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Management

Annotated Bibliography

 Section A

 Dissertation title:

 The advantages/ positive influence of emotions on decision making

Research questions:

 What is the positive connection between emotions and informed decision making?

What are the positive impacts of emotions on decision making?

Research method:

Qualitative analysis of previous findings and current con

 Section B

Source 1:

Achar, C., So, J., Agrawal, N. and Duhachek, A., 2016. What we feel and why we buy: the influence of emotions on consumer decision-making. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, pp.166-170.

 One of the easiest way of connection emotions to decision making is through marketing. Marketers have made it a habit to invoke consumer emotions (Achar, So, Agrawal, and Duhachek, 2016 p 166). This article unveils emotions marketers incorporate in marketing projects to appeal to consumers and skyrocket their sales. For instance consumers can be influenced by emotions connected and unrelated to decision making. This is because emotions, are connected to a group of cognitive evaluations which influences decision making. In addition, the article presents an integrated perspective on existing body of literature on the manner in which emotions shape consumer decision making. Consequently, through the vigorous study of consumer emotions, the researchers not only exposes the role emotions play in decision making but also informs on the positive influence emotions have on decision making. In order to make the article inclusive and relevant, the author exploits how unrelated emotions to decision making end up impacting decision making. In the end, the article presents a broader view on the subject matter and exposes the conditions which emotions serve to influence decision making. One of the main advantages of the article is using relevant day to day related situations to demonstrate how positive emotions influence decision making. A marketer’s only intention is ensuring that the consumer’s emotion is moved to the point of making a purchase. Thus, the marketer ensures that he or she is visible and his brand brings forth all the memorable aspects in order to spark emotion and influence the consumer’s mind into making a purchase. On the other hand, the consumer’s experience with a certain brand or product influences how he or she feels about the product. Thus, emotion is forged through experience and first hand impression a consumer makes with the product.

 Source 2:

George, J.M. and Dane, E., 2016. Affect, emotion, and decision making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 136, pp.47-55.

  The article reviews past investigations on distress, emotions, and decision making under the topic of organizational behavior and human decision making mechanisms. Grouping influences of emotions on decision making as an organizational behavior actually gives the reader a context under which to substantiate the narrative of the article. Also, evaluating past body of literature as a basis for confirming information gives the reader a solid reliable background on the topic and issues more inclusive view points on the subject matters hence facilitates in exposing loopholes made in the past. In fact, the review is dependent on four topical issues: the impact on of mood on decision making and how people are able to make discrete decision without haste. In the end, the article gives the reader numerous scholarly perspectives from which to choose from (George, and Dane, 2016 p46). Be exposing the negative side of decision making, the author also applies an integral role emotions have on bad decision making. In addition, the author discusses the short comings of the research and ethical considerations people should make while formulating an informed decision. An operational human mind has to factor in emotion in all the aspects of an informed decision making. Besides, emotions give a hint on the consequences the decision will have an individual and the importance of the decision itself. In simpler terms emotion differentiates important decisions from unimportant decision. It is normal for any human being to make decisions based on intensive emotion. However, emotional may either drive one towards the intended goal for making the decision or drive one further. Subsequently, emotions are part and parcel of the constant cognitive appraisals and reactions mechanisms every human being goes through on a daily basis. Emotions underpin the decision making process due to the strong influence they have on a person.

 Source 3:

Bucurean, M., 2018. The Effects of Moods and Emotions on Decision Making Process ΠA Qualitative Study.

 This article investigative report dwells on the impact of attitudes and emotions on decision making mechanisms. As a result, the researcher interviews 12 managers working under renowned brands in Bihor County. The research’s findings exposes the impact emotions and moods have on decision making process. One of the main themes of the research was the evaluation of the interviews to unveil extensive nature of human emotions on decision making. The first finding claimed that moods and emotions disrupted managers’ capability to process information, particularly, negative moods and feelings decreases managers’ capability to process information, on the other hand, positive dispositions and emotions result in an amplified capability to process information (Bucurean, 2018,p118). The key aspect pointed out in the article is that negative emotions increase the rate at which managers made timely decisions, while positive emotions tend to slow down the rate which managers processed and finalize decision making as the logic played a role during positive decision making. At the end of the research, the researcher aided the reader to know the positive and negative effect emotions had on decision making because at the end of the day, each played a role which led to a certain end.

 Source 4:

Escadas, M., Jalali, M.S. and Farhangmehr, M., 2020. What goes around comes around: The integrated role of emotions on consumer ethical decision‐making. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 19(5), pp.409-422.

 The study aimed to extend human comprehension on the integrative role emotions play on consumer decision making by taking into account positive and negative aspects of decision making mechanisms. This research did not just look at the prior emotions which influence decision making but also the resultant consequences of the actions made. In addition, the author developed scenario which helped in analyzing the relationship between emotions and ethical decision making and other behavioral considerations that come into play in such scenarios. The chance to come up with situations give the reader ability to interpret the roles emotions have on consumer behavior and decision making process (Escadas, Jalali, and Farhangmehr, 2020,p413). In the end, one gets a full picture of how people behave and the emotional situations which drive the behavior. Therefore, the researcher considers important factors which can be included in decision making. Even though each individual has his or her own persona, emotions tend to uniformly influence the decisions of people and may even be a good predictor of certain behavior. In terms of limitation, this study fails to inform on relevance of intentional emotions on other factors apart from the interaction between the consumer and the product. However, it gives enough example to substantiate most of its main arguments.

 Source 5:

Lent, R.W., Ireland, G.W., Penn, L.T., Morris, T.R. and Sappington, R., 2017. Sources of self-efficacy and outcome expectations for career exploration and decision-making: A test of the social cognitive model of career self-management. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 99, pp.107-117.

 The article highlights cognitive models used for occupational examination and decision making and then applies social cognitive models to career management in order for one’s career to prosper, a set of decisions needs to be made so that the career path might take off at some point of one’s life. Normally, the expectations are sources of self-reliance. More so this study includes behavior mastery, oral coaxing, and vicarious learning that affect both positive and negative emotions (Lent et al., 2017, p107).  The study sampled 324 university students who were to filling in a career analysis form so that the researchers explore how they managed making decisions that had lifelong impacts on their careers. In the end, most of the vital decisions were made under the influence of positive emotions which drove some towards certain career paths. Conclusively, the researchers concluded that emotions influence behavior and even how one reacts to situations that will affect them for years to come.

Source 6:

Schulte-Mecklenbeck, M., Johnson, J.G., Böckenholt, U., Goldstein, D.G., Russo, J.E., Sullivan, N.J. and Willemsen, M.C., 2017. Process-tracing methods in decision making: On growing up in the 70s. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26(5), pp.442-450.

This article informs on technics used in tracing decision making procedures. Before one arrives at one final decision, there are numerous factors which have influenced the final outcome. Decision making process shifted from abstract concepts to the appreciation of cognitive mechanisms influencing the entire decision making process. A number of tracing mechanisms have enabled scholars come up with variable explanations explaining underlying reasons for making certain decisions (Schulte et al., 2017 p443). In this particular research, the author offers the reader particular methods used for making a variety of decisions such as making reports and other neural methodologies. In the process of examining decision-tracing mechanisms, the author exposes, considerations, emotions and strategies applied in decision making mechanisms. Consequently, decision-tracing mechanisms can help in unveiling how one decision correlates with another one hence demonstrating a common factor between two varied decisions. For examples, emotions influences reason ad logic hence assist people make day to day decisions without considering the afterthought or consequence of their actions. Thus emotions can make people initiative and attentive to the tasks at hand. Moreover, comprehending human decision conduct often lean towards observable opportunities on the logical underlying emotions that help one arrive at one final answer. For example, gamblers decisions making processes stems from risky emotions and considerations hence rational choices and tenets.

 Source 7:

Patil, I., Larsen, E.M., Kichic, R. and Gleichgerrcht, E., 2020. Moral Cognition About Harm in Anxiety Disorders: The Importance of Experienced Emotion. Psychological Reports, p.0033294120964134.

 Recent studies show that emotional stimulation impacts decision making in sacrificial moral problematic situations. With heightened amounts of stimulations connected to elevated aversion to pledging transgressions and taking full advantage of utilitarian outcomes, emotions tend to be the main source of action. Triggering certain emotions may force one to engage in criminal activity and even tend to focus efforts on reacting to certain outcomes. According to this journal, evidence reveals that anxious patients might be less rational in their decision making skills because they lack the self-control to go through the consequences of their decisions. The study conducted a moral dilemma where 95 patients with an anxiety background were exposed to utilitarian decision making with the intention of capturing emotions and deliberate actions leading to those emotions (Patil et al., 2020p313). The findings revealed that there was a difference between patients who controlled their impulsive emotions and then ones who fulfilled their utilitarian outcomes without foregoing any sacrificial action. The only advantage of this research was that is conclusions were similar to the past researches which revealed that emotions drove decision making and even impacted the expected outcome of the individual. The chance one has to redo a mistake totally lies in the ability to rationally balance other factors before settling on a final decision. In the process, the paper explains the role impulsive emotions play in decision making process and how an individual can critically look at situations from a more neutral angle rather than make rushed decisions without taking into account the negative consequences of the decisions. Furthermore, the research revealed the specific emotions which drive judgmental utilitarian outcomes after one makes a decision.

 Source 8:

Fredrickson, B.L. and Joiner, T., 2018. Reflections on positive emotions and upward spirals. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), pp.194-199.

 The article reflects on a past 2002 article on a similar issue and the advancements made since then. According to the author the report had significant impact on psychological science confines. The chances of permitting ad interacting with new concepts tends to shape the ability of the reader to rationally think of the intentional factors at play and how to come up with solutions to better understand emotions, this article was a first of its own because it published empirical evidence on the impact positive emotions have on decision making process. Most of the times, emotions are a product of positive psychology. Article then goes on to highlight theoretical progressions made in the connection of mental conditioning and emotional stabilization (Fredrickson, and Joiner, 2018p199). To illustrate further, positive emotions tend to improve predictions hence broadening the decision making scope hence the reasons people make rational decisions while sober. Also, based on past studies, 95% of the brain operations takes place in the emotional sections of the brain. Hence the need to come up with ways of engaging this part of the brain in the decision making process. Once one comes up with ways of engaging positive emotions in the decision  making process, then the decisions become more accurate ad long term in terms of the impact and sequential role of the decisions.

 Source 9:

You, X., Ju, C., Wang, M., Zhang, B. and Liu, P., 2019. Age differences in the influence of induced negative emotion on decision-making: The role of emotion regulation. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(5), pp.796-805.

 The journal makes a correlation between age variance and how it affects negative emotions which later influence decision making. The manner in which one regulates emotions influences decision making strategies in the long run the research’s findings indicated that there is a disparity between young and old decision making due to negative emotions. In the process, there is need for the regulation of emotional processes and the incorporation of positive emotions in decision making process (You et al., 2019, p176). Further analysis of the results indicated even though both young and old people might make neutral decisions, negative emotions tend to inhibit the predominant decision making issues involved in sound decision making. In the long run on has to consider the long term effects of the decisions made.

 While most people are dependent on emotions to derive the integral part of decision making, other secondary sections of the decision making process are referred along the lines of issuing accurate information to the decision maker so that he further be able to make sound decisions based on the information handed over among other things which might be of importance to the entire decision making process (You et al., 2019, p 801). At the end, article was able to shape the mind of reader into understanding the actual role negative emotion on decision making and how advancement in age tends to break the norms associated with the distinctive perspectives of decision making for both young and old.

 Source 10:

Vaughan, R., Laborde, S. and McConville, C., 2019. The effect of athletic expertise and trait emotional intelligence on decision-making. European journal of sport science, 19(2), pp.225-233.

 The intentional basis of this article relied on the factual emotions driving human influence which can be later reflected on decision making. Decision making does not stand on its own and a set of cognitive factors influence how people react to each other based on emotional predispositions they experience from time to time (Vaughan et al., 2019,p225). Hence one has to have a certain level of emotional intelligence in order to be able to make sound judgment especially on important issues pertaining critical issues such as performance in sporting arena. When applied in appropriate measures, emotional intelligence has to assess the risks linked to decision making outcomes. More so, the impact positive emotions have on decision making proves that one is a functional human being. The objective of this research was to investigate how athletes employ certain traits to increase performance and at the same time regulate decision making skills. In time, the need to come up with decision making criteria normally arises.

2657 Words  9 Pages

 

Public Safety Planning

 

Strategic planning is a process that focuses on broad policy-level issues. Strategic planning focuses on the long-term vision and how they should work towards achieving it. The top-level manager's design and establishes planning priorities. Strategic planning helps to set the progression for a specific topic such as preparedness and impact other planning projects (State of Maryland 2016). It helps to clarify where an organization is, where it wants to be, and what is required to get there. Operational planning is more specific because it discusses the main actions required to accomplish a mission at a broad- agency precise level. Operational planning designates the activities that should take place but does not provide specifics into how the activities should be performed. An example is supporting evacuation efforts.

Tactical planning puts more emphasis on the current operations and activities and specifically describes those activities (FEMA 2018).  It is the most specific type of planning since it describes even the personnel who is needed to accomplish the activities. Apart from describing the activities, tactical planning may also describe the particular resources and equipment that needs to accomplish the activities. Examples of tactical plans include a sheltering plan.

Emergency planning is a continuing process that involves assessment, plan generation, and the acquirement by people and groups of performance skills acquired through training, exercises, and evaluations. The purpose of emergency planning is to anticipate both active and passive resistance regarding the planning process and establish strategies that will help to manage these hurdles (Lindell & Perry 2008). This is because people don’t like to think about their vulnerability when it comes to disasters and some resist planning because it uses a lot of resources. Emergency planning addresses all hazards such as floods, earthquakes, storms among others that the community is exposed to. To ensure that all the hazards are addressed and that it is effective, emergency planning should involve all response organizations, allow them to participate, and show their commitment to the course. Emergency planning requires planners to have accurate knowledge of how individuals behave during a disaster and determine the appropriate strategies to deal with it. It requires that the emergency managers identify the geographical areas that are prone to disasters and identify the facilities and population that occupy those areas. Emergency planning helps in identifying the types of response actions that are likely to be appropriate. It addresses the connection of emergency response to disaster recovery. It provides training and assessment of emergency response at individual, team, department, and community levels.

The national preparedness system helps to determine how federal organizations and sectors contribute to the correct resources at the correct time in support of state and local processes. Components of the national preparedness system are the development and maintenance of an understanding of the different risks that are encountered by communities and the way this information can be used to create and put up with preparedness (FEMA 2010). A risk assessment gathers statistics about dangers and hazards and the significances. The risk and hazard identification and risk assessment THIRA expands an existing state and local risk identification and risk evaluation. The THIRA requires the whole community to be involved and share information for it to be effective. Analysis of THIRA outcomes helps to guide future preparedness efforts and is also used to educate people on the risks that are facing the community and what roles they play in preparedness. The strategic risk assessment examines the bigger hazards to the nation and the consequences are used in prioritizing preparedness actions at the national level and notify risk evaluation determinations at the state and local levels of the government.

References

FEMA (2010). Comprehensive preparedness guide 101 (Section 1 & 2) –

https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/2020-

05/CPG_101_V2_30NOV2010_FINAL_508.pdf

FEMA (2018) Strategic Plan Federal Emergency Management Agency.

file:///C:/Users/owner/AppData/Local/Temp/FEMAstrategic_planPDF.pdf

Lindell, M. K. & Perry, R. W. (2008). Emergency planning: improve community preparedness

with these basic steps, Emergency Management

http://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Emergency-Planning-Improve-Community.html

State of Maryland (2016). Maryland plan development process (Chapter 1 & 2)

http://mema.maryland.gov/Documents/MD_Plan_Development_Process_April_2016-FINAL.pdf

 

674 Words  2 Pages

 Astra Plc Wellness Program: Fitbit

Project plan

            Fitbit seeks to assist the user maintain good physical and mental health by helping the user to keep track of physical activities engaged in on a daily basis and assessing sleeping patterns to determine the effect they have on the users mental health. The rationale for the app design is based on research suggesting that focusing on one’s physical activities and progress attained helps people to remain driven and focused and relieves stress. The app will therefore keep track of the user’s physical activities, lifestyle choices, diet and sleeping patterns. The data will be used to note areas that need improvement and what steps the user needs to take in order achieve the desired mental and physical health. The processes involved from the period the idea is generated to launch and assessment of results will be analyzed and progress recorded and updated in the in the figure below.

Fig 1.1 Gaant Chart for Fitbit processes against time period set and percentage achieved so far.

Project scope

            Fitbit is a wellness application that will be compatible with all android platforms and will help the user to keep track, record, and display relevant information about their sleeping patterns, physical activity, diet intake and their impact on the user’s physical health and mental well being. The app will be designed to ease access and ensure that the target audience can easily access the features and custom fit them to fit their personal physical and mental needs. The data displayed will also help the user to identify deficiencies and activities in their daily routines that interfere with their desirable health and fitness (Gay & Leijdekkers, 2012). A 3D feature will also be used to give a visual representation of the user’s current health with gamification features that will see the avatar change to reflect similar changes on the user both physically and on a mental level.

            Testing will be carried out using an Android simulator that is run using computer technology. The simulator will allow for testing to take place during different stages of development in order to get rid of any glitches before launch. A group of 10 individual will be selected to test the program, its ease of access and identify areas that need to be innovated more to suit the user’s needs. Once developed, the app will be made available on different platforms in phases (Locke et al, 2014). In the first phase, the app will be linked to various social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. Users will be able to download the app free of charge and their testimonials will act as feedback to determine its effectiveness and identify areas that need improvement. Fitbit will also feature in app purchases where users can subscribe to fitness routines and programs that guide individuals on how to balance their diet to have the most desirable outcomes.

Project Risks

            The major risks that could be encountered during launch are as a result of design and compatibility issues and also competition from similar products in the market.  Fitbit’s differentiation strategy could create great challenges when testing for compatibility to ensure that the design delivers on what it promises. Most fitness apps offer assistance in specific aspects of fitness such as fitness, diet or sleeping patterns (Miner & Miner, 2005). Fitbit however combines all these features and could therefore experience major challenges when designing the app to enhance their functioning capability.  Failure in one aspect could result in the product’s inability to deliver what it promises its users. Since the goal is to enhance the user’s physical, mental and overall well being, any issues resulting from the app’s design and compatibility is likely to limit its ability to promote the user’s overall well being.

            Similar products from the competition also pose great risks to a successful launch especially in an already overpopulated market. The desire to lead health lifestyles has prompted different organizations to offer fitness apps. Their existence in the market means that Astra will have to invest in different marketing and differentiation strategies to set its products apart from those from the competition. The company will therefore be required to engage in different marketing activities and promotions to create awareness of the new product, its features and how it is set to help the target audience satisfy their needs (Miner & Miner, 2005). Astra should therefore utilize its social media platforms as a way to inform potential customers of a new product in the market and how it is designed to satisfy the existing demand. Differentiation strategies will help potential customers to identify Fitbit from similar products and in so doing, gain a competitive advantage.

Project success

Fitbit’s success will be determined by the user’s testimonials as well as the changes displayed by the 3D avatar featured in the app. The testimonials will give vital information regarding the app’s compatibility and user satisfaction with the device futures. Users will be urged to give feedback about their experiences using the app as well as the impact it has had in sustaining their overall physical and mental health. Users will give feedback on different aspects such as the ease of use, accuracy when counting steps, efficiency in tracking sleeping patterns and other features made possible through the app.

Users will also be guided on how to create a 3D avatar that reflects the state of their physical and mental health. The avatar will act as a representation of the user and any changes achieved from using the app on the user will be reflected on the avatar. Changes such as weight loss, muscle gain and overall physical traits that the user experiences will in turn be reflected on the avatar to show users where they started and what changes they have made. The avatar will also offer a means to compare the progress made against the original avatar as a result of physical activities the user engages in through the app. The accuracy of the information will however depend on the user’s ability to identify changes that are attributed to Fitbit from those that are not. Since medical complications can cause weight loss, users will be instructed on how to ensure that the changes reflected on the app are solely as a result of activities suggested through Fitbit.

 

 

 

 

References

Forastiere M, Pietro D and Sannino G, (2017) “A wellness mobile application for smart health:    Pilot study design and results” National Research Council

Gay V and Leijdekkers P, (2012) “Personalized mobile health and fitness: Lessons learnt from     my fitness companion” ResearchGate

LOCKE, L. F., SPIRDUSO, W. W., & SILVERMAN, S. J. (2014). Proposals that work: a guide             for planning dissertations and grant proposals. Los Angeles [etc.], SAGE.

MINER, J. T., & MINER, L. E. (2005). Models of proposal planning & writing. Westport, Conn,             Praeger

Verhoven A, (2020) “Everything you need to develop your fitness app marketing plan” retrieved             from, https://www.adjust.com/blog/fitness-app-marketing-plan/

 

 

1157 Words  4 Pages

 

Leader Development

 

Introduction

            Army leaders are one aspect about the institution that technology cannot replace nor substituted with advanced weaponry and platforms. Adaptable leaders are an irreplaceable asset in completing mission in constantly changing, unstable, and complex environments. Furthermore, they are integral to leading and developing subordinates. The army leader development program aims at producing and sustaining agile, adaptive, and innovative leaders, who can take bold actions and take initiative when faced with dynamic and complex circumstance to achieve missions based on doctrines, orders, and training. The program also imparts integrity and impetus to army leaders to act decisively in the absence of orders or when they do not fit the situation. Through leader development, the resulting army leaders are persons of integrity, competency, and commitment (Yukl et al., 2018). Leader development’s ultimate goal is to provide army leaders who can offer purpose, direction, vision, and motivation to those they lead as well as their subordinates while executing commands. To achieve this, the leader development must consider some important aspects when preparing future army leaders.

            Good Army leaders should be purposeful and goal oriented. Establishing the purpose clearly facilitates leaders to guide, assess, and accomplish development. The leader development principles describe the goals expected of the leaders to successfully carry out their mandate. One of the goals is leading by example. The leaders should also commit to develop their subordinates through carrying out their professional responsibility to counsel, teach, mentor, and coach them. Another goal is creating a positive environment conducive for learning. The army leaders should be able to exercise the art of mission command by the end of their development process. They should exhibit adaptive performance, be creative and critical in their thinking, and exert some effort to know their subordinates and their families. They should serve as role models, have strong intellect, professional competence, physical presence, as well as impeccable morals. The leaders should have expert knowledge of knowing the how and when of soldering tactics on top of being effective leaders. The acquired knowledge is important in shaping the operational environment, prevailing in large-scale ground combat scenarios, avoiding conflicts, and consolidating gains. Leader development should have a clear sight of the purpose to develop leaders who can guide, assess, and accomplish development. Good leaders lead other by building trust among team members and subordinates, are role models, extend their influence beyond the chain of command, and communicate clearly. They should be able to develop by preparing themselves, creating positive environments, develop others, and be stewards of the profession (Alvinius, 2017). Finally, the development process should enable them achieve targeted results and overcome any challenges they may encounter in practice.

            For leader development to occur, the leaders, organizations, and the entire Army must put in place some set of conditions. It is important to establish a culture that supports leader development throughout the organization. Leader development should be part of the daily operations. The prevailing mindset should be that leader development is necessary and achievable. Leaders should designate and protect the time needed for leader development while developing a culture that recognizes and rewards professional development. Leaders influence those in their teams through their behaviors such as how they react during organizational crises (Department of the Army Headquarters, 2019). How leaders prioritize and allocate resources also communicates to the team members of what is important. They way in which they coach, counsel, mentor, and teach also communicates what is valued. They also foster mindsets through how they treat others through recognition, rewards, and feedback offered. The entire organization benefits when leaders institute mindsets supportive of learning and development. They can foster a conducive learning environment by encouraging subordinates to take reasonable risks, develop, and grow through their personal initiative. Moreover, they can set the conditions by getting to know subordinates as persons with unique abilities, skills, goals, and backgrounds. They also set conditions in the organization by performing the duties in manner that sends a message to subordinates throughout the organization that leader development is necessary. Creating an environment that is conducive for learning can yield immense benefits in terms needing resource investment and personal time. Encouraging these conditions will incorporate a mindset of leader development into all organizational requirements and mission accomplishment.

            Feedback is important in guiding and gauging development. Leaders observing subordinates and providing developmental feedback is necessary. Through using the multiple channels available offering feedback provides a more robust and accurate picture of the individual and the developmental opportunities that best suits them. Hence, a leader’s ability to provide feedback immensely improves their development. They can learn more from their day-to-day experiences, which is the most beneficial learning environment. Through providing feedback that is both timely and accurate, the leader performance will be enhanced translating into better unit performance and more accomplished missions. Observation is a useful tool in improving a subordinate’s leader development process. The tool can useful in observing how subordinates are challenged by a development need, apply personal strengths, actions during critical times of unit performance, reach their limits of strength and endurance, make decisions, effects on subordinate leaders and other soldiers, and when they relax and make conversations (Singh, 2015). The only warning is to avoid drawing conclusions utilizing only one observation because it takes multiple before a behavioral pattern emerges. Training briefs can provide continual feedback, however, it has a limitation in that it does not provide assessment on the leadership behaviors. Commanders who are effective in their roles usually observe trainings, participate in the operations, and make time for interacting with subordinates and the units. The observations by the commander or by other personnel such as trainers, peers, first sergeants, operation officers, and many others are all capable of making accurate observations important to assessments and coaching.

Conclusion

            There are important aspects leader development must consider in order to be effective. Through leader development, organizations such as the army are able to develop leaders who are agile, adaptive, and innovative to respond to today complex situations. They also exhibit high commitment to their duties, are persons of integrity, and competent in whatever they do. However, leader development should be purposeful and goal oriented in order to produce good leaders. It should have a clearly established purpose that enables leaders to guide, assess, and accomplish development. The leaders and the entire organization must also institute set conditions to optimize on learning. Making it part of the daily routine will make leader development part of the daily routine, leaders encourage subordinates to develop as leaders by encouraging them to take measured risks to grow and develop. Formal informal feedback can also encourage leader development by guiding and gauging subordinates. Observation and assessment provides feedback that is crucial to confirm or increase self-awareness regarding the developmental process.

        

 

 

 

References

Alvinius, A. (2017). Contemporary leadership challenges. Rijeka: Croatia InTech. Print.

Department of The Army Headquarters. (2019). Army leadership and the profession (adp 6-22). Print.

Singh, M. (2015). Global Perspectives on Recognising Non-formal and Informal Learning: Why Recognition Matters. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Print.  

Yukl, G. A., Uppal, N., & Pearson India Education Services. (2018). Leadership in organizations. Noida: Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd. Print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1192 Words  4 Pages

Scenario 2

Research Needed In the Multi-Month Study To Determine the Future of the Lewisburg P& D Facility and Its Workforce

            The P&G Company applies strategic management to increase output, cooperation, and accessibility to P&G resources. More so, transformation and value creation rely on the management and processing of external partnerships which will then generate strategic innovation (Brown, & Anthony, 2011). Increasingly, in the past ten years, P&G Company brought on board the model of co-creation of an exceptional group of consumers and other stakeholders within the innovation ventures.

Exploratory Research and Innovation

P&G ought to first initiate exploratory research to gain firsthand information on any situation and better outline its organizational objectives. This is because exploratory research facilitates the in-depth study of an undefined problem. Also, exploratory research seems to have a clear comprehension of the existent challenges hence could lead to the provision of conclusive outcomes (Lichtenthaler, 2011). Subsequently, exploratory research commences with a general objective and utilizes the objectives to isolate issues which can then redirect the focus into solving immediate challenges. One of the most important elements is how the researcher can easily alter the subject matters to fit the relevance and insight of the entire organization. Besides exploratory research can be carried out in the preliminary phases of a challenge hence takes a ground approach due to its ability to resolve all the questions. In this particular case, the P&G needs to collect sufficient data on Lewisburg and then effectively use the data to develop and advance the realization of ideas and strategies. Since P&G has not defined Lewisburg's future and R&D facilities, exploratory research will assist the organization to generate solid supposition and queries. In terms of managerial roles, exploratory research will help P&G come up with strong, established priorities, create operative definitive, and upgrade the final research outline. Investigators can then make use of monitoring to gather information related to how workers at R&D facility interrelate with other branches. It would be strategic if the managers would get information about the amount of interaction needed between the two branches by comparing information flow and work input.

Research Design

Problem Statement

 As noted, P&G Company is transferring its IAMs pet food department from Vandalia to Mason. Due to the company’s huge size, the move will affect the cohesiveness of its workforce and force a reshuffle of positions hence slowing down routine operations (Regev, 2011). Therefore, even though the aim of moving from Vandalia to Mason is to increase productivity, without careful consideration, the moving process may slow down the routine activities due to lack of a proper framework to coordinate company activities.

The Purpose of the Research

            P&G is a company that targets consumers spread across more than 40 countries. Capturing the needs and wants of the company is key in defining the success of the company. The ability to extensively create an additional branch, distribute the workforce effectively and then sustain a cohesive workforce in Lewisburg and Mason relies on purposely collecting enough data that will ensure increment in the collaboration and effectiveness of different branches located in different sectors (Micheli et al., 2019). Thus, the research paper has to ensure the evaluation of integration in terms of work ethic, structural operations, or technical alterations all through various company branches. Additionally, harmonizing internal and external operations depends on defining distinct lines between different workforces. For instance, the multi-study should explore and then define the functions of Mason’s workforce consequently comparing it to Lewisburg to formulate accurate objectives and develop a mutual goal for the two branches. One of the specific or recommended mechanisms of contextualizing and enlarging the vision of an organization is by motivating workers to feel as if they are part of the organizations and that their vision is also the organization’s vision in the long term.

 Secondly, ensuring workers obtain real-time feedback to assist them to evaluate their performance is a common way of engaging the workers in the core operations of the company. The circulation of feedback between top managers and workers strengthen the cohesiveness and promotes conducive working conditions where employers can be open about issues (Micheli et al., 2019). Obtaining feedback from workers fosters better clarity on emerging issues encountered on a daily basis. In the end, the workers have to collaborate with the managers to ensure increased productivity and efficiency within different company branches.

Independent Variables

 Time is the main independent variable in the research. While the researchers relate the relationship between different branches and workforce, time will remain constant all through the research (Brown, & Anthony, 2011). The research centers its argument on establishing a firm association between these variables.

Dependent Variables

            The dependent variable is cohesiveness as it depends on the workforce relations and management of internal operations (Brown, & Anthony, 2011). More so, organizational hierarchy influences personality and types of activities the workers will be engaged in from time to time. Furthermore, productivity and efficiency are under dependent variables.

Research questions

What are the common managerial frameworks between Mason and Lewisburg?

 What are the transferable skills needed in Mason and Lewisburg?

How can the managers define the future of Lewisburg’s business performance?

What are the mechanisms workers can use to adapt to new working environments?

Type of Sample Picked For the Study

            The research centers on the business operations and the management of different branches. Hence, the research will sample the 250 workforces. This is because, during the transfer from Vandalia to Mason, 240 workers were displaced. Sampling these workers will unveil the underlying reasons which caused the displacement. More so, the main reason for the transfer from Vandalia to Mason was to increase productivity (Chesbrough, 2012). However, displacing workers affects the core operations of the organization and slows down the movement since a shortage of workers tends to draw back the nitty-gritty details of the transfer. Therefore, the 240 workers will indicate how internal systems can be aligned to external operations so that the transfer cannot halt any operational systems within the company.

How the Sample Will Be Recruited

 The sample will be recruited based on the impact of the transfer from Vandalia to Mason. Workers whose skills were rendered useless during the move will be considered and their feedback will be used to draw out the conclusive findings of the research. Even though the sample is already isolated, how each worker was affected differs greatly hence personal suggestions are to be considered firsthand before making any conclusive sentiments. Thus, the degree of impact may deviate occasionally due to how each work was impacted by the displacement.

How the Research Will Be Conducted

            Typically, the research aims to define or strengthen the collaboration ties between various P&G branches. In this particular case, the researchers should initiate a guided discussion among the workers and managers (Chesbrough, 2012). The aim of a guided discussion should be to collect data and gaining an understanding of various perspectives within a brief time frame. For instance, focus groups can be formed to discuss specified objectives and operations in different branches. Also, the focus groups can help the company gather data on the weakness and strengths of the company.  In short, a guided discussion will be a pivotal point for the collection of information and formulating a way forward.

After the guided discussion, the researchers may apply observational mechanisms. Observation is a primary research mechanism where people do not need to come into contact with each other. Rather, the managers and workers can observe and report their findings. Subject observation may take place in two ways (Chesbrough, 2012). The first is by taking note of the happening within the company and reporting actual matters to top managers. The second observation mechanism may take place under uncertain frameworks where the company only employs certain people to observe certain occasions within the company.  In summary, observation will help inform on the actual operations of the company and isolate weaknesses and strengths.

How to Ensure the Research Participants Are Safe and the Benefit of the Research

No participant will use his or her personal information. The feedback will remain anonymous hence no one will be held accountable for any sentiments made (Chesbrough, 2012). Also, the participants will be given an option before taking part in any of the research questions hence they will have total autonomy over all the aspects of the research.

            The research will unveil implementable strategies that will then help the company improve it's business relations activities in different branches (Chesbrough, 2012). Secondly, the relevance of the research will assist the managers to come up with appropriate cohesive measures while dealing with workers and different localities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Brown, B., & Anthony, S. D. (2011). How P&G tripled its innovation success rate. Harvard Business Review, 89(6), 64-72.

Chesbrough, H. (2012). Open innovation: Where we've been and where we're going. Research-Technology Management, 55(4), 20-27.

Lichtenthaler, U. (2011). Open innovation: Past research, current debates, and future directions. Academy of management perspectives, 25(1), 75-93.

Micheli, P., Wilner, S. J., Bhatti, S. H., Mura, M., & Beverland, M. B. (2019). Doing design thinking: Conceptual review, synthesis, and research agenda. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 36(2), 124-148.

Regev, G., Favre, J., Hayek, E., Wilson, P., & Wegmann, A. (2011, June). Business/IT alignment in practice: Lessons learned from a requirements project at P&G. In International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (pp. 93-101). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

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Housing Affordability

 The housing market relies on demand. A high demand tend to increase rent rates. This correlation explains the reverse relationship between housing and job growth. In most towns where people are able to secure jobs, rent arrear remains at an all-time high. A job implies a reliable salary but this does not translate into affordable housing. It only means that people will drive the demand due to a ready market. A higher demand ensures that landlords control the pricing (Mulliner, Smallbone, & Maliene, 2013). Consequently, most people on full time employment may not easily find proper housing in towns where employment is high. Furthermore, a situation where housing is expensive due to high demand, policy makers have always ensured that the people are focused on creating alternatives such as subsidized housing. Even though housing market growth varies from one region to another, the housing sector may negatively impact the economy as a high housing increase living expenses hence a region might fail to be attractive to dwellers.

            Apart from high employment rates increasing rent rates, unaffordable housing stems from two factors. The first factor is that housing consumes a larger portion than other items in the budget in most communities. For instance, one household may spend a quarter of their total revenue on housing costs while people living in abject poverty may set aside a half of their salary on housing (Mulliner, Malys, & Maliene, 2016). The second factor is the popularization of metropolitan regions hence an increase in housing as people move into the metropolitan regions. Most of the times, housing affordability is controlled through policy making. However, economists claims that housing affordability is relative and insist on the delivery of housing quality and income hence giving people that ability to borrow loans or even own housing facilities.

References

Mulliner, E., Smallbone, K., & Maliene, V. (2013). An assessment of sustainable housing affordability using a multiple criteria decision making method. Omega, 41(2), 270-279.

Mulliner, E., Malys, N., & Maliene, V. (2016). Comparative analysis of MCDM methods for the assessment of sustainable housing affordability. Omega, 59, 146-156.

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Compare and Contrast Directing Style and Transformation Style Leadership

Directing Style

 Introduction

 Leadership styles facilitate the accomplishment of activities within a certain period of time. The role of the leader gravitates towards ensure that a tea, has the needful tools needed to accomplish the tasks at hand (Sethuraman, & Suresh, 2014). One way of achieving this is through the application of leadership styles. Different leadership styles are able to solve different problems under different circumstances. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the managerial aspects of directing and transformational leadership styles.

 Directing leadership style

 The directing leadership styles integrates extensive focus on activities with low focus on social managerial aspect. In this types of leadership, leaders state the terms to the worker or employer or soldier the way forward and then expects them to complete the task at hand. Hence directing leadership leaves no room for questioning. Additionally, directing leadership is useful in situations where an organization’s aim is shaping new tentative workers or those who are indecisive. More so, the workers are forced to adhere to the information given with no room for compromise hence the activities are defined and specified (Buble, Juras, & Matić, 2014). Nevertheless, the misuse of directing leadership style may lead to unmotivated workers who feel expendable and underappreciated. In simpler terms, directing style pivots on the leader. Normally, under no circumstance does the subordinate contributes to the final decision but rather obeys the detailed information dictated to him or her. Secondly, in directing style, the leaders closely supervises a subordinate’s actions. Therefore, the leader does not explains him or herself. This type of leadership style befits contexts where the subordinate is inexperienced or during combat situations. An effective way of utilizing this leadership style. Due to the dictatorial nature of directing style, the leader gives attention to activities or operations than the social association he or she has with the subordinates. In most cases, the leader fails to form a relationship with the subordinate (Sethuraman, & Suresh, 2014). Consequently, the leader’s role is offering distinct and regular follow-up on the instructions given. In the long run, the leader’s aim is completing the tasks while keeping pushing the subordinate to appropriately use certain skills to achieve success.

Transformational Style of Leadership

 On the other hand, transformational style of leadership does not center on the leader unlike directing style where the leader has to ensure that the directives are followed to the later. A transformational leader influences, instigate and encourage subordinates to innovate and produce alternatives that will later grow and affect the future. In other words, transformational leadership entails inspiring other people to make a change (Gumusluoglu, & Ilsev, 2009). Thus, this kind of leadership stimulates personal growth both professionally and individually. In order for the transformational leader to work effectively, one has to empower and motivate the soldiers or subordinates- first as soldiers and as a group of people. As a transformational leader, one has to interpret the logistics behind his or her directives unlike in directing leadership style where subordinates cannot question the motive behind the directives given to them. As a result of the interaction between a transformational leader and the subordinate, soldiers gain a wealth of information and understanding on the reasons behind every decision. Therefore, a personal initiative arises from the soldiers to seize opportunities as they arise. This type of leadership style pays off when the subordinates acquire valuable skills and can work under minimal supervision. Under a transformational leader, there is no need for micromanaging or heavy supervision. Tasks are carried out and completed on their own without too much directives (Sethuraman, & Suresh, 2014).  In addition, this type of leadership style employs creative tendencies which in turn gives workers a chance to widen their critical thinking capabilities and locate suitable solutions to impending challenges which in the long run tend to benefit the entire organization. In the end, both the subordinates and transformational leader benefit.

Similarities

 Both leadership styles require the subordinate to accomplish certain tasks. Secondly, the aim of transformational and directing is to accomplish tasks precisely as dictated through the leader (Sethuraman, & Suresh, 2014). Also, transformational and directing styles of leadership inform on the development of skills and accuracy of the said skills.

Conclusion

 Directing leadership style dictates orders to the subordinates. Transformational leadership style motivates and encourage the subordinates. A transformational leader’s role is ensuring that all the people are inspired to change the conditions while in directive leadership once cannot question the motives of the leaders. In the long run a subordinate working under a transformational leader acquires skills and talents while the one working under a directing leadership remains at the hand of the directing leader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Buble, M., Juras, A., & Matić, I. (2014). The relationship between managers’ leadership styles and motivation. Management: journal of contemporary management issues, 19(1), 161-193.

Gumusluoglu, L., & Ilsev, A. (2009). Transformational leadership, creativity, and organizational innovation. Journal of business research, 62(4), 461-473.

Sethuraman, K., & Suresh, J. (2014). Effective leadership styles. International Business Research, 7(9), 165.

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 Comprehensive financial Analysis

 

Background and Brief History of Walmart

            Walmart’s history is synonymous with that of its founder Sam Walton to give consumers great value and exceptional customer service (Walmart.com). The founder was of the opinion that great customer service derived from leadership. The principle of willingness to serve through true leadership continues to be true in the business today and the bearing of the decisions the company has made in the last 50 years. The company believes Sam Walton’s principles will guide its journey into the future.

            The founder Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He joined the military in 1942 and left in 1945. He moved to Iowa and eventually to Arkansas gaining useful retail experience through various variety stores he operated. Sam operated various stores throughout the 1950s opening the first Walmart store in 1962 at the age of 44 years. Sam was a trendsetter in the retail space with competitors believing that offering consumer lower prices and exceptional service could not work in the long-term.

            The company went public in 1970 exceeding even Sam’s expectations. The result was a steady expansion plan of the company financed by the proceeds from going public. The company attributes its early rapid growth to large number of consumers attracted by the low prices and also to its partners. Sam considered the partners to Walmart important and they were instrumental in the success story of the company. The growth of Walmart throughout its existence goes beyond the stores the company has built, the partnership it has built, and the great customer service it has offered to its customers. The success story owes to the detailed view it adopts throughout its history. The growth and leadership has changed the retail industry forever.

The Assessment of the Current Macroeconomic Environment

            The macroeconomic environment is the space in which retailers do their business. The future of the industry depends on the ability to acquire information about the environment and analyze it to make decisions on its future operating model. Hence, it is imperative for Walmart to understand the elements and trends in the retail environment to take advantage of the opportunities and navigate the threats. Scholars attribute failure of most retail businesses due to their lack of judging the macroeconomic environment. Recognizing the trends and elements in the industry can enable firms such as Walmart to take advantage of growth opportunities, thus avoiding failure as it is the norm currently.

            Firstly, political factors such as government policies and regulations affects businesses in the retail industry. The political environment interrelates to other factors such as economic and supply chains. Operating in a politically stable environment means less disruptions of the selling process and the international supply chains. Walmart has to be careful not to go against anti-trust laws especially in the Trump presidency as seen by the problems encountered by online retailer Amazon. Walmart has ambitious plans to be a market leader in the online retail space as seen by its recent acquisitions.

            Tiffany faces a similar macroeconomic environment as Walmart despite being a luxury jewelry and specialty retailer (Tiffany & Co, 2019). The economic factors such as inflation, foreign exchange rates, aggregate demand, savings rate, and aggregate investment affects both Tiffany and Walmart. However, Walmart offers low prices on its goods and services while Tiffany goes for the high-end market. In situations of an economic down turn, the company that likely to suffer more is Tiffany than Walmart that offers budget prices. However, in case of an economic down turn, Walmart may need to increase its production levels, and if it does not prices may rise leading consumers shifting to other low-budget retailers. The consumers will likely be buying necessities when the economy declines, so by Walmart raising prices will mean its products remaining on the shelves indefinitely. Walmart operates in many markets, therefore, it has to be aware of the interest rates and taxes that will affect its bottom-line. Tiffany, on the other hand, considers factors such as economic systems, government policies, financial market efficiencies, infrastructure quality of jewelry stores, education levels, labor costs, economic growth, comparative advantage among other factors in analyzing the economic environment it operates.

            Both companies have to consider social factors in the macroeconomic environments they operate. Shared attitudes and beliefs impact how the companies operate by having a view of the customers they serve. The social factors will determine how the companies communicate their marketing messages. Tiffany considers the demographics, education, culture, entrepreneurial spirit, and leisure interests in analyzing the social environment. On the other hand, Walmart, in analyzing the social environment considers factors such as the interest of the target market. For instance, Walmart’s inability to recognize the differences of Germany market cost it a $1 billion dollars. Walmart did not adjust its marketing strategy from that of the American market to fit that of the Germany audience. There are markets that are health conscious and, hence, Walmart has had to introduce organic and healthy offerings in its products.

            Technologically, Walmart has had to introduce robots and automations to better serve its customers. The multinational has had to do this to respond to the digital transformation necessary in today’s operating environment. Additionally, going online has immense benefits by reaching more customers. Nothing less is expected of a big brand such as Walmart than automation of its business processes. Tiffany, on the other hand, in its analysis of the technological environment it has had to consider a number of factors such as technological developments, its impact on the products it offers, cost structure of stores, value chain, and rate of technological diffusion.

            Companies such as Walmart have had to respond to the different environmental standards and standards in various jurisdictions they operate. Different countries have differing laws and liabilities that can affect the companies’ profitability. For example, environmental laws in the United States differ from those in the European Union. Before establishing base in a given country, it is important to evaluate the environmental standards required to operate. Finally, the companies should consider the legal factor in order to abide by various laws and regulations. The laws include labor laws, safety laws, and data protection laws. For example, Walmart had to settle $65 million to 1,000 former employees who sued the company for not providing seating accommodation.

Industry Analysis

            The current analysis will use Porter’s Five Forces to understand the industry and underlying factors that determine profitability of both companies. First is the threat of new entrants for new jewelry stores bring innovation putting pressure on Tiffany. The company responds to this threat by innovating on products and services it offers, building economies of scale, and building capacity in research and development. On the other hand, Walmart responds to this threat by being aggressive to remain competitive because of the strong competition it faces. There many firms offering similar products and services of different sizes. In its strategy the company considers the large number of firms, larger variety of retail firms, and their high aggressiveness.

            Walmart experiences weak intensity of consumer bargaining power in the retail sector. The large number of customers makes it difficult for them to impose pressure on Walmart. The weak forces include large population of buyers, high diversity, and small size of buyer purchases. On the other hand, Tiffany experiences buyer pressure because of their demand to buy the best products at the minimum price possible. the buyers are demanding because of the small customer base and, thus seek often seek bargains and discounts.

            The bargaining power of suppliers is a weak force for Walmart. There are many suppliers who face tough competition and high availability. They, thus cannot affect the strategic growth of the retailer impacting their bargaining power. The retailer manages supplier influence on the business through its corporate social responsibility strategy. Compared to Walmart, Tiffany has relatively fewer suppliers who use their position to negotiate and extract higher prices. Tiffany responds to this force by building efficient supply chains, experimenting on product designs, and developing loyal supply base who depend on the company.

            The threat of substitutes is a weak force in Walmart. The retailer offers a wide variety of products and services that have few or no substitutes. The substitutes are readily available, however, the low variety makes it difficult for buyers to shift as they are more expensive. Tiffany responds to the threat, on the other hand, by being service oriented rather than product oriented, understanding the unique needs of the customer, and increasing the switching costs for the buyers. The company has to respond this way because the threat of substitution is high because other stores offer value propositions different from those offered by the firm.

            Walmart’s strategic plan must consider the threat of competition and entry of retailers offering similar products and value propositions as the firm. The strategy is generic and must continually grow to keep it competitive. The company should invest more in automation of its processes such as its supply chain to remain competitive into the future. The other aspect the company should emphasize to remain competitive in the industry is its human resource management strategy. The strategy can help build workforce competencies to support its ambitious growth strategy. On the other hand, the implication of the five forces on Tiffany is that it should gain a complete picture of the industry. They should be able to stay ahead of the curve by studying industry trends to swiftly exploit any emerging trends. Both companies can shape the forces in their favor by learning and responding to them early unlike macroeconomic forces that are out of their hands.

Analysis of the Income Statements and Cash Flows

            The revenues of Walmart grew 2.8% in financial year 2019 from 2018. The revenues were $514,405 million and $500,343 million in 2019 and 2018 respectively. The percentage change in net sales in 2019 from fiscal year 2018 was 2.9%. the percentage change in the US market was 3.7% compared to Sam’s Club, which was 5.4%. The company recorded a gross profit margin of 24.5% in 2019 from the previous year. The US sales of the company grew at the highest rate in 2019 as compared to the last 10 years (Walmart, 2019). The ecommerce sales nearly doubled those of the US market. The operating cash flows of the company remained healthy at $27.8 billion. The financial priorities of the company continue to be strong through emphasizing an efficient growth strategy, managing operating cash prudently, and allocating capital strategically.

            The net sales of Tiffany were $4,424 million in 2019 same as in 2018 showing a 0% increase. The net earnings were $541.1 million in 2019 compared to 2018 when they were $586.4 million. The net earnings decreased in 2019 compared to the financial year 2018 due to a difficult operating environment. The cash flows from operating activities were $670.9 million in 2019 compared to 2018 when they were $531.8.

Balance Sheet Analysis

            The balance sheets of both companies remain healthy despite the aggressive expansionary plan of Walmart and the mergers pursued by Tiffany. The total assets of Tiffany in 2019 were $6,660.1 million. The shareholder equity was worth $3,335.4 million as in the books of the company in 2019 (Tiffany & Co, 2019). Comparison of the company’s five-year total return shows that the company’s stock performed below that of the S&P 500 stock index and the S&P 500 consumer discretionary index.

            The five-year cumulative total shareholder return for Walmart shows that company stock performed below that of the S&P 500 index and S&P 500 Retailing Index in the period 2014 to 2019. The total assets of the company were $219,295 billion compared to $204,522 billion in 2018 (Walmart, 2019). The accrued liabilities were $22,159 billion in 2019 a slight increase from 2019 when they were $22,122.

Recommendations

            Walmart acknowledges that its ambitious growth strategy comes with risks. The company’s wage bill continues to grow. It has also invested heavily in its partners, ecommerce, and its pricing models. The company’s aggressive acquisition plan such as in businesses FlipKart and Jet means its growth trajectory. The company also sees growth prospects in markets such as Japan and China. The company’s good results in ecommerce means its good place for investors to put their money. However, the company’s stock has been performing poorly compared to the market indices. However, through improved discipline in their operating models and strategic allocation of capital to ensure a good return on investor funds. The unique assets and financial strength position will ensure long-term growth and a bright future for the company. In the short-term the company should be flexible and capability to meet its financial objectives.

            Tiffany’s stock has also been operating below the market indices though slightly. As the case for any retailer, the company faces a number of hurdles in achieving its objectives and expectations. However, there are a number of risk factors that are specific to the company. The risk factors may impair the company operating model in the future though they may be immaterial now. However, the strong management coupled with its strong position and recognizable brand means it is a good by for the investor. I would advise an investor to buy Tiffany’s stock in the short-term, but not in the long-term. This is because the market is prone to new entrants who are innovative and economic down-turns that are likely to see the consumers cut back on luxury spending. Contrary, I would advise the investor to buy Walmart shares in the short and long-term because of its focus on low prices and aggressive expansionary plan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/our-history#:~:text=In%201950%2C%20the%20Waltons%20left,5%2610%20on%20the%20downtown%20square.&text=Inspired%20by%20the%20early%20success,of%2044%20in%20Rogers%2C%20Arkansas.   

Tiffany & Co, (2019). Annual Report On Form 10-K for the Year Ended January 31, 2020 Notice of 2020 Annual Meeting And Proxy Statement. https://investor.tiffany.com/static-files/31f6f35f-4107-4943-aa6e-a2010e6f551a

Walmart, (2019). 2019 Annual Report: Defining the Future of Retail. https://s2.q4cdn.com/056532643/files/doc_financials/2019/annual/Walmart-2019-AR-Final.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Army Basic Leader Course

 

            The Basic Leader Course (BLC) is the inaugural step for Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) in their leadership journey. The course lasts a month and imparts skills to corporals and specialists to lead small groups of soldiers (War College U.S. Army, 2018). The course is an intensive process as well as being hard-hitting with a particular focus on leadership skills. The aim is offer soldiers a pathway of ascending to the rank of a sergeant. Among the course topics covered include leadership, map reading, training management, land navigation, warfighting, and drill and ceremony.

            The course is a crucial step because it is the first official step in the learning process of non-commissioned soldier. Army personnel can get a waiver on the course while on deployment, but they have to complete it on Return to the United States. The course can be very beneficial in helping soldiers understand the concepts of fellowship, leadership, and the goals for their careers and personal lives. The army personnel learn how to be servant leaders by helping others achieve their true potential.

            The military continues to invest significant resources in developing service members with exceptional leadership competencies. The army in particular is keen on leadership development that is a lifelong process that begins with the basic leader course right after enlisting. The soldier development process is guided by three training domains of institutional, operational, and self-development. Each domain equips the soldier with unique contribution towards their leader development process. The army basic leader course is the start of a deliberate, continuous, and progressive process that conforms to the values of the organization.

            The course challenges the soldier to take up more responsibility. The army is the largest service branch in the military, hence the usefulness of the course. The resources and extensive training within the course not only imparts leadership skills but also associated competencies. During the course process, trainees will be routinely placed in leadership roles such as facilitating training sessions, leading physical fitness, and guiding unit missions to see how they handle the pressure. The continuous exposure to pressure during the course enables soldiers to understand the meaning of effective leadership.

            The army basic leader course recognizes the technological advancements in the world today. The course is a revised program in response to the new type of warfare seen today. It encourages to innovate by utilizing new strategies for leadership development. The course in-calculates emerging methodologies such as e-learning, emphasizing interactions between superiors and juniors, and even the innovative participant selection process to make it relevant. The traditional training methods have been found to be inadequate in today’s technologically advanced world, thus the emphasis on expanding new learning models such as e-learning programs. The course in-calculating the e-learning model offers learners increased autonomy to complete classes at their own time leading to improved understanding of essential principles of leadership.

            The course avoids historical practices of being selective with who completes the leadership development programs by requiring all to participate. It ensures all service members are exposed to leadership growth opportunities (Weiner, 2016). The army basic leader course is one way of ensuring the soldier receives leadership skills early on in their career. The soldiers are challenged to be leaders among their peers and subordinates at one point or another in their career by undertaking this useful course. In conclusion, the army uses the course to expose the low-ranking personnel to the roles other service members plays. Hence, the participants can learn the jobs of their superiors in preparation to fill the roles in future.     

 

References

War College U.S. Army. (2018). HOW THE ARMY RUNS: A Senior Leader Reference Handbook, 2017-2018 (31st edition): LULU.Com.

Weiner, L. J. (2016). 3 Benefits of Military-Style Leadership Training. HealthLeaders. https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/strategy/3-benefits-military-style-leadership-training

 

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Effective Performance Measures to Evaluate Programs and Management in the Public Sector

            The pursuit of high accomplishment in the public sector is not new. For many years, administrators, politicians, and general citizenry have been concerned about productivity, efficiency, and government organizations' economies. The attempts to weigh outputs of different public agencies and to assess their outcomes or impacts have long been objectives for different reformers and policymakers looking for improvements in government performances.

           Early advocates such as Woodrow Wilson maintained that the object of public administration included first discovering what the government can correctly and effectively do (Guo 2019). Secondly, how it can do those things efficiently and with the least possible cost either of money or energy. Wilson supposed that the science of administration should exist to straighten out the trails of government, and make it's business efficient, build up its body and crown its responsibilities. Because today governments serve several public sectors, their functions are more complex and this is why Wilson advocated for the importance of great effective measures in running a public administration. 

 In the last fifty years, the impetus to weigh has taken an extra urgency as trust in the government has reduced, the stress on managerialism has intensified, the function of different government intervention measures has been re-evaluated and budget pressures skyrocketing. Evaluation and performance measurement is now crucial as essential plans for change, whose fundamental components incorporate high flexibility in conducting administrative activities (Cepiku 2017). Privatization, decentralization, devolution, and more focus on convenience, demand, loosening traditional accountability forms, and reconsidering what government should provide indirectly and directly.

Therefore, performance evaluation and measurement of various public sector undertakings is a critical initiative to streamline government, increase effectiveness and productivity, acquire greater efficiency, enhance accountability and transparency, and regains public trust in different institutions owned by the government. In the public sector, there are established success measures that may focus on decrease or increase profitability, rate of production, and the quality of individual goals and rate at which they are accomplished (Kim, 2016). Most importantly, results are evaluated; based on the baseline calculated by the manager and the benchmark, people may justify their satisfaction with performance attained or not.

           Dwight Waldo connected public administration to the ideas of the past and posed a challenge to the field to contemplate other methods of investigation as dependable principles for decision making. He maintained that public administration and scientific management were correlated features of one occurrence; a certainty in positivism as the suitable science to lead human activities. Waldo’s views were that public management resting mainly on positivism shows the preeminence of administrators and a managed policy (Meier 2015). He maintained that the essential responsibilities of pursuing coherence, competence, and economy are administrative and rely on scientific policies. Herbert Simon on the other hand maintains that decisions should account for norms and principles, connect means to ends, ascertain reasonable options and systematize processes where systems improve transparency and assessment.

These views have an impact on the public administration today in that, most of the United States cities leverage the performance monitoring systems monitoring approaches, while most federal government agencies use the information to facilitate decision-making. Several other nations use robust management improvement systems with a stress on result evaluation being incorporated. In Spain, program management and budget employ strategic planning to match goals with outcomes and outputs (Cepiku, 2017). These approaches focus on modernizing the government. Therefore, this implies that there exists no single method of conducting evaluation and selecting performance measures. Thus, a combination of different standards has proved the most effective way of capturing the program’s or agency’s effectiveness.

           Waldo is known as a deviating criticizer of the dichotomy between politics and administration. He conceptualized politics and administration intently as deciding and executing.  Waldo’s idea of politics management could be known better as a connection that includes features of separation and mixture rather than a dichotomy (Guo 2019). Waldo states that the relationship between political science and public administration had been opposed. Later on, as political science went through its behaviorist revolution, public administration opened up to humanistic and non-positivists approaches.

 All these approaches assume the greater salience as a governance concept that has replaced more traditional views about how the public sector operates. The most critical aspects of governance are the concept of cooperation and partnership among non-profit, private, and public sectors (Kim, 2016). This way, the government cannot be the dominant or sole provider of most public services. Its function is rather one of the lenders, purchasers, contractors, regulators, or funder for others' services. The traditional approach to evaluating management policies has always focused on inputs and activities. However, it is possible to incur considerable program costs in inputs and management resources and fail to produce quality outcomes. Evaluating such a program based on the cost of inputs and the extent of managerial activity would rate it as high performing, albeit having a poor result. Since these programs' principal aims are to deliver services to the public, the logical measure of performance would be to quantify and rate the program output. For example, rating criteria could be based on school enrollment, tons of farm produce harvested, or revenue collected. Any other operational performance measure, to be reliable, must be, in effect, an attribute of the program output. Such are but are not restricted to, waiting before service delivery or program completion. Another effective performance measure is to evaluate the cost per quantifiable unit of output, where the lower the cost, the higher the performance rating.

 

 

References

Cepiku, D. (2017). Performance management in public administrations. Handbook of Global Public Policy and Administration.

Guo, S. (2019). Political-Administrative Dichotomy: Its Sources, Logic and Debates. Open Journal of

Social Sciences, 7(03), 356.

Kim, J. (2016). Impact of performance appraisal justice on the effectiveness of pay-for-performance systems after civil service reform. Public Personnel Management, 45(2), 148-170.

Meier, K. J. (2015). Proverbs and the evolution of public administration. Public Administration

Review, 75(1), 15-24.

993 Words  3 Pages

 

Leadership development analysis

The book “Develop your leadership skills” by John Adair (2007) gives insight on what it takes to be a leader and how to go about gaining the skills needed to not only lead, but also teach others to be leaders. The authors base their premise on the belief that people can develop their leadership abilities and gain the skills needed to take on a leadership position at most, if not all organizations. The information covered in the book is helpful to both people who are starting to build themselves as leaders as well as individuals who are leaders and are looking to improve their skills. according to the authors, people should stop regarding leadership and management as two separate entities. their argument is based on the notion that people who succeed at being good leaders often end up taking management positions. The information covered as well as the activities provided after every chapter creates a flow of information and guidelines that can help one become an effective leader.

            The activities left out for the reader to fill in the book make the content engaging and further increases the impact that the information has on the audience. A good example is the section that requires the reader to fill in some information regarding the leadership skills they possess (Adair, 2007). The section helps the reader to evaluate the skills they possess in order to determine which make them effective leaders. Highlighting one’s skills also gives potential leaders the insight to identify skills that they could improve on in order to become effective leaders. The book also offers information that helps potential leaders determine where to focus their efforts. Since most leaders aspire to attain management positions, learning how being a good leader increases the chance of attaining a management position can help potential leader focus their energy on learning skills and gaining knowledge rather than vying for management positions (Adair, 2007). Individuals can use the information discussed to become good leaders which in turn will prompt employers and organizations to offer them management positions.

            Although the book operates on the notion that leadership is something that can be taught, the authors place a lot of emphasis on the fact that the key element in becoming a good leader is experience. The authors reinstate that the information they present is meant to give the potential leaders the principles and ideas on how to become good leaders (Adair, 2007). However, it is not the principles or ideas that make one a good leader but rather the experiences that one will gain in the process of implementing them. The author urges readers to rely on the information covered in the book but only as a tool to guide their reflections and personal development. The book therefore serves as a call to action and gives the audience the tools needed to become better leaders. Practise is described as an essential part of leadership development as it helps potential leaders put their skills into practise.

            The information discussed in the book further teachers the readers how to set themselves apart from others by learning skills that make them stand out as leaders. In order to become a good leader, the author emphasises the importance of understanding hat role leadership plays not only at a personal level, but also amongst colleagues (Adair, 2007). In addition, leadership development involves not only possessing the skills needed to become a good leader but also standing out as a leader to others. Since leaders often bear responsibility for others in their team, leadership development should be about learning how to stand out as a leader. Good leaders must therefore inspire others and command enough authority to lead and encourage others to follow the example set.

            The book has insight in that it draws attention away from common notions of leadership and urges people to pursue other methods in leadership. A good example is the common notion that people are born leaders and adapt to their role as they progress in their careers (Adair, 2007). Although there are people born with specific traits that make them exemplary leaders in most circumstances, leadership is not restricted to genetics as it is something that can be learnt. Leadership skills can be learnt and developed over time. People however have different potentials for leadership. Some individuals are likely to attain skills faster and become better at leading (Adair, 2007). There are however others who will take more time to master the skills and acquire information and knowledge needed to make them exemplary leaders.

            Drawing attention away from common perceptions about leadership helps motivate people to become better leaders. Individuals who have a hard time learning how to become good leaders but have the passion can take comfort in knowing that the skills needed to become effective leaders can be learnt over time. the guidelines provided can therefore be utilised by all individuals who aspire to lead, regardless of whether they were born with the skills needed to become an effective leader or not (Adair, 2007). The author successfully draws attention away from the individual and places emphasis on the steps that any individual can take and learn how to become a good leader. The approach helps potential leaders overcome any limitations that may get in the way of achieving leadership success. 

            Adair’s work also functions as a call to action, urging people to not only aspire to be leaders, but also learn how to lead with integrity. The mention of individuals like Hitler urges the reader to question whether leadership skills are based off of integrity or on the acts themselves (Adair, 2007). According to the author, people can be good leaders regardless of whether their leadership results in a common good or not. He further argues that, although Hitler may have demonstrated exemplary leadership skills, his leadership did not benefit the people under his rule. Leaders who do not aspire to achieve goodness are therefore destined to fail. The information helps potential leaders learn the importance of integrity in leadership.

            Another deviation from the social norm in leadership is the authors argument against generic leadership qualities. According to Adair, being a good leader is not about p[obsessing all the skills and knowledge needed to handle all situations but rather being flexible enough to adapt and lead in any situation (Adair, 2007). The belief that generic leadership qualities are required in leadership has created an environment where leaders try to learn specific skills in order lead in specific environment. This however limits their leadership development as it controls their skills and knowledge to the specific environment the individual focuses on. Winston Churchill for instance is quoted as a great leader during war (Adair, 2007). He however failed to display the same leadership skills during times of peace, an indication that his leadership skills were focused on only how to be an effective leader during war. Leaders should therefore aspire to be more flexible and learn how to adapt to changes in their fields.

Conclusion

            The information covered in the book prepares potential leaders for what it is like to be a leader. It covers the basic requirements and progresses on to the finer details that require more explanation. The reader is able to understand what steps to take in order to fit in to the practical world of leadership. It also teaches potential leaders how to go about preparing for leadership positions. Leaders are taught how to use the information they possess about leadership to fit into their roles. Although basic professional and technical skills are adequate in the first phases of a leadership career, individuals must constantly learn new skills and gain new knowledge in order to become good leaders. The learning process should however focus on the individual and not a leadership position that one aspires to attain. Instead of learning how to be a proficient leader in a specific field, the goal should be to posses the skills and knowledge needed to adapt to any leadership role. Flexibility should also be used not only when leading, but also when reacting to retraction or failure. As a leader, learning should occur not only through success but also when acknowledging where mistakes occurred in order to learn how to avoid them in future. The information covered in the book is educational, informative and structured in such a way as to assist potential leaders become more qualified in their field; and also guide established leaders on how to become better at their roles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Adair J, (2007) “Develop your leadership skills” The Sunday Times

 

1432 Words  5 Pages

 Leadership Development Analysis

Introduction

            Before reading the book “Develop your leadership skills” by John Adair (2007), I was of the opinion that people who succeed in leadership were born with the skills that make up an exceptional leader. I strongly believed that the information discussed would bear close similarity to previous information regarding how to improve an individual’s leadership skills. While I tried to remain optimistic that I would find helpful information on how to be a good leader, I expected most of the information covered to only target individuals who were born leaders. It was not until I started reading the book that I realized that the author also discussed how people can learn traits gain knowledge that would make them exemplary leaders regardless of whether they were born with the leadership skills or not. The book gives insight on what it takes to be a leader and how to go about gaining the skills needed to not only lead but also teach others to be leaders. The authors base their premise on the belief that people can develop their leadership abilities and gain the skills needed to take on a leadership position at most, if not all organizations. The information covered in the book is helpful to both people who are starting to build themselves as leaders as well as individuals who are leaders and are looking to improve their skills. according to the authors, people should stop regarding leadership and management as two separate entities. their argument is based on the notion that people who succeed at being good leaders often end up taking management positions. The information covered as well as the activities provided after every chapter creates a flow of information and guidelines that can help one become an effective leader. 

           The activities left out for the reader to fill in the book make the content engaging and further increases the impact that the information has on the audience. A good example is a section that requires the reader to fill in some information regarding the leadership skills they possess (Adair, 2007). The section helps the reader to evaluate the skills they possess to determine which make them effective leaders. Highlighting one’s skills also gives potential leaders the insight to identify skills that they could improve on to become effective leaders. The book also offers information that helps potential leaders determine where to focus their efforts. Since most leaders aspire to attain management positions, learning how being a good leader increases the chance of attaining a management position can help potential leader focus their energy on learning skills and gaining knowledge rather than vying for management positions (Adair, 2007). Individuals can use the information discussed to become good leaders which in turn will prompt employers and organizations to offer them management positions. 

           Although the book operates on the notion that leadership is something that can be taught, the authors place a lot of emphasis on the fact that the key element in becoming a good leader is experience. The authors reinstate that the information they present is meant to give potential leaders the principles and ideas on how to become good leaders (Adair, 2007). However, it is not the principles or ideas that make one a good leader but rather the experiences that one will gain in the process of implementing them. The author urges readers to rely on the information covered in the book but only as a tool to guide their reflections and personal development. The book, therefore, serves as a call to action and gives the audience the tools needed to become better leaders. Practice is described as an essential part of leadership development as it helps potential leaders put their skills into practice. 

           The information discussed in the book further teaches the readers how to set themselves apart from others by learning skills that make them stand out as leaders. To become a good leader, the author emphasizes the importance of understanding the role leadership plays not only at a personal level but also amongst colleagues (Adair, 2007). Also, leadership development involves not only possessing the skills needed to become a good leader but also standing out as a leader to others. Since leaders often bear responsibility for others in their team, leadership development should be about learning how to stand out as a leader. Good leaders must therefore inspire others and command enough authority to lead and encourage others to follow the example set. 

           The book has insight in that it draws attention away from common notions of leadership and urges people to pursue other methods in leadership. A good example is a common notion that people are born leaders and adapt to their role as they progress in their careers (Adair, 2007). Although there are people born with specific traits that make them exemplary leaders in most circumstances, leadership is not restricted to genetics as it is something that can be learned. Leadership skills can be learned and developed over time. People however have different potentials for leadership. Some individuals are likely to attain skills faster and become better at leading (Adair, 2007). There are however others who will take more time to master the skills and acquire information and knowledge needed to make them exemplary leaders. 

           Drawing attention away from common perceptions about leadership helps motivate people to become better leaders. Individuals who have a hard time learning how to become good leaders but have the passion can take comfort in knowing that the skills needed to become effective leaders can be learned over time. the guidelines provided can therefore be utilized by all individuals who aspire to lead, regardless of whether they were born with the skills needed to become an effective leader or not (Adair, 2007). The author successfully draws attention away from the individual and places emphasis on the steps that any individual can take and learn how to become a good leader. The approach helps potential leaders overcome any limitations that may get in the way of achieving leadership success.  

           Adair’s work also functions as a call to action, urging people to not only aspire to be leaders but also learn how to lead with integrity. The mention of individuals like Hitler urges the reader to question whether leadership skills are based on integrity or the acts themselves (Adair, 2007). According to the author, people can be good leaders regardless of whether their leadership results in the common good or not. He further argues that, although Hitler may have demonstrated exemplary leadership skills, his leadership did not benefit the people under his rule. Leaders who do not aspire to achieve goodness are therefore destined to fail. The information helps potential leaders learn the importance of integrity in leadership. 

           Another deviation from the social norm in leadership is the author's argument against generic leadership qualities. According to Adair, being a good leader is not about possessing all the skills and knowledge needed to handle all situations but rather being flexible enough to adapt and lead in any situation (Adair, 2007). The belief that generic leadership qualities are required in leadership has created an environment where leaders try to learn specific skills to lead in a specific environment. This however limits their leadership development as it controls their skills and knowledge to the specific environment the individual focuses on. Winston Churchill for instance is quoted as a great leader during the war (Adair, 2007). He however failed to display the same leadership skills during times of peace, an indication that his leadership skills were focused on only how to be an effective leader during the war. Leaders should therefore aspire to be more flexible and learn how to adapt to changes in their fields. 

Conclusion 

           The information covered in the book prepares potential leaders for what it is like to be a leader. It covers the basic requirements and progresses on to the finer details that require more explanation. The reader can understand what steps to take to fit into the practical world of leadership. It also teaches potential leaders how to go about preparing for leadership positions. Leaders are taught how to use the information they possess about leadership to fit into their roles. Although basic professional and technical skills are adequate in the first phases of a leadership career, individuals must constantly learn new skills and gain new knowledge to become good leaders. The learning process should however focus on the individual and not a leadership position that one aspires to attain. Instead of learning how to be a proficient leader in a specific field, the goal should be to possess the skills and knowledge needed to adapt to any leadership role. Flexibility should also be used not only when leading, but also when reacting to retraction or failure. As a leader, learning should occur not only through success but also when acknowledging where mistakes occurred to learn how to avoid them in the future. The information covered in the book is educational, informative, and structured in such a way as to assist potential leaders to become more qualified in their field; and also guide established leaders on how to become better at their roles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Adair, J. (2007). Develop your leadership skills.  The Sunday Times

 

1542 Words  5 Pages

 

Abstract 

            The article by Ravi Pappu and Pascale G. Quester tries to explain the impact that brand innovativeness has on brand loyalty. Their research is based on observations made by the researchers concerning studies conducted by other researchers and existing information regarding how brand innovativeness influences customer loyalty to a specific brand. The authors have critically put forward their argument that how consumers perceive a product determines the level of loyalty attached to the brand and why it is important for organizations to factor in perceived quality when engaging in brand innovations. This paper will therefore examine the information provided by the authors to demonstrate their efficiency in determining the impact that brand innovativeness has on brand loyalty.

Introduction

            Pappu and Quester are of the opinion that the perceived quality that customers attach to a brand plays a partial mediating role that facilitates the transmission of attitudes that they have concerning the parent brand to most, if not all of its extensions. The authors start by pointing out the varying opinions and information that exists regarding brand innovativeness and customer loyalty. According to the authors, there are those who believe that brand loyalty is as a result of the products ability to meet the customer’s needs while others believe that that it is as a result of the innovativeness used when launching the product. The authors successfully make a case for their argument and are able to demonstrate how brand innovativeness positively influences brand loyalty.

 

 

Article review

            The authors employ the use of perceived quality as a way to explain the correlation that exists between brand innovativeness and brand loyalty. The perceived quality attached to a product is based off of the subjective evaluation that the consumer has of a product rather than the products actual quality (Pappu & Quester, 2016). According to Pappu and Quester, consumers’ perception of quality is dynamic and prone to change depending on changes that occur in the market. Because of these changes, the authors argue that customers have to rely on different information provided by a brand through different platforms such as advertising to determine the quality of a product.

            Pappu and Quester (2016) further believe that consumers rely on brand innovations to formulate the perceived quality of a product because they lack the expertise or motivation needed to determine the quality of a product. Another reason suggested as the reason consumers rely on the perceived quality of a product is because of their tendencies to invoke heuristics (Brem et al, 2019). The authors point out that consumers tend to associate highly priced products with quality. The inclusion of heuristics is successfully used to demonstrate how different factors can influence the perceived quality of a product even before the consumer purchases the product. Quality is therefore not based off of the product itself but rather the brand associated with the product.

            In addition, Pappu and Quester suggest that brand innovativeness directly influences brand loyalty especially when consumers opt to commit to brands that are perceived or fully satisfy their needs (Pappu & Quester, 2016). Customers are more likely to be loyal to brands that offer emotional satisfaction and innovation ensures that the brands evolve with the consumer’s change in preference and in so doing, promotes brand loyalty.

Critical analysis

            The authors provide a compelling argument regarding the impact that brand innovativeness has on brand loyalty. In their argument, the authors use the concept of perceived quality to show how the consumer’s version of a product may vary from the actual product quality. In their argument, Pappu and Quester (2019) discuss how a brand can rely on perceived quality to determine the attitude that consumers are likely to have towards a product and can therefore manipulate it to increase brand loyalty.

Furthermore, the authors successfully use the signaling theory to explain how the market is influenced by the information available to consumers. Their argument that customers lack all the information needed to determine the quality of a product forces the consumer to rely on other avenues such as perceived quality when deciding which brand to stick with (Campbell & Ma, 2016). According to Pappu and Quester, firms responsible for launching the new products have access to all the information needed to determine the actual quality of a product. As such, the companies rely on the added information and use brand innovativeness to positively influence consumer loyalty to the brand.

Pappu and Quester further accentuate how brand innovativeness is used to manipulate brand loyalty. Their discussion on how brand innovativeness manipulates advertisements, the brand name and other features that consumers used to determine products perceived quality s quite informative (Pappu & Quester, 2016). The information is successfully used to show how the perceived quality of a product influences the consumer to purchase it over others in the market. When the product is associated with a specific brand, the consumer is likely to associate other products from the same brand as having the same quality and in so doing, attach their loyalty to the brand (Meier, 2020). Influencing brand loyalty can therefore be achieved through manipulating the consumers’ perceived quality and this can be achieved when implementing when innovating new products. 

Future implications

            In today’s market, perception plays an important role as consumers seek to gain information about a product before deciding to make a purchase. The purchase decision is influenced by both the actual qulity of a products and the perceived quality attached to products associated with a specific brand. Pappu and Quester (2016) however pointed out that researchers rarely focus on the impact that perceived quality has on the consumers’ purchase decision. Understanding the role that perceived quality has on the purchase decision can help organizations to come up with strategies to ensure that brand innovativeness positively influences the consumer’s loyalty to a specific brand. Organizations can use avenues that provide access to information such as advertisements to help formulate a perceived concept of quality regarding their products and in so doing, encourage customers to choose its products instead of those from its competitors.

Conclusion

            Companies rely on brand loyalty to improve demand for their products and services. In a highly competitive market, loyal customers ensure that there is constant demand for products and organizations must come up with ways to promote brand loyalty. As is evident from the argument presented by Pappu and Quester, brand innovativeness can positively influence brand loyalty. Its success is however dependent on the organizations ability to manipulate the platforms customers rely on to formulate their perceived quality of a product. Other than enhancing the quality of a product, Pappu and Quester successfully discuss why it is important to also improve the consumers’ perceived quality of the product so as to enhance consumers’ loyalty to the product and the brand by default.

 

 

 

References

Brem A, Daim U and Tidd J, (2019) “Managing innovation: Understanding and motivating          crowds” World Scientific Print

Campbell C and Ma J, (2016) “Looking foreward, looking back: Drawing on the past to shape     the future of marketing” Springer International Publishing

Meiser B, (2020) “Brand choice and loyalty: Evidence from Swiss car registration micro data”     Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler

Pappu R and Quester G, (2016) “How does brand innovativeness affect brand loyalty?”    European Journal of marketing

 

 

1207 Words  4 Pages
  1. Influencer model
  2. Path-Goal and Leader-Member Exchange Leadership Theories
  3. Vital behavior
  4. Quantitative school of management

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