methodology can only be used when rich amount of data is available so the case can actual ly be built using it. (Eisenhardt, 1989) Although it is quite popular method of conducting the research, it has its weaknesses as well. Researchers have criticized it because they feel that this method lacks reliability. The reliability is questioned when case study is build using the secondary data. This criticism states that the research cannot be relied on as it lacks researchers own research efforts, and the case is built on the research that was already available. (Stake, 1995)However there are more strengths to this methodology than weaknesses. The method is particularly praised due to its usefulness in providing a holistic view of an event or phenomena. It is also admired due to multiple sources of data and evidence that are used to build case study, as it provides multiple insight into the phenomena. (Gillham, 2000) Types of case study Researchers have devised and explained several categories of case studies. One of the popular models used to explained categories of case studies is by Yin. He defines these categories in terms of the number of event and single or multiple methods of analysis. Type 1: Single case design and single unit of analysis Type 2: Single unit of analysis and multiple case designs Type 3: Single case design and multiple units of analysis Type 4: Multiple case designs and multiple units of analysis Yin has also devised three types of case study, Exploratory: Used for new topics and reveals the facts about a certain event. This type of research is normally the first one and sets direction for future research. Researchers agree that this research is more related to What question rather than the Why question. Descriptive: This type of case study research focuses on a clearly define problem or research question. Its focus is on How and Who question Explanatory: the last type of case study research is explanatory, which focuses on Why question. It is usually build in exploratory and descriptive research and tries to find out preseason for an events occurrence. (Yin, 2008) This particular research will be built on using explanatory case study method. As we already know what happened in British airways due to change management programs, however we need to search the question of Why it happened? Sources of Data for case study In order to build up a case study, data needs to be collected. This data gathering can either be primary or secondary. The primar

Essay --

CFO Scott Sullivan was in charge of corporate accounting at WorldCom. Reporting to Sullivan was Cynthia Cooper, Vice President of Internal Audit, and David Myers, Controller. Buford Yates, Jr., Director of General Accounting, reported to Myers. Reporting to Yates was Troy Normand, Betty Vinson and Mark Abide. The accounting fraud perpetuated at WorldCom by multiple executives centers around fraudulently reporting line cost expenses. The 2002 indictment, United States of America v. Scott D. Sullivan and Buford Yates Jr., appropriately summarizes the fraudulently reported line costs expenses: From in or about October 2000 through or about June 2002, Scott D. Sullivan and Buford Yates, Jr., the defendants, and their co-conspirators, engaged in an illegal scheme to inflate artificially WorldCom’s publicly reported earnings by falsely and fraudulently reducing reported line cost expenses. To effect this illegal scheme . . . made entries in WorldCom’s general ledger, crediting line costs and debiting, among other accounts, various reserve and capital accounts. AS Sullivan, Yates, and their co-conspirators knew, there was no justification in fact, or under Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (â€Å"GAAP†), for theses entries. (United States of America V. Scott D. Sullivan and Buford Yates, Jr. 2002, 7) As a result, WorldCom was able to raise cash flows and profits over this time period. These accounting practices enabled WorldCom to â€Å"disguise the firm’s actual nets losses because capital expenditures can be deducted over a longer period of time, whereas expenses must be subtracted from revenue immediately† (Ferrell 1) Unethical Decision Makers Scott Sullivan and Buford Yates were not the only executives or employe... ...uired if Emigh knew who had informed Sue Dean of the new policy. Again, being true to his character, Emigh was upfront and told Smith that he, in fact was the one who had gone to Sue Dean. The following day, Emigh was informed by his immediate supervisor that he had committed an infraction by not following orders and carrying out the new policy. A senior vice president had ordered that Emigh be formally reprimanded and punished (Reaves 6). Emigh knew it was going to be bad but explained to his wife that he had a responsibility to the share holders as well to himself. Ten weeks later, Kim Emigh was fired. In March 2002, Cynthia Cooper was informed of the fact that $400 million had been moved from WorldCom’s reserve account resulting in a falsely stated income statement. Cooper went to the external auditor, Arthur Anderson, who told her that it was not a problem.

Critique Article: Breast Feeding Essay

Breast feeding has been known from ages past to be an incomparable method of providing the best food for the healthy development and growth of new born babies. It also has a distinctive emotional, psychological and biological impact on both the mother and baby. Breast feeding is less expensive and has been traced to help in decreasing the risk of infection ,asthma,obesity,type 1 & 2 diabetes, leukemia, SIDs, necrotizing enterocolities (NEC), mortality and morbidity rate in children . In mothers breastfeeding can help in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, postpartum depression, ovarian, breast and other forms of cancer. Regardless of all the benefits of breast feeding, the rate and duration has been consistently low worldwide due to some cultural, economic, social and professional reasons (WHO, 2013). Problem Statement The author noted a clinical problem in Lebanon, which is increase mortality and morbidity rate as high as 27/1000 births. The death that occurs in children under the age of 5 is associated with poor nutrition and health status of mother and babies. The breastfeeding initiation rate has been inadequately low and varies between 63. 8% and 96% . Mother who exclusively breasted for less than one month were 58. 3% and 6 months old infant were 10. 1% – 4. 1% and only about 27. 1% breastfed for one year. More importantly the author noted that there was no government organization to promote and support breastfeeding mothers, and postpartum mothers are only entitled to forty (40) days maternity leave. The author attributed a lot of predisposing factors to the low prevalence and duration of breast feeding, giving birth by caesarian section, low socio-economic status, religion of parents, and having a pediatrician who is a male. Some hospital practices like separation of babies from mothers, introduction of formula, water, sucrose at birth instead of breast milk. Most mothers look at breastfeeding as torture to be tolerated for the sake of their newborn baby. Possibly, if mothers are aware of the benefits of breast feeding for their own health, they will be less ikely to leave when they run into problems. The author noted that all these factors have been previously cross-sectioned except exploring mother’s experiences or perception towards breastfeeding. Purpose of this Study The purpose of this study is to use qualitative method to identify barriers, promote and support breast feeding among Lebanon women, and explore their perception and experience during breastfeeding. Another purpose was to encourage health workers to provide proper information and also have a good understanding of management of breastfeeding. Some of the question that was design to be answer was ‘Tell me about your previous experiences with breast feeding? Tell me what motivated you to want to breast feed? Tell me about your perception on breastfeeding your baby? Tell me how long you intend to breast feed? The research questions were answered by the participants during the interview and they were related to the purpose of the study (Nabulsi, M. , 2011). Literature Review This research study was approved by the â€Å"Institutional Review Board at AUBMC, and hospital administrators of HDF and SGH†. The author conducted this research using qualitative method to explore postpartum mother’s experience; feelings and perception about breast feeding. The participants were recruited using theoretical sampling in the three different hospitals and they all had a full term delivery of healthy babies. The first interview was done by the researcher using focus group discussion with 5 open-ended questions between November and December 2007. The second section was conducted by the researcher with 10 postpartum mothers who were shared into group of 3 to 4 in each group. This interview was done in â€Å"Arabic† language for about 60 to 90 minutes and it was recorded in tape and was transcribed. The second stage was done with in-depth interview with 36 mothers between January and May 2008 with 12 members from AUBMC, 10 from HDF, and 14 from SGH. The researcher followed them up for up to one year or until breastfeeding was stopped. Reference point interviews were done with each of the participants for about 30 to 60 minutes which were recorded and audio-tape before they were discharge from the hospital. The follow-up interviews were done by telephone and face to face in the participants home every month for the first 6 months, then once every other month for another 6 months at each time the interview lasted for about 10 to 30 minutes. These follow up were done to discover breastfeeding barriers, mother’s experiences, perception, feelings and natural factors that may interfere with their decision to successfully breastfeed. They were all asked about their current status with breast-feeding and the reason for still breastfeeding or stopping if they did. According to the author in spite of their knowledge of breast feeding benefits, most of the participants also expressed some personal fear of excessive weight gain, change in shape of their breast, cultural belief that their milk is bad or could cause harm to the baby, breast feeding is so tiring and exhausting, pain, not enough breast milk, infant constantly crying, sleep deprivation. The author concluded that negative experiences during breast feeding seemed to have a significant impact on mother’s decision to stop breastfeeding( Nabulsi, M. , 2011). The author cited about 22 relevant journal articles and literature review and only about three were less than five years which is very normal in a qualitative research. There was no adequate information in the literature review to build a logical augment and no weakness was indicated during the study. The perspective from which the study was developed is from the women of Lebanon who were consistently experiencing low breast feeding rate and the author did not use grounded theory qualitative inquiry, and no diagram or framework was developed from this study. In conclusion breast feeding is still the most natural and acceptable food for babies worldwide. Making an attempt to increase the initiation and duration of breast feeding without significant change in the feelings and perception of mothers towards breast feeding may result in more mothers having negative experiences and consequently reduces the rate of breastfeeding. There will be great need for health professional to prepare pregnant mothers on how to successfully breastfeed and this will help improve their confidence and willpower (McInnes, R. Chambers, J. , 2008). More education will need to be done with certain population including low-income mothers, ethnic and cultural group and educating nurses and doctors in breastfeeding management. Finally there will be need to develop government policies and program that will assist mothers that are breastfeeding, extending postpartum leave, providing child care at work places for mothers. However in Lebanon further research is required to assess the efficiency of future interventions in regards to breast feeding.

Flamenco essays

Flamenco essays Flamenco es un arte. Es un arte que estimula la mente, el cuerpo, y el alma. Flamenco es originario de Espan, flamenco tiene unas raà ­ces en los moros y los judà ­os. Hoy el flamenco forma parte de la tradicin en la vida de cada dà ­a, porque toda la mà ºsica que las personas escuchan en Andalucà ­a ha brotado del flamenco (Similar al Jazz en los estados unidos). Hay tres tipos de Flamenco: El baile, la guitarra, y el canto. Por lo general, la mà ºsica es lo ms importante. El baile del flamenco no es menos que fantstico. Las chicas usan sus cuerpos con gracia y con mucho flujo. Los chicos bailan en forma de Zapateado, forma por la cual ellos usan mucho los pies, y golpean el piso con los tacones. La mà ºsica es muy rpida y las personas se mueven al comps de la mà ºsica. La parte de canto es la que a mi no me gusta. No me gusta porque el volumen de las voces de las personas, en mi opinin, no es tan necesario . Tambin, no me gusta el tono de los personas que estn cantando. Probablemente es porque yo no escucho este tipo de mà ºsica todos los dà ­as, y es solamente porque es diferente. En el canto, en las raà ­ces del norte de frica es muy evidente cuando las personas gritan jaleos. Cuando yo fui al frica, yo escuche los jaleos muy similares a los que se escuchan en la mà ºsica del Flamenco. La parte de la guitarra es mi favorito. Me gusta este parte porque es similar a la mà ºsica que yo escucho. Tambin, el sonido es muy denso y es un placer escucharlo. Yo escucho un poco de la mà ºsica de Paco de Lucia, y me gusta mucho la mà ºsica. Ahora, despus de haber trabajado en este ensayo, ya se mucho mas sobre flamenco y de las tradiciones de las personas en Espa ...

Free Essays on Cleveland Plan

The city of Cleveland has plans to make a couple changes on the city. There has been talk of a new budget coming in and with the budget they’re planning to add things that the community would need such as a bank, a newspaper, and other industries. More and more people are slowly moving into the city of Cleveland and with this in mind there is going to have to be a better transportation system to reroute goods and people throughout the city. Also a college is planning to be built by the end of the presidency. It is planned to be one of the finest colleges in the North. It will specialize in medicine and medical advancement. With the population in Cleveland continues to rapidly grow the city is in need a better way of transportation. The city currently has a good way of transporting goods for one city to the next but the time in very slow. This is causing a lot of problems and annoyances. The average transport time for a package is about seven to ten days. They community officials and government officials are planning to add a steamship empire. This is slowly rising to become the greatest thing that Ohio and the north have ever witnessed. It will lessen the transfer time and improve the rate of exchange or the country. The ports are being constructed and the boats are being moved in. the estimated time for completion is heard to be around the end of the presidency, around 1844 or later. The estimated cost for this is around $20 million dollars. This will make the biggest revolution in Cleveland and Ohio’s time. The Plain Dealer has been released now and has been successful. So the paper has been in circulation for the past few months and there has been great success. The estimated is to be about 5,000 to 6,500 people reading this paper every week. Even though Cleveland is a Republican area the paper is read a lot in the town. The paper is said to give democratic views to a republican community. This has been the first major pape... Free Essays on Cleveland Plan Free Essays on Cleveland Plan The city of Cleveland has plans to make a couple changes on the city. There has been talk of a new budget coming in and with the budget they’re planning to add things that the community would need such as a bank, a newspaper, and other industries. More and more people are slowly moving into the city of Cleveland and with this in mind there is going to have to be a better transportation system to reroute goods and people throughout the city. Also a college is planning to be built by the end of the presidency. It is planned to be one of the finest colleges in the North. It will specialize in medicine and medical advancement. With the population in Cleveland continues to rapidly grow the city is in need a better way of transportation. The city currently has a good way of transporting goods for one city to the next but the time in very slow. This is causing a lot of problems and annoyances. The average transport time for a package is about seven to ten days. They community officials and government officials are planning to add a steamship empire. This is slowly rising to become the greatest thing that Ohio and the north have ever witnessed. It will lessen the transfer time and improve the rate of exchange or the country. The ports are being constructed and the boats are being moved in. the estimated time for completion is heard to be around the end of the presidency, around 1844 or later. The estimated cost for this is around $20 million dollars. This will make the biggest revolution in Cleveland and Ohio’s time. The Plain Dealer has been released now and has been successful. So the paper has been in circulation for the past few months and there has been great success. The estimated is to be about 5,000 to 6,500 people reading this paper every week. Even though Cleveland is a Republican area the paper is read a lot in the town. The paper is said to give democratic views to a republican community. This has been the first major pape...

Do the requirements of IFRS 8 Operating Segments enhance the quality Assignment

Do the requirements of IFRS 8 Operating Segments enhance the quality of information available to financial statement users - Assignment Example IFRS 8 states that an operating segment is a component of any organization that engages in business activities that earn revenue. The entity’s operating results must also be regularly reviewed by the chief operating decision maker. In addition, the entity must have discrete financial information. In business, an operating segment is that an independent unit that produces discriminated revenue thus necessitating preparation of separate books of transactions. It helps companies to track their performance in different areas of the market (IFRS 8 website). The paper discusses the reasons why the provision of segmental information is useful, current requirements of IFRS 8 and how they differ with other past and present accounting standards. It also presents the evidence as to whether the current requirements increase the quality of information available to users of financial statements. A good number of market participants and stakeholders are usually interested in the disclosures of information regarding the operating segments of the company. The provision of segmental information ensures that users of financial statements access information relating to the firm’s past performance, their risks and returns so as to be able to make informed decision or judgment about the entity in entirety (Christian & LüDenbach, 2013, p. 451). It ensures that users of information easily access the information regarding performance and prospects of the particular part of the entity that which they are interested. The stakeholders need to consider separate prospects and performance of each sector so as to be able to estimate the performance of the entire enterprise fully. Provision of segmental information ensures transparency. Transparency is the cornerstone of any corporate financial reporting because analysts and other stakeholders require complete and accurate information to assess the growth and

Access to Essential Medicines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Access to Essential Medicines - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  Mexico manufactures almost all categories of the essential medicines need in the country, locally. There are a variety of essential medicines that are manufactured in Mexico, which also eventually find way to other countries such as the neighboring USA and Latin America, due to the low cost of such medicines in Mexico. The essential medicines manufactured locally include anesthetics, which represents the category of medicines that are essential for any healthcare facility, applied to suppress pain in patients, to enable the doctors perform other medical procedures such as injections.This paper outlines that  the government plays a very pivotal role in providing access to essential medicines in Mexico. The Mexican government has established a very effective patent system, which creates a very favorable environment for the pharmaceuticals to launch new medicines in the country. The policy environment for pharmaceutical industry players has als o been made effective by the government, which enables the pharmaceutical industry to import the relevant equipment, raw materials and disposables, which them makes it efficient to provide essential medicines to the public health facilities, that are supplied by the government. The suitable policy environment has made it possible for Mexico to increase its export of pharmaceutical products to the USA by a massive 78%, from 1992 to 2002.