Recent change in Customer Service at Wells Fargo Bank Research Paper

Recent change in Customer Service at Wells Fargo Bank - Research Paper Example Additionally, investment in products is another critical reason for ensuring that subsidiaries within the banking company are geared toward a meaningful aggregation. Second, reduction of operational and marketing costs is another motivation for improving customer service in order to maintain high standards in the globalized market of the 21st century. It means Wells Fargo & Company attempts to keep off their competitions through a boost in investment in both the management and employees. Third, involves the need for an increased business growth in regards to quality services offered to the client base. In other words, the idea is meant to facilitate the eventual implementation of successful business strategies of generating both comments and feedback on banking services and mortgaging offered by the firm. On that account, Wells Fargo & Company has taken specific initiatives in order to facilitate the customer care services for the benefit of its clients. First, entails employee motivation within the working environment to ensure an organizational culture is established to attract new customers and investors. It means the firm creates a business opportunity for reducing business losses while also eliminating employee turnover. Second, is an increase in efficiency in terms of meeting targets that expand maximum capacity while innovating strategies and implementing creative methods of generating profits. Satisfaction of shareholders is another critical step that assists Well Fargo & Company to bring new sponsors and investors who invest more in the organization (McKinney 190). The investment is equally fundamental because there is an exploration of diverse social networks that popularity of the banking service company. Third, offering banking services at the international level implies that since 2011, Wells Fargo & Company has opened new offices in Latin America, Asia, and Europe to cater for its demanding client base. Introduction

Describe, discuss and explain the significance of the Indian Removal Article

Describe, discuss and explain the significance of the Indian Removal Act - Article Example The Act resulted to Seminole War that lasted between 1835 to 1842, and cost Jackson administration almost 60 million dollars. The law made Cherokees develop their own written language, print newspapers and resist any forceful evictions. The Supreme Court decision asserted that Georgia had no authority over the Cherokees and their lands but the president ignored the court ruling. In 1836, Georgia Militia attacked several Creeks and forced about 15,000 Creeks to move to the West of Mississippi (Stewart, 2007). In 1835, the Treaty of New Echota was signed ceding all Cherokee land for $ 5.6 million and their free transportation to the West of Mississippi. This led to the trail of tears whereby more than 16,000 migrating Cherokees died. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creeks, Cherokees and Seminoles travel from their lands was marked with diseases such as Cholera, death from starvation and inadequate food supplies (Stewart, 2007). The Indian removal act gave European American farmers a claim on t he land that was initially occupied by the Five Civilized Tribes and opportunity for intense agricultural activity. Generally, the Indian removal act was oppressive and led to Seminole wars from 1835 to 1842 and trail of tears from 1838 to 1839. The US army troops forced the Indian troops to abandon their traditional lands (Stewart, 2007). The Indian removal act that was signed in to law by President Jackson led to massive federal spending on wars and relocation. Cherokees heavily resisted the law through a court decision by the president chose to ignore the ruling. The Act led to Seminole Wars and Trail of tears whereby many affected individual dies due to wars, disease and starvation (Stewart,

Leadership And Management In Nursing Nursing Essay

Leadership And Management In Nursing Nursing Essay Mergers illustrate the focus on organisational restructuring as the key lever for change as indicated by the ninety nine health care provider mergers in England between 1996 and 2001. (Fulop, Protsopsaltis, King, Allen, Hutchings, and Normand, 2004) However, in many cases, mergers have unexpected consequences and drawbacks including problems in integrating staff, services, systems and working practices, clashing organisational cultures and poor leadership capacity. This essay considers leadership and management in the context of a problematic merger of services from two hospitals onto one site. The essay focuses on the change management process within one department to highlight key leadership, team, and cultural issues that negatively affected the newly merged department. The microcosm of the department mirrors similar occurrences across the two merged hospitals. The essay concludes with a comment on the organisational consequences if a macro intervention is not implemented. Confidentiality has been preserved by anonymising the identity of the hospitals and departments concerned. BACKGROUND This essay explores a recent change process involving the creation of a psychiatric liaison team based in a NHS hospital Accident and Emergency Department. (A E) in January 2004. The change occurred because of the merger of two hospitals that resulted in a number of structural changes, including the amalgamation of a traditionally split emergency service into a one site A E department. The liaison team replaced the existing deliberate self-harm service which had operated in the one hospital for two decades. The new liaison team consisted of eight newly appointed G-grade mental health nurses, a team leader, and a consultant psychiatrist who had both previously worked in the deliberate self-harm service. The hours of operation initially were 08:00 to 22:00 and there were two nurses on duty on early and late shifts. During a four week induction period, the team participated in team building and training exercises and developed into a cohesive, effective group. The team created clear key performance indicators specific to the psychiatric liaison team, established an action plan to achieve the set objectives, and planned to carry out six-monthly reviews. The team developed a shared vision to provide high quality, person centred care to the A E department without breaching governments four hour targets (DOH, 2001). The team leaders leadership style was democratic, and she fostered collaboration and involvement within the team (Walton, 1999). The team members considered her an expert in the field, and respected her for it. In July 2004, the service manager attended a monthly team meeting. At the meeting she was informed that a major change was expected to the hours of operation. The service would be extended to a 24-hour service starting in September 2004. In order for the liaison team to cover a 24-hour roster there was initially be a reduction in the number of nurses on duty, however, more staff would be recruited if necessary after a six month service review. An exact date for the review was not given. The change had not been communicated as part of the strategy for the greater merger. The Department of Health (DOH) modernisation agenda for the NHS, (DOH, 2002) sets out to modernise services in the NHS, and introduced a three star rating scale against which each NHS Trusts performance is compared against benchmark standards. Funding in turn is dependant on the star rating achieved. One such standard relates to delays in A E departments, and stipulates that mental health patients should have 24 hour access to services, and that patients should be assessed and treated within four hours of arrival. (DOH, 2001) The underlying rationale for the change was therefore that the psychiatric liaison service had to provide a 24-hour service in order for the hospital to comply with the benchmark. Management of the merged hospitals did not consider staff shortages or how the four hour target might affect the quality of service provision, particularly when staff are under constant pressure to discharge patients before they exceed the benchmark standard. (RCP, 2004) In the servic e described above, reaching the necessary 98 % four hour target proved impossible, because the staff numbers did not match the requirements of the service. The service was therefore to be expanded without additional staff, implying not only changes in hours and shifts, but also changes in work patterns. The team members reacted negatively to how the change process was introduced. Concerns were expressed about the reduction in staff numbers and questions were raised as to how the staff would be able to cope. The sense of security and continuity were put at risk. (Walton, 1999) The service manager was not available to address the concerns due to an increased scope of responsibility because of the merger that was beyond her normal remit. Lack of two way communication between the manager and the employees meant that the manager lost a valuable opportunity to resolve the negative reactions, and laid the foundation for resistance to change (Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington, 2005). Within a month of the announcement, the team leader had resigned. A new team leader was appointed and was tasked to lead the team through the change. The team started gradually becoming fragmented, staff sickness rates soared, and morale plummeted. The situation reached a crisis point by December 2005, by which time two more staff members had resigned. The majority of staff had taken sick leave, and the psychiatric liaison service was left uncovered for several days. A number of mental health patients in A E waited for hours, sometimes all night, to be seen by a mental health professional. The A E department laid a formal complaint about the liaison teams performance. In March 2005, following discussion with a union representative, the team took out a grievance against the team leader. The key issues of concern were the way the change process had been introduced, lack of two-way communication and the team leaders unsuitable task-oriented, directive leadership style. The team leader was suspended and the Trust commenced a lengthy investigation into the change process. The investigation continues to date. ANALYSIS Cameron and Green (2004) suggest McKinseys 7S model as a diagnostic tool to identify interconnected and related aspects of organisational change. The model is problem rather than solution focussed, and hence useful for pointing out retrospectively why change did not work. The weakness of the model is that it does not explicit identify drivers from the external environment and accordingly key forces have been described by way of explanation. According to Burke and Litwin (1992), the external environment is any outside condition or situation that influences the performance of the organisation. Systems, Staff and Strategy Systems refer to standardised policies and mechanisms that facilitate work, primarily manifested in the organisations reward systems, management information systems, and in such control systems as performance appraisal, goal and budget development, and human resource allocation. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) Systems are the mechanisms through which strategy is achieved. Strategy is how the organisation intends to achieve a purpose over an extended time scale. Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington (2005) link it directly to environment (industry structure), organisational structure, and corporate culture. Leaders are the executives and managers providing overall organisational direction and serving as behavioural role models for all employees. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) The systems that the service had in place to support the staff prior to the merger had functioned efficiently. The psychiatric liaison team had monthly team meetings, weekly ward rounds and supervision, and twice daily handovers to ensure high quality service. Teams in this context mean a group who share a common health goal and common objectives, determined by community needs, to the achievement of which each member of the team contributes, in accordance with his or her competencies and skill and in co-ordination with the functions of others. (WHO, 1984) Under the previous team leaders management, the team had achieved a mature and productive level of performance that fell within Tuckmans model of team development of a performing team. (Mullins, 2002) The leader demonstrated characteristics of an effective team leader (e.g. good communication) and ensured that the team members views were passed on to the management. (Marquis and Huston, 2003) The team also developed team specific performance indicators to fit the Trusts strategy, such as the goal to provide high quality care within four hours of service users presenting to the A E department. However, the new management of the merged hospitals did not take into account that the reduction in staff numbers would make it difficult for staff to find time to attend ward rounds and to supervise care. Lack of supervision had a negative impact on the quality of care provided, and staff shortages meant that the team did not reach the four-hour targets in A E department. The change process indicated a lack of sincere stakeholder consultation which would have alleviated the crisis in the department. (Iles and Sutherland, 2001) Structure and Style Structure is the arrangement of functions and people into specific areas and levels of responsibility, decision-making authority, communication, and relationships to assure effective implementation of the organisations mission and strategy. (Burke and Litwin, 1992) The NHS Leadership Qualities Framework (DOH, 2002, p34) suggests leading change through people with effective and strategic influencing is essential in a merger environment. This is supported by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) who suggest that strategic, transformational leadership is a key element within an organisation staffed by professionals and that a collaborative style is required to achieve transformational, lasting change. However, the new team leaders leadership style was autocratic and the team members were no longer consulted about matters concerning it, which was inappropriate in team nursing approach associated with collaborative patient centric care. Marquis and Huston (2003) suggest that a democratic leadership style works best with a mature experienced team with shared responsibility and accountability. The change in leadership style meant that the team felt disempowered and uninvolved in decision making which did not allow ownership of the change process to emerge. Furthermore, the flow of information to the team slowed down and the teams concerns about the change did not reach top management implying that communication channels in the new organisational structure were not functioning efficiently. Management style equally affects culture. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) state that culture is the taken for granted assumptions that are accepted by an organisation or team. These work routines are not explicit, but are essential for effective performance. Ignoring these as the new team leader did, reduces motivation and performance, and stiffens resistance to change. Skills Skills are the distinctive capabilities of key people. (Cameron and Green, 2003) The nature of the team membership implied a range of key skills interdependent on the other for effective performance. A problem area in the skills portfolio was information technology skills. The Trust managing the merged hospitals had introduced a Trust wide electronic patient record system in accordance with NHS requirements. (DOH, 2003) This was implemented simultaneously with the decision to extend the working hours. The change aimed to improve the service user experience by allowing staff a 24-hour access to service users care and crisis plans. (DOH, 2003) The staff shortage meant that team members did not receive appropriate training on the system and the use of the electronic patient record system became a source of frustration and confusion. Lack of computer skills contributed to staffs frustration and negative attitudes with the change process. Superordinate goals Superordinate goals are the longer term vision of the organisation and the shared values and guiding principles that that shape the future of the organisation and motivation achievement of strategy. (Cameron and Green, 2003) The teams superordinate goals were initially created during the four-week team building period and aligned with those of the larger organisation. The teams vision was to provide high quality, service user centred care. The team also considered change as a natural part of organisational development. However, the team became increasingly resistant to change when it felt that the organisation did not really care about its employees, their concerns, and the ultimate reason for the organisations purpose, being the patient. DISCUSSION OF CHANGE PROCESS Change management is art of influencing people and organisations in a desired direction to achieve an agreed future state to the benefit of that organisation and its stakeholders. (Cameron and Green, 2003) A number of models can be used to model a change management process. A popular model is Kurt Lewins forcefield analysis. A forcefield analysis is a useful tool to understand the driving and resisting forces in a change situation as a basis for change management. This technique identifies forces that might work for the change process, and forces that are against the change. Lewins model suggests that once these conflicting forces are identified, it becomes easier to build on forces that work for the change and reduce forces that are against the change (Cameron and Green, 2003). The difficulty is the assessment of strength or duration of a force, partlicularly when the human dimension is considered. The key resisting force in the change process was a lack of staff and poor leadership. The change process under discussion was largely motivated by external factors. However, due to poor project planning, Trust management failed to consider the internal factors that had a major impact on the change. In particular, the management failed to involve the necessary stakeholders at a local level to increase ownership of the change thus failed to consider the human dimension (Walton, 1999 and DOH, 2004). The new team leaders autocratic leadership style did not fit the requirements of the task, or the culture of the team and thus sowed the seeds of resistance to change. (Hogg and Vaughan, 2002). The poorly managed change process became costly to the Trust due to the loss of human resources, reduced staff morale and lowered the credibility of the management. The change left the psychiatric liaison team feeling betrayed, and individual team members traumatised. As the change process progressed, it became evident that a thorough analysis of current resources and various dimensions of organisational change had not been carried out (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2005). The management had not prepared a clear plan for launching and executing the change at a local level. The NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders Guide (DOH, 2004) stresses the importance of taking into consideration the human aspect when planning a change project. Similarly, Walton (1999) argues that change initiatives should be thought through and planned as far as possible taking into account the psychological bonds that staff form with their work groups and their organisation as a whole. It follows then that no precautions had been taken to address resistance to change. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) state that there should be a clear communication plan to state how information about the change project will be communicated inside and outside the organisation. The team members were not given an opportunity to challenge and test the change proposal, or clarify what aspects of the change they could or could not influence. (Walton, 1995) Fulop, Protsopsaltis et al, (2004) suggest that change project should be presented as an opportunity to improve the quality of performance and that clinicians should should be involved on a consultative basis. Team members were aware of the consequences of extending the hours of operation without increasing the resources, however, there were no systems in place to communicate these views to the Trust management, a key aspect of the change process. The lack of key stakeholder involvement in the change meant that the management did not have access to the psychiatric liaison teams valuable experience on the immediate and wider implications of cutting down resources. (Henderson, 2002) The team members felt that their concerns about the lack of resources had not been taken seriously, and this inevitably led to a feeling that the Trust did not care about its employees or their views. Strong emotions such as anger and frustration were expressed by the team members. The lack of formal communication channels, meant that the team members took them out on each other. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, (2005) confirm that at times of change, rumours, gossip and storytelling increases in importance and that team members engage in countercommunication, thus unconsiously spreading distrust, suspicion and negativity which leads to lowered staff morale and job satisfaction. Although the rationale for change was clear to everyone, the change was executed at such short notice that the team members did not have time to develop strategies to deal with it. The NHS Improvement Leaders Guide to Managing the Human Dimension of Change (DOH, 2004) suggests that clinicians go through phases of shock, denial, anger, betrayal, conformance and understanding before they finally develop comitment to the change. The team members were left in a state of shock after the service managers initial announcement of the impending change in July 2004 and then moved into a state of denial. The general opinion was that the management would sooner or later realise that the change could not be executed without increasing the resources and accordingly delayed the change process until more staff would be employed. When there was no indication of this in the weeks that followed, the team members became demotivated. The team failed to move on to the next stages in their reactions to cha nge, and commitment to the change process did not develop. The team leaders task-oriented leadership style did not suit the context of the change process, and partly contributed to its failing. Cameron and Green (2003) suggest that leadership will be most effective when the leaders leadership style, the subordinates preferred leadership style and the requirements of the task fit together. A directive leadership style therefore is ineffective if the subordinates preferred leadership style is democratic, even though the task is well defined within tight parameters. In addition, Hogg and Vaughan (2002) argued that the most effective leaders are those who are able to combine task and socio-emotional leadership styles, and organise team members to work towards achieving goals at the same time promoting harmonious relationships. The new team leader paid no attention to the team culture and failed to communicate to management about the impending issue. Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2005) suggest that power is a key element in a change process. Power is the ability of individuals to persuade or coerce others into following a course of action. The new team leaders source of power was based on his hierarchal position in the Trust rather than on expertise or knowledge as shown by the previous team leader. The team members did not consider that the new team leader possessed appropriate expertise or personal characteristics. The team leader exercised coercion which was met with resistance by the team and for this reason the team members lacked respect for him. He was seen as an executor of decisions made by the management. The new team leader appeared to be more concerned about a successful completion of the change, was target driven and lacked sensitivity to employees feelings and concerns. The team leader used his positional power in a negative way, filtered information and gave the management a distorted view of how the staff were coping with the change process. The relationship between the team leader and the staff members eventually deteriorated to a point where communication broke down. Two staff members went on a long term sick leave, and two other staff members resigned. Following a meeting with a union representative in March 2005 the team members, including those who had resigned, made a decision to take grievance out against the teamleader. The key issues brought up in the meeting were the way the change had been introduced, poor project management and the team leaders autocratic management style (Walton, 1999). Back to: Essay Examples CONCLUSION In conclusion, lack of stakeholder involvement, poor project planning and the teamleaders unsuitable leadership style lead to the psychiatric liaison team becomimg fragmented, and resistant to change. No systems were put in place to ensure two-way communication with the employees. Lack of communication reduced the staffs commitment to, and ownership of the change, and lead to a lower quality service provision and increased long waits in A E. The poorly managed change process became costly to the Trust due to loss of trained human resources, staff morale and credibility of the management. Similar incidents occurred in other areas of the hospital indicating that the change processes associated with the merger had created organisational wide problems that were indicative of failure at a top management and strategic level. Strategic leadership is a key element of the change process. A successful merger will only be achieved with consistent communication and the establishment of a vision that percolates throughout an organisation as a basis for effective change to realise the stated benefits of all stakeholders. References Brooks, I. (2002) The Role of Ritualistic Ceremonial in Removing Barriers between Subcultures in the NHS. Journal of Advanced Nursing. Volume 38, 4. Burke, W. W. and Litwin, G H. (1992) A Causal Model of Organisational Performance and Change. Journal of Management. Volume 18, 3. Cameron, E. and Green, M. (2004) Making Sense of Change Management. Kogan Page. Carr, D. K., Hard, K. J. and Trahant, W. J. (1996) Managing The Change Process: A Field Book For Change Agents, Consultants, Team Members And Re-Engineering Managers. McGraw-Hill. Crawford D., Rutter M. Thelwall, S. (2003) User Involvement In Change Management: A Review Of The Literature. National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation. Davies H. T. O., Nutley, S. M. and Mannion, R. (2000.) Organisational Culture and Quality of Health Care. Quality in Health Care. Volume 9. DOH (1998) A First Class Service: Quality in the New NHS. Department of Health. The Stationery Office DOH (2000) The NHS Plan. Department of Health. The Stationery Office DOH (2001) National Service Framework for Mental Health. Department of Health. The Stationery Office. DOH (2002) NHS Leadership Qualities Framework. www.nhsleadershipqualities.nhs.uk Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2002) Star Ratings System for Hospital Performance Has Improved Services For Patients. NHS Modernisation Agency. www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2003) National Programme for IT Announces Further Contracts to Run NHS Care Record Services. www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. DOH (2004) NHS Modernisation Agency Improvement Leaders Guide. www.modern.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. ESHT. (2000) Safeguarding Hospitals in East Sussex: Consultation Document. www.esht.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. ESHT. (2002) Merger of Hastings and Rother NHS Trust and Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust. www.esht.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. Fulop, N., Protopsaltis, G. King, A. Allen, P. Hutchings, A. and Normand, C. (2002) Process and Impact of Mergers of NHS Trusts: Multicentre Case Study and Management Cost Analysis. British Medical Journal. Volume 325. Fulop, N., Protopsaltis, G. King, A. Allen, P. Hutchings, A. and Normand, C. (2004) Changing Organisations: Study of the context and Processes of Mergers of Healthcare Providers in England. Elsevier Ltd. Garside P. (1999) Evidence Based Mergers? British Medical Journal. Volume 318. Henderson, E. (2002) Communication and Managerial Effectiveness. Nursing Management. Volume 9, 9. Higgs, M. and Rowland, D. (2000) Building Change Leadership Capability: The Quest for Change Competence. Journal of Change Management. Volume 1 Number 2. Heron, J. (1999) The Complete Facilitators Handbook. Kogan Page Limited. Hogg, M. and Vaughan, G. (2002) Social Psychology. Prentice Hall. Iles, V. and Sutherland, K. (2001) Managing Change in the NHS: Organisational Change. NHS Service Delivery and Organisation. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy. Text and Cases. Seventh Edition. Prentice Hall. Marquis, B. L. and Huston, C. J. (2003) Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. Miller, D. (2002) Successful Change Leaders: What Makes Them? What Do They Do That Is Different? Journal of Change Management. Volume 2, 4. Mullins, L. J. (2002) Management and Organisational Behaviour. Pitman Publishing. Stock, J. (2002) Case Study: Hastings and Rother NHS Trust. NHS Modernisation Agency. www.modern.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. RCP. (2004) Psychiatric Services To Accident And Emergency Departments. Royal College of Psychiatrists Council Report CR118. London. Stroebe, W. and Diehl, M. (1994) Why Groups Are Less Effective Than Their Members: On Productivity Losses In Idea-Generating Groups. European Review of Social Psychology, Volume 5. Studin, I. (1995) Strategic Healthcare Management. Irwin Professional Publishing. Thomas, N. (2004) The John Adair Handbook of Leadership and Management. Thorogood Publishing. UHCW. (2005). Coventry City Centre AE Department is Being Relocated to Walsgrave Hospital from Saturday 15th Jan. www.uhcw.nhs.uk. Accessed 4 July 2005. Walton, M. (1995) Managing Yourself On and Off the Ward. Blackwell Science Ltd. Webster, R. (2001) An Assessment of the Substance Misuse Treatment Needs of WHO (1984) Glossary of Terms Used in the Health for All. World Health Organisation Series No. 1 8.

symbolaw Symbols and Symbolism Essay - Symbolism in the Title of Chopins Awakening :: Chopin Awakening Essays

Symbolism in the Title of Chopin's Awakening Kate Chopin entitled her second and final novel, The Awakening. In doing so she did not just give an abstract name to her work, but she chose a title with meaning and symbolism. By titling her work The Awakening, Chopin is indicating her feelings and opinions of the Creole society, Edna, her life, and her ultimate decision. The title also symbolizes how Edna defies the constraints of her ordained life as a Creole women and becomes and individual. Furthermore the title the Chopin's novel symbolizes the theme of her novel. In Edna Pontellier's adopted culture, the Creole culture, women have a certain expectations in society. A Creole women must be beautiful, motherly, a good wife to their husbands. "They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels" (pg. 8). This is what was expected of women, it was their place in Creole society. However Edna awoke from this social institution in which women have a predestined life, which they must live the Creole way. Edna became conscious of the fact that this culture is what kept her from doing what she really wanted to do, to love, live, be independent and to express herself as an individual. Throughout the work Edna is constantly awakening from her naps, constantly awakening to a world she cannot escape. "Each morning she awoke with hope..." (pg. 104) and "When Edna awoke with the conviction that she had slept long and soundly ." (pg. 37), these are a few examples of Edna awakening from slumber. It is only through these frequent naps that Edna defies the constraints of the world she lives in. Her awakening from her naps is symbolic of her awakening from the Creole culture and her husband. Not only does the title symbolize Edna's awakening from her social constraints, but the title also conveys Chopin's opinion of society and Edna. By entitling her novel The Awakening, she is stating that there is an injustice to women in society that people need to conscious of, which people need to awaken to and that Edna has indeed awakened to it.

Josephs story Essay

B.Assuming Josephs heart stopped, what cellular processes and membrane functions are going to be affected by loss of oxygen, blood glucose, and waste removal? Joseph’s blood pressure got so high due to the vessels being blocked with plaque, therefore circulation of blood has been blocked and it can no longer receive the nutrients required for it to pump. The body can’t breakdown glucose to make energy, and the increase in CO2 lowers the pH. Active transport on the plasma membrane stops which also stops ATP, and sodium and potassium start to leak out destroying the chemical gradient. C.What intracellular organelles have membranes as part of their structures? How would the breakdown of the membranes of these structures affect the function of josephs heart cells? Endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi complex, the mitochondria and the lysosomes all have membranes in their structure. Whenever calcium levels rose to high the heart went in to a prolonged contraction, the lysosomes usually in the vesicles start to destroy its own membranes. D.Two important pieces of information-instructions josephs body needs to repair itself and his predisposition for vascular disease- are both contained within the cell on which structures? The instructions and information are in the mitochondrial DNA, the body needs this information along with a blood supply to create new cells. Mitochondria contains its own DNA and genes so it can replicate. E.Joseph’s heart attack has caused the function of his cells to change. What types of proteins in the cell membrane were involved in the homeostatic imbalances of his heart cells? Without ATP the sodium potassium ion channels can’t operate. The heart can’t contract properly. Increased Calcium sent the heart in to a prolonged contraction, it convulsed recklessly. F.Why was reestablishing oxygen flow to Joseph’s body so important? What  processes would be affected by lack of oxygen? Without oxygen everything stops. Everything in the body requires oxygen. That’s why breathing is important and involuntary. Without oxygen we can’t the body can’t create ATP, ATP is required for all processes. When Joseph was administered oxygen and given chest compressions he was able to get rid of CO2 which started bringing the pH back to normal and the body was able to make more ATP. H.Explain why josephs heart failed based on what you have learned so far about the function of the cells in the human body. It was caused from a number of things. Hypertension, atherosclerosis, poor diet, lack of exercise. All of these things cause heart disease. Also build of plaque blocks blood flow which increase pressure and eventually it has nowhere to go. Something’s got to give eventually when the body can’t circulate blood quick enough.

Dell Promotion Objectives Essay

Dell’s sales promotion strategies are depended on the different type of consumers such as loyal customers, competitor’s customers, Brand switchers, and prize buyers. A repeated purchase which is the sales promotion objective is very important for any company to reach their goal. Dell offers its customers an option to purchase on internet and to contact Dell employees if they have any problems or questions. . Internet is the most efficient and purest sell model of Dell where consumers’ accesses not only buy the products but also get service and support. Recently, the company recruits more than 2.6 million visitors in every week and form online marketing of Dell, company earn more than $40 million in revenue per week. Moreover, Dell sends off coupon, special offers and also eye catching display of new technology to the customers. Promotions Dell’s strategy was built around a number of core elements: build-to-order manufacturing, mass customization, partnerships with suppliers, just-in-time components inventories, direct sales, market segmentation, customer service, and extensive data and information sharing with both supply partners and customers. Through this strategy, the company hoped to achieve what Michael Dell called â€Å"virtual integration†Ã¢â‚¬â€a stitching together of Dell’s business with its supply partners and customers in real time such that all three appeared to be part of the same organizational team. Dell’s promotional strategies include: 1. Direct Sales: Selling Direct to customers gave Dell firsthand information about customer preferences and needs, as well as immediate feedback on design problems and quality glitches. With thousands of phone and fax orders daily, Internet sales, and daily contacts between the field sales force and customers of all types, the company kept its finger on the market pulse, quickly detecting shifts in sales trends and getting prompt feedback on any problems with its products. Management believed Dell’s ability to respond quickly gave it a significant advantage over rivals, particularly over PC makers in Asia that made large production runs and sold standardized products through retail channels. Dell saw its direct sales approach as a totally customer-driven system that allowed quick transitions to new  generations of components and PC models. 2. Market segmentation: To make sure that each type of customer was well served, Dell had made speco finer, more homogeneous categories. 90 percent of Dell’s sales were to business or government institutions and of those 70 percent were to large corporate customers who bought at least $1 million in PCs annually. Many of these large customers typically ordered thousands of units at a time. Dell had hundreds of sales representatives calling on large corporate and institutional accounts. Its customer list included Shell Oil, Exxon, MCI, Ford Motor, Toyota, Eastman Chemical, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Oracle, Microsoft, Michelin, Unilever, Deutsche Bank, Sony and Wal-Mart. However, no one customer represented more than 2 percent of total sales. Because corporate customers tended to buy the most expensive computers, Dell commanded the highest average selling prices in the industry—over $1,600 versus an industry average under $1,400. Dell’s sales to individuals and small b usinesses were made by telephone, fax, and the Internet. It had a call center in the United States with toll-free lines; customers could talk with a sales representative about specific models, get information faxed or mailed to them, place an order, and pay by credit card. The call centers were equipped with technology that routed calls from a particular country to a particular call center. Thus, for example, a customer calling from Lisbon, Portugal, was automatically directed to the call center in Montpelier, France, and connected to a Portuguese-speaking sales representative. Dell began Internet sales at its Web site (www.dell.com) in 1995; almost overnight achieving sales of $1 million per day. In 1997 Internet sales reached an average of $3 million daily, hitting $6 million some days during the Christmas shopping period. The fastest growing segment of Dell’s international segment was through Internet Sales. Internet sales were about equally divided between sales to individuals and sales to business customers. 3. Advertising: Michael Dell was a strong believer in the power of advertising and frequently espoused its importance in the company’s strategy. Thus, Dell was the first computer company to use comparative ads, throwing barbs at Compaq’s higher prices. The company regularly had prominent ads in such leading computer publications as PC Magazine and PC World, as well as in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and other business publications. In the spring of 1998, the company debuted a multi-year  worldwide TV campaign to strengthen its brand image. Recently, Dell India has launched an integrated marketing campaign for its Inspiron range of laptops. A TVC targeting the youth, created by Grey Worldwide, went on air across entertainment channels. This new campaign is based on stories of ‘personal achievement’. 4. Customer Service: Service became a feature of Dell’s strategy. The company provides a guarantee of free on-site service. Dell contracted with local service providers to handle customer requests for repairs; on-site service was provided on a next-day basis. Dell also provided its customers with technical support via a toll-free number, fax, and e-mail. Bundled service policies were a major selling point for winning corporate accounts. If a customer preferred to work with his or her own service provider, Dell gave that provider the training and spare parts needed to service the customer’s equipment. Selling direct allowed Dell to keep close track of the purchases of its large global customers, country by country and department by department— the information that customers found valuable. Maintaining its close customer relationships allowed Dell to become quite knowledgeable about its customers’ needs and how their PC network functioned. Aside from using this information to help customers plan their PC needs and configure their PC networks, Dell used its knowledge to add to the value it delivered to its customers. Corporate customers paid Dell fees to provide support and service.. Dell’s strategy was to manage the flow of information gleaned from customer service activities both to improve product quality and speed execution. In recent months Dell, following Compaq’s lead, had created a capital services group to assist customers with financing their PC networks. Virtual Integration and information sharing: But what was unique about Dell’s strategy was how the company was using technology and information-sharing with both supply partners and customers to blur the traditional arm’s-length boundaries in the supplier- manufacturer-customer value chain that characterized Dell’s earlier business model and other direct-sell competitors. Michael Dell referred to this feature of Dell’s strategy as â€Å"virtual integration.† On-line communications technology made it easy for Dell to communicate inventory levels and replenishment needs to vendors daily or even hourly. In this regard, a number of Dell’s corporate accounts were large enough to justify dedicated  on-site teams of Dell employees. Customers usually welcomed such teams, preferring to focus their time and energy on the core business rather than being distracted by PC purchasing and servicing issues. 5. Regional Forums: Dell had set up a number of regional forums to stimulate the flow of information back and forth with customers. The company formed Platinum Councils composed of its largest customers in the United States, Europe, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific region; regional meetings were held every six to nine months. Customers were provided opportunities to share information and learn from one another as well as exchange ideas with Dell personnel. Dell found that the information gleaned from customers at these meetings assisted in forecasting demand for the company’s product. 6. Customized Intranet sites: Dell had developed customized intranet sites (called Premier Pages) for its largest global customers; these sites gave customer personnel immediate on-line access to purchasing and technical information about the specific configurations of products that their company had purchased from Dell or that were currently authorized for purchase. Demand Forecasting Accurate sales forecasts were the key to keeping costs down and minimizing inventories, given the complexity and diversity of the company’s product line. Because Dell worked diligently to maintain a close relationship with its large corporate and institutional customers, and because it sold direct to small customers via telephone and the Internet, it was possible for the company to keep a finger on the pulse of demand—what was selling and what was not. Moreover, the company’s market segmentation strategy paved the way for in-depth understanding of its customers’ evolving requirements and expectations. Having credible real-time information about what customers were actually buying and having firsthand knowledge of large customers’ buying intentions gave Dell strong capability to forecast demand. Furthermore, Dell passed that knowledge on to suppliers so they could plan their production accordingly. The company worked hard at managing the flow of information it got from the marketplace and seeing that it got to both internal groups and vendors in timely fashion. Research and Development Company management believed that it was Dell’s job to sort out all the new technology coming into the marketplace and help steer customers to options  and solutions most relevant to their needs. The company talked to its customers frequently about â€Å"relevant technology,† listening carefully to customers’ needs and problems and endeavoring to identify the most cost-effective solutions. The company’s R&D unit also studied and implemented ways to control quality and to streamline the assembly process. Much time went into tracking all the new developments in components and software to ascertain how they would prove useful to computer users.