Category: Research Paper

Toward an Ontology for Functional Requirements

Ontology for Functional Requirements
Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Toward an Ontology for Functional Requirements

Introduction

Software development is undoubtedly one of the most daunting tasks in the field of information systems and a key process involved is specifying software requirements aimed at understanding and defining the functionalities required from the software (Lauesen, 2002). This fete is determined by outlining the software requirements that describe both non-functional as well as functional requirements of the software system that subsequently become the basis for the process of developing the software system (Sommerville, 2007).

Accordingly, requirements of software systems that exist play a crucial role in providing insights with regards to the re-usability of software artifacts that are already implemented. In the course of software system development process, typical discussions take place between developers and customers in order to agree on requirements specifying the software system functionality (Wiegers, 2003). However, this research report focuses on ontology for functional requirements meaning emphasis will be on the software functionality.

According to Gómez-Pérez, Fernández-López & Corcho (2004) ontology is an explicit or formal specification or description of a shared conceptualization of objects in terms of their constraints, relationships, properties, and behaviors. Functional ontology with regards to software refers to the desired characteristics of the software as specified by the customer and when they fall within functional requirements (FRs) are considered to be a sequence of actions based on a particular context (Malan & Bredemeyer, 1999).

Al-Ahmad, Magel & Abufardeh (2015) defined functional requirements as the characteristics describing the system behavior through an expression of it as the system’s inputs and output as well as the relationships that ensue between inputs and the output. Such requirements are crucial in the software’s development life-cycle since they act as the basis for cost estimation, work plans, implementations as well as follow-up directives or maintenance (van Lamsweerde, 2009). As a result, the purpose of this research report is to build ontology for functional requirements.

Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Motivation/scope

The purpose of this research report is to build ontology for functional requirements and its motivation lies in specifying the ontology’s functional requirements and systematization by devising prescriptive, efficient and detailed guidelines of the methodology specifying functional requirements of the proposed ontology. The methodological guidelines for the proposed ontology are developed in the context of competency questions (CQs) and motivated by methodologies that already exist for building ontologies as well as available literature and practices (van Lamsweerde, 2009).

The inspiration of this project is further based on the fact that, these methodological guidelines which are already in existence help in capturing knowledge from users of the developed ontologies leading to production of the ontology requirements’ specification document (ORSD), which is subsequently utilized by ontology engineers towards developing ontologies satisfying identified functional ontology requirements.

As a result, the significant motivation is that the methodological guidelines to be developed play a key role in serving as an agreement among domain experts, ontology engineers and users on the functional requirements to be included in the ontology (van Lamsweerde, 2009). 

Furthermore, building a software system that is knowledge intensive was another great motivation of this project where the ORSD would be decisive throughout the process of developing the ontology if an actual application was to be carried out since it facilitates: facilitating (1) searching and reusing of knowledge-aware resources that exist in order to re-engineer them into ontologies; (2) searching and reusing of ontologies that exist, ontology design, patterns, ontology statements, or ontology modules; and (3) ontology verification throughout the process of developing ontologies, among other activities (Roth & Woodsend, 2014).

The context in which the methodological guidelines presented in this research report have been generated based on the NeOn Methodology with regards to the NeOn project guidelines (Gómez-Pérez & Suárez-Figueroa, 2008). The scope of the research report is covered in four main sections: Section 1 is the introduction which discusses the introductory aspects of the research report, including the motivation/scope; statement of the problem and significance for information systems (IS); the problem’s importance; and objectives/goals.

Section 2 includes the background of the research report where guidelines of the methodology for functional requirements’ ontology are specified and discussed. Section 3 presents the discussion and anticipated applications of the proposed ontology for functional requirements. Finally, Section 4 provides the conclusions and future work.

Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Problem statement and significance for IS

Since the invention of computers and information systems, software uses have never reached the levels they are at nowadays because of the myriad of problems they are currently solving (Al-Ahmad et al, 2015). However, today software development processes have focused on tailor-made software targeted to solve a similar problem facing a group of individuals, companies, organizations or institutions.

Hence the most demanding and key process in software development is to specify requirements of the ontology, especially the functional requirements outlining the functionality of the software system (van Lamsweerde, 2009). Failure to carry out this task effectively, which is a serious problem, will definitely lead to development of an inefficient ORSD which will not succinctly specify and describe functions of the software product or system (Grüninger & Fox, 1995).

When functional requirements of ontologies are confusing, costs of developing ontologies are often increased, which makes the process of analyzing ontology requirements the most important phase in the life-cycle of ontology development (Cascini, Fantoni & Montagna, 2013). The process of analyzing ontology requirements focuses on specifying effective functional requirements that satisfy customer needs and their implementation by developers is feasible.

This is undoubtedly a challenging fete to achieve easily and usually poses a major problem to many software developers. However, ontology requirements are often established using competency questions (CQs) identification technique in most of the existing software development methodologies, but the current methodologies’ guidelines for building software do not provide sufficient definitions of ontology’s functional requirements hence causing an additional problem (Staab et al., 2001; Roth & Woodsend, 2014).

Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Furthermore, the challenge or problem posed by the need to sufficiently identify/specify and describe ontology requirements, particularly the functional requirements in the process of software development life cycle is of great significance for information systems (IS). This is attributed to the fact that the methodological guidelines used to develop ontology requirements help in capturing knowledge from users, leading to production of ORSD that are subsequently utilized by ontology engineers in developing ontologies that satisfy the identified requirements (van Lamsweerde, 2009).

As a result, these methodological guidelines for the ontology to be developed play a key role in serving as an agreement among domain experts, ontology engineers and end-users on the functional requirements to be included in the ontology; thus they become of great significance for information systems (IS) field as a whole (van Lamsweerde, 2009).

In addition, when building a software system that is knowledge intensive, the ORSD developed from the respective functional requirements and methodological guidelines facilitates the searching and reusing of knowledge-aware resources that exist in order to re-engineer them into ontologies; searching and reusing of ontologies that exist, ontology design, patterns, ontology statements, or ontology modules; and ontology verification throughout the process of developing ontologies, among other activities (Roth & Woodsend, 2014).

Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Importance of the problem

            The importance of the problem discussed in the previous sub-section is undisputable because the identification of ontology requirements’ specification plays a critical role in the process of software development. This is mainly because it attempts to define and understand the required functionalities from the software system or product based on the identified ontology’s functional requirements (Kotonya & Sommerville, 1998).

As a result, there are several benefits provided by the detailed software requirements document produced including:

(a) establishing the basis on which customers and developers or suppliers agree on the uses and users of the software system or product to be developed,

(b) reducing the effort required to develop the software,

(c) providing the basis on which costs and schedules are estimated, and

(d) offering a baseline to validate and verify the developed software system or product (Ambrósio et al., 2004).

As a result, clearly developed methodological guidelines help IT experts or technicians to build ontology-based applications or software that are used to solve problems we face on daily basis (Wiering, 1996). Thus, based on these efforts software developers currently have precise methodological guidelines that are helpful to them when defining functional requirements of the applications they develop on daily basis (van Lamsweerde, 2009).

Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Objectives

The overall goals of this project are to identify a particular methodology for building ontologies, including the method guidelines for ontology’s functional requirements specification. This includes stating the purpose for building the proposed ontology, the intended users and uses as well as the functional requirements that should be fulfilled by the ontology after its formal implementation through detailed methodological guidelines that efficiently specify functional requirements of the ontology.

Background    

The growth of interest in approaches to build ontologies from scratch has been increasing since 1990s and early year of this century, especially in the reuse of existing ontologies as well as utilization of semiautomatic methods aimed at reducing challenges of knowledge of acquisition in the process of ontology development. However, up to mid-1990s the process was slow because it was art based instead of engineering activity and each team involved pursued their own design criteria, set of principles and the ontology building phases were manual.

In 1997, the process of ontology development (Fernández-López & Gómez-Pérez, 2004) was identified on the METHONTOLOGY methodology framework for construction of ontology. The basis of such proposal was the IEEE standard for the development of software and it outlined all the activities carried out when developing ontologies (IEEE, 1998).  

When developing a software application in context of ontologies, the functional requirements of the ontology should be identified as well as those of the application (Wiegers, 2003). Sommerville (2007) claims that today there are precise methodologies to help ontology-based software application developers in defining application requirements. For instance, in METHONTOLOGY [Gómez-Pérez et al., 2004] the goals of the activity of specifying ontology requirements are identified; however, methods to conduct those activities are not proposed in this methodology.

In other methodologies such as Grüninger and Fox [Grüninger & Fox, 1995], the Unified methodology [Uschold, 1996], and On-To-Knowledge methodology [Staab et al., 2001], identification of the requirements follows aspects for ORSD creation including: (1) the ontology’s purpose, (2) the intended ontology’s users and uses, and (3) the set of ontology requirements to be fulfilled after the formal implementation of the ontology.

Competency questions (CQs) are commonly used in most methodologies existing today in order to establish ontology requirements. However, considering that CQs are questions and answers based on the natural language on which the ontology is built, their responses are essential in determining and evaluating the type of required requirements that are specified.

Ontology for Functional Requirements

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Generally, ontology requirements are expressed in a variety of ways, including story-boards and UML diagrams. Alternatively, expectations of the ontology are most commonly expressed in natural language such as the ability of a user to log-in to his/her account (Mich et al., 2004). However, despite the benefit of natural language being intelligible to both developers and clients, they can lead to ambiguity, vagueness and incompleteness (Fernández-López & Gómez-Pérez, 2004). Roth & Woodsend, 2014) argued that although the use of formal languages as an alternative can eliminate some of these challenges, customers are not often able to understand the requirements when they are highly formalized.

Al-Ahmad et al, (2015) proposed that in order to decrease the requirements’ inconsistency and ambiguity caused by the use of the informal natural language approaches that capture both semantic and syntactic features of requirements can be used.

Guidelines of NeOn Methodology for Ontology Functional Requirements

Methodological guidelines in the context of the NeOn Methodology [Gómez-Pérez & Suárez-Figueroa, 2008] are used in this research report to discuss the ontology functional requirements. The creation of the methodological guidelines presented in this research report was done based on the NeOn Methodology, particularly relying on previous studies conducted to revise the status of ontology development.

Next, in Fig. 1 presented below the methodological guidelines for the specification of ontology functional requirements are outlined in prescriptive as well as detailed manner, highlighting main tasks that are carried out in addition, to the involved inputs and the output as well as the responsible actors.   

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Task 1:  Identification of purpose, scope as well as ontology implementation language: This task determines ontology’s main goal, its feasible granularity and coverage as well as implementation language. The team developing the ontology achieves this by conducting interviews with domain experts and end-users to identify their needs in order for developers the ontology to make a decision on the most appropriate language to be formally used implement the ontology.  

Task 2: Identification of intended end-users: This task is aimed at establishing the ontology’s intended end-users who will be mainly using the ontology to be developed. The team developing the ontology achieves this by conducting interviews with domain experts and end-users where a set of the identified needs of the ontology are taken as inputs; whereas a list of the ontology’s intended users is taken as the output.

Task 3: Identification of intended uses: Scenarios linked to the targeted ontology-based application are the main motivation of the ontology development; hence, this task is aimed at obtaining the intended use scenarios and uses of the ontology. The team developing the ontology achieves this by conducting interviews with domain experts and end-users where a set of identified needs of the ontology are taken as inputs; whereas a list of the ontology’s intended uses based on scenarios is taken as the output.

The inputs should outline the ontology uses within the intended ontology-based application in order to obtain an overview of the ontology’s functional requirements, while the output should describe a set of general functional requirements the ontology should fulfill upon its formal implementation. 

Task 4: Identification of ontology’s functional requirements: This task is aimed at acquiring a set of ontology’s functional requirements that should be fulfilled by the ontology because they are considered essential content requirements referring to specific knowledge which is the represented by the proposed ontology. The team developing the ontology achieves this by conducting interviews with domain experts and end-users where a set of identified needs of the ontology are taken as inputs; whereas ontology’s initial functional requirements are taken as the output.

Writing of CQs in natural language is used as the main technique to identify functional requirements in addition to other techniques such as Excel and mind map tools. Using wiki tools including Cicero 12 is also appropriate when people involved are geographically distributed.

Task 5: Grouping of ontology’s functional requirements: This task is aimed at grouping CQs identified in task 4 of this methodology into various categories. A hybrid approach should be used by domain experts, intended ontology users, and the team developing the ontology in classifying the list of CQs by not only combining categories that are established in advance including date, time, units of measurement, languages, locations, currencies, etc., in addition, to creating categories for words found within the list of CQs that have the highest frequencies of appearance.

Card sorting technique is used in manual grouping, while natural language clustering to extract information technique is used in automated grouping. In addition, graphic display of CQs in groups is done using mind map, whereas Cicero is used in collaborative grouping.

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Task 6: Validating the set of functional requirements: This task’s goal is to identify missing functional ontology requirements, possible conflicts between functional ontology requirements, as well as contradictions between them. The task is executed by domain experts and end-users taking a set of ontology’s functional requirements identified in task 4 of this process as inputs aimed to determine the validity of each element. Confirmation the validity of a set of ontology’s functional requirements is taken as the task’s output.

Task 7: Prioritizing ontology’s functional requirements: The task is aimed at assigning various levels of priority to the identified ontology’s functional requirements with regards to various groups of CQs, and to various CQs in every group obtained in task 5. The task is executed by ontology’s domain experts, intended end-users, and the team developing the ontology taking ontology’s functional requirements identified in task 4 of the process and groups of CQs obtained in task 5 of the process as inputs.

A set of obtained priorities inherent in every functional requirement as well as to each CQ in a group and to each group of CQs is taken as the task output.

Task 8: Extracting terminologies and their frequencies: This task is aimed at extracting a pre-glossary of terms within the obtained CQs as well as answers provided. The extracted pre-glossary of terms are divided into three parts that are distinct from each other as follows: terms that are extracted from CQs, terms that are extracted from answers provided to CQs, as well as terms whose identification is attributed to named entities, which are objects.

There will be future use of extracted terms showing higher frequencies of appearance in knowledge-aware resources searching when they have reuse potential in later processes of ontology development. This task should be carried out by the team developing the ontology, taking the obtained CQs and the provided answers as inputs utilizing techniques of terminology-extraction and tools that support them.

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Discussion and Anticipated Applications

In the process of developing ontology-based software application, there must be identification of the ontology requirements as well as those of the application itself. The experience gained in this project indicated that, more essential than mere software’s functional requirements capturing was precise as well as effective identification of ontology’s inherent knowledge.

As a result, ontology-based software application developers currently have specific methodological guidelines that are helpful to them in defining functional requirements of the software applications they intend to develop. This implies that, the NeOn methodology guidelines used to specify functional ontology requirements’ specification of the proposed ontology presented here, have been utilized to the NeOn ontologies as well as developing ontologies educational as well as research projects whose developers’ feedback on ontologies is interesting in each case (Gómez-Pérez & Suárez-Figueroa, 2008).

Furthermore, it is worth to mention that the methodological guidelines developed in this research project based on NeOn Methodology and the subsequent ORSD facilitated the process of identifying the functional requirements of an ontology in a variety of ways including:

(1) allowing representation of specific knowledge in developed ontologies to be identified,

(2) facilitating knowledge resources that are already existing to be reused by focusing the search of the resource in representation of specific knowledge in developed ontologies, as well as

(3) permitting developed ontologies to be verified with regards to functional requirements that ontologies should satisfy (Gómez-Pérez & Suárez-Figueroa, 2008).

As a result, the produced detailed software requirements document was proved to be good guideline because it fulfilled several aspects including: (a) establishing the basis on which customers and developers or suppliers agree on the uses and users of the software system or product to be developed, (b) reducing the effort required to develop the software, (c) providing the basis on which costs and schedules are estimated, and (d) offering a baseline to validate and verify the developed software system or product (Ambrósio et al., 2004).

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Developed methodological guidelines on the basis of NeOn Methodology succinctly outline the ontology functional requirements leading to the development of ORSD which allows (a) a search that is more direct for existing knowledge resources that are necessary to be reused in the process of developing the ontology, and (b) the ontology content evaluation (Wiegers, 2003). Thus, the methodological guidelines of NeOn Methodology can have applications in various projects.

For instance, developed guidelines can be applied in e-Employment whose goals are developing an interoperable and knowledge intensive architecture based on ontologies of public e-Employment services (PES), and enabling market-places that are federated for mediation of employment agencies through an interoperation which is based on peer-to-peer network (Gómez-Pérez & Suárez-Figueroa, 2008). These methodological guidelines of NeOn Methodology can also be used in e-Procurement as well as pharmaceutical companies.

For instance, in e-Procurement application they can be used in solving the problem caused by the lack of interoperability between those emit and receive invoices; whereas in pharmaceutical companies application, these guidelines can be used in helping to systematize the creation, maintenance and storage of updated information that is drug-related as well as allowing new drug resources to be easily integrated (Sommerville, 2007).   

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Conclusion and Future Work

In conclusion, it is important to state that identification of functional requirements is one of the crucial activities in the process of developing ontologies. In this research report, the specification of ontology’s functional requirements has been systematized in the proposed prescriptive as well as detailed methodological guidelines developed in the context of NeOn Methodology in order to specify ontology’s functional requirements.

The developed methodological guidelines can act as a baseline for creating a particular ORSD which is critical to speed up the process of developing the ontology. Terms as well as their frequency of occurrence from the ORSD’s pre-glossary can be used to search and select consensual and knowledge-aware resources that are existing, which after the process of re-engineering when essential, thereby allowing ontologies to be built faster, cheaply, and with higher quality.

The developed methodology guidelines based on NeOn Methodology presented in this research report can be extended further to develop a tool capable of automatically generating all possible combinations for relations and concepts in functional requirements, as well as automating the process of constructing detection rules, and also in developing ORSD.

Despite the fact that, ontology-based software application developers currently have specific methodological guidelines that are helpful to them in defining functional requirements of the software applications they intend to develop, these guidelines are not sufficient to succinctly define functional requirements of ontologies and more work is envisaged in the near future to address this challenge.      

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References   

B. Al-Ahmad, K. Magel, and S. Abufardeh, “A Domain Ontology Based Approach to Identify Effect Types of Security Requirements upon Functional Requirements,” International Journal of Knowledge Engineering, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 24-29, 2015.

A. P. Ambrósio, D. C. de Santos, F. N. de Lucena, and J. C. de Silva, “Software Engineering Documentation: An Ontology-Based Approach,” Proc. Web Media and LA-Web Joint Conf., 10th Brazilian Symp. Multimedia and Web Second Latin Am. Web Congress, pp. 38-40, 2004.

G. Cascini, G. Fantoni, and F. Montagna, “Situating needs and requirements in the FBS framework,” Design Studies, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 636–662, 2013.

B. Chandrasekaran, and J. R. Josephson, “Function in device representation,” Engineering with Computers, vol. 16, no. 3-4, pp. 162–177, 2000.

A. Davis, “Software Requirements: Objects, Functions and States,” Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1993.

A. Gómez-Pérez, M. Fernández-López, and O. Corcho, “Ontological Engineering: With examples from the areas of Knowledge Management, e-Commerce and the Semantic Web,” London, UK: Springer Verlag London Limited, 2004.

M. Grüninger, and M. Fox, “Methodology for the design and evaluation of ontologies,” In Skuce, D. (ed) IJCAI95 Workshop on Basic Ontological Issues in Knowledge Sharing, pp. 6.1–6.10, 1995.

M. Fernández-López, and A. Gómez-Pérez, “Searching for a Time Ontology for Semantic Web Applications,” Formal Ontology in Information Systems, Turín, Italy, 2004.

A. Gómez-Pérez, and M. C. Suárez-Figueroa, “NeOn Methodology: Scenarios for Building Networks of Ontologies,” 16th International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management Knowledge Patterns (EKAW 2008). Conference Poster, Turín, Italy, 2008.

T. J. Howard, S. J. Culley, and E. Dekoninck, “Describing the creative design process by the integration of engineering design and cognitive psychology literature,” Design Studies, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 160–180, 2008.

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G. Kotonya, and I. Sommerville, “Requirements Engineering: Processes and Techniques,” New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1998.

S. Lauesen, “Software Requirements: Styles and Techniques,” London, UK: Pearson Education Limited, 2002.

J. Lee, and N. L. Xue, “Analyzing user requirements by use cases: A goal-driven approach,” IEEE Software, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 92-101, 1999.

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L. Mich, F. Mariangela, and N. I. Pierluigi, “Market research for requirements analysis using linguistic tools,” Requirements Engineering, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 40–56, 2004.

M. Roth, and K. Woodsend, “Composition of word representations improves semantic role labeling,” Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, Doha, Qatar, pp. 407–413, 2014.

I. Sommerville, “Software Engineering,” (8th ed.). New York, NY: International Computer Science Series, 2007.

S. Staab, P. Hans, R. Studer, and Y. Sure, “Knowledge Processes and Ontologies,” IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 26–34, 2001.

M. C. Suárez-Figueroa, G. Aguado de Cea, C. Buil, K. Dellschaft, M. Fernández-López, and M. Uschold, “Building Ontologies: Towards A Unified Methodology,” In: Watson I (ed.) 16th Annual Conference of the British Computer Society Specialist Group on Expert Systems. Cambridge, United Kingdom, 1996.

M. C. Suárez-Figueroa, M. Fernández-López, A. Gómez-Pérez, K. Dellschaft, H. Lewen, and M. Dzbor, “NeOn D5.3.2. Revision and Extension of the NeOn Development Process and Ontology Life Cycle, NeOn project,” Retrieved from: http://www.neon-project.org, 2008.

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Mapping DNA using restriction Enzymes and electrophoresis

Mapping DNA
Mapping DNA

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Mapping DNA using restriction Enzymes and electrophoresis

Mary Smith

Chem I – Sect C

10/12/20XX

Sediment in Water – Lab #3

Koeck (Edit this part with your details)

Abstract

This laboratory report describes the experiment that was conducted using the restriction enzymes- restriction endonuclease- to manipulate the DNA molecules. The restriction enzyme has the capacity to recognize DNA sequences, and cleaving the DNA at that specific site. The endonuclease was used in conjunction with electrophoresis to map 2, 686 base pair of the pUC 19 plasmid. The plasmid cut into fragments, was separated using gel electrophoresis based on the charge and size.

Introduction

 The first stage of DNA analysis for refined DNA such as gene expression and DNA sequencing is the construction of the DNA map. This has been done previously by scientists who used enzymes that are naturally occurring often referred to as restriction enzymes, to cut the large pieces of large molecule of DNA into small pieces. The fragments are then separated and sorted through the use of gel electrophoresis and the results obtained, they can be used to reconstruct the map of DNA molecule. This process is commonly referred to as mapping (Hughes and Moody, 2007).

 This experiment was conducted using the restriction enzymes- restriction endonuclease- to manipulate the DNA molecules. The enzyme has the capacity to recognize specific DNA sequences, and cleaving the DNA at that specific site. The endonuclease will be used in conjunction with electrophoresis, which will be used to map 2, 686 base pair of the pUC 19 plasmid. The plasmid will be cut into fragments, which will be separated using gel electrophoresis based on the charge and size.

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Experiments (materials and methods)

Materials

Gel electrophoresis apparatus; Gel plates, comb to make wells, chamber cover, and chamber electrophoresis. Power supply with electrodes, deionized water, hot plate/ microwave, agarose, 250-Ml Erlenmeyer flask, and 100 ml graduated cylinder, pUC 19 plasmid DNA, restriction buffers, ice, restriction enzymes, molecular weight markers (lambda DNA), Ava II, Pvu II, gel loading dye (bromophenol blue), 15 1.5 Eppendorf’s, thermometer and metric rulers.  Other common materials include, container that contains TBE solution, water bath (37 C), Floating rack, 60º C hot plate, cooler containing crushed ice, Polaroid camera with 667 Polaroid film, methylene blue stain, UV protective equipment, distilled water and non-frost free freezer.

Method

To make the Gel electrophoresis field, 1.0% of agarose was prepared as follows. To make 100 ml of gel, 1.0 g of the agarose was weighed and placed into the 250 ml glass beaker. 100 ML OF 1x TBE (Tris-Borate-EDTA) buffer was added. The mixture was heated in the hot pan for 30 seconds, shaking gently until all the agarose had melted completely. The solution was cooled and stored in a refrigerator.

The second day, pan was filled with water and was adjusted to 60 º C. The agarose was poured as follows; the agarose bottle that had been stored in day 1 was melted in the hot water bath. Firmly, the ends of the gel tray were sealed using a labelling tape, and a comb was placed on the slots, near the end of the tray, approximately, 40 ml of the agarose was poured in each of the tray, and was let cool  for 15 minute to solidify.

During enzyme restriction stage, all enzymes and DNA aliquots were kept in ice. The four microtubes and reagents were labelled and stored as indicated below

ReagentsAva IIPvu IIControl
10 x Buffer4 µl4 µl4 µl
DNA4 µl4 µl4 µl
Pvu II0 µl2 µl0 µl
Ava II2 µl0 µl0 µl
Water30 µl30 µl30 µl

The micropipette was set to collect 4µl and 4 10X restriction buffer to each of the tube. The similar process was followed to load 4.0 µl of DNA, but using a different tube, to the control tube, 32 µl of distilled water was added whereas in the other reaction tube, 30 µl of distilled water was added. 

The microtubes caps were closed and were heated in the 55 ºC for 10 minutes and were placed immediately on ice for 2 minutes. 2 µl of the appropriate restriction enzymes were added as shown in the grid above. The microtubes caps were closed, tapped the tube gently to bring all the liquid to the bottom, and were incubated overnight at 37 C.

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 To run the electrophoresis, the tubes were collected and placed in the ice tubes and the gel electrophoresis field was set up. The microtubes were heated in 60º C water bath for 3 minutes. 4 µl of the loading dye was added in each of the reaction tube. 20 µl of each sample was loaded in the well, and the current was turned on for 30 to 45 minutes. The gel was stained using the methylene blue solution in 0.1 TBE and was stained for 2 hours at room temperature. Observations were made and photograph was taken.

Results

There were several errors that we done during the preparation of the gel electrophoresis field.  The first preparation did not gel, and the mistake could not be traced. This led to preparation of the second gel, which eventually worked perfectly. The loading of the DNA was also somewhat troublesome due to shaking of the hands, but I managed to pull it off, with the assistance of laboratory technician and my peers.

The following observations was made

1=2-log DNA (0.1-10 kb) molecular weight marker

2=pUC19 digested with AvaII, at 2464bp and 222bp

2 cuts =pUC19 digested with PvuII at 2364bp and 332 bp

4 cuts =pUC19 digested with AvaII and PvuII at 2464 bp, 2364bp, 332 bp and 222bp.

The control field had no fragments. Thebase pair at which the cuts occurred is almost the same number as those predicted by the pUC 19 maps.

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Discussion

  The pCU19is a 26866 base pairs, and thus its kb can be estimated to be 2.7 kb. It is small, and a high copy number in E.coli plasmid, which contain pBR322 and M13MP19.  It has multiple cloning sites, where each unique enzyme can cause restriction, thus facilitating the recombinant technology (Omoto and Lurquin, 2004).

The microtubes containing DNA were heated ath 60C to break hydrogen bonds at the end of the linear DNA. Addition of the dye also stopped the restriction reaction from taking place. After running the gel electrophoresis, DNA being negatively charged, it migrated towards the cathode, inform of bands of specific size. The controls had no fragments because the DNA was not digested by any restriction enzyme (Twyman, 2009).

 The following observations were made; there were two cuts when pUC19 was digested with AvaII, at 2464bp and 222bp. This was also the same when pUC19 digested with PvuII, and the cuts were estimated to be at 2364bp and 332 bp. In double cleavage, a total of 4 cuts were observed when pUC19 was digested with AvaII and PvuII at 23640 bp, 2464 bp, 322 bp and 222 bp. 

The control field had no fragments. The cuts are almost the same base pair number as those predicted by the pUC 19 maps. However, when compared the results from the attached pUC 19 map, the AvaII  points should be digested at 1837 bp and 2059 bp, whereas, PvuII at  306 bp and 628 bp. The minor deviations could be associated with accuracy of recording the base pairs.  The 4 cuts obtained by the double digests indicate that restriction enzymes recognize DNA sequences and cut them at that site (Twyman, 2009).

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Conclusion

The study objectives were achieved, restriction activity took place. This technique is a very important technique as it helps on interacts with the basics of cloning techniques and tools used in molecular biology.

References

Hughes, S. and Moody, A. (2007). PCR. Bloxham: Scion.

Omoto, C. and Lurquin, P. (2004). Genes and DNA. New York: Columbia University Press.

Twyman, R. (2009). Principles of Gene Manipulation and Genomics. John Wiley & Sons.

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Module 5 Review Assignment Paper

Module 5 Review
Module 5 Review

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Module 5 Review

Part 1

A positioning statement is an appropriate description of the main target audience that a given brand aims to attract. A positioning statement is also known as a brand strategy, brand positioning statement or a positioning strategy. In any marketing strategy or plan, a positioning statement is a core to determining the plan’s success (Baker, 2014).

The importance of the positioning statement is that it creates a picture of how the organization or company wants its customers or consumers of the specific brand to view it. Therefore, it is considered to be very a very important statement that ensures that brand positioning part of the marketing plan is an absolute success.

“Our Economy cabin provides brilliant service, great food, and great in-flight entertainment. Why expect less?” The above statement is the positioning statement for the Virgin Atlantic Airline’s Economy cabin brand. The positioning statement above is effective due to some few reasons. One is that the positioning statement has clearly defined the target audience. The target audience being the people that opt to travel in economy class. Second, the positioning statement has clearly pointed out the benefits of the economy class to its customers. Lastly, the positioning statement gives any potential customer its word that the brand will surely deliver on its promise.

Module 5 Review

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Virgin Atlantic Airlines has a strong brand equity. From the positioning stamen of the airline as mentioned above. We have ascertained that the positioning strategy is a strong one. The statement is significant in ensuring that the marketing strategy goes according to plan and achieves the strategic goals of the organization. Therefore, creating a strong brand equity that will make customer relate to a brand that has been existing for longer than other brands. The brand equity of the Virgin Atlantic Airline is strong as seen by the success of the airline over the decades it has been operating since it was established.

Defender, analyzer, and prospector business strategies are used differently in their implementations in organizational business strategy. Defender strategy when used in an organization, is implemented by the way of the organization not focusing on incorporating new technology into their operations. Instead, the organization focuses more on improving the way it currently conducts its business operation thus defending its position in the business market (Mullins et al., 2013).

The analyzer business strategy is completely different from the defender one. In this business strategy, the organization attempts to be innovative in new businesses while maintaining their current businesses.  While prospector business strategy focuses more on taking risks, emulating new ideas, being more innovative and growing in an innovative way. Using this strategy, organizations can venture into new innovative businesses and tests new emerging trends in the business environment they operate.

Module 5 Review

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Part 2

Perceptual Map

References

Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Palgrave Macmillan.

Mullins, J., Walker, O., & Boyd, H. (2013). Marketing management: A strategic decision-making approach. (8th ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin

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People, Management, & Organizations

People, Management, & Organizations

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People, Management, & Organisations

Introduction

Human resource management (HRM) is one of the most important departments in the operations of an organization. Different entities as well share HRM responsibilities differently depending on the size, situation/context, and the goals of the organization among other functions. HRM in overall aims at improving the performance of the business by extracting maximum value from the capabilities, knowledge and skills and efforts of employees in the most cost effective manner as possible.

To achieve this value, organizations share various responsibilities through shared service centres, HRM department, and outsourcing or through line managers. The paper therefore, focuses on the different ways of sharing responsibilities using the case of Vodafone Company. The paper further deliberates on how this work and ways to improve the same putting into consideration the drivers of trends in service delivery.

People, Management, & Organizations

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Case study

Vodafone is one of the leading multinational corporations in the area of telecommunication companies operating in India. The company ranks second after Airtel in terms of mobile network coverage. The company offers an array of services including services that relates to voice, mobile phones, and internet services such as 3G and many others. The company dominates the mobile telephony market because of the quality of services it renders to its customers. The company has as well managed to grow because of the competitive personnel it has.

The nature of HRM delivery the company uses is both outsourcing and HRM department. The company has a HRM department that deals with the affairs of its employees. It as well on various occasions uses outsourcing services to supplement its HRM department functions. Various drivers or trends in service delivery exist such as technological advancement/change, competitive pressures, and globalization and are critical in the operations of HRM systems. These drivers as well have played a key role in the operations and HRM responsibilities of the company.

For instance, competitive pressures have contributed to the innovations and creativity experienced in the company. The company has managed to come up with competitive products and services that have contributed to its success. Globalization has also contributed to the adoption of the HRM strategy in the company. The company has as well adopted best practices embraced by different companies across the world to be competitive.

People, Management, & Organizations

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Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing of HR mode of delivery the company has adopted

 Outsourcing of HR activities is one of the HR service delivery the company uses. Various HR practice areas such as training and development and recruitment, and payroll, and general administration are sourced from various HR specialists. This however, does not mean the company has poor systems, but some of the personnel’s to be recruited requires vigorous scrutiny (Torrington, Hall &Taylor, 2008). Recruitment agencies for instance, possess greater skills and experience concerning suitable caliber of candidates to recruit.

Furthermore, outsourcing reduces costs of operation, especially in the short run because it can be expensive to maintain or retain internal staffs due to employment cost such as holiday pay, office accommodation, and pension pays. Outsourcing removes, potential rigidities as they are not covered (Bresnen & Marchington, 2014). Outsourcing has advantages because it allows the company to buy in external expertise not available in house. It is also useful and appropriate in change programmes, and is cheaper in the long run.

However, using outsourcing as a method of delivery have potential problems that the organization put into consideration to ensure that they does not derail smooth operations and functioning of the organization. This includes loss of internal synergy in the Human resource functions in the company. It also limits the company when it comes to application of best practices and there may cause interference in the process of reaching amicable solutions (Torrington, Hall &Taylor, 2008).

Furthermore, the company faces threat of experiencing additional costs because of monitoring and definition of performance that must be undertaken even after the outsourced experts or specialists leaves the organization (Bresnen & Marchington, 2014).

People, Management, & Organizations

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Advantages and disadvantages of HRM department mode of delivery the company has adopted

HRM department is cheaper to administer and to run because personnel’s are familiar with the internal process of the organization (Torrington, Hall &Taylor, 2008). However, some of the challenges or problems that this company experience using this mode of service delivery is   when it comes to policy implementation and implementation of programmes due to long processes created in the organization structure.

 These delivery methods as indicated from the discussion are appropriate and help the organization to gain value. The company does not incur huge costs operating on these delivery methods. Furthermore, returns in terms of value are higher.

Outsourcing has contributed to recruitment of skilled and knowledgeable staffs that have contributed to achievement of the objectives and goals of the organization. Furthermore, it has contributed to smooth operations because; the right people that have the requisite skills are employed to help champion the issues of the organization forward.

Other modes of HR service deliver

Advantages and disadvantage of front-line managers

Even though, the company uses outsourcing and HRM department, Purcell & Hutchinson (2007) argues that using other modes such as front line managers and shared service centers (SSC) can as well add value to an entity. According to  Bresnen & Marchington (2014),  the potential advantages of using  front line managers is that  is easy to intervene in any  HR issues as they are closer to issues that the department of HR perform.

Furthermore, line managers have higher understanding of the business and they own ideas that help them to engage with others (Purcell & Hutchinson, 2007). However, they have some drawbacks such as may not be familiar with the goals of the organization, may lack skills and competencies, may experience work overload that may derail their smooth operations and may as well face inconsistencies when it comes to application of HR rules.

People, Management, & Organizations

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Advantages and disadvantage shared service centers HRM service delivery mode

 On the other hand, shared services centres are also becoming popular in entities. This involves a small group of HR professionals that drive the strategic vision of an organization at the same time a call center exists that provides advice to line managers as well as administrators and individual workers (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2011).

Some benefits of this include higher customer satisfaction, efficient processes, and economies of scale, transparency of costs, among others. Potential problems using this kind of delivery mode is increased workload to line manager that may affect service delivery, higher than expected costs and staffs may experience IT problems among many others.

Wider theoretical perspectives

  Various theories provide wider perspectives on the functioning of different organization. Resource based view is one of the theories that explains how the key drivers of HRM and organization performance are shaped (Bresnen & Marchington, 2014). In Vodafone, the primary forces that impacts on its performance is based on the inside out approach. The internal capabilities including the skills of employees and processes as well as employment relation play a critical role in its success (Lepak & Snell, 2007).

The organization therefore has used different individuals in different areas they cause greater impacts. Practices or goals that are ascertained to be are, valuable, not easy to copy, and not easy to substitute are given preferential treatment. Therefore, HRM architecture has as well been of greater value in the functioning of HRM as the modes of delivery is based on centrality to the mission of the company (Bresnen & Marchington, 2014).

People, Management, & Organizations

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Ways of improving delivery and alternative HRM service delivery modes recommendations

 Based on the literature and discussion, delivery can still be improved to ensure that the organization achieves higher performance. One way of improving delivery is applying various models of delivery that suit the company and which help achieve the goals and visions of the organization (Lepak & Snell, 2007).

It is also important to select the mode of delivery that is cost effective, ensure that problems are solved and those that ensure adoption of best practices in the functioning of the organization. It is also important to utilize resource based view theories by incorporating internal capabilities that can add value to the organization. I recommend use of HR departments and outsourcing of HR in circumstances where an organization wants to save costs and to attract talented individuals.

Conclusion

Human resource management is critical in the operation of   the organization. It is prudent that organizations adopt suitable service delivery modes that can help them meet their goals. Organization such as Vodafone uses HR department and outsourcing and this has contributed to its success. In dealing with various problems entities encounter, it becomes prudent to adapt to most suitable and appropriate modes of service delivery.

People, Management, & Organizations

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Other modes that entities can use include front-line managers and Shared Service centers. It is also important to consider the drivers of factors of service delivery such as globalisation, technological changes, and competitive pressures in deciding the appropriate service delivery mode to use. Theoretical views such as resource based and architectural modes are important to consider in service delivery.

Using inside approach by considering internal capabilities of individuals can go extra miles in ensuring that an entity remains competitive. It is therefore recommended that organizations make appropriate decisions on the modes they want to use by weighing their benefits against drawbacks and putting into consideration the context or the situation they are operating in.

Reference

Bresnen, M, & Marchington, M 2014, People, Management & Organisations, study guide; The University of Manchester; Manchester.

Lepak, D, & Snell, S 2007, ‘Employment subsystems and the ‘HR architecture’, in Boxall, P.,Purcell, J. and Wright, P. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Marchington, M, & Wilkinson, A 2011, Human Resource Management at Work (4th Edition), London: CIPD.

Purcell, J, & Hutchinson, S 2007, ‘Front-line managers as agents in the HRM performance causal chain: theory, analysis and evidence,’ Human Resource Management Journal, 17(1), pp 3- 20.

Torrington, D, Hall, L, & Taylor, S 2008, Human Resource Management, 7th edition, FT Prentice Hall, London.

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Joint Military Operations

Joint Military Operations
Joint Military Operations

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Joint Military Operations

  1. Operational Environment

Current operational environment:

The NKPA constitutes a very formidable force of over 135,000 men, most of whom have been conscripts of the Japanese and Chinese armies. These armies are adequately equipped with modern Soviet-supplied aircraft, artillery and tanks. On the other hand, the ROK armed forces comprises of less than 100,000 men who are poorly trained and ill-equipped. Massive mechanization and coordinated firepower are the focus of U.S.’s tactical doctrine.

The U.S. military power available for the operation is inadequately prepared for the forthcoming war, with army forces comprising of four understrength divisions that are ill-equipped. Nevertheless, the positive side is that McArthur’s forces have the full support of U.S. and United Nations (Mamaux, 1987).

  • How General McArthur’s vision for Operation Chromite relieves NKPA pressure on the U.S. Eight Army in the Pusan Perimeter

According to McArthur’s vision, an amphibious landing in the Vicinity of Inchon is capable of slicing off, halting, isolating and destroying the NKPA, synchronized with a breakout from the Pusan Perimeter by its defenders. This is to result to the liberation of Seoul and restoration of the South Korean Government, while North Korea will be immediately invaded and occupied. He believes that this mission is only achievable through a fleshed-out plan and force to execute it.

Operation Chromite is borne, which calls for X-Corps to form around the First Marine Division and the 7th Infantry Division for purposes of executing a staged amphibious landing at Inchon and advancing inland to capture Seoul and cut the major lines of communication of the enemy while making resupplies to McArthur’s forces committed in the south. While the main challenge is pulling together the forces to make the landing, with the enemy continuously threatening the Pusan perimeter, McArthur throws available units into the fight in order to relieve NKPA’s pressure on Walker (Sweeney, 2000).

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Strategic Guidance

  • General McArthur’s vision for the operation environment once OPERATION CHROMITE is concluded (end state)

General McArthur’s end state is to lodge a successful amphibious landing by Marines at Inchon, about 120 miles behind enemy lines and 25 miles from Seoul. When the forces land at and capture Inchon, they will then seize the adjacent air base at Kimpo with the aim of enabling the United Nations forces to launch an attack and eventually secure Seoul. The UN forces are also expected to drive towards the west across the peninsula from their position in Pusan.

This appears as a double-envelopment for crushing North Korea from the southeast at Pusan and from the northwest at Inchon. McArthur’s plan aims at: striking at the rear of North Korea’s forces, cutting the supply lines to the south, gaining political control through the liberation of Seoul, and threatening North Korea’s capital of Pyonyang (Heineman, 2001).

  • The Roles of JTF 7 and X Corps in achieving General MacArthur’s end state

The X-Corps under the command of Major General Almond is charged with conducting amphibious assault at Inchon. X Corps comprise of the 1st Marine Division, in addition to one regiment withdrawn from the Pusan Perimeter for purposes of bringing the Division to a complete wartime strength of three regiments, plus the 7th Infantry Division. JTF-7 is a real-time joint operational command comprising of Marine, Army and Navy unites aimed at supporting the assault force.

Accordingly, JTF-7 strikes North Korean forces as a weak, undetermined joint, and this effects surprise and mass before North Koreans getting a proper ground to react (Doughty, nd). Additionally, with two divisions, X Corps accomplished their goals in a deliberate and logical manner by seizing Wolmido Island, Kimpo rtfield and Seoul.

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Decisive Points

  • TWO key decisive points for Operation Chromite

Seoul is a decisive point because of its symbolic value as the capital and for being the most critical node in the supply chain of the enemy attack. Seoul is the focal point for all movement in the South and it has become the most vital node in the supply chain of the communist invasion. McArthur’s great interest in the city is because of its overwhelming symbolic value. This implies that retaking it will psychologically demoralize the enemy. Thus, rather than pursuing a simple push of North Koreans to retreat from Pusan, Operation Chromite is intended to fully unhinge the enemy forces by stubbing them from the rear.

The second decisive point is the U.S involvement. Given the U.S. ground troops’ involvement, McArthur feels that he can surround and sever North Korea’s persistent and tenuous supply chains. The cutting of critical lines increases the possibility of victory regardless of the overwhelming 3:1 North Korean advantage. This realization enables MacArthur to initiate the Inchon plan, which sets the stage for the smart amphibious operation. After destabilizing the enemy psychologically by cutting supply lines, McArthur stages constant attacks on all sides, thus breaking the NKPA resistance and leading to the collapse of the army. By September, the NKPA ceases to exist as a coordinated fighting force in South Korea.

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Operational Maneuver

  • How Operation Chromite supports the breakout of the Eighth Army at the Pusan Perimeter

The operational maneuver for North Korean military has a close resemblance to the Chinese model. According to Mao Tse Tung, the best approach is to avoid strong points and aim at infiltrating the enemy’s lines in order to hit the rear areas that are weakly defended, thus destroying vital logistical areas. For the North Korean military, Inchon is emblematic of the weaknesses behind its entire scheme whose mission to unify Korea. Its bargains are based on the lack of capability, interest and will on the part of the American government.

The justification of this analysis is based on the signals coming from Washington and the consideration of the state of America’s military at the time. Nevertheless, North Korea’s downfall is greatly contributed by its underestimation of America’s prospects for mounting an overwhelming reaction, and it does not predict the prospect of UN-sponsored Allied effort ultimately involving forces from 16 nations (Totten, 1976).

Operation Chromite does not bring about any remarkably new ideas to the art of war. Instead, it serves to reinforce conventional aspects, such as the relevance of maintaining trained and ready forces for deterrence of aggression or confrontation of a contingency. Americans have the advantages of interior lines at the Pusan perimeter. Nevertheless, they have the freedom to utilize exterior lines due to the lack of an opposing naval force.

Despite North Koreans complete victory in the initial phases of their invasion, thy encounter a standoff around the Pusan perimeter following the US Eighth Army and UN forces’ gallant determination to stand against the onslaught of the communists. McArthur perceives the weakness of the enemy’s communication lines as early as possible. In addition, North Koreans are disadvantaged due to their terrain induced flanks. The operational art by McArthur’s forces capitalize on harmonized amphibious maneuver and interdiction for purposes of attacking the enemy’s center of gravity (Heinl, 1968).

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Joint fires

  • Landing forces at Inchon

Inchon was chosen by MacArthur as the landing point due to its strategic position as the port for the capital city of Seoul. The first assault was made by the 3rd Battalion on Wolmi-do with the high tide at dawn on the 15th of September. As a result, the enemy’s resistance was crushed. The rest of the divisions landed on the next high tide. This caused massive surprise to the enemy. The preparation of gunfire support ships and naval air for the Inchon landing occurred on the 13th of September.

  • Attacking the NKPA’s lines of communications

The 1st Marines and the rest of the 5th Marines landed at the enemy’s lines of departure. One hour later, the 5th Marines had lodged an assault on the sea wall through charged bamboo ladders that had been hurriedly built by Japanese workers before their embarkation. By midnight, the Marines had taken control of the main high terrain of Observation Hill and Cemetery Hill.

At dawn, the Marines destroyed North Korean T-34 tanks on the Seoul highway, which prevented North Korean artillery fire from spreading to the beachhead area. The 7th Division also made their landing at Inchon and advanced hastily inland, with the aim of preventing enemy attacks from Suwom and the south. Few hours later, the 5th Marines were in full control of the Seoul highway.

  • Interdicting any NKPA’s attempts to counterattack or reinforce forces vicinity Inchon and Seoul

Having secured its flanks, the 1st Marine Division moved to the north on 20th September in order to stage the 6-day battle aimed at clearing Seoul. NKPA’s bitter counterattcks eventually compelled the commitment of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team, 7th Division’s 32 Infantry Regiment, and the Republic of Korea’s Marines to the battle for Seoul. Ultimately, NKPA’s resistance broke out and the army collapsed as a result of constant attacks from all sides (Woodhouse, 2011).

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Operational Reach

  • How the other Services (Air Force, Marines, and Navy) provided General MacArthur with operational reach in Operation Chromite

Operation Chromite demonstrates that the scope of amphibious operations plays a vital role in all military operations. Whereas the Fleet-Marine had an inherent interplay, the Army and the Air Force also played significant roles in the execution of MacArthur’s masterstroke. In addition, the military operation in Inchon was done collaboratively. The US and the Allies worked on establishing and maintaining air and naval superiority in the area of operations, which would help in conducting an amphibious assault on Inchon, securing the beachhead and seizing Kimpo artfield, crossing the River of Han and recapturing Seoul.

The Far East Air Forces under the command of Lieutenant General George E. Stratemeyer played a vital role in the delivery of supplies and personnel to reinforce ROK and U.S. forces during the initial stages of the war. The Naval Forces under the command of Vice Admiral Charles T. Joy helped in improving the naval posture (Kortegaard, 2005).

  • How the operational reach provided an advantage to the Allies over just reinforcing the Eighth Army inside the Pusan Perimeter

The synchronization of land, sea and air operations was vital in the theater for the accomplishment of the strategic objective. Operation Chromite was successful due to the joint execution of the US Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy and Army. This realization demonstrates the need for employment of a joint force in order to establish synergies among the services, thus yielding greater combat capabilities and power for purposes of responding to aggressions and contingencies.

This realization demonstrates the need for employment of a joint force in order to establish synergies among the services, thus yielding greater combat capabilities and power for purposes of responding to aggressions and contingencies. Accordingly, the operational reach allowed the Eighth Army to ensure that the restricted flow of their supplies occurred along a secure path. The Eighth Army exploited in-depth echeloned fires across the operational area and further utilized transitions and phasing for purposes of setting the tempo.

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Arranging Operations

  • How General McArthur’s staff used (1) simultaneity, (2) depth, (3) timing, and (4) tempo in executing Operation Chromite in conjunction with Eighth Army activities inside the Pusan Perimeter

Simultaneity refers to the process of simultaneously applying power against vital adversary capabilities and sources of strength. Marine Air, Navy and Air Force are to strike targets ranging from the strategic marshaling areas of the enemy to tactical forces. This involves both the amphibious turning movement and the breakout from Pusan.

Operational depth was realized by Air support from the Air Force, Navy and Marines, which occurred in the months of September and early October. 4 squadrons of Panthers, 3 squadrons of Skyraiders, and 10 squadrons of Corsairs were exploited by planners for purposes of providing coverage for the landings at Inchon.

General MacArthur was in charge of the speed and rhythm of military operations. He calculated the timings of every action and essentially determined the best speed for the lodgment of amphibious assault on Inchon.

Despite supply problems, UN forces took control of the tempo of operations in the course of landings and breakout. The landing of U.S. forces consisted of a significantly high operational tempo, with the 1st Marine Division advancing in a direct and rapid manner towards Seoul so as to ease the pressures from the Pusan defense perimeter.

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Defeat Mechanisms

  • Destroy

The war campaign was tailored towards destroying communists and preventing the spread of communism in the Republic of Korea. While North Koreans aimed at reunifying the two Koreas, and it had been difficult to achieve this goal using political means, they decided to resort to military means in order to gain a political edge. However, the U.S. came in to help South Koreans in order to destroy communists and prevent them from spreading their ideologists in the area.

During the initial stages, the U.S. commissioned MacArthur to assume the coordination of naval and air support for evacuations from South Korea. The 7th Fleet landed at Formosa to prevent war from occurring between communists and exiled Chinese Nationalists on mainland China. Task Force Smith, comprising of over 500 American soldiers that posted as sentries and clerks in Japan were assembled on June 29, 1950 for purposes of assisting the overwhelmed South Korean forces.

As South Koreans flew in panic, Task Force Smith confronted the communists and hastily destroyed them. Whereas North Koreans seemed to have won during the early stages of their invasion, General MacArthur had studied their weakness and quickly devised a plan on how to destroy the enemy (Kim, 1973).

  • Disintegrate:

MacArthur’s campaign targeted the NKPA for disintegration in order to provide him with choices in regards to the tactical employment of forces to support strategic objectives. The U.S. intended to prevent the spread of communism and to ensure that North Korean forces were pushed out of the friendly South Korea.

Thus, a successful operation was capable of poising the United Nations forces for exploitation of operational benefits and possible taking of the fight into North Korea. Accordingly, the forces worked towards disrupting the enemy’s command and control systems, destabilizing the enemy from conducting operations in order to cause the rapid collapse of the enemy’s capabilities or will to continue fighting.

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Direct and Indirect Approach

  • Approach used by General MacArthur in attacking the NKPA

MacArthur used the indirect approach, in which joint force capabilities and strengths were applied against the weakness of NKPA across the whole battle space to allow MacArthur’s team time for stabilizing the situation and finding a way for exploitation of their potential.  The first time MacArthur considered an amphibious landing in the rear area of the enemy was while he was standing on the south bank of Han River.

MacArthur was inclined towards an amphibious operation due to his successes in previous campaigns throughout the Pacific in World War II, which were based on the doctrine of applying Allied ground, naval and air strengths against the weak points of the enemy. There were high chances of amphibious operations in unsuspecting areas because the enemy could be kept off balance and this gave the Allies the opportunity to maintain the initiative.

  • Why he chooses the approach

According to MacArthur, reliance on strategic maneuver to overcome great odds from the enemy is the best approach to winning a battle. However, direct approach merely insinuates a frontal attack that can only result to a prolonged and costly campaign. The ability of MacArthur’s forces to operate at sea and in the air, where NKPA could not, was a vital element of success. By continuously leveraging dimensional advantages, MacArthur was able to fully utilize UN strengths and to slow the invasion of statistically superior forces which operated along ordinarily advantageous internal lines.

His previous application of amphibious landings in the Pacific against the Japanese had provided MacArthur with the requisite experience for decision making on an amphibious landing at Inchon, far at the rear of the enemy lines, with the aim of cutting off communication lines and quickly capturing Seoul (Ballard, 2001).

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  1. Operational Risks
Risk 1: UnpreparednessMitigation: U.S. forces recovered from their earlier unpreparedness due to the residual skills of the reserve forces.        
Risk 2: McArthur’s ROK forces were few, with limited transport available to hastily commit themMitigation: He expeditiously informed the JSC about the need to commit American power        
Risk 3: Necessity to secure the Pusan perimeterMitigation: Joint amphibious operations were adopted, through inter-service collaboration. The skillful use of the Army, the Air Force and the Fleet-Marine helped in the successful execution of Operation Chromite        
Risk 4: Scarcity and piecemeal arrival of trained and ready forcesMitigation: MacArthur made crucial determinations on the time, place and methods of Operation Chromite. As such, the fact that there were highly skilled amphibious specialists available was utilized to the advantage of the U.S. and her Allies.      
Risk 5: Limited range of operation and numbers of land-based close air support aircraftMitigation: McArthur’s strong visionary leadership enabled him to convince JSC that the risks were minimal and that the operation would succeed anyway. His confidence brought more stronger Allies to the equation.          

References

Ballard, J. R. (2001). Operation Chromite Counterattack at Inchon. NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIV WASHINGTON DC INST FOR NATIONAL STRATEGIC STUDIES.

Doughty, R. E. (nd). The Evolution of U.S. Army Tactical Doctrine, 1946-76. Leavenworth Papers No. 1. Ft. Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

Heineman, J. A. (2001). The Operational Leadership of General Douglas McArthur in OPERATION CHROMITE. A paper submitted to the Faculty of the Naval War College in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the Department of Joint Military Operations.

Heinl, R. D. (1968). Victory at High Tide: The Inchon-Seoul Campaign. Lippincott.

Kim, C. K. (1973). The Korean War. Kwangmyong Publishing Company.

Kortegaard, B. L. (2005). Inchon–Operation Chromite.

Mamaux, D. H. (1987). Operation CHROMITE: operational art in a limited war. ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLL FORT LEAVENWORTH KS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MIL ITARY STUDIES.

Sweeney, E. D. (2000). The United Nations Landing at Inchon: Operation Chromite. NAVAL WAR COLL NEWPORT RI JOINT MILITARY OPERATIONS DEPT.

Totten, J. (1976). Operation Chromite: A Study of Generalship. Armor, 85, 33-38.

Woodhouse, D. B. (2011). Operational Lessons Learned in the Korean War. School of Advanced Military Studies.

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Strategic Plan Literature Review

Strategic Plan Literature Review
Strategic Plan Literature Review

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Strategic Plan Literature Review

A fundamental technique applied by management accountants in managing an organization is strategic planning. Strategic planning a comprehensive method that consists the determination of what an organization should become and how it can achieve its goals and objectives Griffin (2013). In strategic planning mission and vision for the business are laid out. It does not necessarily involve describing how to achieve the goals of the business but to describe where the business is going.

Though strategic planning is a paramount need for an organization’s growth through recharging, an organization is mostly tired of coming up with new ways due to the scarcity of resources (Byron 2011). This paper is intended to analyze strategic planning as a management accounting function by going through literature reviews to ascertain the applicability, characteristics, and assumptions underlying the technique.

Literature review

Bain (2015) researched on strategic planning and its applicability in organizations. According to the author, strategic planning exploits the full potential of a business and acts as a link between the objectives of the business and the resources required to achieve the objectives. According to Bain (2015), a clear strategic plan should address the following issues.

1.    A full insight into an organization’s mission, goals, and objectives.

2.    Explore all the potential business gaps and markets for emerging opportunities and threats.

3.    Provide an understanding of the future market segments and priorities.

4.    An analysis of the company’s weaknesses and strengths and its competitors together with processes in the value chain that need to be changed or adopted.

5.    Identification, assessment, and evaluation of strategies and creation of a business model that can differentiate the business with competitors.

6.    Preparation of programs and policies for proper implementation of the strategies.

7.    Allocation of resources, responds to environmental changes and monitoring of performance.

Strategic Plan Literature Review

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Strategic planning is used by management accountants to change the performance of a business, promote discussions that provide facts that are politically sensitive, the creation of a model that integrates all the functions of the organization, and have proper context for making budgeting decisions (Amy 2012). Through strategic plans, managers get more insightful information for decision making and business appraisal.

The assumption made in developing strategic plans is that resources are readily available, and the organization is underperforming. Also, it is assumed that the external factors and internal factors provide all the required information for making strategic plans. However, it’s hard to get complete strategies since competitors do not give information that is relevant for benchmarking and the process is also implicated b social and political factors (Byron 2013).

Another scholar, Paul (2013) made a comprehensive research on the essential requirements for strategic planning. The author also assumes that the organization making strategic plans is financially struggling. According to the author, strategic planning is a functional process that provides the difference between a struggling organization and an innovative-driven organization.

The reason behind strategic planning is to create a cultural environment that believes in planning not just for the company to strive out of its low performance but long after regaining form (John 2012). Successful strategic planning incorporates ideas, inspiration, hard work, and determination. Most strategic plans are currently static and should evolve to being more adaptive and directive.

Strategic Plan Literature Review

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Paul (2013) noted that the essential elements of a successful strategic plan involve:

1.    Beginning at the top.

For a unified mission and vision, top management should take priority in implementing the strategic plans. The plan does not only involve management accounting but all other senior departmental managers including the CEOs. The senior managers should drive the strategies and give reasons behind each plan for effective accomplishment of organization goals. A strategic plan involves all the processes of an organization, and it is through coordination of the different functions and processes that a cohesive strategic plan is formulated. Management should be leaders in their job to ensure the strategies fall in place.

2.    Inclusion of strategic plan at all levels

Management accountants should involve all the levels of employees while designing a strategic plan. As proven by the lean approach, each has different ideas, and if given the right conditions, the ideas can be put to work (Khan and Join 2010). The sales team, financial accountants, casual workers, and even customers should be involved in strategic planning. Involving all levels of the organization in strategic planning ensures that passion for the internal community is strong for all the people working at the organization. Employees get motivated to work even extra hard when they feel they are considered a part of the organization.

3.    Concentrate more on skill than vision

Though a strategic plan is guided by the vision of the organization, skills and expertise required is key to the achievement of the firm’s goals. Different skill sets should be applied while crafting the strategic plan (Bain 2014).

4.    Have a guidebook for making decisions

The strategic plan should be used by all the functions of the organization to make decisions. Mission, vision, and decisions should be the core of the strategic plan and should provide advance decisions for the firm. The strategic plan should be the first thing to be viewed and applied daily as it is a representative of the organization.

5.    Flexibility

Though the strategic plan is used as a guidebook, the market keeps on changing, and it should be designed in a way that it can be changed. Priorities and economic conditions shift making the tasks laid out for accomplishment to change and evolve.

A well-documented strategic plan uses the past to forecast the future and creates a specialized culture for the organization. Strategic plans impact the organization socially by integrating the different functions and departments (Erica 2012). It is ethical in its form since all the stakeholders are involved hence ensuring that the needs of each are looked into before it is implemented.

Strategic Plan Literature Review

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Dennis (2013) talked about an organization looking beyond strategic plan. There are so many challenges faced by organizations that they wonder whether they will survive, let alone succeed. One of the main ways of re-starting an organization is through strategic planning. At the beginning of strategic planning, organizations are always excited yet mostly they end up failing in their mission. Failure by organizations results from strategic plans lacking some primary components such as:

1.    A detailed assessment of the organizational structure.

2.    A vision that is clear with uptight measures.

3.    A clear and comprehensive funding structure to acquire all the necessary resources.

4.    A plan that is detailed for implementation by both the staff and the management.

After the process of making the strategic plan, management accountants involved in the process always say that the process gave them insights into fulfilling the goals of the organization, that the functions were fully engaged and so on. The managers involved in the process should have greater confidence in the improvement of the organization and also the know how to accomplish the goals (James 2012). All the staff and board of directors should also be excited because they know where they are as an organization and where they are going.

According to Dennis (2013), effective process of strategic planning begins by first establishing the current position of the organization and the internal obstacles that it’s facing and all the hindrances to its achievement. Establishing obstacles is done by having a comprehensive face to face interviews with all the involved stakeholders both internal and external.

Before the interviews are done, it is crucial to collect and review information about the organization. Information management needs to have include budgets and financial statements, table of organization used by management, board minutes, marketing and public relations schedules and a better understanding of all the components. It’s only after there is a detailed list of information that a strategic plan can be prepared.

Strategic Plan Literature Review

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The vision presented by the strategic plan should create enthusiasm, commitment and should be well understood. After a clear identification of where the organization intends to go, review of all services and programs is done to determine processes that need to be changed or improved. Few goals should be set to enhance attainability. Also, during strategic planning, it is an appropriate time to outsource activities or involve other organizations so as to achieve the goals of the organization (Graham 2014).

After a comprehensive assessment of the organization is done, inspirational mission and vision for the organization is established as the foundation for the strategic planning. It is only by going beyond the traditional methods of strategic planning that the employees can be re-energized to impart new life to the whole organization.

According to Bill (2014), Strategic planning is no longer creating vibrancy and energy in organizations. The inability of the managers to forecast the future was the major contributing factor to the decline in the use of strategic planning. Instead of directing resources to opportunities that were productive, strategic managers accepted any project that was brought forward.

Also, strategic plans were not interrelated to the main action plans, and if action plans were described, they were so vague such that managers continued to do their operations in the usual way. A lot of time would be spent in drafting an attractive mission statement that wasn’t practiced. 

Strategic Plan Literature Review

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All the above scholars identify strategic planning as a core function of management. It is through having a strategic plan that the direction of an organization is established. However, a plan is incomplete without the involvement of both the internal and external stakeholders. According to Ronald (2013) the plan should be at par with the regulations of the market as well as company’s policies. It should create a correlation between the social aspects of the organization as well as the political aspects.

Leaders should be incorporated and should be first in coming up with effective strategies. It is through proper leadership that common goals and team work is established (James 2011). An organization that does not incorporate teamwork as a core social aspect does not succeed. It is, therefore, necessary to involve all the stakeholders in the designing of the strategic plan.

Before commencing to write a strategic plan, the management should have clear information on all the organization functions. The sales people, accountants, human resources, budgetary committee, financial managers and all internal, as well as external stakeholders, should be involved. When all stakeholders are involved, it’s easy to get a clear picture as to what is ailing the organization.

The obstacles undermining the performance of the organization should be established (Steven 2013). Involvement of all the functions and stakeholders ensures that all ideas are incorporated and weighed against each other to get a common goal. A strategic plan is not necessarily designed to show how goals are to be achieved but where the future of the organization lies.

The reason so many strategic plans are set but do not work is because resources are not directed where they can be mostly profitable. Managers become so blinded with setting up mission and vision for the organization that they do not plan for specific issues that will lead to profitability in an organization.

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Historical data on cost allocation strategies, budgeting, financial statements, and performance is used to generate a strategic plan. The strategic plan also incorporates forecasting and cost analysis since the plan should lie within the available resources (Mark 2013). The more information and stakeholders are involved, the best the outcome. A strategic plan should not be just a documented plan, but it should provide a clear mission and vision for the organization and should be a guide to employees and all staff. The plan should create a culture of team work and leadership. When all the stakeholders are involved, the employees feel part and parcel of the organization and get motivate to put their best feet forward.

References

Amy Beinstein, 2012. How the next big management ideas will arise. Available from http://www.strategy-business.com/strategy_and_leadership

Bain, 2015. Strategic planning: Available from http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/management-tools-strategic-planning.aspx

Bill Conerly, 2014. The death of strategic planning: Available from http://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2014/03/24/the-death-of-strategic-planning-why/

Byron Simerson, 2011. Strategic planning. A practical guide to strategy: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0313384800

Dennis Miller, 2013. Beyond strategic planning: Available from http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/beyond-strategic-planning/

Erica Olsen, 2011. Strategic planning: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1118050568

Graham Kenny, 2012. Strategic planning and performance management: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1136362177

Griffin, 2013. Management: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1439080992

George Steiner, 2010. Strategic planning: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1451602537

James Otoole, 2011. Best leadership: Available from http://www.strategy-business.com/strategy_and_leadership

John Bryson, 2011. Strategic planning for public and non-profit organizations

Khan and Join, 2010. Management accounting: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0070681961

Ken Favaro, 2013. One company, two identities, one strategy. Available from http://www.strategy-business.com/strategy_and_leadership

Lisa, 2013. Workforce asset management. Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1118417119

Mark P, 2013. Managerial accounting: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1118237641

Max Mckwoen, 2012. The strategy book.

Nicomachean Ethics, 2014. Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=162466119X

Norman and Paolo, 2010. Management accounting and control systems: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0470714476

Paul Redman, 2013. Five essentials of strategic planning: Available from http://ssir.org/articles/entry/five_essentials_of_strategic_planning

Richard Newton, 2014. The management book. Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0273750356

Ronald Smith, 2013. Strategic planning for public relations: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1136172475

Susan, 2010. Leaders who use their powers for good: Available from http://www.strategy-business.com/strategy_and_leadership

Zuckerman Alan, 2012. Healthcare strategic planning: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=156793434X

Ralph Adler, 2013. Management accounting: Available from https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1136007296

William Pirraglia, 2010. Why is strategic planning important to business? Available from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/strategic-planning-important-business-2671.html

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Balanced Scorecard

Balanced Scorecard
Balanced Scorecard

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Balanced Scorecard

Introduction

The balanced scorecard is the component that is utilized for execution estimation to drive the general execution of the association. The usage of adjusted scorecard inside of an undertaking has been a vital advancement in a few nations around the globe. The utilization of adjusted scorecard picked up acknowledgment in the UK in light of the always showing signs of change business scene. An adjusted scorecard is the component that is utilized for execution estimation to drive the general execution of the association.

The idea of execution estimation was initially utilized by David Norton and Robert Kaplan. The utilization of adjusted scorecard picked up acknowledgment in the UK because of the regularly changing business scene (Wu, 2012). This paper explains the adequacy of executing the balanced scorecard inside of an association and how it can be utilized to produce new systems as apparent in administration accuracy.

The utilization of balanced scorecard bolsters the era of new systems for the firm by supporting the budgetary and operational components of the organization. Every one of the suppositions connected with bookkeeping, learning and practice and additionally moral practices of the UK organizations is likewise broke down.

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Ethical operations

A cutting edge environment requests that an association ought to put more accentuation on the long haul additions to upgrade their manageability to ensure that they move with the moving technological world. In this way, the business needs to concentrate on components that will promise higher money related execution of the business in the long haul premise. For long haul money related execution of any association, measures of value, efficiency, piece of the overall industry, worker fulfillment, and consumer loyalty should be exceptionally considered.

This structures the premise why Norton and Kaplan thought of the idea of adjusted scorecard to investigate the business execution in the viewpoint of money related, clients, inside procedure to ensure that all the best is attained. Once ethics program is employed for use in most of the UK companies operations will be highly improved and attaining of best performances will no longer been issue again. All activities will be run to the benefit of the poor and the rich in the society.  

Following of the right corporate governance will guarantee ethic to be portrayed among many leader and the firm performance will drastically be improved accordingly. Employing the use of the right social responsibilities will ensure that balanced scorecard has been well implemented in the companies and financial matters will be dealt with accordingly. An association can be driven towards its unmistakably set objective through the utilization of BSC whereby; this should most ideal be through some different BSC parts, which include: estimation framework, vital administration framework, and the specialized instrument.

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BSC is utilized for imparting the required methodology all through the entire association from the pioneers to the laborers. Additionally, BSC is likewise appropriate in adjusting the individual objectives of the representatives with general business technique. Additionally, BSC is utilized as a part of adjusting and recognizing key activities that are required for use by the association with its main goal towards accomplishing its objective (Cox, 2014). There exist diverse systems in BSC that are connected regarding execution and methodology.

These systems incorporate learning and development, which help any person’s interest in learning more about the operation is taking place to grasp the concept very fast. The client viewpoint can be adjusted by guaranteeing that the representatives are prepared in the best way to serve clients for them to be fulfilled by the association’s administrations. Then again, learning and development viewpoint can be taken care of by guaranteeing that there is a lessening of holding up time in the crisis room is looked upon (Baker, 2010).

Enhancing use administrations can be taken care of by the inner procedure point of view while money related viewpoint can be taken care of by guaranteeing that all funds of the association are very much controlled. Especially, the usage of adjusted scorecard has been utilized as an administration apparatus as a part of the created nations than creating nations. In such manner, the creating nations have likewise proceeded with acknowledge the utilization of adjusted scorecard as their business administration device with the point of understanding its advantages (Tuan, 2010).

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Leadership

Preparation appraisal is one of the numerous standards of BSC that guarantees that the association’s authority is conferred as far as contribution, serving, and imparting where vital and seeing all that is required of them (Phillips, 2010) On the off chance that every one of these duties must be well implemented in making sure that all counting and operation are run well in then companies present in the UK.

The vital arrangement of any association is normally very much characterized under the use of balanced scorecard to actualize what is the goal, mission and all the vision set aside for the company to achieve (Brookes and Grint, 2015).

Leadership is essential in the execution and the general accomplishment of BSC. An association needs to pick up duty of initiative for them to proceed with the usage of BSC. The leaders of the considerable number of associations need to well take part in ensuring that they run their thoughts and exercises as required in their associations (Rohm et al , 2013). There is need of investigation of how then BSC operations are being transacted in ten companies to make operations work out as required. Leaders are mandated with the duty of ensuring that the right codes of ethics are incorporated in the company operations to yield to better results in the near future (Wu, 2012).

Leaders should be much concerned of how operations are taking place to cater for the needs of all in then society. Every one of the pioneers needs to plainly comprehend BSC; since, they have the command of teaching others on what should be finished with respect to BSC idea (Brookes and Grint, 2015). This will be exceptionally valuable for them in accomplishing every one of the association’s particular exhibitions, measures and increase all the backing and duty that they require to accomplish every one of their objectives.

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Most leaders concur that BSC offers associations to manufacture some assistance with long term maintainability. Associations need to manufacture long haul maintainability that requires enough time, responsibility, and enough assets that will bolster future exercises in the association (Brookes and Grint, 2015). The procedure of executing BSC is including, sets aside time to be an expert; henceforth, a considerable measure of tolerance is required particularly from the pioneers.

Availability appraisal is the first BSC model that involves the ID of the association’s necessities, affirming authority’s duty and all assets that are accessible (Niven, 2014). Arranging guarantees that pioneers who take an interest in the BSC group allot methodologies to BSC and complete the audit of mission that the associations need to accomplish is effective (Brookes and Grint, 2015).

Then again, specialized execution guarantees that every one of the methodologies goes into the association’s framework through programming, trainings, information solidification standards, and even through building scorecards. Association’s execution guarantees that the BSC procedure is all around actualized and correspondence is very much encouraged in the associations. What’s more, operations executed in the association guarantees that there is a high information overhaul, examination and consistent reporting of data where essential for the right changes to be finished concerning the BSC model (Pearson, 2013).

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Challenges of BSC implementation

There are many challenges that are currently associated with the balanced scorecard operations over the years. Usage of BSC is confronted with different difficulties like the few measures that are placed set up per every point of view (Bigliardi & Bottani, 2010). For a BSC being effective, it needs to incorporate a blend of results and execution drivers. On the off chance that there are few measures for each point of view in the middle of money related and non-monetary markers, the association is liable to fall flat in BSC execution (Weng, 2011).

Whenever an organisation receives high measure of resource usage, there might be a big problem associated with how bets the operations will be transacted. The people who initiated the use of balanced scorecard if not present in its implementation the company there tend to be a very big challenge (Diamantopoulos et al, 2014). It is due to the fact that the ones in the company are not well informed onh0w to use the balanced scorecard and guidance is needed in such a situation.

The environment under which the balanced scorecard is operated is a major challenge that ought to be well coordinated to avoid problems from occurring (Hoque, 2014). With a specific end goal to understand the adequacy of BSC, all the association in the UK needs to execute an exhaustive examination of how BSC will be actualized and utilized for their prosperity as a part of the association. This procedure is entirely includes, and individuals expected to complete the examination are not very many in China, along these lines turning into a major test to BSC execution (Gazzard, Hill & Anceau, 2011).

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Methodological assumptions for implementing accounting knowledge and practice

The philosophy embraced in this paper is the contextual analysis in view of the UK organizations. Throughout the years, the contextual analysis, examination has been utilized by the greater part of the scientists to give an inside and out examination that contains; oral, archival, and auxiliary based artifact of specific marvels on bookkeeping matters (Husain & Farooq, 2013). The data got from the contextual investigation involves the observational and individual information accumulation instruments of the bookkeeping learning and practice.

The contextual analysis, exploration gives a precise method for watching occasions, information accumulation and data investigation of all bookkeeping practice and learning (Karpagam & Suganthi, 2012). There are three sorts of contextual analyses that can be led with each having its own determination. To start with, there is the informative contextual analysis that is significantly utilized as a part of leading easygoing examinations of bookkeeping research and practice.

The relative budgetary position of most UK organizations before the execution of BSC is generally low (Kootanaee, Kootanaee, Hoseinian & Talari, 2013). For the second quarter after BSC execution, the money related state of most UK organizations enhanced massively. This development is still obvious in the second from last quarter and a short time later as can be seen from the incomes and the benefits. Such development can be occurring; subsequent to, the new technique utilized of BSC is effectively running. A ton of financial specialists is getting the chance to expand the estimation of their riches (Maxwell & José Dionísio, 2011).

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UK organization’s operations

Prior to the usage of adjusted scorecard in the UK, organizations were having issues with different venture choices that appear not to shoulder natural products. The issue could be going on because of incorrect venture choices that utilized by the organization throughout the years. This may have prompted the miscount of the normal proficiency of their operations, prompting the disappointment of their methodologies (Narayanamma & Sukanya, 2013). The operations of the board individuals are not successful, prompting pointless activities among the representatives of the organization.

Inside of the beginning quarter of the operations of most UK organizations did not yield much natural product, prompting a few missed procedures. In any case, things changed with time when the adjusted scorecard was actualized by the organizations (Northcott & Tuivaiti, 2012).

The missed systems by most organizations, enormously meddled with the operation and in addition the general capacity of the organization to understand its destinations. Then again, the representative vicinity in many organizations was not that noteworthy and this demonstrated there was the need to utilize balanced score card (Price et al, 2013).

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Conclusion

For the long haul budgetary execution of any association, measures of value, efficiency, piece of the pie, worker fulfillment, and consumer loyalty should be exceedingly considered. The balanced scorecard is the system that is utilized for execution estimation to drive the general execution of the association. The usage of adjusted scorecard inside of the association is extremely critical as it accomplishes money related and operational results inside of the association. The utilization of balanced scorecard can be utilized to create new techniques for the firm by supporting the money related and operational instruments of the organization.

References

Baker, R. 2010. Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms 1st Edition. Wiley; 1 edition

Bigliardi, B., & Bottani, E. 2010. Performance measurement in the food supply chain: A balanced scorecard approach. Facilities, 28(5), 249-260

Brookes, S., & Grint, K. (2015). The New Public Leadership Challenge. licensed to University of Sussex – PalgraveConnect Macmillan

Cox, S. 2014. Managing Information in Organizations: A Practical Guide to Implementing an Information Management Strategy. Palgrave Macmillan

Diamantopoulos, A., Finckh, A., Huizinga, T., Sungher, D.K., Sawyer, L., Neto, D. & Dejonckheere, F. 2014, “Tocilizumab in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in the UK”, PharmacoEconomics, vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 775-87.

Gazzard, B., Hill, A. & Anceau, A. 2011, “Cost-Efficacy Analysis of the Monet Trial Using UK Antiretroviral Drug Prices”, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 217-23.

Hoque, Z. 2014. 20 years of studies on the balanced scorecard: Trends, accomplishments, gaps and opportunities for future research. The British Accounting Review 46: 33–59

Husain, Z. & Farooq, A. 2013, “Instrument Development to Measure Organisational Change and Balanced Scorecard”, The Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM), London, 01, pp. 1.

Karpagam, U.P.L. & Suganthi, L. 2012, “A Strategy Map of Balanced Scorecard in Academic Institutions for Performance Improvement”, IUP Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 7-16.

Kootanaee, H.J., Kootanaee, A.J., Hoseinian, H. & Talari, H.F. 2013, “The Balanced Scorecard, Alphabet of the Modern Management: From Concept to Implement”, Advances in Management and Applied Economics, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 47-59.

Maxwell dos, S.C. & José Dionísio Gomes, d.S. 2011, “O Balanced Scorecard Como Framework Para A Acaoestrategica”, Revista Ibero – Americana de Estratégia, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. n/a.

Narayanamma, P.L. & Sukanya, M. 2013, “Traditional Balanced Scorecard V/S Modern Balanced Scorecard: A Conceptual Framework”, International Journal of Organizational Behaviour & Management Perspectives, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 649-656.

Niven, P. 2014. Balanced Scorecard Evolution: A Dynamic Approach to Strategy Execution (Wiley Corporate F&A). Wiley

Northcott, D., & Tuivaiti Ma’amora Taulapapa. 2012. Using the balanced scorecard to manage performance in public sector organizations. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 25(3), 166-191

Pearson, R. 2013. Balanced Scorecards and Operational Dashboards with Microsoft Excel 2nd Edition. Wiley

Phillips, J. 2010. PMP Project Management Professional Lab Manual. McGraw-Hill Education; 1 edition

Price, D., Asukai, Y., Ananthapavan, J., Malcolm, B., Radwan, A. & Keyzor, I. 2013, “A UK-Based Cost-Utility Analysis of Indacaterol, A Once-Daily Maintenance Bronchodilator for Patients with COPD, Using Real World Evidence on Resource Use”, Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 259-74.

Rohm, H., Wilsey, D., Perry, G., & Montgomery, D. 2013. The Institute Way: Simplify Strategic Planning and Management with the Balanced Scorecard. The Institute Press; 1st edition

Tuan, L. 2010. ‘Balanced scorecard implementation at Rang Dong Plastic Joint Company (RDP)’ Management Science and Engineering 4(2), 92-98

Weng, M. 2011, “The Appplication of Balanced Scorecard to Performance  Evaluation for Engineringing Eductaional Syatems”, International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online), vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 64-76.

Wu, M. 2012, “The Effects of Balanced Scorecard Implementation on the Intellectual Capital Accumulation of Taiwan-listed IT Companies: Using Corporate Innovation Activities as the Moderator”, Journal of Global Business Management, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 82-93)

Ying, J. 2010. ‘The application of BSC in China’s E-government performance evaluation’. Korea University

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Uses of Porter five forces

Uses of Porter five forces
Uses of Porter five forces

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Uses of Porter five forces

Introduction

Porter five forces model helps the entrepreneur to look at the type of work that is happening and make a sound decision concerning where the power of the business lies in their organisation. Once an entrepreneur has identified the source of strength in the industry he can venture in the right direction. An entrepreneur is better positioned using Porter five forces as he will identify the competition taking place in the market and identify what is expected of him to emerge more competitive (Cheng, 2013).

Identification of where the power of the business lies helps an entrepreneur in improving his situations of weakness, and all wrong steps that could have led the business in the undesired direction are avoided accordingly. When an entrepreneur wants to know if a business is profitable as he perceived, the use of Porter five forces can be of great use in gauging whether products and services produced are of better quality. The balance of power can be well understood from the use of Porter five forces by an upcoming entrepreneur (Dobbs, 2014). This paper explains how an entrepreneur can use the porter five forces and the disadvantages of using them as well.

Figure 1: A Graphical Representation of Porters Five Forces. Source: (Dobbs, 2014)

The bargaining power of the suppliers

Whenever and entrepreneur uses Porter five forces, he gets to understand better about the five forces that make a business more competitive as expected. An entrepreneur has to access how easy it is for business suppliers to drive up prices. One of the most important aspects of the luxury goods industry is suppliers. They are the business entities that take part in the manufacture of different products sold by various industries; hence, the entrepreneur should consider them accordingly (Dobbs, 2012).

For these products to be valued, it is important that they maintain a very high build quality, remain aesthetically appealing and most importantly have an element of uniqueness. An entrepreneur ought to ensure that suppliers have the ability to produce goods that meet such specifications and at the same time do them at a cost low enough to leave room for profit. Whenever suppliers are few, they will have the courage that they are in high demand, and they will tend to increase their bargaining power (Grigore, 2014). However, when suppliers are many the entrepreneur will be sure that their bargaining power is very low in the market.

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The Threat of Substitute Products

An entrepreneur has to know that substitute products accessible to the market are those which customers can use in place of what a particular brand has to offer. The middle and the high-income population of the market seeks out goods that help to portray their status and wealth. As such the demand for products like high-end electronics, designer perfumes and also designer clothes is only bound to remain (Kirchner, 2012). An entrepreneur ought to know that a company producing products that are found in other companies will reduce the threat of substitutes and make more sales.

Demand for accessing items will, therefore, remain sustained for a long time as the middle income to high-income segments of the population will maintain the need to display their affluence through these products. The majority of customers are youths who are concerned with luxury goods; hence, an entrepreneur ought to focus more on internet marketing to attract the youths who are active on social networking sites.

An entrepreneur should use the porter five forces to develop an attractive, and an appealing website that can help the youths to sell their product by taking advantage of the internet selling platforms (Sutherland, 2014). The use of porter five forces will make the entrepreneur ensure that the given company continues developing unique brands that are appealing to the youths and sell them in small quantities that are affordable to the youths.

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The Customers’ Bargaining Power

The entrepreneurs should make use of the Porter five forces analysis to ensure that the customer bargain power is reduced.  An activity like this will mostly take place where major companies employ the mergers and acquisition program. They will end up merging with smaller companies and make them more powerful than before. After merging and acquisitions of various companies has taken, place customers bargaining power will be reduced and the formed company will now have the power to determine prices of different goods in the market (Wilson, 2015).

The company will now determine the market price whereby; the customers will have no say rather than purchasing goods and services at the given price. The competition will be reduced to such a level as the competitors will have now emerged; hence, work towards achieving the same goal of success. Any entrepreneur should not let the customers determine the prices in the market, but he ought to struggle to be the determinant through reducing the competition taking place.  When the bargaining power of the customers is very high, then it will imply that the industry is less attractive, and this should not be the case.

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The Competitive Rivalry within the industry

The fact that there is a group of about 10 to 15 companies that have established themselves in the accessible market is a clear indication that this industry is subject to a very high intensity of the competitive rivalry between the players. An entrepreneur must ensure that his company is involved in the supply of certain products is keen to put its best foot forward to reduce the competition from its rivalry. Different companies, however, have different strengths in different aspects of the accessible market.

A well enticing entrepreneur will have a lot of success in the American market; since, it is spreading its tentacles to Asian markets such as Japan and China whose middle-high income populations are increasing fast. An entrepreneur ought to ensure that his company has the considerable market to emerge best in the supply of goods and services that are in high demand in the market (Alrawashdeh, 2013). An entrepreneur must take note of the upcoming opportunities through the use of Porter five forces in the market to reduce the competition rivalry that is highly evident.

Production of quality products helps a company to have lower competition rivalry. People will tend to love products that are durable and of high quality; hence, such an organisation will emerge successful in with fewer competitors. If a company makes many products and services that cater to the needs of its consumers at any given time, it will be more competitive due to its reliability.

The cost of products also determines if a company will be more competitive in its production whereby; if its prices are too high such that people are struggling to afford them, the customer will be very few (Fitzpatrick, Anh-Nguyen & Cayan, 2015). The entrepreneur ought to consider some potential factors that will make the industry more competitive like; having a powerful competitive strategy and a high degree of transparency.

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The Threat of New Entrants

An entrepreneur ought to make use of the porter five forces to ensure that the company invests in millions of dollars on various aspects of the operation that will be more productive in the very end. At the same time, the company needs to develop brand recognition in the market  for better recognition (Prasad, 2010). While the former is difficult to achieve, the latter is even more complicated given its abstract and intangible nature of the task to block new entrants in the industry.

Middle to high-income earners will be attracted by brands that are perceived to be more famous and attain better quality. The only way that a new entrant can achieve fame and market access of established names is by having a virtually unlimited financial budget. An entrepreneur ought to use porter five forces analysis to motivate smaller players are increasingly finding it possible to circumvent these barriers and instead employ web-based platforms such as Facebook and Amazon sell their products (Rajasekar & Raee, 2013).

The presence of established companies controlling the larger market shares the possibility of others entering the market is very minimal; since, the established firms will fight back to protect their market share. An entrepreneur should struggle to ensure that the industry has a higher threat to the entrant to reduce the completion and many people from entering the industry anyhow.

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The limitations of using the Porter five forces

Porter five forces were established in a more different environment as compared to the one that the industries are operating in today. In the current world, the pace of change is more rapid, and this fact affects the use of the porter five forces. The porter five forces is a model that provides the entrepreneur with only a snapshot of what is expected yet, there is still more that he does not know.

The use of porter five forces makes it more difficult for an entrepreneur to define the industry that he is handling and make the better specialization of the outcome results. An entrepreneur should know that all the non-market forces that are taking place are not considered in the use of porter five forces. Porter five forces in most case are not well applicable in for the analysis of simple market structure rather they only cater for big markets alone.

It is prudent for an entrepreneur to know that porter five forces majors its argument on competition matter, and this shows that it is narrow not much wide as required (McCann, 2011).  An entrepreneur might find it hard in analysing simple markets using the porter five forces as it does not cater for smaller markets. Technology is changing too fast to extend that shopping and marketing are done online; hence, an entrepreneur must perfect this to accommodate everyone with his or her needs and capture the market.

An entrepreneur should be aware that the use of porter five forces in the current world has contributed to only very few market structures remaining static as they were before. The use of porter five forces has made an entrepreneur learn that there are needs required in changing radically to suit the market position of any given company. The use of porter five forces has led to technology, reducing the length of a time of any given product to reach the market. Most of the products get to the market before the maturity time is near to cater for the needs of the fastest growing population.

Technology that is used in different industries makes these products get to the market immaturely, thus the increased cases of disease like cancer among others. An entrepreneur should be aware that the use of porter five forces is contributing to technology that affects the production of goods in industries (McMillan, 2010). An entrepreneur must know that use of porter five forces has increased the burden of information as the response of the organization is done for more than just the market forces.

There is a high need for all organizations to respond to the country’s legislation, corporate ethics and all the required social responsibilities to cater for the needs of all in the society.  The use of porter five forces makes it more difficult to incorporate all the required implication of strategic alliances like sharing of skills as well as responding to given opportunities.

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An entrepreneur should be aware that the use of porter five forces has reduced the rate of change in most industries leading to changes in the stability of the market structure and industry experiences. Regular updates are necessary in making sure that the knowledge obtained through the use of porter five forces is transferred to other generations, failure to which it will be eroded completely.

An entrepreneur ought to be aware of the fact that the use of porter five forces has led to difficulties of integrating complexities that are evident in the market today with the use of product groups of organization and various interrelations taking place (Ortega, Jalón, ,M.Luisa & Menéndez, 2014). Also, an entrepreneur should be aware that if his organization defines the market segment to be very slow, then some of the key elements of prosperity might be overlooked.

The legislation that exist among buyers and sellers ought to be looked accordingly in making sure that all activities are well coordinated. The use of porter five forces has changed the way transactions between sellers and buyer were transacted to extend that most of the communications and transaction are done online.

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Conclusion

 When an entrepreneur wants to know if a business is profitable as he perceived, the use of porter five forces can be of great use in gauging whether products and services produced are of better quality. This paper explains how an entrepreneur can use the porter five forces and the disadvantages of using them as well. Demand for accessing items will, therefore, remain sustained for a long time as the middle income to high-income segments of the population will maintain the need to display their affluence through these products. The merged companies will now determine the market price whereby; the customers will have no say rather than purchasing goods and services at the given price.

References

Alrawashdeh, R. 2013, “The Competitiveness of Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) Using Porter Five Forces Analysis”, International Journal of Economics and Finance, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 191-200.

Cheng, D.S.Y. 2013, “Analyze the Hotel Industry in Porter Five Competitive Forces”, Journal of Global Business Management, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 52-57.

Dobbs, M.E. 2012, “Porter’s Five Forces in Practice: Templates for Firm and Case Analysis”, Competition Forum, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 22-33.

Dobbs, M.E. 2014, “Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates”, Competitiveness Review, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 32-45.

Fitzpatrick, B.D., Anh Nguyen, Q.Q. & Cayan, Z. 2015, “An Upgrade To Competitive Corporate Analysis: Creation Of A “Personal Finance Platform” To Strengthen Porter’s Five Competitive Forces Model In Utilizing”, Journal of Business & Economics Research (Online), vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 54-n/a.

Grigore, A. 2014, “Book Publishing Business in Romania – An Analysis from the Perspective of Porter’s Five Force Model”, Revista de Management Comparat International, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 31-47.

Kirchner, M. 2012, “Porter’s Five Forces in the Finishing Industry”, Products Finishing, vol. 76, no. 12, pp. 52-53.

McCann, J. 2011, “China’s Textile and Apparel Industry and the Global Market: Five Competitive Forces”, S.A.M.Advanced Management Journal, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 33-42,54,2.

McMillan, C. 2010, “Five competitive forces of effective leadership and innovation”, The Journal of business strategy, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 11-22.

Ortega, A.G., Jalón, ,M.Luisa Delgado & Menéndez, J.Á.R. 2014, “A strategic analysis of collective urban transport in Spain using the Five Forces Model/Un análisis estratégico de transporte urbano colectivo en España usando el modelo de las Cinco Fuerzas”, Investigaciones Europeas de Direccion y Economia de la Empresa, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 5-15

Prasad, A. 2010, “Strategy as “Inferior” Choice: A Re-interpretation of Porter’s “What is Strategy?””, Journal of Management Research, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 15-24.

Rajasekar, J. & Raee, M.A. 2013, “An analysis of the telecommunication industry in the Sultanate of Oman using Michael Porter’s competitive strategy model”, Competitiveness Review, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 234-259.

Sutherland, E. 2014, “Lobbying and litigation in telecommunications markets – reapplying Porter’s five forces”, Info : the Journal of Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunications, Information and Media, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 1.

Wilson, R.C. 2015, “Mayhem: A Hands-on Case Playing Activity for Teaching Porter’s Five Forces to Undergraduate Business Students”, Small Business Institute Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 48-59

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Strategy For Couple Counseling Through Church Ministry

Couple Counseling
Couple Counseling

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Strategy For Couple Counseling Through Church Ministry

Not a single marriage unit is devoid of conflict. This is because every couple comprise of two clearly different people, with different backgrounds, experiences, personalities and emotional dispositions. In spite of the compatibility between a husband and wife, these two distinct individuals will always have fairly different viewpoints which will create tension and even conflict in the marriage union (Solomon, 2008). Some of the core sources of conflict in marriage include careers, in-laws, money, sex, children and a host of other marital related issues.

When marital conflicts are left unsettled they could cripple a relationship and even lead to divorce or separation. Many couples do not have acumen for proper communication, hence they are not able to articulate their problems and this could be a major setback when it comes to conflict resolution in a marriage unit (Egan, 2006).

The major difference between couples living in marital bliss and the loveless couple is not found in whether they have conflict or not, it’s found in whether they care for each other and they are able to articulate and resolve their problems. The objective of this paper is to uncover the root of the problems between the partners in this conflicted couple for the purposes of providing a ministry plan for resolving their problems.

Couple Counseling

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Case Study: Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Couple

Strengths Of The Couple:

According to the information educed from the facilitator’s report concerning Walter and Pam, key elements concerning this couple come out prominently. Foremost, the couple has a potential to live and work out their issues together because they have a lot in common, some of the strengths they share create a backdrop for a strong affectionate love relationship.

Notably, every marriage has got its pressures, the question is not how to avoid tensions in a relationship but how to broach them when they come (Clinebell, 2008).The reason why tensions should not be allowed to escalate particularly in this couple is because they could lead to isolation and later abandonment, thus Walter and Pam must be taught how to act when conflict occurs.  

Walter and Pam have demonstrated the ability to manage their finances; in this area they have demonstrated adeptness because they scored above average. The couple is able to plan and budget their money together, this is a plus for the couple because they are able to avoid unnecessary tensions arising from impulse buying and unmet family needs. Planning together enables them to have common financial goals thus they are able to invest wisely and plan for the future (Ron, 2012).

Planning together also eliminates suspicion which could arise when each partner is managing their own funds. The word of God states that God commands blessing where there is unity. It therefore goes without saying that as the couple plan their finances together and execute their plans in unison God is going to bless them and expand their territories in the area of finances.

Couple Counseling

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Remaining in accord in a marriage scenario has been difficult since Adam and Eve, this is because two distinct individuals with their own goals must enmesh and hope to experience oneness as God intended. Unfortunately, human beings are selfish and each craves his own independence. The prophet Isaiah portrayed the human egocentric problem many years ago: “All of us like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). Every human being is selfish and intuitively looks out for number one, this directly leads to conflict.

It’s imperative to find out the areas where couples have similarity in order to build a ground for unity and harmonious marriage relationship. For example, Walter and Pam watch their health closely, they are both active and adhere to the rules of good nutrition. This is a positive attribute as it will enable the family to work out on their lifestyles to make sure that they age gracefully, this also minimizes their doctor visits and ensures that they will raise healthy children.

Pam and Walter have a knack for solving problems amongst other parties and even their own children, this strength enables them to create an amiable home environment where their children can feel secure since all their emotional needs are met. Moreover, the couple is able to create time to spend with their children and understand their social and emotional needs. By taking care of their children they provide a safe space for growth to make sure that their children are not trailed by psychological and mental disorders later in life.

When children are in good health, couples are able to forge ahead and achieve their goals in life. This marriage offers Walter and Pam a tremendous opportunity to overcome selfishness, as they give out their time and support for others and their children they are able to move attention from the self thus becoming a better couple. The answer for ending selfishness in a marriage is elaborated in the teachings of Jesus who taught us that instead of wanting to be first, we must be willing to be last; instead of being served we should serve. Jesus would wish for each person to love their spouse in the same measure as they love themselves. God’s plan for couples is to give up, give in and give all in order to honor His name.  

Couple Counseling

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In this couple there is another attribute of the man (Walter) which serves as a bridge for solving many unresolved issues in the marriage. Walter has the ability to forgive easily and let go when hurt by his spouse or others. Human beings will try to love and protect each other no matter how hard they try, at one point they will fail and failure will hurt the other party (Navidian & Bahari, 2014). The definitive relief for hurt is the calming salve of forgiveness (Steele & Plenty, 2015).

This couple therefore has the key for maintaining an open and intimate love relationship since Walter is able to ask and grant forgiveness quickly. As Pam works out her relationship with God, she will also find the grace to forgive others easily. Jesus taught his disciples that said, “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6:14–15). This instruction clearly teaches all the God fearing couples to be forgivers.  

The forgiveness of God entails giving up resentment and the human desire to punish willingly (Kennedy, 2008). It’s an act of sacrifice freely letting the offending party off the hook. As a follower of Christ, an individual should not do this under coercion, screaming or objection rather one should do it with a gentle spirit and love Paul argued the church of Ephesus to be kind to one another tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ had forgiven them (Ephesians 4:32).

As Walter demonstrates his ability to willing forgive and let go of an offence, Pam will be able to comprehend its significance and gradually learn to forgive easily as its an healing balm to every heartache.

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Couple Counseling

The couple is also blessed because they adhere to Christian teaching and therefore have there spiritual beliefs etched in supreme God. This is an area of unity, it mean that the couple can fellowship and even present their problems to God in one accord through prayers. By following into the teachings of the word of God they can grow together and learn how to love, please and respect one another. Paul admonished the Philippians;

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:1-4.

Followers of Christ must conquer selfishness so that they do not give the devil a foothold in their marriage. Being a God fearing couple, Walter and Pam will be taught by the Lord how to be selfless considering others better themselves. In this kind of scenario there will be no room for name calling, violence or criticism. Once humility takes root in a marriage, there is room for forgiveness understanding and operating in harmony. The couple in this case study has a major strength in that they are able to handle transitions.

Transition is likely to bring strain and stress the family as a whole. Owing to their resilience, this couple is able to avoid anger disrespect and demands during any transitions in their family (Mack, 2010). In order to enhance more growth in this area, the couple should be taught how to find solutions to their problems without hurting each other’s feelings. The interest of every spouse should be given a consideration so that any arising conflict can be resolved amicably.  

Couple Counseling

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Weaknesses Of The Couple:

The major root of conflict in a marriage is owing to the fact that opposites attract, so people tend to married by people with varied personalities who bring, strength spice and difference in their lives(Milne,2006) ). For example, the extroverted people are attracted by the introverts; the docile people also tend to go for the hyper active types. It’s a strange phenomenon but mainly that is how people get paired in marriages and the difference in their personalities inevitably brings about conflict because of varied reasoning and perceptions.

After being married for awhile due to the varied temperaments, the attractions amongst couples may become repellents. This could lead to mean remarks, unnecessary arguments and misunderstanding when handling finances (Egan, 2006). Often, couples find their disparities so wide that they don’t understand why God put them together. You may find that your backgrounds and your personalities are so different that you wonder how and why God placed you together in the first place.

The key to resolving any tensions in a marriage is foremost understanding and accepting the differences amongst the couple in order to resolve them (Backus, 2005). Just like Adam accepted Eve, God’s gift, each one is to accept their spouse. God in his wisdom and mercy gives every individual a spouse who completes them in a very special way.  In the given case of Walter and Pam, Walter is more reserved and does not know how to handle friends and family; Pam on the other hand is more amiable and opens up their home for the relatives and friends.

Although she means well, this exuberant character does not go well with Walter and he often feels like strangers are enclosing on their space. In order to work out on this weakness, Pam must be considerate and minimize the innumerable visits from others, as she orients Walter to her world she could try and visit her friends rather than her friends visiting her frequently. Slowly, as Walter learns and accepts her perception and attachment to friends he will be able to create a room for her to entertain friends and visitors.

Couple Counseling

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This couple also experiences another problem in the area of sexual satisfaction. This is a problem commonly found amongst young couples especially when the children are young.  Often women place a lot of time, energy and attachment to the children to the point that they neglect their own husbands (Steele& Plenty, 2015). Often, men suffer silently and this could have an emotional toll on the couple. Romantic love cannot blossom unless the emotional needs of every partner are met.

The facilitator should help Pam and Walter to make a commitment to create and maintain romantic love, identify habits that destroy romance in their relationship and overcome those habits and finally identify the most important emotional needs of every partner (Milne, 2006). Once emotional needs of every partner are met, romance blossoms and this creates way for sexual satisfaction. The frequency and quality of sexual relationship that the couple will have will depend on the level of their emotional satisfaction,

Walter should set aside quality time to talk and enjoy the company of his wife. He must often help her with household chores to create time for their intimacy and he should be gentle, caring and understanding. Women crave more affection; they value gifts and like to spend time with their men talking (American Psychological Association, 2012). Walter should create room for all these to create ease and affection in their marriage. On the other hand Pam should respect and support her husband, give him space and make sure that she has reserved time for just the two of them.

Couple Counseling

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Romance in a love relationship must b cultivated and nurtured to make sure that it does not die away. Each partner in the relationship must identify and communicate their emotional needs, when making love women like to be touched and adored. Men also like watching the physique of their women during love making; it’s therefore the duty of Pam to stay attractive and sexy for her husband. Sexual satisfaction is not automatic it comes as a result of hard work, the couple must plan and deliberately take the necessary measures to make sure that they give each other maximum satisfaction. Consulting, a marriage counselor could help the couple voice out their needs and how they would like those needs to be met.

In the area of leisure activities, Walter is a bit closed up. Often, they don’t to find a common ground on what is best for their leisure activities. Pam is a very extroverted individual who values fun and pleasure so she does not have a problem with the family leisure activities. Often, because Walter is not very talkative Pam does not understand some of his attributes, she does not like how he spent his leisure and some of the habits that he shows.

This area brings in friction because the couple has not agreed on what is suitable for the family in general and how each individual can spent his/her leisure time. In order to resolve the conflict in this area, each partner is supposed to set aside his/anger or bitterness and keep the relationship current. The couple must resolve to remain in solid fellowship with each other and the children no matter their differences this will ensure that they are not isolated because of their differences. 

           Lack of proper communication has been a great impediment to this couple; this challenge hinders the couple from resolving their day to day conflicts. The quality of the family communication is low and hinders ease in flow of information which could escalate into misunderstanding.  This couple can be terrific even in the face of the various conflicts and stresses, the goal of goal of re-establishing and sustaining love in marriage is important than conflict resolution. When a couple is bonded through love and understanding conflict resolution becomes a lot easy, when there is love proper procedures for resolving conflict are instituted minimizing chances of misunderstanding. 

Couple Counseling

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Notably, Pam has weaknesses when it comes to managing her personal stress, when she encounters a stressful situation she doesn’t have the ability to internalize her stress she allows it to trickle to others even affecting the children. The best way to handle personal stress is foremost, identifying the cause of stress and then working out to eliminate all the factors leading to stress.

Moreover, it’s very prudish to talk to someone about the stressful situation as this helps a person to organize her thoughts. Therefore, Pam should come up with a strategy on the proper procedure to follow any time she is going through a stressful situation to avoid impacting the family members negatively

Strategy For Counseling And Supporting The Couple Through Church Ministry.

In order to counsel the couple in this case study effectively the ministry will devise an effective plan of action to help meet the objective of stabilizing this couple together and ensure that they attain social and emotional stability. This couple comprise of two individuals, each has got his own experiences, background and personality. Owing to some unacceptable habits and interesting idiosyncrasies they may not fit together easily. Each partner has got his expectations to be met plus trials and tribulations in life which the couple must overcome; all these factors inevitably breed a ground for conflict.

Step (i) The Couple Must Know And Accept Their Differences

Pam and Walter were brought up in different environments and they were taught varied habits, values and traditions. Pam is an extrovert while Walter is an introvert, while Pam likes to party with friends and relatives Walter would rather have his space. All these are differences between the couple that must be understood and accepted. The couple must work out to find an area of compromise to avoid straining each other.  

From the personality profile its apparent that Walter scores below average on most of the traits, for instance in regard to social change and emotional stability he scores below average. Pam on the other hand records higher scores above average (Risse, 2012). These results imply that both parties are different with varied personalities, its imperative for the two partners to know their differences in order to minimize areas of friction in their relationship (Collins, 2007). They must be encouraged to have a free communication through which they will be able to share their emotions and perceptions and reduce unnecessary conflict.

Couple Counseling

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Step (ii) Defeating Selfishness

All the differences between this couple are magnified because they feed the selfish and sinful nature of human beings. As good Christians the couple should be taught how to put the interest of the others first. The couple must be taught how to give up their own will for the will of the other. By giving up their will to Christ and continuously seeking to please the Lord, the couple will be able to resolve their conflicts and live amicably.

Romans 12:18 states “If it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” According to this scripture, in order to live peacefully, the couple must pursue peace, this means taking the initiative to resolve a difficult conflict instead of waiting for the other offending party to take the first step.

Step (iii) Loving Confrontation

  • The couple will be taught the art of confronting each other with grace and tactfulness a skill which requires patience, wisdom and a lot of humility. Here are some of the tips on how this confrontation can be done.
  • The words used during the confrontation should not hurt they should bring healing and wholeness to the relationship to avoid isolating the confronted partner.
  • The attitude should be right, the message conveyed should be clear, I love you and respects you and I want you to respect me too.
  • This confrontation should be done at the right time in the right place to avoid disrespect and misundersnidng.
  • When communicating its imperative to listen to each other and ask questions for any clarifications.
  • During confrontation just voice one issue at a time, this is not time for raising many complains its time to express an area of concern.
  • Focus on the problem, but not the person, avoid name calling and belittling each other.

Step (iv) Forgiving Each Other

Often, couples will fail and this will lead to conflict, when one partner wrongs the other he should be brave enough to ask for forgiveness quickly. The couple should not let their differences escalate into a misundersnding. As sooner as a couple apologizes, the strains and tensions are minimized or finished.

Couple Counseling

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Step (v) Returning a Blessing for an Insult

1Peter 3:8-9 says, “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.” Many couples have become experts in pointing out what is not right always. Some castigate their partners on their looks, their friends, their cooking style and many more. This way they don’t have a better way to relate to each other.

Returning a blessing for an insult means stepping aside and refusing to retaliate even when your partner wrongs you. This is possible through God’s help and the humility taught by the Holy Spirit. This also means doing well like speaking kind and gentle words; keep your tongue from evil and avoiding deceitful words. A pat on the shoulder and a gentle hug and all these little deeds of affection come along way to minimize tension and bring peace for the married couple. God’s purpose in all the marriage conflicts is to test the faith of His children. Once the faith is tested it produces endurance and glory to God.  

References

American Psychological Association. (2012). Publication Manual of the American Psychological  Association. 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Backus, W. (2005). Telling the Truth to Troubled People. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House.Baker, S.(2011) School Counselor’s Handbook: a Guide for Professional Growth and Development. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Benner, D, (2007).  Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy. Baker Book House.

Clinebell, H. (2008) Basic Types of Pastoral Care & Counseling: Resources for the Ministry of Healing and Growth. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Collins, G(2007). Christian Counseling: a Comprehensive Guide. Waco, TX: Word Books.

Egan, G. (2006)  The Skilled Helper: a Systematic Approach to Effective Helping. 3rd ed. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.

Ivey A.E., (2003).Intentional Interviewing and Counseling. Fifth Edition. Thompson, Brook.

Kennedy, E. (2008) On Becoming a Counselor: a Basic Guide for Non-professional Counselors. New York: Seabury Press.

Mack, W.(2010) A.  A Homework Manual for Biblical Living. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing.

Milne B. (2006) Know the Truth. Second Edition. Inter-Varsity Press.

Navidian, A., & Bahari, F. (2014). The impact of mixed, hope and forgiveness-focused marital     counselling on interpersonal cognitive distortions of couples filing for divorce. Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing,21(7), 658-666. doi:10.1111/jpm.12058

Risse, J. (2012). Facilitator report. Life Innovations. Inc. Retrieved from:https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6VIRa5GRvEca3BFS3RfbnMxMGs/view

Ron, D. (2012). Dating and the Single Parent: are you ready to Date? Talking with your Kids, Avoiding a Big Mistake, Finding Lasting Love. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers.

Ronald, E. (1991). Strengthening Marital Intimacy. Kearney, NE: Baker Book House Company.

Steele, G. A., & Plenty, D. (2015). Supervisor–Subordinate Communication Competence and  Job and Communication Satisfaction. Journal of Business Communication, 52(3), 294

The King James Bible

Ron, Deal L. (2012). Dating and the Single Parent: are you ready to Date? Talking with your Kids, Avoiding a Big Mistake, Finding Lasting Love. Bloomington, MN: Bethany House Publishers.

Ronald, H. E., (1991). Strengthening Marital Intimacy. Kearney, NE: Baker Book House Company.

Solomon, C. (2008) Handbook to Happiness: a Guide to Victorious Living  and Effective Counseling. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Couple Counseling

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