Kinky Feet is facing a lot of challenges including random orders which occur to change in order seasons especially during winter and summer because during the start of either season people will be looking into changing their wardrobe hence the increase in orders. However, when they settle down the company will be out of enough orders to keep their employees occupied in all seasons (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.1-2).
Inadequate Cash flow
Kinky Feet also faces little cash flow because the money is always with the retail customers. The problems arise as a result of the company allowing retailers to pay the company within a period of 60 days. This, therefore, hurts the company regarding cash flow because it might be able to pay most of its obligation on time leading to the company being in debts.
The increase in inventory especially buying of material to a considerable amount leads to most company money lying just in warehouse especially when orders are in low seasons because the production manager has been given enough powers to request for more material and is delivered without much scrutiny by the owner (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.1-3).
Lack of Extra Funds
The company also faces the challenge of enough capital to acquire new manufacturing equipment that will assist in increasing styles and color. This is because the banks have refused to offer more loans to Kinky Company and the fact that the cash flow is slow. This, therefore, calls for new ideas that will give the company extra money to buy the equipment.
The purchase of information system is also imminent, particularly when the business is trying to get its inventory, cash flows, and orders in place. The whole process, therefore, means the company may have to partner with another financial institution or get a willing partner who will bring in money to allow the purchase of required equipment (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.2-4).
Lack of efficient manager
The kinky feet company also has a shortage on the person equipped to run the business successfully. This is because Selvi who currently runs operations in the unit is overwhelmed and lack strong business skills to ensure success. Lack of experienced manager is evident especially since the production manager has its way of convincing that he needs more material, but according to the finance director, most of the purchased material lay aimlessly in the warehouse because whenever the pre-ordered material is not what is trending in the market its left for some time without being used.
Selvi is not able to see the need to buy the information system or doesn’t feel comfortable partnering with someone else. This is bad for business because strong skills need to be applied to ensure sustainability; this, therefore, means that the current manager may need to take a back seat and let someone else run the operation because employees and retailers seem to be taking advantage of her softness (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.4).
Future Dilemmas
The company is also faced with making crucial decisions in different areas on constant pestering insinuation. For instance, it needs to conduct a research if little delays are going to harm the business or not. It also needs to agree with the retailer on the exact time they are to pay for delivered goods to prevent the company from having to be short of cash flow. These dilemmas need to be sorted out immediately to come up with the way forward that the organization will take (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.4-5).
Designate whether the problems you have identified in 1 are hard or soft system problems. You need to explain why you have made your decision.
The identified problems above can be segmented to either hard or soft. For example, the acquisition of new IS equipment’s, and production equipment is a soft system issue. This is because the company can still run successfully with its older material’s that is already in place because even if the company does not commit to purchasing a new equipment the old one will still ensure that orders are delivered on time and even analyzing the firm activities is still possible without any new purchases (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p. 5).
Inadequate cash flow graduates as a hard system problem because without drastic changes the company bill will always run late and may affect that offering support skill to ensure the business runs smoothly.
The fact that the company is always in debts because of cash delays will cost the company integrity even from the financial institution because the company may be viewed not to be able to pay loans off they happen to borrow because of inconsistencies (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p. 5-6).
Lack of efficient management qualifies as a hard system problem because, in the long run, bad decisions may lead to the closure of the company due to poor management. The inability to make quick decisions that will ensure the existence of business leads to in operational business unless the management is changed to include one give strong rules to be followed (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.6-7).
Lack of extra funds to ensure company investments and is a hard system problem because the inability of the business to invest to ensure future sustainability will mean that the business will not be able to guarantee its market share because of the competition (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.4-6).
Identify key stakeholders and problem owners.
The primary stakeholders at kinky feet include both the employees and Selvi who is the owner of the business because they all benefit from the firm regarding salaries and general revenue from the organization. Problems owners refer to those directly affected by decisions that are going to be made. In the case of kinky feet company, problem owners include Selvi who is the current manager in the organization.
She is affected because according to Kevin she needs to be relieved from running the business and instead Kevin should run it because Kevin believes that Selvi will do well in designing department especially since she is the one who comes up with new ideas.
The production manager-Fred is also affected because Kevin beliefs that were investing in equipment that will be taking orders and regenerating it after the stock are over will benefit the company. This, therefore, means that in the long run Fred’s’ initial job description will change and might have to be moved from the department in the end (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.5-6).
The sales staffs are also affected because according to Kevin when they are out in the field taking orders they give retailer promises that the company strains at the time to meet their demands concerning delivery dates. The uses of Navision equipment will rid the business of making wrong orders and from suffering from a lot of requirements that the sales team keep promising the retailers (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.5-6).
List possible models, tools, and techniques that can be used to analyze the current system. Critique each of these model, tools, and techniques in addressing the problems in the case study.
Object Oriented Analysis Model
Object oriented analysis and structured oriented analysis can be used to analyze the current system. Object oriented analysis has functionality restrictions within objects. This, therefore, will be problematic since the currents system has already set procedures and computation that require one to follow them. The object oriented analysis cannot also identify which objects would generate the necessary system design hence making one to take a lot of time in identifying objects that will make up the whole system.
The analysis in an object-oriented model does not readily show the link or communication between the objects in the system. The analysis interfaces between the objects cannot be presented in a single diagram (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.6-7).
Structured Analysis Model
Structured Analysis, on the other hand, has a primary challenge because it dictates that one phase should be established first before starting on the next step, this, therefore, outlines a problem in the design especially if an error occurs that will require the change of all initially constructed objects.
The construction of structured analysis is a costly process because the whole system is designed and built systematically hence leaving few Avenue to provide additional functions for the system. The formal model analysis does not allow code to be reused making its development costly and time-consuming on the part of developing more features (Kinky Boots Case Study, 2017, p.6-8).
List of References
Kinky shoes Case Study. 2017. Pg 1-8
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The Hospitality Industry: Strategy for Global Meetings and Events
1.0 Introduction
The hospitality industry is competitive today. Factors such as globalization and the internet are increasing the demand for hospitality services. Organizations in the hospitality industry are implementing various strategies to attract customers and gain a competitive advantage. Olympia London is a conference center, exhibition center, and event space. The company has shown drastic financial improvement in the last three years.
The financial crisis affected the economy of United Kingdom. Many companies performance was negatively affected by Olympia. Olympia has experienced hard financial times since 2008, but it has started showing an improvement. Olympia must continue improving financially and generate huge amounts of profits. It must continue to be financial sufficient. Olympia is facing stiff competition from other exhibition and conference centers in London and around the world. Olympia was established 130 years ago.
It is one of the oldest exhibition centers in London. It has a lot of experience, but competition poses a great threat to the company. Olympia must make use of its years of experience and competencies to gain an edge in the market. Being one of the oldest companies, it must start looking at the bigger picture and start targeting new markets. To gain a competitive edge, the company will now employ the concept of strategic management. Strategic management focuses on establishing a game plan for winning the market.
Strategic management ensures that a company outwits the competition, and attracts new customers to increases market share. The company must come up with an effective strategy that inspires and informs the actions of the management team and mobilizes employees. The strategic plan comes up with the long-term direction of London Olympia and indicates how the company will gain a competitive edge to become the leading organization in the next five years.
2.1 Vision
Olympia London strategic plan vision is to be industry champions and continue providing clients with extraordinary moments through innovation. The vision statement indicates the plans of the company in the next five years. The vision statement indicates that the company plans to be the pace setter in the industry ( Shahmehr & Safari 2014). It is focused on improving customer experience to become the leading company and bring in new ideas in the hospitality industry.
2.2. Mission
The mission statement is to pursue new opportunities that reward the stakeholders. The company will be driven by its core values, and it will be committed creating an extraordinary experience to guest, clients, employees and community. The mission statement includes the various stakeholders of the company. It indicates that the company will focus on improving the welfare of the employees and the community. It brings the social responsibility aspect of the organization. Additionally, it indicates the commitment of the company to provide customers with good customer care services.
2.3 Values
Innovation
Olympia London encourages innovation through teamwork. The company will encourage the generation of new ideas that will not only benefit the company but the hospitality industry as well.
Pride
The company plans to become the pride of London. The company strives to be the best and contribute to the development of London through economic benefits.
Integrity
Olympia London holds stakeholders accountable for actions. Integrity is a core value, and all stakeholders are expected to uphold integrity in all activities.
Consistency
Olympia provides customers with similar quality products. The company services are consistency, and all focused towards creating extraordinary experiences.
Community
The company understands the importance of local community. The company will give back to the community by participating in various community development programs. Additionally, it is committed to sustainable development hence it is at the forefront of environmental protection.
3.0 Strategic Direction
Strategic direction indicates the position that the company plans to be in the next five years. When developing strategic plans, it is important to come up with a solid strategic direction in order to identify the right strategic options to achieve the goals of the plan.
In the next five years, Olympia should be financially sufficient. Olympia financial performance brings out certain concerns. The company made losses from the year 2006 to the year 2012. In the duration of six years, the company registered huge profits after tax. The company needs to understand the factors that caused poor financials. Additionally, it is important to understand the reasons the company took a long time to recover.
One of the factors that have caused poor company financial performance is economic conditions in the UK. Rise in in interest rates, and inflation rates have caused the cost of living to be very high in the United Kingdom. The high cost of living discourages people from choosing London as the destination to hold meetings and conferences. The hospitality industry has experienced a reduction in demand for conference services in the United Kingdom.
Low sales caused the company to perform poorly. The company internal processes contribute to poor financial. The company is largely financed through loans. The company has a high gearing ratio of 19 indicating that a large part of the company assets are financed through debt. Relying on debt puts the company in a risky position. The company is affected by changes in interest rates.
High interest rates increased the expenses of the businesses reducing profits that the company would have otherwise enjoyed if it had used different sources of finance. The company is now recovering, and it has shown a drastic change in financial performance. For instance, the profits of the company drastically increased from 1,822,000 in 2013 to 45,383,000 in 2014. The changes indicate that the company is in the right financial direction.
However, Olympia must ensure that in the future it is financial sufficient and it is not susceptible to change in the economy and environment. The company will identify new sources of finance. In the next five years, the debt of the company should be lower. The company will now focus on suing equity to finance products. The company can raise more equity issue shares in the stock market. It can become a publicly traded company to increase equity. This way the company will not rely on debt as it will raise a huge amount of capital that can finance long-term investments.
Olympia will be a leader in the convention industry in London in next five years. Olympia can make use of SWOT analysis to gain a competitive edge in the market. Based on SWOT analysis; the company strengths include space, location, and strong brand (Anton, 2015). To top it up, the company has years of experience. It has operated in London for 130 years making it the most experienced exhibition centers. The company designs make use of historical architecture making it an attractive site for clients. London is a city that appreciates culture and history.
Art and culture are an important part of life. Olympia needs to market itself as a company that supports culture and art in London. It must inform customers how the business is a representation of London ways of life. As a result the company will appeal the population and encourage people to use the facilities. The company must take advantage of the opportunities that the market is offering. It must take advantage of the rise in demand for conference centers. The organization can expand its services to ensure that consumers can easily get a conference center.
When businesses are planning events, they are forced to make bookings ahead of time to ensure that the venue is secured. Olympia can increase its capacity to ensure that business can get location even on short notice. Increasing the capacity will reduce the chance of the place being booked to capacity and the organization will always have space to accommodate many conferences and exhibitions (Antràs & Chor 2013).
The company must deal with weaknesses to improve performance. The company must address the change in leadership. The company must ensure that the change in leadership does not interfere with the performance of the company. The change should be managed by involving various stakeholders and communicating the goals of the change to them to ensure that they embrace the change.
Lastly, Olympia must minimize the impacts of threats. The company must ensure that it has put the right security measures. It should start conducting comprehensive background checks of employees. Additionally, it should strengthen security by increasing surveillance system, training employees on security threats, and continue working together with local law enforcements.
In five years, Olympia should offer improved customer services. In the hospitality industry, customer experience is determined by the quality of services offered. Olympia can make use of various models to improve customer services. The company will use the events came model to improve customer experience. So far the company has used various eventscape variables to improve customer services the company has established spacious conference halls, it provides ample parking space, and considers people with disability.
The company must continue to implement new variable to improve customer service sin the next five years. Adapting new and improved technologies will play a great role in enhancing customer experience. There is an increase in demand for digitalized exhibition centers. Young people want to visit an exhibition center that is digitalized. The company must start taking a holistic and comprehensive view of the customer service journey.
Olympia will now start being involved in all experiences of customer beside events. It will be more involved in the travel plans of customers to look for ways to reduce psychological and cognitive costs. The company will also be involved in accommodation and catering of customers. Olympia will have to develop restaurants and increase accommodation facilities to ensure that it can provide customers with a holistic experience.
Olympia should have brought numerous economic benefits to United Kingdom economy. Improvement in customer service and financial capabilities will attract customers from all over the world. Holding international events will bring people from outside the United Kingdom. The people will demand for services in the hospitality industry such as catering, accommodation and entertainment services.
Olympia will create jobs and also create new jobs in the hospitality industries. The retail industry will gain from the new customers, and it will create new jobs opportunities. Olympia improvements will contribute to lowering the high rate of unemployment. The company will increase social responsibility activities. Currently, the company is involved in sustainable development. It encourages the use of public transport to save on energy.
Additionally, the company encourages employees to save water and electricity usage in the company. The company must increase social activities. It can start supporting artist from less fortunate families to enhance exhibition centers (Jennings 2014). It will open up exhibition centers to young and upcoming artists and allow them to sue the centers at a low cost.
4.0 Strategic Option
Strategic option indicates the game plan that the company will choose in oder to gain a competitive advantage. Olympia London will make use of combination of Porters generic strategies and Ansoff growth matrix to achieve objectives. The first strategy is cost leadership. Based on Porters five forces model, cost leadership will be an effective strategy. It will minimize the threat of new entrants.
By lowering prices, Olympia will deter potential entrants from entering the market. New entrants will not be able to provide quality services at the low prices. Additionally, lower prices will give the company a competitive advantage. The companies will offer better price compared to competitors attracting many customers. The low price will defend the company from threat of substitution.
Olympia should focus on lowering service prices. The company can manage to lower its prices through partnering with suppliers. Partnering with suppliers will enable the company to get supplier at low cost hence it lower services prices to attract consumers.
The second generic strategy that the company will use is differentiation. Olympia will focus on adding certain values to its services to differentiate services from competitors. The company will differentiate its products by giving services a technological advancement touch. The company will adapt new technological system that will enable the company to continually adapt new technologies.
Additionally, the company can differentiate services by providing combination of services in one destination. It will develop free space and build restaurants and accommodation services to ensure that customers can use the same facility to get all service that they need. Differentiation will improve the performance of the company (Hill et al. 2014). It will lower the threat of substitution by ensuring that customers enjoy the attributes leading to customer loyalty.
Customer loyalty will reduce the threat of new entrants. Unique service attributes will enhance brand loyalty and customers will be willing to purchase the service even at higher prices reducing the threat of competition.
The third strategic option the company will use market penetration. Market penetration focuses on improving existing market. Olympia must increase its market share in the United Kingdom. Olympia intends to attract young consumers in the United Kingdom. The young population is increasing around the world hence it is very important to target the young clientele.
The young people have been brought up in era of technology (Mok et al. 2013). They are looking for flexible businesses that have embraced technologies. The company must start embracing the increasing demand for the new technologies. It must adopt interactive technologies.
The fourth strategy is market development. Olympia must start identifying new markets to increase customer base. The company must start embracing diversity and move into new markets. Branding and marketing will be an effective way of acquiring new markets. The company should start using various marketing campaign such as social media to advertise services around the world.
Additionally, the company can start using the adaptation strategy. For instance, if it wants to attract consumers from the Middle East, it can start developing conference centers that meet the cultural needs of these communities. For instance, it can ensure that the people are provided with a place of prayer close to the conference halls.
5.0 Strategic Goals
5.1 Improve Customer Services
The main goal of the plan is to improve customer services. Customer service is heart at of the hospitality industry. Companies that have managed to attain large market share achieve this through providing quality customer services. Olympia aims at exceeding the expectations of the customer when it comes to the services it will provide. To improve customer service, the company will have to focus on support activities of value chain.
The company must start developing human resource to improve customer services. Employee development and training has a positive impact on customer services (Rogers & Davidson 2015). Providing employees with the right skills and information will lead to improved customer services.
5.2 Become Financially Sufficient
Financial performance of a company is important to stakeholders. Companies that perform well attract investors hence they have the ability to invest in long-term activities. Olympia must address various financial issue it is facing to become financially sufficient in the next five years. Olympia should address debt issues. The company should now start focusing on paying its current debts from the return for investments. The company should lower debts. It should start using new financing options such as issuing shares, capitalist ventures and retained profits to finance activities.
5.3 Increase Economic Benefits
Olympia should continue developing the economy of United Kingdom. In the next five years, Olympia plans to have created 1000 jobs directly and indirectly. Olympia plans to expand its services. As a result, it will be hiring new employees every year to meet. The company plans to establish a graduate recruitment program that will hire 100 employees every year. By 2022, the company should have hired 500 new employees (Bowie and Buttle 2013). The company will create job opportunities in other industries. By expanding services, it will attract new customers increasing demand for accommodation, travel, and restaurants (Bowie and Buttle 2013). Increased business activities will create new jobs and provide young people with new opportunities to start new businesses.
5.4 Increase Social Responsibility
Olympia aims to be involved in development of welfare of the community. Olympia plans to establish an artist support program. Olympia wil emphasize on supporting children from less fortunate families. It will support education and assist them to develop careers. Additionally, the program will provide exhibition centers for young and upcoming people at low costs to enable them to showcase their talents.
6.0 Resource Allocation
The implementing plan mandates Olympia to ensure that it has the right resources. Resources that are required to meet the objectives of the plan include assets, human resource, and finances. The company must ensure that it has the right personnel to achieve the goals of the company. Additionally, it must have adequate finance to finance various company projects directed towards the achievement of the goals.
The main projects that the plan develops are developing the free space, employee training and development and digitalizing exhibition centers. Developing the free space will require a large amount of capital. The company can work together with real estate develops to come up with the right development plan for the areas.
Real estate developers can get the company investors who will be involved in developing the area by building restaurants and accommodation places (Bowie and Buttle 2013). The company can also focus on using capital to build new conference centers and exhibition centers. The company will outsource information and technology services to save on cost of digitalizing exhibition centers.
7.0 Risk Management
Business risks are unacceptable for any organization. Risks limit the ability of a company to meet its short-term and long-term goals. It is important to identify various risks and come up with ways of minimizing the risks
7.1 Financial Risks
1. Liquidity Risks
A company that is in a good liquidity position has adequate current asset to cater of its short-term liabilities. Olympia is a good liquidity position based on quick and current ratio. New short term investment directed towards meeting the five years strategic plan poses liquidity risks to the company. The company expects creditors will increase liquidity risks. Olympia must ensure that it increase liquid asset to ensure that current asset at all particular time are higher than current liabilities
7.2 Cyber Security Risks
Investing in new technologies will expose the business to cyber security threats. New technologies create loophole for hackers to attack the system. Cyber security attacks lead to loss of company information. Confidential company information can be exposed to competitors. Moreover, Olympia can face legal issues if personal customer information is exposed. Olympia should ensure that it has protected system from cybersecurity attacks. The IT Department should closely monitor system, and in case it identifies suspicious activities; it should take measure to protect the system.
7.3 Implementation TimeTable
Activity
Time
Person In charge
Development of Free Space Building Conference centers, exhibition centers and restaurants
2 years. it should commence immediately investor provide funds
Chief Financial Officer, Operations Manager, and Chief Executive Officer
Training and Development Employees
After every 6 Months starting November 2017
Human resource manager and Training and Development manager
Introducing interactive technology Digitalizing Conference and Exhibition Centers
1 month
Operations manager
8.0 Monitoring and Control
Monitoring and controlling are import aspects of implementation. Through monitoring and control, Olympia is able to evaluate the progress of achieving goals and come up with corrective measures. The company will establish a customer service feedback system to evaluate customer satisfaction. The feedback system will be used to monitor how changes the company is making are influencing the performance of the company.
The company will assess financial performance in 2020. The company will evaluate its financial performance in the next three years. It will check if it has increased profits and lower expenses. Additionally, the company will evaluate its liquidity and gearing performance. It will check if it is in a good liquidity position. Additionally, the company will assess if the debt ratios have reduced and the company is not heavily relying on debt to finance projects.
The company will conduct and survey to asses if it has acquired new markets and clients. The survey will focus on evaluating market penetration and development. The company will use the survey to determine the new markets that it has acquired.
9.0 Conclusion
London Olympia is operating in a competitive market hence it must come up with ways to become a leader in the convention industry. The company intends to be financially sufficient, improve customer service, and increases social responsibility in the next five years. The company will achieve these goals by embracing various strategic options. The company will focus on cost leadership, differentiation, market penetration and market development. The company is likely to face liquidity and technological risks. The company will monitor the plan through customer feedback system and conducting a survey.
10. Appendices
1. PESTEL Analysis
Political
The politics influence business operations. Civil wars in a country discourage establishment of businesses whereas a good political climate boosts business operations encouraging investments. London Olympia is influenced by the political climate in the United Kingdom. One of the political aspects that will influence the activities of Olympia is Brexit.
The exit of United Kingdom from EU will have various business implications on Olympia. Olympia will now stop enjoying the benefits of businesses operating in the EU. Previously, the EU community was operating as one trading bloc hence businesses benefited from increase in market (Peng 2015).
Analysts estimate that the exit will lead to a rise in travel cost. The United Kingdom will have to come up with policies on travel and immigration. As a result, the cost of travel is likely to increase. The increase in travel cost reduces demand for facilities in the United Kingdom.
A stable United Kingdom Government supports the business operation of Olympia. A stable government provides Olympia with a good environment to conduct businesses. People are willing to use Olympia because it is located in secure and stable country. The stability of the government contributes to increase in demand for conference and exhibition services in the United Kingdom.
Economic
There are various economic factors that influence the business environment. One of the factors that influence Olympia is high cost of living in London. Cost of living in the United Kingdom has increased. Though the United Kingdom is a developed country, it has a considerable percentage of people who are poor due to the high cost of living.
The high cost of living means that there is inflation hence there is a general rise in commodities (Ackermann & Audretsch 2013). The hospitality industry is experiencing the rise in cost hence services are offered at high costs. Olympia London targets corporate clients. Corporate clients consider prices when choosing venues to conduct businesses.
The high cost of living has increased hotel rates in London forcing corporate clients to choose other destinations that offer lower rates. The high cost of living is impacting negatively on Olympia causing it to lose customers to other companies that can offer similar services at a lower cost.
The rise in interest rate in the United Kingdom is impacting on London Olympia. London Olympia mainly finances its activities through loans. A rise in interest rates is forcing the business to pay high interest rates. The high interest rates impacts on the purchasing power of the consumers.
The increase in cost of borrowing discourages borrowing lowering money supply (Ackermann & Audretsch 2013). As a result, there are minimal business activities lowering demand for products and services. The rise in interest contributes to a reduction in demand for exhibition and conference services in the country.
Social
The preferences and needs of consumers keep changing with time. Olympia London must understand the needs of consumers to provide the services that are being demanded (Cohen 2014). In the United Kingdom, the young population is looking for digitalized exhibition and conference centers. London Olympia must provide young people with digitalized services to continue being relevant in the market. The population supplies Olympia with labor services. Olympia provides numerous job opportunities for the local population directly and indirectly. Olympia operates in a less diverse population hence mots of employees are white.
Technology
Technology has influenced the hospitality industry. New and emerging technologies have opened geographical boundaries. Through the internet, people are able to learn about other countries and products and services they can get. Opening up of geographical borders creates a good opportunity for Olympia. Today, consumers around the world know about Olympia.
Olympia is able to get consumers from the globe. Olympia is embracing new technologies to improve customer services. New technologies improve conference halls and make it easy for business to hold meetings. Olympia must continue to embrace new technologies to attract young consumers.
Environment
Sustainable development has become an important part of every business. The world is working towards minimizing population to lower the rate of global warming. Olympia is committed to sustainability development. The company works with the public transport system to encourage people to use public transport to save energy. The company is green company. It has adapted various go green strategies such as ensuring lights are off in conferences that are not in use.
Laws
Olympia is subjected to international and United Kingdom laws. The company is subjected to hospitality standards regulations. It must ensure that it meets the hospitality standards in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is expected to meet taxation responsibility. Olympia London holds international event hence it is subject international trade laws. Olympia is expected to comply with various local and international laws.
2. SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Experience
London Olympia has been in the market for over 100 years. Olympia is one of the oldest establishments in London. Years of experience give the company a comparative advantage the company has already established itself in the market. It understands the dynamics of conferences and exhibition market in the United Kingdom. It has held various events from which it has managed to come up with ways to improve customer services.
Space
Consumers are looking for conference and exhibition service that offers spacious conference halls. Consumers want the conference center to be part of the travel experience. Olympia has great advantages over other exhibition center regarding space (Olympia London 2017). It owns 14 acres of plot, and 4 acres have not been developed. The availability of large plot allows the company to develop conference centers that are spacious and meet the requirements of consumers. Additionally, the company has free plot that it can use to expand business activities.
Location
Olympia is located in West Kensington. It is located near overground railway station that makes it easier for people to access the place through public transport. It is at the center of the public transport system in London (Devney 2015). Consumers can access the place from different points using the transport system.
Being located in London is a major strategy of the organization. London is a town that is rich in history and culture. Culture and art are important way of life in London. Consumer exhibition services are required in London. London is served by five main airports. It becomes a good destination to hold international conferences (Cameron 2014). Access to five major airports makes it easier to receive delegates from around the world without any delays at the airport making London a suitable location for conferences.
Olympia is situated near restaurants, bars and accommodation places. Olympia is well connected to other hospitality services that clients demand. Clients will choose Olympia because of its closeness to other services that they will require to use.
Brand
Olympia has hosted various famous international conferences putting it in the limelight. Fashion industry thrives in the United Kingdom, and it was a major milestone for the company to hold miss world competition. Holding international events markets the company and improves the brand of the company (Davis et al. 2013). As a result, corporates clients are willing to hold conferences in Olympia.
Weaknesses
Poor Financial Performance
Since 2008, Olympia has shown slow financial progress. The company made losses between 2008 and 2011. The poor financial performance was caused by reduction in sales. Poor financial performance limits the ability of the business to make huge investments. It fails to get the right capital to make long-term investment. However, the company financial performance is improving, and it is important to come up with strategies to support financially sufficiency.
Lack of Cultural Diversity
Olympia operates in less diverse culture. The company must start marketing itself as a global conference and exhibition center. It must prove that it is culturally diverse to attract clients from across the globe. Being less diverse limits the ability of the company to capture the global market.
Ownership Changes
Olympia London was put on sale in 2015. The owners estimated the value of the company was 300 million euros. When the company started showing financial improvements, the sale was put on hold. This year Olympia London was sold to Deutsche Finance International and Yoo Capital at 296. Changes in ownership can affect the stability of the company. With the new owners, various changes are likely to be instituted in the organization. Changes in status quo can impact on the morale of the employees if it is not well handled.
Opportunities
Increase in demand for Conference Centers
The travel industry has grown in the last few years. Today, businesses are looking for places to hold meetings away from the workplace increasing the demand for travel and conference centers. Additionally, most companies have exploited international markets. Global companies look for a central meeting place where all business partners and stakeholders can meet. Thus, there is a rise in demand for conference centers. London Olympia should take advantage of the rise in demand for conference centers. It can expand to accommodate more customers.
New and Emerging Technologies
One of the trends in the hospitality and tourism is the availability of new technologies. New technologies are offering companies with an opportunity to become efficient and offer quality services.
Threats
Security
The rise in terrorist activities in Europe has reduced tourist activities (Hall 2013). Terrorist attacks discourage people from traveling. Olympia must provide customers with secure place to hold meetings. The company has invested in security. It has surveillance system. Additionally, customers are inspected before being allowed to get into the building. When it is holding international events, Olympia works with police officers to ensure that the location is secure.
Competition
Olympia faces stiff competition from Kensington Exhibition Centre, Central Hall Westminster and Barbican Exhibition Facilities. According to Shone (2015), most conferencing organizations are well known in London and also enjoy strong brand. Olympia must come up with unique services to attract consumers and become leading company in the competitive industry. Competition is a big threat to the performance of the company. Increased competition is causing the company to lose market share to organizations that have rebranded to attract more customers.
Olympia must focus on strengths and competencies to identify ways that it can gain a competitive advantage. Olympia already has an advantage of location and space hence it can use these comparative advantages to attract customers and gain a large market share in the United Kingdom.
3. Five Forces Analysis
Threat of Substitution
The threat of substitution measures the rate at which consumers can change from one product to another (Sadler 2016). The conference and exhibition centers offer similar services. Consumers can move from one service center to another without incurring high costs. The threat of substitution is high in this industry. As a result, London Olympia must provide quality services to enhance customer loyalty. They should exceed expectation of customers in delivery of services to ensure that customers are willing to use the services (Rahimi 2017).
Competition
Olympia London faces stiff competition from companies in London and international companies. The hospitality industry is very competitive with every company trying to capture a large market share. Competition has contributed to poor financial performance. Other conference companies such as Barbican are rebranding to attract new customers (Dinnie 2015). As a result, Olympia is losing its customers to other companies that are coming up with new services that meet the new customer preferences. Olympia must come up with new strategies. It must understand the consumer needs changes come up with new services such digitalized exhibition centers to attract new customers.
Threat of New Entrants
According to Rogers (2013), developing a conference and exhibition center requires a huge amount of capital. The threat of new entrants is small since new entrants require large capital base. Additionally, London Olympia has been in the market for over 130 years. It has the advantage of experience over new entrants. The brand is well known, and the company understands the market (Simerson 2016). As a result, new entrants cannot compete with Olympia which is more experienced and has a large capital base.
Supplier Power
Suppliers determine the type of services and products that a business requires. A business must choose suppliers carefully to ensure that they provide the business with quality materials. Olympia has moderate supplier power. There are many suppliers in the industry hence Olympia has a variety of options to choose from. As a result, suppliers strive to provide the best services in order to maintain close business relationship with Olympia. Additionally, Olympia is a large organization hence it purchases services in large quantities. Suppliers will work towards working with Olympia.
Buyers Power
Buyer power is high in the tourism industry. Conference and exhibition center offer similar services hence consumers can choose from any of service providers. Providing quality customer service is critical. Olympia has already developed various customer services to provide it with competitive advantage (Horner & Swarbrooke 2016). It has ample parking spaces and is ensuring that its premises are internet enabled.
4. Financial Analysis
From the financial report, Olympia has a rough time dealing with financial performance. The income statement clearly indicates that the company suffered huge losses since 2006 to 2012. The financial performance of the company began improving in 2013. In 2013, the company recorded profits after tax of 1.822 million and this increased in 2014 to 45.383 million. The company financial performance improved in 2015 and recorded profits of 53,0007,000.
The company is in the right direction when it comes to financial positions. The balance sheet indicates that Olympia is in a good liquidity position. The current assets can cater for its current liabilities based on the positive working capital. To summarize financial information and get a clear picture of the financial position of the company it is important to look at various financial ratio.
Return on Total Assets
The return on total assets is a profitability ratio. The ratio is used to measure how the assets of a business are contributing to the profits of the company (Bradshaw, 2015). Total assets include the current and fixed assets. Currents assets are easily turned into cash and include inventory, cash at hand, debtors, and cash at bank. The fixed assets include the equipment and buildings that the company owns.
The return on total assets checks if the current and fixed assets are generating profits. The return on total asset is 21.2. Olympia return on assets is low. Olympia is not utilizing total asset towards generating profits. The total assets are being underutilized, and the company has the capability to use assets into more use to increase company profits
Return on Capital
Olympia returns on capital 37.5. The return of on capital is moderate. Olympia has the capability to get a high return on capital compared to other companies, the return on capital is relatively high, and this makes it an attractive companies for investors. Investors can get a high return on capital invested in the company.
Pre-tax Profit
Pre-tax profit margins indicate the profits that accompany generates before taxation. Olympia pre-tax margin is 4606. A positive pre-tax profit margin indicates that the company revenues are totally catering for the expenses of the company and yet the company is making profits. The high pre-tax indicates that Olympia sales and revenues are higher than its expenses hence it is a good financial position.
Current Ratio
The current ratio is a good measure of the liquidity of a business. It compares current asset to current liabilities to indicate the ability of the business to cater for its short-term liabilities. The current ratio of Olympia stands 1.39. The low current ratio indicates that the company has currently invested in long-term activities. It is a good liquid position since current asset can cater current liabilities. Additionally, the current asset has been focused on achieving long-term goals.
Quick Ratio
The quick ratio subtracts inventory in current asset. Inventory is not as liquid as other assets. It takes time to turn inventory into cash. Olympia has the same current and quick ratio. This indicates that Olympia is not holding high amounts of inventory. Its current liabilities are liquid, and the company can easily cater for current liabilities.
Total Debt Ratio
Total debt ratio shows the amount of debt that used to finance company assets. London Olympics has a high total debt ratio of 77. The high debt ratio indicates that most of the company assets have been financed through debt. This increases the risk of the business.
Equity Gearing
Equity gearing ratio indicates the proportion of capital from debt and shareholders’ equity. London Olympia has a high equity gearing ratio of 129. The company is financed through debt. The gearing and total debt assets indicate that the company relies on debt to finance its activities. The company is at high risk since a rise in interest rate will greatly increase the interest that the company will pay back.
5. Value Chain
The value chain focuses on how a business can make use of business activities to gain a competitive edge in the market. The value chain separates business activities into two the primary activities and the supporting activities. The primary activities directly influence the creation of a product. The secondary activities increase the effectiveness and efficiency of a company.
Understanding the value chain is useful in establishing areas that Olympia London can improve to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Slack (2015) points out that some of the primary activities that convention center can improve on to gain competitive advantages include conference halls and exhibition centers.
Conference halls must be spacious and located in quite a place to provide business with a good environment to conduct business. Olympia has spacious conference halls, but if it plans to increase customers, it must increase its conference centers to ensure that it can accommodate many customers at the same time.
The company has the advantage of availability of free space. It can build large conference centers that can hold international events. The company can further digitalize exhibition centers. Improving exhibition centers will attract artist from all over the world. It will create a great opportunity for Olympia to host fashion companies.
The supporting activities that the company can improve include human resource. The company must improve the skills of the employees to improve customer services. The human resource can be improved through training and development. Additionally, the company must embrace diversity.
It will start hiring employees from diverse background in order to attract consumers from around the world. The second support activity that the London Olympia focuses on is technology. Olympia should invest of new technologies to ensure that it meets the new technological demands in the industry.
6. Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a god way for business to increase competitive advantage. Consumers are conscious about various factors of a business. Consumers are demanding for businesses that are socially responsible. A business operates in the environment. It benefits from general population. Businesses have a responsibility of taking care of the environment that they operate and benefit from.
Companies are not only supposed about the short-term but also about the long-term of the activities of the internal organization and the environment. Sustainable development is the development that meets current needs without destroying future generation’s ability to meet their needs (Swayne, Duncan, & Ginter 2015). Sustainable development treats the world as a system that connects space and time. Actions in one part of the world have an impact on another country.
Decisions made today affects tomorrow and actions of an organization have an impact on the whole world thus sustainable development has become a critical strategy for all companies (Williamson, Jenkins, & Cooke 2013). Businesses should aim to have minimal effects on the global and local environment, economy, and community Olympia London meets the triple bottom line by offering environmentally friendly products, incorporating sustainability strategies, and showing commitment to environmental principles when conducting business operations (Ferrell & Fraedrich 2014).
Corporate social responsibility will be an important strategy in gaining a competitive advantage. Olympia will have to start engaging in new activities that improve the welfare of society. The company will use social activities to market the company. Additionally, participating in community welfare programs creates a positive image hence the company will attract more customers.
7. Events Scape Model
Events scape model focuses on tangible elements that influence the environment of an event influencing the emotional, and experiences of the stakeholders. Event scope model focuses on looking at the tangible elements that can improve the experience of the attendees, employees, and stakeholders (Newlands 2013). The variables that an event can make use are external variables, internal variables, human variables, layout and design variables and event specific design elements. Olympia has so far made use of scope model to improve experience of clients.
The company makes use of exterior design to create a good first impression. It has established spacious conference centers that are well arranged. The company considers the comfort of the clients and ensures that the chairs available are comfortable and customers can seat for hours without discomfort (Robinson & Picard, 2016). Olympia has further improved parking spaces. The company has ample parking space to reduce congestion.
The company security is on point. It has surveillance system, and various security officers are located at different locations of the building. Being at the heart of the transport system ensures that customers can easily access location using public transport. The combination of the eternal events cape variables improves the customer experience. Olympia London makes use event-specific designs to further attract customers.
Event specific designs consider the theme of customers when preparing conference centers. Consumers will have different themes, and when they hold their meetings in a place that is specifically designed to meet the theme, it increases customer satisfaction. Eventscape model provides Olympia with an opportunity to provide consumers with unique event experience (Robinson & Picard, 2016).
The company must focus on looking for new ways to increase customer satisfaction. Olympia must ensure that the objectives of events are met. The company will focus on embracing new technologies to enhance customer satisfaction. The company can introduce new interactive technologies.
Table and Chart Analysis
Competition Analysis
Porter’s Strategies and Five Forces
Differentiation StrategyProvide one stop destinationDigitalize exhibition centers
Cost LeadershipLook for lower supplier to lower costIncrease customers and use economies of scale to lower price
Threat of Substitution
Increase customer loyalty
Low price prevent threat of substitution
Threat of new Entrants
Customer loyalty will discourage new entrants
Low prices prevent new entrants
Rivalry
Increase brand loyalty and make product preferable compared to competitors
Ahead of competitors by lowering prices
Buyer Power
Company will limit the alternatives of buyers
Company will offer buyers lower prices
Supplier Power
Differentiation will ensure services are still demanded even at high prices hence company can pass supplier price increase to buyers
Company rely on supplier to lower price hence supplier will have more power over business
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Reforming India’s Higher Education to Make India Globally Competitive
Abstract
Higher education contributes to the development of every country. Education is a vital part of human resource development and empowerment in a country. In all education system, the higher education plays a critical role in equipping people with knowledge, skills, and values that in return enhance the growth and productivity of a country. Therefore, investments in education contribute the economic prosperity of a country. Since independence Indian Governments has addressed key challenges facing the education system.
The successive governments have improved access to education, expanded education infrastructure, and increased education funding. The government efforts have all contribute to a rise in literacy rates in India. The Indian education system has made progress in the last few decades. However, the system still faces significant challenges. There is a high student-teacher ratio that lowers the quality of education. There is a wide skill gap between industries and fresh graduates forcing companies to incur high cost in training and development of employees.
Additionally, there are high levels of inequality with students from poor background facing difficulties in accessing high education. The importance of the high education system in the nation cannot be ignored. Previous studies have focused on determining how government funding impacts on higher education. This study will shift focus to improving the quality of education to enhance the global position of India.
To compete globally, India must have an effective high education system. The study examines the current state of higher education in India. It highlights the challenges that the system is facing. The main aim of the study is to come up with comprehensive recommendations to deal improve higher learning in India.
Key Words
Globally competitive
Higher learning
Inequality
Skills
Introduction
In the last decades, India has made significant progress in improving the education system, but dropout rates and low levels of learning continue to challenge the country. The India Education system has become a major concern to the leaders of the country. In 2016, Indian Parliament tabled a report that looked at the various challenges that the education system is facing. India education is facing significant challenges that are impacting on the quality of education. There is a high shortage of teachers and a rise in demand for education.
The report indicated that one teacher can handle a class of over 1000 students (Klemencic & Fried, 2015). India is a young nation, and according to the census, 600 million Indians are under 25 years (Klemencic & Fried, 2015). With the current status of the education system, these young people may not access quality education. The dropout levels are relatively high in India. Lack of infrastructure and inadequate higher education facilities causes some of the students to drop out. Additionally, there is a significant gap between education and skills.
The education system has failed to equip students with the right skills to use in the job market. According to Kaur (2015), only one out of every four graduates is employable. The vision of the higher education system in India is to realize India’s human resource potential to its fullest, but if the education system fails to equip students with the right skills, then this aim is not being achieved. The government is supposed to provide citizens with the quality education. The study will assess the challenges that higher education system is facing in India and identify the measures that the government should put in place to provide all citizens with the quality education.
Research Questions
What is the current status of higher education in India?
What challenges is higher education facing in India?
How is higher education lowering India economic prosperity and increasing inequality rates?
How can higher education be improved to make India globally competitive?
Literature Review
Higher education is an important part of developing nations. Higher education is supposed to increase human development and provide the country with skilled and innovative graduates (Coleman, 2015). Since Independence, the higher education in India has shown tremendous progress. India higher education has so far produced doctors, engineers, managers and teachers who not only in demand in India but across the world. However, the higher education system is facing certain challenges that are limiting the ability to deliver its main objective of providing India with employable graduates.
The Indian Education System
The education system is under the Human Resource Development which consists of two departments the Department of School Education and Literacy and the Department of Higher Education (Kaur, 2015). The Department of Higher Education is responsible for higher education, technical education, and minority education. India Was colonized hence most of the education activities are in line with British education system.
The India education system previously followed the British model, but it has been improved over the years. The Indians use the 10 +2+3 system. Students spend 10 years in basic education, 2 years in senior general secondary education and 3 years in higher education (Mehrotra, 2014). For children between the age of 6 to 14 school attendance is compulsory. Adult education focuses on increasing literacy. Higher education is provided by the public and private sector (Kaur, 2015). The private sector falls under the jurisdiction of the government and rules that apply to government schools concerning curriculum also apply private education.
English is the language of instruction in India’s higher education system. The challenge is that at lower levels the language of instruction is the language of the region and it includes the following common languages Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Gujarati, and Bengali. English is introduced as a second language in Standard VI and in the last classes Standard XI and Standard XII the language of instruction is both English and Hindu (Pilkington, 2014). In higher learning, English is the main language of instructions, and some of the students who fail to acquire the right English skills have difficulties in higher education (Bhalla, 2015).
India has one of the largest education systems in the world. India has expanded infrastructure over the last few decades. Currently, the country has 35,000 colleges and 600 universities. Higher learning education in India is composed of Universities which offer Bachelors, Masters and Doctor’s Degree. Polytechnics and colleges provide certificate and diploma education (Kapur & Perry, 2015).
Universities in India are divided into two main categories the affiliating and unitary universities. The affiliating universities bring small colleges and institutions together. India has around 15,000 affiliating universities, and most of these affiliating institutions are private (Kapur & Perry, 2015). The unitary universities have no affiliated institutions, and they provide undergraduate and graduate education.
There are deemed universities in India. Deemed universities are considered to be of national importance. Some of the deemed universities were private institutions specializing in specific areas such as technology. Deemed universities specialize in a limited number of fields, but they have the same rights and rules as the ordinary universities.
India has 13 deemed universities mainly specializing in the field of technology and medicine. India has developed open universities. The first Open University was established in 1985 in Hyderabad. Other states such as Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka and Gujarat have also established open universities (Kaur, 2015).
Challenges Facing Higher Education
The Teacher-Student Ratio
A study compared India Education system to other developed nations indicated that the student ratio is relatively high in India. The study concluded that in developed countries the average student-teacher ratio is 11.4 (Kapur & Perry, 2015). India student teacher ratio is double, and it currently stands at 22.0 (Klemencic & Fried, 2015). Research on Asian education system indicated that China stands ahead in the education system in Asia.
India and China have a large education system, but China has managed to improve the quality of education (Kapur & Perry, 2015). India education system was placed ahead of countries like Bangladesh. However, the study indicated that India is facing an acute shortage of teachers. Though India education system comes ahead of some of the underdeveloped countries, the teacher-student ratio was a major issue in India as opposed to other countries in Asia. In Western Asia,
For instance, the student teacher ratio was 15.3, and this is still better that India’s high student-teacher ratio (Rizvi & Gorur, 2014). The high student-teacher is causing serious impacts on education quality. The teachers have to handle many students, and this is increasing demotivation levels among teachers due to overworking.
Quality of Education
A survey conducted on engineering students indicated that only 25% of engineering graduates are employable (Mehrotra, 2014). Out five engineer graduates only 2 are qualified for jobs in the Indian market. This survey indicates the seriousness in the quality of education offered in higher learning. The main objective if higher learning in India is yet to be achieved.
The quality of education delivered in most higher learning institutions is poor. The students produced by the education system do not have the right skills at the job market. Industries face a problem of finding suitable employees, and they have to incur high costs in training and development of employees.
Poor education quality is the lack of teachers is contributing to poor education quality. Teaching is not an attractive course in India. In India, attractive courses are engineering and medicine. Families are putting a lot of pressure on children to become doctors and engineers.
Those who decide to take courses such as teaching are not held in high regard in the families making it a less attractive course. Teaching has been identified as the last choice of career. The number of teachers produced is low (Tomar, 2014). In higher learning institutions, the number of Ph.Ds that are required is very low. Some institutions are being forced to hire fresh graduates to teach in universities leading to poor quality of classroom instructions.
Inequality
The Indian government is facing a major challenge of providing access to quality education to students from poor families. Students from poor backgrounds are disadvantaged in India. India education system has been politicized (Coleman, 2015). Some of the private institutions are owned by politicians and use government influence to forward person interest. The Indian education is expensive, and some of the students from a poor background cannot afford higher learning education (Tomar, 2014). Additionally, students are further disadvantaged since they are not academically prepared to sit for a competitive entrance examination. The urban elite and rich students are prepared for exams since they can access private tuition and coaching.
Reforming Higher Education
India has a young population unlike some developed countries such as China, Japan, and the USA are dealing with challenges of an aging population. India must take advantage of young population to improve the economic prosperity of India and global position. India can draw various lessons from China in reforming the education system.
China faced a shortage of higher learning institutions, and the government established a massive support for Chinese Nations in oversee schools (Kapur & Perry, 2015). The benefit of using this strategy is Indian Nationals will get education India hence they are more likely to bring new ideas. Educating students abroad will enhance the position of India globally because it will prepare students for the global market.
Elearning has been used in developed countries such as USA, France, Australia, and the UK (Pilkington, 2014). Elearning will enhance access to education and reduce the congestion of existing facilities.
Aims and Objectives
The study seeks to establish the current scenario in higher learning education in India. It is important to understand the current status of the higher learning education before coming up with strategies to deal with the issues that higher learning is facing. The Indian education system has faced various challenges in the past, and every government has come up with various strategies to deal with challenges. The efforts of the government have contributed to the improvements of the current education system.
For instance, in 1995, India only had 25 higher learning institutions, but today it has over 600 higher learning institutions (Jain, Kadri, Ramanathan, & Ahmed, 2015). India has improved education infrastructure to become one of the largest education systems in the world. Statistics indicate that India is the third largest higher education system and comes behind the China and the United States (Jain, Kadri, Ramanathan, & Ahmed, 2015). Understanding the current status of the education system will be useful in identifying various areas in the education system that is yet to be developed.
Going through past studies in India education system indicates that there is a gap between skills developed in higher learning education and those required in the marketplace. This form a good basis to evaluate the quality of high learning education and assessing certain factors that contribute to poor quality education. Additionally, understating the current status will create a good foundation to come up with suitable recommendations to improve the quality of higher learning education.
The second objective is to examine the challenges and opportunities faced by Indian Higher Learning Education. Higher learning institutions are facing diverse challenges impacting on the quality of education. Inequality has been cited as a major challenge in higher learning. States that are relatively rich have higher learning institutions as opposed to states that are relatively poor.
Additionally, the student-teacher ratio has become a major concern. The shortage in teachers is a nationwide problem that is not affecting higher learning but other levels of education. Examining the challenges that higher learning is an important objective of the research as it will show the need to improve the higher learning institutions. Most studies in India focus on government spending and infrastructure as the main challenge it is important to give other challenges additional attention in order to come up with comprehensive suggestions to transform education sector in India.
The third objective is to find out the role of higher learning education in making India globally competitive. Higher learning education is an important factor in every country. Every country is investing in higher learning education to improve the global competitiveness of the country.in the global market knowledge determines the level of empowerment.
Research conducted by the University Grants Commission indicated that the India must increase universities by 1500 to compete in the globally (Pilkington, 2014). India is missing out on the opportunities offered by the global market. The gross enrolment of India in higher learning education is 11% which is small compared to China 20%, South Korea 91% and USA 83% (Coleman, 2015). Previous studies have focused on showing the impact of low enrolment levels in higher education on the economic performance of the country.
This study will look at impact at the global level and show how countries that have invested in higher learning are ahead of India in the global market. This study can draw ideas from past studies in countries such as China, and South Korea which is in Asia but they have managed to improve the higher learning education. The ideas will be used to identify various measures of transforming higher learning education in India to make India globally competitive.
The fourth objective is to come up with suggestions to improve higher learning education in India. By assessing the current status of Indian education system, it is possible to come up with various strategies improve the quality of higher learning education, and lower inequality (Pilkington, 2014). The study will draw suggestion from developed nations that can be implemented in India.
One of the suggestions is establishing e-learning in India higher learning education to increase accessibility. India can also establish massive programs to fund oversee education for Indians to provide people from the disadvantaged background with an opportunity to study abroad. The study will recommend an increase in government funding in higher learning education. Government funding will be used to reduce inequality and increase research and development in higher learning institutions.
Methodology
Research methodology describes the methods and procedures used to conduct a study. The effectiveness of a study is determined by choice of methodology for both collection and evaluation of data. The research methodology will develop the research design, procedures, and data collection analysis method that will be useful in understanding the higher education in India.
Type of Research
The topic of the research is to study the higher learning education system in India. The study is focused on understanding the current status of India education, highlighting challenges and opportunities, evaluating the role of higher learning education in global competition and coming with suggestions to improve higher learning education (Altbach, 2015). The type of research that that is suitable for the study is descriptive research. Data will be collected from the higher learning institutions to assess the current performance and come up with strategies hence the descriptive research will be suitable for this study.
Research Design
The research will mainly make use of secondary data and primary data. Secondary data will be the main source of data for the study secondary data will be easier to access, and it will save on time and money to conduct the research.
Secondary Sources
Secondary data involves data collected from another source. There are wide sources of secondary data for this study. The main secondary sources of data that will be used include annual reports of UGC, and Education Department, Economic Surveys, journals, websites, books, and Planning Commissions publications (Mehrotra, 2014). This study will make use of government publication on higher learning institutions.
Government publications will be useful in identifying government funding in higher learning institutions. Additionally, it will be used to determine the measure that government has already put in place to improve higher learning education. The Ministry of Human development in India will be a good source of information to be used in this study.
The ministry publication and website will be used to provide information on the scenario of high learning education. From this ministry, it is possible to understand the Indian Education system and infrastructure levels. Statistics collected by the Higher Learning Department will be incorporated in this study to assess the enrollment levels, dropout rates and a number of graduates.
Industry data will further be used to assess the quality of higher learning education. The study will focus on engineering industry in India and determine if the graduates that are produced by higher learning institutions are ready to work in engineering industry (Rizvi & Gorur, 2014). Industry data will be used to determine the amount of money that is spent on training and development of employees due to the skills gap in the marketplace and higher learning institutions.
It is important to examine the inequality levels in higher learning. To assess the inequality levels, the study will focus on two states, a rich and poor state. The rich state that will be used is Delhi, and poor state is Manipur. The two states were chosen on the basis that Delhi has a low poverty rate of 9.91 whereas Manipur has a high poverty rate of 36.89.
Secondary data sources will be used to determine the number of students who access quality high education in the state of Delhi compared to the state of Manipur. The comparison will also be made in terms of the number of higher learning institutions in Delhi and Manipur.
To ensure that credibility of the study is not compromised, only reliable sources will be used. The study will make use peer-reviewed journals, government websites, and higher learning institutions publications and websites. Only credible journals, books, and newspapers will be used to collect secondary data.
Primary Sources
Given that respondents are located at a long distance, the only primary data collection method is mail questionnaire. The study will make use of mail questionnaire to collect primary data. The research will focus on getting mail contact address and request individuals to respond to questionnaires. The mailed questionnaire will cover certain aspects which include general information on India education system, infrastructure, and facilities in higher learning institutions, student teacher ratio, and accessibility of high learning institutions.
The mailed questionnaire will target 100 students in the University of Delhi. The study will be focusing on a large number because the rate response in mail questionnaire is relatively low. By sending many mailed questionnaires, the study is likely to get more responses.
Data Analysis
Data analysis will make use of various statically methods to evaluate the data. Collected data from secondary sources and primary sources will be used to test various hypotheses that the study focuses on. The government collected from the government, department of higher learning and higher learning institutions will be used to develop tables to indicate the growth in higher learning enrolment.
Tables on the expenditure of government on higher learning will be developed. To further enhance the analysis, the researcher can develop tables that compare the % of government funding in higher learning between India, and other countries. Graphs can also be developed to show how education facilities are distributed in the states of India. Based on data collected, past data will be used to determine the future needs of higher learning and show that the student-teacher ratio will continue to persist if it is not addressed today.
Limitations of Study
Relying on secondary sources will have various limitations on the study. There will be sampling issues since sample used in the previous studies may not adequately represent the whole population. Accessing certain secondary data will be difficult such as getting accurate data on the student-teacher ratio in certain universities.
Use of mail questionnaire causes certain limitations. Respondents can fill the questionnaire at own convenience hence may fail to provide the right information. The response rate is relatively low.
It is important to overcome the limitations and maintain the effectiveness of research. The study will minimize the limitations by using credible and reliable secondary sources. The study will send many mail questionnaire to ensure that they get a large number of respondents.
Conclusion
Higher learning is instrumental to the development of a country. It provides the country with the right people to drive innovation and improve the economic status of a country. India high learning education is facing various challenges that are reducing ability to achieve its vision and objectives. There is a high student-teacher ratio. As a result, teachers are handling many students lowering the quality of education.
Inequality levels are relatively high in higher learning. The poor students are disadvantaged when it comes to handling exams and accessing higher learning institutions. The high cost of high learning institutions is causing a high rate of drop-out among the poor students. The current status of India education indicates the need to transform high learning education. The study aims at finding effective measures that India can take to deal with higher learning education.
The study will recommend the use of e-learning to increase access. The government will have to increase expenditure on higher learning to upgrade higher education in India and move towards e-learning. The government can also establish massive abroad programs for Indian nationals. It can provide students from poor backgrounds to study abroad to lower the congestion at the existing universities. There is a need to establish industry and academia connection to ensure that students acquire skills required for the marketplace.
Bhalla, V. (2015). International students at Indian universities. International higher education, 1-5.
Coleman, J. (2015). Education and Political Development.(SPD-4) (Vol. 4). Princeton University Press.
Jain, S., Kadri, V., Ramanathan, K., & Ahmed, M. (2015). A Statistical Approach to Modernize the Indian Higher Education System for Rural and Vernacular Students.
Kapur, D., & Perry, E. (2015). Higher Education reform in China and India: the role of the State. Journal of Havard, 1.
Kaur, H. (2015). Raising the quality standards in Indian higher education system. An International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 5(3), 251-259.
Klemencic, M., & Fried, J. (2015). Demographic challenges and future of the higher education. International Higher Education, (47).
Mehrotra, S. (2014). India’s Skills Challenge: Reforming Vocational Education and Training to Harness the Demographic Dividend. New York: Oxford University Press.
Pilkington, M. (2014). Converging higher education systems in a global setting: The example of France and India. European Journal of Education, 49(1), 113-126.
Rizvi, F., & Gorur, R. (2014). Harnessing Global Resources for Reforming India Higher Education.
Tomar, D. (2014). A comparative study of service quality perception between public and the private sector in the Indian Higher Education System. International Journal of Applied Services Marketing Perspectives, 3(4), 1304.
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Part 1: Code Blue educational video from the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region.
Time sequence
Issue noted
code
comments
0-22 seconds
Breach of Australian Resuscitation Council Guidelines:
BARCG- Guideline 2 priorities in an emergency
Finds Mr. Smith unresponsive. Fails to follow the Guide 2 BLS algorithm because she failed to assess danger, but she assessed the airway, as she is seen checking for the escape of air from the patients mouth or nose as recommended by guide 5. Implications: Delay in resuscitation processes increases the risk of reduced cardiac output to the brain due to poor compressions.
Time 3.26
Poor technical skills
PTS – BARCG Guide 6 & 8
Chest compressions inadequate as recommended by Guide 6. The recommended chest compressions are 30 chest compressions followed by two breaths. The chest compressions are slow than required by Guide 8. “A good CPR should deliver chest compressions over the lower half of the sternum at a depth of 5 cm” (ARC guide 8). Long pauses in CPR before shock delivery. Guide 6 discourages long pauses and distractions during a CPR Implications: Long pauses, distractions, slow and inadequate chest compressions lower the chance of patient’s survival
Poor Non-Technical skillsPNTS
Time 0.30
Situation awareness
PNTS- SA
The nurse did not press the emergency push button system to call for help immediately and instead used the overturn Implications: Delayed response by the code blue team
Time 0.30 secsTime 2.26 minutes
Decision making
PNTS- DM
Delay in full code response. The team arrived 2 minutes later after the call alert Implications: This led to delay important activities such as defibrillation. However, the rest of the decisions such as medication, hyperventilation and defibrillation activities went on well once the code blue captain arrived.
Time 3.36
Task management
PNTS-TM
Compressors for more than five cycles. One compressor was working for almost 5 minutes which is too long for a compressor. According to Guide 5, “the compressor roles approximately after 2 minutes or after five cycles of compressions and ventilations at a ratio of 30:2 so as to maintain the quality of compressions” (ARC guide 5). However, other task management processes such as airway positioning, nasopharyngeal airway placement, bag-valve mask ventilation were correctly performed.
Time 5.28Time 12.55
Communication
PNTS- comm
Occasionally fails to use the closed up communication which leads to miscommunications. For instance, at minute 12.55, the recorder had missed recording the endotracheal tube particulars due to poor communication strategy. The team used the SBAR technique to report the patient’s medical history to the code blue team leader. All the information was recorded including all the medication administered and other CPR outcomes such as cardiac rhythm before a shock was delivered. This is vital for future references.
Teamwork
PNTS-Team
No introduction was done by the team members, but they delegated the resuscitation duties appropriately. The team consisted of a coordinator, compressor nurse, airway manager, nurse in charge of defibrillator, captain/leader and crash cart manager.
Leadership
PNTS- Leadership
The leader failed to evaluate the BLS on arrival. However, Mr. Sellinger (the code captain) performed his tasks effectively including identification of cardiac rhythm, initiation of ACLS protocol, and evaluation of the protocol reviewed the code blue documentation form and signed the code blue form after completing the code blue.
PART 2: Analysis of the issues covered
Code blue should be contacted immediately for all unresponsive patients. Calling for help and initiation for help should be done simultaneously. One of the issues identified in this case study is delayed in the response of code blue code due to poor call out systems. The code team member should call out loudly for help through the facility-wide response system. In this technology, the nurse should have pressed the Blue code push button to ensure that the code blue team were notified accordingly (Bayramoglu et al., 2013).
As the nurse in charge waits for code blue team, he or she should initiate CPR (Clarke, Apesoa-Varano, & Barton, 2016). The code team are expected to introduce themselves as they arrive as well as and their roles statements such as “Am Mr. J. and will take document” or “I’ll take the airway” which helps in ensuring there is clear role differentiation. The service user physician should be contacted immediately.
According to Price, Applegarth & Price (2012), the healthcare provider should first assess the patient dangers and risks before they start the air management. This was not done in the case study and violated the ARC guide four which states that the patient’s mouth should be opened and head slightly turned downwards to remove the airways (Australian Resuscitation Council, 2008).
An ineffective cough indicates a severe obstruction. In this case, if the patient is responsive, the healthcare provider should give about five back blows, and if still, it is ineffective, they should give at least five chest thrusts (McInnes et al., 2012). This article states that for all unresponsive patients, the healthcare should send for help and start CPR immediately. Similarly, guideline 5 recommends that all patients who are breathing abnormally or are unresponsive require being resuscitated.
The first thing when assessing breathing, the rescuers should check for movement around the chest (lower part) and abdomen (upper part). They should check for the exhalation through the patient’s oral cavity or nose, and feel the movement of air in the patient’s mouth or nose. The guide recommends a ratio of compressions to rescue breaths as 30:2 (Australian Resuscitation Council, 2008).
According to this article, the first nurse to respond should start saving the patient’s life by performing chest compressions immediately (100 compressions per minute). Although important, the nurse should not wait for backboard , they should start chest compressions as it can be put in place later when the code team arrives. The switching the compressor roles in the case study is present but it took quite a long time than that recommended by ARC guide 6 which is approximately after 2 minutes.
To maintain the quality, the ventilations ratio should be maintained at 30:2 (Castelao et al., 2013). This is supported by Guide 6 which recommends that interruptions to chest compressions should be minimized. The best location to perform the compressions is the sternum- the lower half part of it. The healthcare provider’s heel is placed at the central part of the chest and put the other hand on top it. The recommended rates of compressions are 100 to 120 compressions per minute which are about two compressions per second.
The guide also outlines on the quality of compressions ( which is identified as poor in the case study) where it suggests that depth of compressions should be “at least 2 inches (5cm) with complete chest recoil after every compression” this helps the heart to re-fill completely by the next round of compressions. The number of interruptions should be minimized to ensure maintain the quantity and quality of compressions (Eroglu et al., 2014).
According to the article, the patient should be given 2 ventilations for every 30 seconds of oxygen-bag-mask device assisted ventilation. The oxygen level should be set to the flow meter 15 L/min, and where applicable, the reservoir should be fully open ensure that the patient gets 100% oxygen for each breath. One strength observed in the study is the fact that bag-mask device is best done by two blue code team members where one open the airway to fasten the mask on whereas the second one squeezes the oxygen bag.
Also, the article states that defibrillation is very critical and that the use of placement hands-free defibrillation pads is a safer option than hands held defibrillation paddles (Girotra et al., 2012; Prince et al., 2014). The article states that the deployment of automated external defibrillators (AED) should be used as soon as possible as it reduces mortality and morbidity associated with cardiac arrest caused by either ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia (Australian Resuscitation Council, 2008).
The compressions should resume immediately after delivering shock even with a normal heart rhythm as it will not provide enough cardiac output that will ensure adequate perfusion. It is recommended that 2 minutes the cardiac rhythm should be assessed after 5 cycles of a CPR (Merchant et al., 2014). The use of vasopressors in cardiac arrest is recommended only when there are no high-quality CPR. It is important to be extra cautious when administering a drug. This is because miscommunication is a common issue which often leads in the administration of incorrect drug doses or medications.
This can be prevented by using “closed loop” method of communication (Segon et al., 2014; William et al., 2016). For instance, when a nurse receives an order to inject some medicine, they should repeat the information of drug prescribed out loud, inject it and then announce it again after administration (Price et al., 2012). This method was used in some instances, but in the instance that it was absent, the recorder was prone to miss out some key aspects; for example, in this code blue simulation, the recorder had missed recording the endotracheal tube measurements.
The article suggests that an effective code blue team should have leader who controls the all the procedures and efforts of resuscitation. They communicate with the staff involved and evaluate the cardiac rhythm of a patient. Mr. Sellinger is the team captain of the case study and was standing in a position such that he could effectively see all of the resuscitation procedures and efforts. If the organization allows, the family member can be allowed into the room. It is also important to ensure that the information is well recorded.
In the case study, the recorder is shown documenting all the resuscitation process. However, it is important to understand that documentation process is done according the healthcare facility’s policy (McEvoy et al., 2014; Sahin et al., 2016). The recorder should remind the code team when time for a specific task has elapsed and must record all the activities taking place including the medicines prescribed. The article also suggests that all clinical areas should grant quick access to equipment such as blood glucose, blood pressure, and equipment of pulse oximetry and other equipment so as to effectively manage a deteriorating patient (Clarke, Carolina Apesoa-Varano, & Barton, 2016).
Through this case study, it is evident code training programs using simulation is beneficial and has been recommended by various healthcare institution organizations since 1999. This training will help the learners to improve cardiac resuscitation outcomes as it offers an opportunity for regular hands-on practice within the hospitals. This also helps the team to understand the various roles and responsibilities expected during a full code. Along with continuing education and mock codes, the team members become confident in their responsibilities (Gutwirth, Williams, Boyle, & Allen, 2012).
Bayramoglu, A., Cakir, Z. G., Akoz, A., Ozogul, B., Aslan, S., & Saritemur, M. (2013). Patient-Staff Safety Applications: The Evaluation of Blue Code Reports. The Eurasian Journal of Medicine, 45(3), 163–166. http://doi.org/10.5152/eajm.2013.34
Castelao, E. F., Russo, S. G., Riethmüller, M., & Boos, M. (2013). Effects of team coordination during cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of critical care, 28(4), 504-521.
Clarke, S., Apesoa-Varano, E. C., & Barton, J. (2016). Code Blue: Methodology for a qualitative study of teamwork during simulated cardiac arrest. BMJ open, 6(1), e009259.
Girotra, S., Nallamothu, B. K., Spertus, J. A., Li, Y., Krumholz, H. M., & Chan, P. S. (2012). Trends in Survival after In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. The New England Journal of Medicine, 367(20), 1912–1920. http://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1109148
Gutwirth, H., Williams, B., Boyle, M., & Allen, T. (2012). CPR compression depth and rate about physical exertion in paramedic students. Journal of Paramedic Practice, 4(2).
McEvoy, M. D., Field, L. C., Moore, H. E., Smalley, J. C., Nietert, P. J., & Scarbrough, S. (2014). The Effect of Adherence to ACLS Protocols on Survival of Event in the Setting of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Resuscitation, 85(1), 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2013.09.019. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2013.09.019
Merchant, R. M., Berg, R. A., Yang, L., Becker, L. B., Groeneveld, P. W., & Chan, P. S. (2014). Hospital Variation in Survival After In‐hospital Cardiac Arrest. Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease, 3(1), e000400. http://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.113.000400
McInnes, A. D., Sutton, R. M., Nishisaki, A., Niles, D., Leffelman, J., Boyle, L., … Nadkarni, V. M. (2012). The ability of code leaders to recall CPR quality errors during the resuscitation of older children and adolescents. Resuscitation, 83(12), 1462–1466. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.resuscitation.2012.05.010
Price, J. W., Applegarth, O., Vu, M., & Price, J. R. (2012). Code Blue Emergencies: A Team Task Analysis and Educational Initiative. Canadian Medical Education Journal, 3(1), e4–e20.
Prince, C. R., Hines, E. J., Chyou, P.-H., & Heegeman, D. J. (2014). Finding the Key to a Better Code: Code Team Restructure to Improve Performance and Outcomes. Clinical Medicine & Research, 12(1-2), 47–57. http://doi.org/10.3121/cmr.2014.1201
Segon, A., Ahmad, S., Segon, Y., Kumar, V., Friedman, H., & Ali, M. (2014). Effect of a Rapid Response Team on Patient Outcomes in a Community-Based Teaching Hospital. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 6(1), 61–64. http://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-13-00165.1
Sahin, K. E., Ozdinc, O. Z., Yoldas, S., Goktay, A., & Dorak, S. (2016). Code Blue evaluation in children’s hospital. World Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(3), 208–212. http://doi.org/10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2016.03.008
Williams, K.-L., Rideout, J., Pritchett-Kelly, S., McDonald, M., Mullins-Richards, P., & Dubrowski, A. (2016). Mock Code: A Code Blue Scenario Requested by and Developed for Registered Nurses. Cureus, 8(12), e938. http://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.938
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Major facts, in this case, include Dell’s strategies involving direct sales, product customization and stakeholder engagement and the changing competitive environment. These are strategies that have worked for Dell in its quest to provide customers with the highest quality products. A focus on direct sales has ensured that Dell can reach its clients and meet their needs better.
Engaging suppliers as important stakeholders of the organization have enhanced Dell’s manufacturing strategy of mass customization by ensuring that supplies are made just-in-time and with short lead times. Dell utilizes focused mass customization where a limited number of common platforms are manufactured and then customized to meet customer needs. This has created more demand because customers demand unique products. Despite the success in strategy, downward price pressure, competition and a weakening market position challenge the company’s survival.
Major problem
Dell faces a weakening market position, perpetrated by the intense competition in the marketplace, combined with downward price pressure.
Possible Solutions
Dell has various options that it can consider in increasing its market share and absorbing downward pressure as follows.
New products: Diversification can be a viable option for Dell and may involve developing more advanced computers and laptops to meet competitors such as Apple. It could also invest in new products such as smartphones whose demand is currently high in the market. This has the advantage of attracting a larger market share but may be expensive to implement (Hans-Ruediger, 2014).
Cost-cutting measures: To increase profitability and counter falling prices, Dell can revise costs in its production system by reducing wastage, streamlining processes and automation. The advantage of this strategy is that it increases returns through reducing the company’s production costs. However, it may impact on process quality when important aspects are eliminated or downsized. Ethical issues may also arise from some steps such as employee layoffs and automation which creates unemployment (Ciravegna, Fitzgerald & Kundu, 2013)
Increased Marketing: Dell could increase its market position through increased advertising of its products. This will ensure that more customers are aware of their products and capabilities, thus improving the market (Kotler & Armstrong, 2015). This has the advantage of increasing product visibility and increasing market share. On the other hand, it may be very costly to implement.
Invest in more advanced research and development: Technology is changing rapidly, and to benefit from the growing market, companies must provide clients with unique products that meet their needs. This calls for investment in research and development to promote the development of advanced products (Ciravegna, Fitzgerald & Kundu, 2013). While new products will increase the company’s market position, research and development are very costly, especially where customer demands keep changing.
Choice and Rationale
New product development is chosen as the best choice of strategy for Dell to pursue. This is because the current customer is increasingly demanding more sophisticated technology and companies that take the opportunity to satisfy this demand will capture a large market share.
Dell should invest in more advanced computers to serve different customer needs. I did not choose cost cutting as the best strategy because Dell has already implemented cost cutting measures before including the laying down of staff. The company may not be ready for more cuts as it would impact its performance. Increased marketing and research and development would come automatically if Dell chooses the new product strategy.
To succeed in new product development, Dell would need to invest in research and development to ensure the production of sophisticated products, which would later be followed by marketing to promote sales (Kotler & Armstrong, 2015).
Implementation
New product development will be achieved using the following plan.
New Product Development Implementation Plan
Objectives
Develop ten new computer models in the next yearIntroduce a smartphone range with ten new models in the next two years
Strategies and procedures
Appoint a marketing research team to explore the market on new technology trends and demandsFund the research and development unit to conduct research on new technologies Train the team on new technologies and aspects of the smartphone marketDevelop new products based on the research and development team’s recommendations
Timelines
July 2017 – July 2019
Person(s) responsible
Chief Executive OfficerResearch and Development ManagerInformation Technology Manager
Budget
$ 130,000,000
References
Ciravegna, L, Fitzgerald, R. & Kundu, S. K. (2013). Operating in Emerging Markets. A GuideTo Management and Strategy in the New International Economy. Pearson: FT Press.
Hans-Ruediger, K. (2014). Handbook of Research on Managing and Influencing ConsumerBehavior. Hershey, PA: IGI Global
Question 1: Fundamental reasons for Dell’s success
Some of the most fundamental reasons for Dell’s success include direct sales, focus on partnerships and product customization. By focusing on selling direct to the customer, Dell had an opportunity to interact with its clients and thus understand their needs better. Building effective relationships with suppliers and linking them to production systems ensured that Dell could implement its production strategy, which included the just-in-time supply of components to save time and warehouse costs. Product customization played a role in increasing demand by providing products that met customer expectations (Hans-Ruediger, 2014). Mass customization was also effective I saving costs.
Question 2: Maintaining competitive advantage and viability of business model
As customers’ needs continue to change amidst increasing competition, Dell should invest in research and development and leverage the social media strategy to maintain its competitive advantage. Research and development will ensure that the company can come up with innovative products to meet the needs of its customers (Ciravegna, Fitzgerald & Kundu, 2013).
Social media is the novel platform that contemporary organization must maximize on to reach existing and potential customers, given the advancement in technology and potential to reach customers across the globe. As part of the organization’s strategy that involves direct customer sales, Dell could reach more customers to increase its sales while engaging them directly to get feedback about its products.
Question 3: Will Dell formula work elsewhere?
The Dell formula is highly successful and can be replicated elsewhere. Customization is a growing trend, informed by customer demand to have products that meet their unique needs. By adopting customization, companies could gain a higher market share. It is notable that creating good relationships with customers and stakeholders can yield great outcomes through better quality products and efficiency.
However, the just-in-time formula and direct sales may not work for all companies. Businesses that thrive on mass production, for example, require regular supplies and warehousing is necessary to meet demand. Direct sales may not work for most consumer products because there need to be middlemen to connect geographical boundaries and enhance availability in locations nearer to the customer. Direct sales would also be costly for the organization (Kotler & Armstrong, 2015).
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Terrorism is founded on carefully planned structures. This paper intends to discuss terrorist organizations by developing a case study of Aum Shinrikyo terrorist group.
Origin of Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo refers to a doomsday cult whose origin is in Japan. The cult was formed by Shoko Asahara in the year 1984 (Ingram, 2017). Aum Shinrikyo earned international infamy after carrying out a deadly attack on Tokyo subway in the year 1995. Furthermore, in 1994 Aum Shinrikyo was also involved in a small sarin attack (Ingram, 2017). However, initially, Aum Shinrikyo conducted its activities in secret and never confessed. Shoko Asahara, the founder of Aum Shinkyo, bought a signal in Russia, which he directed to Japan and uses it in broadcasting his singing and persisting on his blamelessness (Ingram, 2017).
In 2007 Aum Shinrikyo was divided into two groups a group known as Aleph and a group called “Hikari no Wa” (Ingram, 2017). Thus, Aum Shinkyo became designated by many countries as a terrorist association. Among the countries is Japan and North Korea. For instance, in Korea, the commission in charge of examining public security made a public announcement in 2015 in the month of January that the group Aleph along with “Hikari no Wa” group is both branches of religion, which is considered as dangerous (Ingram, 2017). The commission also added that it would continue surveillance on the two groups for three subsequent years.
As a logistical set-up, Aum Shinkyo inspired and is still inspiring acts of terrorism globally. Notably, Aleph which is one of the groups of Aum Shinrikyo is a system based on syncretism belief (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). Aleph draws upon an idiosyncratic understanding of elements by Shoko Asahara regarding ancient Indian Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Hinduism. The main icon of worship was taken to be Shiva (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). Aleph also incorporates millennialism ideas, which it borrows from the Bible’s Revelation book (Orsini, 2015).
Aleph also borrows from Yoga and Nostradamus writings (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). Aum Shinrikyo’s group Aleph was founded by Chizuo Matsumoto who alleged that he was seeking to reinstate original Buddhism. Thus, in the year 1992, Chizuo Matsumoto started calling himself Shoko Asahara, which became his name (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014).
In the same year 1992, Shoko Asahara was able to publish an introductory book where he declared himself to be “Christ.” Furthermore, in the book Shoko Asahara refers to himself as the only master who is fully enlightened and identifies with “God’s Lamb” (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014).
Command structure of Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo is known to apply precise methodologies. Furthermore, Aum Shinrikyo has a prearranged study of doctrine which is in harmony with a particular system of learning. For a follower of Aum Shinrikyo to reach another stage, it is expected that the member successfully passes a given exam (Orsini, 2015). The practice of meditation is combined with hypothetical studies.
However, Shoko Asahara emphasized to his followers that hypothetical studies cannot serve any purpose when practical experience is not achieved. Additionally, Shoko Asahara also advised members of Aum Shinrikyo never to try explaining anything if they could not mostly experience it (Orsini, 2015).
Aum Shinrikyo’s followers were grouped into two. The first group was lay practitioners. The lay practitioners are Aum Shin rik yo’s members who live together with their families (Orsini, 2015). A second group is a group of members who lived a lifestyle that is ascetic. In most cases, the second group included individuals who usually live as a group (Orsini, 2015). For any follower to earn the status of an attained member, it was an obligation for the member to meet precise conditions so as to influence senior members to recognize that the member has reached a state of higher spirituality (Orsini, 2015).
For instance, in the stage of Kundalini Yoga a member was required to give a demonstration regarding his or her ability in showing abridged oxygen consumption, modification of electromagnetic activities of the brain, and reduced rate of the heart, which was to be proven by being measured using a corresponding equipment (Richards, 2014). When a member demonstrated all the changes described above, then he or she was considered having entered a higher state referred as Samadhi (Richards, 2014). Thus, a member who has attained Samadhi state was given permission to educate other members.
The purported mission of Shoko Asahara was taking all the sins that people in the world have committed. Shoko Asahara claimed that he had the ability to transfer spiritual power to Aum Shinrikyo’s members (Richards, 2014). Additionally, Shoko Asahara claimed he would ultimately cleanse Aum Shinrikyo’s members’ sins by taking them away. Consequently, scholars view Aum Shinrikyo as an outcome from Japanese Buddhism. The view by scholars influenced how Aum Shinrikyo’s definition and view of itself. Notably, Shoko Asahara made an outline of a prophecy on doomsday that integrated the “World War III” to be prompted by the United States (Richards, 2014).
Leadership of Aum Shinrikyo
Shoko Asahara is known to be the historical leader of Aum Shinrikyo. Furthermore, Shoko Asahara was also the chief of senior operations for Aum Shinrikyo (Sageman, 2014). Shoko Asahara came from a Japanese family that was poor. After realizing a personal enlightenment in religion, Shoko Asahara formed Aum Shinrikyo, a religious cult (Sageman, 2014).
Shoko Asahara had recruited almost 10,000 followers to Aum Shinrikyo during the 1990s. Notably, Shoko Asahara dreamt of being an emperor in Japan. Thus, Shoko Asahara assumed the role of interim commander of Aum Shinrikyo (Sageman, 2014).
Shoko Asahara tried to register Aum Shinrikyo with Japan’s government based on the law of religious corporations known as “Shukyo-hojin-Ho” in 1989 (Shapiro, 2013). The registration was to include benefits such as privileges regarding taxation, rights of owning property as Aum Shinrikyo organization, along with protection from interference by the state and other external bodies (Shapiro, 2013).
Initially, the Japanese government denied permission of registration to Aum Shinrikyo citing a string of complaints raised by families with members practicing the Shukkesha (Shapiro, 2013). Shukkesha refers to a practice where members are demanded to sever all the ties they have with family and ensure they cease communication (Shapiro, 2013).
Aum Shinrikyo gave a response to the Japanese government’s rejection by holding public demonstrations, holding lawsuits, and starting legal appeals to counter the government’s decision. Consequently, in the month of August in the year 1989 Aum Shinrikyo was approved of a legal status (Zúquete, 2015).
Thus, Aum Shinrikyo started a new trend in 1989 of greeting every difficulty that comes their way with vigorous denials accompanied by lawsuits (Zúquete, 2015). Notably, in May of 1989 many parents had hired a lawyer from Yokohama known as Sakamoto Tsutsumi. However, Sakamoto uncovered claims that were faulty arguing that tests had been carried out in Kyoto University revealing that he had a unique DNA in his blood (Zúquete, 2015).
Afterward, Aum Shinrikyo started the practice of blood initiation, which was assumed to increase the spiritual power of an individual though no tests were run (Shapiro, 2013). Later, Sakamoto, his wife along with infant son disappeared. An Aum badge was found indicating that Aum Shinrikyo was involved with the disappearance, but no direct evidence was available to link the group.
Thus, Aum Shinrikyo embraced the accusations as an opportunity of getting publicity. Asahara professed the need for political action in saving the world thus, launching “Shinrito” political party which translates to “Supreme Truth Party” (Shapiro, 2013).
Motivation of Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo is motivated by both general reasons and particular motives. For instance, Tomomitsu Niimi attacked a VX victim at 7 am on the 12th of December in 1994 after Shoko Asahara reported of suspecting the victim of being a spy (Zúquete, 2015). The victim was murdered by being sprinkled on the neck for being a nerve agent. Aum Shinrikyo capitalizes on visions of the millennium along with predictions of the apocalypse in framing its doctrine. Consequently, Aum Shinrikyo is highly prejudiced by Nostradamus work. Notably, Nostradamus work provides a cornerstone to Aum Shinrikyo’s teachings.
Markedly, the followers of Aum Shinrikyo actively recruit students along with professionals working in the medicine field, field of science, field of computers, the engineering field, along with other areas, which are technical. Therefore, the charisma by Shoko Asahara and his messages appeared to have more appeal to a majority of people who felt estranged by the modern society, the secular society and the conformist features of the Society of Japan (Zúquete, 2015).
At the crest of Aum Shinrikyo, it is approximated to be worth over $1.5 billion. Notably, having enormous financial resources, Aum Shinrikyo is motivated to invest its capital in high-technology, laboratories for “state-of-the-art,” and funding Aum’s research. Thus, Aum Shinrikyo can circumvent restrictions, which are associated with large laboratories for corporate research.
Additionally, for Aum Shinrikyo to raise funds, they collect money from donations, followers tithe, and selling of sacred materials. Aum Shinrikyo also conducts seminars along with courses regarding the teachings of the cult where it charges all individuals who are participating in the sessions (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). Furthermore, Aum Shinrikyo diversifies its enterprises through running a string of hotels in Tokyo and a firm for manufacturing computers that assembles and sells computers within Japan using parts traded in from Taiwan.
Aum Shinrikyo is also motivated by the support it gets from a Japanese mafia known as the Yakuza, who provide the group with an agreement for marketing illegal drugs manufactured by Aum Shinrikyo. Aum Shinrikyo is also motivated by cooperation given by community leaders through engaging in greenmail practice, which involves extorting money from community leaders (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014).
Aum Shinrikyo extorts money from community leaders through threatening them about establishing Aum Shinrikwo’s branch office or an Aum Shinrikwo’s school in the local community in question. Consequently, Aum Shinrikyo also aims at gaining leverage by engaging in extortion, acts of coercion, engaging in theft along with murder as a way of raising money for the group.
Goals of Aum Shinrikyo
The primary goal of Aum Shinrikyo is to defend the ancient faith by promoting worldwide operations that endorse theologies collected from diverse sources. Furthermore, Aum Shinrikyo also operates on a goal of collapsing dictatorship from western countries and institutions within the Middle East. According to Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo has the goal of uniting all doctrines and establishing, forcefully a desperate need of the society adhering to rules given by the original Caliphs (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014).
For instance, in his religious decree, Shoko Asahara talks of individuals duty globally being leading a holy life through cleaning one’s sins based on the doctrine of Aum Shinrikyo, with Shoko Asahara as the self-proclaimed “Christ”. Furthermore, in the book Shoko Asahara refers to himself as the only master who is fully enlightened and identifies with “God’s Lamb” (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014).
The ideology of Aum Shinrikyo is based on an idiosyncratic understanding of elements by Shoko Asahara regarding ancient Indian Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Hinduism. The main icon of worship was taken to be Shiva (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). Aleph one of the groups of Aum Shinrikyo also incorporates millennialism ideas, which it borrows from the Bible’s Revelation book (Orsini, 2015).
Furthermore, Aleph also borrows from Yoga and Nostradamus writings (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). The ideology is manifested by Tomomitsu Niimi’s willingness to attack and murder a VX victim at 7 am on the 12th of December in 1994 after Shoko Asahara reported of suspecting the victim of being a spy.
Even though most doctrines disagree with almost all thoughts of Shoko Asahara, Aum Shinrikyo is rooted in earning a status (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014). For instance, the doctrine of Aum Shinrikyo dictates that in order for any follower to earn the status of an attained member, it is the obligation that member to meet precise conditions so as to influence senior members to recognize that the member has attained a state of higher spirituality (Orsini, 2015).
In one of the stages known as Kundalini Yoga a member was required to give a demonstration regarding his or her ability in showing abridged oxygen consumption, modification of electromagnetic activities of the brain, and reduced rate of the heart, which was to be proven by being measured using a corresponding equipment (Richards, 2014).
Threat posed by Aum Shinrikyo
Aum Shinrikyo poses a number of threats. According to an annual report by the department of state in the United States regarding global terrorism, Aum Shinrikyo is a great threat as it has evolved. Aum Shinrikyo has evolved leading to its current dispersion in the Middle East. The two groups Aleph and a group known as “Hikari no Wa”, which are operationally self-governing affiliates of Aum Shinrikyo are developing to be increasingly aggressive (Kearns, Conlon & Young, 2014).
Furthermore, the affiliates of Aum Shinrikyo in the Middle East use the instability of their regions to their advantage. Moreover, affiliates of Aum Shinrikyo tend to be financially sovereign from the central leadership of Aum Shinrikyo. Notably, affiliates of Aum Shinrikyo raise funds to run their operations from illegal activities such as extorting money from community leaders, acts of coercion, engaging in theft along with murder-kidnapping people and requesting for ransom or fraud of credit cards.
Aum Shinrikyo is also highly active in Japan according to the department of the state of the United States. Compared to all affiliates Aum Shinrikyo in Aleph is the greatest threat to the United States. The head of Aleph in Japan was appointed in 2013 to be the deputy leader of the entire system of Aum Shinrikyo globally (Finn & Momani, 2017). Furthermore, in 2013, acts of terrorism were influenced by sectarian reasons, which present a major threat.
It was also revealed that there was the resurgence in the activities conducted by Iranian security forces along with Iranian intelligence, as the two institutions were linked to primarily supporting Iran for its Assad administration in Syria. Iran also was revealed to have allies in Japan, known as “Hikari no Wa”. “Hikari no Wa” is a renowned terrorist group known for its high-level illegal activities and affiliation to Aum Shinrikyo.
Policies of combating Aum Shinrikyo
There are various policies of combating Aum Shinrikyo. Notably, Aum Shinrikyo is no longer hiding when performing its operations. At the moment Aum Shinrikyo controls its operations mainly from Japan. Thus, America is faced with a great challenge regarding its lifestyle. Aum Shinrikyo constantly fights against the United States with the aim of creating a global caliphate. Consequently, it has been globally recognized that there is need to acknowledge the terrorism problem intensity, and the magnitude required in terms of effort for combating the problem (Eid, 2014).
One of the policies of combating the problem of terrorism is having coordinated regional counterinsurgency operation. Markedly, this policy involves robust efforts of stabilization and combination of diplomatic efforts, political attempts, security endeavors, and informational attempts. The second policy is to end the brutality that averts regional cohorts from fighting Aum Shinrikyo, thus creating space or energy for Aum Shinrikyo to make recruitments and execute its operations.
The third policy is a unification of the private sector with the government in an effort of fighting Aum Shinrikyo. The fourth policy is creating strong partnerships locally as a way of ensuring the stability of governments (Eid, 2014). Notably, a majority of countries have developed less responsiveness to terrorism while others have been overpowered by terrorism through terrorists acquiring and staying on their land.
The main aim of having partnerships is to ensure that Aum Shinrikyo will not reemerge after it has been defeated. The fifth policy is analyzing the position held by key players who notably are within the majority world of Buddhism, Muslims, and Hinduism (Eid, 2014). For instance, partnering with Russia requires careful diplomatic engagement as its presence of forces within Aum Shinrikwo’s territories develops a challenge.
Conclusion
Terrorism is a global problem. For years the problem of terrorism has been shifting from one continent to another. Consequently, it has been established that terrorism is founded on carefully planned structures. Thus, this paper has discussed terrorism foundations by developing a case study of Aum Shinrikyo terrorist group. Aum Shinrikyo is known for dominating its operations within Japan along with the Middle East.
The paper above has revealed that initially, Aum Shinrikyo was a logistical set-up that aimed at defending the ancient faith by promoting worldwide operations that endorse theologies collected from diverse sources. Furthermore, it has come out clearly through the paper above that there are two separate groups of Aum Shinrikyo terrorist group. A group is known as Aleph and a group known as “Hikari no Wa”.
However, the paper has also revealed that Aum Shinrikyo cannot be termed as an organization rather Aum Shinrikyo refers to a doomsday cult whose origin is in Japan. Furthermore, the paper has revealed that activities of Aum Shinrikyo are motivated by both general reasons and specific motives. Thus, Aum Shinrikyo tends to engage in illegal acts as a way of gaining leverage. The illegal acts include engaging in extortion, acts of coercion, engaging in theft along with murder, as a way of raising money for the group.
Finn, M., & Momani, B. (2017). Building foundations for the comparative study of state and non-state terrorism. Critical Studies On Terrorism, 1-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2017.1287753.
Ingram, H. (2017). The Strategic Logic of the “Linkage-Based” Approach to Combating Militant Islamist Propaganda: Conceptual and Empirical Foundations. Terrorism And Counter-Terrorism Studies. http://dx.doi.org/10.19165/2017.1.06
Orsini, A. (2015). Are Terrorists Courageous? Micro-Sociology of Extreme Left Terrorism. Studies In Conflict & Terrorism, 38(3), 179-198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2014.987593
Shapiro, S. (2013). The Intellectual Foundations of Jewish National Terrorism: Avraham Stern and the Lehi. Terrorism And Political Violence, 25(4), 606-620. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2013.814502
Zúquete, J. (2015). Martin A. Miller.The Foundations of Modern Terrorism: State, Society and the Dynamics of Political Violence. Terrorism And Political Violence, 27(4), 786-788. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2015.1068094
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Rapid demographic changes in today’s society require health care professionals to deliver care that demonstrates respect to patients’ diverse beliefs, preferences, and values. By providing culturally responsive care, health care practitioners help to promote improved health outcome for patients and encourage sufficient use of resources by their employing organizations.
In their effort to deliver culturally sensitive care, therapists must be able to differentiate cultural differences from other related client characteristics that may have an impact on patient outcomes (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).
In the given case study, the physical therapist should take cultural, physical, cognitive, communicative, and environmental factors into consideration in working with Hernando Gonzales in a home care situation. The cultural factors that should be taken into account include age, nationality, gender, marital status, religion, ethnicity, and beliefs about health.
The therapist should understand that Mr. Gonzales is a 63-year old Mexican male who is currently a widower. Also, Mr. Gonzales goes to church regularly, and being a Catholic; he believes that God is the provider of strength. Furthermore, the therapist should consider the fact that Mr. Gonzales may want to use many herbs in the course of therapy (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).
The physical factor that the therapist should consider is that Mr. Gonzales once had a partial knee replacement and he still needs assistance with activities of daily living, despite the fact that he has made good physical recovery since he had an accident. The cognitive, communicative, and environmental factors that the therapist needs to consider include; reduced mental functioning as a result of traumatic brain injury, limited spoken English, and limited social support in Maria’s house respectively (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).
Lack of cultural competence by the therapist may make him or her to confuse cultural variations with other physical, communicative, environmental, and cognitive characteristics in this case. For instance, if the therapist is not culturally competent, he or she may think that Mr. Gonzales reactions due to influence from cognitive problems and environmental factors are as a result of cultural beliefs and values (Santisteban, Mena, and Abalo, 2012).
Furthermore, the therapist may think that Mr. Gonzales’ incapacities to speak fluent English and to carry out his physical activities normally are as a result of cultural influence. It is important to differentiate cultural differences from those related to the client’s other characteristics because positive health outcomes for the patient largely depend on the therapist’s ability to deliver culturally sensitive care (Sue, Zane, Hall, and Berger, 2009).
Cultural competence solutions
The therapist should make adjustments in both assessment and intervention based on Mr. Gonzales’ cultural, cognitive, and linguistic backgrounds. Since the therapist does not speak fluent Spanish, he or she should consider using a translator to help Mr. Gonzales to understand any information that may be presented in English during the assessment. Also, the therapist should use a cultural broker to help reduce cultural-related conflicts that may arise during the assessment (Sue et al., 2009).
Furthermore, the therapist should approach Mr. Gonzales with a lot of humility because he currently has traumatic brain injury. Again, he or she should recommend interventions that Mr. Gonzales can easily implement, bearing in mind that he has some form of physical inability and limited family support in Maria’s house (Saha, Beach, and Cooper, 2008).
The therapist can enlist the help of Mr. Gonzales’ family to facilitate therapy in two different ways. First, the therapist can advise the family on the types of social support that they should give Mr. Gonzales to promote quick recovery. Second, the therapist can help Mr. Gonzales’ family to identify the most appropriate forms of physical support that are necessary to promote positive health outcomes for him (Santisteban, Mena, and Abalo, 2012).
References
Saha, S., Beach, M. C., & Cooper, L. A. (2008). Patient centeredness, cultural competence, and health care quality. Journal of the National Medical Association, 100(11): 1275-1285.
Santisteban, D. A., Mena, M. & Abalo, C. (2012). Bridging diversity and family systems: Culturally informed and flexible family based treatment for Hispanic adolescents. Couple and Family Psychology, 2(4): 246-263. doi: 10.1037/cfp0000013
In this present era with various leadership approaches available, Leadership is an important individual trait that helps the people to become successful, personally and professionally. Development of the effective leadership abilities and skills assist the individuals in enhancing positive individual growth in the personal life as well as professional life. Effective adoption of justified and appropriate leadership style can build effective decision-making capabilities within an individual, which will help to become a successful leader shortly.
This is a vital fact to state that the consideration of the leadership capabilities can add effective value in the personal life of an individual. It will enhance an effective life experience, which can assist the particular individual to implement the experience and skills in near future in the decision making process. It is a process of development of successful and skilled leaders.
Most importantly, every individual needs to adopt adequate leadership skills to become successful in the professional career as adequate leadership approaches can help to get effective social recognition. Moreover, the implication of the appropriate leadership styles can also assist an individual to attract the followers within the society. This essay will provide an in-detailed discussion on how the course in leadership can add value to the life experience of the individuals as preparation for leadership.
Discussion
Leadership and ethics are directly related to each other. All the future professionals and present job seekers want to become a successful professional in the individual life. In this particular process, all the individuals need to adopt some particular leadership styles and approaches. It is acceptable that the adoption and application of the leadership approach always depend upon the behavioral traits and personality of the individuals.
It is true that the behavioral traits and personality of people used to differ from an individual to another individual (Long, 2016). However, the individuals can adopt different types of leadership styles, such as transformational leadership style, transactional leadership style, autocratic leadership style, laissez-faire leadership style, visionary leadership style, charismatic leadership style, democratic leadership style, etc.
This usually depends upon the personality traits of people. Every positive behavioral study indicates that the appropriate application of these leadership approaches actually can enhance positive organizational ethics and strong business ethics (Sekerka et al., 2014). Strong business ethics is important for the companies in this contemporary era to grow profitability and the leaders need to follow the ethical pathway to enhance sustainable career growth. Therefore, ethics is important for all the leaders and future job seekers.
Leadership Approaches: Case Study
The completion of course in leadership acts as a value added skill development process, which helps in the enhancement of adequate leadership approaches and outcome. An example of the leadership approach adopted by PepsiCo can be considered. The management of PepsiCo has adopted the transformational leadership approach in which the company management has maintained strong ethics across all the organizational departments (Ubah, 2016).
The coursework in leadership will help the future professionals to understand the value of the transformational leadership approach in maintaining ethics and will also help to become a successful professional. Overall, it is acceptable that the development of effective knowledge about leadership styles will assist in maintaining strong business and corporate ethics shortly.
Job Satisfaction and motivation of the employees also can be regarded as an important responsibility of the organizational leaders. A professional leadership course can assist the future professionals and job seekers to add value to the personal life experience. Hence, the development of knowledge regarding the characteristics and implications of the leadership approaches can assist the organizational management of the company to ensure positive sales growth of the organizations.
For example, the employees are the vital growth drivers of any company and the high-performance level of the employees helps the firms to improve the profitability and business growth. Therefore, the leaders of the organizational departments need to take care of the job satisfaction and motivation level, which will encourage the employees to do well within the organizational set-up.
Transformational leadership approach is an employee friendly approach, and the leaders of the contemporary era should try to implicate this particular leadership approach for the better workplace environment (Bayram & Dinc, 2015).
This transformational leadership style has a strong impact on the business growth and performance of a company. Hence, the professional course in the leadership management process can assist in the establishment of the effective knowledge level regarding leadership, which will help the individuals to become a successful leader (Oehlrich, 2016).
Knowledge management is also considered to be the vital element for the individuals to get success in the professional life. There are five important traits of an effective knowledge management process, such as seniority, enthusiasm, understanding, expertise, and approachability. These five important traits of the knowledge management process need to be developed by the individuals in this present era to become a successful professional. On the other hand, strategic leadership and knowledge management processes are strongly related to each other.
The effective leadership style application process can enhance the adequate knowledge management process (Snell, 2010). Value and respect for seniority helps in the development of the strong knowledge level. On the other hand, the level of understanding always enhances adequate knowledge management process. Moreover, the consideration of the enthusiasm regarding learning and development process enhances the knowledge management process.
The leaders in this contemporary era should also go for the approachability trait to present some strategies and ideas to important stakeholders of a company. This particular approach is also regarded as an essential part of the knowledge management approaches (Beaumont, 2010). Lastly, development of expertise and competency always assist an individual in enhancing the strong knowledge level.
Overall, the above mentioned five traits can be acquired by a future professional through the application of the appropriate leadership style. Also, this is also important to accept that the professional course in the leadership management activities will always help an individual to become a professional and successful leader shortly (Lussier, 2014).
It is also important to accept that leadership is an evolutionary approach. It has been identified since the old ages that the consideration of the different leadership approaches assists the individuals to deal with the challenges basis on the demand of the situations. This is an important aspect to state that the organizational leader in this contemporary era focuses on the application of the structural leadership approaches or the situational leadership approaches (Ardichvii & Yoon, 2014).
The consideration of the structural leadership approach is a traditional leadership approach, which helps the bureaucratic organizations to adopt the classical approach to follow a particular developed system. On the other hand, some of the companies in this contemporary era are also focused on the implementation of the situational leadership approaches. This situational leadership approach application process depends upon the demand of the specific situations.
Moreover, the organizational management used to adopt this leadership style in the crisis to overcome some particular challenges faced by the companies (Beugelsdijk, 2010). However, the application of all of these leadership styles, such as structural leadership and situational leadership approaches require practical knowledge and skills. Therefore, the future professionals need to go through the professional leadership course works to strengthen the value-added leadership skills and capabilities (Vugt et al., 2008).
However, the environmental factors are constantly changing for the leaders throughout the historical ages. In this contemporary era, the definition, characteristics, and traits of the leadership approaches have evolved significantly. This is an important aspect to state that the contemporary leaders are facing different types of the changes in the development process.
The current professionals are finding it highly difficult to develop the appropriate description, definition and theoretical approaches in the establishment of the leader development theory (O’Connell, 2014). Practicing and learning of the leadership approaches in this modern era should focus on the integration of increasing capacity for the behavioral and cognitive approaches.
This specific aspect needs to be learned and practiced by the contemporary and future professionals. Hence, the professional leadership course works can assist the future professionals to identify and overcome the dilemmas in the leader development theory (Rowley, 2010).
The application of the management and organizational theory can be considered here. According to the theoretical aspects of the management theory, the contemporary organizations are responsible for the maintenance of the effective workplace environment. Besides, the organizational leaders are also responsible for the meeting or achievement of the management objectives, which can enhance strong business ethics and sustainability (Keely, 2011).
Also, the contemporary leaders are also responsible for the implication of the organizational theory as it helps the organizational leaders to identify and assess the organizational culture as well as structure. The organizational leaders assess these aspects for a better implication of the strategies shortly.
It is acceptable that the contemporary job seekers should join the professional leadership management course to acquire the knowledge regarding the management and organizational theory, which will assist in the development of the high quality and conflict free workplace environment. Also, this is also essential for the modern day teachers to develop effective leadership approaches in the education service providing approaches (Morton, 2012).
It is acceptable that the modern day teachers need to adopt some important styles of leadership approaches, which will be different from each other concerning nature and characteristics. The educators need to adopt four important types of leadership styles, such as delegating, selling, telling and participating (Oyetunji, 2011).
The implication of these specific leadership styles will significantly depend upon the demand of the situation and behavioral as well as personality traits of the individuals. Overall, it is acceptable that the future professionals within the education industry need to adopt these types of leadership capabilities to become a successful professional.
Also, effective training and knowledge acquirement process regarding these leadership approaches is also important for the future professionals (Harzing, 2014). It is important to acknowledge that the motivational traits are changing within the society from a particular generation to another generation (Chen & Huang, 2011). Most importantly, the employees of professionals of the younger generation can believe in some specific traits.
On the other hand, the people of the elder generations within a particular society or an organizational institution used to believe in some other motivational traits. These traits can be different, and orientation of gender can be the major reason behind the differentiation (Harris, 2010).
Overall, this will be important to accept that the organizational leaders in this contemporary era should understand the gender gap and possible implemented traits to overcome the workplace conflicts to maintain a strong collaboration between the employees of different age group. Hence, the leaders need to go through professional leadership courses for the better value addition to personal experience to become a successful leader shortly (Murray, 2011).
Conclusion
It is identified from the discussion that the future professionals and the job seekers in this contemporary era needs to develop strong competency and knowledge level regarding the application of different types of leadership styles. There are different types of leadership styles, which can be applied by the leaders based on the demand of the situation and personality traits of leaders.
Overall, this is acceptable that the application of the justified leadership approaches can help a leader to strengthen organization ethics, improve workplace performance, ensure good knowledge management and enhance profitability. The professionals need to understand the value of the leadership, as leadership is responsible for the mentioned organizational benefits.
References
Ardichvii, A., & Yoon, W. S. (2014). “Designing Integrative Knowledge Management Systems: Theoretical Considerations and Practical Applications.” Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(3), 307-320.
Bayram, H., & Dinc, S. (2015). Role of Transformational Leadership on Employee’s Job Satisfaction: the Case of Private Universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. European Researchers, 93(4), 270-281.
Beaumont, J. (2010). Knowledge management in a regional law firm: A worthwhile investment or time wasted? Business Information Review, 27(4), 227-232.
Beugelsdijk, S. (2010). “Strategic Human Resource Practices and Product Innovation.” Organization Studies, 29(8), 820-847.
Chen, C., & Huang, J. (2011). “Strategic human resource practices and innovation performance-The mediating role of knowledge management capacity.” 62(1), 104-114.
Harris, H. (2010). International HRM: Contemporary Issues. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Harzing, A. Q. (2014). International HRM. London: Cambridge University Press.
Keely, T. (2011). HRM Practices. London: Kogan Page.
Long, J. (2016). Process Modelling Style. New York: Springer.
Lussier, N. R. (2014). Management Fundamentals. New York: Springer.
Morton, B. (2012). The Global HR Manager. London: Routledge.
Murray, A. (2011). Mind the gap: technology, millennial leadership, and the cross-generational workforce. The Australian Library Journal, 60(1), 54-64.
O’Connell, K. P. (2013). A simplified framework for 21st-century leader development. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 183-203.
Oehlrich, M. (2016). Organisation and Restructuring. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Oyetunji, O. C. (2011). Reorienting leadership styles for sustainable education. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 13(2), 59-69.
Rowley, C. (2010). Human Resource and Operation Management. New York: Springer.
Sekerka, E. L., Comer, R. D., and Godwin, N. L. (2014). Positive Organizational Ethics: Cultivating and Sustaining Moral Performance. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), 435-444.
Snell, S. (2010). Managing Human Resources. New Jersey: Pearson.
Ubah, M. (2016). The Alphabet of Leadership. New Jersey: Pearson.
To what extent is our understanding of organizations and management over the last 100 years applicable to the 21st century?
The understanding of organizations and management over the last 100 years applies to the 21st Century. The organization is a group of people who have a structured management system that directs them to pursue a common objective (Scott, and Davis, 2015, p. 45).
Notably, within that period of 100 years, many people attempted to provide relevant knowledge that could improve efficiency in organizations and management process.
In conclusion, the knowledge acquired concerning organizations and management over the last 100 years has a great impact on the 21st century. In the past, the team was not complex like today where the firm has many department and activities.
Organizations and management Case Anlysis
The management adapted new methods to comply with new changes in a firm. Therefore, that understanding of organizations and management has helped the teams in the current century (Bohari, Hin, and Fuad, 2017, p. 56). Managers to allocate enough resources depending on the nature of goals set. Also, the use of new technological methods can help the firm to perform and compete effectively in the market.
Total Quality management is a plan that makes the management to be focused on customers and improvement of processes. SWOT analysis should be completed to provide enough knowledge concerning internal and external factors of a firm. The understanding of organizations and management should be the base of bringing change in the firm. Management needs such understanding to develop effective strategies that may improve the performance of a team.
References
Bohari, A.M., Hin, C.W. and Fuad, N., 2017. The competitiveness of halal food industry in Malaysia: A SWOT-ICT analysis. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and Space, 9(1).
Ozguner, Z. and Ozguner, M., 2014. A managerial point of view on the relationship between of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s dual factor theory. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(7).
Sallis, E., 2014. Total quality management in education. Routledge.
Sargeant, A. and Jay, E., 2014. Fundraising management: analysis, planning and practice. Routledge.
