Impacts of Child Labour in Developing Countries

Impacts of Child Labour in Developing Countries What are the causes and consequences of child labour amongst developing countries The child labour as a social and economic phenomenon has many aspects the most important of which seems to be the low level of financial growth that characterizes several countries which are commonly known as ‘developing.’ This paper illustrates the conditions that created the necessity of the child labour, and at the same time it presents the consequences of this situation as they can be observed through a series of specific facts and other types of empirical evidence that have been collected by the relevant sources of scientific research. The analysis of the problem, as described above, is followed by the presentation of a number of policies, which could help thelimitation of the problem to the most feasible level. The research done on this specific problem has revealed the existence of a high volume of relevant theories as well as of statistical data that have also been used to support the current paper. ÃŽâ„¢. Introduction The problem of the child labour has become a very important subjectof examination and research by the most of the internationalinstitutions especially the last decade. The reason for that is not the absence of this problem in the past but the development of the technology and the communication around the world that gave the opportunity for a series of long-lasting social problems to becomeknown to the international community. The extension and theimportance of the specific problem are severe obstacles towards its elimination. On the other hand, the creation of an international legal framework   asit has been expressed by the establishment of authorized bodies and the signing of a series of orders and Conventions, can considered as an important step towards the achievement of a solution.  Ã‚   We have to notice though that the best possible policy to thatdirection would have to compromise with the existence and the size ofthe problem avoiding to set targets that could not be achieved. Under the current circumstances, the child labour cannot disappear from the scene; it can just be reduced to a certain level (as this one is formulated by the social and financial conditions of each country). The main aim of this paper is to provide a detailed examination of the problem backed with a series of relevant data and other empirical evidence. The analysis of the current situation, as described in Chapter II, begins with the presentation of the background of the problem followed by statistical data and the views stated in the literature regarding the definition and the observation of child labour amongst developing countries. The policies that can be applied for the limitation of the problem are being presented in Chapter III. The investigation of the facts and the needs that created the phenomenon of the child labour cannot be achieved without the use of the literature (Chapter IV) that has been dealt with the specific matter mainly during the last years. The evidence that has been used to identify and interpret the problem,is presented in Chapter V. Finally, Chapter VI contains brief remarks on the problem as they have been extracted from the research done. II. The child labour in the international community – background, definition and areas of children exploitation The period in which child labour appeared as a social reality cannot be defined with accuracy. There are opinions that relate the beginning of the problem with the industrial revolution whereas other ones state that the child labour had first appeared in the nineteenth century. From an investigation that took place in Britain in June 1832, it seems that the phenomenon of child labour was known at that period and referred to children working as laborers mainly to factories butalso to other business activities. The above investigation (as it is analytically presented in Basu, K., 1999, 1088) was supervised by a British Parliamentary Committee and had as main subject the child labour in the United Kingdom at that period. Although Britain was in a rather high rank regarding the child labour – which can be explained by the fact that England was under development at that period of time –other countries that also had a remarkable industrial development likethe Belgium, the USA and the Japan, presented a similar image regardingthe work of children in the multiple sectors of industry (see also K.Basu, 1999, 1088-89). Moreover, the data collected for the measurement of the relevantpractices during the 19th century showed that child labour did notstart declining in Britain and in United States until the second halfof that century (L.F. Lopez-Calva, 2001, 64). The dimensions of the problem of child labour can create an important concern about the level of the life that a lot of children face but also about the financial situation of a large majority of families around the world. According to data collected by the International Labor Organization (ILO), there are approximately 250 million working children aged between 5 and 14, of which at least 120 million are involved in full-time work that is both hazardous and exploitative (seealso T. I. Palley, 2002). Although the so-called ‘developed’ countries have shown samples of tolerance regarding the child labour, the areas that seem to cultivate the problem are those with low level of economic   and industrial growth. In a relevant research made by D.K. Brown (2001) it seems that the major factor for the existence of the problem is the poverty. The capital market failure   of a specific country (as it is expressed tothe every day aspects of life, like the low level of schooling) isconsidered as another important element that co-operates the appearance and the extension of the phenomenon. When speaking for child labour we usually refer to any work by childrenthat interferes with their physical and mental development , i.e. anywork that keeps the child away from ‘childhood related activities’(Chandrasekhar, 1997). The above definition although containing ageneral view of the child labour, it cannot be applied under allcircumstances bearing in mind that a lot of differences may appear inthe context of ‘childhood related activities’ in dependance with the country and the cultural influences. In this case, a more specific description of child labour is considered as necessary. M. Majumdar(2001) divides the child labour into the following categories: a) the household work, b) non-domestic and non-monetary work, c) wage labour and d) commercial sexual exploitation and bonded labour. The child labour can be applied in many areas. As an indicative examplewe can refer to the report of the National Consumers Leage (NCL) which divides the possible areas of child labour into the followingcategories (refering to specific daily activities and regarding thedanger that they include): agriculture (is the most dangerous industryfor the young workers), working alone and late-night work in retail(most deaths of young workers in this industry are robbery-relatedhomicides), construction and work at heights (deaths and serious injuryresult from working at heights 6 feet and above. The most common typesof fatal falls are falls from roofs, ladders and scaffolds or staging),driver/operator of forklifts and tractors (tractor-related accidentsare the most prevalent cause of agricultural fatalities in the U.S.A.),traveling youth crews (defined as youth who are recruited to sellcandy, magazine subscribtions and other items door-to-door or on streetcorners, these youth operate under dangerous conditions and areunsupervised) (Occupational Hazards, Aug2004) III. Policies towards the limitation of the problem A fundamental measure for the limitation of the child labour is thecreation of legislation   that would impose a minimum work age and yearsof compulsory education. Although this solution seems rather in it’sdesigning, in practice it’s quite difficult to operate . The needs ofthe everyday life can often surpass the power of the legal rules, which have been structured usually after the examination and the analysis of specific events and cannot confront the problem to its whole area. One of the main problems that a family usually faces is the change inthe working situation of its (adult) members and the financial pressurethat usually follows. Of course, there is always the solution of funding (especially when the general financial market of a country offers such an option) . However, there are occasions that such an alternative cannot operate either because the country do not afford such a plan or the specific family do not have access to this plan. Under these circumstances, it could still be possible for the householdto tap internal assets. The presence of the father in a household, thepresence of an older person in the household or the capacity of the mother to enter into the market in order to work or proceed to another type of work (in a personal enterprise), all the above can be variables that can support the assets of a family even if the latter is suffered from strong financial difficulties (see also D. K. Brown, 2001, 766). Despite the theoretical character of the legislation, there could beother measures , more applicable   and feasible to be realized. Aneffort that has such a character is the increased spending on books,supplies, buildings and teacher training as it has been pursued by several governments   (D. K. Brown, 772). In cases that the child labour cannot be avoided, there could be somemeasures   to both to protect the children and help them to continuetheir school   (while keep on working). The design of specific schedules that would allow the children to attend school after their work could be proved very helpful towards this direction. Of course, such a plan contains a lot of requirements that need to be met . As an example we could mention the sufficiency of resources (teachers) that could workfor the extra time needed and – at the same time – the existence of afinancial strategy (and of the relevant money) for the payment of these resources. On the other hand, a problem that may arise is the lack ofequipment or capital for the premises of the school to be open forextra hours. And we cannot forget the danger that may be related withthe attendance late at night (especially in the case of the paper – thedeveloping countries). The phenomenon of the child labor has been examined and analyzed to the highest possible point by the use of the observation and theresearch in accordance with the existing legislation and the general rules that have been introduced from several countries aiming to the limitation of the problem. One of the most important studies regarding the child labour is this ofK. Basu and P. H. Van (1998) who tried to find and analyze the causesof this specific problem. After studying the results of the empiricalevidence they came to the conclusion that child labour was notconnected exclusively with external factors (i.e. employers) but it was mostly the result of internal (in the family) decisions and facts.Towards that direction, K. Basu   and P. H. Van examined first the view that child labour has been based on the ‘greed of employers who employthe children and the parents who send the children to work’. The above statement is first examined by the fact that in families, which can afford the non-work of children (i.e. when the income of the parents isconsidered as sufficient), the parents try to avoid sending theirchildren to work. This phenomenon appears even in very poor countries.Under the previous aspect, the child labour is connected with thefinancial situation of the family (usually income of parents) and not the interests of the employers. This assumption of the leading family’srole is also backed, according to K. Basu and P. H. Van, by the analysis of late nineteenth-century cencus data for Philadelphia whichwas made by Claudia Goldin in 1979. According to this analysis, when the income of the father is high the probability that the child will enter the labour market is low and this relation operates in a very tight interaction (the higher the wage of the father, the lower thechance of such a fact to get realized). Another empirical evidence that seems to back the views of K. Basu and P. H. Van comes from a research that was made on this issue (connection between the family’s decision and the child labour) by D. Vincent who studied working-class autobiographies. The results of his study showed that the children when working avoid to blame their parents but they tend to believe that it was the poverty that imposed their participation in the labour market.K. Basu and P. H. Van examined the issue of the role of the family’s decision to the child labour under the assumption that the decision ismade by a parent. They also admit that the results of their study may differ in case that this decision is made by another person (as stated by the theories which ask for the rejection of the ‘unitary model’ of the household). Regarding the role of the family’s decision to the child labour, J. G.Scoville presented a model of the above decision based on the use of mathematical symbols in order to represent the real facts. In his model, there are factors (such as the social or economic class, race,ethnicity, caste or color) that define the family utility function andin this way they can cause important implications to labour market segmentation (J. G. Scoville, 715) Regarding the existence and the extension of the child labour, M.Murshed states that two are the basic issues that need to be examined in order to achieve a comprehensive analysis of the problem. The first issue includes the mechanisms under which the family decides to send a child at work. The second one is the reason for which the employers demand child laborers. In order to explain the first issue, M. Murshed uses the theory ofBecker’s, known as ‘A theory of the Allocation of Time’, which presents a model for studying the household decision-making process. In the above model Becker’s suggests that the decision of the family is based to the needs of the household. Whenever an extra income is consideredas necessary, family decides to send the child at work. In this model both wages of children and adults contribute to family resources. As for the second issue, M. Murshed (179) argues that employer tend to demand child laborers because ‘they are less aware of their rights,less troublesome, more willing to take orders and to do monotonous work without complaining. Another factor is also that children work forlower wages and are not in a labour union because they work illegally’. M. Hazan and B. Berdugo (2002, 811) examined the dynamic evolution of child labour, fertility and human capital in the process of development. Their analysis is based on the following assumptions: a)parents   ‘control their children’s time and allocate it between labourand human capital formation’, b) parents care about the futureearning’s of their children, c) the income that is generated by children is given to parents’ and that d) child ‘rearing is time intensive’. According to their findings, in early stages of development, the economy is in a development trap while child labour is abundant, fertility is high and output per capita is low.   On the other hand, the increase in the wage differential (between parental and childlabour) ‘decreases fertility and child labour and increases children’seducation. As a final result, child labour tends to decrease as the‘household’s dependency on child labour’s income diminishes’. The ‘welfare economics’ approach tries to examine the child labour from the scope of investment and time allocation within the household. According to this theory, the time of the child (the non-leisure one)can be used either for school attendance and/or for work. The family makes a decision for the allocation of the child’s time (i.e. for one of the above mention activities) after the calculation of the difference between the marginal benefit of the child labour (i.e.earnings and saved costs of schooling) and the marginal cost (in terms of foregone return to human capital investment). If the first of the above elements is estimated as having a higher price than the second one, then the family decides the participation of the child to the labour market (see also M. Majumdar, 2001). The decision of the parents regarding the entrance of their children tothe labour market can – under certain circumstances – be unefficient.According to Ballard and Robinson (2000) the above decisions areefficient when the credit market is perfect and the intergenerational altruistic transfers are nonzero. On the other hand, when there are liquidity constraints or the altruistic transfers are at a corner,these decisions are considered as inefficient. A. Bommier and P. Dubois(2004) critically evaluated the views of Ballard and Robinson andargued that the decisions of the parents could be inefficient even ifthe credit markets are perfect and there are altruistic transfers. More specifically, they argued that when parents are not altruistic enough,there is a ‘rotten parents effect’ in which parents ‘rationally sacrifice some childhood utility’ and ‘choose a level of child labour that is inefficiently high’. V. Evidence related with the phenomenon of child labour The child labour has been the subject of a thorough study and research and there are a lot of theories that have been stated in aneffort to define the causes of the specific problem. Towards thisdirection there have been a number of facts or existing situations thathave been used to explain the relation of the child labour with somespecific factors . One of the most known reasons for the existence andthe increase of the problem is the poverty of the household which is related with the general aspect of the modern way of life (as it hasbeen formulated under the influence of the technology) and also the fact that parents when have a low level of income   do not tend to invest in the education of their children in order to achieve a high level of return (education can help to the improvement of the status of life through the increase of the level of consumption). We could also state that the income of the children can help toameliorate the conditions of life of the family and this could be thereason why the children tend to leave the school and work when their family is under severe financial pressure. This is an opinion that tries to explain the child labour through the life circumstances of a child and aims to smooth the negative consequences of the child labour. Although the poverty   is usually presented as the main reason for thechild labour , there are some aspects that need to be taken intoaccount when examining the problem. First of all, we cannot define withaccuracy the financial benefit of a family from a child’s work. Of course, child labour can help to the amelioration of the family’s financial situation, however it is not obvious how much worse off afamily would be if the children were in school. On the other hand, we could not specify the time needed for the economic development to beachieved in order for the child labour to be abolished. More specifically it seems that there is no consistent threshold of economic development, which preceded the decline of child labour to suggest the implied relationship between economic growth and declice of child labour (M. Majumdar). In such a case, the argument about the poverty criterion of child labour can loose its significant content. We should notice that, no matter which is the financial situation of the family,even in cases of exremely low level of living, the participation of thechild to a work that could characterized as ‘hazardous’ cannot bejustified as the protection of the child’s rights are a priority. Moreover, the child labour although can help temporarily to theconfrontation of the poverty – up to a specific point – however, it canalso create the basis for the development of property by generatingpoor people to the next generation. If the child returns to school theyhave more chances to a higher level of earnings in the future or at aleast to a job that will secure their living to certain standards(avoiding the condition of poverty). The combination of these two factors could also create a better investment and a greater security of income for the family by eliminating the obstacles of poverty. The relationship between the poverty and the child labour is not absolutely proved. S.E. Dessy and D. Vencatachellum examined the issue using a sample of 83 countries and found that the coefficient of correlation between the incidence of child labour and the logarithm of gross national product is –0.74. In this way, they were directed to the assumption that child labour declines with economic prosperity, as parents feel relaxed regarding the credit constraints. However, at a next level, they found that there are countries with similar levels of gross domestic product per capita that differ in the percentage of child labour. In fact, some of them report no child labour, where as others report a high level. This assumption is also in accordance withthe view of Anker (2000) who stated that although poverty is positively correlated with child labour, there are also other factors that can reduce the school enrolment rate of a country. Hussain M. and Maskus K.E (2003) used a series of data from 64 countries in the period 1960 – 1980 to investigate a series of testable hypotheses about the causes of child labour. Their research showed that the incidence of child labour is negatively related to parental huma ncapital and education quality, but it is positively correlated with education cost and also that countries with higher amounts of child labour tend to have lower stocks of human capital in the future. They also found that there is a convergence phenomenon between the level and growth of human capital, i.e. the lower the current stock of human capital, the higher is current child-labour use and the fasted is the growth rate of human capital. G. Hazarika and A. S. Bedi (2003), examined the relationship between the schooling costs and the extra household child labour supply and found that these two elements are positively related.   Moreover, the intra-household labour of children engaged in market work evaluated as unresponsive to changes in schooling costs. This happens maybe,according to Hazarika and Bedi because parents tend to consider children’s extra household labour and schooling as substitutes while they view intra household child labour activity differently. But if the parents could evaluate the intra-household child labour as an activity that offers more benefits than just an increase of the household consumption, then it could be a relationship between the intra-household child labour and the schooling costs. As for Pakistan(where this research refers) the intra-household child labour and schooling are not substitutes. We should also mention the importance of social norms and the cultureto the appearance and the extension of the child labour. The above analysis has to be done under different variables for the rural areas as opposite to the urban areas. Children that live in the first environment tend to help to the everyday activities in the farm and asa result, their work under these circumstances is presented as justified and necessary. As for the social norms, their role is considered as very important to the financial growth, as they have to power to influence the economic and social behaviour of the vastmajority of people. The most indicative example of their influence isthe fact that in areas where the work of children is accepted by thepeople, then the decision of a parent to send his child to work can bemuch more easy. Another very important aspect of the child labour is that is usually associated with the child abuse. Under this aspect, the reasons for the participation of the children to the labour market can be found in the demand of employers for cheap laborers and in the existence of selfish parents who do not mind sending their children to work if – in that way– there are more chances for them (parents) to rest. According to K.Basu and P. H. Van, although the child abuse does occur in allsocieties, the phenomenon of the child labour as a mass in most of developing countries is much more related with the poverty that characterises these countries. They refer to the example of England(late eighteenth and early nineteenth century) where parents had to send their children to work because they were obligated from the circumstances (poverty) to do so. VI. Conclusion The existence and the rapid extension of the phenomenon of child labour seems to be connected with the a series of external factors(like the low economic growth or the unadequate social policies of aspecific country) however it can be assumed by the analysis made abovethat it is also directly depended on the child’s ‘close’ social environment, i.e the family. It’s for this reason that the measures taken towards its elimination have to be referred into both these areas. The two sides have to co-operate and act simultaneously in order to confront this very important problem. The ‘solution’ (as it is often presented) of the child labour has to be interpreted under different criteria regarding the specific circumstances that it will have to occur. Although in certain occasions the entrance of the child in the labour market seems to be the only left choice, we have to bear in mind its particular physic and mental weakness (that follows its age) and evaluate the consequences for such a decision. In any case, we have to consider that a workplace that operates normally with the use of adult laborers can have negative effects when the issue refers to a child. Although the problem of the child labour is very important to its nature and its extension, the measures taken to its elimination don’t seem to produce any result. The conflict of interests towards its continuation has a great responsibility to it. And these interests refer to different parties (external and internal as mentioned above).This reality must be admitted and the efforts should be directed to the modification of the existing conditions trying not to confront directly the problem but asking the parties involved to participate to its solution by offering them a satisfactory exchange for their help. References Admassie, A., ‘Explaining the high incidence of child labour inSub-Saharan Africa’, Development Review, Dec2002, vol. 14, issue 2, p.251 Amin, S., Shakil, Quayes, M., Rives, J. M., ‘Poverty and otherdeterminants of child labor in Bangladesh’, Southern Economic Journal,April2004, vol. 70, issue 4, p. 876 Anker, R., ‘The economics of child labor: a framework for measurement’, International Labour Review, 2000, 139, 257-280 Baland, J.M., Robinson, J.A., ‘Is Child Labor Inefficient?’, Journal of Political Economy, 2000, 108, 663-679 Bommier, A., Dubois, P., ‘Rotten parents and child labor’, Journal of Political Economy’, Feb2004, vol. 112, issue 1, p. 240 Brown, D. K., ‘Child labour in Latin America: Policy and evidence’, World Economy, June2001, vol. 24, issue 6 Dessy, S.E., ‘Explaining cross-country differences in policyresponse to child labour’, Canadian Journal of Economics, Feb 2003,vol. 36, issue 1, p.1 Emerson, P. M., Souza, A. P., ‘Is there a child labor trap?Intergenerational persistence of child labor in Brazil’, Economicdevelopment cultural change, Jan2003, vol. 51, issue 2, p. 375 Hazan, M., Berdugo, B., ‘Child labour, fertility and economic growth’, Economic Journal, Oct2002, vol. 112, issue 482, p. 810 Hazarika, Gautam, Bedi, A.S., ‘Schooling costs and child work inrural Pakistan’, Journal of Development Studies, June 2003, vol. 39,issue 5, p. 29 Hussain, M., Maskus, K.E., ‘Child Labour Use and Economic Growth: aneconometric analysis’, World Economy, vol. 26, issue 7, p. 993 Kaushik, B., ‘The economics of child labor’, Scientific American, Oct2003, vol. 289, issue 4, p.84 Kaushik, B., Van P. H., ‘The economics of child labor’, The American economic review, June 1998, vol. 88, no. 3, p. 412-427 Kaushik, B., ‘Child labor: cause, consequence and cure, with remarkson International Labor Standards, Journal of Economic Literature,Sep1999, vol. 37, p. 1083-1119 Latin Trade, ‘Condemned’, Oct2004, vol. 12, issue 10, p.68 Lopez-Calva, ‘Child labor: Myths, theories and facts’, Journal of International Affairs, Fall 2001, vol. 55, issue 1, p. 59 Majumdar, M., ‘Child labour as a human security problem: evidence from India†, Oxford Development Studies, vol. 29, no. 3, 2001 Mattioli, M. C., Sapovadia, V. K., ‘Laws of Labor: core laborstandards and global trade’, Harvard International Review, Summer 2004,vol. 26, issue 2, p. 60 Murshed, M., ‘Unraveling child labor and labor legislation’, Journal of International Affairs, Fall2001, vol. 55, issue 1, p.169 News, The (Mexico), ‘Child labor in Mexico contributes almost 2 billion dollars to economy’, Sep 26, 2001 Occupational Hazards, ‘Group calls for reform of laws governing teen employment’, Aug2004, vol. 66, issue 8, p.15 Palley, T. I., ‘The child labor problem and the need forinternational labor standards’, Journal of Economic Issues, Sep2002,vol. 36, issue 3, p. 601 Payroll Manager’s Report, ‘International retailer is fined for child labor violations’, May 2005, vol. 5, issue 5, p.2 Professional Safety, ‘DOL issues final child labor rules for restaurant, driving roof’, Mar2005, vol. 50, issue 3, p.24 Puskikar, M., Ranjan, R., ‘The Joint Estimation of childparticipation in schooling and employment: comparative evidence fromthree continents’, Oxford Development Studies, Feb2002, vol. 30, issue1, p. 41 Scoville, J. G., ‘Segmentation in the market for child labor: theeconomics of child labor revisited’, American Journal of Economics andSociology, Jul2002, vol. 61, issue 3, p. 713 Xinhua (China), ‘Half Bangladeshi children malnourished: report’, 12/10/2004 Xinhua (China), ‘ISO countries ratify Convention to combat worst forms of child labor: ILO’, 24/5/2004 Xinhua (China), ‘Micro credit program launched to stop child labor in Bangladesh’, 30/10/2003 Xinhua (China), ‘Over 3 million child laborers in Pakistan’, Jul2002 Xinhua (China), ‘Asian countries to co-operate in eliminating child labor’, 3/3/2003 Walsh, M., Sager, I., ‘The world’s workers may catch a break’, Business Week, 14/3/2005, issue 3924, p.12 World IT Report, ‘India to abolish child labour after 2007’, 15/1/2004

Just Business Report Essay

Reading the book â€Å"Just Business† by Alexander Hill, it was very interesting to go through the topic of Christian ethics for business. Looking at different scenarios that managers have to confront and it shows how nerve-wracking, heart wrenching and also guilt producing that it could be. The definition of ethics is the study of â€Å"should† and of doing the â€Å"right thing.† The three main characteristics that were presented and emphasized in the Bible: God is holy. God is just. God is love. Hill also talked about integrity, fairness and compassion that mirror holiness, justice and love. I loved how Hill supports his points by having Bible verses. For example he writes the â€Å"salt and light† of the world (Matthew 5:13-16) is the third force for good. I agree with many of the points Hill says such as â€Å"we cannot serve two masters at the same time† (Matthew 6:24) and it specifies that we cannot serve both God and money. They were also ta lking about justice procedural rights that focus on fair processes in decision-making. Substantive rights are what procedural rights seek to protect. Merit links the concepts of cause and effect. Contractual justice is limited to three duties; we must not violate a negative injunction by causing harm to others, we must respect procedural justice and we must fulfill our contractual promises (Hill 46). Love is a universal word and many would consider it to be â€Å"the centerpiece of Christian ethics† (Hill 53). Love includes empathy, mercy and self-sacrifice. Empathizing with others would include by celebrating with their triumphs and shouldering their pain. Mercy is quite hard to do because it takes action on their behalf and takes initiative in forgiving. In my experience, there are times when I do have trouble forgiving people, yet God gave me the strength to forgive the person. This will probably come up more often while taking care of business. He also shows visuals such as the tables and drawings that make it easier to get the gist of what he was talking about. Part Two – False Exits This addresses â€Å"Dual Morality†, â€Å"Law†, and â€Å"Agency† which they are known as false exits â€Å"because they deposit ultimate ethical authority in human instrumentalities – business culture, government and corporate government – rather than in God’s character† (Hill 67). Dual morality â€Å"rejects the notion that universal principles of right and wrong exist† (Hill 69). It also helps me have a visual when he shows examples of CEOs and what kind of decisions they have to make and what would be the ethical thing to do. Law is another false exits, when one presumes that if an action is legal, it is still morally acceptable as well. There are times when there are many people just follow the law and assume that the law is right and the ethical way. There are flaws in the system and Hill shows a diagram in page 98, figure 6.1 illustrates the tension. Acts that are both ethical and legal Ethics —————————————————- Acts that are unethical but legal Law —————————————————- Acts that are both illegal and unethical Agency is the third false exit that talks about the problems that arises when the values of the employee diverge from those of the employer. It was intriguing to learn about the legalistic purist, the accommodating purist. These few chapters opened my eyes to see what kind of false exits that people use in the business world. Now I am aware of what people could use as false exits. Part Three – Topics Honesty and Deception is more common in the business environment but it is quite difficult concepts to apply. Honesty â€Å"builds trust, establishes community and protects the dignity of the audience† (Hill 125), which allows partners to rely on each other and fosters community and respects each one’s dignity. He also talks about deception and how justice condemns deception and it could lead to disaster and consequences. No right to hear the truth, exaggeration, and ambiguity are more deceptions that people use in the business environment. The other topics that were discussed were: Concealment and disclosure; Employer-Employee Relations; Employee Rights; Discrimination and Affirmative Action; the Environment and Property. The topic that stood out to me was the Environment because I have learned about different ethical views such as the anthropocentric view and the biocentric view 1 and 2. Hill also explains what the Role of Business is that even â€Å"scripture makes it clear that our task is to responsibly steward God’s creation in the hear and now† (228) and there are times that one would have to make difficult decisions. These topics have given me a new perspective towards business. Overall, â€Å"Just Business,† by Alexander Hill, was an outstanding book to read especially when one is planning to go into the field of business. It was interesting to see how business runs with the combination of Christian ethics. I would highly recommend for other students to read this especially if they are looking into business. It was a great opportunity to read what it is like to be ethical in the business world, in comparison, to what it is like to be not ethical in the business world. References Hill, Alexander (2008). Just Business: Christian Ethics for the Marketplace. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Management Changes Within British Airways - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 17 Words: 5202 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Introduction Air travel industry is considered an outsized industry throughout the world. This industry has experienced major growth in the last 50 years due to general improvement in technology. The outcome has been a firm decline in fares and costs, which has encouraged traffic growth. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Management Changes Within British Airways" essay for you Create order This demanding traffic has made the industry grow at a speedy pace. However the speedy growth had its swindles in terms of the changes that airline industry had to go through. Organizations in the industry went through drastic and somewhat dramatic changes in the past one decade. This decade saw the businesses going through change management programs to gain and keep competitive advantage in the industry. This particular dissertation is focused on the case study of British airways and the change management program that it went through in order to gain competitive advantage. British Airways is one of the highest earning airlines in the world. It is famous for its culture f leadership, virtues and employees welfare. Chief Executive of British Airways plc, Bob Ayling started extensive change management programs in the organization in the late 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s. These programs were started despite the fact that BA was earning record profits back then. Some of these changes brought positive changes in the organization, however most of the changes were perceived negatively among the employees. The negativity eventually led to strikes and low morals. (Balmer et al., 2009) These problems were majorly blamed on the poor leadership of Ayling, as well as the change management programs that the company went through. Ayling, on the other hand argued that these change management programs, including cost cutting and outsourcing of major departments, were indeed necessary for long term benefit of British airways. (Harvey and Turnbull, 2006) The introduction part wi ll now focus on defining history of British airways as well as focusing on Aylingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s change management programs and its effects on the organization as a whole. Post Merger Following the merger of British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation which bent British Airways, the company had many problems and issues.   One of the issues met by the company is in terms of cultural perspective. The outcomes of culture become mainly apparent in mergers, acquisitions and cross national operations, where not only dissimilar organizational cultures but also organizational cultures entrenched in different national cultures meet.(Carleton and Lineberry, 2004)   Research indicate that when workers from dissimilar cultures interrelate and, especially, when one culture is required to adopt the procedures and policies of the other culture, upsetting tensions come out.   And this occurred between the staff of the two merging industries (BEA and BOAC).   This issue can be explained as (Betancourt and LÃÆ' ³pez, 1993). Another issue or problem faced by British Airways was ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“forced manageme nt systemà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?.  The company put into practice a very inflexible management system which made the system of conversant with rules.   Likewise, another issue was incapability of the management of the new organization to satisfy and see the requirements of their consumers.   The organization gave importance on its limited management concentrates and approach on preserving its various routes which resulted in unsatisfied consumers.   These conflicts and issues had a very negative outcome on the new organization.   British Airways earned the reputation of being the most disreputable company after the post merger.  (Carleton and Lineberry, 2004) In addition, the company could not handle the increased burden of flights and customers. In the late 80à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the company was rated as most unpunctual airline and customers were advised to avoid travelling on it. (Eckel et al., 1997) Management changes within British Airways: In order to modify its reputation, British Airways decided to go for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"CHANGE MANAGEMENTà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Businesses, companies, and working organizations have incorporated change into their work system in order to be aggressive and be more competent to satisfy customer or clients needs.   (Hayes, 2002) The Conservative party Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher selected John King in early 1981 to be the Chairperson of British Airways plc. During the management of John King, he forced changes resulting in several routes bring axed as well as selling off the cargo planes and service. The company also cut 20,000 workers as part of the change process.   In 1982, Colin Marshall became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of British Airways plc. In this period, British Airways produced its first additional profit which was the outcome of the cost-cutting actions implemented by John King. Colin Marshall decided to pay attention to its customer service in order to ensu re that company carries on making profit. Marshall hired Consultants to collect data about workers and customer attitudes. The outcome of this evaluation showed that there is a significant gap between what was delivered by BA staff what the consumer actually required. Another management plan was the transformation of the system from staff- oriented to customer oriented through the formation of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“customer is kingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? environment within the company. (Heifetz and Laurie, 2002) Marshall also investigated that the workers had an internal problem in terms of having a harmonious and good working relationship; therefore, he decided to generate more unity among the British Airways workers by putting into practice the Staff Development Initiative which anticipated the long-term and inherent cultural development and change in British Airways. The program was intended on having more efficient staff members who could offer excellent and quality service to its consumer. (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) This cultural education training lasted until the late 1990s; it created the awareness for the workers to do their job according to customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s requirements. Marshall also started Awards for Excellence in 1987.   The goal of this initiative was to award high performers and inspire the workers to always do their best in offering services.   For the duration of that year, Brainwaves, a proposal system was also launched. The change process imposed by Marshall was in co-operation with Lancaster University to provide MBA course for its workers. This was the part of the cultural education training by British airways to make its workers more efficient. (Prokesch, 1995) Furthermore, the organizational structure of British Airways was also modified to a much slimmer and flatter structure. Five sections of the organization started direct reporting to the Chief Executive Officer and eleven profit centers were formed. This structural replacement aimed at improving s taff communication and integration. The performance-related pay was also brought in by the management. The change process also comprised major investments in ground facilities, planes, and Information Technology. (Grugulis and Wilkinson, 2002) Putting people first program The management also started a program for its staff called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Putting people firstà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. The program was focused on training the staff become more customer oriented. It was a one day seminar delivered by consultants hired by British airways. In the start the program only included staffs that were directly in contact with the customers. However with the passage of time the program was extended for all employees. The program covered the topics of being a winner or loser, owning the problem, being attentive and empowerment. (Street, 1994) With this help of this program staff was given a chance to become involved in decision making. They were encouraged to make any suggestions that could improve the customer service. This was followed by training the staff to own the problem rather than putting blame on each other. The whole trainings program helped the company dramatically, staff turnover reduced to a great level and customer satisfaction increased. (Tushman and Oà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Reilly III, 2006) This successful implementation of this program led to several other training programs being launched by BA management and staff. These programs included à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“A day in the lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to be the bestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. These two programs also met success and British airways started seeing itself getting ahead of the industry. Winning for customer program This program was launched in 92/93 by the company. It was completely focused on listening to customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s views and making changes in the company accordingly. This program was basically a loyalty program for customers as well as gaining feedback from them. (Dowling and Uncles, 1997) This program was also somewhat successful as it gave the company insight into companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s service from customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s eyes. Managing people first program Another program launched in the same era was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“managing people firstà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. This program was focused on increasing trust among employees, emphasizing the importance of leadership and feedback. (Bruce, 1987)The program brought in positive changes among the employees. They started trusting each other and delivering the job with more efforts. The leadership aspect of the program helped the managers understand their employees better and leading the organization into better changes. The history of British airways clearly stated that a culture of change existed in the organization. These changes were perceived positively by the employees. These changes also helped the organization get on the top back then. In the case study section of the dissertation, change management programs and its consequences by Ayling will be discussed to understand and analyze that scenario. Research question The primary research question of this research study is, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. Research aim and objective of this study The main objective and strategic aim of this piece of study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. To understand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? went wrong and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“whyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? it went wrong in the leadership of Ayling Analyze the data and come up with findings regarding change management programs Conclude if change management is necessary for a firm to gain competitive advantage Literature Review The process and practice of globalization and developments with the new technologies are merely few stimuli which continually compel business organizations to transform. Business organizations must be considerate and prepared of the vibrant inner and exterior environment in which they manage their operations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The great challenge facing organizations today is change: employing, retaining and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" most prominently à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" developing managers, and effectively managing organizational changeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. (Brandenburg and Binder, 1999) There exist three different verities of change which an organization can experience. These three according to him are smooth incremental change, bumpy incremental change and discontinuous change. In the first variety the organization go through a smooth transition and such a change process is perceived by its managers as inherent to the organization. In the second variety there may be oppositions to it, however according to him it is more like the movement of the continents, where faults are generated and bumps are created. In such a case the created faults readjusts the process and a balance is created with time. (Grundy, 1998) The third and the last variety is a discontinuous one, in which the change process is abrupt. This abrupt change could be in the strategy, culture or the structure of the organization. During the process of change there can be people who may resist it. This resistance in general comes from the individuals, who may oppose individually or as a group. The rationale behind this is that the individuals do not want to come out of their current state. As an example someone might already have convinced himself that he has already got what he wanted, so why to accept the new things? Or there might be some heavy investments involved which may be stop to proceed. What does managing change means? Change management is a planned activity intended at getting the best results from the transformation process. It is about managing the changes that are outcomes of the selected approaches. This is done in such a way so that the results and effects go along with the organizational framework. Devising a strategy is also the part of change management. Such a process and procedure is unique and specific to a certain organization. It is rare that a process devised for an organization do fit to the other. Although this can happen, however the probability is quite low. The procedure for change management and the measures that are element of a specific approach are exclusive and exact to a particular organization. Every organization has its own needs; their resources and circumstances differ, culture changes, relationships and clients requirements become specific, and their ambitions, objectives and aims may differ(Mullins, 2007). It is about discovering options and selecting pathways. (Horton, 2000) According to George Bernard Shaw à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Development is unattainable without change and transformation, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Managing change means a systematic procedure of taking into consideration the global circumstances disturbing an organization; in addition to specific state of affairs within the organization. The change management technique scrutinizes the existing environment and procedures with high attitude to firm culture, organization design, communication, job design, personnel, infrastructure, knowledge and skills. The most important and significant meaning of change management is the term referred to as the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"task of managing changeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The term itself is used in two contexts. Firstly, it means to make changes in an intended and systematic manner. Secondly, this refers to as managing the reactions for the implemented processes. The acknowledgment of the requirements for timely ad justment to external stimulus has evolved the concept of the learning organization; an organization which is capable of continuous adaptation to the environment. At last, change management refers to an area of constituency of professional performance and the connected body of knowledge that has grown up inside and around the issues. There are several ways for change management, as an example, consulting firms offer a range of services to smooth out the process whereas the business schools recommend training in its theory and practice. (Kouzes et al., 1987) (Kanter, 1989) Approaches to change Management The planned approach to change management is tightly linked to managing and recognizing the procedures intended to make organizations more progressive. All these procedures attempt to offer smooth transition and attempt the productivity with the least confrontation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Change plansà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ formulate the tangible outcomes, guide decision making, help to control the procedures and provide protection around uncertainties. There are six change management approaches to deal with this resistance and reaction. (Hayes, 2002)These six approaches are as following Communication and Education: The most significant ways to prevail over conflicts and resistance is through prior education and awareness. This helps in beforehand observing and perceiving the intensity of the change by the work force. The result of this will lead to suppression of rumors and uncertainties involved during the phase. Involvement and Participation: Wherever the initiators do not have the entire data and information they require designing the change and transformation and others have substantial power to oppose. When workers are mixed up in the change attempt they are more likely to involve in the transformation rather to oppose it. Support and Facilitation: Where people refuse to give in to change due to regulation problems, managers can set off possible resistance by encouraging workers during complex times. Managerial support facilitates employees compact with anxiety and fear during an evolution period. The source of resistance is likely to be the unawareness. Thus support and facilitation approach is connected with condition of counseling, special training and time off work. Agreement and Negotiation: Within an organization somebody or some group may drop out during the transformation process. Managers can fight resistance by giving incentives to workers who are not in opposition to the change and the transformation process. This agreement and negotiation approach will be suitable where those resisting change are strong enough. Co-option and Manipulation Approach: Somewhere there are other procedures which are too exclusive. Schlesinger and Kotter proposed that an effective management technique is to co-opt with counters of change effort and transformation process. This frequently involves choosing leaders of the resisters so that instead of opposition they lead to a contribution in the process. Implicit and Explicit Coercion: Implementation speed is a necessity but should be used as a final option. The process should be made as smooth as possible however the managers can clearly or perfectly compel workers into tolerating change effort by making clear that resisting change can lead to firing, losing jobs, demotions or transferring employees. Framework of change This idea is about the procedure for change management and transformation process, presenting proposals and getting feedback for change. This is further than a beginning step to the real action of accomplishment. There is requirement to comprehend how considered choices are completed and proposals are evaluated within the. The framework of change management used throughout this thesis is presented in Error: Reference source not found. This model investigates further how organizations make the movement from the current to the future state. In particular, we will look at the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Three Step Modelà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ developed by Lewin based on unfreezing the organization, moving and sustaining the change. (Lewin, 1980) CULTURE The first section culture of the change management framework include authenticating the case for change and transformation process and how the shared service/BPO initiative will add to comprehending the organizations premeditated goals, and readiness of both employees and organization and assessing the capacity to incorporate change. Impending blockers must be recognized and articulated with agreed-upon approaches and strategies thus the initiative is not disrupted. ORGANIZATION The second section wraps the design of the new world, comprising the operating model, role definitions, organizational structures, governance and competency frameworks, and decision-making frameworks. Realistic steps should be used to design effective and realistic interfaces between the retained organization and shared service/BPO capacity. LEADERSHIP The third step in the wheel aims to simplify how the firm will be led, and to furnish the leaders to carry out their leadership roles. Specific and detailed activities comprise how the leader ship team will work together both during implementation of shared services/ BPO, defining the role of the leadership team, and consequently, and the roles and responsibilities of individual leaders. Achievement like this may identify the requirement for coaching and/or training of leaders and potential leaders. PEOPLE CAPABILITY The fourth step of the cycle of change management framework intends to ascertain the competencies and skills necessary and how to gather those requirements, comprising gap analysis, skills audits, career planning and job and role definitions. Participation of talent who will lead the new firm is key to the success of this movement. EXECUTION The fifth step of the cycle of change management framework ensures freedom of the new form. It comprises hard deliverables in the form of milestones, project plans, budget analysis and progress reports, and soft deliverables in the shape of stakeholderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s management and communications. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT The sixth and last step of the wheel of change management cover up life post-change and comprises processes and frameworks (e.g., balanced scorecards, performance management, and reward alignment) to determine the success of the changes, and means to make sure that opportunities for advance improvement are acted upon in a timely manner and identified.   Significance and benefits of Change management in the Organizations: Benefits of Change Management: ACCEPTING ENVIROMENT It is significant for the organization to assess, understand, and measure the dynamics in its exterior environment such as government, society and customers in order to predict and set up an appropriate relationship with these assorted performers like society, customers and government. Hence, managers by deliberating the subject of change management can better be ready to understand anything is going on in this environment. This is a major significance of change management in business organization. STRATEGY FORMULATION IMPLEMENTATION TO DEVELOP COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE It is very important to knowing the collision of change an inappropriate level on its own interior dynamics, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"where the main objective is to seek competitive advantageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. This is the significance of change management in business organization. EMPLOYEES The employees are the beneficiaries of change process. One such continuous apprehension of senior managers is to make organization highly consistent; therefore workers ought to be high performing and trained one in todays twitchy competitive new world. There is need of trained, reliable organization and high performing work practices. This is significance of change management in organizations. TECHNOLOGY ISSUES Technology is realized as the engine of development in todays new world. May be the greatest challenge for modern organizations is the integration and acquisition of technology in its approach, structure and procedure. As such the apprehension of top managers is how to avoid and mitigate organization being outdated and how to absorb and cope the collision of communication technologies and changing information which have determinedly influencing consumption behavior and production process. This is another major benefit of change management in the organization. Significance of Change Management Implementation The peak five well recognized approaches of change management and significance of change management in the organization, which, when implemented properly, permit organizations to decrease risk and increase IT effectiveness and efficiency. The practices comprise of: Producing the top bottom approach to endorse the requirement for a culture of Information technology change management process that implements a zero tolerance approach to illicit changes across the whole enterprise. It will create significance of change management inside and outside the organization. Examining and monitoring the number of unintentional outages frequently to avert illegitimate changes and maintain maximum control on information technology variations. It will also create significance of change management in the modern organization. Put into practice risk mitigation changes executed and authorized by identifying well-defined change preservation windows and implemented them. The significance of change management will explore through it. Determine change success rates and using them as standard for key information technology management performance gauge. This is one of the major significance of change management. SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS British Airways is engaged in air services operations both in international and domestic airfreight. It provides various services ranging in commercial flights service for passengers around the globe, cargo freight and mail services and other auxiliary services. British Airways primarily runs its business in Europe and in United States. Located in Harmondsworth, Middlesex, it employs 42, 755 people in all its departments. British Airways facilitates flight reservation and booking using the online net services in which customers can easily access. Trying to appear competitive and maintain its integrity as one of the best airlines which emphasizes quality customer services, BA strives to create high-end terminal facilities and other services involving comfortable of customers while onboard. BA reaches out to 570 in about 134 countries. Such magnitude of operations offers customers with variety of destinations with world-class services that cater customers ranging from explorers to exec utives. Strengths British Airwaysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ strengths include the first-rate new fleet of aircrafts purchased to accolade comfortable traveling of passengers. This move was made to counter the wretched state of travel and complaint received by the previous fleet used by British Airways. The magnitude of Airwaysà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ operations allows them on pro over their competitors by servicing to a wider variety of customers. Moreover, on the level of knowledge and skills, BA operational research claimed that analytical skills performed by the members of the company and employees become its strengths. The strong customer focus develops expertise in customer areas while in purchasing high-end software for air services and wide selection of it strengthens the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business orientation. Weaknesses One of the many weaknesses on organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business and services is the lack of marketing strategy that will help reinforce its competitive standards, more so, to win customers loyalty. Despite the great infrastructure hosted the company, BA needs to carry out better market schemes to attract more customers. Hence, competitive package for customer service must be afforded in order to make the airline more attractive to its clients, prompting an opportunity of earning large revenues. Furthermore, on knowledge and skills management, limited knowledge of simulation software and simulation development, knowledge lost through high level of internal staff moves, teams adopt solution approaches aligned only to their skills, and lack of involvement in choice of software and difficulty to enhance specialist airline software are weaknesses which the company must be aware of. Threats The threats are not necessarily be found outside of companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s environment but can be an internal. Internal threats as seen in management centralized and bureaucratic system and all poor decision-making. Moreover, the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s focus on national and local problems pose a threat since much more problems which it neglect found in the global scheme. It neglects the global problems instead focusing deeply on the national and local level. The global problems greatly offer tremendous threats if and when companies will ignore such. Moreover, globalization can be an opportunity and strength but can also be a threat if not to be keen and vigilant of its tricks and treachery. Further, rapid changes on technology and customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ behavior can also be a threat if mistakenly interpreted and remedied. Opportunities   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   The availability of immense services and products pose an opportunity to utilize them properly. The global changes can be an opportunity to work with while ignoring certain opportunities can be a weakness. In BA, virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, obtaining network software and share expertise through special interest groups are opportunities which can be utilized and used to further enhance the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business. Technological trends provide ample opportunities to various business domains, however, if it will be taken for granted, opportunities can be a threat or weakness. Maximizing the global trends is a great opportunity to hold on to. Methodology The proposed methodology for this dissertation is case study research. Case study research is a common and popular method of conducting research in the field of social sciences. In this methodology, an event, individuals, or group are investigated and explained. This in depth investigation focuses on defining the particular instance in either descriptive or explanatory manner. (Hartley, 2004) The methodology is not merely storytelling; rather it describes and explains the event in much detail so the reader could understand the reasons for that event/instance. The case studies are building with multiple sources of data and evidence. They are usually focused on one aspect of the organization rather than the whole organization itself. (Merriam, 1998) Case study method is quite useful if one wants to understand and estimate the impact of a certain event. It is important to understand that case study methodology can only be used when rich amount of data is available so the case can actual ly be built using it. (Eisenhardt, 1989) Although it is quite popular method of conducting the research, it has its weaknesses as well. Researchers have criticized it because they feel that this method lacks reliability. The reliability is questioned when case study is build using the secondary data. This criticism states that the research cannot be relied on as it lacks researcherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s own research efforts, and the case is built on the research that was already available. (Stake, 1995)However there are more strengths to this methodology than weaknesses. The method is particularly praised due to its usefulness in providing a holistic view of an event or phenomena. It is also admired due to multiple sources of data and evidence that are used to build case study, as it provides multiple insight into the phenomena. (Gillham, 2000) Types of case study Researchers have devised and explained several categories of case studies. One of the popular models used to explained categories of case studies is by Yin. He defines these categories in terms of the number of event and single or multiple methods of analysis. Type 1: Single case design and single unit of analysis Type 2: Single unit of analysis and multiple case designs Type 3: Single case design and multiple units of analysis Type 4: Multiple case designs and multiple units of analysis Yin has also devised three types of case study, Exploratory: Used for new topics and reveals the facts about a certain event. This type of research is normally the first one and sets direction for future research. Researchers agree that this research is more related to What question rather than the Why question. Descriptive: This type of case study research focuses on a clearly define problem or research question. Its focus is on How and Who question Explanatory: the last type of case study research is explanatory, which focuses on Why question. It is usually build in exploratory and descriptive research and tries to find out preseason for an eventà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s occurrence. (Yin, 2008) This particular research will be built on using explanatory case study method. As we already know what happened in British airways due to change management programs, however we need to search the question of Why it happened? Sources of Data for case study In order to build up a case study, data needs to be collected. This data gathering can either be primary or secondary. The primary data can include interviews, direct observations, and participantà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s observations. On the other hand secondary data can include documentations, archived records, and published papers (Yin, 1993) The writer will use secondary data in this research and will avoid usage of primary data. There are several reasons for this, which are given below, There is a rich amount of secondary data available on this particular event. The change management programs at British airways and Ayling leadership happened a decade ago, and a lot of research has been done in this regard. The explanatory case study will be build on those researches, some of them are explanatory, and descriptive. Others include published papers, newspaper articles and web based resources. Another reason for avoidance of primary data is that the event happened a decade ago and it will be very hard to find people who would like to talk about it now (interviews, questions). Since the event is in the past, researcher cannot conduct primary research by being part of it (direct observations, participant observations) Usage of secondary data allows the researcher to include the research that has already been done on the particular topic. Previous researchers, which have gone through the scrutiny of reliability and validity, will save the writer a lot of time. The last but certainly not the least reason for avoidance of primary data is the nature of research question. The research question is focused on all the events that occurred in past, as well as reaction and consequences of those events. Now the research question is focused on analyzing the events and its consequences and building a explanatory case study. This can only be done using the secondary data. data gathering and analysis techniques In order to collect the secondary data the writer plans to use these sources, Published papers on British airways change management programs and its consequences Web based sources including British airways website, online articles, and other documents Books written on change management, and British airways Newspaper articles The data will be analyzed using the analytical models such as SWOT. This model is used to assess Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a particular event, project, organization etc. (Hutt and Speh, 1992) The SWOT analysis will help determine the environment that surrounded British airways during the change management programs. Once the data has been collected, and analyzed using the SWOT tool, it will be compared with the literature of change management. The implication of change management at British airways will be compared with the theories that exist in literature.

Small Vs. Large Organic Farming - 1583 Words

Small vs. Large The general public sees any type of organic food as being produced â€Å"straight out of a backyard garden† or â€Å"right off of the family farm†. But is it really freshly picked tomatoes right out of Grandma Mae’s garden or chicken breast from a local farm? If the food purchased is from Whole Foods or the organic section at Walmart, then that probably is not the case. Large organic farms are what usually supply Whole Foods and other larger chain stores that have organics. They are not what people initially think of when imagining the typical organic farm. They usually think of a small plot of land with an old farmhouse, chicken coops, a red barn, and a large pasture of grass. Even though there are still organic farms like that,†¦show more content†¦Although the smaller farms do not need the expensive and large equipment, they have to pay farmhands to take care of everything by hand. Farm hands, on average, make about eleven dollars per hour. For three farm hands that work approximately an eight hour day, cost the farm two hundred and sixty-four dollars a day (Farm Hand). To power harvesting machinery for about an eight hour day, would cost two hundred and eight dollars a day just for diesel costs (Edwards). So, the price to run per day for both large and small organic farms does not have a dramatic difference. Another quite large expense is that of transportation. Products from large farms typically supply large markets and are usually not at small farmers markets. In order for the food to be transported from the farm to the supermarket, they have to use fuel. Not only is this costing them much more, but it is also affecting the environment. On the contrary, small farms typically sell their produce at farmers markets or at their farm itself. This is not only conserving them money, but it is also conserving fossil fuels. Another economic factor in organic farming, in general, is that organic food is typically more expensive that its non-organic counterpart. This observation goes along with both large and small organic farms. When people go shopping, they often look for the cheapest item. Since