Club Med: Making a Comeback

Club Mediterranee (Club Med) is a corporation in the all-inclusive resort market that manages over 140 resort villages in Mediterranean, snow, inland and tropical locales in over 40 countries. It was founded by a group of travelers, headed by Gerald blitz, in 1950However over the years they realized that all-inclusive system does not work anymore. People are not willing to spend large amounts of money for vacations. Its competitors have been able to customize travel packages for each customer.Even though it seems easy for Club Med to do the same but because it has so many resorts all over the world the currency devaluation and political boycotts are causing Club Med problems with these decisions. These external factors are reducing the company’s ability to increase sales and gain new customers. The Club Med style can be best described by the sense of closeness found among the managers. Because they are all former village chiefs they know the company’s everyday operation s. The difference between Club med and other hotels is that, it is much simpler.Even the room decorations are simple and spares. Also its distinguished feature is that it is a place where one can â€Å"escape†. However in 2004 they introduced a new strategy that gave consumers a differentiated product that was more chic and luxurious, especially in the Americas. Until 1986 Club Med had a very strong position in the all-inclusive resort market. If one wanted to go to a resort but use another company it had to pay 50-100% more. Internet accounts more than 20% of its sales.Finding a labor was never a problem for this resort either. In 1986 competition began because other companies adopted its style. The only difference was that Club Med’s service included drinks. In 2004 it reverted to and all-inclusive deal. In 2005 it declared the Alps area that attracted thousands of tourists. Jack Tar Village is one of the competitors of Club Med. It operates mostly in Caribbean. Its resorts are positioned as more glamorous and modern. Another competitor is SuperClubs Organization, which operates 4 resorts on Jamaica.Those resorts have the reputation for being uninhibited and sexually oriented. The activities that Club Med and their competitors offer is similar but the way it is offered may be different. The original mission statement includes the idea that the company’s goal is to take a group of strangers away from their everyday lives and bring them together in a relaxing and fun atmosphere in different parts of the world. They create brand loyalty by asking the consumers to join the Club Med Club, they send them newsletters, discounts, thus making people feel special.Each resort is accommodated with all the necessary facilities like, sailing, volleyball, tennis and basketball fields and so on. There are no phones, TVs radios; this is done in order to separate individuals form civilization so that they could relax. Club Med organizes everything to enco urage social interaction between guests. Everything is included in the price except bar drink and items purchased in the small shops. There are different activities every day. After 1996 Club Med does not have as large of a sales increase as it had anticipated.It is due to economic and ecological disasters in countries where Club Med has resorts. It has a signed contract with the government of the country it enters stating that the firm will increase the tourism in the area. And the government instead will provide the financial aid to help maintain the new resort facilities. However the joint ventures have not proven to be profitable. After September 11, 2001 Club Med had to close down 15 of its villages. It only reopened 6 and opened 4 new ones.Tsunami in south East Asia devoured most of its coastline and Club Med properties in Malaysia, Phuket and so on. Happenings in one area where it is based often indirectly affect other resorts as well. Club Med fell on hard financial times th rough much of 1990s. In 1998 Philippe Bourguignon was brought in a new chairman to stem the decline. He instigated $500 million three year rescue program. Unprofitable villages were closed. Thanks to the new chairman Club Med is making a comeback. Attendance is rising and company made a modest profit last year.Even though they still have problem their revenue rises and it seems to be on track to success. In 2005 it reported a net revenue of $3 million Euros, compared to its $4 million loss year before. In 2202 a new chairman was appointed. Henri Giscard d’Estaing knows the brand recognition the company has and uses hat for the benefit. Club Med plans to enter China, U. S, France and so on. U. S. is Club Meds Number 1 target. It plans to open 3 new resorts around U. S it spends large amount of money on advertising, renewing facilities and adding new ones.

Living on Campus or Living Off Campus

Living on campus Living on campus Living off campus Living off campus VS. VS. Live on campus or live off campus Recently, one of the most popular issues that students are talking about is where to live in the next academic year. Some students believe that live on campus is a better choice because living in resident halls on campus is convenient and safe. Some other students think that live off campus is better, because it will have fewer restrictions and a better accommodation. Each choice has its own advantages and disadvantages. That’s why I was struggling for this issue for a long time.After careful consideration, I believe that live on campus is a better choice and I have a lot of reasons to support it. First of all, live on campus is safer. Living on campus will dramatically reduce the potential possibilities of accidents on the roads like car accident, robbery and sexual assault. There is a famous murder case, which generated international attention earlier this year. Wu and Qu, two 23-year-old electrical engineering graduate students of University of Southern California who come from China, were shot when they were driving home in a BMW sedan from the library around 1 a. m. on April 11. (nbclosangeles. om) The criminal’s motive of murder is robbery. Just because they lived off campus and had to drive back home, the two young lives stops suddenly in the most beautiful period of their life and left endless sadness to their friends and families. According to a survey from Trinity College, 60. 2% of students indicated that they felt safe on campus and 28. 4% felt unsafe. (Grace Kim). There is another accident just happened around us. A friend of my parents lost his son in a car accident in America. He was a student of Indiana University and at one day he drove home, his car crashed into a big tree and caused a fire.He was burned to death in the car. Safety is always the most important thing for college students, especially for international stu dents, since their parents are thousands miles away and worries about them all the time. Because of safety, living on campus is better choice than living off campus. Besides the reason of safety, resident halls also create a perfect environment to live and study. Taking the example of Michigan State University First, the resident halls supply various kinds of services, which are all very useful and necessary.When you have any troubles and questions, you can go to the front desk to ask for help; When people are ill, they can go to the health center, the nurses and doctors there will give people prescriptions and suggestions for health in time; When you miss lunches or even hungry at midnight, small cafeterias, like the Sparty’s will offer warm food, drink and snacks for you. The staffs in resident halls are always friendly and patient, which make us feel warm. Second, there are a lot of resources in resident halls. Since I don’t know them very well, I interviewed the re sident assistant in our floor.Her name is Doneisha Parker and she is a sophomore in accounting major. She briefly introduced the 23 resources of resident halls on campus and focused on 3 most useful ones. Math Learning center (MLC), which can give you math tuition on every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Writing center, which can give you suggestions for the papers you are working on by appointment. Yoga and Zumba classes three times a week are good for your health and beauty. All of these resources are very helpful and they are free. Third, people can have their individual place for rest and study between classes.In college study, there is always a large amount of time between classes. People live on campus can go back to their dorms for rest, study, or entertainment. People live off campus, however, have to stay in libraries or some other places during these breaks. According to a study, which investigated the relationship of loneliness, social support, and living arrangements with academic persistence decisions of 401 college freshmen, freshmen living on campus had higher GPAs (M= 2. 85, SD = . 73) than those living off campus (M = 2. 59, SD = . 2)(Nicpon 345-358) Another reason that makes me believe that live on campus is a better choice than live off campus is that we can meet more people and have more friends. There are so many chances to meet new friends if you live on campus. First of all, you will know the people live on the same floor with you since you meet with each other everyday. Also, you will know a lot of people from the activities and clubs in resident halls if you participate in actively. For example, the Hubbard hall in Michigan State University has an international Club.This club organizes activities and meetings every week and creates a perfect environment for communication between students from different countries. What’s more, having meals in cafeteria, studying in public area are also the chances to meet people and make new frien ds. If living off campus, however, most of these will be impossible. Because of the safety, the great environment and more chances to make friend, I prefer to live on campus when I become a sophomore. I hope that I can have a great time on campus. Works Cited Grace Kim, Safety and Education at Trinity College, 20 December 2004Nicpon, Megan Foley, et al. â€Å"The relationship of loneliness and social support with college freshmen’s academic performance and persistence. † Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice 8. 3 (2006): 345-358 Doneisha Parker, Personal Interview, 22 October 2012 Nbclosanglas. com: Police: Forensic Evidence Tied USC Murder Suspects to Earlier Crimes, by Melissa Pamer and Samantha Tata, May 19, 2012 http://www. nbclosangeles. com/news/local/Police-Forensic-Evidence-Tied-USC-Murder-Suspects-to-Earlier-Crimes-152147955. html

Leading Change

â€Å"The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back† is the 2nd law in The Laws of the Fifth Discipline.   These laws are the core of a process called systems thinking and the concept is that it’s â€Å"best to manage the system, not just the individual processes.†Ã‚   (West & Cianfrani, 2004, p. 69)   Corporations have a tendency to look at the â€Å"direct linear cause and effect relationships,† rather than looking at â€Å"interactions.†Ã‚   (West & Cianfrani, 2004, p. 69)   Peter Senge’s book The Fifth Discipline identified 10 laws that defined systems thinking. The 2nd law in The Laws of the Fifth Discipline can be interpreted as â€Å"Compensating feedback.†Ã‚   Senge defines this as â€Å"when well-intentioned interventions call forth responses from the system that offset the benefits of the intervention.†Ã‚   (Senge, 1990, p. 58) In other words, the more effort exerted to change or improve the current organizational processes, the more effort it requires. Organizations have experienced this process when, for example, a product or brand suddenly begins to lose its popularity within the market.   When organizations begin to push new marketing strategies aggressively it often turns out that more revenue is spent on the marketing efforts with only a temporary pay back.   This process is not only limited to the business market, it can also be illustrated in personal experiences.   Senge uses the smoker as an example – if a person who is a regular smoker suddenly quits he or she might begin to gain weight, become frustrated with personal appearance and then suddenly begin smoking again.   (Senge, 1990, p. 59) As humans it is natural for us to get drawn into the process of compensating feedback.   We push harder and it’s exhausting and we often â€Å"glorify the suffering that ensues.†Ã‚   (Senge, 1990, p. 59)   When our efforts to produce change fail initially, we push harder and often have the belief that our hard work and effort will overcome all of the obstacles in front of us. However, compensating feedback is a process where we become blind to the fact that our efforts are actually contributing to the current obstacles we are facing as well as creating others we must overcome. (Senge, 1990, p. 59-60) Over the past two decades information and communication technology has continuously evolved and has empowered small businesses and large corporations with new emerging markets and tools.   The Internet has become the information highway and has impacted both social and economic relationships in various sectors such as education, health, government, trade and tourism.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. vii) In order to maintain its impact on society the information technology must continuously evolve to compensate for future needs for both local and global societies.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI)   Focusing on one idea or concept that does not elicit long-term success consumes time and effort that is imperative to online success. The consistent evolution of technology and the platforms provided are numerous and are impacting our society regularly.   These newly emerging technologies affect the way we do business, communicate with others, daily entertainment, study and do research.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI)   Ecommerce is the largest growing platform of the World Wide Web and it has provided a â€Å"new momentum of doing business in the digital economy.†Ã‚   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI) In order to compensate and adjust to the constant change through the internet environment we must be able to identify the implications. At the end of 2004 it was estimated that 750 million users represented the Internet community worldwide.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. VI) The e-marketplaces consist of various products and services that market their products both from Business to Business and Business to consumer.   These products and services provide value for both buyers and sellers. In order to create a successful ecommerce venture processes must be transformed from the traditional ways of doing business to modern Internet transactions that are efficient to both the buyer and the seller.   The biggest challenge for internet businesses is adapting to the virtual environment and integrating their current business processes into the e-marketplace. (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 97) The Internet environment has its benefits as well as disadvantages, or threats.   On a local business level it immediately provides â€Å"easy and fast entrance to new markets,† 24/7 business hours, less physical structure maintenance, and the possibility of sales increasing.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99) For buyers this offers more selection of products and services, 24/7 business access and easy comparison between the various seller’s offers.     (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99) Threats for businesses as a whole are the loss of direct customer face to face relationships, increased competition and the extra funds required for consistent upgrading of products and platforms.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99)   For buyers there is the same lack of direct face to face relationships, the unknown reliability of the seller and lack of trust in products and services.   (Waddell & Singh, 2003, p. 99) E-commerce is about â€Å"rediscovering the individuality of the customers and their needs, and the creation of frictionless modes of commercial interaction with them.†Ã‚  Ã‚   (May, 2000, p. 4)   Businesses must approach change in an internet environment carefully, as in the traditional business model the direct interaction allows the consumer to feel important.   Ecommerce does not provide the close interaction; therefore it is imperative that the online business practices allow the consumer to feel like a person, not a type.   (May, 2000, p. 5) A great example of ecommerce success is Amazon.com.   This company has proven its ability to implement change and business growth without affecting its customer base or falling behind the competition.   The vision of the â€Å"Earth’s biggest bookstore† (May, 2000, p. 52) was to offer a range and large quantity of products that would dominate traditional booksellers and to â€Å"achieve market ubiquity without acquiring retail real estate.†Ã‚   (May, 2000, p. 52) Jeff Bezos identified books as an ideal product for selling online because the number of books the traditional bookseller could offer was limited; therefore, if these products were offered online the number available would be unlimited.   In a sense the book trade has always been â€Å"virtual† – any customer can enter a traditional bookstore and order any book in print. Amazon.com brought a new online concept to the book trade and improved the efficiency of a traditional process.   However, though this insight was extraordinary introducing the concept into the ecommerce marketplace meant that consistent change was necessary and that customers must receive the same attention and personal relationships currently experienced in the traditional environment.   (May, 2000, p. 53-54) In order to change the ecommerce impersonal environment Amazon.com had to introduce a new strategy into maintaining and increasing its customer base.   Changing the internet environment is not a simple display creation or the addition of a personable salesperson to physically approach customers.   Amazon.com had to approach this change with a technology based solution that offered a personal approach to its customers.   The applications Amazon implemented offered their customers a positive experience. Customers are now able to access their portfolios at any time and without interaction with a sales representative.   These portfolios are personalized and address customers on a first name basis, provide purchase history and even suggest similar titles that might be of interest to the customers.   This change provided a personal touch, saved Amazon on staff time and clearly benefits the customer.   (May, 2000, p. 54) Rick Berry, CEO of ICGCommerce.com, an Internet-Based procurement business, describes leading an e-commerce business as â€Å"driving a Ferrari with a cinderblock on the accelerator.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004)   This fast-paced environment requires consistent change, as â€Å"E-Procurement is a $10 trillion market worldwide.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) Berry states that building a procurement business in the traditional sense would take at least 10 years to become successful; however within the internet environment they are making an attempt to establish credibility within six months.   Their goal is â€Å"to grab a chunk of that market before the competition moves in.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) Berry believes that talent is what businesses require to provide effective leadership and the ability to change quickly within Internet based businesses.   Leadership must have the ability to â€Å"attract teams of talented risk-takers.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004)  Ã‚   The speed of the working environment in an e-commerce structure means that very little time is available to train staff; therefore leaders of e-commerce ventures â€Å"must strive to create a specific type of work culture† that is high-energy and results-oriented.   (Pandya, 2004) Because little time is allowed for training and communication in an internet environment is more direct than others, changing the actions of others as well as effectively communicating the vision of change is difficult.   â€Å"You communicate directly, and you must build a team that can cope with that.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) If an internet company is to be successful it must begin with establishing a visionary culture with the ability to attract and retain talented staff.   Talented staff members have the ability to effectively introduce change within the internet environment effectively and without disrupting business flow. David Perry, founder of Chemdex says that creating a successful business with the ability to adapt to the constant change of the internet environment is â€Å"raising money, so you can hire good people, so you can make and sell good products, so you can raise more money.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004)   These staff members must be â€Å"enthusiastic, passionate and share the organization’s values.†Ã‚   (Pandya, 2004) In his article titled The True Value of Change Management, George Spafford quotes â€Å"The only constant is change.†Ã‚   (Spafford, 2005)   He believes that many IT organizations â€Å"lack a fundamental understanding of the need to manage change† and that these organizations feel that change management stops at budgetary planning. When introducing change into the internet environment organizations must understand that this process has huge impacts on business operations – the more complex the change is within the system the â€Å"effective change management processes† increase.   (Spafford, 2005)   As most change within the internet environment is technology based, it’s imperative to know that 80% of security breaches have been caused by human error. (Spafford, 2005) Potential solutions in technology have three parts â€Å"people, technology and process.†Ã‚   (Spafford, 2005)   Most organizations have processes in place where change requests are â€Å"submitted, reviewed, planned tested, scheduled and then implemented.† (Spafford, 2005)   The procedures are put into place to ensure that proper thought and planning have been applied and the implications assessed before introducing it within the business structure. Spafford believes that many organizations lack the resources to implement change and that many simply give up once the implications have surfaced with unsuccessful results.   He believes that companies must learn from their mistakes and work continuously to improve and implement future successes.   Developing one simple model of change in an internet environment can also be devastating.   â€Å"The point is to be flexible, keep costs down and remain responsive, adopting multiple change models.†Ã‚   (Spafford, 2005) The ability to manage change within the internet environment will always be a challenge for organizations.   Effective leadership is the key to any organization’s success as well as leadership’s ability to attract talented staff members who are constantly looking to the future, rather than traditional one-sided ideas. Technology is constantly evolving and introducing new competitive strategies into the ecommerce marketplace and little time is available to adapt to the competition.   Looking back at The Laws of the Fifth Discipline, â€Å"The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back† we see that it’s imperative to remain open-minded and constantly looking to the future where new concepts and ideas will introduce positive changes to the Internet environment. References May, P. (2000). The Business of Ecommerce: From Corporate Strategy to Technology. New York, New York: Cambridge University. Pandya, M. (2004). Center for Leadership and Change Management:   Leadership in E-Commerce:   What does it Take to Lead an E-Commerce Venture? Retrieved from http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/ecommerce/articles/Wharton_ECommerce_Forum.shtml Senge, P. M. (1990). The Fifth Discipline. New York, New York: Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. Spafford, G. (2005, August 15). Datamation:   The True Value of Change Management. Retrieved from http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/service/article.php/3527471 Waddell, D., & Singh, M. (2003). E-Business Innovation and Change Management. London: Idea Group Inc (IGI). West, J., & Cianfrani, C. A. (2004). Unlocking the Power of Your Qms: Keys to Business Performance Improvement. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: American Society for.          Leading Change Introduction Intense global competition, rapid technological change, and international capital markets are creating more demand for change leadership than at perhaps any other time in history. These forces, combined with the complexity of new and more global organizational forms that span nations and unite organizations through alliances, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions, make the job of leadership increasingly difficult. No wonder it is popular to suggest that leadership is in short supply in most organizations. Moreover, we have a limited understanding of the role that leaders should play in making effective change a reality. This is the motivation for this essay. In the pages that follow, I discuss how leaders can help organizations change to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.Body of the Essay It is one thing to argue that organizations need to reinvent themselves and develop new, more effective approaches to organizing, and quite another to accomplish it . Large-scale organizational transformation is, at best, a developing art that has yet to produce any clear formulas for success, but more and more attention is being turned to executives as the principle agents of change and adaptation. It is increasingly common to assume that leadership plays the crucial role in an organization's successful adaptation to a changing world. Companies are paying record compensation to attract the best and brightest executive talent to lead them safely through today's turbulent business environment. Many boards and executive recruiters assume that there exists an elite corps of individuals who possess leadership skills that have almost universal application.The subject of leadership and organization change is embedded deeply in the lexicon and discourse of business executives, management consultants, and organizational scholars. Business periodicals, the trade press, and academic publications are brimming with information and knowledge about leading o rganization change. Widespread attention to leading change is largely a reflection of the times. Fueled by unprecedented changes in technologies, markets, and economies, organizations are experiencing rapidly changing environments and enormous competitive pressures. Responses to these challenges are resulting in a virtual revolution in new organizational forms and systems. Organizations are increasingly seeking to transform themselves to become more adaptable and competitive, with leaner, more flexible structures, more empowered and committed employees, and more performance-driven human resource practices. (Lawler et al., 1995)As organizations strive to implement these innovations, they discover that change is incredibly arduous, requiring a great deal of expertise, resources, and luck. The sheer difficulty of transforming organizations is evident in their enormous inertial qualities as well as the scope and magnitude of the required changes. Organization transformation typically in volves radical changes in strategy and structure, in work practices and methods, and in members' perceptions, norms, and work behaviors. As many observers have pointed out, because transformational change involves the total organization including strategic relationships with the competitive environment, top leaders or CEOs need to lead the change process and are essential to its success. (Tichy & Devanna, 1986; Greiner & Bhambri, 1989; Nadler, 1997)â€Å"The Harder You Push, The Harder The System Pushes Back† Any organization has its own corporate culture and the employees in all hierarchies are accustomed to that particular culture. Bringing about any change at any level is bound to shake the status quo and bring in an element of disturbance within the smooth functioning of the organization. Keeping that in mind, the change leader has to be extremely careful in doing the job and allowing ample space and time for the employees and other variables to adjust to the change being brought about. If the change process is accelerated too much and transformation is imposed hard on the people and the system as a whole, it will result in increased resistance from the system and mounting difficulties in the process of change.â€Å"Change involves moving from the known to the unknown (Cummins/Worley, 1993). Because the future is uncertain and may adversely affect people’s competencies, worth, and coping abilities, organizational members generally do not support change, unless compelling reasons convince them to do so. Similarly, organizations tend to be heavily invested in the status quo, and they resist changing it in the face of uncertain future benefits. Consequently, a key issue in planning for action is how to motivate commitment to organizational change, such as Business Reengineering. This requires management attention to two related tasks: creating readiness for change and overcoming resistance to change.† http://www.prosci.com/w_4.htmPeople c an be made ready to accept and contribute towards change once they themselves get to feel the need for change. This means making people so discontented with the status quo that they are provoked to try new ways of performing. Generating such discontent can be to a certain extent difficult. People who have been functioning and behaving in ways that have become norms for them now, may find it difficult to the level of hurt, prior to their undertaking the change seriously. In a situation as sensitive as such, the change has to be led very cautiously providing room for delay. The many issues related to change leadership could be structured around multiple themes. They include leader behaviors for effective change, sources of change, different change strategies, whether leadership really matters, and the development of change leaders.Most leadership scholars emphasize the importance of developing a vision or direction as the first step in leading change. This direction is critical in mak ing sure that everyone is moving in the same direction. It is, however, an open question whether a vision is really necessary for leading change. A key issue, particularly in the literature on charismatic leadership, is how to create a sense of empowerment and ownership for employees.One argument is that this requires giving employees the autonomy to determine appropriate means for implementing the vision. (Conger, 1989) Prior research has shown that employees are most motivated when they have the freedom to determine what works best given their talents and skills. (Spreitzer et al., 1997) However, in order for such autonomy to work employees must have access to the resources necessary for implementation and to information about the competition and the financial situation of their organization; without these they are likely to feel helpless in bringing about change. Also, rewards may be particularly helpful in building a sense of ownership. (Lawler, 1986)Leaders in crisis organizati ons facing a revitalization challenge must devote considerable effort at the front end of their transformation to the creation of resources. Individuals' resistance to change builds in direct proportion to the magnitude of the gap they perceive between the level of effort expected of them as part of the transformation process and the resources available to get the job done. Often this initial resource-generating step involves closing and consolidating peripheral or under-performing operations, trimming employee payrolls, reducing corporate staff overhead expenses, and suspending or deferring programs so that current operations can generate more cash to be redeployed to the launch of the corporate transformation process. Leaders attempting to revitalize their organizations also need to seek new external resources as they launch their transformation process.For example, at General Electric during the early 1980s under Jack Welch, the creation of slack resources was not so much a probl em as was the reallocation of existing resources to the corporate transformation effort. So the initial transformation issue was less one of resource creation than one of resource reallocation. Businesses that did not fit the vision had to fix, sell, or close themselves, and resources that would otherwise be consumed by these ill-fitting businesses were reallocated to enhance productivity and automation initiatives and to fuel capital investments in businesses that offered greater promise for achieving Welch's lofty vision of being first or second in their chosen global markets. (Aguilar et al., 1985)It might be argued that the key role for the leader is setting context; he or she must create a culture that embraces the importance of change. The leader then needs to create an organization structure that will support the new vision. This might, for example, involve a team-based design to reduce centralization, hierarchy, and bureaucratization. The leader must select and hire top-notc h people who have the skills necessary to bring the new vision to actuality. If the vision involves globalization, for example, this might involve hiring or promoting people who have international experience. The leader must also create a reward system that encourages behaviors appropriate for the new vision. For example, if the vision requires more focus on the customer, then employees must be rewarded for actions that improve customer satisfaction. In other words, the leader's most important role may be to devise an organization that sustains the vision.Implications For Change In An Internet Environment Sebastian  and Samuel  (2004) â€Å"explore the challenge that technology will deliver to management at both the tactical and strategic level. Changes in communication, content of communication, globalization of communication, are critical to these changes. The environment will support a greater degree of discontinuities in planning which is brought about by the globalization of management activities. Successful management must encompass the management of these discontinuities but use information in an artificial intelligence environment. The integration of these data and the actions that come from that integration must be understood within a moral framework.† (Sebastian  & Samuel, 2004)In the present era of technological innovation and globalization, when the world’s business is coming closer to work as a network, when the logistics are being designed in a way that encompass the ever so easy access of technology, communication and information, when a single business is catering to the markets around the globe, the changes within the organization become more important than those ever were. It is the international culture that the employees have to work in, the greater than ever expansion plans and newer and faster service demands that they have to attend to. All these developments and enhancements come as part and result of the Internet en vironment in which virtually all businesses are operating these days.ConclusionLeading change in such circumstances become an even more demanding and challenging of a task for the managers or leaders. As the trade of goods and services around the world is getting faster and easier, the need for as fast a change continues. However as mentioned in the preceding pages that such changes cannot be brought overnight, nor can those be imposed or pushed hard on the individuals. The system pushes back even harder and poses even more resistance to the change. Instead, the vision once established has to be communicated to the people properly, make them ready for the change by suitably establishing the loopholes of the current state and furnish the future expectations of being technologically sound and equipped.ReferencesAguilar, F. J., Hamermesh, R. G., and Brainard, C. General Electric, 1984. (1985) Boston: Harvard Business School Press (9–385–315, Rev. Mar. 24, 1993).Conger, J. A. (1989) â€Å"The Charismatic Leader† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Greiner, L., and Bhambri, A. (1989) â€Å"New CEO Intervention and Dynamics of Deliberate Strategic Change.† Strategic Management Journal, 10, 67–86.Lawler, E. E. (1986) â€Å"High-Involvement Management† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986.Lawler, E., Mohrman, S., and Ledford, G. (1995) â€Å"Creating High Performance Organizations: Practices and Results of Employee Involvement and Total Quality Management in Fortune 1000 Companies† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Nadler, D., (1997) â€Å"Champions of Change† San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Spreitzer, G. M., Kizilos, M., and Nason, S. (1997) â€Å"A Dimensional Analysis of the Relationship Between Psychological Empowerment and Effectiveness, Satisfaction, and Strain.† Journal of Management, 23 (5), 679–704.Tichy, N., and Devanna, M. (1986) â€Å"The Transformation Leader† New York: Wiley.Wolf D. Schumacher â€Å"Ma naging Barriers To Re-engineering Success.† http://www.prosci.com/w_4.htm Accessed January 31, 2007.

Law Brief

Law Brief Assignment Case: Fans v. New York Highlanders Inc. Facts: The New York Highlanders are building a new stadium, offered a first come first serve season ticket special. In order to be eligible, buyers would have to pay a $10,000 licensing fee which would guarantee a specific seat as identified in a stadium seating diagram. About 10,000 fans signed up and sent in their seating choices at the 50 yard line (the most desired seats) and received confirmation from the Highlanders that their seats were reserved.Unfortunately, after the licenses were sold to the 10,000 fans, the stadiums dimensions were reduced and only had 5,000 available seats on the 50 yard line. The Highlanders announced that 5,000 of the 10,000 would get the preferred seating based on a lottery, and the remaining 5,000 would be given other seats. Issue: The plaintiffs are suing the defendant to reimburse a $10,000 fee which guaranteed a specific seat in the new stadium. Due to reduced dimensions, the New York Hi ghlanders Inc. would give the plaintiffs different seats Application: Referring to the case of Yocca v. Pittsburg Steelers Sports Inc. Yocca was sent a brochure granting the right to buy annual season tickets to games thru stadium building licenses. Yocca applied for the stadium building license and listed his seating preference. The Steelers sent him a letter notifying him of the section in which his seat was located. A diagram was included with detailed parameters of the section, but it differed from the original brochures diagram. The Steelers also sent Yocca documents including a clause that read,† This agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties. † Yocca signed the documents, and the Steelers told him the specific location of the seats.When he arrived to the stadium, the seat was not where he expected it to be. Yocca filed a suit against the Steelers, the defendants appealed to the state supreme court. Since the parties, without any fraud or mistake, have purposely put their arrangements in writing, the law states the writing to be the only evidence of their agreement. All previous negotiations, conversations and verbal agreements can not be combined or added to evidence. â€Å"Once a writing is determined to be the parties entire contract, the parol evidence rule applies and evidence of any previous written negations or agreements nvolving the same subject matter as the contract is almost always inadmissible to explain or vary the terms of the contract. Because the plaintiffs based their complaint on the claim that the defendants violated the terms of the brochure, and the court held the brochure as not part of the contract, the case was dismissed. The Yocca v. Pittsburg Steelers Sports Inc case is similar to the Fans v. New York Highlanders Inc, in which the fan(s) paid for specific seats that they were guaranteed to have.The fans signed up for their seat choices and received confirmation that the seats were reserved, same as Yoc ca’s agreement with the Steelers. A few differences between these two cases are that Yocca signs a clause that reads, â€Å"This agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties. † But this clause was signed AFTER he applied for the SBL documents. With the Highlanders case, we are not giving enough information as to what the fans signed off to, but we can make an assumption that the fans signed off to a similar clause because they both are applying for stadium building license.Also, in Yocca’s case the stadium was not reducing its dimensions. Both cases had plaintiffs purchasing â€Å"specific† seats in which they were guaranteed and resulting in having a different seat or wanting reimbursement. With the fans v. Highlanders, there was no brochure or previous negations; the plaintiff’s signed off on the SBL which is the only evidence of their agreement. Seeing as to the defendant violating the agreement, the plaintiff’s are subject to a reimbursement. Decision: In a court of law, the parties’ entire contract (the Stadium Building License Document) is the only evidence of their agreement.All negations, conversations, and brochures cannot be added to parol evidence. Because the plaintiff’s based their case complaint that the defendant violated the terms of the Stadium Building License, the defendants owe the fans a reimbursement of $10,000. Citations: 1. Clarkson, Miller. Business Law. 11. Yocca v. Pittsburg Steeler Sports, Inc. , Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2004 578 Pa. , 854 A. 2D, 425: Pages 313-314. 2. http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/23473/how_to_write_a_legal_brief_pg2 Law Brief Law Brief Assignment Case: Fans v. New York Highlanders Inc. Facts: The New York Highlanders are building a new stadium, offered a first come first serve season ticket special. In order to be eligible, buyers would have to pay a $10,000 licensing fee which would guarantee a specific seat as identified in a stadium seating diagram. About 10,000 fans signed up and sent in their seating choices at the 50 yard line (the most desired seats) and received confirmation from the Highlanders that their seats were reserved.Unfortunately, after the licenses were sold to the 10,000 fans, the stadiums dimensions were reduced and only had 5,000 available seats on the 50 yard line. The Highlanders announced that 5,000 of the 10,000 would get the preferred seating based on a lottery, and the remaining 5,000 would be given other seats. Issue: The plaintiffs are suing the defendant to reimburse a $10,000 fee which guaranteed a specific seat in the new stadium. Due to reduced dimensions, the New York Hi ghlanders Inc. would give the plaintiffs different seats Application: Referring to the case of Yocca v. Pittsburg Steelers Sports Inc. Yocca was sent a brochure granting the right to buy annual season tickets to games thru stadium building licenses. Yocca applied for the stadium building license and listed his seating preference. The Steelers sent him a letter notifying him of the section in which his seat was located. A diagram was included with detailed parameters of the section, but it differed from the original brochures diagram. The Steelers also sent Yocca documents including a clause that read,† This agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties. † Yocca signed the documents, and the Steelers told him the specific location of the seats.When he arrived to the stadium, the seat was not where he expected it to be. Yocca filed a suit against the Steelers, the defendants appealed to the state supreme court. Since the parties, without any fraud or mistake, have purposely put their arrangements in writing, the law states the writing to be the only evidence of their agreement. All previous negotiations, conversations and verbal agreements can not be combined or added to evidence. â€Å"Once a writing is determined to be the parties entire contract, the parol evidence rule applies and evidence of any previous written negations or agreements nvolving the same subject matter as the contract is almost always inadmissible to explain or vary the terms of the contract. Because the plaintiffs based their complaint on the claim that the defendants violated the terms of the brochure, and the court held the brochure as not part of the contract, the case was dismissed. The Yocca v. Pittsburg Steelers Sports Inc case is similar to the Fans v. New York Highlanders Inc, in which the fan(s) paid for specific seats that they were guaranteed to have.The fans signed up for their seat choices and received confirmation that the seats were reserved, same as Yoc ca’s agreement with the Steelers. A few differences between these two cases are that Yocca signs a clause that reads, â€Å"This agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties. † But this clause was signed AFTER he applied for the SBL documents. With the Highlanders case, we are not giving enough information as to what the fans signed off to, but we can make an assumption that the fans signed off to a similar clause because they both are applying for stadium building license.Also, in Yocca’s case the stadium was not reducing its dimensions. Both cases had plaintiffs purchasing â€Å"specific† seats in which they were guaranteed and resulting in having a different seat or wanting reimbursement. With the fans v. Highlanders, there was no brochure or previous negations; the plaintiff’s signed off on the SBL which is the only evidence of their agreement. Seeing as to the defendant violating the agreement, the plaintiff’s are subject to a reimbursement. Decision: In a court of law, the parties’ entire contract (the Stadium Building License Document) is the only evidence of their agreement.All negations, conversations, and brochures cannot be added to parol evidence. Because the plaintiff’s based their case complaint that the defendant violated the terms of the Stadium Building License, the defendants owe the fans a reimbursement of $10,000. Citations: 1. Clarkson, Miller. Business Law. 11. Yocca v. Pittsburg Steeler Sports, Inc. , Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2004 578 Pa. , 854 A. 2D, 425: Pages 313-314. 2. http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/23473/how_to_write_a_legal_brief_pg2

Fortune Global 500 Corporation Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fortune Global 500 Corporation - Case Study Example Samsung electronics started in 1969 manufacturing products such as Television sets, radios, computer accessories and security appliances. Mobile phones came later on in the 90’s. In the 90’s (Business Week, 2006), the company established factories in Britain, United States of America, Thailand, Mexico,china and Spain. South Korea is Samsung’s mother country but the company has opened up subsidiaries in many other countries, that total up to about 67. 2 In most countries where Samsung operates, the mixed economy market system is in place. The system blends free enterprise as well as elements of state control. Some resources are owned by the state and others are owned by private entities (Lindblom 2002). The other element of mixed economy system is that the state is most active in influencing tax regimes and laws. The private businesses are allowed to operate within these laws when making and implementing their in house decisions. Lawful systems that exist in count ries where Samsung operates in are based on religious law, civil law and common law or a blend of the three. Market systems and legal systems can affect a company’s operations, in this case, the Samsung Company. The type of the market system in a country of operation can either propel growth for the company or spell doom for the company in that particular country. For example, if a country subscribes to the planned economy, where the state decides everything as well as controlling all businesses, the company operating in that country is most likely to close shop since the business environment is not conducive. The same case applies to the legal systems. If a country has detrimental and rigid legal systems that do not favors business initiatives and ventures, companies operating in that particular country are bound to face numerous difficulties in there day to day operations (Kritzer and Silbey, 2003). Therefore, success of companies operating in various countries is dependent on favorable market and legal systems. 3 Political risk in this scenario can be described as the risk a host state will make as it formulates and implements political decisions and these decisions prove to have magnified effects on a multi-national company’s profits and/or objectives. Political risks can be immense property destruction brought about by conflicts or revolutions. Political risk can also be of financial nature, where a state introduces retrogressive laws and tax regimes that hinder capital movement and profit making (Kritzer and Silbey, 2003). Political risks can force a company to increase prices of their products due to the high cost of production. They can also force a company to close shop in that particular country if the investor climate in that particular country is not conducive. If I was a political consultant for a company, I would advice the company to first conduct research on the political risks in a country before venturing into the investments. T herefore, political risks can be related to the market and legal systems that countries have subscribed. 4 A company like Samsung must satisfy a number of stakeholders as it conducts its operations. First, it must satisfy the needs of its clients and learn effectively on how to cope with high demand for its products and services. The company must also take into consideration the welfare of its employees seriously in order to boost morale and Productivity. It is also feasible for the company to satisfy also the host

Economic and Ethical Issues of Pricing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic and Ethical Issues of Pricing - Essay Example Using prices may be because every company wants to gain and retain competitive edge at a price level. Pricing cannot be done in isolation considering that there are number of economic issues in the business environment that firms must take into consideration before setting up prices in order to remain relevant (Devan, 2011). Key economic issues that may affect a business’s pricing strategy include but not limited to level of competition, recession, demand, cost of services, elasticity and government policy. The level of competition will definitely affect the organization’s preferred pricing strategy (Martins, 2010). The tax advisory firm is already facing competition from non-CPA market competitors and do-it-yourself tax-preparation software packages. Provided you are not a market a leader in the industry, competitive pricing will always have a great impact on your service prices. This is because market leaders are renowned for establishing standard prices against which comparisons will be made on other services price offering. It is the wish of every company to sell its services with a high margin but unfortunately, this is not possible in a highly competitive market as existing competitors are likely to offer identical services at considerably lower price. When trying to set prices as in our case where the tax advisory firm is already facing competition, it is not worthwhile to avoid competitors. Devan (2011) asserts that this is because an intense competition will always increase flexibility of company price offering. It is advisable, that the decision to compete with lower price offering should cautious, because competitors often respond with lower prices if they perceive negative impact of your low prices on market share. The level of market demand is another important issue that can affect pricing strategy of products/service (Devan, 2011). Demand in this case refers to the quantity of product that the client is willing and ready to pay for. In case demand exceeds available supply, in our case being service offering then there tend to be an increased rush for the few available service providers and this is likely to inflate product prices. According to Martins (2010), business enjoys when demand is very high in the industry, as this will not significantly influence service prices unlike in situation where demand is low with a high number of suppliers in the market. Recession will often have an impact on the pricing strategy of an organization. During recession, companies tend to set their prices low owing to the consumers low spending power. Clients often demand for lower prices during recession than in normal economic and this force business to cut down their prices to be attractive to clients and avoid closing down owing to lack of business. Elasticity is a vital consideration when designing an organizations pricing. A firm must consider the reaction of clients to its products in case of changes in prices. A high ela stic product/service is that which a slight increase in price will discourage consumers and thus low demand (Devan, 2011). Inelastic products are those, whose demand is not affected by the changes in prices whether upwards or downward. A company needs to consider the type of service offering t

Draw out Your Future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Draw out Your Future - Essay Example Robbin and Judge states that "companies that make themselves lean can be more agile, efficient, and productive-but only if they make cuts carefully and help employees through the process" (479). It means that an organization should consider internal reinforcements rather than external reinforcements because it is correlated with Clawson's argument on why people behave. Similarly, Clawson believes that the genetic endowment, the unfulfilled emotional holes and the human memes form one's personalities. As a result, Clawson comes up with the rational-emotive model, the reward and punishment model and the self-concept model as reinforcement mechanism designed for organizational structure.Clawson finds one of internal reinforcements accordant with the rational-emotive model. This model claims that we could use events, perceptions and observations, set of values, assumptions, belief and expectation (VABEs) to influence oneself's own conclusion, lead to their emotions and end up with their projected behaviors. For example, an observed behavior results from an absorption of opinion leader's reaction to certain situation and the object act like "a leader's point of view" (Clawson). Moreover, affective events theory suggests "work events trigger positive or negative emotional reactions, to which employees' personalities and moods predispose them to respond with greater or lesser intensity (Robbins and Judge, 135). It drives to analysis that we could correct organizational behavior that a leader should show to complete task to employees.