Inside Dyson and Management Change at Faslane Research Paper

Inside Dyson and Management Change at Faslane Research Paper Inside Dyson Case Study Questions Dyson is a private company that engages in the development, design, and manufacture of high-performance appliances for different uses. Products from the company are used in many sectors but the company is well known in the manufacture of vacuum cleaners. Coupled with the production of high quality products and private ownership, the Dyson registers supernormal profits from the sale of its products. The Global network and international presence of the company enables it to enjoy substantive market shares in most of competitive markets such as the USA, UK, and China. The success of Dyson can be attributed to unique and strong strategic capabilities that enhance its competitive advantage. The strategic capabilities of Dyson can be analyzed through an evaluation of its value chain, dynamic capabilities, core competencies, and unique resources (Ferguson, 2009). Strategic Capabilities Dyson Technology Innovation and RD Dyson’s foundation is built on a distinctive engineering design and innovation with enormous investments in Research and Development. Dyson technology entails engineering and re-engineering of prototypes through the process of thinking, testing, breaking, and questioning (making-breaking-making-breaking-and-making) until the engineering ideas are transformed into creative products. Dyson’s engineers are willing to ‘take the road less travelled’ even if it looks less sensible in order to transform innovative ideas into products. Patents protect the majority of products from the company and hence, the company has an upper hand in utilizing its resources. A clear example of patented technology is the Ball Technology, which facilitates steering thereby improving maneuverability and the Root Cyclone technology that is powerful in separating dust from the air. Global Networks Dyson operates in more than 45 countries in the world including competitive markets such as Japan, USA, and China. The transfer of manufacturing operations to low cost regions such as Malaysia and Nanjing in China enables the company to minimize its cost margins while at the same time increasing the company’s profit generating capabilities and hiring capabilities (Ellram, and Feitzinger, 2007; Michael, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2010). This strategic capability enables it compete with rival firms located in high-cost regions such as the UK and US. Iconic Leadership and Secrecy Undeniably, Dyson owes its success to Sir James Dyson, who has an influential figure throughout the inception of the company to its current success story. Majority of company-wide decisions and innovations have been based on his creativity and vision. The company’s brand is tied to his image and it has remained a central brand in promotional activities. Furthermore, Sir James Dyson finances majority of engineering designs and collaborations for the company. Other than providing iconic leadership, Sir James Dyson has been very influential in maintaining the highest secrecy levels on operational matters and the company’s success stories. Distribution Channel, premium products, and value chain Dyson has one of the best online retail stores, which is responsible for most of distribution functions for the company. Customers are also willing to pay premium prices for products from the company. Additionally, the location of manufacturing facilities is not critical in reducing costs but also in locating the testing facility near to the suppliers. This enhances UK’s value chain and as well, it increases the potential competitive advantage for the company. This strategic capability is competent in theory for it provides resource and customer value and practical in the sense that it leads to increased revenues and reduced costs. SWOT Analysis Examinations of discrete operational activities of Dyson shows that they are critical in contributing to customer benefit and company revenue. The strengths and opportunities of the company include patent technologies, private ownership, high levels of success secrecy, global presence, and value chain, growing emerging markets, the Dyson brand, and rarity of strategic capabilities. The weaknesses and threats are less pronounced other than the threats associated with private ownership, expiry of patent technologies, increased government intervention, and dependency on Sir James Dyson. Imitation Although the management at Dyson has put in place stringent measures to ensure the maintenance of top-level secrecy with regard to the company’s success and operational activities, instances exist whereby competitors can imitate the strategic capabilities of the company. However, the company will most likely continue to outshine its competitors owing to the nature of its value chain, the rarity of its capabilities, and non-substitutability of its capabilities. These factors are responsible for the increasing sustainable competitive advantage for the company (Kaplan, and Norton, 2004). The instances where the capabilities can be imitated include the expiry of patented Ball and other technologies, which will give the competitors the right to use the technologies in their products (Porter, Cunningham, 2004). The death of Sir James Dyson might lead to lack of iconic leadership and revelation of the company’s success secrets. The advancement in technology might also lead to the discovery of more powerful technologies than those used by Dyson and as well, the competitors might increase their investments in research and development. Threshold capabilities I believe that Dyson technology, engineering design equipment, Innovation, and product supplies, appropriate personnel, and development hold the future for Dyson. Increased investment in research and technology will lead to the development of new product technologies that can be patented and grant the company a competitive advantage over its rivals. Equally important is the location of manufacturing operations in low cost regions of the Asia. The increasing labor costs in the UK and US might lead to increased manufacturing costs for the competitors thereby placing the company at an ideal competitive position. Sir James Dyson Sir James Dyson has provided the foundation and iconic leadership for the company since its inception. From leading engineering innovations to acting as a representative image in majority of promotional activities for the company, Sir James Dyson is, undeniably, the pillar for Dyson. Majority of company-wide decisions and innovations have been based on his creativity and vision. His demise or departure spells doom for the company because of his influential figure and the ability to provide future directions. The company is more likely to lose its innovative nature and competitive advantage should he die or sell the company. Equally important is Sir Dyson’s ability to maintain success secrets of the company. This has been a crucial factor in preventing the imitability and rarity of Dyson’s strategic capabilities. His departure might lead to the revelation of these secrets to the competitors. Managing Change at Faslane Case Study Questions The examination and analysis of managing change at Faslane reveals that there are several changes being pursued at Faslane both involving people, systems, and the organization. Changes involving the organization include re-engineering, leadership changes, structural change, fundamental and incremental organizational changes, and strategic changes. System related changes include the process-oriented change, continuous improvement changes, and benchmarking. Lastly, changes involving the people include personal changes, culture change, and customer-centered changes. Organizational changes such as re-engineering, strategic changes, leadership changes, and fundamental and incremental organizational changes can be evidenced at Faslane in a number of ways. Leadership change started with the handing over of management responsibilities from the Ministry of Defense and Royal Navy to John Howie and Craig Lockhart. The management team was also slashed from 250 to nearly half that number. Fundamental and incremental changes are evident from the MOD’s desire to reduce costs and improve operational effectiveness of the naval bases and the setting of performance targets. Strategic changes were evident from all levels within the organization right from the decision making process, the management structure to introduction of performance scorecards, and the definition of management responsibilities (Bareil, Savoie, and Meunier, 2007). Re-engineering is evident all over the case study owing to the major structural changes undertaken at Faslane in addition to the implementation of other numerous operational changes aimed at the improvement of service quality, productivity, and customer relationships. Simply put, changes involving the organization can be summarized as growth, transformational, and radical changes (Ventris, 2009). Changes involving the people entailed influencing the behaviors and attitudes of workers to bring efficiency and improved performance. Majority of such changes occurred because of other changes within the organization. For instance, the process of reviewing change was reduced from 14 days to 2 days and workers within the organization were forced to automatically provided responses within 2 days. Cultural changes involved the alteration of worker’s behavioral patterns with increased sensitivity to pertinent issues within the organization. Similarly, customer centeredness was also allocated higher priority within the organization to ensure that service delivery to the navy was not compromised at the expense of other factors within the organization (Sirkin, Keenan, and Jackson, 2005). System changes entailed the process-oriented change, continuous improvement changes, and benchmarking. Largely, system changes were aimed at cost reduction and improvement of operational effectiveness of the naval bases and management. Partnership agreements were signed among industrial firms to facilitate the efficient and quality service delivery, and as well promote saving without necessarily having to compromise service delivery. Performance scorecards were introduced to promote the measurement of output from all leaders and attain transparency within the management. Benchmarking was also critical in ensuring that Faslane was heading into the right direction and this was enhanced through the review of continuous improvement processes. John Howie and Craig Lockhart change styles John Howie was involved in most restructuring processes within the organization including focus on customer relationships, change in management responsibilities, cost reduction, and reorganization of procedural processes within the organization. John Howie was much more concerned with systems within the organization and structural processes that determined the working criteria within the organization. During his tenure, Faslane managed to beat majority of its targets if not overcoming them. Of great importance were the cost saving, service improvement, improved communication, and change in workers attitudes and behaviors. On the other hand, Craig Lockhart succeeded John Howie but with a different management style. He was less concerned with structural processes but rather performance improvement and customer relationships. For instance, he was concerned with business planning and measuring business performance where the entire workforce was aligned around the realization of common objectives. Additionally, Craig Lockhart believed in teams and implemented measures that ensured that customers and workers were heavily involved in decision-making processes within the organization. Customer-centeredness and customer collaborations comprised a large portion of Craig’s leadership and management. Eventually, he not only managed to improve relationships at the Faslane but also made it the home base for the entire submarines in the UK. Levers of Change Change levers concerning the management of change can be considered in terms of the context of change and type of change. Examples of levers that are utilized at Faslane include changing operational processes, challenging the factors taken for granted, changing organizational routines, understanding the importance of political processes, and surfacing (Cameron, Green, 2009; Hayes, 2007). These factors explains the reasons as to why change agents needed to adopt different change management styles based on different contexts and as well, in paying attention to the interests of different groups (Carnall, 2007). Both leaders, John Howie and Craig Lockhart adopted different change management styles to obtain the desired organizational goals and objectives in part due to the presented context and the interests of customers and the organization.

Voltaire s Candide The Folly Of Human Suffering

There are two sides to every story. Indeed, while optimism may be initially perceived as a practical philosophy, Voltaire’s Candide proves this to be false. Originally published in 1759, Candide was written by Franà §ois-Marie Arouet (otherwise known by his pen name Voltaire) and employs satire in order to show the folly in Gottfried Leibniz’s prominent philosophy, Optimism. This philosophy reasons that, because god created everything and is perfect, than it follows that anything that may take place on earth (be it natural disasters or other forms of human suffering) is perfect as well. Many of the characters in Candide are representative of certain philosophical values, and Voltaire uses these characters in order to prove his own opinions to the reader. While many people may simply view Martin as a more practical foil to Pangloss, further examination of the text could contradict this. Through Martin’s advice and actions to Candide and others in comparison to th ose of Pangloss, Voltaire shows their philosophies to be ineffective for its indifference to human suffering. Furthermore, through this Voltaire also illustrates that looking at all aspects of a situation, and not just those that support one’s own opinion, allows for one’s ability to accurately perceive the world. While Pangloss serves to represent the philosophy of optimism, Martin’s character serves as a foil to his character in order to represent how these ideas are applied to pessimism. Furthermore, hisShow MoreRelatedWhat was the historical significance of Voltaires Candide and its relevance during the Enlightenment?1445 Words   |  6 PagesWhat was the historical significance of Voltaires Candide and its relevance during the Enlightenment? In his work, Candide, Voltaire uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many aspects of European society in the eighteenth century, a period known as the Enlightenment. This Age of Reason swept through Europe, offering differing views on science, religion, and politics. The following essay will outline the philosophical theory of Pangloss, a character of the novel and suggestRead MoreCandide, And Years After Voltaire s Death1596 Words   |  7 PagesFranà §ois-Marie Arouet known as Voltaire, born 1694 was a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher. Voltaire produced works in many forms including plays, poems, novels, and many other works. His most famous work is Candide, and years after Voltaire’s death (1778) Candide is still an amazing book to many readers. The story begins in Westphalia, where the protagonist, Candide, lives in the castle of Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh. Candide is the illegitimate nephew of the Baron, the town suspectsRead More`` Candide `` : A Satirical Adventure Through The Writings Of Voltaire2648 Words   |  11 PagesThe book â€Å"Candide† takes readers on a satirical adventure through the writings of Voltaire. His novel is a humorous yet ridiculous mockery of the Old Regime ideologies in which he critiques the political, social, and religious beliefs of this time; Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz’s ideas in particular. He believed that people perceive imperfections in the world only because they do not understand God’s grand plan. Voltaire does not accept the existence of a perfect God, absence of choice and blindRead MoreMWDS Candide4817 Words   |  20 Pages Major Work Data Sheet: Candide Title: Candide Author: Voltaire Date of Publication: 1759 Genre: Satire, ‘Conte Philosophique’ (Philosophical Fiction) Biographical information about the author: Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, was born in 1694 in Paris, France. Though his father wanted him to become a lawyer, Voltaire long held a great passion for writing, and rather than going to law school, spent his time extensively composing poetry, essays, and historical studies. His widespread

Mumbai Dabbawalah Free Essays

————————————————- Dabbawala From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mumbai Dabbahwalas A  dabbawala  (Marathi:   ); also spelled as  dabbawalla  or  dabbawallah; literally meaning (â€Å"box person†), is a person in  India, most commonly found in the city of  Mumbai, who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting freshly cooked food in  lunch boxes  from the residences of the  office workers  (mostly in the suburbs), delivering it to their respective workplaces and returning the empty boxes back to the customer’s residence by using various modes of transport. Tiffin† is an old-fashioned English word for a light lunch or afternoon snack, and sometimes, by extension, for the box it is carried in. For this reason, the  dabbawalas are sometimes called  Tiffin Wallahs. We will write a custom essay sample on Mumbai Dabbawalah or any similar topic only for you Order Now Contents  Ã‚  [hide]   * 1  Etymology and historical roots * 1. 1  The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust * 2  Supply chain * 2. 1  Appearance and coding * 2. 2  Uninterrupted services * 3  Economic analysis * 3. 1  Awards and recognition * 4  In Media * 5  References * 6  Further reading * 7  External links| ————————————————- edit]Etymology and historical roots A  dabba, or Indian-style tiffin box. The word â€Å"Dabbawala† in  Marathi  when literally translated, means â€Å"one who carries a box†. â€Å"Dabba† means a box (usually a cylindrical tin or aluminium container), while â€Å"wala† is a suffix, denoting a doer or holder of the preceding word. [1]  The closest meaning of the  Dabbawala  in English would be the â€Å"lunch box delivery man†. Though this profession seems to be simple, it is actually a highly specialized service in Mumbai which is over a century old and has become integral to the cultural life of this city. The concept of the  dabbawala  originated when India was under  British rule. Many British people who came to the  colony  did not like the local food, so a service was set up to bring lunch to these people in their workplace straight from their home. Nowadays, although Indian businesspersons are the main  customers  for the dabbawalas, increasingly affluent families employ them instead for lunch delivery to their school-aged children. Even though the services provided might include cooking, it primarily consists of only delivery either home-made or in that latter case, food ordered from a restaurant. edit]The Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust This service originated in 1880. In 1890, Mahadeo Havaji Bachche and Ananth Mandra Reddy started a lunch delivery service with about 100 men. [2]In 1930, he informally attempted to unionize the  dabbawallas. Later a charitable trust was registered in 1956 under the name of  Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Trust. The co mmercial arm of this trust was registered in 1968 as  Mumbai Tiffin Box Supplier’s Association. The present President of the association is Raghunath Medge. Nowadays, the service often includes cooking of food in addition to the delivery. ———————————————— [edit]Supply chain A collecting Dabbawala on a bicycle Mumbai is a very densely populated  city of millions  with huge flows of  traffic. Because of this, lengthy commutes to workplaces are common, with many workers traveling by train. Instead of going home for  lunch  or paying for a meal and eating out every day in a  cafe, many office workers have a cooked meal sent either from their home, or sometimes from a caterer who essentially cooks and delivers the meal in lunch boxes and then have the empty lunch boxes collected and re-sent the same day. This is usually done for a monthly fee of about 450 Indian rupees. The meal is  cookedin the morning and sent in lunch boxes carried by dabbawalas, who have a complex association and hierarchy across the city. Dabbawalas in action at a  Mumbai Suburban Railway  station. A  collecting dabbawala, usually on  bicycle, collects dabbas either from a worker’s home or from the dabba makers. As many of the carriers are illiterate, the dabbas have some sort of distinguishing mark on them, such as a colour or group of symbols. The dabbawala then takes them to a designated sorting place, where he and other collecting dabbawalas sort (and sometimes bundle) the lunch boxes into groups. The grouped boxes are put in the coaches of  trains, with markings to identify the destination of the box (usually there is a designated car for the boxes). The markings include the  railway station  to unload the boxes and the building address where the box has to be delivered. At each station, boxes are handed over to a  local dabbawala, who delivers them. The empty boxes are collected after lunch or the next day and sent back to the respective houses. edit]Appearance and coding Markings: (1) abbreviations for collection points, (2) colour code for starting station, (3) number for destination station and (4) markings for handling dabbawala at destination, building and floor. [3] A typical  dabbawala  lunch. It was estimated in 2007 that the dabbawala industry was still growing by 5-10%  per annum. [4] Although t he service remains essentially low-tech, with the delivery men as the prime movers, the dabbawalas have started to embrace technology, and now allow tanuj wadhi for delivery through  SMS. 5]  An on-line poll on the web site ensures that customer feedback is given pride of place. The success of the system depends on teamwork and time management. Such is the dedication and commitment of the barely literate and barefoot delivery men (there are only a few delivery women) who form links in the extensive delivery chain, that there is no system of documentation at all. A simple colour-coding system doubles as an ID system for the destination and recipient. There are no multiple elaborate layers of management either — just three layers. Each dabbawala is also required to contribute a minimum capital in kind, in the form of two bicycles, a wooden crate for the tiffins, white cotton  kurta-pyjamas, and the white trademarkGandhi cap  (topi). The return on capital is ensured by monthly division of the earnings of each unit. [edit]Uninterrupted services The service is almost always uninterrupted, even on the days of severe weather such as  monsoons. The local dabbawalas and population know each other well, and often form bonds of trust. Dabbawalas are generally well accustomed to the local areas they cater to, and use shortcuts and other low profile routes to deliver their goods on time. Occasionally, people communicate between home and work by putting messages inside the boxes; however, with the rise of instant communication such as SMS and instant messaging, this trend is vanishing. Since 1890 ,the year in which the Dabbawalas formally came into existence ,none of its members had ever gone on a strike. This trend was broken in 2011 when the members decided to head towards Azad Maidan to support Anna Hazare in his campaign against corruption. [6] ————————————————- [edit]Economic analysis Each  dabbawala, regardless of role, gets paid about eight thousand rupees per month. In 1998,  Forbes Magazine  found its reliability to be that of a  six sigma  standard. [better  source  needed]  This implies that the Dabbawalas make less than one mistake in every 6 million deliveries, despite most of the delivery staff being illiterate. 7]  More than 175,000 to 200,000 lunch boxes get moved every day by an estimated 4,500 to 5,000  dabbawalas, all with an extremely small nominal fee and with utmost punctuality. The  BBC  has produced a  documentary  on  dabbawalas[citation needed]  and  Prince Charles, during his visit to India, visited them (he had to fit in with their schedule, since their timing was too precise to permit any flexibility). Prince Charles also invited them to his wedding withCamilla Parker Bowles  in London on 9 April 2005. Owing to the tremendous publicity, some of the dabbawalas were invited to give guest lectures in some of the top  business schools  of India, which is very unusual. Most remarkably in the eyes of many Westerners, the success of the dabbawala trade has involved no advanced technology,[8]  except for trains (and as mentioned above, SMS services for booking). The New York Times  reported in 2007 that the 125-year-old  dabbawala  industry continues to grow at a rate of 5–10% per year. [4] [edit]Awards and recognition ISO 9001:2000 certified by the  Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand  [9] ————————————————- [edit]In Media On 28 December 2011, the British series, â€Å"Top Gear† broadcasted the episode â€Å"India Special† where Clarkson, Hammond, and May travel to India for a â€Å"trade mission†. In Mumbai, they ai med to beat the efficiency of the dabbawala by using a car instead of a train. The mission fails when Clarkson, in a rush to beat the train, did not take enough cargo, leaving Hammond to carry Clarkson’s load as well as his own. Hammond accidentally loses and subsequently ruins some of his cargo, and May, trying to take a ring road approach to the station, takes a wrong turn and ends up in the countryside. [10] ————————————————- [edit]References 1. ^  Pathak R. C. (1946, Reprint 2000). The Standard Dictionary of the Hindi Language, Varanasi: Bhargava Book Depot,pp. 300,680 2. ^  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Bombay Dabbawalas go high-tech†. Physorg. com. Retrieved 2011-09-15. 3. ^  Mumbai’s amazing Dabbawalas. Rediff. com  (November 11, 2005). 4.   a  b  In India, Grandma Cooks, They Deliver  from  The New York Times 5. ^  BBC News: India’s tiffinwalas fuel economy 6. ^  http://www. thehindubusinessline. com/industry-and-economy/economy/dabbawalas-to-strike-for-the-first-time-in-120-years/article2369850. ece 7. ^  The Guardian. A Bombay lunchbox  (June 24, 2002). 8. ^  Ambe rish K Diwanji, â€Å"Dabbawallahs: Mumbai’s best managed business†, Rediff. com, November 4, 2003 9. ^  Mydabbawala. com: Accolades To Dabbawala 10. ^  http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Top_Gear:_India_Special How to cite Mumbai Dabbawalah, Essay examples

Planning Organizing Leading And Controlling-Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Planning Organizing Leading And Controlling? Answer: Introducation: The four functions of a manager are planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Leadership is one of the primary functions of management and often complex in nature. Organization wants to be innovative and experimental for which they need to adopt a flatter structure, at the same time flatter structure reduces internal control on the employees of organization which can often lead to managerial chaos (Arsenault Faerman, 2014). The paradoxical nature of leadership can be explained by The Competing Values Framework distilled by Quinn and Rorbaugh (1983). The CVF highlights the contradictions and paradoxes that are inherent in the nature of organization and managerial leadership. In the CVF the vertical axis represents flexibility and adaptability juxtaposed by stability and control .On the contrary ,horizontal axis represents the efficient internal processes of the organization like human resource management versus external focus on customers, clients and stakeholders. Organizations need to change its stable environment to a flexible and dynamic environment to respond to the demand of the external demands of the environment which makes the culture of flexibility a priority. Similarly the focus from internal control to external focus on clients and customers become mandatory for organizations (Latham, 2013). The upper left quadrant of the CVF framework represents organizational form: Clan and orientation: Collaborate. The clan organization is driven by shared goals and visions and the organizational structure is flat. This type of organization has internal focus with less rules, regulations, procedures or control .Clan leaders play a supportive and parental role to foster a culture of openness and flexibility. The employees are encouraged to work in team, collaborate, communicate and participate in decision making. On the contrary, the lower left quadrant depicts an entirely opposite concept that is hierarchy. This form of organization focuses strictly on internal control, policies and procedures. Power and position is widely respected in the organization and hierarchical leaders closely focus on organizing and controlling. Thus, these two quadrants of the CVF framework clearly depict the paradoxical nature of leadership (Lavine, 2014). The upper right hand quadrant of the CVF framework represents adhocracy or creates orientation. This means that in adhocracy organization a culture of flexibility and independence is fostered. Prototyping and experimenting in teams is encouraged in this type of organization to adapt to the changing external environment. Leaders of adhocracy organization are visionary and innovative in nature (Taylor, Cornelius Colvin, 2014). Continuous improvement, new ideas and creative thinking are fostered in leadership of the adhocracy organization. On the contrary the lower right hand quadrant of the CVF framework represents Market with orientation competes. This type of organization has external control and focuses on customers and competitors. Environment in this type of organization is highly competitive. Power, politics and external stakeholders of this type of organization play a vital role. Leaders focus on productivity, time management and delegate responsibilities among workers. The Competing Value Framework clearly depicts the paradoxical nature of leadership. When leaders focus on internal control it is risky for them as they ignore the competitive external environment. Leaders should identify and improve areas of weakness so that they do not hinder the success of strengths (Tong Arvey 2015). Reference Lists: Arsenault, P., Faerman, S. R. (2014). Embracing paradox in management: the value of the competing values framework.Organization Management Journal,11(3), 147-158. Latham, J. R. (2013). A framework for leading the transformation to performance excellence part II: CEO perspectives on leadership behaviors, individual leader characteristics, and organizational culture.Quality Management Journal, 20 (3),22. Lavine, M. (2014). Paradoxical leadership and the competing values framework.The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,50(2), 189-205. Taylor, C., J. Cornelius, C., Colvin, K. (2014). Visionary leadership and its relationship to organizational effectiveness.Leadership Organization Development Journal,35(6), 566-583. Tong, Y. K., Arvey, R. D. (2015). Managing complexity via the competing values framework.Journal of Management Development,34(6), 653-673