Problems and Prospects of Theatre Entrepreneurship Essay Example for Free

Problems and Prospects of Theatre Entrepreneurship Essay Taiwo Okunola (Department of Theatre Film Arts, University of Jos, Nigeria) Abstract The business of theatre management is business of management. It is a culmination of the directive principles, canons and protocols governing theatre and management together to form a formidable team which thus makes a theatre entrepreneur. Being a theatre entrepreneur in Nigeria entails many dilemmas, challenges and hurdles. Thus, this paper seeks to address the problems and prospects facing theatre entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Introduction Theatre management that requires a diligent entrepreneur to handle is a necessarily and inevitable aspect of the theatre. For instance, Innocent Ohiri in his article elaborately outlined the role of the theatre carried out by the theatre entrepreneur in this depressed economy. The management function of the manager becomes inevitable if the theatre is to be sustained and vibrant in this 21st century. However, theatre management or theatre entrepreneurship involve two principal words that needs to be broken down in order to really vista the concept in ditto. Zulu Sofola, one of the progenitors of the Nigerian theatre considers theatre as a medium of artistic expression where societal happenings are mirrored in a dynamic, living form. A metaphorical image of reality, it reflects the total cosmic, moral and metaphysical order of the life of the people. It is an arena where human beings are presented in a cosmic totality, acting and reacting to forces around them and within them, perceiving and being perceived by those interacting with them, and by those in the audience who experience with them the enigma that is the common lot of humanity.

Nissan Change Implementation

Nissan Change Implementation In todays rapidly challenging business environment, it is readily acknowledged that it is necessary for organisation to make changes in order to stay competitive. Change management is vital in an organisation as it act as a way to ensure that business is moving in the right decision which indeed requires proper handling as it relates to human involvement. Many researchers argued that implementation is not solely the end point of a process of formulation but rather the interaction of many interactive and discontinuous factors i.e. management decision processes, environmental and business sector characteristics (Wilson, 1992:49). Before implementing a change, a lot of planning is required to ensure all the aspects of a particular problem are properly identified to avoid uncertainties and ambiguities. Thus, in order for management to have positive consequences, it is vital to identify and analyse the overall impact of the change programme i.e. organisation structure, employees attitude, beliefs and behaviours. The aim of this report is to discuss and evaluate the factors affecting the implementation of change in Nissan Motor Company (Nissan). Background of Nissan Due to huge debt, Nissan built alliances with Renault S.A. (Renault) to ensure the survival of the business. The said alliances benefited both parties in terms of market penetration and capabilities. As a result from the said alliance, Renault obtained an equity stake of over 36% in Nissan and its leader, Carlos Ghosn was appointed as the key person in charge for the implementation of the change. During the transition change, Ghosn met will all the employees from different departments to discuss on the current state of Nissan and the way to move forward. Thereafter, a radical or transformational change plan was implemented in order to ensure the success of the business in terms of profitability. Based on Beers model of effective change strategies, Nissan adopted the combined strategy of Theory Economic (E) and Organisation Development (OD) (Beer and Nohria, 2000). This is supported by Eriksson and Sundgren (2005) conclusion that both theory E and OD should coexist as the success for a change relies in the interface between the two strategies. In Nissan, the application of the E strategy is seen from the implementation of aggressive cost-cutting plan through downsizing, lay-offs and restructuring that is related to the its performance while in terms of OD, it involves the change in having English as the medium of communication in the organisation, setting up of the nine cross-functional teams for generation of ideas and culture change within the organisation which mainly touched on the Human Resource practices that overall leads in creating the capability to sustain competitive advantage. With the said changes in place, Nissan has managed to revive its business to compete in the market and at the present moment is one of the leading automakers in the industry. The implementation of change in Nissan Much literate suggest that implementing change is not an easy process. Although the change is foresee as an advantage to the organisation, there will always be mental rejection from the humans included in the process. Therefore, implementation of change needs to be handled sensitively with a structured approach to ensure the success transition from current to future state. In terms of Nissans implementation, it is classified under the blue print change (Hayes, 2010:427) as the final result is known i.e. Nissan to be profitability and be one of the top auto producers in the industry which Ghosn was able to formulate a clear plan of action in achieving the said vision. Factors affecting the implementation of change in Nissan Organisations readiness for change Readiness for change is believed as one of the key factors leading to a successful implementation of change. It was noted that one half of all unsuccessful organisation change efforts failed due to lack of readiness for change (Kotter, 2007). Refreeze Move Unfreeze Figure 1: Lewins three step change process Drawing on Lewins three step stage model of change, it clearly explains the importance of successful implementation of change by unfreezing the current situation followed by adaptation of the current changes which leads to new behaviour and norm (Hayes, 2010:29). The unfreezing stage creates a situation for readiness for change through motivation in terms of the companys clear vision which is seen attainable in the future that consequently increase the employees level of confidence in accepting to the need for change. Once the alliance took place, Nissan minimises barriers to change by maximising the opportunities of a change effort which are accentuated in the unfreezing process. All changes have been well planned in a short span of time. Meanwhile in the moving stage, change has been recognised and acceptance of change has taken place in the workforce. As everyone in Nissan is aware on the urgency for a change, it has automatically built a powerful coalition between management and employees. Beer et al. (1990) highlights the importance of coordination and teamwork especially for companies acting the change process in relation to cost, quality and product development opportunities. Self and Schraeder (2008) conclude that positive perception to a change is due to the visibility of support and commitment while the negative perception is due to visible lack of support or inconsistent behaviours of the management. Due to the positive acceptance in Nissan, Ghosn has managed to restore and reinforce th e new changes in the company in the refreezing step. Based on Kotters 8 step change model, the success of the transformational effort depends on the right action at each stage. Establishing a sense of urgency is very important step as it defines the current state of the company. It was argued that the need for change will only occur until a clear and present danger is recognise which need something to be done in ensuring the viability of the company (Self and Schraeder, 2008). Not only management demonstrate the need for change but must also provide indication that the requirement of a change is the right decision made for the company (Self and Schraeder, 2008). Readiness of change is a key to ensure a successful implementation process of change as when the level of readiness is high, employees are likely to initiate change with greater effort by displaying more cooperative behaviour that will result to more effective implementation. Nissan was in bad shape before the alliance exercise due to its financial position and needed a solid strategy to ensure the viability of the business. Hence, the sense of urgency has been established at the highest priority with the support from the management. Kotter (2007) indicate that to ensure the success of the change, it is important to obtain 75% of the companys management in supporting the change effort or otherwise the transformation process could not succeed and the long term future of the company is in jeopardy. As there is a sense of urgency for change, a leader must promote change by creating vision (Kavanagh and Ashkanasy, 2006). Kotter (2007) highlights the importance of a clear vision as it is needed in guiding people through a major change which leads to a reduction of error rate that determine the success or failure of the implementation. It is argued that vision is not based on originality but on how well it serve the interest of important constituencies such as employees and stakeholder (Kotter, 2001). Therefore, a vision needs to be clearly defined with development of strategies in order to direct the change effort. The said vision will assist employees to understand the reason for the change. According to Kotter (2001), aligning people to a shared vision by communicating the new direction will help in creating coalitions which consequently draw the importance of the vision by committing to achievement. Kotter (2007) indicate that by not having a sensible vision, it will dissolve t he transformation effort as it creates confusion that leads the company moving in a wrong direction. This is supported by Kotters (2007) finding that most companies have sense of direction but it is to complication to be useful and consequently result to a failure in managing change. For Nissan, the main vision for the alliance exercise is to turnaround the company from a loss to profitable business while maintaining the companys identity and self esteem of its employees (Ghosn, 2002). The vision is clearly stated which is align with Kotters (2007) suggestion on the important of a vision. Organisation culture Many researchers highlight that culture is one of the important key aspects to be considered for the implementation of change. According to Smith (2003), culture in an organisation is not only related on how things are done but the set of values, beliefs, customs and systems that are build uniquely in the organisation which differentiate one with another. To change the culture in an organisation is not an easy tasks as usually employees are comfortable with the job and organisation and as a result they are resistant to change. Burnes (1992:291) suggests that in approaching cultural change, a more considered and organisation specific approach should be adopted. For a company to implement a change, comparison between strategic significance (the importance of the companys future) of the cultural resistance needed to be analyse to ensure the success of the implementation change process (Schwartz and Davis, 1981). The process relies heavily on managerial judgment as decision are made with degree of certainty whether to ignore, manage and maintain the existing culture to fit he change environment. Hence, steps are taken to identify the degree of cultural risk involved in the change process that overall has an impact to the companys culture and vice versa. Nissan is a company based in Japan with strong build culture in the organisation. It was difficult for the employees to accept the changes particularly in reward and progression system i.e. from seniority to performance based. It is the culture of Nissan to ensure that all employees have a lifelong career in the company which certainly create the culture of complacency that impacted Nissans competitiveness. Meanwhile, another culture problem faced was the organisations inability to accept responsibilities of which having a culture of blame. Ghosn has observed that all the said factors have contributed to Nissans performance which requires a radical change process. It is noted that Nissan adopted Schwartz and Davis suggestion as mention above wherein the companys culture was change ultimately to ensure the success of the change implementation. During the change process, employees were given a period of one year to change their attitude and to adapt to the changes accordingly. The chan ges implemented have affected the employees work orientation in terms of resistance to change as it was foresee that their particular job was at risk. The impact of resistance to change has been aversely discussed and many researchers highlight that it is the most significant threat to the success of implementation to change (Lines, 2004; Self and Schraeder, 2009). The expectancy theory clearly indicates that individual consciously choose course of action based upon perceptions, attitudes and belief which result to desires in enhancing pleasure and avoiding pain (Hayes, 2010:195). In order to avoid this to happen, awareness for changes need to be communicated to the employees through a clear vision and well defined strategy to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation process. Kavanagh and Ashkanasy (2006) suggest that particularly for culture change, active engagement of the top management is required to ensure the effectiveness of the change. Management plays a vital role in supporting the change as they set as a leader whereby employees will adhere to the changes faster. This can be effectively done by showing the implication of the change to the organisation in terms of profits, productivity or quality work life. For the case of Nissan, a clear focus on the companys priorities and plan and successfully executed accordingly with the backup of a good leader. Transparency was built as a new culture in the organisation as it allows others to provide ideas rather than only top management. This as a result leads to a consistency between how the organisation operates in thinking and doing its daily operations. Level of communication Another important aspect in implementation change is communication as it has an important impact to the success or failure of a change programme. It plays a vital role in the change process as it allows leaders to create a shared sense of direction, establish priorities, reduce disorder and uncertainty as well as facilitating learning (Hayes, 2010:177). In having a good communication, leaders need to ensure that all communication channels will provide information sharing that allows accurate absorption of relevant information by employees. Employees need to be constantly aware on the changes as they contribute to the success of the implementation of change. Meanwhile leaders on the other hand should continuously collect feedback by interacting with employees as well. As a result, organisation will look forward for a successful outcome in the change implementation. Clampitt et al. (2000) indicate that communication strategy has a huge impact on how events will be remembered which in turn shapes employees response. The environment for communication should be open and supportive to enable employees in sharing their concerns, frustration and need without fear of revenge which will lead in building the credibility of the company for a better implementation process (Self and Schraeder, 2008). Meanwhile Abrahamson (2000) suggest that dynamic stability plays a vital role in communicating change implementation as it suggest carrying change by involving elements within an organisation by engaging employees gradually. It aligns the overall concept of change as employees are aware on the proposed changes while management collects feedback by interacting with employees. The application of dynamic stability will allow organisation for a successful outcome in change implementation. When the change process took place, Nissan adopted underscore and explore communication strategy wherein the message was conveyed to all level of employees all across the company in order to get employees aligned with companys goals. This is supported by Clampitt (2000) findings which indicate underscore and explore is the most effective communication wherein it combines two strategies together i.e. tell and sell strategy; and identify and reply that allows managers to shape the change outline and allow reaction from the concerns of employees. Ghosn reiterate that the success of the company relies on the employees and as a team all employees should work hard in aiming to achieve the targeted goals. Despite pouring all the information, Nissan listens to the employees concerns and in fact created a new way of communicating through email. The said method reduces ambiguity and provides a clear picture on how the change will develop a better future for Nissan. Employees are likely to acce pt the pain of change if it clearly shows how their contribution affects the future gains. It is a norm that people expect something in return for the sacrifices made in the foreseeable future. Moreover, Kotter (2007) points out the effect of communication both in words and behaviour are the most powerful form which nothing undermines change more than behaviour by individuals that in consistent with their words. Role of leadership Kotter (2007) indicate that by definition, change requires creating a new system which sequentially always demands leadership. The role of leadership in change management includes creating a vision, aligning relationship around the vision and inspiring others to achieve the vision (Hayes, 2009: 117). In implementing change, a leader plays a key role in shaping the success of the change process which is in line with Beer et al. (1990) suggestion on the role of a leader in mobilising the initial commitment as a step to begin for the change process. Evidence from literature indicates leaders role in the change process wherein it have an impact to the success of change through the linkage between both leader and follower behaviour (Higgs and Rowland, 2005). Ghosn is considered as a transformational leader as he brought changes in the company and the effect of the changes is sustained under his leadership style. Studies have indicated that transformational leaders are able to realign the employees values and norms by promoting both personal and organisational changes which indeed enhance employees ability to accept change (Kavanagh and Ashkanasy, 2006). Ghosn leadership is not based on the Japanese style but rather applying the multicultural experience that enables him to embrace culture differences and building on them. This is considered one best way to manage change as studies have found that a flexible, loosely applied culture based on some diversity and possibly involving the existence of number of subcultures is prove more effective (Kavanagh and Ashkanasy, 2006). For a change to take place, leaders need to convince people on the necessary of the change which usually need a strong leadership and visible support from the management. Kotter (2007) indicate that managing the change is not enough, as leaders have to lead the direction in ensuring the implementation of the change. One of the changes made from the alliance exercise was the implementation of a new management style by setting up a nine cross functional team which the main objective is to achieve the goal for Nissan Revival Plan and business commitments. With the new management style, teams are given three months to review their operations and come up with recommendations for profitability and growth. As a result, it brought employees into a new organisation context through new roles and responsibilities that consequently create a situation that forces new attitudes and behaviour on employees in accepting the need for change which is supported by Beer et al. (1990) as the most efficient way in changing behaviour. Based on findings, it is noted that most successful cases in change relies on powerful coalition in the company (Kotter, 2007) as it is influence by the nature of work environment and organisational culture of which leaders could affect the employees attitudes in working towards change and motivation (Kavanagh and Ashkanasy, 2006). The new functional team have allowed employees to think in a different perspective which leads to the mechanism in explaining the necessity for change across the entire company. Ghosn as a leader incorporate the values of team work in Nissan to ensure all employees are dedicated to the shared vision in building urgency and momentum around the need for change. The requirement of more coordination and teamwork between functions and business units is identified as one of the key factors in implementing a change which is supported by research findings where there is linkage between leadership behaviours to the activities involved in implementing change (Higgs and Rowland, 2005). Proper planning and coordination for the change Literature indicates that successful implementation of change is a difficult goal (Higgs and Rowland, 2005) and often flounders because of improperly framed by management. Finding from a survey with organisations indicate that 66% has agreed that one contributing factor for the implementation problems is ineffective coordination of implementation activities (Alexander, 1985). Leaders have a very important role in the selection and planning of a suitable management approaches as proper planning needs to be carefully identified to ensure a strong foundation which leads to an easier process of implementing change. Goodman and Rousseau (2004) indicate that time is key factor in organisational change but it is always neglected due to performance driven results. It takes time for ensuring a success of change as rushing and expecting too many outcomes will lead to failure. It is agreed that organisation is more effective when components such as structure, technology, systems and people are aligned with each other and when there is a good fit between the organisation and the environment (Hayes, 2010:305). In implementing change, action taken for the change should be identified to determine the flow of changes to ensure the outcome of the change process. Goodman and Rousseau (2004) suggest that it will help organisation to understand the lag between change and results by paying attention to feedback cycles which allows identification on mistakes as well as recommendation action for improvement. Planning should not only include the aspect of the results but to also determine the obstacles for the change to materialise. Goodman and Rousseau (2004) suggest that change intervention allows the increase of knowledge sharing for a better result performance where it reduces time for a given engagement that will result to faster outcome on the result. It is noted that knowledge system is widely used due to its beneficial functions such as positive feedback on a change as it improves in performance. However, it is argued that knowledge exist in the organisation but is not properly used that affects the coordination of the implementation process. For Nissan, the company has indentified the main problem of the company and tried to apply a new set of actions in a different manner which in line with the double loop learning process. Argyris (2002) indicate that double loop learning take place when errors are corrected through exploring the possibility in doing things differently. Information sharing will increase the knowledge of the employees which can be adapted through a learning process that allows a collective ability to act more effectively in an organisation (Hayes:2010: 322). Moreover, creating a new learning experience will allow companies to build its competencies as it is related to detection and correction of errors (Argyris, 2002) which is associated with continuous improvement. Hayes (2010:308) indicated that most literature in organisational learning focuses on the acquisition of knowledge, the recognition of its potential and its application to improve organisational performance. Based on Nissan case, it is summarise that the key to implementing change is a continuous improvement built in terms of information between people and processes, combination both business and human dimension towards shared objectives. Despite identifying the need of organisational learning, it is feasible for companies to plan a systematic training approach within the organisation as change is related to individual change. Change will need employees to think and behave in a different way and it is vital for organisation to provide the knowledge and skills to ensure the success of the change. Hayes (2010:350) indicates that training and development enables company to align between competencies of the employees and leaders as well as the task and structure of the system. Conclusion Managing change successfully has never been an easy task and can neither be problem free. Buchanan et al. (2005) summarised the related factors influencing the nature and outcome of change are such as individual, group, organisational, social and political. Therefore before any change takes place, it is important for a leader to properly analyse the implementation of the organisational change in order to determine the extent for the change that will benefit both organisational performance and employees. From the Nissan case, it was observed that one of the main lessons learn from the implementation of change process is the clear focus set by Ghosn wherein a clear plan is executed based on priorities. Ghosn brought in clear vision by altering the core organisational process with the nine cross functional team. Moreover, factors such as having a high urgency level for the need to change and a strong guiding and powerful coalition has managed Nissan to motivate the employees while creating an environment that accept change and subsequently sustaining the companys competitiveness. Based on the Nissan performance after the alliance exercise, it is concluded that the company is able to sustain its change due to these aspects of organisational readiness; fit with the competitive strategy, managerial values and internal power distribution and the values and power of key stakeholders (Buchanan et al., 2005).

Sociological Imagination Essay examples -- Sociology

To understand the term `Sociological Imagination', it is important to identify what Sociology is and what do sociologists study. It is also vital to look at the three basic concerns of the sociological imagination or perspective, which include Social Structure, Social Institutions and Social Processes. Moreover, it is necessary to understand what C. Wright Mills means when he mentions "the personal troubles of milieu" and "the public issues of social structure", and how it helps us to understand the society in which we live in. What is `Sociological Imagination'? To answer this question a person must first know what Sociology is. Sargent (1994) states that "There is no short answer... however, we can come to understand the nature of Sociology." It may be explained as the study of society. R.Van Kraken et all (2000) explains it in a more complex sense as "the description and analysis of the social forces that shape human behavior in contemporary social life." Sociological imagination is central to the study of society because it allows many of the perso...

Mental Disorders Essay -- science

Mental Disorders The term mental disorder means psycological and behavioral syndromes that deviate signicantly from those typical of human beings enjoying good mental health. All that mumbo jumbo means that a person with a mental disorder was a few cards short of a full deck. This is probably not the persons fault that they are like this they were just born this way. These people are not all a like. They are not even in exact classes because all of the classes have not been seperated yet. In most cases a normal person that has no disorders is afraid of these type of people. This is because they do not want to turn out the way these people are. A common example of a mental disorder is down syndrome. There was a television program in the early 90's that featured a boy that had to live with this terrifying disorder. This show was very inspirational for all people with disorders. The boy's name was Corky who fought all aspects of the disorder. Them being from physical triumphs to just everyday kids harrassing him at school. The show was taken off the air in 1993 because of sponsers. Records of types of disorders are unknown along with many of other records of treatments to people inflicted with a disorder. This is mainly because in the early 1900's people thought that people with disorders were just stupid and they did not investigate further into the matter. The quanity of people that have a disorder is unknown. There is an estimated guess that 15% of the U.S. population has some sort of disorder but that is not factual. This is because the survey people only can estimate from the people who check theirselves into a institution, the ones who do so make up 3% of the 15% estimation. The U.S. in 1990 spent an estimated 148 billion on treating mental diorders. Childhood Disorders Several Mental disorders are evident first in infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Mental retardation is characterized by the inability to learn normally and to become as an independent and socially responsible as others of the same age in the same culture. A retarded person go through a lot of emotional problems because of the society making fun of these people. A retarded person has an IQ of less than 70. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder includes conditions marked by inappropiate lack of attention, by impulsiveness, and by hyperactivity, in which the child ... ...son go through a lot of emotional problems because of the society making fun of these people. A retarded person has an IQ of less than 70. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder includes conditions marked by inappropiate lack of attention, by impulsiveness, and by hyperactivity, in which the child has difficulty organizing and completing work, is unable to stick to activities or follow directions, and is excessively restless. Anxiety disorder include fear of leaving home and parents, excessive shrinking from contact with strangers, and excessive, unfocused worrying and fearful behavior. Persuasive developement disorders are characterized by distortions in several psychological functions, such as attention, perception, reality testing, and motor movement. An example is infantile autism, a condition marked by unresponsiveness to other people, bizarre responses, and gross inability to communicate to the others in the world. Paranoid Disorder The central feature of the paranoid disorders in a persons dilusion, for instance that he or she is being persecuted or conspored against. In other form, the dilusion consists of unreasonsably jealousy. the person maybe r

Reseach on Performance Work Systems in Local Councils the Case of Harare City Council in Zimbabwe Essay

1.0 Introduction This chapter forms the basis of the study on the assessment on the role of high performance work systems have on Harare city council workers for effective and efficiency service delivery. This paper is going to provide a background of the study stating the problem, purpose and importance of the study. To add to the above, the objective, anticipated constraints and research questions, including literature review and research methodology are going to be highlighted. 1.1 Background of the study Performance has been a widely researched subject by most social scientist and industrial psychologist in an attempt to establish what motivates people to do what they do, and why they do it. An organisational performance has always been an issue for managers, as it is believed that satisfied workers tend to be more productive, creative and committed to their jobs. There is therefore need to establish whether high performance work systems are what bring satisfactory performance or there are other factors. High performance work systems is a complex and multifaceted concept, which can mean different things to different people. However, the researcher in this study attempted to establish the role of high performance systems, whether it brings positive or negative results with particular attention at Harare City Council. 1.2 Statement of the problem The dilemma at hand is that the Harare city council workers are said to be hindering the performance circles of which are of particular appeal to affect the residents. The council provide services to the residents which are not helpful but only distract them from developing their communities in the proper manner they desire. This is happening due to the failure by the council to carry out good research on its performance since today employees are expected to work in teams rather than solely on their own. They are expected to keep learning new skills and to assume broader roles through the employment security, selective hiring of new personnel, self-managed teams and decentralization of decision making as the basic principles of organizational design, comparatively high compensation contingent on organizational performance, extensive training, reduced status distinctions and barriers including dress, language office arrangements, and wage differences across levels, extensive sharing o f financial and performance information throughout the organisation. 1.3 Objectives of the study 1 To investigate and establish the role of high performance work systems in relation to organisational performance as this affects the service delivery. 2 To establish what causes poor performance and service delivery in the organisation. 3 To find out ways of maintaining and improving staff loyalty, motivation and performance. 4 To recommend on changes to improve council performance and staff welfare policy. 1.4 Significance of the study As a researcher it is of paramount importance to conduct a study on the role of high performance work systems by the local authority. One can easily notice that it is important to carry out this research as it: The research findings of this research were also intended to assist management in addressing concerns and expectations of staff in order to harness their full contribution and effort to the benefit of the organization. The organization would then use the research findings to redesign its human resources policies towards the workers welfare and provide the answers to the questions presented on the sub problems of the research problem. Employees could use the research as a platform to express their concerns and desires to management, which they would not probably get, and also use it as a reference point to those who would intend to do their own researches. 1.5 Literature review Review of related literature is the most important part of research. It refers to the systematic exploration of issues related to the one’s research which has been treated to date by various authors and authorities. According to the high performance work systems Assessment, â€Å"by social impacts we mean the consequences to human populations of any public or private actions that alter the ways in which people live, work, play, relate to one another, organise to meet their needs and generally cope as members of society.† The concept of high performance work systems and organisational performance High performance work systems have been defined as a distinctive managerial approach that enables high performance through people. (1987). High performance work systems are somewhat not quite the same as motivation, but the two are closely linked. Many thoughts and views have been developed to define performance at work but much of it explains one’s reaction, feelings and emotions towards the accomplishment of organisational goals. Many research studies were however founded to explain how people react in the manner they do in their jobs. Various factors have been associated with one’s performance. These factors include: * The level of pay and benefits, * The perceived fairness of the promotion system within a company, * The quality of the working conditions, * Leadership and social relationships * The job itself. Different models were developed to account for the attitudes that people develop at various situations. The following models of job satisfaction shall be discussed to aid the understanding of high performance work systems at work. Classical theories of Maslow (1943), Herzberg (1968) and Vroom in relation to high performance work systems have been the basis of the modern day studies. Abram Maslow proposed a hierarchical theory of five needs, which gained popularity over the years and formed a basis for management studies to human motivation at work. Having been simplified by Clayton Alderfer made a fine-tuning to the hierarchical explanations of human needs to that of three levels. Abbreviated to ERG, (Existence, Relatedness and Growth), Existence needs constituted Maslow’s physiological and safety needs, and Relatedness included internal esteem and social needs and lastly, the Growth stage was made up of self actualisation and external esteem needs. The Wikipedia encyclopaedia cited various models of which can help to explain high performance work systems that were written to by different authors as follows: * The two-factor theory * The job characteristics model * The fulfilment theory * The equity theory These models shall be discussed below to aid the research to find the basis of high performance work systems in the workplace. Theories of Employee Motivation for performance The two-factor theory This theory also known as the motivator-hygiene theory is the work of Fredrick Herzberg (1968). The theory is on the premise that employee satisfaction has two dimensions namely â€Å"hygiene† and â€Å"motivation†. (Agarwal.1983). According to Herzberg, Hygiene factors include those aspects such as company policies, supervision, salary, interpersonal relations and working conditions. Motivators include those aspects that satisfy people such as achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. The model was criticised by researchers who failed to empirically measure of satisfaction as being a methodological artefact. (Wikipedia encyclopaedia). High performance work systems characteristics Model The model was proposed by Hackman and Oldham (1976), which states that there are five core job characteristics, which impact three critical psychological states. The five core job characteristics include: * Skill variety: employees use a variety of skills to complete their jobs, skills that have been acquired by long years of study and/ or experience and are the primary reason for their employment and work allocation in a business organisation * Task identity: involvement of the employee in all steps of the job, thus providing identification with the task. * Task significance: The significance of the job being properly executed to the well being of the organisation. * Autonomy: The freedom to do the job with responsibility and by oneself. * Feedback: The provision of feedback providing information about the excellence of performance of the job. The three psychological states include: * Experienced meaningfulness, * Experienced responsibility for outcomes, and * Knowledge of the actual results. The Fulfilment theory According to Agarwal (1983), fulfilment theory regard satisfaction as resulting from outcomes (rewards) a person receives or the extents to which a person’s needs are satisfied. The difficulty with the fulfilment approach is that satisfaction is a function of not only what a person receives but also what he feels he should receive and/or wants to receive. People have different expectations and what satisfies one may dissatisfy another. Equity Theory According to literature by Agarwal (1983), a person’s satisfaction is determined by his perceived equity. Received equity is, in turn, determined by his input-output balance as compared to his comparison others’ input-output balance. Input-output balance is a perceived ratio of what a person receives from his job relative to what he put in the job. According to the equity theory, either under reward or over reward can lead to dissatisfaction although the feeling associated with them are different. As illustrated by the following diagram the comparison may result in one feeling unfairly treated when outcome received appears lower than others or feels guilty when received more than others. The equity theory A Perceived outcomes actually received A = B Satisfaction A < B Dissatisfaction A > B Guilty and discomfort Perceived personal input B Perceived personal outcome that should be received Perceived outcome of comparison others Perceived input of comparison others Fig 1.Equity Theory (Agarwal 1983) Determinants of high performance work systems Agarwal (1983) says that there are various factors that determine performance. These are discussed below. Employee Supervision As with Herzberg hygiene factors, supervision is critical to provide leadership to employees’ performance. A good leader is one who establishes trust from his followers and promotes feedback. He knows how to treat employees at different situations. Research has shown that low performance and low productivity occurs when a supervisor is a laissez faire type of leader. Agarwal (1983). Research has also discovered that those people’s reason to seek employment is to get paid (money) though not a motivator but they desire to be paid fairly. Management must always ensure consult for salaries and benefits to see whether their employees match the market. (Putting Theory Into Practice, October 1999 publication) The work group in relation to employee performance Employees need to socialise with others to create an environment of belongingness, develop a sense of camaraderie and teamwork. Social interaction creates organisational performance though depending on their affiliation. Inappropriate behaviour should not be encouraged though because of influences, but strong reprimands should be exercised. (Putting Theory Into Practice, October 1999 publication) Job content in relation to high performance work systems Employees need to feel that the work or task they are doing is of great importance to the company. Their contributions result in positive outcomes. It is therefore essential for management to recognise as an important a task to the overall achievement of the organizational goals. Agarwal cited Herzberg, Mauner and Suyderman as holding a view that job content factors such as achievement, recognition, advancement, responsibility and the work itself tend to provide satisfaction but their absence such as supervision, working condition, company policies and salary tend to produce dissatisfaction but their presence does not produce satisfaction. Age in relation to performance According to Agarwal (1983), some research works have reported a positive correlation between age and performance. Older workers tend to be more satisfied with their jobs than their younger counterparts because older workers are said to have adjusted to their jobs while young workers still have ambitions and need for advancement. Job Satisfaction and performance The analysis of results from the work of Herzberg et al, on twenty-six studies focusing on the relationship between job satisfaction and performance, fourteen of these showed that workers with positive job attitudes had higher performance than those with negative attitudes. Nine studies have shown that job attitudes and performance were not related, and in three studies, workers with positive attitudes had poorer performance records than those with negative attitudes. Lawler, 1977 and Porter, 1961, hold the view that it is productivity that leads to satisfaction and not the vice versa. Performance leads to rewards and if these rewards are considered to be equitable in relation to the perception of the worker of the rewards of his referent others and his perceptions of what he should receive, he will experience satisfaction. The following is the illustrative diagram. Model of performance leading to satisfaction Perceived equity of rewards in relation to referent others Performance Reward intrinsic & extrinsic Satisfaction Perception of how much he should receive Fig 2.Source: Agarwal 1983: Model of performance leading to satisfaction Adapted from Lawler III & Porter â€Å"The effect of Performance on job satisfaction†, Human relations, October, 1967 P23 1.5 Justification of the study The area of discussion is worth studying because it aims at alerting the management of the Harare City Council how their service provision are being hindered by the employee performance, thus organisational performance is affected as well. As such the research is vital as it will help in gathering or adding information on the importance of high performance work systems being as well as its importance to the Ministry of local government urban and rural development. The Minister will be able to see if there are any amendments which need to be done and if there are any gaps left which need to be filled. Furthermore the research will see the researcher attain the ultimate goal for a Bachelor of science Honours degree in Local Governance Studies 1.6 Research Methodology Various techniques will be exploited to achieve the proposed objectives of the study. Haralambos (1995:36) asserts that: Any academic subject requires methodology to reach its Conclusions, it must have ways of producing and analysing Data so that theories can be tested, accepted or rejected without a systematic way of producing knowledge the findings can be dismissed. The researcher is going to use both quantitative and qualitative techniques to come up with conclusions as both techniques can be used to complement each other as well as questionnaires. According to wordiq.com (2011), quantitative research is the numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining the phenomena that those observations reflect. It is bent on developing and employing mathematical models. On the other hand, Qualitative research is a method of inquiry appropriated in any different disciplines. It means a non numerical data collection or explanation based on the attributes of the source of data. Qualitative research is used to gain insight into people’s behaviour, attitudes, value systems, motivations concerns, aspirations, culture or lifestyles. Christensen (1994) expressed that a sample makes a better study. Leedy (1993) agreed with the same idea saying that, â€Å"the larger the sample the better.† I wil l select the people that are going to give relevant information to this study for example the most affected people and the possible problem solvers. 1.7 Research Tools (a) Interviews (Group The researcher intends to use interviews as a research technique. Gray et al (2007) allude that the best data gathering technique for survey research is the interview. These interviews will be done in groups so as to save time. (b) Observation The researcher will use observation in tackling the research problem. The rationale for using this technique is that the researcher intends to learn about the sensitive issues that participants might be unwilling to disclose or talk about with regards to the research. (c) Analysis of secondary sources The researcher will make use of other researchers that have been studied in relation to the field under study. This will be done in order to weigh the impacts that the previous researchers have had. Target Population The study will be focussing on the Harare City Council employees. Anticipated constrains Wikipedia (2011:4) notes that any limit or restriction given for the design process is called a constraint. The study is likely to encounter a number of challenges which may compromise the quality of research results and these include: (a)Access to information The information is mostly confidential in the Harare City Council thus releasing information might be problematic. Some may be reluctant to disclose such information as such the respondents will be guaranteed that their information will be treated with utmost privacy and confidentiality. (b)Resources Resources such as time and finance may compromise the quality of the research as the researcher is a student with other university commitments RESEARCH REFERENCE LIST Argawal R.D.(1983) Organisation and Management, Mcgraw-Hill, Tata Boxall P., Macky K. & Rasmussen E., (2003)‘Labour turnover and retention in New Zealand; the causes and consequences of leaving and staying with employers’ Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. Vol 41 (2)., Cascio, W.F. (2003) Managing Human Resources: Productivity, quality of work Life profits (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Irwin. French, W.L. (1998) Human Resources Management. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company Ivancevich et al (1989):Foundations of Personnel ,Human Resources Management Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2001) Organisational behaviour (5th ed.). Irwin McGraw-Hill. Milkovich, G.T., & Boudreau, J.W. (1994) Human Resource Management (7th ed.). IRWIN Publishers, USA. Morrell W. H., Loan-Clarke J. & Wilkinson J (2004), ‘Organisational change and employee turnover’, Personnel Review, vol 33 (2) Morris W.T. (1972). Management for Action: Psycho Technical Decision making. Reston. Mowday, R., Porter, L., & Steers, R. (1982) Employee-organizations linkages – The Psychology of commitment, absenteeism and turnover: Academic Press, .London Rhodes, S.R., & Steers, R.M. (1990)., Managing employee absenteeism Addison: Wesley Publishing Company, USA Spector, P.E. (1997)., Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes and Consequences: SAGE Publications, USA Van der Merwe, R., & Miller, S.(1988),. Measuring absence and labour turnover: A Practical guide to recording and control. Lexicon Publishers., J

Comparative Analysis of Amazon and Webvan

Webvan was founded by Louis Borders in 1999 after he saw the opportunity in the growing number of people making online purchases. Borders created Webvan as an enterprise that would offer greater variety than conventional stores and at the same time provide the necessary convenience to online shoppers. Webvan started by offering groceries that were frequently bought by online shoppers to ensure economies of scale in their orders.After establishing a critical customer base, it planned to use its distribution system to expand its sale to product lines that were not being frequently offered but with high profit margins such as books and consumer electronics. The company developed the web store and constructed its distribution and fulfillment center in the San Francisco Bay area from 1997 to 1999. After implementing its trial delivery system in May 1999 to 1,100 customers, Webvan was launched in June of the same year as a venture whose primordial mission is to deliver to its customers eve rything from groceries to palm pilots in a cheap and efficient manner.After raising $1. 2 billion as start-up capital from its stock offering, it began to execute grandiose plans of establishing strings of futuristic warehouses with motorized carousels and robotic product-pulling machines which costed $35 million, hoping it would minimize the cost of operations. With profit-margins so thin, Webvan failed to cover its growing cost of operations. Demand was so weak to sustain the income that Webvan needed to raise. Finally, after suffering a net loss of $217 million and accumulating tremendous deficits amounting to $830 million, Webvan found itself in a loosing situation.By July 2001, Webvan Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, Webvan-Bay Area, Inc. , Webvan Operations, Inc. , and HomeGrocer. com, Inc. filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United Stated Bankruptcy Court in July 2001 and ceased operations. Amazon was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, after he noticed the promising growth of Web sites and internet access. Bezos was said to be particularly â€Å"optimistic about online retail opportunities and set out to develop a business model that will leverage growth of internet access in the United States†.Bezos decided to start with bookselling as its initial retail category, with the belief that online business model possessed superior economics to established competitors. Amazon was so successful in its initial public offering that it was able to sell 3 million shares at $18 per share, thereby raising $54 million as part of its start-up capital. And so they say the rest is history. Amazon evolved from a tiny warehouse to a leading internet retailer in the world. Bogler and Johnson (2000) wrote:â€Å"The company’s growth was phenomenal: it expanded from books to offering 28 million items across numerous categories and acquired 29 million global customers along the way. By 2000 according to Interbrand, Amazon. com beca me the forty-eighth most valuable brand in the world, embodying the principle of electronic commerce for people worldwide. † However by late 2001, Amazon experienced a tremendous loss of $2. 3 billion. Its share price which ascended rapidly in 1999 went down significantly. Fortunately, it was able to borrow $2.1 billion to sustain its international investments. With innovations such as the one-click system and creative strategies to raise revenues from publishers and increase in sales from wider product selection, Amazon was able to survive the slump in the subsequent period at the NASDAQ. (Burgelman, 2001) By 2008, Amazon emerged as a global brand with 76 million active customer accounts and order fulfillment to more than 200 countries. With this volume of sales, on December 31, 2007 Amazon employed approximately 17,000 full-time and part-time employees. COMPARE & CONTRASTIt would be interesting to note that the founder of Webvan actually started in the business of booksellin g. In terms of experience in the dot-com business, Amazon started earlier in 1994 while Webvan started in 1999. Webvan started operations in 1999 and was publicly-listed on November of the same year, with its share price zooming to $34 from the offering price of $15 on its opening day. This allowed Webvan to raise a whopping $1. 2 billion in start-up capital from the offering and other sources such as venture capitalists, thereby putting it within the league of Amazon.com. ([email  protected], 2001) In other words, both companies were of equal footing in 1999 when Webvan caught up with Amazon in terms of dot-com stature and financial backing. Both companies also established strategic alliances in the course of their operations. In the case of Webvan, it established partnership with Eve. com, an online prestige beauty products retailing company. It also established strategic alliances with Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, and Chlorox Company. This was done by Webvan to reduce its pr ocurement costs.Amazon partnered with Drugstore. com (pharmacy), Living. com (furniture), Pets. com (pet supplies), Wineshopper. com (wines), Sothebys. com (auctions) and Kozmo. com (urban home delivery). In most cases, Amazon purchased an equity stake in these partners, so that it would share in their prosperity. Such partnerships helped Amazon extend its reach into the customer-base of other suppliers, and of course, customers who buy in one category such as books can be encouraged to purchase into other areas such as clothing or electronics.Webvan carried mostly perishable grocery goods in its retail categories while Amazon had the policy of selling only non-perishable and conveyable items. Since profit margins were so thin for perishable goods compared to non-perishable goods, it would be easy to undertsand why Amazon had greater chances of success than Webvan. Furthermore, perishable items have greater risk and cost in inventory handling. This is the reason why Webvan had to in vest too much money in its warehousing infrastructure. This spelled the difference in the success and failure of the Amazon and Webvan.Webvan had to invest too much money on a system that must ensure the freshness of its perishable goods. It had to establish a highly technological and robotic warehousing infrastructure that was very expensive to begin with in contrast to Amazons system which required its employees to â€Å"touch† its products. In the case of Amazon, since most of its items sold online were non-perishable, it had lesser inventory risks. In addition to that, its business model allowed it to shift it cost of carrying most of its inventory to its suppliers.Thus, Amazon had better grip in its infrastructure costs. The savings it obtained from its leaner operations allowed it to invest its money in developing its software systems that facilitated greater efficiency in its distribution. Finally, the viability of both business differed mainly from its customer-base a nd funding support during hard times. Webvan had a weak local customer-base that was often dissatisfied by its delivery service while Amazon had a strong customer-base that was not only confined to the US but also overseas.More so, NASDAQ just gave up on Webvan when it continously experienced financial setbacks while Amazon was able to secure additional investments to sustain its global operations. CAUSES FOR FAILURE OR SUCCESS One of the main reasons why Webvan failed is because it made the wrong decision of investing the money it successfully raised in a very expensive infrastructure and rapid expansion of operations. According to Strom (2001): â€Å"Webvan spent huge sums on high-tech warehouses that were designed to revolutionize distribution, but they turned out to be mostly a waste of money.The problem is that all the technology was meant to reduce labor costs, and labor is relatively cheap. Worse, Webvan designed the warehouses so they could scale to 8,000 orders per day, bu t that's a lot of unnecessary expense when you're receiving less than half that many orders. † Another factor that led to the failure of Webvan is the decline in the quality of its service delivery. When Webvan took over HomeGrocer, an internet grocery shopping store which was absorbed into Webvan’s grandiose expansion plan, customers noticed the deteriorating effectivity of customer service.Before the takeover, there were no complaints with HomeGrocer specially interms of customer service. Emails from customers were being promptly addressed by customer service such as providing refunds in cases of occasional mistake or damaged food. This quality of service worsened when customers started to receive rotten fruits from the delivery. Webvan was buying inferior produce in order to save on cost. Such decline in customer service resulted in customers going back to the conventional way of picking up their groceries and patronizing the local groceries once again.(Mcafee, 2006) Finally, it can be seen that Webvan’s botched acquisition of HomeGrocer led to its failure as it did’nt handle the merger of resources and assets wisely. HomeGrocer’s competency and strength in terms of operations and marketing were not totally assimilated into Webvan’s system. Amazon’s e-commerce technology platform, brand power and fulfillment infrastructure was a key to its success. It had technological innovations that efficiently facilitated online order such as the â€Å"one-click check out process†.Amazon provided its customers with an online system that allowed shoppers to purchase products online without filling lengthy registration and shipping forms that would usually turn-away buyers. Amazon was able to create an online system that also helped repeat purchases by buyers to be executed by just one click of a button – a system whose patent was eventually awarded to Amazon. One important factor why Amazon succeeded is becaus e of certain inherent strengths in its business model.Its negative operating cycle allowed Amazon to get credit card payments from its customers in a few days while enjoying a time lag of thirty to sixty days to pay its vendors after the sale. This gave Amazon a financial advantage that allowed it to generate interest in the full price of its goods for over a month. Another inherent strength in Amazon’s business model is its less dependence on physical infrastructure such warehouses. Amazon was able to sell it products with out actually carrying in most of its inventory thus shifting the risk of its inventory to its vendors.Amazon’s suppliers carried the burden of storage, thereby lessening its cost due to minimal inventory handling. Amazon also instituted free shipping offers to encourage increase in basket size since customers have to spend over a certain amount to receive free shipping. The level at which free-shipping is set is critical to profitability. Because of this, Amazon got a competitive edge as promotional battles evolved with its competitors. LESSONS LEARNED AND CONCLUSION Growing Too Fast Too Soon The lesson that can be learned from the experience of Webvan is that of timing.Some would think it’s a business that is way ahead of its time; others would say it grew too fast too soon. In his review of the â€Å"Top ten dot-com flops†, German (2009) wrote that: â€Å"A core lesson from the dot-com boom is that even if you have a good idea, it is best not to grow too fast too soon. But online grocer Webvan was the poster child for doing just that, making the celebrated company our number one dot-com flop. In a mere 18 months, it raised $375 million in an IPO, expanded from the San Francisco Bay Area to eight U. S.cities, and built a gigantic infrastructure from the ground up (including a $1 billion order for a group of high-tech warehouses). Webvan came to be worth $1. 2 billion (or $30 per share at its peak), and it toute d a 26-city expansion plan. But considering that the grocery business has razor-thin margins to begin with, it was never able to attract enough customers to justify its spending spree. The company closed in July 2001, putting 2,000 out of work and leaving San Francisco's new ballpark with a Webvan cup holder at every seat.† Getting Big Fast Ironically, in the case of Amazon, the same business principle of getting big fast was said to be the most important decision that lead to its success. In an interview with Jeff Bezos by Fortune Magazine, he said that the initial strategy was very focused and very uni-dimensional†¦It was GBF: Get Big Fast†¦What once looked foolish can seem smart now. When we started the company on July 15, 1995 we offered one million titles. We were advised by very knowledgeable people to offer only three hundred thousand titles.That was twice the size of the inventory carried by the largest physical bookstores. The catalogue was hard for us but d oable. Obtaining the books was really hard. But the success generated word of mouth. (Brooker, 2000) Supply-chain management was also a crucial lesson in the experience of Webvan and Amazon. The company that was able to efficiently and effectively manage its online retail business with minimal inventory cost and risk was the company that turned out to be successful.The difference in the supply chain management of both companies ultimately distinguished between the company that was financially viable and which one was not. References Bogler, Daniel and Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew (2000). Jeff Bezos: The Man of Last Year Revisited. Brooker, Katrina (2000). Beautiful Dreamer. Fortune Magazine. Burgelman, Robert and Meza, Philip (2001). Amazon. com: Evolution of an e-tailer. Graduate School of Business. Stanford University. [email  protected] (2001).Webvan Finds that Shopping for Food Online Hasn’t Clicked with Consumers. [Online]. Available: http://knowledge. wharton. upenn. ed u/article. cfm? articleid=321 German Kent (2009). Top 10 dot-com flops. CNET Networks Incorporated. [Online]. Available: http://www. cnet. com/1990-11136_1-6278387-1. html Mcaffee, Andrew and Ashiya, Mona (2006). Webvan. Harvard Business School. President and Fellows of Harvard College. Strom, David (2001). Where Webvan Went Wrong. TidBits #588. [Online]. Available: http://www. strom. com/awards/255. html

Managing the Customer Experience

With the rising affluence and advances in IT in the society, incomes and living standards rose continuously. These contribute to a change in lifestyle and lead to increased demand for products and services. As a result, customer is expecting a good quality customer experience. Customer service plays an important role in an organization’s ability to generate income and revenue. Successful customer service is an on-going process of meeting and exceeding customer expectations. A customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer has of the organization. Through the articles on customer complaints and compliments, I had read and summarized the various points customers consider as important to enjoying quality customer experience. Firstly, body language and communication. Two of the most important parts of positive body language are smiling and eye contact. Customers expect staff to look into their eyes as they are having a communication. This shows that the staff respect them and by listening to them. Also, staff responsiveness will create a bond of trust and a communication comfort level. Secondly, be an information expert. In other words, staffs are to know what products or services they are offering back to front. Whatever the situation may be, staffs are expected not to leave customer with an unanswered question. This is critical because it determines the retention of customers as staffs are the customer only contact to determine how to use the product or service to get the best return on investment. Thirdly, anticipate customer needs. Staffs are encouraged to look for ways to serve their customer more than they expect. For instance, to remain contact with customers by keeping them informed of new events, product updates or even calling to say hello. In doing so, customer will be amazed by the employee who make the effort in going the extra mile to help them. In addition, they will feel that they are well taken care of and this creates a seamless relationship. In conclusion, I had quoted a meaningful quote from the web from the point of view of a customer. â€Å"Quality customer experience refers to the customer journey which makes them feel happy, satisfy, served and cared, with a sense of being respected, according to his or her expectation or standard, start from first contact and through the whole relationship. †