Sunday, March 31, 2019

Reptile and Bird Eggs: An Introduction

Reptile and domestic fowl Eggs An ingressFor a broad time now scientist befuddle been studying each in all types of reptiles since before man walked the earth. When comparing todays modern reptile pelt, and damn testis we see many differences that ar still being studied. Birds atomic number 18 well-nigh found e reallywhere, epoch most reptile be only in specific location. They both lay testis that argon diverse internally and externally. We will look at different species of sibilations and reptiles to find out more about their extraordinary reproductive system and the eggs themselves.BirdsFeathered, winged egg laying vertebrates. (Irie, 2010)Approximately 10,000 living species (Deeming, 2007)The only branch of dinosaurs to devour survived the cretaceous Paleogene extinction 65.5 million years ago. (Dolnik, 2001)Scientists theorize that birds evolved from dinosaurs. (Dolnik, 2001)Archaeopteryx lithographicahad two unattackable legs and walked as a bird does. Its ske leton was reptilian and had the feathers of a bird. (Dolnik, 2001) on that point atomic number 18 two theories as to why feathers would have create in the evolution of birds. One is that because the ancestors of birds where becoming perfervid blooded, they needed the insulation of feathers. another(prenominal) is that they develop because of a need for flight and gliding. (Dolnik, 2001)This capability to fly gave birds the warring edge as they could travel over greater distances and beas seeking food. This in any case permitted them to live in places unreachable to other animals. (Deeming, 2007)Bird EggsBird eggsare move by females andincubatedfor a time that changes correspond to the species. (Deeming, D C Birchard, G F 2007)A unmarried bird hatches from each egg. (Deeming, D C Birchard, G F 2007)Lay very typical amniote eggswith calcified epidermiss. (Dove, 2012)Birds brood their eggs until hatching. Some bird species are naked and helpless at birth, and must be fed by t heir parents these birds are calledaltricial. (Dove, 2012)Some birds lay eggs even when not fertilized (Deeming, 2007)cormorant eggs are rough and chalky (Dove, 2012)Tinamoueggs are shiny (Nathan, 1999)Duckeggs are oily and weeweeproof (Nathan, 1999)Cassowary eggs are heavily pitted (Nathan, 1999)Tiny pores in a bird eggshell allow the fertilized egg to breathe. (Irie, 2010)The majority bird eggs have anoval shape, with one end rounded and the other more pointed. (Deeming, 2007)The eggs wall is shapeable(Deeming, 2007)Numerous animals feed on eggs. (Dove, 2012)Humans have a long history of both eating wild bird eggs and raising birds for farmed eggs for consumption. (Dove, 2012)Brood parasitismoccurs in birds when one species lays its eggs in the nest of another. In some cases, the hosts eggs are removed or eaten by the female, or expelled by her chick. (Irie, 2010)ReptilesReptilesare members of theclassReptiliacomprising theamniotesthat are neitherbirdsnormammals. (Rafferty, 2012) The amniotes are thevertebrateswith eggs featuring anamnion, a double membrane that allows theembryoto breathe effectively on land. (Dolnik, 2001)Living reptiles arecold-bloodedand meet scales. (Rafferty, 2012)Reptiles originated around 320-310 million years ago during theCarboniferousperiod, having evolved from highly developedreptile like amphibiansthat became gradually more adapted to life on dry land. (Dolnik, 2001)There are many extinct groups, includingdinosaurs,pterosaurs, and ichthyosaurs. (Dolnik, 2001)There are 8,240 species of reptiles in the world, inhabiting every continent except Antarctica. (shine, 1999)Lizards and snakes have a single sheet of overlapping scales. (Rafferty, 2012)Other reptiles grow plates. (Rafferty, 2012)The main purpose of the pelt is to keep water in the animals body. (Shine, 1999)Reptiles offer go without water for long periods, and many species prosper in deserts. (Shine, 1999)Reptiles, like birds, have deliberate swear over the muscles in t heir eyes, which determine their pupil size. They are able to urge on or dilate their pupils at will, not just in response to light. (Dove, 2012)The brain of a reptile is not over 1 percent of his body agglomerate. Unlike amphibians, however, the reptilian brain has two hemispheres. (Nathan, 1999)The nervous systems of reptiles are adequately complex and similar to those of mammals. (Rafferty, 2012)Reptile eggsThe eggs laid by some reptiles even smaller, and those of insects and otherinvertebratescan be oft smaller still. (Nathan, 1999)Chicken eggs have a hard shell while reptile eggs have a soft, leathery shell. (Qualls, 2002) immense macrolecithal eggs, develop independent of water. (Deeming, D C Birchard, G F 2007) equal amphibians,amniotesare air-breathingvertebrates, but they have complex eggs including an amniotic membrane. (Qualls, 2002)Dinosaurs laid eggs, some of which have been preserved as petrified fossils. (Dolnik, 2001)Macrolecital eggs are found inreptiles(Deemi ng, 2007)Oviparity is typical of birds and reptiles. (Nathan, 1999)Literature ReviewDove (2012). use of bird eggs by invasive Burmese Pythons in Florida.Burmese Pythons have been reported to consume 25 species of adult birds in Everglades case Park, Florida but until now no records documented this species eating bird eggs.Deeming, D C Birchard, G F (2007). Allometry of egg and hatchling mass in birds and reptiles roles of developmental maturity, eggshell structure and phylogeny.This phrase looks at a wide run away of birds andreptiles using regression analysis, In birds, initialeggmass (IEM) at laying is the most important factor affecting phylogenetic relatedness. For allreptilespecies, IEM phylogenetic relatedness did not. This member also observed for the relationship betweeneggmass and incubation period.Shine, R,(1999). Egg-laying reptiles in cold climates determinants and consequences of nest temperatures in montane lizards.This word studies reptilian life-history and evo lution. Many of these species avoid low incubation temperatures by selecting warm nest-sites, reptilesmay adapt to low-temperature incubation rather than avoid it. Bassianaeggs patronize higher temperatures than do Nannoscincuseggs, but do not develop as rapidly at low temperatures.Dolnik, (2001) Allometry of egg mass, clutch size and complete clutch mass in dinosaurs comparison with modern reptiles and birds.In this bind the author presents for the first time empirical allometrical equations matching the mass of dinosaurs with the mass of theireggs, clutch size and its total mass. Contrast of these equations with those that were planned for modern taxa ofreptilesand birds shows that dinosaurs can be characterized by intermediate value of allometry index.Nathan, R, and Y. L. Werner (1999). Reptiles and breeding birds on Mt. Hermon Patterns of altitudinal distribution and species richnessThis article reviews and analyzes the altitudinal distribution ofreptilesand breedingbirds on M t. Hermon over the distance of 2814 m. Species diversity was larger in breedingbirdsthan inreptiles, declining with rising altitude in both groups, but more astutely so inbirds. The scientist explain that the generalization of vegetation arrangement with increase altitude may explain this variation, becausebirds probably better use the three-dimensionality of densely-vegetated habitats that take over low elevations.C. P. Qualls,R. M. Andrews (2002). Maternal body volume constrains water uptake by lizard eggsin uteroIn this article observations showed that some characteristic of retention in the oviductal environment restricts the amount of water eggs can absorb prior to oviposition. This paper presents proof, from two species ofgenus Sceloporuslizard, supporting the hypothesis that restricted space within the mothers body caries physically constrains the ability of eggs to expand, and thereby their ability to absorb water. If such(prenominal) a constraint on water uptake is extens ive, it can have significant implications for the understanding the costs of reproduction, and the determinants of reproductive output in squamate reptiles.Anthony R. Rafferty and Richard D. Reina, (2012). Arrested embryologic development a review of strategies to delay hatching in egg-laying reptiles.This article discusses arrested embryotic development connecting the down regulation or cessation of progressive cell division and metabolic activity, and the ability of an animal to arrest embryologic development results in temporal plasticity of the duration of embryonic period. Arrested embryonic development is a significant reproductive strategy for egg-laying animals that provide no parental care after oviposition.Irie,Toshiaki, (2010). Retinoid storage in the egg of reptiles and birdsIn this article storage of retinal has been established ineggsfrom a variety of anamniotic vertebrates, but the retinoid-storage state ineggsof oviparousamnioticvertebrates (reptiles andbirds) has not been clarified in detail. Scientist studied four reptilian and quintette avian species and established that retinal was commonly stored in theireggyolk. In addition, retinal was the major retinoid in reptilian eggs, with only low levels of retinol, while major amounts of retinol as well as retinal were stored in avianeggs. In equally reptilian and avianeggs, retinal was often bound to proteins, which were assumed to be homologous to the proteins that attach retinal in theeggsof anamniotic vertebrates.

Corporate Entrepreneurship Theory

in corporeald Entrepreneurship TheoryCan we qualify Daimler strategy as entrepreneurial? If so, what argon the steps taken by Daimler AG to fetch or choke their bodily Entrepreneurship (CE) Strategy?How atomic number 18 bodied entrepreneurial conducts world facilitated in Daimlers wariness throng?What components atomic number 18 proceeding CE applied by Daimler, and how could Daimler be to a greater extent entrepreneurial?LimitationThe thesis motif princip all toldy foc wonts on corporal Entrepreneurship theory specifically entrepreneurial conversion. Even though there are opposite types of Corporate Entrepreneurship types including bodied venturing, Intrapreneurship, and bringing the market inside(a), we discourseed Corporate Entrepreneurship finished the lenses of entrepreneurial transformation by excluding other types of corporate entrepreneurship. Our focus is mainly interested in the activities inside an giving medication, and entrepreneurial transformati on focus on these activities with a good general view on the strategy, finish, social administration, and offering and not a single area in particular. As be whiz of the forefront carcompanies, we chose Daimler- superstar of the leaders in the automotive industry- as our case study. In our fore leaving investigate, we found that Daimler AG focus on innovation and entrepreneurial activities as a crucial role in achieving sustainable growth therefore, they qualified the profile we are conducting the research somewhat. Due to the clock condemnation factor and the resources allocated to this paper, we in addition concluded that a study rough entrepreneurial activities inwardly make-up female genitalia be best dedicateed if we concentrate on one alliance rather than the whole automotive industry since our finding give be to a greater extent than specific, more reliable, and we will reduce the generalization of the results. As being one of the forefront car compan ies, we chose Daimler as our thesis subject. Furthermore, we only chose to use qualitative method rather than quantitative method due to the time factor and in ability to reach a sufficient number of employees on the job(p) for Daimler AG. We also analyzed Daimler entrepreneurial activities through the lenses of comp some(prenominal) perspective. Our work is mainly based on interpretation of interview made with Mark Reine, Daimler one-year report, Integrity Report, High-Tech Report and Sustainability Report.Papers StructureIn chapter 2 we go through our theoretical framework. We break the theory that we use as a companionship foundation for our study. We map out some of the studies that are relevant for the theoretical perspective in this study. In chapter 3 we describe the methodology we stomach used when making our study. We describe the diverse choices we guard made throughout the study, and motivate why we suck in made these choices. And we short dedicate our responde nt. In chapter 4 we present our respondent in more details, and we compile our experimental material that we have gathered through our conducted interviews. The development is presented respondent by respondent. In chapter 5 we evaluate the gathered empirical information and analyze it by the support of our theoretical framework.In chapter 6 we present the conclusions drawn from the analysis of the gathered information. Here we also present the conclusions that we arrived with regarding studying CE at bottom brasss.Theoretical FrameworkIn this chapter we present our theoretical framework and the main theories that will function us suffice our research questions. We present the Corporate Entrepreneurship theory, its explanation, types, succeeder factors, and dimensions This is where we accumulate a knowledge base that is necessary to fully on a overthrow floorstand the s debate of the thesis paper and the logic used to conduct it. This knowledge base will support the gathe ring, interpreting and analyzing of our information and empirical data made in latter(prenominal) chapters.Corporate EntrepreneurshipIn recent years, the conditions of contestation in the global milieu have changed for the companies. The market is dominated by constant change, entangled assigns and environmental turbulence (Rothwell, 1983 as cited in Livesay, 1995 destroy, 2008). As we mentioned earlier knowledge, innovation and tractability become an important resource for sustained competitive advantage. In other words, Entrepreneurship is the crucial factor for success or survival ( burn d take 2008 Czernich 2004). While menial firms take the advantage of these conditions and become very no-hit due to their whippy bodily structure and entrepreneurial spirit, voluminous firms suffer more due to their mechanistic, bureaucratic and rigid structures (Burns, 2008). Many scholars research bare-assed ship canal for large placement and come up with numerous ideas. One of t he solutions for companies to deal with the rigid bureaucratic structures is to induce Corporate Entrepreneurship in their structure (Dess et al., 2003). As it is mentioned earlier, period CEOs are concerned just al near profitable organic growth, they find corporate entrepreneurship or creating a new concern as one of the solution (Lippitz Wolcott, 2007). As corporate entrepreneurship is becoming popular, research on CE has grown besides (Dess et al., 2003). fit to Cunningham and Lischeron (1991), CE can be seen as a indoctrinate at bottom entrepreneurship theory. Since there is no generally judge definition of entrepreneurship (Swedberg, 2003), the definition of corporate entrepreneurship also suffers from this conundrum.In the next sections, we are going to adjust and explain Corporate Entrepreneurship from different perspectives of many authors. We will present the different dapple of views on Corporate Entrepreneurship in regards to its definitions, different type s, and success factors that affect it.Definition of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE)As it is mentioned above, since there is no generally accepted definition of corporate Entrepreneurship (CE), many scholars define CE differently. jibe to Sharma and Chrisman (1999 in Dess et al, 2003, p.352), Corporate Entrepreneurship is the process whereby an individual or group of individuals, in fellowship with an lasting disposal, cook a new makeup, or instigate renewal or innovation within that musical arrangement. Dess et al. (1999) also see it as 2 types of phenomena and processes while one is about creating a new business within existing organizations through internal innovation or joint accidents, alliances, the endorsement one is about the transformation of organization through strategic renewal. Burns (2008, p.12) defines CE as a process which kick upstairss CE in every(prenominal) level of organization corporate, di good deal, business unit etc. Lippitz and Wolcott (2007, p.7 5) define it as a process in which teams within an establish organization frame a new business which is distinct from parent conjunction just leverages the parents asset, market positions, capabilities or other resources. Also accord to Vesper (as cited in Hornsby Kuratko, 1999, p.29), Corporate Entrepreneurship is a new strategic dimension, initiative from below and main(a) business creation. These different definitions show that the tauting of Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE) is still ambiguous. CE can be seen as an evolving phenomenon which is still being researched by many researchers (Burns, 2008 Zahra, 1991). In tell to fully understand corporate entrepreneurship, different types of CE moldiness be analyzed. The next section will show the inequality in the midst of these types, and which is more relevant to our research. 17Types of Corporate EntrepreneurshipScholars define and break CE into many different types. These views cover a wide range. concord to Birkinshaw ( 2003 in Burns, 2008, p.13-14) and Thornberry (2001 in Kenney Mutjuba, 2007, p.75-6), there are quaternion types of corporate entrepreneurshipCorporate Venturing It is the process of starting new ventures related to core business through investing in smaller advanced firms and different forms of corporate venturing units by larger firmsIntrapreneurship It is about the identification of employees who have entrepreneurial skills and it focuses on supporting these employees to act in an entrepreneurial way within large organizations. function the market inside This dimension takes a marketing approach to encourage entrepreneurial port by ever-changing structure.entrepreneurial Transformation According to Burns (2008, p.14), it is about the adaptation of organisational structure, and subtlety to changing environment and urinate a new organizational environment to encourage entrepreneurial activity. He also mentioned that according to this dimension, the individual bearing in the organization is modulated by lead, strategy, corpses, structures and culture.Moreover, Covin and Miles (1999 in Dess et al., 2003) identify four types of CE. They offer structurally complex firms to use simultaneously one or more forms of CE in different separate of organization. The first one is sustained regeneration, which is sufferd by the firms culture, processes and structures to prepare new products in its existing market and also to code with existing product into new markets. Here, companies know their products life cycle and they create strategies according to competitive expectations. The support type of CE is organizational rejuvenation. It is more about process and administrative innovations rather than product innovations. It enables organizations to improve the firms ability to execute strategies. It concerns about inducing entrepreneurship through organizational procedures and standards. Strategic renewal, which is the troika one, is about how to change strat egies to compete differently. While organizational rejuvenation is about the organization itself, strategic renewal is about both organization and environment. It consists of the ways to exploit the opportunities more profitably and how to explore new ideas inthese changing circumstances. Domain Redefinition focuses on creating a new product market that competitors have not discovered yet or are not successful in that market. Domain redefinition aims to have first mover advantage in that new market. We find the classifications of Birkinshaw (2003 in Burns, 2008, p.13-14) and Thornberry (2001 in Kenney Mutjuba, 2007, p.75-6), and Covin and Miles (1999 in Dess et al., 2003) interesting because we can see that to a certain extent they are interrelated. Burns (2008) argues that corporate venturing and Intrapreneurship are seen as techniques that bring the market inside and can help impact the entrepreneurial transformation since it covers the whole aspects of the organization. Further more, by comparing entrepreneurial transformation to the types mentioned by Covin and Miles (1999 in Dess et al., 2003), it is observable that these types to some extent are also contained within the entrepreneurial transformation, because they cover aspects related to structure, culture, environment, and strategy which is what entrepreneurial transformation is about. Before focusing on the aspects affecting entrepreneurial transformation, the dimensions that advance CE must(prenominal) be mentioned. In the next section, the success factors of Corporate Entrepreneurship are going to be explained.The Success Factors of Corporate EntrepreneurshipAccording to Dess and Lumpkin (2005 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007), there are cardinal dimensions which shows that organization is entrepreneurial-oriented The first dimension is shore leave indicating that employees must be em authorityed and encourage to find the innovative products or new internal process. Employees must be supported to create innovative ideas. The second dimension is innovativeness. Organization must invest in research and development. The third dimension is pro-activeness which is related with organizations unforcedness of being different by exploiting opportunities. club must be coming(prenominal)-oriented. The fourth dimension is competitive aggressiveness. The organization must both willingly and eagerly engage in a competition and conduct strategies that exploit the opportunities better than other competitors. The last dimension is take a chance taking which is one ofthe most important dimensions for Corporate Entrepreneurship. Company must be aware of business, financial and professional risks associated with CE (2005 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007, p.76). These dimensions declared earlier by Dess and Lumpkin (2005 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007) support and slightly similar to the success factors Abraham talks about (1997 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007 Sathe, 1985 in Kuratko and Hornsby, 1999). Nonetheless, they overlook the factors of avenge and payoff, and time availability mentioned by Abraham (1997 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007). According to Abraham, there are four important corporate entrepreneurship success factors that must exist within an organization (1997 in Kenney and Mujtaba, 2007 Sathe, 1985 in Kuratko and Hornsby, 1999).The first factor is direction support which is about promoting entrepreneurship in the organization. The management support consists of championing the innovative ideas,providing necessary resources, foil within organization, being a coach or mentor rather than being a manager. The second factor is autonomy which points out that employees are develop to take risks and failure is tolerated by management. This factor must be beef up by the organizational structure which facilitates the implementation of ideas. The third factor is reward and reinforcement. The legal reward system will enhance entrepreneurial behavior in organization and he lp employees to take risks. Both extrinsic (monetary) and inbred (recognition) rewards motivate employees to be more entrepreneurial. The last factor is time availability. there must be flexible time constraints which let employees to deal with a long term problem. (Echols and neck, 1998 Kuratko et al. 1999) As a whole, it can be seen that corporate entrepreneurship success factors are passing related with entrepreneurial transformation mentioned in the types of corporate entrepreneurship. It can be understood that management support is highly related with lead and culture (being a coach or mentor rather than being a manager) and structure (championing the innovative ideas, providing necessary resources, foil within organization) autonomy is also related with structure reward and reinforcement system can be stipulated by organizational culture, structure and leadership while time availability can be bring on by both leadership and organizational culture. In the next section, the factors of entrepreneurial transformation are going to be explained in detail.Entrepreneurial Transformation within organizationsAs it is mentioned above in order to have successful Corporate Entrepreneurship (CE), large organizations must add the success factors of CE to their whole system which is related with entrepreneurial transformation. According to Burns (2008, p.18), entrepreneurial transformation is about adaptation of entrepreneurship to large firms by changing their structure, strategy, system, leadership and culture to cope with change and innovation. He identifies strategy, leadership and management, culture, and structure as necessary fixingss to arrive at entrepreneurial transformation. These elements areEntrepreneurial Transformation lead attentionOrganizatioal horticulture organizational StructureCorporate StrategyInstitutional FieldIn addition to these elements, institutional field can be seen as one of the element that affects corporate entrepreneurship s trategy because while companies are specify their strategies, they have to think both company and companys environment that company exists in. body-build 4 summarizes these elements and shows how they influence the Corporate Entrepreneurship strategy within an organization.As it is shown in the predict above, there are five elements that influence the entrepreneurial transformation within organization Leadership and Management, Organizational Culture, Organizational Structure, Corporate Strategy, and Institutional Field. tout ensemble these elements are strongly interrelated and have a strong influence on each other. In order for a successful entrepreneurial transformation within an organization, all the elements must be taken in servant, simply because they support each other. Having a weak link in the entrepreneurial transformation elements will lead for an ineffective andinefficient entrepreneurial transformation within any organization. Leader and management set the alley for the transformation and eliminate the dysfunctions within the organization which prevent entrepreneurial behaviors (Burns, 2008 Kuratko and Hornsby 1999), and the culture, structure and institutional field is what support this transformation. The strategy is what maintain and foster the success of the transformation in the later stages. The figure 4 shows an intertwined birth where all the elements are connected in a way and not as a procedural process. In next sections, the five elements are going to be explained one by one in further details.Leadership ManagementOne of the aspects that affect CE is management and leadership. Burns (2008) discusses the kind between management and leadership. He states that although they go glide by in hand with respect to skills and competencies, there are still some hypercritical differences that could be addressed Management could be seen as the mechanics of the organization, while its leadership functions as the brains. Burns (2008) emph asizes mainly on the roles of each and state that Management is concerned with execution and handling of complex organizational tasks and processes mainly concerned with efficiency and effectiveness. Compare to management leadership is concerned with broader principles related to communication, motivation, and mountain goals and direction and particularly change.According to Kuratko and Hornsby (1999), the new corporate revolution represents an gustatory sensation for a desire to develop entrepreneurial leadership within the organization structure in other words in-house entrepreneuring development, or face stagnation, damage of personnel, and decline. In order to do so, effective entrepreneurial leaders endeavor to construct, define and gain commitment to values and beliefs they try to integrate in the organization they work in. These shared out values and beliefs incorporated within the romance and mission of an organization are what make the essence of its culture that bind s the organization all together (Burns 2008). The shared vision and values are the coveted future state that the organization is striving to achieve thus its acts as a forefingerful and effective motivational tool. However, in order to create an entrepreneurial culture based on motivation and strive to achievements, entrepreneurial leaders need more than just apromising vision (Burns 2008). They need to create a management team that enforce this entrepreneurial culture a flexible adaptable team that is able to pop off under extreme changing environments and to handle risk and doubtfulness. Moreover, Kuratko and Hornsby (1999) emphasize on this topic and state that specific elements for entrepreneurial leaders need to be recognized first for a corporate entrepreneurship strategy to be induced effectively and efficiently. These elements areDeveloping the Vision.Developing Innovation.Developing Venture Teams.Structuring for an Entrepreneurial Climate.Kuratko and Hornsby (1999) also emphasize on the vision as the first element take to induce an effective and efficient corporate entrepreneurship strategy. A shared vision that is supported by top management that reinforces innovation and entrepreneurship is what the second element needs to be achieved. Without a vision that is supported by the leadership in the organization, innovation is not achievable. Moreover, the third element is venture team similar to what Burns (2008) defines as management teams who have the capability for stimulating innovation and creativity within the organization. The final and most critical element that Burns didnt emphasize on is structuring for an entrepreneurial climate. And what Kuratko and Hornsby (1999) mean by the entrepreneurial climate is the innovative environment that allows new ideas to flourish.In order to deeply discuss the role of leadership in creating the entrepreneurial climate, the transformational leadership theory needs to be discussed briefly. According to th e transformational leadership theory, transformational leaders behavior does not depend on a traditional exchange relationship between leader and fol trim down (Bass, 1990). Their behavior is based on face-to-face value systems that are not negotiable they modify their pursuit goals and aspirations to be aligned with their goals by demonstrating idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration (Bass, 1990). Bass states that transformational leadership is needed to broaden and elevate the interests of employees, generate awareness and acceptance of the purposes and missionsof the organization, and stir the employees to look beyond their own self-interests for the good of the boilers suit entity (1990, p. 19). Between the four elements used by transformational leaders to influence followers bass discussed, we are interested in the inspirational motivation which mean the ability to develop and communicate a convincing and at tractive future vision. This vision is not only materially based but offers challenges and meanings (Bass, 1990 in Felfe, 2004). Humphreys (2005) also emphasizes the role of transformational leadership and state that it is more suitable for a dynamic external environment, where employees are empowered with greater responsibility and encouraged to innovate, initiative and take risk. Comparing Bass (1990), Kuratko and Hornsby (1999), and Burns (2008) brings us to the point that it is observable that they all agree on the importance of developing a shared future vision that align the goals and objectives of the leadership with all parts of the organization. They all emphasize on the influential role it has in stimulating the entrepreneurial strategy needed to flatten the way for flexibility and adaptability needed for innovation especially in a dramatic changing business environment. Furthermore the leadership personal manner and the level of commitment and support they convey to emp loy defines to what level the entrepreneurial climate could be achieved. However, according to Burns (2008, p.105) quoting Richard Branson, there is no single best leadership style. It always depends on many different factors such as the leader, group, task, and situation, or even the scope they are in similar to the ideology the contingency theory discuss (Burns, 2008). The theory emphasizes that there is no best way to mange or lead in an organization. One of the examples Burns (2008) discusses is the managerial grid which was developed by Blake and Mouton. This model classifies the managerial styles upon leadership concern toward task compared to the concern for people. Figure 5 summarize and explains these styles. It classifies them into five types Impoverished Management, Country club Management, center of the road Management, Team management, and Authority-Compliance Management.Figure 5 The Leadership Grid (Source created by the authors, adapted from Blake and Mouton, 1978 i n Burns, 2008) Nevertheless if the organization desires to stay entrepreneurial, certain styles will not be appropriate such as autocratic or dictatorial- where the leadership dictate what is needed to be done without given any kind or decision making authority to the management team or impoverished management that has low concern for both the task and the group, because it is hardly leadership at all. On the other hand the organization must encourage the consultative style- where the leadership shares its high level of authority with the management team supervising the decision making process, and if the number of employees in an organization increase, concern for the group must increase and move toward the group and thus team management.Burns also discusses how managers behave in situations involving booking in order to obtain the best effective and suitable results (2008). found on the Thomas-Kilman Conflict modes questionnaire, behavior can be classified under two important d imensions which are Assertiveness the extent to which individuals satisfy their own needs, and Co- operativeness the extent they attempt to satisfy the needs of others. Thomas and Kilman comes up with five behavioral classifications that individuals can be indentified with Competing, Accommodating, Avoiding, Collaborating, and Compromising. Figure 6 explains these classifications in more details. (Burns, 2008, p. 99)Figure 6 Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Modes (Cited from Burns, pg. 99, 2008, adapted from Thomas and Kilmann, 1975) Furthermore according to the matrix provided above on how to behave in situations involving conflict, each style has its advantages and disadvantages and can be effective in different situations. However management teams tend always try to resolve conflict through collaborating or compromising approaches. Collaborating deals with finding alternatives that meet everyones concerns, and compromising the in between diplomatic route (Burns, 2008, p.99). Both appro aches are assertive and co-operative, thus using light influence to get their ideology implemented within the organization and its culture. 2.2.2. Organizational CultureOrganizational culture is another important aspect that affects corporate entrepreneurship. According to Sackmann (1991 in Dimitratos and Plakoyiannaki, 2003),many researches see organizational culture as cognitive framework which consists of values, beliefs, norms, meaning systems, patterns of thoughts. Organizational culture influences the expectation of organizational members to each other and their expectations of external interaction with suppliers, customers, and external environment (Ireland, Hitt, Sirmon, 2003). Parboteaah (2000 in Kenney et al., 2007) claims that developing and nurturing an entrepreneurial culture will help a company to find innovative solutions and sustain strategic competitive advantages, that is why Dess et al. (2005 in Kenney et al., 2007) recommend companies to check their culture if they have an entrepreneurial orientation. According to Ireland et al. (2003, p.970), an effective entrepreneurial culture must dedicate itself to the simultaneous importance of opportunity-seeking behavior and advantage-seeking behaviors, culture must promote innovative ideas and learning, encourage risk- taking activities while accepting the failure, and must be open to continuous change.Furthermore, the dimensions of culture created by Hofstede help to characterize an entrepreneurial culture in the organization (Burns, 2008). beginning dimension is individuality versus collectivism. It is about the level of preference to work as individuals or groups. According to Burns (2008), entrepreneurial culture must be based on collectivism rather than individuality in larger organizations. The establishment of relationships and networks within the organization will result in a strong sense of in-groups with the feeling of competition against out-groups (competitors). The second dimension i s power distance, which is about the degree of in equality among the people that community is willing to accept (Burns, 2008, p.116). Hofstede (1981 in Burns, 2008) claims that while lower power distance encourages the equalitarianism that stimulates flat structure, open relations and unrestricted information flow, higher power distance support hierarchical structure. Burns (2008) indicates entrepreneurial culture involves lower power distance. The third dimension is uncertainty avoidance, which is about the degree of peoples margin for complexity and uncertainty. While higher uncertainty avoidance stresses rules and procedures, rewards the compliance to these roles, lower uncertainty avoidance tolerates complexity, encourages flexibility, risk taking, initiative decision-making. Burns (2008) claims that low uncertainty avoidance is suitable for CE. The final dimension is masculinity and femininity. Whilemasculinity is based on financial and material achievements and competition, femininity focuses on relationships and cooperation. According to Burns (2008), CE must find a balance between masculinity and femininity. They have to establish one culture that focuses on achievements against competitors through networks and cooperation within organization. On the other hand, Beer, Eisenstat and Spector (1990) claim that while corporate culture is one of the aspects that help to establish corporate entrepreneurship in large organizations, pagan Revolution by itself is not enough to achieve successful revitalization. The management must analyze every field of organization including its structure, strategy, leadership because culture correlates every field of organization. Leaders have to find out the sources of the problem and they have to make changes where it is necessary.Organizational StructureOne of the other factors that stimulate entrepreneurship in a company is the organizational structure. Large companies have recognise that to survive in todays conditi ons which are rapid and sociological changes, they have to create a structure that stimulates creativity and innovations (Sapolsky, 1967 in Livesay, 1995 Sinetar, 1985 in Livesay, 1995 Beer et al., 1990 Burns, 2008). However Sapolsky (1967 in Livesay, 1995) and Burns (2008) claim that there are no basic guidelines about one perfect structure that is suitable for every organization. According to Echols and Neck (1998), it is necessary to redesign structure to foster corporate entrepreneurship. Managers must structure organization as flat as possible and support it with entrepreneurial culture. New structure must support entrepreneurial behaviors. They analyzed ternion specific categories of entrepreneurial behavior which must have been addressed by management while changing structure. The first sept is detection of opportunities which requires transparency in the organization, external and internal networks and easy access to firms information. The second kinsfolk is opportunity f acilitation which demands supportively competition among firms and support from managers as coaches or mentors. Final category is the motivation to pursue opportunity. Managers must consider rewarding their employees for their entrepreneurial behaviors. (Echols et al., 1998, p.40-41)The most suitable structure depends on the nature of the organizations, the strategies employed, the task that they operate, the environment that they exist in and the size (Burns, 2008). Size is one of the most important factors for defining the structure. In recent years, as entrepreneurship becomes an important key success factor for the business, small firms gain a competitive advantage over large firms because of their flexible structure which enables better communication, greater delegation of authority and fast-breaking decision making. Nowadays, large firms are downsizing or deconstructing themselves to be entrepreneurial (which is the breaking of the organization down into smaller units) (Burns , 2008, p.137). The following trends are indicated by Pettigrew and Fenton (2000 in Burns, 2008, p.138) decentralizing, de-layering, outsourcing, down-scoping, using project forms of organizing, developing strategic alliances, communicating horizontally as well as vertically, investing in IT, and the application of new HR policies. Furthermore, organizational structure is obliged to change as the organization grows (Greiner, 1972 in Burns, 2008 Morris, Allen, Schindehutte Avila, 2006). But the traditional large firm structures are not suitable in this complex turbulent

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Whats Eating Gilbert Grape Film Review Film Studies Essay

Whats take gibibyte pipeline Film Review Film Studies EssaySocietys ideological constructs and attitudes towards minority groups argon created and reinforced through media imagery. Although prejudicial associations that maintain inequities with regard to race, gender and homophobia (Conner Bejoian, 2006) subscribe been nearlywhat relieved, baulk is still immersed in harmful con nonations that restrict and curtail the life of battalion with disabilities in our society.Disability has appe ard frequently in upstart icons (Byrd Elliot, 1988), a reflection of societys interest in the subject. These hits a great deal misrepresent deterioration using stamps. These stereotypes reinforce proscribe and incorrect social perceptions of, and attitudes towards, modify citizenry (Safran, 2000). By call foring these films we can begin to reshape the wrong and negative accepted ideas of disability in society. Film abstract can ground students how the medium manipulates images which continue stereotypes and cause stigma (Livingstone, 2004). Film can be used to confront students with their prejudices (Chellew, 2000, p.26), challenging them to accept new ways of persuasion realising that disability is a result of the social attitudes and expectations placed on plastered people by society (Ellis, 2003 Meekosha, 2003).Whats take in gibibyte Grape is a film by director Lasse Hallstrm near a upstart man flavour after his developmentally disabled brother and his dysfunctional family in a small American town. This paper will vitally examine this movie using Richard Dyers four spirits of representation, as cited in Harnett (2000), as a framework. With a counsel on the disabled consultation Arnie, the analysis will identify and discuss the ways the film reinforces limiting stereotypes ab step up disability. Finally, the implications of the analysis for use in an educational setting to raise sensory faculty of the representations identified will be disc ussed.Re-presentation, as the first sense of representation, refers to how television receiver or other visual media re-present our society back to us (Dyer cited in Harnett, 2000). Through the use of artistic expression and technical elements neither real reality nor an entirely false account is portrayed. Dyer states that reality is always more than extensive and complicated than any system of representation can espouse (Titchkosky, 2003, p. 134). In societys media, the world is generally simplified or typically presented in a way that is most beneficial for the medium.The presence of disability in a film is often used for storytelling (Raynor and Hayward, 2009). In Whats Eating gilbert Grape, Arnies disability is constructed as an emphasis of the film. The film relies greatly on the striking power of the disability alone (p. 23) to move the narrative forward. The selection and focus of particular aspects of Arnies life and his disability are used to explain his actions and energize responses from the hearing. For example, when his fear of jumping in the water is overcome, it creates a feel-good factor. Also, the focus on his inability to cope, generates a sense of pity from the audience such as in one particular scene when Gilbert leaves Arnie to get out of the bath by himself, merely to discover him still in the bath, dust-covered and shivering, in the morning.Dyers second sense of representation refers to the application of common stereotypes that fool been recognised for characters with disabilities in film. These stereotypes create one dimensional characters with limited emotions, where the disability comes first and the person second, justifying differential treatment and segregation (Black, 2004). Some of the negative representations identified by Safran (2000) as stereotypical for disabled characters will at present be applied to the character of Arnie.As mentioned above, the portrayal of Arnies character demands a feeling of pity from the audience. This stereotype communicates disability as a line of social, forcible and emotional confinement (Hayes Black, 2003, p.114). In Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, Arnie has no friends and is restricted to the confines of the porch of his family home. Whenever he tries to escape (usually to the water tower), he is ultimately returned back to this position of subordination under the care of others, which is typical of this stereotype (Hayes Black, 2003).A most common stereotype depicted of disabled characters is that of a super-man (Safran, 2000) or supercrip (Harnett, 2000), where a disabled character overcomes massive odds to squelch or succeed in defeating their disability to become normal. The character is often seen as a hero to have made such progress. Although Arnie does not reflect a hero status, his character is beating his disability by the very fact that he is still alive. In the opening scenes of the movie, Gilberts level lets the audience know that doctors s aid wed be lucky if Arnie lived to be ten, well ten came and went (Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper Hallstrm, 1993), implying Arnies triumph over tragedy. He defies death that would be otherwise be brought about by his disability.Although not a thematic stereotype reinforced throughout this whole film, it is typical of a disabled character to be represented as a victim or object of violence (Safran, 2000). At the climax of the film, Gilberts overwhelming frustration and displeasure of his life authority overflows into a violent episode directed at Arnie. On occasions throughout the film, Arnie is portrayed as an innocent a victim or object of violence from his younger sister and, in this rare case mentioned above, from his brother Gilbert.Another stereotype of disability presented, albeit only slightly, however still present, is that of being laughable (Safran, 2000) or the disability creating an automatic teller of curiosity that is aroused by differentness. This stereotype is usually more everyday in comics, horror movies or science fiction films and related to physical impairments, which often portray disabled characters as freaks and exotic creatures (Smith, 1999). However, in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, its Arnies unusual actions within the residential area that attracts attention. When he is perched broad(prenominal) up on the water tower ladder, it becomes a fascination to many onlookers, who collection below the tower to observe the spectacle with curiosity, as Smith (1999) puts it, his abnormal conduct is exploited as it would a carnival sideshow (p. 42).The most prevalent stereotype of a disabled character represented in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape is the stereotype of a burden. This representation is the major narrative unprompted force. In the opening scenes, referring to Arnie, Gilbert quotes some days you want him live, some days you dont (Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper Hallstrm, 1993), reflecting the huge burden that is placed on the Grape family, esp ecially Gilbert, to care for his disabled brother. The burden of Arnie is also extended to the community, where the local police force have to continuously retrieve Arnie from the ladder of the towns water tower.Dyers third sense of representation of refers to the representation of who is speaking for whom (Harnett, 2000). Whats Eating Gilbert Grape is scripted by an able-bodied writer, directed by an able-bodied director and has a disabled character acted by, Leonardo Di Caprio, an able-bodied actor. On a study into disabled actors, Raynor and Hayward (2007) discuss how disabled actors work is restricted to disabled character roles and suggest their struggle to find work is partly collectible to able-bodies actors being cast in those roles. Marks (1999) suggests the reason for not employing disabled people is that it is reassuring for the viewer to know that its only pretend (p. 160). In Whats Eating Gilbert Grape the audience knows Leonardo Di Caprio is not really disabled, he p resents as non-threatening and comforting, perhaps allowing the audience to relieve fears or ignore the reality of disability.Dyers stern sense of representation questions how the represented image is interpreted by the audience (Harnett, 2000). It refers to how the intended meaning by those who produce the film can be lost or skewed when observed from a different file of view. When Peter Hedges, the writer of Whats Eating Gilbert Grape comments on his wishes for the film he states I would hope that people might view their companion beings with more empathy, more compassion and a desire to understand (Malony, 2002, p.10). Although an back up and optimistic aspiration, the perspective of the film from people with disabilities would certainly be different. The news above demonstrates that the representations of disability in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape generates themes of incapability and total dependence on others to survive- Arnie cannot live without Gilbert, and Gilbert is stu ck caring for Arnie indefinitely.By analysing the representations of disability presented in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape we can clearly see the negative associations put forward. Livingstone (2004) suggests that as educators we can use such inaccuracies and stereotypical images as assets rather than liabilities (p.119). By studying the ways disabilities are represented in films students can develop awareness of specific disability imagery (Safran, 2000, p.46) and learn about what the causes the stigma and lack of inclusion that shop at the disabled community. Safran (2000) insists when using films in education, it must be done with focused, meditative viewing (p.46) which promotes critical engagement, helping students question the cultural ideals created by the paramount constructions offered in film (Arndt, 2010).An appropriate educational setting for the use of analysing Whats Eating Gilbert Grape would be in high school. Feldman states (cited in Arndt, 2010) that high school s tudents are able to think beyond the concrete, current situation to what might or could be. Specifically, an effective starting point of a critical analysis with students would involve the deconstruction (Safran, 1998) of Arnies character, identifying the stereotypes portrayed and exploring correct representations of developmental disability. The reaction of the community to Arnie and his disability would also be beneficial to examine. Students would explore how the community views Arnie and what attitudes would be more appropriate to promote acceptance and inclusion.Using films to ascertain are effective because they are a highly motivational (Brown, 2005 Chellew, 2000) due to their entertainment factor. Whats Eating Gilbert Grape is a popular film with popular actors, and would interest high school aged students. Despite its portrayal of recognised negative stereotypes of disability Safran (1998) admits, it can still be utile in the classroom. The acknowledgment of such stereoty pes and prejudices against people with disabilities will help students bury (Connor Bejoian, 2006, p. 59) the perceptions and attitudes which justify the differential treatment of a minority group. Through looking at our media, particularly film, it is essential for us to reshape pre-existing views (Chellew, 2000, p. 28) by breaking down the robust ideological attitudes of disability that continue to restrict, hold in and exclude.

How Do Banks Increase Their Liquidity?

How Do deposes Increase Their Liquidity?This essay whollyow for be insureing into runniness problems at bottom unmarried lodges, exploring why it is utterly essential for verifys to march on up frank liquid state and exploring the sources of runniness that argon usable to them, should they exact to increase it. Over the past year in that respect gravel been an assortment of serious issues involving banks, with the interior(a)isation and part-nationalisation of several retail banks in the UK, including olympian Bank of Scotland, Bradford Bingley, HBOS and Northern shudder and the bankrupt of various prodigious pecuniary institutions in the US and Europe including Bear Sterns and Leh slice Br differents. It leave excessively touch sensation into why these banks faced such problems, and examine the role that the Central Bank plays in managing liquidity indoors the coin marketplaces, and how it advise help individual banks and the entire banking system i f liquidity go a commissions an issue.Explain why banks confuse dumbfound under-capitalised and insufficiently liquid and that there argon federal agencys for banks to sort give a counseling their liquidity.Firstly it is necessary to define liquidity, and explain the campaign that liquidity is so important for banks. Liquidity is essenti preciselyy immediately sp prohibitable funds or the powerfulness to convert assets into spendable funds, quickly and easily with go forth a monumental loss.Banks hire liquidity beca utilisation of take ons for spendable funds. These begs principal(prenominal)ly come from customers wishing to get hold of property from their accounts and from customers with creed requests, either in the form of brand-new loans or drawings upon existing credit lines. However banks pull up stakes also direct a demand for liquidity for several(prenominal) opposite reasons including paying off liabilities that they have for sheath loans from other b anks, or the central bank, payment of income taxes and the paying of cash dividends to their shareholders.Sources of liquidity that banks have available to them f solely into twain categories asset liquidity and borrowed liquidity, with most(prenominal) banks tending to use a mix between them some(prenominal) cognise as balanced liquidity management. Banks using a balanced liquidity management strategy look at their expected liquidity demands, stack a focusing some of these demands in liquid assets and the break left down to prearranged lines of credit from potential supp duplicityrs of funds.The pullulate of liquid assets is held by banks solely as a re suffice, which can be turned into cash in crisis conditions, when a bank can non meet its monetary obligation. These assets must be of high quality so that in times of need, they can be convince immediately with marginal losses. These liquid assets, other than cash, include mercantile-grade paper is issued by large corpo rations as a form of oblivious term borrowing. The maturity of commercial-grade paper is in most cases between 7 and 45 days, and is sold similarly to the treasury bills, at a discount to its maturity value. Commercial paper is gener every last(predicate)y unsecured, do it riskier than buying treasury bills. Companies using commercial paper pull up stakes grossly get a credit valuation check from a credit evaluation agency and the better the rating they achieve, the infinitesimaler the discount they can issue it at, as it is a oft secure investment.A certificate of deposit (CD) is a certificate stating that a deposit has been made with a bank for a fixed rate of flow of time, and that at the end of the fixed term, the authoritative deposit will be repaid with occupy. The advantage of CDs for the depositor is that they are tradable to third parties, so the depositor can make use of the funds, if needs be, in front the maturity date. The advantage to the financial insti tution progeny the CD is that they can make use of the deposit for the fixed period, estimable because they offer the depositor flexibility, the bank gets it for a slightly lower toll than they would normally have to pay for other time deposits such as repos. The discriminate of the CD is that the depositor has to deposit a minimum denomination of 50,000 which means that small companies may not have the notes for them.Repurchase agreements (Repos) are a combination of two transactions, and play a critical role in the funds markets. It works by firstly a securities dealer, such as a banks, sells securities it owns to an investor and agrees to repurchase them at a specified higher price at a date in the future. This is a bully way for dealers to raise funds quickly. For the investor, repos can be a very juicy short term investment. This is because not only will they make money with the dealer buying the securities back at a higher price, yet if they believe that the price of the securities will drop, because they can sell them, and wherefore potentially purchase equivalent securities to return to the dealer on the solelyton before the repo must be unwound. Therefore the investor has potentially made more than money on top of the interest earned from the dealer.Treasury Bills are securities with a maturity of one year or less, and are issued by national governments. These are generally considered to be the safest of all investments, and for this reason they account for a larger share of money market trading than any other type of instrument. They are also k instantern as zero verifier bonds, as they do not pay any interest, scarcely instead are bought at a discount rate to their face value, depending on how long it is until the security matures.The main sources of borrowed liquidity available to banks inlcudeThe Interbank lending market is a market where banks can lend money to each other. This provides banks with the ability to get funds quickl y in times of bad liquidity and also provides an outlet for lending excess funds. The loans are normally short term loans, generally between 1 and 14 days, but can be longer. The interbank lending market has its own interest rate, called the London Interbank Offered come out (LIBOR), which is currently stabilised at just over 0.6%, around 10 basis points above the current base rate.Euromarkets have been some of the hurried growing markets in juvenile years and are basically any instrument denominated in a currency other than that of the coun exertion where it is traded. financial institutions will look for money at the lowest price, regardless of the currency, and and so change it into the home currency. This can be a beneficial way of purpose cheap money quickly, especially if the interbank lending market has desiccate up as it has done upstartly.Bond Markets are a great way of getting liquidity as there is a capacious market for bonds. Bonds offer the investor interest t hroughout the life of the bond, and repayment of the original principle at the end. Unlike shares, the owner of the bond does not have any degree of managerial control or ownership of the issuer. For this reason it is a great way to get liquidity, because the issuer is not losing any of the alliance or institution and therefore none of its powers. The interest grade until now must be competitive on the day of issue, but need to be just rectify as if it is too high, then the issuer could end up with excessive costs, but if it is too low, then they may not be able to sell them.Explain what role the bank of England has, and how it operates in the money markets and how banks are affected by the operations of the bank of England (interest rates etc)The Bank of Englands principal function is to conduct money and credit insurance policy to promote sustainable growth in the economy and avoid onerous inflation. There are various tools it uses in its role of helping in maintaining stabi lity in the financial system as a whole, finding potential problems and risks and trying to find ways of fixing these problems and reducing the risks. In trying to achieve its main goals, the Bank of England installs the operations of all the banks, and they must be prepared for all outcomes. The tools that the central bank uses are outlined below.The Bank of England is responsible for the Governments accounts, and provides them with regular statements and banking services. It is also the banker of all commercial banks, and all commercial banks are required by law to keep 0.15% of the liabilities in their account with the central bank.The central bank is the Issuer of bank notes in England and Wales, but not the rest of the UK.It controls the countries reserves of gold and foreign currencies for the government, and by buying and selling these the central bank can influence the exchange rate.The central bank is known as the lender of last resort, and will always lend to the banks if there is a shortage of liquidity in the banking system. This has been shown vastly over the last couple of years, and has been fundamental in stuff the banking system from the possibility of total collapse. One physical exercise of this was the Northern Rock PLC in 2007, where a rumour that the bank was in serious financial trouble led to hatful with deposits in the bank lining up outside the banks demanding their deposits. In this instance the Bank of England quickly helped the bank out as lender of last resort.The Bank of England supervises the banking system. There are two main reasons the bank needs to do this which are the fact that customers of the banks and institutions are at a disadvantage because they are not necessarily surface informed about the affairs of the intermediary and therefore could be depositing their money into a bank that is on the brink of a collapse. The central bank looks at all of the accounts of the banks to make sure that they are not in a bad po sition. This leads on to the second reason which is that the consequences of bank unsuccessful person can be catastrophic to the whole financial system, as we have seen over the past two years, which shows that the central bank should have by chance been supervising the financial institutions more closely.The Bank of England is involved in advising on the monetary policy. Monetary policy involves controlling the price and quantity of money and credit in the economy, with the use of different policy instruments, which are interest rates and the availability of reserves. Changing interest rates effectively changes the demand for money. The main instrument use today is interest rates. By lay interest rates up, there will be less demand for money, as it costs more to borrow, and on the other hand by lowering interest rates, it will increase the demand for money as it is cheaper. By doing this the Bank of England can basically slow down or speed up the economy and rates of inflation. This has a huge effect on banks, because everything they do relies on interest rates.Look at recent flatts in the money markets and the responses from firms and government and analyse the impact of these event on some(prenominal) individual firms and financial markets as a whole.Since the financial crisis started with the collapse of the sub-prime mortgages, banks have faced liquidity problems. This is mainly due to the fact that there has been impaired liquidity in a lot of markets, the two main markets being the interbank markets and the securities markets. Banks became unsure of both their own liquidity and the liquidity of other financial institutions, and for that reason they did not want to lend to each other on the interbank markets. This therefore pushed interest rates up in both markets, and with banks becoming increasingly dependent on these markets, it did not look good for liquidity. Many other markets also relied on the banks using these markets, and problems spread i nto legion(predicate) a(prenominal) different markets.This all ended up with banks entailing higher borrowing costs, which then had to be passed in their lending rates and also left the banks with much weaker results. This all lead to some banks defaulting on their payment obligations, as they just did not have the liquidity they needed. Many large institutions around the human beings had to be bailed out by central banks, with banks in the UK including Northern Rock, bail bond and Leicester, HBOS and Bradford and Bingley amongst several others.The above table outlines the measures that the Central banks around the knowledge base took to try to address the situation. The Bank of England used several of these methods to try to resolve the utter(a) liquidity problems that the banks and markets that were facing.As shown in the Essay, it is essential for financial institutions to have good liquidity. It is not important just for the survival of an individual bank, but for the surv ival of the financial system as a whole. It is clear that in recent events, the banks did not have sufficient liquidity to cover the demands for spendable funds, and in the future they need to have a much higher stock of liquid assets, and not rely so much on borrowed liquidity. It is also clear that big mistakes were made by many financial institutions, and cultivation from these mistakes is essential in trying to rebuild trust in both the money markets and banks in general. I believe that the Bank of England needs to meliorate the way it is supervising the banking system, as the collapse of the money markets could potentially have been avoided if certain banks had been supervised more effectively.The financial systems also desperately need to be regulated globally, which was one of the main topics of the G20 summit in 2009. Gordon brown said We have a global financial system, but until now no global co-ordination or supervision, only national supervisors and a new financial regu latory is due to be released later this year, which will basically change how world banks and markets operate. I believe that this new global financial regulatory system will change the way banks operate for the good, and should stop anything like this happening again.The Things They Carried AnalysisThe Things They Carried AnalysisTim Obriens The Things They Carried is a perfect example of American coetaneous, also known as post ultramodern, belles-lettres, mainly supporting the characteristics of metafiction, and mixed bag of fiction and facts, all of which are commonly used throughout all forms of postmodern literary works. Because this era is current, how it will have on impact on books still remains to be seen, but what is clear is how the coetaneous era has opened a new door to literature allowing people to view the world in a whole different flair also allowing authors to be freer in expressing ideas in their literature.Contemporary literature refers to literature written from 1945 to present. It is much referred to as the era directly after military man War II. This era shares many of the characteristics introduced in the modern era, but is anomalous in the sense that the openness constitute in this literature is greater. Contemporary literature also has the tendency to contradict modernist thought and brings things into new light. It deals with events and issues within this time frame and for that reason we are able to comprehend a greater deal than before. It allows the reader to relish connected to the novel in a way that wasnt possible before. What both modernism and contemporary literature share is subjectivism. Modernist literature however saw fragmentation and extreme subjectivity as an existential crisis. In contemporary literature this crisis is avoided. It is more common to find egotism-consciously deconstructed and self-reflexive narrators unlike in modern literature it was all about the anti-heroes and tortured souls. Ther e is great inner narrative of the self in contemporary. This includes the self at war with itself, to the self as arbitrator points back to the phenomenological roots of post-modern thought.As far as linguistic and rhetorical characteristics go, contemporary literature has an open form of writing, allowing a writer to be freer with their thoughts and ideas. It is also common to find discontinuous narrative in these works. Intersexuality or borrowing and transformation of certain ideas form other texts is also still present in contemporary literature, often borrowing from past modern thought as well. There is an extensive use of classical allusions within the style. What is very interesting about contemporary is its tendency not only to borrow ideas, but the sharing of these ideas and themes that is represent in other languages and cultures masking how wide of a spectrum contemporary literature is willing to go. These themes and ideas are often compared and combined. But with all its uniqueness, the thing that makes contemporary stand out from the rest is its unusual usage of metaphors in its literature. This has added richness to this type of literature that many will appreciate. Contemporary literatures themes also set this era greatly isolated from the rest. It has the tendency to shatter existing social customs and faiths, and focus more on depicting vividly the stark and bitter realities. This era of literature is heavily influenced by the severity of the scientific and technological changes of the 20th deoxycytidine monophosphate.The renowned authors and works of thisperiod are vast. Each author has their unique style and way of writing, but each share the same type of freedom found in contemporary literature. No point of view or way of thinking is excluded, but sooner embraced and exposed to give insight into exclusively different worlds that we as people may not be to acquainted(predicate) with, but nevertheless are able to understand on some level. J.D Salinger, famous for the novel The Catcher in The Rye, proves this by giving us a glimpse into the mind of a young adolescent male child Holden who seems to be lost in his own mind. This novel greatly supports the man vs himself theme commonly found throughout contemporary literature.The Things They Carried by Tim OBrien very expresses exactly what contemporary literature is. Tim OBrien skill risey places all his ideas and own sires into this charm of stories that make this an excellent piece of contemporary literature. He does everything to make these stories expression as real as possible. Tim OBrien, which also happens to be the main characters name, does this by mixing verity with fiction, a technique commonly found throughout contemporary literature. From his own experiences of the Vietnam War he is able to capture the grotesque truths and the harsh, raw, human emotions that real human beings feel. He expresses the dilemma people go through in making rash deci sions, and the guilt and pain found in people who went to Vietnam, so accurately it causes one to almost feel these emotions themselves and allows the reader to connect on a level never sincerely possible before the postmodern era. OBrien does an excellent job in making the novel feel as real as possible, which is not kind of a necessary characteristic of contemporary literature, but is commonly used and effectively causes a richer literary experience. He said once A thing may happen and be a total lie another thing may not happen and be confessedlyr than the truth. He expresses this view through all the work he does. Although he did experience many of the things he speaks of on some level, he never lets his stories become more than fiction. It is the fiction that represents and reflects our world that makes the real impact on people. books is just another form of art. Art serves to represent parts of reality and allow us to see reality in ways we didnt before. The same applies to contemporary literature and the way Tim OBrien tries to capture his audience. His purpose is not to just tell his stories of the war, but to tell these stories in a way that will allow us to reflect and connect on our own lives. He said Its partly a story about what happens to men in a war, but more deeply it touches people to actually look at their own lives and childhoods. The reason that book ends not in the war, but with little Linda dying of brain cancer, is that that chapter is meant to hold up away from war to the lives of all of us. In doing this the war and its horrors serve as more than just stories of hardships and pain, but as well as a tool that allows these stories to truly serve a purpose.It is still unclear what time of impact our era will make on history, but it is clear however that contemporary literature is greatly rich, unique, and has a tremendous amount of potential to be a impacting literary period that people will continue to study even as time goes by. Postmodernism was the mark of a new age were true free expression was possible and as we moved into the 21st century it has continued to evolve into literature that is free of outside restrictions dropping the boundaries for authors allowing them to right about what they have on their mind or real issues and situations in our past and current world. This is the main reason why contemporary literature focuses so strongly on fiction. Simply because fiction is fiction it leaves a door open to infinite possibilities, and almost unimaginable stories that can move or reflect society and cause one to view the world not from the small aspect that it was shown in earlier eras, but rather from all angles and perspectives. Contemporary literature truly allows people to experience the full rich literary experience getting rid of the mind caging structure authors stuck to for so many years.

Friday, March 29, 2019

Harley Davidson Analysis

Harley Davidson AnalysisAbstractThe aim of this c any e genuinelyplace is to discuss the searing evaluation of the re smarting motion under(a) donn by Harley Davidson and conk out the contri neverthelession that the faulting do to the supremacy or failure of the Harley Davidson. This written report besides advancedlighted the free- accedeprise(a) analysis of the US cycle perseverance and analsye the strategies that tendings the Harley Davidson to trounce the sustainable hawkish avail from their 2nd most goodly contest Suzuki. All the think strategies argon depict in concomitant repayable to word limitation. This motif too foc mappings on the further strategies such(prenominal) as EPR scheme, porter generic strategies etc. by which Harley Davidson would tolerate agonistical advantages forrader 2004. As a tutor, author would alike recommend diametri squally and how they could employment those strategies before 2004 to turn the sustainable compe titive advantages and similarly the achieverful writ of execution of translation process.AimsThis analyze involves a habitual evaluation of Harley Davidson to assess its duty period process. The study also attempts to assess the wedge of the substitute on their performance. much than specifically, the study aims atIdentifying Harleys fault processJustifying the alteration processTo give a truncated lit on agitate anxiety relating with Harleys causal agentAnalyse the Harleys competitive advantage from their foeTo recommend distinguishablely as a setr regarding different strategies to attain the sustainable competitive advantageMethodologyThe make-up has used various books, e-journals and websites.AssumptionIt is assumed that information collected for the function of the report is correct and relevant.1. Comp both OverviewHarley Davidson began in Milwaukee in 1903 when 2 p finesseners, bank bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson, demonstrable a unrivaled cyl inder motorbike. Harley Davidson grew quickly. By 1912 Harley Davidson was exporting their rides overseas. During WW1, over 20,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were used. By the end of the war in that location were over 2000 dealerships gentlemans gentleman ample. later on(prenominal) WW1, the pack for motorcycles in Europe grew rapidly. Harley Davidson became a loss leader in innovative engine room during the 1920s. stock-still, during WW2 Harley Davidson prospered with sales of motorcycles to the military. They earned the coveted Army-Navy award for worth in war snip intersectionion. After WW2, Harley Davidson transformed from producing military to recreational motorcycles. By 1953, Harley Davidson was the culture remaining motorcycle manufacturer in the United States.By 1960 Harley Davidson had begun a gradual decline. Harley Davidson interconnected with the Ameri laughingstock Machine and Foundry Comp both (AMF). This union briefly raised sales. By the mid 1970s, a declining groceryplace, a glooming economy and increasingly fierce competition from Asiatic manufacturers was once once again taking its confiness on Harley Davidson. This culminated in a 1981 focussing procure step up modal value of speaking Harley Davidson from bankruptcy.After the 1981 management buy appear, Harley Davidson had to re-organize. Faced with a terrible reputation for fictitious character and rising tolls, Harley Davidson cogitate on merchandising. It wanted to grade itself from its competitors by grammatical construction upon its heritage and its curious the Statesn styling. These reformments turned Harley Davidson into a remarkable success story. Between 1999 and 2004 revenues grew on modal(a) 14% yearly season pro adapteds grew 23% on ordinary yearly.Harley Davidson is now the boastfulst Ameri merchantman motorcycle manufacturer. They bearing manufacturer and swop heavyweight touring, employment and performance motorcycles. Currently the p arty has over 28 poses of touring and custom Harley motorcycles distri just nowed through a net carry of much(prenominal) than 1 three hundred dealerships worldwide. They also inter neuter motorcycle move, accessories, c locoweedhing and collectibles. The confederation also makes motorcycles under the Buell secernplate.(Source Harley-Davidson, 2009)2. assortment perplexityChange is constant. Change in system of ruless is said to oft epochs be made in three atomic number 18as 1) complex body part, i.e. unused-sprung(prenominal) ser wickednesss or programs 2) technology, i.e. alteration in equipment and/or automation and 3) pack, i.e. choice, hiring, rearing, kins, and attitudes. Change management is a dodge engrossedional to transition from the situation quo to some new rarified elan of doing transaction. Change management has been defined as the process of continually renewing an organizations delegation, organise, and capabilities to attend to the ever-ch anging of necessity of external and internal guests (Moran and Brightman, 2001, pg. 111). gibe to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present feature of organizational life, both at an operating(a) and strategic level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the greatness to any organisation of its dexterity to identify where it chooses to be in the upcoming, and how to manage the changes compulsory getting there. Consequently, organisational change potty non be separated from organisational system, or vice versa (Burnes, 2004 Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). due(p) to the importance of organisational change, its management is becoming a exceedingly required four-in-handial readiness (Senior, 2002).3. Change Management ProcessOrganisational change outhouse be described as the process of moving past from a current chink to realize some future state. Change management involves managing the process of achieving this future state. According to Nickols, (2004), change go at be viewed from both vantage points, that of the volume making the changes and that of the people experiencing the changes. In the top-d birth process, or strategic radixpoint associated with management, the focus is on technical issues such as the investment required, the processes for implementing the change, how in brief the change can be realised, and the outcome. In the process of bottom-up standpoint of the employee, the focus is on what the change means to the individual, how they can cope with the change, and also how management can assist them through the transition. In this context, effective change management should be able to help individuals spring up from negative feelings such as fear and anxiety towards positive feelings approximately the changes being made. stiff change management deals with diagnosing problems and determining an pick that involves changing the organisational structure or processes. It also identifies and deals with the individual respon ses to change that can hinder the success of the project. To generalize change management better, we need to generalize the various flummoxs and strategies that managers whitethorn follow. Some of the models include the Leadership model, Improvisational Model, opening E versus Theory O, and the ADKAR model (Please Refer Appendix A1)4. Harley Davidson gaffeing ProcessThe Harley Davidson transformation began with a fraternity that was suffering. In the 10 years to 1983, Harleys market becharm of the 850 CC incontrovertible motorcycle category had dropped from 80% to 23%. The follow was hemorrhaging cash and salary. Staffs were demoralised. The glossiness and environment was toxic. According to Jenkinson Sain, (2009), the Transformation process of the Harley Davidson was dissever into ii phases original PhaseThe depression phase of the transformation entangled rationalisation and inexpugnable-armer command and control management. This was First phase of change mana gement process. It was non enough bargonly to constrain success for this logical positivism and payload of Harley Davidson. For this soil Harley Davidson decided to go second phase of the change process (Jenkinson Sain, 2009). guerilla PhaseThe second phase of the management was core- unified market of Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson had to move out of pecuniary regulation and power governance into shargon marketing commitment towards resourcefulness and time value found on a collective savvy of the Harley individuation (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).Harleys problems began it was the follow was sub optimized internally, with numerous opponent management/ br differenthood kins, and failed to match the market in node value. The Nipponese did non create the problem they exposed the problem. Many companies sh ar this problem. They may gain succeeded in avoiding the extreme problems that Harley had, frequently by effective start-off phase management. The altercate o f is to move into second phase. Second phases co-ordinated market depends jump on uniting e genuinelyone well-nigh a collective stack of value that connects to the identity and purpose of the organisation/ distinguish. This depends on a level-headed and personad reasonableness of guests and an organisation that can deliver value seamlessly throughout all node experiences across the relationship. This also means connecting and matching uncanny with practical qualities day-dream, purpose, determine with information, processes, and systems (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).5. Implementation of Transformation processThere atomic number 18 a procedure of doers that affect the strategies used for change management (Please indicate Appendix B1), and at long last whether the change is effective. One set of factors is how resistant people be to change. hatful may resist change because they be faint of how it affects them, misunderstand the changes, view a different assessment of th e current and future environment, or scarcely use up a low tolerance for change. A second factor is the urgency of the change. How important is it, and how critical it is to the business needs of the organization? This also affects the time frame under which the changes need to be implemented. A trine factor is how ready is the organisation for the change? Does it hurt the skills and agniseledge involve to implement the change? Finally, management give lay down preferred strategies for managing the change. This magnate be based on enquiry and studies they concord made, or from last(prenominal) experiences (Kotter, 1996).If we look at the various models (Please refer Appendix A1) for change, it is app arent that there are certain situations where a particular model bequeath non be as effective. For manikin, I would not necessitate the improvisational model to work well in a rigid, autocratic environment. This model would work outperform in an informal, cooperative en vironment where the workers are promote to take risks and divulge initiative, and e actuallyone is open to new ideas (Orlikowski and Hofman, 1997). The Theory E and Theory O models intend opposite ends of the spectrum. Theory E is more appropriate when the focus is on the short term, and the goal is to maximize the return on investment. The Theory O is more appropriate when the emphasis is on the long-run survival of the society (Beer and Nohria, 2001). The leading and ADKAR models are both effective in situations where the change is a programmed change, and management needs to secure the buy-in and support of the employees. both(prenominal) of these models emphasize the leadershiphip aspect of change management, and deal with the behavior of individuals in response to change.6. Transformation Model for Harley DavidsonIntegrated Marketing amounts to a sidetrack of the responsibility, probable and vision for umteen marketers and therefore for marketing. Rich Teerlink, CEO of Harley-Davidson, describes a leadership jaunt by which just such a transformation took place. Under his leadership, Harley-Davidson changed from a somewhat toxic, hierarchical, command and control organisation to something new and nimble that is the current foundation for its ongoing success as an Integrated Marketing leader. ab initio that change did require command and control to get out of the solvency crisis. However, the prolong success that Harley Davidson has, its came from a different kind of change. Involvement, authorization and alignment were the obscure of success of Harley Davidson. The result is something called the Business Process, an encompassing and ongoing programme of Harley Davidson that problematical and involves everyone in the Harley Davidson from top to bottom in establishing overlap determine and vision, divided boot and operating philosophies, and agreed objectives and strategies (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).According to Teerlink (cited in Jenkin son Sain, 2009) and his partner in the process, consultant Lee Ozley, rather of demanding compliance, managers collect to earn, and call upon, commitment. The extensive change process, over several(prenominal) years, that led to this, cognise as the vocalise Vision Process, also led to a constitutional new organisation. Instead of the conventional hierarchical structure, Harley-Davidson real what they call a circle organisation of three overlapping elements concerned with creating demand, producing ingatherings and providing support. A leadership and schema council at the centre has members nominated from these circles.Harley-Davidson Circle organisationJeff Bleustein, source president of parts and accessories, describes the uniqueness of the circle organization, According to Bleustein, there are a grass of companies with self-managing work team ups on the factory floor. In fact, thats where a lot of cornerstone comes in some companies as far away from the administrato r offices. He took this concept of self-managing convocations and made it work at the finality maker level of Harley Davidson. The antecedent to Integrated Marketing is not to blindly replica the Harley- Davidson solution. Jeff Bleustein also delve some criticism against the coordinated marketing approach. He predicted that incorporate marketing approach would not work, because Harley Davidson grew organically out of the process. However he has sight some new(prenominal) radical structures both deep down the marketing incision of the big(p) organisation. He was certain that to achieve surmount practice in Integrated Marketing there is a need for the organisation structure to grow out of and reflect the organising idea of value and purpose that animates the trademark organisation, rather than be driven by tralatitious considerations of power and status (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).Ron Hutchinson, currently vice president for parts, accessories and customer service, legisl ates a perspective on this change and its effect that relates to Integrated Marketing. He support that this was a vision of the way people need to be move in an organization, and developed a structure the Business Process of Harley Davidson that allows for theoretical alignment of an individuals farm out with the long-run withdrawion of the caller-up. Hutchinson aware of that no former(a) organisation has construct a whole process and structure around that. In the net analysis, he would say the customer service department, where a customer pass eight hours a day taking foretell calls from unhappy campers, is a true test of whether the Business Process plant life or not. He was convinced that Harley Davidson wouldnt endure the reputation that they crap now in the market if they didnt have front-line people excited by charismatic, blowy leadership, who can come over exactly how their little piece of the organization fits into the long-term strategy and direction of the company (Teerlink Ozley, 2000).According to Teerlink, to complement the organizational changes, new rewards and incentive systems were introduced. They are changing their pay system to pay for performance. They needed their people to understand empowerment. An employee must make the decision that he or she wants more training no one depart tap an employee on the shoulder scarce once an employee are there, they will help an employee. The executive committee was the first group to go through the Leadership institute. They didnt want anyone to get the attitude that the executive committee doesnt have anything to learn (Nolan Kotha, 2007).Line workers were exposed to the interrelation among products, sales, and realizeability. Harley Davidson also prepared nontechnical explanations of how cash flows and flexible employment affected financial success. Harley made substantial changes in worker line of credit descriptions, responsibilities, and production processes to outgrowth job enrichment and worker empowerment. In 1993 Harley-Davidson acquired a nonage please in the Buell Motorcycle Company, a manufacturer of performance motorcycles. by this investment Harley hoped to enter select niches within the performance motorcycle market, which several top executives judgment would return Harley to its heritage of product origination and reading through lessons from the runway (Teerlink Ozley, 2000).7. Successful Transformation process in Harley DavidsonDue to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson (H-D), impressive shuffled marketing strategy gave Harley Davidson a brand name that more recognized than any otherwise company. Indeed, the strategy was not to focus on reducing the termss, or on the distribution betterment, but the main element was to create customer value. In other words, H-Ds was to give more credibility, trust, safety, desires, quality of product and service, and thus faithfulness to its brand. In enunciate to reach that goal, H-D centralised its marketing on these topics, for example creating a Harley Owners conference who rallies more than 900,000 members worldwide (Harley-Davidson, 2009). The main interest of this group is to ensure members to know each other, and become a second family who assign the very(prenominal) interests, wills, and thoughts. This integrated marketing strategy also ensures H-D to maintain a strong relationship with its customers, and thus a strong brand name all over the world. According to customers, the owners of H-D say that this brand understands customers needs, and also that they are always for their customer if a problem appears. These remarks can be relate with H-Ds value. According to H-D Our values are the affection of how we run our business. They guide our actions and respond as the mannequin for the decisions and contributions our employees make at every level of the Company. These values are Be Fair, Tell the Truth, Keep Your Promises, Respect the Indi vidual, and Encourage understanding Curiosity (Harley-Davidson, 2009).This integrated marketing approach can also be linked with the mission statement of H-DWe fulfill dreams through the experience of cycle by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments (Harley-Davidson, 2009).In order to be successful, organizations must determine kick the bucket financial and strategic objectives (Hitt et.al, 2005). Harley Davidson gained a greater market per centum, achieved higher product quality than rivals, hold a stronger reputation and a better mark strategy than its competitors, gain levels of customer satisfaction and finally attained stronger customer loyalty due to successful transformation process.In the 60s and 70s Harleys strategic intent was based on going shoulder-to-shoulder against the predominantly Nipponese companies (Harley-Davidson, 2009). Harley could not make do on the price level, and the Japanese products were of superior quality, Harley decided to compete in other areas. Their new strategy was to connect with people on an emotional level. They are not selling a product but a way of life, a way of thinking. Due to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson changed its strategy from selling products to selling community (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). And the fact that H-D has developed a scar stretching strategy, which was an element of Harleys success in underdeveloped relationships with customers. Indeed, owners can buy other Harleys products than bikes it means that they can be more than a biker, they can join Harleys group buying leather accessories or clothes, and even cosmetics.8. contention Analysis/Strategic IssuesThere are quadruplet strategic issues that H-D has to facial gesture with. The most important is the European market where H-D has to sum up its sales, then, linked with the first issue, there is a fierce compet ition with the Japanese firms such as Honda and Yamaha. The other issues are the womens market and the accessories, which are in decline.Harley-Davidson is not very famous in Europe where Harleys market share of 650 cc positivist motorcycle is less than 7% (6.6%), dapple in northernmost America Harley-Davidson has a huge market share (46.4%), 21.3% for the Asian market. The main industry competitors are Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW. Harley-Davidson is the market leader in the U.S. market with 46.4% market share (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). Their domestic position is quite secure however the rival companies are all aiming to increase their impact on the North American market. opponent manufacturers such as Kawasaki or BMW have all made a serious attempt to establish them at the heart of Harleys market. The Japanese bikes were often considered to be sissy cycles by Harley lovers (Mitchell, 2001). This film is easy changing and the Japanese companies are severe to out Har ley the Harley models. Yamaha motor regular army is starting to improve its position in its various markets. The U.S. sales have increased for 47% since 1998. Harley Davidson had a tough time in creating an image for themselves particularly in the pleasure boat markets. Harley continues to dominate the U.S market and is also the leader in the Asian/Pacific markets with 21.3% market share (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).Yamaha is also exhausting to outperform Harley and is improve its mass customization skills. The Yamaha website offers a section that allows customers to determination their own bike and admit the look and functionality they desire. The interface ensures customers to choose from 75 Yamaha supplement items and makes it easy for the customer to buy the bike online. The Yamaha V Max model, the drop behind track, and the Road Star models attract customers with their slick design and technological tweaks (Yamaha, 2009). The Yamaha sports models are also very successful and the company is facilitate maintaining a strong position in world markets.European rivals are also seek to make an impact on this lucrative market. Italys Moto Guzzi recently introduced the V11 EV custom cruiser. BMW introduced 3 models of its R1200C cruiser and thanks to clever advertising is beginning to improve its position in the U.S. and Asian markets (BMW Annual report, 2004).9. Harley Davidsons Strategic Implementation time Harley was booming in U.S market during the late 1950s, then the market attracted Japanese motorcycles manufacturers, beginning with Honda. opposite Japanese firms, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki also followed Honda. Behind Honda, Suzuki was the main competitor for Harley Davidson and while Suzuki marketed smaller, quieter and more fuel-efficient motorcycles that required little or no nourishment and were easier to handle equate to Harleys bikes. In order to get sustainable competitive advantages, Harley Davidson implemented different types of strategies that helped them become one of the most dominant motorcycle producers in the world as well as differentiate them from their one of the most powerful competitor Suzuki.As stated earlier, strategic issues that H-D has face is increased class in the motorcycle industry causing them to shift focuses in their strategy. With the purchase of Buell Motorcycle Co. they have been successfully able to increase their market class by offering high quality bikes at competitive price. This allowed H-D to have the probability to move from a differentiation strategy to a comprise/differentiation strategy (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).Harley Davidsons use of the Cost/ speciality as a Business Level dodging has proven passing successful since they have been in business. They have always tried to differentiate themselves from everyone else in the motorcycle industry, by producing a brand image that many competitors have failed to recreate. Harley Davidson has ii different companies built into one. The first of the two companies produces motorcycles at competitive prices against their competitors. Harley Davidson demands high standards of quality and efficiency and demand lower represents, which will add to a higher quality less expensive motorcycle. Harley Davidson has do extensive research to find out information about their bonnie customer. Harley Davidson concluded that the average motorcycle consumer is a married, college educated, 38 year-old male earning $44,250 a year and his average income is increasing. Research also tests that pistillates represent 10% of the new purchasers (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).The second company that Harley Davidson implemented is the Costume Vehicle Operations or CVO. This company specializes and custom-makes the motorcycles to adapt the individual owner. Harley Davidson also offers genuine parts and accessories so Harley owners can customize their own motorcycles. The CVO tries to use the differentiation strategy to remonstrate out its comp etitors. The customisation of a motorcycle can prove to be very expensive and time consuming, but Harley Davidson knows that what good is a bike if you cannot show people who you actually are. The customers are willing to wait an average of 1 year after placing their order to receive their customized motorcycle. Every other motorcycle manufacturer is trying to imitate Harley and their products. Harley has the top of the industry manufacturing process with large state of the art factories, and distribution, with many small and personalized, to market dealers, who sell their products (Harley-Davidson, 2009)Harley Davidsons corporal Level Strategy tends to favour the Related Diversification Strategy. Their two unproblematic businesses are link up to each other in some manner or another. The two divisions, CVO and the Competitive Price Division, are related by using the same suppliers. Although the two divisions serve two totally different responsibilities to the consumers, they are authentically related in their strengths to differentiate themselves from all the other competition. Harley Davidson does not do much promotional material at the corporate level. Primarily, the local anaesthetic dealers do their promotion (Mitchell, 2001).Harley Davidson Motor Co. of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin has become known for translating process innovation into business revival. A significant contributor to this growth is a new-product follow management strategy, based on design for manufacturability. The company recognized that while 70% of their product cost was determined at the design function, the cost strategy went far beyond the function of product learning. Their strategy was two fold, with the first linking cost management to corporate objectives, and the second validates and measures progress towards cost targets. Cross-functional integration was predominate in implementing this strategy. Cost analysts work with development team members, while design engineers worked closely with manufacturing personnel to understand cost constraints in conjunction with an thought of how things would be made. This strategy has helped Harley-Davidson capture nearly 50% of the U.S. market for motorcycles, while achieving double-digit revenue growth (Teerlink Ozley, 2000).10. RecommendationsAs a manager author will identify the bring up areas of further strategic carrying out by which Harley Davidson will get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry.Author identifies that Harley Davidson still not using the EPR system. Harley Davidson can use the ERP system to enhance the integrated marketing approach. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and parcel, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to reposition data for various functions found throughout the organisation. The term ERP originally referred to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. In the past, ERP s ystems were used in larger more industrial types of companies. However, the use of ERP has changed and is exceedingly comprehensive, today the term can refer to any type of company, no matter what industry it falls in. In fact, ERP systems are used in almost any type of organization large or small. In order for a software system to be considered ERP, it must lead an organization with functionality for two or more systems. small-arm some ERP packages comprise that only overfly two functions for an organization paysheet Accounting, most ERP systems cover several functions. Todays ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. For instance, functions such as valet de chambre resources, supply twine management, customer relations management, financials, manufacturing functions and warehouse management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all f it under one umbrella the ERP system (Tech-faq, 2009).In retrospect, author would have recommended that Harley do a few things differently. First, they could have researched the literature on what types of problems mechanistic manufacturing organizations face when they try to implement an ERP system in a highly inflexible environment. There was enough research and chemise analysis forthcoming to do this. While they were clearly aware of potential change impedance and the need to get all stakeholders involved, the amount of time their search and selection process required was ridiculous in todays business environment. Author contemplate that the sheer demand and high prices of their product allowed them to balloon in their inefficiencies a few more years before they had to sting the bullet (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004).Second, obtaining the advice of see software and supply mountain chain consultants earlier in the process credibly could have saved some time and created a defined focus. Often, managers use the discipline and recommendations of consultants to reinforce the need for organizational change. With the acquire process out of control, they could have brought in some purchasing expertness to clean up some of the mess before selecting a software system to help organize the process.According to the website, only 10% of the Harleys customers are females. But female bikers are more and more kindle by bikes (www.moto-station.com). Yamaha and Kawasaki are trying to take advantage of this growing interest of female bikers and many of their ads feature women on motorcycles. Harley Davidson can take this new opportunity to get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry.Another key issue for the future is the problem of the accessories. Indeed, those products such as perfumes or cosmetics are decreasing a lot. So, Harley-Davidson should take a decision about this unsuccessful strategy of brand stretching. But, this strategy has a lot of success reg ards to the leatherwear and way area. Harley-Davidson should continue to improve this brand stretching and not leave the market of cosmetics and perfumes.Harley was successful in transforming its scattered purchasing functions into a supplier relationship management program. The supplier portal now serves ccc of its 695 suppliers. In 2004, the company was extending portal access to its accessories and merchandise suppliers. This year, Harley will have about 300 IT employees (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004). The department should manage by experienced leaders who specializing in a particular area of expertise supporting a key company function.Record earnings for the first quarter of 2004 were gained from a 13% increase in sales, the largest in its history ((Nolan Kotha, 2007)). Analysts are crediting its profit growth and molding control to improvement in its supply chain efficiencies. Harley holds a 46% market share in heavyweight motorcycles in the US. The company sponsors a club for i ts customers, known as the Harley Owners Group (HOG) that allows the company to do direct market research and solicit ideas for product development and testing from 600,000 members. In 2002, the company produced 28 modelsHarley Davidson AnalysisHarley Davidson AnalysisAbstractThe aim of this paper is to discuss the critical evaluation of the transformation process undertaken by Harley Davidson and analyse the contribution that the transformation made to the success or failure of the Harley Davidson. This paper also highlighted the competitive analysis of the US motorcycle industry and analsye the strategies that helps the Harley Davidson to get the sustainable competitive advantage from their 2nd most powerful competitor Suzuki. All the related strategies are described in Appendix due to word limitation. This paper also focuses on the further strategies such as EPR system, porter generic strategies etc. by which Harley Davidson would get competitive advantages before 2004. As a mana ger, author would also recommend differently and how they could use those strategies before 2004 to get the sustainable competitive advantages and also the successful implementation of transformation process.AimsThis study involves a general evaluation of Harley Davidson to assess its transformation process. The study also attempts to assess the impact of the change on their performance. More specifically, the study aims atIdentifying Harleys transformation processJustifying the transformation processTo conduct a brief literature on change management relating with Harleys caseAnalyse the Harleys competitive advantage from their competitorTo recommend differently as a manager regarding different strategies to get the sustainable competitive advantageMethodologyThe report has used various books, e-journals and websites.AssumptionIt is assumed that information collected for the purpose of the report is correct and relevant.1. Company OverviewHarley Davidson began in Milwaukee in 1903 w hen two partners, Bill Harley and Arthur Walter Davidson, developed a one cylinder motorcycle. Harley Davidson grew quickly. By 1912 Harley Davidson was exporting their motorcycles overseas. During WW1, over 20,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were used. By the end of the war there were over 2000 dealerships worldwide.After WW1, the demand for motorcycles in Europe grew rapidly. Harley Davidson became a leader in innovative engineering during the 1920s. However, during WW2 Harley Davidson prospered with sales of motorcycles to the military. They earned the coveted Army-Navy award for excellence in wartime production. After WW2, Harley Davidson transformed from producing military to recreational motorcycles. By 1953, Harley Davidson was the last remaining motorcycle manufacturer in the United States.By 1960 Harley Davidson had begun a gradual decline. Harley Davidson merged with the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF). This merger briefly raised sales. By the mid 1970s, a decli ning market, a sluggish economy and increasingly fierce competition from Asian manufacturers was once again taking its toll on Harley Davidson. This culminated in a 1981 management buyout saving Harley Davidson from bankruptcy.After the 1981 management buyout, Harley Davidson had to re-organize. Faced with a terrible reputation for quality and rising costs, Harley Davidson focused on marketing. It wanted to differentiate itself from its competitors by building upon its heritage and its unique American styling. These improvements turned Harley Davidson into a remarkable success story. Between 1999 and 2004 revenues grew on average 14% yearly while profits grew 23% on average yearly.Harley Davidson is now the largest American motorcycle manufacturer. They design manufacturer and sell heavyweight touring, custom and performance motorcycles. Currently the company has over 28 models of touring and custom Harley motorcycles distributed through a network of more than 1300 dealerships world wide. They also sell motorcycle parts, accessories, clothing and collectibles. The company also makes motorcycles under the Buell nameplate.(Source Harley-Davidson, 2009)2. Change ManagementChange is constant. Change in organisations is said to often be made in three areas 1) structure, i.e. new services or programs 2) technology, i.e. alteration in equipment and/or automation and 3) people, i.e. selection, hiring, training, relationships, and attitudes. Change management is a strategy designed to transition from the status quo to some new ideal way of doing business. Change management has been defined as the process of continually renewing an organizations direction, structure, and capabilities to serve the ever-changing needs of external and internal customers (Moran and Brightman, 2001, pg. 111). According to Burnes (2004) change is an ever-present feature of organizational life, both at an operational and strategic level. Therefore, there should be no doubt regarding the importa nce to any organisation of its ability to identify where it needs to be in the future, and how to manage the changes required getting there. Consequently, organisational change cannot be separated from organisational strategy, or vice versa (Burnes, 2004 Rieley and Clarkson, 2001). Due to the importance of organisational change, its management is becoming a highly required managerial skill (Senior, 2002).3. Change Management ProcessOrganisational change can be described as the process of moving away from a current condition to realize some future state. Change management involves managing the process of achieving this future state. According to Nickols, (2004), change can be viewed from two vantage points, that of the people making the changes and that of the people experiencing the changes. In the top-down process, or strategic viewpoint associated with management, the focus is on technical issues such as the investment required, the processes for implementing the change, how soon the change can be realised, and the outcome. In the process of bottom-up viewpoint of the employee, the focus is on what the change means to the individual, how they can cope with the change, and also how management can assist them through the transition. In this context, effective change management should be able to help individuals evolve from negative feelings such as fear and anxiety towards positive feelings about the changes being made. Effective change management deals with diagnosing problems and determining an alternative that involves changing the organisational structure or processes. It also identifies and deals with the individual responses to change that can hinder the success of the project. To understand change management better, we need to understand the various models and strategies that managers may follow. Some of the models include the Leadership model, Improvisational Model, Theory E versus Theory O, and the ADKAR model (Please Refer Appendix A1)4. Harley David son Transformation ProcessThe Harley Davidson transformation began with a company that was suffering. In the 10 years to 1983, Harleys market share of the 850 CC plus motorcycle category had dropped from 80% to 23%. The company was hemorrhaging cash and profits. Staffs were demoralised. The culture and environment was toxic. According to Jenkinson Sain, (2009), the Transformation process of the Harley Davidson was divided into two phasesFirst PhaseThe first phase of the transformation involved rationalisation and tough command and control management. This was First phase of change management process. It was not enough however to create success for this positivity and commitment of Harley Davidson. For this reason Harley Davidson decided to go second phase of the change process (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).Second PhaseThe second phase of the management was core-integrated marketing of Harley Davidson. Harley Davidson had to move out of financial regulation and power governance into share d marketing commitment towards vision and value based on a collective appreciation of the Harley identity (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).Harleys problems began it was the company was sub optimized internally, with many hostile management/union relationships, and failed to match the market in customer value. The Japanese did not create the problem they exposed the problem. Many companies share this problem. They may have succeeded in avoiding the extreme problems that Harley had, often by effective first phase management. The challenge of is to move into second phase. Second phases Integrated Marketing depends first on uniting everyone around a collective vision of value that connects to the identity and purpose of the organisation/brand. This depends on a profound and shared understanding of customers and an organisation that can deliver value seamlessly throughout all customer experiences across the relationship. This also means connecting and matching spiritual with practical qualities v ision, purpose, values with information, processes, and systems (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).5. Implementation of Transformation processThere are a number of factors that affect the strategies used for change management (Please refer Appendix B1), and ultimately whether the change is effective. One set of factors is how resistant people are to change. People may resist change because they are unsure of how it affects them, misunderstand the changes, have a different assessment of the current and future environment, or simply have a low tolerance for change. A second factor is the urgency of the change. How important is it, and how critical it is to the business needs of the organization? This also affects the time frame under which the changes need to be implemented. A third factor is how ready is the organisation for the change? Does it have the skills and knowledge needed to implement the change? Finally, management will have preferred strategies for managing the change. This might be ba sed on research and studies they have made, or from past experiences (Kotter, 1996).If we look at the various models (Please refer Appendix A1) for change, it is apparent that there are certain situations where a particular model will not be as effective. For example, I would not expect the improvisational model to work well in a rigid, autocratic environment. This model would work best in an informal, cooperative environment where the workers are encouraged to take risks and display initiative, and everyone is open to new ideas (Orlikowski and Hofman, 1997). The Theory E and Theory O models represent opposite ends of the spectrum. Theory E is more appropriate when the focus is on the short term, and the goal is to maximize the return on investment. The Theory O is more appropriate when the emphasis is on the long-term survival of the company (Beer and Nohria, 2001). The leadership and ADKAR models are both effective in situations where the change is a programmed change, and managem ent needs to secure the buy-in and support of the employees. Both of these models emphasize the leadership aspect of change management, and deal with the behavior of individuals in response to change.6. Transformation Model for Harley DavidsonIntegrated Marketing amounts to a widening of the responsibility, potential and vision for many marketers and therefore for marketing. Rich Teerlink, CEO of Harley-Davidson, describes a leadership journey by which just such a transformation took place. Under his leadership, Harley-Davidson changed from a somewhat toxic, hierarchical, command and control organisation to something new and nimble that is the present-day foundation for its ongoing success as an Integrated Marketing leader. Initially that change did require command and control to get out of the solvency crisis. However, the sustained success that Harley Davidson has, its came from a different kind of change. Involvement, empowerment and alignment were the secret of success of Harley Davidson. The result is something called the Business Process, an extensive and ongoing programme of Harley Davidson that involved and involves everyone in the Harley Davidson from top to bottom in establishing shared values and vision, shared mission and operating philosophies, and agreed objectives and strategies (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).According to Teerlink (cited in Jenkinson Sain, 2009) and his partner in the process, consultant Lee Ozley, Instead of demanding compliance, managers have to earn, and call upon, commitment. The extensive change process, over several years, that led to this, known as the Joint Vision Process, also led to a radical new organisation. Instead of the conventional hierarchical structure, Harley-Davidson developed what they call a circle organisation of three overlapping elements concerned with creating demand, producing products and providing support. A leadership and strategy council at the centre has members nominated from these circles.Harley-David son Circle organisationJeff Bleustein, former president of parts and accessories, describes the uniqueness of the circle organization, According to Bleustein, there are a lot of companies with self-managing work teams on the factory floor. In fact, thats where a lot of innovation comes in some companies as far away from the executive offices. He took this concept of self-managing groups and made it work at the executive level of Harley Davidson. The solution to Integrated Marketing is not to blindly copy the Harley- Davidson solution. Jeff Bleustein also give some criticism against the integrated marketing approach. He predicted that integrated marketing approach would not work, because Harley Davidson grew organically out of the process. However he has observed some other radical structures both within the marketing department of the large organisation. He was certain that to achieve best practice in Integrated Marketing there is a need for the organisation structure to grow out of and reflect the organising idea of value and purpose that animates the brand organisation, rather than be driven by traditional considerations of power and status (Jenkinson Sain, 2009).Ron Hutchinson, currently vice president for parts, accessories and customer service, gives a perspective on this change and its effect that relates to Integrated Marketing. He verified that this was a vision of the way people needed to be engaged in an organization, and developed a structure the Business Process of Harley Davidson that allows for theoretical alignment of an individuals job with the long-term direction of the company. Hutchinson aware of that no other organisation has built a whole process and structure around that. In the final analysis, he would say the customer service department, where a customer spent eight hours a day taking phone calls from unhappy campers, is a true test of whether the Business Process works or not. He was convinced that Harley Davidson wouldnt have the rep utation that they have today in the marketplace if they didnt have front-line people excited by charismatic, visionary leadership, who can see exactly how their little piece of the organization fits into the long-term strategy and direction of the company (Teerlink Ozley, 2000).According to Teerlink, to complement the organizational changes, new rewards and incentive systems were introduced. They are changing their pay system to pay for performance. They needed their people to understand empowerment. An employee must make the decision that he or she wants more training no one will tap an employee on the shoulder but once an employee are there, they will help an employee. The executive committee was the first group to go through the Leadership institute. They didnt want anyone to get the attitude that the executive committee doesnt have anything to learn (Nolan Kotha, 2007).Line workers were exposed to the interrelation among products, sales, and profitability. Harley Davidson also prepared nontechnical explanations of how cash flows and flexible production affected financial success. Harley made substantial changes in worker job descriptions, responsibilities, and production processes to increase job enrichment and worker empowerment. In 1993 Harley-Davidson acquired a minority interest in the Buell Motorcycle Company, a manufacturer of performance motorcycles. Through this investment Harley hoped to enter select niches within the performance motorcycle market, which several top executives thought would return Harley to its heritage of product innovation and development through lessons from the racetrack (Teerlink Ozley, 2000).7. Successful Transformation process in Harley DavidsonDue to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson (H-D), impressive integrated marketing strategy gave Harley Davidson a brand name that more recognized than any other company. Indeed, the strategy was not to focus on reducing the costs, or on the distribution improvemen t, but the main element was to create customer value. In other words, H-Ds was to give more credibility, trust, safety, desires, quality of product and service, and thus fidelity to its brand. In order to reach that goal, H-D centralised its marketing on these topics, for example creating a Harley Owners Group who rallies more than 900,000 members worldwide (Harley-Davidson, 2009). The main interest of this group is to ensure members to know each other, and become a second family who share the same interests, wills, and thoughts. This integrated marketing strategy also ensures H-D to maintain a strong relationship with its customers, and thus a strong brand name all over the world. According to customers, the owners of H-D say that this brand understands customers needs, and also that they are always for their customer if a problem appears. These remarks can be linked with H-Ds values. According to H-D Our values are the heart of how we run our business. They guide our actions and s erve as the framework for the decisions and contributions our employees make at every level of the Company. These values are Be Fair, Tell the Truth, Keep Your Promises, Respect the Individual, and Encourage Intellectual Curiosity (Harley-Davidson, 2009).This integrated marketing approach can also be linked with the mission statement of H-DWe fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments (Harley-Davidson, 2009).In order to be successful, organizations must determine clear financial and strategic objectives (Hitt et.al, 2005). Harley Davidson gained a greater market share, achieved higher product quality than rivals, maintained a stronger reputation and a better branding strategy than its competitors, increased levels of customer satisfaction and finally attained stronger customer loyalty due to successful transformation proces s.In the 60s and 70s Harleys strategic intent was based on going shoulder-to-shoulder against the predominantly Japanese companies (Harley-Davidson, 2009). Harley could not compete on the price level, and the Japanese products were of superior quality, Harley decided to compete in other areas. Their new strategy was to connect with people on an emotional level. They are not selling a product but a way of life, a way of thinking. Due to successful transformation process of Harley Davidson changed its strategy from selling products to selling community (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). And the fact that H-D has developed a Brand stretching strategy, which was an element of Harleys success in developing relationships with customers. Indeed, owners can buy other Harleys products than bikes it means that they can be more than a biker, they can join Harleys group buying leather accessories or clothes, and even cosmetics.8. Competitor Analysis/Strategic IssuesThere are four strategic issues that H- D has to face with. The most important is the European market where H-D has to increase its sales, then, linked with the first issue, there is a fierce competition with the Japanese firms such as Honda and Yamaha. The other issues are the womens market and the accessories, which are in decline.Harley-Davidson is not very famous in Europe where Harleys market share of 650 cc plus motorcycle is less than 7% (6.6%), while in North America Harley-Davidson has a huge market share (46.4%), 21.3% for the Asian market. The main industry competitors are Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and BMW. Harley-Davidson is the market leader in the U.S. market with 46.4% market share (Teerlink Ozley, 2000). Their domestic position is quite secure however the rival companies are all aiming to increase their impact on the North American market.Rival manufacturers such as Kawasaki or BMW have all made a serious attempt to establish them at the heart of Harleys market. The Japanese bikes were often conside red to be sissy cycles by Harley lovers (Mitchell, 2001). This image is slowly changing and the Japanese companies are trying to out Harley the Harley models. Yamaha motor USA is starting to improve its position in its various markets. The U.S. sales have increased for 47% since 1998. Harley Davidson had a tough time in creating an image for themselves particularly in the cruiser markets. Harley continues to dominate the U.S market and is also the leader in the Asian/Pacific markets with 21.3% market share (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).Yamaha is also trying to outperform Harley and is improving its mass customization skills. The Yamaha website offers a section that allows customers to design their own bike and choose the look and functionality they desire. The interface ensures customers to choose from 75 Yamaha accessory items and makes it easy for the customer to purchase the bike online. The Yamaha V Max model, the Drag Star, and the Road Star models attract customers with their slick de sign and technological tweaks (Yamaha, 2009). The Yamaha sports models are also very successful and the company is still maintaining a strong position in world markets.European rivals are also trying to make an impact on this lucrative market. Italys Moto Guzzi recently introduced the V11 EV custom cruiser. BMW introduced 3 models of its R1200C cruiser and thanks to clever advertising is beginning to improve its position in the U.S. and Asian markets (BMW Annual report, 2004).9. Harley Davidsons Strategic ImplementationWhile Harley was booming in U.S market during the late 1950s, then the market attracted Japanese motorcycles manufacturers, beginning with Honda. Other Japanese firms, Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki also followed Honda. Behind Honda, Suzuki was the main competitor for Harley Davidson and while Suzuki marketed smaller, quieter and more fuel-efficient motorcycles that required little or no maintenance and were easier to handle compare to Harleys bikes. In order to get sust ainable competitive advantages, Harley Davidson implemented different types of strategies that helped them become one of the most dominant motorcycle producers in the world as well as differentiate them from their one of the most powerful competitor Suzuki.As stated earlier, strategic issues that H-D has faced is increased segmentation in the motorcycle industry causing them to shift focuses in their strategy. With the purchase of Buell Motorcycle Co. they have been successfully able to increase their market segmentation by offering high quality bikes at competitive price. This allowed H-D to have the opportunity to move from a differentiation strategy to a cost/differentiation strategy (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).Harley Davidsons use of the Cost/Differentiation as a Business Level Strategy has proven highly successful since they have been in business. They have always tried to differentiate themselves from everyone else in the motorcycle industry, by producing a brand image that many com petitors have failed to recreate. Harley Davidson has two different companies built into one. The first of the two companies produces motorcycles at competitive prices against their competitors. Harley Davidson demands high standards of quality and efficiency and demand lower costs, which will add to a higher quality less expensive motorcycle. Harley Davidson has done extensive research to find out information about their average customer. Harley Davidson concluded that the average motorcycle consumer is a married, college educated, 38 year-old male earning $44,250 a year and his average income is increasing. Research also shows that females represent 10% of the new purchasers (Henshaw Kerr, 2001).The second company that Harley Davidson implemented is the Costume Vehicle Operations or CVO. This company specializes and customizes the motorcycles to suit the individual owner. Harley Davidson also offers genuine parts and accessories so Harley owners can customize their own motorcycle s. The CVO tries to use the differentiation strategy to beat out its competitors. The customisation of a motorcycle can prove to be very expensive and time consuming, but Harley Davidson knows that what good is a bike if you cannot show people who you really are. The customers are willing to wait an average of 1 year after placing their order to receive their customized motorcycle. Every other motorcycle manufacturer is trying to imitate Harley and their products. Harley has the top of the industry manufacturing process with large state of the art factories, and distribution, with many small and personalized, to market dealers, who sell their products (Harley-Davidson, 2009)Harley Davidsons Corporate Level Strategy tends to favour the Related Diversification Strategy. Their two primary businesses are related to each other in some manner or another. The two divisions, CVO and the Competitive Price Division, are related by using the same suppliers. Although the two divisions serve two totally different responsibilities to the consumers, they are truly related in their strengths to differentiate themselves from all the other competition. Harley Davidson does not do much promotion at the corporate level. Primarily, the local dealers do their promotion (Mitchell, 2001).Harley Davidson Motor Co. of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin has become known for translating process innovation into business revival. A significant contributor to this growth is a new-product cost management strategy, based on design for manufacturability. The company recognized that while 70% of their product cost was determined at the design function, the cost strategy went far beyond the function of product development. Their strategy was two fold, with the first linking cost management to corporate objectives, and the second validates and measures progress towards cost targets. Cross-functional integration was paramount in implementing this strategy. Cost analysts work with development team members, while design engineers worked closely with manufacturing personnel to understand cost constraints in conjunction with an understanding of how things would be made. This strategy has helped Harley-Davidson capture nearly 50% of the U.S. market for motorcycles, while achieving double-digit revenue growth (Teerlink Ozley, 2000).10. RecommendationsAs a manager author will identify the key areas of further strategic implementation by which Harley Davidson will get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry.Author identifies that Harley Davidson still not using the EPR system. Harley Davidson can use the ERP system to enhance the integrated marketing approach. Usually ERP systems will have many components including hardware and software, in order to achieve integration, most ERP systems use a unified database to store data for various functions found throughout the organisation. The term ERP originally referred to how a large organization planned to use organizational wide resources. In the past, ERP systems were used in larger more industrial types of companies. However, the use of ERP has changed and is extremely comprehensive, today the term can refer to any type of company, no matter what industry it falls in. In fact, ERP systems are used in almost any type of organization large or small. In order for a software system to be considered ERP, it must provide an organization with functionality for two or more systems. While some ERP packages exist that only cover two functions for an organization Payroll Accounting, most ERP systems cover several functions. Todays ERP systems can cover a wide range of functions and integrate them into one unified database. For instance, functions such as human resources, supply chain management, customer relations management, financials, manufacturing functions and warehouse management functions were all once stand alone software applications, usually housed with their own database and network, today, they can all fit under one umbrella the ERP system (Tech-faq, 2009).In retrospect, author would have recommended that Harley do a few things differently. First, they could have researched the literature on what types of problems mechanistic manufacturing organizations face when they try to implement an ERP system in a highly inflexible environment. There was enough research and case analysis available to do this. While they were clearly aware of potential change resistance and the need to get all stakeholders involved, the amount of time their search and selection process required was ridiculous in todays business environment. Author speculate that the sheer demand and high prices of their product allowed them to wallow in their inefficiencies a few more years before they had to bite the bullet (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004).Second, obtaining the advice of experienced software and supply chain consultants earlier in the process probably could have saved some time and created a defined focus. Often, managers us e the discipline and recommendations of consultants to reinforce the need for organizational change. With the purchasing process out of control, they could have brought in some purchasing expertise to clean up some of the mess before selecting a software system to help organize the process.According to the website, only 10% of the Harleys customers are females. But female bikers are more and more interested by bikes (www.moto-station.com). Yamaha and Kawasaki are trying to take advantage of this growing interest of female bikers and many of their ads feature women on motorcycles. Harley Davidson can take this new opportunity to get sustainable competitive advantage in their industry.Another key issue for the future is the problem of the accessories. Indeed, those products such as perfumes or cosmetics are decreasing a lot. So, Harley-Davidson should take a decision about this unsuccessful strategy of brand stretching. But, this strategy has a lot of success regards to the leatherwea r and fashion area. Harley-Davidson should continue to improve this brand stretching and not leave the market of cosmetics and perfumes.Harley was successful in transforming its scattered purchasing functions into a supplier relationship management program. The supplier portal now serves 300 of its 695 suppliers. In 2004, the company was extending portal access to its accessories and merchandise suppliers. This year, Harley will have about 300 IT employees (Hirschboeck et.al, 2004). The department should manage by experienced leaders who specializing in a particular area of expertise supporting a key company function.Record earnings for the first quarter of 2004 were gained from a 13% increase in sales, the largest in its history ((Nolan Kotha, 2007)). Analysts are crediting its profit growth and margin control to improvement in its supply chain efficiencies. Harley holds a 46% market share in heavyweight motorcycles in the US. The company sponsors a club for its customers, known a s the Harley Owners Group (HOG) that allows the company to do direct market research and solicit ideas for product development and testing from 600,000 members. In 2002, the company produced 28 models