Management Of Organisations: Virgin Group

Management Of Organisations: Virgin Group Virgin is a leading branded venture capital (Virgin, 2011) organisation and is one of the worlds most recognised and respected brands, which was founded by the business tycoon Richard Branson. Virgin Group is classed as a Private Limited Company by Companies House. Virgin Group date of incorporation is listed as 1985 (Companies House, 2010), however, business and trading activities originally started in 1970 (Virgin, 2011). Virgin Group has gone on to grow very successful businesses in core sectors ranging from music to transportation, travel, financial services, media, drinks, books, gaming and fitness etc (Virgin, 2011).Virgin has created more than 300 branded companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people, in 30 countries. Global branded revenues in 2009 exceeded  £11.5 billion (Virgin, 2011). The Virgin Group is structure is quite interestingly complex, although numbers of people recognise the Virgin Group to be a single business entity but this may not be the case. In actuality, each of the Virgin brand companies operates as a separate business entity (Grant, 2005). Although, Richard Branson holds full ownership and control of the Virgin Brand, the commercial set-up of the companies using the Virgin name is varied and complex (Grant, 2005). Even though each of the 300 companies operates as a single entity, Branson completely owns the majority of them either individually or through family trusts and is holding majority stakes in the others. However, occasionally, Richard Branson simply licenses the Virgin brand to a company that has purchased a division from him such as Virgin Mobile USA Australia, Virgin Radio and Virgin Music. (Grant, 2005). However, what connects the companies is use of the Virgin trademark, Bransons roles as chairman and shareholder and his managemen t role as the face of virgin in publicity, public and government relations. He also has responsibility for appointing senior executives (Grant, 2005). Appendix 1 illustrates the structure of the Virgin Group of companies, including some major operating companies and the holding companies that own them. Firstly, the report will explore and analyse theories relating to organisational culture for example, definitions, level and types of organisational culture, and will look at the way these theories relate to the Virgin organisation. Finally, leadership styles will be addressed with key theories supporting the importance of leadership and different types of leadership skills. In relation to the Virgin case study the particular value of the transformational type of leadership and the importance of team development will be highlighted. Case Study Analysis 2.1 Organisational Culture Organisational culture plays an important role within any organisation. Although the majority of us will have our own understanding of organisational culture, it is a universal concept that is difficult to define or explain precisely (Mullins, 2007, p. 721). It has been explained, for instance, as the dominant values espoused by an organisation (Deal Kennedy, 2000), whereas, Bower (1966) simply described it as the way things are done around here. However, despite there not being a unanimous accepted definition, there is a common theme within Deal Kennedy (2000) and Bower (1966). Their definitions uncover a central theme, that is, organisational culture refers to a system of shared meaning. A more detailed definition is: The collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs and attitudes that constitute a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an organisation. (Mclean and Marshall, 1993 cited in Mullins, 2007) This clarifies that organisational culture is a mixture of customs and practices and the beliefs and attitudes that these are based on that make up the way of working and the approach of an organisation. According to Mullins (2007), the culture of an organisation is also often likened to the personality of an individual; this could be said of Virgin. Virgin describes it culture and brand as making a difference. Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge (Virgin, 2011). These traits are often used to describe Richard Branson, founder and chairman or the Virgin Group. The company aims to deliver a quality service by empowering its employees and facilitating and monitoring customer feedback to continually improve the customers experience through innovation (Virgin, 2011). It is evident that Virgins values and approach to business appeal to the customers and create an adventurous spirit in the organisation that has contributed to its success which has enabled it to branch out into other sectors such as those described above. Levels of Cultures To help understand culture more, Schein (2010) has categorized the places where culture is found into three fundamental categories (Figure 1), each category is recognized by its visibility and accessibility by individuals. The deeper one gets, the more difficult it is to discover the culture. Figure 1 Scheins Three Levels of Culture Source: (Buchanan Huczynski, 2007, p. 622) Scheins first level is known as Artifacts, it is the most visible level out of the three. It refers to the observable things that a culture produces. It includes both physical objects and behaviour patterns that can be observed freely through what you see, hear and feel in an organisation, for instance, the architecture and physical surroundings; its products; its technologies; its style (shown through clothing); its published values and mission statement; its language and humour; its myths and stories. In the case of Virgin their uniform is consistently red, their language style is informal hip and the company has its own myth that Richard Branson always walks around with a notebook to record and pick up on every creative idea from employees and how he surprises employees with trips to his islands. The next level is less visible and is referred to as the espoused values level. It is the beliefs and values, sometime unspoken shared within an organisation and its members, that have meaning and worth to the founders and senior management of an organisation (Buchanan Huczynski, 2007). The espoused values may have their roots and be based on values that were learnt through childhood whether its religious, societal or moral upbringing (Buchanan Huczynski, 2007). These values can give the organisation its distinct character and provide a sense of direction for employees. The Virgin Group has a distinct organisational culture which is characterised by its founders individual values, personality and personal style the company reflects his ambition a drive for success coupled with his informal anti-corporate approach, very much a product of his upbringing and the popular culture of his time (Grant, 2005). Finally, located at Scheins third level, known as the deeper level of cultural analysis are Basic Assumptions. This deeper level is more commonly known as the hidden beliefs and assumptions or shared tacit assumptions. Basic Assumptions are essential, often unaware, determinants of an organisations attitudes, thought processes, and actions. These assumptions are central to its culture. Values that gain long-term acceptance often become so embedded and taken-for-granted that individuals are usually unaware of their influence. They usually provide a tacit sense of security and an unquestioned thrust for perceptions and behaviour. Scheins three levels of culture has proved to be useful as an approach to analysing Virgin Group organisational culture. Schein (2010) emphasises the fact that if organisational culture is understood fully it can be manipulated and managed within the organisation to meet the organisations purposes. For example, Virgin has been able to use organisational culture to foster loyalty, commitment and hard work within its employees by offering freedom, empowerment and by giving them a sense of being part of something cool and different whist providing social activities. Scheins three level of culture has also help clarified why Virgin Group should give importance to organisational culture; it is a mixture of execution and culture that makes the difference between one organisation to another. Organisational culture is essential; it is the glue that binds everyone together. Virgin Group holds onto the values, symbols, and rituals that have guided them for several years, and anything new that add to the culture should always supports what already exists. In summary, organisational culture maybe identified through companies using Scheins level of culture. Though, Schein (2010) does states that there are no consistently quick ways to identify the cultural assumptions of people in organizations. He does recommends observing, talking to people, collecting archival data, listening to stories, and etc, until a pattern finally emerges. However, organisational culture can be developed through effective leadership, empowered employees, strong development programs, good communications and a real focus on customers. All attributes that Richard Branson uses to run his organisation. One thing that is clear is that the culture which Branson created through his own unique leadership style was one that is strongly influenced by his personal style and personality, making it a difficult model to adopt or mimic if he was to leave. 2.2 Leadership Styles and Team Development Due to the success and efficiency of Virgin Group, the media frequently cover the leadership and management strategies of Virgin Group. Sir Richard Branson is renowned for his vibrant yet competitive leadership style. According to Mullins (2007) and Daft (2002), leadership is essentially a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people, those people intentionally wish for major changes, and the changes mirror purposes shared by followers and leaders. In the case of the Virgin Group, this means that the style of Sir Richard Bransons leadership cannot be separated from the activities of Virgin Group and the effective teambuilding within the organisation. This supported by Grant (2005) and Jackson (1998) who states that a major contributor to the Virgin Groups success is the inventive leadership style of Richard Branson. This leads us to closely examine Richard Branson leadership styles. In examining Richard Bransons style, his ability as to influence and skill to build a common idea among his employees are renowned. Mintzberg (2009) maintains that you earn leadership from those you lead. He proposes that leadership is about earning the respect of employees, something which Branson appears to do a lot in his career. One of the ways he does this is through his sense of equality and fairness in how he treats people and by promoting flat, non hierarchical structure to run his businesses (Grant, 2005). The early 1980s saw a great paradigm shift in the way of leadership, from transactional to transformational. (Gaughan, 2001). Earlier models to leadership, such as the situational or contingency models of Fiedler (1967), Vroom and Yetton (1973), and Hersey and Blanchard (1969), focused on identifying the styles and behaviours, which predicted effective outcomes depending on a variety of situational factors . In an organisation and environment where constant change is the norm, these authors did not help to offer any advice. During this time, the transformational and charismatic models began to emerge (Bryman, 1992), which comprised ideas such as charismatic and visionary in their concept of what leadership meant. Richard Branson style of leadership is best summarised as a transformational approach (Lussier Achua, 2009). Branson has also been labelled as a transformational leader by management lexicon, for his individualist strategies and his stress on the Virgin Group as an organisation driven on informality and information, one thats bottom heavy rather than strangled by top-level management. According to (Bass, 1985) Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that occurs when leaders broaden and elevate the interests of their people, when they generate awareness and acceptance of the purposes and mission of their group, and when they stir their people to look beyond self- interest for the good of the group. Transformational leaders are frequently compared with others who can adjust quickly to change (Bass, 1985). Branson evidently shows his flexibility and success in adjusting to changing organisational cultures as his been able to bring in new businesses and move into new sector whilst bringing his people with him (Grant, 2005). Studies by Lowe et al. (1996) and Patterson et al, (1995) have confirmed the positive relationship between transformational leadership and performance. This has helped to support why Richard Branson has been able to make Virgin such a success. Bass (1985) states that transformational leadership is more likely reflect social values and to surface in troubled times and change. This lies true with Virgin, an organisation that is centred on constant growth and change, as a result making the transformational style more suitable. For example, of how Richard Branson demonstrated this transformational approach was when he gave Virgin Atlantic employees his personal con tact details and encouraged them to forward any ideas and suggestions for improvements by contacting him directly (Jackson, 1998). Transformational leadership theory implies that this approach of leadership is likely to bring about empowerment and growth among followers (Bass, 1985). However, Howell (1988) states this type of style may cause followers to depend on the leader. This indicates on a psychologically level, followers self esteem and motivation may depend on recognition and positive feedback from the leader. In the case of Virgin group, this may not necessarily an issue despite Richard Branson personality being marked everywhere all through business he still manages to empower his employees with a degree of independence. A study of charismatic and transformational leadership theories suggests that such leaders possibly will achieve influencing followers who personally identify with this style as well as with the colleagues they work with (Yukl, 2002). According to (Conger Kanungo, 1998) personal identification with the leader is down to the leaders charismatic approach and is based on referent power. Similarly, Shamir, House and Arthur, (1993) argues one key way leaders can influence followers is by becoming a role model. Social recognition is another aspect of Richard Branson leadership style worth highlighting. Once individuals associate with a group, they establish their self esteem and self belief to some extent on their belonging to that group, with group failures and successes being faced as personal to the individual (Mael Ashforth, 1992). Followers are inspired by the leader to identify with the group aims and ethics Shamir, House and Arthur, (1993)by connecting the followers self belief to the mission statement of the organisation and goals of the group. The ways in which Richard Branson gets his employees to recognise with the organisation, as well as himself, is through managing the mood of his organisation (Jackson, 1998) . He has been known to be empathic and self aware which has allows him to instinctively takes in how customers and employees feel and estimate the organisations emotional state. According to Salovey et al (2004), emotional intelligence is the ability to precisely tell apart others emotions plus your own. Salovey et al (2004)also states one of the main ways of becoming a triumphant leader is through emotional intelligence, something that Richard Branson has manage to achieve through the way he studies himself and others. Finally, possibly one of the most powerful traits in Richard Bransons leadership style is his persistent determination to accomplish his goals, despite a few obstacles in his way. Zaleznik (2004) states that leaders and managers think about goals differently to one another, leaders tend to be active whilst managers are more reactive. The direction an organisation takes is determined by the influence the leaders uses when changing frame of minds, suggesting expectations and in creating specific objectives and desires. The net outcome of this influence, it changes how people consider what is feasible or desirable in terms of goals. As a result, leaders are able to instil some enthusiasm for particular goals on their followers. Regardless of some negative circumstances mainly external, Richard Bransons persistent shaping of the vision for his company and his ability to infuse these desires to those he hired is the reason for Virgins continues success and growth (Grant, 2005). To summaries, Richard Bransons charismatic way of leadership is one that comes from a largely transformational approach to how he influences those in his organisation. He shows clear skills in his ability to read the emotions of others and to assess the mood of his own culture, while having tremendous skills in how he can adapt his style and approach to the particular situation or context he is in. His drive and determination to succeed has been a key element of his success, something that stems from a combination of genetics and family circumstances. His success in becoming and remaining an effective leader of Virgin is largely due to his willingness and ability to empower individuals within the organisation. Branson has shown sensitivity to the needs of others, such as the need for recognition, growth and achievement. Through his attention to and encouragement of ideas and initiatives, Branson has gotten the support of his subordinates. His authority at Virgin is extended by his fl amboyant and charismatic personality and attention grabbing behaviour, both of which increased his visibility and appeal to staff and the public. Although unique to Branson himself, this style of leadership is one that works very well within the Virgin empire. Conclusion This case study has brought to a light many different strategies that an event manager can utilize in a future role within the event industry as well as to maintain a healthy organisational culture. First suggestion would be to adopt a transformational leadership style. Transformational leadership would allow your employees to work together for one common goal which is essential, especially within the event industry when organising an event. By working together your employees can come together to achieve great things and improve their overall efficiency. My second recommendation would be to utilize delegation. Delegation is a great way to develop the skills of your employees. When management can determine where a person will be most efficient it will help those involved in the project. By putting people in the jobs that they a best suited for it will lead to a more enjoyable and effective working environment. (change to culture) In a nutshell, there is a lot to be learnt from the culture and leadership of Virgin Group. Chairman Richard Branson has created a unique culture that has contributed to the long term success of the company. Although there is a clear distinction between culture and leadership, the company has been able to integrate a blend of each in many aspects of Virgin Group. The transformational leadership has proved to be a valuable tool for executives, managers, and workers alike. Employees within the company have a willingness to work together to expand and improve the company in order to reach their own personal success in life. Personal Leadership skills assessment Looking back at the night before Spy Games Development Day, my initial feelings were excitement, but apprehensive too because I did not know what was expected from me, nor did I know how helpful it was going to be. Thankfully, all that changed after the meeting in the morning. Leadership has played an important role in the completion of our Spy Games tasks especially the first one; it was not the predictable and usual type of leadership. There was no member of the group who emerged as a sole leader, but we as a group shared and took control of the leadership that was needed to complete our tasks. Each member had the chance to voice their opinions, and from there individually we would nominate ourselves for each task we felt most confident in or had knowledge or experience in. Our groups strongest attribute was that we were very organised; this led to better performance and development. Our group was very optimistic, as there was never a situation where a group member was negative even when we failed to complete a task on time, which was why performance was very high and effective. Even though we were not familiar with each other from the beginning, we still managed to work together without much conflict. The one argument we had was on the topic of whether a group member could be a leader for more than one task. We did resolve the conflict which made our group more comfortable with each other. Overall the Spy Games Development Day was a success; I learnt how to share the leadership role with the members within my group. I learnt that performance and development is a big factor in team roles, and learned that conflict is not always a bad thing. Shared leadership does not depend on one person, but on how people act together to make sense of the situations that face them (Doyle and Smith, 2001). In order to achieve an effective leadership and an effectual result at the end of the Spy Games, a shared leadership needed to be present. In some ways shared leadership was present mostly through the outdoor tasks. The primary factor

Interpersonal Communication Problems Essay -- Communication Communicat

Interpersonal Communication Problems Over the telephone my boss gives me an instruction. I hear it, give my recognition, hang up then realize that I am not clear on exactly what it is that I am to do. Something about the proper way to add up my hours is the basic message, but the way she has explained it is not clear to me. Yet. As far as she is concerned, every word she spoke, that is, the way she described her instructions, was perfectly spelled out. She sits in her office confident that her explanation is clear, while I sit behind my desk like some detective trying to solve this great mystery. Although I understood every word she spoke, what she spoke does not register. No eureka bells are setting off. I have trouble decoding her words. I cannot apply the words she's "transmitted." I am experiencing communication problems. This happens all the time. As in the case just described, somewhere between her message and my reception of it, the meaning got lost. To the best of her knowledge, she has gone over a procedure that I have successfully grasped. But it remains unclear to me because I do not understand the way in which she is presenting it. To my boss, it is of course direct and sound, as it is from her mind that the words and thoughts are being emitted. However, as soon as they collided with my own thinking processes they lost complete lucidity. My faculties tell me she is talking but saying nothing sensible. Her faculties tell her her circular sentences are making sense. I periodically acknowledge what she is relaying. She keeps relaying. We are communicating. But are we really? Given this situation, one is led to consider whether it is possible that, that is, can it be that, true communication is impossible? After a... ...y did her presentation of the information pose a problem? Considering we should have understood each other by the virtue of the fact that we speak the same language, this should not have been the case. As a matter of fact, this case shows that even though we were using the same language I could not decipher her meaning. Her mind works in ways that mine does not. And if it is through our minds that we formulate information, then how can it be that what we are communicating will be received in its true form? No two minds work alike nor are their two beings which feel alike. Therefore, how can anyone know exactly what is being communicated? Each of us has a one-of-a-kind make-up. And though, yes, we do understand the use of words and their semantic properties, the fact that we even have to use words to effectively communicate alone makes true communication questionable.

Proficiencies of Human Resources Manager Essay

HR Proficiency: Employee selection, training and compensation falls under this proficiency. It represent traditional knowledge and skills in those areas. †¢Business Proficiency: A Human Resource Manager has lots of duties and responsibilities. To assist top level manager for formulating strategies a HR manager should be familiar with strategic planning, marketing, finance, production, etc. Those knowledge will help top level manager to formulate new strategies for the company. †¢Leadership Proficiency: A HR Manager should posses Leadership Quality. This is must for a HR Manager. They need to have the ability to control and manager a team and lead the workforce toward a specific goal. HR managers also need to aware about modern changes and will lead the team as it permits. †¢ Learning Proficiency: Without learning nothing can be achievable. A HR manager must learn new things and need to be updated as time passes. Technologies are changing rapidly, learning proficiency will help to cope up with this changing environment and control the workforce in an effective way. He or she must have the ability to stay abreast and apply all the new technologies and practices affecting the profession. For Example is Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), their recruitment involving a series of test and selection. After they are recruited to PLN, they received training in order to make them professional that have integrity, proactive, skills and have experience along with strong mentality. To ensure that the new recruitments are capable, effective & up to the standard that PLN set. And that this will be affected for the future of PLN itself.

The United States Armed Forces and Women in Combat essays

The United States Armed Forces and Women in Combat essays Could there possibly be such a thing as a female "infantryman"? There are not many oxymorons' being murmured about in the military that get such ferocious responses from many within the combat arms ranks. In the civilian world, women are able to choose and pursue their own paths of career, no matter the difficulties. In today's work environment women continue to play vital roles that have a direct effect on our homeland security and our precious way of life. Women in professional careers can usually compete as equals with their male counterparts, having unlimited opportunities for advancement. Although this being correct for most of today's civilian women, it is not the case for the females currently serving in the United States Armed Forces. The integration of women into the Combat Arms branch of the Army would not only affect the level of morale and esprit de corps for the existing male troops, but women would be put into harms way unnecessarily which they are not prepared for, be it physically or mentally. It has been Public policy and Federal law that prevents women from serving in combat units on the front lines. For example, in the United States Army, approximately fifteen percent of the Active Duty service members are women. Women in the Army are only permitted to serve in units where their primary function is combat support or combat service support. The Army, by not allowing women to serve in combat, runs contrary to the current workforce trend in American society. In today's world, women in dangerous professions such as firefighting and law enforcement perform equally well compared to their male counterparts. Even though women have in the past performed admirably in those professions and some are even considered heroes in our communities the fact remains that the dangers women face on the "mean streets" of America are in no way comparable to the hazards they would have to face on today's modern battlefields. ...

Waiting lists in the NHS clearly demonstrate that it is inefficient Essay Example

Waiting lists in the NHS clearly demonstrate that it is inefficient Essay Example Waiting lists in the NHS clearly demonstrate that it is inefficient Essay Waiting lists in the NHS clearly demonstrate that it is inefficient Essay and less health care will be demanded, OQ2. If this is the case across the market, the consequence of public health care is that there will be a smaller aggregate expenditure on health care as compared to a private health care system. In addition to these problems, there will also be an increase in demand. In the NHS there are no user charges, as explained earlier. The consumer of public health care will therefore consume up until the point where the marginal utility of health care is zero. This will result in the optimum resource demand being OQ3. This restriction in supply and expansion of demand leads Buchanan to suggest that waiting lists are endemic to the (NHS) system. Since most potential patients cannot afford private health provision, they have a simple decision, be treated (and wait) or not be treated. Therefore, assuming that society is rational, the prospective patient will wait until he tops the list to get treated. This implies that the Pareto efficient outcome in a single market does not exist here and that waiting lists do suggest that the NHS is inefficient. The marginal patient is not the patient that equates his marginal cost of waiting with the marginal benefit of treatment, but the patient that perceives any benefit whatsoever from the treatment that he will receive at the future date. This suggests that as long as the demand curve is unchanged, the potential consumer surplus from inpatient treatment is not dissipated by the wait for treatment.2 Another reason why long waiting lists are inefficient is that as the waiting time increases, resources are allocated away from treatment towards administrative costs. This implies that as waiting times increase the service displays decreasing returns to scale rendering the quality of service smaller. Ideally, the hospital should aim to allocate its budget to the point at which it is indifferent between further3 increasing admissions and marginal wait reduction. A significant reason why this problem persists is that often, hospital managers cite increasing waiting lists when negotiating the hospitals budget with the government. In such situations in the past, the government has displayed a positive willingness to pay in reaction to increasing waiting lists, and as a result hospitals havent given a great enough weight to reducing lists, but rather to increasing admissions. It might however be unfair to judge the NHSs level of efficiency on its waiting list levels. Firstly, it might be the case that where there are areas that show a high proportion of people that are privately insured, lobbying for shorter waiting lists would decrease and this could lead to a positive correlation between private insurance and waiting lists. But why might this be? One of the greatest problems with the NHS is that of Supplier Induced Demand (SID). In terms of health care this refers to the extent to which a doctor provides or recommends the provision of medical services that differs from what the patient would have chosen if they had the same information and knowledge available as the doctor. Would a patient, for example, have given up an afternoon in the workplace if they had known on referral that the specific treatment for a complicated disease was a plaster to the toe? This idea falls in line with the fact that many remuneration systems are designed so that the doctor receives a greater income when they give a greater amount of services to each patient. This is borne out by a study by Krasnik et al (1990) who found that after GPs in Copenhagen had their remuneration methods changed to a fee-for-service basis, their activity increased until they attained their target incomes at which stage activity fell, suggesting SID. Might it be the case that waiting lists merely reflect the greed of GPs and the perverse incentives offered to hospital managers, rather than the actual inefficiency of the NHS? For certain waiting patients, it is evident that inpatient treatment is needed now, or not at all. A wait of any duration will be of no help at all. In the current NHS, priority is given to these patients. In the UK, waiting lists tend to build up for delay able cases5 In respect of this, waiting lists may simply represent a stock of work for doctors, ensuring that their scarce and skilled resources are utilised in the correct instances. It is also argued by Cullis and Jones that a waiting list allows for a balance of cases of differing nature and complexity, facilitating the teaching function of many hospitals. Taking these two points into account it may be argued that waiting lists optimally use the scarce resources presented to them, implying that waiting lists might actually facilitate efficiency. There is no doubt that increasing waiting lists are more than likely to indicate a poor performance in terms of economic efficiency. Between 1997 and 2002, expenditure on public health grew in total by over 50%. At the same time, waiting lists only fell by 15%, suggesting that there is a large misallocation of resources throughout the NHS and an undesirable level of efficiency. That is if we are looking to waiting lists as the key indicator of NHS performance. The weighting given to this area of NHS performance seems unfair and misinformed. It is my opinion that a reasonable waiting list actually gives rise to an efficient allocation of resources in a system that cannot naturally do so through the price mechanism. Undoubtedly lists can become unhelpfully large. In these cases I would argue that reforms such as buyer contracts could be easily be implemented that would prevent lists from becoming too large through the perverse incentives provided by the government to use waiting lists as a bargaining tool.

Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics - Research Paper Example This piece of research paper is an attempt to present a strategic analysis of US automotive industry by using Porter’s Five Forces model, which is one of the best strategic analysis widely used to measure and assess the competitive position of a company within its industry. This research paper presents a brief outline of the US automotive industry-profile and addresses five forces in detail, they are competition rivalry, threats of new-entrants and substitutes and bargaining power of suppliers and buyers. The US automotive industry includes all those firms and their activities involved in designing, developing and manufacturing of motor vehicles and major components like engines, bodies but excluding tires, batteries and fuels (Automotive Industry, 2010). The main US automotive marketers are Big-Three- (GM, Ford and Chrysler), Navistar International Corporation and Paccar Inc. There are currently many structural issues in the US automotive industry which in turn foreign auto-marketers have been able to take advantages and gain greater competitive advantages too. Datamonitor (2009) found that these issues include greater dependency on cheap oil, preference for building big cars, under-emphasis on fuel efficiency and excess capacity and legacy costs (p. 5). The recent economic turmoil and increasing oil price have eventually led the Big-Three to experience such structural issues. General Motors, one of the largest auto-manufacturer in the word, traces its root back to 1908, headquartered in Detroit. With various brands like Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC, it manufactures a wide range of cars, trucks and auto-parts (Company Profile, 2010). It employs more than 200,000 people throughout its businesses in more than 120 countries. in very recent years, GM has experienced significant financial crisis that has threatened its market feasibility (General Motors

Mythology disscusion questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mythology disscusion questions - Assignment Example This is because the artistic tricksters in the modern literature are difficult to find. Examples of the modern-day art of tricksters include; ‘bugs bunny by Gary Anderson, ‘what is fight club by Dominic Walter and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean franchise by Captain Jack Sparrow. 3. Though tricksters are fictional and unrealistic, they are best used in passing information especially to the young generation. This is because a trickster has a way of capturing the attention of the listener due to the presence of suspense in it. In fact, trickster tales are presented as morality stories for young people, whereby the behavior of the trickster remind them of proper and bad behavior. That is why each trickster tale ends with a moral lesson. 2. Myths are appealing to modern society because they are everywhere across all cultures. Every culture or society has got its types of myths and, often these myths retells of archetypical stories that have slightly changed with time in terms of culture and experiences. This popularity of myths and they way are still read and studied, suggests just how much important myths are in todays world (Scheub