Book Review: Leading Change by John P. Kotter Essay

Leading Change by John P. Kotter. Harvard Business School Press, 1996. In light of the increasing rate of change in the business environment due to factors such as technological advances and globalization, the need to be able to make successful transformations within an organization becomes more imperative than ever before. In Leading Change, Kotter identifies an eight-step guide for making successful organization changes. These eight steps stem from avoiding common mistakes made during organizational change efforts seen in the past , such as: too much complacency; failing to create a powerful guiding coalition; underestimating the power of vision; under-communicating the vision; permitting obstacles to block a new vision; failing to create short term wins; declaring a victory too soon; and neglecting to anchor changes firmly into the organizational culture. To avoid these mistakes, leaders of an organization requiring changes should consider the following steps: 1. Establishing a sense of urgency 2. Creating a guiding coalition 3. Developing a vision and strategy 4. Communicating the change vision 5. Empowering broad-based action 6. Generating short-term wins 7. Consolidating gains and producing more change 8. Anchoring new approaches into the culture In establishing a sense of urgency , it is hoped that a leader of change will be able to direct stakeholders’ drive towards a common purpose and reduce  complacency. Common causes of complacency include : the absence of a crisis, low overall performance standards, wrong performance measurement indexes, too much happy talk from management, and lack of sufficient performance feedback from external sources. It is suggested that a leader creates a sense of purpose allowing weaknesses to be exposed, setting performance targets that are too high, analyze current opportunities and highlight the organizations inability to pursue them, and cut-down on the â€Å"happy talk† and listen to disgruntled customers. Very often, committees of employees devoted to making organizational change are ineffectual because they do not have the any influential, senior managers who can make changes happen and reinforce the urgency of the committee’s purpose to all levels. Kotter suggests careful selection of committee members to include senior management and influential people, with care taken to avoid those employees he labels â€Å"egos† and â€Å"snakes† (i.e. those employees whose egos may take precedence over the committees agenda and those people who may undermine the trust necessary to build strong committee relationships) By developing a vision, a leader creates â€Å"a picture of the future with some implicit or explicit commentary on why people should strive to create that future.† (p. 68) It not only clarifies direction but helps in motivating those people who will be affected and/or implementing change. Kotter gives examples of good and bad visions and suggests that a perfect vision should be clear and simple enough to explain within five minutes. A vision should also inspire people to force people out of their comfort zones, it should be challenging but attainable, and usually takes advantage of fundamental trends such as globalization or technological changes. In communicating the change vision, Kotter argues that in this day of information overload, talk of vision and strategy takes up only a small fraction of employee time and the ideas are often lost. Using analogies, repetition and the use of multiple forums for conveying change vision will help employees to understand and remember the ideas. Clear concise language is a must. To empower employees for broad-based action enables much more flexibility within an organization to adapt to a changing environment. Barrier to empowerment however exist in i) the organizational structure where resources are so fragmented that timely delivery of objectives is nearly impossible , ii) the skills of employees, iii) systems of the organization such as HR systems which advocate antiquated measures of performance which contradict new changes, iv) supervisors who are reluctant to change from the traditional command-and-control style of management. Despite the long-term nature of many organizational changes, Kotter suggests that the generation of short-term wins is of utmost importance and not necessarily at the expense of long-term benefits. He cites examples of CEOs who have implemented long term change initiatives but the failure to create short-term wins and tangible benefits made stakeholders impatient resulting in disenchantment. He reinforces the clear difference between management and leadership and their importance in the pursuit of short-term and long term goals (leadership being more long-term vision and strategy-oriented, management being more concerned with the pursuit goals in the immediate future). The achievement of short-term goals not only reinforces that scarifies made for long-term goal achievement are paying off. They also help to reward change agents and undermine cynics/anchors to change, they build momentum and can help fine-tune vision and strategies. After a short-term win, Kotter warns that it is all too tempting to relax and even regress in some cases back to old ways. All momentum of change is lost. To be able to consolidate gains and keep producing more change, he suggests that management increase urgency levels, and learn to understand and appreciate that interdependencies with in the organization dictate that when changes are made in one area, they often require further changes to be made in other areas or departments. Once changes have been made, it is then important to anchor them into the corporate culture. It is observed that culture is not easily manipulated so this should be done when all changes have been made. Changing â€Å"the way we do  things around here† is imperative so that regression to old practices is not experienced. To summarize, Kotter reinforces that an increasingly changing business environment is forcing decisions to be made quicker and organizations to become more flexible to external changes than ever before. Only with increased flexibility, teamwork and leaner organizations can a leader ever hope to make changes in response to these pressure. The leadership qualities of the change agents very important because they set the vision for others to follow. The importance of continual learning is also emphasized because leaders who are constantly changing themselves and going out of their comfort zones arguably are more able to leave those comfort zones in order to adapt to a changing environment.

Mba 2nd Sem Ass

Summer / May 2012 MBA Semester-2 MB0044: Production and Operations Management Assignment Set – 1 (60 Marks) Q1. What is meant by productivity? Write a brief note on capital productivity. Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of the system and looks at the economies achieved during the processes. Every process will have a number of contributors which help in achieving maximum productivity. The processes are: People, Machines, Facilitating goods, Ancillary equipments, and Technology.Each of these elements attempts to enhance the contribution of other elements. Opportunities exist at all stages of the workflow in the entire system to introduce measures for increasing productivity. However in actual manufacturing situations, the inefficiencies will have cascading effect in hampering productivity. Communication, effective review processes and innovative methods will ensure optimisation of resources. Building up reliability into the equipments, managing the supply chain to eco nomise on the cost factors improves productivity.Quality circles are very efficient in incorporating low cost and non-intrusive methods of improving productivity and quality throughout the organisation. Quality circles: †¢ Involve all persons who are actually involved in the production system and the information they elicit and bring about improvements that are highly cost effective †¢ Unveil creativity and encourage team work and bring about improvements almost on a day to day basis †¢ Bring continuous incremental changes in a harmonious way instead of dramatic changes †¢Encourage identification of possible failures and seek methods of preventing things going wrong Capital Productivity Capital deployed in plant, machinery, buildings and the distribution systems as well as working capital are the components of the cost of manufacturing. Demand fluctuations, uncertainties of SMU Roll No. XXXXXX production owing to breakdowns, and inventories being created drag the productivity down. Therefore, strategies are needed to maximise the utilisation of the funds allotted towards capital. The strategies included are: †¢ Outsourcing strategies †¢ Methods improvement †¢Balancing of workstations †¢ Quality circles †¢ Rationalisation of packaging methods SMU Roll No. XXXXXX Q2. (a) What is automation? (b) What are the kinds of automation? (a) Automation: Automation is the use of scientific and technological principles in the manufacture of machines that take over work normally done by humans. Figure shows a sample automation production process. Figure: Automation For services, automation usually means increase in quality and productivity using labour saving devices. Automation is ideal when the service provided or the product manufactured is highly standardised.Some extent of automation can be designed even with customisation, that is, product or services meant to produce or deliver low volumes specific to a requirement. The cos t per unit determines the extent of automation required. Automation systems cost huge sums of money and therefore, a deep analysis of the various factors has to be done. (b) Kinds of Automation: There are three kinds of automation: fixed, programmable, and flexible. 1. Fixed: By its very nature, fixed automation is rigid. They are designed for high volume production and their rigidity ensures less variability.They are not amenable to change in product or process. They need minimal human intervention. Examples: Oil refineries and chemical processing units. SMU Roll No. XXXXXX 2. Programmable: Programming devices enable machines to operate automatically. The machines have sensing and control devices that enable this. The simplest of them called machine attachments replace human effort. They guide, locate, move, and achieve relative positions by means of cams, optical sensing, and load sensing mechanisms and activate the controls to remove human intervention.Numerically controlled mach ines read instructions and convert them to machine operations. Computers are used for controlling one machine or a number of them and they have programmes written into them for operations. They are Computer Numerically Controlled or, for short, CNC machines. 3. Flexible: Robots are higher in the order of automation as they perform a variety of tasks. They are designed to move materials by holding them in their arms and making precise movements according to programmes written into the computers that reside in them.They simulate human actions. They can grip and hold tools with the help of sensors. These sensors are sensitive to touch and force to ‘know’ that the material is to be held with the requisite pressure for the conduct of operations. Vision sensors are used for inspection, identification and guidance. They use optics based instruments to gather data and feed them to the computers for activating the other parts of the robot. With the help of automation, 100% inspe ction of components can be done which ensures highest quality.Identification and movement of materials are helped by bar codes which are read and fed into the system for monitoring quantity, location, and movement. They help the automated systems to sort information and provide information for effecting any changes necessary. To make effective use of automated machines, we need to have the movement of materials from and to different stations as also stores, automated. Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS), receive orders for materials from anywhere in the production area, collect materials and deliver materials to the workstations.Computers and information systems are used for placing orders for materials, giving commands and adjusting inventory records which show the location and quantity of materials available/needed. Continuous updating gives a clear picture for all concerned to enable them initiate action to keep the throughput smooth. Automated Guided Vehicle Systems ( AGVS) like pallet trucks and unit load carriers follow embedded guide wires or paint strips to reach destinations as programmed. SMU Roll No. XXXXXX Q3. What are the factors that influence the plant location? General factorsThe general factors that influence the plant location are listed below 1. Availability of land: Availability of land plays an important role in determining the plant location. Many-a-time, our plans, calculations and forecasts suggest a particular area as the best to start an organisation. However, availability of land may be in question. In such cases, we will have to choose the second best location. 2. Availability of inputs: While choosing a plant location, it is very important for the organisation to get the labour at the right time and raw materials at good qualities.The plant should be located: †¢ Near to the raw material source when there is no loss of weight †¢ At the market place when there is a loss of weight in the material †¢ Close to t he market when universally available, so as to minimise the transportation cost 3. Closeness to market places: Organisations can choose to locate the plant near to the customers’ market or far from them, depending upon the product they produce. It is advisable to locate the plant near to the market place, when: †¢ The projection life of the product is low †¢The transportation cost is high †¢ The products are delicate and susceptible to spoilage †¢ After sales services are promptly required very often The advantages of locating the plant near to the market place are: †¢ Consistent supply of goods to the customers †¢ Reduction of the cost of transportation 4. Communication facilities: Communication facility is also an important factor which influences the location of a plant. Regions with good communication facilities viz. Postal and Tele communication links should be given priority for the selection of sites. 5.Infrastructure: Infrastructure plays a prominent role in deciding the location. The basic infrastructure needed in any organisation are: †¢ Power: For example, industries which run day and night require continuous power supply. So they should be located near to the power stations and should ensure continuous power supply throughout the year. SMU Roll No. XXXXXX †¢ Water: For example, process industries such as, paper, chemical, and cement, requires continuous water supply in large amount. So, such process industries need to be located near to the water. †¢Waste disposal: For example, for process industries such as, paper and sugarcane industries facility for disposal of waste is the key factor. 6. Transport: Transport facility is a must for facility location and layout of location of the plant. Timely supply of raw materials to the company and supply of finished goods to the customers is an important factor. The basic modes of transportation are by Air, Road, Rail, Water, and Pipeline. The choice of loc ation should be made depending on these basic modes. Cost of transportation is also an important criterion for plant location. 7.Government support: The factors that demand additional attention for plant location are the policies of the state governments and local bodies concerning labour laws, building codes, and safety. 8. Housing and recreation: Housing and recreation factors also influence the plant location. Locating a plant with the facilities of good schools, housing and recreation for employees will have a greater impact on the organisation. These factor seems to be unimportant, but have a difference as they motivate the employees and hence the location decisions. Special factors The special factors that influence the plant location are: . Economic stability – outside investments 2. Cultural factors 3. Wages 4. Joint ventures – support of big time players SMU Roll No. XXXXXX Q4. Explain about the seven basic quality control tools. Remaining answers are availabl e in the full assignments. For full assignments contact us: Global Education Rajdeep: 098662 48187 / 077958 40110 Email: [email  protected] com / global. [email  protected] in Website: www. smuassignments. com The diagonally marked watermark (Sample Assignment of smuassignments. com) will not appear in the paid assignments. SMU Roll No. XXXXXX

Business Ethics Case: Lawsuits

Business Ethics Case BUS 415 February 26, 2012 Business Ethics Case: Lawsuits In every business ethics lawsuit there are many questions that must be answered. The first question that a person or organization wanting to sue must ask is if he or she has standing to sue. According to this law â€Å"the plaintiff must have some stake in the outcome of the lawsuit† (Cheeseman, 2010, p. 43). If the plaintiff does not have this they cannot bring the suit to court.The next question that must be determined is who or where will have jurisdiction over the case. This is also one of the questions that is asked in the individual assignment. Problem 3. 5 The assignment asks readers to take a closer look at the National Enquirer and a lawsuit that was submitted against them. The first question asks what kind of paper the National Enquirer is. It is a tabloid publication that was founded in 1926 by William Griffin. It was later purchased by Generoso Pope, Jr. nd turned into what it is today, a very scandalous supermarket magazine. The second question asks if it is ethical for the National Enquirer to try to avoid suit in California and the answer is no, it is not. The question of whether it is ethical is not a legal question but a moral question. The reason it is not ethical is because it is avoiding legal action and a chance to defend the paper. If those that wrote the article think it was okay to write the story, he or she should have the moral decency to show up in court. Also you can read  Business Ethics ComprisesAlthough, one reason that the National Enquirer may have wanted to move the lawsuit closer is in hopes that Jones would give up and drop the lawsuit. The third question is if the defendants are subject to suit in California and the answer is yes. According to the Long-Arm Statue the plaintiff may sue the National Enquirer from California since the injury happened in California. Since the National Enquirer caused the accident and has nothing to gain from suing they will have no say in which court has jurisdiction and hears the case.Conclusion The case brought against the National Enquirer had a couple of variables. The first question was which state had jurisdiction over the case since the plaintiff lives in California but the National Enquirer is located in Florida. Many laws came into account to decide this like the Venue law, the Long-Arm Statue, and Reference Cheeseman, H. R. (2010). The legal environment of business and online commerc e: Business ethics, e-commerce, regulatory, and international issues. (6th ed. ) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Trade relations between USA and China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trade relations between USA and China - Essay Example Ranging from the ongoing currency war to accusations of immoral trade policies, factors which have led towards this destabilization of trade relations are not only economical but, perhaps, have a political milieu too. Firstly, one of the major challenges faced by the USA-China trade is the prominent USA accusation of ‘manipulating’ the Chinese currency. Over the past few years, the official currency of China, Yuan, has been held in a floating exchange rate system; though it has only been allowed a narrow margin to fluctuate. Many analysts and economists in the USA however urge for a more flexible exchange rate which pivots around the market equilibrium determined by the market forces of currency demand and supply. Despite of the fact that Yuan has been allowed to fluctuate more liberally and has even risen by 20% in value against the USA Dollar since 2005, Japan, European Union and USA yet accuse China that it manipulates its currency by deliberately keeping it at a low exchange rate in relation to the USA Dollar with a view to make the USA products less competitive and, simultaneously, the Chinese goods and services more competitive and relatively cheaper than the USA goods. This lowered currency rate leads to a rise in Chinese exports whereas USA exports decline. A large amount of trade deficit suffered by the USA in trade with China adds to the gravity of the accusation. Concerns for China regarding this issue are that the USA, World Trade Organization or APEC might impose trade sanctions on China for its ‘problematic’ currency exchange rate. These sanctions may prove very costly for the growing Chinese economy as the world’s second largest economy is principally led by mass amount of exports to its trading partners. Restrictions over free trade for China may cause the deceleration of its growth or may even put it to a halt. The trade balance between USA and China in 2011 exceeded $295 billion and any probable sanctions may d rastically affect this huge amount of traded commodities between the two giants. Moreover, China’s Current Account surplus has also been declining during the past few years and the consequences of USA pleas regarding the unfair trade advantage China has may turn the ‘already withering’ surplus into a trade deficit, whereas China may also lose its most important trade partner (Davis). The list of allegations upon China is elongated and does not restrict itself to the currency devaluation. China is also accused by the USA for adopting an unfair exchange rate regime. Yuan’s rate of exchange has been, contrarily to the US allegations, in conformity with the international monetary system which is operating at the time. Observing the variations from a fixed to a floating and then from the fixed peg to a basket peg, China’s exchange rate valuation has always been repudiated by USA. This might lead to a further withering of trade relations between the two n ations in the near future. (Moosa viii) Also, on the accusation list is the allegation upon China of piling up its foreign reserves. Again, the charge seems to be lacking ample rationality as any nation is allowed to purchase foreign currency reserves and to accumulate those reserves in order to minimize its risk of a speculative economic slump in the future. Similarly, China has done the same and has acquired pretty huge amounts of US Dollars in the

Family history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Family history - Essay Example Through agriculture, my parents have managed to educate us to the highest levels of education despite the struggles that come with such a business. However, my parents are hopeful that we will get good jobs so as we do not end up like them though my youngest sister has shown great interest in agriculture especially on cash crops. My granddad has played a crucial role in our family. He always says that regardless of all the odds in life, one must endeavor to succeed. Even at his age, he has sought to open his own business that has all sorts of merchandise. The returns are indeed appealing and any person would envy his work. As the siblings in the family, we are more challenged by the day to strive to do more especially when we see our grandfather wake up so early to start his days at his business. This business has also boosted the little income that we get from agriculture. Life is looking up for us and we expect brighter days ahead. Religion also plays a role in the success of our family. My parents are always keen to ensure that we follow the expected norms of the society through inculcating the good deeds in our religion. This has played a major role in ensuring that we are admirable by all in the society and are also the envy of many. For my case, the virtues taught by my parents especially of honesty and hard work have enabled me survive in the tough times of today’s society. I have succeeded in my education, and though I do not have a job yet, I am sure I will get one and give it full effort and dedication. My family is also fond of giving especially to the poor and the homeless. After every three months, it is compulsory that we visit the unfortunate in the society. One would question why we do such activities yet we do not have enough, but my parents do not take any excuse for not helping others. I find this reasonable as if our situation is not very comfortable with farming as our chief source of livelihood, then for the ones without a job is

Function of filter circuit Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Function of filter circuit - Coursework Example It is less in voltage than the series circuit because its output voltage is the same as the input voltage. This circuit therefore, does not operate as a filter to the input signal except when supplied by the current source.The ideal op-amp amplifies all signals from Direct Current to the greatest Alternating Current frequenciesOpen-Loop Gain is infinite in ideal Op-amp amplifier. In real Op-Amp, the open loop gain is finite, ranging between 20000 and 200000.Ideal op-amp generates zero noise voltage from the internal parts.Real op-amp has several sources of noise, including semiconductor noise and resistive noise.Ideal op-amp operates as a perfect source of internal voltage without any internal resistance. Real op-amps have output-impedance ranging between 100 - 20â„ ¦.This diagram represents the relationship between the capacitor and a resistor in the circuit, if they are arranged in series. The circuit assists in measuring the voltage across the capacitor, using Kirchhoff's law o f the current. In this, the current that charges the capacitor has to be equal to the current passing through the resistor.A filter circuit server the purpose of producing restrictions on the bandwidth of frequencies for an alternating input signal and generate output with a narrower frequency- bandwidth. It also eliminates the alternating current ripple remaining in the output of the rectification of a diode-based alternating current circuit, leading to higher quality signal.

Yoko Ono's Relationship with Popular Culture Essay

Yoko Ono's Relationship with Popular Culture - Essay Example The essay "Yoko Ono's relationship with popular culture" investigates the great talent of the famous artist and her role in the context of culture. Paper gives details from her life and activity. It is almost fifty years ago, when people started thinking of Yoko Ono as that woman. She was aged 27 years and lived in New York. Paper discover Yoko Ono's background that partly explains radical works and performances. The performances include ''Cut Piece'' that she did in 1965. It is here that she sat impassively like Bodhisattva, while the audience slowly one by one cut off her clothes. This was an amazing feminist manifesto as by then most people did not know what feminism was. It was about exhibitionism and sex. Similar to her other works she did, it rebuffed parent’s mores in a great way. But in the performance, of importance was the element of ritual violence. This was not like seppuku but a theatrical version of self-sacrifice. This was a recurrent theme around Yoko Ono's pub lic life. Yoko Ono can be considered as a muse. This does not only apply to John Lennon whose devotion and love for her resulted in the most interesting and beautiful artworks of his career. She was a pioneering artist, activist, musician, and feminist. Yoko Ono has influenced to a great extent those artists who are daring enough in pushing at and experimenting the imaginary distinctions and boundaries between media and art forms. Her talent was formidable but the prominent quality in her painting works was her spirit.