Kellogg Book free essay sample

This book is intended to be a resource for members of the Kellogg School of Management Class of 2005 as they look for summer internships in the consulting industry (as well as for general management internships) for the summer of 2004. The book will also be useful to current first-year students during the fall of 2004 as they look for full-time postKellogg consulting jobs, as well as to the yet-to-be-admitted Kellogg Class of 2006 in their summer and full-time job searches. While we hope this document results in more Kellogg students reaching their employment goals, we are also confident that using this resource to prepare for case interviews will reduce the stress associated with the interviewing process. Additionally, students will find this document to be a useful reference for Kellogg’s core strategy course, MGMT 431, regardless of whether or not they plan to interview for consulting jobs. This introduction will provide an overview of the different sections of the book, recommend how it is to be used, and offer general thoughts of how this fits book in to the bigger picture. We will write a custom essay sample on Kellogg Book or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To this last point, the book is not intended to be the only resource that Kellogg students will need during the recruiting process for consulting. Rather, it is meant to be a central body of work that provides a complete and thorough introduction to the process, offers its reader a road map of the basic toolkit needed to succeed in these interviews, and also points him or her to other resources that may be helpful. Background on this book and acknowledgements can be found in Appendix A. 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 2 Sections This book is divided into six sections, plus five appendices. Section I is this introduction, whose goals are stated above. Section II provides an overview of the case interviewing process and offers general advice on how to perform magnificently during the interviews. (It is adapted primarily from the Fleischmann, Fong, and Marciano article that is alluded to in Appendix A, and has been reorganized into seven sub-sections. ) Section III provides ten sample cases. The first seven of these are meant to be solved in a 30-to-45 minute interview; the first six contain slides. The last three cases are shorter and attempt to emulate the 10-to-15 minute case nterviews that are used by some consulting firms. After all of the practice cases, Section IV discusses fit interviewing, which is a typically smaller, but no less important, part of the overall process. Again, this section is adapted primarily from the earlier work of Fleischmann et. al. Section V provides one-page overviews of each of the eleven consulting firms that are currently planning to in terview Kellogg first-years for jobs during the summer of 2004. Of special interest in this section are the interview formats used by various companies. Students who are interviewing should use this information to customize their case practice and preparation, based on the formats used by the companies that are most of interest to them. Finally, Section VI provides some concluding thoughts and attempts to synthesize the key â€Å"take-away† points of the book. How To Use The Book We would like to conclude this introduction by orienting the reader as to how we envision this book being used. We have mentioned previously that it is not designed to be the only available or necessary resource on the subject. Students who attempt to use it in this way are doing themselves a disservice. Instead, it should be used in tandem with the many other 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 3 resources that are available, such as case books from other business schools, Kellogg Career Management Center (CMC) counselors, students at Kellogg who have worked in consulting or are planning to, company representatives and literature, and the rest of the list of resources that is summarized in Appendix B. As for this book, sections I, II, IV, and VI are written to be read straight through (not necessarily in only one sitting). Section III provides practice cases that should be used or studied one at a time. Section V provides thumbnail data on companies that are interviewing at Kellogg, and is meant to be a quick reference for students who are interviewing in those firms. Particular attention should be placed on the various interview formats used by each different company. To maximize results, candidates should study cases that most closely mimic the ones that are given by the firms that they are planning to interview with and/or most want to work for. It is our hope that the combination of this book and of other available resources will maximize the effectiveness of Kellogg students during the winter quarter 2004 interviewing process. If anyone has any questions about the book or the process, they should feel free to directly contact me, either of the Associate Editors, Prof. Marciano, the Kellogg CMC, or any of the 2003-2004 Kellogg Consulting Club co-chairs1. We are all here to help Kellogg first-years get as many summer consulting job offers as possible. Best of luck in the process! Edwin Van Dusen Editor, 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book Evanston, Illinois December, 2003 1 The co-chairs are Leo Castro, Ami Fadia, Hanna Norfleet, Jason Greenwald, Brian Oxley, and Ojas Wadikvar, all from the Kellogg Class of 2004. 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 4 II. How to Ace Case Interviews2 Overview of Section This section provides a complete and comprehensive overview of the case interview process and is probably the single most important section in the book, along with Section III on practice cases. It offers advice on how to best navigate the process, and is divided into seven sub-sections to make the material easier to understand and digest: 1. Sub-section one provides an overview of the case interviewing process. 2. Sub-section two discusses the use of frameworks, and the need to strike a balance between a structured approach and the pitfalls of an overly regimented analysis. 3. Sub-section three walks through a step-by-step illustration of a case interview and is in turn sub-divided into five parts. 4. Sub-section four reviews several common case situations and how to handle them. These include public math, how to get unstuck, and the infamous estimate questions. 5. Sub-section five reviews seven common types of cases that are frequently found in case interviews. 6. Sub-section six goes through some overall tips on how to handle the process. Please do not be put off by the â€Å"laundry list† format of this section, for it contains some important nuggets of advice and wisdom. 7. Finally, sub-section seven provides some concluding thoughts about the process. 2 As mentioned in the Introduction, the text in this section has been primarily adapted from the 2001 Fleischmann, Fong, and Marciano article, although some of the content and wording are new. They, and we, would like to give special thanks to Jason Moss and Chris Riley (both members of the Kellogg Class of 2001) for their invaluable contributions to the initial document, from which this section is primarily adapted. 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 5 We have endeavored to distill the most important aspects of the case interview process into this section while keeping it to a manageable length. Obviously, since entire books have been written on this subject, it was not possible for us to include every detail or every opinion on the matter. Students should probably begin by reading this section to get the major points, and then can consult some of the additional resources listed in Appendix B if they feel that they still need to get more depth and detail. Sub-Section One of Seven Overview of Case Interviews This section will describe the format and structure of case interviews, discuss the various types of cases that one may encounter, and provide practical tips and advice on enhancing one’s chances for success. Fit interviews will be discussed in Section IV later in this book. The consulting interview process may be unlike any series of interviews that a person has been through before Kellogg. While each consulting firm has its own distinct style and method of interviewing, virtually all screen candidates using a combination of â€Å"fit† and â€Å"case† interviews. Understanding and being prepared for both of these types of interviews improves one’s chances of obtaining a position in the field and also reduces the angst associated with the process. The framework is simply a tool to help you structure your response, so do not get too hung up here and waste valuable time that you could be using to advance the discussion. Your initial framework should be a broad sketch, not a detailed blueprint, of how you intend to go about solving the case problem. The details of your analysis should evolve interactively with the interviewer as you progress through the interview. Based on the framework you have developed, you should be able to identify several possible paths towards addressing the case issue. For example, consider a case about Firm X whose profits declined last year. Firm X’s reduced profits could be due to sagging revenues, rising costs, or both. Given that your interview time is limited, it is important to prioritize the issues you will investigate in the case. Investigate the most likely solution to the problem first, followed by the second most likely, and so on. The initial information that you have been given 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 14 may steer you towards a particular path. Take cues (subtle or overt) from your interviewer about which paths hold the most merit. For example, if you were told that Firm X recently altered its product mix, you might want to start by examining the prices of its various products. Based on the information you have received, and the framework you have developed, you should formulate an initial hypothesis about the case problem you are evaluating. In the parlance of case interviews, a hypothesis is what you believe to be the central issue of the case, or the solution to it. With regard to Firm X, your initial hypothesis could be that the root cause of its declining profits is that it is selling relatively more low price/low margin products than it had in the past. You may not be given enough information at the onset of a case to develop a reasonable hypothesis from the start. If that happens, progress through your framework, elicit information from the interviewer, and develop a hypothesis as soon as you can. If your initial hypothesis turns out to be wrong, which is often the case, try another one. It is not an automatic â€Å"ding† to not guess the answer correctly on the first try. But it is a likely â€Å"ding† to give up or to lose sight of the main issue, which is to eventually solve the client’s problem. Some firms are more or less receptive to hearing an interviewee, very early on, state a hypothesis for analysis. The key lesson here is to know the firms that you are interviewing with. If you are interviewing with a firm that conducts its cases/engagements with an â€Å"Answer First† approach, then you should probably state a hypothesis early and then relate findings to it as the case progresses: â€Å"this supports my initial hypothesis†¦Ã¢â‚¬  or â€Å"that seems to refute my initial belief, my revised working hypothesis is now†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . Other firms may conduct their work by doing much more detailed data collection before forming a hypothesis. In this case, strive to form a hypothesis, but hold back on stating it until you have collected more data: â€Å"OK, I think I now have enough information to form a hypothesis – based on facts A, B and C, it looks like X might 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 15 be happening. Here’s how I would evaluate whether X is truly going on†¦Ã¢â‚¬  With these firms, you may look like you’re jumping to conclusions if your hypothesis isn’t fact-based. Ask members of the firm about their firm’s preference prior to your interview (that’s what all those cocktail receptions are for). Step Three of Five Articulation After you have developed your analytical framework, prioritized potential solution paths, and formulated your initial hypothesis, the next step is to articulate them to the interviewer. In the case of Firm X, it might go something like this: â€Å"Given that Firm X has experienced a decline in profitability, I am going to begin my evaluation by investigating the various elements that make up profit, namely revenues and costs (framework). Since you mentioned that Firm X has seen its product mix change over the past year, I will begin by analyzing the firm’s revenues, focusing first on pricing (prioritization). It could be that a decline in Firm X’s average price is causing its profits to suffer (hypothesis). If that turns out not to be the case, then I will look at changes in the company’s cost structure. † It is critical in case interviews to demonstrate a structured, logical, and thorough thought process. If you do not verbalize your thought process to the interviewer, (s)he will not be able to evaluate your performance. In addition to talking through your thought process, you may find it beneficial to sketch out your analysis framework on your note pad. Writing down your framework will help you to organize your thoughts, and to regain focus if you get stuck or your analysis becomes very complicated. Just as importantly, an illustrated framework shows the interviewer that you are thinking in a structured manner, and makes it easier for him or her to guide you. Many successful consulting interviewees extol the importance of â€Å"paper management† in case interviews. Interviewers often encourage candidates to take notes, and some even keep 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 16 those notes to help remember the path that the interviewee took during his or her case. Whether or not this happens to you, your notepad is an excellent communications medium during your interview. Consultants are generally graphical thinkers – even if they didn’t start this way, they now communicate in slides, charts, and graphs. Speak their language – sketch out your thoughts on your paper, write large, and show the interviewer what you are doing. It is not uncommon for an interviewer to look under an interviewee’s shoulder onto his or her notepad, and comment on it and/or ask questions about its contents. For example, â€Å"I see from your notes that you have come up with five reasons why Firm A should acquire Firm B, and the first one is distribution synergies. What do you mean by that? † Draw out your framework so that the interviewer can see where you’re going, and steer you accordingly. Many interviewees divide their paper into three sections. In the first section, they note facts about the situation (both those given in the initial situation explanation as well as facts uncovered through questions). In section two, analysis is performed, and in section three key findings/conclusions are noted (this section is especially helpful when the candidate is asked to â€Å"sum up† at the close of the case). Note: this does not have to all occur on the same page – feel free to use multiple sheets of paper; the clearer your actions are to the interviewer, the better. Be as graphical and as structured as possible whenever you seek to convey concepts like organizational structure or whenever you do quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis, in particular, should be laid out in rows and columns â€Å"Excel-style† (ideally with the equation noted above the columns) so that interviewers can follow your calculations. Doing fancy math in your head is great, but it’s more important to illustrate to the interviewer how you are coming to your numbers than to wow them with calculation speed. Your arithmetic may be correct, but your equation may be missing a critical variable. Drawing out your thoughts helps the interviewer 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 17 identify this and correct your course. This is far preferable to leaving the interviewer wondering why your number does not match the number that is given in the case solutions. To err is human, but to do so in a way that leaves the interviewer wondering about whether the problem was with your arithmetic or your thought process is likely to prove fatal. Step Four of Five Analysis: Ask Questions, Gather Information, and Test Hypotheses Having articulated your framework and initial hypothesis, you are ready to move into the analysis phase, which should be the bulk of the interview. In the analysis phase, you should ask questions, synthesize the information provided, and draw conclusions based on the facts. By asking questions and bringing to light new information, you will be able to determine whether your initial hypothesis was valid or invalid. If the data proves your hypothesis to be invalid, systematically follow your framework and progress to the issue with the next highest priority. In addition, based on new information you receive, develop a new hypothesis as soon as possible. For example: â€Å"Based on what I’ve learned so far, it appears as though Firm X’s product mix and revenues are not the most important cause of its declining profitability. So now I’ll move on to investigate the firm’s costs (transition to next branch of the framework). You mentioned that Firm X recently signed a new agreement with its unions, so I’ll start by examining its labor costs. It could be that an unfavorable union contract has inflated the firm’s labor expenses and negatively impacted its profits (new hypothesis). † Asking questions, collecting information, and developing and testing hypotheses is an iterative process, and constitutes a good case interview. As you receive answers to your inquiries, you should be able to hone in on the solution to the problem, and the interviewer may point you in the right direction. Even if all of your hypotheses are ultimately proved invalid, if 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 18 you have solicited relevant facts and drawn conclusions in a structured, logical manner, you will have done well. Do not forget that it is important to verbalize your thought process throughout the entire interview. Avoid long periods of silence the interviewer is attempting to evaluate how you think, and mute introspection precludes this. When doing calculations, tell the interviewer everything that you’re doing. This maximizes the interviewer’s ability to coach you and illustrates your thought process. It takes practice to be able to do this with aplomb, but it is a skill well worth developing. Asking questions is a fundamental part of the process, but remember to do so within the context of your framework, as opposed to firing off questions in no particular order. As you work through the case, it is a good idea to verbally summarize where you are, what you have learned, what the information means in diagnosing the problem, and where you are headed next. Summarizing can also be a useful technique to buy yourself time to think if you become stuck. Take caution not to summarize too frequently, however, because it takes away from the time that you should be using to analyze the case issue. Step Five of Five Summary and Recommendation When you feel you have covered all the bases in your analysis, or when you have run out of time, end by summarizing the situation and providing a recommendation. If at all possible, always end your interviews with a succinct recommendation. Try not to recap the path of analysis that you have just performed. Instead, draw on key facts to give a clear answer to the central question of the case. For example, â€Å"I do not recommend that the firm enter the market, given that the industry in question is characterized by low barriers to entry, intense rivalry, and significant supplier power† (all of which you discovered through your analysis). 2004 Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book 19 You might also add next steps or additional considerations, as appropriate, to make your analysis more balanced and thorough. For example, â€Å"Based on the discussion that we had today, I would not recommend at this point that the firm enter the market. However, I would also want to know more about the regulatory trends in the market, and about the industry’s distribution channel mix, before making a final decision in a real situation. † Remember, cases are usually complex. If you imply to the interviewer that you have completely addressed the issue in 30 to 45 minutes, you may be perceived as short-sighted or arrogant. It’s much better to state what you’ve found and can reasonably infer, and then identify the areas that you’d like to further penetrate (if given more time) and the assumptions that you’ve made that you think your conclusions are most sensitive to. An important point to keep in mind is that even if you are dead wrong, if you have approached the problem in a logical, structured, and thorough manner, you have done well. You will likely encounter the â€Å"elevator test† at the end of some of your interviews. It typically goes something like this, â€Å"We’re out of time. Sum this up in 30 seconds so I can tell the client our major findings. The purpose of this exercise is to see whether you can identify the most important elements of the case, distill complex issues into concise, easily understandable terms, and maintain your poise when thrust into a stressful situation.

Free Essays on God’s Existence In Modern American Schools

Everyone has a parent, someone from whom they were born. Most American’s have parental figures in their life whether it’s a mom and dad, two mommies, or two daddies. However since the beginning of time there has always been another figure in life, God. He has been a guiding light in dark times, an ear to talk to, and inspiration to many Americans. However as children grow, all fathers should come to realize that the children would grow apart and start a new life without him in their lives, or is this Holy Father different? America was founded on Christianity beliefs originally. Most people traveled here to be free and practice their religion without persecution. After hundred’s of years of keeping God involved in our American lifestyle, we have ‘thrown’ him away, and now we are trying to get him back. John Riley, staff correspondent for NEWSDAY, wrote an article about the issue of God in our American schools. The article is about what students should learn in school about the development and evolution of man in biology in Dover Pennsylvania. Some people believe that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution should continue to be taught as apposed to the Intellectual design. Darwin’s theory accounts for some of scientific theory based upon factual findings by Darwin himself. However there are gaps in Darwin’s theory that can’t be explained scientifically. That is where Intellectual design comes in. Intellectual design is the explanation of evolution and the creation of man from God himself from the Holy book. The Dover population would like to learn an alternative to Darwin’s theory; however the only choice they have is Intellectual design. â€Å"All the ‘alternatives’ to evolution are religion- or creation based,† (column 4, line 17) is w here one commenter stands. John Riley wrote a well written article based upon a heated subject. The context is easily understandable for most age groups, especially young readers. The use... Free Essays on God’s Existence In Modern American Schools Free Essays on God’s Existence In Modern American Schools Everyone has a parent, someone from whom they were born. Most American’s have parental figures in their life whether it’s a mom and dad, two mommies, or two daddies. However since the beginning of time there has always been another figure in life, God. He has been a guiding light in dark times, an ear to talk to, and inspiration to many Americans. However as children grow, all fathers should come to realize that the children would grow apart and start a new life without him in their lives, or is this Holy Father different? America was founded on Christianity beliefs originally. Most people traveled here to be free and practice their religion without persecution. After hundred’s of years of keeping God involved in our American lifestyle, we have ‘thrown’ him away, and now we are trying to get him back. John Riley, staff correspondent for NEWSDAY, wrote an article about the issue of God in our American schools. The article is about what students should learn in school about the development and evolution of man in biology in Dover Pennsylvania. Some people believe that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution should continue to be taught as apposed to the Intellectual design. Darwin’s theory accounts for some of scientific theory based upon factual findings by Darwin himself. However there are gaps in Darwin’s theory that can’t be explained scientifically. That is where Intellectual design comes in. Intellectual design is the explanation of evolution and the creation of man from God himself from the Holy book. The Dover population would like to learn an alternative to Darwin’s theory; however the only choice they have is Intellectual design. â€Å"All the ‘alternatives’ to evolution are religion- or creation based,† (column 4, line 17) is w here one commenter stands. John Riley wrote a well written article based upon a heated subject. The context is easily understandable for most age groups, especially young readers. The use...

Realistic representation of psychological concepts in the film A Essay

Realistic representation of psychological concepts in the film A Beautiful Mind - Essay Example The story of the film is devoted to what can be evaluated as a heroic life story of an outstanding mathematician John Forbes Nash, haunted by both his genius and manifestations of insanity so prominently coexisting in him. On this background, a careful viewer can discern in the film fine elements characteristic to several psychological concepts and theories, such as for instance a depiction on the concrete example of Nash of various symptoms related to a psychiatric condition of schizophrenia, the involvement of the films protagonist into social relationships network that often challenges his mental disorder, and the psychological processes associated with what is known as cognitive dissonance. The film "A Beautiful Mind" opens when John Forbes Nash (Russell Crowe) is struggling to come up with some original concept at Princeton. We can immediately see the sign of genius in him, but at the same time it is clearly visible that Nash is often weird, uneasy in terms of social interaction, and painfully competitive. In fact, even though John has friendly relationships with several students, his only faithful friend is his roommate Charles. After some time, the mathematician comes close to elaboration of an original, pioneering and promising approach to game theory, and his successful scientific future seems warranted. John obtains a position at MIT, and gets involved into a hush-hush governmental program aimed at code-breaking research. During his such a secretive occupation, Nash is dealing with William Parcher, a top-level governmental agent who attempts to employ Nashs talents for national security tasks. At MIT Nash gets acquainted with Alicia (Jennifer Connelly), a lovely and remarkable student. They marry eventually, but their happy life gets under the threat when John is diagnosed with schizophrenia and is apparently falling into insanity. In a psychiatric hospital Nash undergoes therapy through electroshock to get rid of his delusions, but he nevertheless finds it next to impossible to work or be a proper husband. Besides, as soon as he ceases to take his medication, the delusions come back. But despite all that, his wife Alicia provides a great support to him as he does not want to be again hospitalized, and with time John learns how to control his delusions. Finally, when John Nash is granted a Nobel Prize in economics he can be said to have gained the greatest victory of his life, but the one which he could hardly achieve without the love and help of Alicia. Psychological concept #1 Perhaps the most stunning display that the film provides is that of a debilitating condition of a person suffering from schizophrenia, a psychiatric term that is used to describe a mental disorder with various symptoms that in combination lead to changes in the reality perception and to consequent impairments in common social functions of an affected person. The very word

Please go to this link and discuss a question with philosophy ethics Essay

Please go to this link and discuss a question with philosophy ethics and knowledge - Essay Example People believe that they can find their happiness. Natural happiness is one that we get when we achieve our desires while a synthetic one that we make when we do not get that which we wanted. Modern society believes that synthetic happiness is inferior to a natural one. The analysis shows that synthetic happiness is as genuine as any other form. Satisfaction of this kind occurs when one is happy with what they currently have. Freedom is some form of natural happiness and is the enemy of synthetic happiness. Synthetic happiness helps people to accept the things they cannot change. Irreversible situations are not favorable for artificial happiness to occur. Some things are better than others, and it is good to have preferences. When we have unlimited ambition, we can work at our best. When we have ambitions that are limited, this can make us go into negative vices to get the happiness that we seek. Such a situation can even cause us to sacrifice things that are of value to us. Our worries and everyday pressures are overblown because we have the ability to control how we react to them. We have the capacity to make our

Pestel Analysis, Political and Legal Factors Research Paper

Pestel Analysis, Political and Legal Factors - Research Paper Example This essay will therefore present a pestle analysis for college Hunks Hauling Junk Company. Political and Legal Factors The government has interests on how businesses are run. This interest is experienced through direct and indirect control of business by the government. Political and legal processes in a country are the main channels through which the government influences an industry. The government has interest in the running of business due to its social responsibilities. In particular, the federal government, local author and state governments have an interest in the junk industry due to their assumed responsibilities. The risks associated with the junk business are the main cause of government’s interest in the industry. Such risks are concerned with the safety of the employees as well as the environment. In response to the need of protecting the environment and people, the government has established the relevant legislations and policies. These laws and policies form th e legal factors that affect the industry. The Environment Protection Act was specifically established to protect the environment from harmful effects resulting from uncontrolled business practices. This Act has provisions that regulate waste management, recycling, and disposal. Such policies will have an effect to the company that will be felt through regulations on its business. Protection of employees from exploitation by employers is the responsibility of the government. The junk industry is labor intensive and therefore employees form a major part of junk companies. Employment laws of the United States are applied by the government to regulate employment with emphasis in protection of employees from exploitation. The company is therefore expected to be conversant with these laws and their implication in the business. The junk industry has disposal of wastes as a major part of their day-to-day operations. Companies in the junk industry are also involved with recycling as part of their strategic management. Recycling and disposal of waste are processes of interest to the authorities especially the local government. In response to the two activities, the government has established environment protection measures through relevant laws and policies. The legislations and policies are mainly concerned with the disposal and recycling of hazardous wastes. Due to its operation scale, College Hunks Hauling Company needs to consider these legislations and policies. Economic Factors Economic factors in an industry are factors that determine a business’s rate of success in the industry. These factors affect availability of capital, operation cost and the demand of a company’s products (Grant 95). Consumption is an important process in sustenance of business and therefore factors that affects people’s consumption affects business operations. The disposable income of a country gives a measure on how much the consumers are able and ready to spend at a particular time. The company will therefore be affected by the variations in the consumer’s consumption power resulting from the level of disposable income of a country. Currently, the United States’ level of disposable income per household is slightly above 10%. This is a significant figure compared to the current taxation rates and the spending rates experienced in previous years. The junk industry depends on the rate at which people replace their old and worn out

Criteria For Performance Excellence Business Essay

Criteria For Performance Excellence Business Essay The Baldrige framework benefits any organization whether it is starting a journey toward performance excellence or fine-tuning its current improvement efforts. Use of the Baldrige framework leads organizations to identify industry best practices guided by feedback provided by experts. Thus organizations using the this framework improve and align processes, go for measurement and analysis, and strategic planning, further leading to better decision making, stronger leadership, and greater organizational alignment and success. Criteria for performance excellence The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence provide a systems perspective for understanding performance management. They reflect validated, leading-edge management practices against which an organization can measure itself. With their acceptance nationally and internationally as the model for performance excellence, the Criteria represent a common language for communication among organizations for sharing best practices. The Criteria are also the basis for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process. The Baldrige criteria form an excellent model of Total Quality Management (TQM). The criteria are divided into seven key categories: Leadership Strategic Planning Customer Focus Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management Workforce Focus Process Management Results Each category is scored based on the approach used to address the category, how well it is deployed throughout the organization, the cycles of learning generated, and its level of integration within the organization. An excellent way to improve your TQM maturity is to use the criteria as a self-assessment and then compare your organizations methods and processes with winners of the Baldrige award. An integral part of the Baldrige process is for winners to share non proprietary information from their applications so you have a ready-made benchmark for your organizations TQM maturity. As part of our assignment we would focus on the category 4 that is Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management and category 5 which is Workforce Focus. Category 4: Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management The Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management category looks at how an organization uses data to improve its operations. This includes how data is gathered, analyzed, managed as well as the use of information technology. This category holds 90 points. These 90 points are further divided into two parts which are Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance (45 pts.) that is how do you measure, analyze, and then improve organizational performance? And Management of Information, Knowledge, and Information Technology (45 pts): that is how do you manage your information, organizational knowledge, and information technology? The division and sub- division of category 4 can be illustrated in the diagram below: 4.1: Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance: This item examines your organizations selection and use of data and information for performance measurement, analysis, and review in support of organizational planning and performance improvement. It serves as a central collection and analysis point in an integrated performance measurement and management system that relies on financial and nonfinancial data and information. Its aim is to guide your organizations process management toward the achievement of key organizational results and strategic objectives, to anticipate and respond to rapid or unexpected organizational or external changes, and to identify best practices that may be shared. Performance Measurement Here it is mostly about how the organisation select, collect, align and integrate data fro tracking daily operations and overall organisational performance. These include progress related to strategic objectives and action plans. They should identify the key organisational performance measures, both long term and short term financial measures. The frequency of tracking these measures as well as how they use this information to support corporate decision making and innovation should be included. Alignment and integration are key concepts for successful implementation and use of your performance measurement system. They are viewed in terms of the extent and effectiveness of their use to meet your performance assessment and improvement needs and your strategy development and execution; it also include how the performance measurement requirements are deployed by senior leader to track group work and process- level performance. Baldrige also lays emphasis on the use of comparative data and information to know the organisational needs to know where they stand compared to competitors and the best practices. Comparative performance projections may reveal organisational challenges as where innovation is needed. It may also support business analysis and decisions relating to core competences, partnering and outsourcing. Another point is customer data. Here it is about how the organisation makes use of the voice-of customer data and information to support operational and strategic decision making and innovation. The goal is to achieve customer engagement. Voice of customer can be in terms of customer complaints and feedback for services to improve offerings. Measurement agility is about how you ensure that your performance measurement system is able to respond to fast pace growing, unexpected, or external changes. Performance Analysis and review Here it is about how the organisation reviews and analyses organisational performance and capabilities. How they use these information to assess organisational success, competitive performance, financial health, and progress relative to strategic objectives and action plans. Also how the organisation uses the information to assess its ability to respond quickly to the changing organisational needs and challenges in the operating environment. Performance Improvement Here is about how the findings from reviews are used for lesson learnt and best practice sharing across departments to improve performances. It also includes how the competitive and comparative data is used to project future performance. Also, how these information are used for continual improvement and identify opportunities for innovation. How these are deployed to workgroup, functional-level operations, suppliers, partners and collaborators to ensure organisational alignment. 4.2: Management of information, Knowledge, and Information Technology This item examines how your organization ensures the quality and availability of needed data, information, software, and hardware for your workforce, suppliers and partners, collaborators, and customers, normally and in the event of an emergency. It also examines how your organization builds and manages its knowledge assets. The aim is to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness and to stimulate innovation. Data, information , and knowledge management This section lays emphasis on the different properties that the organisation should focus on. That is, how do they manage organisational data, information and knowledge to ensure accuracy, integrity and reliability, timeliness and security and confidentiality? Also how you make data and information available to your stakeholders that is workforce, suppliers, partners, collaborators, and customers. MBNQA also lays emphasis on knowledge management that is how do you manage organizational knowledge to accomplish the collection and transfer of workforce knowledge, the transfer of relevant knowledge from and to customers, suppliers, partners, and collaborators, the rapid identification, sharing, and implementation of best practices, the assembly and transfer of relevant knowledge for use in your innovation and strategic planning processes Management of information resources and technology It deals with how you ensure that hardware and software are reliable, secure, and user-friendly. In the event of an emergency, how do you ensure the continued availability of hardware and software systems and the continued availability of data and information to effectively serve customers and business needs? Category5: Workforce focus 5.1 Workforce Environment 5.2 Workforce Engagement Research has brought evidence that high level of psychological well-being and employee engagement play a central role in delivering some of the important outcomes that are associated with successful, high performing organisations. (Robertson and Cooper, 2009). In an interview by Bob Gorman from Robert E. Gorman Communication, Ray Baumruk from Hewitt Associates (2006) talks about three interesting general behaviours that characterise engaged employees. These are: Say: the employee advocates for the organisation to co-workers and refers potential employees and customers. Stay: the employee has an intense desire to be a member of the organisation despite opportunities to work elsewhere. Strive: the employee exerts extra time, effort and initiative to contribute to the success of the business. Workforce Performance. To achieve workforce performance it is vital for managers or leaders to firstly understand the elements inhibiting engagement within employees through workforce surveys and focus groups for instance. An organisational culture that works towards achieving workforce engagement should be created to eliminate those inhibiting elements. In an article written by Krugel (ManpowerGroup Russia CIS) published by the Moscow Times (February 2013), four areas of action are recommended for immediate managers to enhance workforce performance: Communicate! Help your people understand change. Conversations make change management possible since they clear out doubts and confusions employees may have. Managers cannot assume that employees understand; employees should know what exactly is expected from them, what is the organisations mission, how they contribute to meeting customers needs and what is the business strategy. Provide learning and development opportunities. Employees may feel less secured and frustrated by a sudden reduction of workforce or by major changes in the workplace. Hence they worry about their future in the organisation. The same situation is faced by employees who are asked to take on new responsibilities. A solution to this could be to show such employees you are committed to them by providing them with learning and  career development opportunities. Empower your people. Managing change often means learning to  manage differently. This implies changing the traditional command and control modes of management to respond to the needs of a diverse workforce and to retain employees with specialised skills. According to  ManpowerGroup Surveys, engagement is positively impacted when employees are empowered to  succeed. Therefore everyone should be treated with respect, their opinions counted, encouraged to  take ownership of  their work and  provided with the  authority they need to  do their job well by managers or leaders. Organise work processes to minimize stress. Engagement impacts on productivity and empirical evidence from the ManpowerGroup Russia CIS research shows that engagement is strongly impacted by the appropriateness of  an employees workload, by  the pressure he or she experiences at  work, and  by his or her ability to  balance work with family life and  personal interests. Hence too much pressure on employees and high demands from them will lead to their low engagement and poor productivity. Managers should play a  significant role in  engaging their employees. They should at least recognise that emphasizing balance could actually lead to  higher productivity. This could be achieved by optimizing work processes. Assessment of Workforce Engagement. Organisations should make use of indicators showing workforce engagement to assess how engaged their employees are. For instance, the institute for employment studies (IES) carried out extensive research on defining and measuring engagement and identifying engagement drivers. In 2004, the IES came out with a report on the Drivers of Employee Engagement and according to the report, an engaged employee: believes in the organisation works to make it better understands business context and the bigger picture respects colleagues and helps others is willing to go the extra mile Therefore the latter brings business benefits. Moreover, according to Smythe (2007 cited in Certificate in Internal Communication, 2008) engagement is quite a recent development of older theories of motivation and communication which originates from social psychology. Hence classic theories of employee motivation such as McGregors Theory X and Y (1960), Hertzberg Two Factors'(1966), Alderfer s ERG Theory (1969) and Maslows hierarchy of needs (1943) could be used as indicators of engagement. Others, such as absenteeism rate, workforce retention, grievances, safety and productivity could also help to assess employee engagement. All these factors should be linked to business results and analysed so as to make improvements to workforce engagement and business results. Workforce and Leader Development. Each organisation may have its own workforce development, learning and career development systems. Nowadays knowledge is a critical business asset, hence organisations should do their best to capture and retain that knowledge which is significantly stored is employees minds. A set of core and complementary HR practices were proposed by Evans(2003) namely competency framework, recruitment and selection, induction, performance management, reward and recognition, resource management, learning environment, training and development, career development, and retention. In fact all these HR aspects are essential to achieve organisational performance. Training and development needs of both the leaders and the employees should be identified. Self-directedness in learning has been recognised by various authors as having an important role to play in the competitiveness of enterprises in the 1990s (Smith et al. 2007) and hence should not be ignored. According to a recent BusinessWeek.com/Hay Group survey, the twenty best companies in leadership share some common characteristics. They address leadership development from various dimensions, from articulating how leadership behaviour needs to change to meet the challenges of the future to managing their pools of successors for mission-critical roles and make leadership their top priority despite of bad situations. Baldrige and Other models There are different alternatives to achieve the Total Quality Management implementation for instance, the ISO standards, the Malcolm Baldrige model and the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model. The first quality model was established in Japan. Business Excellence model is a crucial mechanism for refining the performance of organisations, along with national competitiveness. The EFQM model The EFQM is a non- profit foundation created in 1988 by fourteen leading European organisations with the aim to become the leading force of excellence in Europe. Nowadays, EFQM has a population of 30000 members across the world. This model is similar to excellence models used in Japan (the Deming prize) and America (the Malcolm Baldrige). EFQM is a model used for self-assessment that an organisation of any size can use by applying the criteria. EFQM provides assistance to understand the gaps and to find the appropriate solution. This model is updated every three years to ensure if it corporates with the current environment. The European Quality Award (EQA) was established in 1992 with the aim to encourage and access the development of quality improvement activities and also to identify the business excellence companies in Europe. The EFQM provides for guidance through 3 important components: The Fundamental Concept of Excellence The Criteria The Radar The Fundamental Concept of Excellence Achieving Balanced Results It is a must for any organisation trying to achieve excellence to meet their mission and progress towards the vision set and also to meet both the short and long term needs of stakeholders. Adding Value for customers Due to fast moving trend customers will be attracted to innovating and creative organisation. Leading with vision, Inspiration and Integrity The leaders must act as role model to shape others so as to achieve the targeted aim. Managing by processes The main vein of organisation is the processes. It must be managed in a structured manner to generate stable and continuous results. Succeeding through people The organisation must value the talents of its employees and encourage them to participate in the empowerment projects for the company to achieve organisational goals. Nurturing Creativity and Innovation Organisation generates increased value and levels of performance through continual improvement and systematic innovation by joining the creativity of their stakeholders. Building Partnerships Organisation maintains good relationship with various partners that can contribute to success. Taking responsibilities for a sustainable future A good culture must prevail and processes must be ethical as consumers are attracted to such company. The Criteria The Enabler Criteria: Leadership This relates to the behaviours that the leaders adopt to facilitate the achievement of mission and vision. People The organisation helps to improve the skills of the employees and promote justice and equality. In addition they cater for the proper communication and rewarding people. Strategy The organisation reviews its mission and vision and implements it with the concept of continuous improvement. Partnership and Resources It refers how the organisation manages and develops its external partnerships and internal resources so as to accomplish the mission. Processes, Products and Services This is related how the organisation designs, manages its processes with the intention of satisfying its stakeholders. The Results Criteria: People Results Excellent organisations systematically measure and achieve outstanding results that meet or exceed the needs and expectation of their people. Customer Results Measures what the organisation is doing to meet the expectation of its targeted customers. Society Results It is concerned with what the organisation is achieving in satisfying the needs and expectations of relevant stakeholders within the society. Key Results This determines the success of the organisations strategy and the satisfaction of stakeholders. The Radar This model can be used to assess the current capabilities of the organisation. Meaning that, the organisation can know its strengths and opportunities by performing the RADAR. The application of the RADAR logic helps an organisation to: Determine the Results it is targeting to accomplish as part of its policy and strategy making process. Plan and Develop an integrated set of sound Approaches to deliver the required results both now and in the future. Deploy the approaches in an efficient way to ensure implementation. Assess and Review the approaches by monitoring and analysing the results achieved through ongoing activities. Comparison between the MBNQA and EFQM: Both are results oriented awards Both the awards give maximum weight to customer satisfaction results The European Quality Award include the impact of society as one of its criteria while Baldrige covers this point in the leadership criteria The Baldrige Awards does not include the financial performance whereas the European Awards in broad-based due to the inclusion of financial performance. Analysis The 4th criterion of Baldrige which is the Measurement, Analysis and the Knowledge Management is similar to the Radar which is the Assess and Review approaches and their deployment. Both models lay emphasis on measuring and analysing past performance in order to improve their processes to achieve the desired results. Besides, the Knowledge Management focuses on the knowledge that employees will need to increase their performance together with the improvement of the processes so as to bring innovative solutions. Moreover, Baldrige and EFQM criteria help the organisation to know where it actually stands compared to its rivals and also where there is scope for improvement to reduce the gaps in their processes and performances. The Workforce focus criterion of Baldrige can be compared to that of the People criteria in EFQM. The similarity between both is that they take into consideration the importance of an effective working environment for supporting their personnel. The crucial concept is to have a motivating workforce for the achievement of organisational and personal goals. Both models lay emphasis on compensating and rewarding the workforce. Such actions will motivate people which will result for benefiting the organisation as many studies have shown that motivated employees generate positive impact on the organisations performance. ISO 9001:2008 ISO 9001:2008 Certification has been in place for over a decade now. Both customers and companies use ISO 9001:2008 as a method of controlling their quality. ISO 9001:2008 is an international standard for quality management system. The standard provides a framework to manage your business and ensure a common sense approach to the management of your business activities to consistently achieve customer satisfaction by providing a set of principles to the company. The eight principles are: Customer focus organization It is where the organization depends on their customers and therefore the organization need to shape activities around the fulfillment of market need. Leadership Leadership is needed in order to provide unity of purpose and also a direction. Involvement of people The organization should create an environment where people become fully involved in achieving the organizational objectives. Process approach In order to achieve organizational objectives, resources and activities need to be managed as processes. Systems approach to management The effectiveness and efficiency of an organization depends on a systemized approach to work activities. Continual improvement An organization key objective is to adopt continual improvement as a part of everyday culture. Factual approach to decision making Effective decisions are based on the logical and intuitive analysis of data and factual information. Mutually beneficial supplier relationships Such relationship between an organization and its supplier will enhance the ability to create value for both of them. The above eight principles are structured into the following 5 major section with reduced documentation requirements with high emphasis on continual improvement and customer satisfaction. Quality management system Management responsibility Resource management Product realization Measurement, analysis and improvement ISO 9001:2008 and Baldrige Just like baldrige provides a category on workforce, in the same way ISO 9001:2008 provides a section on resource management. However the main difference is that baldrige provides quantifiable data whose weightage is 85 points and it allows an organization to self-assess itself whereas ISO does not allow to self-assessment and also ISO allows you to have part of your organization to be ISO certified because of economic reason whereas with baldrige this is not possible. Section 6 of ISO 9001:2008 Resource management Section 6 of ISO 9001:2008 consists of resource management which relates to resource needed for an organization which includes human resource, hardware and software. However baldrige talks about assessing your workforce capability and capacity needs. Section 6.1 provision of resources, here resources can be in terms of manpower or machine. The organization must determine and ensure that the determined resources are available. It should be ensured that the implantation maintain and continually improve the effectiveness of ISO 9001 system and make sure that customer are satisfied whereas baldrige focus on how to recruit and retain your workforce. 6.2 human resources; is another critical resource for an organization and therefore ISO 9001 emphasis on human resource competency and training but baldrige makes sure that you organize and manage your workforce. According to the general requirement people who are performing the task will directly or indirectly affect the conformity of product requirement. Therefore the workforce must be competent base on education, training, knowledge, skills and experience. However in order to handle this requirement the competency must be well defined. In baldrige there is workforce change management which emphasize on changing your workforce capability and capacity needs. The next section which is based on competence, training and awareness makes sure that an organization must identify the training needed for each job or task and review the gap between the people who perform the job to the requirements. Baldrige however focus on exceeding performance expectations by organizing and managing your workforce. Moreover the organization must identify, provide and maintain the facilities needed to ensure to achieve conformity of product. This includes facilities like equipment, building, transport, communication method and so on. The last section argues that organization must determine and manage the work environment needed to achieve the conformity of product requirement. One example can be the availability of enough lighting. Section 8 of ISO 9001:2008 Measurement, analysis and improvement ISO 9001:2008 provides a requirement for measurement, analysis and improvement. The standard now requires that measurement and monitoring activities needed to ensure conformity. Moreover the achieve improvement must be defined, planned and implemented. In order for this to occur there must be appropriate measurement methods. Baldrige also focus on performance measures which will collect information on the overall organizational performance. Section 8.2.1 which is customer satisfaction states that organization will monitor information on customer satisfaction/dissatisfaction. There must be a system in place which will address customer complaints and general feedback. Baldrige also ensure the effective use of voice-of-the-customer data and information to support operational and strategic decision making and innovation. Section 8.2.2 which is internal audits argues that organisation should review their internal audit procedures to ensure the inclusion of responsibilities, requirements and methodologies for conducting the audits. However Baldrige focuses on benchmarking. Furthermore organisations are required to determine the measurement and monitoring methods which will be used in order to ensure that both processes and product requirements are met. Baldrige also review the performance and capabilities of the organization. Organisations must take action related to the consequences of non-conformity owing to the requirement control of nonconforming product. Baldrige also has a criteria on best practice sharing where the lessons learned are shared. Section 8.4 consists of analysis of data where organization must collect and analyse data to determine system sustainability and effectives so that improvements can be made. Baldrige focus on future performance. Based on the section on improvement organization must facilitate continual improvement through the use of the quality policy, objectives, audit results, analysis of data, corrective and preventive action and management review. ISO 9001:2008 clearly establishes top management responsibility for an organization improvement. It also states that actions taken must prevent recurrence. When reviewing actions taken over time, organization must ensure that repeat occurrences are addresses on the other hand Baldrige focuses on continuous improvement and innovation. To conclude, Baldrige and ISO are quite similar, the only difference is that with baldrige you can do benchmarking but with ISO it is not possible. Organisations who applied the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework The Baldrige framework is uniquely different than any other framework for organizational excellence and management. It contains criteria that relate to any organization in any sector which are as follows: Manufacturing Service Small Business Nonprofit Education Healthcare The Baldrige Criteria are recognized globally as a premier excellence framework, and approximately 80 international quality or performance excellence awards either use the Baldrige Criteria or a derivative of it like for example the Japan Quality Award. The award is presented to Japanese companies displaying excellent overall management qualities that continue to create new values through the continuous improvement process. The Fukuiken Saiseikai hospital in Japan is the recent winner of the Japan Quality Award 2012. There are many organisations who have won the Baldrige National Quality Award in the United States. We shall take examples of some companies having won this award which are as follows: Motorola Inc. which was the first company to have won the first edition of Baldrige award in year 1988 and in 2002 made it twice. Employing approximately 99,000 employees in 53 different locations in the world, it aims at having the highest sales volume in world markets for electronic components and equipment. The only thing that counts is quality improvement leading to total customer satisfaction. In order to achieve this, the company made use of some techniques such as the six-sigma quality which aims at reducing the defects rate in the processes and manufacturing consistent products. Second one is the reduction in total cycle time where the time a customer placed and order and the time at which it was delivered to him was reduced. Another concept adopted is the benchmarking programs that were used to compare the processes, resources, performance and products of rivals with that of the company. The company had what they called Participative Management Program where the employees had the opportunity to participate in the decision making process of the company helping in analyzing the past performances and results in order to set strategic objectives for the future. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is another big company that has applied the Baldrige Framework. It has 23 business and resorts hotels in United States and 2

Steven Jobs Essays -- APPLE PIXAR NEXT

CEO: Steven Jobs (APPLE, PIXAR, NEXT) Steven Jobs is not your "run of the mill" CEO. This statement sounds clichà © and it should because every CEO in some way is different. Steven Jobs with considerable confidence can be called one of the most ingenious, unconventional CEO's in the world. First off, it is important to look at his upbringing because it proves his approach to management is pure personality. Job's runs his company with an innovative edge that is far from collaborative. Steve Jobs' management techniques are a direct reflection of his upbringing. As a child, Jobs pursued his tasks and goals with a passion and aggression for success. Steven Paul Jobs was an orphan adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, California in February 1955. So instead of attending either Berkeley or Stanford, he decided on the very liberal Reed University in Oregon. This is where Jobs was introduced to philosophies and ideas that would shape how he would treat the business world. At this time school was not important and he withdrew after the first semester of college. When he returned home, he was thin and disheveled. He embraced a new goal of traveling to India in pursuit of what a friend termed "the electric atmosphere of love." Jobs work with Apple is where he exploits the best examples of his good and bad management styles. When Jobs started with Apple he had no specific function. He kept himself busy initially by successfully supervising the designs for the company logo and for the hard plastic shell that encased the Apple II. The fact is Jobs was talented at most everything or at least seeming like he was. "'If you have a hardware man there, Steve can't talk hardware. If you have a software man, Steve can't talk software. He can help design computer cases"' (qtd. in Butcher 103). Job's was not satisfied with this role and Markkula, who maneuvered himself into a position of great power at Apple.? (Butcher 90-105). Job's was smart in that he positioned himself for success. He knew how to be at the right place at the right time. The downside to this was he always wanted more. The He had a hard time putting his vision down in a practical manner. He saw a computer with an elegant exterior but the problem with his vision was that the way he had to have it would make production nearly impossible. ?These unreal expectations resulted in "miscommunica... ...ion he wants those steps will not be questioned. There are two different ways the think about Steven Jobs. The first is the way his personality led to the failure of his management style. The other and the more important way is his forth knowledge of the market. Job?s was not successful in leading Apple managerially. He placed his selfishness ambitions first before the most important part of his company the employee?s. He was also unable to delegate authority to those better qualified than he because he wanted as much recognition as he could get. As bad of a manager he might be the success of Apple speaks louder than his failures. Apple is non-existent without his belligerent passion a motivation for success. The moment speaks for itself. In future years Jobs personality could be extremely destructive throughout his companies but for the moment his ability to produce cash far succeeds his downfalls as a manager. Works Cited Brayan, Chaffin, and Vern Seward. "The New York Times looks at Steven Jobs." The New York Times 10 May 2004. 08 Feb. 2004 Butcher, Lee. Accidental Millionaire. New York: Paragon, 1988. Steven Jobs: A Manager? Vers. 1. 06 May 1992. 08 Feb. 2005