Regal Imagery in Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converg

Regal Imagery in Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converge Flannery O’Connor uses images of regality as represented by hats, colors, and ironic regal references in the short story â€Å"Everything That Rises Must Converge† to symbolize Julian’s mother, and her societal views. She, like the hat, is not as upper class as she would have herself or others believe. In addition, her racist beliefs are challenged when a black woman enters the bus with the very same hat, forcing her to realize that the regal attitude she holds will never be validated, and she will no longer be able to pretend that she is superior to anyone. The hat, which â€Å"looked like a cushion with the stuffing out,† resembles â€Å"the dumpy figure† of the mother. In addition, the hat is referred to as â€Å"preposterous,† and â€Å"ridiculous,† all the ways her son considers her to be. The hat is gaudy and not worth the money she paid for it, but she is certain of its taste just as she is certain how good it looks on her (because the sales lady had told her so), and how superior she is to those at the Y. The sales lady had said that ‘â€Å"with that hat, you won’t meet yourself coming or going,† which means that she will not be alike anyone else. Of course, this is not the case, and the black Negress would ultimately be the last person Julian’s mother would wish to meet. The colors in the hat are extremely significant. Its purple velvet flap creates the image of royalty, and the rest of it, green, represents money. This is the only time that green is mentioned in the story, for money is not something that they have, which even the mother cannot dispute. In addition to the hat, the sky of their once â€Å"fashionable† neighborhood is the color of â€Å"a dying violet,† and the house... ... apparently does not realize this: ‘â€Å"Most of them in it are not our kind of people,† she said, â€Å"but I can be gracious to anybody. I know who I am.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Ironically, she is completely unsure of whom she is, and this is why it is so hard for her to come to terms with any of the reality around her. The importance of the hat becomes most overt when the Negress enters the bus wearing one exactly identical. ‘â€Å"That was your black double,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ says her son. She had, until this point, thought herself greater than most she encountered, whether black or white, and for a working- class black woman to have the same taste as her, in addition to the means by which to attain it, her fragile view of life has been forever shattered. The fact that this â€Å"black queen† ends up more powerful than the â€Å"white queen† underscores the irony inherent in the main characters delusions of grandeur. Regal Imagery in Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converg Regal Imagery in Flannery O’Connor’s Everything That Rises Must Converge Flannery O’Connor uses images of regality as represented by hats, colors, and ironic regal references in the short story â€Å"Everything That Rises Must Converge† to symbolize Julian’s mother, and her societal views. She, like the hat, is not as upper class as she would have herself or others believe. In addition, her racist beliefs are challenged when a black woman enters the bus with the very same hat, forcing her to realize that the regal attitude she holds will never be validated, and she will no longer be able to pretend that she is superior to anyone. The hat, which â€Å"looked like a cushion with the stuffing out,† resembles â€Å"the dumpy figure† of the mother. In addition, the hat is referred to as â€Å"preposterous,† and â€Å"ridiculous,† all the ways her son considers her to be. The hat is gaudy and not worth the money she paid for it, but she is certain of its taste just as she is certain how good it looks on her (because the sales lady had told her so), and how superior she is to those at the Y. The sales lady had said that ‘â€Å"with that hat, you won’t meet yourself coming or going,† which means that she will not be alike anyone else. Of course, this is not the case, and the black Negress would ultimately be the last person Julian’s mother would wish to meet. The colors in the hat are extremely significant. Its purple velvet flap creates the image of royalty, and the rest of it, green, represents money. This is the only time that green is mentioned in the story, for money is not something that they have, which even the mother cannot dispute. In addition to the hat, the sky of their once â€Å"fashionable† neighborhood is the color of â€Å"a dying violet,† and the house... ... apparently does not realize this: ‘â€Å"Most of them in it are not our kind of people,† she said, â€Å"but I can be gracious to anybody. I know who I am.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Ironically, she is completely unsure of whom she is, and this is why it is so hard for her to come to terms with any of the reality around her. The importance of the hat becomes most overt when the Negress enters the bus wearing one exactly identical. ‘â€Å"That was your black double,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ says her son. She had, until this point, thought herself greater than most she encountered, whether black or white, and for a working- class black woman to have the same taste as her, in addition to the means by which to attain it, her fragile view of life has been forever shattered. The fact that this â€Å"black queen† ends up more powerful than the â€Å"white queen† underscores the irony inherent in the main characters delusions of grandeur.

Research In Motion Essay

Research In Motion (RIM) is most famously knows for its smart phone device Blackberry. Blackberry, when first introduced in 1999, took the corporate market by storm because of its capability of storing and managing e-mails along with other professional tools. Later the introduction of Black Berry Messenger (BBM) was another successful addition and made it famous among the non-corporate user class all around the globe. From its inception to the introduction of Blackberry and until today, RIM has had various challenges in terms of safeguarding its intellectual property and took some steps to counteract those problems which I will be discussing in this paper. 1.What were some of the challenges that RIM faced to protect its intellectual property, and how did RIM handle those challenges? The first challenge for RIM was in 2001 when it claimed that its competitor Glenayre Electronics infringed on its patent and charged dilution, unfair competition, and false advertising (1). As a result RIM sued them over using its patented mailbox integration technique that was exclusive to its Blackberry smartphone device which was later settled in their favor (2). Another lawsuit filed by RIM was against Good Technology in 2002. RIM alleged that Good was infringing on four of its patents. The first is â€Å"for a method and apparatus to remotely control gateway functions in a wireless data communications network.† The second â€Å"relates to a method and system for loading an application program on a device.† The third â€Å"relates to a method and system for transmitting data files between computers in a wireless data communications environment.† And the fourth â€Å"relates to a mobile device that is optimized for use with thumbs† (3). Finally in 2004 Good Technology signed a settlement with RIM under which it will give RIM a lump-sum payment during its current quarter and ongoing quarterly royalties. Further financial details of the agreement were not disclosed (4). Later in 2006, RIM was sued by mobile e-mail provider Visto Corporation that RIM violated four of its patents. The patents in question relate to the accessing and synchronizing of information over a network and are fundamental to the BlackBerry service (5). After a long battle of three years, in 2009 RIM agreed to pay $267.5 million to settle this dispute adding to a costly series of intellectual-property purchases (6). The company spent more than $1 billion in the past two years on intangible assets, such as patents. It booked part of the cost of the Visto settlement, which gave them a lifetime license to some Visto patents and legal possession of others, as an acquisition of intangible assets (6). Another big event was the RIM-Motorolla lawsuits in 2008 when Motorolla filed a lawsuit against RIM for using its patented technology but in reply RIM sued back Motorolla. RIM filed the lawsuit for â€Å"demanding exorbitant royalties† on patents that were essential to RIM’s business. Besides being accused of â€Å"anti-competitive conduct,† Motorola was also accused of violating nine different patents and for breaking a 2003 agreement by refusing to agree to new terms beyond January 2008. Adding injury to lawsuit, RIM also claimed that Motorola’s licensing fees were due to â€Å"declining fortunes of its handset business† (7). This long battle came to an end when both companies settled out of court. Under the Agreement, Motorola and RIM will benefit from a long-term, intellectual property cross-licensing arrangement involving the parties receiving cross-licenses of various patent rights, including patent rights relating to certain industry standards and certain technologies, such as 2G, 3G, 4G, 802.11 and wireless email. In addition, the parties will transfer certain patents to each other (8). 2.What were some of the industry factors that influenced RIM? Industry factors that influenced RIM are Competition, Scale and Future (9). Patents, copyrights and trademarks help a firm safeguard its intellectual assets giving it an edge in the market and enabling to stay competitive in the market. From the lawsuits discussed above, we can see that just in 10 years on inception, RIM had over seven patent related issues for its technology. In technological field, a patent enables a firm to bank on its technology by not allowing other firms to use and produce it. So it enables the firm with the patent to have exclusive right to that technology and have a competitive advantage. When a firm’s technology is successful, patent enables that firm to exploit from it and hence expand their firms scale by securing a larger consumer base leading to a better bright future for the firm. 3.Apply as many TCOs as you can to the RIM. There are quite a few TCOs that can be applied to RIM. Competence Enhancing and Component Innovation applies very well to RIM. Looking at the introduction of Blackberry in 1999, after 14 years we still find them have a strong demand among the smartphone consumer base. So RIM has constantly been improving its blackberry phones keeping them up to date by providing new features that keep the consumer base attracted. Similarly if we look at introduction of features like e-mail service and BBM for blackberry, they are following the component innovation ideology discussed in the course. On the other hand, RIM also follows the concept Network Externalities. BBM can be a good example to support this. Anyone with a blackberry anywhere in the world can send a free message to the other blackberry user using the blackberry network. BBM is actually one of the features’ that has protected Blackberry against I-phone. Tying to BBM, RIM also follows the policy of Trade Secret because no one other than the corporation itself has access to the BBM data. RIM has gone to an extent that recently in India, even the government was not allowed to access the BBM data and after a 19 month service ban the government, RIM finally allowed them to have access but through a different server (10).

Economics Assignment

ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT For a market of your choice, keep track of the spot or share price fluctuations during a period of at least two years. Prepare a report of approximately 3000 words, for each market, discussing in detail the multiple forces (interesting developments) responsible for the trends. Tuesday 24 May 2011 Table of Contents Executive Summary Executive Summary In analysing the consumer market, we have chosen the share prices of two JSE listed companies, namely SABMiller and Rainbow Chicken which belong to the beverages and food producer’s sub-sectors respectively. Our two-year analysis is for the period March 2009 to May 2011. We will explore how Rainbow Chicken fared relative to its nearest competitor – Astral Foods. SABMiller allowed us to expand our thinking and methodology as the company also has a dual-listing on the London Stock Exchange. Its three closest competitors Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Carlsberg Breweries have foreign listings. It stands to reason, therefore, that we begin our assignment with an overview of the global context in which both companies operated in the period under review. The aftermath of the recession and changes in global economic indicators like the ZAR:USD exchange rate and the price of Brent crude oil will be examined. What we found particularly interesting was the resilience of both company’s share prices in the challenging global economic climate. We mention the factors that insulated each share from the global downturn. We then turn our attention to South Africa’s economic environment and examine the extent to which the foregoing global factors impacted on South Africa’s macroeconomic policy landscape. The two variables that we pay particular attention to are the local repo and CPI rates. We address the extent to which changes to these local variables impacted on the share prices of SABMiller and Rainbow Chicken. As mentioned in the first paragraph, our analyses consider the industries in which both companies operate by comparing their share prices with those of their nearest competitors. Our company analyses focus on internal considerations and the strategic objectives detailed in SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s annual reports for the 2009 and 2010 financial year ends. In our analyses of each company’s share price, we remain mindful of the fact that, although not directly responsible for the share’s daily performance, the objectives and calibre of management nevertheless impact on the share price. We conclude each analysis with a justifiable prediction of the expected trajectory of each company’s share price. The concentric eclipses in the diagram below depict the logical progression of our assignment’s structure, beginning with the outer-most eclipse. The diagram also shows the inter-relatedness of each eclipse relative to the other and how it is impossible to isolate the effects of one from the other. This reinforces the aphorism that: â€Å"in Economics everything is related to everything else; and usually in more ways than one. † The Global Environment [pic] Source: www. eia. doe. gov The price of Brent crude oil has been steady at an average level of $70 to $80 a barrel until November 2010. Since December 2010, the oil price has been rising, reaching a peak of $120 / barrel in April 2011. This has been partly due to uprisings in the Arab world, which holds the majority of global oil reserves. The oil price affects domestic inflation as fuel and energy are a major component of South Africa’s CPI basket. The price of petrol, which is based on oil prices, also raises logistical costs. SABMiller and Rainbow paid more to transport their products in the December 2010 to May 2011 period as a result of the spike in oil prices. It stands to reason that these higher transportation costs would be passed on to consumers as higher product prices by both companies. pic] Source: www. xe. com The graph above shows that the Rand has been strengthening relative to the US Dollar from 1USD:10ZAR to 1USD:6,3ZAR between March 2009 and May 2011. The strong rand has had a favourable impact on our terms of trade as can be seen from the self-explanatory graph below which depicts the Balance of Payments. The company analyses below reveal that SABMiller exports and imports a number of its brands across the world. Rainbow Chicken imports the soy component of its chicken feed wholly from Argentina. The rand’s strength impacts on both companies’ performances (and hence) their share prices favourably. [pic] [pic] Source: www. resbank. co. za The South African Environment Domestic interest rates [pic] Source: www. resbank. co. za The graph above shows that the Reserve Bank’s stance to monetary policy has been expansionary. This is shown by the gradual decline in the repo rate from 9,5% in March 2009 to its current level of 5,5% in May 2011. The Reserve Bank’s mandate is to keep the inflation rate within its target band of 3% to 6% and it uses the repo rate as the instrument with which to impact inflation. The Reserve Bank’s lowering of the repo rate is due to the CPI breaching its upper target limit of 6%. This is shown in the graph below. There is a positive relationship between the repo rate and CPI. It stands to reason, therefore, that the gradual lowering of the repo rate would be accompanied by a decline in the CPI rate. This is indeed the case. However, because of lags, the effect of a fall in the repo rate on the inflation rate is not reflected immediately and the CPI remains significantly above the upper limit. A fall in the repo rate eases pressure on consumers by raising their disposal incomes since they, theoretically, spend less on their credit commitments. All things being equal, this would raise the sales volumes of SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s products. Domestic Inflation [pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za The graph above depicts the trend in inflation. It is clear that although the inflation rate has been on a downward trajectory (following the lowering of the repo rate) it was in breach of the upper limit of 6% from March 2009 to Oct 2009. It was within the target band in November 2009 but breached the upper limit again between December 2009 and February 2010. The latter breach is attributable to the market’s inflation expectations because of the steep increase in electricity tariffs during this period (www. eskom. co. za). As mentioned previously, the biggest components of South Africa’s CPI basket are food and fuel and the graphs below will be used to explain the impact of inflation on SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s performance specifically. CPI indicator relevant to SAB Miller pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za This graph shows that inflation for alcoholic beverages has not only been consistently higher than the upper limit of the inflation target band, it has also been significantly higher than the country’s inflation rate. This is due to the fact that a major component of the price of alcohol is a â€Å"sin tax†, which is imposed by the finance ministry, because of the relative ly inelastic nature of the price elasticity of demand for alcohol as well as irresponsible and excessive consumption patterns. For some consumers, even a sharp increase in the price of alcoholic beverages does not result in a fall in the quantity demanded. There would, in all likelihood, be a shift away from the consumption of relatively more expensive alcoholic beverages towards relatively cheaper alcohol – not a complete cessation in the consumption of alcohol. This is one of the reasons that SABMiller’s share price has shown steady gains relative to the market. CPI indicator relevant to Rainbow Chicken [pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za Consumer food price inflation decelerated sharply from December 2010. It is also interesting to note, that between January 2009 and January 2010, the prices of wheat fell by 24,58%, maize by 22,57% and sunflower seeds by 18,49% (www. finweek. co. za) Decreases in the prices of these staple foods has a positive impact on the poor as they spend 33,4% of their incomes on food; versus the rich who spend a mere 2,6% of their incomes on food. Poor people consume relatively more chicken than red meat because the latter is relatively more expensive. Chicken is the cheapest form of protein in South Africa and demand for it is high (www. astralfoods. com). Furthermore, the above staple foods are used as chicken feed which is a significant input cost for Rainbow Chicken, therefore the company has had cost savings because of bumper crops and the consequent price decreases in these commodities. The table on the following page clearly accounts for the nearly vertical decline in the graph above which shows food price inflation. [pic] Source: www. resbank. co. za GDP – South Africa [pic] [pic] Source: www. statssa. gov. za The graphs above show that South Africa was in a recession in 2009, as defined, because of the two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Our recovery from the global recession was due to the fact that we had a low exposure to the sub-prime market crisis that was responsible for the global meltdown. Our banking and macroeconomic policies remain robust. The growth in the economy from the third quarter of 2009 is also due to infrastructural investments that were made for the 2010 Soccer World Cup as well as South Africa’s contributions to the BRIC emerging markets bloc – especially our trade with China. It is expected that our formal inclusion to the BRICS nations since April 2011 will maintain the upward trend in GDP (www. lobalsherpa. org). Positive GDP growth has a positive impact on the performance of SABMiller’s and Rainbow’s shares. In a boom everyone does well. SABMiller, in particular, has a presence in all five BRICS nations and is poised for growth as emerging market economies have overtaken developed economies in their contributions to global GDP. We now examine SABMiller’s s hare price in more detail and then turn our attention to Rainbow Chicken in light of the foregoing discussions on the global and local environments. Analysis of SABMiller pic] SABMiller is a global operation covering 75 countries on six continents and employing over 70 000 people. Its portfolio of businesses is divided into six regions and is well balanced between developed and emerging markets. Between them, the businesses produce over 200 different brands and sell 213 million hectoliters of lager a year. Since listing on the London Stock Exchange 10 years ago the company has grown substantially and has a market capitalisation of ZAR 419,837,700,000 on the JSE and GBP 36,099,310,000 on the LSE. The company’s markets range from developed economies such as the USA to the fast growing BRICS economies (SABMiller Annual Report, 2009). SABMiller is also the number one bottler of soft drinks for The Coca Cola Company. The breweries market can be seen as oligopolistic in nature since SABMiller and its three main competitors (Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Carlsberg) are the dominant players in the market and have significant market share amongst them. The oligopolistic market structure has a positive impact on the company’s operations and share price performance. In North America, SABMiller (through its strategic partners) is the second-largest brewer in the United States and owns nearly 30% of the US beer market. In Latin America, it is the number one brewer by market share. In the majority of the ten European countries in which it operates, the company is the number one or number two brewer by market share. The same holds for Africa and Asia. In the 2009 annual report Mayer Kahn, the Chairman of the Board, stated that the global brewing industry was expected to continue to consolidate and that participation in industry consolidation provides opportunities to enter growth markets and to create value from scale benefits. The graph below shows SABMiller’s share price relative to its three main competitors. It is clear that all four companies’ trajectories have moved in tandem but Carlsberg’s share price has significantly taken the lead with SABMiller in second place. At the turn of the century, the top 10 brewers accounted for just over one-third of global beer sales volumes. The past decade has seen a rapid consolidation, resulting in the top four brewers – Anheuser-Busch InBev, SABMiller, Heineken and Carlsberg – accounting for almost 50% of beer sales volumes and up to 75% of the global profit pool. (SABMiller Annual Report, 2010) [pic] Source: www. heineken. com Mr Kahn attributes the company’s good results (in both 2009 and 2010) to the operational strengths of the businesses and the power of their leading local brands. He concedes that even though SABMiller was not immune to the global crisis, beer is a fairly resilient product which placed the company in a better position than many to weather the storm. He goes on to say: â€Å"Thanks, partly, to our long experience of emerging markets, we are used to operating under difficult conditions. If we look back ten years to our London stock market listing, it is worth remembering that the Asian currency crisis at that time had shaken investor confidence in emerging markets and that the outlook was far from encouraging. Nevertheless, we prospered and grew and achieved the international expansion that our listing was intended to facilitate. Ten years on, our geographic spread is proving to be an advantage in that different countries are affected by the crisis at different rates and to differing degrees. So while demand in Europe has dropped sharply, countries in emerging markets such as Africa and Asia have fared relatively well despite falling back from the high – one might say unsustainable – rates of growth of recent years. † SABMiller Annual Report, 2009 In short, SABMiller’s diverse spread of businesses, strong market positions, and a portfolio of leading brands mitigated against the risks and negative consequences of the global downturn and contributed to the steady upward momentum in the share price. In response to the mismatch between the supply of, and demand for, certain brewing and packaging raw materials in Africa, the company is increasingly using locally grown crops such as sorghum and cassava to produce affordable brands. This is done to minimise supply shortages and the price volatility of key raw material inputs. Continued robust pricing and productivity enhancements offset increased commodity costs (SABMiller Annual Report, 2010). It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the combination of the above factors resulted in a steady upward trend in the company’s share prices on both the London and Johannesburg bourses in the period under review as seen in the graphs below. [pic][pic] Source: www. sabmiller. com In 2010, Mr Kahn had similar good news for investors, citing the same reasons as for 2009. However he mentions the company’s management team as being a key contributor to the positive results: This year, in addition, we have benefited from management’s ability to reduce costs and selectively increase prices in order to maximise revenues†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Source: SABMiller Annual Report, 2010 In the third paragraph of our Executive Summary, we mentioned that the management of any company is not responsible for the share price. However, in fulfilling its primary objective of maximising shareholder value, the credibility of and strategies employed by management invariably have an impact on the share price. It would appear that the management and directorship of SABMiller are market-friendly. The members of the executive team are representative of each of the continents in which the company operates; with Mr Cyril Ramaphosa and Dr Dambisa Moyo as the notable representatives for Africa. Other market-friendly strategies include the December 2009 announcement that 8. 45% of the shares in SABMiller’s South African subsidiary, The South African Breweries Ltd (SAB), would be placed under Black ownership as part of its commitment to Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa. This transaction created 40,000 new shareholders among SAB employees and qualifying retailers. The deal also created a charitable foundation that holds 18% of the shares that were issued under the transaction. The dividend income will be used for the benefit of the wider South African community (SABMiller Annual Report, 2010). The company also capitalised on the strength of emerging markets (particularly in China and Africa) by channeling its growth strategies to these markets. â€Å"Globally, the beer market grew by 1. 5% in 2010, led by a continuing strong performance in Asia, Africa and Latin America. China grew by 6. 5%, Africa by 3. 1% and Latin America by almost 3%. Western Europe continued the trend of declining beer volumes, driven by a shift in consumption to other beverages and the decline of on-premise consumption. † Source: SABMiller Annual Report, 2010 In the 2010 financial year the company acquired four new breweries in China, invested in new breweries in Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola and Southern Sudan and carried out expansions and upgrades in Uganda and Zambia. The trends in the graphs depicting SABMiller’s share price on both the London and Johannesburg Securities’ Exchanges (given above) require no further explanation. With good management being both a contributory factor to and a consequence of the share’s strong performance, it is reasonable to conclude that the positive momentum will continue. [pic] Analysis of Rainbow Chicken [pic] Rainbow Chicken Limited is the largest processor and marketer of chicken in South Africa. It is a fully integrated broiler producer that breeds and rears its own livestock which it feeds from its own feed mills. Rainbow processes, distributes and markets fresh, frozen, value-added and further-processed chicken. The company has a market capitalisation of ZAR 6 124 893 000 009 was a very challenging year for the South African poultry industry, both locally and globally. The local chicken industry was negatively impacted by the fall in demand due to the recession. An oversupply by local producers and increased imports due to the strong rand also added to the industry’s woes. These difficult market conditions were a further test of Rainbow’s differen tiated brand strategy, which through its foodservice and consumer brands, seeks more consistent, profitable and sustainable business (Rainbow Chicken Annual Report, 2009). Despite these challenges, Rainbow managed to deliver an acceptable overall performance. Positive performance, like a rally in the share price, is a function of several variables and while we can make inferences about the correlation between the two, we make no such inferences about their causality. Like SABMiller, Rainbow’s Black Economic Empowerment transaction (which was concluded in July 2008) was market-friendly and boosted the company’s share price. Rainbow provided vendor financing for a 15% equity stake that was issued to a consortium that was constituted by its employees, Imbewu Consortium, Ikamva Labantu, and Mrs M Nhlanhla, a non-executive director. The BBBEE transaction resulted in the share price rallying from R12. 0 to R16. 80 in the latter period of the second quarter of the 2009 financial year as shown in the graph on the following page. 2010 was an equally challenging year for Rainbow but its effects were mitigated by South Africa’s steady recovery from the recession, a lower interest rate and inflationary environment. Maize prices d eclined since their peak in July 2008. The global financial crisis caused a dramatic decrease in the demand for maize, improving the previously dangerously low US and global maize stock situations to such an extent that international prices fell sharply from their record levels. Rainbow Chicken, Annual Report, 2010). The fall in maize prices, which is a major component in chicken feed, resulted in a reduction in the company’s input costs which boosted the bottom line. Local producers added significant production capacity for wheat, grain and soy over the past five years. Rainbow imports the soya component of its chicken feed from Argentina and it has a significant FOREX exposure. The strong rand, however, in the period under review, has been in the company’s favour. The company’s 2010 annual report reflected acceptable profit margins. In both 2009 and during 2010, the company’s share price maintained its upward momentum as reflected in the graph below. [pic] |Key Features – Rainbow Chicken Share Price | |Year |Low |High | |2009 |11500 |16800 | |2010 |15900 |16900 | The graph and table above confirm the findings in the preceding paragraphs. Although the difference between the year’s highest share prices is negligible, South Africa’s economic recovery may be gleaned from the fact that the lowest share price for 2010 was 4400c above the 2009 low. Consumer’s disposable incomes were higher in 2010 because of falling interest and inflation rates. Falling input costs and increased consumer demand increased the appetite for the company’s shares as investors’ expectations of earning better returns were supported. Other events that led to sharp movements in the company’s share price include the market’s speculative expectations immediately prior to the announcement of the group’s 2009 results. After the results were announced, the share price dropped to R13. 90 because of the 39. 6% decline in headline earnings. The reason for this decline in earnings can be attributed to the company’s policy of buying feed products forward. The share price stabilised for the remainder of 2010 due to an increase in the multitude of families that joined the ranks of South Africa’s middle class. As the middle class grows in size, so the taste of chicken diversifies allowing entrepreneurs to come up with new ways of marketing chicken to end consumers. We now turn our attention to Rainbow’s competitor, Astral Foods, to get a better idea of the South African poultry industry before making conclusions about how justifiable a continued rally in Rainbow’s share price is. Astral Foods is Rainbow Chicken’s nearest competitor. The company holds investments in subsidiary and joint venture companies. Its primary activities are animal feed pre-mixes, the manufacturing of animal feeds, broiler genetics, the production and sale of day-old broiler chicks and hatching eggs, integrated breeder and broiler production operations, abattoirs and the sale and distribution of various key poultry brands. Its current market capitalisation is R5,5 bn (www. moneyweb. co. za) Despite a 5% drop in sales volumes, revenue for Astral Foods’ poultry division increased by 13% for the 2009 financial year. (Astral Foods Annual Report, 2009). The market was neutral about the appointment of Chris Schutte as the Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 May 2009. The share price was also not responsive to the appointment of Daan Ferreira as the Financial Director. This may be because it was not perceived to be mindful of BBBEE. The improvement in Astral Foods’ revenue for the 2010 period was largely attributable to a sustained growth in volume. The volume growth was on the back of improved production results supported by better poultry health status. Depressed consumer spending, together with higher levels of imports and high local stock levels, contributed to vigorous promotional activity with prices at levels below historical levels. Reduced feeding costs during the period countered the effects of lower poultry selling prices. A lengthy period of industrial action at Earlybird Standerton negatively impacted the company’s share performance. (Astral Foods Annual Report 2010) |[pic] | |The graph above shows the steadily upward trend in Astral Foods share price. Not surprisingly, it follows a similar pattern to Rainbow | |Chicken’s share price – with pronounced sell-offs in the first and second quarters of 2009 and improvements thereafter. This pattern | |provides comfort because of the consistency of both company’s responsiveness to events in the poultry industry. It would be concerning if | |the companies had different trajectories. The consensus amongst analysts is that the South African poultry industry is poised for | |significant growth given that the price of chicken has risen by 30 per cent year-on-year while the cost of feed has come down. We | |anticipate that Rainbow’s share price will maintain its upward trend. | | | BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Astral Foods Limited Annual Report, 2009. www. astralfoods. com 2. EIA Independent Statistics and Analysis, US Energy Information Administration, www. eia. doe. gov 3. www. eskom. co. za 4. www. finweek. co. za/Economy/Food-inflation-still-a-concern-20100301 5. www. globalsherpa. org/china-africa-brics 6. www. heineken. com 7. www. moneyweb. o. za 8. Rainbow Chicken Limited Annual Report, 2009 and 2010, www. rainbowchicken. co. za 9. Reserve Bank Quarterly Bulletin March 2011,www. resbank. co. za 10. SABMiller PLC Annual Report, 2009, www. sabmiller. com 11. SABMiller PLC Annual Report, 2010, www. sabmiller. com 12. Statistics South Africa, Statistical release P0141, www. statssa. gov. za 13. www. xe. com [pic] ———————– Economics Assignment 2011 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT LOCAL ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY / COMPETITORS COMPANY SHARE PRICE

Organizational Transformation Issues In A Health Care Clinic

CONTENTS:Pages ASSIGNMENT BRIEF 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 4-5 1. 0. INTRODUCTION 6 1. 1. OBJECTIVES 7 1. 2. METHODOLOGY 8 2. 0. LITERATURE REVIEW 9-25 3. 0. ANALYSIS 26-30 4. 0 REFLECTION 31 REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT BRIEF:ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION ISSUES IN A HEALTH CARE CLINIC (CASE STUDY). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper is based on the case study Organizational Transformation in a Health Care Clinic where focus, is the many organizational transformational issues that take place during an organisational development and transformational change of the Health Care Clinic. According to Anderson and Ackerman (2001:39-40 & 50), transformational change is defined as a â€Å"completely new way the organization and its people see the world, their customers, their work and themselves. For organizational change to be successful the procedure would require changes that would affect employees’ behaviour, how they think and the organization’s culture thus raising many transformational issues such as leadership issues, communication issues, training and development issues, and cultural issues. GLOSSARY BehavioursThe way in which people in the organization act in terms of what they do and say that brings the strategy and desired culture to life ControlsWhat gets measured and rewardedChange To alter, modify or transform CultureThe totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs of an institutions FacilitateTo make something easier to do GoalsThe objectives or targets that the organization is trying to achieve LeadershipThe ability to guide, direct and influence persons ManagementPersons in charge of organizing and controlling the affairs of a business or a sector of a business MissionThe purpose of the organizationOrganizationA body of persons organized for some specific purpose Organization Development (OD)A primarily behavioural science approach to planned organizational change that is composed of traditional OD and mainline OD ( Krell 1981) Organizational Transformation (OT)Change that involves transformative changes in the fundamental nature of the organization and requires completely new ways of thinking, behaving and perceiving by members of the organization Realignment To readjust or change something to fit different circumstances StrategyThe approach that the organization is adopting to achieve the goals that support the strategy ValuesThe underlying principles and ethics that drive the organization Vision A picture of a desired future state that is sufficiently appealing and compelling to drive change forward 1. 0. INTRODUCTION:ORGANISATIONAL TRANSFORMATION can be defined as â€Å"a fundamental shift in the way business delivers value to its customers and stakeholders resulting in dramatic change strategy, processes, technology and utilisation and management of human resources to meet the needs of the global economy†. ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT is a system wide application and tra nsfer of behavioural science knowledge to the planned development, improvement and reinforcement of the strategies, structures and processes that lead to organisational effectiveness. Many organizations of today go through changes because of circumstances, wanting to become more developed and/or advanced or simply because of wanting to move with the time.Management of the health care clinic initiated an organizational development programme because of problems originating from the application of modern technology to the jobs of medical technologists. It was discovered that employees of the biochemistry department were greatly dissatisfied because of their feeling of having their skills underutilized, having cultural differences with other staff members, having communication barriers and not having job challenges present. The organizational development staff and the manager agreed that job redesign should take place to bring more autonomy, control, feedback and meaningfulness to the w ork for the employees of the clinic.Over a period of two years evaluation of the results by the organizational development staff found that job characteristics and satisfaction declined for both groups that were involved in the transformational change process. Changing environments of an organization has effect on the organization and the organization’s environment thus creating many transformational issues. Transformational issues include leadership issues, cultural issues, communication issues, cultural issues and training and development issues. 1. 1. OBJECTIVES: 1-To identify the organizational transformational issues that are involved in the change in the health care clinic 2-To evaluate change implementation and intervention strategies at a health care clinic. 1. 2. METHODOLOGY:The researcher in the context of this case study has opted to use the phenomenological approach as opposed to a positivistic approach (Collis and Hussy 2003). Triangulation-â€Å"the use of more than one method or source of data in the study of a phenomenon so that findings can be cross checked† Bryman (2008 pg. 700) Triangulation method of data collection will be used collecting qualitative and quantitative data from both primary and secondary sources for example using unstructured questions and interviews. A variety or literature, theoretical and analytical tools and techniques will be used. The research conducted being a case study the data collection will be consequence on the evidence as suggested in the case study. Random sampling s suggested by Saunders et al cannot be validated, in that for quantitative research the sample size must be of at least 95% in order to obtain realistic or quantifiable data and it may be dangerous and less accurate to do otherwise. 2. 0. LITERATURE REVIEW The core issues which will guide the facilitation of policy development, plans and programs for the organisational will include the under mentioned factors: Lewin’s(1951) fo rce field analysis demonstrates the two key external forces that push organisations into change situations but counteracting, resisting forces are often arisen from inside organisations when the changes are attempted and that change occurs when the driving forces out number resisting forces.This force field is propagated on the idea that social situations can be seen as equilibria that are periodically disturbed when changes to the situation are attempted. The concept of change as modification of these forces keeping a system’s behaviour stable. The two groups of forces are those striving to maintain the status quo and those pushing for change. A state of ‘quasi-stationary equilibrium’ as coined by Lewin(1951) is achieved when both sets of forces are almost equal and current behaviours and attitudes are maintained. FIG. 1 BELOW REFERS. Kurt Lewin (1951) identified three stages of behaviour modification in a simplistic change management model is seen in the table 1 below. LEWIN(1951)THREE STAGE MANAGEMENT TABLE. (TAB. ) UnfreezingIs concerned mainly with selling the change and provides a motive for groups and individuals to change their attitudes, systems, behaviours values and structures. The unfreezing stage will be greatly accelerated if it is recognised that the need for change is immediate, clear and the survival of the organisation depends upon it. MovingIs concerned with recognising what the new attitudes and desirable practise, norms and behaviours should be and communicating it and encouraging others in the organisation to embrace and own it as new job requisites. This aspect can occur through assimilation and exposure to new concepts or from individuals with different perspectives. RefreezingThis stage is the final and stabilising stage of the change implying reinforcement of the new behaviours.Evoking positive reinforcements such as rewards and praise. For negative reinforcement such as sanctions for indiscipline or deviant attitu des. Source:Mullins,Laurie J. (1997) Management and Organisational Behaviour 9th. Edition. FT/Prentice Hall . Again, Lewin(1951) suggested that for change to be successful there must be group activity. Unless group norms are transformed there will be no sustenance to individual actions and without reinforcements change can be short-lived. Employees are beginning to accept that the time has come for change and the changes must be made so that the organisation can remain viable. Schein (1988) model of change outlined the pivotal role of the change agent.Schein (1988) delineated each stage of Lewin’s (1951) model by expressing the dynamics of individual change and how imperative it is for change agent to manage these changes (see table 2 below) the change agent can be seen as the coach, facilitator and motivator assisting individuals through the change can be seen as the coach, facilitator and motivator assisting individuals through the change. According to Schein’s(1988) model the first stage the change agent assists with motivating the individual by disconfirming their behaviours, attitudes and performance. Stage two emphasises the need to get employees to perform tasks differently and actually engaging belief that changing norms and working habits can effectively improve their performance.At Stage three the change agent helps the employee to change his thought patterns by integrating new and well defined behaviours. Self conceptualisation and reinforced performance standards are confirmed. Schein (1988) believes that none of these stages are susceptible to self management but need the intervention of change agents. In furtherance, Cummings and Worley (2005) planned change concept outlined how change can be implemented in organisations. This action research model places heavy emphasis on gathering and diagnosing data prior to action planning and implementation and on assessment of results after action is taken. The action research model describes change as a cyclical process involving joint activities between employees and organisational ractitioners. Figure 2 below compares Lewin (1951) change model to other models of planned change such as the positive model and the action research model all of which describes the phases by which planned change occurs in organisations. Initiation of successful organisational change modified restructuring strategies and organisational efficiencies can be envisaged through these theories. In this model many steps overlap and interact in practise. This simple model has been used to analyse and manage change and can be useful at times. However, it tends to treat people as the objects of manipulation and does not involve them in the change process at all.All three approaches emphasises the application of behavioural science knowledge, involve organisation members in the change process to varying degrees and recognise that the interaction between an organisation and a consultant constitutes an i ntervention that affects the organisation. Lewin’s(1951) change model approach differs from the other two models in that it deals with the general process of planned change whereas the others target specific organisational development(OD) activities. To manage strategic change effectively, it is important to understand its causes. Two main classifications of the causes of change are outlined by the following theorists: 1) Tichy’s(1983) four main causes of strategic change 2) Kanter, Stein and Jick’s(1992) three dynamics for strategic change. According to Tichy (1983) four main triggers for change:TICHY(1983) TRIGGERS FOR CHANGE †¢Environment- shift in the economy, competitive pressures and legislative changes can lead to demands for strategic change. †¢Business relationships-alliances, acquisitions, value chain linkages or core competencies. †¢Technology †¢People-new entrants may have different educational or cultural backgrounds or expectati ons that require change. Source:Mullins, Laurie,J. (1997) Management and Organisational Behaviour 9th. Edition FT/Prentice Hall. (TABLE 3) Tichy(1983) suggests that change is not only inevitable in such circumstances but can be managed to produce effective results. Kanter, Stein and Jick(1992)identified three causes of strategic change: Environment-changes here compared with the situation in the organisation can lead to demands for strategic change.Life cycle differences-changes in one division or part of the organisation as it moves into a phase of its life cycle that is different from another division may necessitate change. Typically, change issues related to the size, shape and influence of such parts and involve coordination and resource allocation issues between them. Political power changes inside the organisation-individuals, groups and other stakeholders may struggle for power to make decisions or enjoy the benefits associated with the organisation. For example, shifts in s trategy from production oriented to customer oriented would be accompanied by a shift in the power balance between those two functions.The researcher suggested that the causes were constantly shifting, sometimes slowly and at other times faster. Kanter, Stein and Jick’s(1992) theory can be directly related to the Health care clinic as the organisation go through the process of change as it relates to the external environment changes so too must the organisation, as one part of the organisation change so too must other parts of the organisation change to ‘catch up’. Internal and external factors influence changes. Kanter, Stein and Jick (1992) identified three major forms taken by the change process. They linked these three categories of people involved in the change process, to produce a three stage process for managing change.These three forms were: 1)The changing identity of the organisation. 2)Coordination and transition issues as an organisation moves through its life cycle. 3)Controlling the political aspects of the organisation. The three major categories of people involved in the change process: I. Change strategists-those responsible for leading strategic change in the organisation. They may not only be responsible for implementation. II. Change implementers –those who have direct responsibility for change management. III. Change recipients- those who receive the change programme with varying degrees of anxiety depending on the nature of the change and how it is presented.Kanter, Stein and Jick(1992) offer one way of structuring and managing aspects of the change process. However, these categories of people only give limited indicators of how to manage the process. Kanter, Stein and Jick’s(1992) model may be suited to major changes than the more common ongoing process. According to Cummings and Worley (2005) there are five major activities involved in order to lead and manage change and they are done in the order in wh ich they are performed. These in order of priority are: ? Motivating change. ?Creating a vision. ?Developing political support. ?Managing the transition. ?Sustaining momentum. A major point to note is that in this model, overcoming resistance to change is required early in the change.The change process in the organisation can be severely affected by resistance to change. People tend to very reluctant to move from their perceived ‘comfort zone’ to some unforeseen place as it relates to change thereby begging the questions of whether their contributions will mean anything for them in the future. Albrecht (1983) provided an interesting model of change in which organisations undergo the change cycle. Individuals also experience symptoms of change response cycle. This cycle is prevalent when change is dictated or imposed by management and internal and external forces. ( Table 4 below refers. ) (TABLE4) Source:Cummings, Thomas G. nd Christohper G. Worley,(2005) Organisation D evelopment and Change 8th. Edition-,Thomson Southwestern. The six box model of change was introduced by Weisbord (1978) as a diagnostics tool to measure organisational effectiveness and looks at the inter-related elements within the organisation. Purpose. Is the representation of the organisation and an understanding of the employee’s agreement and commitment to it. Leadership.. – Includes the style and integrity of the employee and their ability to be goal oriented. Structure . -Displays the organisational chart, reporting styles and systems, job responsibility and delegation of authority Relationship. Are those of the employees in the organisation together with their norms, behavioural patterns, conflict management and their degrees of inter dependence Rewards. -Represent what the organisation needs to rewards both in real and psychological terms and include incentives for ‘doing the right thing’ Helpful Mechanisms. -Are the different and varied formal p rocedures and management systems that monitor and coordinate the organisation’s work. . According to Kotter(1995) there are eight steps to transforming an organisation. Source:Cummings, Thomas G. and Christohper G. Worley,(2005) Organisation Development and Change 8th. Edition-,Thomson Southwestern.Kotter(1995) suggests † that for change to be successful 75% of the company’s management needs to buy into the change and really work hard at step and spend significant time and energy building urgency before moving into the other steps. Don’t panic and jump in too fast because you don’t want to risk further short term losses, if you act without being properly prepared, you could be in for a bumpy ride’’ As a result of change many times there is the issue of conflict arising. Conflict is inevitable just as change and assuming that organisational goals are broadly dersiable , there are two aspects of conflict that are relevant and leaders mus t take cogniscance of. According to Hunt (1986) conflict can be highly desirable, it can energise relationships and clarify issues. Conflict can be constructive as well as destructive. the constructive effects of conflict are hat it can introduce different solutions to problems, power relationships can be defined more clearly,it can encouragecreativity and testing of ideas,it focuses attention on individual contributions, it brings emotions out in the open and it provides opportunities for the release of hostile feelings that may have been, or may be, repressed otherwise. Conflict can have negative effects as it may distract attention from the task, it can polorise views and dislocate the group, odjectives may be subverted in favour of secondary goals,it encourages defensive or spoiling behaviour,it may result in the disintegration of the group and it can foster emotional, win-lose within the group. Job design involves the planning of the job. This includes its contents, the methods of performing the job and how it relates to other jobs in the organization (Rahim 2001).Job design and redesign main focus is to put together the needs of the employees that are involved in the different jobs with the production necessitate of the organization in mind. One of the main aims of job redesign is to supply the organizations workers with significant work that fit effectively into the flow of the organization. Enriching, enlarging or simplifying are also goals of job redesign. For the improvement of performance job redesign theory focuses on, job rotation and job enlargement. As in the case it was shown that the general feeling of the employees of the clinic was that there was an absence of job challenge and that technology had simplified the work to be done.According to Herzberg’s theory of motivation, workers motivation to work depends on the nature of the work and how challenging it is. Lack of this challenge will allow employees to become disenchanted with thei r job thus having a negative impact on organizational transformation. Having job challenges will help in motivating the employee to work. Adair (2004) believes that motivation comes from within a person but is fuelled by external factors eg. having work challenges to be able to align themselves to achieve a specific goal, (the goal being a challenge but yet it is attainable by the employee). Job rotation where the employees will be allowed to work on different tasks or in different departments.This will increase job satisfaction and would have helped the employees as they would have had the opportunity to perform different tasks, thus inhibiting boredom on the job. Learning will also take place as employees also learn new tasks and have different responsibilities with job rotation. Job enlargement whether horizontal or vertical would also lead to a more successful organizational transformation as it would also help in giving the employees a challenge as they will have more to do. Ti me is also extended so that the challenge of doing more is realistic. Self esteem will be contributed to as the employee would be entrusted with exercising judgement thus having added responsibility for tasks.Job design and redesign is mainly done by the management of the organization who are responsible for making decisions about how to design those jobs ( Mintzberg 1973) as they see fit. Although managers would have more influence and control over job design than they do over structure, technology, culture, relationships and people ( Hackman & Oldham 1980), the time and attention of managers would still be greatly needed (Dutton &: Ashford, 1993). Pfeffer(1994) believed that the depending on how managers make decisions about job design, it can be a liability or a potential source of competitive advantage for organizations however, many managers often use simplified work as the default approach to designing jobs (Campion &: Stevens, 1991). 3. 0. ANALYSIS/FINDINGS:The researcher in her analysis of the case study of the particular health care clinic sought to ascertain where the problems were and attempts to ascribe the requisite solutions. There were certain strengths as well as considerable weaknesses associated with the case study. It was found that Lewin’s(1951) models were followed to the letter in the structure of this health care clinic and that factors outside these frameworks were not used thereby creating obvious gaps. TECHNOLOGY: Tichy’s(1983) four main triggers of successful strategic change identifies technology as an important driver in the change. As is the situation in the case study it was found that with the advent of new modern technology strengths as well as weaknesses are abound.The medical technologists in the bio chemistry department were either inept with the new technology or were not prepared for the imposition of the new technology thereby dissatisfaction was wide spread, which can be seen as another weakness. Technologi cal shifts can substantially impact on the quality or content of the work and may ultimately influence the factors that affect survivability of the organisation. SOURCES OF DISSATISFACTION Paragraph 2 of the case study identifies several sources of dissatisfaction among the technologists that were of concern. The under mention identifies the concerns together with the possible cause and effect and likely solutions. Under utilisation in their work†-this can be seen as a weakness in the organisation and could have been possible as the OD staff failed and or neglected to take into consideration issues such as job design and redesign RAHIM (2001), job rotation, job enrichment, job enlargement and job evaluation on employees at the health care clinic. â€Å"Communication within the laboratories was insufficient†-it is apparent that the communication channels between laboratories were severed or perhaps were insufficient. As such the OD experts should have embarked on team bu ilding workshops and organisational development seminars and sufficient enough training and development exercises. Work wasn’t evenly distributed†- this would suggest that there was a certain lack of supervision in the laboratories and there was a failure to have equity distribution in assignment and management of tasks. The issues of capacity management and production planning are areas that OD experts should have looked at. â€Å"Medical staff didn’t treat them with the respect that they deserve†-this clearly suggests that the medical staff felt that the technologists were their subordinates and felt that way because the technologists may be less remunerated as compared to the medical staff. As such OD staff should take into consideration issues such as reward management systems, merit recognition eg. Employee of the month, performance pays system, team based pay and a comprehensive performance related merit system of remuneration. The advent of technolo gy had had simplified the work to the point that it no longer seemed to require the level of training common among medical technologists†-this would suggest that technologists should have had enhanced training in other skill sets or multi skill training which would give them the extended capacity to build manpower capacity. â€Å"Studies in personnel management literature†-there is no such evidence in the case study to suggest that there were any studies in the personnel management literature carried out. â€Å"Job challenge was a primary cause of job turnover†-this is an issue really of job retention as opposed to job attrition. By looking at performance appraisal strengths and weakness can be determined.In looking at job turnover OD require job retention, job security and career and talent management. LEADERSHIP: The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes. (TONY BLAIR, 1994) Are leaders born or made? Trait (1950) theory seems to sug gest that leaders are born and not made, yet Stodgill(1949) and Mann (1959) suggests that there are few relationship between the traits possessed by leaders and their performance. The Trait (1950) theory that leaders are born failed under scrutiny (Zaccaro, 2007). Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) having examined existing literature on leadership suggests that there are six leadership traits.They are: 1-Drive 2-Leadership motivation 3-Honesty and integrity 4-Self confidence 5-Cognitive ability 6-Knowledge of the business As in the case study there is no clear indication as to the leader (Weisbord 1978) of the change process as it is reputed that the OD staff had discussions with the managers. Clearly no one took charge of the change process from the onset of the planned change. There is no evidence to suggest whether the OD staffs were adequately qualified to conduct such a change process or whether the interviews were conducted professionally. COMMUNICATION Communication is a key compon ent in the facilitation of any change process.For this reason communication is heightened importance when change is needed. Bordia et al (2004) suggests that communication during change is vital to manage employee uncertainty and feelings of loss of control. As was the case in this case study there is hardly any evidence to suggest that there was a proper reporting structure so that information on the change initiatives were being communicated to the technologists by the OD experts. To this end came the issue of the readiness for change as this is an important indicator to coping with resistance to change so suggests Armenakis, Harris and Mossholde(1993). Communication strategies need to emphasize two messages.They are: 1- The need for the change, that is, indicating what the organisation is doing as opposed to what it should be doing and 2- The ability to change successfully, that is, it is important that the employees believe that the change could be done thereby encouraging them to make the extra effort. TIMEFRAME: Apart from using volunteers to assist in the analysing of the data which is in itself questionable as there is evidence that they are overworked and not properly remunerated. The OD staff administered questionnaires which asked for confidential opinion as opposed to change or job analysis questions and there is no indication of its contents. These questionnaires sought only quantitative data.Whether the truth will be written on those questionnaires is anybody’s guess as there is no validation of the data. There is no clear definition as to the timeline for the project and no implementation plan. The random sampling data collecting took two months seems to be incredibly long for such an exercise. To suggest that two years later the OD staff evaluated the results of the change program was incredulous to say the least as this was certainly not an effort in organisational transformation but rather an incremental change plan. This was an exerci se that was limited in scope, time and cost thereby failing to meet its objectives. RESISTENCE TO CHANGEResistance to change is a widely used term that generally gives a bad or a negative connotation. It us usually asked of employees to change something in the organisation that they may have been comfortable with for their entire life. That change will not come easy at all, there will be some anguish and fight and may even be the source of collective group action like strikes and industrial action by employees. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Ford and Ford(2009) suggests that resistors to change should not be overlooked but that resistance should be taken in a positive light and accepted as a form of feedback that can actually build and encourage the change process.Pockets of resistance can also be found with the Lewin (1951) model of unfreezing, moving and refreezing. As the activity of unfreezing comes to an end resistance is usually found as employees attempt to move. This i s quite natural as without proper communicating many are unsure of their future especially the employees who have fallen into their comfort zone. As with the case study there was a definite feature of resistance to change. 4. 0. REFLECTION: This change process was a failure from its inception because the very basic of protocols were not adopted. The OD staff sought to enlist volunteers who do not have the requisite educational capacity to carry out that vital function of collecting and analysing data.The human resources department should have been the ones directly involved in the change process. The change agent should have been engaged who is a highly trained professional in organisational development to lead the drive towards organisational transformation. In this case study the data collected would at best be unscientific and unrealistic to say the least. Change, whether planned or emergent can take a number of forms, each of which requires a different type of action. Utilising collective methods of action research together with capacity building and the will to include people in the change process will go a long way in achieving successful change.In conclusion it must be said that there are unprecedented opportunities and challenges in the health care industry for which organisational development (OD) practitioners must be aware of and as such there can be significant positive growth and development by linking strategic activities of the organisation towards the direction of organisational transformation. Organisational transformation can also be achieved by being able to facilitate integration of people and processes across traditional department and organisational boundaries and by acknowledging competencies and integrity. REFERENCES: ATKINSON, P. E. (1990) ‘CREATING CULTURAL CHANGE’ MANAGEMENT SERVICES VOL. 34 NO. 7, PP. 6-10.BPP PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION- ORGANISATIONS AND BEHAVIOUR SUPPORTIND FOUNDATION DEGREES, MANDATORY UNIT 3 P. 185.. CU MMINGS,T. G. AND WORLEY,C. G. (2005)’ ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE’, 8TH. EDITION,THOMPSON SOUTHWESTERN. P. 509. HANDY, C. B. (1993)’ UNDERSTANDING ORGANISATIONS’, 4TH. EDITION KOTTER, J. P. AND COHEN, D. S. (2002)’ THE HEART OF CHANGE’, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PRESS MAYLOR, J. (2004) ‘MANAGEMENT 2ND. EDITION’, F T/ PRENTICE HALL ,PP. 69-74. Mc LEAN, A. AND MARSHALL, J. (1998) ‘CULTURES AT WORK, LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRAINING BOARD’. MULLINS,LAIRIE, J. (1997)’MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 9TH. EDITION FT/PRENTICE HALL SENIOR, B.AND FLEMING, J. (1993). ‘ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE’, 3RD. EDITION, FT/ PRENTICE HALL. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bradford & Burke. 2005. Re-Inventing Organisation Development, Wiley Publication. Cummings & Worley. 2004. Organisation Development & Change, Thomson Publishing French & Bell. 1999. Organisational Development: Behavioural Science Interventions for Organisation Improve ment, Prentice Hall Publication. French, Wendell,Bell, Cecil& Zawacki, Robert. 2004. Organization Development & Transformation: Managing Effective Change, McGraw-Hill Publication Stacy, Ralph. 2000. Strategic Management & Organisational Dynamics: The Challenge Of Complexity, FT/Prentice Hall.Morgan, Gareth. 2006. Images of Organisation, Sage Publication. Handy, Charles. 2002. Age of Un-reason, Pitman Handy, Charles. 1993. Understanding Organisations, Penguin Schein, Edgar. 1998. Process Consultation Revisited, Prentice Hall Schien & Gallos. 2006. Organisational Development, Jossey Bass Publication Burnes, Bernard. 2004. Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics, Prentice Hall. Oppenheim, A. N. 1992. Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement Vansina, Leoplod & Vasina-Cobbaert, M. J. 2008. Psychodynamics for Consultants & Managers: from Understanding to Leading Meaningful Change, Wiley Publication.

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Ethics and Social Responsibility in International Business Research Paper

Ethics and Social Responsibility in International Business - Research Paper Example This essay stresses that passive responsibility refers to a case where the company shuns from indulging in socially risky acts while active responsibility is whereby companies engage in actions that directly advance social objectives. This paper declares that any successful attempt starts with the customer by understanding their tribulations and attempting to establish how these problems are related to their needs. With the increasing world economy currently, customers are getting to be more of a mix of international and local consumers. Today’s companies are trying to achieve competitive gain by providing services or products to attain the requirements of the international consumer. To make these companies to effectively develop and market their goods and or services globally a clear understanding of the social and ethical responsibilities should be established for all stakeholders. These ethical and social responsibility standards should be incorporated in a company’s DNA giving room for more conventional and positive effect on all stakeholders. Ethics usually centers on conduct or ethical evils that occur in a company, institution or any business enterprise. The conduct is thus analyzed from the p osition of an individual’s behavior or organizational behavior in general. It therefore essential that any time the firm’s morale standards are polished, the customer’s attitude and that of the society as a whole is positive towards the firm. Henceforth, the income accumulated form the sales are excessively likely to remain at all times high. For example I n the current world, big corporation’s opera ting internationally support their companies’ image with ethical standards and social responsibility bonds. In the past and even in the modern world, business involved inhuman activities like human trafficking, colonialism and slavery, this type of business only met the benefits of one party against the other. However, with the emergence of business ethics, the world of business has been transformed to a point where the demands of both parties are achieved without interfering with human rights as suggested by Trevino and Nelson (147). Therefore a compa ny is required to make as much profits as it can as it conforms to the ethical guidelines of the society both those set in the law and those personified under customary ethics. Ethics and social responsibility overcomes every aspect, small of big in international business. The following are some of the practical business areas where this is a main concern: Management strategy A great level of sustainable success is attainable in an employee/customer facilitating environment. Where employees, consumers and suppliers are treated kindly, their

Comparative Analysis of Case Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Comparative Analysis of Case Studies - Essay Example Enterprise Resource Planning System can be termed as a business software system that assists an organization in running efficiently its resources. Resources in this case can be the finance, the human resource, the materials, or anything that can be managed in that specific organization. The ERP assists the organization in that it provides a complicated solution to the company’s information processing systems wants. The work of the ERP is so easy. Firstly, by allowing the management of the data, which at times is usually integrated in the whole organization. This therefore means that it acts as a transaction processing system. Additionally, it also acts as a workflow management system in that it helps in the management of the many flows that occurs within the organization. In order for information and data to be processed and transacted correctly, the ERP provides a successful of an information technologies system. This is by assisting in the flow of information and any conditi on, which is set. By preventing redundancy of data, entering wrong data, and assisting in the calculation, the ERP assists the company to indulge itself in a competitive world by minimizing the cost incurred. This paper uses the six case studies to assist the managers to achieve the full purpose of the ERP. It analyses the implementation process of the ERP in six companies. The companies include the Rolls-Royce Company, the Dutch construction firms, Pratt and Whitney Canada, Gujrat Heavy Chemicals limited, Texas Instrument and a soft drink bottler. Some of the organizations listed here tried to implement the system and failed while some of them implemented it and succeeded. Implementation phase case study of the Rolls Royce In the implementation phase of the Rolls Royce, this stage proved to be far too large therefore forcing the management to half it into waves. The two waves contained some two things in common. Firstly, it was involved in the implementation of its architecture and its physical. In addition to that, they were both concerned with the modifying the working practices that the organization had. The first wave involved the replacement of the legacy systems in the organization. It should be noted that the SFDM commonly referred to as the shop floor data management was introduced in this phase. The main aim of the first wave was to actually offer new potential for the operations that consisted the gas turbine (Yusuf et al, 2004). The second stage involved the implementation of the human resource, the logistics, the engine assembly, and the spare parts elements. This process occurred one year later. The replacement of the old system with the new system was to occur once the new system responded positively. The Rolls Royce understood that their system was big enough so they gave it quite sometime before the ERP was launched. This proved to be working in their favor. Since the company contains many different steps, the company took its time in understa nding the whole process and gave it its whole energy. However, the management should clearly grasp the implementation of the system. For such an expensive system, the management s