Oracle Supply Chain Software Competitors Customer Empowerment

Questions: Drawing on relevant literature, analyse the claimed benefits of a web-based business strategy; Using relevant strategic choice models, identify and explain the ways in which the company could compete and the key strategic decisions that it will need to make; Identify and critically explain the strategic implementation challenges the company will need to address to turn the e-commerce strategy into a reality. Answers: Introduction: The current assignment has considered the case of Amazon.co.uk, the e-commerce organization. In this regard, the strategic issues will be discussed along with justified recommendations. Furthermore, the critical analysis will be demonstrated for explaining the significance of the integrational thinking for understanding the strategy and its formation in the complex organizations. The assignment will also focus on the development of the ability for the recognition of the strategic issues and designing the appropriate courses of action. The synthesis of knowledge has been gained from different business modules to generate a comprehensive understanding to underpin the competitive advantage. Finally the critical analysis will be provided on the strategic position and the interconnected activities of POM (Production and Operations Management) in the organizations. Task 1: Critical analysis of the case in terms of the strategic issues and justified recommendations: Logistics: The logistics is the crucial element to provide the significant customer service. However, it has become the main challenge for the renowned e-commerce player Amazon, since the UK market is too large and fragmented with the medium logistics infrastructure. This has highly forced this e-commerce organisation to build its own logistics system at time outlay and enormous cost. Considering the view of Alshibly and Chiong (2015), Amazon Logistics was set up around two years ago in the UK. Building such logistic system from the scratch requires the enormous cost and time investment. Furthermore, it has three major implications. The first is the substantial impact of Amazons profit volume, the second is the delivering the crucial competitive advantage against the new global and local entrants. On the other hand, according to Barnes (2007), the third is that it opens the new business opportunity for the e-commerce players by allowing the competitors for using the delivery network for free. A mazon encourages the small business firms to utilise the marketplace or the cloud computing service. For example, more than 50 e-commerce firms in Russia have already introduced the online retailer Ozon.Rus strong courier network. Digital infrastructure: The digital infrastructure also plays the vital role in sustaining and establishing the e-commerce operations of Amazon in emerging UK market (Chaffey, 2011). The challenge is not limited to the physical infrastructure alone. It is also associated with the digital infrastructure. As the internet penetration is rapidly increasing in the UK market, the majority of the UK population also has the internet access. However, Barnes (2007) argued that few countries of the Asian market like Singapore, Malaysia, India has the trend of lower internet penetration. However, the linking of Amazons businesses for creating the centralised systems for the e-commerce is generating its own challenges. For example, Cleartrip when first started the online travel services in India, it was not the part of the Global Distribution System (GDS). According to Dietz (2006), the GDS is the computerised reservation network, which acted as the single point of access for the reservation of the airline ticket worldw ide. As a result, the customers could get easier access of the total inventory access for all airlines. Payment: Due to the limited banking and the credit card penetration, the cash-based societies are generated. On the other hand, Ke and Zhang (2009) argued that sometimes, few consumers also have the lack of consumer trust in the online merchants. This has prompted various leading e-commerce firms like Flipkart, Amazon to offer the cash collection on delivery (COD). Considering the opinion of Kauffman (2009), the COD approach imposes the significant financial cost for the e-commerce firms like Amazon in terms of cash handling, labour and the higher return of the purchased items. On the other hand, Diniz, Birochi and Pozzebon (2012) argued that the COD can solve the strategic issue in terms of theft and payment thereby substantially increases the cost. This had resulted new payment gateways, which allow the young customers for buying the prepaid cards at the retail outlets. These cards can be later used for purchasing the online games from Amazon. Amazon has recently launched the installation o f the delivery lockers at the convenient store location for providing the service in the United States. Price Sensitive customers: The per capita income of the majority of the consumers in the UK market is not equal also in the developed countries like UK, Singapore and United States. This mentality has compounded by the Amazons e-commerce offers to the price-sensitive shoppers to compare the price online basis. The online retailers of e-commerce face the extreme price pressure not only for competing in the websites, but also from the offline stores. However, Kim (2006) argued that the offline stores also run in such low cost and highly efficient operations that the powerful organisations also found it challenging issue in the business. The e-commerce firms offer often free shipping for competing with the local merchants (Keskin and Taskin, 2015). These firms also introduce the flexible return policies to make more palatable online services to the specific price sensitive consumers for attracting. To overcome these strategic issues, the e-commerce firm Amazon is required to invest heavily in the logistics and the infrastructure (www.statista.com, 2016). These are helpful to enhance the fixed cost. Building the offline presence can earn the consumer trust for managing the highly price sensitive customers. Despite of the challenges, the promise of potentially large valuations and a rapidly growing market could rise the increased score for the e-commerce player like Amazon. Task 2: Importance of the integrational thinking in understanding the strategy, formation and development in complex organizations: Since the majority of the e-commerce organisations are facing logistics and shipping problem, it has become prime time FOR the marketers integrating e-commerce business with other functionalities to serve customers in a flawless way. In this context, Kauffman (2009) stated that the integrational thinking could help the e-commerce firms making real time integration through a large ERP platform. However, the integration becomes too complex in the bigger organisation, as it comprised of different departments, which starts from payment gateways, shipping, order fulfilment, product inventory and final communication to the customers (Kim, 2006). The integrational thinking could help the firms, managing proper coordination among different departments in the global business context. Payment gateway integration and strategy formulation: The transaction failure in the e-commerce companies such as eBay, Amazon, and Flipkart has created customer issues, due to which the tendency to switch to emerging brands is increasing rapidly. Considering the fact, Dietz (2006) stated that e-commerce payment gateway integration could enable the marketers resolving customer payment issues in a faster way. Eventually, higher brand sustainability can be managed. Real time shipping integration: Amazon can be taken as a good example of this integration, as it is integrated with its own logistics as well as logistics firms such as FedEx, UPS, etc. Once the customer places an order, it could increase the convenience to send instant messages regarding the delivery date. Formulation of the shipping integration has helped Amazon to increase its sales volume up to 25% in the last year (www.amazon.co.uk, 2016). Additionally, the shipping integration has also enabled Flipkart increasing margins on the shipping cost by 12.5%. Eventually, the overall profit margin has been increased accordingly. Order fulfilment integration: Order fulfilment integration reduces the manual labour options from the firm, thereby enhances the operational efficacy (Chaffey, 2011). Statistical data show that Amazon has experienced reduced sales volume in the year 2009, due to the lack of adequate integration between the UPS and FedEx logistics services. Mass customer complaints generated and many customers switched over to the brands like Flipkart, eBay, etc. Hence, integration over the order fulfilment platform needs to be made so that the people and systems associated with shipping can be made fully coordinated, which in turn, could speed up the warehousing communication as well. Product inventory integration: Managing product diversity has become a crucial agenda of the present e-commerce organisations. At the same time, all product information needs to be integrated with the website information, so that customers could choose and place the order as per their requirement. Supporting to this fact, Barnes (2007) stated that Amazon has created a custom selling point option for serving global marketers in the online business process. This strategy has helped the Amazon synchronising product and inventory data to potentially synchronise with the website. The custom point of sale (POS) or the ERP system integration saves time and money by reducing the administration time employed by the workers. The database synchronisation helps to fetch data as and when required and ensures data accuracy as well. Malaga (2011) also indicated that expectation of the customers can also set in accordance with the price and product availability as well. Hence, the overall integration process could improve the efficacy of the e-commerce business, thereby improving the long term sustainability as well. Customer information and communication integration: The customer information and communication process improves the overall functionality for B2B e-commerce systems, by employing ERP framework. The custom requirement for B2B e-commerce employs ERP in all modules, which pushes the customers to visit the website frequently. This type of data consists of company name, specific account number, and email id for customers, zip code, contacts, pricing discounts and shipping address. Considering the fact, Mamaghani (2013) stated that Flipkart and Amazon has employed ERP modules, which has enabled the firm addressing all customer requirements within a lesser time span and the order fulfilment process has also become typically flexible as well. The customers accessibility in the login page through email address and outing items in the cart has increased the customer freedom within the website of Amazon. Only, the billing information needs to be provided by the customers. The ERP integration has made the order fulfilment process so flexible that all booking details are automatically updated and sends to the packaging and shipping department (www.wiley.com, 2016). Finally, the customers can look into the order placing details and the tentative delivery date by viewing the website of the e-commerce firm as well. All in all, it has been identified that the integrational thinking is of sophisticated level, which enhances operational flexibility for the company. Thus, the strategy formulation and development might become easier for the operating firm. Task 3: Evaluation and development of the ability for identifying the strategic issues and designing the appropriate course of action: The e-commerce activities by Amazon till date have been really experimental. However, several crucial issues have been emerged which can be recognised for the purpose of the promotion for future analysis. These strategic issues actually vary depending on the type of product and services, the e-commerce organisations sell online. According to Malaga (2011), the online selling pattern, approach to online selling, resource expansion and the online customer base are also the crucial parameters for the development of the strategic issues. The emerging issue in this regard is the pattern of the sales. The total sales level to date varies between Amazon and other e-commerce firms. The majority of the e-commerce partners experience the erratic sales pattern like extremely high in one month and drop in the next month. Such erratic sales pattern might attribute two factors. The major issue of this activity is not creating the revenue. However, Mallor et al. (2009) argued that the primary focus of the private-sector online selling organisations is to make profit. In this regard, the e-commerce firms put more stress on marketing the products for gaining competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, the major issue is that the e-commerce firms like Amazon might not be able to put enough capital for marketing the products in the marketplace. Without implementing the strategic marketing technique, the potential customers may not be able to know the products existence (Yang, 2011). So the customers will not buy the products online. Hence, the sales pattern of e-commerce firms depends on the customers online ad-hoc purchasing pattern. Thus the e-commerce firms are required to take the appropriate course of action for identifying the purchasing pattern of the online customers. On the other hand, the adequate resources can be put in developing the most effective marketing techniques and strategies for the product being offered. The way for gaining synthesis of knowledge from different business for underpinning competitive advantage: The impact of the internet on the marketing mix elements and the competitive forces are the crucial ways to gain the synthesis of knowledge to achieve the competitive advantage in the e-business strategies. The customers can easily collect the information through the internet regarding the products and services (Miller and Cross, 2012). As a consequence, the consumers rely on the product retailers and the suppliers for aiding in the search. As a result, the suppliers and retailers take total advantage of this situation and charges higher prices (Noyes and MacInnes, 2006). The consumers end up with paying more and also often dont receive the desired product. In case of the e-commerce market, the consumers can do the complete search regarding the product offerings. This is possible at no cost as made virtually. The e-commerce firms are forced to reduce the prices, as the customers can compare the prices easily and find the close substitutes e-commerce companies. Thus , the companies in the e-commerce can achieve the competitive advantage than the physical market. The innovation in the product lines and introducing the niche markets can generate the competitive advantage in the e-commerce players (www.marketwatch.com, 2016). By using the internet, the e-commerce companies can directly access the consumers preferences, needs and trust regarding the product and services. Considering the view of Stuart, Sarow and Stuart (2007), the e-commerce companies can also collect the information regarding the new innovative products through the small segments from the market. However, Park et al. (2011) argued that the customer-centric strategy can act best with the innovation or niche products. Through the creation of the products which meets the requirements of the consumers in the niche market, the e-commerce companies can easily command over the higher prices. Thus the product-centric strategy pushes the products directly to the consumers. Thus, the customer-centric strategy helps to pull the information from the customers for improving and customising the products. This approach is highly beneficial for the e-commerce organisation to build the competitive business advantage. Critical analysis of the strategic position and the interrelated functions of Production and Operation Management (POM) in the organizations: Strategic positioning of Amazon: The inventory turnover of Amazon has been sequentially increased to 9.15% in the year 2013, which has been identified remarkable strategic brand positioning in the global e-commerce business market. As per the financial data published by CSI Market, the inventory growth has been accounted for 11.23%, while the cost of sales growth has been identified 14.55% in the year 2015, 30th September (www.amazon.co.uk, 2016). However, the average inventory processing period has been found 40, which needs to be revised by Amazon. Analysing all the perspectives, it has been identified that Amazon has lost its strategic positioning, although in terms of inventory turnover ratio Amazon has been ranked number 1. Radford (2014) also indicated that the sector wise ranking has been acquired by Amazon is 8. On the other hand, the sales volume of the Amazon has been increased by 35% in the year 2014, which is also remarkable value in the e-commerce business portfolio. The recent mobile application of the Amazon has also increased customer purchase frequency by 48%, due to which the past losses met by Amazon has been replenished by the current revenues. Moreover, if Amazon could put inventory turnover ratio up to 51.16%, the firm can be termed as highest strategic positioning achiever in the global e-commerce market. Interrelated functions of production and operation management: The production management functions consist of selection of product design, production process, right production capacity and adequate production planning as well. Yang (2011) also indicated that the e-commerce chain has a significant relationship with the production management, as the right production planning helps to manage production control. It is a proven fact that Amazon has increased its quality and cost control by 31%, employing right inventory control and its optimum maintenance as well (csimarket.com/stocks, 2016). Out of all these elements, the most vital part is the production planning, as it helps to manage adequate routing, scheduling of the product to the global consumers. Depending on the planning, e-commerce firms such as Amazon, Flipkart, update the website information related to the availability of the product. On the other hand, the operation management functions are termed as ethically responsible management of an operating system, which helps firm to meet its strategic objectives. The inputs, processing and the outputs streamline the business competitiveness with the operational system. The strategic initiatives such as managing facility design, potential layout, sufficient material management, moreover the new logistic system unit operated by Amazon has increased the operational flexibility across all global regions. Additionally, Alshibly and Chiong (2015) mentioned that technological the operational management of Amazon has employed equal responsibility to all departmental managers following transformational process, so that modification of the services could satisfy all types of consumer needs. However, apart from the B2C system, the functionality of the operation management impacts on the B2B scenario also (allsupplychain.com, 2016). The operational functionality of the product manu facturers could improve the transaction frequency and the warehouse of the e-commerce firms could also be full of up to date products. Thus, the customer searching can also be fruitful due to the full packaging of differentiated products and the brand loyalty might get influenced. Hence, it can be found that production and operation management is interlinked with each other and one units performance improvement influences anothers efficiency also. Thus, the strategic brand positioning of the Amazon can be improved by employing all interrelated functions of the production and operation management system in the e-commerce industry. Impact of group work on individual: From the group work on the e-commerce business of Amazon, my knowledge has been enriched regarding the benefits of the web-based business strategy. The web-based business is more efficient and easy to generate revenue within little time. However, few strategic issues like logistics, digital infrastructure, payment gateway and the price sensitive customers are the factors which can create severe challenges for the e-commerce business. From the group assignment, I have gained knowledge about the relevant strategic models like Porters five force, SWOT analysis. Through these models the e-commerce companies can compete and take the crucial strategic decisions for sustaining in the business environment. From the group work, the strategic implementation challenges have also been recognised for the e-commerce strategy. The added cost of the retailers, the engrossing delivery cost are the major issues during applying the membership strategy in Amazon. As Amazon is not associated with the bog capital, hence Amazon Prime has also faced the free shipping delivery issue. Another challenge is the supplier or the manufacturers of amazon are capable enough to open own online business with own capacity. Hence, it is considered as the major challenge for the eimplementation of e-commerce strategy for this company. Conclusion: The overall study indicates that logistics issue, digital infrastructure and higher pricing are the basic strategic issues of Amazon. As the market competitiveness has increased rapidly, lack of convenience factors has reduced the sales growth of Amazon in a significant way. Hence, managing payment gateway integration and strategy formulation, the real time shipping integration, order fulfilment integration, etc. have been found as the core catalyst for improving the operational flexibility of Amazons operation. However, the improved customer communication has been identified as the result of managing integrated operations in the e-commerce industry. The strategic issue such as fluctuating sales volume has been identified the reason of customers changing purchase intention. It has been analysed that it is high time to Amazon for improving its operational pattern, so that more customers can be attracted towards the firm. This can be done by employing right integration between the prod uction and operation management process employed in the e-commerce business environment. References: Allsupplychain.com (2016).Oracle Supply Chain Software Competitors. [online] Available at: https://allsupplychain.com/oracle-supply-chain-competitors.php [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016]. Alshibly, H. and Chiong, R. (2015) Customer empowerment: Does it influence electronic government success? A citizen-centric perspective,Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 14(6), pp. 393404. Amazon.co.uk, (2016). Amazon.co.uk: Low Prices in Electronics, Books, Sports Equipment more. [online] Available at: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016]. Barnes, S. (2007)E-commerce and v-business: Digital enterprise in the twenty-first century. 2nd edn. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Chaffey, D. (2011)E-business and e-commerce management: Strategy, implementation and practice. 5th edn. Harlow, England: Pearson/Financial Times Prentice Hall. Csimarket.com, (2016). Amazon.com (AMZN) Inventory Turnover Ratio, from third quarter 2015 to third quarter 2014, current and historic results, rankings and more, Quarterly Fundamentals - CSIMarket. [online] Available at: https://csimarket.com/stocks/singleEfficiencyit.php?code=AMZN [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016]. Dietz, G. (2006) HRM inside UK e-commerce firms: Innovations in the new economy and continuities with the old,International Small Business Journal, 24(5), pp. 443470. Diniz, E., Birochi, R. and Pozzebon, M. (2012) Triggers and barriers to financial inclusion: The use of ICT-based branchless banking in an Amazon county,Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 11(5), pp. 484494. Kauffman, R.J. (2009) WITHDRAWN: Editorial guest editors introduction to special issue economics and electronic commerce,Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 12(9), pp.234-256. Ke, W. and Zhang, P. (2009) Motivations in open source software communities: The mediating role of effort intensity and goal commitment,International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 13(4), pp. 3966. Keskin, T. and Taskin, N. (2015) Strategic pricing of horizontally differentiated services with switching costs: A pricing model for cloud computing,International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 19(3), pp. 3453. Kim, S. H. (2006) Impact of mobile-commerce: Benefits, technological and strategic issues and implementation,Journal of Applied Sciences, 6(12), pp. 25232531. Malaga, R.A. (2011) Taxing e-commerce affiliates: The potential impact of New York States Amazon Tax,Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 25(4). Mallor, J.P., Barnes, A.J., Bowers, T.L., Barnes, J.A. and Langvardt, A.W. (2009)Business law: The ethical, global, and e-commerce environment. 14th edn. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education. Mamaghani, F. (2013) STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF E-COMMERCE: issues and challenges,International Journal of Business Research, 13(1), pp. 3138. Marketwatch.com, (2016). Amazon.com Inc.. [online] Available at: https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/amzn/financials [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016]. Miller, R.L. and Cross, F.B. (2012)The legal environment today: Business in its ethical, regulatory, e-commerce, and global setting. 7th edn. United States: South-Western College Publishing. Noyes, E. and MacInnes, I. (2006) Small business electronic commerce implementation: A case study,Journal of Internet Commerce, 5(1), pp. 122. Park, S., Zo, H., Ciganek, A.P. and Lim, G.G. (2011) Examining success factors in the adoption of digital object identifier systems,Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 10(6), pp. 626636. Radford, C. (2014) Challenges and solutions protecting data within Amazon web services,Network Security, 2014(6), pp. 58. Statista, (2016). Statista - The Statistics Portal. [online] Available at: https://www.statista.com/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016]. Stuart, B.E., Sarow, M.S. and Stuart, L.P. (2007)Integrated business communication: In a global marketplace. United Kingdom: Wiley, John Sons. Wiley.com, (2016). Wiley: Home. [online] Available at: https://www.wiley.com/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2016]. Yang, J.G.S. (2011) What is new Yorks Amazon tax on Internet commerce?,International Journal of E-Business Research, 7(4), pp. 5061.

Third

Abstract Labour turnover is one of the controllable, but unavoidable situations in any organisation. For example, where labour turnover is caused by workplace conflicts, proper management of such inconsistencies is required. If the situation is not tackled, employment turnover due to destructive workplace conflicts might have serious effects on the performance of an organisation both in the short and long-term.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Third-Party Intervention at Lincoln Hospital specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More High turnover in organisations leads to increased recruitment costs and the training of new employees to fill the gaps that are left by the outgoing employees. Tackling the issue proactively requires organisations to address its causations such as workplace conflicts, poor work morale, and dissatisfaction. For Lincoln Hospital, failure to retain employees is a significant organisational problem, c onsidering that replacing nurses in the operating rooms has proved problematic. Ensuring effective resource planning and procurement will determine the future success of the hospital. Introduction Problem Solving Lincoln Hospital is interested in bringing about change that can make it profitable in the end. Change management requires the development of an elaborate plan that shows how the various activities will be executed (Ledez, 2008). In this process, organisational diagnosis is important in determining problems that have to be resolved to realise the change. When called in by Lincoln Hospital’s president to resolve its problems as described in Waddell, Cummings, and Worley’s (2011) case, it is important to implement the change by seeking mechanisms for resolving organisational conflicts. In this process, the first step entails determining the causes and parties in the conflict. The establishment of the common conflicts of interest then follows before determining a ny commitment areas where parties can help each other in resolving their differences.  While firing both parties that are involved in conflicts may help to resolve some challenges such as the rising turnover due to leadership disgruntlement, such differences are pivotal in enabling the organisation to identify its areas of weakness in its personnel and other resource management areas. Hence, I will focus on resolving the conflicts by adopting the best inconsistency resolution mechanisms such as cooperation, compromise, competing, and accommodation. Conflict resolution through avoidance emphasises, leaving the conflict unaddressed (Johnson Keddy, 2010).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, it is inappropriate in the context of Lincoln Hospital’s case study. It implies heightened organisational crises and a deteriorated profitability because of the increased turnov er and poor quality service delivery. However, conflict resolution strategies, such as cooperation and accommodation are appropriate. Interventions Challenges that are giving rise to organisational crisis at Lincoln Hospital may be resolved through various strategies. The organisation chooses third-party intervention to bring the parties in conflicts together. This approach involves collaboration. The appropriateness of the strategy depends on the scholarly and practical evidence on its effectiveness in resolving specific types of organisational conflicts. Collaboration involves coming together to pursue a common goal (Myatt, 2012). During collaboration, effort is made to accommodate all people’s ideas in the attempt to develop a single superior idea that can be implemented to resolve a conflict. Such an idea also needs to take into consideration all points of agreement and disagreement between the collaborating parties (Bagshaw, 2004). This way, as evidenced by the case stud y, it becomes possible to break away from the win-lose strategy to explore the win-win approach. Exploring the win-win strategy in bringing about organisational change requires an incredibly high capacity to trust one another in the development of a superior idea for resolving a conflict. In this extent, the third-party intervention by Lincoln Hospital was effective since it led to the establishment of a neutral point where the parties in conflict vowed to be committed to trusting and working with one another. The approach is opposed to the competing technique in which the focus is on the win-lose approach to conflict resolution (Myatt, 2012). Competing approaches work well in times of dire need to make quick decisions. If compromising is adopted, parties in the conflict focus on the lose-lose strategy. The approach is best suited whenever parties in conflict pursue goals and objectives, which have no probability of converging. However, Don and Mary’s goals can converge. Coll aboration through third-party intervention remains an appropriate strategy of bringing about change in the organisation.  Inferring from Lincoln Hospital’s case, employees are unable to handle misunderstandings with their peers in an effective way before such quarrels translate into personality clashes. Realising this goal calls for the management to look for mechanisms of handling conflicts (Myatt, 2012).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Third-Party Intervention at Lincoln Hospital specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More One of the alternative approaches to the collaborative approach adopted by the Lincoln Hospital involves adopting disciplinary measures for employees who engage in unproductive conflicts. However, before a disciplinary action is adopted, intra-communication and inter-communication are vital. This plan calls for the HR at the hospital to possess good inter-personal and intra-personal communica tion skills. â€Å"These skills are deployed to help in harnessing employees’ personal and social skills that are necessary for conflict resolution† (Masters Albright, 2002, p.117). Indeed, interpersonal communication comprises an essential skill in conflict management and in overseeing a change process in the effort to diffuse various stressful environments together with hostile situations, which may create fertile grounds for the development of conflicts and hindrances to change. Communicating both adequately and effectively is a crucial way of eliminating workplace conflicts. Institute of Leadership and Management (2007) confirms that the availability of adequate and unambiguous information helps employees to collectively support and/or do what is within their capacity to ensure that an organisation succeeds in the direction set by leaders and managers. In this sense, the goal of an effective communication programme within an organisation is to foster change in emp loyee behaviours and perception towards other employees. Ineffective communication may create personality clashes, such as the case of Don and Mary. Whether the interest is to resolve organisational conflicts or to rejuvenate Lincoln Hospital’s successful operations, change is necessary. Effecting the desired change in an organisation through communication takes different forms. It involves the harmonisation of attitudes or alteration of work processes in the effort to support an organisation’s success by eliminating any clash of ideas in the manner of executing various job elements, which may be destructive as witnessed in the case of Lincoln Hospital. Effective communication entails the announcement of success strategies through translation of the essential business objectives and goals into terms that employees can understand easily (Johnson Keddy, 2010). In response to such communication matters, employees are engaged and aligned to work collectively towards drivi ng organisational success. In fact, when communication fails, misunderstandings arise, resulting in the failure of employees to execute tasks as desired by their managers, leaders, and/or in the interest of other employees. This situation translates into workplace conflicts between managers, supervisors, and employees as witnessed in the case of Lincoln Hospital.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Analysis Discussion of Lessons Learnt Destructive Conflicts increase Turnover at Lincoln Hospital.  Don and Mary engage in destructive conflicts. Doctors and nurses are at war all the time. In some situations, such as the case of Lincoln Hospital, escalated conflicts have the implication of compelling people to quit (Bagshaw, 2004). Organisations that experience destructive conflicts also encounter challenges of â€Å"lower morale, lower productivity, higher turnover, and more employee burnout† (Bacal, 1998, p.8). At Lincoln Hospital, the evident situation of few staff members has led to a tight scheduling with nurses who are still held in some uncompleted tasks, yet doctors seem to be waiting for them elsewhere (Waddell et al., 2011). This situation leads to reduced morale and burnout. This observation suggests that organisational leaders and managers should focus on eliminating destructive conflicts. They should encourage constructive conflicts in the effort to build high er-performing organisations. The move will enhance high staff retention levels. If the HR-focused on resolving employee conflicts in time, some staff members would not have left the organisation. Besides, some physicians would not have considered relocating their patients elsewhere. Productivity of an organisation is a function of employee effectiveness and the availability of appropriate organisational resources.  Unavailability of the requisite equipment and uncommitted employees explains the reduced productivity at Lincoln Hospital. For example, â€Å"On several occasions, orthopaedic surgeons had already begun surgery before they realised that the necessary prosthesis (for example, an artificial hip, finger joint or knee joint) was not ready, was the wrong size or had not even been ordered† (Waddell et al., 2011, p.1). This case had the ramification of delaying theatre services as surgeons waited for equipment from other hospitals. Consequently, workers’ producti ve time was wasted. The hospital could not conduct optimal number of surgeries due to the unavailability of the equipment and other resources. Infectiveness was also found among the surgeons who considered themselves more valuable to the organisation than any other people to the extent that they created situations of emergency to increase overtime slots (Waddell et al., 2011). This situation underlined a workforce that lacked a common focus of appreciating the role of teamwork in contributing to the overall organisational success. The surgeons failed to understand that even though they are important, they could not realise the overall goal and objectives of the hospital alone. They needed the inputs of other people such as the operating room (OR) nurses and even those who did repair and maintenance of the hospital equipment. The conflict between Mary and Don acted as an enormous source of impediment to organisational effectiveness and productivity. Actions, interventions, and Future Approaches Drawing from the lessons learnt from the case study, it is important to adopt actions, interventions, and approaches to avoid future organisational challenges. The best approach to preventing future problems entails preventing the occurrence of conflicts between employees and the organisation and/or among the employees. An important action is to develop rules, procedures, and disciplinary actions for employees who breach them. For example, doctors who create intentional emergencies to advance personal gains need to face appropriate disciplinary actions. Where the organisation suffers from the incapacity to identify a breach of ethical codes of conduct, performance-based pay systems may help to ensure they do not create intentional emergencies. Performance-based pay is a system of payment in which people are rewarded or paid equivalently to their amount of work or output. Under this system, people work with determination and extra effort to earn optimally. This plan can i ncrease throughput levels of Lincoln Hospital. Since doctors cannot work optimally without the input of the nurses, there will be a high probability of surgeons creating both intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships with nurses so that they (nurses) can help them (surgeons) to achieve optimal performance for higher pay levels. Since nurses’ work output depends on surgeons’ productivity, high surgeon output translates into high nurse output. A substantive change requires the creation or alternation of the organisational cultures to appreciate diversity differences so that conflicts such as the one between Mary and Don are not experienced in the future (Amagoh, 2008; McClure, 2004). Borrowing from experiences with conflicts between these two parties, all other employees need to appreciate that people have different perspectives concerning the analysis of organisational problems or strategies of achieving organisational goals and objectives. Thus, the bottom line in harnessing the differences is to establish points of parity such that all people use their strengths in building success while mitigating the contribution of their weaknesses in inducing destructive conflicts. Before conflicts can lead to organisational crises, all employees need to have awareness of the likely disciplinary actions for those who attempt to involve other employees in their conflicts (By, 2005). Ineffectiveness in terms of service delivery due to the unavailability of equipment requires the development of an elaborate plan for procuring equipment and other facilities as per the projected demand due to the increased number of customers. Evaluation Criteria The degree and the willingness of the management to involve employees in conflict resolution through communication may determine the capacity to remain free from destructive conflicts. In the effort to reduce incidents of defiant behaviours, effective management of employees entails communicating effectively the rule s and procedures of punishing them (employees) in case of breach of the established rules and regulations that define the codes of ethics and organisational culture. Grievances and disciplinary actions within an organisation begin with a clear and precise communication of the implications of an employee’s acts of misconduct (Johnson Keddy, 2010). Interpersonal and intrapersonal communication skills determine the effectiveness of preparing, conducting, and concluding grievances and disciplinary cases. Increased collaboration between doctors and nurses can measure the effectiveness of the approaches that have been proposed for encouraging teamwork. Performance pay systems should amount to higher throughput levels, including a reduction in waiting times for them to be effective in reducing time wastage by the surgeons who have been creating emergency slots (Waddell et al., 2011). The effective of equipment procurement and maintenance strategy may be evaluated based on the incre ased service delivery. With higher availability and reliability levels, it means that surgeries can progress without wasting time while trying to acquire equipment from the nearby hospitals. Availability means that the equipment will be accessible for use for any particular procedure when required. Reliability means the probability that the equipment will perform optimally until a given surgical procedure is over without any failure. Effective and well-planned procurement procedures ensure that whenever a given component such as an artificial hip joint is required, surgeons can get the correct one. Obstacles to Implementation Implementation of any organisational change requires time and financial resources (Amagoh, 2008). For example, ensuring an unprecedented availability of equipment requires the procurement of buffer equipment. This requirement involves committing financial resources to purchasing equipment that may not be in use all the time. The situation is an obstacle upon co nsidering that Lincoln Hospital is struggling financially due to the high operation costs and poor service delivery akin to the towering turnover levels that stand at 40% (Waddell et al., 2011). Maintenance and procurement of the necessary and timely prosthesis require financial resources. However, such resources are constrained. Besides, issues such as a change of the organisational culture and/or the creation of appropriate structural changes to facilitate change implementation require time (By, 2005). The challenges of inadequate financial resources can be dealt with by proper planning of the available resources together with increased organisational productivity. However, increasing productivity requires the commitment of employees to the change. Sometimes, people may resist change in preference to the status quo. This issue can be overcome by incorporating the appropriate leadership techniques such as transformational and emotional intelligence. Conclusion Lincoln Hospital is e xperiencing crises. Change is required to restore its past glory of offering high-quality healthcare services to survive in the competitive industry. The most appropriate changes involve those that ensure that the hospital becomes more profitable. Lincoln Hospital needs to change its practices in terms of procurement and/or managing of employee conflicts. This change will guarantee high reliability and availability of equipment. It will also reduce worker turnover. A preventive approach to the management of employee conflicts is the most appropriate compared to a reactive approach. The organisation has experienced problems such as reduced competitive advantage, high turnover, and poor service delivery that are associated with reactive approaches to organisational conflicts and crisis management. Reference List Amagoh, F. (2008). Perspectives in Organisations Change: Systems and Complexity Theories. The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 13(3), 1-14. Bacal, R. (1998). Conflict Prevent ion in the Workplace: Using Cooperative Communication. Winnipeg: Bacal Associates. Bagshaw, M. (2004). IRS Managing Conflict in the Workplace. London: LexisNexis. By, R. (2005). Organisational Change Management: A critical Review. Journal of Change Management, 5(4), 369-380. Institute of Leadership and Management. (2007). Managing conflict in the Workplace. Oxford, Boston: Pergamon Flexible Learning. Johnson, C., Keddy, J. (2010). Managing Conflict at Work: Understanding and Resolving Conflict for Productive Working Relationships. London: Kogan Page. Ledez, E. (2008). Change Management in the Strategy Implementation Process. Intellectual Economics, 1(1), 111-119. Masters, F., Albright, R. (2002). The Complete Guide to Conflict Resolution in the Workplace. New York, NY: Amacom. McClure, L. (2004). Anger and Conflict in the Workplace: Spot the Signs, Avoid the Trauma. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Myatt, M. (2012). 5 Keys of Dealing with Workplace Conflict. Web. Waddell, D., Cummings , T., Worley, C. (2011). Organisational Change: Development and Transformation. Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. This report on Third-Party Intervention at Lincoln Hospital was written and submitted by user Selah Vang to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Farmers Movement free essay sample

As seen in The Farmers Grievances, a skillful farmer, compared to his physicist or tailor underpants would never terminate his financial troubles; and in contrast to other professions, advancements and pioneering in the farming field only dug the financial pit deeper (Document A). Many of the financial troubles faced by farmers portrayed them to be not the indispensable feeding hand of America, but perhaps just the opposite, as stated by Mary E. Lease: The great common people of this country are slaves, and monopoly is the master. The West and South are bound and prostrate before the manufacturing East. Document C) Lease provides a vital historical aspect of farming, comparing farmers to common people, rather than the agricultural giants that they are today. It thus becomes apparent why a worker putting so much effort into his business but getting so little out would wish to revolt. Railroad companies that charged four times as much as on the East gave farmers incentive to band together in order to combat outrages rates politically (Document D). We will write a custom essay sample on The Farmers Movement or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Freight rates especially hurt farmers, who were far from both buying and selling markets, a clever extortion trick by the railroad companies to force farmers into paying at every occasion (DocumentWith over a twenty percent decline in agriculture economy over fifty years, the farming community grew smaller and less organized by the day an easy target for abusive monopolies to pick on (Document G). The national political scene was impacted by the farmers movements; however the majority of changes came later. The Interstate Commerce Commission, formed due to unrest of the Granger movement, was formed somewhat early, with the goal of regulating astronomical rates (Document E). Another immediate change was that farming territories would take Republican votes from the RepublicanMidwest for the Populist Party (Document D). The Populist Party suggested many reforms in favor of the farmers, but only a fraction took effect fast. Eventually the Populists joined the Democratic Party when their candidate, Weaver, garnered over a million votes, but failed to gain election. Many of the populist ideas were embraced and set into motion by the Progressive party. Farmers had many valid reasons to only be discontent but to demand proper treatment, and after long periods of consolidation, they managed to have an impact on national politics.

Free sample - Annotated biography of James Baldwin. translation missing

Annotated biography of James Baldwin. Annotated biography of James BaldwinRandall Kenan. â€Å"The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings by James Baldwin† (August 24, 2010) Pantheon. This book basically explains what the collection of James Baldwin’s The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings is all about. The collection contains speeches and essays alike brought together and combined in a single book. The contents are mainly educational material and cover such topics as racism, past and present American literature and also educating black children. They contain among others Mass culture, some personal notes, creative writing and he also goes ahead to discuss different novelists of his time. In this way, Baldwin is portrayed as a teacher, preacher and also a smart person in his times. In his review, Randall Kenan, a renowned novelists and book reviewer, James Baldwin is portrayed as a very good novelist who will express his feelings without fear and also tend to go for what he wants. His brave writings and discussions of other different novelist is very amazing. He also looks at the different aspects of language as used at that time and also examines the evolution of these dialects, especially in the black community. This source is a very simple straight forward and it vividly brings out James Baldwin’s character. It can be recommended to readers who desire to know more about novel authors and their history. Bigsby, C. W. E. The Committed Writer: James Baldwin as Dramatist Vol. 13, No. 1 (Apr., 1967), pp. 39-48 In this biograpgy by Bigsby C. W. E., James Baldwin is described as a dramatist as the title suggests. This is in reference to his work entitled ‘The Native son’, which basically brings out his roots as having been born in Harlem. James Baldwin’s intention was basically to emancipate humanity from the narrow view of life that they had (pp. 39). And in his later publications, he ruffled some feathers and caused some friction, with for example Wright. Bigsby C. W. E., a Twentieth Century Literature analyst, evaluates the works of Baldwin and compares them to his way of life. This is an easy to understand piece of work and it will go a long way to aid my presentation in that Baldwin’s character is brought out clearly. For those who would like to know about Baldwin’s charcter and perspective, this is the book for them. Mabe, Chauncey. Baldwin's Harlem: A Biography by Herb Boyd (22 February 2008) South Florida Sun-Sentinel (MCT) Chauncey Mabe analyzes the skill of James Baldwin as a novelist. In his book Baldwin’s Harlem, ambition and experimentation is evaluated. It basically brings aiut his character relative to the Harlem neighborhood where he was born and brought up. Boyd examoines Baldwin ‘s childhood character and behaviour as sensitive and odd-lloking and not fitting in the setting. However, in this piece of work, Boyd increasingly critisizes Baldwin for hi actions in discussing the authors who mentored him, and portraying Harlem as a cornerstone of hi life’s upbringing. Although this is not the case throughout, he sometimes highlights the strong points in Baldwin’s life. This is a very good critique of Baldwin and brings out his weaknesses and negatives. This work can be recommeded to those non-fiction lovers interested in Baldwins’s background check. Rasbury, Angeli R. Go Tell it on the Mountain (September 26, 1995) Modern Library; New Ed edition publishe in Sacred Fire. Angeli Rasbury notes that the James Baldwin’s novel â€Å"Go Tell It on the Mountain† is considered as one of his greatest works. He notes also that this novel draws much of its development on Baldwin’s childhood experience and upbringing in the slums of Harlem, thereby bringing out inspiration to his writings. In this novel, aspects of racism, sexual orientation as being gay , religious doubt and a rough experience with his complicated father while growing up are embedded. Featuring John Grimes, this book is in three parts where Johns horrific experiences are shared in part one, his parent’s difficult experiences in part two and finally his yielding to religious ways in part three. It has numerous biblical references evoking the black church. This is a straight forward book and illustrates the life of James Baldwin. Blues for Mister Charlie This is a play written by James Baldwin to depict the way the perceived the white man, that is ‘Mr. Charlie’. It is a play based on the story of a young black man, Emmet Till who was murdered in 1955 in Mississippi. In this set up, the strength of the black man in that generation is developed. That is the establishment of the Negro’s full manhood in the country. Basically set up in the American South in the 1960’s when there was terror on blacks. It depicts the trial, consequences and results of a white man that executed killings of blacks. Basically, ‘the blues’ depicts the song that is sung to the white man representing the punishment for his actions. An explosive play involving different characters to depict different people in the society, ‘Blues for Mister Charlie’ is a must read. This play allows people room for focusing on issues such as race, Christianity and also sex.   Also, it has been structured and made into plays ac ted indifferent places. This book is recommended for theatre lovers. Book Jacket. Giovanni's Room (June 2000), Dell Publishing Company, IncorporatedJames Baldwin’s ‘Giovanni's Room’ is a non-fictional work sample that talks about a young man’s struggle with his sexual bias and identity. Being born naturally as a man, this young man finds himself trapped in a situation where he has to choose which direction to take, either to be straight or to be gay. At one point, he finds himself inlove with a young woman and proposes marriage. But at the same time, he has peculiar sexual desires which land him into an affair with a bartender! Therefore ha has to juggle in between the two. This jeopardizes his view of the conventional normal American lifestyle and sexual orientation. Bascally, James Baldwin’s struggle with sexuality is brought out in this piece of work and the review by book Jacket sums it up all. A classical gay literature depiction set in the 1950s.

Melissa Richardson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Melissa Richardson - Essay Example While discussing in more details, it can be said that she was very well aware of the fact that the role of a sales manager goes much more beyond the job responsibilities of a normal sales executive. She was to some extent aware of the fact that the sales manager needs to supervise the work done by the team members and has to take in to account the review of the progress of each employee in regards to his or her target achievement. She also had the idea that as a sales manager, she needs to provide significant motivation to the sales executives on a regular manner, so as to enhance their performance on the job. It is important to highlight that there exists a significant difference between the roles and responsibilities handled by a sales executive and sales manager. Talking on this note, it can be said that the traditional job responsibilities of sales executive comprises of leading the sales force of the company for acquiring sales of the company’s products or services. The k ey roles of a sales executive involve planning, organizing, implementing and monitoring of the sales executive of the firm (Jeff 18). Talking in regards to the role of a sales manager, it can be said that the job responsibilities include hiring the sales force, managing and motivating the sales team, achieving the sales target for the company. It is also important to say that the sales manager has a very crucial role in managing the sales turnover of the company, planning the promotional activities and devising the sales strategy to generate product and service sales for the company (Miller 5). Talking from the view point of ColorTech Greenhouses, Inc., it can be said that the job role of the sales executives for the company comprises of developing the accounts or business prospects of the company from large as well as small customers. While talking about the job role of the sales manager, it can be said that apart from managing and motivating the sales team, a lot of paper work is also involved on the job role of the sales manager (Booth and Cates 3). 2. It can be said that Richardson in an attempt to develop a high level of compatibility for handling the new responsibilities in a job focused on doing a number of right things. The very first thing that has to be mentioned is the fact that Richardson enrolled herself for a sales manager training course. It has to be highlighted that this particular action of Richardson was fuelled by the expectation that the course will help her to learn the necessary steps that will help her to manage the new responsibilities. The second most important thing that was done correctly by Richardson is to use her time listening to Spanish language, since she expected it will help her to develop a high level of compatibility with the other employees of the company, who prefer to use Spanish for one to one interactions. The third correct thing that was done by Richardson was to develop and design a motivation program that will help to boost the motivation level of her sales team. It also has to be highlighted that Richardson in her interest to develop the level of compatibility with the new job requirements took a few wrong decisions. First of all, she should have dropped out from the previous sales management classes she was taking since she felt they did not add much value to her. Second, the issue of not taking Spanish language classes to develop her language compatibility was also a very wrong step. It can be said that Richardson should have dropped out from the first sales management course and should have opted for a small course on management. The small course on management would have helped her in developing a level of familiarity with sales, leadership as well as the issues related to the paperwork. Also, she should

Wikipedia Reflection Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wikipedia Reflection - Research Paper Example However, my articles were not edited by my peers in class and those who did edit it were not from my class, while these edits were only minor in nature. Moreover, my attempts to offer Wikilove were not reciprocated after I chose a random person who edited the article but there was no reciprocation. Overall, my experience with Wikipedia was great, exciting, and interesting; although I came to the conclusion I may not do this again due to my lack of experience and the fact that it was too time-consuming. However, if I find something interesting with a poorly-done page or without a page, I may decide to do it again. My first experience after joining Wikipedia was that I was exposed to the rules and guidelines on the site, as well as its nature as a group effort. This experience supported Kraut et al (2011) claim that people are more willing to make contributions on online groups if they like the group. Indeed, although I enjoyed writing the article and posting it, I do not expect that I will do so again because I failed to increase the value of the outcomes for the group members, which reduced their willingness to take part in the group setting. I attempted to increase the commitment of my fellow classmates to my Wikipedia page by attempting to make my page interesting to increase their chances of liking the article. In addition, there was an attempt on my part to create a bond with some of those visiting the page by rewarding them. I tried to follow the rules and guidelines of Wikipedia as much as possible, such as those on naming articles and maintenance of articles (Ayers et al, 2012). I als o realized that editing Wikipedia has become more difficult over time compared to the first time I tried it. Kraut et al (2011) make a design claim that people are more likely and willing to make contributions in a group setting if others in the group are also contributing. On posting my article, I realized that the group consisting of my classmates was

Impact of Flow Rate on Water Quality of the River Yare Lab Report

Impact of Flow Rate on Water Quality of the River Yare - Lab Report Example This problem has been mostly alleviated through the removal of phosphorus from these sources before dumping. However, the current concern that is most pressing in regards to the health of the river Yare are the changes in its flow rate that have come as a result of human activity. The present study is meant to investigate the biotic scores from two distinct sampling sites, a "Fast Flow" area and a "Slow Flow" area, and to determine if they are influenced by factors other than organic pollution In order to assess the environmental impact of changes in flow rate velocity on the river Yare, we employed the Biological Monitoring Working Party method (see BMWP). Two sample sets have been collected. The first set was collected in an area of the river designated "Slow Flow" and a second set from a "Fast Flow" area. The area of the river considered as Slow Flow had the following characteristics: meandering, reed lined, no organic matter on Benthos, sediment sand, gravel, no visible flows, mixed banks, clear water, no algae, 0.5 m/s surface velocity, 5 m width. The characteristics of the Fast Flow collection area had the following characteristics: shallow 15-20 cm, stony riffle, surface speed 1 m/s, steep sides, sloping sides, deciduous trees on sides, fallen leaves in water, some green weed in Benthos, water is clear. In this field study, the presence of a variety of species i... Since the mayfly is the most sensitive to the effects of pollution, it is given the rating of 10. Worms, which are relatively insensitive to pollution, are given a score of 1. The total score accumulated from many samples is then assessed in relation to previous scores. Results The raw individual data for the Slow Flow collection as well as the Fast Flow collection is shown in Figure 1. Pooled group data is shown in Figure 2 for both Slow Flow and Fast Flow sampling. Results of the SPSS analysis of the raw individual data is shown in Figure 3. For the Slow Flow data, p=0.00 and p