Western Financial Review Essay Example for Free

Western Financial Review Essay In 21st Century, women have learnt to be at par with men in various sectors of work. Viz. , pilots, engineers, scientists, CEOs and COOs in corporate sector. Banking sector is no exception for women to play a vital role in holding huge responsibilities. Gender difference is longer a taboo whereas a mixed and friendly environment began to sustain in corporate culture. All that matters here, how professionally a woman employee performs in working environment which is both rewarding and prospective for a career. For the year 2007, ‘Western Financial Review’ awarded â€Å"Outstanding Women Banking† viz. , Jackie Johnson, Executive Vice president of Community State Bank in Edgewood, Iowa, Anne Hofstede, Senior Vice President at United Banker’s Bank in Bloomington, Minnesota, Frandsen State Bank in New Ulm, Minnesota, Sharon Berger, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at American Bank Center in Bismarck, N. D, and Cathy Morrissey, Senior Vice President of correspondent banking and area manager for Wells Fargo Bank in Lincoln, Neb. These women have been chosen for the outstanding contribution that has been made to the respective banks in the capacity of respective designations, which is both quite appealing and inspirational for all aspiring women. Job in a bank is not easy, with the fact that a woman has to equip and participate both at domestic level and at working level which has to be managed efficiently and this has been proved successfully by many women in many corporate areas. The job of managing home and kids as home minister and working in corporate sector is both challenging and the image of women in society is of high esteem in this scenario. Sarah Strong is another successful example in women category who has joined the managerial level in Security Bank. Sarah has been performing extremely well year after year, which is why Sarah has been promoted three times with high rating which is a commendable performance for a woman. The problems of Sarah began when Sarah was transferred to a host bank in Mexico City where there were only 20 bank employees under the leadership of William Vitam. Sarah has been facing office-politics, for better or worse, confronted with situations which she handled with courage and positive attitude. Security Bank was supposed to intimate Mr. William Vitam about Sarah Strong, degree of work and a clear letter about Sarah’s role in Mexico city Bank. This was not performed by Security Bank in spite of the fact that Sarah’s contribution to the Security Bank was outstanding. Every bank must hold corporate social responsibility towards its employees when its workforce is on transfer or on deputation to other banks, which is a minimum courtesy to take care of employees. Security Bank has violated human rights especially in ignoring the value of ethics. It is important to take note here that religion and ethical standards are firm on â€Å"Conduct is Right because God commands it right. God commands right conduct because it is right†(Cyndi Banks). Women who are employed in European and American banks continue to face all sort of office-politics. A woman who quit a job in a European Bank states â€Å"One or two European banks in particular have an appealing attitude†. Women in European banks are facing more problems than in American Banks. There are no flexible working hours for women. The internal and external working environment is governed by organization behavior of a bank, whether it is for Security Bank or for host bank. Each bank must follow organization behavior both externally and internally which was not present in either of banks, whereas unwarranted bossism, office-politics, satire was prevailing in bank. This was certainly not expected from banks particularly, when women are making a huge contribution to the success and growth of banking sector. Some of the effective steps that bank should have undertaken is, to at least arrange for an office-politics adviser for the help of Sarah. Advisers would the situation of Sarah, and advise for a suitable action to continue working in a smooth and better environment. Harassment is basically of two types. The first is being direct and intentional and the second being quid pro quo which means â€Å"this for that†. Sarah was facing a sarcastic behavior from William Vitam who was on one side appreciating by saying â€Å" our lady banker† â€Å"my cute assistant† and on the other side, created an atmosphere where bank clients refused to seek the help of Sarah for any transaction and in fact bank Sarah began to receive negative marking for no fault. Sarah was in a fix in an unhealthy work environment, wherein the policies of Vitam were also contradictory in arranging uniforms for all women employees. The code of uniform was inappropriate and was demoralizing the employment of all women employees in bank. With the above scenario, Sarah must on priority basis consult an expert in office-politics and produce a written complaint against William Vitam, submit written complaint to both Security Bank and Mexican city Bank, with a copy to police department, seeking immediate relief from harassment. This is the first option for Sarah. The second option for Sarah is, if in case, Sarah is not interested in the advice of a consultant, with the fact that Sarah being a capable and an efficient woman, can seek the intervention of top management in Security Bank explaining in detail about the job situation in Mexican city bank, and submit a resignation letter and consider a written proof of service and conduct certificate to find a better placement elsewhere in another organization. The third option is to release a management article in popular newspaper or a magazine about women employees in banking sectors or contribute an article public forum in which case, a collective decision would solve the problem of Sarah. As per the above discussion, it can be concluded that both Security Bank and Mexican city bank have violated the rules and regulations of employment and the practice of human resource management. Both the banks do not have sound HR practices and even organizational behavior. One strong evidence for this, could be in the manner Sarah was exploited in bank with which, Sarah was heading towards negative marking in service record. Sarah was entitled to receive an appropriate and considerable greet from Mexican Bank with the kind of services that were rendered to Security Bank in a span of three years. Conclusion Banking sector offers good prospects for women and banking jobs are ideal for women. Every bank must recognize the services of women employees and must not take an easy-go for the services rendered by women employees. Even the problems faced by women employees must be resolved with the practice of human rights and in view corporate social responsibility. References Book Cyndi Banks, Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice Accessed December 11, 2007 from http://books. google.com/books? id=kwOHPCNaInoCpg=PA273lpg=PA272ots=L7EbrRCIshdq=ethics+for+women+in+banksie=ISO-8859-1output=htmlsig=T4fkqmMxxo6Va50kLplGO9CnD5s Influence at Work: The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking Accessed December 11, 2007 from http://www. americanbanker. com/25mpwib/about. html Sandin, Erik (2007) Northwestern Financial Review, 2007 Outstanding women in Banking Accessed December 11, 2007 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3799/is_20071115/ai_n21124748

Management Changes Within British Airways

Management Changes Within British Airways Introduction Air travel industry is considered an outsized industry throughout the world. This industry has experienced major growth in the last 50 years due to general improvement in technology. The outcome has been a firm decline in fares and costs, which has encouraged traffic growth. This demanding traffic has made the industry grow at a speedy pace. However the speedy growth had its swindles in terms of the changes that airline industry had to go through. Organizations in the industry went through drastic and somewhat dramatic changes in the past one decade. This decade saw the businesses going through change management programs to gain and keep competitive advantage in the industry. This particular dissertation is focused on the case study of British airways and the change management program that it went through in order to gain competitive advantage. British Airways is one of the highest earning airlines in the world. It is famous for its culture f leadership, virtues and employees welfare. Chief Executive of British Airways plc, Bob Ayling started extensive change management programs in the organization in the late 90s. These programs were started despite the fact that BA was earning record profits back then. Some of these changes brought positive changes in the organization, however most of the changes were perceived negatively among the employees. The negativity eventually led to strikes and low morals. (Balmer et al., 2009) These problems were majorly blamed on the poor leadership of Ayling, as well as the change management programs that the company went through. Ayling, on the other hand argued that these change management programs, including cost cutting and outsourcing of major departments, were indeed necessary for long term benefit of British airways. (Harvey and Turnbull, 2006) The introduction part will now focus on de fining history of British airways as well as focusing on Aylings change management programs and its effects on the organization as a whole. Post Merger Following the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation which bent British Airways, the company had many problems and issues.   One of the issues met by the company is in terms of cultural perspective. The outcomes of culture become mainly apparent in mergers, acquisitions and cross national operations, where not only dissimilar organizational cultures but also organizational cultures entrenched in different national cultures meet.(Carleton and Lineberry, 2004)   Research indicate that when workers from dissimilar cultures interrelate and, especially, when one culture is required to adopt the procedures and policies of the other culture, upsetting tensions come out.   And this occurred between the staff of the two merging industries (BEA and BOAC).   This issue can be explained as (Betancourt and LÃÆ' ³pez, 1993). Another issue or problem faced by British Airways was its forced management system.  The company put into practice a very inf lexible management system which made the system of conversant with rules.   Likewise, another issue was incapability of the management of the new organization to satisfy and see the requirements of their consumers.   The organization gave importance on its limited management concentrates and approach on preserving its various routes which resulted in unsatisfied consumers.   These conflicts and issues had a very negative outcome on the new organization.   British Airways earned the reputation of being the most disreputable company after the post merger.  (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004) In addition, the company could not handle the increased burden of flights and customers. In the late 80s the company was rated as most unpunctual airline and customers were advised to avoid travelling on it. (Eckel et al., 1997) Management changes within British Airways: In order to modify its reputation, British Airways decided to go for CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Businesses, companies, and working organizations have incorporated change into their work system in order to be aggressive and be more competent to satisfy customer or clients needs.   (Hayes, 2002) The Conservative party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher selected John King in early 1981 to be the Chairperson of British Airways plc. During the management of John King, he forced changes resulting in several routes bring axed as well as selling off the cargo planes and service. The company also cut 20,000 workers as part of the change process.   In 1982, Colin Marshall became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of British Airways plc. In this period, British Airways produced its first additional profit which was the outcome of the cost-cutting actions implemented by John King. Colin Marshall decided to pay attention to its customer service in order to ensure that company carries on making profit. M arshall hired Consultants to collect data about workers and customer attitudes. The outcome of this evaluation showed that there is a significant gap between what was delivered by BA staff what the consumer actually required. Another management plan was the transformation of the system from staff- oriented to customer oriented through the formation of customer is king environment within the company. (Heifetz and Laurie, 2002) Marshall also investigated that the workers had an internal problem in terms of having a harmonious and good working relationship; therefore, he decided to generate more unity among the British Airways workers by putting into practice the Staff Development Initiative which anticipated the long-term and inherent cultural development and change in British Airways. The program was intended on having more efficient staff members who could offer excellent and quality service to its consumer. (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) This cultural education training lasted until the late 1990s; it created the awareness for the workers to do their job according to customers requirements. Marshall also started Awards for Excellence in 1987.   The goal of this initiative was to award high performers and inspire the workers to always do their best in offering services.   For the duration of that year, Brainwaves, a proposal system was also launched. The change process imposed by Marshall was in co-operation with Lancaster University to provide MBA course for its workers. This was the part of the cultural education training by British airways to make its workers more efficient. (Prokesch, 1995) Furthermore, the organizational structure of British Airways was also modified to a much slimmer and flatter structure. Five sections of the organization started direct reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and eleven profit centers were formed. This structural replacement aimed at improving staff communication and integ ration. The performance-related pay was also brought in by the management. The change process also comprised major investments in ground facilities, planes, and Information Technology. (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002) Putting people first program The management also started a program for its staff called Putting people first. The program was focused on training the staff become more customer oriented. It was a one day seminar delivered by consultants hired by British airways. In the start the program only included staffs that were directly in contact with the customers. However with the passage of time the program was extended for all employees. The program covered the topics of being a winner or loser, owning the problem, being attentive and empowerment. (Street, 1994) With this help of this program staff was given a chance to become involved in decision making. They were encouraged to make any suggestions that could improve the customer service. This was followed by training the staff to own the problem rather than putting blame on each other. The whole trainings program helped the company dramatically, staff turnover reduced to a great level and customer satisfaction increased. (Tushman and OReilly III, 2006) This successful implementation of this program led to several other training programs being launched by BA management and staff. These programs included A day in the life and to be the best. These two programs also met success and British airways started seeing itself getting ahead of the industry. Winning for customer program This program was launched in 92/93 by the company. It was completely focused on listening to customers views and making changes in the company accordingly. This program was basically a loyalty program for customers as well as gaining feedback from them. (Dowling and Uncles, 1997) This program was also somewhat successful as it gave the company insight into companys service from customers eyes. Managing people first program Another program launched in the same era was managing people first. This program was focused on increasing trust among employees, emphasizing the importance of leadership and feedback. (Bruce, 1987)The program brought in positive changes among the employees. They started trusting each other and delivering the job with more efforts. The leadership aspect of the program helped the managers understand their employees better and leading the organization into better changes. The history of British airways clearly stated that a culture of change existed in the organization. These changes were perceived positively by the employees. These changes also helped the organization get on the top back then. In the case study section of the dissertation, change management programs and its consequences by Ayling will be discussed to understand and analyze that scenario. Research question The primary research question of this research study is, To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. Research aim and objective of this study The main objective and strategic aim of this piece of study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. To understand what went wrong and why it went wrong in the leadership of Ayling Analyze the data and come up with findings regarding change management programs Conclude if change management is necessary for a firm to gain competitive advantage Literature Review The process and practice of globalization and developments with the new technologies are merely few stimuli which continually compel business organizations to transform. Business organizations must be considerate and prepared of the vibrant inner and exterior environment in which they manage their operations. The great challenge facing organizations today is change: employing, retaining and most prominently developing managers, and effectively managing organizational change. (Brandenburg and Binder, 1999) There exist three different verities of change which an organization can experience. These three according to him are smooth incremental change, bumpy incremental change and discontinuous change. In the first variety the organization go through a smooth transition and such a change process is perceived by its managers as inherent to the organization. In the second variety there may be oppositions to it, however according to him it is more like the movement of the continents, where faults are generated and bumps are created. In such a case the created faults readjusts the process and a balance is created with time. (Grundy, 1998) The third and the last variety is a discontinuous one, in which the change process is abrupt. This abrupt change could be in the strategy, culture or the structure of the organization. During the process of change there can be people who may resist it. This resistance in general comes from the individuals, who may oppose individually or as a group. The rationale behind this is that the individuals do not want to come out of their current state. As an example someone might already have convinced himself that he has already got what he wanted, so why to accept the new things? Or there might be some heavy investments involved which may be stop to proceed. What does managing change means? Change management is a planned activity intended at getting the best results from the transformation process. It is about managing the changes that are outcomes of the selected approaches. This is done in such a way so that the results and effects go along with the organizational framework. Devising a strategy is also the part of change management. Such a process and procedure is unique and specific to a certain organization. It is rare that a process devised for an organization do fit to the other. Although this can happen, however the probability is quite low. The procedure for change management and the measures that are element of a specific approach are exclusive and exact to a particular organization. Every organization has its own needs; their resources and circumstances differ, culture changes, relationships and clients requirements become specific, and their ambitions, objectives and aims may differ(Mullins, 2007). It is about discovering options and selecting pathways. (Horton, 2000) According to George Bernard Shaw Development is unattainable without change and transformation, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Managing change means a systematic procedure of taking into consideration the global circumstances disturbing an organization; in addition to specific state of affairs within the organization. The change management technique scrutinizes the existing environment and procedures with high attitude to firm culture, organization design, communication, job design, personnel, infrastructure, knowledge and skills. The most important and significant meaning of change management is the term referred to as the task of managing change. The term itself is used in two contexts. Firstly, it means to make changes in an intended and systematic manner. Secondly, this refers to as managing the reactions for the implemented processes. The acknowledgment of the requirements for timely adjustment to external stimulus has evolved the concept of the learning organization; an organization which is capable of continuous adaptation to the environment. At last, change management refers to an area of constituency of professional performance and the connected body of knowledge that has grown up inside and around the issues. There are several ways for change management, as an example, consulting firms offer a range of services to smooth out the process whereas the business schools recommend training in its theory and practice. (Kouzes et al., 1987) (Kanter, 1989) Approaches to change Management The planned approach to change management is tightly linked to managing and recognizing the procedures intended to make organizations more progressive. All these procedures attempt to offer smooth transition and attempt the productivity with the least confrontation. Change plans formulate the tangible outcomes, guide decision making, help to control the procedures and provide protection around uncertainties. There are six change management approaches to deal with this resistance and reaction. (Hayes, 2002)These six approaches are as following Communication and Education: The most significant ways to prevail over conflicts and resistance is through prior education and awareness. This helps in beforehand observing and perceiving the intensity of the change by the work force. The result of this will lead to suppression of rumors and uncertainties involved during the phase. Involvement and Participation: Wherever the initiators do not have the entire data and information they require designing the change and transformation and others have substantial power to oppose. When workers are mixed up in the change attempt they are more likely to involve in the transformation rather to oppose it. Support and Facilitation: Where people refuse to give in to change due to regulation problems, managers can set off possible resistance by encouraging workers during complex times. Managerial support facilitates employees compact with anxiety and fear during an evolution period. The source of resistance is likely to be the unawareness. Thus support and facilitation approach is connected with condition of counseling, special training and time off work. Agreement and Negotiation: Within an organization somebody or some group may drop out during the transformation process. Managers can fight resistance by giving incentives to workers who are not in opposition to the change and the transformation process. This agreement and negotiation approach will be suitable where those resisting change are strong enough. Co-option and Manipulation Approach: Somewhere there are other procedures which are too exclusive. Schlesinger and Kotter proposed that an effective management technique is to co-opt with counters of change effort and transformation process. This frequently involves choosing leaders of the resisters so that instead of opposition they lead to a contribution in the process. Implicit and Explicit Coercion: Implementation speed is a necessity but should be used as a final option. The process should be made as smooth as possible however the managers can clearly or perfectly compel workers into tolerating change effort by making clear that resisting change can lead to firing, losing jobs, demotions or transferring employees. Framework of change This idea is about the procedure for change management and transformation process, presenting proposals and getting feedback for change. This is further than a beginning step to the real action of accomplishment. There is requirement to comprehend how considered choices are completed and proposals are evaluated within the. The framework of change management used throughout this thesis is presented in Error: Reference source not found. This model investigates further how organizations make the movement from the current to the future state. In particular, we will look at the Three Step Model developed by Lewin based on unfreezing the organization, moving and sustaining the change. (Lewin, 1980) CULTURE The first section culture of the change management framework include authenticating the case for change and transformation process and how the shared service/BPO initiative will add to comprehending the organizations premeditated goals, and readiness of both employees and organization and assessing the capacity to incorporate change. Impending blockers must be recognized and articulated with agreed-upon approaches and strategies thus the initiative is not disrupted. ORGANIZATION The second section wraps the design of the new world, comprising the operating model, role definitions, organizational structures, governance and competency frameworks, and decision-making frameworks. Realistic steps should be used to design effective and realistic interfaces between the retained organization and shared service/BPO capacity. LEADERSHIP The third step in the wheel aims to simplify how the firm will be led, and to furnish the leaders to carry out their leadership roles. Specific and detailed activities comprise how the leader ship team will work together both during implementation of shared services/ BPO, defining the role of the leadership team, and consequently, and the roles and responsibilities of individual leaders. Achievement like this may identify the requirement for coaching and/or training of leaders and potential leaders. PEOPLE CAPABILITY The fourth step of the cycle of change management framework intends to ascertain the competencies and skills necessary and how to gather those requirements, comprising gap analysis, skills audits, career planning and job and role definitions. Participation of talent who will lead the new firm is key to the success of this movement. EXECUTION The fifth step of the cycle of change management framework ensures freedom of the new form. It comprises hard deliverables in the form of milestones, project plans, budget analysis and progress reports, and soft deliverables in the shape of stakeholders management and communications. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The sixth and last step of the wheel of change management cover up life post-change and comprises processes and frameworks (e.g., balanced scorecards, performance management, and reward alignment) to determine the success of the changes, and means to make sure that opportunities for advance improvement are acted upon in a timely manner and identified.   Significance and benefits of Change management in the Organizations: Benefits of Change Management: ACCEPTING ENVIROMENT It is significant for the organization to assess, understand, and measure the dynamics in its exterior environment such as government, society and customers in order to predict and set up an appropriate relationship with these assorted performers like society, customers and government. Hence, managers by deliberating the subject of change management can better be ready to understand anything is going on in this environment. This is a major significance of change management in business organization. STRATEGY FORMULATION IMPLEMENTATION TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE It is very important to knowing the collision of change an inappropriate level on its own interior dynamics, where the main objective is to seek competitive advantage. This is the significance of change management in business organization. EMPLOYEES The employees are the beneficiaries of change process. One such continuous apprehension of senior managers is to make organization highly consistent; therefore workers ought to be high performing and trained one in todays twitchy competitive new world. There is need of trained, reliable organization and high performing work practices. This is significance of change management in organizations. TECHNOLOGY ISSUES Technology is realized as the engine of development in todays new world. May be the greatest challenge for modern organizations is the integration and acquisition of technology in its approach, structure and procedure. As such the apprehension of top managers is how to avoid and mitigate organization being outdated and how to absorb and cope the collision of communication technologies and changing information which have determinedly influencing consumption behavior and production process. This is another major benefit of change management in the organization. Significance of Change Management Implementation The peak five well recognized approaches of change management and significance of change management in the organization, which, when implemented properly, permit organizations to decrease risk and increase IT effectiveness and efficiency. The practices comprise of: Producing the top bottom approach to endorse the requirement for a culture of Information technology change management process that implements a zero tolerance approach to illicit changes across the whole enterprise. It will create significance of change management inside and outside the organization. Examining and monitoring the number of unintentional outages frequently to avert illegitimate changes and maintain maximum control on information technology variations. It will also create significance of change management in the modern organization. Put into practice risk mitigation changes executed and authorized by identifying well-defined change preservation windows and implemented them. The significance of change management will explore through it. Determine change success rates and using them as standard for key information technology management performance gauge. This is one of the major significance of change management. SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways is engaged in air services operations both in international and domestic airfreight. It provides various services ranging in commercial flights service for passengers around the globe, cargo freight and mail services and other auxiliary services. British Airways primarily runs its business in Europe and in United States. Located in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, it employs 42, 755 people in all its departments. British Airways facilitates flight reservation and booking using the online net services in which customers can easily access. Trying to appear competitive and maintain its integrity as one of the best airlines which emphasizes quality customer services, BA strives to create high-end terminal facilities and other services involving comfortable of customers while onboard. BA reaches out to 570 in about 134 countries. Such magnitude of operations offers customers with variety of destinations with world-class services that cater customers ranging from explorers to exec utives. Strengths British Airways strengths include the first-rate new fleet of aircrafts purchased to accolade comfortable traveling of passengers. This move was made to counter the wretched state of travel and complaint received by the previous fleet used by British Airways. The magnitude of Airways operations allows them on pro over their competitors by servicing to a wider variety of customers. Moreover, on the level of knowledge and skills, BA operational research claimed that analytical skills performed by the members of the company and employees become its strengths. The strong customer focus develops expertise in customer areas while in purchasing high-end software for air services and wide selection of it strengthens the companys business orientation. Weaknesses One of the many weaknesses on organizations business and services is the lack of marketing strategy that will help reinforce its competitive standards, more so, to win customers loyalty. Despite the great infrastructure hosted the company, BA needs to carry out better market schemes to attract more customers. Hence, competitive package for customer service must be afforded in order to make the airline more attractive to its clients, prompting an opportunity of earning large revenues. Furthermore, on knowledge and skills management, limited knowledge of simulation software and simulation development, knowledge lost through high level of internal staff moves, teams adopt solution approaches aligned only to their skills, and lack of involvement in choice of software and difficulty to enhance specialist airline software are weaknesses which the company must be aware of. Threats The threats are not necessarily be found outside of companys environment but can be an internal. Internal threats as seen in management centralized and bureaucratic system and all poor decision-making. Moreover, the companys focus on national and local problems pose a threat since much more problems which it neglect found in the global scheme. It neglects the global problems instead focusing deeply on the national and local level. The global problems greatly offer tremendous threats if and when companies will ignore such. Moreover, globalization can be an opportunity and strength but can also be a threat if not to be keen and vigilant of its tricks and treachery. Further, rapid changes on technology and customers behavior can also be a threat if mistakenly interpreted and remedied. Opportunities The availability of immense services and products pose an opportunity to utilize them properly. The global changes can be an opportunity to work with while ignoring certain opportunities can be a weakness. In BA, virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, obtaining network software and share expertise through special interest groups are opportunities which can be utilized and used to further enhance the companys business. Technological trends provide ample opportunities to various business domains, however, if it will be taken for granted, opportunities can be a threat or weakness. Maximizing the global trends is a great opportunity to hold on to. Methodology The proposed methodology for this dissertation is case study research. Case study research is a common and popular method of conducting research in the field of social sciences. In this methodology, an event, individuals, or group are investigated and explained. This in depth investigation focuses on defining the particular instance in either descriptive or explanatory manner. (Hartley, 2004) The methodology is not merely storytelling; rather it describes and explains the event in much detail so the reader could understand the reasons for that event/instance. The case studies are building with multiple sources of data and evidence. They are usually focused on one aspect of the organization rather than the whole organization itself. (Merriam, 1998) Case study method is quite useful if one wants to understand and estimate the impact of a certain event. It is important to understand that case study methodology can only be used when rich amount of data is available so the case can actual ly be built using it. (Eisenhardt, 1989) Although it is quite popular method of conducting the research, it has its weaknesses as well. Researchers have criticized it because they feel that this method lacks reliability. The reliability is questioned when case study is build using the secondary data. This criticism states that the research cannot be relied on as it lacks researchers own research efforts, and the case is built on the research that was already available. (Stake, 1995)However there are more strengths to this methodology than weaknesses. The method is particularly praised due to its usefulness in providing a holistic view of an event or phenomena. It is also admired due to multiple sources of data and evidence that are used to build case study, as it provides multiple insight into the phenomena. (Gillham, 2000) Types of case study Researchers have devised and explained several categories of case studies. One of the popular models used to explained categories of case studies is by Yin. He defines these categories in terms of the number of event and single or multiple methods of analysis. Type 1: Single case design and single unit of analysis Type 2: Single unit of analysis and multiple case designs Type 3: Single case design and multiple units of analysis Type 4: Multiple case designs and multiple units of analysis Yin has also devised three types of case study, Exploratory: Used for new topics and reveals the facts about a certain event. This type of research is normally the first one and sets direction for future research. Researchers agree that this research is more related to What question rather than the Why question. Descriptive: This type of case study research focuses on a clearly define problem or research question. Its focus is on How and Who question Explanatory: the last type of case study research is explanatory, which focuses on Why question. It is usually build in exploratory and descriptive research and tries to find out preseason for an events occurrence. (Yin, 2008) This particular research will be built on using explanatory case study method. As we already know what happened in British airways due to change management programs, however we need to search the question of Why it happened? Sources of Data for case study In order to build up a case study, data needs to be collected. This data gathering can either be primary or secondary. The primar Management Changes Within British Airways Management Changes Within British Airways Introduction Air travel industry is considered an outsized industry throughout the world. This industry has experienced major growth in the last 50 years due to general improvement in technology. The outcome has been a firm decline in fares and costs, which has encouraged traffic growth. This demanding traffic has made the industry grow at a speedy pace. However the speedy growth had its swindles in terms of the changes that airline industry had to go through. Organizations in the industry went through drastic and somewhat dramatic changes in the past one decade. This decade saw the businesses going through change management programs to gain and keep competitive advantage in the industry. This particular dissertation is focused on the case study of British airways and the change management program that it went through in order to gain competitive advantage. British Airways is one of the highest earning airlines in the world. It is famous for its culture f leadership, virtues and employees welfare. Chief Executive of British Airways plc, Bob Ayling started extensive change management programs in the organization in the late 90s. These programs were started despite the fact that BA was earning record profits back then. Some of these changes brought positive changes in the organization, however most of the changes were perceived negatively among the employees. The negativity eventually led to strikes and low morals. (Balmer et al., 2009) These problems were majorly blamed on the poor leadership of Ayling, as well as the change management programs that the company went through. Ayling, on the other hand argued that these change management programs, including cost cutting and outsourcing of major departments, were indeed necessary for long term benefit of British airways. (Harvey and Turnbull, 2006) The introduction part will now focus on de fining history of British airways as well as focusing on Aylings change management programs and its effects on the organization as a whole. Post Merger Following the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation which bent British Airways, the company had many problems and issues.   One of the issues met by the company is in terms of cultural perspective. The outcomes of culture become mainly apparent in mergers, acquisitions and cross national operations, where not only dissimilar organizational cultures but also organizational cultures entrenched in different national cultures meet.(Carleton and Lineberry, 2004)   Research indicate that when workers from dissimilar cultures interrelate and, especially, when one culture is required to adopt the procedures and policies of the other culture, upsetting tensions come out.   And this occurred between the staff of the two merging industries (BEA and BOAC).   This issue can be explained as (Betancourt and LÃÆ' ³pez, 1993). Another issue or problem faced by British Airways was its forced management system.  The company put into practice a very inf lexible management system which made the system of conversant with rules.   Likewise, another issue was incapability of the management of the new organization to satisfy and see the requirements of their consumers.   The organization gave importance on its limited management concentrates and approach on preserving its various routes which resulted in unsatisfied consumers.   These conflicts and issues had a very negative outcome on the new organization.   British Airways earned the reputation of being the most disreputable company after the post merger.  (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004) In addition, the company could not handle the increased burden of flights and customers. In the late 80s the company was rated as most unpunctual airline and customers were advised to avoid travelling on it. (Eckel et al., 1997) Management changes within British Airways: In order to modify its reputation, British Airways decided to go for CHANGE MANAGEMENT. Businesses, companies, and working organizations have incorporated change into their work system in order to be aggressive and be more competent to satisfy customer or clients needs.   (Hayes, 2002) The Conservative party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher selected John King in early 1981 to be the Chairperson of British Airways plc. During the management of John King, he forced changes resulting in several routes bring axed as well as selling off the cargo planes and service. The company also cut 20,000 workers as part of the change process.   In 1982, Colin Marshall became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of British Airways plc. In this period, British Airways produced its first additional profit which was the outcome of the cost-cutting actions implemented by John King. Colin Marshall decided to pay attention to its customer service in order to ensure that company carries on making profit. M arshall hired Consultants to collect data about workers and customer attitudes. The outcome of this evaluation showed that there is a significant gap between what was delivered by BA staff what the consumer actually required. Another management plan was the transformation of the system from staff- oriented to customer oriented through the formation of customer is king environment within the company. (Heifetz and Laurie, 2002) Marshall also investigated that the workers had an internal problem in terms of having a harmonious and good working relationship; therefore, he decided to generate more unity among the British Airways workers by putting into practice the Staff Development Initiative which anticipated the long-term and inherent cultural development and change in British Airways. The program was intended on having more efficient staff members who could offer excellent and quality service to its consumer. (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) This cultural education training lasted until the late 1990s; it created the awareness for the workers to do their job according to customers requirements. Marshall also started Awards for Excellence in 1987.   The goal of this initiative was to award high performers and inspire the workers to always do their best in offering services.   For the duration of that year, Brainwaves, a proposal system was also launched. The change process imposed by Marshall was in co-operation with Lancaster University to provide MBA course for its workers. This was the part of the cultural education training by British airways to make its workers more efficient. (Prokesch, 1995) Furthermore, the organizational structure of British Airways was also modified to a much slimmer and flatter structure. Five sections of the organization started direct reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and eleven profit centers were formed. This structural replacement aimed at improving staff communication and integ ration. The performance-related pay was also brought in by the management. The change process also comprised major investments in ground facilities, planes, and Information Technology. (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002) Putting people first program The management also started a program for its staff called Putting people first. The program was focused on training the staff become more customer oriented. It was a one day seminar delivered by consultants hired by British airways. In the start the program only included staffs that were directly in contact with the customers. However with the passage of time the program was extended for all employees. The program covered the topics of being a winner or loser, owning the problem, being attentive and empowerment. (Street, 1994) With this help of this program staff was given a chance to become involved in decision making. They were encouraged to make any suggestions that could improve the customer service. This was followed by training the staff to own the problem rather than putting blame on each other. The whole trainings program helped the company dramatically, staff turnover reduced to a great level and customer satisfaction increased. (Tushman and OReilly III, 2006) This successful implementation of this program led to several other training programs being launched by BA management and staff. These programs included A day in the life and to be the best. These two programs also met success and British airways started seeing itself getting ahead of the industry. Winning for customer program This program was launched in 92/93 by the company. It was completely focused on listening to customers views and making changes in the company accordingly. This program was basically a loyalty program for customers as well as gaining feedback from them. (Dowling and Uncles, 1997) This program was also somewhat successful as it gave the company insight into companys service from customers eyes. Managing people first program Another program launched in the same era was managing people first. This program was focused on increasing trust among employees, emphasizing the importance of leadership and feedback. (Bruce, 1987)The program brought in positive changes among the employees. They started trusting each other and delivering the job with more efforts. The leadership aspect of the program helped the managers understand their employees better and leading the organization into better changes. The history of British airways clearly stated that a culture of change existed in the organization. These changes were perceived positively by the employees. These changes also helped the organization get on the top back then. In the case study section of the dissertation, change management programs and its consequences by Ayling will be discussed to understand and analyze that scenario. Research question The primary research question of this research study is, To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. Research aim and objective of this study The main objective and strategic aim of this piece of study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. To understand what went wrong and why it went wrong in the leadership of Ayling Analyze the data and come up with findings regarding change management programs Conclude if change management is necessary for a firm to gain competitive advantage Literature Review The process and practice of globalization and developments with the new technologies are merely few stimuli which continually compel business organizations to transform. Business organizations must be considerate and prepared of the vibrant inner and exterior environment in which they manage their operations. The great challenge facing organizations today is change: employing, retaining and most prominently developing managers, and effectively managing organizational change. (Brandenburg and Binder, 1999) There exist three different verities of change which an organization can experience. These three according to him are smooth incremental change, bumpy incremental change and discontinuous change. In the first variety the organization go through a smooth transition and such a change process is perceived by its managers as inherent to the organization. In the second variety there may be oppositions to it, however according to him it is more like the movement of the continents, where faults are generated and bumps are created. In such a case the created faults readjusts the process and a balance is created with time. (Grundy, 1998) The third and the last variety is a discontinuous one, in which the change process is abrupt. This abrupt change could be in the strategy, culture or the structure of the organization. During the process of change there can be people who may resist it. This resistance in general comes from the individuals, who may oppose individually or as a group. The rationale behind this is that the individuals do not want to come out of their current state. As an example someone might already have convinced himself that he has already got what he wanted, so why to accept the new things? Or there might be some heavy investments involved which may be stop to proceed. What does managing change means? Change management is a planned activity intended at getting the best results from the transformation process. It is about managing the changes that are outcomes of the selected approaches. This is done in such a way so that the results and effects go along with the organizational framework. Devising a strategy is also the part of change management. Such a process and procedure is unique and specific to a certain organization. It is rare that a process devised for an organization do fit to the other. Although this can happen, however the probability is quite low. The procedure for change management and the measures that are element of a specific approach are exclusive and exact to a particular organization. Every organization has its own needs; their resources and circumstances differ, culture changes, relationships and clients requirements become specific, and their ambitions, objectives and aims may differ(Mullins, 2007). It is about discovering options and selecting pathways. (Horton, 2000) According to George Bernard Shaw Development is unattainable without change and transformation, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Managing change means a systematic procedure of taking into consideration the global circumstances disturbing an organization; in addition to specific state of affairs within the organization. The change management technique scrutinizes the existing environment and procedures with high attitude to firm culture, organization design, communication, job design, personnel, infrastructure, knowledge and skills. The most important and significant meaning of change management is the term referred to as the task of managing change. The term itself is used in two contexts. Firstly, it means to make changes in an intended and systematic manner. Secondly, this refers to as managing the reactions for the implemented processes. The acknowledgment of the requirements for timely adjustment to external stimulus has evolved the concept of the learning organization; an organization which is capable of continuous adaptation to the environment. At last, change management refers to an area of constituency of professional performance and the connected body of knowledge that has grown up inside and around the issues. There are several ways for change management, as an example, consulting firms offer a range of services to smooth out the process whereas the business schools recommend training in its theory and practice. (Kouzes et al., 1987) (Kanter, 1989) Approaches to change Management The planned approach to change management is tightly linked to managing and recognizing the procedures intended to make organizations more progressive. All these procedures attempt to offer smooth transition and attempt the productivity with the least confrontation. Change plans formulate the tangible outcomes, guide decision making, help to control the procedures and provide protection around uncertainties. There are six change management approaches to deal with this resistance and reaction. (Hayes, 2002)These six approaches are as following Communication and Education: The most significant ways to prevail over conflicts and resistance is through prior education and awareness. This helps in beforehand observing and perceiving the intensity of the change by the work force. The result of this will lead to suppression of rumors and uncertainties involved during the phase. Involvement and Participation: Wherever the initiators do not have the entire data and information they require designing the change and transformation and others have substantial power to oppose. When workers are mixed up in the change attempt they are more likely to involve in the transformation rather to oppose it. Support and Facilitation: Where people refuse to give in to change due to regulation problems, managers can set off possible resistance by encouraging workers during complex times. Managerial support facilitates employees compact with anxiety and fear during an evolution period. The source of resistance is likely to be the unawareness. Thus support and facilitation approach is connected with condition of counseling, special training and time off work. Agreement and Negotiation: Within an organization somebody or some group may drop out during the transformation process. Managers can fight resistance by giving incentives to workers who are not in opposition to the change and the transformation process. This agreement and negotiation approach will be suitable where those resisting change are strong enough. Co-option and Manipulation Approach: Somewhere there are other procedures which are too exclusive. Schlesinger and Kotter proposed that an effective management technique is to co-opt with counters of change effort and transformation process. This frequently involves choosing leaders of the resisters so that instead of opposition they lead to a contribution in the process. Implicit and Explicit Coercion: Implementation speed is a necessity but should be used as a final option. The process should be made as smooth as possible however the managers can clearly or perfectly compel workers into tolerating change effort by making clear that resisting change can lead to firing, losing jobs, demotions or transferring employees. Framework of change This idea is about the procedure for change management and transformation process, presenting proposals and getting feedback for change. This is further than a beginning step to the real action of accomplishment. There is requirement to comprehend how considered choices are completed and proposals are evaluated within the. The framework of change management used throughout this thesis is presented in Error: Reference source not found. This model investigates further how organizations make the movement from the current to the future state. In particular, we will look at the Three Step Model developed by Lewin based on unfreezing the organization, moving and sustaining the change. (Lewin, 1980) CULTURE The first section culture of the change management framework include authenticating the case for change and transformation process and how the shared service/BPO initiative will add to comprehending the organizations premeditated goals, and readiness of both employees and organization and assessing the capacity to incorporate change. Impending blockers must be recognized and articulated with agreed-upon approaches and strategies thus the initiative is not disrupted. ORGANIZATION The second section wraps the design of the new world, comprising the operating model, role definitions, organizational structures, governance and competency frameworks, and decision-making frameworks. Realistic steps should be used to design effective and realistic interfaces between the retained organization and shared service/BPO capacity. LEADERSHIP The third step in the wheel aims to simplify how the firm will be led, and to furnish the leaders to carry out their leadership roles. Specific and detailed activities comprise how the leader ship team will work together both during implementation of shared services/ BPO, defining the role of the leadership team, and consequently, and the roles and responsibilities of individual leaders. Achievement like this may identify the requirement for coaching and/or training of leaders and potential leaders. PEOPLE CAPABILITY The fourth step of the cycle of change management framework intends to ascertain the competencies and skills necessary and how to gather those requirements, comprising gap analysis, skills audits, career planning and job and role definitions. Participation of talent who will lead the new firm is key to the success of this movement. EXECUTION The fifth step of the cycle of change management framework ensures freedom of the new form. It comprises hard deliverables in the form of milestones, project plans, budget analysis and progress reports, and soft deliverables in the shape of stakeholders management and communications. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The sixth and last step of the wheel of change management cover up life post-change and comprises processes and frameworks (e.g., balanced scorecards, performance management, and reward alignment) to determine the success of the changes, and means to make sure that opportunities for advance improvement are acted upon in a timely manner and identified.   Significance and benefits of Change management in the Organizations: Benefits of Change Management: ACCEPTING ENVIROMENT It is significant for the organization to assess, understand, and measure the dynamics in its exterior environment such as government, society and customers in order to predict and set up an appropriate relationship with these assorted performers like society, customers and government. Hence, managers by deliberating the subject of change management can better be ready to understand anything is going on in this environment. This is a major significance of change management in business organization. STRATEGY FORMULATION IMPLEMENTATION TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE It is very important to knowing the collision of change an inappropriate level on its own interior dynamics, where the main objective is to seek competitive advantage. This is the significance of change management in business organization. EMPLOYEES The employees are the beneficiaries of change process. One such continuous apprehension of senior managers is to make organization highly consistent; therefore workers ought to be high performing and trained one in todays twitchy competitive new world. There is need of trained, reliable organization and high performing work practices. This is significance of change management in organizations. TECHNOLOGY ISSUES Technology is realized as the engine of development in todays new world. May be the greatest challenge for modern organizations is the integration and acquisition of technology in its approach, structure and procedure. As such the apprehension of top managers is how to avoid and mitigate organization being outdated and how to absorb and cope the collision of communication technologies and changing information which have determinedly influencing consumption behavior and production process. This is another major benefit of change management in the organization. Significance of Change Management Implementation The peak five well recognized approaches of change management and significance of change management in the organization, which, when implemented properly, permit organizations to decrease risk and increase IT effectiveness and efficiency. The practices comprise of: Producing the top bottom approach to endorse the requirement for a culture of Information technology change management process that implements a zero tolerance approach to illicit changes across the whole enterprise. It will create significance of change management inside and outside the organization. Examining and monitoring the number of unintentional outages frequently to avert illegitimate changes and maintain maximum control on information technology variations. It will also create significance of change management in the modern organization. Put into practice risk mitigation changes executed and authorized by identifying well-defined change preservation windows and implemented them. The significance of change management will explore through it. Determine change success rates and using them as standard for key information technology management performance gauge. This is one of the major significance of change management. SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways is engaged in air services operations both in international and domestic airfreight. It provides various services ranging in commercial flights service for passengers around the globe, cargo freight and mail services and other auxiliary services. British Airways primarily runs its business in Europe and in United States. Located in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, it employs 42, 755 people in all its departments. British Airways facilitates flight reservation and booking using the online net services in which customers can easily access. Trying to appear competitive and maintain its integrity as one of the best airlines which emphasizes quality customer services, BA strives to create high-end terminal facilities and other services involving comfortable of customers while onboard. BA reaches out to 570 in about 134 countries. Such magnitude of operations offers customers with variety of destinations with world-class services that cater customers ranging from explorers to exec utives. Strengths British Airways strengths include the first-rate new fleet of aircrafts purchased to accolade comfortable traveling of passengers. This move was made to counter the wretched state of travel and complaint received by the previous fleet used by British Airways. The magnitude of Airways operations allows them on pro over their competitors by servicing to a wider variety of customers. Moreover, on the level of knowledge and skills, BA operational research claimed that analytical skills performed by the members of the company and employees become its strengths. The strong customer focus develops expertise in customer areas while in purchasing high-end software for air services and wide selection of it strengthens the companys business orientation. Weaknesses One of the many weaknesses on organizations business and services is the lack of marketing strategy that will help reinforce its competitive standards, more so, to win customers loyalty. Despite the great infrastructure hosted the company, BA needs to carry out better market schemes to attract more customers. Hence, competitive package for customer service must be afforded in order to make the airline more attractive to its clients, prompting an opportunity of earning large revenues. Furthermore, on knowledge and skills management, limited knowledge of simulation software and simulation development, knowledge lost through high level of internal staff moves, teams adopt solution approaches aligned only to their skills, and lack of involvement in choice of software and difficulty to enhance specialist airline software are weaknesses which the company must be aware of. Threats The threats are not necessarily be found outside of companys environment but can be an internal. Internal threats as seen in management centralized and bureaucratic system and all poor decision-making. Moreover, the companys focus on national and local problems pose a threat since much more problems which it neglect found in the global scheme. It neglects the global problems instead focusing deeply on the national and local level. The global problems greatly offer tremendous threats if and when companies will ignore such. Moreover, globalization can be an opportunity and strength but can also be a threat if not to be keen and vigilant of its tricks and treachery. Further, rapid changes on technology and customers behavior can also be a threat if mistakenly interpreted and remedied. Opportunities The availability of immense services and products pose an opportunity to utilize them properly. The global changes can be an opportunity to work with while ignoring certain opportunities can be a weakness. In BA, virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, obtaining network software and share expertise through special interest groups are opportunities which can be utilized and used to further enhance the companys business. Technological trends provide ample opportunities to various business domains, however, if it will be taken for granted, opportunities can be a threat or weakness. Maximizing the global trends is a great opportunity to hold on to. Methodology The proposed methodology for this dissertation is case study research. Case study research is a common and popular method of conducting research in the field of social sciences. In this methodology, an event, individuals, or group are investigated and explained. This in depth investigation focuses on defining the particular instance in either descriptive or explanatory manner. (Hartley, 2004) The methodology is not merely storytelling; rather it describes and explains the event in much detail so the reader could understand the reasons for that event/instance. The case studies are building with multiple sources of data and evidence. They are usually focused on one aspect of the organization rather than the whole organization itself. (Merriam, 1998) Case study method is quite useful if one wants to understand and estimate the impact of a certain event. It is important to understand that case study methodology can only be used when rich amount of data is available so the case can actual ly be built using it. (Eisenhardt, 1989) Although it is quite popular method of conducting the research, it has its weaknesses as well. Researchers have criticized it because they feel that this method lacks reliability. The reliability is questioned when case study is build using the secondary data. This criticism states that the research cannot be relied on as it lacks researchers own research efforts, and the case is built on the research that was already available. (Stake, 1995)However there are more strengths to this methodology than weaknesses. The method is particularly praised due to its usefulness in providing a holistic view of an event or phenomena. It is also admired due to multiple sources of data and evidence that are used to build case study, as it provides multiple insight into the phenomena. (Gillham, 2000) Types of case study Researchers have devised and explained several categories of case studies. One of the popular models used to explained categories of case studies is by Yin. He defines these categories in terms of the number of event and single or multiple methods of analysis. Type 1: Single case design and single unit of analysis Type 2: Single unit of analysis and multiple case designs Type 3: Single case design and multiple units of analysis Type 4: Multiple case designs and multiple units of analysis Yin has also devised three types of case study, Exploratory: Used for new topics and reveals the facts about a certain event. This type of research is normally the first one and sets direction for future research. Researchers agree that this research is more related to What question rather than the Why question. Descriptive: This type of case study research focuses on a clearly define problem or research question. Its focus is on How and Who question Explanatory: the last type of case study research is explanatory, which focuses on Why question. It is usually build in exploratory and descriptive research and tries to find out preseason for an events occurrence. (Yin, 2008) This particular research will be built on using explanatory case study method. As we already know what happened in British airways due to change management programs, however we need to search the question of Why it happened? Sources of Data for case study In order to build up a case study, data needs to be collected. This data gathering can either be primary or secondary. The primar

Spiritual Emptiness in Hemingways A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Essay

Ernest Hemingway's short story, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," first published in 1933, is written in his characteristic terse, unembellished style. The definition of "Style" is "the characteristics of language in a particular story and . . . the same characteristics in a writer's complete works" (Gioa and Gwynn, "Style" 861). Short words and a curt tone are so characteristic of Hemingway's style that writers frequently parody them in "International Imitation Hemingway" contests (Gioa and Gwynn, "Style" 861). But Hemingway could only his express this story's theme -- that there is nothing beyond the here and now of daily existence, no God to embellish our lives -- in an unembellished style of writing. The somewhat empty style of this short story is not "Imitation Hemingway"; it's consistent with the story's theme of spiritual emptiness. Almost thirty lines of "A Clean Well-Lighted Place" are pure dialogue with few clues, other than what is said, about who is speaking. In the rest of the story, the percentage of words with more than two syllables is very low. Some biographers point out that Hemingway learned his rules of writing working for the Kansas City Star, whose style-book admonished reporters to "Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English, not forgetting to strive for smoothness" (qtd. in Desnoyers 2). Was the curt style of "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" caused only by Hemingway's having learned writing from a newspaper style-book? He later said about those newspaper rules, "Those were the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing. I've never forgotten them. No man with any talent, who feels and writes truly about the thing he is trying to say, can fail to write wel... .... "One True Sentence." The Longman Masters of Short Fiction. Eds. Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2002. 375-376. Desnoyers, Megan Floyd. "Ernest Hemingway: A Storyteller's Legacy." The Ernest Hemingway Collection. 12 December 2002. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. 20 August 2003. . Gioia, Dana, and R.S. Gwynn. "Ernest Hemingway." The Longman Masters of Short Fiction. Eds. Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2002. 370-372. Gioia, Dana, and R.S. Gwynn. "Style." The Longman Masters of Short Fiction. Eds. Dana Gioia and R.S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2002. 861-862. The Hemingway Resource Center. "Ernest Hemmingway Biography>Key West." The Hemingway Resource Center. LostGeneration.com. 20 August 2003. .

Maos Last Dancer Essay -- Dancing Dancers China Essays

Mao's Last Dancer Staggeringly vast and a land of great diversity, China, the world's most populous and third largest nation is more like a continent in itself than a country. With that huge population and a long history, China has made itself become a glorious and controversial country during one hundred years, especially from 1949 when China was finally at peace after decades of war, a China under China Communist Party (CCP) and Mao Zedong. There was actually a lot of changing in society as well as in particular people’s lives. Li Cunxin, a dancer and the author of the book Mao’s last dancer - a huge bestseller in Australia and the thirty-fourth book of â€Å"Australia’s 100 favourite books† of the year, has his life changed clearly and dramatically which is explained emotionally in his book. Mao's last dancer touches every reader’s hearts by its beauty, its honesty and exhilaration. Through this book, we are able to learn more about China from a different side and obviously about Li Cunxin’s life – a life within a burning desire for higher achievements. Li Cunxin was born into an extreme poor peasant family in Qingdoa in 1961, Northern China. He is the sixth son in the family of seven sons, living in a small house with relatives. 1961 is the third year of Mao’s Great Leap Forward â€Å"which had left rural China suffering terribly from disease and deprivation†. But when he was eleven years old, Madame Mao decided to revive the Perking Dance Academy and sent her men into the countryside to find suitable children. And Li, thanks to his teacher pointing out, without any former experience, was chosen to become a dancer - one of the best dancers in the world. After seven years of hard training at Beijing Dance Ac... ...s and aspirations. His delivery was powerful and effective and he certainly had the audience with him all the way, conquered, inspired and enriched. Reference: [1] Mao's last dancer by Li Cunxin – Book Summary and Book Reviews, http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1388, 17/08/05 [2] Li Cunxin – An interview with author, http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=995, 17/08/05 [3] Li Cunxin, Dancer Magnificent, http://www.anovelview.com/li_cunxin_dancer_magnifique.htm, 17/08/05 [4] Li Cunxin – An interview with author, http://www.bookbrowse.com/author_interviews/full/index.cfm?author_number=995, 17/08/05 [5] Li Cunxin, Dancer Magnificent, http://www.anovelview.com/li_cunxin_dancer_magnifique.htm, 17/08/05 * Li Cunxin, Mao’s Last Dancer, New York : Putnam, 2003.

Environmental Factors That Affect Trade Between United States And Mexico Essay

Global business environment is increasingly being determined by prevailing environmental concerns. Trade regulations between countries are being benchmarked on the decisions made on environmental policy. Even though there exists an underlying inadequacy in negotiating international trade agreements in conjunction with multilateral environment agreements, formulation of trade policy has been forced to move hand in hand with requisite environment policy creating a situation that only promotes a complimentary of the policies for sustainable economic development. In the same fray is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA which includes several guidelines that detail environmental related provisions. The accord as agreed provides trilateral cooperation on matters concerning the environment and it also contains specific provisions that seek to pressurize members to enforce environmental law. The United States and Mexico has also instituted a bilateral establishment called the Boarder Environment Cooperation Commission. Together with the North American Development Bank communities around the boarder areas are financed to enable them complete environment infrastructure projects. Despite the agreement these are still ongoing discussions on NAFTA’s possible environment effect, implementation of pending NAFTA’s provisions and border funding modalities (may Tinmann, 2000) During the negotiations carried out in the context of liberalizing investment and trade rules between the two countries, environmental issues arose due to the existence of a more stringent standards on one country while the other country had only weak environmental protection measures. Such differences could be challenged with notable success as non tariff barriers that only serve to stifle trade between the two countries. Another issue was whether the existence of weaker environment protection measures on one side could created an unfair competitive advantage and hence encourage businesses to relocate production to areas that are least regulated in terms of environmental protection measures. Strict environmental regulations on the United States soil pose a considerable non tariff trade barrier hence the requirement for the need of harmonization of environmental provisions, health and safety standards. Relocation of industries to least environmentally regulated zones created a new challenge with increasing population. To offset this a mechanism had to be put in place to regulate all border environmental projects. Under the auspices of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) on which NAFTA operates new environmental issues are arising. In 1991 a dispute arose after the United States banned importations of tuna as Mexico had violated GATT’s trade rules. The ban imposed under the Us Marine Mammal Protection Act sought to limit the killing or the causing of serious injury to dolphins together with other marine animals in the course of commercial fishing. Mexico contested the ban but the court order was not lifted. Following the hearings of the case it was proposed that congress would lift the ban temporarily and Canada made a 5 year moratorium commitment that stated on March 1, 1994. Presently proposed changes on key environmental provisions that affect trade are focusing on non tariff barriers and the expansion on GATT discipline for Agriculture. (Trade and the Environment, 1993) There is no certainty to the conclusion of NAFTA debates and discussions taking into account that they had stalled several times earlier. The effects of additional changes are likely to brew new wave of conflict between GATT and environmental provisions. The relationship between international environmental agreements and GATT is another concern. Included in the International environmental agreement are 17 multilateral environmental agreements. These agreements cover key environmental problems such as stratospheric ozone depletion, hazardous waste and endangered species. There is concern that other multilateral environmental agreements such as limits to green house gas emissions may be included in the trade agreements further straining Mexico trade as importation of products that do not comply with both the GATT provisions and multilateral environment provisions will be banned. At the moment it still remains to be seen whether another GATT member can successfully challenge a trade measure leveled upon it by another member in pursuant of the multilateral environmental agreements. The growth of conflicts may in the future discourage GATT from acquiring agreements that would make trade impossible in addition to making GATT’s resolutions ineffective and difficult to enforce (Trade and Environment, 1992). There is need to reduce the functions between trade and environmental concerns. The North American Free Trade Agreement seeks to increase economic activity in Mexico and Boarder regions of the United States by negotiating a trade agreement that is agreeable to all the trade partners. However, there are concerns that unless the agreement puts in place adequate environmental safeguards, additional economic growth would worsen the already serious environmental health problems. There are also concerns that these trade agreements may weaken or undermine the existing United States Environmental standards. Mexico’s commitment to environmental legislation and protection and commitment to attaining high environmental compliance is important. The laxity of the Mexican authorities to enforce strict environmental standards has seen some United States’ industries migrating to Mexico’s duty free export zones. These factories relocate mainly to erode the strict United States Environmental Protection Standards and also to utilize cheap labor in Mexico. Their proximity to the United States markets creates a competitive advantage as compared to the industries operating in the United States If all trading partners agree and conduct environmental reviews affecting Trade agreements as a unified standard procedure the environment and underlying economic implications will be adequately analyzed through expert opinions and public debate. In line with environment, health and safety standard risks from traded products can be curtailed. However, this required a standardized method of that product risk assessment and testing is done strictly to the recommended stringent domestic and international guidelines. (Paul Cough, 1993) New interpretations of GATT guidelines could threaten domestic regulatory regimes hence posing a new risk to trading partners. There are environmental concerns that inadequate regulation and low levels of environmental regulation in pursuit of trade liberalization may be used as an incentive to attract foreign investment as the production costs would be very low compared to countries with stringent guidelines. There are those who argue that environmental problems have limited impact on international competitiveness however if countries could impose a large carbon tax aimed primarily at reducing the emission of green house gases, the impact would be considerably huge. Conflicting interests particularly the Trade and the Rio Declaration declares that all states have got the right and sovereign authority to exploit their resources according to their own national environmental and development policies so long as their activities do not offer an environmental threat to that of other states or areas beyond their jurisdiction. The underlying fact that some states might lower their environmental protection measures is a threat to agreements that struggle to foster free trade between countries. This paper analyzes such concerns and offers recommendations to the extent of the present regulatory frameworks. Border waste Trade between the United States and Mexico The United States border lies within the jurisdiction of six Mexican states and four United States. Even though each state preserves and governs its won jurisdiction there has always been a very central and longstanding environmental pollution issue that is exacerbated by industrial and municipal wastes being discharged to the rivers that flow from the Mexican frontiers to the United States. Mexican wastes municipal treatment system are obsolete or non existent. This is further worsened by companies that operate in a less strict environmental regulatory jurisdiction. These companies are inclusive of United States companies and they engage in illegal dumping of untreated wastes into the river systems. This has created a disparity in the levels of development as well as fresh concerns on priorities of development and trade with specificity to the use of underground and surface water that are becoming increasingly polluted. There is another problem of illegal dumping sites that pose a threat to health of inhabitants of the cities along the United States-Mexico border. The Border Environmental cooperation Agreement has been mandated to coordinate boarder water quality and sanitation services. However, disputes are ripe and every country is presenting its own interpretations of treaty. This has worsened the trade between countries as discussions and debates carried out under the auspices of NAFTA though fruitful have failed to provide an innovative, comprehensive and internationally binding agreement to forestall the potential health effects of continued trade.

European Integration of Ukraine Is the Main Task

European Integration of Ukraine is the main task, which unites government and opposition In connection with the new political season, which began not only in the Ukrainian Parliament, but also in the European Parliament, delegation of MPs of Ukraine from the Party of Regions arrived on an official visit to Strasbourg.Delegation members are Chairman of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction Olexander Yefremov, Deputy Chairman of the Party of Regions for International Affairs Leonid Kozhara, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Olena Bondarenko, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Banking, Tax and Customs Policy Vitaliy Kaliuzhny.Today, September 13, in the European Parliament took place a public meeting on â€Å"The Future of EU-Ukraine Relations and Ukraine’s Internal Political Situation†, where the Chairman of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction Olexander Yefremov informed about the current situation in Ukraine. Particular attention Olexander Yefremov paid to reforms, which are being carried out by authorities. â€Å"Over the past year and a half great changes took place in Ukraine. Unfortunately, in Europe, few people know what is actually happening in the country.The country's leaders held a number of reforms – this is pension and judicial reforms, adoption of anti-corruption legislation and the new Tax Code,† the politician said. â€Å"Now we are preparing such global documents as a bill on the land market, new Criminal Procedure, Housing and Communal and Labour Codes. In Ukraine these laws have a long history, they are not modernized. And, unfortunately, over the 20 years of existence of Ukraine as an independent state, no one worked on them. It is our task.Therefore we have a lot of work to do. And as you can see, we are working very hard,† said Olexander Yefremov. MEPs stressed the importance of the visit of Ukrainian parliamentarians becaus e now it is a key moment in relations between the EU and Ukraine, and Europe needs first-hand information. Olexander Yefremov reminded that in 2009 Party of Regions started with very bad starting positions. â€Å"When we conducted an audit of the national economy, it was found that in 2009 we began with minus 15% of GDP.It was a disastrous number. And we had to find quickly the tools for economic growth, to overcome the economic crisis. However, our operational work and the actions that we undertook, gave a good positive result. 2011 we are to finish with 5% increase of our economy,† he stressed. Representatives of the European Parliament agreed to this. They noted how significantly increased the intensity of work of Ukrainian Parliament and adopted documents. According to Olexander Yefremov, today the government command faces many challenges.And one of the most important is the European integration of the country. â€Å"And at the moment it is one of the uniting issues for opposition and authorities. There is no dissent and no opponents here. Everyone understands that we need to work on this common goal,† said Olexander Yefremov. Answering the question, what Ukraine will choose: Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Europe or the Customs Union, Olexander Yefremov said that our first priority is the EU, but at the same time we want to maintain good relations with Russia, if that's possible from its side. In turn, we declare that we want to be a part of civilized Europe,† said the politician. The head of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction got stronger conviction that there is practically no opponent of integration between Ukraine and EU, everybody is trying to help, to give an advice; no one wants to see Ukraine worse or poorer, or further from the EU; everybody is trying to support it. MEPs, in turn, said that Europe would like to see Ukraine developing further and happy people living in Ukraine.The MPs acknowledged that Europ e knows very little about what is actually happening inside the country. In addition, Olexander Yefremov said that judging by the questions he was asked about Tymoshenko case, there is a significant lack of information about the topic. That is, people know about it, but nobody goes into details, and, as a rule, the very essence is hidden in details. He reminded the gist of the charges against ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine. â€Å"In January 2009 Tymoshenko was in talks with Russia on gas supplies.Under the Law â€Å"On International Treaties of Ukraine† the authority to negotiate and to sign international treaties is granted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as a collective body. The Prime Minister can not alone authorize someone to negotiate on behalf of the Government. When negotiations with Russia began, most of the ministers at the Cabinet of Ministers session refused to support Tymoshenko's personal position, as evidenced by minutes of meeting. Despite of this, she p rovided the Ukrainian negotiators a document entitled Directives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine†, which contained the signature of Tymoshenko and official government seal. Thus, the ex-Prime Minister is charged with single-handed decision and document forgery,† said Olexander Yefremov. In addition, the MP informed about extremely unfavorable conditions for Ukraine, which are in the contract. This, above all, is the highest price, unreasonable amount of compulsory gas purchase (Ukraine consumes 40 billion cubic meters and must buy 52 billion cubic meters), and extremely inadequate penalties.If the country does not buy stated in the contract amount of gas, then there is the penalty 150% in summer, and in winter – 300%. â€Å"If such a contract was signed in the business between the two businessmen, one of them would be admitted to be crazy, that is absolutely inadequate and disadvantageous contract for the country,† said Olexander Yefremov. EU Integra tion and Trade: a Look from the Outside of the EU Eastern Border. Oleksandr Shepotylo*, Kyiv School of Economics and Kyiv Economics InstituteAugust, 2009 Abstract: This paper develops a methodology for trade policy analysis of costs and benefits of alternative regional integration scenarios, based on the disaggregated gravity equation, and applies it to calculate the impact of the EU enlargement on integration strategies of non-member countries. In particular, the paper measures the impact of the 2004 EU enlargement from the standpoint of Ukraine – a country that has been left on the sideline.This angle allows estimating the costs of non-integration that occurred due to trade and investment diversion, and forgone opportunity to carry our structural changes in the Ukrainian economy. According to the results, EU accession would dramatically change the composition of Ukrainan exports by almost doubling exports of manufactured goods by 2007. The costs of non-integration accumulat e towards the end of the investigated period. Projecting the results into the future clearly indicates that the benefits of EU accession for Ukraine would have been unambiguously positive.By showing that costs of non integration are high, the results shed some light on the debates over the benefits of EU integration for the newly accepted states. They also give guidance on the potential export gains from signing a deep FTA between EU and Ukraine which is currently negotiated by policymakers. JEL categories: C33, F12, F17 Keywords: gravity model, EU enlargement, Ukraine, CIS, heterogeneous firms, trade policy Introduction The studies of European Union (EU) enlargement mostly focus on the impact of the enlargement on the current and new EU members (e. . Bussiere et al. 2008, Nilsson, 2000, Baldwin, 1995 and 1997, Gros and Gonciarz 1996). This paper looks at the impact of EU enlargement from a different angle and estimates the costs of non-integration into EU. It develops a methodology for evaluating alternative regional integration scenarios. Comparing costs and benefits of different integration scenarios, a policymaker decides on the best integration strategy for a county. When an additional country joins a regional trade bloc, it imposes additional costs on outsiders due to trade and investment diversion.The costs of non-integration are growing when more countries join the bloc, which triggers a new wave of enlargement, a so-called domino effect introduced by Baldwin (1993). For example, the enlargement of the European Economic Community (EEC) – a process that started in 1960s – induced integration of the members of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) into the EEC: â€Å"The 1960s saw rapid discriminatory liberalisation with the EEC and EFTA. This had a dramatic effect on trade patterns. The EEC’s share of trade with itself rose from 30 to 50 per cent.The share of EEC imports from other European nations stagnated or fell. This discri mination meant lost profit opportunities for exporters in both groups, but since the EEC market was more than twice the size of EFTA’s market (and growing faster), the EEC club was far more attractive to exporting firms. This generated new political economy forces within the EFTA nations – forces that pushed for EEC membership. † (Baldwin, 2008) Currently, a similar process involving the EU and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) trading blocs is evolving.The differences in size and level of development between EU and CIS blocs imply that the EU bloc is more attractive and the opportunity costs of not-integrating into the EU are higher. Recently, EU has expanded by 12 new members, mostly by countries that for a long time had been important trading partners of CIS countries. At the same time, Georgia left the CIS in August, 2009, while Ukraine and Central Asia countries significantly reduced their involvement into the CIS programs.These developments indirectl y indicate that the EU accession strategy looks as an increasingly attractive policy for the CIS countries. However, the literature says little on how the different integration scenarios can be compared. What are the costs for the CIS countries of not integrating into EU? Do the costs of non-integration exceed the benefits of staying in the CIS? Empirically, this question has not been studied and the primary goal of this paper is to evaluate the ex post costs of non-integration. To answer these questions, the paper focuses on Ukraine.De facto, Ukraine is a member of the CIS. However, Ukraine participates in the CIS programs very selectively and the Ukrainian parliament never ratified the CIS Charter. Moreover, after 2004, Ukraine explicitly declared the EU accession as its strategic goal. Ukraine is an eligible candidate for enlargement based on the geographical criteria. It is an important EU trading partner that moves towards EU both politically and economically. In February, 2008 , the Ukraine has started a round of FTA negotiations with EU which is the next step towards the EU integration.The launch of negotiations followed the finalization of Ukraine’s WTO accession process on February, 5 2008 , which was a prerequisite for FTA talks. Therefore, the advantage of looking at Ukraine while comparing costs and benefits of a deeper EU integration vs. deeper CIS integration is as follows. First, it is not a purely theoretical exercise but a question of practical importance. Did Ukraine make a right choice when declaring the EU integration as the policy priority? Second, the answer to this question gives guidance for policymakers of the EU and Ukraine for the decision on the future of the EU enlargement process.How Ukrainian exports would look like if the country joined EU in 2004? To answer these questions, this paper develops a methodology that allows predicting trade patterns of Ukrainian exports in such a hypothetical situation. The offered method assu mes that the main differences between being an EU member and being a typical CIS country stem from the changes in behavioral relationships of the parameters of the gravity equation rather than from the changes in factors that represent the gravity forces per se (see Egger, Pfaffermayr, and Schmidt 2006).By setting its regulatory framework in line with the EU standards, signing a deep FTA with EU, and, in the long run, achieving its final goal of becoming a full-fledged EU member, the Ukraine would gradually evolve from being a part of the CIS trading bloc with its distinct reliance on export of raw materials towards being a part of the EU trading block with a high degree of intra-industry trade in processed goods. Therefore, its trade patterns would become more in line with the trade patterns of the Eastern European countries.The behavioral changes would come from better access to the EU market, changes in the institutional environment, deep reforms of the regulatory framework, and standardization of export and import regulations. To capture the behavioral changes, the gravity model is estimated for two samples: one sample includes sixteen Eastern European countries – twelve EU member countries that recently joined EU (EU12) and four countries that are not member of the EU but are considered as candidates for enlargement in the future (EUC4) ; the other sample includes nine CIS countries .In addition to evaluating the behavioral change, the novelty of the paper lies in applying an estimation of the disaggregated gravity equation using the two stage procedure developed by Helpman, Melitz, and Rubinstein (2008) (henceforth HMR). The method explicitly deals with a substantial number of zero trade flows, and unobserved firm-level heterogeneity.Unlike the HMR method, we exploit both cross-sectional and time dimensions to remove the pair-specific fixed effects that can bias the cross-sectional results and estimate the impact of the EU accession on bilateral t rade flows by the Hausman-Taylor method (Hausman and Taylor, 1981) treating the EU accession as an endogenous decision that correlates with variable and fixed costs of trade. The model demonstrates substantial costs of not integrating into EU.If the Ukraine had became an EU member in 2004, it would have benefited from an increase in export volumes, redirection of trade from CIS trading partners towards the EU trading partners, and restructuring of exports from industrial products with low value added, primarily exports of raw materials, towards exports of manufactured products with high value added and exports of agriculture and food .The benefits would have come not from the EU accession per se but from the gradual process of reforms, economic restructuring, and behavioral changes in the bilateral trade relationships with its trading partners. The initial losses from breaking the trade relationships with other CIS countries would be more than compensated later along the development path. The structure of the paper is as follows. Section 2 compares existing trade patterns of the Eastern European countries with trade patterns of the CIS countries.Section 3 briefly discusses the methodological issues, presents a theoretical model and develops the estimation procedure. Section 4 discusses data. Section 5 presents estimation results for aggregated trade data and discusses advantages of the Hausman-Taylor method. It also presents estimated gains in disaggregated exports from the EU-Ukraine trade integration for two counterfactual experiments. Finally, Section 6 concludes. Trade patterns of EU and CIS countries: first glance at the data The theory of regionalism and preferential trade agreements (i. . Baldwin, 1993; Baldwin et al. 2006) stresses that costs of non-integration into a regional trade bloc increase with the size of the bloc which, in turn, induces more countries to join the bloc due to a so-called â€Å"domino effect†: by lowering trade barriers a nd improving market access, a discriminatory liberalization of trade within a trading bloc gives an edge to the companies located within the bloc over the outsiders and create additional incentives for multinational companies (MNC) to move their activities inside the bloc.This creates an additional pressure for inclusion on outside countries. Hence, once started, the process of regionalization captures ever-growing number of countries. The story of the latest EU enlargement illustrates this point. The Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) that, by 1989, included fifteen Soviet republics, six Eastern European countries – Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Poland –, and three other countries – Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam generated a substantial intra-bloc trade due to a high degree of economic and political integration The economic cooperation with the rest of the world was limited at best and in some instances prohibited. Since the b eginning of transition, Eastern European countries and Baltic States have rapidly moved away from the Moscow-centered economic gravity towards the Brussels-centered one. As was correctly predicted by some scholars (i. e. Wang and Winters, 1991 Hamilton and Winters, 1992, and Baldwin, 1994), this led to the reorientation of their trade flows away from the CMEA countries towards the EU members.By 1995, Eastern European trade flows did not differ considerably from that of similar Western European countries and mostly exhausted the westward expansion of exports at the intensive margins of trade (Gros and Gonciarz (1996). This view is supported by a more recent World Bank (2005) report which shows that currently most of the EU12 countries trade above their potential or ‘normal’ level.