Prison Environment Essay

  The prison environment could be define as a place to help persons convicted of crimes change their way of lifestyle, if it is a problem and serve out their sentence. The prison discussed in my readings is an environment where anyone from the cook to the janitor could influence someone to make a change in their thinking and their actions. What was once ran like a country under dictatorship, has now become a place where inmates are treated with respect and dignity. The environment of a prison is leaning more to a nurturing way of dealing with the inmates versus a clad iron system. Institutional management and custody are influenced by the constant growing population and the rise of gangs in the system. If there was less turnovers of correction officers in the prison the culture could possibly be change. Secure custody methods play an important role in the prison environment. Secure custody methods are how personnel keep a count of the inmates, keep them safe from one another as wel l as keeping order in the prison. A few of the methods used are; the count which is when personnel count the inmates to make sure that all are accounted for. During this process there is minimum to no activity until the task is complete. Another method is the sally port. This is basically two gates that can’t be opened at the same time. It operates by a person passing through the first gate in order for the next gate to open. Lastly, prison rules and contraband control are the other secure methods. Prison rules are likely broken on a consistent basis so that method of securing is probably not that efficient. The high count of gang members, more than likely play a large role in prison rules being broken as well as contra band being smuggled into the prison. The prison environment has improved over the years, but there is still room for improvement. The methods used to secure the facility should be revised. By revising these methods chances are the prisons will began to make a change towards the better.

Advantages & Disadvantages of E-Learning

E-learning is a broad term that generally refers to any kind of learning done with a computer and Internet connection or CD-ROM. It is used by individuals, educational institutions and businesses. As with any type of learning, it works better for some than others. The quality of e-learning has improved in recent years, as teachers and students have become more comfortable with the technology. 1. Considerations * E-learning is an excellent option in education, particularly when there are hindrances to traditional learning situations.For example, some people wish to continue their educations but do not live within driving distance of a college or university and don't find it feasible to relocate. E-learning is a viable alternative for these students. Another hindrance to traditional learning, especially in grades K through 12, is the â€Å"one size fits all† mentality it embraces. Many students just do not learn well in a traditional learning environment, but thrive in a more fl exible setting. To address this issue, parents are turning to e-learning opportunities for their children.Some choose full-time enrollment in a virtual school, while others use e-learning to supplement a home school curriculum. In the business world, e-learning provides a way for companies to train and instruct employees without requiring them to travel to a central location. Advantages * Convenience is one of the major advantages of e-learning. It allows students to work and learn at their own pace without the unyielding time restrictions of traditional learning. Because e-learning provides access to learning materials at any time, students have the flexibility to schedule around families, jobs and other activities.Another major benefit of e-learning is the accessibility it provides. Students can learn from anywhere in the world. This is an especially important consideration for students who wish to study in a different country. In addition, because e-learning can be done from home , students have less clothing and driving expenses than with traditional learning. Disadvantages * A major disadvantage to e-learning is the self-discipline it requires. While being able to work at your own pace can be an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage.This is especially true for students who have difficulty with time management and procrastination. These students tend to be more successful with the structure of traditional learning. Another disadvantage to e-learning is the technology involved. Some people do not have ready access to a computer and Internet connection. And some who do have the required equipment feel ill-equipped to use it. Lack of interaction between teacher and student is another drawback to e-learning. Some students need the immediate feedback that interaction provides. Types * There are several types of e-learning situations.The most common include taking a single course online, full-time enrollment in an online high school or college, distance learni ng via satellite and learning from information on a CD-ROM. Many businesses and organizations offer training for their employees using various e-learning methods. Warning * E-learning greatly increases the availability of educational opportunities. Unfortunately, it also increases the number of scams related to online education. Persons considering e-learning possibilities should be alert to such scams and thoroughly investigate any program before making a commitment.

Narrative Essay About Grandmother Passing Away.

Forever Remembered I knew that after walking into room 113 my life was going to be changed. I saw nurses saying, â€Å"sorry†, familiar faces with tears falling fast from their eyes, and arms opening wide for hugs. I knew something was wrong as I saw her lying still in her bed, eyes closed, and arms crossed over her stomach. Grandma Dorothy’s second stroke had slowly taken her life. Later, I wake up to my dad flicking my bedroom light on and him standing tall in my doorway. I could tell by the way he looked at me he didn’t want today to come.He slowly walked to my bedside and crawled into bed with me. I had never seen my dad cry before so I did what any ten year old would do, I wrapped my small arms around his neck and cried with him. â€Å"I love you Daddy. † Now, August 9th was the day we all dreaded, the funeral. I had never been to a funeral before; this was all new to me. People were dressed in black handing out tissues and saying small prayers for my family. I watched some man I had never seen before speak such honest words about my grandmother.Now, this man had said something I knew I’d never forget, â€Å"her golden heart stopped beating, hardworking hands go to rest, god broke our hearts to prove to us he only takes the best. † He brought so much emotion to this wide crowd of people; there were happy tears, sad tears, happy smiles, sad smiles, happy memories, and sad memories. He said, â€Å"Now today we remember the life of Dorothy Edna Callahan,† as he slowly lowered the casket six feet below the ground.My dad slowly bent down and wrapped his muscular arms around me, almost crushing my red rose. I said, â€Å"I’m going to miss her so much daddy, why did she have to go? † He whispered back, â€Å"It’s going to be alright Casey I’ll miss her too but she’s in a better place now. † I walked away slowly, tears falling fast from my eyes, a red rose in one hand and my dad’s in the other. After today I knew I was going to remember my Grandmother forever.

Legislation and ethics report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Legislation and ethics report - Essay Example There’s even the freckled duck enclosure which is one of the world’s rarest ducks. Given the educational and social experience that the student will experience they will have closer understanding and appreciation of what they have always learnt in class because they will have real life experience of practically interacting with what they have always learnt in class. The focus of excursions is to give learning as well as social experience to the students through interactions with nature and other practical aspects that make the students comprehend more at the work place. Walking along the trails is very educational for the children as they get to explore and learn things that they might just see in books. E.g. live birds and reptiles. Watching animals and birds will make the children comprehend things that they have always seen in books. Through such experience, the students will have better understanding of the aspects through real life experience. On the same note, social welfare of the children would be enhanced through the interactions that the opportunity would accord them as they interact amongst themselves as well as with the adults that accompany them. The ratios between children and adult will be 3: 1. There will be 5 adults coming along; 3 teachers and 2 volunteers. It is always better to have more adults and be able to care for all the children than to have more children and fewer adults. We will be hiring a bus. Children will board the bus from the centre and arrive straight to Hunter Wetlands. They will not be crossing a pedestrian or a set of traffic lights. In course of the journey, there will management that will ensure that the seating capacity stated in the compliance plate is not exceeded. On the same note, the adults who accompany the children will ensure that the children will remain seated all through the journey and that they will be seated near an adult persons

Should Teenagers be subject to the Death Penalty Research Paper

Should Teenagers be subject to the Death Penalty - Research Paper Example Hence, the idea of death penalty as a deterrent to crime becomes quite controversial. Most of the countries have ceased applying death sentences to deter crime. Today, more than half of the nations across the world have stopped death penalty either by rule or through practice. They have reported that death sentence is not a solution to deter crime. The social and economic environment of the criminal directs crime. The first nations to have put an end to capital punishment were Venezuela, San Marino, and Costa Rica in the mid-nineteenth century. Other countries like Yugoslavia, Montenegro Serbia, Turkey and Chile have also abolished death penalties from 2000. Executions are prevalent in China, Saudi Arabia and the United States of America. (The European Union is united against Capital Punishment, 2007). The sentencing of youths who have been convicted of violent crimes to execution again depends on the extent of atrocity of the crime. The Juvenile Courts have long protected most of th e young offenders from the full-fledged application of criminal law and have also allowed them to enjoyment of their special rights and immunities. The special rights mainly include protection from publicity, imprisonment only to 21 years of age, no imprisonment with adults, and shelter from the consequences of adult punishment like the loss of civil entitlements, the exercise of adjudication against the juvenile convict in the following proceedings and debarment from public employment. The reason for drafting such rights and immunities is to provide the young convict with guidance and rehabilitation so as to ensure the child’s future as well as the protection of the society. Nevertheless, there are some youngsters who are extremely perilous and do not respond to efforts taken to reform them. The use of death penalty under such circumstances would actually depend on the nature of the crime and on the mental state of the offender. However, giving another scope to the youth to rectify and straighten oneself out is desirable (Laurence and Scott, 2003, pp. 1009-1018). Human rights groups have constantly argued against the death penalty inflicted upon a juvenile offender on the grounds of immaturity and vulnerability of impulse. This has especially taken a positive turn after the mentally retarded people were barred from such penalties (Bender, 2002, p. 20). Public consensus already has spoken against the death penalty for juvenile offenders. For instance, a Chicago survey of 2001 showed that while 62 percent favored death penalty for capital crimes, only 34 percent support the same for the teenagers under 18 years of age. The present research centers on the death penalty inflicted upon teenagers and attempts to argue against the moral and practical viability of such steps taken. B. Problem Statement and Purpose The execution or imposition of death penalty on offenders with mental retardation is against the prohibition of â€Å"cruel and unusual punishmentà ¢â‚¬  as enforced by the Constitution. The three states of US, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia have carried out 82 percent of all the death penalties in the nation (American Bar Association, 2004, p. 2). Human rights groups and the director of Amnesty International argue that even the imposition of death penalty on teenage offenders was unconstitutional. Hence death penalty might lead to contradiction of human rights especially in case of children or teenagers despite the adults who might be responsible for the actions of the vulnerable,

Shinto Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Shinto Reflection - Essay Example Shinto Shrine is one of the most common sacred spaces among religious groups. It is a sacred space designed for worship purpose of the Shinto groups of Japan. Shinto is an indigenous religious group professed by the people of Japan and it involves action-based religious beliefs and practices (Breen and Teeuwen 2000). Ritual practices are practiced by this religious group diligently to connect between modern Japan and the ancient Japan. It is a traditional religion of Japan as opposed to modern Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Shinto involves the worship of Kami, which refers to divinity, spirits or sacred essence. These sacred essences and divinities include animals, rivers, trees, rocks and places. Shinto people believe that people and Kami are inseparable (Hardacre 1986). Therefore, Shinto use the Shinto shrines to meet and worship the Kami as a way of demonstrating their sacred life and beliefs. The design of Shinto Shrines also shows the architectural style of Japanese history, which reveals values, beliefs and practices of the Shinto. At the front there is a Japanese gate consisting of two upright bars and two crossbars that show the separation between common space and sacred space (Hardacre 1986). These gates are known as torii, and they exist in twenty styles that match the buildings and the enshrined Kami and lineage. Therefore, the Shinto shrine reflects the sacred worship of Kami by the Shinto from the gate. The Shinto shrine also reflects the beliefs of the Shinto people who worship there through various symbolic and real barriers between the normal world and the shrine space.

Critically discuss the developments in banking regulation that have Essay - 1

Critically discuss the developments in banking regulation that have been, and continue to be, put in place as a result of the ec - Essay Example A track record should be kept so that similar incidences are not replayed in a given economy. However, this has not always been the cases. Various financial crises have often been recurrent due to the poor response mechanisms by the local and at times the international regulatory agencies. Failures of various governments in managing trade liberalization. The governments in these cases have failed to properly introduce their national economy into the international capital market (Raghavan, 1998). An important point to note in the issue of the economic and financial crises is that they are similarly characterized in both the developed and the developing countries. The causal factors and the manifestation of the economic crises are more or less the same across all the economies in the world (Raghavan, 1998). There are also some lessons that can be learned from the global financial and economic crises and that can be used to provide an insight into the possible preventive and management mechanisms for future crises. One lesson is that it is not appropriate to make changes in the financial system of a given country when the country is already experiencing a crisis (Raghavan, 1998). It was also observed that ‘when currency turmoil is associated with financial difficulties, raising interest rates may simply worsen the situation by bringing about widespread corporate and bank insolvencies’ (Raghavan, 1998). Besides, it has also been noted that it is often a big loss to a given economy if the currency in the economy loses value in the international money market when it had international creditors (Raghavan, 1998). 2. Causes of an economic and financial crisis The proper management of financial crisis requires a thorough understanding of the possible causes of the crises and the features characteristic of such situations. A reduction in the average income caused by underemployment or unemployment increases the poverty level among a given population. This cou pled with an increase in the cost of living like food prices and other human needs provides a proper avenue for an economic crisis (Raghavan, 1998). The situation then worsens and can only be redeemed by addressing unemployment issues, lowering interest rates, expanding liquidity and increasing public expenditure by the governments (Raghavan, 1998). 3. Developments in banking regulations The banking regulatory measures are aimed at strengthening the global capital in order to have a flexible banking industry. The regulatory developments aim at improving the ability of the banking industry to absorb stress that follows a given financial stress so that the overall effect is not felt on the economy. The efforts also aim at ensuring proper governance and developing techniques for risk management by the banking institutions. The regulations ensure that transparency and accountability are manifested by the banking institutions. They outline the appropriate procedures for market disclosure s by the financial institutions to enable the investors build confidence in the banking institutions. The crises that have been witnessed gave out a picture of what the regulatory bodies have been in the recent past and that led to their failures in mitigating the crises. The characteristics of the crises showed that there were no proper techniques for prudential regulations by the regulatory bodies. Firstly, it was observed that the regulatory procedures were not sufficient enough in managing

Weed should be legalized Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Weed should be legalized - Essay Example There is a big difference in the quality of instruction, too. While the teacher presents things in logical order, allowing one idea to build off of another, self-instruction in order to fulfill course requirements means you go backwards through this progress in bits and pieces, taking more time to understand than would have been required to start. I would also try to focus more on getting assignments done on time as the course requires instead of pushing them to the last minute. I think I would be able to organize my thoughts better and get them in better shape before trying to communicate them with someone else. I would probably focus less on making the words look pretty by using fancy phrases and complicated sentences and spend more time working on making my arguments strong and well-supported. I. Legalizing drugs would result in a reduction of property loss and many violent crimes at the same time that it would increase tax revenues and relieve social services to more appropriately address drug issues. I placed the argument regarding economic concerns first as a means of involving the reader’s mind and attempting to appeal to his logic. I followed this with a brief history of how attempts to prohibit drug use in this country have traditionally failed as a means of appealing to the reader’s sense of history and precedent. I then concluded with an appeal to today’s situation regarding drug laws, pointing out again how they fail to make sense logically and end up hurting society more than helping in an attempt to appeal to emotions, thus leaving them with the strongest appeal. Several countries throughout the world are working to decriminalize or legalize less harmful drugs such as marijuana, currently classified as a Class C drug, as a means of addressing the growing problem of the war on drugs. Rather than providing the United States and other countries

Cultural Influences on Communication in Groups Assignment - 1

Cultural Influences on Communication in Groups - Assignment Example This is because if a house has a good athlete for a game, then there are very high chances of him/ her winning the gold and thus earning points for the house, which might culminate into the house winning the House Cup. Once a consensus of the representatives was reached on what had to be included then it would be approved by the patron of the society, after which the practices were t follow. Joe initiated the discussion by giving a brief to everyone, regarding what the meeting was about, just as a warm up speech. When he opened the floor for discussion, Artem was the first one to take the lead in the discussion by talking about the general events that are included almost every year such as sprint, relay, 200m and 400m race for boys, Javelin throw, high jump, long jump and discus throw. Once the specifications of all these events were listed down by Joe, the discussion on the real matter that was to be debated began. Up till now Zarina and Aset had behaved more or less like passive li steners of the discussion, contributing just about as a formality here and there. Artem had been vocal throughout. He was more like helping Joe out with sorting out the specifications of all the games, just like someone genuinely interested in sports would do. Ainura was comparatively more participative than Zarina and Aset, she sat back in her seat and paid considerable attention to what was being discussed and also added a few valuable points such as raising the height of the bar for high jump compared to what it was last year and so forth. However, what followed was quite unexpected. Normally one would expect the discussion to continue with the same flow it started with. However, as soon as the topic about debatable games started Zarina’s and Aset’s body language changed completely. Rather than sitting in their chairs in the sloppy posture they had during the beginning of the discussion, they now sat erect, with their hands on the table as opposed to their laps. Art em was attentive as always and Ainura also maintained her general composure. The next topic under discussion was whether 200m and 400m races should be included for girls or not. Zarina advanced her point of view in what would strictly be referred to as an authoritative way and said that these games require a lot of stamina which is too much to expect from girls. This was countered by Ainura, who herself had been practicing running both 200m and 400m for the athletic meet, she was articulate and firm in making her point clear that if the girls practice enough stamina will not seem to be an issue. Zarina got agitated and cut her midway; her voice’s pitch was getting higher by the second. Artem and Aset intervened both with opposing viewpoints on the issue, however both were trying to reason the issue out as opposed to Zarina. Joe was convinced that Zarina’s interruptions and aggression along with the different interests of the group representatives would not lead the gro up to a consensus. Therefore he proposed that the matter be resolved with the help of a vote, which was indeed the right choice. Next in line was the debate on the inclusion of the Discus throw and Shot put, Artem was the one against the inclusion this time, he was sided by

Communication for Effective Leadership as seen in the movie Invictus Research Paper

Communication for Effective Leadership as seen in the movie Invictus - Research Paper Example The most important trait of leadership as portrayed by the film Invictus is being visionary. The main characters in the film Invictus are visionary. The main characters of Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar had a vision with them of uniting the people of South Africa. Ideally, Francois and Mandela saw possibility where many people saw impossibility. Those are the aspects of being visionary leader. Mandela and Francois understood that the only way through which their people could prosper was through unity and the best strategy was to use sports. During this period, the people of South Africa were blinded by rage and the need to revenge that they could not carry the interest of their nation in their heart (Carlin, 2010). Good leaders are good at listening and understanding the human nature. First, Mandela listened to the message in the poem Invictus. The message in this poem changed him for the better, through decision making and not through the lenses of revenge but forgiveness. Mandela in the film is focused on understanding and listening to the rivaling sides. Through listening and understanding the needs of both parties, Mandela is able to formulate a strategy that would bring satisfactory solutions to both. That is unity. Mandela then with Francois finds the best way to unite the nation and that is through the sport of rugby which initially was a divisive factor as well (p. 46). Taking risks is a leadership trait amicably portrayed by Francois in the film. President Mandela called Francois, who was then the captain of the Springboks to his office. During that time, Francois was not aware of what the meaning of the call could be. At that time of hate and separation, everybody could fear for their lives, especially when faced with the task of meeting their key opponents whom they understand well are baying for their blood. Francois however, was courageous to face Mandela which is a show of risk

Beyonce target market report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beyonce target market report - Essay Example Doing this led to a different way to turn imperfect competition into one that was based around moving outside of the competition. The more that different individuals could become a target the more likely they would be able to respond to the products and services in a positive manner (Wedel, 2000). The concept of market segmentation is used for several reasons within the market. The foundation of this is to create a strategy within a corporation and outside of a business for the right responses. When a business has an undifferentiated market, which doesn’t focus on the characteristics of demographics and individuals, then it may not be able to reach them as well. When a market is segmented, it is able to create a different approach which targets individuals that are in need of a product or service. More importantly, the segment is able to move outside of other competitors who have similar products or services. As this is done, there is the ability to create a different approach to the business and to the needs of specific individuals (Dickson, Ginter, 1987). The concept of multidimensional segmentation can be combined with the main aims that are used within different companies. When looking at different levels of purchase behavior and the way that potential customers respond to a specific concept, there is the ability to create different products or services that relate to the individuals needs. Doing this is able to create a specific understanding of what is occurring in the market as well as what the behaviors are of those that are a part of the market (Blattberg, Sen, 1974). The target market that will be used is in relation to the singer, Beyonce. Beyonce is a renowned R&B artist from the US and has won several Grammys through her music, acting and modeling. Beyonce began her career through the R&B band, Destiny’s Child, which gained prestige throughout America. She then broke into a solo artist that was able to create a

J.C. Penney’s “Fair and Square” Pricing Strategy Essay Example for Free

J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Essay Retailing is hard, and that’s what Steve [Jobs] said to me when we started stores at Apple. — Ron Johnson, CEO, J.C. Penney1 It was August 2012 and the release of second quarter earnings was looming for Ron Johnson, the chief executive officer of J.C. Penney, one of America’s first department stores. Johnson, HBS ’84, had intimated to Wall Street that the retailer’s second quarter results were likely to miss expectations again, following dismal first quarter results that had sent the company’s stock price careening to less than half of its February 2012 value of a share. The Q1 news released in May was grim: a $163 million loss, same store revenue down 19%, and the number of customers shopping in J.C. Penney stores down 10%. These results were particularly disheartening given the company’s radical repositioning of its business model and its brand in February 2012. The centerpiece of the repositioning initiative was a switch from J.C. Penney’s existing high-low pricing strategy, in which the retailer ran frequent sales to offer customers deep discounts off of its higher list prices, to a new strategy the company dubbed â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing. â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing was meant to simplify J.C. Penney’s pricing structure and make it more straightforward for customers to shop. It offered great prices every day, with less frequent price promotions. The company touted its new pricing strategy as offering â€Å"no games, no gimmicks† and invited consumers to â€Å"do the math† to see how it offered them cheaper prices on a regular basis with less hassle. Moving away from high-low pricing was a massive shift for J.C. Penney. In 2011, the retailer spent $1.2 billion to execute 590 different sales events and promotions2 and generated 72% of its $17.3 billion in annual revenue from products sold at steep discounts of more than 50% off of the initial list price.3 Wall Street was initially  supportive of the company’s plans for change. Investors, who sent J.C. Penney’s stock soaring up 24% following the announcement of the new pricing plan, viewed it as a way for J.C. Penney to escape the ruthless downward spiral of escalating price promotions that gripped America’s retailers struggling to survive the economic recession. But by mid-summer 2012, customers and shareholders appeared to be voting with their feet, leaving the retailer in droves. Was Johnson’s new pricing strategy misguided or was it just a matter of time before customers fully embraced it? Johnson was under enormous pressure to turn things around quickly as the all-important back-to-school and holiday shopping seasons were imminent. Many voices were calling on him to consider changing the pricing strategy again. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ HBS Professor Elie Ofek and Professor Jill Avery (Simmons School of Management) prepared this case. This case was developed from published sources. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright  © 2012, 2013 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-5457685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Jack Cherewatti in MKTG MGMT taught by S. Adam Brasel Boston College from November 2014 to May 2015. For the exclusive use of J. Cherewatti 513-036 J.C. Penney’s â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing Strategy Company Background Johnson was at the helm of what at one time was considered America’s most  venerated department store. Once the largest department store chain in the country with over 2,000 stores, as of 2012, the 110 year old retailer operated 1,100 stores, claiming to serve more than half of America’s households with 41 million square feet of retail space. Founded by James Cash Penney in 1902, the company’s first outlet was opened in a Wyoming mining town under the name â€Å"The Golden Rule,† that signified its philosophy of treating customers the way Penney himself wished to be treated. Johnson believed that his â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan corresponded to the founder’s beliefs, â€Å"Now if you go back to the founding of this company, James Cash Penney believed in everyday fair prices. He said, ‘We don’t mark goods up just to mark them down. We don’t believe in sales.’†4 The company enjoyed years of rapid growt h and expansion. By its 50th anniversary, annual sales exceeded $1 billion. It initially offered consumers one stop shopping as a mass merchandiser, selling soft goods, such as clothing, as well as hard goods, such as appliances, hardware, electronics, and sporting goods. Its retail business was joined by a mail order catalog in 1963 and an ecommerce website in 1998. However, following tough times in the 1980’s, the company reorganized, phasing out its hard goods lines and refocusing on its soft goods to become a fashion oriented department store. But by its 100th anniversary, the company appeared to be running out of steam. Price-oriented mass merchandisers, such as Walmart and Target, had garnered the lower end of the market, while higher end department stores, such as Macy’s and Nordstrom’s, were catering to the upwardly mobile middle class. Although the economic recession of 2008 was difficult for all retailers due to consumers’ increasing frugality, middle market retailers, like J.C. Penney and Sears, were hit the hardest. By 2011, J.C. Penney’s stores were old, often disorganized, and faded, and the brand and its merchandise were starting to feel dated. About 400 of its stores were located in small towns, such as Alpena, Michigan with a population of a little over 10,000. In such towns, there were often only few, if any, other department stores. The remaining 700 or so stores were located in major metropolitan areas, often in suburban malls, such as the Northshore Mall in Peabody, Massachusetts (15 miles north of Boston). Following years of store closings, sales malaise, declining market share,  slumping earnings, and weak stock market performance, activist investor and hedge fund manager, William Ackman (HBS ’92) obtained an 18% majority shareholder position in the company in 2010–2011. He was determined to turn J.C Penney around and extract its value, much of which was locked up in its vast real estate holdings that were estimated to be worth $11 billion.5 J.C. Penney owned 400 of its retail stores and paid low rents (an average of less than $5 per square foot) for the remainder. Specialty stores like Gap paid much higher rents (around $40 per square foot) for their retail space.6 Looking to shake up the company, Ackman was instrumental in luring Johnson to take the CEO position. Johnson was a big catch. In the 1990s, he was vice president of merchandising at Target where he helped transform the mass merchandiser into a hot retail brand selling stylish yet affordable products. During his time there, Johnson negotiated a contract with designer Michael Graves, beginning Target’s profitable partnerships with high end designers, which enhanced its brand image as a chic, fashion-forward retailer. Starting in 2000, he worked with Steve Jobs to develop the wildly successful Apple retail stores. Johnson was the brainchild behind the â€Å"Genius Bars† concept, a free technical help and support area staffed by knowledgeable customer service representatives, widely touted as one of the most innovative retail concepts of the last decade. Johnson was regarded by many as creative and determined; according to a friend, â€Å"What people loved more about him than his talent was his persistence. He was just relentless.†7 Johnson’s deep retail experience combined with his wholesome charisma and boyish enthusiasm made him the perfect change agent. The media dubbed him the â€Å"Steve Jobs of the retail industry† and on the day his appointment was announced J.C. Penney’s stock jumped 18%. An Industry under Pressure J.C. Penney’s 2011 sales were lower than they were in the 1990s and the retail landscape was getting more competitive. Department stores, in particular, were under increased pressure. New retail formats, such as big box retailers like Walmart that operated free standing supercenters selling mass merchandise and small specialty stores like Gap and J. Crew that were located in shopping malls and offered specialized merchandise, were squeezing department stores out of the market (see Exhibit 2). An emerging challenge came from large international clothing retailers, such as HM and ZARA, that were aggressively entering the U.S. market. These retailers relied on shorter product life cycles and partnerships with top designers to offer fast-fashion merchandise at relatively low prices. Johnson explained the challenge as he stepped into his new role: Over the past 30 years the department store has become a less relevant part of the retail infrastructure, largely because of decisions the stores have made. As America exploded with big box and specialty stores and new shopping formats, department stores abdicated their unique role instead of engaging the competition. They retreated from categories and assortments that made them distinctive. Department stores were once the most popular places for Americans to shop, offering distinctive merchandise in elegant settings that provided special services, such as tearooms, salons, and on-site tailoring, and served as social hubs. Johnson reminisced, â€Å"In the golden age of department stores, America’s families came for more than just to shop. They were able to have fun experiences and were offered a range of useful services. . . . If we want to transform the department store, we have to understand what happened. These stores were a pillar of the community.†9 Johnson, unlike others, believed that department stores could be revived. â€Å"There’s no reason department stores can’t flourish. They can be people’s favorite place to shop. They’ve got all these strategic advantages—the lowest cost of real estate, exceptional access to merchandise, scale to create enormous marketing power, colocation with specialty stores. And people like stores  with huge assortments and one-stop shopping.†10 J.C. Penney’s performance had been lackluster for quite some time, and the retailer was losing market share even within the shrinking department store channel (see Exhibits 3 and 4). Competitors Macy’s and Kohl’s were nipping at J.C. Penney’s business from both the high and low end. The average J.C. Penney customer only visited a store four times per year and sales per square foot ($156) were low compared to those of its competitors and the specialty stores Johnson hoped to emulate (Gap $30011, Apple $5,626 in sales per square foot). 12 Department stores and big box stores had increased their promotional budgets since the outbreak of the Great Recession in 2007 and most used blockbuster sales, coupons, and frequent price promotion to drive purchases. According to consulting firm A.T. Kearney, more than 40% of the items Americans bought in 2011 were bought on sale, up from 10% in 1990.13 Many retailers were eager to wean shoppers off of the big discounts that had become commonplace. Competition was also increasing from online retailing. Yet Johnson believed brick and mortar stores were still relevant, â€Å"Physical stores are still the primary way people acquire merchandise and I think that will be true 50 years from now. . . . A store has got to be much more than a place to acquire merchandise. It’s got to help people enrich their lives. If the store just fulfills a specific product need, it’s not creating new types of value for the consumer. It’s transacting. Any website can do that.†14 Many of J.C. Penney’s largest competitors, such as Macy’s, seemed to have a different  view and were investing heavily in their e-commerce operations and in catering to what they called the â€Å"omnichannel† consumer, who accessed the retailer through the web, on mobile devices or in physical stores (often as part of the same purchase decision). Although it had been a pioneer in multi-channel commerce, with 2001 combined cata log and web sales of nearly $3.4 billion, J.C. Penney’s ecommerce sales had stagnated over the last three years while those of Macy’s and Kohl’s had grown substantially during the same time frame.15 (See Exhibit 5 for E-commerce sales growth). J.C. Penney’s Radical Makeover Following his appointment in November 2011, Johnson determined that nothing short of a complete overhaul would solve J.C. Penney’s problems. Just two months after taking the helm, Johnson and his newly recruited leadership team, culled largely from Apple and Target, announced a radical repositioning of the J.C. Penney business model and brand. Following the announcement, Forbes magazine dubbed J.C. Penney the most interesting retail story of the year, proclaiming, â€Å"This week, Johnson took a sledgehammer to the J.C. Penney way of doing business. It’s the most exciting thing I’ve seen in retail since Apple opened stores, again with Johnson at the helm.†16 The turnaround plan evoked J.C. Penney’s founding spirit, and Johnson declared it a reclamation of the company’s heritage. J.C. Penney’s website announced, â€Å"Over 100 years ago, James Cash Penney founded his company on the principle of treating customers the way he wanted to b e treated himself: fair and square. Today, rooted in its rich heritage, J.C. Penney Company, Inc. is re-imagining every aspect of its business in order to reclaim its birthright and become America’s favorite store. . . . At every visit, customers will discover straightforward Fair and Square Pricing.†17 The four-year plan involved several distinct, yet integrated elements that touched every part of the business and were designed to recreate a golden age department store that appealed to all Americans, across age, income, and geographic demographics. As Johnson explained, â€Å"We are going to rethink every aspect of our business, boldly pursue change, and create long-term shareholder value, as we become America’s favorite store. Every initiative we pursue will be guided by our core value to treat customers as we would like to be treated—fair and square.†18 New Logo J.C. Penney had been tinkering with its brand logo, changing it three times in three years. In 2011, the company asked the public for help in redesigning the logo in a crowd-sourcing experiment. The winning design was submitted by a University of Cincinnati student and was unveiled with much fanfare via social media. In 2012, Johnson scrapped this design and hired an agency to redesign the logo once again. The new logo evoked the American flag with red, white, and blue colors and the letters â€Å"jcp† in lower case font within a square that represented the new â€Å"Fair and Square† mantra. J.C. Penney, which many affectionately called â€Å"Penney’s† would now be known as â€Å"jcp.† (See Exhibit 6 for the new logo.) New Brand Spokesperson One of the most exciting and controversial developments of the plan was the announcement of comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as the new brand spokesperson. DeGeneres, who once worked at a J.C. Penney store as a teenager in Louisiana, appeared in television advertising, developed J.C. Penney themed skits for her popular talk show, and tweeted about the company on Twitter. Johnson proclaimed DeGeneres to be â€Å"one of the most fun and vibrant people in entertainment today, with great warmth and a down-to-earth attitude. . . . Importantly, we share the same fundamental values as Ellen.†19 Shortly after DeGeneres’ advertising debut, the conservative Christian group One Million Moms took offense, citing DeGeneres’ homosexuality as  problematic for the brand’s image and its traditional family shopper demographic. The group asked its members to boycott J.C. Penney and to call their local store manager to ask for DeGeneres’ removal as spokesperson. DeGeneres went on the offensive to defend her personal values and to reassert her relationship with her fans and with J.C. Penney, producing a witty, yet heartfelt response delivered on her talk show that quickly went viral on the social web. A firestorm erupted and played out on J.C. Penney’s Facebook page, where both pro- and anti-gay posters pledged their support for and/or rejection of the retailer. J.C. Penney survived the controversy by standing firmly behind its choice of spokesperson. The protest event generated significant positive press for the company and Facebook feedback was more positive than negative. Riding the wave of publicity, J.C. Penney went on to feature two gay dads in a widely touted Father’s Day advertising campaign. New Store Design While the new logo and spokesperson were short-term fixes that could be executed quickly, Johnson knew from his experience at Apple that, to really make a difference, he had to make significant changes to the product offering, a longer term proposition. He embarked on a multi-year plan to re-energize and redesign J.C. Penney’s product offering and its merchandising at retail. He began by forging new supplier relationships with top brands like Martha Stewart and hot designers like Nanette Lepore to create J.C. Penney-specific merchandise lines, a strategy reminiscent of Target. He then went to work to improve the quality of J.C. Penney’s sagging and dated private label brands, Worthington, St. John’s Bay, The Original Arizona Jeans Co, and Stafford, to reinvigorate them and restore their brand integrity. These efforts could also build on J.C. Penney’s recent purchase of the Liz Claiborne brands (which, among others, included Liz Claiborne branded apparel, L ucky Jeans, Kate Spade and Juicy Couture) and the ongoing opening of about 300 Sephora locations inside J.C. Penney stores, which offered a select set of Sephora beauty care products. 20 He envisioned the in-store retail environment as a series of interactive specialty â€Å"Shops,† along a visually engaging and vibrant â€Å"Street,† with a central â€Å"Square† that would serve as the social hub of the store. J.C. Penney’s vast array of  merchandise, currently hung on crowded racks and shelves, would be regrouped and merchandised in 80-100 â€Å"stores-within-a-store,† each meant to simulate the buying experience of a specialty shop. The first shop to appear was devoted to jeans and featured a denim bar, trained fit specialists, and Levi’s innovative Curve ID program that helped women find the right jeans for their body type (see Exhibit 7). Plans for future shops included Joe Fresh and Mango. The company planned to install two to three new shops each month, beginning in August 2012, over a four year period. Many of the shops were designed to pull in younger shoppers, a deficit in J.C. Penney’s current customer base. The â€Å"Street† would consist of wider aisles with a fresh, clean look, more streamlined with less signage and bold, colorful, upscale graphics featuring the square from the new logo (see Exhibit 8). Each month would have its own unique personality and color-coded signage that changed the look of the store to freshen its appeal. Ten thousand square feet at the center of the store would be designated for the â€Å"Town Square.† In this area, J.C. Penney planned to offer complimentary services, such as gift wrapping, and special promotional events to create fun and excitement. During the summer of 2012, the company offered free hot dogs and ice cream, free â€Å"Go USA† Olympic t-shirts during the Summer Olympics, and free back-to-school haircuts for school children. Johnson summarized his vision for the new environment, â€Å"We are going to make the store a place people love to come-just to come. We’ll transform the buying experience not unlike what we did at Apple.†21 New Sales Structure To support the new retail environment, Johnson needed to re-energize J.C. Penney’s sales force. His goal was to create a team of specialists who were product experts, much like Apple’s Geniuses. J.C. Penney sales clerks had always been paid commissions based on how much they sold. This system encouraged sales clerks to sell aggressively to customers. Johnson felt that this aggressive sales culture did not fit with the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning and set out to change it by eliminating all sales commissions. It was a controversial decision, especially among the sales employees, many of whom had just been through a wave of layoffs and were nervous about keeping their jobs. Johnson explained his rationale for the change, â€Å"A lot of great retailers don’t use commissions. We never used them at Apple. . . . And I think it’s a better thing to do to pay people in advance for what you want them to do and let them look in the customers’ hearts and try to help them. . . . We think we’ve got a great way to do business for the middle class, where we really put a big bear hug around the middle class and help them look better and live better every day.† 22 But some employees expressed dissatisfaction, â€Å"I must take offense at Ron Johnson’s reason for eliminating commission. Ron Johnson should remember that J.C. Penney is not Target, we are better. When people come into our store they expect to be greeted, they expect someone to be available to help, they expect good service,† said a sales associate. Another associate claimed, â€Å"I lost about $250 per pay period and Mr. Johnson thinks this is FAIR and SQUARE. From all of J.C. Penney’s little workers, this stinks.† Another lamented, â€Å"We long-term employees are heartbroken at what we see around us. Ron Johnson may have a grand plan, and it may work, but we feel like he is destroying ‘us’ in the process of implementation. It has become an awful place to work, short-staffed to the point that we struggle to properly service what customers we do have.†23 But without a doubt, the cornerstone of the change program was a new pricing scheme that many believed to be the riskiest part of the strategy. The New Pricing Strategy Looking at the numbers, Johnson believed that he needed to address the existing high-low pricing structure that had gotten out of control. J.C.  Penney’s customers had become hooked on the deals; over the past ten years, the average discount to get customers to buy went from 38% to 60%24. â€Å"At some point you, as a brand, just look desperate. J.C. Penney spent over $1 billion [on price promotion], and the customer didn’t even pay attention,† he agonized.25 In his first report to shareholders, he spoke about the detrimental long term effects of excessive price promotions, â€Å"Plagued by the ‘games’ of the industry over the last several decades, retailers-including J.C. Penneybarraged customers with a constant stream of promotions that proved to be ineffective. Each time we participated in this pricing war, we were discounting our brand and eroding the trust and loyalty of our customers.† The company announced its â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing plan in January 2012. The plan had three pricing tiers. First, the company reduced prices by an average of 40% to offer consumers an â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† price. Second, every month the company ran a â€Å"Month Long Values Event† with special pricing on seasonal items, marked down an additional 20-29%, meant to coincide with events such as Back-to-School and Father’s Day. Third, every first and third Friday of each month (paydays for many working Americans) were designated â€Å"Best Price Fridays,† where J.C. Penney would offer special deals on items it was looking to liquidate, about 20% of the store’s stock, at deals of about 1/3 off of the every day price. Each price point was supported by unique signage at retail, (see Exhibit 9). J.C. Penney eliminated its famous â€Å"Doorbuster† sales, such as those that it traditionally held on Black Friday, the day after Tha nksgiving and the busiest shopping day of the year, that featured outrageously low prices on  over 500 items from 4:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Exhibit 10 shows an example of the different price tiers. Importantly, J.C. Penney avoided using the words â€Å"sale† and â€Å"clearance† in its messaging of the new program to consumers. Said Johnson, â€Å"Sale is not in our vocabulary. . . . Every item in the store is priced to be its best price every day.†27 The â€Å"Fair and Square† price was the only price listed on the price tag, moving J.C. Penney away from the practice of listing the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) and the sale price, which was intended to show customers how much they were saving relative to somewhat fictitious list price. In the highly competitive world of retailing, nearly no one priced goods at the MSRP. Breaking with another retailing best-practice, J.C. Penney ended all of its â€Å"Fair and Square† prices with .00 instead of .99, rounding up to the nearest dollar. Johnson also instituted a no restrictions â€Å"Happy Returns† return policy, designed to take the hassle out of returning items, eve n without a receipt. In effect, the new plan combined elements of two traditional pricing strategies. The â€Å"Every Day Fair and Square† prices represented an everyday-low-price (EDLP) strategy, while the â€Å"Month Long Values† and â€Å"Best Price Fridays† maintained some emphasis on high-low pricing. High-low pricing strategies are intended to allow retailers to use price discrimination to maximize the average price paid by customers who differ in their willingness to pay. Customers who are highly price sensitive wait for sale days to purchase, use coupons and rebates, scour the crowded clearance racks to find a bargain, and take advantage of retailer’s door buster specials on big shopping days like Black Friday. Customers who are less price sensitive buy when it is convenient for them, tend not to use coupons and rebates due to the time it takes to clip and organize them, and rarely join in on door buster specials or clearance sales. Thus, the retailer reaps higher non-sale prices from many of their purchases. However, given the predominance of high-low pricing strategies across retailers in today’s marketplace, even less price-sensitive consumers had become savvy about waiting for sales to buy or comparing across retailers to find the store offering the best prices that week. Instantaneous price comparisons were  getting easier, given the rise of mobile applications that allowed a consumer to scan a bar code on a product and find the lowest price for it at online retailers and nearby stores. Kohl’s was an aggressive high-low retailer, featuring small electronic signs on shelves throughout the store that displayed original prices and discounted prices. These signs allowed Kohl’s the flexibility to change prices instantly, to facilitate frequent, short-term sales. Marketing consultant Jonathan Salem Baskin offered his thoughts on the high-low practice retailers engage in, â€Å"When no price is ‘the’ price for an item, it means that instead retailers engage customers in a constant cat-andmouse game in pursuit of the truth. No individual store can own sale pricing; each simply participates in a round-robin of discounted offers that its competitors have and/or will again match.†28 Johnson felt that today’s retail customer was savvy, â€Å"The customer knows the right price. To think you can fool a customer is kind of crazy.†2 EDLP pricing strategies, such as that offered by Walmart, promise consumers that they will pay the same, low price every day. This frees customers from waiting for sale periods to purchase, and eliminates the need for retailers to offer coupons to drive purchase or to engage in constant advertising of price promotions via weekly newspaper circulars. EDLP is designed to make customers feel comfortable purchasing at the retailer without worrying that they could be getting a better deal somewhere else or at another time. In general, most department store retailers used high/low pricing strategies. Macy’s and Sears had flirted with EDLP pricing in the past; but both had largely abandoned it once they realized how addicted department store customers were to sales, coupons, and other discount programs. Although  Macy’s still offered a limited set of items at an â€Å"everyday value† price, it heavily supplemented this practice with aggressive coupons and frequent sales events for the majority of the goods it carried. Macy’s customer Marietta Landon summarized the promotion addicted retail climate, â€Å"Especially Macy’s—they make every weekend a sale with saving passes and advertising galore.†30 The new pricing strategy was a big shift for J.C. Penney, a company known and loved for its JCP Cash coupons distributed to customers via direct mail and email, its RedZone Clearance aisles, and its weekly circulars advertising that week’s price specials. The â€Å"Fair and Square† pricing program would eliminate all coupons and weekly circulars; instead the company would distribute a high quality, editorial content-heavy glossy magazine each month to highlight its Monthly Values. The 96page magazine was as much a branding vehicle as it was a promotional one. $80 million in promotional funding would support each Monthly Value event. J.C. Penney now promised its customers that they would not have to â€Å"jump through hoops to get a good price†. Johnson hailed the strategy for its simplicity and transparency and the way it respected customers, â€Å"People are disgusted with the lack of integrity on pricing,†31 adding that â€Å"We want shoppers to shop on their terms, not ours.† Johnson intimated that â€Å"By setting our store monthly and maintaining our best prices for an entire month, we feel confident that customers will love shopping when it is convenient for them, rather than when it is expedient for us.†32 Michael Francis, J.C. Penney’s new president, was excited about the new pricing moves, â€Å"We are redefining the J.C. Penney brand so we become a store for all Americans, by offering an experience they cannot get anywhere else. This will start by freeing consumers from the barrage of promotions and undifferentiated shopping experiences they have become used to and replacing it with something entirely fresh and new that is evident in every aspect of our store.†33 He added, â€Å"It will be a breath of much-needed fresh air and give [customers] reasons to visit J.C. Penney more often than ever before. Our objective is to make our customers love to shop again.†34 Francis was recruited by Johnson from Target and offered a signing bonus of $12 million  and a total compensation package worth $44.7 million. He was charged with managing the marketing and merchandising efforts. Reactions to â€Å"Fair and Square† Pricing  Industry observers could not contain their strong opinions on the new pricing strategy. Some called the move â€Å"refreshing, daring and probably exactly what the retailer needs,† noting that â€Å"it’s a shocking move for any retailer, let alone a department store where high-low pricing and promotions have long been the norm.†35 But others were far more skeptical. Pricing consultant Rafi Mohammed proclaimed, â€Å"J.C. Penney lacks the differentiation to make this pricing strategy successful. . . . When selling a relatively undifferentiated product, the only lever to generate higher sales is discounts. Even worse, if competitors drop prices on comparable products, J.C. Penney’s hands are tied-it is a sitting duck that can’t respond.†36 Mohammed also noted, â€Å"J.C. Penney’s Every Day prices will not be as low as the biggest discounts that it once offered. Instead, its pitch to customers is why play the â€Å"wait for the rock-bottom price† game when Penney offers â€Å"pretty good† prices every day?†37 Ignoring the skeptics, Johnson was committed to his new pricing plan, rolling it out across all stores on February 1st, after deciding not to conduct market research to test its appeal with customers, â€Å"We debated whether there was a way to test. . . . We would have needed everyone to run the old business model and would have had to add new people to run a test in 10 percent of our stores. . . . We knew the customer would love the new strategy. We decided to get on with our future.†38 Based on his experience at Apple, Johnson also believed that  customers didn’t always know what they wanted; it was up to companies to lead the way, â€Å"You can’t follow the customer. You’ve got to lead your customers—anticipate their needs and meet those needs, even before they know what they want.†39 A lot was riding on the decision. COO Mike Kramer explained, â€Å"We are fundamentally reimagining every aspect of our business and we fully expect the bold and strategic changes we are making to our operations will result in improved profitability. This should enable us to fund the transformation of J.C. Penney’s store experience, while at the same time returning value to shareholders with steady earnings growth.†40 Communicating â€Å"Fair and Square† DeGeneres was featured in a new advertising campaign to usher in the new â€Å"Fair and Square† positioning. Bearing the tagline â€Å"Enough. Is. Enough,† the campaign encouraged consumers to revolt against complex pricing structures, never-ending sales, an overabundance of direct mail circulars and coupons cluttering their mailboxes, and the hassles of returning unwanted products without a receipt. In the ads, DeGeneres travels back in time to ancient Rome, Edwardian England, and the Wild West to learn if today’s confusing price environment was always the norm. She encourages customers to reject the crazy price environment. The creative campaign was witty and contemporary; many found it reminiscent of Target’s award-winning advertising. It was quite a departure from J.C. Penney’s previous campaigns that were more typical of department store messaging. Launched during the Academy Awards broadcast, the ads appeared to be a hit with consumers. Ace Metrix reported that the ads scored well above average on persuasion and watchability metrics and achieved a personal best score for J.C. Penney.41 Initial Results In the first three months following the launch, 67% of products sold at J.C. Penney were purchased at the â€Å"Fair and Square† price, the highest price the retailer listed. Johnson could not hold back his satisfaction, â€Å"This is profound. People are now buying at the first price, [the] right price. That’s the dream of every retailer.†42 However, trouble was looming on the horizon. Through mid-March, mothers, a critically important target market for most department stores, steadily scored J.C. Penney lower on valueperception scores. These women, suddenly not receiving coupons and not seeing the weekly price promotions in the circulars, were downgrading their opinion of whether J.C. Penney offered good value for the money.43 This was despite the fact that J.C. Penney’s prices during the time period were actually quite competitive. A Deutsche Bank analyst report showed that for a random basket of 50 identical items, J.C. Penney was 9% cheaper than Macy’s, and 26% cheaper than Kohl’s. Consumer research firm BIGInsight reported negativity among adults 18+ for whether J.C. Penney’s advertising campaign was â€Å"Hot or Not?† and showed Macy’s gaining ground on J.C. Penney in women’s apparel shopping trips following the launch (See Exhibit 11). Morgan Stanley’s Michelle Clark reported consumer survey results revealing that â€Å"Shoppers think that the J.C. Penney of old actually offered better value than the â€Å"fair and square† model introduced a few months ago. Of the consumers who had been inside a J.C. Penney store since February, more cited higher prices (rather than lower) at the department store. In fact, only 16% of shoppers associated â€Å"Best Prices† with JCP. Furthermore, customers cited that bargains were harder to find and fewer aisles with deals were evident (see Exhibit 12).45 Loyal J.C. Penney customers were moving away from the retailer. One shopper, Wendy Ruud, complained that she was no longer receiving coupons from J.C. Penney and was shopping more frequently at Target and Walmart, â€Å"The closest J.C. Penney is about a half hour away from me. If I don’t get a special  discount, it’s not worth the trip,† she said.46 Another shopper e-mailed the Huffington Post saying, â€Å"They are catering to the younger shopper, and it isn’t the younger shopper that kept them afloat.†47 A third who considered herself â€Å"frumpy and proud,† commented, â€Å"He’s working hard to ‘de-frump’ the store without considering that many if not most of its customers might have shopped there precisely because they like the more conservative frumpy look.† 48 These early indicators played out in J.C. Penney’s first earnings report following the launch of the new plan. Johnson had to announce a significant earnings loss ($163 million) based on plummeting sales revenues (-19% overall, with e-commerce sales dropping 28%), gross margin compression (from 40.5% to 37.6%), and decreasing customer conversion. Johnson asked investors to be patient, calling the first quarter sales drop â€Å"the price we’re paying to get integrity back.†49 He held fast to his convictions, â€Å"We had to make the bold step. It’s one big year we have to go through. It’s really hard but we’ll get through it.†50 Investors showed no patience, sending the company’s stock down 20%, the biggest single day drop in over four decades.51 The critics did not waste time to pile on Johnson. Time columnist Brad Tuttle wrote, JC Penney’s message seems to be one that some shoppers don’t want to hear. They like playing games and hunting for deals, and the markdown from the original price is how they keep score. By eliminating coupons and most â€Å"sales,† JC Penney has been saying it doesn’t want to play games anymore. That sounds wonderful, but among certain shoppers, it’s the equivalent of grabbing the ball and taking it home. No more games, no more fun-and not much reason to visit JC Penney on a regular basis anymore. If, for the most part, a store’s prices are going to remain the same tomorrow, and next week, and the month after that, there’s not much incentive to browse the aisles for special deals today.52 A Forbes columnist concurred, â€Å"By taking away the weekly sales customers loved, Johnson abandoned his core JCP shopping enthusiasts. In effect, signaling to the core JCP enthusiastsshoppers who have sustained J.C. Penney through its years of retail muddling, that they no longer mattered. He confused them, and he pissed them off.†53 The Motley Fool sarcastically  quipped, â€Å"The silver lining in J.C. Penney’s awful report is that Sears [struggling with its own dismal results] has someone it can laugh at now.†54 Macy’s CFO Karen Hoguet was crowing that her company was benefiting from J.C. Penney’s missteps, reporting that sales in Macy’s stores that shared a mall with J.C. Penney were up significantly since the changes.55 And J.C. Penney’s apparel suppliers were becoming anxious, as their sales dropped precipitously, some as much as 70% over the prior year. One prominent supplier indicated that he was increasing his business with Kohl’s to make up for the shortfalls at J.C. Penney.56 These developments were sobering for Johnson yet he remained unfazed, â€Å"It’s been tougher than we anticipated†¦You know, we expected to be down. We are down a little more than we thought, but not enough to change the strategy†¦We’re treating this company as a startup†¦We’re inventing a whole new model to do business†¦It is a one year transition that’s part of a multi-year transformation. But once we get to one year of de-promoting or repurchasing our integrity, I fully expect us to grow. And so we’ve just got to get through that year. And we’ll get through it.†57 Speaking at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech conference in July, Johnson reiterated his support for the new pricing strategy, claiming that his board was â€Å"totally supportive†. When asked if he had a contingency plan whereby the company would revert back to high/low pricing, Johnson swore it was not in the cards, â€Å"It won’t happen while I’m here because I know it’s not the right thing to do. And I know this is what connects completely with our own unique heritage. And every longstanding company has a DNA in its core that  typically goes back to its founder. And when you reconnect with that, that’s when good things happen. That’s what Wal-Mart has had to do. And it’s really led to great success. That’s what Apple had to do when Steve came back. That’s what we’re going to do.†58 Making Some Adjustments As J.C. Penney management tried to decipher the disappointing results, much of the blame was put on the marketing execution and on customers’ stubborn reliance on price promotions. Mike Kramer, J.C. Penney’s new chief operating officer expressed his frustration, â€Å"Coupons, that drug. We did not realize how deep some of our customers were into this. . . . We have got to wean them off this and educate our consumers.†59 Johnson blamed the marketing execution, claiming that it failed to clearly communicate the new pricing strategy, â€Å"Our execution wasn’t what we needed. Our pricing is kind of confusing. Our marketing kind of overreached [Now] the most important thing is to educate consumers on the price changes and make sure the core customer understands J.C. Penney still has products they love, at exceptional value, every day.†60 Francis took the fall for the poor earnings, abruptly leaving the company a mere eight months after he started as pr esident. Following Francis’ departure, Johnson took responsibility for marketing and merchandising, believing that customers just didn’t understand the story behind â€Å"Fair and Square.† He tweaked the marketing plan, adding five additional â€Å"Best Price Fridays† to the calendar, including the important Fridays anchoring Memorial Day Weekend and Black Friday. The advertising creative was changed to incorporate a harder-hitting â€Å"Do the Math† positioning (See Exhibit 13 for an example). In June, J.C. Penney reintroduced the â€Å"S† word â€Å"sale† into its advertising to help clarify that its Best Price Friday deals actually extended through the weekend until all inventory was sold. Under pressure, Johnson speculated what his old mentor, Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011, would have advised, â€Å"I think Steve’s advice would be don’t worry about what others say. Trust your instincts. Do the right thing†¦Stay the course. But he would also say the essence is in the simplicity. And so he would have liked where we are going on pricing, but he would have said ‘You’ve got to clean it up. You’ve got to be more direct’.†61 Johnson buckled down, â€Å"What you can’t do is chicken out.  If you had looked at the data on the Genius Bar after a year and a half, we should have taken it out of the store. But it was something I believed in with every bone in my body.†62 He continued, â€Å"The world moves by innovators and innovators have to have the courage to imagine something that hasn’t been done before and the conviction to see it through†¦It is really hard. It takes a lot of courage. You’ve got to be able to have a few arrows shot in your back.

The History Of Down Syndrome Social Work Essay

The History Of Down Syndrome Social Work Essay This paper looks at the various theories that explain social interactions within the society, such as the gaze model. Other theories are the social model, the medical model and the stigma theory. These theories provide guidance into understanding the various interactions between the disabled and normal individuals within the community. Another name for the Down syndrome phenomenon is trisomy 21. This condition occurs when there is an extra copy of chromosome number 21 in the body system of an individual. Shildrick (2009) denotes that this condition causes a change in the body make of a child, and this leads to facial disfigurement. This article takes a closer look at the impact of the Down syndrome phenomenon. It analyzes the issues that affect the social construction of people with disabilities, and in this case, children with the Down syndrome phenomenon. This paper analyzes a variety of theoretical frameworks that explain the behavior of people in regard to the disabled. It synthesis these theories, into various ideologies of inclusion, and helps in answering the question on whether children whose face are disfigured due to the Down syndrome condition are included in the affairs of the society. This paper defines, and critically examines issues surrounding the social constructions of the disabled. Amongst the issues identified are, social identity, facial disfigurement, disability and the notion of the Down syndrome. DePoy et al (2011) denotes that facial disfigurement occurs when the face of a child takes another form, which is against the normal. It changes the appearance of a person, and the condition has a direct influence on an individuals perception in the society. Social identity refers to the attitude, or perception that a group in the society, views another person or themselves. Social identity emanates from an individual self-conception. DePoy et al further denotes that this perception of self, results to an individual placing him or herself to a specific social group (2011). John Turner and Henri Tajfel developed the theory of social identity, and they did this after studying the behavior of the society towards the disabled people (Tajfel, 1982). The theory denotes that social identity is a process that provides guidance on how people behave, within a group or in relation to others. Frances (2004) observes that people within a social group interact by looking at their status in the society. Frances further denotes that the rich tend to interact with the rich, and the disabled tend to interact with the disabled (2004). Their condition in the society gives them the legitimacy to belong to a particular group. According to the social identity theory, the social environment forces the disabled to withdraw from the various social activities within the community (Frances, 2004). This is because of stigma and discrimination. For instance, children with facial disfigurements will be unable to engage effectively with their peers, either in games or classes. DePoy et al (2011) observes that this is because of the various social groups formed within the society, and these children are unable to fit amongst them. Selikowitz (1997) denotes that disability arises out of the emotional, physical or mental impairment of an individuals body condition. Facial disfigurement amongst children with the Down syndrome phenomenon is an example of a physical disability. Selikowitz further denotes that Down syndrome is the main cause of disability amongst children (1997). Pueschel (2006) observes that during the 20th century, children with the element of the Down syndrome were housed in special institutions, and special houses. This is because of the various discriminative policies followed by the government or the society. This had an impact on their exclusion in the society. This changed in the 1960s with the emergence of the Civil rights movements, whose purpose was to advocate for the rights of children with the Down syndrome condition. To rectify this problem in United States of America, Kathryn McGee formed the National Association of Down Syndrome (Marini et al, 2012). The main goal of the institution was to advocate for the various rights of children with the Down syndrome problem, and ensure their inclusion in the society (Marini et al, 2012). The formation of these associations is an element of the social model theory. The theory denotes that problems that arise out of the disability of an individual are created by the society. The society is characterized by the presence of social groups, which enhance the notion of self-identity. To help disfigured children, it is essential to use social mechanisms such as peer groups, and civil associations to advocate for the rights of the disabled. The surrounding community must initiate environmental procedures that will protect children suffering from the Down syndrome condition. This will ensure their participation in all events of their social lives, minimizing the rate of stigma and discrimination that these children suffer from. This theory makes it possible for a change in the perception of the society towards these children. These changes occur in the cultural beliefs, and ideological perceptions. Davis (2006) denotes that the theory recognizes the specific rights of disabled children, and advocates for various measures that will ensure these children are well protected, and included within the society. Lansdown (1997) denotes that the social model theory advocates for the abolishment of negative stereotyping. It does this through lobbying and holding sensitization conferences to educate people on the various misconceptions about the disabled children. By doing this, they aim to influence their inclusion in the various social affairs of the community. However, medical model theorists argue that disability arises out of the medical malfunctioning of an individuals body. To these theorists, the facial disfigurement of a child is a medical problem, and it requires a medical solution. The medical theorists advocate for surgery, and psychological treatment to improve the facial conditions of these children. The theory lobbys for a health care policy that will address issues that arise because of problems faced by children whose faces are disfigured due to the Down syndrome condition (Marinelli et al, 1991). A good example of such a policy is the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists guidance on the procedures of screening pregnant women. This is to identify whether the children they carry will suffer from the Down syndrome condition. According to this model, for children with abnormal facial characteristics to participate effectively in the social environment, they must undergo surgery. This will correct their facial defects. Mojo et al, (2010) denotes that surgery plays an important role in reducing the facial features of a child with the Down syndrome condition. He further denotes that this leads to a reduction in discrimination, and social stigma because their faces are corrected to the normal (Mojo et al, 2010). The use of plastic surgery to correct the facial condition of disabled children is controversial. The European Down Syndrome society advocates against its use. According to the society, children with the Down syndrome condition must find acceptance in the society despite their abnormality. In as much as surgery is important, it is essential to enact social policies that will make these children gain acceptance in the society. This is because not every people can afford to the high costs associated wit h surgery. On this note, it is a moral responsibility for the society to implement measures that will lead to the inclusion of the disabled in the society. This includes enacting policies that will ensure they get better and quality education that compare to their peers. The policies should create special sports and recreational facilities whose main objective is to enable these children to participate in the various social activities of the society. The European Down syndrome society denotes that through surgery, the medical institutions accelerate discrimination and the stigma that these children suffer from. Bluhm et al (2009) denotes that these children will became aware of their medical problems, and this will result to their withdrawal from the community. On this note, instead of accelerating the inclusion of these people into the society, surgery has made them to suffer exclusion. Stigma is an issue that arises in this article. Stigma is a disapproval or discontentment of an individual by observing the various characteristics upon the person that makes them different from other members of the society. Stigma emanates from the opinions of other people towards people with disability, and these opinions can either be right or wrong. By critically analyzing the medical model, children with facial disfigurement suffer from stigma. Rennie (2001) denotes that this is the reason as to why the medical model advocates for surgery, in order to correct their facial conditions. Correcting their conditions will make them integrate within the community, and rectify their low self-esteem. They will manage to involve themselves in various social activities, and these results to their inclusion in the society. According to Erving Goffman, stigma is a behavior and reaction of people, towards another person who does not possess the same identity as theirs. Erving Goffman denotes that there are three different kinds of social stigma, and he names them as (Tremain, 2005); Deviation that occurs due to an individuals behavior, such as alcohol addiction and drug use. Stigma arising from negative ethnicity, and stereotyping. This may either emanate from religion, and or cultural influences. Stigma may arise out of medical conditions that cause external deformations. In this category are people suffering from the Down syndrome phenomenon. Due to stigma, children suffering from the Down syndrome phenomenon are unable to interact freely within the society. This is because of the facial disfigurements, which cause their peers to view them as outsiders. Due to stigma, the notion of negative labeling arises. It creates a sense of us vs. them; as a result, these children cannot fully interact within the society. Their condition makes it impossible for the society to fully accept them, and include them in all aspects of their affairs. These activities can either be social, political, religious or even economic. Tremain (2005) denotes that the gaze theory depicts these children as either worthy or unworthy of societal support. These supports may take the form of home care treatments, special privileges such as the enactment of affirmative actions in employment and school facilities, etc. The gaze theory measures the ability of children with facial disfigurements by their level of interaction in the society (Tremain, 2005). After measuring the abilities of individuals with the Down syndrome problem, the gaze theory then offers a solution to their problems. This solution is based on the acceptance of a disabled person that he or she is unable to survive without the assistance of the community (Mojo et al, 2010). Tremain (2005) observes that when a disabled person insists on his ability to conduct his own affairs, the society leaves him alone. Tremain further denotes that these people will struggle to get the services they are entitled to, because of discrimination and stigma arising out of their refusal to give some of their rights for purposes of gaining acceptance (2005). Bluhm et al denotes that this situation leads to the exclusion of the concerned disabled person in the social affairs of the community (2009). Gaze theory can also refer to the manner in which an individual looks at images of a person, in a visual medium, and thereafter make a comparison to the same individual on a visual text. Under the gaze theory, there are social codes that regulate the way in which a person ought to look like (Bluhm et al, 2009). These codes are strictly regulated by culture. For instance, if a person avoids another persons gaze, it might reflect a sign of nervousness, fear or lack of confidence. Children whose faces are disfigured cannot properly maintain a gaze (Bluhm et al, 2009). The society looks at them as weaklings, and individuals who lack self-esteem and confidence. Basing on this, they are unable to interact fully within a society, and this affects their inclusion in the affairs of the society. Despite these challenges faced by people with the Down syndrome condition, there are a number of renowned persons who have defied stigma, and discrimination to make it in the society. Most of them are in the media, and particularly in the movie industry. An example is Andrea Friedman and Paula Sage. Paula Sage is a Scottish actress who won fame for her role in the movie After life. She won the BAFTA awards, as the best female actress of the season 2003 (Kulesz, 2011). She also won the title of the best actress in 2004 during the Bratislava International film festival. Andrea Friedman is also an actress, and has starred in movies such as Life Goes On; and the television series known as Family Guy. In 1996, Stephen Ginnz was the first actor with a Down syndrome problem to lead a motion picture production. As a result of this, Stephen Ginnz won numerous awards, among them includes, the Wasserman award for the best cinematography, the Warner Bros picture best film award, and the Martin Scorsese best film award. Stephen won all this awards in 1996 (Kulesz, 2011). Another actor is Tommy Jessop, who starred in the BBC drama known as Coming Down the Mountain. In 2008, Tommy won the Radar people of the year, human rights media award. He has also appeared in Holby city, Casualty, Doctors and Monroe. All this are British television series programs. In 2010, Tommy starred in the BBC television program, the Stone. Another notable figure is Pablo Pineda. He is a Spanish actor, who starred in the film, Yo Tambien (Kulesz, 2011). In the film, he takes the role of a university graduate, with the Down syndrome condition. Due to his role in the film, Pineda won the 2009 Silver Shell award. Thes e actors won these awards because of the recognition of their talents by their various viewers. This recognition denotes no matter how disable a person is, with talent, and hard work, he will gain acceptance within the society. To conclude on this paper, children with the Down syndrome condition face a lot of stigma and discrimination in the societal set up. Their peers view them as outsiders, as a result of this; they are unable to effectively participate in the various activities that their fellow children engage in. This leads to an element of exclusion, and not inclusion. Things are changing in the current century. Movements such as the European Down Syndrome association have emerged, and their main objective is to sensitize people on the various misconceptions they have regarding children with the Down syndrome phenomenon. PERSONAL REFLECTION ON DISABILITY THAT ARIZES FROM THE DOWN SYNDROME CONDITION: The notion that people who are disable cannot make it in society is false. These people are human beings, and need to live a normal life, just like normal people, who do not possess any form of malfunctioning in their body system. To help this people lead a normal life, it is important for the government and the society to work hand in hand in ensuring that the disabled manage to acquire social services, such as education, health services, etc. It is the discriminative tendencies, and the stigma that the society faces that make these children to feel as if they are no longer needed in the society. It is important for the government to enact policies that are effective in tackling the mentioned problems. On this note, to help these children feel as if they are part of the society, the government and all social groups in the community must work hand in hand for purposes of making life better for these children.

Team Performance and Strategic Management Objectives

Team Performance and Strategic Management Objectives Assess the links between team performance and strategic Objectives. The fundamental aim of the strategic management is to generate strategic capability by ensuring that the organisation has the skilled, committed and well motivated employees which it needs to achieve sustained competitive advantages. It’s objective is to provide a sense of direction in an turbulent’s environment, so that the business needs of the organization, and the individual and collective needs of its employees, can be met by the development and implementation of coherent and practical Human Resource policies and programme. Team performance working involves the development of a number of interrelated processes that together make an impact on the performance of the firm through its people in such areas as productivity, quality, levels of customer service, growth, profits, and ultimately the delivery of increased shareholder value. This is achieved by enhancing the skills and engaging the enthusiasm of employees . The starting point is leadership, vision and benchmarking to create a sense of momentum and direction. Progress must be measured constantly and the main drivers, support systems and culture are: Development of people capacities through learning at all levels, with particular emphasis on self-management and team capabilities to enable and support performance improvement and organizational potential Performance, operational and people management processes aligned to organizational objectives to build trust, enthusiasm and commitment to the direction taken by the organization Fair treatment for those who leave the organization as it changes, and engagement with the needs of the community outside the organization. Team-performance management practices include rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, extensive and relevant training and management development activities, incentive pay systems and performance management processes. The fundamental business need the strategy should meet is to develop and maintain a high performance culture. The characteristics of such a culture are: A clear line of sight exists between the strategic aims of the authority and those of its departments and its staff at all levels Management defines what it requires in the shape of performance improvements, sets goals for success and monitors performance to ensure that the goals are achieved Leadership from the top which engenders a shared belief in the importance of continuing improvement Performance management processes aligned to the authoritys objectives to ensure that people are engaged in achieving agreed goals and standards Capacities of people developed through learning at all levels to support performance improvement. People valued and rewarded according to their contribution. Evaluate tools and techniques available to set team performance targets Tools and techniques to help companies transform quickly. Way back when (pick your date), team members in large companies had a simple goal for themselves and their organizations: stability. Shareholders wanted little more than predictable earnings growth. Because so many markets were either closed or undeveloped, leaders could deliver on those expectations through annual exercises that offered only modest modifications to the strategic plan. Long-term structural transformation has four characteristics: scale (the change affects all or most of the organization), magnitude (it involves significant alterations of the status quo), duration (it lasts for months, if not years), and strategic importance. Yet companies will reap the rewards only when change occurs at the level of the individual employee. 1.2.1. Performance Evaluations: As a supervisor, your role is to set expectations, gather data, and provide on going feedback to your employees to assist them in utilizing their skills, expertise and ideas to produce results. To provide this direction. The Annual Performance Evaluation should provide a comparison of actual on-the job performance to established performance measurement standards. The Annual Performance Evaluation encourages periodic and structured communication between supervisors and employees about the job, and should take place continuously. 1.2.2 . Feedback: Feedback is a process by which effective performance is reinforced and less-than-desirable performance is corrected. Feedback should be information that highlights the relationship between what is expected and what has been accomplished after the work is performed or the action is taken. 1.2.3. Development Planning: Development planning is the process of creating experiences for your employees that promote skills and knowledge related to the position, as well as to professional growth. Development plans draw from the Performance Evaluation: Performance goals or needs (deficiencies) to be addressed The employee, with supervisor assistance, identifies ways to achieve those goals and/or address performance deficiencies in systematic ways. Address opportunities for professional growth Agreement and/or commitment between employee and supervisor Planned follow-up Assess the value of team performance tools to measure future team performance The first step in getting organized is to establish the performance measurement team. The team should be made up of: 1. People who actually do the work to be measured2. People who are very familiar with the work to be measured. 3. It is important that each person understands the task before them and their role in its accomplishment. Guidelines for Teams When meeting as a team, consider these Guidelines for Team: 1. Focus on effectiveness of systems and the appropriate level of internal controls. 2. Maintain a balance between outcome (objective) and process (subjective) measures. 3. Develop measures that crosscut functional areas to better represent overall organizational performance. 4. Incorporate â€Å"Best Practices† and reflect management’s judgment as to the key elements for overall successful operation, including cost/risk/benefit effectiveness—ascertain that measures add value a improve effectiveness in support of the organizational mission. 5. Consider value-added criteria, including evaluating the cost of measuring and administering the measure, and the number of measures that can be effectively managed. Keep the number of performance measures at each management level to a minimum. For any program, there are a large number of potential performance measures. Develop clear and understandable objectives and performance measures. Performance measures should clarify the objective and be understandable Consider the cost of attaining the next level of improvement. Establishing a measure that encourages reaching for a new or higher level of improvement should take into account the cost of implementing such a measure against the value of the additional improvement. Consider performing a risk evaluation. Organizations developing performance measurement systems should consider performing a risk evaluation of the organization to determine which specific processes are most critical to organizational success or which processes pose the greatest risk to successful mission accomplishments. Consider the weight of conflicting performance measures. Organizations frequently have several objectives that may not always be totally consistent with each other. For example, an objective of high productivity may conflict with an objective for a high quality product, or an objective of meeting specific deadlines may conflict with an objective of providing the highest quality reports to meet. 2.1 Analyse how to determine required performance targets within teams against current performance High-performing individuals and teams should be the goal of any organisation. We are all now aware of the potential results of high performance in terms of organisational success and competitiveness. The perennial debate is around how to create that high performance and, more importantly, how to sustain it. Most companies find the organisational issues much easier to handle than the individual ones so they get the attention. Unfortunately this is only part of what needs to be done to create a successful high-performance culture: addressing high performance among individuals is also essential. 2.1.1 Know what it looks like It will be impossible to know when youre achieving high performance if you dont know what it looks like. From an organisational perspective, high performance means not only running a financially sound business, adhering to essential policies and ensuring regulatory demands are observed, but also understanding the capability of your workforce to deliver high performance. All too often, concerns about what they might find and the time it may take prompt organisations to adopt the three wise monkeys strategy dont see, dont hear, dont speak with the result that low performance goes unchecked for years until it is too late and competitors have overtaken you. Too often, individual high performance is defined as simply getting the job done in the short term rather than looking to the long term and focusing on behaviours. 2.1.2 Make a commitment Strong and active commitment from leaders and managers, and the pursuit of continuous learning throughout the organisation, are crucial to building a well-defined high-performance culture. Commitment means not leaving it to fate, but truly understanding what high performance looks like, trusting different approaches and working with all stakeholders, including the human resource 2.1.3 Define your starting point Knowing where your organisation currently stands will make it much easier to create a vision for the future and to secure buy-in. One of the most effective strategies is to define explicitly what creates high performance in your organisation. Ensure that these behaviours are distinct, while being comprehensive enough to cover different levels of the organisation. Include areas such as how people collect and make sense of information and how they influence and build confidence in stakeholders. 2.1.4 Put a stake in the ground Once you have agreed what the behavioural high performance indicators look like, it is essential to observe and measure them. The best way to capture current performance is through objective observation, such as work shadowing, behavioural event interviews and subjective feedback via online and facilitated 360-degree analysis. This should clearly distinguish between behaviour that: †¢ impedes performance †¢ helps to do the task in hand †¢ makes a sustainable and long-term positive contribution †¢ promotes beneficial and long-term behavioural change in teams and divisions. 2.2 Discuss the need to encourage individual commitment to team performance in achievement of organisational goals Individual understand how their work fits into corporate objectives and they agree that their teams goals are achievable and aligned with corporate mission and values. Team ground rules are set with consideration for both company and individual values. When conflict arises, the team uses alignment with purpose, values, and goals as important criteria for acceptable solutions. To enhance team commitment leaders might consider inviting each work team to develop team mission, vision, and values statements that are in alignment with those of the corporation but reflect the individuality of each team. These statements should be visible and walked every day. Once a shared purpose is agreed upon, each team can develop goals and measures, focus on continuous improvement, and celebrate team success at important milestones. The time spent up front getting all team members on the same track will greatly reduce the number of derailments or emergency rerouting later. Leaders can facilitate cooperation by highlighting the impact of individual members on team productivity and clarifying valued team member behaviors. The following F.A.C.T.S. model of effective team member behaviors (follow-through, accuracy, timeliness, creativity, and spirit) may serve as a guide for helping teams identify behaviors that support synergy within the work team. 2.3 Relate the application of delegation, mentoring and coaching to the achievement of the organisational objectives Coaching can take many forms, life coaching, business coaching, performance coaching etc. As with mentoring and counselling it is about helping the individual to gain self awareness, but it is goal focused and action is required so that the individual can move forward. The goal setting process has two components: skill development and psychological development. The outcome sought is that the coachee will achieve the goals set, and will thereafter feel able and confident to set personal goals for themselves. Developing a persons skills and knowledge so that their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of organisational objectives. It targets high performance and improvement at work, although it may also have an impact on an individuals private life. Mentoring happens in all organisations whether it is fostered as a development strategy; allowed or encouraged as an informal process; or is an activity that occurs below the consciousness of individuals. People are learning from others, adopting modelled behaviours and attitudes and absorbing the culture and perceived values of the organisation through their personal interactions with co-workers. Benefits to the Organisation Increase in morale and motivation Greater productivity Discovery of talent Development of leadership for future survival and prosperity Communication of values, goals and plans Demonstration of personal and professional standards Achievement of excellent service Implementation of equity initiatives Fostering of shared values and team work Enhancement of leadership and people management skills of managers Increase in staff satisfaction Building a learning organisation Managed careers Development of cross-organisational networks 2.4 Evaluate a team performance plan to meet organisational objectives As a Team Leader you will be required to ensure that Performance Plans are created for your team and its members. You should also ensure that you are involved in developing your own Performance Plan in conjunction with your Manager. Your Performance Plan ensures that you are clear on the levels of leadership and management performance that are expected of you and helps you to develop new skills as required. Performance planning should occur as: An Initial Performance Plan A Performance Improvement Plan Initial performance plan An Initial Performance Plan is a detailed plan for either an individual or a team and is used to: Identify the desired performance levels Identify how these performance levels will be achieved Provide guidance and direction Measure progress towards the desired performance levels Although there are no strict rules as to the format of a Performance Plan they normally contain the following information: Specific goals for development Performance measures Actions required to achieve goals An indication of how long goals will take to achieve Individual and team Performance Plans should align with the organisations overall objectives. This can be achieved by aligning the: Performance Plans with the Team Operational Plan Team Operational Plan with the Team Purpose Team Purpose with the organisations Strategic Plan Performance Plans might include the following types of goals: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Goals to improve competency levels Team building goals Whenever the performance levels of an individual or team are found to be below the levels indicated in the Performance Plan then a planning process to improve performance should be undertaken. Performance improvement plan When a performance deficiency is noted, it should be dealt with as quickly as possible. The following steps outline a process for handling poor performance. Collate the information regarding poor performance This information may be in the form of feedback, customer complaints, error rates, statistics and/or informal observation. Meet with the relevant team member(s) and discuss the issues During this meeting you will need to discuss the deficiency or inappropriate behaviour and identify the causes. Inadequate performance does not always indicate a problem on the part of the individual. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may be unrealistic or the resources required to achieve the performance standard may not be available. Develop a Performance Improvement Plan A Performance Improvement Plan provides an outline of what is required by both the individual and their Manager. You may find that your company or organisation has an existing process for implementing Performance Improvement Plans. You should consult with your Human Resources department or your Manager to determine if this is the case. Follow up Ensure that you monitor, follow up and evaluate the performance improvement as set out in the plan. A Performance Improvement Plan should clearly convey: The area of performance that requires improvement or development The action(s) to be taken Any parties required to assist in the achievement of the set actions The timeframe for achieving each action 3.1 Assess the process for monitoring team performance and initiate changes where necessary How do we initiate change Often it is easier to carry out a job if there is a specific plan to follow. When major changes are to be installed, careful planning and preparation are necessary. Strengthening the forces promoting the change and weakening resistance to it are the main tasks. Create a climate for change How people react to proposed changes is greatly influenced by the kind of climate for change that the manager/supervisor has created in the department. How is the right kind of climate created? Supervisors and managers who have enthusiasm for progress and change build a healthy climate. Creating the right climate is more than just passing on changes. It involves: Encouraging employees to seek ways of improving their jobs. Seeking suggestions and ideas from employees. This requires the manager/supervisor to listen and seriously consider suggestions. It is easy to see that there is a great deal of ego involvement in coming forth with an idea for improvement. Change can become an exciting and dynamic way of life. Get ready to sell Much of the difficulty in getting co-operation stems from the employees lack of understanding of how the change will affect them. With a little effort, managers/supervisors can find most of the answers to employees questions before they are even asked. Answers to these questions would be useful. What is the reason for the change? Whom will it benefit and how? Will it inconvenience anyone, if so, for how long? Armed with the answers to these questions a manager/supervisor can head off many objections and can develop a plan to present the change. 3.2 Evaluate team performance against agreed objectives Implement the action plans and take corrective action when required to ensure the attainment of objectives Periodically review performance against established goals and objectives Appraise overall performance, reinforce behavior, and strengthen motivation. Begin the cycle again supervisors need to ensure that appraisal processes are congruent with objectives and goals. An MBO rating form needs to provide space to list staff member objectives in order of importance, as well as space for the evaluator to describe staff member performance using a mutually agreed upon scale. Categories of performance can include: distinguished performance, competent performance, provisional performance, and inadequate performance. Accountabilities and Measures approaches involve the supervisor and staff member agreeing on accountability and performance factors and including them in the job description. Performance is then forecast for each factor to enable quantifiable measures for each factor. An Accountabilities and Measures form can be created, with performance factor categories. 3.3 Evaluate the impact of the team performance in contributing to meeting strategic objectives Clear Expectations: Expectations for the team’s performance and expected outcomes are clearly known and understand why the team was created. The organization demonstrating constancy of purpose in supporting the team with resources of people, time and money. It work of the team receive sufficient emphasis as a priority in terms of the time, discussion, attention and interest directed its way by executive leaders. Commitment: Team members feel the team mission is important. Members committed to accomplishing the team mission and expected the outcomes. The team members perceive their service as valuable to the organization and to their own careers. The team members anticipate recognition for their contributions and the team members expect their skills to grow and develop on the team. The team members excited and challenged by the team opportunity. Competence: The team feel that its members have the knowledge, skill and capability to address the issues for which the team was formed. The team feel it has the resources, strategies and support needed to accomplish its mission? Charter: The team taken its assigned area of responsibility and designed its own mission, vision and strategies to accomplish the mission. The team defined and communicated its goals; its anticipated outcomes and contributions; its timelines; and how it will measure both the outcomes of its work and the process the team followed to accomplish their task. Control: Team have enough freedom and empowerment to feel the ownership necessary to accomplish its charter and at the same time, the team members clearly understand their boundaries. The limitations (i.e. monetary and time resources) defined at the beginning of the project before the team experiences barriers and rework? The team’s reporting relationship and accountability understood by all members of the organization. There is a defined review process so both the team and the organization are consistently aligned in direction and purpose. The team members hold each other accountable for project timelines, commitments and results. The organization have a plan to increase opportunities for self-management among organization members. Communication: The team members clear about the priority of their tasks and an established method for the teams to give feedback and receive honest performance feedback. The organization provide important business information regularly and the teams understand the complete context for their existence. The team members communicate clearly and honestly with each other and the team members bring diverse opinions to the table and all the necessary conflicts raised and addressed. Creative Innovation: It reward people who take reasonable risks to make improvements or does it reward the people who fit in and maintain the status quo. It provide the training, education, access to books and films, and field trips necessary to stimulate new thinking. The team members feel responsible and accountable for team achievements and are rewards and recognition supplied when teams are successful. The reasonable risk respected and encouraged in the organization. Team members fear reprisal. The team members spend their time finger pointing rather than resolving problems and the organization designing reward systems that recognize both team and individual performance. The organization planning to share gains and increased profitability with team and individual contributors. Coordination: The teams coordinated by a central leadership team that assists the groups to obtain what they need for success. Have priorities and resource allocation been planned across departments. The teams understand the concept of the internal customer—the next process, anyone to whom they provide a product or a service. The cross-functional and multi-department teams common and working together effectively. The organization developing a customer-focused process-focused orientation and moving away from traditional departmental thinking. Cultural Change: The organization recognize that the team-based, collaborative, empowering, enabling organizational culture of the future is different than the traditional, hierarchical organization it may currently be and the organization planning to or in the process of changing how it rewards, recognizes, appraises, hires, develops, plans with, motivates and manages the people it employs. 4.1 Determine influencing and persuading methodologies to gain the commitment of individuals to a course of action This is a unique approach to team leadership that is aimed at action orientated environments where effective functional leadership is required to achieve critical or reactive tasks by small teams deployed into the field. In other words leadership of small groups often created to respond to a situation or critical incident. The individuals should have the knowledge, skills and values required for todays and tomorrows jobs. One company clarified the usual definition of competence and framed it as right skills, right place, right job. Competence clearly matters because incompetence leads to poor decision-making. But without commitment, competence doesnt count for much. Highly competent employees who are not committed are smart, but dont work very hard. Committed or engaged employees work hard, put in their time and do what they are asked to do. In the past decade, commitment and competence have been the bailiwicks for talent. But my colleagues and I have found that next-generation leaders for an organization may be competent (able to do the work) and committed (willing to do the work), but unless they are making a real contribution through the work (finding meaning and purpose in their work), then their interest in what they are doing diminishes and their willingness to harness their talent in the organization wanes. Contribution occurs when employees feel that their personal needs are being met through their participation in their organization. 4.2 Discuss the impact of individual dynamics, interests and organisational politics on securing the commitment of individuals to a course of action Organizational behavior scientists study four primary areas of behavioral science: individual behavior, group behavior, organizational structure, and organizational processes. They investigate many facets of these areas like personality and perception, attitudes and job satisfaction, group dynamics, politics and the role of leadership in the organization, job design, the impact of stress on work, decision-making processes, the communications chain, and company cultures and climates. They use a variety of techniques and approaches to evaluate each of these elements and its impact on individuals, groups, and organizational efficiency and effectiveness. Groups of individuals gathered together to achieve a goal or objective, either as a committee or some other grouping, go through several predicatable stages before useful work can be done. These stages are a function of a number of variables, not the least of which is the self-identification of the role each member will tend to play, and the emergence of natural leaders and individuals who will serve as sources of information. Any individual in a leadership position whose responsibilities involve getting groups of individuals to work together should both be conversant with the phases of the group process and possess the skills necessary to capitalize on these stages to accomplish the objective of forming a productive, cohesive team. Bibliography Bass, Bernard M. (1985). Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectation. New York: Free Press. Bass, Bernard M. and Avolio, Bruce, J. (1994). Improving Organizational Effectiveness Through Transformational Leadership. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Bennis, Warren G. (1959). Leadership Theory and Administrative Behavior: The Problem of Authority. Administrative Science Quarterly 4: 259-260. Conger, Jay A., and Kanungo, Rabindra.(1987). Toward a Behavioral Theory of Charismatic Leadership in Organizational Settings. Academy of Management Review 12: 637-647. Daft, Richard L. (1999). Leadership: Theory and Practice. New York: Dryden Press. Fiedler, Fred E. (1967). A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness. New York: McGraw-Hill. Graef, C. L. (1993). The Situational Leadership Theory: A Critical Review. Academy of Management Review 8: 285-296. Hall, Richard H. (1982). Organizations: Structure and Process. New York: Prentice Hall. Hofstede, Geert (1980). Cultures Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Howell, Jane M. (1988). Two Faces of Charisma: Socialized and Personalized Leadership in Organizations. In Jay A. Conger and Rabindra N. Kanungo, eds., Charismatic Leadership: The Elusive Factor in Organizational Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. House, Robert J. (1996). Path-Goal Theory of Leadership: Lessons, Legacy and a Reformulated Theory. Leadership Quarterly 7: 323-352. Hughes, Richard L., Ginnet, Robert C., and Curphy, Gordon J. (1996). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. Chicago: Irwin. Kirkpatrick, S.A., and Locke, Edwin A. (1996). Direct and Indirect Effects of Three Core Charismatic Leadership Components on Performance and Attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology 81: 36-51. Kotter, John P. (1988). The Leadership Factor. New York: Free Press. Meindl, James R. (1990). On Leadership: An Alternative to the Conventional Wisdom. In B. M Staw and L.L. Cummings, eds., Research in Organizational Behavior, vol. 12. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Meindl, James R., Ehrlich, S.B., and Dukerich, J.M. (1985). The Romance of Leadership. Administrative Science Quarterly 30: 78-102. Trice, Harry M., and Beyer, Janis M. (1991). Cultural Leadership in Organizations. Organization Science 2: 149-169. Yuke, Gary. (1998). Leadership in Organizations, 4th ed. New York: Prentice Hall.