Oral Communication Essay

INTRODUCTION Making a business or social speech is more than just standing up and ‘saying a few words’. Experience has shown that the importance of oral presentations, especially in the business world, cannot be underestimated. This is because presentations are an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, competence, and composure while making an impression on both superiors and subordinates. Although oral presentations are very important, they strike fear in the hearts of those who give them. This should not however be the case. The key to a successful oral presentation is preparation. Preparation alleviates apprehension, and helps identify potential problems in presentations. I hope this course will go a long way to prepare you for the task. ELEMENTS OF THE PUBLIC SPEAKING PROCESS SOURCE This is the origin of communication message. A public speaker is the source of ideas and information for an audience. The job of the speaker or source is to encode or translate images and ideas in his or her mind into a system of signals that will be recognized by an audience. For example, the speaker may encode into words â€Å"The new product should be two inches square† or into gestures (showing the size with hands). RECEIVER The receiver is the target of the message. The receiver’s task is to decode the sender’s verbal and non-verbal symbols, translating these codes back into mental ideas and images. Of course, the decoded message will never be exactly the thought or idea that the speaker intended to convey as the receiver’s perception is dependent on his or her own unique blend of past experiences, attitude beliefs and values. MESSAGE The message in public speaking is the speech itself – both what is said and what is heard. As said earlier, speaker’s intended message may differ from the meaning the audience decodes. If a speaker has trouble finding words to convey his or her ideas, the message suffers right away. And because the listener’s frame of mind may be different from that of the speaker’s, he may interpret what he hears and sees in a manner that was not all what the  speaker intended. In reality, an intended message will differ a little from the actual message perceived by an audience. However, the less distorted the message between the sender and receiver, the more accurate and successful the communication CHANNEL A channel in communication is the means used to communicate. Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message constant across channels, different modes or forms of communication will often vary in terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form. The message is usually transmitted from sender via to channels; visual and auditory (or a combination). The audience sees the speaker and decodes his or her non-verbal message – eye contact (or lack of it), facial expressions, posture/gestures and dress. This is the visual channel. The auditory channel, on the other hand, opens as the speaker speaks. Then audience hears his or her words and such vocal cues as inflection, rate and voice quality. FEEDBACK In public speaking, the speaker does most or all the talking. But public speaking is still an interactional process. Remembering the old question of whether a falling tree can make noise if there is no around to hear, we may as well ask whether one can engage in public speaking without an audience to hear and provide feedback. The answer is no, skillful speakers are audience-centered. They depend on the nods, facial expressions, and murmuring of the audience to adjust their rate of speaking, volume, vocabulary, type and amount of supporting materials and other variables in order to maximize the success of their communication. CONTEXT The context of public speaking experience is the environment or situation in which the speech occurs. It includes such elements as time, place and the physical and psychological factors affecting both speaker and listener. As John Donne said, â€Å"No speech is an island†. No speech occurs in a vacuum.  Rather, each speech is a unique blend of circumstances that can never occur in exactly the same conjunction again. For example, if the room is too hot, crowned or poorly lit, these conditions affect both speaker and audience. This audience who hears a speaker at 10.00 in the morning is likely to be fresher and more receptive than the audience who hears the speaker at 4.30 in the afternoon. Likewise, if the speaker is coming down with a cold, this malaise is likely to affect his or her performance. These factors make up the element of public speaking process that e call context. NOISE When variables interfere with the communication of a message, we call them noise. Noise may be literal or external. For example, if your 8.00 am Public speaking class is frequently interrupted by campaigning students or the roar of a lawn mower, it may be difficult to hear a speaker. Noise may also be â€Å"Internal†, a term that refers to some of the other factors we have discussed. An internal noise may affect either the source or the receiver. For example, a speaker’s bad cold may cloud his or her memory or subdue a usually enthusiastic delivery. An audience member who is worried about an examination later in the day is unlikely to remember what speaker says. Just before lunch, they may also be too hungry to pay much attention. All these factors interfere with the transmission of a message from sender to receiver. 1. GETTING STARTED A. SELECT AND LIMIT THE TOPIC Choosing a topic for a speech can be a problem. However, there are two methods by which you can choose a speech topic. i. The first is brainstorming which involves thinking of as many topics as you can in a limited time so that you can select one topic that will be appropriate for your audience. First, give yourself a limited time. Get a list of a number of possible topics for yourself. Next, pick about three of the topics which have the most appeal. Then you choose the most appropriate of the three topics. ii. The other methods of selection are personal inventories where you conduct personal inventory of your reading and viewing habits. Thus, a topic can be chosen from books you read, films you watch, etc, For instance, your personal inventory of newspapers, periodicals, television, talents, hobbies etc. B. TEST THE TOPIC After you choose the topic, ask yourself three questions. i. First, whether the topic is appropriate for the audience. To know this, ask whether you can speak about it on a level the audience can understand. Does the audience need technical or specialized knowledge? Do they have enough background knowledge to understand the subject? Answers these questions will help determine the appropriateness of your topic. ii. Second, is the topic appropriate for you? Can you get involved in it, and is it interesting enough to motivate you to do the necessary research? Normally, the best topics come from your own experiences. iii. Besides your audience and interest, you should ask whether the topic is appropriate for the occasion. For instance, an after-dinner speech should be light and not be too long as members of the audience may be full and not be alert. On the other hand, a speech at a seminar will afford you the opportunity to speak on a more complex topic. Another consideration is whether you can fit the speech into the time limit of the occasion . C. NARROW YOUR TOPIC One mistake that beginners make is that they try to cover a broad topic resulting in a superficial treatment of the topic. The result is that the speech will not be meaningful. To narrow a topic, you must find a specific aspect of a subject that will best meet the time restrains and other demands of the speaking situation. Example i. Health issues in third-world countries ii. Infant mortality in third-world countries iii. Infant formula(as against breast-feeding) in third-world countries iv. How infant formula affects health in third- world countries. D. SELECTING A PURPOSE After selecting and narrowing your topic. You need to decide on both the general and specific purpose. You can speak to inform, persuade, or  entertain. But sometimes these overlap to some extent. i. General Purpose Speaking to inform is the primary objective of class lectures, seminars, workshops, etc. When you inform, you teach, define, illustrate, clarify or elaborate on a topic. In informative speeches, speakers do not take sides when the subject is controversial. The informative speaker will present all sides to an issue and let members of the audience make up their minds. In a persuasive speech, however, the speaker takes a particular stance and tries to get the audience to accept and support that stance. Persuasion is a process of changing or reinforcing attitudes, beliefs, value or behaviour. To be persuasive, you need to be sensitive to your audience’s attitude towards your and your topic. Sermons, political speeches, students’ campaign speeches, sales presentations, etc. are examples of persuasive speeches. ii. Specific Purpose The Statement of a specific purpose will help you focus on what you want to accomplish. It will help you define what you are going to inform or persuade you audience about. Your specific purpose should be a fine-tuned, audience-centered goal that should follow the following guidelines. 1. State your purpose clearly and completely. To explain to the audience members how to stay physically fit. To persuade audience members not to buy products from advertisers who use sexist language. 2. State your purpose in terms of the effects you want to have on your audience. In an informative speech, you may want your audience to restate an idea, identify, describe or illustrate something. However, in a persuasive speech, you may your audience to take classes, buy something, or vote for someone. To inform my audience about how they can improve their study habits. To persuade my audience to donate blood to the Ghana Red Cross. 3. Limit your purpose statement to one idea. This will help you narrow your topic and keep it specific. 4. Use specific language in your purpose of  statement The more precise your language, the clearer the language will be in their minds. To persuade my audience to fight crime is too vague a topic. By crime, do you mean drugs, rape, kidnapping, murder, or what? You could rephrase your purpose this way: To persuade my audience that everyone can help curb armed robbery. 5. Develop your central idea While your statement of specific purpose indicates what you want your audience to do when you have finished your speech, your central idea statement (Thesis statement) identifies the essence of your message. Example: Specific Purpose: to inform my audience about how to make sure their drinking water is safe. Central Idea: People can do three things to ensure that their drinking water is safe. 1. Purchase an activated – carbon filter 2. Have it tested 3. Reduce exposure to bacteria by disinfecting product E. ORGANIZING AND OUTLINING THE SPEECH As a wise person once said, if effort is organized, accomplishment follows. While generating ideas for your speech, you actually begin the task of organizing your message. After additional research, you need to develop an outline of your talk. A clearly and logically structured speech helps your audience remember what you say and also help you to feel more in control of your speech and greater control will help you feel more comfortable while delivering your speech. Every speech has three main parts: the instruction, the body and the conclusion. Since an introduction previews a speech and the conclusion summarizes it, most teachers recommend that students prepare their  introductions and conclusions after they have organized the body of the talk. We will therefore discuss the introduction and conclusion later. Purpose of the introduction Within a few seconds of meeting a person, you form a first impression that is often quite lasting. So too, do you form a first impression of a speaker and his message within the opening seconds of the speech. The introduction may convince you to listen to a credible speaker presenting a well prepared speech or may send the message that the speaker is ill-prepared and the message not worth your time. To say that the introduction should be well planned is an understatement, considering the fact it is very important and yet very brief. An introduction serves the following functions: A key purpose of the speech introduction is to gain favorable attention for your speech. Because listeners from their first impression often speech quickly, if the introduction does not capture their attention and cast the speech in a favorable light, the rest of the speech may be wasted on the audience. After capturing the audience’s attention and introducing the subject, you have to give the audience some reason to want to listen to the rest of your speech. You can do this by showing them how the topic affects them directly.  Perhaps, the most obvious purpose of the introduction is to introduce the subject of the speech. Within a few seconds after you begin your speech, the audience should have a good idea of what you are going to talk about. The best way to do this is to include statement of your central idea in the introduction. Purpose of Conclusion Your introduction creates an important first impression: your conclusion leaves an equally important final impression. Long after you have finished speaking, your audience is likely to remember the effect, if not the content of your closing remarks. There are a number of purposes of an effective conclusion: One purpose of the conclusion is to summarize the speech. A conclusion is s speaker’s last chance to repeat his or her main ideas to the audience. Another purpose of the speech conclusion is to reemphasize the main ideas in a memorable way. The conclusions of a number of speeches are among the most memorable statements we have. Also, motivation is a necessary component of an effective conclusion: not motivation to listen, but motivation to respond in some way. If your speech in informative, you want your audience to think about the topic or research it further. If your speech is persuasive, you may want your audience to take some sort of appropriate action-buy a product, make a phone call, or get involved in a cause. The conclusion is your last chance to motivate your audience to respond to your message. The most obvious purpose of the conclusion is to let audience know that the speech has ended. Speeches have to â€Å"sound finished† Principles of organization You must try as much as possible to relate the points you make in your speech directly to your specific purpose and central idea. In the speech, the challenge to excel, notice how all the main points are related to the purpose and central idea. Specific Purpose. To inform my classmates about the four things required to excel. Central Idea: No matter what people’s abilities are, there are four things they can do to excel. Main ideas: 1. Learn self –discipline. 2. Build a knowledge base. 3. Develop special skills. 4. Bounce back from defeat. i. Give points a parallel structure Parallel structure means that each of your points will begin with the same grammatical form. Example, on a speech about ways to loose weight, this speaker started each suggestion with a verb: Exercise at least three times a week Eat low-fat, high energy snacks like fruits. Count your daily intake. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the United States should act now to protect its citizens against electronic invasions of their personal privacy. Central Idea: The loss of personal privacy in our electronic society is a serious problem that requires decisive action. Introduction Attention: (i) Would you let a perfect stranger examine your medical files, peek at your personal finances, eavesdrop on your phone calls, or invade other aspects of your personal life? (ii) Yet all of these are happening as a result  of privacy invading technology by business and government agencies. (iii) The erosion of personal privacy has become one of the most serious problems facing Americans in our high-tech, electronic age. (iv) Today I would like to explain the extent of this problem and encourage you to support a solution to it. Body Need: (i). The use of electronic data gathering by business and government poses a serious threat to personal privacy. A. Business and government agencies have compiled massive   amounts of information on the personal lives of most Americans. B. There are few laws protecting Americans against the gathering or misuse of personal information by businesses and government agencies. Satisfaction: (ii) The problem could be greatly reduced by the passage of federal privacy laws. A. These laws should impose strict controls on the collection of personal information by businesses and government agencies. B. These laws should also include stiff penalties on anyone who uses personal information for unauthorized purpose. Visualisation: (iii) Similarities laws have worked in other counties and can work in the United States. A. The practicality of privacy laws has been demonstrated by their success in almost all the countries of Western Europe. B. If the U.S had such laws, you would once again have control over your medical files, financial records, and other kinds of personal information. Conclusion Action: (i) So I urge you to support privacy legislation by signing the petition I am passing around to be sent to our state’s U.S Senators and Representatives. (ii) As Congressman Jack Fields has stated, â€Å"This is not a Democratic or Republican issue†¦ Privacy is a basic human right.† Try using the motivated sequence when you seek immediate action from your listeners. Over the years it has worked for countless speakers – and it can work for you as well. PATTERNS OF ORGANISATION There are different ways by which you can arrange the main points of your speech. Your choice will depend on what best suits your materials. These patterns include time or chronological order, spatial order, cause and effect order, problem- solution order, and topical order. Time Order This is used to show development over time. This pattern works well when you are using a historical approach. It is often used to explain a process and this process could be anything ranging from how to wrap a gift to how to apply for a student’s loan. Spatial Order This is approach refers to the physical or geographical layout to help your audience see how the parts makes up the whole. To help your audience visualize subject, you explain it by going from left to right or form top to bottom, or any direction that best suits your subject. Example Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the layout of K’dua Poly campus Central Idea : The campus is laid out logically as a series of concentric (having a common centre) circles. Main Points : I. Parking and athletic complexes occupy the outermost circles. II. The hostels, fraternities and sororities occupy the next concentric circle. III. Next to the centre circle are the library, the student union and the classroom buildings. IV. The administrative offices occupy the centre circle of campus. The spatial order works particular well when the speech focuses on a chart or a diagram. When using the visual aid, the speaker naturally moves from top to bottom or from left to right. Example: Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about who make decisions on campus. Central Idea: Campus business is divided into branches: the administrative branch and the academic branch. Main Point: I. The Principal is the chief administrative officer of the polytechnic and the main spokesman for the polytechnic community. II. The academic vice principal is responsible for everything that concerns classes, such as curriculum and faculty. III. The administrative vice principal is responsible for everything that concerns classes, such as curriculum and faculty. Causes – Effect order With this pattern, the speaker divides the speech into: causes (Why something  is happening), and effect (what impact it is has). Example Specific purpose: To inform my audience on why smart people sometimes fail. Central Idea : Smart people sometimes do things that lead to failure. Main Point: I. Smart people are defined as those with high IQs. II. Causes for their failure include ignorance, isolation, recklessness, and over reaching. III. Failure (effects) includes loss of high paying profile jobs, public humiliation, loss of opportunity, and even loss of fortunes. When you are using this approach, you do not always have to begin with a cause and end with an effect. In the above example, the speaker could have reversed points II and III and first use examples of some of the possible effects of high. I Q. and them continue with the causes. The important thing is to begin with the aspect most likely to capture the audience’s attention. iv. Problem –Solution Order The problem –Solution order, like the cause – effect order, divides as speech into two sections. One pat deals with the problem and the other part, with the solution. Example Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that American schools need to teach students more about the third world. Central Idea: Americans must know about the third world because what happens in those countries affect American lives. Main Point: I. Most Americans have negative impressions of the third world from the mass media. II. Most Americans are ignorant of the impressions of the impact that the third world has on American Trade. III. Most Americans do not know how the third world influences  political decision making among the super powers. IV. American teachers and curriculum planners must add materials   about the third world materials about the third world to the school curriculum. V. Textbook publishers should add third world materials. Topical Order: When your speech does not fit into any of the patterns described so far, you may use the topical pattern of organization. This pattern can be used whenever your subject can be grouped logically into sub topics. Examples – Four ways to overcome snoring – Five types of food that will help you live longer, four ways to save money for school, what can be done to protect natural resources, etc. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that everyone can contribute to conserving natural resources. Central Ideal: Conservation means practicing the four R’s of reduce, re-use, repair nad recycle. Main Points: I. Reduce consumption and waste. II. Reuse what can be reused. III. Repair what can be fixed. IV. Recycle what can be recycled. THE PERSUASIVE SPEECH Persuasion is the process of trying to get others to change their attitudes or behaviour. All of us are trying to persuade one way or the other. The government bombards us with messages intended to foster patriotism and hard work. Sermons from churches and mosques enjoin us against selfishness, corruption, and other social vices, etc. Obviously, not all persuasive speeches work. We ignore many of the messages aimed at use and are unmoved by most. One may ask, what then make a speech persuasive? Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, attributed the persuasive impact of a message to three major factors: ethos (communicator characteristics), Pathos (Emotional nature of  audience), and Logos (message features). SOURCE FACTORS Until recently many psychologists believed that the most crucial characteristic of an effective speaker was his prestige. In other words, it was believed that any speaker who possesses prestige could cause the audience to submit to his message regardless of the logicality or illogicality of the message. Recent studies by social psychologists suggest that though prestige is necessary, it is not a sufficient factor in persuasive communication. Research indicates the following speaker characteristics for an effective speech. Credibility The primary characteristic of the speaker has been found to be â€Å"Credibility† or â€Å"believability†, A speech has greater persuasive effect if the speaker is perceived to be credible or â€Å"believable†. In order words, for a message to be persuasive, the speaker must be credible. Here, credibility means expertness and trustworthiness. Expertness of the speaker (source) refers to the extent to which the audience believes that the speaker is capable of transmitting valid statements on the issue under consideration. Put simply, expertness refers to the degree to which the speaker is perceived by the audience to possess comprehensive knowledge on the subject matter. Thus, speakers who present an impressive amount of evidence, show insight into all aspects of the issue are usually perceived by audiences as experts or competent in area in areas they are dealing with, thereby inspiring greater credibility in their audience. Though members of an audience are inclined to believe a message from an expert or knowledgeable source, the impact is even greater if they have reasons to believe that the source is trustworthy. There are two issues to trustworthiness. First a source is less likely to be believed the audience perceived him to have something to gain if his message is accepted. Second, if the source is perceived from the outset to have a defined intention to persuade, it is less likely he will be perceived worthy of trust. Nevertheless, being perceived as having an intention to persuade needs not always decrease the speakers’ effectiveness to persuade his audience. In fact, it can be an asset to persuade. Such frank admission can have disarming effect on the audience. This is because members of the  audience tend to place credence on the remarks of those they regard as sincere and open. Therefore, the speaker who shows himself as honest is more likely to elicit friendly and less hostile responses from the audience. It is combined value of the speaker’s expertise on an issue and his trustworthiness that we refer to as credibility. Confidence The speaker who seems to be in command of himself inspires confidence. Members of the audience tend to believe in speakers who deliver their message in a more confident tone than those who do it in tentative way. For instance, speakers who present their arguments prefaced with statements like obviously, speakers, who present their arguments prefaced with statement like obviously, in fact, certainly, etc. are more effective than those who present their arguments with expression like I don’t know; I am not positive, etc. Also the effective speaker does not become unsettled when the audience become hostile, or when reacting to hostile questions from the audience. Tact Our attempt to persuade others often fails because we do so in a tactless manner. Tact is the ability of what to say and how to say what you want to say without giving offence. In persuasion, tact means disagreeing without scolding, enlightening without insulting their intelligence. Persuasion without tact breeds alienation. Moderation Temperance and restraint are crucial ingredients in persuasive communication. Speakers who indulge in personal abuse, overstatement, and inappropriate emotional displays tend to turn off their audience. They may even induce in the audience psychological resistance to the idea they are trying to promote. Friendliness It is very important for a speaker to be friendly towards an audience. Where the audience is hostile, goodwill is important. The speaker or source that shows a good disposition towards the audience clears one of the obstacles to  persuasion even though he and the audience may disagree on certain points. Similarity/Identity (e.g. Familiar Language) It is often difficult to identify with someone whose past and present experiences are so different from your own. How can you see the historical significance of polygamy if you are, for instance a European, or understand the rational for divestiture of national assets if you are a socialist? In fact, a true meeting of the mind is enhanced when a speaker is similar to the audience in terms of ethnicity, sex, age, socio-economic status, educational background, current living conditions, political ideology, etc. Such a speaker is more likely to be perceived as more credible, and hence is more likely to have greater impact on his audience. Non-verbal elements Many worthwhile ideas go unheeded because they are ineptly presented. The audience because of misleading cues in the speaker’s non-verbal language misconstrues some ideas. For instance, a speaker may say one thing while the sound of this voice and facial expression tell the audience something else. Imperfections in communication occur when the non-verbal elements in the communication are not supportive of the verbal elements. Also, non-verbal elements convey to the audience more about the speaker than he realizes. Physical appearance All of us tend to make generalization about people’s personality, attitudes, and look from the clothes they wear the objects they keep on their persons (e.g. Jewelry) and their grooming, generally. We give them names according to what they wear, etc. Such generalizations are often made about speakers even before they begin to deliver their speech. We are not so much concerned about the validity of these generalizations by the audience. However, what every speaker must know is that inappropriate dress and grooming can be destructive in persuasive communication. Ironically, it is not possible to prescribe a universally acceptable dress for all speakers on all occasion. The real test is that appropriate appearance and grooming should be suitable for the speaker’s purpose, his audience expectations, and the occasion. Facial expression and eye behavior Another important aspect of non-verbal communication is facial expression. The speaker’s facial expression conveys to the audience, his attitude towards himself, the subject matter, and the audience. It can tell the audience whether he is sincerely motivated in his assertions or his animations are feigned. The inference an audience makes from the speaker’s facial expression can affect this trustworthiness and hence his credibility. Subtle nuances in facial expression can make a world of difference in perceived meaning. Such variables like amount and rate of dilation of the pupil or one’s eye blink rate can communicate a great deal of information. The key facial expressions used to convey information include raising or dropping the eyebrows, smiling or frowning, knitting or relaxing the forehead, closing or widening the open eye, wrinkling the nose, pursing the lips, baring the teeth, dropping the jaw, etc. Eye behaviour also performs a persuasion function. We rate speakers who maintain eye contact as credible and we suspect those whose gaze is continually shifting about. If people avert their eyes when talking to us, we assume that they are either shy or are hiding something from us. Bodily communication This has dimensions including physical movements of the body like gestures, the way one holds one’s body (tense or relaxed posture), tilting or nodding the head, clenching one’s first, having ones arms akimbo on the waist, etc. These bodily movements can indicate arrogance, anger, degree of commitment, or determination, etc. Imagine a speaker trying to present a conciliatory message while standing in the ‘drill-sergeant’ position (feet planted widely apart as though he were issuing orders to his subordinates. This posture conveys defiance, which is incompatible with the conciliatory message. It is therefore important to note that a speaker’s body language should be compatible with the verbal message being uttered. Since body language conveys meaning, it can be an asset or a liability. It is however an asset only when it directs the audience’s attention to the verbal message being communicated, and also when it actually transmits a meaning which intensifies the meaning of the verbal message. It should be emphasized  that the absence of movement, that static state, is also a conveyer of meaning. In such a situation, parts of the verbal message will actually be lost due to the suppression of bodily action. Vocalic communication The other none-verbal element in speaker’s communication behaviour is aural. The voice of the speaker does more than rendering ideas into audible form. The pitch of the voice, its loudness or quality and the rate of delivery, convey various shades of meaning to the audience. The controllable elements of the voice also act as factors of attention. In fact, not only does the voice affects meaning and attention, but also transmits an impression of the speaker as a person to the audience. For example, a speech delivered in a weak voice may convey to the audience the speaker’s lack of courage and vigour. In effect, the public speaker must know that he is judged not only by words spoken, but also by the meaning the audience attaches to the sound of the voice that carries those words. Artifactual Communication People decorate their homes and work places with artifacts to symbolize their sense of self. Our culture has taught us to react in certain ways to the artifacts of others. It is important to note that these patterns of responses form the premises of persuasion and therefore we interpret artifacts that surround persuaders in message situations according to the dictates of our culture. Therefore, the banners, the bunting, insignias in a speech situation, all contribute to the success (or failure) of a persuasive attempt. Another type of artifact is clothing. What people wear send signals about what they believe in and what they stand for. However, these Artifactual messages, as said earlier, vary from culture to culture and can make a world of difference between a successful and an unsuccessful persuasion. Tactical communication A very important non-verbal message carrier is the way and degree to which people touch one another. Generally, there are gender related differences in the use of touch. Women are more likely to use touch to communicate than are  men. In fact, the average woman torches someone else about twelve times a day, with the average man touching someone only eight times a day. In terms of persuasion, research shows that persuaders who touch are the most successful persuaders. Touch seems to be a good way to convey social kind of emotional feeling like empathy, warmth, and reassurance. It is however important to note some touches are taboo. For instance, some parts of the body are ‘off limits’ to public touch. Therefore, a persuader who is too ‘touchy’ with persons around him is likely to offend not only the person touched, but also, persons observing the touch. Credibility can be drastically undermined if persuaders misread a relationship and respond inappropriately if a speaker touches in a way that is not appropriate. THE AUDIENCE FACTORS If it the aim of the speech is to change the views, attitudes, and behaviours of an audience, then it is important that the speaker places particular emphasis on knowing the audience. In a very practical sense, it means the speaker finding out all he can about the people he will be speaking to. It is indeed, probable that the majority of failures in persuasive attempts can be traced to insufficient or inaccurate ‘ analyses’ or ‘targeting’ of those intended to be influenced. Only by seeing things from the audiences’ point of view can we deal directly and effectively with our audiences. In reality, the group of individuals that a speaker tries to influence is his audience. Therefore, for the speaker to know the audience, he must locate the common characteristics of the members of the audience and strategize the message accordingly. Research in this area suggests that there are several common characteristics about the audience and these include the follo wing. Initial attitude of the audience towards subject matter The initial position of the members of the audience is crucial in bringing about opinion change. The more extreme the initial position of the audience from that of the speaker, the greater the latitude of rejection of the speaker’s message. In effect, maximum attitude change can be effected when the audience does not hold an extreme attitude position. However, with an audience that is hostile to the point of view espoused by the speaker, media experts suggest that the strategy is for the speaker to start with those  points on which he agrees with the audience. This strategy may be effective for two reasons. a. Agreeing with hostile audience from the start has a disarming effect and prevents heckling and outbursts that characterize hostile audience. b. Agreeing with audience at the outset can enhance the speaker’s trustworthiness with the audience, and may be perceived â€Å"fair† â€Å"objective† and non-opinionated. Audience beliefs. Another characteristic of the audience which can affect their persuasibility is their belief or current thinking about the issue under consideration. For instance, consider the national campaign on the judicious use of electricity due to the low level of water in the Akosombo Dam. Many people initially ignored the warnings or were simply unmoved by them. They did not believe that the Dm would ever dry up. It was not until the Volta River Authority (V.R.A) began issuing daily news on the water level-maximum and minimum operating levels that many people took them seriously. Also, some people do not just believe that AIDS is real and so there is little chance they could be persuaded to use condoms. It is evident that the beliefs people hold on issues can be a powerful deterrent to persuasion. It would therefore be a folly to try to convince people that you have the best solution when they don’t believe that a problem exists. Finding out an audience’s beliefs also involves seeking clarification on how the audience conceptualizes or defines the issue at stake. For example, as a speaker, you want to persuade an audience that Neoplan Buses are better than Tata Buses. You will have to find out first, how your audience defines a â€Å"better bus†. Does â€Å"better† here, means durability? Does it mean cost effective? Are Neoplan Busses better because they are sleek and comfortable? Unless you discover the criteria, and in fact, the priority of the criteria your audience uses, you may be wasting your time in persuading them. You may have to convince the audience that though â€Å"sleekness† and â€Å"comfortability† are intended criteria for measuring a â€Å"better† bus, these are not the only criteria or necessarily the most important ones. You may try to convince them that â€Å"durability and â€Å"petrol consumption† the most important. In trying to win an audience, it is  advisable to discover the criteria by which they measure the â€Å"truth† of the fact in question, and also, the priority if the criteria. THE SURVIVORS â€Å"Work! Harder. Faster. Shovel! Don’t just stand there. Shovel!† And so he shoveled with all his energy and all of his might. Hour after hour, he shoveled until his body could not shovel any more. Finally, he stopped working, learned over on his shovel, and let his body limply rest, as his eyes stared at the ground. The commander looked his way and hollered in a low penetrating voice, â€Å"Shovel†! But the man did not move. The commander lifted his gun, loaded it with ammunition, and shot him. The man released his hands from the shovel and fell to the ground. He murmured his last words, â€Å"How could this happen?† The commander walked over, lifted his heel, and kicked the man into the mass grave, which he had been digging. One more Jew was removed from the world. He was one of 6 million who were brought to their death by the Nazi policy to annihilate the Jewish race. The Nazis collected the Jews in the ghettos; they transported the Jews to the death camps; they worked the Jews until they could not work any more. Then they killed them – by gun and by gas, by starvation and sickness, by torture and terror. Millions of Jews died in the death camps of Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Dachau, and Treblinka. It seems unfathomable that people could have survived the Nazis’ wartime atrocities. Yet, by the grace of God, there were survivors. The survivors were the young and the strong, not the old and the meek. The survivors were the lucky and the few. My grandparents are Holocaust survivors. They are each the only survivors in their families. They witnessed the death of their mothers and fathers, brothers and sister, friends and neighbours. They witnessed the destruction of their lives and homes, towns and country, shops and synagogues. They lived through the death camps. They lived through the excruciating work. They lived to see liberation. Since I was a little girl, my grandparents have told me about their lives during the Holocaust. They have told me about the persecution, the intolerance, and the injustices so that I could appreciate my freedom, my liberty, and my independence. It has  always amazed me that my grandparents don’t have spite or malice. After all they suffered, they have only hope and love. They don’t want to hate any more. During World War II, my grandparents were victims of anti-Semitism. Fifty years later, they are victims no longer. Today they fight against the â€Å"isms† which plague our communities, our states, our nation, and our world. They tell their story so that we, the younger generation, will understand the horrific force which anti-Semitism was in their lives. They relate their experiences to the struggles which so many people grapple with today. They will tell their story, and they will not rest until all people can live without fear and without denial, until all people can live with pride and with dignity. And when my grandparents are gone, I will continue to tell their story. I will tell my children about the men and women who were murdered for no cause. I will tell my children about the heroism of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto who fought strength for strength against the Nazi militia. I will tell these stories to all who will listen. And I hope that you, too, will tell stories. As the Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel, once said, â€Å"Not to transmit an experience is to betray it† To the millions who died in the Holocaust, lie peacefully in your graves, for you have not been forgotten. To the survivors of the Holocaust, rest assured that we have listened to your stories. We have learned by your examples and we, too, will fight for freedom and peace. May no person around the globe again fall to his or her death murmuring, â€Å"How could this happen?†

Six Sigma for Sustainability in Multinational Organizations

Six Sigma For Sustainability In Multinational Organizations Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Six Sigma For Sustainability In Multinational Organizations Abdullah AlSagheer, Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University, Dubai UAE ABSTRACT The Six Sigma model provides various kinds of sustainability to companies in terms of quality enhancement, zero defect level, market share enhancement, optimal production level and financial returns. Multinational companies are more orientated toward impl ementation of Six Sigma than small scale locally held companies.Numerous larger companies have so far implemented Six Sigma including 3M, Caterpillar, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Amazon. com, DHL, SGL group, Dell, Ford Motor Company, DuPont, McGraw Hi ll Companies and HSBC group. Implementation of Six Sigma requires considerable cost and effort in terms of human resource training and reformulation of business processes. This study is an attempt to find what kind of sustainability motivates multinational companies to invest in Six Sigma. Sustainability identified includes social sustainability, environmental sustainability, and economic sustainability.With the aid of interviews, a constant comparison study is conducted in order to find the most preva lent type of sustainability offered by Six Sigma. A sample is drawn from multinational companies which have already implemented Six Sigma in their operations. The findings suggest that multinational companies implement Six Sigma in order to attain econom ic sustainability through various means such as market share, customer base, and social sustainability. Keywords: Six Sigma; sustainability; multinationals; economic sustainability; zero defect level; financial sustainabilityINTRODUCTION T he world is witnessing a reformed shape of business, an approach more focused on quality and customer care. The traditional concept of supplier orientation has shifted to customer orientation and traditional mean ing of quality has also changed. Quality management, total quality management, zero defect level, lean management, continuous improvement and Six Sigma have evolved over the period of time to meet quality requirements of customers. Each having a slighter different and updated focus of quality, Six S igma is the most advance approach.Six Sigma is a quality management initiative that takes the methodological approach based on data attempting to eliminate the defects to minimize standard deviation to desired level of quality (Six Sigma, 2010). The study is focused to find sustainability that Six Sigma brings in multinationals. Small businesses, due to their small scale and low organized processes confront difficulties while implementing six sigma processes. Present study finds the sustainability that six sigma provides to larger multinational organizations in terms of society, environment and financial return.Background Of Study Initiated by Motorola, Six Sigma has largely been adopted by number of multinational, larger scale companies. A few to mentioned includes 3M, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Amazon. com, DHL, SGL group, Dell, Ford Motor company, DuPont, McGraw Hill Companies, HSBC group, United States Army and many others (Gupta, 2005). It is pertinent to notice that mostly multinational an d larger companies have adopted Six Sigma (Wiele, Iwaarden and Power, 2010).Literature and actual implementation of Six Sigma largely reflects the fact that multinational companies are more inclined towards adoption of Six Sigma as it produces multifacete d sustainability. Core reasons of this adoption is that multinational afford higher cost of training, higher technical expertise requirement and more advance processes (Gupta, 2005).  © 2011 The Clute Institute 7 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Statement Of The Research ProblemMultinational organizations adopts six sigma as it offer them sustainability and diversity however , it is important to learn what type of sustainability does six sigma provide to the companies. The core research question to be addressed is what kind of sustainability is largely provided by S ix Sigma in multinational companies. The core question is supported by several secondary questions such as is it in terms of financial success, corporate social responsibility, market share or business? s repute for best practices? Does the core objective of Six Sigma is to bring financial success?How companies define sustainability and what do they want to achieve through Six Sigma? Purpose And Significance Of The Study The study is aimed to drill down into concept of sustainability provided by Six Sig ma. It is important to learn how quality management and advanced quality approaches are helping companies to improve their performance and efficiency. The study is a guideline for companies that have not ventured for Six Sigma. Many multinational companies such as IBM, Microsoft and Royal Dut ch Shell are using their customized quality approach (Schwandt and Marquardt, 2000).The study will ardently provide a basis of comparison between Six Sigma companies and customized quality approaches for future researc h. Moreover, it is significant from Six Sigma companies view point by looking into possible sustainability that Six Sigma can add to their businesses. Review Of The Literature A wide variety of literature is present which draws on Six Sigma, sustainabil ity and sustainability brought by Six Sigma in multinational companies in different perspectives. Six Sigma has a history of twenty four years and theorists have widely discussed its different aspects.The literature initially defines how Six Sigma works f or multinational companies and what the term sustainability ideally reflects. In later part, the literature reviews the sustainability actually brought by Six Sigma in companies and the core aim of adopting Six Sigma in different companies. Six Sigma For Quality Manag ement Six Sigma is highly effective implementation of proven quality principles and techniques. The approach works for virtually error free business performance. In Six Sigma, the company? s performance is measured by the sigma level of businesses process (Pyzdek and Keller, 2009).An approach focused on establishing world class performance bench marks provides road map for attaining zero error level. Apparently Six Sigma is associated with the enhancing quality of good and services, nevertheless, it brings efficiency and effectiveness in processes throughout the organization (Truscott, 2003). Six Sigma approach marvelously improves quality as it objectively looks into quality measurement. Henderson and Evans (2000) McCarty and Fisher (2007) stated that Six Sigma make measurement possible through its multi dimensional statistical model.The model is primarily focused on three aspects i -e sigma statistics, sigma measure and performance benchmark however no element specifically identif ies the le vel of sustainability (Truscott, 2009). Turscott (2009) further exemplifies the Six Sigma implementation by looking at following daily life examples: Process sigma value 2 3 4 5 6 Source: Truscott (2009) 8 Table 1: Six Sigma Implementation from Daily Life Expectation of Time without electricity 207 h 45 h 4h 9 min 8 sec Aircraft accidents 8 per 10 flights 24 per 100 flights 25 per 1000 flights 9 per 10,000 flights 12 per million flights 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Six Sigma works on principles of continuous improvement; Coronado and Antony (2002) resembles the Six Sigma as a loop which begins with defining the goals of improvement activity i -e benchmarking of quality services and leads to measuring of existing syste m. In Six Sigma, measuring the existing system is often termed as gap analysis (Antony, 2006). The next component of Six Sigma loop works with identifying the ways to remove the gap and i mproving the present system (Thareja, 2006).If Six Sigma loop stops at continuous improvement, it will more likely consider as total quality management (Khan, 2003). Sustainability The other core element of Six Sigma implementation is the sustainability which it brings to the organization. Generally understanding sustainability, sustainability is best defined by world commission on environment and development (1987) stating that sustainable development is development that meets the need of present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own n eeds.Fricker (1998) defined sustainability as vision of future that provides a road map while focusing on certain set of ethical and moral values which may guide the actions of an entity. Looking sustainability in details, it mainly focuses on three aspec ts i-e economic growth, social progress and environmental protection (Munier, 2006). Sustainability involves people, capital resources, natural resources, environme nt and institution. Fricker (1998) further added that sustainability is not merely an end result of processes rather it continuous seeking of quality behavior.An organization is said to be sustainable if its people are willing to bring a change and embrace the change ultimately leading toward sustainable organizational design (Shrivastava and Director, 1995). In an organizational perspective particularly, sustainability refers to the value addition from Six Sigma. The dimension of sustainability includes variation elimination, control on new processes, statistical controls, reduced complexity, precision, accuracy and effectiveness in business process (Giardina, 2006).An addition in traditional Six Sigma is lean Six Sigma which primarily focuses on improved process flow (Reiling, 2008). Due to difference of focus, the perspective for sustainability also varies. In Six Sigma, the sustainability refers to utmost standardization with zero defects whereas lean Six Sigma emphasize sustain ability as identification of value, defining value stream, determining flow, defining pull and improving process in every business function such as marketing, finance and management (Taghizadegan, 2006). Sustainability Achieved Through Six SigmaMultinational companies have adopted Six Sigma for variety of purposes however, the core goal was to attain financial sustainability through improved processes and better work flow (Poudlove, Moxham and Boaden, 2008) however, the financial success is achieved through multidimensional quality improvements (Mahadevan, 2010). General Motors reduced its disposal costs by $12 million through kanban system; an integral part of Six Sigma. Similar to this, Robins Air Force Base, C -130 paint shop reduced tools material and equipment by 39% and $373,800 in direct operating savings (Giardina, 2006). M was among few companies which initiated to adopt Six Sigma. 3M upgraded to lean Six Sigma and its purpose was to attain environmental stability. The comp any is pioneer in use of lean Six Sigma methods and tools to improve operations and quality. In first step, the company trained it s 100,000 employees for Six Sigma in order to attain the operational sustainability. 3M achieved multi facet results such as improvement in energy efficiency from 20% to 27% and reduction in waste index to net sales from 25% to 30%.All these achievements are aimed toward attaining environmental sustainability and operational sustainability. Till 2005, savings from the lean Six Sigma project was amounted to $1 billion which was made possible by reducing pollution, improving workflow, equipment redesign, process ramification and product reformulation (3M Lean Six-Sigma and Sustainability, 2010). Byrne (2007) also asserts that companies implement Six Sigma to drive the innovation. The first five years of lean Six Sigma helped many companies to improve their results such as attained by Caterpillar.Weber (2004) also quotes Caterpillar as achiever from Six Sig ma. In September 2004, Caterpillar was $20 billion Company and Caterpillar was aimed to increase the revenues by $10 billion in first decade of lean Six Sigma implementation. Weber (2004) contrasts with Byrne (2007) in the context that caterpillar wanted to attain the innovation  © 2011 The Clute Institute 9 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 sustainability. According to Weber (2004), caterpillar was focused on achieving financial stability. The company? top management has highlighted that Caterpillar management such as CEO has claimed that Six Sigma was the important contribution toward increase in sales of caterpillar. Six Sigma is also driving the continuous improvement culture in the company and business is gaining efficiency in all respects (Weber, 2004). Hilton (2008) identifies several companies such as Motorola, General Electric, Dell Computer, Dow Chemicals, Wal-Mart and Honeywell who implemented Six Sigma and attained measurable re sults. General electric saved $8 billion after mplementing Six Sigma in three years and Wall -Marts is looking for savings of $1 billion from lean Six Sigma (Leahy, 2000). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Study Design Decision to implement of Six Sigma comes from organizational leaders. Since every organization is unique and has its own requirements, therefore company? s internal management can determine the potential benefits to be achieved by the Six Sigma (Bertels, Rath & Strong, 2003). Defining objectives for the company and preparing employees to accept change occurred through Six Sigma is responsibility of top management and leaders.According to Pande (2003), Six Sigma lies in the vision of top management and only they can decide what sustainability they want from Six Sigma. On these grounds, the study seeks direct interaction with top management about sustainability desired from Six Sigma. The survey method provides researcher with an ease of open communication and allows sharing of idea s and thoughts. Surveys are considered best when opinion and ideas of people are important in shaping a conclusion (Groves, Fowler, Couper, Lepkowski and Eleanor, 2009). The study adopted cross section survey method as its core research methodology.In survey, interview tool was used to collect data directly from top management of multinational companies. Cross sectional survey are used to collect information at a single point in time and helps to establish the relationship between two entities (Babbie, 1990). Brief structured interviews were conduct ed to collect the data from participants. Participants Participants were selected using purposive sampling. Purposive sampling provides an opportunity to select participants on a specific criterion which fits to the purpose of study (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2009).For present study, interviewees were selected on number of criteria such as listed below: ? ? ? The participants belong to a multinational company which has already implemented Six Sigma. The participant works on multinational on any key managerial position directly associated with decision making. Such participants include chief operating officers, chief executive officers, senior finance managers, chief information manager, information technology head, information technology specialist and senior management.Participant has been working in the organization before the Six Sigma was implemented in the company. Data Collection And Data Analysis Since it was difficult to visit such participants personally due to geographical constraints, int erviews were conducted on telephone where personal visit was not possible. After getting the list of multinational companies who have implemented the Six Sigma, the information tentative participants were collected using official websites and Chamber of Commerce websites. The contact information, permission and appointment for an interview were also obtained via telephone.The interviews could not be recorded as permission was not granted however; notes were taken during the interview and were later converted into text manually. The text was later analyzed using software Weft QDA and patterns were obtained. Constant comparison approach was used to compare the interview transcript and to obtain the patterns. According to Glaser and Strauss (1967), constant c omparison approach helps to develop a 10  © 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 theory about the phenomenon.The constant comparison is made through development of codes and subsequently, a theory is developed. The interviews were structured and comprised of 15 -20 twenty minute each. In all, forty two participants from different companies were interviewed. The participants includes senior finance managers, chief executive officers, IT managers, chief operating officers and in some cases directors of companies also. The participants companies include Maple Lead Foods, Pakistan Intern ational Airlines, Pakistan State Oil, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Deere and Company, Bank of Montreal, McGraw Hill Companies and Vodafone.Findings And Analysis Telephonic and face to face interviews were conducted to collect the data from participants. In all forty two participants were interviewed which included executives and managers. The stratification of participants on basis of their designation is provided below: Senior Finance Managers Chief Executive Officers IT Managers Chief Operating Officers Directors Total Table 2: Stratification of Participants on Designation Participants 12 7 14 5 4 42 %age Participation 29% 17% 33% 12% 10% 100% The interviews were brief and structured (Appendix A).Primarily the interviews were focused to know what type of sustainability motivates the multinational companies to invest in Six Sigma. Using the constant comparison approach, the interviews text was a nalyzed for patterns. Two level coding was performed using Weft QDA as the pu rpose was to find which type of sustainability is acquired through Six Sigma. Several codes were found which were emerged. Redundant codes were merged to derive constant flow of i nformation. Primary and secondary research questions are addressed through several themes discussed heere Core Objective Of Six SigmaSecondary research questions inquiring core objectives of Six Sigma were addressed through themes such as competition, zero defect level and financial success. As reflected by most of the, Six Sigma is implemented to stay competitive with other companies. Participants concluded that multinational companies needs to build corporate repute which increases their market share and Six Sigma is nowadays used as tool to reflect that company is taking endeavors for improving quality. This at first hands improves the competitive position of the company.Regional Finance Manager of Vodafone asserted that â€Å"The impacts of Six Sigma are long term and may be seen afterwards however; t he company instantly start attaining repute after implementation of advance quality model †. COO of Maple Lead Foods was also of the view that â€Å"To remain competitive in market, continuous improvement in every aspect is necessary. Six-Sigma is also aimed to help us in enhancement in our market image in eyes of competitors† Vice President (Finance) of Bank of Montreal endorsed the same by stating â€Å"Other larger banks have already implemented similar models which has raised customers’ expectation.We are aimed to attain better market position by implementing an optimal service quality model†. Second prevailing theme for core objectives of Six Sigma was quality improvement. â€Å" Six-Sigma really helps to improve quality, we can see the difference. Processes are now more efficient and speedy† stated by IT manager of Starwood Hotels. CEO of Pakistan International Airlines asserted that â€Å"The model has helped to stay efficient and had reduce d our effort in day to day activities. We are now more competent for offering quality solutions to our passengers and to our suppliers†.COO of Pakistan State Oil stated the fact â€Å"Six Sigma has reduce our effective time to market and we had a desire to attain so from this model implementa tion†.  © 2011 The Clute Institute 11 Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Third objective as extracted from most of interviews was the ability of Six Sigma to improve financial position of the company. It is evolved from the interviews that almost all companies are highly profit oriented and Six Sigma is adopted as a tool to attain financial success. Most of the company? executives reflected that Six Sigma is not merely adopted for financial success however, the responses can be considered as attempt to act in socially desirable manner. Executives of large multinational companies may not always admit that their specific endeavor is merely fo r profits. Reflection about company? s high concern toward profits can harm its repute as socially responsible company (Stocke, 2003). CEO of Pakistan State Oil endorsed that † We understand Six-Sigma reduces material wastage and improves supply chain activities.Ultimately, it leads to overall cost reduction† . COO of Maple Leaf Foods also asserted that â€Å"Six-Sigma do cost to use however, we expect a positive return in terms of market repute ultimately translated in financial success†. Senior Vice President (Finance) of Deere and Company stated, â€Å"It is important to look all projects from financial perspective. We considered the cost and benefit analysis of Six Sigma as fundamental step for deciding on the project†. How Companies Understand Sustainability Secondary question pertaining to sustainability was explained with themes uch as financial stability, improvement in quality, optimal productivity, social responsibility, environmental protection a nd value addition to the company. The most prevalent theme emerged for sustainability is financial success and optimal productivity. As reflected by all participants, the primary meaning of sustainability is financial success and optimal produc tion with minimum defects. Multinational companies consider financial success as the foremost sustainability to be achieved through zero defect level.In opinion of CEO of Pakistan International Airline â€Å"A company can only be socially responsible when it is financial sustainable. For me, sustainability is the financial success which enables PIA to be sustainable in other areas too†. IT Manager of McGraw Hill Companies highlighted the fact that â€Å"when I think of sustainability, I think of higher financial return earned on investments of shareholders. Finance manger of John Deer and Company however, considered value addition as true sustainability by stating â€Å"We are sustainable when our products are able to generate value for our company†.Endorsed by director of Starwood Hotels, â€Å"We are sustainable when are able to offer highest with the lowest sources, this means Starwood is sustainable in terms of services and in its corporate framework†. The other prevalent theme about sustainability was environmental protection and corporate social responsibility. Director of Deere and Company defined sustainability as â€Å" We are sustainable when we are harmless to society and its stakeholders†. IT manager of Bank of Montreal highlighted the same fact â€Å"Sustainability is an attempt to be productive for the society and for its members†. Sustainability Attained Through Six SigmaThe literal meaning of sustainability identified by participants is different from the sustainability desired to be attained through Six Sigma. While analyzing the interviews, the most prevalent theme of sustainability attained through Six Sigma was zero defect level, optimal production and financial su ccess. The primary research questions of study i-e what kind of sustainability is largely provided by Six Sigma in multinational companies. The multinational companies mostly reflected that Six Sigma has helped them in improving production and services ultimately translated into financial success.The primary research question was aimed to find what kind of sustainability has actually been provided by implementing Six Sigma. This has further been identified by secondary research question about core aim of Six Sigma and understanding of sustainability by multinational companies. â€Å"Six Sigma has helped us achieve financial success† identified by CEO of Deere and Company. Further elaborated by CEO of Deere and Company, Six Sigma has helped us in improving human resource functions, customer services and low cost.Ultimately, all these types of sustainability are translated into financial success. â€Å"Our employee satisfaction has increases which have helped to reduce materia l wastage and become process efficient. Reduced employee turnover and reduced manufacturing cost. Due to Six -Sigma implementation has considerably helped out to increase financial viability†. Finance Manger of Vodafone highlights the sustainability achieved through implementation of Six Sigma â€Å"Vodafone market share has increased as well as its financial returns.Six-Sigma has offered us financial sustainability as well as market sustainability†. 12  © 2011 The Clute Institute Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 As revealed in the present study, Six Sigma sustainability bears a multifaceted concept for organizations. Sustainability is primarily offered by Six Sigma however, every company takes the Six Sigma fr om a different perspective. It is not only the perspective which differs, rather the organizations adopts several ways to reach to a single sustainable point which is common in all organizations.Organizations? understan ding of sustainability is contrasting with the requirements of Commission on Environment and Development (1987) definition of sustainability. Multinational organizations are working for material sustainability instead of focusing on developing sustainability for creating conductive environment for future changes (Ethier, 1986). Sustainability as defined by Shrivastava and Director (1995) has not been addressed by multinational companies in its fullest. Multinational organizations? ore aim to adopt Six Sigma was either to remain competitive with the other companies or to attain zero defect level along with financial sustainability. In addition, the sustainability is taken by multinational companies in terms of effectiveness in business process which are capable enough to be translated into fi nancial success (Giardina, 2006). The concept of Giardina (2006) and Taghizadegan (2006) are closely aligned and both fit to the present understanding of organizational sustainability to be achi eved through Six Sigma.Sustainability as identified by organizations holds multiple meaning and multinational organization use Six Sigma to escalate from one sustainability to other such as optimal production to higher market share and ultimately into financial success (Muneir 2006). Actual sustainability as reflected by 3M experience and Robins Air Force Base attained financial sustainability through Six Sigma. 3M saved $1 billion by implementing Six Sigma by the way of product reformulation, process ramification and equipment redesign (Giardina, 2006).Amalgamating secondary and prime research question about sustainability provided by Six Sigma, it is evident from the study that multinational companies are more concerned with multidimensional sustainability however; the financial sustainability is mostly desired sustainability. Multinational companies are focused on achieving financial stability using different sustainability routes such as value addition, process improvement, huma n resource process improvement and market sustainability. The financial sustainabili ty is the ultimate goal however, achieved through various type of sustainability.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Six Sigma is a multidimensional approach for improving process efficiency and attaining sustainability. Six Sigma has traditionally been adopted by multinational companies due to several reasons such as higher concern for quality, higher availability to resources and competitive business environment. Initially Six Sigma was introduced by Motorola however; soon it became an advance model for improvi ng quality. Larger companies such as 3M, Deere and Company, Caterpillar, Bank of America and McGraw Hill Companies are already sustainability through Six Sigma.The study has an aim to find what kind of sustainability is being obtained by implementation of Six Sigma. Several theorists have identified several types of sustainability few including process improvement, financial sustainability, market shar e, value addition, corporate reputation – all broadly covered under social repute, environment protection and economic growth. The study directly interacts with participants and adopts qualitative research methodology to address the subject matter. Under qualitative study, survey design and interview tools are used for making constant comparison analysis of all interviews.With constant comparison, several themes were emerged to address the primary and secondary research question. Primarily, Six Sigma is multifaceted and holds several aspects variably been considered by multinational companies. Organizations are less concerned with environment protection, moderately concerned with social repute such as competitive position in eyes o f competitors and highly concerned with economic growth. The economic growth widely covers financial returns attained through different routes such as increase in market share, economies of scale production, minimum input cost and low employee turn over.Mu ltinational companies? ultimate objective is to increase financial returns by identifying market share increase, customer base enhancement, zero defect level and competition as secondary objectives. For multinational companies, aim and sustainability of Si x Sigma varies as most of companies considers Six Sigma as a way to meet competition however, sustainability is associated with financial success. The combination of sustainability and Six Sigma ultimately translated into sustainable financial return which helps the company to increase its market competitiveness.  © 2011 The Clute Institute 13Journal of Business Case Studies – May/June 2011 Volume 7, Number 3 Implications For Future Research Six Sigma is not a new issue nevertheless; the issue has mainly been addressed by developed counties. Mostly, the organizations that have implemented Six Sigma belong to developed nations. In few cases, companies of small underdeveloped countries have implemented Six Sigma and have reaped significant benefits from implementation of Six Sigma. The study identifies such companies and reflects on sustainability provided such as financial returns; markets share increase, environmental protection, zero defect level and o thers.In this way, it is a guide for small companies which have still not implemented Six Sigma considering it as an expensive way to quality. The study provides a guide to companies about the benefits attained through Six Sigma and serve as guidelines for companies who have not yet implemented Six Sigma. Present study is an initial research on sustainability provided to multinational companies. The study is under limited scope as it collects data from CEOs of only few companies. A large number of compa nies and their top executives are still untapped to describe several types of sustainability provided.In addition to this, sustainability with respect to industry and type of business can also be identified to customize the Six Sigma for speci fic businesses. The study is a subject measurement of sustainability generally drawn on all type nevertheless, leaving a significant margin to calculate financial sustainability provided to these companies. The study is a base for future studies as first step of id entification of top most sustainability provided by Six Sigma has been completed.The base study can be utilized for identification and statically measurement of market, financial, environmental and social sustainability provided. In addition, a comparison can be made between multinational and domestic or small vs. larger scale companies for the financial return improvement or customer base enhancement. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Dr. Abdullah AlSagheer is an Assistant Professor of Management at the e -School of Quality and Business Management at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University. He is teaching undergraduate courses level such as TQM Implementation, Capstone Project.In addition, he is teaching graduate courses level such as Strat egic Management of Innovation and Technological change. Dr. AlSagheer has PhD in Education and Human Resource Studies specialized in Interdisciplinary Studies (Industrial and Human Recourse Management Engineering) and M. Ed Education and Human Resource Studies specialized in Interdisciplinary Studies (Industrial and Human Recourse Management Engineering) from Colorado State University (CSU). He received Master of Science in Electrical Engineering specialized in Integrated Systems & Strategic Project Management.His undergraduate degrees wer e Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering and a double major in Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University Long Beach (CSULB). Dr. AlSagheer research focuses in strategic management, capstone courses, entrepreneurship and leadership, total quality management, ergonomics and human factor engineering, curriculum development, human resource management, management training, teamwork, innovation strategies, engin eering management, and industrial engineering. 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A peaceful woman explains why she carries a gun

Now days world is not safe. According to the CDC, â€Å"non-contact unwanted sexual experiences† are the most prevalent form of sexual violence in the Unites States. Every 2 minutes, someone in the U. S. is sexually assaulted. According to the online studies by Stop Street Harassment, 99% of respondents said that they had been harassed at least a few times. â€Å"A Peaceful Woman Explains Why She Carries a Gun† by Linda Hasselstrom exemplifies a use of having a gun for protection as a last resort. Hasselstrom was justified for her need to own a gun as she wanted to be protected, safe and have a peace of mind. Desire to be protected justified Hasselstrom to get a gun; however, she considered other means of protection first. To begin with, Hasselstrom used improvised means for protection. For example, she had her own â€Å"gun† (spray cans of deodorant) which did not have to be registered. However, one night while camping, the author and her friend, harassed by two young men, decided not to tempt fate and use their â€Å"improvised mace†, but simply leave the camping area. When improvised means of protection did not work, Hasselstrom considered another option- a citizens band radio, a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals which does not require a license. However, she rejected this method of protection providing an example of a woman who got beaten and raped using a CB radio to get help with a flat tire. The last method Hasselstrom considered as a mean of protection was self-defense. For her, kung fu class was a smart decision because on the top of her self-preservation, her height and weight did not give her any benefit. Therefore, looking for protection, Hasselstrom provided the readers with justified steps she took prior to the extreme measure of protection- a gun. Also, the author was well-grounded for her need of a gun because she wanted safety. Firstly, she did not feel safe on her land. While Hasselstrom lived on a ranch in secluded area 25 miles from the nearest town, she, somehow, managed to have uninvited guests on her property. For example, one day she noticed an armed man on her land who wanted to shoot ducks. As a result, she could not feel safe even on her territory. Secondly, as the author was vulnerable even while driving her car, her possession of a gun was reasonable. Hasselstrom provides the readers with examples to prove her right. In one of the examples, an unknown car was following her on her way home, and made her stop by flashing a blinding spotlight in her face. Another example depicts a man who was playing cat-and-mouse with Hasselstrom within 30 miles when she was driving in a desolate part of Wyoming. Thirdly, the fact that Hasselstrom did not feel safe even in public places justified her to own a gun. She provided an example of her and her friend being harassed and scared by men while camping in the West. Moreover, looking for some help from the local rangers, she had to face with their carelessness and unwillingness to protect and help. In addition to Hasselstrom’s desire of protection and safety, there is a desire of peace she was looking for which justified her to possess a weapon. First of all, she could not get a peace of mind being harassed on a daily basis. Whether she was among people or on her property, she faced acts of harassment or danger which took her further away from a peace she was searching for. Then, she could not find a peace of mind if she was constantly stressed out, suspicious and scared about everything. One day the author found deep tire ruts in her yard and garbage in her driveway. More likely, that fact would lead a person like her to suspect that someone unfriendly had an intention to hurt or do her harm. Third of all, Hasselstrom lived in the environment where women did not stand much for a chance of not being harassed. Men in her area worried her, and their harassment would not stop until stronger measures were taken. However, Hasselstrom did not want to be either daily harassed, be another victim of rape or permanently stressed out and scared. Threfore, she believed that having a gun handy would lead her to a peace of mind she was looking for. In conclusion, relying on Hasselstrom’s examples provided in the article, she was justified for her need to own a gun. She had no choice but to use it in dangerous situations to protect herself. When used responsibly, women in the same situation as the author would live protected, safe and with peace of mind they desire. What Hasselstrom’s message was in this article is that no one, man or woman, should live in fear. And in her situation, owning a gun gave her that security.

Decomposition Framework for Financial Analysis. Kforce Inc. and Morson Essay

Decomposition Framework for Financial Analysis. Kforce Inc. and Morson Group Plc - Essay Example Moreover, the investors needed to determine the underlying value of these investments in order to make sure that prices are rightly placed before making any decision related to purchase. These investors are generally called as rational investors who conduct analytical studies before making any decision related to investments. In this regard, the security valuation and financial statement have become very important. Financial analyses are those financial tactics and methods which help in comparing and evaluating the different investment opportunities such as projects and firms, to ensure and evaluate that the available opportunities are appropriate for making investments. Generally, the procedure of conducting financial analysis is based upon the past performance of a firm. The historical data is then used to evaluate the future performance of the company; therefore it is not at all necessary that evaluations are 100% accurate. Financial analysts usually obtain data from a variety of sources available, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. Through these financial statements, analysts determine the ability of a firm to meet its liabilities and obligations, stability of a firm, level of profitability and liquidity and then compare them with their competitors in order to provide insights into the firm’s position as compared to the industry or its competitors. In balance sheet, the underlying financial position of of a company is present. The three main categories of which balance sheet is comprised include: assets, which demonstrate the long term and current investments of a firm through which revenues are expected to be generated; liabilities depict the long term and short term claims that stakeholders have; and equity which demonstrates the claim of the owners. This paper aims to analyze a U.K company, namely Morson Group PLC, in comparison with a U.S based firm known as Kforce Inc. The analytical methods utilized in this paper for analysis include: common-size analysis, trend analysis and profitability analysis. Understanding the Industry Companies which want to improve their performance need to provide training to their staff in recruitment centers. Leaders also get training so as to motivate their workers and working with efficient employees. A real competition among organizations has taken place nowadays. Every other company is st riving hard to develop the skills of its employees. In this regard, a lot of training and development programs are being established every other day. Subsequently, a new type of competition between employees and management has also taken place. For this reason, companies are looking for recruitment companies so as to develop the special needs of their staff. Recruitment companies play a vital role in improving the facilities and skills of employees. Moreover, they are also looking to maximize their profits. Therefore, they provide best possible offers, contracts, training and development programs through professional lecturers and trainers so as to improve their own credibility. In addition to that, they also offer some special contracts including free contract for more employees, discounts for contracts having longer tenure etc. KforceInc – U.S based firm KforceInc provides professional and technical services specially for staffing companies. This company is primarily based upon four departments which include: Government Solution (GS), Technology (Tech), Health and Life Sciences and Finance and Accounting (FA). The two activities of Tech and FA are delivered in the specific regions of North, Atlantic and Western markets. Morson Group

Formal versus Informal Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Formal versus Informal Finance - Essay Example 18). This discourse delves into the firm financing patterns and growth in China. In the end, the paper finds that very few firms as well as companies rely on formal banks to finance their business, leaving most of them to depend on informal sources to drive up capital for their businesses. Furthermore, the author of this paper discovers that although, few businesses rely on formal sources of finance, such sources are responsible for faster growth of a business company compared to informal sources of finance. Some of the vices identified are corruption. However, there was no evidence to prove that such a vice affected the allocation of credit to firms from the financing institutions. It also did not affect the performance of the business both in the market and in terms of profit making. This paper presents a counter argument on the positive relationship between finance and growth using China’s economy as a case study. Analysis of the Relationship between Finance and growth Econ omists concur on the fact that China has the fastest growing economy in the world. The Chinese economy has gained significance that no other economy can ignore its rate of growth. Pundits believe that the Chinese economy will surpass the size of the US economy by the time we get to the third decade of the current century (Yao & Yueh, 2009, p. 40). Professionally though, its per capita income level will remain very low compared to that of the United States. In some other quarters experts dismiss this predictions as misleading citing various facts. The strength of the China’s economy for instance, appears in its manufacturing sector that is so far challenging manufacturing sectors in advanced economies around the world. This is profound especially in economies that are labor intensive (Angelina, 2008, P. 76). China is also undertaking a top-down approach while entering the high technology industry. This means that the rate at which such an economy accelerates is high and will h it its peak very soon. The growth of technology receives maximum support form high-level research by a large of scientists as well as engineers finishing their undergraduate and postgraduate courses. China is an essential counterexample to findings in various fields among them institutions, law, growth of literature, and finance (Pagano, 1993, p. 619). This is despite the fact that it has very poor financial systems and legal structures. Its economy defies all these to become the fastest growing economy in the world (Patnaik, 2011, p. 33). A lot of information from scholarly articles in the field of law and finance demonstrates that the growth of formal financial institutions relates closely to a faster growth of business organizations in addition to enhancing better allocation of resources (Yu, 1998, p. 79). Literature from these articles also considers the value and input by informal financial systems in the development of economies from developing economies. Informal financing as defined in the scholarly literature entails small, shorter, and unsecured loans. These sources of finance are restricted to the rural areas, households, agricultural financing and contracts, small entrepreneurial engagements, and individuals. The loans target the lower cadre of the market within the developing economies (Hsieh & Klenow, 2009, p. 21). The same appears in the developed economies but takes a different approach. In the US for instance,

Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Business Ethics - Essay Example The origins of the Kantian theory are from the Principles of Morals and Legislation in the year 1863. According to Kantian theory, there should be an attempt to make the world a better place and then to pursue the greatest good for an entire mass. Utility is to generate favourable impacts on the intrinsic values like, pleasure, preferences, ideas and happiness. According to Kant, the ethical values are recognized and are essential for identifying the second test of universalizabilty because more than often values are recognized in contradictions (Dimitriou et al, 2011). The rational beings are recognized as the individuals with the potentiality of the defining motives which are universally acceptable and widely recognized. The Kantian theory has provided me with significant inputs which have acted as a catalyst in the improvisation of my existing behaviour and performance in the existing organization. It has helped me to understand the significant difference between morality assumpti ons and rational choices (George, 2011). There have been various instances in my life where the solutions have stemmed out of Kantianism theory and have offered powerful moral insights and also, have helped in the reduction of the moral disagreements (Holme, 2008). The conflicts arising out of difference of opinions were resolved due to Kantianism theory (Pollock, 2011).The conflicts arising between family members due to difference in personal opinions, were settled with the guidance of Kantianism theory. The conflicts triggered by moral disagreements arising out of personated choices have been solved with the help of the guiding perspective of Kantianism theory. This thesis is utilized to refute idealism theories and states that these values within the ethical systems are of much worth. The theory lays emphasis on the fact that most of the moral values and ethical standards practiced by the society are justifiable. The unethical conduct practices in the organization are due to the failure of implementation of the moral values and standards. The permanent values cannot be embedded into the systems and is found to provide fruitfulness to the ethical theories and systems. The only minuscule difference is that it identifies the difference between the precepts behind the ethical principles and standards. However, this theory has various loopholes and lacks to serve the purpose of a guide. It is possible that an individual can face such a situation in any organization and thus, the employees can monitor the ethical system themselves. Utilitarianism Theory The Utilitarianism theory was evolved by Jeremy Bentham and suggests that a movement should focus on the right action which would serve the benefits of the mass. An action is either right or wrong, but if the action serves the welfare of a majority of the people, then it is following the guided path of the Utilitarianism concept (Roff, 2013). It is a technique which determines the moral value of an action. It help s us in judging the possibility of effects of our actions from the past on that of our present (Roff, 2013). The basic intention of this theory helps to unfold the reasons behind the implementation of moral values and ethics in a society or company. It is a systematic process to justify the moral standards of

Early American History - Abraham Lincoln Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Early American History - Abraham Lincoln - Essay Example The three-day bloodbath ended with a massive Confederate assault of Cemetery Ridge by Major General George Edward Pickett on the battle’s last day, July 3, 1863. Known as ‘Pickett’s Charge,’ the reckless action devastated the Confederate forces and caused General Robert E. Lee to offer his resignation. The enormous losses incurred by the Confederates at Gettysburg marked the beginning of the end for the South. The Union army won the battle but also incurred heavy losses causing Commander General George Meade to offer his resignation as well. While Lee was retained as commander of the South, Meade was replaced by an angered President Lincoln who appointed Ulysses S. Grant in Meade’s position. After the battle, the Southern troops limped back home while what remained of the Northern army stayed because of flooding in the area. At Gettysburg, many thousands of decomposing bodies littered the battlefield, many of which were buried in very shallow graves. According to a witness, â€Å"body parts stuck up here and there. Hogs rooted out the bodies and devoured them† (Wills, 1992 p. 21). To alleviate the gruesome situation, a national cemetery was planned so that the dead could be buried properly. The dedication of the cemetery was held before all the thousands of bodies could be buried, but it was hoped that a formal and somber ceremony would serve to change the horrific scene of butchery to a place of honor and one that displayed a more peaceful ambiance.