Leadership And Change Management

Leadership And Change Management Leadership is a sequence of multidirectional, reciprocal influence processes among many individuals at different levels, in different subunits and within executive teams (Yukl 1994, p. 459). It is the way to acheive the gaol and motivate the people to do best. Leadership is the source of inspiration and it shows the action and way of acts to do. Leadership is considered as a product of complex social relationships (Dachler 1988). Current theoretical approaches on leadership research is concern about a greater extent role of leadership research which describe and give some understanding and recommends for effective leader behaviour and normative models. They focus more on explanations of leadership processes, describing leader behaviours, and present why behaviours occur in certain situations. If there are behavioural recommendations are available it means this is usually done more carefully and rarely without any philosophy that anything is possible. Current leadership theories are a ccepting the limits which have leader influence. The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.(Amos Parrish). Leader is a person who rules or guides or inspires others(Andrew, 2007). A leader is a person having personality which others want to follow him. They may not always make right decisions but they are confident in hte decion making and they know when they should change their directions and why. Even after a few mistakes a leader will not lose his or her followers confidence . Leaders are recognised, not chosen or selected. In short, leaders have something extraordinary in their personality to inspire their followers. They have the qualities that the others dont have. It is an intengible characteristic that cannot be explained. But hte truth is that when we see it, we will recognise it. Contemporary theoretical concepts have assumptions that leadership has to be understood. Following Hunts classification leadership approaches on a continuum from objectivistic to subjectivistic (Hunt 1991), they are more likely to present it as subjectivistic purpose. If traditional patterns of explanation included in the content of newer approaches, contemporary theories, these are generally have to be understood as an advantage of classical theory. There are some particular people that others follow them, they like there style, work and extraordinary activities. If we look at organisational events, there is someone who have the leadership qualities, these are people who are willing to order and tell the other people what they have to do and what to do, and have the respect of other people or gain that respect. Many images made by inspirations from leadership. They have their own identity and fame in the world. Special individuals like, Hitler, Jinnah, Gandhi or Napoleon. The story around these people show that they passed from so many crisis where acts of one person who is the leading peosonality, are meaningful and people admire to follow decision of their leader. Leaders have the ability to decide, what can do and what they have to do and they deliver thier message to others to communicate and pass thier message to others. When these are absent or cannot deliver their ideas then there may be problem. Quality of leadership is success of groups and organisations. There are so many definitions for the leadership quality. There are so many leadership qualities and four main things are to lead influence on others. Second, where there are leaders and there are followers as well. Third, leaders must appear or involve when there is crisis or special problem. The leaders have quality that they se em to come visible when an innovative action from other side is required. Fourthly, leaders are the people who know that what they have to do and what they should do in future and why they should impliment their stretegy. So, leaders are the people who have clear vision about the thinking and decision that what they should do in uncertain situations and who have the effecting personility in the actions, thoughts and positive views and thinking of others. In this case, leaders qualities are personal. It depends on individuals qualities and actions. Leader can be manager or expert. May be not all managers can be leaders and not all leaders can be managers. In literature of leadership there have been four generations of theories: Trait theories. Behavioural theories. Contingency theories. Transformational theories. Leaders are person who are able to explain themselves(Warren Bennis,2004). If we get the knowledge about the lives of people who have marked that they are the great personalities or great effective leaders, it make it clears that they have very different qualities. If we think about political personalities like Nelson Mandela, Ghandi, Margeret Thatcher and Mao Zedong then we will confirm that these are the personalities who have great impact on the followers. The general qualities or traits should be in leaders. Stogdill (1948) and Mann (1959) reported in a survey that many studies have resulted that the personality and characteristics differentiate leaders from thier followers(Stogdill,1948). John Gardner(1989) studied a large number of North American organisations and leaders and conclude that there are some qualities or behaviours that appear in a leader. These include:  · Physical, mentally and mind making stamina  · Most Intelligence and action taking judgement  · Crucuial to accept responsibility and challenges  · Task accepting  · Understanding of people and meet and fullfil their needs  · Skill in communication with people and followers.  · Courage to acheive their goal  · Courage to motivate people  · Resolution  · Trustable personality and attitude  · Courage to decieve  · Self confidence . Couraging personality  · Challenges accepting personality We mostly have heard that leaders lists concerns their apparent maleness (Rosener, 1997). Rarely, we heard that women is leader. The attributes which are related with leadership are mostly male. May be the leadership characteristics are gendered and mostly these characteristics are in male. The behaviour of leader also counts. They moved from leader to leadership. If leaders are liked and respected then they can have more support and backup from their followers. The successful leadership is based on definable and learnable behaviours i.e, leaders are made, not born. These extensive and systematic studies aimed to identify behaviors associated with effective group leadership. Blake and Mouton (1964) developed the Managerial Grid which categorised leaders based on their dominant behaviours. These researchers were making progress in indentifying what behavior distinguished from followers. These behaviours could be taught. That is why these researchers conclude that leaders are made, not born. Although behavioural approaches to leadership offered a wider scope than trait theory. Researchers are unable to identify a specific set of leadership behaviours. Contingency Theory operates on the premise that the leaders ability is based on different situations and the structure of the task at hand of the leaders (Fred Feidler,2001). Fred Feidler argued that leader effectiveness depends on two related factors one is that the leadership style and the education or situation which force the person to become a leader. He also developed a scale (LPC) to measure the degree to which a persons leadership style tended towards the followers. There are four leader behaviours: directives, supportive, participative and achievement oriented and also attempts to account for many more achievement factors than previous studies (R.J.House and T.R.Mitchells Path goal Theory (1974)). Path goal theory explain how and why certain leader behaviours result in desired outcomes. This theory suggest that leaders are basically responsible for helping their followers develop behaviours that leads to achieve their goal or desired outcome. Victor.H.Vroom and Philip. W. Yetton (1973) suggest the use of co-operative decision making in an organisational context. They create a decion tree to answer the questions about the nature of the followres and problem to be resolved. A leader can determine what sort of leadership style should be used by following the useful ideas of the decision tree. Transactional leadership is basically in contingncy and is contingnt upon performance . The leader, who have power and control over his or her employees or followers, provides new ideas or suggestions for followers to do what the leader wants. The research depends on its limitations. Transactional approach is carried on with the supply and demand situation. However, transactional leadership is less effective than others and it needs more approaches. Transactional leadership works on the assumption that people follow the person who inspires them. The latter is a process in which all leaders and followers can help and familiarise everyone with the new ideas and their thoughts (Jamess. Burns ,1978). He introduced the concepts of both transactional and transformational leadership. This approach creates significance change in the life of people and organisations. (Bernard.M. Bass, 1985) contrasts transformational leadership with transactional leadership. While transactional leadership simply involves an exchange that leads to desired outcomes, transformational leadership motivates the people to do more than expectations( Bass, 1985). Recent theories on leadership are the process in which leaders are not considered as individuals in charge of the followers, but are consider as members of a community of practice. This community can be defined that the people combine their ideas and share history and familiarise the people with the way of communication. This model of leadership do not concentrate on the concept of dominance, motivation and influence which are the primary situations of leadership. If the workgroup is one where groups of people are engaged in activity together then leadership becomes the process of coordinating efforts. In todays world of corporate America, mostly people belief that it is possible to provide the education facility to make them a leader. But In my point of view Leaders are born not made(Adison,1995 ). We mostly see the people in promoted. But in many there are no special qualities to effect or attract the people or their followers (Everett Lockhart). Nowadays we have a lot of managers and supervisor but there are few which are leader and having leadership qualities. Sure, everyone can be a good manager or supervisor but everyone by nature is a manager or supervisor(Everett Lockhart, 1991). It is not the case that every leader is a manager first, but it is also can be possible that leader can give up the information to the manager and the fact is that, everyone by nature having management and supervising personality and qualities. We often point out one person and say, now he is a leader, without thinking that how the person becomes leaders? And how they can attract the people. Sometimes we can say that it is the genetic quality which is in some of the people or we can say that it may be God gifted quality. Those people have this gene, they get to lead. They have all the ability to make decision. There is some good saying that Leadership DNA is myth. There are the natural or God gifted abilities in the leaders personality. These abilities are present in some of us other do not have these abilities and qualities which leads to leadership. The main quality in the leadership is that they have command to give up their ideas and they know how and which ideas effect the people. The desire to lead is the motivational quality that put them to lead the followers. Obviously there are people who dominate on their followers. They dominate on them because of abilities and good decision-making. They are the good and attractive leaders among us and have the excellent performance. Leadership is the collection of skills that produce results. They are able to identify the requirement of their followers and they direct them on the right way to success. Leaders can learn leadership ideas and can get all the information in so many ways for example it also provide training observation on other leaders. Self study etc. Development is the key factor which opens the leadership getaway. It is the an increase in skills or abilities and a continuously learning process through life experiences. No one can be a leader just by saying that I am a leader. Leadership needs to be work hard. The main keys of leadership are as follows; Leadership involves in the critical situations and solve them by giving ideas. So good leaders analyse and plan and adapt their plans to new conditions and opportunities. Leaders have a vision and they share their vision as well. A leader takes charge. They cannot just talk a good game to be a leader; they also can take ac and take effective action for the good of our small business and leader inspires through example. In conclusion, leaders are the effective personalities. Their act, behaviour and decision making policies show their leadership qualities. There are some classical view also in this leadership overview. In which its described that how commentators have searched for special leading personalities and behaviours and look at the different circumstances. Classical views of leadership tend to identified by position. Where, leaders become focus for answers and solution. People look at them when they dont know what to do. They give direction and have vision. Leaders have special qualities. These create the difference between leaders and followers. This leadership view stands for forms of organisations that are common in business. Where the purpose is to achieve the goal in short period of time. Classical leaders can have a more participating style. They have power and opportunity to take responsibilities. It can be a great- man model of leadership. The leadership traits or qualities discussed are honesty, forward-looking, competent, inspiring and intelligent. (Kouzes and Posner, 1984). These qualities are strongly correlated with people. Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile. (Vince Lombardi). True leaders are rare. This is because of combination of skills, personality and ambition. Some personality traits are natural in leaders roles. This is the trait theory. Extraordinary qualities in an ordinary person which help him or her to leadership. This is the Great Events Theory. People can learn leadership skills. This is the Transformational Leadership Theory(Bernard Bass and Don Clark,2010). These thories discribes the leadership traits. Leadership And Change Management Leadership And Change Management Change refers to any alteration which occurs in over all work environment of an organization. It may relate to change in technology, organizational structure, working processes, work environment, organizational policy and even the roles people play. Introduction of change in one part in an organization forces change in other part. If the change is beneficial people accept it willingly. If it is not desirable, there is great resistance. If it is of no consequence to the people, they may adopt an attitude of indifference. If they consider the change detrimental to their growth and prosperity, they may resist through counter pressure. This reaction is based not necessarily on the reality or facts but on their perception. The change therefore should be sufficiently strong enough to overcome the counter pressure. Due to advancement of technology and social environment change has become a necessity. If the change takes place, a balance or equilibrium is achieved by the organization. Thus p eople learn to expect various environment relationships within the organization. They learn adaptation. The essence is that when people feel that there is need to change, and when they change, they actually are adjusting to changed situation thus equilibrium is achieved with the changed environment. This process carries on and is never ending because change takes place continuously. 1.1 Change Processes 1Lewin developed a theoretical structure to deal with change process and carried out a program of search on change. The result was a good theory that has indeed turned out to be very practical. Recent work suggests that Lewins force-field analysis applies within a limited domain and that Lewins views are less applicable beyond the boundaries of that domain. Lewins views on change came under attack as simplistic and outmoded, but today they continue to receive strong support (Burnes 2004) 1.2 Lewins Force Field Theory of change 2As we know a wide variety of forces make organizations resistance to change and a wide variety of forces push organizational change. According to his force-field theory, these two sets of forces are always in opposition in an organization. When the forces are evenly balanced, the organization is in state of inertia and does not change. To get an organization to change, managers must find a way to increase the forces for change, reduce resistance to change or do both simultaneously. Any of these strategies will overcome inertia and cause an organization to change. The following figure illustrates Lewins theory. An organization at performance level P1 is in balance: forces for change and resistance to change are equal. Management , however ,decides that the organization should strive to achieve performance level P2.To get level P2 , managers must increase the forces for change(the increase is represented by lengthening of up-arrows) ,reduce resistance to change(the reduction is represented by shortening of down-arrows),or do both. If they pursue any of the three strategies successfully, the organization will change and reach performance level P2. 1.3 Evolutionary and Revolutionary Change in Organizations Evolutionary change is gradual, incremental and narrowly focused. Evolutionary change involves not drastic or sudden altering of the basic nature of an organizations strategy and structures but a constant attempt to improve, adapt, and adjust strategy and structures but a constant attempt to improve, adapt, and adjust strategy and structure incrementally to accommodate to changes taking place in the environments. Revolutionary Change is rapid, dramatic and broadly focused. Revolutionary change involves a bold attempt to quickly find new ways to be effective. It is likely to result in a radical shift in ways of doing things, new goals and new structure. It has repercussions at all levels in the organization-corporate, divisional, functional, group and individual. Reengineering, restructuring and innovation are three important instruments of revolutionary change. 2.0 My Organizations study 3The history of Nokia goes back 1865 when the company was established as a forest industry enterprise in south-western Finland on the Nokia River by a mining engineer called Frerik Idestam.This was not particularly remarkable event as numerous forest industry enterprise existed in Finland at the time. Later, Nokia came into contact with two enterprises that were outside the traditional forest industry. These firms were the Finnish Rubber works Ltd (founded 1898) and the Finnish Cable Works Ltd (founded in 1912).The gradual concentration of the ownership of these companies led in 1966 to the establishment of Nokia Corporation, into which all the above-mentioned companies were merged. Nokia grew fairly rapidly in 1970s and 1980s, partly because of the then-flourishing (bilateral) Soviet trade, which was boosted by the oil crises in 1973 and 1980.When the Soviet trade collapsed in 1991.Nokia ran into difficulties. Serious consideration was given to selling Nokia in its entirely to the Swedish company Ericsson , but the merger did not materialize .Nokias solution to the crises was to concentrate on the production of the electronics( and thus to abandon the production of paper and pulp ,tires , rubber boots ,cables and so on) ,to invest massively in R D and to adapt a new management strategy that relied extensively on domestic and foreign subsidiaries and subcontractors .Nokia also actively sought to become a genuinely international firm By Finnish standards , the management strategy was really revolutionary because previously companies had tried to be as self-sufficient as possible in production .Nokia decided to concentrate solely on final product and on the high tech end of the production .Nokias new strategy also involved investment in R D .Besides investing heavily in research and development , Nokia created a very useful network of research contacts between universities and itself .This cooperation has been of great benefit to both Nokia and Finnish universities. Currently , Nokia accounts for more than 20 percent of Finlands total exports and its growth contribution is estimated at 1.5 percent .Nokia alone accounts for about 40 percent of the R D expenditures by private enterprises in Finland .Moreover , it accounts for 70 percent of the stock market value of the Helsinki Stock market Almost 60 percent of Nokias workforce is currently outside Finland .Its success shows up most dramatically in its earnings and market capitalization values. Thus, in 1999 Nokias profits equaled the combined profits of its two main rivals Ericsson and Motorola and its market capitalization was over $ 200 million almost twice Finlands GDP 2.1 Nokia Environmental Analysis There are several forces surrounding the external environment of Nokia including demographic, economical, natural, social-cultural, technological and political-legal environment The Demographic Forces 4Population-wise, Europe is made up of five largish countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain) , with Germany well ahead with some 82 million inhabitants. The rest are small countries with only Netherland qualifying as middle-sized country. Urbanization is highest in Belgium and Israel and lowest in Switzerland, Finland, and Italy. This is modestly correlated with population density , the Netherlands being the most crowded , followed closely by Belgium and then three of the big five: the United Kingdom ,Germany , and Italy; the least crowded countries are Sweden and Finland The Economical Forces People in Europe are reasonably wealthy and income distribution between people is relatively even. Growing economy in Europe leads to increasing income of the people. People will buy more luxury goods (such as mobile phones).If the economy of Europe is in decline the average income will not increase and even more likely to decrease. In this case the people will have less money for luxurious goods and will spent less on mobile phones, which would be very negative for Nokia Nokia has big share in European market which is 37% which is now heavily hit by global economic recession. This has affected customers potential to buy mobile phones which in turn causes in reduction in Nokias profit. As we know technological innovation is the main competence of Nokia but due to this recession Nokia is spending less on R D budget in this way Nokia is losing its competitive advantage and may signal to move away from product differentiation which is a chief outcome of Nokia R D activity Nokia has strongly differentiated product and services at the same time Nokia is the cost leader too, as product differentiation is capital intensive while the differences with the cost savings are inevitable in these conditions these two strategies are usually incompatible .Nokia product differentiation strategy has also diminished due to the introduction of Iphone, flip phones, RAZR etc 5Nokia is not focusing on the following issues in the rapidly changing economic environment, Technological invention of a new substitute product like IPod, Iphone A foreign governments adverse economic policy affecting the companys product Diversification by high profile organization into the companys existing products Slowing down in the market growth Change in the habits and tastes of the consumers Potentially damaging demographic changes Changing technology and digital convergence 6In this rapidly changing world, Nokia is facing challenging threats on which they need to focus. The biggest threat for Nokia in Europe is the increasing mature market in Western Europe. Almost everyone in Western Europe has a mobile phone and there are a lot of competitors on the market. If Nokia wants to keep their market share it have to keep innovative, keep working on their image and most important they should keep listening to their customers. The danger of mobile phone radiation through wireless electronics is not more a fantasy. For instance, the new way to communicate per internet gains more and more fans 7Technological development of mobile phones is an important technological force because the technology in the mobile phone business is constantly innovating and developing which can lead to big chances for Nokia .There is a constant research going on within the mobile phone business to try to develop new gadgets and new systems for mobile phones. Nokia has to be aware of these developments, because when the competitors develop a new gadget that Nokia does not it means that the competitors will have a comparative advantage over Nokia. The technological development of substitutes is important when there will be a new developed substitute, it can mean that people will buy this product instead of Nokia mobile phone and so sales for Nokia will drop along with the profit 8According to Nokia due to fast speed internet information technology ,media ,music and mobile communications are converging to one industry.Net books and other computer based products are posing new threats of substitute for Nokia as phones and PCs become more homogenous. The customers are becoming more sophisticated due to rapidly changing technological environment and now Nokia can heralds the threats of mighty Microsoft who has more experience and resources as compared to relatively in-experience Nokia which may result in comparative disadvantage for Nokia. Through merger and acquisition Nokia can overcome this threat which still Nokia is not considering. Nokia is financially very strong company, there is need for the company to enter into new markets to achieve new experience and market shares by overcoming the weak rivals. Nokia new possible target can be Acer which has 11.9% share in the notebook market (Kwong, 2009) 9The advancement of new technologies is also creating new threats in the areas of security. Nokia can provide security by creating sound business practices and careful processes. The companys threat scenarios include as the worst root causes of threats: Employees who are careless and over-trusting Sub-contractors who also work with the companys competitors and implement lax security measures Poor information security that compromises data Industrial espionage by competitors, either alone or with the assistance of state investigation agencies Social engineering specifically as a means of industrial espionage Specific environments in so-called emerging markets which pose new threats to personnel security such as kidnappings and ransom activities and can give rise to large-scale armed robbery of valuable cargoes The Political-Legal Forces Finnish law European law Domestic laws in each of Nokias foreign markets International Laws Health regulations Because Nokia is a Finnish company and has its headquarters in Finland, the board of directors has to be run in accordance with The Finnish law. Since Nokia is also an international company, it has to comply with the international laws such European law, International laws are actually a collection of treaties, conventions and agreements between nations .Nokia must also comply with every foreign countrys domestic laws , which it is doing business with laws affect every aspect of Nokias business product safety, consumer protection dealing with competition , packaging and labeling and advertising etc Legislation is useless if it is not enforced. Nokia has to know the legal environment because it constitutes as the rules of the game. At the same time, it must know the political environment because it determines how the laws are enforced and indicates the direction of new legislation. Health regulations are also important because of danger of mobile phone radiation and the way Nokia has to handle with this threat. The natural Forces Environmental Issues are something that has become more important in the last few years. People are becoming more aware of pollution and want companies to do something about that. Nokia should be aware of this growing sense of awareness for the environment and should change the ways of production and should focus on producing environmental friendly products. The Social-Cultural Forces The population is very diverse. People can be divided into different subcultures that have several ways to spend their money .Subcultures could be different age groups ,interest group and immigrants .They have also different attitudes towards mobile communication Trends in the market 10During the last few years, multimedia applications, such as camera, Mp3 player or radio have become trends that reveal the shape of the future and provide many opportunities for new mobile phones. The crucial factors in fad period are features feel , look ,shape ,coolness especially for teenagers. One example of fad is Nokia N-Gage .This is a mobile phone and a game computer as well .It failed because it could not compete with big game device manufacturers such as Nintendo Consumer Buying Behaviour The changes of such personal factors like age, family life cycle or social class and changes of reference groups unquestionably influence the buying behaviour on the whole mobile phone market and corresponding on Nokias target market. Nokia should know this and has to develop solutions for all these life circumstances 11Global changes like changes of consumer needs, tastes and preferences, the emergence of new technology or nay new development in the marketing environment could potentially affect the fortunes of brand .Nokia also made a straightforward mistake: It didnt produce the clamshell-design mobile phones that customers wanted. And the customers jumped ship so that the companys sales Went down .Consequently, Nokia faced a loss of $6 billion in equity . Nokia faced a very difficult time particularly in year 2004.There were many drawbacks in Nokia strategies like failure to read market trends and act according to these trends. Also Nokia was not up to the demands of his customers which wants innovation in the designs of Nokia sets. The old days were Nokia classic style dominated the market are not returning and company needs to accept it .Nokia always insist on removing some functions or screwing up the keypad. For customers sometimes it is frustrating to have some phones with Bluetooth support but not having Wireless LAN, mp3 support but no FM, camera but no Mp3 and etc .As a result Nokia has lost customers, average sales prices have fallen .Therefore Nokia decided to change its policy in developed and emerging markets 3.0 Assessment of Implementation of change Issues 12Nokia the worlds biggest mobile manufacturer , had a bad year in 2004.Its shares lost over half their value between march and August-from a high of $23 to a low of $11 on 13 August-its sales declined and its market share, having stabilized around 35 percent for many years , fell to a low of 28.9 per cent. And in April 2004, one of its main rivals Samsung over took Nokia in market capitalization. However, some commentators thought that Nokias decline began even earlier than this. Sales peaked at  £ 30.4bn in 2000 when 128m phones were sold. In 2003 despite selling 179m handsets revenues was  £29.5bn .Samsung in contrast was able to achieve higher average selling prices for its photos, even though its volume were lower Although some thought that Nokias problems were partly because it had reached saturation in its main markets as well as facing increased competition, others laid the blame for Nokias problems at the companys strategy of focusing on high volume, lower price sales and ignoring design. The needs of increasingly fashion-conscious young mobile phone owners were ignored and Nokia was accused of missing the change from brand to style. This is surprising given that Nokia had previously been the pioneer of the handset as a fashion item with choices of colors and styles. But in 2003/2004 Nokia was sticking to its traditional monobloc or candy bar format for its handsets; meanwhile his rivals were bringing out more innovative models A particular problem was demand for folding calm-shell phones , especially in Asia and North America .Motorolas RAZR v3 model , a slim-line design with stylish aluminum shell , was a particular hit with consumers .Nokia has admitted that it failed to anticipate how successful clamshells would be .But other design features were also missing. Cameras , high-quality colour screens and user interface , that had formerly been streets ahead of the competition , were all less well developed than they needed to be .This meant that previously loyal customers were forced to turn to competitions models. I think Nokia just does not seem to have changed its look much over the last 10 years Nokias design problems happened at the same time as mobile phone service providers were wanting customized handsets as a means of increasing their own brand differentiation .Operator specific handsets are normally locked to prevent them being used by another operators network thereby attempting to boost customer loyalty as well as security .Operators in Europe and America were contracting with smaller Asians original design manufacturers to provide handsets to their own design specifications .And Vodafone , the worlds largest mobile services provider ,chose to provide its Vodafone live data services on handsets supplied by sharp. Similar problems affected the development of 3G services Japanese and South Korean companies were some years ahead in this technology .Vodafone for one choose Samsung and Sony Ericsson to supply its 3G handsets as a result .And Hutchison Whampoas there , a new entrant to the 3G market in Europe ,declined to sell Nokias handset because it lacked video-calling capabilities to embrace customized handsets was actually the result of technological factors .Given Nokias reliance on volume and sale ,it could not make different handsets for individual operators without a reorganization of its value chain .Until 2005 this was oriented towards large-scale production of relatively undifferentiated handsets .It preferred to hold off adding new features , such as high-quality colours screens or higher-resolution cameras ,until the components were available in large volumes. It also preferred to customize handsets through software .Its series 60 software, which is run on high-end phones is especial ly configurable, allowing the same hardware to support providers various services However ,the shock appeared to stimulate Nokia into making the necessary changes .It has since moved into operator-focused hardware customization despite its preferences for software customization and made the changes to its logistics system .Nokias new modular hardware designs made it easier for the company to customize products faster , and it set a target for 50 percent of its products to have alternative designs such as clamshells ,sliders and swivels by the end of 2005.One of its products the Nokia 6230 was so popular that Nokia was at times unable to meet demand and Nokia became a beehive of experiments. It launched a range of innovative handsets ,the N-series ,which had additional features as well as being phones and its 770 Internet Tablet is a hand-held computer that does not contain a phone at all but supports web-browsing e-mail and voice-over-internet calls using Google Talk software and Wi-Fi technology .Nokias then CEO Jorma Ollila has since retired directed R D to are as where Nokia had particular strengths for example radio technology and mobile-phone software ,not wasting it on technologies that the company could buy it .In 2004 it spent more than $4.8bn on R D of which 60 percent on software .At 12.8 percent of sales Nokia R D ratio was 3 percent higher than Motorolas and about twice that of Sony Nokia now the largest Camera Company in the world and convergence means that its phones provide music-playing, video-recording and computing facilities so that its competitors include Apple, Sony, Canon and other consumer-electronics firms .By may 2006 Nokia described as having a renewed spring in its step .Its market share has recovered to 35 percent 4.0 Analysis Conclusions 13In the environmental analysis, we took into account the different environmental forces which have impact on Nokia. Nokia has a very strong position in the mobile phone market in Europe. It is a strong brand because of their good quality products and powerful image and has just few weaknesses However, changes in consumer needs, preferences or too fast development of new technologies, could have negative impact on the consumer buying behavior in Nokias segment. Nokia should be prepared for it Currently Nokia sells its products in over 130 countries. The company divides the market not only into geographical and behavioral qualities of the customers are similar-to better satisfy their needs .Sometimes Nokia has a wrong strategy to keep its customers .Nokia removes some functions in its phone so that customers have the need for more .Moreover after producing new models Nokia sometimes does not focus enough on their positioning through advertising and packaging .Nevertheless, Nokia is still has the one of the best brand value in the world .The customer-based brand equity is also positive , people still prefer Nokia among the others .Customers have many associations with Nokia brand which differentiate it from other competitors .Competition is fierce and many competitors are attacking against Nokia to become the market leader .However ,Nokia has several advantages over its competitors such as economies of scales and innovative high technology .Europe is its home market ,Nokia has good possibilities to succeed and maintain its market leader position also in the future .However it cannot make misjudgments anymore. Now it is aware of the threats. It has to observe and predict what is happening in its environment and be sensitive in listening to its customers and trends

Silver Lining in the Sky A Story

Silver Lining in the Sky A Story Silver Lining in the Sky We often come to here the proverb that life is not bed of roses. It may seem the old and overused statement, but, it really is true. We often judge happiness pleasure in lives by economic prosperity, which does not holds true for all the cases. People may have a lot of money, but, are still unhappy and have forlorn because they feel that money cannot buy everything for them. and in case of lack of prosperity, the life itself became difficult because a person fails to fulfill his dreams and cannot buy or get according to his wishes. People may have experiences that may change affect their whole life and transform them to a completely different one. Such experiences can either make a person a sad loser or transform him to a successful and wise person, these results are dependent on the personality of the person and how he sees his situation o r world. I have listened about and observed a person who with the power of optimism and hopefulness changed his miserable and depressed life into the a shining example for everyone. This narrative is about one of the sons of our maid Zainab, who used to work in our since our childhood. I have not seen anyone so honest and dedicated in her life, as Zainab. When I was toddler, she was a middle aged woman and had two sons and one daughter. With the time she spent I our home and the long time for which she worked, she was considered the most entrusted servant of our house and we use to leave our house in her supervision alone and go for hours, but, never found anything misplaced or stolen. The long detail about Zainab is actually related to her son also. My mom told me that Zainab was not always the same poor and unfortunate women. She herself belonged to an uneducated and mediocre family, but, her husband was a really rich man and against the Arabic traditions, he married Zainab without consultation from his family, that’s why his family stayed away from him forever. Her husband used to work as the successful broker in stock exchange, but, unluckily, he invested in a unsuccessful company hoping that later it will bring more money to him, but his plan failed and he lost all money. This happened after eight years of his marriage with Zainab. A few weeks after that the family was travelling and they got into accident, her husband died on spot her elder son Khalid apparently bruised his legs only. The death of Khalid’s mother came as real loss for the family, with no sources of income and lack of education, unfortunately Zainab had to go to peoples home and work as maid. She used to work her in several homes to feed them. Khalid was seven, when his mother started working as maid. Initially he got really depressed, when he had to see his mother sweeping the floors of others because he himself led the life, where people used to do work for them. Khalid became really quiet after the death of his father and also really sensitive. Being the eldest he realized that he has to take care of his siblings, but, still the difference in lifestyle and daily routine put a lot of pressure on the nerves of the child. He was always a happy and confident child, but, he started having nightmares and never wanted to leave his mother’s side. He used to wonder why all this happened to him and his family. It was the time he started getting lazy and also started complaining about pain in his legs. Initially everyone felt that he could not adjust in accordance with the present circumstances. His complaining did not stop and with the passage of time deformation in his legs were observed. Later his mother took him to doctor. After looking at his condition, the dr. inquired, whether Khalid was vaccinated for polio, the mother denied any such knowledge. After tests, it was revealed that Khalid had polio and had become paralyzed for his life. It was another shock for the family, but, his strong hearted mother always consoled him and taught his to see silver lining in the sky. With the passage of time Khalid learned that life without hope s useless. But, he was still young boy at that time. Lives without father and also as a paralyzed person seem to be really difficult for him. The real shock came after world. When his father lost his fortune, most of their acquaintances left them on their ow n, like they had contact ad acquaintances with them only because of their fortune. Even their family friends left them. He used to wonder, why people stopped meeting them and coming to their house. He didn’t realize anything until his father died and they were left alone in the world and without any financial aid. Soon after his mother started working as the maid for people, the remaining people stopped their contact and even forbade their children to play with them. They also have to shift in a smaller place, which was in a slum. Their new friends and acquaintances were the people of that slum. When he got polio, even his new friends started teasing him for his present condition and used to call him by the names of handicap, disfigured and game legged. Hearing such words and being called by his fellows was a real pain for him. He was also fond of soccer before his disability; the pain that he cannot play soccer for ever brought his more pain in the heart. The main issue was that due to lack of finances, he did not have clutches or wheelchair. It means that he was totally dependent on the other for his movements and the daily routine. Most pain came from the fact that, in the slums people were illiterate and had no knowledge of disease polio. Most of the people thought that it was an infectiou s disease and told their children not to visit Khalid again. How much pain the little boy might have suffered after losing fortune, father and later his friends, who were the only hope at that difficult time? In that time of despair, his mother used to tell him that how they were facing difficulties because she was not educated and did not have awareness about the necessity and essentiality of vaccination. He learned from his mother that a person can bring positive change in his life by studying because it is only education that can bring prosperity and happiness in their lives. He started taking interest in studies, with the help of one of his employers, Zainab sent her son to a public school. Initially the little boy also got rejected from most of his fellow students, but, his hope and vision of future did not let him go astray. Whenever he felt dejected, his mother was always there to console him. In spite of behavior of his fellow students, he continued to work hard and gave proper attention to his studies. He never felt ashamed that he as to ask a question again and again because he did not get that first time. His attitude helped him to clear his concepts, which later helped him in increase in his knowledge. At the end of that academic year, Khalid got second position in his class. It was after that, he felt that behavior of his fellow students started changing with him. He was listened to and was respected by his fellow students. This made him realize that how education can help him to earn respect. But, still that was not the end of his misfortunes, the time in which he was supposed to take admission in high school, his youngest sister got really ill and the money that had been set aside for his admission in high school was spent on his sister’s treatment. His sister was playing when she tripped while running and a piece of metal entered her arm near wrist. That was a really deep cut and she lost a lot of blood. He used to love his youngest sister a lot and could not see her in such pain. He started thinking that due to lack of money he could not get admission in high school and his beloved sister could not get better treatment. They had to take their sister out of hospital early because they did not have enough money. In her home her stitches got infected, but, they could not take her to hospital. Later the infection spread in her whole arm and they had to cut it, in order to save rest of her body. This was another shock for Khalid, as he felt really helpless because he could not help his sister. He even thought of leaving further education, but, again the hope that his education can help them to survive in this world helped him to continue struggling. Khalid was really bright student and watching this, my father gave money for his admission in highs school. In high school, he worked even harder and passed with distinction. This gave him opportunity to take admission in college with scholarship. He got admission in the college with scholar ship and chose accounting as the major. In spite of being the difficult subject, his hard work helped him to make it easier for him. This path was also not easy for him. Here also, he had to bear the typical attitude of the people towards handicapped. Some totally rejected him and some gave more than necessary attention to him. He always wanted to be treated as normal people, but, his wish was never fulfilled. He showed even better result here and later on scholarship got admission in Chartered Accountancy course. The path was although difficult for him, but was not possible to achieve. He believed that his hard work could help him to achieve whatever he wanted. But, in meantime, his mother got ill and they lost their source of finances temporarily. In order to feed his family and get money for her treatment, he had to take tuitions. But, the expensive were more and the tuitions that he used to give students could not get him enough money. Because of this pressure, he had to leave studies temporarily. He requested for his semester to be frozen and took a minor job at an office. This job along with the tuitions enabled him to give proper treatment to his mother. After the period of six months his mother got recovered and went on her previous job. He continued his studies, but, still gave tuitions because it helped his sibling to get a slightly better living. His efforts and hard work gave his fruits when he passed Chartered Accountancy exam with distinction. His excellent educational record and personal traits like perseverance and hard work helped him to get job in on of the top accountancy firms of the country. He got two promotions in the time of five years and now he is working as a successful professional and his  family is leading really good life with better lifestyle. Their family still visits us occasionally and the company and the life of Khalid taught me that nothing is difficult in life. We may face difficulties and misfortunes, but, instead of giving importance to them, we should keep our focus on the silver lining in the sky. Khalid once said that his disability proved to be an actual opportunity in disguise. Because before this disability, he was not serious and determined about doing anything good with his life, later, with the encouragement of his mother he learned the importance of education and hope. He believes that life without hope is nothing. After watching him and listening about his journey, I came to realize that the difficulties in life cannot stop a person from doing anything good because when there is hope and will there is always a promise of better future.

The History of Corn Essay -- Vegetables History Historical Essays

Prior to the European encounter with the â€Å"New World,† corn played a central role in both the lives and diets of Native Americans. Numerous religious rituals and beliefs revolved around corn. Still today, corn continues to be a constant presence in the lives and diets of all Americans. Corn touches us in ways we might not even realize. Most of us eat corn everyday whether we consume corn in its natural form or in meats, soft drinks, or sweets. From thousands of years ago to the present day, corn has sustained and continues to sustain human life. Maize and corn can be used interchangeably. Maize was the term used by the Tainos who greeted Columbus in the Caribbean. Its literal meaning is â€Å"that which sustains life.† Maize soon became part of the Spanish vocabulary and then spread to other European languages. The word corn is actually a generic term for grain as used in Old English. American-style English has adapted the word to refer exclusively to maize. This usage continues today. There are hundreds of varieties of corn, however, there are just five basic families: flint, dent, popcorn, soft corn, and sweet corn. Flint corn was the type preferred in the northern states and was used in cornmeal that made dense breads and johnnycakes. It is a low yielding corn and because of demand, dent corn is replacing its production. Dent corn gets its name from its dimpled kernels. It is now the most commonly grown commercial corn and produces the traditional southern starchy sweet cornmeal. Popcorn is one we are all familiar with. When heated in hot oil, its starchy inner core bursts through it shrinking outer skin. Soft corn is not grown on a commercial scale, but is grown by specialists. It is the corn that was m... ... of microwave popcorn during commercial breaks of our favorite shows. The power is right at our fingertips. Though corn has always been part of the American diet, it has infiltrated areas of food and other goods that seem unlikely for it to belong. It can be altered to be present in both foods and products not for human consumption. Corn really can be labeled as the crop that built America. It definitely has many uses. Some could argue that it has too many uses. Works Cited: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Maize in Human Nutrition. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011. Fussell, Betty. The Story of Corn. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, INC., December 15, 2004. Wallace, Henry A. and William L. Brown. Corn and Its Early Fathers Revised Edition. Ames, Iowa: Iowa University Press, 2012.

Germany’s Inclusion as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council: Breaking Free from its Historic Subservience :: Essays Papers

Germany’s Inclusion as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council: Breaking Free from its Historic Subservience The Federal Republic of Germany, once a menacing dictatorship on a path of world domination, is currently the leading nation in the European Union and the third-leading contributor to the United Nations. Germany has come a long way since its reunification in 1990. It is now fully committed to a foreign policy based around peace, stability, and development, Germany is entirely committed to protecting the future of the global community. Germany maintains that the accomplishment of these goals resides in the strengthening of international organizations, specifically the United Nations, and for a more active participation by the German Republic. Germany’s active role in the United Nations can be reflected in its participation amongst the UN’s various arms, specifically the Security Council. Currently on its fourth term as a non-permanent member of the Council, Germany, with a majority of support from the General Assembly of the UN, has declared its willingness for a seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. In an effort to change its bloodied past, Germany hopes its inclusion as a permanent member would allow them to facilitate further peacekeeping missions with greater ease. Additionally, Germany hopes to increase the scope of international developmental projects undertaken by the UN. The idea of a unified federation of the world’s nations was first spawned by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the late 18th century. Kant believed that this federation of nations would be founded on a platform of â€Å"Universal Hospitality,† in which no person â€Å"had more right than another to a particular part of the earth† (Kant). He also expressed that no country should interfere with the government of another. In addition, larger, more powerful countries shall not use smaller countries for their own gain. Such a federation would perform as a collective security against aggressors. With the conception of the League of Nations, Kant’s doctrine became a reality in the early 20th century after World War I. The League of Nations lasted from 1920 to 1946 with 63 different countries represented (Encarta). Though it lacked the backing of superpowers, such as the United States, and did not sustain its goal of preventing another world war, the League of Nations provided a model for the United Nations in 1941. Germany’s Inclusion as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council: Breaking Free from its Historic Subservience :: Essays Papers Germany’s Inclusion as a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council: Breaking Free from its Historic Subservience The Federal Republic of Germany, once a menacing dictatorship on a path of world domination, is currently the leading nation in the European Union and the third-leading contributor to the United Nations. Germany has come a long way since its reunification in 1990. It is now fully committed to a foreign policy based around peace, stability, and development, Germany is entirely committed to protecting the future of the global community. Germany maintains that the accomplishment of these goals resides in the strengthening of international organizations, specifically the United Nations, and for a more active participation by the German Republic. Germany’s active role in the United Nations can be reflected in its participation amongst the UN’s various arms, specifically the Security Council. Currently on its fourth term as a non-permanent member of the Council, Germany, with a majority of support from the General Assembly of the UN, has declared its willingness for a seat as a permanent member of the Security Council. In an effort to change its bloodied past, Germany hopes its inclusion as a permanent member would allow them to facilitate further peacekeeping missions with greater ease. Additionally, Germany hopes to increase the scope of international developmental projects undertaken by the UN. The idea of a unified federation of the world’s nations was first spawned by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the late 18th century. Kant believed that this federation of nations would be founded on a platform of â€Å"Universal Hospitality,† in which no person â€Å"had more right than another to a particular part of the earth† (Kant). He also expressed that no country should interfere with the government of another. In addition, larger, more powerful countries shall not use smaller countries for their own gain. Such a federation would perform as a collective security against aggressors. With the conception of the League of Nations, Kant’s doctrine became a reality in the early 20th century after World War I. The League of Nations lasted from 1920 to 1946 with 63 different countries represented (Encarta). Though it lacked the backing of superpowers, such as the United States, and did not sustain its goal of preventing another world war, the League of Nations provided a model for the United Nations in 1941.

Visual Basic for Applications and Staff Members

EX. NO:1 CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1. PROBLEM STATEMENT: This project deals with the conference management system . As a students or staff members are required to view the details of conference is going to conduct in various colleges or institutions and to attend the conference to gain knowledge from the conferences . Administrator will add the details about the various conferences available to attend for various department students and staff members. User will enter into the system by giving the username and password and selection form will be displayed for the user from that department should be selected and depending up on the department the conference management system will show the details of the conferences in various place using Ms Access and Visual basic 6. 0. 2. OVERALL DESCRIPTION: 1. Login Form: Authenticate the user and administrator. 2. Department Selection Form: This form will give the options for selecting the department to get knowledge about the conference. 3. Conference view Form: This form contains the details about the conferences is conducting by various institutions and we can see the date and time for the conference. 4. Database Form: The details about the conferences going to conduct by various institutions. Administrator can add the details about the conference for the students and also for the staff members. 2. SOFTWARE REQURIEMENTS: 1. Microsoft Visual Basic 6. 0 2. Rational Rose 3. Microsoft Access. 2. 2 HARDWARE REQURIMENTS: 1. 128MB RAM 2. Pentium III Processor 3. STRUCTURE OF DATABASE: Create a table â€Å"conf† using Microsoft access with the following attributes: S. NOFIELDTYPESIZE 1. dname varchar 20 2. conferdet varchar 40 3. collname varchar 20 4. date Text 10 5. time Text 05

Psychology Analysis Essay

1. What specifically is studied in the following areas of psychology: developmental psychology, personality, neuroscience, abnormal psychology (deviance), clinical psychology, social psychology, organizational psychology and cognitive psychology? 2. Describe the different fields of sociology in terms of their focus and purpose: demography, criminology, gender studies. 3. What are the four distinguishable fields of anthropological research? Describe each field of research and what cultural phenomena each seeks to research? 4. Applying your understanding of the different fields of Social Science research, how would each of the three different areas of the Social Sciences research the following topics: violence in the stands at a soccer match; the desire to seek close loving relationships; and the function of Canadian correctional facilities. Select one of the examples and write what is central to each Social Science approach and the questions a sociologist, psychologist and an anthropologist may pose to better understand this topic. 1. Developmental Psychology: Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life. Personality: Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and its variation between individuals Neuroscience Psychology: Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Abnormal Psychology(deviance): Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought, which may or may not be understood as precipitating a mental disorder. Clinical Psychology: the branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness and disability Social Psychology: the branch of psychology that deals with social interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual. Organizational Psychology: is the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace and applies psychological theories and principles to organizations. Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive psychology is a sub discipline of psychology exploring internal mental processes. It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems. 2. Demography: It is the statistical study of the human population. Criminology: The study of crime and criminals. Gender Studies: This is the study of women studies, men studies, and the lgbt  studies. 3. The 4 distinguishable fields of anthropological research are biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology. Biological Anthropology:(other known as physical anthropology) is a scientific discipline in which research is concerned with the biological and behavioral variation of human beings, other non-human primates, and extinct hominin ancestors of the human species. Cultural Anthropology: focused on the study of cultural variation among humans and is in contrast to social anthropology which perceives cultural variation as a subset of the anthropological constant. Linguistic Anthropology: is the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life. Archaeology: The systematic study of past human life and culture by the recovery and examination of remaining material evidence, such as graves, buildings, tools, and pottery.

Up from Slavery: the Struggles and Triomphs

UP FROM SLAVERY: THE STRUGGLES AND TRIOMPHS OF BOOKER T. WASHINGTON IN A DIVIDED AMERICA Even though slavery has been abolished in the United States for decades now, the stories from the people who lived in the period when slavery was still practiced and experienced the period after the abolishment, are still alive today. The experiences Booker T. Washington tells about in Up From Slavery range from haunting to inspirational, and give a clear view on the South of the US post-Civil War from the eyes of a black man. Even though Booker T.Washington endured horrible circumstances during slavery, Washington sets an example for black people of the perseverance to succeed in the US and to overcome all obstacles. The autobiographical story in Up From Slavery starts with introducing Washington’s life on the plantation where he worked. As he phrases it himself: â€Å"[his] life had its beginnings in the midst of the most miserable, desolate, and discouraging surroundings† (Washin gton 870). These surroundings, combined with devastatingly hard labor, created an environment with no apparent end in sight, and no hope of changing the situation.This helplessness is expressed by Washington, as he sees other boys and girls his age going to school. Due to the situation in the US at the time, there were no chances at all of Washington getting into school, or as he calls it: â€Å"paradise† (Washington 872). When this no-escape-possible situation ends –when slavery is abolished– and Washington hears about a school for black people, he immediately is determined to go to the school. His persistence is recognized by the school board and he gets accepted in the school, which leads to Washington excelling in school.When he began delivering his first speeches years later, he developed himself as a leading figure, who was fighting to help black people and other minorities to grow out of the place they have been kept in for years, and advance themselves. For black people, often in circumstances not dealt with by whites, having Washington as an example as someone who defeated his personal enemies by escaping his situation, was of grave importance. To actually see someone who has climbed to the top, coming from horrible circumstances, could inspire a next generation to work as hard as Washington did.To let other black people get to the place Washington is, he not only talks about education, he also talks about always being friendly to white people. During a speech at the Atlanta Exposition in 1895, Washington talks about significance of finding allies: To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: â€Å"Cast down your bucket where you are†Ã¢â‚¬â€œcast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Washi ngton 888) By sending this message to people of every color and casting down ones bucket, Washington said that a society where black people could work themselves to the same level as whites could be created. This approach to overcoming the racial issues between black and whites did lead to criticism, with them saying that Washington was keeping discrimination in place by not addressing it fully. Especially W. E. B.Du Bois was critical of Washington’s ideas, stating that â€Å"[Washington’s] program asked blacks to give up political power, insistence on civil rights, and higher education for Negro youth† (Gibson). And while Washington did play down some issues, one must not forget the time Washington was living in, and that his speeches even without those issues more assertive leaders like Du Bois were rooting for, were controversial to many Southern white people. Booker T. Washington pushed aside the force of the Southern whites wanting to hold black people back and overcame his obstacles.Coming from an enslaved and poor position, educating and working himself up to a high position, Washington was and still is an inspiration to all people, but especially for those who are in the position he was in. He gave hope to the people that needed it most, and his words still continue to do so. WORKS CITED Gibson, Robert A. Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois: The Problem of Negro Leadership. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. http://www. yale. edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/2/78. 02. 02. x. html Washington, Booker T. Up From Slavery. New York: Doubleday, 1901.