Managing Change in Small Organisations

Managing Change in Small Organisations 1.0 Introduction The phenomenon of resistance to change is the bane of all Algerian bakeries that convey ideas for change. For the same one who proposed the change, the resistances are usually synonymous with hostility, intrigue deadlines, polarization, conflict, and impatience, many problems which are likely to frustrate and undermine the success of his bakery. Basically, resistance to change is built up from many sources; internal and external. Overcoming resistance to change requires first the identification of those sources. Therefore, the owner of the bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† is looking for an expert or professional advice in the field to help managing change effectively. Hence, as this topic is part of the international business and management studies, the owner asked me to do some research on this matter. Ultimately, this research is divided into two major chapters, first; the literature part that discusses the main topic theoretically, it starts off by mentioning the general sources that fuels the resistance to change, then it goes on with hofdstedes point of view on resistance of change based on cultural differences and it concludes by describing the steps of managing change effectively and it concludes with. The second major chapter is the analysis of the findings from the primary data that have been collected through interviews with owners and employees from the bakery El-Bahdja and owners from other bakeries. Finally this paper is closed by recommendations for the owner of the bakery El-Bahdja on how to overcome resistance to change and how to manage change. 1.1 Research objective Many companies in North Africa particularly in Algeria are making loss and could not improve the quality of their business due to the habit of following common procedures and the high consideration of sunk costs invested in the status quo and fear of new ideas. Lack of adequate information fuels rumors and gossip and adds to anxiety generally associated with change. This fear creates resistance to change in the Algerian bakery industry Therefore, this research focuses on finding the elements that fuel the resistance to change in the Algerian bakeries and specifically the bakery â€Å"El Bahdja† that produces and delivers all kind of bread and pastries. The owner of the Algerian Bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† is an old man and has been in the business since 1967. The owner is facing the closing down due to lack of managing change skills in the bakery and the high resistance from the employees to change. The main objective of this research is to provide the owner of the bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† with guidance to effectively managing change when it is in the process of the implementation. 1.2 Research questions To provide guidance on how to manage changes for the owner of the bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† it is essential first to find answers to the following research questions. â€Å"Does Algerian culture welcome changes† â€Å"Why most Algerian employers and employees resist changing?† â€Å"What are the external factors that prevent Algerian employers and employees from changing?† â€Å"How do Algerian employers and employees manage change when applying the new ideas?† 1.3 Methodology This study is based on both primary and secondary data that help in understanding the causes of resistance to change from both the Algerian owners and their employees: Secondary data collection: this method studies the previous cases that have already been written about and find the similarities between the cases. This method is very helpful in collection data from different cultures that share the same fact which is fear of new ideas that have direct effect on their traditional way of doing business. Therefore, the resources of the secondary data collection are mainly from books, journals, and internet. Primary data: a very crucial data and plays a big role in making final decision. The primary data which is better called direct communication or field research, on other word; facing people and have them interviewed. The objective of this method is to collect factual data that helps in answering the research questions of this study and this after interviewing people from the same field on the main topic. Reflection on the research methodology: the methods followed for collecting data are linked together. The secondary data helps understand the theoretical concepts that have been concluded from previous cases and compare them to the new facts. In this method; the 7s model of McKinsey, the theory versus the real world by Jeff Hiatt and Arab identity by Halim Barakat are used as starting point for facing organizational change in Algeria. The primary data is basically the tangible evidence for decision makers, observing and interviewing people are the major tools to be used in collecting data for this study. Reliability and validity of data are the essential axes of this method. Therefore, the interviews take place specifically with owners of bakeries and their employees in Algeria and in the Netherlands for comparison to see whether culture differences is a matter for resisting changing. 2.1 Why managing change? â€Å"Change is believed to happen Changes are fact and every person is subject to these changes. People faces changes regularly in their life or in their workplace, part of them deal with these changes successfully and the other part fail to adjust to change. In the life, for instance a family with children; parents believe that children are subject to changes and may change to better or to the opposite that parents plan for them, however these changes would not affect the family as a whole but the person himself. Nevertheless, in a business changes there are two ways and no third, successfully manage change or failure. In organization whether you are an executive, supervisor, coach, consultant, project team leader or manager of any type where your job is to manage people, you likely have experienced resistance to change from employees. However you may not recognize the role that you can play in preventing that resistance and leading change. Many managers do not make this connection until they have personally experience failure in an important change project (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey 2003) When asking people after this failure what would you do differently if you had the chance to do it again? The common response would be using an effective and planned change management program. The question to be risen here is whether this program is sufficient enough to prevent resistance to change from happening in the first place and deal with people emotions and pursue them to change. The real barrier to success is a lack of change management and not management program. Some people do not lack of vision or an understanding of the marketplace but they feel simply short when managing the people side of change. In other words, things did not go exactly as planned. The unexpected happened. Not managing the people side of change impacts the success and introduces risk into the business (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey 2003) Change management skills have shown that is not only mitigates these business risks, but also can avoid them entirely. Business leaders have change management skills to not only manage resistance once it appears, but to prevent it from occurring. 2.2 Change and the manager â€Å"Change needs to be portrayed in positive terms, a necessity to ensure long term survival (Robert A Poton, James McCalman, 2008)† Organizations and their managers must recognize change, in itself, is not necessarily a problem. The problem more often than not is a less than competent management o the change situation (Rob Paton, James McCalman, 2008). Managers must realize that one cannot separate strategic change management from organizational strategy; both must work in tandem. The importance of the human side of change cannot be underestimated, one must identify and manage the potential sources and causes of potential resistance and ensure that motivators are built into new processes and structures (Forlaron, 2005). i) Change competency: â€Å"Change is part of the businesss philosophy† â€Å"The successful organization is the organization that understand change will occur, expect it and support the change during implementation (Jeff Hiat, 2003) An organization that faces constant demands to change and uses effective management over and over with each new initiative may experience a fundamental shift in its operations and the behavior of its employees. Sponsors begin to repeat activities that made last change successful. Managers develop skills to support employees through the change. Employees see part of their job as navigating these new changes. Each level in the organization will have internalized its role in change and developed the skills and knowledge necessary to react to constant change. The organization has become ready and able to embrace change; it has developed change competency (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey, 2003). However, building change competency is not paved with flowers; it requires a belief that change is now an ever-present feature of organizational life (Burnes, 2004). Change competency is similar to change management, but there are several key distinction. First, change management is ultimately the use of specific activities like communication, coaching, sponsorship and training; to realize successful outcomes with business changes. Change competency is not a specific activity; it is an organizations ability to react to change over and over again Second, while change management can be taught and learned, change competency requires a fundamental shift in culture and values. It must be simply part of day-to-day operations and cannot be simply demonstrated in training or instructional material. Third, change competency must penetrate every facet and level of the organization. This distinction especially relates to the front-line employee. An organization may have expertise in change management in its sponsors, consultants and change management. However, the front-line employees are the ones whose day-to-day activities are changing. To build change competency into the organization, you can take the first step by ensuring that solid change management practices are applied consistently for each change initiative. The second step is to begin building the following competencies into your organization (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey, 2003) ii) Change and Human Resource Technology has played a major role in ensuring that a coherent business approach and managerial performance can be maintained from a reduce resource base. The key success in such moves has been the mobilization of the human resource (Pettigrew and Whipp, 1993). 2.3 Managing resistance once it appears â€Å"Believing in changes to be happening is a key principle to reducing resistance to change† People are often afraid of new ideas. They may feel threatened by new ideas and fear that they will not be able to cope with a change in working patterns that is demanded of them or that they will not understand how to use a new technology; example of that many older people are afraid of materials that they are not able to handle and may make them calling the technician every moment (Tony proctor 2005). The fear of new ideas is a natural feeling; people live with this fear and it not a bad manner. Fear of new ideas becomes negative when is surrounded with sources that increase the tension of fear that leads to high level of resistance and consequently aggravation of the failure of any project. Change more often than not produces suspicions and resistance. To many it implies a move from familiar ways-mastered over long periods of time- to an unknown and threatening environment. In order to deal effectively with resistance to change, people must understand its causes (Jack Rabin, Marcia B. Steinhauer, 1988). Lawrence and Greiner 1970, identify the main sources that feed the resistance of change. Fear of the unknown, lack of information, threats of status, fear of failure, and lack of perceived benefits. Regarding the first group of sources of resistance, change starts with the perception of its need, so a wrong initial perception is the first barrier to change. This first group is called ‘distorted perception, interpretation barriers and vague strategic priorities (Pardo del Val, Manuela Martà ­nez Fuentes). It includes: (a) Inability of the company to look into the future with clarity (Barr et al., 1992; Krà ¼ger, 1996; Rumelt, 1995); (b) Denial or refusal to accept any information that is not expected or desired (Barr et al., 1992; Rumelt, 1995; Starbuck et al., 1978); (c) Perpetuation of ideas, meaning the tendency to go on with the present thoughts although the situation has changed (Barr et al., 1992; Krà ¼ger, 1996; Rumelt, 1995; Zeffane, 1996); (d) Implicit assumptions, which are not discussed due to its implicit character and therefore distort reality (Starbuck, Greve and Hedberg, 1978); (e) Communication barriers, that leads to information distortion or misinterpretations (Hutt et al., 1995); (f) Organizational silence, which limits the information flow with individuals who do not express their thoughts, meaning that decisions are made without all the necessary information (Morrison and Milliken, 2000; Nemeth, 1997). The second main group of sources of resistance deals with a low motivation for change. Five fundamental sources: (a) Direct costs of change (Rumelt, 1995); (b) cannibalization costs, that is to say, change that brings success to a product but at the same time brings losses to others, so it requires some sort of sacrifice (Rumelt, 1995); (c) Cross subsidy comforts, because the need for a change is compensated through the high rents obtained without change with another different factor, so that there is no real motivation for change (Rumelt, 1995); (d) Past failures, which leave a pessimistic image for future changes (Lorenzo, 2000); and (e) Different interests among employees and management, or lack of motivation of employees who value change results less than managers value them (Waddell and Sohal, 1998). The lack of a creative response is the third set of sources of resistance. There are three main reasons that diminish the creativeness in the search for appropriate change strategies: (a) Fast and complex environmental changes, which do not allow a proper situation analysis (Ansoff, 1990; Rumelt, 1995); b) Reactive mind-set, resignation, or tendency to believe that obstacles are inevitable (Rumelt, 1995); and (c) Inadequate strategic vision or lack of clear commitment of top management to changes (Rumelt, 1995; Waddell and Sohal, 1998). Taking into consideration all those sources of resistance mentioned above can reverse the situation into preventing resistance in the first place. Cultural web: Cultures differ from each other in their resistance to change. The strongest resistance to change characterizes of high power distance, low individualism, and high uncertainty avoidance. Among these cultures are most Latin American countries, Portugal and Korea, followed by Japan, France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Arab countries. Cultures with low levels of resistance to change are low on power distance, high on individualism, and low on uncertainty avoidance. This category includes the Anglo countries, Nordic countries, and the Netherlands, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Africa (Harzig and Hofdestede, 1996 2.4 Making sense of change management â€Å"7S model of McKinsey†: The Mckinsey 7S model defines the seven components that encompass an organization and that by changing any one of the S components there is impact on the other S components. This model is such a conceptual aid by acting as good checklist for those setting out to make organizational change, laying out which parts of the system need to adapt, and the effects of these changes in other parts of the system (Mike Green, 2007) The 7s categories are: Staff important categories of people within the organization, the mix, the diversity, retention, the development and the maximizing of their potential. This component helps to determine how committed resources to make it all work? Skills distinctive capabilities, knowledge and experience of key people. The role of this component is to identify how ready and competent are the staff based on where the organization is heading? Systems processes, IT systems, HR systems, knowledge management systems. In other words, what are the suitable systems to be used to support the transition? Style management style and culture. How we are getting from here to there? Shared values guiding principles that make the organization what it is. Strategy organizational goals and plan, use of resources. Briefly is where are we transitioning to? Structure the organization chart and how roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are distributed in furtherance of the strategy. â€Å"The Mckinsey 7S model provides an effective framework for analyzing an organization and its activities that determine whether an organization is strong enough to adjust to any changes. Furthermore, this model helps in avoiding some of the sources that feed resistance to change in the first place† 2.5 Five steps for effective change process (Thomas and Christopher, 2008) Step 1:Motivating change: â€Å"Moving from the known to the unknown† Organizational change involves moving from the known to the unknown. The future is uncertain and may adversely affect peoples competencies, worth, and coping abilities. Organization members generally do not support change unless compelling reasons convince them to do so. A key issue in planning for action is how to motivate commitment to organizational change. This requires attention to two related tasks: creating readiness for change and overcoming resistance to change. Creating Readiness for change: peoples readiness for change depends on creating a felt need for change. This involves making people so dissatisfied with the status quo that they are motivated to try new work processes, technologies, or ways of behaving. Generally people and organization need to experience deep levels of hurt before they will seriously undertake meaningful change. The following three methods can help generate sufficient dissatisfaction to produce change: Sensitize organizations to pressures for change. Modern organizations face unprecedented environmental pressures to change themselves, including heavy foreign competition, rapidly changing technology, and the draw of global markets. Internal pressures to change include new leadership, poor product quality, high production costs, and excessive employee absenteeism and turnover. Organizations can make themselves more sensitive to pressures for change by encouraging leadership to surround themselves with devils advocate; for instance by cultivating external networks that comprise people or organizations with different perspectives and views; by visiting other organizations to gain exposure to new ideas and methods. Reveal discrepancies between current and desired states. Significant discrepancies between actual and ideal states can motivate organization members to initiate corrective changes, particularly when members are committed to achieving those ideas. A major diagnosis is to provide members with feedback about current organizational functioning so that the information can be compared with goals or desired future states. Convey credible positive expectations for the change. When organization members expect success, they are likely to develop greater commitment to the change process and to direct more energy into the constructive behaviors needed to implement it. The key success to achieving these positive effects if to communicate realistic, positive expectations about the organizational changes*. Research suggests that information about why the change is occurring, how it will benefit the organization, and how people will be involved in the design and implementation of the change was most helpful.* Overcoming Resistance to change: At the organization level, resistance to change can come from three sources. Technical resistance comes from the habit of following common procedures and the consideration of sunk costs invested in the status quo. Political resistance can arise when organizational changes threaten powerful stakeholders, such as top executive or staff personnel, or call into question the past decisions of leaders. Finally, culture resistance takes the form of systems and procedures that reinforce the status quo, promoting conformity to existing values, norms, and assumptions about how things should operate. Empathy and support. A first step in overcoming resistance is learning how people are experiencing change. This strategy identifies people who are having trouble accepting the changes, the nature of their resistance, and possible ways to overcome it. Communication. People resist change when they are uncertain about its consequences. Lack of adequate information fuels rumors and gossip and adds to anxiety generally associated with change. Effective communication about changes and their likely results can reduce this speculation and allay unfounded fears. Participation and innovation. Involvement in planning the change increases the likelihood that members interests and needs will be accounted for during the intervention. Consequently, participants will be committed to implementing the changes. They also can identify pitfalls and barriers to implementations. STEP 2: CREATING A VISION The second activity in leading and managing change involves creating a vision of what members want the organization to look like or become. Generally, a vision describes the core values and purpose that guide the organization as well as an envisioned future toward which change is directed. It provides a valued direction for designing, implementing, and assessing organizational changes. The vision also can energize commitment to change by providing members with a common goal and a compelling rationale for why change is necessary and worth the effort. Research suggests that compelling visions are composed of two parts: (1) a relatively stable core ideology that describes the organizations core values and purpose, and (2) an envisioned future with bold goals and a vivid description of the desired future state that reflects the specific change under consideration Step 3: DEVELOPING POLITICAL SUPPORT Managing the political dynamics of change includes the following activities: Assessing Change Agent Power. Greiner and Schein 1988, indentified three key sources of personal power in organizations (in addition to ones formal position); knowledge, personality, and others support. Knowledge bases of power include having expertise that is valued by others and controlling important information. For example, leaders in organizational units undergoing change can call on their informal networks for resources and support, and encourage subordinates to exercise power in support of the change. Identifying Key Stakeholders. This can start with simple question. †who stands to gain or to lose from the changes? Once stakeholders are identified, creating a map of their influence may be useful. Consequently, provides change agents with information about which people groups need to be influenced to accept and support the changes. Influencing Stakeholders. There are three major strategies for using power to influence others in organization development; First strategy is playing straight; this strategy involves determining of particular stakeholders and presenting information about how the changes can benefit them. The success of this strategy relies heavily on the change agents knowledge base. He or she must have the expertise and information to persuade stakeholders that the changes are a logical way to meet their needs. The second strategy is using social network; in this strategy change agents attempt to use their social relationships to gain support for changes. This social networking might include, for example, meeting with other powerful groups and forming alliances to support specific changes. This strategy also might include using informal contacts to discover key roadblocks to change and to gain access to major decision makers who need to sanction the changes. The third strategy is going around the formal system; the change agents charisma, reputations, or professional credibility lend legitimacy to going around the system and can reduce the likelihood of negative reprisals. For example, managers with reputations as winners often can bend the rules to implement organizational changes. However, this power strategy is relatively easy to abuse. Therefore; the OD practitioners should consider carefully the ethical issues and possible unintended consequences of circumventing formal policies and practices. Step 4: MANAGING THE TRANSITION Implementing organizational change involves moving from the existing organization state to the desired future state. There are three major activities and structure to facilitate organizational transition: activity planning, commitment planning, and change-management structures. Activity Planning This involves making a road map for change, citing specific activities and events that must occur if the transition is to be successful. Activity planning should clearly identify, temporally orient, and integrate discrete change tasks and should link these tasks to the organizations change goals and priorities. Commitment planning this activity involves identifying key people and groups whose commitment is needed for change to occur and formulating a strategy for gaining their support. Change-Management Structures Because organizational transitions tend to be ambiguous and to need direction, special structures for managing the change process need to be created. These management structures should include people who have the power to mobilize resources to promote change, the respect of the existing leadership and change advocates, and the interpersonal and political skills to guide the change process. Step 5: SUSTAINING MOMENTUM Once organization changes are under way, explicit attention must be directed to sustaining energy and commitment for implementing them. A strong tendency exists always among organization members to return to old behaviors and well-known processes unless they receive sustained support and reinforcement for carrying the changes through to completion. The following five activities can help to sustain momentum for carrying change through to completion: Providing resources for change. Additional financial and human resources are required for implementing organization change, particularly if the organization continues day-to-day operations while trying to change itself. Extra sources are always helpful to provide a buffer as performance drops during the transition period. Building a support system for change agents. Organization change can be difficult and filled with tension, not only for participants but for change agents as well. A support system typically consists of a network of people with whom the change agent has close personal relationships people who can give emotional support, serve as sounding board for ideas and problems, and challenge untested assumptions. Developing new competencies and skills, reinforcing new behaviors, and staying the course. In organizations people generally do things that bring them rewards. Consequently, one of the most effective ways to sustain momentum for change is to reinforce the kinds of behaviors needed to implement the changes through for instance informal recognition, encouragement, and praise. Staying the course. If the organization changes again too quickly or abandons the changes before it is fully implemented, the desired results may never materialize. There are two primary reasons that managers do not keep a steady focus on change implementation. First, many managers fail to anticipate the decline in performance, productivity, or satisfaction as change is implemented. Organization members need time to practice, develop, and learn new behaviors; they do not abandon old ways of doing things and adopt a new set of behaviors overnight. Second, many managers do not keep focused on a change because they want to implement the next big idea that comes along. Successful organizational change requires persistent leadership that does not waver unnecessarily. References Books and articles Ansoff, I.H. (1990), â€Å"Implanting Strategic Management† Prentice Hall International, Ltd. London Cynthia D. Scott, Dennis T. Jaffe. (2003), â€Å"Managing change at work: leading people through organizational transitions†, edit 3 Greiner, L.E. (1972), â€Å"Evolution and revolution as organizations grow† Harvard Business Review, pp. 37-46. Greiner, L E and Schein, V E. (1988), â€Å"Power and Organization Development: Mobilizing power to change†, Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Halim Barakat. (1993), â€Å"The Arab world: society, culture, and state† Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, Hutt, M.D., Walker, B.A. and Frankwick, G.L. (1995) â€Å"Hurdle the Cross-Functional Barriers to Strategic Change† Sloan Management Review, 36 (3), pp. 22-30. Jack Rabin, Marcia B. Steinhauer. (1988), â€Å"Handbook on human services administration† Public Administration and Public Policy/34, pp. 305 Krà ¼ger, W. (1996), â€Å"Implementation: The Core Task of Change Management† CEMS Business Review, 1, pp. 77-96. Lawrence, P.R. (1954), â€Å"How to Deal with Resistance to Change† Harvard Business Review, (May/June), pp. 49-57. Mike Green. (2007), â€Å"Change management masterclass: a step by step guide to successful change†. Tony Proctor. (2005), â€Å"Creative problem solving for managers: developing skills for decision making†. Edition 2, pp. 241 Pardo Del Val, Manuela Martà ­nez Fuentes â€Å"RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND EMPIRICAL†, p. 5-7 Rob Paton, James McCalman. (2008), â€Å"Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation†, edition 3, pp. 39-54 Rumelt, R.P. (1995), â€Å"Inertia and transformation†, in Montgomery, C.A., Resource-Based and Evolutionary Theories of the Firm, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Massachusetts, pp. 101-132. Rusell Tobin. (1999), â€Å"Overcoming resistance to change†, Second Edition, pp. 142 Starbuck, W., Greve, A. and Hedberg, B.L.T. (1978) â€Å"Responding to crisis†, Journal of Business Administration, 9 (2), pp. 111-137. Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley. (2008), â€Å"Organization development change†, Edition 9, pp. 165-182 Waddell, D. and Sohal, A.S. (1998), â€Å"Resistance: a constructive tool for change management†, Management Decision, 36 (8), pp. 543-548. Zeffane, R. (1996), â€Å"Dynamics of strategic change: critical issues in fostering positive organizational change†, Leadership Organization Development Journal, 17, pp. 36-43. Websites: http://www.explorehr.org/articles/Orga Managing Change in Small Organisations Managing Change in Small Organisations 1.0 Introduction The phenomenon of resistance to change is the bane of all Algerian bakeries that convey ideas for change. For the same one who proposed the change, the resistances are usually synonymous with hostility, intrigue deadlines, polarization, conflict, and impatience, many problems which are likely to frustrate and undermine the success of his bakery. Basically, resistance to change is built up from many sources; internal and external. Overcoming resistance to change requires first the identification of those sources. Therefore, the owner of the bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† is looking for an expert or professional advice in the field to help managing change effectively. Hence, as this topic is part of the international business and management studies, the owner asked me to do some research on this matter. Ultimately, this research is divided into two major chapters, first; the literature part that discusses the main topic theoretically, it starts off by mentioning the general sources that fuels the resistance to change, then it goes on with hofdstedes point of view on resistance of change based on cultural differences and it concludes by describing the steps of managing change effectively and it concludes with. The second major chapter is the analysis of the findings from the primary data that have been collected through interviews with owners and employees from the bakery El-Bahdja and owners from other bakeries. Finally this paper is closed by recommendations for the owner of the bakery El-Bahdja on how to overcome resistance to change and how to manage change. 1.1 Research objective Many companies in North Africa particularly in Algeria are making loss and could not improve the quality of their business due to the habit of following common procedures and the high consideration of sunk costs invested in the status quo and fear of new ideas. Lack of adequate information fuels rumors and gossip and adds to anxiety generally associated with change. This fear creates resistance to change in the Algerian bakery industry Therefore, this research focuses on finding the elements that fuel the resistance to change in the Algerian bakeries and specifically the bakery â€Å"El Bahdja† that produces and delivers all kind of bread and pastries. The owner of the Algerian Bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† is an old man and has been in the business since 1967. The owner is facing the closing down due to lack of managing change skills in the bakery and the high resistance from the employees to change. The main objective of this research is to provide the owner of the bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† with guidance to effectively managing change when it is in the process of the implementation. 1.2 Research questions To provide guidance on how to manage changes for the owner of the bakery â€Å"El-Bahdja† it is essential first to find answers to the following research questions. â€Å"Does Algerian culture welcome changes† â€Å"Why most Algerian employers and employees resist changing?† â€Å"What are the external factors that prevent Algerian employers and employees from changing?† â€Å"How do Algerian employers and employees manage change when applying the new ideas?† 1.3 Methodology This study is based on both primary and secondary data that help in understanding the causes of resistance to change from both the Algerian owners and their employees: Secondary data collection: this method studies the previous cases that have already been written about and find the similarities between the cases. This method is very helpful in collection data from different cultures that share the same fact which is fear of new ideas that have direct effect on their traditional way of doing business. Therefore, the resources of the secondary data collection are mainly from books, journals, and internet. Primary data: a very crucial data and plays a big role in making final decision. The primary data which is better called direct communication or field research, on other word; facing people and have them interviewed. The objective of this method is to collect factual data that helps in answering the research questions of this study and this after interviewing people from the same field on the main topic. Reflection on the research methodology: the methods followed for collecting data are linked together. The secondary data helps understand the theoretical concepts that have been concluded from previous cases and compare them to the new facts. In this method; the 7s model of McKinsey, the theory versus the real world by Jeff Hiatt and Arab identity by Halim Barakat are used as starting point for facing organizational change in Algeria. The primary data is basically the tangible evidence for decision makers, observing and interviewing people are the major tools to be used in collecting data for this study. Reliability and validity of data are the essential axes of this method. Therefore, the interviews take place specifically with owners of bakeries and their employees in Algeria and in the Netherlands for comparison to see whether culture differences is a matter for resisting changing. 2.1 Why managing change? â€Å"Change is believed to happen Changes are fact and every person is subject to these changes. People faces changes regularly in their life or in their workplace, part of them deal with these changes successfully and the other part fail to adjust to change. In the life, for instance a family with children; parents believe that children are subject to changes and may change to better or to the opposite that parents plan for them, however these changes would not affect the family as a whole but the person himself. Nevertheless, in a business changes there are two ways and no third, successfully manage change or failure. In organization whether you are an executive, supervisor, coach, consultant, project team leader or manager of any type where your job is to manage people, you likely have experienced resistance to change from employees. However you may not recognize the role that you can play in preventing that resistance and leading change. Many managers do not make this connection until they have personally experience failure in an important change project (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey 2003) When asking people after this failure what would you do differently if you had the chance to do it again? The common response would be using an effective and planned change management program. The question to be risen here is whether this program is sufficient enough to prevent resistance to change from happening in the first place and deal with people emotions and pursue them to change. The real barrier to success is a lack of change management and not management program. Some people do not lack of vision or an understanding of the marketplace but they feel simply short when managing the people side of change. In other words, things did not go exactly as planned. The unexpected happened. Not managing the people side of change impacts the success and introduces risk into the business (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey 2003) Change management skills have shown that is not only mitigates these business risks, but also can avoid them entirely. Business leaders have change management skills to not only manage resistance once it appears, but to prevent it from occurring. 2.2 Change and the manager â€Å"Change needs to be portrayed in positive terms, a necessity to ensure long term survival (Robert A Poton, James McCalman, 2008)† Organizations and their managers must recognize change, in itself, is not necessarily a problem. The problem more often than not is a less than competent management o the change situation (Rob Paton, James McCalman, 2008). Managers must realize that one cannot separate strategic change management from organizational strategy; both must work in tandem. The importance of the human side of change cannot be underestimated, one must identify and manage the potential sources and causes of potential resistance and ensure that motivators are built into new processes and structures (Forlaron, 2005). i) Change competency: â€Å"Change is part of the businesss philosophy† â€Å"The successful organization is the organization that understand change will occur, expect it and support the change during implementation (Jeff Hiat, 2003) An organization that faces constant demands to change and uses effective management over and over with each new initiative may experience a fundamental shift in its operations and the behavior of its employees. Sponsors begin to repeat activities that made last change successful. Managers develop skills to support employees through the change. Employees see part of their job as navigating these new changes. Each level in the organization will have internalized its role in change and developed the skills and knowledge necessary to react to constant change. The organization has become ready and able to embrace change; it has developed change competency (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey, 2003). However, building change competency is not paved with flowers; it requires a belief that change is now an ever-present feature of organizational life (Burnes, 2004). Change competency is similar to change management, but there are several key distinction. First, change management is ultimately the use of specific activities like communication, coaching, sponsorship and training; to realize successful outcomes with business changes. Change competency is not a specific activity; it is an organizations ability to react to change over and over again Second, while change management can be taught and learned, change competency requires a fundamental shift in culture and values. It must be simply part of day-to-day operations and cannot be simply demonstrated in training or instructional material. Third, change competency must penetrate every facet and level of the organization. This distinction especially relates to the front-line employee. An organization may have expertise in change management in its sponsors, consultants and change management. However, the front-line employees are the ones whose day-to-day activities are changing. To build change competency into the organization, you can take the first step by ensuring that solid change management practices are applied consistently for each change initiative. The second step is to begin building the following competencies into your organization (Jeff Hiat, Timothy J. Creasey, 2003) ii) Change and Human Resource Technology has played a major role in ensuring that a coherent business approach and managerial performance can be maintained from a reduce resource base. The key success in such moves has been the mobilization of the human resource (Pettigrew and Whipp, 1993). 2.3 Managing resistance once it appears â€Å"Believing in changes to be happening is a key principle to reducing resistance to change† People are often afraid of new ideas. They may feel threatened by new ideas and fear that they will not be able to cope with a change in working patterns that is demanded of them or that they will not understand how to use a new technology; example of that many older people are afraid of materials that they are not able to handle and may make them calling the technician every moment (Tony proctor 2005). The fear of new ideas is a natural feeling; people live with this fear and it not a bad manner. Fear of new ideas becomes negative when is surrounded with sources that increase the tension of fear that leads to high level of resistance and consequently aggravation of the failure of any project. Change more often than not produces suspicions and resistance. To many it implies a move from familiar ways-mastered over long periods of time- to an unknown and threatening environment. In order to deal effectively with resistance to change, people must understand its causes (Jack Rabin, Marcia B. Steinhauer, 1988). Lawrence and Greiner 1970, identify the main sources that feed the resistance of change. Fear of the unknown, lack of information, threats of status, fear of failure, and lack of perceived benefits. Regarding the first group of sources of resistance, change starts with the perception of its need, so a wrong initial perception is the first barrier to change. This first group is called ‘distorted perception, interpretation barriers and vague strategic priorities (Pardo del Val, Manuela Martà ­nez Fuentes). It includes: (a) Inability of the company to look into the future with clarity (Barr et al., 1992; Krà ¼ger, 1996; Rumelt, 1995); (b) Denial or refusal to accept any information that is not expected or desired (Barr et al., 1992; Rumelt, 1995; Starbuck et al., 1978); (c) Perpetuation of ideas, meaning the tendency to go on with the present thoughts although the situation has changed (Barr et al., 1992; Krà ¼ger, 1996; Rumelt, 1995; Zeffane, 1996); (d) Implicit assumptions, which are not discussed due to its implicit character and therefore distort reality (Starbuck, Greve and Hedberg, 1978); (e) Communication barriers, that leads to information distortion or misinterpretations (Hutt et al., 1995); (f) Organizational silence, which limits the information flow with individuals who do not express their thoughts, meaning that decisions are made without all the necessary information (Morrison and Milliken, 2000; Nemeth, 1997). The second main group of sources of resistance deals with a low motivation for change. Five fundamental sources: (a) Direct costs of change (Rumelt, 1995); (b) cannibalization costs, that is to say, change that brings success to a product but at the same time brings losses to others, so it requires some sort of sacrifice (Rumelt, 1995); (c) Cross subsidy comforts, because the need for a change is compensated through the high rents obtained without change with another different factor, so that there is no real motivation for change (Rumelt, 1995); (d) Past failures, which leave a pessimistic image for future changes (Lorenzo, 2000); and (e) Different interests among employees and management, or lack of motivation of employees who value change results less than managers value them (Waddell and Sohal, 1998). The lack of a creative response is the third set of sources of resistance. There are three main reasons that diminish the creativeness in the search for appropriate change strategies: (a) Fast and complex environmental changes, which do not allow a proper situation analysis (Ansoff, 1990; Rumelt, 1995); b) Reactive mind-set, resignation, or tendency to believe that obstacles are inevitable (Rumelt, 1995); and (c) Inadequate strategic vision or lack of clear commitment of top management to changes (Rumelt, 1995; Waddell and Sohal, 1998). Taking into consideration all those sources of resistance mentioned above can reverse the situation into preventing resistance in the first place. Cultural web: Cultures differ from each other in their resistance to change. The strongest resistance to change characterizes of high power distance, low individualism, and high uncertainty avoidance. Among these cultures are most Latin American countries, Portugal and Korea, followed by Japan, France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Arab countries. Cultures with low levels of resistance to change are low on power distance, high on individualism, and low on uncertainty avoidance. This category includes the Anglo countries, Nordic countries, and the Netherlands, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, and South Africa (Harzig and Hofdestede, 1996 2.4 Making sense of change management â€Å"7S model of McKinsey†: The Mckinsey 7S model defines the seven components that encompass an organization and that by changing any one of the S components there is impact on the other S components. This model is such a conceptual aid by acting as good checklist for those setting out to make organizational change, laying out which parts of the system need to adapt, and the effects of these changes in other parts of the system (Mike Green, 2007) The 7s categories are: Staff important categories of people within the organization, the mix, the diversity, retention, the development and the maximizing of their potential. This component helps to determine how committed resources to make it all work? Skills distinctive capabilities, knowledge and experience of key people. The role of this component is to identify how ready and competent are the staff based on where the organization is heading? Systems processes, IT systems, HR systems, knowledge management systems. In other words, what are the suitable systems to be used to support the transition? Style management style and culture. How we are getting from here to there? Shared values guiding principles that make the organization what it is. Strategy organizational goals and plan, use of resources. Briefly is where are we transitioning to? Structure the organization chart and how roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are distributed in furtherance of the strategy. â€Å"The Mckinsey 7S model provides an effective framework for analyzing an organization and its activities that determine whether an organization is strong enough to adjust to any changes. Furthermore, this model helps in avoiding some of the sources that feed resistance to change in the first place† 2.5 Five steps for effective change process (Thomas and Christopher, 2008) Step 1:Motivating change: â€Å"Moving from the known to the unknown† Organizational change involves moving from the known to the unknown. The future is uncertain and may adversely affect peoples competencies, worth, and coping abilities. Organization members generally do not support change unless compelling reasons convince them to do so. A key issue in planning for action is how to motivate commitment to organizational change. This requires attention to two related tasks: creating readiness for change and overcoming resistance to change. Creating Readiness for change: peoples readiness for change depends on creating a felt need for change. This involves making people so dissatisfied with the status quo that they are motivated to try new work processes, technologies, or ways of behaving. Generally people and organization need to experience deep levels of hurt before they will seriously undertake meaningful change. The following three methods can help generate sufficient dissatisfaction to produce change: Sensitize organizations to pressures for change. Modern organizations face unprecedented environmental pressures to change themselves, including heavy foreign competition, rapidly changing technology, and the draw of global markets. Internal pressures to change include new leadership, poor product quality, high production costs, and excessive employee absenteeism and turnover. Organizations can make themselves more sensitive to pressures for change by encouraging leadership to surround themselves with devils advocate; for instance by cultivating external networks that comprise people or organizations with different perspectives and views; by visiting other organizations to gain exposure to new ideas and methods. Reveal discrepancies between current and desired states. Significant discrepancies between actual and ideal states can motivate organization members to initiate corrective changes, particularly when members are committed to achieving those ideas. A major diagnosis is to provide members with feedback about current organizational functioning so that the information can be compared with goals or desired future states. Convey credible positive expectations for the change. When organization members expect success, they are likely to develop greater commitment to the change process and to direct more energy into the constructive behaviors needed to implement it. The key success to achieving these positive effects if to communicate realistic, positive expectations about the organizational changes*. Research suggests that information about why the change is occurring, how it will benefit the organization, and how people will be involved in the design and implementation of the change was most helpful.* Overcoming Resistance to change: At the organization level, resistance to change can come from three sources. Technical resistance comes from the habit of following common procedures and the consideration of sunk costs invested in the status quo. Political resistance can arise when organizational changes threaten powerful stakeholders, such as top executive or staff personnel, or call into question the past decisions of leaders. Finally, culture resistance takes the form of systems and procedures that reinforce the status quo, promoting conformity to existing values, norms, and assumptions about how things should operate. Empathy and support. A first step in overcoming resistance is learning how people are experiencing change. This strategy identifies people who are having trouble accepting the changes, the nature of their resistance, and possible ways to overcome it. Communication. People resist change when they are uncertain about its consequences. Lack of adequate information fuels rumors and gossip and adds to anxiety generally associated with change. Effective communication about changes and their likely results can reduce this speculation and allay unfounded fears. Participation and innovation. Involvement in planning the change increases the likelihood that members interests and needs will be accounted for during the intervention. Consequently, participants will be committed to implementing the changes. They also can identify pitfalls and barriers to implementations. STEP 2: CREATING A VISION The second activity in leading and managing change involves creating a vision of what members want the organization to look like or become. Generally, a vision describes the core values and purpose that guide the organization as well as an envisioned future toward which change is directed. It provides a valued direction for designing, implementing, and assessing organizational changes. The vision also can energize commitment to change by providing members with a common goal and a compelling rationale for why change is necessary and worth the effort. Research suggests that compelling visions are composed of two parts: (1) a relatively stable core ideology that describes the organizations core values and purpose, and (2) an envisioned future with bold goals and a vivid description of the desired future state that reflects the specific change under consideration Step 3: DEVELOPING POLITICAL SUPPORT Managing the political dynamics of change includes the following activities: Assessing Change Agent Power. Greiner and Schein 1988, indentified three key sources of personal power in organizations (in addition to ones formal position); knowledge, personality, and others support. Knowledge bases of power include having expertise that is valued by others and controlling important information. For example, leaders in organizational units undergoing change can call on their informal networks for resources and support, and encourage subordinates to exercise power in support of the change. Identifying Key Stakeholders. This can start with simple question. †who stands to gain or to lose from the changes? Once stakeholders are identified, creating a map of their influence may be useful. Consequently, provides change agents with information about which people groups need to be influenced to accept and support the changes. Influencing Stakeholders. There are three major strategies for using power to influence others in organization development; First strategy is playing straight; this strategy involves determining of particular stakeholders and presenting information about how the changes can benefit them. The success of this strategy relies heavily on the change agents knowledge base. He or she must have the expertise and information to persuade stakeholders that the changes are a logical way to meet their needs. The second strategy is using social network; in this strategy change agents attempt to use their social relationships to gain support for changes. This social networking might include, for example, meeting with other powerful groups and forming alliances to support specific changes. This strategy also might include using informal contacts to discover key roadblocks to change and to gain access to major decision makers who need to sanction the changes. The third strategy is going around the formal system; the change agents charisma, reputations, or professional credibility lend legitimacy to going around the system and can reduce the likelihood of negative reprisals. For example, managers with reputations as winners often can bend the rules to implement organizational changes. However, this power strategy is relatively easy to abuse. Therefore; the OD practitioners should consider carefully the ethical issues and possible unintended consequences of circumventing formal policies and practices. Step 4: MANAGING THE TRANSITION Implementing organizational change involves moving from the existing organization state to the desired future state. There are three major activities and structure to facilitate organizational transition: activity planning, commitment planning, and change-management structures. Activity Planning This involves making a road map for change, citing specific activities and events that must occur if the transition is to be successful. Activity planning should clearly identify, temporally orient, and integrate discrete change tasks and should link these tasks to the organizations change goals and priorities. Commitment planning this activity involves identifying key people and groups whose commitment is needed for change to occur and formulating a strategy for gaining their support. Change-Management Structures Because organizational transitions tend to be ambiguous and to need direction, special structures for managing the change process need to be created. These management structures should include people who have the power to mobilize resources to promote change, the respect of the existing leadership and change advocates, and the interpersonal and political skills to guide the change process. Step 5: SUSTAINING MOMENTUM Once organization changes are under way, explicit attention must be directed to sustaining energy and commitment for implementing them. A strong tendency exists always among organization members to return to old behaviors and well-known processes unless they receive sustained support and reinforcement for carrying the changes through to completion. The following five activities can help to sustain momentum for carrying change through to completion: Providing resources for change. Additional financial and human resources are required for implementing organization change, particularly if the organization continues day-to-day operations while trying to change itself. Extra sources are always helpful to provide a buffer as performance drops during the transition period. Building a support system for change agents. Organization change can be difficult and filled with tension, not only for participants but for change agents as well. A support system typically consists of a network of people with whom the change agent has close personal relationships people who can give emotional support, serve as sounding board for ideas and problems, and challenge untested assumptions. Developing new competencies and skills, reinforcing new behaviors, and staying the course. In organizations people generally do things that bring them rewards. Consequently, one of the most effective ways to sustain momentum for change is to reinforce the kinds of behaviors needed to implement the changes through for instance informal recognition, encouragement, and praise. Staying the course. If the organization changes again too quickly or abandons the changes before it is fully implemented, the desired results may never materialize. There are two primary reasons that managers do not keep a steady focus on change implementation. First, many managers fail to anticipate the decline in performance, productivity, or satisfaction as change is implemented. Organization members need time to practice, develop, and learn new behaviors; they do not abandon old ways of doing things and adopt a new set of behaviors overnight. Second, many managers do not keep focused on a change because they want to implement the next big idea that comes along. Successful organizational change requires persistent leadership that does not waver unnecessarily. References Books and articles Ansoff, I.H. (1990), â€Å"Implanting Strategic Management† Prentice Hall International, Ltd. London Cynthia D. Scott, Dennis T. Jaffe. (2003), â€Å"Managing change at work: leading people through organizational transitions†, edit 3 Greiner, L.E. (1972), â€Å"Evolution and revolution as organizations grow† Harvard Business Review, pp. 37-46. Greiner, L E and Schein, V E. (1988), â€Å"Power and Organization Development: Mobilizing power to change†, Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Halim Barakat. (1993), â€Å"The Arab world: society, culture, and state† Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, Hutt, M.D., Walker, B.A. and Frankwick, G.L. (1995) â€Å"Hurdle the Cross-Functional Barriers to Strategic Change† Sloan Management Review, 36 (3), pp. 22-30. Jack Rabin, Marcia B. Steinhauer. (1988), â€Å"Handbook on human services administration† Public Administration and Public Policy/34, pp. 305 Krà ¼ger, W. (1996), â€Å"Implementation: The Core Task of Change Management† CEMS Business Review, 1, pp. 77-96. Lawrence, P.R. (1954), â€Å"How to Deal with Resistance to Change† Harvard Business Review, (May/June), pp. 49-57. Mike Green. (2007), â€Å"Change management masterclass: a step by step guide to successful change†. Tony Proctor. (2005), â€Å"Creative problem solving for managers: developing skills for decision making†. Edition 2, pp. 241 Pardo Del Val, Manuela Martà ­nez Fuentes â€Å"RESISTANCE TO CHANGE: A LITERATURE REVIEW AND EMPIRICAL†, p. 5-7 Rob Paton, James McCalman. (2008), â€Å"Change Management: A Guide to Effective Implementation†, edition 3, pp. 39-54 Rumelt, R.P. (1995), â€Å"Inertia and transformation†, in Montgomery, C.A., Resource-Based and Evolutionary Theories of the Firm, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Massachusetts, pp. 101-132. Rusell Tobin. (1999), â€Å"Overcoming resistance to change†, Second Edition, pp. 142 Starbuck, W., Greve, A. and Hedberg, B.L.T. (1978) â€Å"Responding to crisis†, Journal of Business Administration, 9 (2), pp. 111-137. Thomas G. Cummings, Christopher G. Worley. (2008), â€Å"Organization development change†, Edition 9, pp. 165-182 Waddell, D. and Sohal, A.S. (1998), â€Å"Resistance: a constructive tool for change management†, Management Decision, 36 (8), pp. 543-548. Zeffane, R. (1996), â€Å"Dynamics of strategic change: critical issues in fostering positive organizational change†, Leadership Organization Development Journal, 17, pp. 36-43. Websites: http://www.explorehr.org/articles/Orga

Nestles Corporate Structure And Social Responsibility Management Essay

Nestles Corporate Structure And Social Responsibility Management Essay Henri Nestle in Switzerland established Nestle in 1966. Its initial stage was originally making baby food. After the Second World War, the government contracts dried up and consumers switched back to fresh milk(Gov Paper, 2012) .Therefore, through the Nestles managers quick response by streaming operations, then based on their strict management, underwent continuing exploration, it expended incessantly to be the biggest food manufacturers and one of the biggest transnational corporations in the world today. It has around 450 factories, 32 million staffs and operates in 86 countries, with the annual sales revenue reaching up to 910 billion franc per year (Wikipedia, 2012). It is famous for chocolate bars and instant coffee. Since the its beginning as a small firm, the company is well-known in almost every country in the world today. The successful management mode of Nestle is worth referencing for managers to control their own companies. This report will outline the Nestles Corporate Structure and Social Responsibility. Corporate structure Nestle, as the biggest food manufacturer and one of the biggest transnational corporations in the world, owns a strict management organizational structure, and has made strict rules in regards to production technology, brand, quality control and main raw materials (Carla, 2012). As Nestles corporate structure has become more global, complex and hierarchical, the leaders who are the administrators of branch companies have rights to decide the final form for each production, based on the different situations and demands of different countries. It means that the company not only should keep the method of decentralized management but also should pursue greater consistency. (Brabeck, 2011) 2.1 Board of Directors The Board of Directors is the utter governing body of the company. It is responsible for the ultimate supervision of the group. (Corporate Governance Report, 2011)Nestles board of directors consists of the Chairman (Peter Brabeck-Letmathe), the CEO (Paul Bulcke), the two Vice Chairman and other eleven members. All members of the Board of Directors are non-executive members, except Paul Bulcke,. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is the active Chairman and has particular responsibilities for the orientation and control of the company including the Nestle Health Science Company and Nestles engagements. (Corporate Governance Report, 2011) 2.2 Committees of the Board of Directors The rights and responsibilities of every Committee are based on the current Committee Charter, which is authorized by the Board. Each Committee is qualified for outside affairs. (Corporate Governance Report, 2011) 2.3 Chairmans and Corporate Governance Committee It is made up of the Chairman, the two Vice Chairmen, the CEO and other members elected by the Board, and acts as a role of consultant between the Chairman and the full Board of Directors in order to promote the handling of the business when necessary. 2.4 Compensation Committee It determines the salaries of the members in the Board and submits them to the Board for approval, and supervises the remuneration for the whole company and the group. 2.5 Nomination Committee It establishes the criterions for the selection to the Board and selects candidates for election or re-election to the Board. It also gives some suggestions to the decision made by the Board. 2.6 Audit Committee It gives assistance to the Board of Directors in its supervision on financial controls through a direct link to KPMG (external auditors) and the Nestle Group Audit (corporate internal auditors). 2.7 Executive Board The Executive Board is in the charge of the CEO and its members have the necessary powers to carry out their responsibilities, with the limits ruled by the Executive Boards Regulations. 2.8 Divisions Nestle has three divisions as of 2012: Products, Functions and Zones. Among these, the Division of Functions includes four parts: Operations, Finance and Control, Strategic Business Units, Marketing and Sales and Innovation Technology. They work together to control strictly key process and points, in order to ensure normal operation of the company. Therefore, Nestles corporate structure is essentially the layout of the Board, various divisions, and committees that interact to direct the business of the company, and the success of Nestle is an example relying on a successful corporate structure to some extent. Social responsibility Nestle, as a worldwide company, plays a crucial role in the society shouldering the responsibility of social harmoniously development. Its social responsibilities are not only the charity but also the basic part of Nestle companys management principles. 3.1 World Cocoa Foundation In 2000, Nestle and other chocolate companies formed the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), which was set up specifically to help farmers to deal with problems they are facing, including the ineffective farming techniques and poor environmental management. The WCF concerns about facilitating farmers income, encouraging sustainable development of farming techniques, and setting up environmental and social programmes (World Cocoa Foundation, 2012). 3.2 Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Nestle founded the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) with Danone and Unilever in 2002 to promote sustainable agriculture. The main purpose of SAI is to manage: 1) Quality and safety problems in the food supply chain which is really refer to security of consumers.2)With the growing income and expect for nutritious food, the demand for quality food is growing at the same time (Peter, 2011). 3.3 Creating Shared Value (CSV): The Cocoa Plan CSV encourages businesses to create economic and social value. In 2006, Nestle became one of the first organizations to adopt the CSV approach, which they insist was their original intention. The company has focused its Creating Shared Value efforts and investments on three areas nutrition, water and rural development, which are cores of their basic industrial principle (Creating Shared Value at Nestle, 2012). Their target is producing 1 million high quality, disease-resistant cocoa plantlets a year before 2012. The aim is to replace old, less productive trees with healthier new ones (Blas, Javier. 2012). In September 2011, Nestle introduced The Cocoa Plan in the Netherlands to improve the livelihoods of cocoa farmers. (The Cocoa Plan, 2012) Better quality cocoa plants, train farmers, chain management, improved social circumstances and cooperation with partners are the main aims. KitKat is the first product in the Netherlands, which carries the logo of The Cocoa Plan on pack, that m eans Nestle will product with meeting KitKats demand and it has certified by UTZ Certified (a certification program for agricultural products that claims to be the largest coffee certifier in the world) ( KitKat , 2011). 3.4 Expending Business in Health Care Nutrition In September 2010, Nestle claimed that they would invest more than $500millon to develop the health products to prevent the diseases like diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimers (Saltmarsh, 2010). 3.5 Member of Fair Labor Association (FLA) In 2011, the Nestle Company started cooperating with FLA to improve the condition of the work. On 29 February 2012, Nestle become the first food company to join the FLA (Join, 2012). Conclusion Nestle is successful due to its perfect system, serious management, reasonable distribution and correct guidance. Therefore, it can survive adversity, able to develop rapidly and as a result, becomes a well-known enterprise. Nestle created a commercial miracle and made great contribution to the community. It gave much needed help for the people through charity and sponsorship (Sponsorship of Charity Organizations, 2012). It makes people taste outstanding delicacy, which is not only has positive psychological effects on people but also physical benefiits. In addition, Nestles spirit affect generation after generation, its management at the same time is worthy for people to emulate. Because of these advantages, Nestle will increase in a variety of product and further satisfy peoples needs.

cloning Essay -- essays research papers

Cloning Can cloning be beneficial to us? Or is cloning a waste of time and dollars? Cloning as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can range from copies of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. Should we clone humans and human organs? Why clone human embryos? There are many legitimate reasons for investigating cloning. Embryologists believe that the research could help improve the lives of further generations. "Cancer research is possibly the most important reason for embryo cloning. Oncologists believe that embryonic study will advance the understanding of rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells develop at approximately the same phenomenal rate as the embryonic cells do. By studying the embryonic cell growth, scientist may be able to determine how to stop it, and also stop cancer growth in return." Another use for cloning is growing organs and / or tissues for humans. Cells can be manipulated to revert their embryonic stage and then these cells will have potential to grow into other tissues, cells, etc. This is done through chemical signals called fibroblast growth factors. These signals "tell" the cells what to do. These same chemical signals are also used on embryos. The fibroblast growth factors tell the cells what to become. Hans Spemann found the organizer effect, which is how the embryonic cells are aligned... cloning Essay -- essays research papers Cloning Can cloning be beneficial to us? Or is cloning a waste of time and dollars? Cloning as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can range from copies of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. Should we clone humans and human organs? Why clone human embryos? There are many legitimate reasons for investigating cloning. Embryologists believe that the research could help improve the lives of further generations. "Cancer research is possibly the most important reason for embryo cloning. Oncologists believe that embryonic study will advance the understanding of rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells develop at approximately the same phenomenal rate as the embryonic cells do. By studying the embryonic cell growth, scientist may be able to determine how to stop it, and also stop cancer growth in return." Another use for cloning is growing organs and / or tissues for humans. Cells can be manipulated to revert their embryonic stage and then these cells will have potential to grow into other tissues, cells, etc. This is done through chemical signals called fibroblast growth factors. These signals "tell" the cells what to do. These same chemical signals are also used on embryos. The fibroblast growth factors tell the cells what to become. Hans Spemann found the organizer effect, which is how the embryonic cells are aligned... cloning Essay -- essays research papers Cloning Can cloning be beneficial to us? Or is cloning a waste of time and dollars? Cloning as of recent years, has become a very controversial issue. Society is firmly divided on the uses and ethics of cloning. Cloning can range from copies of plants and animals to clones of humans and human organs. Should we clone humans and human organs? Why clone human embryos? There are many legitimate reasons for investigating cloning. Embryologists believe that the research could help improve the lives of further generations. "Cancer research is possibly the most important reason for embryo cloning. Oncologists believe that embryonic study will advance the understanding of rapid growth of cancer cells. Cancer cells develop at approximately the same phenomenal rate as the embryonic cells do. By studying the embryonic cell growth, scientist may be able to determine how to stop it, and also stop cancer growth in return." Another use for cloning is growing organs and / or tissues for humans. Cells can be manipulated to revert their embryonic stage and then these cells will have potential to grow into other tissues, cells, etc. This is done through chemical signals called fibroblast growth factors. These signals "tell" the cells what to do. These same chemical signals are also used on embryos. The fibroblast growth factors tell the cells what to become. Hans Spemann found the organizer effect, which is how the embryonic cells are aligned...

The Fitzgerald Flapper Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

The Fitzgerald Flapper Which came first, the flapper or the Fitzgerald flapper? This question may prove as difficult as its proverbial counterpart. But it is a question well worth asking in an effort to examine the flapper, a cultural icon of the 1920s. This new woman heralded an end to the traditional Victorian woman, as well as the relatively new Gibson girl. But where did she come from? And what was Fitzgerald's contribution to the creation of such an icon? Fitzgerald's short story Bernice Bobs Her Hair and novel This Side of Paradise will be used to make such an assessment. Finally, one must ask how the flapper, in turn, contributed to Fitzgerald's career, for the good and the bad. Although the flapper may have guaranteed the success of This Side of Paradise and earned Fitzgerald the position of spokesman for a generation, it may have also stifled the progression of his work and confused critics for years to come. First, it would be helpful to establish a working definition of the flapper, prior to Fitzgerald. Coined in England, the flapper was used to describe a somewhat awkward, fledgling-type girl, in the throws of budding womanhood ("Flappers in the Roaring Twenties"). She is still learning how to move in her body, gangly and thin. Another source puts forth a very different definition of the flapper. This definition, found in "Mrs. Stratton of Oak Knoll" asserts that a flapper is English slang for a society girl who has made her debut and hasn't found a husband ("F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary"). She is an old maid of sorts, gone to seed. The first of these two definitions seems the more likely origin of the Fitzgerald flapper. Prior to World War I, most women in the America still behaved and dr... ...e to adapt to a writer's changing objectives. Works Cited Bruccoli, Matthew J. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York, NY: Scribner, 1989 Bryer, Jackson. The Critical Reputation of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Bibliographical Study. USA: Archon Books, 1967 Fryer, Sarah Beebe. Fitzgerald's New Women: Harbingers of Change. Ann Arbor and London: UMI Research Press, 1988. Kitch, Carolyn. The Girl on the Magazine Cover. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001 Prigozy, Ruth. The Cambridge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald. UK and USA: Cambridge University Press, 2002 "Flappers in the Roaring Twenties." www.about.com. http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa022201a.htm "F. Scott Fitzgerald Centenary: University of South Carolina." www.sc.edu. January 2002. www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/index.html

Descriptive Language and The Lady of Shallot Essay -- The Lady of Shall

Descriptive Language and The Lady of Shallot In any piece of lyrical poetry, authors must masterfully use the language of the poem to covey the intended meaning. In order to ensure the meaning is not lost, it is imperative that the author incorporates various aspects of the narrative to escalate the poem past its face value. Alfred Tennyson’s poem â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† is no exception to the rule. From lines like â€Å"blue unclouded weather† and â€Å"the gemmy bridle glitter’d free†, one can draw that descriptive language is Tennyson’s tool to revealing the underlying meaning (Griffith 334). In each of the four parts of â€Å"The Lady of Shallot†, Tennyson uses descriptive language to convey his intended meaning to the audience. Tennyson uses Part I to show the setting of the poem, and introduces the Lady of Shallot to the audience. Part I starts off with a description of â€Å"Long fields of barley and†¦rye that clothe the wold (hilly, open country)† (Griffith 332). From this line in the opening stanza, the reader already gets a sense of where the poem takes place, a gently rolling countryside of utmost beauty. In the second stanza, lines like â€Å"Willows whiten, aspens quiver, little breezes dusk and shiver† further our mental picture of the setting (Griffith 332). Later in the stanza, we learn of â€Å"four gray walls, and four gray towers† and that â€Å"the silent isle imbowers the Lady of Shallot† (Griffith 332). Tennyson’s description in the last couple of lines of this stanza introduces the Lady of Shallot and gives a feeling of her isolation (which is quite important toward the poem’s meaning, and will be built on later in the piece). The final stanza in Part I tells how early morning workers â€Å"hear a song that echoes cheerly ... ...tiful and powerful. As soon as the Lady of Shallot decides to leave the tower, she knows her fate. And after she dies, the people of Camelot finally learn of the â€Å"fairy Lady of Shallot† (Griffith 332). Tennyson’s descriptive language in â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† is beautiful, and drastically enhances the meaning of the poem. The description of everything in the outside world is so vivid that it brings the Lady of Shallot to loose everything she has ever known. She is willing to give up her life to experience the brilliant things seen in her mirror†¦even if it is only for a few moments. Without Tennyson’s eloquent descriptiveness, â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† is much more than mere words. Bibliography: Work Cited Griffith, Kelley. â€Å"The Lady of Shallot† Narrative Fiction. Ed. Ted Buchholz. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 1994. 332-336.

Obama Victory Speech 2008

In Obama’s speech, he uses many inclusive pronouns such as ‘we’ and ‘our’. This shows that they are all the same; by doing this it creates a sense of unity among the audience. This is effective because it gets the audience on his side; if he used exclusive pronouns such as ‘you’, it would make the audience feel less united. He also says ‘America can change’, by doing this he personifies and metonymies ‘America’. This is effective as it makes the people think about what he means by ‘America’ in that context, he could have easily said the ‘people of America’ but that would be very dull.We also see here again that he uses ‘America’ in a united sense. This all links in with the semantic field of the speech, of ‘the American Dream’, which is all based on peace and unity among the people of America. Another technique Obama uses are exophoric references and anecdotes, such as â€Å"She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voices heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon cooper is 106 years old. †This is effective in the speech as help explain the point Obama makes to the audience. It is also something the audience can relate to .He also waits until right at the end to say â€Å"Ann Nixon cooper is 106 years old,† this turns a sentence about someone ordinary into someone extraordinary. Apart from the general references he makes, there are also very famous ones, such as ‘A man touched down on the moon’ and ‘a preacher told a people ‘We shall overcome. ’† He uses these exophoric references effectively, to remind the audience about the situations they have overcome, which inspires them. Also, when he makes these references, he doesn’t clearly state the event but vaguely describes it.He does this to make the audience think about what h e is saying, but at the same time not to undermine them by being too clear. In the reference ‘A man touched down on the moon’, he uses the word ‘man’ which is much more inclusive than a person’s name, and it makes the audience feel united in that event and as if they were a part of it. Furthermore, when he gives the quotation of ‘we shall overcome’, everyone immediately recognises that famous quote, and relates to MLK. Obama also picks this quote out in particular, as it is about overcoming which is the main topic of his speech and in the way it is said, it sounds like a statement.This is effective as it reinforces and adds credibility to what he says, which means the audience are more likely to accept it. During the speech, Obama’s tone and body language varies. For example, when he is giving an anecdote, he talks in a calm manner with long sentences, few pauses and no hand gestures, ‘At a time when women’s voices we re silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up†¦ ’ Then when he starts to make a point his tempo rises and he uses sentences with many pauses with also strong hand gestures, ‘That while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt†¦ This is effective as it shows emphasis on the points that are very important and makes them easier to remember; also it shows a contrast between the main points of the speech and the anecdotes. In the Obama’s speech he uses few religious references, such as ‘Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America. ’ He says this because he himself is religious, but also America is a strongly Christian country and he targets those in audience who are religious. This effective as it gives impression that God is on their side and motivates people.Also the way Obama says that at the end of the speech is similar to how a priest would end his speech in a Ch urch, which again gives it a very holy and religious feeling. During the speech Obama shows advances in many things, such as technology. He shows this by saying â€Å"no cars on the road or planes in the sky† and â€Å"she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote,† by saying this he contrasts the past with the present, and it makes the audience think how far they have came, in terms of technology in a short space of time.Another advance he shows us is in equality, by saying â€Å"when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin,† he reminds the audience of the time when it use to happen. This effective because it shows change, by contrasting the past with present, and he shows this change to show the American people that if they did it then why can’t they do it again, which motivates them. Also when he says â€Å"couldn’t vote for two reasons – †¦ there is a slight pause, he does this as the audience know what’s coming next which makes them think. Throughout the speech, Obama’s main buzz phrase has been â€Å"Yes We can. † This phrase is good as it is only three letters long and is repeated through the speech several times, making it easy to remember. He uses these when making a point, such as â€Å"America can change. Yes we can† and â€Å"nation conquers fear itself with a New deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can,† this motivates the people and gets them on his side.Also Obama uses this phrases right at the end of point or paragraph, so the audience know its coming and after it’s said they can repeated the phrase, this is why he leaves a short pause after each point for the audience to react . This is effective as it makes the audience think and concentrate on the speech. The word â€Å"yes† in the phrase as adverb shows the agreement between him and the people. The word â€Å"we† as a first person plural pronoun denotes as collective force or unity and the word â€Å"can† as a modal auxiliary verb suggests the ability or possibility of someone doing something.

Reading Skills Essay

Reading daily, Reading deeply, Reading widely are the few important skills of reading from which we can enhance our understanding of passage, ameliorate our vocabulary, correct our grammatical mistakes, increase our thinking capacity and helps in improving or learning any part of a language. The more you read the one thing you realize the key to doing well in the examination, and the key to perform or present any task in a well equipped way. There are many techniques used in reading to get and understand whole idea or summary of the passage to improve reading. But few important skills of reading are given below to improve reading. 1. Styles of reading 2. Active reading 3. A tip for speeding up your active reading 4. Spotting authors’ navigation aids 5. Words and vocabulary [pic]1. Styles of reading There are three styles of reading which we use in different situations: Scanning: Scanning is what you do to find an answer to a specific question. You may run your eyes quickly down the page in a zigzag or winding S pattern. If you are looking for a name, you note capital letters. For a date, you look for numbers. Vocabulary words may be boldfaced or italicized. When you scan for information, you read only what is needed. It’s useful to scan parts of texts to see if they’re going to be useful to you: †¢ the introduction or preface of a book †¢ the first or last paragraphs of chapters †¢ the concluding chapter of a book. Skimming: for getting the gist of something Skimming is covering the chapter to get some of the main ideas and a general overview of the material. It is what you do first when reading a chapter assignment. You don’t read for details at this point. Here is how you skim a chapter: . To preview a passage before you read it in detail  · Read the first paragraph of the chapter line by line.  · Next, read all the bold print headings starting at the beginning.  · Read the first sentence of every paragraph.  · Study any pictures, graphs, charts, and maps.  · Finally, read the last paragraph of the chapter. As you skim, you could write down the main ideas and develop a chapter outline. Detailed reading: for extracting information accurately Where you read every word, and work to learn from the text. In this careful reading, you may find it helpful to skim first, to get a general idea, but then go back to read in detail. Use a dictionary to make sure you understand all the words used. [pic]2. Active reading When you’re reading for your course, you need to make sure you’re actively involved with the text. It’s a waste of your time to just passively read, the way you’d read a thriller on holiday. Always make notes to keep up your concentration and understanding. Here are four tips for active reading. Underlining and highlighting Pick out what you think are the most important parts of what you are reading. Do this with your own copy of texts or on photocopies, not with borrowed books. If you are a visual learner, you’ll find it helpful to use different colours to highlight different aspects of what you’re reading. Note key words Record the main headings as you read. Use one or two keywords for each point. When you don’t want to mark the text, keep a folder of notes you make while reading. Questions Before you start reading something like an article, a chapter or a whole book, prepare for your reading by noting down questions you want the material to answer. While you’re reading, note down questions which the author raises. Summaries Pause after you’ve read a section of text. Then: 1. put what you’ve read into your own words; 2. skim through the text and check how accurate your summary is and 3.fill in any gaps. [pic]3. A tip for speeding up your active reading You should learn a huge amount from your reading. If you read passively, without learning, you’re wasting your time. So train your mind to learn. Try the SQ3R technique. First developed by researchers at Ohio State University, SQ3R is a useful technique for absorbing written information. It helps you to create a good mental framework of a subject, into which you can fit the right facts. It helps you to set study goals and prompts you to use the review techniques that will help you to remember. The acronym SQ3R stands for the five sequential techniques you should use to read a book: Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review. Survey Gather the information you need to focus on the work and set goals: †¢ Read the title to help prepare for the subject †¢ Read the introduction or summary to see what the author thinks are the key points †¢ Notice the boldface headings to see what the structure is †¢ Notice any maps, graphs or charts. They are there for a purpose †¢ Notice the reading aids, italics, bold face, questions at the end of the chapter. They are all there to help you understand and remember. Question  Help your mind to engage and concentrate. Your mind is engaged in learning when it is actively looking for answers to questions. Make questions that can be answered during the reading of the material. This will give a purpose to your reading. Take a heading and turn it into a question. For example, if a heading in a chapter about Cell Division is in your biology text, make a question by turning the title around: â€Å"How does cell division occur? † or â€Å"How many steps are involved in cell division? † Read Read the first section with your questions in mind. Now you read the material trying to find answers to your questions. This is a careful reading, line by line. You may want to take notes or make flashcards. Recall As you read, look away from your book and notes and try to answer your questions. This checks your learning and helps put that information in your memory. After each section, stop and think back to your questions. See if you can answer them from memory. If not, take a look back at the text. Do this as often as you need to.. Review To check your memory, scan portions of the material or your notes to verify your answers. Review the material and note the main points under each heading. This review step helps you retain the material. The SQ3R method is just one technique that can be used to retain information you collect while reading. Students learn in different ways. Therefore they should be aware of their learning styles. Knowing whether you are an Auditory (learn by hearing), Visual (learn by seeing) or Kinesthetic (hands-on) learner helps you to understand your best learning environment. The SQ3R technique of reading can help to enhance your reading skills no matter what your style is. [pic]4. Spotting authors’ navigation aids Learn to recognize sequence signals, for example: â€Å"Three advantages of†¦ † or â€Å"A number of methods are available†¦ † leads you to expect several points to follow. The first sentence of a paragraph will often indicate a sequence:† One important cause of†¦ † followed by â€Å"Another important factor†¦ † and so on, until â€Å"The final cause of†¦ † General points are often illustrated by particular examples, for example: General: Birds’ beaks are appropriately shaped for feeding. Particular: Sparrows and other seed-eating birds have short, stubby beaks; wrens and other insect eaters have thin pointed beaks; herons and other fish hunters have long, sharp beaks for spearing their prey. Whatever you are reading, be aware of the author’s background. It is important to recognize the bias given to writing by a writer’s political, religious, social background. Learn which newspapers and journals represent a particular standpoint [pic]5. Words and vocabulary When you’re a graduate people expect you to use a vocabulary which is wider than a school-leaver’s. To expand your vocabulary: Choose a large dictionary rather than one which is ‘compact’ or ‘concise’. You want one which is big enough to define words clearly and helpfully (around 1,500 pages is a good size). Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by just giving synonyms. A pocket dictionary might suggest: ‘impetuous = rash’. A more comprehensive dictionary will tell you that impetuous means ‘rushing with force and violence’, while another gives ‘liable to act without consideration’, and add to your understanding by giving the derivation ‘14th century, from late Latin impetuous = violent’. It will tell you that rash means ‘acting without due consideration or thought’, and is derived from Old High German rasc = hurried. So underlying these two similar words is the difference between violence and hurrying. There are over 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary; most of them have different meanings, (only a small proportion is synonyms). Avoid dictionaries which send you round in circles by using very complicated language to define the term you’re looking up, leaving you struggling to understand half a dozen new words. Keep your dictionary at hand when you’re studying. Look up unfamiliar words and work to understand what they mean. Improve your vocabulary by reading widely. Reading skills in a precis form Comprehensions Reading comprehension is a basic skill that each college student must possess. Believe it or not, reading is a complex, accrued skill—not acquired overnight learning to read and comprehend takes practice. Comprehension involves obtaining information from written text. A reader who comprehends a text accurately understands what the writer intended to communicate. She understands the purpose and the main idea. Comprehension cannot be observed directly, but a reader who is able to retell, paraphrase or summarize a text demonstrates comprehension. Interpretation †¢ When a reader interprets a text, he is employing a critical thinking strategy. He uses evidence and clues from the text to draw conclusions and looks for larger or more universal principals in what he has read. Interpretation requires going beyond the initial impression of what he has read to develop a more complex and complete understanding. Analysis †¢ When a reader analyzes the text, she identifies the assumptions of the writer and examines the structure of the argument. She asks questions such as, â€Å"Does the evidence support the argument? † and â€Å"Does it support the conclusions the writer draws? † She is looking for evidence of a logical and/or consistent argument. Synthesis †¢ With synthesis, the skilled reader is able to show how a text develops or builds meaning. He sorts out and reconstructs ideas in a text to point out how they are interrelated. He compares and extends meaning from multiple sources. Evaluation †¢ Evaluation, determining the quality and effectiveness of a text, is the highest level of critical thinking associated with reading, according to Lesley Thompson, Senior Assessment and Accountability Program Associate at the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory. An effective reader evaluates the merit of the text by drawing on her own experience and knowledge and considering whether other sources provide evidence that agrees with or contradicts the writer’s argument.