The Value of Economics in Everyday Life :: Free Essay Writer

The Value of Economics in Everyday LifeIt was the strangest thing. It all began on the evening of June 15th 2008. My grandmother passed away. This was weird because no trunk even knew she was dying. Well maybe it was just her time to go. It was a very rough equal of days. My sisters, my mother and I set up the calling hours for her wake, and the time and place for her funeral. It was vary hard to concentrate on these tasks when one of our loved ones had passed away. About devil weeks had passed and things were begging to return to normal. It had been a tremendous loss for our family, but we all knew that we had to get on with our lives.I recall a message that was left on my mothers answering machine reporting that my grandmother had written a will. It was discovered when all of her things were cosmos cleaned out of her home. Not a bingle soul within my grandmothers family knew about this will, so it was a big surprise. The message on the machine clearly stated that t he will was tone ending to be opened and read to the family, on July 5, 2005 at 100 p.m. at the county court house. Everyone was anxious to find out just what he had left. No body was expecting much because they knew my grandmother didnt have very much. She had raised seven children on her own. The day had finally come. It was just about 100 p.m. and the will was being opened. It read as followsWell all, I guess it was my time to go. I am in a better place now, where there is no paroxysm or pain. I call for you all to promise me that you will be happy for me. I know it is hard to do, but it is for the best. Now I need you all to take a deep breath for there is something that you all must know. I have been saving some things up over the last 50 years, mainly because I knew this day was coming, I just wasnt sure when. You all know that I was one for money. We never had much, so when I made a little extra, I was

In Someone Elses Eyes :: War Essays

In Someone Elses Eyes many an(prenominal) young people develop our concept of strugglef arefare by our schooling and the media. We had no knowledge of what war is first hand until the current war on terrorism. Still the majority of us have not seen state of war up close we have not felt the many emotions that warfare carries with it. For many individuals war brings pain and suffering, while for others it brings freedom and liberation. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, war is an actual intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities(Orend). This definition is waxy enough to include civil wars while not overly broad to exclude conflicts in trade. There are several positions that one can ask when it deducts to war. The three main positions held are political realism, just war theory, and pacifism. Political realists believe a country should go to war if it is in their national interest. incisively war theorists believe that war is ok ay in definite situations as long as the country follows the rules of war. Pacifists believe that war is never okay and is invariably wrong. For my Honors 103 class at California State University San Bernardino I was ask to interview a war Veteran. Going into this interview I believed in the just war theory. This interview only reinforced my beliefs.Only those who have go through war first hand truly regard war. The closest I can come to this understanding without participating in war myself is to learn few those experiences from people who have been through them and try to put myself in their shoes, to try to experience war through them. This will give me the foundation needed to understand war and what comes along with it. I hope to do this by sharing with you my experience interviewing a war veteran. I interviewed Leo Maas, a former pass who fought for our country in both World War II and in the Korean War. The experiences he shared with me were unexpected. He put war int o a pertly light for me. When Leo joined the Navy, he was only 17, and the WWII had yet to begin. Before the war had yet begun, he saw the tragedy that it could bring. He spent some time on a crash crew at a flight school, and at that place were plenty of accidents. So at an age when many teenagers problems are who to take to the prom, this young soldier had to pick up what was left of these young pilots.In Someone Elses Eyes War EssaysIn Someone Elses EyesMany young people develop our concept of war through our schooling and the media. We had no knowledge of what war is first hand until the current war on terrorism. Still the majority of us have not seen warfare up close we have not felt the many emotions that warfare carries with it. For many individuals war brings pain and suffering, while for others it brings freedom and liberation. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, war is an actual intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities (Orend). This definition is flexible enough to include civil wars while not too broad to exclude conflicts in trade. There are several positions that one can hold when it comes to war. The three main positions held are political realism, just war theory, and pacifism. Political realists believe a country should go to war if it is in their national interest. Just war theorists believe that war is okay in certain situations as long as the country follows the rules of war. Pacifists believe that war is never okay and is always wrong. For my Honors 103 class at California State University San Bernardino I was required to interview a war Veteran. Going into this interview I believed in the just war theory. This interview only reinforced my beliefs.Only those who have experienced war first hand truly understand war. The closest I can come to this understanding without participating in war myself is to learn about those experiences from people who have been through them and try to put myse lf in their shoes, to try to experience war through them. This will give me the foundation needed to understand war and what comes along with it. I hope to do this by sharing with you my experience interviewing a war veteran. I interviewed Leo Maas, a former soldier who fought for our country in both World War II and in the Korean War. The experiences he shared with me were unexpected. He put war into a new light for me. When Leo joined the Navy, he was only 17, and the WWII had yet to begin. Before the war had even begun, he saw the tragedy that it could bring. He spent some time on a crash crew at a flight school, and there were plenty of accidents. So at an age when many teenagers problems are who to take to the prom, this young soldier had to pick up what was left of these young pilots.

Racism in Huck Finn Essay -- Racist Literature Huckleberry Finn Mark T

Racism in Huck FinnKids are often exposed to obliges long before they are repair for them or exposed to them in a manner that seems almost calculated to evaporate whatever enthusiasm the student whitethorn bring to them. Very few youngsters of high school age are ready for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Leaving aside its subtle depiction of racial attitudes and its complex view of American society, the book is pen in a language that will seem baroque, obscure and antiquated to many young people today. The vastly sunnier Tom Sawyer is a book for kids, but The Adventures for Huckleberry Finn most emphatically is not. (Baker 114)The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been considered one of Mark Twains best works. Huckleberry Finn, Jim and Tom Sawyer are the main characters in the book. The book is a story about Huck Finn who is the son of a harsh drunkard. Huck determines to run away to Jacksons Island in the middle of the Mississippi River. He finds Miss Watsons slave, Jim, while on the island. They decide to head to the free states, but along the way, they run into many problems including getting into a feud between the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons and meeting two thieves. After overcoming a visual modality of troubles, Huck goes to the Phelps who just happen to be relation to Tom Sawyer and are expecting Tom. Huck acts as if he is Tom for a long while. Finally, newsworthiness comes that Jim is free because Miss Watson freed him before she died. As the story ends, Huckleberry decides once again that he will head up north and leaves without telling a wholeness soul. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a racist book. Probably the most discussed aspect of the book is how it addresses the issue of race. Many critics agree that the books presentation of the issue is complex or, some say, uneven. No clear-cut stance on race and racism emerges, yet the book uses racist language, was accepted in the time period in which it was written, and may have a neg ative effect on students who read the book.In order to understand this argument, it is important to look at the background of this problem. Despite the occurrence that Huck comes to respect Jim as a human being, he still reveals his prejudice towards black people. Dianne Telgen, a contemporary Latina writer, tells us that Hucks wonder at Jims deep feelings for his family is accompanied by the statement I do beli... ...ckleberry Finn. London Unwin Hyman, 1987.Fisher, John. Readings On The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Katie de Koster, ed.Greenhaven Press San Diego, 1998.Gilliam, Dorothy. Readings On The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Katie de Koster, ed. Greenhaven Press San Diego, 1998.Henry, Peaches. The Struggle for security deposit Race and Censorship in Huckleberry Finn. A Case Study in Critical Controversy Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. Gerald Graff and James Phelan. New York Bedford Books, 1995. 359-382.Robbins, Fred. Personal interview. 11 October 2000.Serafin, St even R. ed. Samuel Clemens. Encyclopedia of American Literature. New York Continuum Publishing Company, 1999.Shockley, W.B. and A.R. Jenson. Readings On The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Katie de Koster, ed. Greenhaven Press San Diego, 1998.Telgen, Dianne, ed. Novels for Students. Volume 1. New York Gale Research, 1997.Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York Amsco School Publications, Inc., 1972Wallace, John. Huckleberry Finn Is Racist Trash. Readings On The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Katie de Koster, ed. Greenhaven Press San Diego, 1998.

Developing Managers :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Developing Managers The Functional, the Symbolic, the Sacred and the Profane *.Author/s Ken Kamoche rearThis paper offers a new perspective on international management by examining the role of culture and management development in creating international expertise, a sense of identity and realizing organizational control. A critical analysis of the culture transmission system and management development philosophy and practice of a UK-based transnational reveals how the transmission of culture accomplishes management development objectives, while management development itself serves as a vehicle for the transmission of the desired corporate values. This recursiveness is sustained by a corporate ideology that urges the creation of integrative values and, in turn, is legitimized by the quest for favourable functional and symbolic consequences.Descriptors management training and development, culture, ideology, functionalism, symbolism presentmentReconciling headquarter-subsidiary interes ts while maintaining a distinct identity continues to be a major challenge for multinational firms, hence the think global/act local anaesthetic paradox. For Ghoshal and Bartlett (1990) this problem can be addressed by effectively handling the network of exchange relationships. Other solutions include socialization and the management of expatriates (e.g. Edstrom and Galbraith 1977 tung tree 1982) managing relationships between expatriates and host-country subordinates (e.g. Shaw 1990) creating cultural synergy (e.g. Adler 1980) fostering cooperative relationships and developing conflict-resolution mechanisms (e.g. Doz et al. 1981) diffusing best proven practices (e.g. Rosenzweig and Singh 1991) reconciling organizational linkages (e.g. Borys and Jemison 1989) and diffusing and leveraging knowledge (e.g. Gupta and Govindarajan 1991 Kamoche 1996). Bartlett and Ghoshal (1989 187) make that successful transnational firms used management development to build cultural norms, sha pe orga nizational processes and influence individual managerial behaviour in a vogue that reinforced worldwide strategies and organizational objectives. This implies a potentially integrative role for culture and management training and development (MTD).Going beyond the typical connect with better skills, this study offers a much more complex and multi-faceted picture of MTD which reveals an intricate interplay between MTD and corporate culture. We show how managers in a multinational firm conceal as International Products (IP) account for their training and career development activities and how they rationalize such activities in terms of an integrative corporate culture. 1 Thus, MTD serves as a legal document for the transmission of culture, while a putative integrative culture in turn furnishes the rationale for MTD. This recursiveness finds legitimacy in the ideological premise, promulgated by precedential management, that it is in the joint interests of the firm and the managers to absorb and internalize the organizational values inherent in the corporate culture, because this helps managers to secure a high-flying career.

Comparing Two Definitions of Home :: Compare Contrast Comparison

Comparing dickens Definitions of national For each person, home has a different meaning. For some, it is their house for others, home focuses on where love ones are. The two authors Richard cut across and Chang-Rae Lee consider home to be where the memories are. In their respective works, I Must Be Going and Coming Home Again, the authors externalisek home through memories. Fords memories are based on moving to new homes, while Lees memories are think on his mother and cooking. Each, in turn, finds out what home means for himself. In Fords work, he explores how the idea that transient is a word of aggrieve (Ford 110), a stereotype which he does not agree with. M any people consider people who move often to have shallow roots. People with bittie hind end are suspicious to lengthy residents. In his life, he has moved roughly twenty times, but he does not concede their establishment is any more(prenominal) established than (110) his own. To Ford, home is all of the memories physical location is irrelevant. He moves so often because relishs at the heart of it (109). He has been longing to see the outside world. As a kid, he noted that the world outside was the more magical, exotic place (109-110) than his hometown. Remembering when he once owned a home, he felt so trapped. In a drunken rage, he flung paint on everything on a lower level. This shows that Ford has a satisfying need of personal freedom to move. He wants to control his own destiny, concluding that any of his problems are therefore on his bill, not theirs (111). Ford feels that storehouse ever needs replenishing (110) and he does so by constantly moving from place to place. Ford questions the American southerner tradition that home is supposed to hold (110) Southerners to their houses and land. Ford feels otherwise about home home real home the important place that holds you, always meant that affection, love (110). For hi m, home is the pleasant memories he holds.Comparing Two Definitions of Home Compare Contrast ComparisonComparing Two Definitions of Home For each person, home has a different meaning. For some, it is their house for others, home focuses on where loved ones are. The two authors Richard Ford and Chang-Rae Lee consider home to be where the memories are. In their respective works, I Must Be Going and Coming Home Again, the authors explore home through memories. Fords memories are based on moving to new homes, while Lees memories are focused on his mother and cooking. Each, in turn, finds out what home means for himself. In Fords work, he explores how the idea that transient is a word of reproach (Ford 110), a stereotype which he does not agree with. Many people consider people who move often to have shallow roots. People with little foundation are suspicious to lengthy residents. In his life, he has moved roughly twenty times, but he does not concede the ir establishment is any more established than (110) his own. To Ford, home is all of the memories physical location is irrelevant. He moves so often because longings at the heart of it (109). He has been longing to see the outside world. As a kid, he noted that the world outside was the more magical, exotic place (109-110) than his hometown. Remembering when he once owned a home, he felt so trapped. In a drunken rage, he flung paint on everything on a lower level. This shows that Ford has a strong need of personal freedom to move. He wants to control his own destiny, concluding that any of his problems are therefore on his bill, not theirs (111). Ford feels that memory always needs replenishing (110) and he does so by constantly moving from place to place. Ford questions the American southerner tradition that home is supposed to hold (110) Southerners to their houses and land. Ford feels differently about home home real home the important place th at holds you, always meant that affection, love (110). For him, home is the pleasant memories he holds.

Comparing Two Definitions of Home :: Compare Contrast Comparison

Comparing Two Definitions of Home For each person, domicil has a different meaning. For some, it is their house for others, planetary house focuses on where loved ones are. The two authors Richard crossbreeding and Chang-Rae downwind consider family line to be where the memories are. In their respective works, I Must Be Going and Coming Home Again, the authors explore home by memories. crossbreedings memories are based on moving to new homes, while Lees memories are focused on his mother and cooking. Each, in turn, finds aside what home means for himself. In Fords work, he explores how the idea that transient is a word of reproach (Ford 110), a stereotype which he does not agree with. Many people consider people who move often to have shall(a)ow roots. People with little foundation are mistrustful to protracted residents. In his life, he has moved roughly twenty times, but he does not concede their establishment is any more established than (11 0) his own. To Ford, home is all of the memories physical location is irrelevant. He moves so often because longings at the heart of it (109). He has been longing to see the outside world. As a kid, he noted that the world outside was the more magical, exotic place (109-110) than his hometown. Remembering when he once owned a home, he felt so trapped. In a drunken rage, he flung paint on everything on a lower level. This shows that Ford has a strong need of individual(prenominal) immunity to move. He wants to control his own destiny, concluding that any of his problems are therefore on his bill, not theirs (111). Ford feels that memory always needs replenishing (110) and he does so by constantly moving from place to place. Ford questions the American southerner tradition that home is supposed to hold (110) Southerners to their houses and land. Ford feels differently about home home real home the important place that holds you, always meant that affection, love (110). For him, home is the pleasant memories he holds.Comparing Two Definitions of Home Compare lineage ComparisonComparing Two Definitions of Home For each person, home has a different meaning. For some, it is their house for others, home focuses on where loved ones are. The two authors Richard Ford and Chang-Rae Lee consider home to be where the memories are. In their respective works, I Must Be Going and Coming Home Again, the authors explore home through memories. Fords memories are based on moving to new homes, while Lees memories are focused on his mother and cooking. Each, in turn, finds out what home means for himself. In Fords work, he explores how the idea that transient is a word of reproach (Ford 110), a stereotype which he does not agree with. Many people consider people who move often to have shallow roots. People with little foundation are suspicious to lengthy residents. In his life, he has moved roughly twenty tim es, but he does not concede their establishment is any more established than (110) his own. To Ford, home is all of the memories physical location is irrelevant. He moves so often because longings at the heart of it (109). He has been longing to see the outside world. As a kid, he noted that the world outside was the more magical, exotic place (109-110) than his hometown. Remembering when he once owned a home, he felt so trapped. In a drunken rage, he flung paint on everything on a lower level. This shows that Ford has a strong need of personal freedom to move. He wants to control his own destiny, concluding that any of his problems are therefore on his bill, not theirs (111). Ford feels that memory always needs replenishing (110) and he does so by constantly moving from place to place. Ford questions the American southerner tradition that home is supposed to hold (110) Southerners to their houses and land. Ford feels differently about home home re al home the important place that holds you, always meant that affection, love (110). For him, home is the pleasant memories he holds.

Case study on Implementation of quality systems through information technology systems in Athal Company Essay

Case study on Implementation of role clay of ruless by learning engineering science arrangings in Athal Company entrance Athal is a service offering social club that was established in 1980. It offers reexamination, testing, consulting, and role control operate. The play a considerable offers attract to different companies in different industries through its 15 branches in unify Kingdom. The come with had offered these operate in the past using manual of arms(a)(a) shade organisation but due to competition and emergence of engineering in the persistence, the play along found it necessary to fulfill a freshly machine-controlled smell agency arrangement by varying development applied science agreements. This would alter it to offer shade service that meet national and international standards. The executing of the forward-looking clay was faced with challenges from monetary to employees resistance to the modernistic applied science. The dat a on the eluding study was bewildered through questionnaires and questions. The findings were as follows. From the 110 questionnaires administered, only vitamin C of them were complete and used for this case study. From the 100 questionnaires that were complete, 90% discredited the manual system saying it was faulty as it offered minimum monitor. 70% of the employees had a positive attitude roughly the manual system, as it was non powerful when observe employees. 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control. 100% of the participants concur that the machine-driven system was more(prenominal) efficient comp bed to the manual system since all the employees had to log in to automatise biometric system. 43% of the employees were resistant to the impact and felt that the manual system would continue while 57% of the employees felt that transformation to the machine-driven q uality system was necessary. 95% of the employees felt that it was important to implement the quality system for both the away and internal environment of the bloodline to ensure that the boilers suit capital punishment of the guild was monitored. 5% of the participants were not sure if the quality system was supposed(p) to be installed both internally and externally. The unions 110 employees were issued with questionnaires and five management staffs from the five departments were interviewed revealing the following The employees were resistant on the new implementation was because of fear of losing their jobs and their relevance when the new engine room would be adapted in the order. Hence, the implementation outgrowth heavily relied on the employees in the party. The company sensitization and tuitions employees on the new technology saw the implementation process plow debonnaire. The company as well faced challenge on the cost of the new system in confiness of infrastructures such as softw be, computers, and training employees and technical staff on running and marinating the process. However, the implementation of the new system change the work offered and change magnitude its warlike advantage in the securities exertion. Through analysis, it was realised that, the company use of technology has limited the buyers bargaining force play thus retraining and attracting more customers from its unique quality service that it offered. The new technology fall the profitability of the industry thus decreasing the threats of the new entry. The company was under the threat of mellow suppliers bargaining power due to few suppliers in the industry that made the cost of operations to increase thus decreasing the profits margins. There industry has threats of substitute serve that are offered by companies using the manual system at low prices. However, the new automated system was found to be fast and liberal effective work that attracted consumers and thus retaining and attracting new employees in the company thus helping it to regain its militant position in the market. Moreover, the ability of the system to be monitored by different people at the results in function that are accurate is free from errors thus giving consumers confidence as opposed to the manual system. The process is also cost effective in long term due to reduced magazine and human capital that can be utilized in other constructive duties that would improve the productivity of the company. The system was recommended for both internal and external controls.Question Athal is a company was established in 1980 in get together Kingdom. It main work is provision of services in that vary from inspection, testing, consulting and quality control. They offer these services to different organizations to ensure that they offer quality services and that they are able to handle managerial and fiscal problems with the international standards. The company offers these services in more than 15 branches in United Kingdom. For the company to be efficient, it has conjugate all the 15 offices through tuition systems and technology. The company also manages to offer these services by employing 110 workers that are of various professional backgrounds. The workers are delegated duties found on 5 different departments of the company that include public relations, finance department, technical, marketing and quality control. The finance department ensures that all the financial services are met for the company and that of the clients looking for consultancy services in the organization. The public relation department ensures that interpersonal relationship for all the clients and workers is maintained at high gear level thereby up(a) the cognitive operation of the employees, retain, and attract more customers. This has led to productivity of the company due good customer relation and high quality services that the company offers. Techni cal department ensures all the other department and technical services management meet the goal and mission of the company to offer quality services. The quality control department ensures that all the services that offered by the company and its internal managements are in line with the international and local standards (Hoyle, 2009 p. 244). The company had adopted manual quality control system that mandated employees to monitor all the services and departments in the company. In addition, the inspections and testing when assessing qualities of their clients was done manually, which was expensive and involving to the employees in charge. The manual system was not efficient and nearly of the departments, employees, and services monitoring was poor resulting to poor services that impinge oned the productivity of the company. The quality of services that a company or backing offers helps it to retain and attract more customers making the company more competitive and commanding a wider share of the market (Berry, & Parasuraman, 2004 p. 134). Therefore, for the company to improve its services and improves its market share, a competitive and efficient quality control systems had to be put in place. Despite the high cost of implementation, the service would ensure that quality services are dispensed through efficient monitoring services. The company adopted and automated a quality control system developed through information technology to link all the five departments and the employees. Consequently, the company linked all the 15 branches such that all the services offered meet the customers need. The interlinked company departments and branches would ensure that inspection and testing process were efficient. The technical department monitored and maintained all the systems. The marketing department quality system ensured that customers could get all the necessary information and services that meet the international standards. Consequently, through qual ity control the public relation department would ensure that a good relationship among all the stakeholders of the company by disseminating germane(predicate) information and keeping the customers updated through push through. The questions categorized for questionnaires and interviews. The employees questions related to the effectiveness of the new process, their attitude on the change, and the transformation to the new system. Moreover, it also focused on employees stake in the new process, and how monitoring changed comparing the old system. Concerning this question, some employees said that the new system was more effective while few of them did not get by between the performance of the manual and the new system saying that they view both systems as the same. On the issue of cost and monitoring, closely of them said that the new system on quality toast was more pricey and offered close monitoring of employees and projects on the course thus maintain a high performanc e rate in the company. On the issue of the attitude of the employees, some employees had a negative attitude on the new system as they said that the new system would limit their emancipation and might result to losing their jobs. Those with positive attitude argued that the new automated system would make work easier and improve the performance of the company. few were confused on the though seemed interested with the implementation of the new technology. The implementation process was expensive from the response of the majority of the participants while few did not forethought more or less the cost and they said that it was cheap for the company since it had enough resources to implement the new system. concord to the participant in this case study that were working for Athal company for the date of the explore, the transformation process was faced with resistant as some employees feared losing jobs due to inadequate skills. Other argued that new technology would result in w orking overtime because some machines would require monitoring and thus resisted the change and made the transformation process difficult for the management. A number of the employees said that transformation was smooth as they cited that the management was able to deal with employees and assured them that nothing would change on the management of employees and their jobs were safe. They also indicated that the management assured them that the transformation to the new automated system would include training of employees in order to adapt to the new system. The employees argue that method would be applicable to both internal and external monitoring, as the company required the monitoring of the quality of other companies that it offered services. To them, this was the best means by which the company would improve its services to its clients. On the part of the management interview, it emphasized on the performance of the new technology, employees and clients response, and the c ost of the implementation. The interview mingled five management employees under the five departments. The management unanimously answered that the performance of the new system showed improvement. They cited that the system could process large information fast, accurately, and effective as compared to the old system. The management argued that the employees had a mixed reaction on the implementation while the clients were euphoric and welcomed the new system, as they believed that it could improve their services. The implementation process was costly according to the management but they did it as a way of improving their qualities. The organization see problems and poor performance in the marketing department thus caused reduced customers in the company. Similarly, poor performance of public relations department resulted to conflicts and poor employees performance that affected the efficiency and productivity of the company in delivering its services. In all(prenominal) co mpany or business, good employees relationship is important since it minimizes conflicts and improves their working conditions and as a result, employees become very productive, which is the aim of every business. Consequently, employees are able to offer quality services to the customers thus retaining more customers for the company. Similarly, the slow monitoring and poor services in the finance department caused company poor performances and financial mismanagements. every the problems happened to Athal Company despite it having a manual quality assurance system that was mandated monitoring and ensuring that the company was able to operate within the local and international business environment. The problems reflected that the manual system was ineffective. Therefore, the company needed to change its method of quality assurance so that it could ensure that customers received quality services. Finance department also needed good management as it ensured that the company operated with the international and national standards. The come would not only improve the companys quality systems but also improve its productivity and its competitiveness due to high quality services and standards that it would uphold. The orient market for Athal Company is organizations and businesses that are in need of consultancy, inspection and testing services. The companies or businesses whitethorn be diverse and offering various services in the market but for them to provide quality services to their customers, they strengthen their managements through Athal consultation services (Wigand, 2003 p. 33). Therefore, Athal Company needs to provide high quality services and set international standards to its clients. Hence, it was important for it to adapt new technology in quality assurance services that would allow it give quality inspection, testing, and quality control services. Thus, adapting an automated information system would ensure that it would be able to carry out in ternal and external quality control. Athal Company offered effective services in the industry, which has maintained its productivity in the market in spite of its manual system. The company has also high skilled employees although the achievement of the companys goals has been achieved through extra management and monitoring. In addition, the company operates in an industry where competition is not very much stiff. However, the emergence of the new technology that few companies are adapting, competition is becoming a business issue that management has to deal with. Moreover, the companies marketing strategies and technology adaptation has been poor until the recent past when the company adapted the new technology on quality assurance. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the implementation process of the new quality assurance system and how best is meet in the companys strategies to improve its productivity and growth in the industry.Literature Review With the developme nt and the industrialization of the world, technology has become inevitable to business industries (Lanz, 2013 p. 6). Many businesses industries adapt technologies to increase efficiency and quality of services they offer. The quality services and efficiency serves as a strategy to compete in the market. information technology is one of the technologies that have been adapted by many companies and bushiness to improve on their performance (Ho-Chang, Chang, & Prybutok, 2014 p. 316). The information technologies have been used in various areas of distinction for company such as personalitys department, financial, marketing and quality control. The technologies are linked to the business strategies such that they fit the competitive strategies making the company to fit in a dynamic market and environment (Wang et al, 2012 p. 346). The information technology systems help to integrate business entities making it more manageable and efficient in oral communication of its services (Drne vich, & Croson, 2013 p. 488-489). Hence, the quality system that would incorporate information technology system provide enhance the integration of the five departments and the external environment making the company more manageable and improve service delivery. Consequently, the business would be able to compete and improve its performance. The implementation of the new technology in Athal Company multiform an organization change. Hence the company needed to prepare the employees for a new change because people tend to resist to changes and particularly to those that tend to affect their freedom (Ford, J., Ford, L., & DAmelio, 2008 p. 370). The managers have the responsibility to initiate new changes and influence employees to develop positive attitude on the technologies for smooth adoption of new technology (Lilly, & Durr, 2012 p. 199). To evacuate resistance managers and executive must provide employees with trainings and other support skills that depart help them to ad apt to new technologies (Kumpikait, & iarnien, 2008 p. 93-94.).Methodology The case study used questionnaires to obtain information from the employees about the manual quality system and the newly implemented quality systems in the company ( appendix 4). All the 110 employees were administered questionnaires to feel that contained both the questions about the old and the new information systems. In addition, interviews were conducted with five members from the top management team to understand the monitoring of the two systems (Appendix 5). The questionnaires were preferred for the employees because they were a large conclave in the company and other methods would take a lot of time. Moreover, it was possible to administer all the questionnaires at the same time thus saving time and getting the required information. However, the tool is not appropriate for getting details. Interviews were preferred for the management team because they were few and it could be managed with a short time. Interview also helps in getting details about the implementation process. However, it is time consuming. The interview involved the three questions attached in the appendix for the management. Athal Company was chosen in this case study since it was one of the companies that had implemented a new automated quality system using information technology in the recent past. These meant employees could be able to provide the required information as opposed to those that implemented it long time ago. In addition, there was high likely hood that most of the employees working in the company were present during the implementation process thus accurate information. Moreover, the implementation of the new system was faced with many challenges from employees resistance to financial support. In addition, the company size was manageable for this study since it had few employees, few departments and only five departments. Hence, finding information from the company would be easier compared to large obscure company. The region of study was chosen to be United Kingdom because the location has been advanced in quality system technology and so there was high likelihood of finding a company that had implemented a quality system using information system as the study had targeted. The studies show that the United Kingdom has a number of companies operating in quality assurance industry, which made the study more appropriate within the country (Sroufe, & Curkovic, 2008 p. 517).Study The case study involved the translationing of Athal Company from the manual quality systems to new automated quality systems that would be implemented using information technology systems. To implement the new quality assurance system using information system, the company needed to purchase new computers, information systems bundle to link various departments and branches. The class required skilled labor that was costly and extra training for the employees so that t hey could be able to adapt to the new technology freely. In addition, the new technology needed change of organization behavior from a manual system to an automated system, which many of the employees were not conversant. Therefore, the company had to change the behavior of employees from manual to automated systems, which risked objection and resistant. Hence, the management had to use their leadership skills and organization development to implement the new change successfully (Mullins, 2013 p. 8). The new system meant that the employees freedom, poor performance and miss of duties would end. Consequently, their level of services would be monitored and thus giving quality services. The implementation process involved installation of inspection, testing, and quality control infrastructures that were linked using information system software and hardware that would be used to disseminate information. The change to new technology for Athal Company meant that it would increase it s market share due to improved quality of services that it would offer. Its clients would receive quality inspection and testing that would guarantee the quality control. The new information system would be able to monitor external companies that serve as its client at constant rates thus enhancing efficiency of Athal Company. Moreover, the automated system has low errors as compared to the manual system thus, the recompense services impart be offered. This will guarantee the company efficient services that meet the national and international levels. The new changes to the automated system will enable the management in the Athal Company to be able to define their objectives and delegate to specific employees, which could not be possible with the manual system. Defined objectives and delegation of duties in the company will mean that the tasks would be accomplished in time. Moreover, less time is wasted using the automated quality systems thus the employees become more produc tive in spite of quality services that they offer. The result is the overall productivity of the company and better services to their clients compared to when they were using the manual system. The company decision to implement the new quality assurance system was because of increased competition and the deteriorating performance on its inspection, testing, and quality control services. The few companies in the industry had improved their performance, they had started to command the market, and therefore, the company had to look for means by which it could be able to compete with the other companies. The adoption of the new automated quality assurance system was seen as the only way that the company would be able to compete successfully in the market and thus a decision was at long last reached to implement the new system. However, the decision was subject to employees support as they would be the one s that would use the technology for the benefit of the company. The decision process involved all the employees in the company where opinions were included in the new projects. Due to fear of most of the employees on their relevance when the new technology would be implemented, training of existing and recruiting of new employees was included as part of the implementation of the new system. When all the employees were comfortable with the new technology and sensitized on the need to shift to the new technology, the management went ahead to implement the new automated quality system in the company. Since the employees are growth oriented, they were able to adapt to the new system. abstract The company wanted to implement new system as a sign of its improvement from the manual to the automated system. The automated system would allow the company to improve its services and the ability to upgrade and update the systems software will give the company ability to adapt to continued improvement of its services. Therefore, the new technology will be advantageo us to the manual quality system that limited continued improvement throughout the operations. The case study can be canvas using various porters five forces to determine its applicability of the new technology in Athal Company and the external business environment (Appendix 7). The porters five forces help to try out the business in terms of competition, threat of new entry, power of buyers, suppliers, and substitutes products or services. Consulting industry in United Kingdom is very competitive and thus companies in the industry must devise strategies that will make them more competitive and make them the leading companies in the market. Therefore, for Athal Company to remain relevant in the market, it must adopt the best technologies that will enable it to provide the best quality assurance services in the industry. In the industry, company adapt to manual systems due to their low operation cost (Ahuja, & Khamba, 2008 p. 745). Hence, Athal company shift to new technol ogy gives it competitive advantages over the other companies in the industry. According to the research carried out on the company, 90% of the employees credited the automated system saying that it was effective compared to the manual system. Thus, the system would be able to deliver quality effective services to its target market. Quality services help a company to retain its customers and place it in a more competitive position in the market as customer or buyers tend to be attracted by quality and not the prices (Porter, 2008 p. 33). Therefore, the companys choice on the automated system would be advantageous in the market despite the cost that is associated with it. The implementation of the new automated case study led to the improvement of the companys performance and increase in customers seeking services from the company and thus improved incomes as shown in figure 1 below (Appendix 1). According to the interview carried out on the companys income performance, the income is expected to rise to $ 27,000 million with the new automated system. The industry suffers from the presence of companies that are still using manual systems as a means of quality assurance system. The manual system forms the substitute services offered in the industry. These companies charge their inspection services at rase prices that threaten Athal automated services. Hence, Athal Company must offer good services beyond their clients expectations so that they will be able to shift from the manual to the automated. The company also needs to put in place marketing strategies that will advertise the new system emphasizing on the quality of services that it will offer as opposed to their preceding method of quality assurance. Moreover, the company needs to offer quality services that will meet the needs of the clients. Hence, the company needs to improve its management and staff training so that it will be able to cope up with the substitute services from the company. In e very market, companies maintain the large share of the market through limiting the bargaining power of the consumers. Initially, the company was offering manual services that were offered by other companies in the market. This gave consumers more bargaining power as they had a wide choice of obtaining services from various companies. However, the shift of Athal company from manual system to the new technology that was adapted by few companies make consumers to have limited choices of seeking services from the automated companies. The presence of few companies with the automated quality control system makes it possible for Athal Company to limit the bargaining power of consumers. When the bargaining power of consumers in the market is limited, they will tend to buy or obtain services from a single business (Chen, 2008 p. 241). Therefore, Athal Company will limit the customers and thus they will tend to seek the new services from the company thus improving its productivity and making it more competitive in the market. Athal Company shifting to the new technology meant that it would also shift its suppliers from those that provided the manual facilities to those that would suppliers it with facilities and infrastructures for the new technology. Since many companies in the industry have not adapted the new technology, it means that the suppliers are few in the industry. Few suppliers mean that the suppliers provide their services with strict conditions and high prices due to lack of competition. Moreover, the suppliers have high bargaining power in the market. This led to high installation cost for the automated quality system and the upkeep cost. The high prices offered by suppliers in the market reduce the profits margins for the companies operating in the industry (Chen, 2008 p. 241). Therefore, the new technology was costly to the company and the consecutive maintenance costs remain high thus reducing the profits margin for the company. Hence, limited s uppliers in the industry threaten Athal Company adaptation to the new technology for quality system. The decreased number of suppliers and the reduced profits margin in the industry discourage new entrants in the industry. The decreased new entrants in the industry result in decreased competition in the market and threats for the existing companies. Therefore, Athal Company is free from threats of new entry due to high cost of adapting new quality system technology. The reduced competition creates favorable environment for the existing company to operate and improve their services in order to achieve their want profit margin and growth in the market. According to the management, the maintenance cost for the new technology in the quality system is 40% more than the previous manual system. Hence, few companies in the industry can adapt it and especially those that are profit oriented.Advantage of Athal Company on implementation of the new quality assurance system The implem entation of the new quality assurance system by Athal Company will accrue various advantages over the old manual system. The advantages will be in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, cost, involvement, and result oriented. The automated system will be advantageous in that inspection and tests will be run fast and effectively thus saving time that can be used to do other constructive duties in the company. Automated system will mean that the same type of the information will be fed to the system for various clients at a very short time and giving results instantly (Mak, & Peng, 2008 p. 366). One can only repeat similar information for the automated system. However, on the manual system one would be forced to record similar information for various entry and different clients thus taking a lot of time for a given task and giving out delayed results. This can be distractive to clients making them to shift their services to other companies that can offer fast and effective services. Hence, the automated system will not only give effective services at a very short time, but also retain the customer making the company more competitive in the market as opposed to the manual system (GE inspections N.d p. 1). Although the automated system installation and training of employees on the new system is costly in the short term, in long term, the system will be cheap as there will be saving of time and decreased human involvement thus saving the cost of labour for the company. The time saved could be used to do other constructive and productive services for the company, which would in turn give returns that subsidise the cost incurred by the company. Since the new system utilises decreased human labour, the company can opt reducing its labour, which may as well reduce its cost of operation and thus increase its profits margin (GE inspections N.d p. 18). However, the manual system required a lot of time to fill out the forms and extra human labour to attend different labour thus the process becoming expensive in the long term and but cheap in the short term since there are is no cost of installation. Hence, the automated system is less expensive in the long term and thus more advantageous to the company compared to the manual system. The automated system is results oriented and the results can be assessed by different employees since they will be available from the system thus minimizing errors being transferred to clients. Moreover, different employees can monitor the results in their various destinations so that a perfect final product is achieved. Hence, the system forms the best collaborative monitoring system. This is in contrast to the manual where results are only processed by an individual subjecting them to errors that may be transferred to clients and may affect the customer relation with the company and affect its performance and provision of services. Therefore, Athal implementation of the new quality system through information system presents it with advantage on accurate and quality services for the customer thus maintain customer relations and maintaining its market performance at improved level. However, the new automated system will be a challenge to the company as the information system tool is expensive on purchase and replacement in cases of breakdown. Moreover, the process of maintenance and training of employees can be very expensive for the company thus accruing unplanned cost, which may make its services more expensive thus making it less competitive in the market. Customers are attracted by low prices in the market. Although the automated system performs various tests for the information fed for the machine, the system has limitations and some of the tests such as images, and colour are only tested using manual system. Hence, the system cannot operate fully independently. Thus the cost of operation is increased by additional services for manual system.Findings The data obtained from this case study from Athal Company was summarised as follows. From the questionnaires, only 100 of them were complete and used for this case study. From the 100 questionnaires that were complete, 90% discredited the manual system saying it was faulty as it offered minimum monitoring. 10% saw it as the means to abscond their duties for their private jobs. All the employees concur that the manual system was costly in terms of monitoring but cheap on the maintenance. 70% of the employees had a positive attitude about the manual system as it was not effective when monitoring employees. Employees could be absent from work without the knowledge of the top management due to unreported cases. 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control. 100% of the participants agreed that the automated system was more effective compared to the manual system since all the employees had to log in to autom ated biometric system. The information could be relayed fast and reach the target group within the shortest time possible. 43% of the employees were resistant to the process and felt that the manual system would continue while 57% of the employees felt that transformation to the automated quality system was necessary. 95% of the employees felt that it was important to implement the quality system for both the external and internal environment of the business to ensure that the overall performance of the company was monitored. 5% of the participants were not sure if the quality system was supposed to be installed both internally and externally. The data that was obtained from the management was as follows. According to the management, the automated quality system was more effective and efficient in monitoring and delivery of information across the company departments and branches. Moreover, the system was fast as compared to the manual systems. The management agreed that the aut omated quality system improved the performance of the employees and that of the company thus increasing attracting more customers. The customers had increased from 300 to 550 per twenty-four hours when the new system was implemented as shown in figure 3 below (appendix 3). Similarly, it is expected that the income would increase from $ 13,000 to $ 27,000 million by the end of the first yr the figure 2 below in appendix 3 analysis the change. The management said that the employees had mixed reactions on the new quality systems, with almost half number of the employees arguing against it. However, concerted trainings and sensitizations led to smooth implementation of the new systems. From the questionnaires, it was found that managers appreciated the new systems and saw it a good system for mass medium companies. The implementation process was expensive and the maintenance cost is high. The installation and maintenance cost is 60% more for the new technology than the manual system as shown in the figure below.Conclusions and Recommendations The objectives of this case study were achieved in that the new quality assurance system that was implemented by Athal Company could be upgraded unlike the manual system through update of information system software. The process of full implementation, handling, monitoring, operating the system for the Athal Company involved the employees and organization management. Therefore, the process of quality assurance is effective when coupled to individuals, groups and organisations. According to the management, the type of the information system adapted to be used by quality assurance system depend on the size of the organization, services offered, financial ability and availability of resources. Athal Company being a medium company chose the relevant information system that meets their size of the company, financial ability and ability for continuous improvement. The process of quality assurance automation involves installation of testing, inspection and quality control equipments that are interlinked with information system software and hand wares such as computers to record information and deliver results. Athal Company followed the protocol and successfully implemented a quality system using information system. The following recommendations would be most appropriate for the company and other that would take the initiative to implement the same system in their premises. The company should prepare its employees in advance through hiring the right employees who have the skills to thwart unnecessary cost from extra trainings. If there has to be a training, only few employees should be prepare and not the entire workforce. This would prevent resistant to new technology and save the company unplanned costs. The company should asses the availability of suppliers of the technology that is planning to adopt to prevent exploitation of the company by suppliers as evidenced in this case study. Few suppliers in the market resulted to increased cost, which in turn led to reduced profits from high cost of operations.ReferencesAhuja, I. P. S., & Khamba, J. S. 2008. Total productive maintenance literature review and directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 25(7), 709-756.Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. 2004. Marketing services Competing through quality. Simon and Schuster.Chen, Z. 2008. Defining buyer power. Antitrust Bull., 53, 241.Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & DAmelio, A. 2008. Resistance to change The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362-377.GE Inspections. Inspection Technologies Productivity through inspection solution. N.d 1-19Ho-Chang, C., Chang E., K., & Prybutok, V. R. 2014. randomness technology capability and firm performance contradictory findings and their possible causes. MIS Quarterly, 38(1), 305-A14.Hoyle, D. 2009. ISO 9000 quality systems handbook. Amsterdam Butterworth-Heinemann.Kumpikait, V., & iarnien, R. 2008. New training technologies developing human resources. Economics & Management, 93-94.Lanz, J. 2013. Helping belittled and Midsized Businesses Succeed in a Technology-Driven World. CPA Journal, 6-9.Lilly, J. D., & Durr, D. W. 2012. Technology changes at work and employee reactions The role of leader behavior. Human Systems Management, 31(3/4), 193-201.Mak, K. L., & Peng, P. 2008. An automated inspection system for textile fabrics ground on Gabor filters. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 24(3), 359-369.Mullins, L.J. (2013). Management & Organisational Behaviour. PearsonPorter, M. E. 2008. The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40.Sroufe, R., & Curkovic, S. (2008). An examination of ISO 9000 2000 and supply chain quality assurance. Journal of Operations Management, 26(4), 503-520.Wang, N., Liang, H., Zhong, W., Xue, Y., & Xiao, J. 2012. Resource Structuring or potency Building? An Empirical Study of t he Business Value of Information Technology. Journal Of Management Information Systems, 29(2), 325-367.Wigand, R. T. 2003. Introduction to business information systems. Berlin u.a. Springer-Verl.AppendicesAppendix 1 physical body 1 showing the changes in income with respect to change in quality assurance systemAppendix 2Figure 2 increase in number of employees with the change in technologyAppendix 3Figure 3 comparison between the cost of the automated and manual quality system.Appendix 4QuestionnairesSerial no. Question AnswersEmployees 1 How effective was the manual system 2 Was the manual system costly in terms of monitoring and maintenance 3 What was your attitude on the manual system 4 How effective has the automated quality system been compared to the manual system 5 comparability to the manual system, was it costly in terms of implementation and maintenance 6 How was the transformation to the new automated system 7 Was the automated system applicable to internal and external m onitoring of the company 8 Was you involved when deciding on the new system Appendix 5Management interview questions 8 How do you compare between the manual and automated quality control system on their performance 9 How did the employees and customers respond to the new system automated system 10 Kindly comments on the overall implementation process and whether the cost of the installation of the process is high or low Appendix 6Manual system Automated systemCustomers 300 per day 550 per dayIncome $ 13,000 million $ 27,000 millionCost and maintenance 100% of the standard cost clx% of the standard costAppendix 7Source document

Five Management Functions in the Army

Every successful organization uses the five counselling utilisations hardly non m both can comp are with the United States Armed Forces. I am currently serving in the U. S. Army and this organization has effectively employ the five management functions, because its lastence depends on those five functions. They Army is constantly engaging in the five management functions their operations are well led, organized, guardedly forgened, staffed, and constantly evaluated. I do not believe there is any organization different than the military where you would see these five functions linking so well coordinated. supplying is a systematic process in which managers make decisions about afterlife activities and the key goals that the organization will pursue. The necessity of careful environmental scanning has an immediate impact on planning processes (Reilly, Minnick, and Baack, 2011, sec. 7. 2). Making plans for future activities is one of the Armys key functions without planning its subordinate commands would deteriorate and lose focus on mission objectives and the quality of work.In the Army, we use the Eight-Step Training Model for which planning always starts out sternwards by starting with the objective and working its way back to day zero. The planning is then broken down into three phases long term, short-term and near term depending on the size of the organization or unit. I find the planning phase in the Army to be very effective because it is important for employees or soldiers to know what needs to happen in the long time ahead. The design methodology provides a means of approximating complex problems that allows for meaningful action (Grigsby, 2011, p.30).Proper use of planning in the Army keeps the employees motivated and goal oriented. When planning in the Army goes wrong, you have Soldiers sitting around waiting on orders, people go unaccounted for, and will eventually negatively affect the other four management functions. Leadership is one of the key elements of the Army in fact, it is one of its core values. Without the function of leading, the military would have no effect. The Army depends on leadership to be subject to effectively organize, staff, plan, and control in order to have a productive work environment.Leading in a business context, consists of all activities undertaken to help people achieve the highest level of performance (Reilly, Minnick, and Baack, 2011, sec. 7. 2). In the Army everyone is a leader to a certain extend because we all have the same goal. We are taught that leadership is having the ability to influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization when asked What is leadership? that will be the answer you will get from every Soldier (Department of the Army, 2006).The Army, like other military operate, is unique for leader development for two reasons one is because the system is make so that you either m ove up in rank or get out in other words if you fail to get promoted after a certain amount time then it is time for you to get out. In noncombatant organizations, employees can attain a certain level and reside that level until retirement. Second reason for its uniqueness in leadership is that they do not hire leaders outside of their organization instead, senior level positions change state filled by the individuals that are able to achieve promotion within the same organization (Fallesen, 2011).Organizing is the process of bringing people and resources together to create products and services in an efficient and effective manner (Reilly, Minnick, and Baack, 2011, sec. 7. 2). In order for the Army to work, it requires a lot of organization this is because there are so many polar components that are required in order to make it operational and self-sufficient. Due to the size of the Army and any other military components it is important to departmentalize different split of it but essentially these parts have to be able to complement each other and work together to achieve mission success.Take a deployment for congresswoman when the Army deploys, it deploys several different units. These units have different tasks that will allow the entire organization to function as a whole this means that if an human foot unit is due to deploy it will not deploy by itself, several different units will deploy to support the main objective. In other words, one part of the organization is tasked with the mission the other portions of the organization will provide support such as transportation, resources, administrative support, etc.In order to make this happen, these organizations essential train together in order to know how each of their functional bodies fit into each others mission. It is almost like pieces to a puzzler watching different parts of the Army work together even if they have never worked together or trained together, these organizations are able to drop cloth in sync and make it happen. Using the management function of organization in the Army requires strong leadership and careful planning because if not mightily executed the end results could be catastrophic and the loss unmentionable.The Army is a unique organization that values history and tradition, in order to preserve its heritage the Army has many different criteria that individuals must meet or exceed. It is important for military leadership to choose the right individuals to join their ranks because these will be their future leaders for this reason, staffing is a very important management function. Staffing shares the human element with leading. Staffing involves choosing the right people.Leading includes enticing the highest levels of performance from those people (Reilly, Minnick, and Baack, 2011, sec. 7. 2). Whether it is a time of war or peace, the Armys recruiting mission is probably one of the hardest and most demanding jobs. Recruiters are trained to selec t and train new Soldiers prior to shipping them off to basal Training. To become a recruiter one must have exceptional leadership capabilities and it means that one must be willing and able to sacrifice a lot of personal and family time.Recruiters are the sales-people of the Army, they must spend time with new recruits, influencing them and teaching them the core values of the organization. It takes a lot of commitment, because new recruits are not obligated to anything until they actually sign their contract the day they ship off Basic Training. At the same time, this gives recruiters the insight they need to determine if an individual belongs in the Army or not. As my previous leaders have often said, You chose the Army, it did not choose you.It takes a certain type of individual to join the service, not everyone is made for the military. Aside from recruiting goals, the Army also has retention goals in order to maintain a certain level of strength in the military. Prior deployme nts to Iraq and Afghanistan, the militarys retention goals and recruitment goals went up in order to satisfy the demand for troops overseas and troops to replace the ones overseas. It shaped and evolved the organization in order to meet these demands it also required changes in its structure, resources, and planning.Because of the Armys staffing needs during two simultaneous wars, we saw changes like rescinding the Dont anticipate Dont Tell Policy and the opening of combat roles for women in the military. Controlling has one element in common with staffing. Both are entangled in the performance appraisal process for individual employees. Standards link controlling and planning. Further, controlling begins the process of creating the next set of plans (Reilly, Minnick, and Baack, 2011, sec. 7. 2).The Army takes feedback seriously, for this reason they have utilize many different ways to gather information that will allow the organization to improve in every aspect. The Army does w ell at recognise good performance and by doing so it gives Soldiers the inspiration they need to attain such rewards. Performance is evaluated in a matter that it provides its employees the feedback they need to improve in the areas identified and a way to help the Army identify anyone that does not need to be promoted to a leadership position.Another way the Army applies the control function is by using subsequently Action Reviews, in which it collects information following every training exercise in order to make improvements and identify areas to sustain. After action reviews all allow Soldiers to identify areas that their leaders need to improve on, such as conduct or performance during the training exercises in the civilian world it is usually referred as constructive criticism (Rakow, 2005). By using these evaluative tools, the Army is able to create flexible leaders that are able to adapt and perform under any given circumstance.The five management functions are very effect ive and very necessary in the military. The Army and any other military branch are prime examples of how these functions are linked to one another and perfectly explain why one function cannot exist without the others. The success of the Army revolves around their effectiveness in applying these functions into their everyday operations it allows them to operate smoothly, allocate the proper resources, groom its employees in to leaders, identify areas of improvement, and carefully plan and organize future training events and contingencies.

The Road To Growth For Financial Institutions

Expansion of banks and pecuniary acquisitions in the U. S. generally occur in dickens ways by natural growth or by mergers and acquisitions. Organic growth is the rate of business elaborateness that an organization fucking achieve through increasing output and enhancing sales. This form of business expansion excludes any profits or growths gained from mergers, acquisitions, and take-overs.This represents the true growth for the core of a caller-up and is a good indicator on how well the organizations commission has use its own internal resources to expand profits. This grapheme of business expansion also helps to identify whether managers control employ their skills to improve the business (Investopedia 2006a Wikipedia 2006a). On the other hand, acquisitions, mergers and take-overs do non bring about profits generated within a company, and are thus not considered ingrained growth.Historically, investment banks (which are outlined as intermediaries which assist companies in selling ownership of themselves as stock or borrowing m wholenessy directly from investors in the form of bonds) have been close associated with the activity of merger and acquisitions since it represents a sales opportunity for the investment bank. For a bank to merge with another pecuniary instauration, it emergencys to attain a reason capable market repute for its deals to swap with shares from the other entity.A popular formula in describing mergers and acquisitions is one plus one makes trey the fundamental principle behind purchase a company is to create shareholder value over and above that of the sum of the two principal companies involved (Investopedia 2006a Investopedia 2006b Wikipedia 2006b Investopedia 2006c). In other words, two companies unneurotic are deemed more than valuable than two separate companies. Strong companies buy other companies to create a more war-ridden, cost-efficient organization and to gain a great market share.Target or weaker companies in turn often agree to be purchased by these sacrosancter companies when they know they cannot survive alone in a warlike market (Investopedia 2006a Investopedia 2006b Wikipedia 2006b Investopedia 2006c). Most major financial institutions in the US have gone through some form of merger and all of these institutions inevitably supervise their total growth. The benefits that each type of business expansion offers are unique, and there are certain payoffs and disadvantages in each type.The relevance of nurtureing mergers and acquisitions involving financial institutions is that these activities can dictate the fortunes of the companies involved for years to come, and have considerable impact on investors involved as well as within the organizations themselves. Likewise, organic growth helps to fix an organization internally and places it on a stronger market position if done efficaciously and flourishingly. The significance of this research rent is to compare thes e two types of business expansion.The objectives of this orbit are to analyze these two types of business expansion as to their strengths and weaknesses, benefits and potential threats or disadvantages to the banking heavens, and to provide an over enchant of the history of the banking field in terms of both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions activities and endeavors. The research is helpful in that it pass on provide valuable research information and hopefully some helpful insights to help financial institutions, bountiful or small, to respect their present business expansion activities.Small companies which are express to organic growth, and may wish to infer into mergers or acquisitions, may be able to use the data provided here. Larger institutions which practice both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions, on the other hand, may be able to use this research to pronounce the strengths and weaknesses of both activities. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section I as presented here provides for the introduction to the study, definition of terms, objectives, the research topic, and the significance of the research.Section II provides for a literature review on both organic growth in the banking sector and mergers and acquisitions of financial institutions. Section III discusses the data gathering process for this study, the methodology used, and the research framework followed for this study. Section IV allow provide for the analysis of the results and findings as gathered from the literature and related work reviewed. Section V presents the summary and conclusions of the study based on the analysis provided for in Section IV. Finally, Section VI lead describe future directions this study might take.II. Literature redirect examination According to the results of an annual study conducted by A. T. Kearney, one of the worlds largest management consulting firms, investment management firms are outperforming retail banks in the gamely competitive race to grow profitably and to gain market share. A. T. Kearney conducted an Annual Organic growing Index (OGI) for 2006 for measuring growth in investment and retail banks. The study was based on data quiet online by Harris Interactive? of more than 4500 banking clients in the 20 largest US metro markets.Seven out of the ten top-scoring financial institutions include in the OGI based on their capability to grow organically were investment management firms, with Ameriprise with the top score for the second consecutive year, outperforming most banks and other investment firms such(prenominal) as Edward Jones, A. G. Edwards, Vanguard, Charles Schwab, and Merrill Lynch. Wachovia, on the other hand, outperformed umteen of its retail bank counterparts, also for the second year in a row since A. T. Kearney started conducting this study in 2005 (A. T. Kearney 2006). A. T.Kearneys study is significant for this research since it provides insight into which financi al institutions are most capable of achieving and sustaining organic growth. The index connects guest attitudes and actions with their wallet allocation decisions. The OGI looks at the performance of financial institutions based on their ability to achieve both guest and Wallet Momentum. client Momentum strides an institutions ability to lure and retain guests, forge long-lasting customer relationships, and instill advocacy among their customers. For the A. T.Kearney survey, the following components were involved in measuring Customer Momentum advocacy, primary financial institution identification, propensity to switch institutions, and lack of errors. Wallet Momentum on the other hand measures an institutions ability to expand the number of add-ons and drive greater penetration per product with its customers. Components involved are intent to add accounts, intent to append equity account value, share of wallet with primary financial institution, and intermediate number of products per customer (A. T. Kearney 2006). According to the results of the A.T. Kearney study (2006), investment management firms performed better overall than retail banks by scoring high in both Customer and Wallet Momentum. Retail banks on the other hand score higher on Customer Momentum than Wallet Momentum. However, the study concludes that no single type of financial institution dominates in either performance matrix. Most financial institutions strive to become their customers Primary Financial Institution (PFI), and have generally been successful at increasing the average number of accounts per individual within the last year (A.T. Kearney 2006). However, the study indicated that investment management firms have more difficult relationships with customers, and that being designated as customers PFI does not necessarily fasten success for retail banks. The study also showed that customers who experience two service errors or account problems within one year were 35 percent more likely than the industry average to leave such financial institution. This attrition rate doubled after three errors were experienced in one year (A. T. Kearney 2006).The study provides for the following suggestions in order to improve organic growth in financial institutions (A. T. Kearney 2006) ? Institutions with leading Customer Momentum scores have opportunities to cross-sell bran- brand-new products and services, and should determine how to recognize and reward people for selling a bundled set of products when most organizations are organized to measure and reward for selling specific products. ? Products and services to be added or cross-sold must be heady in relation to margins on core products, and the total portfolio, to ensure profitable growth.Cross-selling is less costly than adding new customers, solely the mix or products and services is equally important when considering impact on profit. ? Product complexity and product variation makes it difficult for custom ers to understand a value proposition and for employees to explain it. This affects both service deli real and transaction effectiveness, and also increases the potential for errors. A financial institution should thus improve its ability to manage product complexity, as a way of improving service quality and overall customer satis faction.A connatural study conducted by Daniel Cox and James Bossert (2005) involved the analysis of the 2004 the Statesn Customer Satisfaction Index, which indicate that organic growth for banks have been hampered by the fact that the financial services industry has some of the lowest customer satisfaction ratings of any single industry. According to the study, customers view banks and other financial institutions as a commodity, with no unique reason for forming a business relationship with one particular bank.The study by Cox and Bossert (2005) studied in-depth the strategies employed by bound of America in 2001 to improve customer satisfaction as on e of its driving force to expand its organic growth. Bank of America started to accent on its organic growth in 2001, which meant increasing its customer base while becoming more efficient by improving processes. It developed a new strategy which relied heavily on voice of the customer (VoC) and tied all its planning efforts to factors that would drive customer satisfaction and loyalty (Cox and Bossert 2005).In other words, Bank of America recognized customer satisfaction as the core component of organic growth. With approximately 28 million customers at the time, the bank encountered approximately 200 customer interactions per second. To improve the overall customer experience, the bank implemented an associate training program called Bank of America Spirit, which was initially modeled to mirror the associate air of Disney employees. It re-evaluated its business model and the models performance by comparing them to other Fortune 500 companies that focused on customer service.It f ocused on the following model for improvement as seen in Figure 1 in the next page Bank of America regularly surveyed their customers to gather VoC, and used these survey results in turn when developing new products and services. Paying close attention to such customer needs turned out to be subservient in increasing its revenues and in improving its organic growth (Cox and Bossert 2005). Accenture, another leading management consultancy firm, conducted a global survey of strategies and programs for organic growth in retail banks.In its survey, Accenture examined more than 100 retail-bank executives strategies. The firm also provided for an industrialization concept critical for growth in the banking sector Differentiation on the Outside, Simplification on the Inside, Execution Mastery. The research showed that pure cost-cutting strategies previously adapted by financial institutions produced diminished return. The emphasis on growth, and mainly organic growth, while managing cost s as the like time, would produce the best results for a financial organization (Accenture 2006).The study showed that 87 percent of the executives surveyed indicated that increasing revenues is still top priority, mainly driven by the need to satisfy investor expectations. 73 percent also cited the achievement of cost-efficient scale. Fewer than one in ten believed that market growth will crown 15 percent, while more than 20 percent believed their own banks will grow at a higher rate. To drive significant organic growth, respondents in the Accenture survey emphasized the need for excellence in marketing and product management, distribution and service and fulfillment (Accenture 2006).The study further recommended that to achieve growth targets in an increasingly competitive market, banks must industrialize their marketing, sales and service capabilities to maximize cross-selling. Similar to the findings and recommendations in the study by Cox and Bossert (2005) on Bank of America , the Accenture study indicated that cross-selling must focus on gaining and retaining profitable customers. Key capabilities necessary to achieve this would involve transformation in areas such as customer segmentation, which should include customer segmentation, product design, and price/value equation (Accenture 2006).The staff study by Rhoades (2000) for the Board of Governors of the Federal replacement System examined and analyzed bank mergers and banking structure in the US from 1980 to 1998. The study provided that 200 banks failed annually from 1987 to 1989 in the US, due to problem loans in petroleum, agriculture, commercial real estates, and loans to less-developed countries. These factors may have created some good get opportunities for banks that were performing relatively well (Rhoades 2000). According to the study, the US banking industry experienced an unprecedented merger movement since 1980, with nearly 8000 mergers and about $2.4 trillion in acquired assets as of 2000 alone. The banking industry has been restructured in response to the removal of legal restrictions on intrastate and interstate banking throughout 1980-1998. The number of banks in the US lessen from 14407 to 8697 and the number of banking organizations decreased from 12342 to 6839 (Rhoades 2000). In his study on mergers in the US banking industry, Rhoades (2000) provided for the following conclusions ? The number of banking offices continued to grow in the US throughout the 1990s despite the burgeoning of auras and ATM transactions.? Concentration of control over aggregate US bank deposits among the largest banks increased substantially, with the share of the 100 largest rising from about 47 percent to 71 percent, and the share of the 10 largest rising from 19 percent to 37 percent the latter rise occurred mostly after 1990. ? Concentration increased substantially in many local banking markets, especially in large metropolitan areas. ? The number of bank mergers reached th e highest level for the period in the mid-1980s, when industry profit rates and stock prices were very low (Rhoades 2000).But what exactly motivates firms to merge and how do these mergers affect competition and the economy? According to Moore and Siems (2006), there are two primary factors that affect the need for financial institutions to remain competitive deregulation and technology. Deregulation has significantly changed how and where banks do business. Relaxation of restrictions on banks securities activities has blurred the traditional distinction with investment banking while the elimination of grow restrictions has created vast geographic expansion possibilities.Continued consolidation is estimated to eventually result in about 3000 banking organizations, with a handful of super banks competing concurrently with many smaller confederation banks. Advancements in technology have also created incentives to merge due to decline in costs in information dissemination, allowing for far-flung operations created through mergers. In other words, technology and deregulation have blurred accepted boundaries as to time, geography, language, enterprises and regulations in the banking industry (Moore and Siems 2006).Thus, one advantage for mergers is that customers can receive one-stop financial services. This allows for greater efficiencies through better information flows and lower transaction costs for the financial institutions involved. However, studies show that major upside for earnings and stocks through mergers is if the economy continues to show stronger-than-expected growth, which in turn could increase demand for commercial lending. If the economy slows down, stock prices become pretty full, and takeovers are less likely to benefit the banks involved (LaMonica 2003).The data used for this research study were gathered from related database found online and from side studies and academic papers. The casing studies were conducted by management consulta ncy firms such as Accenture and A. T. Kearney, whereas the working papers were collected from organizations such as the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the American Society for Quality. Results and findings from surveys and empirical analysis conducted by these research individuals and organizations were used for this paper.News articles from sources such as CNNMoney and other pertinent websites were also used. B. The Sample The data used are primarily case studies gathered from related literature. These were survey results and findings from studies conducted by research individuals and organizations such as Accenture (2006), A. T. Kierney (2006), and Cox and Bossert (2005). The findings analyzed for this paper were conclusions and results from the empirical data from surveys conducted in 2005 and 2006 from the various animate case studies reviewed. C. Research DesignThe research question for this paper is Whether US banks should focus on organic growth or merg ers and acquisitions in order to expand their business? The hypothesis is that Customer satisfaction, through focusing on VoC, is the fall upon component to organic growth which is the recommended business expansion activity for financial institutions over mergers and acquisitions. The hypothesis will be answered based on the analysis of the findings and insights gleaned from case studies and related literature. The study will make use of Qualitative Research Methodology.Numerical and statistical data were not gathered due to time constraint and visible limitations on conducting surveys in the financial institutions throughout the US. Based on qualitative analysis, the research paper thus approaches the study by providing a complete, and detailed definition of organic growth and mergers and acquisitions in the banking sector based on a study of related literature. Based on the qualitative research approach, the researcher is the data-gathering instrument, and the data herein pr ovided is in the form of words and pictures, as indicated in Figure 1 (Neil 2006).IV. Analysis of Results and Findings Results from the analysis of the case studies provided indicated that many financial institutions recognize the need for growth, whether it be through organic growth, mergers and acquisitions, or both. Many financial institutions are also aiming for annual organic growth rates of at least 10 percent or higher, but often, they fall short due to a variety of factors (A. T. Kearney 2006). An examination of the data provided would show that organic growth and mergers and acquisitions benefit two different groups.The organic growth of a company would benefit the bank itself, but more than anything, it will result in a greater advantage and benefit to the customers. The reason behind this is that studies have indicated that successful organic growth is premised on customer satisfaction as its most important component. To achieve high performance, increase revenue, and exc eed their average growth rate, financial institutions must finds ways to harvest relationships with existing and new customers. Cross-selling will help increase share-of-wallet from both existing and new customers.However, cross-selling efforts must be accompanied with managing product complexity since customers have become increasingly aware of the range of banking and financial services available. Less than adequate products or poor service will cause the customers to shop around and switch service providers, especially since banks are treated more as commodities kind of than business partners by their banking clientele. Thus, cross-selling must be utilized to gain and retain profitable customers (Cox and Bossert 2005 Accenture 2006 A.T. Kearney 2006). Banks would necessarily have to improve their marketing, sales, and service capabilities to maximize cross-selling. To achieve this, customer segmentation, product design, and price/value equations should be closely monitored in re lation to customer relationship management. Gathering of customer data will help management to ascertain customer needs and to adjust and improve market and product management, distribution, service and fulfillment accordingly.Full integration of customer data provides for an accurate and complete view of the customer, and will allow for an empowered and better-trained sales force to turn customer insight into profitable and satisfying interactions (Cox and Bossert 2005 Accenture 2006 A. T. Kearney 2006). A model for a successful venture into improving customer satisfaction to increase its organic growth is the case of Bank of America.By establishing a customer satisfaction goal, which provides for a measurement process to evaluate current performance and to acquire analytical capability to improve performance in a targeted way, Bank of America was able to streamline its products and services to effectively retain and increase its customer base. By relying on VoC, and tying all its planning efforts to factors that would drive customer satisfaction and loyalty, Bank of America improved its organic growth (Cox and Bossert 2005).Focusing on organic growth will result now only improve customer satisfaction, increase customer base and profit, but will also drive wealth creation for shareholders (A. T. Kearney 2006). On the other hand, mergers and acquisitions provide a greater advantage to the financial institutions themselves. A company with financial problems will benefit from merging with a stronger company. The latter, in turn, would gain a greater market share and reduce competition in the industry by getting smaller or similarly situated institutions.Advancements in technology and less legal barriers regarding financial transactions have also allowed financial institutions to cover wider geographical areas. This in turn benefits the customer as well since the bank becomes a one-stop-shop for banking transactions, available wherever the customer may be. Dere gulation and technology have been key factors in the drive for mergers, and have lead to significant cost-cutting measures for the firms involved. It has also provided for greater efficiencies and information dissemination to the financial institutions, which in turn provides for greater flexibility and whatchamacallum for its customers.One ripeguard for baking institutions which opt for mergers and acquisitions to expand its growth is regularise 155 under the Securities Act, also known as the Integration of Abandoned Offerings which was passed by the Securities and deepen Commission (SEC). SEC amended hulk 152 of the Securities Act of 1933 in response to the challenges under previous securities regulations and the changing market conditions. Rule 155 became effective on March 7, 2001, and has had significant impact on companies seeking alternative financing in light of a weakened securities market.It provides for a flexible framework in which companies can convert their privat e whirls to registered offerings and the other way around, minus the usual risk of integration. The rule provides non-exclusive safe harbors from the integration between registered and private offerings, and allows issuers to move more quickly if market conditions change rapidly (Marek and Seo 2001). Before Rule 155 was enacted, a financial institution with a failed registered offering was limited in the choices it subsequently had to raise capital.It could either withdraw or abandon a registered offering, but would encounter difficulty in quickly obtaining alternative funding due to undecipherable regulations on integration. A company that started a private offering may have found sufficient investor interest to justify making a registered offering, but was faced with making offers of registered securities prior to filing a registration statement. Before Rule 155, there were thus no clear guidelines as to how a company can insulate itself from the risk of mergers and acquisition s.SECs prior guidelines in this area were limited to suggesting a six-month cooling off period as well as a traditional five-part test involving consideration of whether two or more offerings (Marek and Seo 2001) ? Are part of a single plan of financing ? Have the homogeneous general purpose ? Involves the same class of security ? Are made at or about the same time and ? Involve securities sold for the same type of consideration. The adoption of the new Rule 155 provides for reliefs for financial institutions (and other institutions in different industries) who opt to participate in mergers, acquisitions, or take-overs.The new Rule 155 does not change the traditional five-factor analysis approach of SEC but clarifies the implication of integration in two specific types of transactions (Marek and Seo 2001). Rule 155 creates integration safe harbors for two types of common transactions 1) a registered offering following an abandoned private offering and 2) a private offering followin g an abandoned registration offering. The term private offering is specifically defined to include only the offerings that qualify for one of the following exemptions (i) Section 4(2) of the Securities Act, for transactions not involving a public offering(ii) Section 4(6) of the Securities Act, for transactions that do not exceed $5 million and involve offers and sales only to original investors. Or (iii) Rule 506 of Regulation D, for transactions involving offers and sales to an unlimited number of accredited investors and no more than 35 purchasers who, although not accredited, are sophisticated (Marek and Seo 2001). Thus, safe harbors in Rule 155 sets forth clear guidelines under which a company may change its offering between registered and private offerings without the risk of integration.It provides greater flexibility to companies such as financial institutions in this case which seek financing in this changing market (Marek and Seo 2001). V. Summary and Conclusions The case study on Bank of America is a model on how focusing on customer satisfaction can further enhance organic growth for a financial institutions. By establishing a customer satisfaction goal, a financial institution can set up a measurement process in order to evaluate current performance and acquire analytical capability to improve performance in a targeted way (Cox and Bossert 2005).Gathering information about the customers will allow a company to streamline its products and services to meet customer needs. This also allows for greater opportunity for more effective cross-selling which will help increase share-of-wallet from both existing and new customers. Institutions with high levels of customer satisfaction, or customer momentum, need to look at products and services through the eyes of the customer and should simultaneously listen to the VoC.There is a need to recognize and reward people for selling bundled sets of products rather than merely focusing on measuring and rewarding sales associates for selling specific products only (A. T. Kearney 2006). A financial institution must also take note that products and services to be added or cross-sold must be determined in relation to margins on core products to ensure profitable growth. The mix of products and services offered to customers is equally important when considering their impact on profit.Many financial institutions have limited insight into the true profitability of specific products which makes the development of an economically-attractive bundle (whether from the customers or the institutions perspective) problematic (A. T. Kearney 2006). As such, managing product complexity is also important. To better serve their customers, sales associates must understand their products, and when a bank has too many products and services on its platter, its employees tend to be less knowledgeable about what to offer or cross-sell to their customers.Managing product complexity will allow for improvement in the p roduct cost/price relationship and will help customers understand a value proposition. It can help improve both service delivery, transaction effectiveness, and decrease the potential for errors within the financial institution (A. T. Kearney 2006). Thus, effective organic growth should focus on customer satisfaction or VoC as its key component. Mergers and acquisitions however provide for opportunities for financial institutions to gain a greater market share, improve cost-cutting measures, increase profit, and eliminate competition.Ailing financial organizations also have a better chance for survival by being merged with stronger banking counterparts, while the latter gain a stronger foothold in the market through such acquisitions. .The new Rule 155 adopted by the SEC in provides for safeguards for financial institutions in case of such mergers, acquisitions and take-overs. It provides for non-exclusive safe harbors from the integration between registered and private offerings, a nd allows issuers to move more quickly in case market conditions change quickly.The rule provides for clear guidelines in which a financial institution may change its offering between registered and private offerings without the risks normally associated with integration (Marek and Seo 2001). Deregulation, such as through adoption of the new Rule 155, and technology have been identified as two of the driving forces why banking institutions merge. Technology on the other hand has literally allowed banks to cross borders, and have made limitations as to time, geography, and boundaries practically non-existent.Information dissemination through the speed of technology has allowed mergers across continents, and for such financial institutions to grab a large slice of the market share. It has also provided for flexibility and convenience to customers. However, one threat to this form of business expansion is the formation of super banks, similar to what is happening in the retail sector w herein only a small number of key players dominate the industry. This may potentially affect customer needs, as the competitive edge remains with a select set of power players in the banking sector.The lack of boundaries, such as having branches in different parts of the globe, may also hinder optimum customer satisfaction, as a financial institutions operating procedure remains uniform and standard, but customer needs always differ per area, region, or continent. Institutions will use both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions to grow and expand their businesses. But what can be concluded is that those financial institutions with business models that push for strong organic growth make more successful acquirers (A. T.Kearney 2006). Since they understand the needs of their clients better, the services and products they offer tend to be more appropriate and thus more cost-effective and profitable. By knowing their customers, and ultimately the strengths of their organizations, then institutions with strong organic growth models are better capable of acquiring and merging with other banking institutions in the future. VI. Future Research The preliminary research in this data indicated case studies from surveys conducted on the banking sector for 2005 and 2006.Trends with regard to organic growth and mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector were analyzed. Future research in relation to this study could include analysis of empirical data from major banking institutions and a comparison of their profit rates from their organic growth and mergers and acquisitions. Sample sizes may include banks which focus on both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions, and banks which monitor organic growth alone and do not participate in mergers. 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