Marketing and Singapore Airlines Essay

I. Introduction Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ranked as one of the top leading airlines in the world. Singapore Airlines began with three flights per week, and today their route network’s span is 99 destinations in 39 countries worldwide. Singapore Airlines Limited split from Malaysian Airways in 1972 and is the national airline of Singapore operating on global major routes. As stated in its website, the company is geared towards â€Å"providing air transportation services of the highest quality and to maximizing returns for the benefit of its shareholders and employees.†. It has constantly outperformed compared to many other competitive airlines and reported superior annual returns on profits. As airline is known as a mistake-free industry, Singapore Airlines has been proven its outstanding performance through its excellence services as well as being a pioneer in business strategies. Hundreds of industry awards are received by Singapore Airlines for its service quality. This report will outline in detail the fundamental issues in marketing of Singapore Airlines such as marketplace and customer needs, highlight the significant issues regarding the organization’s competitive environment as well as suggest possible enhancements for the organization. II. Body 1. Customers’ needs, wants, demand, product and market identified for Singapore Airlines. i. Customers’ needs, wants and demand.  Amstrong and Kotler (2011) defined needs as states of felt deprivation. They explained human needs comprise basic physical needs as food, clothing, warmth and safety, as well as social needs for belonging, affection, fun and relaxation. There are also esteem needs for prestige, recognition and fame, and individual needs for knowledge and self-expression.. On the other hand, wants are another sort of human needs that are influenced by culture and individual personality. Western people like Americans or Europeans would want breads for their daily meals, while eastern people from China or Vietnam would prefer rice, though they all have the same need of food. People’s wants expand throughout times. In the previous days, they might just simply want a transporting way to reach a destination. Later days they wanted a fast and safe transport. Today they also want comfort and entertainment while they are transporting. Organizations should be able to see and foresee the undiminishing wants of its customers to develop their products and services. Nevertheless, human wants are boundless, but not resources. What a person wants and what he can afford are two different matters. As described by Amstrong and Kotler, wants that are backed with buying power are called demand. For example, everyone wants to fly with a business or first class, but not all are willing to pay for those exclusive prices, thus some of the demand will go for the economy class instead. Singapore Airlines has identified there is a need of travelling, relaxation and prestige from its customers, as well as wants and demand for the aviation service and facilities. As so, Singapore Airlines offers best services in order to satisfy its customers accordingly . ii. Singapore Airlines’ products and market. Singapore Airlines mostly targets at businessmen and wealthy folds who are willing to pay a premium flight fares for a guarantee high quality service. The product line of Singapore Airlines is divided into three classes of travel: First, Raffles (Business) and Economy. First class accounted for 5% of passengers, Raffles class for 10% and economy class for 85%. The expectations of these particular customers were constantly rising and their  needs and wants keep on changing over years. Other than that, Singapore Airlines also offer many in-flight facilities and entertainment, such as free headsets, choice of meals, satellite-based inflight telephones, inflight meals from the International Culinary Panel, offer audio and video on demand capabilities on KrisWorld in all classes. They also have different luxurious lounges for different class of passengers. 2. Singapore Airlines’ market orientation. i. Market orientation According to Kohli and Jaworski (1990), the marketing concept is a business philosophy, whereas the term market orientation refers to the actual implementation of the marketing concept. Marketing management’s objective is to build profitable relationship with the target customers by designing strategies which following a certain business philosophy that the organization has chosen. There are five of them, including production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept and societal marketing concepts. The newest business philosophy that has commonly been adopted by most of the large organizations nowadays, including Singapore Airlines, is the societal marketing concept. Kotler, et al. (2010:19) state that, â€Å"the societal marketing concept holds that the organization should determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that maintains or improves t he consumer’s and society’s well-being†. In brief, this concept is all about balancing three aspects of an organization’s marketing approach: company’s profitability, customer satisfaction and society’s welfare. Bhasin H. (2010) stated that the marketing concept alone sidesteps the potential conflicts among consumer wants, consumer interests, and long-run societal welfare, yet some firms and industries are criticized for satisfying consumer wants at society’s expense. This has been a reason for the societal marketing concept to be formed, which could be seen as an enlargement of the marketing concept itself. Singapore Airlines’ official website publishes that, â€Å"Singapore Airlines firmly believes that supporting programmes that benefit the communities we serve throughout the world is an essential part of being a good corporate citizen†. Singapore Airlines has been contributing to the  community in arts, sports, community welfare, and education. It supports a wide range of local and overseas community groups and charity organizations. Some of the highlighted are providing air travel for Australian social workers to Dhaka in Bangladesh for a project to prevent hearing loss in textile workers, rebated air tickets to the newly established Singapore Sports School to nurture emerging sporting talents, helping to fly the nation’s flag high in the sporting arena as the Official Airline for the inaugural Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore, etc. By practicing this societal marketing concept, Singapore Airlines has shown their customers that profitability is not their number one and only concern, but also to be a responsible and contributive corporate citizen. By doing so, Singapore Airlines has gained respectable reputation and favor from the customers, and boosted to a notable sales and profits. ii. Product life cycle Singapore Airlines’ product set is in a mature life cycle. The airline has done an outstanding job of differentiating itself through customer service available through any of its commercial aviation products. In this stage of the product life, Singapore Airlines must reinvent itself every few years to remain competitive in the industry and to prolong the stage period not to reach the decline stage. Singapore Airlines is constantly examining other service industries to see how they respond to customer needs and then adjusts its products accordingly. Through this strategy, Singapore Airlines generally leads the industry in innovative customer service products and initiatives. As airline is a service industry, its products are intangible, yet Singapore Airline’s commitment to its service strategy is visible in every aspect of its operations. 3. Major competitive issues facing Singapore Airlines i. Singapore Airlines’ competitive advantages Ever since the separation from Malaysian Airways, Singapore Airlines has no domestic routes to serve, hence the company has been forced to rely on the international flights and compete with other major airlines. There are three core aspects that Singapore Airlines has gained competitive advantages over other players within the industry. These comprise of the excellent service, the continuity innovation, and the technology superiority. Firstly, as  explained by Roll (2004), the airlines have begun its branding strategy on it in-flight service. The company engaged French haute-couture designer Pierre Balmain in 1972 to design a special version of the Malay Sarong Kebaya as the airline stewardess uniform and then is branded as â€Å"Singapore Girls† for providing excellent in-flight hospitality. This later becomes one of the most recognized signatures of the airline, and is one of the critical reasons why Singapore Airlines always ranked at top for the customer satisfaction sur vey about in-flight service observed by various sources such as independent institutions or online social networking sites. The second aspect that supports the Singapore Airlines’ success is their effort to always be innovative – particularly about the in-flight services. Additionally justified by Roll, Singapore Airlines has pioneered many in-flight experiential and entertainment innovations, and strived to be best in class. It was the first to introduce hot meals, free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, hot towels with a unique and patented scent, personal entertainment systems, and video-on-demand in all cabins. The company keeps driving innovation as an important part of the brand, and the cabin ambience and combined experience are key factors of its success. Lastly, on the technology side, Roll also evaluated that Singapore Airlines still maintains the youngest fleet of aircraft among all major air carriers, and keeps to the stringent policy of replacing older aircrafts for newer, better models. It has always been first in line to take delivery of new aircraft types like Boeing 747 jumbo jets, Boeing 777, and it will become the first airline to fly the Airbus super jumbo A-380 in 2006. Even the aircrafts are sub-branded like 747-Megatop and 777-Jubilee to further distinguish SIA and its brand from competitors. Singapore Airlines also flew Concorde between Singapore and London in the late seventies in collaboration with British Airways (BA). The aircraft was painted with SIA’s colors and logos on one side, and BA’s on the other, and it carried crew from both airlines. ii. Porter’s five forces analysis of Singapore Airlines a) Suppliers power Suppliers’ power is consistently high in airlines industry. This hence will have a great impact in the company’s product and service costs, prices and profitability. However, Singapore Airlines is financially strong and has its own ground service such as baggage handling and in-flight food and beverages supply. Aircraft maintenance and servicing is also carried out by SIA Engineers. Thus the main supply for Singapore Airline is basically the aircraft manufacturers. Since the firm has been known as an airline with youngest aircraft usage, Singapore Airlines has been a significant customers and has bargaining power over the suppliers. b) Buyers power The buyer bargaining power is indeed high for Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines’ targets mostly on businessmen and people who are affordable for premiums flight fares. These types of passengers are not too sensitive to prices, but concentrating more on the flight time that is flexible for them, and also the comfortability of the provided service. However, regardless of which type of passengers, all of them might just switch to other airlines without hesitation if time and service match their demand better. Since customers are willing to pay for their enjoyment and flexibility, Singapore Airlines’ target market has a strong level of buying power. c) Substitutions Singapore Airlines generally has medium to low threat on substitution of its services. As mentioned above, Singapore Airlines’ target passengers are not cost-conscious travelers, they can afford high fares in return for their comfort and time efficiency. Hence with excellence both in ground and in-flight service quality and updated high-tech facilities, Singapore Airlines easily retain customers’ loyalty. Other substitute transport mode would not be a big threat especially for long flights or long distance travel. d) Competitive rivalry The level of rivalry is medium for Singapore Airlines. Although there are not many airlines can compete against SIA, these airlines in the entire industry share the very similar market. Most of the carriers are using differentiated strategy that focus on both booking and in-flight services. SIA with outstanding and uniqueness service offerings has helped the firm to have  lesser pressure on competition. However, Singapore Airlines has to continue on innovation and maintain and improve service quality if they do not wish to lose out. e) New entries Threat of new entrance is consider low in airline industry, since the capital investment for the industry is massive. According to Calingo (1997) it would require a lot of logistic works, highly skilled personal such as pilots, aircraft technicians and specialize managerial personnel which are often limited in resources in the industry. Limited access to airport and route are also another difficulty post to new entrant. 4. Segmenting, targeting and positioning of Singapore Airlines. i. Segmenting According to Kotler et al. (2010:199), marketing segmentation is defined as dividing a market into distinct groups who might require separate products and/or marketing mixes. The objective is to help determine marketing strategies and realistic marketing objectives by understanding customer trends and buyer behaviors. Singapore Airlines segments its market based on geographic, demographics, psychographic and behavioral. For geographic segmentation, Singapore Airlines customers are located globally with varying wants and needs thus the firm attempts to exploit this by providing airline services to major cities or routes. Evidence given is Singapore Airlines operates flights to over 90 destinations in more than 39 countries over 5 continents. Its strong presence is however still the Southeast Asia region. Demographic segment works on the basis of customer factual characteristics such as age, gender, family lifecycle, social-culture, occupation, education and income that can influence purchasing decisions. Singapore Airlines, for example, demographically segment their customers from their choice of the service class. Suite class and First class passengers are dominantly traveling on business purpose and mostly are male between 25 to 45 years old. Passengers in business class are split evenly between traveling for business and leisure. Mostly are male with average age 32. Economy class passengers are a much broader group, traveling mainly for leisure and evenly spread across most socio-economic groups and age ranges. Another approach to  segmentation is psychographic, which is an attempt to capture what is driving the customer’s behavior, such as values, personalities, attitudes, opinion, interest and lifestyle aspirations. For instance, Singapore Airlines provides variations of cabin classes (First, Business and Economy) to meet the product demand of people. Singapore Airlines employs tier membership to provide status preferences to customers. The last segment approach is behavioral which is based on observable issues on consumer behavior when purchasing the products. Characteristics include frequency of consumption, buyer readiness and commitment. The corporate market tends to be a frequent flyer that could gain benefits from Singapore Airline’s Frequent Flyer program, in return for customers’ loyalty to the airlines. Some people are â€Å"brand loyal†, they tend to stick with their preferred or familiar brands even when a competing one is on sale. ii. Targeting Market targeting, explained by Kotler et al. (2010:199), is the process of evaluating each segment’s attractiveness and selecting one or more of the market segments. Singapore Airlines uses differentiated market targeting, which refers to where firm target several segments and develops distinct products/services with separate marketing mix strategies aimed at various group approach, where they target in accordance to consumers’ needs and to their occupation. Singapore Airlines has two target markets. The first aimed at people who mostly have a high income with a high class lifestyle and prefer to seek comfort with excellent services rather than to get a cheaper price but do not get the as good facilities and services. The other target market is customary passengers who mostly just want to travel and not too demanding about the services and the facilities. For this market, Singapore Airlines owns a budget airline as well to compete, which is Tiger Airways, to meet the market needs. iii. Positioning Kotler et al also described market positioning is developing competitive positioning for the product and an appropriate marketing mix. Added by them, a product’s position is the way the product is defined by consumers on important attributes – the place the product occupies in consumers’ minds relative to competing product. In this specific circumstance, is how the  passengers perceive Singapore Airlines’ service compared to other major carriers, such as British Airways or Cathay Pacific. There are many different general strategies for positioning products. Attribute or benefit, quality and price, use or application, competition, high-tech and high-touch can achieve desired positioning. Market positioning is about how Singaspore Airlines wants its customers to perceive their products and services in relation to their competitors. Singapore Airlines positioning strategy is using Singapore Girl as a central ingredient in marketing its image. Personified through the girls, customers will have a sensory and emotional experience when travelling with Singapore Airlines, with its commitment to service and quality excellence. Since the traditional marketing communication has often been focus on cabin design, food, comfort and pricing, this strategy of Singapore Girl has successfully gain a positive market positioning in the customers’ heart. III. Conclusion There are concrete substantiations why Singapore Airlines has grown from a regional airline into one of the world’s top leading carriers. This paper has analyzed some of the vital marketing issues concerning the strategic way that Singapore Airlines operates to reach their upward achievement nowadays. They have always been setting their customers’ needs and wants as the first priority in order to understand and provide excellent quality service to match the growing demand of the passengers. Only with the clear comprehending and effective implementation of the organization’s selected societal marketing concept, precise identification of the competitive concerns as well as the market segmenting, targeting and positioning, Singapore Airlines has been able to successfully differentiate its brand image and endorsed its prestige status to the whole world. IV. Recommendations Performing the SWOT analysis would help Singapore Airlines to identify the key issues for enhancements in its operational strategies. Singapore Airlines needs to keep its superiority and stay on the top of the competition in the international market, by understanding the plans that being pursued by other major players such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic, etc. Singapore Airlines should continue to  differentiate itself and keep on provide up scaling service quality to the customers. It is recommended for Singapore Airlines to regularly renovate its facilities as well as install new technological features. Improvement and installation of in-flight entertainment system such as latest technology electronics and DVDs, access provision to the CD music and interconnected network games with the passengers inside of the aircraft, ability to send and receive email and internet surfing on selected content, Satellite telephones can be some of the suggestions. Nevertheless, Singapore Airlines should carry on contributing more in its social responsibilities to the community well-being to remain an ethical and trust worthy corporate citizen. V. References and Bibliography Ayob, A.M (n.d.). Singapore Airlines Limited: Building a culture of service excellence. Retrieved August 5th, 2012, from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:aDhMN-GX8s8J:mahdzan.com/papers/sia/SINGAPORE_AIRLINES.pdf+singapore+airlines+marketing+strategy&hl=en&gl=sg&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjah_jaSacO-NJn77hv6rhqruT9KQnCLqiKJD4opuCV-hAT_rzvAM8eS_FMZqlhy2rmS8CRLxxhV7Jf8_p0XU-2ZaGHuzUF5I4yAOHzIGGbgCYMLq0C7pngKnOuKjFTWRAiMHID&sig=AHIEtbRwCtZUzXuAJ5G-SBBjU3CSURqkBQ Bhasin, H. (2010). Socetal Marketing Concept. Retrieved August 5th, 2012, from http://www.marketing91.com/societal-marketing-concept/ Calingo, L.M.R. (1997). Strategic management in the Asian context. Singapore Airlines: Comparative case studies of the British and Singaporean national airlines. Based on research by Douglas Sikorski. John Wiley & Sons Heracleous, L. & Wirtz, J. (2009) ‘Strategy and organization at Singapore Airlines: Achieving sustainable advantage through dual strategy’: Journal of Air Transport Management. Kotler, P. & Amstrong, G. (2011). Marketing an Introduction. (10th ed). Kotler, P., Bowen, J.T & Makens, J.C. (2010). Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism. (5th ed). Market Orientation. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved August 4th, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_orientation Roll, M. (2004). Singapore Airlines flying tiger. From Brandchannel. Retrieved August 6th, 2012, from http://www.brandchannel.com/features_profile.asp?pr_id=209 Roll, Martin. Undated. Singapore Airlines – An Excellent Asian Brand. Venture Republic Retrieved August 4th, 2012, from http://www.venturerepublic.com/resources/singapore_airlines_-_an_excellent_asian_brand.asp The critical success of Singapore Airlines. (n.d.). Retrieved August 5th, 2012, from http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/02/the-critical-success-of-singapore-airlines.html#_Toc212902244

The Importance of Extracurricular Activities Camry

â€Å"The Importance of Extracurricular Activities† Academics are an important part of every student's high school years. This is because academics play a big role in college acceptance. Students are encouraged by teachers and/or parents everyday to study. Every parent want their child to attend college but only want to pay less; that's one reason why they encourage their child to study more. However, there is one more other thing students can do other than academic relations I. E. Extracurricular activities. Extracurricular activities include basketball, baseball, tennis, student government, drama, choir and there things.Besides being fun and socializing with peers, extracurricular activities can enhance their time management skills. Extracurricular activities increase your chances in getting accepted for colleges. When students are involved in activities, they learn how to work in groups. Their communication skills improve. These things cross over to real life. College admis sion committees want to see students doing more than just book work. The privilege to even play on a team comes with certain requirements. Students may have to meet and maintain a minimum grade point average to play any ports or be in any clubs.Some extracurricular activities are made to help at risk teenagers. They begin to have an increased sense of self-worth, and it increases their' health. They develop life-long relationships with their peers and learn how to lead others. These activities help you stand out from the crowd. Getting involved in too many activities can have negative effects. Students involved in too many activities usually end up having academic problems. Students should pick out their favorite activities and make sure they can handle them.They shouldn't try to do it all even though it shows their passion ND commitment to activities, which builds character. These activities that students are involved in reveals a lot more about them. To put it briefly, students wh o participate in extracurricular activities will see an improvement in their academic and life skills. They will be disciplined, gain goal-setting skills, accountability and responsibility. They will also be better prepared for college. Students may even distinguish the lessons they learned outside the classroom. Extracurricular activities will help them survive in the future workplace.

Othello Coursework Essay

Othello is one of Shakespeare’s tragedies but also a love story of two lovers. Shakespeare’s tragic heroes always had at least one main flaw, which contributed to their downfall. In Othello’s case it was jealousy; when he was told Desdemona was having an affair. Other themes the play deals with includes hatred, racism, betrayal and discrimination. Although Othello is the main protagonist in the play, however, in many ways Iago seems to be the dominant character. Iago is presented in complete contrast to Othello, and is the villain of the play. Othello is a respected high-ranking general whereas Iago is a lower status and referred to as in his ‘ancient’ or his ‘ensign’. Many critics often describe Iago as the narrator of ‘Othello’; a fascinating character who is the main focus of the play. Many critics also see Iago as an intriguing character as he can be unpredictable. At the beginning of the play, it is Iago and Roderigo who are the first on stage, not Othello. If one were to form an opinion of Othello from this discussion, it would not be a favourable one. The audience is made aware of Iago’s hatred of Othello because Othello promoted Cassio instead of him and his belief that Othello slept with his wife. Furthermore Roderigo is jealous of the fact that Othello has taken Desdemona as his wife. In Act 2 Scene 3 of Othello, Iago is presented as the puppeteer, constantly manipulating everyone around him. Critics have argued about Iago’s motives for wanting to hurt others but in this scene he comes across as cruel and malicious. The scene is set in a castle and opens with Iago trying to get Cassio drunk. Iago motivated by his lust for power is attempting to dispose Cassio of his position as a lieutenant. Knowing that Cassio cannot handle his liquor it would be more likely he would fight if he’s drunk and that would make him look bad in Othello’s eyes. The opening scene presents us with a brief exchange of Cassio and Iago controversial analysis on Desdemona. In the dialogue, Cassio remarks are polite and complimentary to Desdemona stating she is ‘exquisite lady’, ‘fresh’, ‘delicate creature’, ‘modest’ and ‘perfection’. Iago on the other hand has a contrasting view compared to Cassio. Iago suggests that Desdemona is ‘full of game’ and ‘sport’ and that there is ‘provocation’ in her eye suggests both characters have different views on women. Iago’s low opinion of Desdemona only deepens his misogynist view and his hate for women because of the control Desdemona has over Othello. This can portrays his jealousy because Desdemona is an extremely attractive character with a higher noble status than his wife, giving him a reason to hate Othello. Iago has the opportunity to consider his plans in his soliloquy when Cassio leaves to invite some friends for a drink. One way we can tell the presentation of Iago as a character in Act 2 Scene 3 is through his soliloquies. It reveals Iago’s true character and intention to get Cassio drunk so that he loses control and becomes quarrelsome to get into a fight with Roderigo, ‘Am I to put our Cassio in some action’. His skills of persuasions show his power to manipulate people into trusting him to cover his act of being an ‘honest’ friend that adds to the presentation of his character. Iago’s clever perspective to observer this from a person allows the audience insight into various schemes or secrets to his motives that other characters are blind to. Furthermore, Iago’s understanding and manipulating the weakness of those around him make him a powerful and compelling figure that Shakespeare have portray in this scene. Cassio who has been left in a position of responsibility by Othello will shame himself as a lieutenant and loose his position as part of Iago’s plan that will gain him power for his talent of understanding and manipulating people’s weaknesses, ‘If consequences do but approve my dream’. Iago states he is willing to take on revenge on anyone that gets in his way of achieving Othello’s downfall. The end result would make up for what he lost on his way and enjoys the pain and damage he causes which he ‘approves’. The first soliloquy in this act shows us how narrow-minded Iago is and lacks emotions or feelings towards the people around him or himself. W. H Auden describes Iago as a â€Å"Practical joker of a peculiar appalling kind. † W. H attempts to portray Iago as a more humane character than he really is. Loyalty, love, friendship and guilt are all emotions that make us human. Iago misunderstands this concept of feelings, which leads him to his downfall. Shakespeare presents Iago with loss of emotional connections in his character show the tragedy of how isolated Iago is. Shortly after Roderigo raises the alarm under Iago’s instructions, Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to present Iago’s actions as he pretends to be the peacemaker. Othello aroused from his sleep ask ‘honest Iago’ for an explanation of the disturbance. Without being disloyal to Othello or to Cassio, he ironically follows Montano’s advice upon his honour as a solider to tell the truth of his version of the night’s events. While trying to save Cassio by making excuses for him, Iago endures that Othello will have no other option than to remove him as his position for causing a shameful public display. The irony of Iago’s account, we known that Iago constantly tries to underplay Cassio’s part in the fight, ‘I had rather ha’ this tongue cut from my mouth, Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio. ’ With subtle additions such as, ‘And Cassio high in oaths, which till tonight / I ne’er might see before’ and ‘ but men are men, the best sometimes forget’ reveals that Cassio has disgraced himself to befit a high ranking officer. Cassio sacked from his lieutenant position, Iago pretends to be a true friend by advising Cassio to seek help from Desdemona to gain his position back. ‘This broken joint between you and her husband entreat her to splinter’. Shakespeare cleverly portrays Iago as an evil mastermind who appears to aid Cassio, instead manipulating the situation in order to make it appear to Othello that Desdemona has emotions for Cassio when she pleads for his job. This sequence allows us to see Iago’s manipulative nature in a continuous flow; from the way he has made others see him to the revelation of his true self. The way he’s portrayed, we are amazed by his mastery of switching facades or identities without a trace of guilt. Iago when speaking with Montano, questions Cassio integrity and his position as a Lieutenant. Iago manages to suggest his support and concern for his comrade while at the same time, destroying his credibility and honour. He mentions to Montano that Cassio is a ‘solider fit to stand by Caesar’ as 2nd in command but his drinking habits matches his ‘virtue’ and implies he drinks every night. Iago’s apparent concerns furthers as he criticises Othello’s judgement for trusting Cassio to be his lieutenant shows his jealousy to be overshadowed and therefore lost his ‘social class’’ that he lacks of. His hatred dominates him just like he dominates all the other characters. Iago seems to master all the emotions that might affect his facade and never shows a trace of nervousness that intensify the power he has over the characters in the play and his ability to control the situation to his will. Furthermore when Iago protests to Montano that he is reluctant to highlight Cassio’s problems to Othello, as he ‘loves’ Cassio and would not wish him any harm. The irony of this situation is the fact that once Montano suggest it would be an ‘honest action’ to inform Othello, Iago declines. This is the only time we see Iago is speechless and to make him look more trustworthy, he implies that his allegiance is to a higher kind of ‘honesty’.

Harnischfeger Corporation

Financial Reporting & Analysis April 19th, 2013 Case Study- Harnischfeger Corporation 1. Describe clearly the accounting changes Harnischfeger made in 1984 as stated in Note 2 of its financial statements. The accelerated depreciation method was changed from to straight-line on all company assets that caused to increase after-tax net income for 1984 by $11. 005 million. The cumulative effect of change in 1984 there will be no reduction in the depreciation expense due to change. in 1984 decreased by $7. 0 million over the previous year.Most of this reduction was a result of the company's agreement with Kobe Steel, Ltd. Under this agreement, Kobe agreed to reimburse Harnischfeger up to $17. 0 million dollars of R;D expense over a period of three years. However, some students argue that Harnischfeger may be cutting its research budget since the actual reduction in Harnischfeger's    1984 R&D expense is more than one-third of this amount. (See Exhibit 4, Notes 6 and 9, in the case. ) 8 . Effective 1984, Harnischfeger began to include in its net sales products purchased from Kobe Steel, Ltd. , and sold to third parties by Harnischfeger.Previously only the gross margin on Kobe-originated equipment was included in Harnischfeger's financial statements. This increased Harnischfeger's sales in 1984 by $28. 0 million but had no impact on its profits. Some students would mistakenly argue that this had an impact on Harnischfeger's net income. (See Exhibit 4, Note 2, in the case. ) Although some of the above are pure accounting decisions with no direct cash-flow consequences, the other decisions affect the company's reported profits as well as its cash flow. The instructor should ask the class to identify the latter-type decisions among the above.Discussion of Question 2 The above analysis shows that most, if not all, of the reported profits of Harnischfeger in 1984 are produced by accounting changes. Therefore, the accounting changes helped the management report a signific ant profit rather than a modest loss. The instructor should point this out to the class and ask: Why do you think the management of Harnischfeger made these accounting changes? Students point out a number of possible motives for the accounting changes: 1. Boost the company's stock price so that the company could raise new capital, 2.Meet the earnings targets of the company's top management compensation plan, 3. Avoid the violation of debt covenant restrictions, and 4. Improve the company's image with the customers, dealers, and prospective employees. Some students argue that the analysis in Question (1) shows that it is too complicated for an average investor to â€Å"see through† the impact of all the accounting changes. They further point out that, even if many analysts recognize the effect of the company's accounting decisions on the 1984 profits, it is quite unlikely that the analysts would be able to assess the impact of these changes in future years.Other students are l ikely to argue that the market processes the reported profit numbers efficiently. They argue that there are some sophisticated analysts who could perform the analysis that was done in the class. The instructor should encourage this discussion. At some point in the discussion, the instructor should intervene and summarize the evidence from the research literature: 1. There is considerable evidence in finance and accounting literature that shows that the capital markets are generally efficient. 2.For stock prices to reflect reality in an unbiased manner, it is not necessary that everyone in the market has to process the information correctly. As long as there are some sophisticated investors who can â€Å"see through† the company's accounting changes, the stock price will reflect this due to the possibility of arbitrage by these investors. 3. The accounting studies that examine the stock market reaction to accounting changes conclude that the market is not fooled by the account ing decisions of firms. However, the evidence presented in these studies is not conclusive.Also, these studies do not examine whether the stock market recognizes the recurring effects of accounting changes. Without additional research, it is difficult to make conclusive statements on this issue. 4. Even if capital markets see through the effects of accounting changes, managers may believe otherwise in making accounting decisions. This is likely to happen if there are no significant penalties associated with such behavior. Even if investors fully recognize the impact of Harnischfeger's accounting decisions, there are other reasons for the company's managers to make these decisions.As Exhibit 2 in the case indicates, the top management of the company is awarded significant bonuses based on the company's reported profits. This provides an incentive for the managers to boost profits through accounting changes. However, if the compensation committee of the company's board of directors re cognizes this possibility, the committee could adjust the reported profits before awarding management bonuses. The instructor should challenge the students by asking: If investors can see through these changes from public information, why can't the board do it, especially when it has access to additional information in the firm?The third possible motive that is mentioned by the students is the desire of Harnischfeger's management to avoid the violation of debt covenant restrictions. Since the company recently experienced the painful consequences of violating these restrictions, it is plausible that the management changed the accounting policies to avoid future violations of the debt restrictions. If debt covenants are specified in terms of accounting numbers, managers have an incentive to choose accounting policies to minimize the violation of the covenants.However, if lenders recognize this possibility, lending agreements would be modified to avoid this possibility as long as the c ost of such a modification is not significant. The fourth possibility is that the accounting decisions are motivated by a desire to convince the company's customers, suppliers, dealers, and employees that Harnischfeger is again back on track and is viable. Given the nature of the company's products, a lack of confidence in the company's viability is likely to impair the company's ability to sell its products.In fact, the company was negotiating long-term contracts in 1984 with the governments of Turkey and China. It is quite possible that the company's return to profitability might have helped the management in this respect. Similarly, the company's ability to attract and retain talented employees might have been helped by the image that the company was back on track. During my visit to the company, Harnischfeger's management pointed out one additional factor in the company's accounting decisions: the role of internal management considerations.The company used the same set of accoun ting rules for external reporting and for internal management accounting. The company's product pricing was based on fully allocated product costs, and therefore its accelerated depreciation policies apparently caused its products to be overpriced relative to competition. In addition, the higher depreciation charges led to increased capital reinvestment demands from its divisions for maintaining and replacing the company's fixed assets.The company's management mentioned three principal reasons for its accounting decisions: (1) a belief that the external users of accounting data did not adjust for Harnischfeger's conservative financial reporting when comparing the company's performance with other companies in the industry, (2) the unpleasant experience with its debt covenant restrictions, and (3) the interaction between management accounting and external reporting. These reasons are discussed in greater detail in my paper, â€Å"The Anatomy of an Accounting Change. â€Å"Underlying all the accounting changes was a reporting philosophy outlined by the then chief financial officer and the current president of the company: In accounting there is no such thing as absolute truth. The same underlying reality can be accounted for using a range of assumptions. The earlier philosophy of this company was to choose the conservative alternative whenever there was a choice. Now we have decided to change this. We would like to tell the world that we are alive and well. We wish to tell the truth but do not want to be overly conservative in doing so.When the outside world compares our financial performance with that of other companies, they may or may not take the time and effort to untangle the effects of the differences in financial policies that various companies follow. My own belief is that people adjust for the obvious things like one-time gains and losses but have difficulty in adjusting for ongoing differences. In any case, these adjustments impose a cost on the user . If people adjust for the differences in accounting policies when they compare us with other companies, then it should not matter whether we follow conservative or liberal policies.But suppose they do not adjust. Then clearly we are better off following the more liberal policies than conservative policies. I am not sure whether people make the adjustments or not, but either way we wish to present an optimistic version of the picture and let people figure out what to do with the numbers. As a company you have to put the best foot forward if you want to raise capital, convince customers that you are a viable company, and attract talented people to work for the company. I feel that the financial reporting should help rather than hinder the implementation of our operating trategy. In my opinion, the changed accounting format highlights the effectiveness of our strategy better than the old policies do. The instructor can sum up the class discussion on question (2) by mentioning the view s of the management described above. Discussion of Question 3 After completing the analysis of Harnischfeger's accounting policy changes, the class should be asked to assess the company's future. At this point, I go back to my original question to the class, namely, â€Å"Is it worthwhile to invest in the company's stock in early 1985?    I call on a student who considers the company's stock a good investment and ask him or her to explain why. Harnischfeger's turnaround strategy consists of four elements: (1) changes in top management, (2) cost reductions to lower the company's break-even point, (3) reorientation of the company's business, and (4) restructuring the company's finances to facilitate the implementation of the reorientation strategy. The changes in the top management seem to be good. The new chief executive officer (CEO) has considerable experience in Harnischfeger's industry.The new CEO demonstrated his credibility with the financial community by successfully negoti ating with the company's lenders to restructure the company's debt. The new management has taken several steps in the right direction. The company's cost-reduction programs seem to be paying off. These programs were helpful in reducing the company's losses in 1984. The financial management of the company also seems to be sound. The cost-reduction programs and the pension restructuring have improved the company's cash flow.The total cash-flow analysis, shown in Exhibit 1, indicates that the company has been able to generate positive cash flow from its operations in 1984. The company raised substantial new capital through a public offering of debentures and common stock and used the proceeds to pay off all of the company's restructured debt. Finally, the company's business strategy seems to be sound. The management recognized the potential to exploit the company's strength in the material handling equipment business.Through its Harnischfeger Engineers subsidiary, the company planned t o expand in this area and concentrate on the high margin â€Å"systems† business. This strategy is likely to help the company to move away from the mining and construction equipment business, which is a low-growth and cyclical industry, to a higher-growth and more stable business. Students who are optimistic about the company's future cite the above factors as the reasons for their support for the company and its management.They argue that these factors indicate that the company's new management has the right ideas and knows how to turn the company around. These students suggest that the management's accounting decisions were part of its attempt to implement the company's strategy and are therefore constructive. The instructor should wrap up the case discussion by reviewing the company's motives for its accounting decisions. The instructor should point out that understanding these motives is essential for an analyst who is interested in assessing the company's current perform ance and its future potential.The instructor may end the class by taking a second vote on the investment potential of the company's stock and sharing with the class the subsequent events described below. SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENTS The following events describe the developments subsequent to the time of the case. As can be seen, Harnischfeger seems to have succeeded in implementing its strategy effectively. Also, the company continued to liberalize its financial reporting policies. 1985 1. The company changed its accounting for duration patterns and tooling. Previously, the cost of the patterns and tooling was expensed in the year of acquisition.Under the new method, these costs are capitalized and amortized over their estimated useful lives. 2. Harnischfeger reported a net profit of $0. 74 per share for fiscal 1985. The accounting change described above contributed $0. 24 per share to the reported profits. 3. The company raised $147 million by issuing preferred stock. 1986 1. Mr. Goess el was appointed as the chairman and CEO of the company, and Mr. Grade was appointed as the president and chief operating officer (COO). Previously, Mr. Goessel was the president and COO, and Mr. Grade was the CFO. 2.Harnischfeger acquired Beloit Corporation, a producer of papermaking machinery and systems, for $175 million in cash. Later in the year, stock equivalent to a 20% equity interest in Beloit was sold to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. , for $60 million in cash. 3. The company acquired Syscon Corporation, a firm based in Washington, DC for $92 million in cash. Syscon developed advanced computer systems for military markets. 4. Harnischfeger announced a plan to sell the company's Construction Equipment Division for approximately $17 million in cash and $55 million in debentures. . The company reported that Harnischfeger Engineers received a major order for the design of an automated car assembly plant. 6. Harnischfeger reported a net loss of $1. 14 per share for fiscal 19 86. This consisted of a profit of $2. 15 per share from continuing operations, a loss of $4. 45 per share from discontinued operations (Construction Equipment Division), and a gain of $1. 16 per share from the adoption of the new pension accounting rules. 1987 1. Harnischfeger received a takeover offer from Columbia Ventures, Inc. , for $19 per share in cash.The company considered the offer inadequate and rejected it. Exhibit 1 Total Cash-Flow Analysis ($ in thousands) |                                                                                                          |1984                         |1982                         |1981                         | |                                                                                                          |                               |                               |                               | |Working capital from operations                                                          | $ 2,961                   | $ 1,763                   | $ (55,902)             | |(Increase)/decrease n accounts receivable                                           |(23,908)                   |(5,327)                   |42,293                      | |(Increase)/decrease in inventories                                                       |9,282                      |56,904                      |26,124                      | |(Increase)/decrease in refundable income taxes and related interest    |                               |                               |                               | |                                                                                                          |11,289                      |(2,584)                   |(6,268)                   | |(Increase)/decrease in other current assets                                        |259                         |10,008                      |(439)                      | |Increase/(decrease) in accounts payable                                              |16,488                      |(1,757)                   |(3,302)                   | |Increase (decrease) in employee compensation and benefits payable       |                               |                               | |                                                                                                          |698                         |(15,564)                   |(3,702)                   | |Increase/(decrease) in accrued plant closing costs                               |(3,888)                   |(14,148)                   |20,496                      | |Increase (decrease) in other current liabilities                                  |    (3,181)                |    (15,927)                |    (3,030)                | |Cash from operating cycle                                                                   | $ 10,000                | $ 13,368                | $ 16,270                | |Minus plant and equipment additions                                                    |    (5,546)                |    (1,871)                |    (10,819)                | |Cash before dividends, investments, and    external financing                |                               |                               |                               | |                                                                                                          |$ 4,454                   |$ 11,497                   |$ 5,451                   | |Minus cash dividends                                                                   à ‚         |    0                         |    0                         |    (2,369)                | |Cash before investments and external financing                                     | $ 4,454                   | $ 11,497                | $ 3,082                   | |Minus advances to unconsolidated companies                                           |(2,882)                   |0                            |0                            | |Plus other                                                                                           |    269                      |    1,531                   |    848                      | |Cash before external financing                                                             | $ 1,841                   | $ 13,128                | $ 3,930                   | |                                                                                                          |                               |                               |                               | |External Financing:                                                                            |                               |                               |                               | |                                                                                                          |                               |                               |                               | |Proceeds from senior notes and subordinated                                        |                               |                               |                               | |Debentures                                                                                           |$ 120,530                |$ 0                         |$ 0                         | |Conversion of export and factored receivable sales to debt                   |                               |                               |                               | | 0                            |23,919                      |0                            | |Restructured debt                                                                               |0                            |158,058                   |0                            | |Debt replaced, including conversion of    receivable sales of 23,919       |                               |                               |                               | |                                                                                                          |0                            |(158,058)                |0                            | |Repayments of debt                                                                               |(161,500)                |(760)                      |(9,409)                   | |Increase (repayment) of short-term bank notes payable                         |2,107                      |(3,982)                   |(2,016)                   | |Other increases in debt                                                                      |1,474                      |0                            |25,698                      | |Issuance of common stock                                                                      |21,310                      |0                            |449                         | |Issua nce of common stock warrants                                                       |6,663                      |0                            |0                            | |Salaried pension assets reversion                                                       |    39,307                   |    0                         |    0                         | |Cash from external financing                                                                | $ 29,891                | $ 19,177                | $ 14,722                | |Net increase (decrease) in cash    and temporary investments                   |                               |                               |                               | |                                                                                                          |$ 31,732                   |$ 32,205                   |$ 18,652                   | 2. What is the effect of the depreciation accounting method change on the reported income in 1984? How will this change affect profits in future years? It increased the net income to $11 million for 1984 or $. 93 per common and common equivalent share. The straight-line method will allow the assets to continue to depreciate in the same amount for the life of the asset.This change will increase profit in future years even thought the depreciation expense in strait-line will be higher that would’ve been with accelerated method. 3. What is the effect of the depreciation lives change? How will this change affect future reported profits? As a result of going t o strait-line the company also has changed its estimated depreciation lives on certain U. S. plants, machinery and equipment and residual values on certain machinery and equipment, which increased net income for 1984 by $3. 2 million or $. 27 per share. No income tax effect was applied to this change. This change should report higher profits in the coming years. $3. 2 million or $. 27 per share. No income tax effect was applied to this change. This change should report higher profits in the coming years. 4.The depreciation accounting changes assume that Harnischfeger’s plant and machinery will last longer and will lose their value more slowly. Given the business conditions Harnischfeger was facing in its primary industries in 1984, are these economic assumptions justified? Not necessarily, they can not fully predict the outcome of these changes but history shows them that as long as their plant machinery are more up to date production will perform at a better rate which shoul d lead to valuable resources needed to conduct good business. 5. In Note 7, Harnischfeger describes the effect of LIFO inventory liquidation on its reported profits in 1984.Describe what is meant by LIFO liquidation and how liquidation affects a company’s income statement and balance sheet. By LIFO liquidation means when a company’s accounting sells its oldest inventory since the current sales are higher then current purchases then the liquidation will occur, meaning that older inventory will be sold. The effect of the LIFO liquidation on the company’s income statement is an increase in net income by $2. 4 million or $. 20 in fiscal year 1984. There is no income tax effect. On the balance sheet there is a decrease of inventory, due to liquidation. 4. The depreciation accounting changes assume that Harnischfeger’s plant and machinery will last longer and will lose their value more slowly.Given the business conditions Harnischfeger was facing in its primary industries in 1984, are these economic assumptions justified? They cannot fully predict the outcome of these changes but history shows; however, we know they were experiencing a drop in sales this would also mean that they were giving less use to their machinery, and that would cause less wear and tear to the machinery justifying and increase on the useful life of the asset. 5. In Note 7, Harnischfeger describes the effect of LIFO inventory liquidation on its reported profits in 1984. Describe what is meant by LIFO liquidation and how liquidation affects a company’s income statement and balance sheet.The liquidation means selling of older inventory since the current sales are higher then current purchases then the liquidation will occur and as result any inventory not sold in previous periods must be liquidated. The company will benefit by an increase in net income by $2. 4 million or $. 20 in fiscal year 1984. Meaning that the net loss of previous year 1983 was reduced by a pproximately 15. 6 million. The balance sheet would have decrease of inventory from 12. 6 mil in 1983 to 5. 5 mil in 1984. 6. Note 8, states Harnischfeger’s allowance for doubtful accounts. Compute the ratio of the allowance to gross receivables (receivables before the allowance) in 1983 and 1984.What would the allowance have been if the company maintained the ratio at the 1983 level? How much did the pre-tax income increase as a result of the changed ratio in 1984? The company's provision for doubtful accounts receivables as a percentage of total receivables was 8. 4% in 1984. The corresponding percentage in 1983 was 11. 3%. If the company maintained the same percentage provision in the two years, the bad debt expense in 1984 would have been $1. 5 million more than the reported expense. 7. Note 9, page 216, states that Harnischfeger decreased R&D expense in 1984 relative to the previous two years. Do you think this change was motivated by business considerations or accountin g considerations?How did this change affect the company’s reported profits in 1984? Also R&D expense in 1984 decreased by $7. 0 million over the previous year. Most of this reduction was a result of the company's agreement with Kobe Steel, Ltd. Under this agreement, Kobe agreed to reimburse Harnischfeger up to $17. 0 million dollars of R;D expense over a period of three years plus the company was reduced in its size so there was no need to that big expenditures on R;D. 8. Note 11, describes a number of changes in Harnischfeger’s pension plans in 1984. Describe these changes as clearly as you can. What are the economic consequences of these changes to Harnischfeger and its workers?The reduction in benefits and wedges were significant from 1982 to 1984. In 1984 the pension expenses accounted for 1. 9 million, 1983 for 6. 5 million and 1982 for 12. 2 million The change in the return on investment assumption is for all US plans. The economic consequence is that there will be less expenditure made by these pension owners during the lifetime of their pension. The company established a new plan, which goal was an improvement in the minimum pension benefit. This constituted in a restructure of the Salaried Employees’ Retirement Plan. From one side that decision could help the company to rebuild the trust of customers and suppliers for continuing in business.From the other side, the workers would suffer a significant economic lost and could lose the motivation to work for the company. But there is a possibility that a positive view could emerge because they could appreciate the company’s efforts to keep them working there, and then cooperate to take the company to the next level. 9. How did the pension plan changes affect Harnischfeger’s financial statements in 1984? Are these changes likely to affect future profits? The effect of the changes in the investment return assumption rates for all U. S. plans, together with the 1984 restruc turing of the U. S. Salaried Employees' Plan, was to reduce pension expense by approximately $4. 0 million in 1984 and $2. million in 1983, and the actuarial present value of accumulated plan benefits by approximately $60. 0 million in 1984. This may have an effect on future profits. The pension plan changes affected positively the statements in 1984. Less assets were available for benefits; therefore, more income was reflected in the financial statements, which contributed to the cash to pay debt obligations. Furthermore, if reducing the debt, company could recover the banks and shareholder’s trust. 10. Summarize all the accounting changes Harnischfeger made in 1984, and their effects on pre-tax profits and cash flows in 1984. 1. Change in the recognition of some types of sales. This resulted in a change in sales calculation.Harnischfeger incorporated products purchased from Kobe Steel, which were re-sold by the company, into its net sales. This increased aggregate sales and cost of sales by $28 million. The effect of the change in sales calculation was an increase in both aggregate sales and cost of sales by $28 million. Also, profit margin dropped from 1. 55% to 1. 44%, which represented a 7. 1% change in profit margin. 2. Change in the fiscal year for some foreign subsidiaries. By changing the fiscal year of foreign subsidiaries (ending period of September 30 instead of July 31), the effect was the lengthening of the 1984 reporting period for the subsidiaries from 12 months to 14 months.This increased sales by $5. 4 million. 3. Change in the depreciation methods on assets. The depreciation policy for financial reporting purposes was changed to a straight-line method from a principally accelerated method. The effect of the change in depreciation method (straight-line method) was a net income of $11 million realized in 1984. Overall, depreciation charges resulted in an increase of $3. 2 million in net income in 1984. 4. Change in the use LIFO liquidat ion in inventory valuation. The effect of LIFO inventory liquidation was an increase in 1984 net income by $2. 4 million, as gains. 5. Change in the allowance for doubtful accounts.The company adjusted its allowance for doubtful accounts to 6. 7% of sales for 1984 from 10% of sales in 1983. The effect of the change in the allowance for doubtful accounts was that it resulted in $2. 9 million in operating income for 1984. 6. Change in the R&D expenses. Harnischfeger significantly reduced its R&D expenses to $5. 1 million in 1984, from 412. 1 million in 1983. The effect of the change in R&D expenses was an increase in operating profit by $9. 1 million. 7. Change in employee pension plans. The effect of the change in pension plans was a reduction in pension expenses by $14 million and increase in net income by $3. 9 million, and a positive cash flow. 11.Accounting statements are used by investors, lenders, customers, employees, and governments in dealing with Harnischfeger. Among these groups, who is most likely to â€Å"see through† the above accounting changes, and who is least likely to do so? The least likely to â€Å"see through† the accounting changes are just normal people who don’t know accounting concepts because some methods of reporting can overstate or understate the numbers without a sustainable change so investors, lenders, and governments should be the ones to most likely â€Å"see through† the change and based on what they see they make a decisions. Employees in accounting, finance, and upper management should be able to â€Å"see through† the changes. 12.Are the accounting changes likely to help or to hinder Harnischfeger’s ability to implement its business plan? Be as specific as possible. Even thought the changes indicate an optimistic move, it does not guarantee that the company is going to be able to implement its business plan. The changes made strongly justify company’s boost in the periods an alyzed. From my point of view, company reflects a positive result on management through its financial reports. Basically the mission to satisfy shareholders and business related entities such as banks and suppliers was accomplished by showing the ability to overcome financial problems through management based on the financial statements.However, the accounting practice can be a matter of numbers’ convenience and it can be altered just to show easy actions. 13. Overall, what is your assessment of Harnischfeger’s future as of 1984? The company is taking a risk by expecting that the one-time boost in income and cash in 1984 will enable the company to successfully expand internationally and grow in new high tech areas and become profitable once again. They wanted to make their financial statements look pretty so that investors would buy their stocks and suppliers would continue giving credit for being able to produce product and sell. They need to stop playing with account ing methods and hiding the true story otherwise they will be in danger to not survive in a long run.

Managerial Personality Essay

The characteristics of a person’s personality determine his leadership capabilities. Leaders from around the world all have distinct characteristics which define their leadership style and abilities. In a corporate culture, these personality traits can be capitalized upon to direct an organization towards its goals and to do so requires an in depth understanding of the different styles of personality traits that define every individual. A grasp on this knowledge would allow any leader to have a huge impact on the culture and performance of an organization. An observation to be made is the leveraging of personality traits may be utilized in order to achieve corporate goals. To create a competitive advantage, management’s focus must be on cooperation and inspiration. A clear link exists between culture and performance, as shown by Mindy L. Hall (Hall, 2005.) A leader’s personality shapes the environment in which employees function, and can either inspire extraordinary results, or devastating outcomes. Hostile conditions in the workplace will cause anxiety, stress, lack of energy, disengagement, or high turnover. Subsequently, organizations with these issues experience a lower quality of output. This negatively affects the relationship between consumers and businesses, who may find the competition more appealing. A positive engagement between management and employees excite a higher level of performance. From this, a company experiences higher quality output and satisfied customers. A best way to manage a company doesn’t exist; it must be studied, understood, and honed to best match or shape the organization’s culture. The key issue to choosing the appropriate manager in any organization is appreciating what goals and desires are sought after. This report is focused primarily on management as leaders and employees as subordinates. However, it must be understood that subordinates can also play the role as leader in their own context, and it should be encouraged. For example, a group of four employees are assigned to a project. Among this group will emerge a leader who directs the mission to accomplish said assignment. Although this individual does not possess a management title he or she is still leading. That being stated, an organization must possess a deep understanding of its business culture, and employ these concepts when prospecting for competent employees and management. Furthermore, management can recognize certain personality traits among individuals in a team, and manipulate and combine them in a synergetic way. In general, the comprehension of the various personality traits can be used as a measurement of how an individual may respond and perform in an organization’s culture. However, there is much debate as to the extent to which personality can predict behavior, and the extent to which behavior arises from the dynamics of a given situation (Kendrick, Funder, 1991.) The key issues in a corporate context include the big five personality traits, Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, attitude, and emotional intelligence. The Big Five Personality Traits General agreement exists among researchers regarding the big five personality traits. This model categorizes personalities into five distinct categories: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness. An understanding of these categories often referred to as OCEAN, gives insight to an individual’s underlying personality and how an individual would react in day to day operations of an organization. However, research has shown situational factors play a role in how individuals move between the two extremes of each personality factor. Each factor is a range of two extremes, which most individuals lie somewhere in between. Given this fact, the majority of decisions made by people are representative of their fundamental personality traits. Only when abnormal or extreme situations arise does an individual shift towards the extreme of either end on one or more factors. Managers seeking to create a winning team would do well to not only understand his own personality type, but also individual team member’s personality types. Intimate knowledge of each person among a group will allow for a more harmonious and efficient team effectively utilizing strengths and mitigating weaknesses. Attitude Attitudes of managers and employees contribute greatly to the working environment. An attitude is a collection of beliefs and feelings brought on by life experiences or learned from others, and a positive or negative analysis of one’s environment. Similar attitudes of a leader and a team can create a positive working environment that flows all the way down to the end consumer. Leaders of an organization who commit to reinforcing positive attitudes contribute to a successful business model. Individuals who are satisfied with the work environment make their duties a part of life, and commit skills and knowledge to drive progress of a business. A study conducted by MBA’s and one professor from India, (Tandon, Mishra, Singh, 2011,) explored the relationship between attitude and how an organization perceives its position in society. The study begins by stating that business behavior has both economic and relational impact. Over recent decades there have been significant changes in the social expectation from business and managers. This study found that one’s personal beliefs, values, and attitude drive commitment to social responsibility. In this writing social responsibility can be thought of as organizational commitment or responsibility. The study took a specific look into how spirituality, materialism, relativism, and idealism discriminate between high and low corporate social responsibility (CSR).The study conducted found idealism and spirituality to have a positive influence on CSR, and materialism and relativism had a negative or less of an influence. This implies that managers with more of a concern towards society’s beliefs and values, and less towards material things, will have a greater concern towards creating a positive internal working environment. Moreover, a manager with this attitude may push subordinates towards the same ideals, which create a more efficient environment. In contrast, materialistic and relativistic attitudes contributed negatively towards CSR. This suggests that individuals with these attitude types can create an environment where monetary gain and possession of assets are the only goal, and right and wrong is near irrelevant. This mentality can have a devastating effect on society’s perception of a corporation. Moreover, the connection between working peers can be non-existent, and coordination would lack causing inefficiency. A manager’s attitude can bring about the benefits of a positive working environment by keeping a positive attitude towards a given position in an organization. An attitude based on working towards an end goal, which produces the greatest good for society and a corporation, would be an ideal mentality for any organization. Attitudes contribute to a successful business model because individuals who are satisfied make their duties a part of life, and commit their skills and knowledge to driving the progress and success of the business. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of human motivation based on increasing levels of needs. This theory suggests that human needs are fulfilled one at a time by accomplishing basic needs and proceeding upwards towards advanced needs. Although there is much debate as to the accuracy of these levels research has suggested a correlation between the fulfillment of these needs and happiness. Managers with an understanding of what level individuals in a team are on can manipulate motivation techniques to stimulate productivity and efficiency. Maslow’s hierarchy can be applied to compensation, job design, management techniques, or anything that requires a higher level of motivation. Maslow’s hierarchy is a systematic way of thinking about the different needs employees have at any given point and explains different reactions they may have to similar treatment (Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan, 2009.) The definition provided implies that each individual perceives needs differently, and managerial techniques in this context must be applied more specifically. For example, two employees receive a raise after a massive project was finished. The first employee is satisfied with the raise because her safety, and subsequently her physiological, needs had been fulfilled. The second employee felt his needs had not been satisfied. His goal in finishing the project was to prove his worthiness as a manager. His intention through his hard work was to climb the corporate ladder. He was looking to fulfill his esteem and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs are satisfied through compensation, since a paycheck allows individuals to find nourishment, shelter, etc. Compensation can satisfy more than one need, however. Safety needs can be satisfied through benefits such as 401K, health plans, or paid time off. In many ways, compensation satisfies both physiological and safety needs. In addition, organizations must take in consideration the physical safety of employees. Managers have a duty to enforce safety precautions where working conditions may be hazardous. When a position requires employees to take physical risk an organization is expected to protect workers from unnecessary harm, and to compensate for the higher risk. When feelings of anxiety are low safety needs have been fulfilled. Social needs can be met through satisfactory social interaction with others in which there is interaction. The goal in satisfying this need is to cause individuals to feel accepted and loved. In a business context there must be a focus on acceptance over love. Creating a friendly environment is a great start to satisfying this need. Company sponsored games, events, holiday parties, and other social activities are great examples of how to socialize a staff. Also, team meetings where the staff can voice their concerns or ideas can allow team members to better understand each other. Esteem needs can be satisfied after one feels she has been accepted into a group. These needs can be fulfilled through recognition. It must be stressed that individuals enjoy being praised for their accomplishments, but praise only works for a limited amount of time. Managers must look to promote individuals with a high need for esteem. A raise in position and pay communicates an achieved status, and reinforces her ability to achieve corporate goals. Esteem needs lead into self-actualization. This need lies on the top of the hierarchical pyramid. Similar to fulfilling esteem needs, self- actualization can be met by giving an employee more responsibility, greater challenges, or more stimulating opportunities. Self-actualization is characterized by an individual having met all previous needs, and is now using his or her full potential and capabilities. Maslow’s hierarchy is important for organizations to apply. Humans are motivated by particular needs according to their current life situations and future goals. Furthermore, individual needs are in accordance with cultural backgrounds such as race, religion, or country of origin. It must also be noted that individuals are not always striving to fulfill the same needs. The needs model must be applied on an individual basis. Managers who realize their needs are being fulfilled can be used as a resource for understanding their subordinates needs, and act accordingly. When an organization applies this model to a workforce there is an increase in job satisfaction and loyalty. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to control extreme changes in mood and emotions, and is a characteristic of an effective and competent leader. When a manager cannot control temporary emotions that are brought on by day to day interactions it can bring an entire organizations progress to a halt. Emotions are contagious and create a domino effect. Simply realizing when a certain emotion is present allows one to better handle temporary emotional fluctuations, while containing it as to not affect others. That being said, it is of utmost importance for a manager to possess a deep understanding of his or her own emotions (self-awareness), and how to deal with each. An individual who is self-aware is humble enough to accept constructive criticism and mature enough to address the areas of concern. The impact of hiring individuals with high emotional intelligence is high productivity and retention of high-quality employees. Golnaz Sadri, PhD, defines E.I. as the ability to accurately perceive emotions, access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth, (Sadri, 2012.) The ability to accurately perceive emotions allows one to recognize facial and bodily gestures, and interpret their meaning. A manager who has this ability can intercept other’s cues, or tells, that signal irritability. This skill is recognized as constructive when dealing with scenarios such as a team who can’t come to an agreement, a irate client or customer, or when negotiating. For the most part, emotional intelligence is a learned skill, and an indicator of useful experience. Conclusion Manipulating strong personality traits and striving to improve negative personality traits can have a huge impact on a manager’s career, and more broadly can impact a corporation in tremendous ways. Today manager’s has access to information to help them maximize team productivity using psychology. Using psychological strategies to hire the right employees and build teams is the competitive edge companies need in this tough economic climate. REFERENCES Camgoz, S., Karan, M., & Ergeneli, A. (2011). Part II Leadership, Social Capital, and Personality: Relationship Between The Big Five Personality and The Financial Performance of Fund Managers. 15, p139 Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2009). Need-Based Theory of Motivation. In Principles Of Management (10th ed., p14.1) Hall, M. (2005). Shaping Organizational Culture: A Practitioner’s Perspective. 2(1), p1-16 Kendrick, D. T., & Funder , D. C. (1991). Situation versus Personality Debate. Retrieved from http://wilderdom.com/personality/L6-3SituationVsPersonality.html McCrae, R., & Costa, P. (1995). Domains and Facets: Hierarchal Personality Assessment Using The Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64(1), p23 Pannapacker, W. (2012, April 15). Screening Out The Introverts. The Chronicle. Sadri, G. (2012). Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Development. 41(3), p536 Tandon, A., Mishra, S., & Singh, E. (2011). What Discriminates The Prospective Manager’s Attitude Towards Corporate Social Responsibility? 10(3), p54-60 Whitbourne , S. K. (2010, October 19). The Neuroticism Paradox | Psychology Today.Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201010/the-neuroticis m-paradox Witt, L.A., & Andrews, M.C. (2006). The Predisposition to Engage in Interpersonal Deviance at Work. pHR-F2

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Supply chain management - Essay Example Supply chain management, on the other side is viewed as a management philosophy (Mentzer, 2001). Supply chain management can be defined as the encompassment of management and planning of various activities that are involved in sourcing, procurement, conversion as well as various other activities regarding logistics. The most important aspect of SCM is that it includes collaboration and co-ordination of different channel partners including suppliers, intermediaries and customers. In simple words, SCM integrates the demand and supply management across and within the companies (Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, n.d.). The SCM concept views all the channel partners as a ‘single entity’ instead of considering them fragmented parts. According to Stevens, main objective of maintaining the supply chain is synchronizing the flow of goods and services with the needs of the customers so as to manage the balance among the high customer service, low unit cost and low inventory management (Mentzer, 2001). Monczka opined that SCM’s primary objective is managing and integrating the source, flow as well as the control of materials by using a perspective of ‘total system’ across different tiers of suppliers and different functions (Mentzer, 2001).

Project of My Ten Years into the Future Assignment

Project of My Ten Years into the Future - Assignment Example Initial I find that it is a bit difficult to interact with these women whose culture, lifestyle and language are so much different from that of me. It gets difficult to make them understand what I mean. But now the situations have changed a lot. I still remember those days when I had just joined this NGO. At that time it was a small organization with only 50 people engaged with it. Conditions were quite difficult for the organization. It was facing crisis both in terms of human capital as well as financial capital. But the practice which was in the exercise was the willpower of all those people who were engaged with the NGO. We all had a single motto to render modern medical services to underdeveloped countries. Conditions were quite pathetic in the interior part of these countries. Along with health care, unemployment and illiteracy were the other major problems which these poor people were fighting. So our organization decided that along with medical services, they will try to irra diate illiteracy and unemployment in these areas. At present, our organization has several working units in different part of the world that provide medical assistance to developing nations. We also run free schools for children were midday meal is provided for free of cost. This helps the children to have healthy and hygienic food and reduces the cases of malnutrition. For women and working men, night schools are available so that they can attain higher education and can grab better careers. In the developing countries, the growth rate of population is much higher than the rate at which medical health centers are developing.