How tone is created in the story Of Clay are we created Essay

Tone is the attitude the author shows towards the story. And of Clay Are We Made written by Isabel Allende is a story where the author focuses on tone through setting, characterization, conflict, theme, special techniques, and diction. Where the price of human life is nothing, and the leaders are more concerned with other problems. The story takes place in Columbia, South America. For the author talks about the natural disaster taking place, and killing many leading it to create a sad tone. â€Å"In that vast cemetery where the odor of death was already attracting vultures from far away, and where the weeping of orphans and wails of the injured filled the air. †(Page 586) Hence making it obvious that the author is sad. The characters in this story are the Narrator, Rolf Carle, and Azucena. â€Å"The girl could not move, she could barely move, but she did not seem desperate, as if an ancestral resignation allowed her to accept her fate. †(Page 589) Azucena is stuck in the mud for she is pulled downwards by the corpses of her brothers and sisters, creating a sympathetic tone. Isabel clearly creates an admiring tone, when the narrator admires Rolf Carle for staying with Azucena and tries to help her. â€Å"Azucena and Rolf were by my side; I knew everything my love did to wrest the girl from her prison and help her endure her suffering. †(Page592) Therefore, the author creates an admiring and sympathetic tone through characterization. There is a conflict between Rolf and himself, when he understands that he can no longer run away from his past. â€Å"It was impossible for Rolf to flee from himself any longer, and the visceral terror he had lived as a boy suddenly invaded him. †(Page 593) Furthermore the internal conflict that takes place in the story builds up a thoughtful tone. The Theme in this short story is about the objectivity of reporting which creates a sympathetic tone. Emphasizing on the fact that even the reporter that is considered objective has feelings, and might be affected by the events and tragedies he or she sees. â€Å"Camera had a strange effect on him, I came to realize that this fictive distance seemed to protect him from his own emotions†¦your cameras lie forgotten in a closet†(page 588) In this excerpt the narrator is describing Rolf Carle, and states that when he was on air he was a different person. The camera had a strange effect on him, but later on after Azucena’s death he seemed to change and could no longer hide his emotions. The author uses special techniques in this story to build up tone. Isabelle foreshadows Azucena’s death and creates a sad tone. â€Å"A doctor stated that she had fever but added there was little he could do: antibiotics were being reserved for cases of gangrene. † (Page 592) Isabelle’s choice of words referred to as diction; is direct and filled with the narrator’s feelings. The author Isabelle Allende creates a sympathetic, admiring, sad tone through setting, characterization, conflict, theme, foreshadowing and diction. A natural disaster kills thousands of people; an objective reporter faces himself after meeting a young girl.

Residential Schools Essay

The Decolonization of Aboriginal Civilizations through Education For centuries the Canadian government’s emphasis has always been on public affairs, where the wealthy and powerful dominated and the primary inhabitants who established our lands were almost completely disregarded. In this essay, I will argue that the educational system of the Indian Residential School (IRS) failed to meet the needs of entire generations of Aboriginal peoples. Even after the system’s discontinuation, the government continued to withhold any type of resolution for an entire decade and to this day the legacy of the IRS hangs heavy in aboriginal communities across Canada. I will prove that the Canadian federal system has failed in all accounts of Aboriginal students’ educational needs by looking at the provincial education system in comparison to the residential school system. The IRS institutions were launched in the 1840s with aboriginal children as their principal target; through them the Canadian government hoped to â€Å"civilize† and conform the following generations of Aboriginals into mainstream Canadian society and Christianity. The IRS’s objective resulted in the imprudent violation of the Aboriginal peoples’ traditions and the denial of their fundamental human rights. Up until 1996, Aboriginal children suffered from substandard living conditions and were taught at an inadequate level of education by men and women who were not qualified to teach. Although much has since been changed within the aboriginal education system, the legacy of the IRS system endures. It can be argued that the federal government sought to threaten the very existence of aboriginal peoples, and to annihilate the foundations on which the aboriginal ways of life were formed by replacing them with unfamiliar contemporary practice. As a nation that prides itself of multiculturalism and the legal protection of all cultures, Canada was unable to acknowledge and conserve the diverse aboriginal cultures. It was assumed that aboriginal children were the same across Canada. Differences among tribes, bands, and individuals played no role in a federal policy that viewed aboriginal peoples as a singular object or problem that was in need of resolution. The IRS system was a dismal failure with far-reaching consequences for entire generations of aboriginal peoples. Aboriginal families were already sending their children to provincial public schools when federal policy intervened to declare IRS to be their sole educational option. The Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) guaranteed the failure of aboriginal children to compete socially or intellectually with their non-aboriginal neighbors. I will illustrate how such a system lead to a significant gap in illiteracy rates between mainstream Canadian and Aboriginal children. The IRS system operated on a half-day curriculum during which children were removed from the classroom each day to do â€Å"occupational training† involving rudimentary tasks such as farming, harvesting, sewing, and constructing. At the root of the training was the lack of financial support available to the IRS. In a detailed comparison I will discuss the federal grants received by the IRS, which were less than 25% of the grants received by provincial public schools. My comparison will further emphasize how the financial limitations on their federal budgets affected the Aboriginal children’s quality of education and overall life. Federal officials hoped to see the IRS system become self-supporting through the use of pupils raising crops, sewing clothes, and generally doing â€Å"occupational training†. Since the termination of the IRS system, the acknowledgment and progress of government compensation has helped to restore a sense of hope in the aboriginal community. Although the government’s promises of a changed and better future support their efforts in alleviating the remnants of the IRS system, aboriginal peoples now face the hardships that were endured by their preceding generations with the justified belief that education is a tainted object of fear. Throughout the majority of Canadian history, the federal government utilized the IRS system to deprive Aboriginal peoples of their rights to proper living and education and have done little to reverse their damages. Annotated Bibliography Belanger, P. (2012). Dialogic Potential in the Shadow of Canada’s Indian Residential School System. Argumentation and Advocacy, 49(1), 16. In his article, Patrick Belanger argues that although efforts are being made by the Canadian government to express their remorse to the aboriginal community, the apology they offered, presented by Stephen Harper attracted public attention that was greater in scope than the apology’s sincerity. Belanger supports his argument by exploring incidents and statements in the past made by Harper and his inaccurate historical record. Belanger highlights how earlier on Harper had denied any â€Å"history of colonialism† in Canada, albeit admitting to five centuries of institutionalized racism and aggressive assimilation. Belanger also states how Harper narrowed his apology to the IRS system and disregarded other issues such as the violation and appropriation of Native treaties and lands. This article is helpful to my research because it supports the argument that although the Canadian government is making efforts to resolve the past, most of the progress that they propose is heavily focused on the future without particular attention and mediation to actual past events. Elias, B. , Mignone, J. , Hall, M. , Hong, S. P. , Hart, L. , & Sareen, J. (2012). Trauma and Suicide Behaviour Histories Among a Canadian Indigenous Population: An Empirical Exploration of the Potential Role of Canada’s Residential School System. Social Science & Medicine, 74, 1560-1569. In this article, the authors theorize that the IRS system left a pattern of suicidal behaviors that has passed on inter-generationally. The authors support their argument by conducting an empirical study to investigate the association of the IRS system with trauma and abusive behaviors. They collected data from residential and non-residential school attendees and their analyses found that for residential school attendees, negative experiences in the school were associated with a history of abuse and for those of younger age, they were also associated with suicidal attempts. For non-residential attendees who had a parent or grandparent who was an attendee, there was also an association with a history of abuse. This history, along with age and having had parents or grandparents who were attendees, was associated with a history of suicidal thoughts and attempts. This article is helpful to my research because it helps to show how the hindrances of the IRS system still linger in today’s generation and how the damages are still not being properly reconciled today. MacDonald, D. B. , & Hudson, G. (2011). The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 45(2), 427-449. In their article, MacDonald and Hudson explore the crimes committed against Aboriginal peoples throughout the existence of the IRS and how it compares to genocide. They support their argument by considering existing international and domestic laws on genocide and applying these laws and theories meaningfully in the IRS system. This article is useful to my research because it discusses the interpretations of the crimes within the IRS system. It also uses a pool of evidence from survivors and documents to help me form concrete judgments on the crimes committed by the government. Miller, J. R. (2002). Troubled Legacy: A History of Native Residential Schools. Saskatchewan Law Review, 66, 357. In his article, J. R. Miller discusses the history of the IRS system and argues that there is not enough exposure of the scope of the system’s evolution over the centuries. Miller supports his article by tracking the historical record of the IRS system and pointing out specific faults made by the Catholic Church and the federal government. He shows how inadequate government financing dating back to the late 1800s contributed to inadequate pedagogy, insufficient child care, and other forms of abuse. This article is helpful to my research because it focuses on the consequences of the system’s financial and social deficiencies and how they caused aboriginal communities to turn against the institution of education.

Abigail’s Party

It could be said that Mike Leigh uses the comic convention of disguises at the end of Act 1 to show Beverly’s change of attitude from her disguise back to her real self. This is shown when Beverly suggests â€Å"[getting] pissed† after having an argument with Laurence. The use of the word â€Å"pissed† as a colloquialism for drunk could be seen as being symbolic of Beverly’s true social class seeping through the performance she continuously puts on throughout the night.This is humorous for the audience as Beverly spends a great deal of time and effort in the first part of Act 1 making sure that she is able to impress guests like Angela and Tony and try to feel in the same social class as Susan. She does this by adding a copy of â€Å"[placing] a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine in the magazine rack† and â€Å"[putting] on a record (Donna Summer: Love to Love you† among other things yet after one small spat shall we say with her husband represses back to having the personality the audience believes she’s trying to hide.Some might also say that Leigh’s use of fools near the end of Act 1 is to create after a very tense moment. An example of this would be after Laurence makes quite a long speech which gives us an idea of his views about people as he says that people often â€Å"just drift through life, without any real aims†. He also describes these people as being â€Å"weak†. Both these points are extremely serious and also quite angry.This means that when Angela tells a story about the time â€Å"[she] went to a party† right after these serious points, the audience feels sorry for Laurence as no one seems to be listening to him, but they also can’t help but laugh at Angela’s complete vacancy of points Laurence was making. This makes Angela a clear example of a natural fool as she has no real knowledge about when she is making an irrelevant point. It could also be said that th e comic convention of foolishness is used when Angela and Beverly doesn’t know when she is saying something inappropriate or hurtful.An example of this would be when they try to reassure Susan about her daughter Abigail’s party but end up doing the exact opposite by Beverly saying that â€Å"teenagers get over-excited† to which Angela add that â€Å"it all starts with one kiss†. This is humorous as while trying to do one thing, Beverly and Angela end up doing the exact opposite without realising it which is a classic example of a natural fool. This part of the play could also be seen as cringe comedy because of the sympathy the audience feels for innocent Susan who has been kicked out of her house by her daughter only to e made to feel even more uncomfortable in Beverly’s house with her continuous points about teenagers and their rumoured carelessness which, including the gin and tonics Beverly gives Susan, causes her to be physically sick at the v ery end of the act. Hypocrisy could be considered to be another comic convention that is shown at the end of Act 1. This is particularly something that Beverly shows more than anyone else as when she is describing teenagers as having â€Å"a drink in one hand, a cigarette in the other [and] they’re having a bit of a dance†.The hypocrisy of this is that Beverly throughout the act is continuously refilling people’s drinks, offering cigarettes to everyone and is described on page 42 as â€Å"[proceeding] to have a dance solo in front of the others†. This is humorous as it makes it plainly obvious that Beverly is a natural fool because she is, in many ways just as childish as the teenagers that were in Susan’s house. This is another case of the audience feeling superior to the characters on stage as they when seeing the play would mostly be middle class and therefore they would also probably not be as childish as Beverly or Angela.Leigh’s uses o f comic conventions are, in my opinion, used to establish a social ladder change between when the characters are first introduced and when the act finishes which is shown with Susan coming to the house with a bottle of red wine and ending up being sick in the toilet. Leigh’s clear use of comic conventions such as hypocrisy is also to breakdown the difference between sophistication and childishness. Mostly though, Leigh uses comic conventions to get the audience to question where they stand on the social ladder and if it really matters in this world.

Controversy Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Controversy Analysis - Essay Example Apple products are considered to be of high quality, exceptionally user-friendly and attractive but the price for them is mostly considered unjustified. Moreover Apple`s new models grab a lot of attention because the company managed to create some emotional image and consumers have to pay for status more the for the quality. Apple despite of giving failure in bend test, lack of apps in app store, average camera and other limitations manages to grab the top position. However seeing all these factors, researchers are of the opinions that though Apple and Samsung might compete close enough in the market. The question still remains debatable whether Samsung with its improved technology be able to replace the Apple craze? Considering the previous era, Apple was the only craze and preference of all ages of individuals. It came out undoubtedly that iPhone that had perfect design, perfect operating system, fast functioning, suitable for parties, music, business and what not. Apple with its very first smart phone continued to dominate the market, setting the trend of craze for smart phones (Mika, 2011). People used to rush in lines, and the one who succeeded purchasing the first iPhone of series was also covered by media. All this gave it a royal image, which everyone admired but couldn’t afford due to being immensely expensive. Many brands came and went before Apple iPhone in terms of being successful an giving competition to it. However Samsung remain only that one brand, which could compete with Apple products. It was able to do it with their â€Å"S† series. The smart phones â€Å"S1†, â€Å"S2†, â€Å"S3†, â€Å"S4† and â€Å"S5† have been extremely s uccessful, helping Samsung gain reputation and stability, with one after the other in its launch. Many experts claimed that the characteristics of Samsung were better than iPhone and it was far more affordable

Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors Essay

Crime rate in Accra Ghana and its contributing factors - Essay Example The recent increase in horrendous crime in Accra present an issue of major concern demanding global attention because armed robberies, rapes, murders, and burglaries occur on daily basis now. The list of horrific atrocities committed by active criminals in Accra goes on and on and the societal structure is being deteriorated more and more, eventually. Both local citizens and expatriates are badly offended and affected by this phenomenal increase in crime rate, and no one can remain oblivious to this strengthening societal evil. The growing crime pattern largely depicts the devastated economic conditions that are prevalent in Accra. With the population of the Accra city recorded to be 4.5 million as of 2011, Accra represents the largest metropolitan assembly in Ghana. (Vanderpuije). Crime is a major challenge to the administrative team of Accra owing to the high density of population in the city. As the city of Accra is considered to be the hub of Ghana due to its massive population, this place has also become the hub of criminal activities as well. Urban growth has brought with itself the problems of low economic conditions, unemployment, lack of educational oppurtunities, and poor infrastructural state. (Adu-Mireku 153-168). The combination of giant population and poor economic state proves to be lethal for the suture potential of any place. This is because many facilities needed ferociously for the giant population are cancelled out by low economic state of a city. The case of Accra is just the same because more and more employment opportunities are demanded by the local citizens and in response to minimal employment opportunities, the youth promptly falls in the silken snare of crimes. Unemployment and lay-offs are terrifically common in Accra thus boosting the crime level. The present state in the capital is that the organized crime knows no boundaries and much of the crime is accentuated by poor socio-economic conditions. The incidence of burglary, which i s an ubiquitous crime, is highly distressing while the heads of the family are outside at the workplaces. The crime of car theft is so common in Accra that the police force has repeatedly issues warnings to the local citizens to have parts of their cars engraved in an order to make their cars more identifiable once stolen, which is highly common in Accra these days. This step has slightly reduced the rate of car theft because â€Å"the most up-to-date figures put car thefts in 2008 at 131 compared with 146 the previous year.† (Wanted in Africa). The demographic and gender makeup of any place is very necessary to scrutinize when discussing crime rate and its patterns. Age, race, gender, and marital status are the most important predictors for explaining crime trends, patterns, and its distribution in the society. According to (Ghana  Police  Headquarters, cited in Appiahene-Gyamfi 20), â€Å"Accra data showed a progressive concentration of crime among young males aged bet ween eighteenand  thirty-six  years.† Most of the criminals caught by the police force are single and appear to have little or no educational knowledge. They also do not have any employment records owing to their minimal education. Age differences are also highly related to the type of criminal activities performed. Car thefts and robbery incidents are more common among the younger age group in Accra and operating burglaries involving residential places of expatriates is more common among the middle age group. A study conducted between 2004 and 2005 by (Adjei et al. 594) reveals that the most

THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING TO FACILITATE LEARNING FOR CPUT Article

THE USE OF SOCIAL NETWORKING TO FACILITATE LEARNING FOR CPUT UNDERGRADUATE IT STUDENTS - Article Example IT lecturers in the university use social sites such as the facebook and MXit to provide students with learning materials ((Chigona and Dagada, 2011). Most students are comfortable with the social platform serving as a source of learning materials and hosting discussion forums (Dasgupta, 2010). Well managed social networking sites can support learning activities in learning institutions. In this vein, social networking sites can be applied in the learning program of CPUT. The use of social networking sites can enhance learning activities in the university. This paper aims at examining the efficacy of social networks as a learning platform for undergraduate IT students at CPUT. The IT department at CPUT places communication at the core of teaching and learning for IT students in order to develop critical soft skills (Sylvester and Greenidge, 2010). Computer-mediated teaching and learning at the institution enhances communication which facilitates the development of cognitive skills of students (Alcock, 2009). The university resolved to this form of learning due to student under preparedness, lack of student engagement in the classroom, link theory and practice, and to give students the necessary 21st century skills (Greenhow, 2009). Instructors work with students in the classroom and students can the access notes from the social sites. The young generation is more experienced in tactic knowledge sharing tools via the internet that they can apply in class work (Warschauer, 2009). Recent studies indicate that about 79.31 percent of the IT students engaged in virtual learning find the system very convenient. This is due to the fact that social sites are acces sible from different places both in the institution and at home (Knight and Rochon, 2012). Over the past years, virtual learning has gained popularity among the IT students due to its ease of use. The use of technology creates flexibility in the learning process and

Bioterrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bioterrorism - Essay Example Not only were soda bottle with fruit juices, carbonated drinks or colas attacked, but also bottled mineral water, beer bottles and even cans. The terrorist had a few units where the botulism toxin was manufactured on a large scale and just a few milliliters of the toxin had to be introduced into each bottle of soda. Even milk was supposed to be attacked and milk bottles were found to be infected (Wein 2005). People across the US feel sick on consuming the contaminated food product. Some of the common symptoms that were noted included double vision, slurring of the speech, drooping of the eyelids, difficulty in swallowing, muscle weakness, berating difficulties, dry mouth, general body weakness, etc (CDC 2012). Young children and adolescents who especially consume high amounts of these drinks were the targets and required immediate hospitalization. Many of the patients with serious respiratory problems need admission to the ICU and ventilator support. The mortality rates were also hig h. In total, there were about 3200 cases of botulism reported throughout the US within the first 5 days, about 2300 people required admission to the hospital, 450 were critically ill and required ventilator support and 400 had mortalities. ... It may strongly be suspected that the people involved in these attacks may have introduced certain toxic substances into dairy animals across the US in order to demonstrate that the contamination of food and other products were linked to the animal deaths due to infections. However, the biggest evidence to demonstrate that the outbreak of botulism was a suspected terrorist attacks was the contamination of soda drinks and sodas. The water being used for manufacture and drinking water was also suspected. However, a majority of the US cities and soft drink manufacturers used chlorinated water and there are no chances that botulism contaminates naturally. 2. Describe how the outbreak characteristics would have been different in the above scenario, if the outbreak had been natural, rather than intentional. A natural outbreak of botulism already has mechanisms by which ultimately the people who consume the products are not infected. For example, water that may be contaminated would be trea ted with chlorine. Soft drinks are prepared using chlorinated water and milk is pasteurized before being packaged. Even some of the foods are disinfected before reaching the ultimate consumer (Medinet 2012). The second most startling fact that the outbreak was intentional was that it occurred through various cities in the US simultaneously. More than 10 major cities in the US were attacked and most of these cities were high consumers of soft drinks and dairy products. The last fact that suggested that this was an intentional outbreak was through various molecular laboratory tests conducted on the contaminated food product, the microorganism isolated was one particular strain, and this strain was one of the most virulent strains that produced large quantities of the

Response paper on Film 12 Monkeys Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response paper on Film 12 Monkeys - Essay Example The few survivors are left to live in tunnels underground. The earth is inhabited only by animals and insects which fearlessly wander the planet which is now free of humans. The virus which succeeded in wiping out such a big portion of mankind, apparently, didn’t have any effect on any other forms of life on earth. The main character, a prisoner called James Cole, is about to be sent back in time, to the year of 1996, to get a pure specimen of the virus to make it possible for the scientists of his present, to study the virus and discover a way of reversing the damages caused by it and eradicating it, to make the earth suitable for humans to live in. In the first attempt to travel back to 1996, Cole accidentally ends up in the year of 1990. He gets imprisoned and sent to a mental asylum when he tries to convince those around him that he has come from the future. There he is taken over by psychiatrist, Dr. Kathryn Railly. The people who belong to the present of 1996 are convinced that this man who claims to have come from the future, who believes that a certain virus is going to kill 5 billion people in 1996, is indeed insane. Apart from Dr. Railly nobody is even willing to hear him out. Even though Dr. Railly feels a strange and unexplainable attraction towards Cole, even she is convinced that he is just delusional and whatever he believes to be his reality is just a ‘meticulously constructed fantasy’ of his mind. Cole keeps having recurring dreams of a man being shot dead at an airport and that of a woman running towards the dying man. He sees it through the eyes of a child who is present at the place where the incident takes place. This dream is the link that connects the central theme of the past, the present and the future. The child’s striking resemblance to Cole makes sense only towards the end of the movie. Another inmate of the asylum, Jeffrey Goines, son of a renowned virologist, provides

Yield Curve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Yield Curve - Essay Example If we compare the price movement of the stock with that of the S&P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Industrial Average, we see a positive correlation between the stock price and the three indices. The stock prices have moved with the market in the past one year. But on the other hand, the stock price movements have been less vigorous than the three indices, which mean that the stock is not as volatile as the market. In absolute terms the sales and profitability of the firm has increased in the past 3 years. The sales have grown at a rate of 2.15% in the past three years. The profitability of the firm has grown at a rate of 10.67% in the past three years. The profit margin has also seen an increase in the past three years. It was 3.31% in 2009, 3.52% in 2010 and 3.89% in 2011. The trailing profit margin is also following this trend with a margin of 3.87% for the quarter ending July 31, 2011. According to upgrades and downgrades history, the stock was downgraded on February 10, 2011 to neutra l from buy. But analysts after that have estimated a mean price target of $60.10, which is approximately $7 above the current price. Analysts’ estimates show that the sales will show a growth at the end of this year and the next one. The analysts also expect that the EPS will also show a growth. The analysts have estimated the Wal-Mart will grow at 10.41% per annum over the next five years and the industry will grow at 14.82% per annum. The analysts recommend buying to holding on to the stock with a mean recommendation of 2.2. Part 2 Complete the following table:   Business Date Chosen Five Years Ago 30/08/2006 1-month Nominal T-bill Rate on that Date 5.16   3-month Nominal T-bill Rate on that Date 5.05 6-month Nominal T-bill Rate on that Date 5.14 1-year Nominal T-bill Rate on that Date 5.06 5-year Nominal T-bill Rate on that Date 4.72 10-year Nominal T-bond Rate on that Date 4.76 20-year Nominal T-bond Rate on that Date 4.98 30-year Nominal T-bond Rate on that Date 4.91 1. The yield curve is almost inverted on this date. This is because the trend that can be inferred from the graph is that the long-term debt instruments have a lower yield than the short-term instruments. Inverted yield curves have been an accurate forecasting tool for recessions. This type of a yield curve shows that the future interest rates will be lower because of which there is an increase in the demand for long-term bonds. And as a result the yields fall for the long-term bonds. 2. 10- Year Bond Purchased for $1000 5 Years Ago   Original Value $1000   Coupon Rate 4.79 Current 5-Year Yield to Maturity 0.98 Number of Semi-Annual Periods 10 Current 5-Year Yield to Maturity/2 0.49 Current Value $1,185.47 Gain or Loss on the Bond over the 5 years $185.47 20- Year Bond Purchased for $1000 5 Years Ago   Original Value $1000   Coupon Rate   5.00 Current 15-Year Yield to Maturity (est.) 2.70 Number of Semi-Annual Periods 30 Current 15-Year Yield to Maturity (est.)/2 1.35 Cur rent Value $1,282.14 Gain or Loss on the Bond over the 5 years $282.14 The gain for the 20 year bond is greater than the gain on the 10 year bond. It is because the value of the 20 year bond is higher than the 10 year bond. Both the bonds will be sold at a premium because the coupon rate is higher than the YTM for both bonds. The only difference is that the 20 year bond has a longer time to maturity because of which its value is higher. -----------------------------------Please Leave a Positive Feedback------------------------------------- Works Cited Brigham, E. F., & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2005). Financial Management: Theory and Practice. USA: South-Western Cengage

National Foundation for Educational Research Essay Example for Free

National Foundation for Educational Research Essay Over the last century different techniques have been used to organise children within schools according to what the public and government asked for and needed. For example after the Second World War the number and size of schools increased, the tripartite system of secondary education was introduced and there was increased competition for grammar school places Sukhnandan and Lee (1998 pg. 13). There was a drive for excellence and the 11 plus exam leant itself easily to the administration of streaming. However during the 1960s research was carried out that suggested streaming had negative social consequences for pupils, which could have been the catalyst for the shift of emphasis from excellence to equality. This resulted in a shift from streaming to mixed ability teaching that continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Ability grouping, in the form of setting and within class grouping, was sometimes used in higher year groups for linear subjects such as maths, science and modern languages but mixed ability was the main grouping method. The essay question implies that again there has been a shift, this time to setting. Boaler et al (1998) seems to imply that pressures from the government are to blame for this move; suggesting research (Gewirtz, Ball Bowe, 1993 cited in Boaler et al 1998) indicates some teachers regard the curriculum set out in the 1988 Education Reform Act as incompatible with mixed ability teaching implying that they have no choice. Todays Governments seem to be increasingly interested in achieving goals and raising standards, even if this means children missing out on the social advantages of mixed ability grouping. Setting seems to reinforce social divisions, as there are a higher proportion of boys, children of lower socio-economic status, children born in the summer and those of ethnic minority backgrounds in the lower sets (Boaler, 1997a, 1997b. Oakes, 1982. Sutton, 1966. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) whereas children in mixed ability classes tend to come from a range of different backgrounds. I find this quite extraordinary, as the Scottish Parliament has recently spent millions on an anti-racism campaign. Surely segregating the children, albeit unintentionally, will undermine the message sent out by this campaign? The essay will discuss the advantages and disadvantages research has told us concerning setting. It will begin with the discussion of the effect of teachers attitudes and expectations of the set that they are teaching. It will then discuss the limitations pupils face by being placed in sets. It will discuss the social gap created by teaching children in sets. It will also discuss the advantages to the teacher of teaching children in sets and the advantages to the pupils. The essay compares setting to mixed ability teaching on several occasions this is because mixed ability teaching was the technique used before the recommendation to use setting also there seems to only be limited research on the other forms of grouping. Research has shown there to be both advantages and disadvantages to setting. Boaler et al (1998) demonstrated many disadvantages to setting. In their paper they cited a worrying statistic Jackson (1963) 96% of teachers taught to streamed ability groups meaning they taught all the children without consideration into their individual differences. Boaler et al (1998) made reference to some of the experiences of pupils in setted mathematics classes, they reported that their teachers consistently made comments such as youre in the top set, you should be able to do this and youre in the bottom group your not going to learn anything. These attitudes are undoubtedly detrimental for the child. Boaler et al (1998) reported that children in higher sets were disadvantaged because their teachers had too high expectations of the children they were teaching, one third of the children taught in the highest sets felt they were being pushed to hard, that their lessons were paced too fast and they were under too much pressure to succeed because of their teachers expectations and the competitive ethos between pupils in higher sets. This was discovered to really upset certain children, Boaler et al, (1998) I mean I get really depressed it really depressed me, the fact that everyone in the class is like really far ahead and I just dont understand. It was reported that girls were the most affected by this citing the fact that although girls have been reported to be overtaking boys in all subjects boys still get the highest grades in mathematics (where the use of setting is dominant). The complete reverse was reported for those in lower sets, who felt that their lessons were too slow; they werent being challenged so lost interest. They believed that their teachers had no faith in them. This would then lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, they have no option but to perform to the set that they are allocated, if they are not encouraged then they will languish in the bottom sets their entire school life. This causes a self fulfilling prophecy, if they are told that theyre incapable of anything more they will begin to believe it, so they wont try to do anything more. Even if the children in the lower sets worked to be moved up into the higher sets they are unlikely to be successful. Teachers teach the children in specific sets to different tiers of an exam, so those in lower groups will not learn the same things as those in higher groups so movement between the sets would be difficult. The idea that children are taught to specific tiers is generally problematic because children are allocated to sets up to three years before they sit the exam and as mobility is rare this can have detrimental effects on their attainment if they were aware that they could only get a low grade. Boaler et al (1998) reported that only some children actually knew the implications of this. The teachers high expectations of those in higher sets and low expectations of those in lower sets causes a further social gap between the sets, those in the top sets will be called boffins and those in the lower sets will be seen as stupid. This is further intensified by the allocation of better qualified and more experienced teachers to higher sets even though research suggests (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p42 cited in Boaler et al 1998) that this type of high quality teaching is more beneficial to those children in lower sets who need more guidance as they are more easily distracted. The lower ability children will recognise that the higher ability children are seen as better and again this will have detrimental effects on their self-esteem causing them to become interested in anti-educational activities where its cool to be alienated (Hallam article from TES website, Passmore 2002) and will heighten the rift between the ability groups. In a mixed ability class for example there is a reduced distinction between childrens ability, which is beneficial to the children. There is even the suggestion that children of lower ability use those of higher ability as role models. A further problem could be caused because of a distinction made between academic and vocational subjects. Only subjects such as Maths, Science, English and Modern Languages are set while subjects such as Art and Music are mixed ability as a general rule. Children who are good at art and music may not feel as valued as those who are good at maths. The emphasis for teachers seems to be applied to children in higher sets because they get taught by the best teachers and get taught in the best classrooms. Also the children who arent interested may distract other children in these mixed ability groups. Ultimately this will lower their self-esteem and have a negative effect on their attainment in and feelings for the subject. Of cause there must be advantages to setting otherwise the First Minister wouldnt have recommended it. One major advantage is that, compared to mixed ability teaching, its easier for teachers to implement as they can pitch work at a level that is more appropriate for the level the children are at. In mixed ability teaching a large majority of the class are unsupervised while setting lends itself to whole class teaching. This would appear to benefit those children in both higher and lower ability groups. Children in higher ability groups could be neglected and left to get on with their work in mixed ability classes while in sets these children will be given more attention, the children in with less ability will feel less inferior and more confident in groups of children with similar ability. Another benefit for high ability children is that low ability children who dont want to learn will not distract them. The government is aiming to raise standards so its understandable to want to give children of higher ability a better chance. Research (Kulik and Kulik, 1982. 1987. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) shows that gifted and high ability children achieve more when placed in sets than they do when placed in mixed ability groups. Its believed by some that high ability pupils benefit in groups with similar ability because it increases motivation by providing appropriate challenges and competition. There is also the implication that the children will be like-minded, facilitating the opportunity for them to discuss and bounce ideas between each other. Possibly the main reason why the First Minister recommended this form of ability grouping is because all the research conducted in this area conflicts resulting in there being no truly consistent findings on the effect of ability grouping for pupil achievement. His recommendation could therefore be based on the fact that setting is easier for teachers so it is more likely children will be taught effectively. His main concern appears to be with raising standards and setting is easier to manage and improve than mixed ability teaching as set guidelines can be given for the attainment targets for each set. The blame for these inconsistent findings has been given to the research methods used. Theres a suggestion made that the outcome of ability grouping isnt the only thing being tested. The quality of teaching, the teachers expectations, the pupils expectations and the materials available will all effect the pupils achievement. The evidence seems to produce more disadvantages to setting than advantages. The main ones being social rather than necessarily academic. However a child will perform better if they are happy and confident. Being labelled as set 6 is not good for a childs self esteem or confidence especially when teachers reinforce the idea that they are not as good as those in higher sets. This ultimately leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy, which eventually causes the child to lose all interest. If the First Ministers objective really is to raise standards then shouldnt he be focussing on these low ability children and trying to raise their attainment levels? High ability groups also suffer because of the expectation that they are more capable than they actually there. To improve this it might be necessary to re-teach teachers on pupil differences and explain that all the children within the set are not identical. For this to occur theyd have to be a reduction in the emphasis placed on meeting targets, teachers need the flexibility to return to areas that children are finding difficult. When all said and done isnt education for the benefit child? The First Ministers recommendation needs to be accompanied by guidelines for teachers on how they can avoid the negative effects of homogeneous grouping. These guidelines should include careful planning, using well-defined targets and remaining aware of the negative effects of ability grouping (GB. Scottish Office. HMI, 1996. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) There could also be a move away from emphasis on academic achievement to more recognition of non-academic achievements to restore the self-esteem of children in lower ability groups (Elton Report, 1989. Taylor, 1993. Cited in Sukhnandan and Lee, 1998. ) His recommendation was probably the right one considering the drive to raise standards and make teachers lives easier. Because of the lack of conclusive evidence for what type of grouping is more beneficial academically for the child he was right to choose the method that could be most easily implemented and controlled. However this lack of conclusive evidence means that more research needs to be carried out to discover what the best form of grouping is. To do this researchers will have to establish what is ultimately best for the child, possibly new ways of grouping could be developed or the old ways upgraded.

Inquiry into Patient Death

Inquiry into Patient Death Case Study ‘Clinical Detective’ Table of Contents (Jump to) Introduction Objectives Background Discussion Leadership attributes Recommendation Conclusion References Total Word Count: 1601 Report for the Bunbury Regional Hospital’s quality and safety committee into the death of Josephine Wilma Troy Introduction This report has been prepared for the Bunbury Regional Hospital’s quality and safety committee, following the death of Josephine Wilma Troy on 14 February 2006. Mrs. Troy was a 63 year old lady who had been diagnosed with leukemia in 2004 and was treated with chemotherapy initially. The diagnosis was later refined to prolymphocytic leukemia, a rare chronic leukemia, as Mrs. Troy’s leukemia persisted in her bone marrow after an initial course of chemotherapy. Disease together with chemotherapy compromised her blood production capacity. She had low white blood count, low platelet count and low hemoglobin and was susceptible to infection and febrile neutropenia. Mrs. Troy had been issued with febrile neutropenia card to warn health care workers regarding her susceptibility to febrile neutropenia. On 12/02/2006, Mrs. Troy had a temperature of 38 °C and attended Bunbury Regional Hospital with her card. She was started on antibiotic and a full blood screen was ordered in view of her susceptibility to febrile neutropenia. She recorded a very low platelet count (3), which required a platelet transfusion. She was admitted to St. John of God Hospital, Bunbury for treatment of neutropenia sepsis. The following day her platelet count dropped even lower (1). An order was placed for platelet from Australian Red Cross Blood services. She was transfused with two units of blood. There was apparent improvement in her condition after the blood transfusion. In the early hours of 14/02/2006, Mrs. Troy suffered a significant deterioration in her condition. The platelets were transfused in the morning of 14/02/2006. However Mrs. Troy suffered a catastrophic intracranial bleed and did not recover from it. Objectives This report will look in to the events that lead to death of Mrs. Troy and critically evaluate the key findings. Finally it will make recommendations to reduce the reoccurrence of similar adverse event. It is expected that the recommendations will be examined and will be included in to clinical guide lines and policies by this hospital and other hospitals. Background As a registered nurse in charge of the ward the facts resulted in the adverse event need to be evaluated. Discussions have taken place with health care providers who were in charge of Mrs. Troy and patient’s records have been assessed in order to gather information for this report. Description of Models Two theories were used in examining the findings namely the Human Factors Model and the Swiss Cheese Model. According to United Kingdom health and safety executive, human factors refers to† environmental, job or organisational factors and human and individual characteristics and how they influence on individuals health and safety related behavior (Health and Safety Executive, 1999, p.2 as cited in World Health Organisation, 2009)†. It inspect the relationship between human being and the system they interact with and focus on improving productivity, job satisfaction, efficiency and minimising errors (Patients Safety First,2010). The Swiss cheese model evaluates a chain of events that lead to an error to learn from the errors (National Council of State Board of Nursing, 2011). It explains that there are many levels of defence in a system like checking of medication before administration, marking surgical site, guidelines, experienced staff etc. (NCSBN, 2011). If these defence barriers are in place it prevent the error form happening. But in reality the defences are full of holes like poor communication, lack of guidance etc. (Reason, 2000). These holes are known as latent conditions or active failures. Active failures have immediate and direct effect on the outcome as it is the unsafe act committed by the individual who are in direct contact with the patient or system (Reason, 2000). Latent conditions are resident errors within the system as they arise from the decisions made by the top management. They may stay in the system for many years before create an error. Examples include staff shortage, high workloa d. When all levels of defence are penetrated by a combination of active failure and latent conditions a patient safety incident will occur. Discussion Identifying the active failures is the first step in assessing the events leading to Mrs. Troy’s death. This will help in identifying the underlying latent conditions. Active failures Mrs. Troy’s change of diagnosis, (from acute lymphobastic leukemia to prolymphocitic leukemia) did not document in progress note. Unawareness of Health care professional involved in Mrs. Troy regarding her stay during the intensive monitoring period. She resided in Bunbury instead of Fremantle. Dr. Webb didn’t communicate his expectation of Mrs. Troy to remain in Fremantle area for easy access to hospital in case of complications. Mr. Mclntyre failed in requesting to order urgent platelet when he had a clear understanding of the relevance of a low platelet count. Even though Mrs. Troy had experienced an extreme low platelet count nothing was done by the staff to provide transfusion as soon as possible. Dr. Terren was not provided with the observation that Mrs. Troy’s temperature had raise to 40 °C. Dr. Terren didn’t mark urgent on the original request form for platelet. Mr. Bastow did not advice Dr. Terren that platelet could be obtained earlier than the next day in case of emergency. Latent conditions Failures in communication Communication breakdown has occurred at various stages of this case. Mrs. Troy’s change of diagnosis, (from acute lymphobastic leukemia to prolymphocitic leukemia) and its significance in change of life expectancy and treatment regime did not communicated to her and her family which caused lots of misunderstanding to her family. Dr. Webb didn’t communicate his expectation of Mrs. Troy to remain in Fremantle area for easy access to hospital in case of complications. There was a clear misunderstanding about discharge and discharge home between Mrs. Troy and the hospital staff. Mr. Bastow did not communicate to Dr. Terren that platelet could be obtained earlier than the next day in case of emergency. Failures in documentation Mrs. Troy’s change of diagnosis, (from acute lymphobastic leukemia to prolymphocitic leukemia) did not document in progress note. The letter to Mrs. Troy’s GP would only be placed in her file once typed following Dr. Webb’s outpatient clinic. The disadvantage with this practice was Fremantle staff did not have access to Dr. Webb’s revised management plan at the time they saw Mrs. Troy. Inadequate basic training Lack of knowledge about complication of low platelet count and procedures regarding request for urgent platelet from Australian Red Cross Blood service were evident. This resulted in delay in providing transfusion at the most critical phase. Dr. Terren was not provided with the observation that Mrs. Troy’s temperature had raise to 40 °C. Inadequate staffing There was only one medical scientist available. He was not on duty when nursing staff tried to collet platelet. This caused further delay in transfusion as platelets could not be collected before they had been properly checked by medical scientist. Leadership attributes A combination of leadership attributes are necessary to do a successful investigation of the events leading to Mrs. Troy’s death. Transformational and effective leadership is essential for success in a healthcare organisation (Huber, 2010). Flexibility is one of the attributes. The investigator should be able to adapt to a challenging situation. Be a good communicator in order to obtain as much as information about the event and to consider all options (Marshall, 2011). Open- minded to evaluate inputs from all interested parties in decision making. Be able to utilise all the resources available. Investigator should be well educated on policies procedures and organisational norms (Huber, 2010). Investigator should be a good evaluator. Good evaluation of events is necessary for an organisation to improve, to change programs and policies that are not working (Daly, Speedy and Jackson, 2004). Critical thinking and problem solving skills are essential to achieve success (Sullivan a nd Decker, 2005). Recommendation Febrile Neutropenia medical alert card should indicate patient’s current diagnosis in order to provide adequate information at critical situation and to facilitate necessary treatment. Current diagnosis, treatment plan and expected outcome should discuss with patient and family to avoid misunderstanding and to take necessary precautions in case of complications. Employment of adequate number of medical scientists to prevent delay in checking platelets before administration. A medical scientist should present in the hospital at all times. Current diagnosis and new treatment plan should indicate in patient’s progress note immediately following consultation. Basic training should be given to staff regarding complication of low platelet count, necessary observations, proper way of ordering and obtaining platelet in case of emergency. Guidelines to obtain blood product from ARCBS should be readily available in all wards. Protocols regarding platelet transfusion (like platelet transfusion should be commenced if platelet count is below 10X/L for chemotherapy patients) should be kept visible in all wards (Slichter, 2007). Conclusion Numerous preventable factors were identified during the analysis of Mrs. Troy’s case. When latent conditions combined with active failures, they created multiple holes in the defence barrier. When these holes aligned together the tragic death of Mrs. Troy occurred. More effective defence has been recommended to ensure that these holes do not open and align again. The recommendation includes proper communication, adequate documentation of current treatment plan and diagnosis, employment of adequate staff, availability of guidelines and protocols and adequate basic training of the staff. The best way to prevent errors is to identify and remedy the underlying system failures rather than blaming individual (Sullivan and Gerald, 2010). Every health care professional have the responsibility to learn, to improve and to provide safe healthcare to the patients under their care.

Harley Davidson Analysis

Harley Davidson Analysis Abstract The aim of this paper is to discuss the critical evaluation of the transformation process undertaken by Harley Davidson and analyse the contribution that the transformation made to the success or failure of the Harley Davidson. This paper also highlighted the competitive analysis of the US motorcycle industry and analsye the strategies that helps the Harley Davidson to get the sustainable competitive advantage from their 2nd most powerful competitor Suzuki. All the related strategies are described in Appendix due to word limitation. This paper also focuses on the further strategies such as EPR system, porter generic strategies etc. by which Harley Davidson would get competitive advantages before 2004. As a manager, author would also recommend differently and how they could use those strategies before 2004 to get the sustainable competitive advantages and also the successful implementation of transformation process. Aims This study involves a general evaluation of Harley Davidson to assess its transformation process. The study also attempts to assess the impact of the change on their performance. More specifically, the study aims at: Identifying Harleys transformation process Justifying the transformation process To conduct a brief literature on change management relating with Harleys case Analyse the Harleys competitive advantage from their competitor To recommend differently as a manager regarding different strategies to get the sustainable competitive advantage Methodology The report has used various books, e-journals and websites. Assumption It is assumed that information collected for the purpose of the report is correct and relevant. 1. Company Overview Harley Davidson began in Milwaukee in 1903 when two partners, Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson, developed a one cylinder motorcycle. Harley Davidson grew quickly. By 1912 Harley Davidson was exporting their motorcycles overseas. During WW1, over 20,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were used. By the end of the war there were over 2000 dealerships worldwide. After WW1, the demand for motorcycles in Europe grew rapidly. Harley Davidson became a leader in innovative engineering during the 1920s. However, during WW2 Harley Davidson prospered with sales of motorcycles to the military. They earned the coveted Army-Navy award for excellence in wartime production. After WW2, Harley Davidson transformed from producing military to recreational motorcycles. By 1953, Harley Davidson was the last remaining motorcycle manufacturer in the United States. By 1960 Harley Davidson had begun a gradual decline. Harley Davidson merged with the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF). This merger briefly raised sales. By the mid 1970s, a declining market, a sluggish economy and increasingly fierce competition from Asian manufacturers was once again taking its toll on Harley Davidson. This culminated in a 1981 management buyout saving Harley Davidson from bankruptcy. After the 1981 management buyout, Harley Davidson had to re-organize. Faced with a terrible reputation for quality and rising costs, Harley Davidson focused on marketing. It wanted to differentiate itself from its competitors by building upon its heritage and its unique American styling. These improvements turned Harley Davidson into a remarkable success story. Between 1999 and 2004 revenues grew on average 14% yearly while profits grew 23% on average yearly. Harley Davidson is now the largest American motorcycle manufacturer. They design manufacturer and sell heavyweight touring, custom and performance motorcycles. Currently the company has over 28 models of touring and custom Harley motorcycles distributed through a network of more than 1300 dealerships worldwide. They also sell motorcycle parts, accessories, clothing and collectibles. The company also makes motorcycles under the Buell nameplate. (Source: Harley-Davidson, 2009) 2. Change Management Change is constant. Change in organisations is said to often be made in three areas: 1) structure, i.e. new services or programs; 2) technology, i.e. alteration in equipment and/or automation; and 3) people, i.e. selection, hiring, training, relationships, and attitudes. Change management is a strategy designed to transition from the status quo to some new ideal way of doing business. Change management has been defined as ‘the process of continually renewing an organizations direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers (Moran and Brightman, 2001, pg. 111). According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any organisation of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently, organisational change cann ot be separated from organisational strategy, or vice versa (Burnes, 2004; Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the importance of organisational change, its management is becoming a highly required managerial skill (Senior, 2002). 3. Change Management Process Organisational change can be described as the process of moving away from a current condition to realize some future state. Change management involves managing the process of achieving this future state. According to Nickols, (2004), change can be viewed from two vantage points, that of the people making the changes and that of the people experiencing the changes. In the top-down process, or strategic viewpoint associated with management, the focus is on technical issues such as the investment required, the processes for implementing the change, how soon the change can be realised, and the outcome. In the process of bottom-up viewpoint of the employee, the focus is on what the change means to the individual, how they can cope with the change, and also how management can assist them through the transition. In this context, effective change management should be able to help individuals evolve from negative feelings such as fear and anxiety towards positive feelings about the changes be ing made. Effective change management deals with diagnosing problems and determining an alternative that involves changing the organisational structure or processes. It also identifies and deals with the individual responses to change that can hinder the success of the project. To understand change management better, we need to understand the various models and strategies that managers may follow. Some of the models include the Leadership model, Improvisational Model, Theory E versus Theory O, and the ADKAR model (Please Refer Appendix A1) 4. Harley Davidson Transformation Process The Harley Davidson transformation began with a company that was suffering. In the 10 years to 1983, Harleys market share of the 850 CC plus motorcycle category had dropped from 80% to 23%. The company was hemorrhaging cash and profits. Staffs were demoralised. The culture and environment was toxic. According to Jenkinson Sain, (2009), the Transformation process of the Harley Davidson was divided into two phases: First Phase: The first phase of the transformation involved rationalisation and tough command and control management. This was First phase of change management process. It was not enough however to create success for this positivity and commitment of Harley Davidson. For this reason Harley Davidson decided to go second phase of the change process (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). Second Phase: The second phase of the management was core-integrated marketing of Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson had to move out of financial regulation and power governance into shared marketing commitment towards vision and value based on a collective appreciation of the Harley identity (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). Harleys problems began it was the company was sub optimized internally, with many hostile management/union relationships, and failed to match the market in customer value. The Japanese did not create the problem: they exposed the problem. Many companies share this problem. They may have succeeded in avoiding the extreme problems that Harley had, often by effective first phase management. The challenge of is to move into second phase. Second phases Integrated Marketing depends first on uniting everyone around a collective vision of value that connects to the identity and purpose of the organisation/brand. This depends on a profound and shared understanding of customers and an organisation that can deliver value seamlessly throughout all customer experiences across the relationship. This also means connecting and matching spiritual with practical qualities: vision, purpose, values with information, processes, and systems (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). 5. Implementation of Transformation process There are a number of factors that affect the strategies used for change management (Please refer Appendix B1), and ultimately whether the change is effective. One set of factors is how resistant people are to change. People may resist change because they are unsure of how it affects them, misunderstand the changes, have a different assessment of the current and future environment, or simply have a low tolerance for change. A second factor is the urgency of the change. How important is it, and how critical it is to the business needs of the organization? This also affects the time frame under which the changes need to be implemented. A third factor is how ready is the organisation for the change? Does it have the skills and knowledge needed to implement the change? Finally, management will have preferred strategies for managing the change. This might be based on research and studies they have made, or from past experiences (Kotter, 1996). If we look at the various models (Please refer Appendix A1) for change, it is apparent that there are certain situations where a particular model will not be as effective. For example, I would not expect the improvisational model to work well in a rigid, autocratic environment. This model would work best in an informal, cooperative environment where the workers are encouraged to take risks and display initiative, and everyone is open to new ideas (Orlikowski and Hofman, 1997). The Theory E and Theory O models represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Theory E is more appropriate when the focus is on the short term, and the goal is to maximize the return on investment. The Theory O is more appropriate when the emphasis is on the long-term survival of the company (Beer and Nohria, 2001). The leadership and ADKAR models are both effective in situations where the change is a programmed change, and management needs to secure the buy-in and support of the employees. Both of these models emp hasize the leadership aspect of change management, and deal with the behavior of individuals in response to change. 6. Transformation Model for Harley Davidson Integrated Marketing amounts to a widening of the responsibility, potential and vision for many marketers and therefore for marketing. Rich Teerlink, CEO of Harley-Davidson, describes a leadership journey by which just such a transformation took place. Under his leadership, Harley-Davidson changed from a somewhat toxic, hierarchical, command and control organisation to something new and nimble that is the present-day foundation for its ongoing success as an Integrated Marketing leader. Initially that change did require command and control to get out of the solvency crisis. However, the sustained success that Harley Davidson has, its came from a different kind of change. Involvement, empowerment and alignment were the secret of success of Harley Davidson. The result is something called the Business Process, an extensive and ongoing programme of Harley Davidson that involved and involves everyone in the Harley Davidson from top to bottom in establishing shared values and vision, shared mission and operating philosophies, and agreed objectives and strategies (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). According to Teerlink (cited in Jenkinson Sain, 2009) and his partner in the process, consultant Lee Ozley, â€Å"Instead of demanding compliance, managers have to earn, and call upon, commitment†. The extensive change process, over several years, that led to this, known as the Joint Vision Process, also led to a radical new organisation. Instead of the conventional hierarchical structure, Harley-Davidson developed what they call a circle organisation of three overlapping elements concerned with creating demand, producing products and providing support. A leadership and strategy council at the centre has members nominated from these circles. Harley-Davidson Circle organisation Jeff Bleustein, former president of parts and accessories, describes the uniqueness of the circle organization, According to Bleustein, there are a lot of companies with self-managing work teams on the factory floor. In fact, thats where a lot of innovation comes in some companies as far away from the executive offices. He took this concept of self-managing groups and made it work at the executive level of Harley Davidson. The solution to Integrated Marketing is not to blindly copy the Harley- Davidson solution. Jeff Bleustein also give some criticism against the integrated marketing approach. He predicted that integrated marketing approach would not work, because Harley Davidson grew organically out of the process. However he has observed some other radical structures both within the marketing department of the large organisation. He was certain that to achieve best practice in Integrated Marketing there is a need for the organisation structure to grow out of and reflect the organis ing idea of value and purpose that animates the brand organisation, rather than be driven by traditional considerations of power and status (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). Ron Hutchinson, currently vice president for parts, accessories and customer service, gives a perspective on this change and its effect that relates to Integrated Marketing. He verified that this was a vision of the way people needed to be engaged in an organization, and developed a structure the Business Process of Harley Davidson that allows for theoretical alignment of an individuals job with the long-term direction of the company. Hutchinson aware of that no other organisation has built a whole process and structure around that. In the final analysis, he would say the customer service department, where a customer spent eight hours a day taking phone calls from unhappy campers, is a true test of whether the Business Process works or not. He was convinced that Harley Davidson wouldnt have the reputation that they have today in the marketplace if they didnt have front-line people excited by charismatic, visionary leadership, who can see exactly how their little piece of the organiza tion fits into the long-term strategy and direction of the company (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). According to Teerlink, to complement the organizational changes, new rewards and incentive systems were introduced. They are changing their pay system to pay for performance. They needed their people to understand empowerment. An employee must make the decision that he or she wants more training no one will tap an employee on the shoulder but once an employee are there, they will help an employee. The executive committee was the first group to go through the [Leadership] institute. They didnt want anyone to get the attitude that the executive committee doesnt have anything to learn (Nolan Kotha, 2007). Line workers were exposed to the interrelation among products, sales, and profitability. Harley Davidson also prepared nontechnical explanations of how cash flows and flexible production affected financial success. Harley made substantial changes in worker job descriptions, responsibilities, and production processes to increase job enrichment and worker empowerment. In 1993 Harley-Davidson acquired a minority interest in the Buell Motorcycle Company, a manufacturer of performance motorcycles. Through this investment Harley hoped to enter select niches within the â€Å"performance† motorcycle market, which several top executives thought would return Harley to its heritage of product innovation and development through lessons from the racetrack (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). 7. Successful Transformation process in Harley Davidson Due to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson (H-D), impressive integrated marketing strategy gave Harley Davidson a brand name that more recognized than any other company. Indeed, the strategy was not to focus on reducing the costs, or on the distribution improvement, but the main element was to create customer value. In other words, H-Ds was to give more credibility, trust, safety, desires, quality of product and service, and thus fidelity to its brand. In order to reach that goal, H-D centralised its marketing on these topics, for example creating a Harley Owners Group who rallies more than 900,000 members worldwide (Harley-Davidson, 2009). The main interest of this group is to ensure members to know each other, and become a second family who share the same interests, wills, and thoughts. This integrated marketing strategy also ensures H-D to maintain a strong relationship with its customers, and thus a strong brand name all over the world. According to customers, th e owners of H-D say that this brand understands customers needs, and also that they are always for their customer if a problem appears. These remarks can be linked with H-Ds values. According to H-D â€Å"Our values are the heart of how we run our business. They guide our actions and serve as the framework for the decisions and contributions our employees make at every level of the Company.† These values are: Be Fair, Tell the Truth, Keep Your Promises, Respect the Individual, and Encourage Intellectual Curiosity (Harley-Davidson, 2009). This integrated marketing approach can also be linked with the mission statement of H-D: â€Å"We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments (Harley-Davidson, 2009).† In order to be successful, organizations must determine clear financial and strategic objectives (Hitt et.al, 2005). Harley Davidson gained a greater market share, achieved higher product quality than rivals, maintained a stronger reputation and a better branding strategy than its competitors, increased levels of customer satisfaction and finally attained stronger customer loyalty due to successful transformation process. In the 60s and 70s Harleys strategic intent was based on â€Å"going shoulder-to-shoulder against the predominantly Japanese companies† (Harley-Davidson, 2009). Harley could not compete on the price level, and the Japanese products were of superior quality, Harley decided to compete in other areas. Their new strategy was to connect with people on an emotional level. They are not selling a product but a way of life, a way of thinking. Due to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson changed its strategy from selling products to selling community (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). And the fact that H-D has developed a Brand stretching strategy, which was an element of Harleys success in developing relationships with customers. Indeed, owners can buy other Harleys products than bikes; it means that they can be more than a biker, they can join Harleys group buying leather accessories or clothes, and even cosmetics. 8. Competitor Analysis/Strategic Issues There are four strategic issues that H-D has to face with. The most important is the European market where H-D has to increase its sales, then, linked with the first issue, there is a fierce competition with the Japanese firms such as Honda and Yamaha. The other issues are the womens market and the accessories, which are in decline. Harley-Davidson is not very famous in Europe where Harleys market share of 650 cc plus motorcycle is less than 7% (6.6%), while in North America Harley-Davidson has a huge market share (46.4%), 21.3% for the Asian market. The main industry competitors are Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW. Harley-Davidson is the market leader in the U.S. market with 46.4% market share (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). Their domestic position is quite secure however the rival companies are all aiming to increase their impact on the North American market. Rival manufacturers such as Kawasaki or BMW have all made a serious attempt to establish them at the heart of Harleys market. The Japanese bikes were often considered to be ‘sissy cycles by Harley lovers (Mitchell, 2001). This image is slowly changing and the Japanese companies are trying to ‘out Harley the Harley models. Yamaha motor USA is starting to improve its position in its various markets. The U.S. sales have increased for 47% since 1998. Harley Davidson had a tough time in creating an image for themselves particularly in the cruiser markets. Harley continues to dominate the U.S market and is also the leader in the Asian/Pacific markets with 21.3% market share (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). Yamaha is also trying to outperform Harley and is improving its mass customization skills. The Yamaha website offers a section that allows customers to design their own bike and choose the look and functionality they desire. The interface ensures customers to choose from 75 Yamaha accessory items and makes it easy for the customer to purchase the bike online. The Yamaha V Max model, the Drag Star, and the Road Star models attract customers with their slick design and technological tweaks (Yamaha, 2009). The Yamaha sports models are also very successful and the company is still maintaining a strong position in world markets. European rivals are also trying to make an impact on this lucrative market. Italys Moto Guzzi recently introduced the V11 EV custom cruiser. BMW introduced 3 models of its R1200C cruiser and thanks to clever advertising is beginning to improve its position in the U.S. and Asian markets (BMW Annual report, 2004). 9. Harley Davidsons Strategic Implementation While Harley was booming in U.S market during the late 1950s, then the market attracted Japanese motorcycles manufacturers, beginning with Honda. Other Japanese firms, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki also followed Honda. Behind Honda, Suzuki was the main competitor for Harley Davidson and while Suzuki marketed smaller, quieter and more fuel-efficient motorcycles that required little or no maintenance and were easier to handle compare to Harleys bikes. In order to get sustainable competitive advantages, Harley Davidson implemented different types of strategies that helped them become one of the most dominant motorcycle producers in the world as well as differentiate them from their one of the most powerful competitor Suzuki. As stated earlier, strategic issues that H-D has faced is increased segmentation in the motorcycle industry causing them to shift focuses in their strategy. With the purchase of Buell Motorcycle Co. they have been successfully able to increase their market segmentation by offering high quality bikes at competitive price. This allowed H-D to have the opportunity to move from a differentiation strategy to a cost/differentiation strategy (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). Harley Davidsons use of the Cost/Differentiation as a Business Level Strategy has proven highly successful since they have been in business. They have always tried to differentiate themselves from everyone else in the motorcycle industry, by producing a brand image that many competitors have failed to recreate. Harley Davidson has two different companies built into one. The first of the two companies produces motorcycles at competitive prices against their competitors. Harley Davidson demands high standards of quality and efficiency and demand lower costs, which will add to a higher quality less expensive motorcycle. Harley Davidson has done extensive research to find out information about their average customer. Harley Davidson concluded that the average motorcycle consumer is a married, college educated, 38 year-old male earning $44,250 a year and his average income is increasing. Research also shows that females represent 10% of the new purchasers (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). The second company that Harley Davidson implemented is the Costume Vehicle Operations or CVO. This company specializes and customizes the motorcycles to suit the individual owner. Harley Davidson also offers genuine parts and accessories so Harley owners can customize their own motorcycles. The CVO tries to use the differentiation strategy to beat out its competitors. The customisation of a motorcycle can prove to be very expensive and time consuming, but Harley Davidson knows that what good is a bike if you cannot show people who you really are. The customers are willing to wait an average of 1 year after placing their order to receive their customized motorcycle. Every other motorcycle manufacturer is trying to imitate Harley and their products. Harley has the top of the industry manufacturing process with large state of the art factories, and distribution, with many small and personalized, to market dealers, who sell their products (Harley-Davidson, 2009) Harley Davidsons Corporate Level Strategy tends to favour the Related Diversification Strategy. Their two primary businesses are related to each other in some manner or another. The two divisions, CVO and the Competitive Price Division, are related by using the same suppliers. Although the two divisions serve two totally different responsibilities to the consumers, they are truly related in their strengths to differentiate themselves from all the other competition. Harley Davidson does not do much promotion at the corporate level. Primarily, the local dealers do their promotion (Mitchell, 2001). Harley Davidson Motor Co. of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin has become known for translating process innovation into business revival. A significant contributor to this growth is a new-product cost management strategy, based on design for manufacturability. The company recognized that while 70% of their product cost was determined at the design function, the cost strategy went far beyond the function of product development. Their strategy was two fold, with the first linking cost management to corporate objectives, and the second validates and measures progress towards cost targets. Cross-functional integration was paramount in implementing this strategy. Cost analysts work with development team members, while design engineers worked closely with manufacturing personnel to understand cost constraints in conjunction with an understanding of how things would be made. This strategy has helped Harley-Davidson capture nearly 50% of the U.S. market for motorcycles, while achieving double-digit reven ue growth (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). 10. Recommendations As a manager author will identify the key areas of further strategic implementation by which Harley Davidson will get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry. Author identifies that Harley Davidson still not using the EPR system. Harley Davidson can use the ERP system to enhance the integrated marketing approach. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organisation. The term ERP originally referred to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. In the past, ERP systems were used in larger more industrial types of companies. However, the use of ERP has changed and is extremely comprehensive, today the term can refer to any type of company, no matter what industry it falls in. In fact, ERP systems are used in almost any type of organization large or small. In order for a software system to be considered ERP, it must provide an organization with functionality for two or more systems. While some ERP packages exist that only cover two functions for an organization Payroll Accounting, most ERP systems cover several functions. Todays ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. For instance, functions such as human resources, supply chain management, customer relations management, financials, manufacturing functions and warehouse management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all fit under one umbrella the ERP system (Tech-faq, 2009). In retrospect, author would have recommended that Harley do a few things differently. First, they could have researched the literature on what types of problems mechanistic manufacturing organizations face when they try to implement an ERP system in a highly inflexible environment. There was enough research and case analysis available to do this. While they were clearly aware of potential change resistance and the need to get all stakeholders involved, the amount of time their search and selection process required was ridiculous in todays business environment. Author speculate that the sheer demand and high prices of their product allowed them to wallow in their inefficiencies a few more years before they had to bite the bullet (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004). Second, obtaining the advice of experienced software and supply chain consultants earlier in the process probably could have saved some time and created a defined focus. Often, managers use the discipline and recommendations of consultants to reinforce the need for organizational change. With the purchasing process out of control, they could have brought in some purchasing expertise to clean up some of the mess before selecting a software system to help organize the process. According to the website, only 10% of the Harleys customers are females. But female bikers are more and more interested by bikes (www.moto-station.com). Yamaha and Kawasaki are trying to take advantage of this growing interest of female bikers and many of their ads feature women on motorcycles. Harley Davidson can take this new opportunity to get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry. Another key issue for the future is the problem of the accessories. Indeed, those products such as perfumes or cosmetics are decreasing a lot. So, Harley-Davidson should take a decision about this unsuccessful strategy of brand stretching. But, this strategy has a lot of success regards to the leatherwear and fashion area. Harley-Davidson should continue to improve this brand stretching and not leave the market of cosmetics and perfumes. Harley was successful in transforming its scattered purchasing functions into a supplier relationship management program. The supplier portal now serves 300 of its 695 suppliers. In 2004, the company was extending portal access to its accessories and merchandise suppliers. This year, Harley will have about 300 IT employees (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004). The department should manage by experienced leaders who specializing in a particular area of expertise supporting a key company function. Record earnings for the first quarter of 2004 were gained from a 13% increase in sales, the largest in its history ((Nolan Kotha, 2007)). Analysts are crediting its profit growth and margin control to improvement in its supply chain efficiencies. Harley holds a 46% market share in heavyweight motorcycles in the US. The company sponsors a club for its customers, known as the Harley Owners Group (HOG) that allows the company to do direct market research and solicit ideas for product development and testing from 600,000 members. In 2002, the company produced 28 models Harley Davidson Analysis Harley Davidson Analysis Abstract The aim of this paper is to discuss the critical evaluation of the transformation process undertaken by Harley Davidson and analyse the contribution that the transformation made to the success or failure of the Harley Davidson. This paper also highlighted the competitive analysis of the US motorcycle industry and analsye the strategies that helps the Harley Davidson to get the sustainable competitive advantage from their 2nd most powerful competitor Suzuki. All the related strategies are described in Appendix due to word limitation. This paper also focuses on the further strategies such as EPR system, porter generic strategies etc. by which Harley Davidson would get competitive advantages before 2004. As a manager, author would also recommend differently and how they could use those strategies before 2004 to get the sustainable competitive advantages and also the successful implementation of transformation process. Aims This study involves a general evaluation of Harley Davidson to assess its transformation process. The study also attempts to assess the impact of the change on their performance. More specifically, the study aims at: Identifying Harleys transformation process Justifying the transformation process To conduct a brief literature on change management relating with Harleys case Analyse the Harleys competitive advantage from their competitor To recommend differently as a manager regarding different strategies to get the sustainable competitive advantage Methodology The report has used various books, e-journals and websites. Assumption It is assumed that information collected for the purpose of the report is correct and relevant. 1. Company Overview Harley Davidson began in Milwaukee in 1903 when two partners, Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson, developed a one cylinder motorcycle. Harley Davidson grew quickly. By 1912 Harley Davidson was exporting their motorcycles overseas. During WW1, over 20,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were used. By the end of the war there were over 2000 dealerships worldwide. After WW1, the demand for motorcycles in Europe grew rapidly. Harley Davidson became a leader in innovative engineering during the 1920s. However, during WW2 Harley Davidson prospered with sales of motorcycles to the military. They earned the coveted Army-Navy award for excellence in wartime production. After WW2, Harley Davidson transformed from producing military to recreational motorcycles. By 1953, Harley Davidson was the last remaining motorcycle manufacturer in the United States. By 1960 Harley Davidson had begun a gradual decline. Harley Davidson merged with the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF). This merger briefly raised sales. By the mid 1970s, a declining market, a sluggish economy and increasingly fierce competition from Asian manufacturers was once again taking its toll on Harley Davidson. This culminated in a 1981 management buyout saving Harley Davidson from bankruptcy. After the 1981 management buyout, Harley Davidson had to re-organize. Faced with a terrible reputation for quality and rising costs, Harley Davidson focused on marketing. It wanted to differentiate itself from its competitors by building upon its heritage and its unique American styling. These improvements turned Harley Davidson into a remarkable success story. Between 1999 and 2004 revenues grew on average 14% yearly while profits grew 23% on average yearly. Harley Davidson is now the largest American motorcycle manufacturer. They design manufacturer and sell heavyweight touring, custom and performance motorcycles. Currently the company has over 28 models of touring and custom Harley motorcycles distributed through a network of more than 1300 dealerships worldwide. They also sell motorcycle parts, accessories, clothing and collectibles. The company also makes motorcycles under the Buell nameplate. (Source: Harley-Davidson, 2009) 2. Change Management Change is constant. Change in organisations is said to often be made in three areas: 1) structure, i.e. new services or programs; 2) technology, i.e. alteration in equipment and/or automation; and 3) people, i.e. selection, hiring, training, relationships, and attitudes. Change management is a strategy designed to transition from the status quo to some new ideal way of doing business. Change management has been defined as ‘the process of continually renewing an organizations direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers (Moran and Brightman, 2001, pg. 111). According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importance to any organisation of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently, organisational change cann ot be separated from organisational strategy, or vice versa (Burnes, 2004; Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the importance of organisational change, its management is becoming a highly required managerial skill (Senior, 2002). 3. Change Management Process Organisational change can be described as the process of moving away from a current condition to realize some future state. Change management involves managing the process of achieving this future state. According to Nickols, (2004), change can be viewed from two vantage points, that of the people making the changes and that of the people experiencing the changes. In the top-down process, or strategic viewpoint associated with management, the focus is on technical issues such as the investment required, the processes for implementing the change, how soon the change can be realised, and the outcome. In the process of bottom-up viewpoint of the employee, the focus is on what the change means to the individual, how they can cope with the change, and also how management can assist them through the transition. In this context, effective change management should be able to help individuals evolve from negative feelings such as fear and anxiety towards positive feelings about the changes be ing made. Effective change management deals with diagnosing problems and determining an alternative that involves changing the organisational structure or processes. It also identifies and deals with the individual responses to change that can hinder the success of the project. To understand change management better, we need to understand the various models and strategies that managers may follow. Some of the models include the Leadership model, Improvisational Model, Theory E versus Theory O, and the ADKAR model (Please Refer Appendix A1) 4. Harley Davidson Transformation Process The Harley Davidson transformation began with a company that was suffering. In the 10 years to 1983, Harleys market share of the 850 CC plus motorcycle category had dropped from 80% to 23%. The company was hemorrhaging cash and profits. Staffs were demoralised. The culture and environment was toxic. According to Jenkinson Sain, (2009), the Transformation process of the Harley Davidson was divided into two phases: First Phase: The first phase of the transformation involved rationalisation and tough command and control management. This was First phase of change management process. It was not enough however to create success for this positivity and commitment of Harley Davidson. For this reason Harley Davidson decided to go second phase of the change process (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). Second Phase: The second phase of the management was core-integrated marketing of Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson had to move out of financial regulation and power governance into shared marketing commitment towards vision and value based on a collective appreciation of the Harley identity (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). Harleys problems began it was the company was sub optimized internally, with many hostile management/union relationships, and failed to match the market in customer value. The Japanese did not create the problem: they exposed the problem. Many companies share this problem. They may have succeeded in avoiding the extreme problems that Harley had, often by effective first phase management. The challenge of is to move into second phase. Second phases Integrated Marketing depends first on uniting everyone around a collective vision of value that connects to the identity and purpose of the organisation/brand. This depends on a profound and shared understanding of customers and an organisation that can deliver value seamlessly throughout all customer experiences across the relationship. This also means connecting and matching spiritual with practical qualities: vision, purpose, values with information, processes, and systems (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). 5. Implementation of Transformation process There are a number of factors that affect the strategies used for change management (Please refer Appendix B1), and ultimately whether the change is effective. One set of factors is how resistant people are to change. People may resist change because they are unsure of how it affects them, misunderstand the changes, have a different assessment of the current and future environment, or simply have a low tolerance for change. A second factor is the urgency of the change. How important is it, and how critical it is to the business needs of the organization? This also affects the time frame under which the changes need to be implemented. A third factor is how ready is the organisation for the change? Does it have the skills and knowledge needed to implement the change? Finally, management will have preferred strategies for managing the change. This might be based on research and studies they have made, or from past experiences (Kotter, 1996). If we look at the various models (Please refer Appendix A1) for change, it is apparent that there are certain situations where a particular model will not be as effective. For example, I would not expect the improvisational model to work well in a rigid, autocratic environment. This model would work best in an informal, cooperative environment where the workers are encouraged to take risks and display initiative, and everyone is open to new ideas (Orlikowski and Hofman, 1997). The Theory E and Theory O models represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Theory E is more appropriate when the focus is on the short term, and the goal is to maximize the return on investment. The Theory O is more appropriate when the emphasis is on the long-term survival of the company (Beer and Nohria, 2001). The leadership and ADKAR models are both effective in situations where the change is a programmed change, and management needs to secure the buy-in and support of the employees. Both of these models emp hasize the leadership aspect of change management, and deal with the behavior of individuals in response to change. 6. Transformation Model for Harley Davidson Integrated Marketing amounts to a widening of the responsibility, potential and vision for many marketers and therefore for marketing. Rich Teerlink, CEO of Harley-Davidson, describes a leadership journey by which just such a transformation took place. Under his leadership, Harley-Davidson changed from a somewhat toxic, hierarchical, command and control organisation to something new and nimble that is the present-day foundation for its ongoing success as an Integrated Marketing leader. Initially that change did require command and control to get out of the solvency crisis. However, the sustained success that Harley Davidson has, its came from a different kind of change. Involvement, empowerment and alignment were the secret of success of Harley Davidson. The result is something called the Business Process, an extensive and ongoing programme of Harley Davidson that involved and involves everyone in the Harley Davidson from top to bottom in establishing shared values and vision, shared mission and operating philosophies, and agreed objectives and strategies (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). According to Teerlink (cited in Jenkinson Sain, 2009) and his partner in the process, consultant Lee Ozley, â€Å"Instead of demanding compliance, managers have to earn, and call upon, commitment†. The extensive change process, over several years, that led to this, known as the Joint Vision Process, also led to a radical new organisation. Instead of the conventional hierarchical structure, Harley-Davidson developed what they call a circle organisation of three overlapping elements concerned with creating demand, producing products and providing support. A leadership and strategy council at the centre has members nominated from these circles. Harley-Davidson Circle organisation Jeff Bleustein, former president of parts and accessories, describes the uniqueness of the circle organization, According to Bleustein, there are a lot of companies with self-managing work teams on the factory floor. In fact, thats where a lot of innovation comes in some companies as far away from the executive offices. He took this concept of self-managing groups and made it work at the executive level of Harley Davidson. The solution to Integrated Marketing is not to blindly copy the Harley- Davidson solution. Jeff Bleustein also give some criticism against the integrated marketing approach. He predicted that integrated marketing approach would not work, because Harley Davidson grew organically out of the process. However he has observed some other radical structures both within the marketing department of the large organisation. He was certain that to achieve best practice in Integrated Marketing there is a need for the organisation structure to grow out of and reflect the organis ing idea of value and purpose that animates the brand organisation, rather than be driven by traditional considerations of power and status (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). Ron Hutchinson, currently vice president for parts, accessories and customer service, gives a perspective on this change and its effect that relates to Integrated Marketing. He verified that this was a vision of the way people needed to be engaged in an organization, and developed a structure the Business Process of Harley Davidson that allows for theoretical alignment of an individuals job with the long-term direction of the company. Hutchinson aware of that no other organisation has built a whole process and structure around that. In the final analysis, he would say the customer service department, where a customer spent eight hours a day taking phone calls from unhappy campers, is a true test of whether the Business Process works or not. He was convinced that Harley Davidson wouldnt have the reputation that they have today in the marketplace if they didnt have front-line people excited by charismatic, visionary leadership, who can see exactly how their little piece of the organiza tion fits into the long-term strategy and direction of the company (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). According to Teerlink, to complement the organizational changes, new rewards and incentive systems were introduced. They are changing their pay system to pay for performance. They needed their people to understand empowerment. An employee must make the decision that he or she wants more training no one will tap an employee on the shoulder but once an employee are there, they will help an employee. The executive committee was the first group to go through the [Leadership] institute. They didnt want anyone to get the attitude that the executive committee doesnt have anything to learn (Nolan Kotha, 2007). Line workers were exposed to the interrelation among products, sales, and profitability. Harley Davidson also prepared nontechnical explanations of how cash flows and flexible production affected financial success. Harley made substantial changes in worker job descriptions, responsibilities, and production processes to increase job enrichment and worker empowerment. In 1993 Harley-Davidson acquired a minority interest in the Buell Motorcycle Company, a manufacturer of performance motorcycles. Through this investment Harley hoped to enter select niches within the â€Å"performance† motorcycle market, which several top executives thought would return Harley to its heritage of product innovation and development through lessons from the racetrack (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). 7. Successful Transformation process in Harley Davidson Due to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson (H-D), impressive integrated marketing strategy gave Harley Davidson a brand name that more recognized than any other company. Indeed, the strategy was not to focus on reducing the costs, or on the distribution improvement, but the main element was to create customer value. In other words, H-Ds was to give more credibility, trust, safety, desires, quality of product and service, and thus fidelity to its brand. In order to reach that goal, H-D centralised its marketing on these topics, for example creating a Harley Owners Group who rallies more than 900,000 members worldwide (Harley-Davidson, 2009). The main interest of this group is to ensure members to know each other, and become a second family who share the same interests, wills, and thoughts. This integrated marketing strategy also ensures H-D to maintain a strong relationship with its customers, and thus a strong brand name all over the world. According to customers, th e owners of H-D say that this brand understands customers needs, and also that they are always for their customer if a problem appears. These remarks can be linked with H-Ds values. According to H-D â€Å"Our values are the heart of how we run our business. They guide our actions and serve as the framework for the decisions and contributions our employees make at every level of the Company.† These values are: Be Fair, Tell the Truth, Keep Your Promises, Respect the Individual, and Encourage Intellectual Curiosity (Harley-Davidson, 2009). This integrated marketing approach can also be linked with the mission statement of H-D: â€Å"We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments (Harley-Davidson, 2009).† In order to be successful, organizations must determine clear financial and strategic objectives (Hitt et.al, 2005). Harley Davidson gained a greater market share, achieved higher product quality than rivals, maintained a stronger reputation and a better branding strategy than its competitors, increased levels of customer satisfaction and finally attained stronger customer loyalty due to successful transformation process. In the 60s and 70s Harleys strategic intent was based on â€Å"going shoulder-to-shoulder against the predominantly Japanese companies† (Harley-Davidson, 2009). Harley could not compete on the price level, and the Japanese products were of superior quality, Harley decided to compete in other areas. Their new strategy was to connect with people on an emotional level. They are not selling a product but a way of life, a way of thinking. Due to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson changed its strategy from selling products to selling community (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). And the fact that H-D has developed a Brand stretching strategy, which was an element of Harleys success in developing relationships with customers. Indeed, owners can buy other Harleys products than bikes; it means that they can be more than a biker, they can join Harleys group buying leather accessories or clothes, and even cosmetics. 8. Competitor Analysis/Strategic Issues There are four strategic issues that H-D has to face with. The most important is the European market where H-D has to increase its sales, then, linked with the first issue, there is a fierce competition with the Japanese firms such as Honda and Yamaha. The other issues are the womens market and the accessories, which are in decline. Harley-Davidson is not very famous in Europe where Harleys market share of 650 cc plus motorcycle is less than 7% (6.6%), while in North America Harley-Davidson has a huge market share (46.4%), 21.3% for the Asian market. The main industry competitors are Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW. Harley-Davidson is the market leader in the U.S. market with 46.4% market share (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). Their domestic position is quite secure however the rival companies are all aiming to increase their impact on the North American market. Rival manufacturers such as Kawasaki or BMW have all made a serious attempt to establish them at the heart of Harleys market. The Japanese bikes were often considered to be ‘sissy cycles by Harley lovers (Mitchell, 2001). This image is slowly changing and the Japanese companies are trying to ‘out Harley the Harley models. Yamaha motor USA is starting to improve its position in its various markets. The U.S. sales have increased for 47% since 1998. Harley Davidson had a tough time in creating an image for themselves particularly in the cruiser markets. Harley continues to dominate the U.S market and is also the leader in the Asian/Pacific markets with 21.3% market share (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). Yamaha is also trying to outperform Harley and is improving its mass customization skills. The Yamaha website offers a section that allows customers to design their own bike and choose the look and functionality they desire. The interface ensures customers to choose from 75 Yamaha accessory items and makes it easy for the customer to purchase the bike online. The Yamaha V Max model, the Drag Star, and the Road Star models attract customers with their slick design and technological tweaks (Yamaha, 2009). The Yamaha sports models are also very successful and the company is still maintaining a strong position in world markets. European rivals are also trying to make an impact on this lucrative market. Italys Moto Guzzi recently introduced the V11 EV custom cruiser. BMW introduced 3 models of its R1200C cruiser and thanks to clever advertising is beginning to improve its position in the U.S. and Asian markets (BMW Annual report, 2004). 9. Harley Davidsons Strategic Implementation While Harley was booming in U.S market during the late 1950s, then the market attracted Japanese motorcycles manufacturers, beginning with Honda. Other Japanese firms, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki also followed Honda. Behind Honda, Suzuki was the main competitor for Harley Davidson and while Suzuki marketed smaller, quieter and more fuel-efficient motorcycles that required little or no maintenance and were easier to handle compare to Harleys bikes. In order to get sustainable competitive advantages, Harley Davidson implemented different types of strategies that helped them become one of the most dominant motorcycle producers in the world as well as differentiate them from their one of the most powerful competitor Suzuki. As stated earlier, strategic issues that H-D has faced is increased segmentation in the motorcycle industry causing them to shift focuses in their strategy. With the purchase of Buell Motorcycle Co. they have been successfully able to increase their market segmentation by offering high quality bikes at competitive price. This allowed H-D to have the opportunity to move from a differentiation strategy to a cost/differentiation strategy (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). Harley Davidsons use of the Cost/Differentiation as a Business Level Strategy has proven highly successful since they have been in business. They have always tried to differentiate themselves from everyone else in the motorcycle industry, by producing a brand image that many competitors have failed to recreate. Harley Davidson has two different companies built into one. The first of the two companies produces motorcycles at competitive prices against their competitors. Harley Davidson demands high standards of quality and efficiency and demand lower costs, which will add to a higher quality less expensive motorcycle. Harley Davidson has done extensive research to find out information about their average customer. Harley Davidson concluded that the average motorcycle consumer is a married, college educated, 38 year-old male earning $44,250 a year and his average income is increasing. Research also shows that females represent 10% of the new purchasers (Henshaw Kerr, 2001). The second company that Harley Davidson implemented is the Costume Vehicle Operations or CVO. This company specializes and customizes the motorcycles to suit the individual owner. Harley Davidson also offers genuine parts and accessories so Harley owners can customize their own motorcycles. The CVO tries to use the differentiation strategy to beat out its competitors. The customisation of a motorcycle can prove to be very expensive and time consuming, but Harley Davidson knows that what good is a bike if you cannot show people who you really are. The customers are willing to wait an average of 1 year after placing their order to receive their customized motorcycle. Every other motorcycle manufacturer is trying to imitate Harley and their products. Harley has the top of the industry manufacturing process with large state of the art factories, and distribution, with many small and personalized, to market dealers, who sell their products (Harley-Davidson, 2009) Harley Davidsons Corporate Level Strategy tends to favour the Related Diversification Strategy. Their two primary businesses are related to each other in some manner or another. The two divisions, CVO and the Competitive Price Division, are related by using the same suppliers. Although the two divisions serve two totally different responsibilities to the consumers, they are truly related in their strengths to differentiate themselves from all the other competition. Harley Davidson does not do much promotion at the corporate level. Primarily, the local dealers do their promotion (Mitchell, 2001). Harley Davidson Motor Co. of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin has become known for translating process innovation into business revival. A significant contributor to this growth is a new-product cost management strategy, based on design for manufacturability. The company recognized that while 70% of their product cost was determined at the design function, the cost strategy went far beyond the function of product development. Their strategy was two fold, with the first linking cost management to corporate objectives, and the second validates and measures progress towards cost targets. Cross-functional integration was paramount in implementing this strategy. Cost analysts work with development team members, while design engineers worked closely with manufacturing personnel to understand cost constraints in conjunction with an understanding of how things would be made. This strategy has helped Harley-Davidson capture nearly 50% of the U.S. market for motorcycles, while achieving double-digit reven ue growth (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). 10. Recommendations As a manager author will identify the key areas of further strategic implementation by which Harley Davidson will get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry. Author identifies that Harley Davidson still not using the EPR system. Harley Davidson can use the ERP system to enhance the integrated marketing approach. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organisation. The term ERP originally referred to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. In the past, ERP systems were used in larger more industrial types of companies. However, the use of ERP has changed and is extremely comprehensive, today the term can refer to any type of company, no matter what industry it falls in. In fact, ERP systems are used in almost any type of organization large or small. In order for a software system to be considered ERP, it must provide an organization with functionality for two or more systems. While some ERP packages exist that only cover two functions for an organization Payroll Accounting, most ERP systems cover several functions. Todays ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. For instance, functions such as human resources, supply chain management, customer relations management, financials, manufacturing functions and warehouse management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all fit under one umbrella the ERP system (Tech-faq, 2009). In retrospect, author would have recommended that Harley do a few things differently. First, they could have researched the literature on what types of problems mechanistic manufacturing organizations face when they try to implement an ERP system in a highly inflexible environment. There was enough research and case analysis available to do this. While they were clearly aware of potential change resistance and the need to get all stakeholders involved, the amount of time their search and selection process required was ridiculous in todays business environment. Author speculate that the sheer demand and high prices of their product allowed them to wallow in their inefficiencies a few more years before they had to bite the bullet (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004). Second, obtaining the advice of experienced software and supply chain consultants earlier in the process probably could have saved some time and created a defined focus. Often, managers use the discipline and recommendations of consultants to reinforce the need for organizational change. With the purchasing process out of control, they could have brought in some purchasing expertise to clean up some of the mess before selecting a software system to help organize the process. According to the website, only 10% of the Harleys customers are females. But female bikers are more and more interested by bikes (www.moto-station.com). Yamaha and Kawasaki are trying to take advantage of this growing interest of female bikers and many of their ads feature women on motorcycles. Harley Davidson can take this new opportunity to get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry. Another key issue for the future is the problem of the accessories. Indeed, those products such as perfumes or cosmetics are decreasing a lot. So, Harley-Davidson should take a decision about this unsuccessful strategy of brand stretching. But, this strategy has a lot of success regards to the leatherwear and fashion area. Harley-Davidson should continue to improve this brand stretching and not leave the market of cosmetics and perfumes. Harley was successful in transforming its scattered purchasing functions into a supplier relationship management program. The supplier portal now serves 300 of its 695 suppliers. In 2004, the company was extending portal access to its accessories and merchandise suppliers. This year, Harley will have about 300 IT employees (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004). The department should manage by experienced leaders who specializing in a particular area of expertise supporting a key company function. Record earnings for the first quarter of 2004 were gained from a 13% increase in sales, the largest in its history ((Nolan Kotha, 2007)). Analysts are crediting its profit growth and margin control to improvement in its supply chain efficiencies. Harley holds a 46% market share in heavyweight motorcycles in the US. The company sponsors a club for its customers, known as the Harley Owners Group (HOG) that allows the company to do direct market research and solicit ideas for product development and testing from 600,000 members. In 2002, the company produced 28 models