Lego Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Lego - Case Study Example This has been a silent trait of this firm. The well maintained relationship and the support close all the inevitable people, like consumers, customers, business partners and all stakeholders was successfully extended to a more advance level during this year. Looking at LEGO's dedication, it will not be an understatement that this work and their motives will always mark their presence in the coming years. In 2007, the LEGO Group has covered the four years period out of its seven-year strategy. This was a very affective move with the motive, which is kind of acquired so far, that is to bring a complete change to the entire market and business scenario while developing LEGO as the best brand exhibiting their commitment towards creative building and playing the key role in providing effective learning techniques through play. As per their strategy, various aspects like processing, procedures, structure and relations to stakeholders will undergo a primary change during the years 2004-10 (Annual Report, 2007). The prime objectives for all the stakeholder groups were well defined by the group in the year 2006 (Annual Report, 2007). These have been further intensely developed in the year 2007. The rigorous balanced approach to different stakeholder groups will certainly provide a significant platform for the future operations of this group. The strategic move is divided into different stages, where every stage is targeting on some specific motives. The very initial stage was acquired in the year 2004-05 by enabling the Group to step out of the financial crisis situations due to the number of years of poor financial results as a result of unprofitable growth (Annual Report, 2007). Year 2003 for LEGO Group The cut-throat competition in the toy market brought a considerable loss of market share in most markets, due to the competitors, novel product trends and private labels by the retailers. The US market noticed around 35 percent drop in market share as compared to the previous year, where as Asian markets noticed a fall of around 28 percent (Annual Report, 2003). The year 2003 was very disappointing for the group. The net sales fell by around 26 percent from DKK 11.4 billion in 2002 to DKK 8.4 billion, where as the play material sales declined by 29 percent to DKK 7.2 billion and thus resulting in a pre-tax loss on earnings of DKK 1.4 billion, which showed a drop of DKK 2 billion as compared with the previous year (Annual Report, 2003). The retardation shows the failure of the growth strategy resulting in a considerable loss of the market shares. Finally by the end of the year 2003, the group decided to change its business

Professional skills Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Professional skills - Assignment Example In the 1980s, video arcades and console games were integrations in the learning process (Wolf, 2012). The target audience of the learning games was children aged between 5 and 10 years. The Learning Company is a pioneer in the history of games and learning with family-oriented software games emerging in the 1990s (Wolf, 2012). A recent development in digital learning focuses on providing children with tools for repairing, constructing and authoring contrary to the traditional games. SimCity is an example of the rear mentioned game. A large population of parents deal with video games in a manner one would deal with low nutritious foods, believing that exposing their children to the games in decreased periods is acceptable. An opposition to the school of thought is Andy Baio who has let his son Eliot play through a history of video games in a chronological manner since the age of four (Wolf, 2012). From the continued growth of electronic gaming since the early 1970s, it is evident that more games are yet to be developed in the future. American Academy of Pediatrics dedicates its efforts in the well being of children (The One Key Thing Parents Should Know About Children and Technology, 2015). In light of technology and children, information on their page can act as a guide to parents in comprehending the influence of video games on children, as it provides advice on management of electronic gaming. In addition, the non-profit organisation recommends parents and pediatricians (The One Key Thing Parents Should Know About Children and Technology, 2015). According to statistics from the academy, the current average number of hours spent by children per day on technology is seven (The One Key Thing Parents Should Know About Children and Technology, 2015). Parent intervention in monitoring exposure to entertainment aids children in making informed choices regarding media. In order to avoid inappropriate content exposure to

Governments Influence On Public Opinion Media Essay

Governments Influence On Public Opinion Media Essay In the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the high tech technology, in the early years there was only telegraph, radio and magazines but now a days we have got the number of media channels, internet We live in a society that depends heavily on the information and communication to be at right path, to do the right things and to take right decisions. What we need to be aware is that the most of our decisions, belief and values are based on what we know for a fact, our assumptions, our own experience and studies, however we rely heavily on the media to get current news and facts about what should be done and what should not be? The purpose of this discussion is that our lives rely heavily on the media to know the information and take the right decisions. Coming to our topic of discussion that how government influences the public opinion. As consumers rely heavily on the media organizations for information, governments too rely on media organizations to influence the public opinion whether its through advertisement, public service message or any other way to achieve their primary and secondary objectives too. Thats why we have divided our topic of discussion into three parts The media plays a very important role in shaping and controlling the political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without the adequate functioning of the media it is very much impossible for any social structure like government to exist so all of the social structures exists on the medias ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally will exploit the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality. One way in which government achieves this objective, is by its ability to misuse the medias ability to set the agenda. Contrary to popular belief, media is in fact an enormous hegemony. In fact, separate independent news organizations relatively do not exist. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of there own, generally lesser smaller news organizations adapt to a prepared agenda, previously constructed by a higher medium. Based upon this information alone, it is quite apparent that media functions in adherence to the characteristics of a hierarchy. This simply means that media is structured in a way that it operates functioning from top to bottom. This is also identical to the hierarchical nature of the human body, in that from the commands of the brain transferred through the central nervous system, the body responds accordingly. In order for the U.S. government to control and determine the publics popular perception of reality, the government must shape and oversee the information that the media reports to the existing populous. This particular process of democracy is known and ref erred to by political scientists as cognitive socialization However, many of us, who do not stick to the cushioning of political correctness, refer to it as the propaganda machine. Numerous political scientists consider cognitive socialization to be the most effective form of political socialization. According to theory, cognitive socialization is doctored up information, which is strategically fragmented in such a manipulative manner, that the probability of its rationalization is highly predictable. The manipulative properties of cognitive socialization are so diabolical and tricky in nature, that I consider it to be the ultimate perversion of the democratic process. In all seriousness, numerous intellectuals, and gentleman held in good stature agree, that cognitive socialization is the product of an evil genius. Senator William Fulbright observed in Senate hearings on government and the media in 1966, that so many of our prominent newspapers have become almost agents or adjuncts of the government; that they do not contest or even raise questions about government policy(Refrence) The Professor Noam Chomsky on a book of his entitled Manufacturing Consent, democracy and the media. Mr. Chomsky comments on the unholy alliance between government and media. Indoctrination is the essence of democracy Now the question is that when it is impossible to control the people via force, it is very much possible to control the people what they think. Thats why media is used as an additive applied to a free democratic society to preserver the interest of power elite. (the relationship between government and media) Media and Public Relationship Mass media heavily influences our daily life, with providing of information so we will discuss that: How Mass Media Works Influence Young People Influence Of Violence Image On Kids Shaping Up the Public Opinion. How Mass Media Influence Works Of all the media distribution channels the most influential has been the television, we are constantly exposed to thousands of images and a moving picture is more than 100,000. These words are in the form of images the images of violence, advertising, sex, celebrities and much more. All these are helpful in shaping up the minds of the people, actually they are not shaping up the minds but they are shaping up the public opinion in terms of giving the consumers new values, new psyche and new way of thinking and providing them with new directions. The question is that who are shaping up this public opinion these are those five big companies which owns most of the media channels, cinemas and other sources. Time Warner VIACOM Vivendi Universal Walt Disney News Corp They also own integrated telecommunications, wireless phones, video games softwares, electronic media, the music industry and more. For example if we just try to peep into past it shows that UK ex President Tony Blair won the elections due to the contract with the Murdoch News Corporation to portray the image of Tony Blair. This shows that the media has very great and long lasting influence on the peoples as this example shows that Murdoch Corporation was quite successful in shaping up the public opinion. On the other hand the thing which is quite noticeable that Mr. Tony blair contracted a company which has a wide area of coverage, which shows that the wide area of coverage helped him to shape large number peoples mind. Years ago there was more diversity in companies, but they have merged so now they are just a few and they have been successful in shaping up the opinion and beliefs of us and our kids. It has become very much important for any parent to have a look on what their kids are watching and the material is not going to conflict with norms and values. For example if we just have a look on the Pakistani kids now a days they have just been very much addicted to Indian culture that they dont any more remember the Pakistani culture they dont have the knowledge that in Islam marriage is based on Nikkah but I have seen some of the kids asking their parents that when the couple is going to take rounds around the fire. India media has been very much successful in shaping the norms, values and most important the minds of our kids. How Does Mass Media Influence Young People As we all know that the mass medias heavy reliance is on the advertisements, media organizations earn billion of dollars. This advertisement is shaping the minds of the people regarding their buying behaviors. All the people exposed to these advertisements try to buy the same thing that was in the advertisement. As there are some positive and negative influences of the media so they try to influence the young minds these young minds can may have positive influence or may have the negative one but in both cases the media is influencing the young mind, if young mind is doing a lot of exercise just seeing someone his/her favorite sportsman doing that then its a positive influence but if he/she starts smoking then its a negative image. In both the cases media is trying to project something onto the young mind whether its a good or bad but the question is that why young minds accept all these things dont they have to do something else. The answer is that every young one has got some of the peer pressure so whenever they are trying to do something its just of peer pressure to get accepted between his friends, no matter how this will impact the health of a person but the young people just wants to be accepted in their friends. This thing shows that media is playing two way game projecting both the positive and negative image in order to achieve their objectives. Media is quite capable to project a bad image a positive one and positive one to negative but in both the cases they are influencing the young minds. Another negative influence in teenagers that has grown over the last years is anorexia and obesity. There are millions of adolescents fighting obesity, but at the same time they are exposed to thousands of advertisements of junk food, while the ideas image of a successful person is told to be thin and wealthy. Also more women are obsessive with losing weight even when they are not obese; there are many thin women that want to look like the super models and thin celebrities so they engage in eating disorders which lead to severe health issues and even death. (Hubpages) How media influence public opinion As we have discussed above and continue to discuss that media has got a great impact on the society for shaping up the public opinion whether thats a political campaign, an advertisement to make you fat, broadcasting successful characters or a terrorist attack in every situation media is trying to influence. Wilton Sekzer in a movie states: I was travelling in a subway there comes a point where the wheels of the subway screech loudly, there the towers of the World Trade Centre were in perfect symmetry so I didnt know that which one is my sons building, I was thinking that cannot be my sons building because everyone inside that building gonna die, watching TV every 5 minutes they gonna show the falling towers. I am watching your news cast. How many times you gonna show got damn towers falling down, dont you have any respect for those, who have got family and friends inside there. (Why we fight, 2005) Now if we have just have a look on the above discussed example that after 9/11 the US media was trying to shape up the public opinion in a way of creating hater in the minds of populous for the Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. This shaped up the public opinion for war against terrorism and the same public opinion helped the US government for the war against Iraq. This shows that media has great power which has changed the public opinion of 80% of the Americans. Advertisements for Political Parties by Media If we just have a look on the advertisements of Pakistani political parties during the political campaigns, all of the parties whether that was in rule or in opposition both will be trying to influence the public opinion in a way that people cast their votes to the ruling party or the one in the opposition, for this purpose they try their level best to count of their best works during their ruling time. On the other hand they try to show in their advertisements that what plans they have got for the next five years. Conclusively they always try to influence the public opinion in a way that change peoples mind to cast their vote to the relative parties. There are number of other ways to influence the public opinion which includes polls and trends especially in political campaigns. The candidates that can pay more for TV and media exposure have more influence on public opinion and thus can receive more votes. This suite up the same example we discussed above about the Tony Blairs contract with Murdoch Corporation to win the elections GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE ON PUBLIC OPINION The influencing works on the agenda setting program which says that the government has to rely on the media organization for influencing the public opinion. The same is the case discussed by the Agenda setting. Agenda Setting The agenda setting theory states that the mass media has got a heavy influence on the audiences by their choices of what to report, how to report and how much worth and space should be for the issue. The salient feature is the ability of mass media to transfer issues of importance from mass media agenda to public agenda. (Brooks, Brian S., et al., 2003) Functions of Agenda Setting The agenda-setting function has multiple components: Media agenda are issues discussed in the media, such as newspapers, television, and radio. Public agenda are issues discussed and personally about members of the public. Policy agenda are issues that policy makers consider important, such as legislators. Corporate agenda are issues that big business and corporations consider important, including corporations. These four agendas are interrelated. The two basic assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting are that the press and the media do not reflect reality, they filter and shape it, and the media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues. (Brooks, Brian S., et al., 2003) Now coming back to our topic of discussion that how governments can influence the public opinion according to the agenda setting theory discussed above there are a two ways for any government to influence the public opinion the one is direct influence and other is indirect influence. Direct Influence Direct influence is a kind of influence in which the government tries to influence through their speeches and press conferences. Speeches: If we just have a look on any of the speeches of the prime ministers, presidents or even the ministers they are actually trying to influence the public opinion that they are trying to influence the people that they are doing good and taking the right decisions they are actually shaping the public opinion but a single statement can set up agenda for the media. Press conferences: Press conference is another important source of influencing the public like we every day see that somebody is conducting a press conference in which the government or non government officials try to tell to the people via media organizations about the ground realities but in some cases to portray the issue favorably they try to use different methods which includes Secrecy: an important tool that governments use to influence or avoid media coverage. Governments release information as part of a general media strategy to influence the media agenda and frame issues favorably (McCloskey, 1990, p. 119). Governments  often attempt to conceal information from other governments and the public. These  state secrets  can include  weapon  designs, military plans,  diplomatic  negotiation  tactics, and secrets obtained illicitly from others (intelligence). Most nations have some form of  Official Secrets Act  (the  Espionage Act  in the  U.S.) and classify material according to the level of protection needed (hence the term classified information). An individual needs a  security clearance  for access and other protection methods, such as keeping documents in a  safe, are stipulated. Few people dispute the desirability of keeping  Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information  secret, but many believe government secrecy to be excessive and too often employed for political purposes. Many countries have laws that attempt to limit government secrecy, such as the U.S.  Freedom of Information Act  and  sunshine laws. Government officials sometimes  leaking formation they are supposed to keep secret. Secrecy in elections is a growing issue, particularly secrecy of vote counts on computerized vote counting machines. While voting, citizens are acting in a unique sovereign or owner capacity (instead of being a subject of the laws, as is true outside of elections) in selecting their government servants. It is argued that secrecy is impermissible as against the public in the area of elections where the government gets all of its power and taxing authority. In any event, permissible secrecy varies significantly with the context involved. (Bok, 1989) Disinformation Disinformation is the false information that is spread deliberately. It sometimes called Black Propaganda. It can include the distribution or spreading of malicious rumors and fabricated intelligence. In the military agencies there is an extensive use of this technique to hide ones course of action. Disinformation is also helpful in the cases where the government needs to hide some of the details in order to keep the emotions high or to portray the issues favorably. This can be done by manipulation of the audience at the rational level by either discrediting, conflicting or supporting false conclusions. Another technique of concealing facts, or censorship, is also used if the group can affect such control. When channels of information cannot be completely closed, they can be rendered useless by filling them with disinformation, effectively lowering their signal-to-noise ratio and discrediting the opposition by association with a lot of easily-disproved false claims. To further understand the concept of disinformation can be clarified by the example that America has faced very high life losses in war against terrorism so government to avoid any opposition of war, the government officials will tell there is a high rate of death rate for enemy and no or very less soldiers have lost their lives. This is actually providing the people with emotional support that America is quite successful in war against terrorism and people will not oppose the war. In 1957 the  CIA  knew about the  Mayak accident  but the information was not released publicly because of the reluctance of the CIA to highlight a nuclear accident in the USSR, that could cause concern among people living near nuclear facilities in the USA. (Makhijani, 2008) Now this shows that governments provide sometimes wrong information to the media so that media cannot shape the issue as they want and create a distrust in the minds of the people but they try to shape up the content as they want, this is another way of influencing the people via shaping up the content in a way as government wants. Denial of access of information: Its an important technique to manage media coverage. Officials release only that information they want to be released. For instance, in 1983 when the Reagan Administration ordered troops to the Caribbean island of Grenada, the Pentagon refused to take reporters along (Purvis, 2001, p. 243). Similarly, the Bush administration and the Pentagon restricted and carefully controlled information and media access during the 1991 Gulf war, in sharp contrast to the freedom allowed the press and the coverage of Vietnam War. Woodward (1996) revealed that the restriction list was two-pages long and included a number of restrictions on information and travel (p. 174). Now adding up to the above discussion that the media shapes up the public opinion but sometimes Governments also have to use different strategies to shape up the matter as they want rather than allowing the media to shape up the matter according to themselves. Thats why governmental officials have got media handling strategies. Indirect influence Now coming towards the indirect influence as this is conducted through the media organizations actually the government sets up the agenda for the media organizations to discuss, to broadcast and to influence the public opinion. There are two ways of indirect influence which includes: Advertisements Talk shows Advertisements: Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade its viewers, readers or listeners to take some action. It usually includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume that particular brand. Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds of consumers. Different types of media can be used to deliver these messages, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, billboards or direct mail. Advertising may be placed by an advertising agency on behalf of a company or other organization. Organizations that spend money on advertising promoting items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Non-profit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement. (Oxford Journals) Public Service announcements: An advertisement broadcast on radio or television, for the public interest. They are to modify public attitudes by raising awareness about specific issues. The most common topics of PSAs are health, safety. Such advertising is generally produced and distributed on a cooperative basis by governmental agencies or nonprofit organizations acting in concert with private advertising and mass media companies. In most cases, the nonprofit provides the programming that is to be advertised, while the participating advertising agency and media companies provide creative services, media planning, and dissemination services on a pro bono basis. Some television shows featuring very special episodes made PSAs after the episodes. For example, Conrad Bain of Different Strokes spoke two PSAs after the episodes dealing with child sexual abuse and hitchhiking Now days we every day watch tv and read newspaper there are lot of advertisements from government or government institutions side which give us a message or information regarding some of the issues. For example child sexual abuse is very much high in Pakistan so there is a repetitive message via different media organizations that Dont let your child to be alone with a A very much common ad we use to see in the newspaper or TV that is from the FBR (federal board of revenue) which says that Tax is your liability you have to pay it All these kinds of ads and public service announcements are for the purpose of making the people get aware and shaping up the public opinion in a way that people starts doing the things that what government says. Talk Show A talk show is a television or radio program where one person (or group of people) will discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host. Sometimes, talk shows feature a panel of guests, usually consisting of a group of people who are learned or who have great experience in relation to whatever issue is being discussed on the show for that episode. Other times, a single guest discusses their work or area of expertise with a host or co-hosts. A call-in show takes live phone calls from callers listening at home, in their cars, etc. (wikipedia, 2009). Now to understand that how we indirectly get influence through talk shows. As we have discussed above the speeches or the press conferences as a direct source of influencing the people. Now just for a minute if we think that there is a statement by any of the government official that Pakistan is giving access to Black Water to nuclear weapon. This opens up the agenda for public and the media. Now media organizations start inviting the government officials to the talk shows and discuss the circumstances that Why Pakistan is giving access. What will they do with Pakistans nuclear weapons and lot of questions will be raised. The answers of these questions will be actually to influence the public opinion that whatever Pakistan is doing is in the large interest of the public and so on. This is how the government official indirectly influences the public opinion. In the same way the agenda can be raised up by the public or media. Again the government officials have to influence the public opinion in order to continue the government. Statements That Changed Up the Public Opinion Jan 17, 1961 President Dwight Eisenhowers stated: My fellow Americans this evening I come to you with a message of leave taking and to share few final thoughts with you my country men, we have been compelled to create a permanent arm industry of vast proportion. Three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in defense establishment. The total influence economic, political and even spiritual is felt in every city, every state house and every office of the follower government. We have recognized the imperative need for this development, yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications in councils of government we must guard against the acquisition of unwanted influence whether sort or unsort by the military industrial complex the potential for the disastrous rise of misplace power exists and will persists . (Jarecki, 2005) Iraq is a supporter of terrorist groups, inc Liberation Front, and Hamas (Why we fight) Iraq is paying $25, 000 per suicide bombing (Why we fight) CONCLUSION Now the governments heavily influence the public which has been demonstrated by different statements which shows that America brought Saddam Hussain to conquer Kuwait and after that they have used different statements against Saddam Hussain and his country and media developed an agenda upon those statements which changed the public opinion and America has to attack on Iraq. The concept is that government is the supreme power of the country and can shape up the incident as they want whether in the positive way or a negative one. We have also seen that governments keep some of the issues hidden from the public but all of these issues are intentionally kept hidden to avoid the opposition of the decision. All the above study has crystallized the topic Government Influence on Public Opinion that its true that governments do influences sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Essay -- History, Mong

The Pax Mongolica, also known as the Mongol Peace and Pax Tatarica, was brought up at the end of the time of Mongols’ conquests. Western Scholars designated the fourteenth century as the Pax Mongolica. The Pax Mongolica contributed to the development of a new global culture because the Mongol Khans pursued peaceful trade and diplomacy (220). The bubonic plague epidemic of the 1300s led to the destruction of the Mongol Empire because of the deaths it caused; also, the plague had demoralized the living and deprived the Mongol Golden Family of its primary source of support by cutting off trade and tribute (247). The unsuccessful attack of Japan and Java is what caused Khubilai Khan to realize that the transport of food through ship is cheaper and more effective than by land route. The attack also educated the Mongols about shipbuilding. The Mongols used peaceful pursuits of trade when their military efforts were unsuccessful (223). The duration of conquering time for the Mongols had ended, and now it was time for the era of peace. Instead of sending mounted warriors and fearsome siege engines, the Mongols now had humble priests, scholars, and ambassadors (220). The Mongols promoted trade along the routes across the empire and diffused shelters with supplies every twenty or thirty miles (220,221). The stations had animals and guides to give the merchants guidance through tough terrain. In the system of shares, of all the goods confiscated in war, the members of the Golden Family, each orphan and widow was designated to a share of the wealth of each part of the empire. The Mongol officials rec eived goods instead of being paid money, and they could sell or trade the goods to the market for money and other merchandise. The Pax Mongolia... ...s misused their common material interest to overcome the political fault diving them, while giving up political unity they had conserved a combined cultural and commercial empire. The connection that the Mongol Empire relied on was the quick and constant motion of people, goods, and information around the empire. In conclusion the Pax Mongolica contributed to the new global culture by promotion trade, having many technological innovations, and by influencing the aspects of the economic life. The decline of the Pax Mongolica was due to religious intolerance, the bubonic and the bubonic plague. The decline of the Pax Mongolica also caused a decline of trade. The plague had a devastating impact on many forms of the Mongolian empire, the trade routes were shut down, and the fear of getting the plague caused civilizations to be completely segregated from each other.

Quality Philosophy Evaluation Essay

Focus Paper on Quality Philosophy Evaluation Focus Paper on Quality Philosophy Evaluation Edward Deming led the quality revolution and defined it from the customer’s perspective. He argues that the customer’s definition of quality is the only one that matters (Dale & van Iwaarden, 2007). He defined quality as the extent by which the performance meets the expectations of the customer. He also argued that quality is the responsibility of management. Deming conveyed the importance of leadership in the cultivation of a culture of quality. The principles that underpin his philosophy also indicate that workers were to be trained and introduced to spirit of quality. He argued that employees should play a key role in the transformation of the organization. He proposed the 14 point philosophy of quality. 1. Create a perpetual drive towards improvement or plan for quality in the long term. 2. Embrace the new philosophy and adopt quality in the whole organization 3. Constant and perpetual improvement 4. Organizations should not rely on inspections 5. Rely on a single supplier for one item in order to ensure consistency 6. The elimination of management by objectives 7. Unclear slogans should be removed 8. The barriers which exist between departments should be broken 9. The transformation to quality should be everyone’s job 10. The removal of barriers which prevent pride of workmanship 11. The implementation of education and self improvement 12. Instill confidence and eliminate fear in job performance 13. Training should be used to remove variations 14. The organization should have quality leadership Joseph Juran Joseph Juran has also published a vast amount of literature on the topic of quality. Juran has two definitions of quality. The first defines quality as the features of products that meet the needs of the customers and which then allow for customer satisfaction (Juran, 2003). The second definition defines quality as the freedom from errors and freedom from deficiencies which necessitate the redoing of work. Juran came with a trilogy philosophy of quality management. This philosophy included: * Quality improvement-this is the process by which originations experience breakthrough in quality * Quality control-this involves the detection of the difference between actual performance and the set goals. * Quality planning-this involves developing processes and products which meet the expectations of the customer. * The above three dimensions of quality were seen as a prerogative of management by Juran. Quality control defines the standard of measure by which quality is determined. Juran saw workers as the implementers of quality. Philip Crosby Philip Crosby had a zero defects philosophy on quality management. He defined quality as being the conformance to requirements. He saw zero defects as the performance standard. He argued that everyone should do things â€Å"right the first time.† Therefore, according, to his philosophy, workers play a fundamental role in promoting quality (Oppenheim, Oppenheim & Levine, 2005). Lewis Ireland He defined quality as the totality of characteristics and features of a service or product that enable it to meet the stated or the implied needs. Lewis Ireland focused on quality in projects. In 1991, Lewis wrote Quality Management for Projects and Programs and stated the importance of integrating quality in projects (Rose, 2005). He has a project management quality philosophy. He argued that quality planning should be used to identify quality standards which are relevant for the project. Project managers have a critical role to play in managing quality. Recommendation The philosophy espoused by Edward Deming holds more water in the current competitive business environment. Deming views quality as a change management initiative which is permanently existent in the methods, systems and processes. He provides the principles which should be followed by management in order to cultivate a culture of quality. In addition, his philosophy is more comprehensive and flexible and therefore easily applied by today’s managers. References Dale, B. G., & van Iwaarden, J. (2007). Managing quality. Blackwell Publishing Juran, J. M. (2003). Juran on leadership for quality. Simon and Schuster. Oppenheim, A. J., Oppenheim, R., & Levine, D. M. (2005). Quality management (pp. 75-76). McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Rose, K. (2005). Project quality management: why, what and how. J. Ross Publishing.

Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker Essay

Companies today are designed in someway, at some level, to develop individuals either for their own sake, the company’s sake or hopefully for both. The team has become a sophisticated structure. I t is ‘finely engineered, maintained to a high standard, and when running smoothly it is highly productive’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 63). It provides an environment in which energy can be maximised towards corporate needs, which also allows the individual to satisfy his or her own needs within work, rather than only outside of it. So often seemingly dull unimaginative and uncreative employees surprise their companies when they reveal the depth of their energy outside work. However it is the ‘corporate attitudes’ (Legge, K, 1995: 104) that stifled them, and when released companies recognise they have a pool talent, a wealth of resources, at their fingertips. Empowerment has been in the ‘forefront of quality improvement efforts’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 23). Several businesses worldwide have been and still are currently closely watching quality the ability to produce superior and distinguished goods and services to meet customer needs. The commitment to quality today is very present in ‘service industries, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions’ (Mabey at el, 1998: 48). Total Quality, also known as Total Quality Management (TQM), is seen differently by different people. Empowerment has been defined in different ways. Some have claimed it is ‘a fundamentally different way of working together’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 271) and ‘quite different from the traditional notion of control’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Cole (1997) is able to define the concept of empowerment as an application to ‘none managerial roles’ such as team members. However, he argues there are several possible meanings. These can range from having ‘increased authority’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 53) and therefore their ability exercise a wider range of choices at work and to be given a more varied and interesting job in the form of job enrichment. At best empowerment increases individuals discretion over how they do their work. It may also provide additional opportunities for group problem solving on operational issues. Empowerment is seen as ways of giving people more opportunity or ‘power’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 38) to exercise control over, and have responsibility for, their work. It is intended to encourage individuals to use their abilities by enabling them to take decisions. According to Potterfield (1999), empowerment will be best defined as a way of bestowing upon employees ‘the power to use more judgment and discretion in their work and to participate more fully in decisions affecting their working lives’ (Legge, K, 1995:84). Others are more sceptical. Armstrong (1996) points out that ‘Empowerment, for example, may mean little more than giving employees the opportunity to make suggestions for change’ (Armstrong, 1996: 76). In practice, empowerment is intended to release active employee engagement only so long as it falls within the parameters for which it was selected as a strategy. In most organisations it is ‘management which defines and adjudicates and ultimately exercises control’ (Armstrong, 1996: 78). The concept of empowerment ‘is based on the belief that to be successful, organisations must harness the creativity and brain power of all the employees not just a few managers’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 3). The idea that everybody in the business has something to contribute represents a radical shift in thinking away from the old idea that managers managed and the workforce simply followed orders. The fact that empowerment does represent a radical shift in thinking explains why, in many organisations, the initiative has failed. Empowered organizations are composed of empowered persons, although it is not necessarily true that a group of empowered persons automatically creates an empowered organization. Organizations that are ‘truly empowered have moved out of the old paradigm of competition and beliefs in limitation and scarcity’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 291). The face of the contemporary workplace is drastically changing. More and more companies are realising the value of more ‘flat democratic organisational structure’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 23) over the traditional autocratic, hierarchical management styles. In contrast to empowered workplaces, disempowered workforce suffers from poor self-esteem, lack of a personal vision and a feeling of hopelessness. These ‘attitudes and beliefs form inner barriers that block growth and proactive development’ (Legge, K, 1995: 63) and manifest in the worker in the form of reluctance to accept responsibility, hesitance to communicate openly, lack of commitment and ownership and, ultimately, in below average performance. Such employees ‘become passive passengers who are more focused on having their personal needs met than on contributing fully’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 82) so that the company can grow. Because they feel afraid, uncertain and insecure, they will unconsciously sabotage new interventions and approaches. An example of this is the resistance management often experience when implementing a ‘quality management system’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 82). In this way employees become a stumbling block to progress instead of much-valued assets. In companies where managers make a concerted effort to delegate and share power and control, the ‘results are not always impressive’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 93). The reason for this is either a lack of understanding of the nature of empowerment, or a greater focus on applying a set of managerial techniques than on creating conditions that are essential for empowerment to thrive. Where empowerment does not work it is because ‘people do not think it through’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997: 83). To avoid such failures it is important to gain commitment for the senior management team, and then to cascade this down to other levels of management. The hardest group to convince about empowerment are ‘middle managers’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 92), because it is their jobs that are most likely to be affected. It is because these managers often have the most to lost that they may have a tendency to undermine or delay implementation of a new policy. The implementation of empowerment in organisations instead of the traditional hierarchies means a ‘flatter organisational structure’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 57), which can give rise to considerable resentment and individual resistance. There are, naturally, many problems that can arise in the empowerment process. Many workers may ‘resist these new responsibilities’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 23); they in fact like having their decisions made for them and will resent the extra burdens (and work). There still may be those workers who resent the implications of greater self-direction, possibly even arising from an obvious fear. There is an interesting theory underlying this reaction. Maslow has called this the Jonah Complex, ‘the fear of one’s own greatness’ (Maslow, 1971: 34). While Maslow discussed this term in a more mystical, spiritual context, it is associated as a sort of classic block to self-actualisation. Since empowerment speaks to the same sort of needs as self-actualisation, it could be drawn that there is the possibility of a collective sort of Jonah Complex at the heart of many conflicts in organizational transitions. Employees may also be ‘cynical and suspicious of this approach’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 235, Hitchcock and Willard, 1995:27) as another way to get more work out of them for less money. However allowing employees to take an active part in the change process from the very beginning, and showing them that their organization is truly changing will remove some of their wariness. There is also the danger of the ’employees feeling too empowered’ (Legge, K, 1995: 57); in feeling so independent of other facets of the organization that there might also be troubles in transitioning to teams. Empowerment supports organisational objectives at the expense of the individual worker to ‘speed up the decision making processes and reducing operational costs’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 293) by removing unnecessary layers of management such as staff functions, quality control and checking operations. In retrospect empowerment is usually advocated to ‘release the creative and innovative capacities of employees’ (Armstrong, M, 1996:386), to provide greater job satisfaction, motivation and commitment and giving people more responsibility enables employees to gain a great sense of achievement from their work therefore. The reasons for ’empowerment emerging as a concept for our time’ (Armstrong, M, 1996:385) is the need to generate energy release in employees by providing them with visionary leadership and a supporting environment and by treating them as a valuable asset to be invested in rather then as a cost despite the fact that organisatio ns are driven by profit generating, cost reduction and market pressures. Empowerment at workplace level has ‘greater justification for management in HRM terms’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994:582). Management needs to decide how much power to delegate to employees while controlling their levels of creative energies and at the same time ‘not undermining managerial prerogatives’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 582). TQM (total quality management) ‘suggests a system whereby worker empowerment is restricted very much within the boundaries set by the management’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 582). Training can provide ‘an opportunity to empower and motivate employees’ (Honold, L, 1997). Empowering workers in this small way (i.e., schedule the training sessions) during the actual implementation of the organizational change can provide workers with a small degree of control over what is essentially a change in process over which they have no control. Empowerment can be argued ‘as an objective in its own right as a means of extending worker satisfaction’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 211). This can be related to the concept of Quality of Working Life (QWL). It refers primarily to how efficiency of performance depends on job satisfaction, and how to design jobs to increase satisfaction, and therefore performance. The early psychological basis of QWL and of justifications of empowerment relating to increased worker motivation was Herzberg (1968). Herzberg developed a theory called the two-factor theory of motivation. Herzberg argued that ‘job factors could be classified as to whether they contributed primarily to satisfaction or dissatisfaction’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 64). There are conditions, which result in dissatisfaction amongst employees when they are not present. If these conditions are present, this does not necessarily motivate employees. Second there are conditions, which when present in the job, build a strong level of motivation that can result in good job performance. Management very rarely discusses the practical problems in attempting to apply empowerment through ‘quality management’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:34) therefore employee views and feelings are unheard. The argument in supporting quality management requires an increase in ‘workers skills and results in genuine employee empowerment’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:34). However, in contrast to the optimistic approach is the argument that empowerment through quality management results in the ‘increasing subordination of employees in return for little or no extra reward’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:35). Recently, empowerment has become ‘an important Human Resource Management tool’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 93) in many organisations. It has been portrayed as the ultimate tool to access unleashed potential and help leaders get the best from their people. In reality, however, organisations that are trying to empower people may be fighting an uphill battle. Managers who harbour a fear that affirmative action may jeopardise their jobs, may be more worried about keeping their jobs than about empowering others. According to Maslow (1998), people need a sense of ‘self-determination, autonomy, dignity, and responsibility’ (Legge, K, 1995: 221) to continue to function in a healthy, growth-motivated way. When placed in an environment where any or all of these qualities are removed from them and they are instead ‘forced to submit to another’s will and think and act under constant supervision’ (Legge, K, 1995: 221), their sense of esteem and self-worth is robbed from them. The implementation of empowerment can be used successfully as a HRM tool as it provides a competitive advantage ensuring ‘organisational survival’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:25) and at the same time protecting employees jobs. However, employee’s maybe compelled to work harder and more flexibly ‘for their own good’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997:25) otherwise they might be made redundant for the greater good. The aim of empowerment is to ‘enable employees to actually have to deal with problems to implement solutions quickly and without recourse to supervisors’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 71) and or higher levels of management. This is increasingly necessary as large and bureaucratic organisations ‘delayer’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 91) management hierarchies in the search for administrative efficiency and lower costs. Employee empowerment is a very important aspect when considering human resource management. The failure of employers to give employees an opportunity to participate in decisions affecting their welfare ‘may encourage union member ship’ (sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 53). It is widely believed that one reason managers begin employee involvement programs and seek to empower their employees is to ‘avoid collective action by employees’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 83). Employee empowerment offers the employers and the employees the chance to be on the same level, so to speak. Empowerment allows them to help make decisions that affect themselves, as well as, the company. Basically, through empowerment, employers and employees are in a win-win situation. The ’employees feel like they are needed and wanted, while the employers gain satisfaction through their prosperity’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997: 64). Employee empowerment can be a powerful tool. The now advanced leadership style can ‘increase efficiency and effectiveness’ inside an organization (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 13). It increases productivity and reduces overhead. Overhead expenses are those needed for carrying on a business, i.e. ‘salaries, rent, heat and advertising’ (Mabey & Salaman, 1997: 39). It gives managers the freedom to dedicate their time to more important matters. Managers can highlight the talents and efforts of all employees. The leader and organisation take advantage of the ‘shared knowledge of workers’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 64). Managers at the same time ‘develop their own job qualifications and skills attaining personal advancements’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 38). Empowered employees can make decisions and suggestions that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes ‘between companies and their customers’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 291). Empowerment of qualified employees will provide exceptional customer service in several competitive markets; therefore it will ‘improve profits through repeated business’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 76). Customers prefer to deal with employees that have the power to manage arrangements and objections by themselves, without having to frequently inquire of their supervisors (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 76). Empowerment is a strong tool that will increase ‘revenue and improve the bottom line’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 280). Empowerment is also the best way to ‘promote a good long-lasting employee-customer relationship’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998:32). Empowerment also brings benefits to employees. It makes them feel better about their inputs to the company; it promotes a greater productivity, and provides them with a ‘sense of personal and professional balance’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 91). It exercises employees’ minds to find alternative and better ways to execute their jobs, and it increases their potential for promotions and job satisfaction. It results in ‘personal growth’ (Mabey at al, 1998: 174) since the whole process enlarges their feelings of confidence and control in themselves and their companies. It is a process that makes workers utilize their full potentials. This enables them to stay behind their decisions, assume risks, participate and take actions. It is a ‘win-win situation’ (Wilkinson, A, 1998); customers benefit from sharp employees; organizations benefit from satisfied customers and sharp employees; and employees benefit from improving their confidence and self-esteems. Benefits come with changes in the organization’s culture itself. Benefits require ‘changes in management and employees’ (Mabey at al, 1998: 54). For empowerment to succeed, the ‘management pyramid’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 54) must be inverted. Old-fashioned managers must take a step back and for the first time serve their subordinates and give up control. Old-fashioned employees must also agree to changes. They could see ’empowerment as a threat’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 147), especially if they became use to the convenient old style of management structure where the ‘rules and decisions always came from above’ (Legge, K, 1995: 94). Employee involvement and participation schemes are to ‘enhance job responsibility’ (Legge, K, 1995: 24) by providing individuals with more influence over how they perform their tasks (employee empowerment). Each individual can make a personal decision on how to perform his or her task instead of being instructed on how to do so by management. When employees are involved, they have some influence on how they perform their job. This in turn is likely to ‘increase their contentment with the job’ (Mabey at al, 1998: 134), the probability that they will remain in that job and their willingness to except changes in the task that make up the job. Individual employees are more likely to be ‘effective members of the workforce’ (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998: 76) if management taps into their knowledge of the job by seeking their opinion on how the job should be performed and how it can be organised better. For employees, the greater empowerment and control given to frontline staff and to their teams has meant a great degree of freedom than ever before in controlling their own working lives (Sparrow & Marchington, 1998:166). The power that managers have, the capacity that managers have to influence the behaviour of employees and work responsibilities, must be ‘now shared with employees’ (Gennard & Judge, 1997: 73) through the creation of trust, assurance, motivation, and support for competitive needs. Work-related decisions and full control of the work is being pushed down towards the lowest operating levels (Armstrong, M, 1996: 58). Self-conducted teams have also emerged, which are groups of empowered employees with no or very little supervision. These groups are able to ‘solve work problems, make choices on schedules and operations, learn to do other employees’ jobs, and are also held accountable and responsible for the quality of their outputs’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 12) Guest (1987) argued under ‘high commitment management’ workers would be committed to management’s vision, and that management would favour individual contracts over collective agreements as a mean of furthering worker commitment and dependence, thus making unions redundant. Employees who feel they are in a stable work environment ‘will feel more secure and empowered’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 94). Advancement opportunities and rewards/incentive programs should also be implemented, as they feed into how committed and employee feels to making positive contributions and whether or not they are recognised for their efforts. Morale, too, provides a good measure of the culture of the organisation. Organisations with a ‘restrictive, secretive environment where information is tightly controlled’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 162) will have less informed less empowered employees. Organisations with a more open environment, where ideas are encouraged from all levels will have a freer flow of information, better-informed employees, and thus higher empowerment. Through the process of employee empowerment, ’employees feel more valued’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 40) because they are able to participate in the planning process and the decision making process. Empowerment gives employees the opportunity to contribute to the company’s overall success (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 40). This helps an employee feel that he/she is truly valued, rather than that they are just a back to be stepped upon by those trying to reach the top. All in all, if the employee is happy with their job, than a paying customer will see that and want to return. Empowerment allows an employee to find ‘new ways to express their creativity’ (Armstrong, M, 1996: 161). Through creativity, employees are able to make sales or transactions an unforgettable and pleasurable experience for customers, thus ensuring the customers return. Employee empowerment can have a ‘profoundly beneficial impact on the bottom line if used correctly’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 18). Empowerment allocates responsibility to an employee and creates the motivation to surpass customer expectations. In order to keep customers for life, employers must empower their employees to make their own decisions. Empowerment gives ’employees the opportunity to make decisions and suggestions’ (Cole, G, A, 1997: 39) that will down the line improve service and support, saving money, time and disputes between companies and their customers. Empowerment is an aspect, which must be considered in ‘negotiating an effective team contract’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 69) .The team must be empowered to seek and find information across the existing management structures. The communication aspect of empowerment means that the team must be clearly shown where their work adds value to the company, where their effects will show results and where their work fits in with the company’s objectives. ‘Organizations wishing to instil a culture of empowerment must find a way of establishing systems and processes that do not restrict employees. By concentrating on what behaviour is considered optimal for the employees and what they do well, management can adapt, develop and change the organizational structure to produce the sought after behaviour’ (Erstad, M, 1997). Culture changed programmes are ‘commonly promoted’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 132) to increase the power of the worker, through empowerment. However, critics have argued empowerment is a means of increasing work intensity and gaining greater managerial control over labour (Brambell, 1995, Legge, 1989). Conclusion Work place attitudes such as ‘praising teams for success and punishing teams for failure are inherent in our society’ (Mabey et al, 1998: 32) where winning and survival have become synonymous. Businesses are installing empowerment into their organisations to ‘give people more responsibility and asking them to test the corporate boundary limits’ (Graham & Bennett, 1995: 91). A t the same time, organisations are asking staff to be more entrepreneurial, and take more risks. It can be argued employees who empower themselves can be called troublemakers and those who take entrepreneurial risks and fail are referred to as failures. The business ethic which condemns failure as a bad thing is going to ‘restrict its best people’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 12), force them to avoid taking risks that may one day be beneficial and will prevent the team experiencing the excitement of the empowerment which is vital to motivation and team dynamics. The advantages gained through empowerment are numerous. Employee empowerment allows an organization to unleash the vital, untapped forces of employee creativity and motivation to solve business problems (Legge, K, 1995: 50). Empowering employee also allows them to make decisions on the spot. This is very important when you work in an industry where you work directly with a paying customer. When employees are empowered, the employer enables them to offer full service to their clients and protect them from the competition. ‘The rewards of empowerment outweigh the risks of losing the employees themselves’ (Spencer & Pruss, 1992: 203). The retail industry is a perfect example. Managers are ‘learning to give up control’ and employees are learning how to be responsible for the actions and decisions (Cole, G, A, 1997: 34). It is fundamental that management shares information, creates autonomy and feedback, and trains and creates self-directed teams for empowerment to work properly. Managers often prefer not to ‘communicate with employees, and not to share some extremely important information’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 247) with them, but an effective leader must have no hidden agendas. They must treat employees as ‘stakeholders for the road of success’ (Beardwell & Holden, 1994: 247). Employees must have a clear vision of success, because if they are not aware of what success means to the company and where the company is heading, there is no way they can feel empowered to help accomplish this success. ‘Empowerment is not something, which can be passed over from management to employees as a pen is handed from one person to another. It is a complex process, which requires a clear vision, a learning environment both for management and employees, and participation and implementation tools and techniques in order to be successful’ (Erstad, M, 1997). 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