Organisational Transformation in Practice Essay Example for Free

Organisational Transformation in Practice Essay Every module has a Module Definition Form (MDF) which is the officially validated record of the module. You can access the MDF for this module in three ways: †¢the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) †¢the My. Anglia Module Catalogue at www. anglia. ac. uk/modulecatalogue †¢Anglia Ruskin’s module search engine facility at www. anglia. ac. uk/modules All modules delivered by Anglia Ruskin University at its main campuses in the UK and at partner institutions throughout the UK and overseas are governed by the Academic Regulations. You can view these at www. anglia. ac. uk/academicregs. A printed extract of the Academic Regulations, known as the Assessment Regulations, is available for every student from your Faculty Office MAB301 (all new students will have received a copy as part of their welcome pack). In the unlikely event of any discrepancy between the Academic Regulations and any other publication, including this module guide, the Academic Regulations, as the definitive document, take precedence over all other publications and will be applied in all cases. 2. Introduction to the Module This module provides the opportunity for students to personally explore the relationship between personal change and organisational change/ transformation (de Vries and Balazs, 1999). And personally relate to the leadership and organisational challenges of transformational change in organisations. The module uses different activities to explore the nature of personal change issues required for successful employee engagement in an organisations change agenda. In the management and leadership field much is written and discussed about the following seven elements: (1) behaviour, (2) knowledge (3) skills / capability (4) belief systems, (5) values, (6) identity, (7) vision/ purpose. Using various methods, students will be encouraged to make sense of each of these ideas, and the interrelationship between them. This will be set against a real/simulated strategic learning context. Module participants are actively encouraged to reflect upon their own  existential experience and development through dynamic relations with others and performing roles. It is hoped the module will lead to students developing profound personal insights and also achieve personal growth. The module uses different activities to enquire into, reflect upon and diagnose personal, group and organizational leadership and transformation. Students will be able to diagnose where a/ their team or organisation is weak and design interventions that can help to guide significant change or transformation. The student will be equipped with a clear methodology for guiding his or her own development as an achiever or leader of the future. Assessment is by way of portfolio. 3. Intended Learning Outcomes Learning Outcomes (threshold standards) On successful completion of this module the student will be expected to be able to: 1 Knowledge and understanding Understand the values and leadership behaviours that create the modern enterprise and equip individuals to manage / lead in globally transformational contexts 2 Knowledge and understanding. Develop a robust understanding of leadership and change management within the context of organisational transformation 3 Intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skills Utilise a 7 element framework as a diagnostic tool to evaluate leadership capability in a team or organisation 4 Intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skills Demonstrate an ability to reflect upon ones own management development journey against the context of employability in global and transformational settings of the future 4. Outline Delivery. WkLectureSeminar/WorkshopReading 1 Organisational changeAction Learning SetsKets de Vries 2 Personal change Patchwork textKets de Vries Jung 3 Personal change organisational changePatchwork textKets de Vries James and Arroba http://triadllc. com/publications. html 4 Manager as personPatchwork textKets de Vries Tony Watson 5 Management leadershipPatchwork textKets de Vries Keith Grint 6 Managing leading changePatchwork textKets de Vries http://triadllc. com/publications. html 7 Managing Leading changePatchwork textKets de Vries. James and Arroba 8 Change agencyPatchwork textKets de Vries James and Arroba 9 Change processesPatchwork textKets de Vries 10 Organisational rolePatchwork textKrantz and Maltz 11 Wheel of changePatchwork textKets de Vries Jung 12 Wheel of changePatchwork textKets de Vries etc 4. 1 Attendance Requirements Attending all your classes is very important and one of the best ways to help you succeed in this module. In accordance with the Student Charter, you are expected to arrive on time and take an active part in all your timetabled classes. If you are unable to attend a class for a valid reason (eg: illness), please contact your Module Tutor Anglia Ruskin will closely monitor the attendance of all students and will contact you by e-mail if you have been absent without notice for two weeks. Continued absence can result in the termination of your registration as you will be considered to have withdrawn from your studies. International students who are non-EEA nationals and in possession of entry clearance/leave to remain as a student (student visa) are required to be in regular attendance at Anglia Ruskin. Failure to do so is considered to be a breach of national immigration regulations. Anglia Ruskin, like all British Universities, is statutorily obliged to inform the Border and Immigration Agency of the Home Office of significant unauthorised absences by any student visa holders. 5. Assessment Students are required to assemble a â€Å"patchwork text† (Illes, 2003; Winter, 2003) which relates your current or future workplace role. The patchwork text may be developed or based upon the following: †¢Kets de Vries (2004) suggests that people are prisoners of their past. Evaluate and reflect upon how your past might influence your future workplace role and development. †¢Evaluate and reflect upon a personal experience of change in your workplace †¢Apply Krantz and Maltz’s (1997) role analysis to your current workplace experience. †¢Using the â€Å"triangle of conflict† (de Vries, 2007), evaluate and reflect upon a major incident of conflict in your life. Consider your learning/ experiences in relation to your future workplace role. †¢Apply James and Arroba’s (2005) â€Å"reading and carrying framework† to critically evaluate and reflect upon how you interact with others. Consider the implications in relation to your future workplace role. †¢Conduct and develop a critical self-analysis using Jung’s notion of individuation (Carr, 2002), and relate this to your leadership archetype. †¢Critically evaluate, and reflect upon your own resilience and relate this your existing and future leadership competencies Guidance Notes for Students (see Smith and Winter, 2003) Your assignment will be assembled gradually during the progress of the module through a series of written tasks, which you will share with each other in small groups. There are several reasons for this:- †¢to avoid the last minute rush of having to write the whole assignment at the end of the teaching, when time is short; †¢to enable you to use a variety of different ways of writing, and thus to increase your opportunity to demonstrate your own particular abilities; †¢to enable you to give each other early constructive feedback as to how clearly you have presented your ideas and how they might perhaps be developed; †¢to enable you to write about all aspects of the module content (instead of having to select just a few aspects for a specific essay topic). Before you submit your assignment, you will be asked to write a final piece, to be added to what you have written already. This is designed to give you the opportunity to revisit (edit and revise) the ideas you have presented in your earlier pieces and to discuss what you have gained from the work as a whole. (This is the only task that will need to be completed after the end of the teaching. ) You MUST use academic theories and concepts to develop your personal reflection and portfolio. Your patchwork text SHOULD meet all the learning outcomes (see below; see mdf) Learning Outcomes (threshold standards): On successful completion of this module the student will be expected to be able to: Knowledge and understanding Understand the values and leadership behaviours that create the modern enterprise and equip individuals to manage / lead in globally transformational contexts Knowledge and understandingDevelop a robust understanding of leadership and change management within the context of organisational transformation Intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skillsUtilise the 7 Element framework as a diagnostic tool to evaluate leadership capability in a team or organisation. Intellectual, practical, affective and transferable skillsDemonstrate an ability to reflect upon ones own management development journey against the context of employability in global and transformational settings of the future The sequence of writing tasks which will make up the final assignment is as follows: Weeks 1- 4 (approx. ) 1Explore how your personal experience impacts upon, and has implications for how you interact with others, adapt and respond to change (Learning outcomes 1 – 4). Weeks 5- 7 (approx. ) 2. Using your chosen personal experience critically reflect upon and evaluate your own assumptions, values and leadership behaviours. (Learning outcomes 1 and 3). Weeks 8 – 12 (approx. ) 3 Write about an example of your own group experiences from the point of view of one of your fellow group members imagining their experience of your work with her / him (Learning Outcomes 1- 4) Weeks 1 – 12. 4. Use the learning from your personal experience, and group reflection, in relation to your future workplace role (Learning outcomes 1 – 4) 5. (Final synthesis) A retrospective summary of and commentary on your previous writing, indicating what you have learned which seems to you to be important for your own professional understanding and development (Learning outcomes 1 – 4) Time will be available within the teaching sessions for you to discuss in small groups the writing you have done in response to each of the writing tasks. So you will therefore need to make four or five copies to bring along to the session. The word-limit for the whole assignment is 3,000 words. There are no specific word-limits for the individual pieces of writing, but you should aim to make sure that there is a balance between them. And you will need to leave at least 500 words for the final task (no. 5 above). Patchwork text references Akister, J. (2005). Using a Patchwork Text to assess family therapy students. Journal of Family Therapy, 27(3), 276-279 Illes K. (2003). The Patchwork Text and Business Education: rethinking the importance of personal reflection and co-operative cultures. Innovations in Education Teaching International, 40(2), 209-215. McKenzie J. (2003). The student as an active agent in a disciplinary structure: introducing the Patchwork Text in teaching sociology. Innovations in Education Teaching International, 40(2), 152-160. Ovens P. (2003). Using the Patchwork Text to develop a critical understanding of science. Innovations in Education Teaching International, 40(2), 133-143. Parker J. (2003). The Patchwork Text in teaching Greek Tragedy. Innovations in Education Teaching International, 40(2), 180-193. Quinn J. (2003). Patchwork Text example one: becoming a science specialist teacher. Innovations in Education Teaching International, 40(2), 144-151. Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to Teach in Higher Education, Routledge: London. Smith L. Winter R. (2003). Applied epistemology for community nurses: evaluating the impact of the Patchwork Text. Innovations in Education Teaching International, Volume 40(2), 161-173. Winter, R. (2003). Contextualizing the Patchwork Text: Addressing Problems of Coursework Assessment in Higher Education, Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 40(2), 112-122. All coursework assignments and other forms of assessment must be submitted by the published deadline which is detailed above. It is your responsibility to know when work is due to be submitted – ignorance of the deadline date will not be accepted as a reason for late or non-submission. All student work which contributes to the eventual outcome of the module (ie: if it determines whether you will pass or fail the module and counts towards the mark you achieve for the module) is submitted via the iCentre using the formal submission sheet Academic staff CANNOT accept work directly from you. If you decide to submit your work to the iCentre by post, it must arrive by midday on the due date. If you elect to post your work, you do so at your own risk and you must ensure that sufficient time is provided for your work to arrive at the iCentre. Posting your work the day before a deadline, albeit by first class post, is extremely risky and not advised. Any late work (submitted in person or by post) will NOT be accepted and a mark of zero will be awarded for the assessment task in question. You are requested to keep a copy of your work. Feedback You are entitled to written feedback on your performance for all your assessed work. For all assessment tasks which are not examinations, this is provided by a member of academic staff completing the assignment coversheet on which your mark and feedback will relate to the achievement of the module’s intended learning outcomes and the assessment criteria you were given for the task when it was first issued. Examination scripts are retained by Anglia Ruskin and are not returned to students. However, you are entitled to feedback on your performance in an examination and may request a meeting with the Module Leader or Tutor to see your examination script and to discuss your performance. Anglia Ruskin is committed to providing you with feedback on all assessed work within 20 working days of the submission deadline or the date of an examination. This is extended to 30 days for feedback for a Major Project module (please note that working days excludes those days when Anglia Ruskin University is officially closed; eg: between Christmas and New Year). Personal tutors will offer to read feedback from several modules and help you to address any common themes that may be emerging. At the main Anglia Ruskin University campuses, each Faculty will publish details of the arrangement for the return of your assessed work (eg: a marked essay or case study etc. ). Any work which is not collected by you from the Faculty within this timeframe is returned to the iCentres from where you can subsequently collect it. The iCentres retain student work for a specified period prior to its disposal. To assure ourselves that our marking processes are comparable with other universities in the UK, Anglia Ruskin provides samples of student assessed work to external examiners as a routine part of our marking processes. External examiners are experienced academic staff from other universities who scrutinise your work and provide Anglia Ruskin academic staff with feedback and advice. Many of Anglia Ruskin’s staff act as external examiners at other universities. On occasion, you will receive feedback and marks for pieces of work that you completed in the earlier stages of the module. We provide you with this feedback as part of the learning experience and to help you prepare for other assessment tasks that you have still to complete. It is important to note that, in these cases, the marks for these pieces of work are unconfirmed as the processes described above for the use of external examiners will not have been completed. This means that, potentially, marks can change, in either direction! Marks for modules and individual pieces of work become confirmed on the Dates for the Official Publication of Results which can be checked at www. anglia. ac. uk/results. Assessment Criteria and Marking Standards Patchwork text assignment guidelines (Jenkins, 2008) †¢Careful, detailed observation and recollection of events and situations †¢evidence the interrelationship between leadership behaviours, skills, belief systems, values, identity, vision and purpose (7 elements framework) †¢Noticing the various emotional dimensions of events and situations †¢Independent, critical and evaluative thinking †¢Recognising and responding to the complexities of events and situations †¢Effective communication and application of complex concepts and theories (e.g psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, psychotherapeutic) to personal/ inter-personal experiences of events and situations †¢Demonstrating learning in relation to personal development, effective relations with others and future workplace role. †¢Demonstrating the learner outcomes in relation to future workplace effectiveness †¢Coherent structuring, interlinking and presentation of patchwork text (including grammar, typography and referencing). ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY GENERIC ASSESSMENT CRITERIA AND MARKING STANDARDS LEVEL 3 Generic Learning Outcomes. (Academic Regulations, Section 2)Assessment criteria by levelMarking standards (by mark band) 70%+60-69%50-59%40-49%30-39%1-29% Characteristics of student achievement per mark band Achieves module outcome/s related to this GLO at this Level of StudyAchieves module outcome/s related to this GLO at this Level of StudyAchieves module outcome/s related to this GLO at this Level of Study Achieves a marginal pass in the module outcome/s related to this GLO at this Level of StudyFails marginally to achieve module outcome/s related to this GLO. MDF may permit compensation Fails to achieve module outcome/s related to this GLO and is not eligible for compensation Knowledge and UnderstandingLevel 3 (FHEQ level 6) is characterised by an expectation of students’ increasing autonomy in relation to their study and developing skill sets. Students are expected to demonstrate problem solving skills, both theoretical and practical. This is supported by an understanding of appropriate theory; creativity of expression and thought based in individual judgement; and the ability to seek out, invoke, analyse and evaluate competing theories or methods of working in a critically constructive and open manner. Output includes is articulate, coherent and skilled in the appropriate medium, with some students producing original or innovative work in their specialism. Excellent knowledge base that supports analysis, evaluation and problem-solving in theory/practice/ ethics of discipline with considerable originality. Good knowledge base that supports analysis, evaluation and problem-solving in theory/ practice/ ethics of discipline with some originality. Satisfactory knowledge base that supports some analysis, evaluation and problem-solving in theory/practice/ ethics of discipline. Basic knowledge base with some omissions at the level of theoretical/ethical issues.. Restricted ability to discuss theory and/or or solve problems in disciplineLimited knowledge base; limited understanding of discipline/ethical issues.. Difficulty with theory and problem solving in disciplineInadequate knowledge base; lack of understanding of discipline/ethical issues. Unable to discuss theory or solve problems in discipline. Intellectual (thinking), Practical, Affective and Transferable SkillsLevel 3 (FHEQ level 6) is characterised by an expectation of students’ increasing autonomy in relation to their study and developing skill sets. Students are expected to demonstrate problem solving skills, both theoretical and practical. This is supported by an understanding of appropriate theory; creativity of expression and thought based in individual judgement; and the ability to seek out, invoke, analyse and evaluate competing theories or methods of working in a critically constructive and open manner. Output is articulate, coherent and skilled in the appropriate medium, with some students producing original or innovative work in their specialism. Excellent management of learning, with degree of autonomy/ research that may exceed the assessment brief. Structured and creative expression. Very good academic/ intellectual skills and practical/ team/professional/ problem-solving skills Good management of learning, with consistent self-directed research. Structured and accurate expression. Good academic/ intellectual skills and team/ practical/ prof-essional/problem solving skills Satisfactory management of learning. Some autonomy in research but inconsistent. Structured and mainly accurate expression. Acceptable level of academic/ intellectual skills going beyond description at times Satisfactory team/practical/professional/ problem-solving skillsBasic use of learning resources with little autonomy. Some difficulties with academic/ intellectual skills Some difficulty with structure/ accuracy in expression, but evidence of developing team/ practical/ professional/ problem-solving skillsLimited use of learning resour-ces. Unable to work autonom-ously. Little input to teams. Weak academic/intel-ectual skills. Still mainly descrip-tive General difficulty with structure/ accur-acy in express-ion. Practical/ professional/ problem-solving skills that are not yet secureInadequate use of learning resources. Failure to contribute to team work. Major problems with structure/ accuracy in expression. Very weak academic/ intellectual skills. and weak practical/professional skills. No ability to direct own learning A mark of 0% may be awarded for non-submission, poor or dangerous practice, incoherent and insufficient work, and in situations where the student fails to address the assignment brief and related learning outcomes 7. Assessment Offences. You are reminded that any work that you submit must be your own. All suspected assessment offences will be investigated and can result in severe penalties. Please note that it is your responsibility to consult the relevant sections of the Academic Regulations (section 10 – see www. anglia. ac. uk/academicregs) and the Student Handbook. When you are preparing your work for submission, it is important that you understand the various academic conventions that you are expected to follow in order to make sure that you do not leave yourself open to accusations of plagiarism (eg: the correct use of referencing, citations, footnotes etc.) and that your work maintains its academic integrity. Plagiarism is theft and constitutes the presentation of another’s work as your own in order to gain an unfair advantage. You will receive advice and guidance on how to avoid plagiarism and other elements of poor academic practice during the early stages of your studies at Anglia Ruskin. Introduction Being honest in your work is at the heart of studying and working at university. To be honest in your work you must acknowledge the ideas and work of others you use, and you must not try to get an advantage over others by being dishonest. It is important that you understand what it means to be honest in your work. Although there is general agreement within the UK academic community about the types of activity that are unacceptable, this does vary slightly between institutions, and may be different from where you studied before. We have developed this guidance to help you understand what it means to be honest in your work, and what you should do to make sure that you are handing in work that meets our expectations. This means we can make sure that we can maintain reliable standards for our academic awards, and  students continue to enjoy studying for academic qualifications that have a good reputation. In this guidance we will: †¢clearly define what being honest in your work and good practice mean, and how you can achieve this; †¢define ‘assessment offences’, including plagiarism, cheating and collusion; †¢identify the resources, help and advice available to help you learn the academic skills you need to avoid committing assessment offences; †¢explain how we expect you to behave; and †¢describe what happens if we think you have committed an assessment offence. Being honest in your work and good practice You can show good practice when you do your work independently, honestly and in a proper academic style, using good referencing and acknowledging all of your sources. To show good academic practice you must: †¢show you understand the literature; †¢use research from academics and others in your area of study; †¢discuss and evaluate ideas and theories; †¢develop your own independent evaluation of academic issues; and †¢develop your own arguments. To support your own good practice you will need to develop your: †¢skills at studying and getting information (for example, reading, taking notes, research and so on); †¢skills in looking at an argument and making your own evaluation (for example, having a balanced opinion, using reasoning and argument); †¢writing skills for essays, reports, dissertations and so on; †¢referencing skills (how you include your sources of information in your work); and †¢exam techniques (for example, revising and timing). Achieving good practice is not as complicated as it may appear. You need to do the following. †¢Know the rules. †¢Make sure you reference all of your information sources. Poor practice or dishonesty in your work (such as plagiarism, cheating, fraud and so on) can be a result of you not knowing what you are allowed to do. †¢Develop your own style. Sometimes students include too much original text from the work of others, as they believe that they cannot ‘put it any better’. Although you should try to express ideas in your own words, quoting or summing up ideas from academic sources is fine, as long as you say where you have taken this from. You must also reference other people’s performances or art in your own work. It fine to use other people’s performances and art, but you must be completely clear about why you are using that work, and make sure it is obvious that it isn’t your own. Definitions of assessment offences Plagiarism Plagiarism is when you present someone else’s work, words, images, ideas, opinions or discoveries, whether published or not, as your own. It is also when you take the artwork, images or computer-generated work of others, without properly acknowledging where this is from or you do this without their permission. You can commit plagiarism in examinations, but is most likely to happen in coursework, assignments, portfolios, essays, dissertations and so on. Examples of plagiarism include: †¢directly copying from written work, physical work, performances, recorded work or images, without saying where this is from; †¢using information from the internet or electronic media (such as DVDs and CDs) which belongs to someone else, and presenting it as your own; †¢rewording someone else’s work, without referencing them; and †¢handing in something for assessment which has been produced by another student or person. It is important that you do not plagiarise – intentionally or unintentionally – because the work of others and their ideas are their own. There are benefits to producing original ideas in terms of awards, prizes, qualifications, reputation and so on. To use someone else’s work, words, images, ideas or discoveries is a form of theft. Collusion Collusion is similar to plagiarism as it is an attempt to present another’s work as your own. In plagiarism the original owner of the work is not aware you are using it, in collusion two or more people may be involved in trying to produce one piece of work to benefit one individual, or plagiarising another person’s work. Examples of collusion include: †¢agreeing with others to cheat; †¢getting someone else to produce part or all of your work; †¢copying the work of another person (with their permission); †¢submitting work from essay banks; †¢paying someone to produce work for you; and †¢allowing another student to copy your own work. Many parts of university life need students to work together. Working as a team, as directed by your tutor, and producing group work is not collusion. Collusion only happens if you produce joint work to benefit of one or more person and try to deceive another (for example the assessor). Cheating Cheating is when someone aims to get unfair advantage over others. Examples of cheating include: †¢taking unauthorised material into the examination room; †¢inventing results (including experiments, research, interviews and observations); †¢handing your own previously graded work back in; †¢getting an examination paper before it is released; †¢behaving in a way that means other students perform poorly; †¢pretending to be another student; and †¢trying to bribe members of staff or examiners. Help to avoid assessment offences Most of our students are honest and want to avoid making assessment offences. We have a variety of resources, advice and guidance available to help make sure you can develop good academic skills. We will make sure that we make available consistent statements about what we expect in this document, and in student handbooks and module guides. You will be able to do tutorials on being honest in your work from the library and other central support services and faculties, and you will be able to test your written work for plagiarism using ‘Turnitin ®UK’ (a software package that detects plagiarism). You can get advice on how to honestly use the work of others in your own work from the library website (www. libweb. anglia. ac. uk/referencing/referencing. htm) and your lecturer and personal tutor. You will have an opportunity to do a ‘formative’ assignment before you finish and hand in your first ‘summative’ assignment. A ‘formative’ assignment is one in which you can talk about your work thoroughly with your tutor to make sure that you are working at the correct level for your award, and that you understand what is meant by good practice (a ‘summative’ assignment counts towards the assessment for your course). You will be able to use ‘Turnitin ®UK’, a special software package which is used to detect plagiarism. Turnitin ®UK will produce a report which clearly shows if passages in your work have been taken from somewhere else. You may talk about this with your personal tutor to see where you may need to improve your academic practice. We will not see these formative Turnitin ®UK reports as assessment offences. If you are not sure whether the way you are working meets our requirements, you should talk to your personal tutor. They will be able to help you and tell you about other resources which will help you develop your academic skills. What we expect from you  We will make sure you have the chance to practice your academic skills and avoid accidentally breaking our Academic Regulations. On page nine of the Student Charter (see http://web. anglia. ac. uk/anet/students/pdfs/09_student_charter. pdf), it says you have to ‘be aware of the academic rules relating to your studies’. To make sure that you are aware of the rules, we expect you to agree to: †¢read this guidance and make sure you thoroughly understand it; †¢work through ‘PILOT’, the online tutorial available on our library website (http://libweb. anglia. ac.uk/pilot/), which aims to help you learn good practice and has a useful section on plagiarism; †¢make sure that you are familiar with how to reference (acknowledge other people’s work); †¢correctly reference all the sources for the information you have included in your work; †¢identify information you have downloaded from the internet; †¢never use someone else’s ideas for a performance, film or TV programme, their artwork, graphics (including graphs, spreadsheets and so on and information from the internet) as if they are yours; †¢only hand in your own original work; †¢never use another person’s work as if it were your own; and †¢never let other students use or copy your work. What we will do for you To help you avoid making assessment offences, our staff will: †¢make sure they are familiar with the guidance on being honest in your work and the Academic Regulations; †¢tell you clearly about the guidance on being honest in your work and any guidelines on misconduct, and record the dates for future reference; †¢arrange library information sessions for you;

justification for higher education Essay -- essays research papers

Justification For Higher Education After analyzing William A. Henry III s In Defense of Elitism and Caroline Bird s College is a Waste of Time and Money , it is clear that Henry s argument concerning the purpose of an education is more rational than Bird s due to the fact that Henry supports his claims with credible statistics, logical insight, and uses current real world scenarios. Bird, on the contrary, bases her argument solely on manipulated statistics, overly dramatic claims, and ridiculously out-of-this-world scenarios. While there are various viewpoints and perspectives on the subject of higher education, Henry for one, has landed the conclusion that in America higher education for the masses has not only been extremely costly economically, but it has also greatly lowered the educational standards and therefore defeated the purpose of higher education itself. Henry s primary grievance against higher education for the masses is that the influx of mediocrities relentlessly lowers the general standards at colleges to levels the weak ones can meet (335). Quite simply, higher education is by no means any higher if the standards keep lowering just so some students can barely meet the minimum standards. For example, although I am a full supporter of the bell curve in college, it is certain that this recent innovation has had its share in lowering the university s educational standards. This practice of calculating the students average score on an exam and then re-scaling grades to help those who didn t fare as well is a clear example of bringing the standard of college down to everyone s level (336). I can certainly attest to this claim because I was recently directly affected by the bell curve. In the first quarter of my freshman year, I received a score of 44 out of a possible 100 points on my Physics 7A final exam. According to the general 10% increment grading scale, this would mean that I earned an F on the exam. However, thanks to the mediocrities earning even lower scores than myself and the establishment of the bell curve, I fared quite nicely and escaped with a B- grade. Although this is definitely good news for me, Henry s claim that the mediocrities tend to lower the educational standard seems to prevail. The influx of mediocrities flooding college campuses has also lowered the credibility and status of a college degree.... ...re no guarantees in these professions either (329). After dissecting her claims and supporting statements, it is clear that Bird is trying to undermine the value of a college degree. Tying this into her previous claims, we must ask since when is anything in life guaranteed? If we consider her implication that some students should obtain vocational education, well then it is obvious that there are no guarantees in jobs of that nature either. It is troubling to see that Bird simply dismisses certain jobs just because there is competition for them or because she thinks colleges fail to warn students of the competition. William Henry and Caroline Bird both have sharply different approaches in regards to making there arguments about the purpose of an education. Although they share common ground on various issues, the two become divided due to the types of examples and evidence they use to support their claims. After careful analysis, it is clear that Henry s line of reasoning and concrete evidence tops that of Bird s due to his logical insight. Unfortunately for Bird, she is simply left scrambling in the dark in search of bogus evidence in an attempt to backup her claims.

Airbus A380 and Company Airbus Company

i Ministry of Higher Education Colleges of Applied Sciences (Salalah) Department of International Business Administration International Business Environment (BUSN 3401) SPRING SEMESTER 7 (2012 – 2013) BOEING COMPANY Name: Mohammed Ahmed Salim al-moqimi ID number: 2008399331 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS:2 INTRODCTION:4 BACKGROUND OF BOEING COMPANY:5 Mission:6 Vision:6 Objective:6 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS:7 SWOT:9 Strengths:10 Weaknesses:11 Threats Implications:11 Opportunities:12 THE STRATEGY:13The problems that the company faced are:13 The causes of problems are:13 Action planning:13 Alternative strategy:14 PEST ENVIRONMENT:14 Politics, Legislation:15 Economy, Business Environment:15 Socio-Cultural and demographic forces:15 Technology:16 Competitive forces:16 Physical and natural forces:16 CONCLUSION:18 RECOMMENDATION:19 REFERENCES:20 INTRODCTION: Nowadays, business is vitally affected by the economic, social, legal, technological and political factors. These facto rs collectively form business environment.Business environment is the total of all external forces, which affect the organization and operations of business. The environment of an organization has got internal, operational and general lives managers must be aware of these three environmental levels and their relationship and importance. Therefore, I will talk about Boeing Company as an example. Boeing Company is American Company. It was founded in 1916. Boeing consider as the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems.The company design and make rotorcrafts, electronics, defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and information and communication system. The biggest competitors of this company Airbus Company. Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and it consistently captures approximately half or more of all orders. In the coming lines, I will talk about the following po ints which are the background of Boeing Company, mission, vision and its objective SOWT analysis, competitor analysis, action planning, strategies, and the effect of the PEST environment forces on that company.BACKGROUND OF BOEING COMPANY: Boeing consider as the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. A top American exporter, the company supports airlines and American. and allied government customers in more than ninety countries. The Boeing products and tailored services include commercials and military aircrafts, satellites, weapons, electronics and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and erformance-based logistics and training. Boeing Company has a long tradition of aerospace leadership and innovation. Company continues to expand its product line and services to meet emerging customer needs. Its broad range of capabilities includes creating new and more efficient members of its commercial airplane family; integrating military platforms, defense systems and the warfighter through network-enabled solutions, creating advanced technology solutions and arranging innovative customer-financing options.With corporate offices in Chicago, the company employs more than 159,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries. This represents one of the most diverse, talented and innovative workforces anywhere. More than 123,000 employees hold college degrees, including nearly 32,000 advanced degrees and in virtually every business and technical field from approximately 2,700 colleges and universities worldwide. Our enterprise leverages the talents of hundreds of thousands more skilled people working for Boeing suppliers worldwide.Boeing is classified into two business units: Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Boeing Defense, Space and Security. Supporting this units are Boeing Capital Corporation, a global provider of financing solutions; th e Shared Services Group, which provides a broad range of services to the company worldwide; and Boeing Engineering, Operations & Technology, which helps develop, acquire, apply and protect innovative technologies and processes. Mission: The mission of the company is to maximize the number of services and opportunities while establishing Boeing’s leadership in NMA activities.Functions that control Boeing are business development and strategy, communications, engineering, operations and technology, finance/shared services group/Boeing capital corporation, human resources administration, international, law and offices of internal governance and public policy. So Boeing Company has many values work to achieve it. First, Leadership is the world class leader in every aspect of our business and in developing our team leadership skills at every level, in our management performance; in the way it design and build support our products and in our financial results.Secondly, Integrity is always takes the high road by practicing the highest ethical standards and by honoring our commitments. It takes personal responsibility for our actions and treats everyone fairly and with trust and respect: Third, the Quality of striving for continuous improvement. So that it take rank among the world’s premier industrial firms in customer; employee and community satisfaction. Finally, Customer satisfactions are essential to our success. Vision: It seeks redressing from the other for unfair government subsidies in the development of new airplanes.Also, it is important for people to work as a global enterprise for aerospace leadership â€Å"People Working Together as One Global Company for Aerospace Leadership. Also, it works hard to develop the education for her employees. Objective: 1. Improve Performance: †¢ Sponsor outstanding dinner meetings and special events. †¢ Exploit multi-media member communications. †¢ Provide effective NMA metrics and reporting. †¢ Address direct support of Boeing’s business goals. 1. Spearhead Expansion †¢ Team with current chapters. †¢ Maintain and increase membership. 2. Implement Training Provide regular development seminar †¢ Apply NMA training tools and courses. 3. Support education and community †¢ Award high school scholarships. †¢ Speech Contest. †¢ Hold Explore Engineering Programs. †¢ Support volunteer activities. 4. Ensure Recognition †¢ Acknowledge Boeing leaders. †¢ Reward chapter contributors. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS: Airbus is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blanca, France, near Toulouse and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners.Airbus Industry began as a consortium of European aviation firms to compete with American companies such as Boeing. Airbus Industries were formally established on 18 December 1970. It had been forme d by a government initiative between France, Germany and the UK that originated in 1967. In the commercial airline business Boeing operates in a duopoly with Airbus. Airbus has been the largest producer of large commercial jetliners for many years, but Boeing has been gaining ground since recent problems at Airbus, especially the 2005-6 massive production delay for the A380.The delay gave Boeing a large advantage in the market for wide body aircrafts which include Boeing's successful 747, 777, and 787 models. Although the Boeing has pushed back the first flight and delivery of the 787, the Airbus 380 delays have been far more substantial. Still, even with Airbus' problems, the race is far from over and competition remains intense between the two companies. In February 2007, the U. S. Air Force awarded a controversial $35 billion air refueling tanker contract to rival Northrop Grumman (NOG) that was widely expected to go to Boeing.During March of 2007, Boeing had filed a formal appea l against the deal with the Government Accountability Office. In June of 2008, the GAO sustained Boeing's appeal against the Air Force and effectively reopened the contract for bidding. As of August, Boeing is currently requesting an extension past the October 1st deadline in order to alter its design to meet the government's new specifications. Airbus employs around 52,000 people at sixteen sites in four European Union countries: Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. In this table I will show you some statistic about Boeing and Airbus Industrie: Company |1994 Sales in $m |1994 Earnings in $m |Market Share % | |Boeing |16,851 |1,022 |62 | |Airbus Industrie |8,000 |N/A |24 | |Company |Gross orders |Cancellations |Net orders | |Boeing |120 |46 |74 | |Airbus Industrie |125 |54 |71 |SWOT: SWOT Analysis of Boeing Company is defined as a framework used extensively for an assessment of the internal as well as external business environment as a part of the strategic or corporate pl anning process. The framework is including the firm's strengths & weaknesses as part of internal environment assessment and opportunities & threats as part of the external environment assessment that aids strategic decision making which may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and socio-cultural Changes, as well as changes in the marketplace or competitive position. Strengths |Weaknesses | |Workforces and planning |Loss | |Innovation |Lack of technological innovations | |Management system |Threats of Substitute Products or Services | |Leadership |Competition of trains | |Knowledge |Affect of technology development | |Highly Skilled Managers | | |Provide global customer support | | |Outsourcing | | |High quality of products | |good services | | |Threats |Opportunities | |Competitor |Market developments | |Trade Barriers |Competitors' vulnerabilities | |Deregulation of Airlines |Industry or lifestyle trends | |Threats of Substitute Products or Services |Technology development and innovation Global influences | |threat of the Airbus |Information and research | |Lack of planning |New aircraft to gain market share | | |Increase demand for point to point routes | Strengths: 1- Workforces and planning: Boing has trimmed its workforce to the minimum and it has plans to further cut 7000 jobs and has completed family of planes from the small 737 to the world's largest carrier the 747 which allows it to serve any airline in any category. 2- Innovations: boing has innovated in many areas and has a very strong technological position it is well established. 3- Management system: It has improved its inventory management systems. 4- Leadership: It still has a leadership position in the industry. 5- Highly Skilled Manager The operation of the company will run smoothly.The performance of the company will improve and would lead the company to be successful. 6- Provide global customer support it would serve the customers better and it wo uld be very convenient to those customers in other countries to ask for help. This would help the company to gain a better image due to the provided services to help the customers. 7- Outsourcing: It can save time for the company to manufacture or assembly its products. 8- High quality of products: Emphasizing the product quality to ensure that the durability of the company is lasting for long period of time. 9- Provide Good services. . Weaknesses: 1. Loss: balance sheet and income statement point to some weaknesses.R spending of $1,661 million, around 8% of sales is rather low for this industry. Its long term debt is also increasing and its overall return on common equity is around 8. 9%, below the average industry rate which is 13. 1%. This, associated with its declining defense revenues, may restrict its access to additional capital in times of crisis. 2. Threats of Substitute Products or Services: for example people don’t use planes to travel they will use train and other way. 3. Competition of trains: Customers run away from aircraft to trains because of its services. Threats Implications: 1. Competitor: The competitor might overcome them and the threat is increasing the competitor’s market share. 2.Trade Barriers: They may encounter difficulties in the regulation regarding aircraft imposed by the country to which they export their products to. 3. Deregulation of Airlines: The regulation of the company for its customers would compromise in order to gain favor of the customers. 4. Threat of the Airbus because Airbus is the big competitor for Boeing Company. 5. Lack of planning. Opportunities: New aircraft to gain market share: with the impressive show of Airbus A380 recently, Boeing also plans to release its powerful weapon in the competition with Airbus. The new version Boeing 787 which inherits the most advanced technologies and advantages of the previous models is hoped to be a big hit to the airline industries.At the moment, Boeing has re ceived a number of orders for Boeing 787- Dream liner and this opportunity actually shows that Boeing still insists on its successful business strategy to build longer-range, more capable, smaller aircraft that could go point-to-point and therefore, serve city pairs directly rather than having to hook them up through a hub. The new 787 is the proof that Boeing does not lag behind the competition. THE STRATEGY: The problems that the company faced are: 1. Unwinnable competition, which is wasteful. 2. Design and engineering problem. 3. Poor cost control. The causes of problems are: 1. Poor engineering expertise. 2. Poor marketing research. 3. Using wrong strategies. Action planning: 1. Merge to companies 2. Get good engineer (work with university). 3. Get good marketers. 4. Do comprehensive. 5. Marketing research. 6. Restructure. 7. Use cooperative strategies. 8. Improve design and R. 9. Make the right aircraft. 10. Cost leadership.There are many problems that come from the using of wr ong strategies, poor engineering expertise and poor marketing research. The basic problems are unwinnable competition which is wasteful, design and engineering problem and poor cost control. Boeing Company uses poor engineering and poor design that actually will affect the nature of the working of company. Boeing Company is unwinnable competition because their competitors have high quality management and good services better than them so, customers prefer to deal with their competitors. It has also problem with marketing research. However, good marketing research can help company to know strength and weakness of their competitors and to know how to improve their works and to be able to face new technologies.Boeing Company has poor cost control that will lead to lose their money and the profit will be low. There are many actions that the company should follow to overcome any problems such as get good engineers who graduated from university and have high qualification and experience. Boeing Company has to restructure its strategies and use cooperative strategy. Also, if it merges with companies, get good marketers, do comprehensive, marketing research, improve design and R and make the right aircraft, it will achieve competitive advantage and maximize the profit. Alternative strategy: Cost leadership, it focuses in decreasing the cost and price.It is a good strategy for the company, if it follows this strategy, it will be more successful and it will reduce its economic costs. Also, this strategy will help company to develop and grow very fast. PEST ENVIRONMENT: Political, Economic and financial, Social, physical and natural, competitive, demographic, Technological forces (PEST) analysis is concerned with the environmental effects on a business. The term PEST stands for the Political, Economic and financial, Social, physical and natural, competitive, demographic, Technological issues that could affect the strategic development of a business. New I will explain th e forces that effect Boeing Company in Us: Politics, Legislation: Political forces refer to country's political system.The ability to support or disrupt business operations of domestic & international firms that mean Influence of politics & political interests. Also, Governmental topics, taxation issues, environmental controls and dependencies, subsidies and quotas regulations, employment and labor laws, consumer legislations and regulations, competition issues, health & safety concerns and issues. Economy, Business Environment: The economic environment refers to differences between countries economic systems in the country which the organization operates. Therefore, when we talk about condition of economic system I mean the economic growth, inflation and unemployment.As we know, the economic crisis affects all the businesses around the world. Boeing Company effected by this crisis so what happened in the economy will have a big effect on the company. Despite Boeing's 2008 revenue h as declined to 8. 25% and that because of the economic crisis. In particular, revenue in the Commercial Airline division fell by 15. 34%, as a strike by the International Association of Machinists in 2008 resulted in 104 fewer airplane deliveries than planned. Furthermore, net income fell 34% and contractual backlog expanded to a record level of $279 billion. Net income declined by 22. 1% over the first half of fiscal year 2009. Socio-Cultural and demographic forces:The social dimension or environment of a nation determines the value system of the society which affects the functioning of the business and Refer to way shared beliefs, values & attitudes affect employee & consumer behavior & management of foreign subsidiaries. And demographic forces refer to the characteristics of population, e. g. size, growth, spending power. Socio-Cultural has changed when the country get developed. The changing maybe in education, public opinion social mobility, and attitudes so the socio-culture c an affects the business: ? Population growth rate and age profile. ? Population health, education and social mobility, and attitudes toward those. ? Population employment patterns, job market freedom and attitudes to work. Press attitudes, public opinion, social attitudes and social taboos. ? Lifestyle choices and attitudes to those. Technology: Refers to technology-induced changes that have altered the way firms undertake & coordinate their international activities. Transportation and communication technologies – firms able to outsource R and back office processing. Technology is used in many of life fields. First, we use technology in the process of manufacturing and that through buying effective and modern machines and equipment. Second, we also use it in design techniques and in management of our company through using computers and other tools of technology.Third, technology provides us with some ways in marketing and advertising via TV, Internet and others tools. Technol ogy influences the company in terms of investment in technology, consistent application of technology and the effects of technology on markets. Emergent technologies have a big Impact on company. It can speed up the work in the company so it can apply all the orders. Also, the internet has its own impacts which are reducing communications costs and increasing remote working. (Reference: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Boeing) Competitive forces: A competitive force refers to the pressures imposed by other firms in competing industries.Boeing company faced strong competitive from Airbus Company because these two company work in same field. These two companies compete in price, service and product. Physical and natural forces: Physical and natural forces refer to environmental pressures and risks that influence international business strategy. These forces divided to two types. First, natural risks arise from environmental disasters (e. g. earthquakes). Second, Manufactured risks are e nvironmental risks created by human intervention – pollution, threat to eco-systems, climate change, genetic modification, and terrorism. This factor can effect in Boeing company very clear. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, I am going to summarize the points that I have talked about in my report.First, background of Boeing Company which is a major aerospace and Defense Corporation, founded by William E. Boeing in Washington its international headquarters has been in Chicago since 2001 and its mission, vision and objectives. Second, I have analyzed their competitor which is Airbus and it is the biggest its competitor. Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and it consistently captures approximately half or more of all orders for airliners with more than 100 seats. Third, I analyzed its internal and external environment factors which are referred to SWOT. Fourth, I have talked about the strategy which includes problems, causes and action plan of the company.Boein g Company has to restructure its strategies and use cooperative strategy instead. I recommend Boeing Company to merge with companies, get good marketers, do comprehensive, marketing research, improve design and R&D and make the right Aircraft; it will achieve competitive advantage and maximize the profit. Finally, I have talked about the term PEST which stands for the Political, Economic, Social, and Technological issues that could affect the strategic development of a business. RECOMMENDATION: In fact, Boeing Company is a popular company in the world, but there are several forces and challenge which face it and make it in a bad situation. So I explained them in my assignment.Therefore, I recommend this company to develop their abilities such as employee’s skills, investment, competitive advantage, consumer relationship management and advertising. In my opinions, I think Boeing Company can develop their employee’s skills through training. Also, I should invest in rich countries which pay more money to increase the profitability to company. A good idea to the company creating new and develop aircraft to unique it from other companies. Finally, I think if Boeing Company does good advertising that enough for it to monopoly aircraft manufactured over the world. REFERENCES: http://www. boeing. com/companyoffices/aboutus/brief. html http://manonamission. blogspot. com/2005/08/boeings-ba-mission-statement. html : http://www. boeing. com/news/speeches/1998/980121. htm http://www. boeing. om/companyoffices/aboutus/community/focus_objectives. html – http://www. soe. ucsc. edu/classes/ism158/Winter03/boeing. htm – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Airbus http://www. writework. com/essay/boeing-s-strength-weakness-threats-oppotunities-and-its-im : http://www. soe. ucsc. edu/classes/ism158/Winter03/boeing. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Airbus http://www. companiesandmarkets. com/Summary-Company-Profile/boeing-company,-the-swot-analysis-145568. asp http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Boeing_Company_(BA)) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Boeing Books: (Principles of Marketing) Thirteenth Edition, Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong. Books: (Management 9e ) John R. Schermerhorn, JR.

New Urbanism Planning and Design

New Urbanism is an urban planning and design movement that began in the United States in the early 1980s. Its goals are to reduce dependence on the car, and to create livable and walkable, neighborhoods with a densely packed array of housing, jobs, and commercial sites. New Urbanism also promotes a return to the traditional town planning seen in places such as downtown Charleston, South Carolina and Georgetown in Washington, D.C. These locations are ideal for New Urbanists because in each one there is an easily walkable Main Street, a downtown park, shopping districts and a gridded street system. History of New Urbanism In the beginning of the 19th century, development of American cities often took a compact, mixed-use form, reminiscent of that found in places like old town Alexandria, Virginia. With the development of the streetcar and affordable rapid transit, however, cities began to spread out and create streetcar suburbs. The later invention of the automobile further increased this decentralization from the central city which later led to separated land uses and urban sprawl. New Urbanism is a reaction to the spreading out of cities. The ideas then began to spread in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as urban planners and architects started to come up with plans to model cities in the U.S. after those in Europe. In 1991, New Urbanism developed more strongly when the Local Government Commission, a nonprofit group in Sacramento, California, invited several architects, including Peter Calthorpe, Michael Corbett, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk among others, to Yosemite National Park to develop a set of principles for land use planning that focused on the community and its livability. The principles, named after Yosemites Ahwahnee Hotel where the conference was held, are called the Ahwahnee Principles. Within these, there are 15 community principles, four regional principles and four principles of implementation. Each one, however, deals with both past and present ideas to make cities as clean, walkable and livable as possible. These principles were then presented to government officials in late 1991 at the Yosemite Conference for Local Elected Officials. Shortly thereafter, some of the architects involved in creating the Ahwahnee Principles formed the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) in 1993. Today, CNU is the leading promoter of New Urbanist ideas and has grown to over 3,000 members. It also holds conferences yearly in cities across the U.S. to further promote New Urbanism design principles. Core New Urbanist Ideas Within the concept of New Urbanism today, there are four key ideas. The first of these is to ensure that a city is walkable. This means that no resident should need a car to get anywhere in the community and they should be no more than a five-minute walk from any basic good or service. To achieve this, communities should invest in sidewalks and narrow streets. In addition to actively promoting walking, cities should also de-emphasize the car by placing garages behind homes or in alleys. There should also only be on-street parking, instead of large parking lots. Another core idea of New Urbanism is that buildings should be mixed both in their style, size, price, and function. For example, a small townhouse can be placed next to a larger, single family home. Mixed-use buildings such as those containing commercial spaces with apartments over them are also ideal in this setting. Finally, a New Urbanist city should have a strong emphasis on the community. This means maintaining connections between people with high density, parks, open spaces and community gathering centers like a plaza or neighborhood square. Examples of New Urbanist Cities Although New Urbanist design strategies have been tried in various places across the U.S., the first fully developed New Urbanist town was Seaside, Florida, designed by architects Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. Construction began there in 1981 and almost immediately, it became famous for its architecture, public spaces, and quality of streets. The Stapleton neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, is another example of New Urbanism in the U.S. It is on the site of the former Stapleton International Airport and construction began in 2001. The neighborhood is zoned as residential, commercial and office and will be one of the largest in Denver. Like Seaside, it too will de-emphasize the car but it will also have parks and open space. Criticisms of New Urbanism Despite the popularity of New Urbanism in the recent decades, there have been some criticisms of its design practices and principles. The first of these is that the density of its cities leads to a lack of privacy for residents. Some critics claim that people want detached homes with yards so they are further away from their neighbors. By having mixed density neighborhoods and possibly sharing driveways and garages, this privacy is lost. Critics also say that New Urbanist towns feel inauthentic and isolated because they do not represent the norm of settlement patterns in the U.S. Many of these critics often point to Seaside as it was used to film portions of the film The Truman Show and as a model of Disneys community, Celebration, Florida. Finally, critics of New Urbanism argue that instead of promoting diversity and community, New Urbanist neighborhoods only attract affluent white residents as they often become very expensive places to live. Regardless of these criticisms though, New Urbanist ideas are becoming a popular form of planning communities and with a growing emphasis on mixed-use buildings, high density settlements, and walkable cities, its principles will continue into the future.