Beneatha Younger

Beneatha Younger, an important character in A Raisin In The Sun , values good people. She does not think   of herself as black, she thinks of herself as an American human. She knows George Murchison and Mama and Ruth want tem to get married. He's a black American as well, but sees absolutely no reason to honor their African heritage. George sees himself as an American first and foremost and thinks that blacks who spend a lot of time worrying about Africa are wasting their time.Unsurprisingly, Beneatha seems to not be into George at all. Then after a strange turn of events she starts to love Joeseph Asagai and wants to learn about Africa. Benetha values a great education. She is aspiring to be a doctor an is attending college. College education has helped to make her progressive, independent, and a total feminist. She brings politics into the apartment and always talks about civil rights. During this play, she fights with her identity as an African-American woman.Asagai criticizes h er, saying that she's â€Å"assimilated,† meaning that she tries to hide her African-ness by acting white. He uses her hair as an example. Asagai can't understand why she and most other black women in America straighten their hair instead of leaving it naturally curly. Unlike the rest of her family, Beneatha looks beyond her immediate situation in an effort to understand herself as a member of a greater whole. As she becomes more educated, it becomes increasingly hard for Beneatha to relate to the rest of her family.Sometimes she can be a bit condescending and seems to forget that her family members (especially her mother) all work very hard to help put her through school. However, this character flaw only serves to make her seem all the more understandable and human. Ultimately, Beneatha is a kind and generous person, who seeks to become a doctor out of a desire to help people. In conclusion, Beneatha Younger, a main character in A Raisin In The Sun values many things. She v alues good people , good education and Independence.

Contingency Planning for a Healthcare Provider Essay

In this paper can be found a generic contingency plan for the health care industry, this paper shows how quickly things can change for health care providers, and what steps that need to be taken in case of a down ward spiral for the provider. This paper explains the seven steps of a contingency plan in detail to achieve maximum effectiveness. In this case, the contingency plan is for a surgical center. Contingency Planning for the Health Care Provider Background In this paper can be found a generic contingency plan for the health care industry, this paper shows how quickly things can change for health care providers, and what steps that need to be taken in case of a down ward spiral for the provider. This paper explains the seven steps of a contingency plan in detail to achieve maximum effectiveness. In this case, the contingency plan is for a surgical center, (The Author, 2014). Practice Overview There are many ways contingency planning can be defined. Contingency planning are steps, procedures, and policies for management that are created to keep business operations on track running and/or to restore them as well possibly during disaster or system failure. Disaster recovery is a number of processes that only pays attention to the processes of recovery. As defined by the Department of Health and Human Services, a contingency /disaster recovery plan is a strategic measure taken if there is a malfunction in a business product or if there is disaster such as flood, or fire or if things don’t go according to plan, (DHHS, n.d.). Contingency is just one part of a  large process for emergency preparedness that includes disaster recovery planning, business practices, and operational continuity. What is also often involved in repairing for such events are processes at a level of organizational processes and implementing policies that may require plans that are numerous and properly prepared for, recover from, respond to, and continue events that impacted by continued activities. What must also be considered by project managers are the disruptions and impacts of the plan, concurrently with organizational policies and standards, for such events. As part of a comprehensive risk management approach, a manager should identify threats and potential vulnerabilities for contingency planning and then he should implement approaches to limit potential impact or to prevent such incidents from happening, (DHHS, 2014). Contingency planning involves seven key factors to success. 1. Identify any regulatory requirements that involve contingency planning. Create a formal contingency planning policy statement. 2. Conduct a business impact analysis to recognize business processes and components, and systems that are critical to contingency planning. Mention the priorities to recovery and include impact events. 3. Identify and implement preventative controls and measures to increase availability, decrease the disruption effects, and reduce the cost of contingency. 4. Develop recovery strategies that make sure if something doesn’t go according to plan or if there is disaster, infrastructure critical systems and business can recover fast. 5. Develop contingency plans that include precise procedures and guidance for recovery from disruptions. 6. Plan testing, training, and exercises to practice and test contingency plans so that if there are and unfilled gaps or holes in the plan they could be filled. Also to make sure recovery personnel is prepared just in case of disruptions. 7. Maintain contingency plans. Update and add new factors to them to show the changes in the factors that influence them. The development of contingency planning is essential to implementing and developing an emergency preparedness program that is comprehensive. According to NIST, there are five main components of contingency plan. Best Practices 1. Concept of operations 1. Notification and activation 2. Recovery of operations 3. Reconstitution of normal operations 4. Supporting information as part as the plans appendices If success is wanted for contingency planning, it is essential for stakeholders to regularly re-look parts of operational importance. The types of contingency plans that should be included are, 1. Business continuity plan 2. Business recovery plan 3. Continuity of operations plan continuity of support plan 4. Crisis communications plan 5. Cyber incident response plan 6. Disaster recovery plan 7. Occupant emergency plan Conclusion In conclusion, contingency plans are created to protect responses to any disruptions or anything that may impact regular operations. The information the plans contain, the types of plans, and the responses all depend on the following factors, risk that a particular type of disruption may occur, resource availability to respond to different types of disruptions, organizational response capabilities, and readiness to deal with any type of disruption(DHHS, n.d.). References DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES(n.d.) ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE LIFE CYCLE FRAMEWORK Contingency Plan HHS EPLC Practice Guide Contingency planning. How to plan for disasters. Author Delisio ER http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.cecybrary.com/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=2bc0c2e0-b744-443†¦

Nutrition Carabao’s Milk Essay

Carabao’s milk contains protein, fat, lactose, vitamins, minerals and water making it the â€Å"most complete food†, according to the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC). Carabao’s milk is richer and creamier compared to goat’s and cow’s milk due to its high content of milk fat which is a good source of energy that unknowingly among Filipinos, this dairy product produced by carabao could be the solution to the alarming malnutrition problem among their children, it said in a statement reaching here over the week. The Senate Economic Planning Office (SEPO) estimates that today, the number of underweight children is about eight million, up tremendously from 6. 68 million in 2001. Of the 2001 SEPO figure on Filipino children’s malnutrition, 3. 67 million of these kids belonged to the five years old and below bracket and 3. 07 were aged between six and 10 years old. The PCC said that the carabao’s milk can be of great help in eradicating malnutrition. â€Å"Nutrient-wise, it is better compared with the array of cola and other commercial drinks in the market. In drinking carabao’s milk, we are not only getting the needed nutrients for our bodies but we are also supporting our local dairy industry. † Nutritionists claim it contains riboflavin or vitamin B2 needed for normal growth, the agent against skin swelling, inflammation of the lining of mouth and tongue, and dizziness. Its vitamin A content is good for clearing eyesight while the vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus are valuable for strong teeth and bones. Like most fresh milk, carabao’s milk also spoils easily. As such, the PCC recommends three steps to maintain the freshness of carabao’s milk. The first thing to do is to store the fresh milk inside an ice box or refrigerator immediately after milking. Then, the fresh milk must be pasteurized or cooked to kill the microbes and for it to be safe to drink. Finally, it must be stored properly. If not consumed completely, fresh milk must be stored in an ice box or refrigerator to control the spread of microbes that are not killed during the pasteurization process. Carabao’s milk can also be processed into chocolate-flavored milk, pastilles de leche or milk candy, kesong puti (white cheese), milk-o-jel, condensed milk, cheese spread, ice cream, mozzarella, or rennet (coagulated milk).

Financial Accounting principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Financial Accounting principles - Essay Example In actual practice, if a business is to be run at profit, it has to sell goods at such a price as will enable it to meet out not only expenses on account of cost of goods sold but also other numerous expenses like rent, salary, cartage, freight, commission , electricity, etc. Thus for making a profit, sales must be kept sufficiently high to meet all the other expenses. To emphasize the necessity of accounting, it can be said that accounting must provide the following information and we should ensure that we completely understand and analyze them: Accounting is defined as the 'the art of recording, classifying and summarizing in terms of money transactions and events of a financial character and interpreting the results thereof .' The American Accounting Association Committee defined accounting as - The process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information to permit informed judgment and decision by the user of the information. The Accounting Principles Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) stated "the function of accounting is to provide quantitative information, primarily financial in nature about the economic entities that is intended to be useful in making economic decision." Business Managers and outside interested parties make use of accounting information for decision making that affect the business. The primary purpose of accounting is to provide information about financial transaction, i.e., transaction involving money of a business enterprise. When a person starts a business or even to maintain the accounts of his daily expenditure he must make use of financial accounts. The two primary objective of any business are To earn profit. To have sufficient funds to pay their debts as and when they are required to be paid. This information makes a firm or an individual person take the right business related decision which helps to take the business further. Thus, accounting information, if properly and systematically recorded and reported, can direct a business enterprise to run on successful and efficient lines. Before we move on to understand more about Financial accounting we must clearly understand the advantages-disadvantages and limitations of accounting. Advantages Maintenance of

The Cartesian Coordinate System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Cartesian Coordinate System - Research Paper Example The Cartesian Coordinate System does not merely point reference to the graphical means of finding link between variables, rather, it gives Mathematics the desired image of identity in visible shapes and forms by which a learner can gain appreciation of the course as an interesting field of study. The Cartesian Coordinate System Prior to the concept of a two-dimensional system, the discovery of a coordinate system with one dimension had already enabled demonstration of the relative magnitudes of numbers in a graphical manner and had even shown how a distance between two points in the number line may be represented by the magnitude of their differences. The overall advantage, however, of a one-dimensional coordinate system is limited and is unable to extend its applicability to the relation or dependence of two sets of numbers quite significant in the mathematical studies of corresponding values wherein a set constituted by an ordered pair of numbers may be held in association to another or a couple other sets in a planar system of coordinates (Vance, p. 75). Importance of the Cartesian Coordinate System In 1637 Rene Descartes, a French mathematician and philosopher, used the Rectangular Cartesian System of Coordinates or a method of associating points with numbers, and by doing so. , associated a curve with its equation. Great progress in mathematics and the application of mathematics in science followed after this unification of algebra and geometry (Smoller). By definition of the Cartesian product of two sets, the case of interest is X ? Y where X and Y are both the set of real numbers R is symbolically denoted R x R ? { (x, y) | x ? R and y ? R }. Each member of the set is an ordered pair (x, y) and through the Cartesian coordinate system, it is possible to set up an association between this set of all ordered pairs (x, y) of R x R and the set of all points in the plane. Hence, the two-dimensional coordinate system becomes important in relating a point in a plane and a pair of real numbers which may be constructed using two perpendicular straight lines, vertical and horizontal, commonly known as the coordinate axes. With the point of intersection being the origin O, one may establish on each line a one-dimensional system which bears the same unit of length f or both axes where, normally, the horizontal line refers to the x-axis or axis of the values of ‘x’ or abscissa whereas the vertical line pertains to the y-axis along which lie the values of ‘y’ called the ordinates. Once the axes are drawn, one can begin to plot a data of points (x, y) and in determining a point corresponding to an ordered pair of values, it helps to draw lines parallel to the axes through the point (x1, 0) on the x-axis and the point (0, y1) on the y-axis (Vance, 76). These lines intersect at a point P, a distance x1 from the y-axis (to the right or left, depending upon whether x1 is positive or negative) and a distance y1 from the x-axis (above or below, depending upon whether y1 is positive or negative). These distances can be called directed distances and the point P, determined by the ordered pair of values x1 and y1, is denoted by the ordered pair, expressed as (x1, y1), where x1 and y1 are called coordinates of P. The two coordinate axes divide the plane into four parts, called the first, second, third, and fourth quadrants. It is useful to verify that the coordinates of points located in the different quadrants have the signs shown in the table. Quadrants Abscissa Ordinate I + + II _ + III _ _ IV + _ Since every other point may be plotted on the xy-plane, the line or curve connecting the

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example The entire process of investigating demand and supply patterns of given product in a given business environment, and establishment of businesses to address the potential and existing demand entails the process of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship refers to the act of collecting and incorporating business ideas aimed at achieving purposeful and unique innovation in the production of a given product or service (Carsrud and Malin 7). Innovation in the context of entrepreneurship may result in various advantages such as introducing new or improved product in the market, new production techniques, and identification of newer markets for a product or service as well as identifying new source of supply of raw materials. It is imperative to understand that entrepreneurship is not only about starting of new business organization, but can also involve ideas to improve the state and performance of an existing organization. Importance of Entrepreneurship to America Entrepreneurship is a powerfu l tool for economic growth in any country. It is because of entrepreneurship and presence of globally acclaimed entrepreneurs that the American nation tops the list of world’s best performing economies. ... Since entrepreneurship involves creation and introduction of new ideas, it has helped the development of research and innovation in the American economy. About two out of three innovations in America are as result of entrepreneurship. These innovations have eased production processes while improving the quality of products, accomplishments that have collectively spurred the growth rate of the American economy (Bordogna 13). Since entrepreneurship entails creation of new opportunities, it has empowered and facilitated the development and growth of national wealth (Miller). Income earned by entrepreneurs and their employees has expanded public expenditure as people purchase raw materials and finished products of entrepreneurship, encouraging national production. Bordogna adds that entrepreneurship has helped in providing self sufficiency to the American populace as people can afford and easily find what they need for their consumption (13). Self –sufficiency in the American econ omy also relates to increased local production of goods and services that ensure cheap and affordable prices for goods and services. Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs are individuals with the brains bearing or capacity to exhibit entrepreneurial skills. Entrepreneurs identify business opportunities, gather and collect ideas that they use to establish businesses or improve state of particular firm. For entrepreneurs to emerge successful in implementing their ideas, they have to exhibit or posses particular characteristics. Unique ambition is one of the defining characteristics required of an entrepreneur. Ambition helps entrepreneurs to face the potential competition in the given industry with aims on achieving the desired goals (Gitman and Carl 14). Entrepreneurs are

African American contribute for NBA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

African American contribute for NBA - Essay Example The game that was once played dominantly by whites has seen roles reversing, with 75% of the NBA players being African American. The game is nowadays associated with the Black Americans culture, especially those in the lower classes insides cities of Americai. In regards to basketball and African Americans, one team is outstanding in both the contexts: Los Angeles Lakers. Lakers are basketball team playing in the professional category in the National Basketball Association.The Lakers are among the most successful NBA teams of all times, having bagged 16 championships in the league. The recent win was in 2010. Currently, the Lakers are the second most richest NBA teams with close to 645 million US dollars. Nevertheless, the team did not begin from a smooth start. According to NBA and sports records, the current Lakers’ team was a purchase from the then poor performing Detroit Gems. After the purchase, the team adopted the name Lakers, an inspiration from Minnesota’s nick name â€Å"The Land of ten thousand Lakes†. The team relocated to Minneapolis in 1947. The Lakers won the NBL championship with great help from George Mikan.This success ensured that the team jumped to the next level, Basketball association of America (BAA). In their first season of 1948-49, the Lakers won the BBA championship.This was great success as the team had transformed from having the worst record in NBL to become the best almost instantly after being sold to Morris Chalfen and Ben Bergerii. The team’s future was bright. The year 1947 saw the birth of NBA from a merger of BBA and NBL. The Lakers proved they were the true champions by winning five NBA championships in six years. This was a record at the time. The achievements of the Los Angeles team were made possible by a rich component of talent at the team between 1949 to 1955. Hall of fame players for the Lakers included an all white list of George Mikan, Jim Polland, Clyde Lovellete, and Slater martin. Very few blacks were playing in the league at that time. Bob Williams was the first African American player for the Lakers, after signing a contract with the team in 1954. In 1960, the team further relocated to Los Angeles with a strong team comprising of two black star players: Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, and two white players: Jerry West and Gail Goodrich. Despite this excellent combination, the Lakers lost six finals to Boston Celtics in only eight years. The 1960-1970 decade was bad for the Lakers. Lakers losing streak prolonged until 1972 when Bill Sharman took over as the team’s head coach. Lakers still holds the NBA title for the longest winning streak with 33 consecutive wins during the 1971-72 seasonsiii. In the years after the success, another African American player came to dominate the team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the team’s backbone for approximately seven seasons. Abdul-Jabbar remains the all-time leading NBA scorer with an amazing 38,387 points. He w on six consecutive titles for the Most Valuable Player of the NBA season. At the time of retirement, Abdul-Jabbar was still holding almost all the records; points scored, time played, defensive rebounds, games played, blocked shots, and even personal fouls. Despite these achievements, Lakers did not win an NBA championship until the arrival of Earvin Johnson, or â€Å"Magic† Johnson in 1979. Then a rookie player, Johnson was playing for Abdul-Jabbar after the latter was injured. Johnson put up an MVP performance in the game against Philadelphia. Magic Johnson was an African American professional player, and together with Abdul-Jabbar, assisted the team to reach for eight NBA championship finals winning five in the 1980s decade. Magic Johnson won the coveted NBA’

Influence and change in organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Influence and change in organizations - Essay Example Since the â€Å"creativity, innovation, individuality, and independence† of the workforce decreases out of poor teamwork (Robertson, Callinan and Bartram, 2002, p. 29), the overall work performance of a team tends to suffer. Also known as interpersonal interaction conflict, another factor that can trigger a significant decline in work performance is the presence of relationship conflict. Based on the research study that was conducted by Martinez-Moreno et al. (2009), the presence of relationship conflict when combined with process conflict could severely damage the team performance. Similar to the research findings of Martinez-Moreno et al. (2009), explained that the presence of positive and negative mood has a significant impact over the level of relationship conflict. According to De Dreu and Weingart (2003), relationship conflict occurs when the team members encounter interpersonal disagreements with one another. When left unresolved, the presence of task-related and relati onship conflicts could adversely affect the team members’ desire and satisfaction to work with the group (Bono et al., 2002). In most cases, having a large group of unsatisfied team members is enough to motivate themselves to withdraw themselves from working with the team. Given that the number of unsatisfied team members is high, the chance wherein the group performance would decrease increases. In the past, several studies revealed that the presence of interpersonal disagreements could negatively affect the mood, feelings, and work attitude of the involved team members (De Dreu and Weingart 2003; Bono et al., 2002). With this in mind, it is clear that the presence of relationship conflict can be considered as a hindrance towards the ability of the team to improve the quality of their group performances. Since the presence of relationship conflict can create an unhealthy work environment, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) should challenge himself to keep on searching for new ways on how to effectively solve issues not only related to relationship conflict but also that of a task-related conflict. To improve team performance, the CEO should be aware of the importance of having a good leadership approach. Basically, a good leadership skill is necessary to increase the ability of the CEO to motivate the team members to become not only a self-directed employee but also an active team member who can be easily directed to work towards a single organizational goal (Bambacas and Patrickson, 2008; Mayfield and Mayfield, 2006; Barbuto, 2005). In this case, the use of transformational leadership style is effective in terms of encouraging the rest of the team members to work well without much need of supervision (Winston and Patterson, 2006; Barbuto, 2005). To accomplish a collective goal, each of the team members is expected to work interdependently as they convert their inputs into a group performance (Marks, Mathieu and Zaccaro, 2001). However, the presence of conflicts makes the team unable to accomplish a collective goal. By nature, task-related or informational conflict and relationship conflict differs from one another. For this reason, Curseu (2011) strongly suggest that the CEO should carefully select the best leadership style that could effectively solve the type of disagreement. For instance, when solving problems related to relati

Assessment of the Patient with Acute Abdominal Pain Article

Assessment of the Patient with Acute Abdominal Pain - Article Example Assessment by the use of a thorough history can determine the cause of up to seventy percent of all abdominal pain cases. The history plan laid out by the authors questions involving the pain itself, what symptoms are co-morbid with the pain, past medical treatment, current medications and medical conditions, and a family and social history. Article Evaluation The guide for the history laid out in this article is very detailed. It even gives notes on how to frame the questions in order to gain the most useful results from the patient, as well as listing nearly a dozen co-morbid disorders that can lead to abdominal pain during serious complications. It also provides an explanation of many of the therapies that are often used to treat and diagnosis abdominal pain. However, most of the diagnostic tools mentioned and all of the treatment methods would require a physician and are outside the scope of traditional nursing care. Despite this, there are no reasons why this assesssment should not be used.

Psychology and Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Psychology and Addiction - Essay Example Education was not given a priority in Rosa Lee’s growing years. Her mother would prefer that work and chores were done well and schooling was not as important, as she inculcated to Rosa Lee that she would never amount to something more than engaging in domestic work. Rosa Lee felt deprived of play in her childhood, as she needed to chop wood, carry heavy things, scrub a room spotless and cater to her family’s every need. As an adult, being overly clean with the house became her way of coping with stress. Rosa Lee craved for her mother’s approval. Her attempts to be close to her mother were often met with hostility. When she learned to shoplift nice things to offer her mother, she would be reprimanded, but later, as her mother would inspect the merchandize, would throw her arms around her with appreciation. Such acts of intimacy were short-lived, as Rosetta did not hesitate to inflict physical harm at Rosa Lee whenever she displeased her. On the other hand, her father, Earl Wright, an alcoholic had better regard for her and indulged her with whatever coins he can spare for her whenever he was drunk. In school, Rosa Lee felt that her poverty was holding her back from becoming what she was destined to be. In her puberty, she noticed that other children had nice clothes while she wore rags. At this age, the need to belong and be noticed by other children becomes very strong. Her first shoplifting episode was borne out of this desire to be upgraded in terms of fashion. From then on, stealing became a way of life, and she became better and better at it until such time when she managed to subtly slip merchandize in her waiting bag or under her skirt. Rosa Lee fared poorly in school, not realizing that she was a slow learner until she had the unfortunate episode of being thrown out of a class with a teacher she admired. With Mrs. Whitehead, she felt that she was learning, and enjoyed her teaching

Teamwork experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Teamwork experience - Essay Example The researcher states the cultural differences made him stand out of the group at a communicative level. The Australians fluently spoke to one another and quite often, the researcher would feel left out. He tried to join them in the conversation. But he used to take too long to think about right words to construct the sentence, which would not only be embarrassing for him, but would also require them to display patience while listening to the researcher, which ultimately broke the temp of conversation. The author of this article understood English sufficiently to know the meaning but founds it difficult to speak with the required fluency and appropriate usage of words. Anyhow, he did not have any choice as the authority rested with majority and conversation had to be made in English. Besides, English is the course language so he had better give up any attempts to devise another language as the medium of communication. He mostly listened to his group members as they spoke. This not on ly maintained the tempo of conversation, but also provided him with an opportunity to improve his English speaking skill. There was a great deal of difference between the comfort he felt in speaking English between the start of the project and the end of the project. There is another positive aspect of interacting in foreign language which is that it reduces cultural differences among team members and helps in the development of strong rapport among them. (Neyer and Harzing, 2008, p. 13). In week 6, we learned how to work in a diverse group. The diversity among team members can be there in terms of difference of age, gender, culture and such other factors. In our case, our team was diverse in terms of culture as we were all boys and belonged to the same age group. I learned that diversity can cause many conflicts if not handled in the appropriate manner. In order to minimize the conflicts, we needed to minimize the cultural differences by understanding one another’s culture. Therefore, we established a culture based meeting. In that meeting, I was supposed to introduce Chinese culture to my group mates whereas they would talk about the Australian culture. That meeting was specifically meant to enhance our understanding of each other’s cultures. It is possible to reduce the cultural differences between team members if â€Å"mental processes associated with national culture are relatively fluid, and can be changed and sustained by appropriate situational factors† (Leung et al., 2005, p. 367). In the culture based meeting, the specific area that required to be discussed was ethics. Standards of ethics vary from culture to culture. What actions are considered respectable and honoring in one culture may be considered insulting in another, Therefore, in order to make sure that we respected each other’s cultural ethics, we discussed ethics of Chinese and Australian culture in this meeting. This way, we handled the cultural diversity in a v ery good manner. Not only was this meeting very enjoyable and informative, it also helped us escape a lot of dysfunctional conflicts as we knew each other’s cultural demands and would act accordingly so that nobody’s feelings were hurt. In week 7 and week 8, we learned how to work in a team, minimize the conflicts and be successful. Teamwork is very helpful for achieving big tasks that require a multitude of competences all of which are not the property of one individual. Therefore, in a team, members benefit from one another’s competences in order to attain their mutual goals and shared objectives. In our team, students A and B had a stronger bond with each other than with the rest of team members. They would often make fuss over petty issues, and we had to be patient in order to keep the ship

Rehetorical Analysis in The Necklace Essay Example for Free

Rehetorical Analysis in The Necklace Essay Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘the necklace’ is an interesting story. The narrative starts with a description of Madame Mathilde Loisel. De Maupassant depicts Mathilde as a ‘pretty and charming’ person. However, she desired a life of leisure, a lifestyle where she would have many servants and a large house yet her life was modest. The twists and the astounding end enable the reader to better understand the earlier hypothesis of the story. The proposition tries to depict how ‘strange and changeful’ life could be. The writer has incorporated a rounded quality, an excellent plot, unrivaled social observations and comprehensive information makes the story more captivating. De Maupassant uses character, symbolism, and irony to show that greed can end in tragedy. While introducing the story, Maupassant presents minimal information regarding the most significant characters, an aspect which enhances the plot of the story. Character In reference to character, Mathilde Loisel’s gluttony makes her assume that objects can transform her life. She desires what she does not have yet other people have. The character of desire coupled with the perception that objects can change life lead Mathilde to her downfall when she borrows the necklace and misplaces it. Consequently, Mathilde’s perception of wealth is that the rich are comfortable and idle. She only laments as evidenced by her saying ‘it annoys me not to have a jewel. ’ Mathilde further states that she would ‘look like distress’ if she went to the party without a jewel. As such, her state of affairs and such weakness becomes her source of most of her troubles. At the party, Mathilde fulfills her dream of appearing wealthy and beautiful. However, after the party reality downs on her and she is reduced to coping with hard life in a bid to replace the necklace. The difficulties that she goes through make her lose her dream of elegance. With regard to the fore mentioned, the disparity between Mrs Loisel’s ambition and actuality cause her economic and emotional difficulty and at last she changes courtesy of her mistakes. De Maupassant therefore tries to show how the aspects of aspiration, pride and dishonesty can alter the fortune of a person forever. Irony  With regard to irony, Maupassant makes a surprising ending of the story by the fact that Loisels spent many years paying for what was otherwise a worthless necklace. She was now with frowsy hair, red hands and skirts askew. ’ Further irony is that her only valued asset which is her beauty disappears as a consequence of her labor in a bid to replace the necklace. On the onset she had borrowed the necklace in order to enhance her beauty yet she ends up losing her beauty as well. Subsequently, the greatest irony is seen when the grueling life that she finds herself after the loss of the necklace. Such state of affairs makes her earlier life appear luxurious. The fact that she borrows Madame Forestier’s necklace in order to appear wealthier than she actually is only to end up losing even the little she has. She became ‘a woman of impoverished households’. The fore mentioned is apparent in the reality that Mathilde ends up paying with money and her looks for a worthless necklace. The end reveals that actually the ten years of suffering could have been evaded had Mathilde been sincere with Madame Forestier. From the story the mistake was really not the loss of the necklace but rather the dishonesty act of Mathilde. Symbolism Symbolism on the other hand is evidenced by ‘the necklace. ’ The item depicted as attractive but worthless. The reality dawns on Mathilde when at the end she learns that the ‘necklace was paste. ’ The necklace therefore represents how influential perception can be. The piece brings out the difference between reality and appearance. Mathilde borrows the necklace in order to appear wealthier than she in fact is. The reason is because she is envious of Madame Forestier and believes that the later is wealthy. The Madame does not inform Mathilde from the onset that the necklace is not genuine. That can be construed to mean that the Madame also wanted Mathilde to perceive her as well off that she really is. Mathilde’s rich perception of Forestier makes her not to suspect the legitimacy of the necklace. Further, since Mathilde expects that the necklace is made of diamonds; diamonds in this pretext symbolize wealth. The perceived genuine diamonds enable Mathilde to communicate a wealthy appearance to her peers. She therefore considers herself rich albeit for a short time. Conclusion Mathilde may not have deserved the life that she got but her lack of ethical determination is the source of her emotional problems. The turnaround meaning technique employed by Maupassant at the end of the story makes it more fascinating. The fallacy of appearances as depicted by the writer on the illusory lifestyle of Mathilde and the deceiving nature of the necklace clearly bring out the plot of the story which basically is the split between myth and authenticity. Lastly, De Maupassant creates the character of Mathilde to suit the common saying that money is the route of all evil. In the end the writer does not take a strong opinion of the on the fate of the characters he however provides the information. The reader is then left to judge the characters and to interpret and judge. For instance, depending on the understanding of reader one may make a decision whether Mathilde is a casualty of bad luck or a victim of misjudged self observation of the public where success or otherwise stem from acknowledgment of wealth.

Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market

Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market INTRODUCTION Organizations must run fast to keep up with changes taking place all around them. They must modify themselves all the time. Change, rather than stability, is the norm today. Every business is affected by a number of powerful environmental forces such as; technological advances, environmental changes, evolving society and customer desires, and maturation of market, which drive the need to change in todays globalized economy. All of these enviromental forces have created opportunities and threats. Every organization strives to take advantage of opportunities and manage the threats which have arisen during the change process (Daft, 2001). Organizations, to be considered innovative, need to implement technologically new products and processes, or need to make significant technological improvements in existing products and processes. Organizations generate and apply the appropriate knowledge required for producing something new and improving the existing product or process, simply known as â€Å"knowledge creation† (Atmaca, 2006). The rate of innovation and technical change is important to an economys rate of growth. Differences in knowledge creation, diffusion, and use have implications for international competiveness, standards of living, and quality of life (Feldman and Massard, 2002). To remain competitive, established firms must continually seek out opportunities for growth and new methods for strategically renewing their performance. Changes in customer needs, new technologies, and shifts in the competitive landscape require that companies continually innovate and initiate corporate ventures in order to compete effectively (Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner, 2008). The discussion begins with defining the innovation concept focusing on different literatures from professional writers. Innovations can take many forms, including radical breakthrough innovations as well as incremantal innovative improvements, and todays researchers are strongly emphasizing that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage. The concept of innovation is compared to the concept of invention and creativity as they are confused and interchangeably used. Later, the discussion concentrates on the importance of innovation in identifying opportunities and threats coming with change; which are followed by suggestions how to become successful innovators to overcome these threats. The discussion continues by identifying the four types of changes an organization undergoes to achieve advantage in the international environment. These changes can be used to update the products or the services, the technology, the existing strategy and structure, and culture in the organization. Then, focus will be on how organizations can build innovation by applying key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial one. The next chapter identifies some successful global innovators that have delivered novel benefits to their customers. This thesis reviews the innovation concept and the forms it takes to achieve competitive edge in the market. It identifies the benefits driving from innovation, explains why people and organizations resist change and identifies the appropriate steps to overcome barriers resisting it. It explains the role management has during innovation and the key elements to create an innovative organization. It concludes by explaining why healthcare sector is different and identifies the best practiced innovations in healthcare sector. The later chapter concentrates on how innovation evolves in the service sector. The biggest industries for RD spending for 2009 are identified. The important features of services sector; the concept of service innovation and its four dimensions are compared to the service product concept. To conclude, some suggestions how management in service companies can achieve effective innovation are given. The last chapter concentrates on the healthcare sector. It focuses on the main and best practised innovations in the healthare sector, as healthcare is a part of the service sector. The reasons that make the healthcare sector different from others are underlined. Big structure, complex size, and different government policies are some of the reasons. To sum up, best practised processes and services which are applied by present healthcare service providers are identified. CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW IN INNOVATION 1.1 Defining Innovation According to King (2009) innovation is doing things in new ways in order to achieve significant results and make a huge difference in performance compared to others. Innovations goal is to have a positive change, to make someone or something better. Testing and evaluation of ideas is critical in achieving this goal. The ideas that do not work are identified through testing. Failure is an integral part of the innovation process. Failing means collecting data and evidence about the changes that organizations want to undergo. This view is supported by Mulgan and Albury (2003) who define innovation as new ideas that work and a successful innovation can be achieved through the creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which will result in significant improvements in the profitability and enhance the growth of an enterprise. Innovation is a special case of planned change and learning that either transforms current products, services, and markets, or creates an entirely new market by introducing a radically new product or service. An organization is considered innovative if it stirs up the marketplace, by creating competitive pressures and new opportunities. It has been recognized that innovation success in an established organization requires balancing the stabilized efficiency of the current market offerings and building new capabilities to create and develop offerings for unknown markets (Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker, 2003). The changes used to adapt the environment can be evaluated according to the scope and to the extent to which changes are incremental or radical for the organization. Incremental changes maintain the general equilibrium of the organization through a series of continual progressions and affect only one part in organization. On the contrast, radical changes, transform the entire organization. Incremental changes include technology improvements, such as the introduction of computer-integrated manufacturing or product improvements in the established structure and management processes. In radical changes, the technology is likely to be breakthrough, and new products created will establish new markets (Daft, 2001). Importance of innovation seems to be the most talked management issue these days. Knowledge plays a crucial role in the economic processes because within the knowledge-based economy, innovation plays a central role and stands at the heart of economic change. Firms innovate to defend their competitive position as well as to achieve competitive advantage. Organizations possessing more knowledge outperform those with less. It was believed that an enterprise can maintain competitive advantage through quality and price. While todays different researches have revealed that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage (Tyagi, 2008). 1.1.1 Invention Tyagi (2008) has made a distinction between invention and innovation. Invention is discovering of things never existed before while innovation is discovering how to introduce and commercialize new products, processes and new ways of adding customer value through innovative business models and management systems. This point of view is supported by King (2009) who defines invention as the generation of new ideas which have the potential to make someone or something better. New ideas can drawn from scanning other industries, by having conversations and meetings, or accessing information which is not usual in your business. All innovations starting point is invention of creative ideas. The distinction between them is; invention is having an idea about a service, product, technology or device, while innovation is the successfull application of those ideas. Another author who has discussed about the difference existing among invention and creativity is Sloane (2010). Invention is the creation of a product, device or method that has never been made and existed before. So, every invention is an innovation. But every innovation is not an invention. When a company first publishes its website this is a major innovation for the company even though many other websites may already exist. 1.1.2 Creativity Creativity is defined as the process of thinking and generating new things, new concepts, and new ideas. Converting these thoughts into tangible things, bringing these ideas to life is innovation. Creativity is like dreaming up new things and innovation is making those dreams come true. Expressed in other words, creativity is the capability of conceiving something unusual or original while innovation is the implementation of those unusual or original things (Difference Between, n.d.). 1.2 Benefits and Barriers of Innovation In the last years change has occured incrementally and infrequently. A globalized economy is creating both opportunities and hazards to everyone. Firms are forced to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also to survive. People who have been through difficult, and not successful change efforts end up drawing pesimistic and angry conclusions. They become suspicious of the motives of those pushing for transformation (Kotter, 1996). This section will focus on the discussion of benefits and barriers that come with innovation. The advantages supporting a strong leadership and the factors causing resistance toward change will be identified. In addition, this section will also explain some methods that managers can use to implement change successfully within the organization. 1.2.1 Benefits of Innovation Bhatt (2007) states the reasons that make companies innovate, those are listed below: To advance in technology. To change the environment. The evolving of the society. The evolving of the customer desires. Competitors improve their products and services. Customers stop buying your old products so you need to replace them and add new products. Innovation opportunities can arise due to environmental changes in technology, science, and data analysis. Environmental changes may result in creation of new customer needs or may enable the organization to develop better solutions to current customer needs. Service or product innovations have to fulfill four benefit aspects listed below: Unique. The target group should perceive the new benefits generated from the new service or product as unique. Important. The customers should perceive the new benefits as important. Sustainable. The new benefits should be protected against followers by measures such as patents, time to market and brand management. Marketable. The organization should have the resources, capabilities and competencies to market the product which also includes an effective and ready to market version of the product (Anon., 2008). Stark (n.d.) has identified the benefits of good innovation, those are listed below: First to market. Premium prices. Best customers. Large market share. Increased shareholder return. Increased employee motivation and morale. 1.2.2 Barriers to Innovation Beer and Nohria (2000) state that one research team concluded that ‘The brutal fact is that about 70 per cent of all change initiatives fail. These researchers conclude that there are two primary reasons why organizations undergo change: one is based on ‘hard economic value (e.g. financial return to shareholders); the other is based ‘soft organizational capabilities. The organizational approach develops corporate culture, human capabilities, feedback, measurements and reflections on evolutionary progress. Both people and organizations frequently resist change, even if it is in their best interests, especially in large and established organizations. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) suggest five main reasons why individuals resist change: Selective perception. People sometimes perceive the same thing differently. When changes are initiated, individuals tend to focus on how they will be personally affected rather than seeing the big picture for the entire organization. Lack of information.People will resist change if they are not informed about what is expected from them or what benefits change will bring. If the reasons for change are not clearly presented, people tend to fill in the missing pieces with speculation, which often assumes the worst in terms of initiator intentions and personal impact. In addition, if people do not have enough information about how to change, they may fear making mistakes, so they will not try. Fear of the unknown. Individuals resist change when they are uncertain about how it will affect their well-being. They fear downsizing, uncertainties about not knowing how to change, not being able to perform as well as before the change, losing position, income, and status or power. Habit. Many people prefer familiar actions and events, even if they are not optimal. Breaking a habit is difficult because it takes hard work and involves giving up perceived benefits from the habit, even if the new behavior has more desirable consequences. Resentment toward the initiator.If a change seems arbitrary or unreasonable, resentment and anger are directed towards those initiating the change. People resent being controlled and losing autonomy over their works and lives, when their thoughts and feelings are not considered by change initiators. Finally, without trust in the initiators inventions, people may resist the change out of resentment or fear of possible unknown consequences. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) state that organizations resist change for many of the same reasons individuals do. There are also many forces inside an organization that create resistance to changes initiated by environmental conditions. Some of the main ones are summarized below: Power Maintenance. Changes in decision-making authority and control of resource allocations threaten the balance of power in organizations. Units benefiting from the change will welcome it, but those losing power will resist it. Structural stability. Organizations create hierarchies, subgroups, rules and procedures to promote order, consistent and predicable behaviors. People who ‘fit these desired behavioral criteria are hired and shaped to confirm further through the socialization process and organizational conditioning. Functional sub-optimization.Differences in functional orientation, goals and resource dependencies can cause changes that are seen as beneficial to one functional unit and as threatening to another. Functional units usually think of themselves first when evaluating potential changes and support those that enhance their own welfare, but resist the one that reduce it. Organizational culture. Organizational culture promotes predicable ways of thinking and behaving. Organizational members will resist changes that force them to abandon established assumptions and approved ways of doing things. Group norms. Groups develop their own norms to promote desirable behaviors. Many members conform these norms. Consequently, any change that disrupts group norms, tasks or role relationships will probably be resisted. Strategos conducted a survey of innovation practices of more than 550 large companies, where majority of respondents in every industry rated innovation as critical and said that the importance of innovation would grow in the future. According to Loewe and Dominiquini (2006) the top six obstacles to innovation identified by respondents across industries are: Short-term focus. Lack of time, resources or staff. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic. Management incentives do not reward innovation. Lack of a systematic innovation process. Belief that innovation is inherently risky. Below is a list of suggestions how to become successful innovators about overcoming the barriers to innovation: Have a vision for change. Innovation has to have a purpose, a statement which defines the direction for the business and which people will readily understand and remember. Your team needs to know the direction they are headed in order to be innovative. Illustrate the goals and explain to people how their role is decisive in meeting the goals to fulfill the organizational vision. Fight the fear of change. Innovative leaders constantly explain the need for change. They must paint a picture that shows an attractive future that is worth taking risks to achieve. Have a dynamic suggestions scheme. Great suggestion schemes are focused and open to all. Leaders do not need to offer huge rewards. Sometimes, recognition and response are generally more important. Break the rules. To achieve radical innovation leaders need to challenge all the assumptions related to how things should look in your environment. Business is like Art, with no well-defined rules and referees. Innovation is filled with opportunities for people who can take advantage in creating new ways to provide the goods and services that customers want. Give everyone two jobs. Ask your people to run their current jobs in the most effective way possible and at the same time to find completely new ways to do the job. Encourage them to identify the purpose of their role, the outcomes delivered through this role and if there is a better way to deliver that purpose. Collaborate. CEOs must see collaboration as key to their success during innovation. Success can not only be achieved by using internal resources, but also by looking outside of the organization for people to partner with. Welcome failure. The innovative leader encourages a culture where people feel free to innovate and experiment. Innovative leaders tell people that each unsuccessful attempt is a step along the road to success. When innovative leaders welcome innovation and create a culture of experimentation, means that they except failure and welcome it. Build prototypes. Innovative leaders are suggested to try the new ideas at low cost by building prototypes and see what the customer reaction is. You will learn more in the real world than you will in the test laboratories. Be passionate. Leaders must concentrate on the things they want to change, on the challenges they want to face and be passionate about overcoming them. Organizations need passionate supporters, who are inspired to innovate and change the way they do things to come up with extraordinary results. Be passionate about what you believe, communicate that passion every time you speak and explain why reaching the destination is really worthwhile (ArticleSnatch, n.d.). 1.3 Types of Innovation There exist four types of changes to achieve strategic edge within an organization. Managers can use these four types of changes to achieve competitive advantage in the international environment. Each company can have maximum impact upon the chosen market through its own unique configuration of technology, product and services, strategy and structure, and culture as explained below (Daft, 2001). 1.3.1 Technological Innovation Technological innovations refer to changes in an organizations production process to enable distinctive competence. Changes in an organizations production process, including its knowledge and skills base, are designed to produce greater in volume or to have a more efficient production. Changes in technology involve the work methods, equipment, and work flow techniques for making products or services. For example, in a university, technology changes are about changes in methods for teaching the courses. Tyagi (2008) suggests that traditionally innovation has been associated with the use of technological knowledge, and research and development activities. A technological innovation is any innovation due to an industrial application of scientific knowledge. Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner (2008) suggest that innovation involves the usage of new knowledge to transform organizational processes or create commercially viable products and services. The latest technology, results of experiments, creative insights, or competitive information may be the sources of new knowledge. However it comes about, innovation occurs when new combinations of ideas and information bring about positive change. Among the most important sources of new ideas is new technology. Technology creates new possibilities and provides the raw material that firms use to make innovative new products and services. But technology is not the only source of innovation. There can be innovations in human resources, firm infrastructure, marketing, service, or in many other value-adding areas that have little to do with anything â€Å"high-tech.† 1.3.2 Product and Service Innovation Product and service innovations refer to the product or service outputs of an organization. New products may be in the form of entirely new product lines or small adaptions of existing products. New products are designed to develop new markets, or customers, or to increase the market share. Tyagi (2008) states that product innovation is about the introduction of new goods and services which have improvements in terms of design excellence, core characteristics, technical specifications etc. and are derived from customer or industry insight, or strategic alignment of the organization. Godin (2005) suggests that the old rule was to create safe and ordinary products that were combined with great marketing. The new rule is to create remarkable products and figure out a great theory by looking at whats working in the real world and what the various successes have in common. Identify what the successful companies have in common and do something to be remarkable. Roberts (2002) has made a distinction when discussing if innovation is between product/service innovation and process innovation. Product/Service innovation refers to efforts to develop new products or services for end users. Product/Service innovations tend to be more radical and are more common during the earlier stages of an industrys life cycle. As an industry matures, there are fewer opportunities for newness, so the innovations tend to be more incremental. Process innovation, by contrast, is associated with improving the efficiency of an organizational process, especially manufacturing systems and operations. Process innovations occur in the later stages of an industrys life cycle as companies seek ways to remain viable in markets where demand has flattened out and competition is more intensive. As a result, process innovations are often associated with overall cost leader strategies because the aim of many process improvements is to lower the cost of operations. There are several problems with seeking competitive advantage through investments in process technology. Firstly, the people who sell you robots or point-of-sale terminals, software to analyze production or service delivery will sell the robots, terminals, and software to your competitors. Your ability to obtain the benefits of this technology depends on your ability to implement it more rapidly and more effectively. Secondly, investment in specialized technology is not a substitute for skill in managing the work force. This is because more skills may be required to operate the more sophisticated and advanced equipments. Having a higher level of investment per employee will result in increasingly expensive interruptions in the process which means that the ability to operate, maintain, and repair equipment effectively becomes even more critical (Pfeffer, 1996). 1.3.3 Strategy and Structural Innovation Strategy and structural innovation refers to the administrative section in an organization. It is related to the management and supervision in the organization, including changes in an organizations strategic management and structure, policies, accounting and budgeting systems, reward systems, labor relations, coordination devices, management information and control systems. Strategy and structure changes in an organization are mandated by top management. They usually have a top-down structure. An example may be if the corporate goes downsizing. On the other hand, product and technology changes may come from the bottom up. 1.3.4 Cultural Innovation Cultural innovation refers to changes that may occur in an employees attitudes, beliefs, values, expectations, abilities, and behavior. Culture innovation tends to change the way employees think. These are changes in mindset rather than the technology, structure, or products and services. Culture can be a powerful force undermining or shoring up the effectiveness of a nation, a business, and a manager. Recognizing the presence and power of culture will help in better navigating through the rough seas of international business. Discovering how to harness the power of culture in an organization will help the organization gain competitive advantage (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). To conclude, it can be said that successful innovation in an organization occurs when technological and product or process innovations in the value chain are implemented through effective strategy and structure innovation. Innovation in an organization, which includes people, leadership, creativity, process and organizational culture, is the driver to grow, to achieve high profits and to succeed in the market. Innovation in an organization should be approached in a systematic way and not a piecemeal manner and should be initiated even at the lowest levels (Tyagi, 2008). 1.4 Leadership in Practice of Innovation Many organizations are resistant to changes and continue operating the way they had been operating in the past. To remain competitive, they work harder, improve efficiency, reduce cost and implement best practices. But, this is not enough. Instead of getting stuck in their standard mode of operations, organizations need to adopt innovative ways to change the strategies. The best way to create a competitive edge and be in the head of the competition is to innovate by drawing advantage from the creative power of your people. Turn your greatest assets into opportunistic entrepreneurs who discover new ways and improve the way they do business. Management innovation involves total transformation of existing culture to enhance organizational performance in an integrated manner involving technological innovation, product and service innovation, and strategy and structural innovation (Tyagi, 2008). Sloane (2003) suggests that every organization needs to have a vision, a culture and a process of innovation to build a truly innovative environment. There are eight key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial organization as below: Painting the vision. The first step is to paint a desirable, challenging and believable vision. Innovative leaders must be sure that people share a common goal and embarke on a journey all together. Being all together means they accept easier the changes, all the challenges and difficulties that show up during the journey. Innovative leaders should delegate more responsibility, and empower the staff with control over their work. Once staff is aware of the goal and direction headed, they contribute the best creative ways to solve challenges and obstacles that lie ahead. Build an open and questioning culture. The painted picture quickly fades away from view, so great leaders should take time to meet staff and illustrate the goals to be achieved and the challenges to overcome. Leaders inspire the staff to become entrepreneurs finding innovative routes to success and constantly remind them how their role is decisive in fulfilling the vision and meeting the challenges. Empowering. The purpose of empowering your people is to turn them into entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities. By empowering, leaders enable them to develop the skills for the task and achieve the change through their own efforts to come up with radical innovations. People need freedom to succeed and need to understand and agree on what management expects of them. People and management must agree on the scope of freedom and responsibility. Empowering means trusting your people, supporting and believing that they will achieve great things. Set goals, deadlines and measurements for innovation. Change is uncomfortable, resulting in anxiously people fearing an embarrassing or costly failure. Leaders should spend time with people encouraging them to undertake risks and come out from their safety zones. Leaders should reassure them that risks are necessary and worth taking and no one will be punished if their initiatives do not succeed. Use creativity techniques to generate a large number of ideas. Innovative leaders should build a culture where everyone can come up with creative solutions and crazy ideas through techniques, methods, and workshops. The goal is to change the people within the organization; from people who do routine jobs into highly energized entrepreneurs who constantly search for new and better ways of making the vision a reality. People need to be trained to learn the skills and to develop the confidence to try new methods, and use creative techniques to come up with new solutions. Review, filter and select ideas. In the innovation process many ideas are generated in response to a given issue or challenge. At the end, the most promising idea is selected. Prototype the promising proposals. After the idea is selected, then the move is to rapidly prototype it. Analyze the results and the successful projects. New product is tested for its feasibility, attractiveness and payback. Those that pass these criteria are given more funding. King (2009) suggests that the most effective, efficient and leading edge organizations are those that innovate and encourage innovation. Innovative organizations require a strong leadership team to approve the importance of innovation and create a culture for it. A development of strong capabilities for innovation leadership need to be started early in the career development process. In an innovative culture, the staff is given freedom to innovate and experiment. In an innovative culture, risks are managed and the organization understands and accepts that future success is built on a series of learning from unsuccessful attempts. Collaboration with outside parties to generate and adopt innovations is encouraged. Success will depend on strong leadership. We can take learning from market leaders to help us identify key leadership behaviors to promote innovation as explained below: Lead continuous innovation and improvement. Develop and communicate an encouraging story. Encourage partnerships and collaboration. Staff should be exposed to new viewpoints and ideas that can be adapted in the organization. To do this, the organization should create partnerships and collaboration with different parts within or outside the organization. Promote innovation. Organization should consider innovation as a core part of its role, and time is allocated for its employees to innovate. Different organizations have created bespoke Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market Innovation for Competitive Advantage in International Market INTRODUCTION Organizations must run fast to keep up with changes taking place all around them. They must modify themselves all the time. Change, rather than stability, is the norm today. Every business is affected by a number of powerful environmental forces such as; technological advances, environmental changes, evolving society and customer desires, and maturation of market, which drive the need to change in todays globalized economy. All of these enviromental forces have created opportunities and threats. Every organization strives to take advantage of opportunities and manage the threats which have arisen during the change process (Daft, 2001). Organizations, to be considered innovative, need to implement technologically new products and processes, or need to make significant technological improvements in existing products and processes. Organizations generate and apply the appropriate knowledge required for producing something new and improving the existing product or process, simply known as â€Å"knowledge creation† (Atmaca, 2006). The rate of innovation and technical change is important to an economys rate of growth. Differences in knowledge creation, diffusion, and use have implications for international competiveness, standards of living, and quality of life (Feldman and Massard, 2002). To remain competitive, established firms must continually seek out opportunities for growth and new methods for strategically renewing their performance. Changes in customer needs, new technologies, and shifts in the competitive landscape require that companies continually innovate and initiate corporate ventures in order to compete effectively (Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner, 2008). The discussion begins with defining the innovation concept focusing on different literatures from professional writers. Innovations can take many forms, including radical breakthrough innovations as well as incremantal innovative improvements, and todays researchers are strongly emphasizing that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage. The concept of innovation is compared to the concept of invention and creativity as they are confused and interchangeably used. Later, the discussion concentrates on the importance of innovation in identifying opportunities and threats coming with change; which are followed by suggestions how to become successful innovators to overcome these threats. The discussion continues by identifying the four types of changes an organization undergoes to achieve advantage in the international environment. These changes can be used to update the products or the services, the technology, the existing strategy and structure, and culture in the organization. Then, focus will be on how organizations can build innovation by applying key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial one. The next chapter identifies some successful global innovators that have delivered novel benefits to their customers. This thesis reviews the innovation concept and the forms it takes to achieve competitive edge in the market. It identifies the benefits driving from innovation, explains why people and organizations resist change and identifies the appropriate steps to overcome barriers resisting it. It explains the role management has during innovation and the key elements to create an innovative organization. It concludes by explaining why healthcare sector is different and identifies the best practiced innovations in healthcare sector. The later chapter concentrates on how innovation evolves in the service sector. The biggest industries for RD spending for 2009 are identified. The important features of services sector; the concept of service innovation and its four dimensions are compared to the service product concept. To conclude, some suggestions how management in service companies can achieve effective innovation are given. The last chapter concentrates on the healthcare sector. It focuses on the main and best practised innovations in the healthare sector, as healthcare is a part of the service sector. The reasons that make the healthcare sector different from others are underlined. Big structure, complex size, and different government policies are some of the reasons. To sum up, best practised processes and services which are applied by present healthcare service providers are identified. CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW IN INNOVATION 1.1 Defining Innovation According to King (2009) innovation is doing things in new ways in order to achieve significant results and make a huge difference in performance compared to others. Innovations goal is to have a positive change, to make someone or something better. Testing and evaluation of ideas is critical in achieving this goal. The ideas that do not work are identified through testing. Failure is an integral part of the innovation process. Failing means collecting data and evidence about the changes that organizations want to undergo. This view is supported by Mulgan and Albury (2003) who define innovation as new ideas that work and a successful innovation can be achieved through the creation and implementation of new processes, products, services and methods of delivery which will result in significant improvements in the profitability and enhance the growth of an enterprise. Innovation is a special case of planned change and learning that either transforms current products, services, and markets, or creates an entirely new market by introducing a radically new product or service. An organization is considered innovative if it stirs up the marketplace, by creating competitive pressures and new opportunities. It has been recognized that innovation success in an established organization requires balancing the stabilized efficiency of the current market offerings and building new capabilities to create and develop offerings for unknown markets (Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker, 2003). The changes used to adapt the environment can be evaluated according to the scope and to the extent to which changes are incremental or radical for the organization. Incremental changes maintain the general equilibrium of the organization through a series of continual progressions and affect only one part in organization. On the contrast, radical changes, transform the entire organization. Incremental changes include technology improvements, such as the introduction of computer-integrated manufacturing or product improvements in the established structure and management processes. In radical changes, the technology is likely to be breakthrough, and new products created will establish new markets (Daft, 2001). Importance of innovation seems to be the most talked management issue these days. Knowledge plays a crucial role in the economic processes because within the knowledge-based economy, innovation plays a central role and stands at the heart of economic change. Firms innovate to defend their competitive position as well as to achieve competitive advantage. Organizations possessing more knowledge outperform those with less. It was believed that an enterprise can maintain competitive advantage through quality and price. While todays different researches have revealed that innovation is one of the most valuable differentiator for sustainable competitive advantage (Tyagi, 2008). 1.1.1 Invention Tyagi (2008) has made a distinction between invention and innovation. Invention is discovering of things never existed before while innovation is discovering how to introduce and commercialize new products, processes and new ways of adding customer value through innovative business models and management systems. This point of view is supported by King (2009) who defines invention as the generation of new ideas which have the potential to make someone or something better. New ideas can drawn from scanning other industries, by having conversations and meetings, or accessing information which is not usual in your business. All innovations starting point is invention of creative ideas. The distinction between them is; invention is having an idea about a service, product, technology or device, while innovation is the successfull application of those ideas. Another author who has discussed about the difference existing among invention and creativity is Sloane (2010). Invention is the creation of a product, device or method that has never been made and existed before. So, every invention is an innovation. But every innovation is not an invention. When a company first publishes its website this is a major innovation for the company even though many other websites may already exist. 1.1.2 Creativity Creativity is defined as the process of thinking and generating new things, new concepts, and new ideas. Converting these thoughts into tangible things, bringing these ideas to life is innovation. Creativity is like dreaming up new things and innovation is making those dreams come true. Expressed in other words, creativity is the capability of conceiving something unusual or original while innovation is the implementation of those unusual or original things (Difference Between, n.d.). 1.2 Benefits and Barriers of Innovation In the last years change has occured incrementally and infrequently. A globalized economy is creating both opportunities and hazards to everyone. Firms are forced to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also to survive. People who have been through difficult, and not successful change efforts end up drawing pesimistic and angry conclusions. They become suspicious of the motives of those pushing for transformation (Kotter, 1996). This section will focus on the discussion of benefits and barriers that come with innovation. The advantages supporting a strong leadership and the factors causing resistance toward change will be identified. In addition, this section will also explain some methods that managers can use to implement change successfully within the organization. 1.2.1 Benefits of Innovation Bhatt (2007) states the reasons that make companies innovate, those are listed below: To advance in technology. To change the environment. The evolving of the society. The evolving of the customer desires. Competitors improve their products and services. Customers stop buying your old products so you need to replace them and add new products. Innovation opportunities can arise due to environmental changes in technology, science, and data analysis. Environmental changes may result in creation of new customer needs or may enable the organization to develop better solutions to current customer needs. Service or product innovations have to fulfill four benefit aspects listed below: Unique. The target group should perceive the new benefits generated from the new service or product as unique. Important. The customers should perceive the new benefits as important. Sustainable. The new benefits should be protected against followers by measures such as patents, time to market and brand management. Marketable. The organization should have the resources, capabilities and competencies to market the product which also includes an effective and ready to market version of the product (Anon., 2008). Stark (n.d.) has identified the benefits of good innovation, those are listed below: First to market. Premium prices. Best customers. Large market share. Increased shareholder return. Increased employee motivation and morale. 1.2.2 Barriers to Innovation Beer and Nohria (2000) state that one research team concluded that ‘The brutal fact is that about 70 per cent of all change initiatives fail. These researchers conclude that there are two primary reasons why organizations undergo change: one is based on ‘hard economic value (e.g. financial return to shareholders); the other is based ‘soft organizational capabilities. The organizational approach develops corporate culture, human capabilities, feedback, measurements and reflections on evolutionary progress. Both people and organizations frequently resist change, even if it is in their best interests, especially in large and established organizations. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) suggest five main reasons why individuals resist change: Selective perception. People sometimes perceive the same thing differently. When changes are initiated, individuals tend to focus on how they will be personally affected rather than seeing the big picture for the entire organization. Lack of information.People will resist change if they are not informed about what is expected from them or what benefits change will bring. If the reasons for change are not clearly presented, people tend to fill in the missing pieces with speculation, which often assumes the worst in terms of initiator intentions and personal impact. In addition, if people do not have enough information about how to change, they may fear making mistakes, so they will not try. Fear of the unknown. Individuals resist change when they are uncertain about how it will affect their well-being. They fear downsizing, uncertainties about not knowing how to change, not being able to perform as well as before the change, losing position, income, and status or power. Habit. Many people prefer familiar actions and events, even if they are not optimal. Breaking a habit is difficult because it takes hard work and involves giving up perceived benefits from the habit, even if the new behavior has more desirable consequences. Resentment toward the initiator.If a change seems arbitrary or unreasonable, resentment and anger are directed towards those initiating the change. People resent being controlled and losing autonomy over their works and lives, when their thoughts and feelings are not considered by change initiators. Finally, without trust in the initiators inventions, people may resist the change out of resentment or fear of possible unknown consequences. Bloisi, Cook and Hunsaker (2003) state that organizations resist change for many of the same reasons individuals do. There are also many forces inside an organization that create resistance to changes initiated by environmental conditions. Some of the main ones are summarized below: Power Maintenance. Changes in decision-making authority and control of resource allocations threaten the balance of power in organizations. Units benefiting from the change will welcome it, but those losing power will resist it. Structural stability. Organizations create hierarchies, subgroups, rules and procedures to promote order, consistent and predicable behaviors. People who ‘fit these desired behavioral criteria are hired and shaped to confirm further through the socialization process and organizational conditioning. Functional sub-optimization.Differences in functional orientation, goals and resource dependencies can cause changes that are seen as beneficial to one functional unit and as threatening to another. Functional units usually think of themselves first when evaluating potential changes and support those that enhance their own welfare, but resist the one that reduce it. Organizational culture. Organizational culture promotes predicable ways of thinking and behaving. Organizational members will resist changes that force them to abandon established assumptions and approved ways of doing things. Group norms. Groups develop their own norms to promote desirable behaviors. Many members conform these norms. Consequently, any change that disrupts group norms, tasks or role relationships will probably be resisted. Strategos conducted a survey of innovation practices of more than 550 large companies, where majority of respondents in every industry rated innovation as critical and said that the importance of innovation would grow in the future. According to Loewe and Dominiquini (2006) the top six obstacles to innovation identified by respondents across industries are: Short-term focus. Lack of time, resources or staff. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic. Management incentives do not reward innovation. Lack of a systematic innovation process. Belief that innovation is inherently risky. Below is a list of suggestions how to become successful innovators about overcoming the barriers to innovation: Have a vision for change. Innovation has to have a purpose, a statement which defines the direction for the business and which people will readily understand and remember. Your team needs to know the direction they are headed in order to be innovative. Illustrate the goals and explain to people how their role is decisive in meeting the goals to fulfill the organizational vision. Fight the fear of change. Innovative leaders constantly explain the need for change. They must paint a picture that shows an attractive future that is worth taking risks to achieve. Have a dynamic suggestions scheme. Great suggestion schemes are focused and open to all. Leaders do not need to offer huge rewards. Sometimes, recognition and response are generally more important. Break the rules. To achieve radical innovation leaders need to challenge all the assumptions related to how things should look in your environment. Business is like Art, with no well-defined rules and referees. Innovation is filled with opportunities for people who can take advantage in creating new ways to provide the goods and services that customers want. Give everyone two jobs. Ask your people to run their current jobs in the most effective way possible and at the same time to find completely new ways to do the job. Encourage them to identify the purpose of their role, the outcomes delivered through this role and if there is a better way to deliver that purpose. Collaborate. CEOs must see collaboration as key to their success during innovation. Success can not only be achieved by using internal resources, but also by looking outside of the organization for people to partner with. Welcome failure. The innovative leader encourages a culture where people feel free to innovate and experiment. Innovative leaders tell people that each unsuccessful attempt is a step along the road to success. When innovative leaders welcome innovation and create a culture of experimentation, means that they except failure and welcome it. Build prototypes. Innovative leaders are suggested to try the new ideas at low cost by building prototypes and see what the customer reaction is. You will learn more in the real world than you will in the test laboratories. Be passionate. Leaders must concentrate on the things they want to change, on the challenges they want to face and be passionate about overcoming them. Organizations need passionate supporters, who are inspired to innovate and change the way they do things to come up with extraordinary results. Be passionate about what you believe, communicate that passion every time you speak and explain why reaching the destination is really worthwhile (ArticleSnatch, n.d.). 1.3 Types of Innovation There exist four types of changes to achieve strategic edge within an organization. Managers can use these four types of changes to achieve competitive advantage in the international environment. Each company can have maximum impact upon the chosen market through its own unique configuration of technology, product and services, strategy and structure, and culture as explained below (Daft, 2001). 1.3.1 Technological Innovation Technological innovations refer to changes in an organizations production process to enable distinctive competence. Changes in an organizations production process, including its knowledge and skills base, are designed to produce greater in volume or to have a more efficient production. Changes in technology involve the work methods, equipment, and work flow techniques for making products or services. For example, in a university, technology changes are about changes in methods for teaching the courses. Tyagi (2008) suggests that traditionally innovation has been associated with the use of technological knowledge, and research and development activities. A technological innovation is any innovation due to an industrial application of scientific knowledge. Dess, Lumpkin and Eisner (2008) suggest that innovation involves the usage of new knowledge to transform organizational processes or create commercially viable products and services. The latest technology, results of experiments, creative insights, or competitive information may be the sources of new knowledge. However it comes about, innovation occurs when new combinations of ideas and information bring about positive change. Among the most important sources of new ideas is new technology. Technology creates new possibilities and provides the raw material that firms use to make innovative new products and services. But technology is not the only source of innovation. There can be innovations in human resources, firm infrastructure, marketing, service, or in many other value-adding areas that have little to do with anything â€Å"high-tech.† 1.3.2 Product and Service Innovation Product and service innovations refer to the product or service outputs of an organization. New products may be in the form of entirely new product lines or small adaptions of existing products. New products are designed to develop new markets, or customers, or to increase the market share. Tyagi (2008) states that product innovation is about the introduction of new goods and services which have improvements in terms of design excellence, core characteristics, technical specifications etc. and are derived from customer or industry insight, or strategic alignment of the organization. Godin (2005) suggests that the old rule was to create safe and ordinary products that were combined with great marketing. The new rule is to create remarkable products and figure out a great theory by looking at whats working in the real world and what the various successes have in common. Identify what the successful companies have in common and do something to be remarkable. Roberts (2002) has made a distinction when discussing if innovation is between product/service innovation and process innovation. Product/Service innovation refers to efforts to develop new products or services for end users. Product/Service innovations tend to be more radical and are more common during the earlier stages of an industrys life cycle. As an industry matures, there are fewer opportunities for newness, so the innovations tend to be more incremental. Process innovation, by contrast, is associated with improving the efficiency of an organizational process, especially manufacturing systems and operations. Process innovations occur in the later stages of an industrys life cycle as companies seek ways to remain viable in markets where demand has flattened out and competition is more intensive. As a result, process innovations are often associated with overall cost leader strategies because the aim of many process improvements is to lower the cost of operations. There are several problems with seeking competitive advantage through investments in process technology. Firstly, the people who sell you robots or point-of-sale terminals, software to analyze production or service delivery will sell the robots, terminals, and software to your competitors. Your ability to obtain the benefits of this technology depends on your ability to implement it more rapidly and more effectively. Secondly, investment in specialized technology is not a substitute for skill in managing the work force. This is because more skills may be required to operate the more sophisticated and advanced equipments. Having a higher level of investment per employee will result in increasingly expensive interruptions in the process which means that the ability to operate, maintain, and repair equipment effectively becomes even more critical (Pfeffer, 1996). 1.3.3 Strategy and Structural Innovation Strategy and structural innovation refers to the administrative section in an organization. It is related to the management and supervision in the organization, including changes in an organizations strategic management and structure, policies, accounting and budgeting systems, reward systems, labor relations, coordination devices, management information and control systems. Strategy and structure changes in an organization are mandated by top management. They usually have a top-down structure. An example may be if the corporate goes downsizing. On the other hand, product and technology changes may come from the bottom up. 1.3.4 Cultural Innovation Cultural innovation refers to changes that may occur in an employees attitudes, beliefs, values, expectations, abilities, and behavior. Culture innovation tends to change the way employees think. These are changes in mindset rather than the technology, structure, or products and services. Culture can be a powerful force undermining or shoring up the effectiveness of a nation, a business, and a manager. Recognizing the presence and power of culture will help in better navigating through the rough seas of international business. Discovering how to harness the power of culture in an organization will help the organization gain competitive advantage (Schneider and Barsoux, 2003). To conclude, it can be said that successful innovation in an organization occurs when technological and product or process innovations in the value chain are implemented through effective strategy and structure innovation. Innovation in an organization, which includes people, leadership, creativity, process and organizational culture, is the driver to grow, to achieve high profits and to succeed in the market. Innovation in an organization should be approached in a systematic way and not a piecemeal manner and should be initiated even at the lowest levels (Tyagi, 2008). 1.4 Leadership in Practice of Innovation Many organizations are resistant to changes and continue operating the way they had been operating in the past. To remain competitive, they work harder, improve efficiency, reduce cost and implement best practices. But, this is not enough. Instead of getting stuck in their standard mode of operations, organizations need to adopt innovative ways to change the strategies. The best way to create a competitive edge and be in the head of the competition is to innovate by drawing advantage from the creative power of your people. Turn your greatest assets into opportunistic entrepreneurs who discover new ways and improve the way they do business. Management innovation involves total transformation of existing culture to enhance organizational performance in an integrated manner involving technological innovation, product and service innovation, and strategy and structural innovation (Tyagi, 2008). Sloane (2003) suggests that every organization needs to have a vision, a culture and a process of innovation to build a truly innovative environment. There are eight key elements that create a truly innovative and entrepreneurial organization as below: Painting the vision. The first step is to paint a desirable, challenging and believable vision. Innovative leaders must be sure that people share a common goal and embarke on a journey all together. Being all together means they accept easier the changes, all the challenges and difficulties that show up during the journey. Innovative leaders should delegate more responsibility, and empower the staff with control over their work. Once staff is aware of the goal and direction headed, they contribute the best creative ways to solve challenges and obstacles that lie ahead. Build an open and questioning culture. The painted picture quickly fades away from view, so great leaders should take time to meet staff and illustrate the goals to be achieved and the challenges to overcome. Leaders inspire the staff to become entrepreneurs finding innovative routes to success and constantly remind them how their role is decisive in fulfilling the vision and meeting the challenges. Empowering. The purpose of empowering your people is to turn them into entrepreneurs looking for new opportunities. By empowering, leaders enable them to develop the skills for the task and achieve the change through their own efforts to come up with radical innovations. People need freedom to succeed and need to understand and agree on what management expects of them. People and management must agree on the scope of freedom and responsibility. Empowering means trusting your people, supporting and believing that they will achieve great things. Set goals, deadlines and measurements for innovation. Change is uncomfortable, resulting in anxiously people fearing an embarrassing or costly failure. Leaders should spend time with people encouraging them to undertake risks and come out from their safety zones. Leaders should reassure them that risks are necessary and worth taking and no one will be punished if their initiatives do not succeed. Use creativity techniques to generate a large number of ideas. Innovative leaders should build a culture where everyone can come up with creative solutions and crazy ideas through techniques, methods, and workshops. The goal is to change the people within the organization; from people who do routine jobs into highly energized entrepreneurs who constantly search for new and better ways of making the vision a reality. People need to be trained to learn the skills and to develop the confidence to try new methods, and use creative techniques to come up with new solutions. Review, filter and select ideas. In the innovation process many ideas are generated in response to a given issue or challenge. At the end, the most promising idea is selected. Prototype the promising proposals. After the idea is selected, then the move is to rapidly prototype it. Analyze the results and the successful projects. New product is tested for its feasibility, attractiveness and payback. Those that pass these criteria are given more funding. King (2009) suggests that the most effective, efficient and leading edge organizations are those that innovate and encourage innovation. Innovative organizations require a strong leadership team to approve the importance of innovation and create a culture for it. A development of strong capabilities for innovation leadership need to be started early in the career development process. In an innovative culture, the staff is given freedom to innovate and experiment. In an innovative culture, risks are managed and the organization understands and accepts that future success is built on a series of learning from unsuccessful attempts. Collaboration with outside parties to generate and adopt innovations is encouraged. Success will depend on strong leadership. We can take learning from market leaders to help us identify key leadership behaviors to promote innovation as explained below: Lead continuous innovation and improvement. Develop and communicate an encouraging story. Encourage partnerships and collaboration. Staff should be exposed to new viewpoints and ideas that can be adapted in the organization. To do this, the organization should create partnerships and collaboration with different parts within or outside the organization. Promote innovation. Organization should consider innovation as a core part of its role, and time is allocated for its employees to innovate. Different organizations have created bespoke