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hierarchy_classisfication
Hierarchical classification system
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Hierarchical classification systems are established classes that are divided from the broadest subjects to the most particular ones. There are classified in seven levels of hierarchy groups which are: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Below is a school hierarchical system that has been divided into the seven levels.
This hierarchical system study’s the classroom as the kingdom in classification. In this kingdom there are more than one million students. The students in this kingdom are characterized by their grade levels. The students could be in level one’s two, and three and so on. The students are graded and characterized by their ability to perform and go to the next class.in addition some will be characterized by being borders or day scholars.
The phylum in this hierarchical is characterized as the students’ supplies. There are more than 100 phyla in the classroom kingdom. The supplies include calculators, laptops files, citation manuals flash drives, pens books and many more in a backpack. The lowest grade level needs lesser supplies while the highest grade level needs the most supplies. For those students that are borders will need boarding supplies in addition, the students who will need to use the laboratory will need laboratory supplies. The school can offer to supply some of the supplies while others the students will have to buy.
The class is classified by the subjects to be studied for instance the language Art, mathematical, business classes and many more classes with different subjects. There are various teachers and lecturers who take charge of teaching this subjects. In addition there is a lesson plan to be followed and time tables that guide the students and their teachers on which subject will be covered a certain time.
The order in this hierarchical is characterized as the Reading center. There are various campuses of the same school for example USIU university western branch, stadium branch and other branches but of the same campus. In addition there are those who study online and also belong to an online classification.
The family in this hierarchical is characterized as the Book. There are various books needed for school work. The school should have a library to provide books for all students to use for better performance.
The Genus in this hierarchical can be classified as the Chapter from the Books. The teachers and students should have covered a given target of chapters within a given time. In spite of the teachers doing their work, it is the duty of an individual to work on his own to understand each chapter and ensure he has covered all.
The hierarchical last level is the Species which ensure that each and every student must have lessons, worksheets, puzzles and all the activities that goes along within the chapters of the books. After each chapter the student is to attempt the questions and quizzes that follows to ensure he has understood it. In addition the teachers should prepare pamphlets for students to use in case the book the teacher has is not accessible to all. Each student will write his own summary and share in groups.
Emerging Technologies New Demands for Students and Faculty
Emerging Technologies: New Demands for Students and Faculty
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Introduction
With reference to the case study provided as carried out in North America, high rate of technological development poses a challenge to the twenty first century graduates in terms of the skills, technical competencies and their knowledge base at the job market. They are not only expected to have theoretical knowledge but also the practical hands on, analytical problem solving, expert thinking and complex communication skills. Though new and emerging technologies offer a lot of job opportunities ranging from telecommunication, space, energy, nanotechnology and so on, they also become a threat at the work place as the use of computers in attempt to increase productivity, brings about unemployment. Similarly, with new technological advancement, outsourcing for expertise as is the trend in most workplaces, does not necessarily benefit the workers but denies them opportunity to develop. This means, the faculty has to go back to the drawing board and revise or enhance the curricula to equip the next generation graduates with the right skills.
Major Problems with new and emerging technologies
Technological development does not only come with benefits but also with problems that need to be addressed by all stakeholders. The paragraphs below explain some of the major problems that are associated with new and emerging technologies.
To begin with, unemployment is one of the major problems that come as a result of these new and emerging technologies as explained in the case study. Almost all the workplaces in North America are working hard to keep themselves in the market. This means that they are working towards ensuring that their productivity is increased at all costs. The use of computers has ensured that they meet their desire except that this has come with a negative impact. A single computer replacing several workers is causing retrenchment and lack of employment opportunities. For example a job that was to be done by five hundred workers in ten days, can now be done by a single user computer in hours (Carl & Michael, 2013).
The rate of technological innovation continues to increase with extra complicated software technologies. These new innovations continue to interrupt labor markets by making workers unnecessary as the previous technology is rendered redundant. This means the concerned companies therefore have the option of either retraining their employees or retrenching them. Since retraining calls for employing high cost, most industries and company employers end up choosing the option of retrenchment (Brynjolfsson and McAfee, 2011).
We can also look at the scenario where those with technical knowhow also suffer with their skills by considering the history of technological revolutions and employment. In this case, we should note that the problem of technological unemployment is not a recent experience. Along the history, the process of creative destruction due to technological inventions has created huge wealth. Nevertheless, the same innovations have also created undesired disruptions. The emphasis by Schumpeter (1962) cited in Freya & Osborne (2013), it was not lack of ideas for invention that led to the boundaries for economic development, but instead a influential social along with economic interests that encourages the status quo for technology. The case of William Lee’s invention of the stocking frame knitting machine in 1589 is a good example where he expected that his invention would relieve workers of hand knitting. His attempt to seek for patent protection for the invention did not succeed when Queen Elizabeth ( I) became extra concerned with the impact of the invention on the employment. In other words, allowing patent for the knitting machine means that several workers were to lose their jobs. As a result, the Queen decided to sacrifice the new invention for the sake of workers (Freya & Osborne, 2013).
Secondly, outsourcing of the expertise to assist in the new and emerging technologies is another problem that relates to new technologies. Outsourcing here means hiring expertise from external service providers instead of sourcing for the same internally. By so doing, efficiency improves at the expense of adaptability of the internal employees. Such employees will lack the opportunity to develop their skills further. There will be no marriage between adaptability of the workers and their efficiency of working with the new technology as will be best met with in-sourcing. Again, the employees here are denied opportunity to train and gain the same expertise required (Weigelt & Sarkar, 2012).
Cyber crime: with new technological development, cyber crime becomes a common problem. It is evident that as new and emerging technologies come, the cyber criminals increase their knowledge base on how to hack the new systems developed (that is, there is a lot of data insecurity with new technologies). Assuming that a cyber criminal is arrested today, there are no clear legislations or regulations that may make such criminals to be brought to book (Ghaffour, Missimer, & Amy, 2013).
Technological obsolescence is also a problem and challenge that come with new and emerging technologies as well. The funny aspect with technology is that it is never stagnant. Every now and then a new technology emerges. When a new technology arrives, the existing one becomes obsolete as nobody or organization may wish to be left behind the new development in technology. The bitter truth is that the new and emerging technologies come with a price to be paid. Firstly, for a workplace embracing a new technology, the employees have to be trained incase outsourcing is not sought. It is very costly to acquire the new technology and also to get to train the workers to meet the new skills required by the new technology.
Lack of willingness to change is another important factor to take note of. Apparently, nobody wishes to be left behind with emerging issues as it pertains to technological advancement except that embracing change is not that easy. For example, as much as the institutions of higher learning are on the run to keep up to date with technology, they are so reluctant to embrace the changes and challenges that come with it. The lengthy procedures in accepting a change as in these institutions hinders new technological advancement. Similarly, incorporating technology in teaching in the twenty first century to meet the increasing student demand to utilize new technologies is so slow.
It is important to note that, the development of new technologies come with a lot of advantages, for example, development of web tools such as wikis, social media smart phones give the learners more control on access to, creation and sharing of knowledge amongst themselves. It is therefore an important factor to try and solve some of these problems that arrive with technology as they are bound to haunt the future job market. The following is a brief description on how some of the said problems can be solved.
Underlying problems
The original or the basic problem that acts as the foundation of all other problems discussed above is the wide gap between the state of emerging technologies in the industry and the state of technology in the academia. This can be seen clearly from the case study where the author tries to explain how this gap can be reduced. From the analysis of the case study, this wider gap has been brought about by failure by various faculties to frequently revise their curricula and maintain their technical currency. Nevertheless, this kind of revision and curricula enhancement is quite challenging given that institutional vision, planning and allocation of suitable resources are required.
It is also apparent from the analysis of the case study that this wide gap between the state of emerging technologies in the industry and the state of technology in the academia is also due to lack of synchronization between curriculum development and various training activities in relation to technical currency. This means that optimal teaching and learning through continuous quality improvement has not been sufficiently achieved. As a result, most students though have gone through the curriculum; they are still not proficient enough in web and wireless technologies according to the case study.
The consequence of the gap described above is the high number of college and university graduates with insufficient knowledge and skills which are not current and more relevant to the industry. This also means that universities and colleges are not working closely with the existing technology industries to improve the quality of training for the students. The same industries will not prefer to employ the half baked graduates who may not perform to the required standards. This is what has led to outsourcing expertise as explained earlier hence leading to increase in unemployment for most graduates.
Solutions
It is clear that as much as complains have to arise from problems caused by the new and emerging technologies, life has to move on. In a nut shell, the best remedies for these problems have to be sought. Below are some of the ways that these problems can be minimized if not solved;
Curbing the unemployment issue may not be easy but all the same, the rate at which technology is advancing should be directly proportional to the rate at which industries are being created. This will see into to it that those retrenched due to advancement in technology can again be redeployed to the new industries being developed. There are several benefits arising from creating of more industries. It creates more employment opportunities to the big population being retrenched and at the same time increases the company’s profit base, except that the company has to shoulder the initial disadvantage of spending a lot in the startup procedures.
Outsourcing too seems cheaper in the short run but very expensive in the long run. In my opinion, the relevant stakeholders should consider training all their employees on basic aspects of the new and emerging technologies. With the right and up to date skills acquired, the workers’ adaptability and efficiency of doing work will be enhanced and it will also ensure that the organization is well grounded in case of any complexities in the production process. The morale of workers will be boosted as well, a factor that will translate directly to high productivity. The only disadvantage of not outsourcing arises from the cost disparity occasioned by intensive training needed for the right expertise on the new or emerging technology, all which must be taken care of by the employer.
Tough laws and legislations should be put in place more so by the government to eradicate cyber crime. Anyone found guilty of breaking these laws should be charged and prosecuted. Similarly, the government should work closely with the experts in this technological field for example system developers to make sure the data security is checked and kept up to date with the new and emerging technologies. By so doing, the cyber crime would be tamed and that means that the network users will enjoy using various networks and trust the network with their sensitive information.
Other solutions also include frequent revision of curricula and maintaining of technical currency. Academic institutions should also have clear visions as well as be able to plan and allocate appropriate resources in order to reduce the challenges of curriculum enhancement. The wide gap between the state of emerging technologies in the industry and the state of technology in the academia can also be reduced by means of synchronizing curriculum development activities with the faculty development and training activities. This kind of synchronization will help in maximization of learning and teaching by employing frequent enhancement in quality.
The process of narrowing the gap between the state of emerging technologies in the industry and the state of technology in the academia as the solution will be advantageous in that the faculty technical currency will become highly significance when the majority of students will belong to the generation millennial. This means that most of them will be very much acquainted with the new and emerging technologies for them to easily fit in relevant industries.
However, for this process to be achieved, academic institutions will have to allocate a lot of resources to ensure that the curricula is enhanced in a way of allowing students to be trained up to the industry level through the close relationship between industries and universities. Therefore, the fact that more resources are needed is a big limitation.
Recommendations
From the solutions above it is very clear that implementing all of them would require a very long period of time say, a decade, to solve. I therefore settle on the following as the best choice that would go hand in hand in ensuring that most of these problems are solved at a go.
The educational background of the work force is the key issue here. Ensuring that the graduates from various institutions graduate with the right skills to enable them face the harsh realities in the job market is the best approach in solving problems that arise from technological advancement. Here, the curricula of such institutions of higher learning has to be checked and revised to keep up to date with new and emerging technologies. Similarly, the culture of embracing technology must be developed right at the institutional level to ensure graduates who come out have the confidence of tackling basic complex staff that comes with new technology. This can easily be accomplished by ensuring that new policies in institutions of higher learning are changed to support the new technology. For example, rewarding of innovation and entrepreneurship is one way to give the learners the morale of embracing a culture of technology (James & Beattie, 1997).
Moreover, with the right skills, unemployment will be a thing of the past as well as outsourcing. The employers will enjoy all in one roof benefits brought about by the development of the right expertise right from colleges. The employees will no longer be threatened with the changes occasioned by new and emerging technological issues as they will have the right attitude and approach that will enable them to meet the technological needs at any technological age. You cannot outsource for what you already have. It therefore means that the workplaces will have very little to do than just to tune their workers to fit in the new system as it comes. Having the right skills involve having the right attitude and culture that support any change that will be deemed important to the organization.
Conclusion
To come to a close, it is evident from the discussion above that that the new and emerging technologies have a lot of challenges on fresh graduates due to insufficiency of curricula. It is also apparent that all other problems discussed in this text as due to problems experienced with the academia the curricula. Therefore, the recommendations suggested above will be very instrumental in the process of alleviating the new and emerging technology related problems in relation to students.
References
Weigelt, C., & Sarkar, M. B. (2012). Performance implications of outsourcing for technological innovations: managing the efficiency and adaptability trade‐off. Strategic Management Journal, 33(2), 189-216.
Ghaffour, N., Missimer, T. M., & Amy, G. L. (2013). Technical review and evaluation of the economics of water desalination: current and future challenges for better water supply sustainability. Desalination, 309, 197-207.
Carl, B. F. & Michael, A. O. (2013). The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerization
James & Beattie, (1997). Keys to Successful Implementation of technology in Classrooms.
Brynjolfsson, E. and McAfee, A. (2011). Race against the machine: How the digital revolution is accelerating innovation, driving productivity, and irre-versibly transforming employment and the economy. Digital Frontier Press Lexington, MA.
Carl Benedikt Freya & Michael A. Osborne.(2013). The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerization?
Emergent and prescriptive approaches and business requirements
Emergent and prescriptive approaches and business requirements
Emergent and perspective approaches to strategy
Introduction
The overall scope and purpose of an organization in most cases conflicts with the concept of corporate strategy. The idea of corporate strategy entails the design of long-term objectives and goals that copes with the uncertainty of present times and adds worth to the business. It consists of allocating resources and implementing courses of action in conduct necessary for carrying out the general objectives as a practice. The emergent and prescriptive approaches are generally recognized as the principal theories for policy growth and should be examined in the viewpoint of an increasing highly competitive, dynamic, and global business setting. Businesses are forced to make impressive upgrading to survive and compete to prosper. Thus the paper examines the importance of determining how efficiently the emergent and prescriptive approaches meet the requirements of businesses today when creating strategy (Flood & Jackson, 1996).
The Emergent Approach
The Emergent Approach model stresses on learning. Managers at several organizational levels should have a key contribution into the definite strategies pursued by the organization since formulation of policies runs parallel to achievement. An emergent approach can lead to more responsive and creative strategy making which is suited to the unpredictable environments and hyper-competitive of today. For example Microsoft which is among the most successful firm in the world does not use the determined plan. This inspires recent theories which center on the value of understanding as the central part of organizational ability for gaining competitive advantage. The emergent approach challenges the status quo as focused by prescriptive approach which creates a fit between emerging opportunities and established strengths, by purposely making a misfit between these factors (Bennis, Benne & Corey, 1976).
Thus it is more suited to prompting constructive, organizational change such as diversification. It has also the benefit of reducing opposition to change as it permits time to build worker support while the taking shape. Unconstructively, when accomplishment and formulation occur at the same time there is a danger that strategy development becomes disorderly and slow process. Thus valuable opportunities can be neglected along the way. At the same time contradictory objectives from dissimilar groups can deter strategy development, especially when power shifts are taking place in a major strategic variation such as a merger. Objectives can be short of precision and there may be no basis for assessing performance without identifiable aims and strict analysis. An over-reliance on emergent strategy formation can result in underperformance (Boulding, 1964).
The Prescriptive Approach
The prescriptive approach considers strategy maturity as deterministic and arranged process in which performance of the organization, its analysis and external surrounding results to the creation of a long-term, rational plan. Higher management is responsible of defining the ultimate the plan and objectives and then put into achievement through the consecutive layers of the organization. The Porter’s structured Five Forces model for Value Chain Analysis and industry analyzation are among the techniques which feed this process. These highlight accessible capabilities as a firm foundation for competitive advantage.
The firms in fast-paced, competitive surroundings that use a organized process for strategic planning dominate their marketplace. The rational, critical approach allows these firms to devise pre-emptive and predictive strategies from which they meet new opportunities. EasyJet used foresight in 1995 to initiate low cost flights which allowed it to benefit from a cautious European marketplace. This approach enables organization of a greater degree of control over different business units and complex activities. Contrary the prescriptive model includes several hypotheses that are unsustainable in today’s business world. It implies that strategy expansion is always calculated and that strategies are achieved according to plan. But investigation refutes this, because changeable events, such as the introduction of new rules, can frequently act to force the original strategy off its course. The prescriptive approach of planning also falls short in enabling for any learned essentials to be engrossed into the strategy and so limits an organizations ability to react flexibly in the rapidly changing environment. It focuses on established areas of business and capabilities in a convergent way which can deter big transformational change where reinvention is vital. The prescriptive model does not harmonize modern organizational civilizations where employees at junior levels are part of the decision making process. Thus, organizational creativity can be muted and employee disagreement can occur because at these levels work processes are most understood (Anderla, Dunning & Forge, 1997).
Positioning Approach to strategy
Among the various factors that limit a company’s range of strategic decisions are the societal expectations and the competitive environment under which the company operates. An industry’s opportunities and threats are well defined by its competitive environment with its corresponding attendant risks and the potential rewards. Societal risks give a reflection on the company’s impact on such matters as social concerns, government policy, evolving mores and some others. These factors must be taken into account before a business develops a realistic and practicable set of business goals and objectives (Cummings & Srivastva, 1977). Once a company has analyzed all these factors then it becomes easy for it to compete under the situation in the market. The approach to strategy development as recommended by Porter involves the following activities:
Identification of the respective company’s current strategy.
Making key revelations on the underlying assumptions about the company’s position, its competitors and the industry trends affecting it.
Analyzing the opportunities and threats facing the company.
Determining the levels of the company’s strengths and weaknesses in the context of the realities of the environment
Proposing feasible and implementable alternatives to the company’s current strategies.
Choosing the alternative that best relates to the company’s situation and its immediate environment.
There are quite a number of strategies that companies can adopt to keep themselves afloat in the fast evolving business world. Some of these strategies are;
Low cost leadership: This is one of the first generic strategies that enable businesses to achieve as well as maintain strong competitive advantages as compared to their competitors. Overall cost leadership as a strategy can enable a company to realize above average profits even in the absence of very strong competitive forces. Nevertheless, this is one of the most difficult strategies to implement. Companies that employ low cost strategy must always examine every activity undertaken in respect of its cost. For instance, fair access to raw materials has to be arranged, products have to be appropriately designed for easy of manufacturing, processing and manufacturing equipment and facilities as must be continually upgraded and the production process must take advantage of the economies of scale. Besides these shortcomings, low cost production strategy requires that a company implements tight controls across all its operations to guard against possibilities of misuse of funds and also avoid marginal customer account deficits (Barry, 1993).
Differentiation; companies that employ differentiation strategy create a product or offer a service that is considered to be unique in the entire industry. Such companies may attempt to differentiate their products or services and thus themselves on for instance the basis of product design and features, production technology, brand image, customer service, product marketing and distribution et cetra. The basic logic behind product differentiation is to attract customers with unique offers that meet their needs better than their competitors and for which the customers will be willing to pay a premium price. The strategy of differentiating products and services is intended to create authoritative brand loyalty among the company’s customers and thus give solid profit margins. It is worthy to note that differentiation strategy alone may not help a company to achieve a high market share because effective differentiation requires a perception of exclusivity. Naturally, there is market risks associated with the adoption of differentiation strategy. For instance, competitors may easily imitate the unique features or customers may lose their initial attraction and interest in the unique features. Worse still a keen low cost competitor may undercut prices in such a clever way that may easily erode the brand loyalty created by differentiation strategy (Ackoff, 1974).
Focus: this is another ideal business strategy that any business organization can overlook at its own peril. Companies that undertake this strategy direct their business attention at serving a particular market segment. The market segment could be a specific customer group, geographic region or specific product segment. The reasoning behind focused strategy is to identify a particular market and serve it more effectively that ones’ competitors the basis of low cost producer, product differentiation, etc. focusing on a small market segment enables a company to limit the market share it can command and thus makes it able to make up for the lost sales with increasingly high profitability. Focus strategy like any other strategy comes with its own share of risks. One such risk is that there is always a possibility of competitors to exploit potential submarkets which lie within the strategic target market thereby narrowing the overall market. Further high costs associated with serving a target market may limit any advantage likely to be gained through differentiation (Cohen & Stewart, 1994).
Other important strategies that are worth consideration include the following:
Technical innovation strategy. This involves offering perceived and demonstrable superior products so as to attract and secure the zeal of customers who are always in need of low price high quality products and services. This strategy is normally aimed at driving customers away from the competitor’s products.
Product adaptation strategy. This requires modification of existing products so as to create a general perception of uniqueness and superiority in one’s products.
Security and availability strategy. Entails making strategic decisions on how to overcome transport risks by way of countering perceived risks. Indian buyers are traditionally sensitive when it comes to transport, quality and currency problems.
Low price strategy. This is purely a penetration strategy and involves setting of a special price called penetration price which however is revised with time to match the prevailing market circumstances and also help meet business objectives.
Conformity and total adaptation strategy. This strategy requires that the foreign market entrants fully confirm to the new market’s state and statutory legal requirements so as to avoid possible cases of legal redresses which are too costly to resolve besides being time consuming.
Consideration of business models
Porter’s Diamond model
The high profile of corporate strategies has been evident internationally and all businesses have to focus on global business environment. These pose significant influence on the market considering competitors, the buyers and the sellers as well as new entrants. To determine why some of the nations are competitive relative to others, a model was introduced by Porter. This also applies to the disparity in competition among industries. According to the model, the organization’s home base is a critical factor in advantage achievement on an international scale. Some important factors are inherent in home base that leads to propping up or hindering the extent of competition 9 Baldwin, 1996).
A graphical illustration of the Porter’s Five Forces
Strategy formulation in corporations of large size precisely falls under the domain of the management at the highest level in the organization. The responsibility of the top managers entails the formulation of the strategies and the direction that should be followed by the organization which are translated in the annual strategic plans of the organization. The plan is later disseminated to the existing departments in the organization as well as the employees who implement the plan in their respective spheres of influence (Casti, 1994). The stable external environment offered a conducive functioning for this approach but the changes in the environment of business in convectional world has necessitated that more proactive strategies be formulated. The business environment has contributed significantly to the changes that have been eminent. This has been compounded by the volatility of the international marketplace coupled by the level of competition. There is thus a need for changes in companies so as to cope with the increasing demands of the customers. Another contributing factor to these changes is the requirement for the employees to have a greater control in their working lives. The employees have actively participated in the processes of the strategies making the company more responsive to the strategies.
Business models compete across the European railway industry and the common ones include the following:
PEST Analysis
PEST Analysis resembles SWOT analysis although greater specialization as will as focus to external environment is associated with the model. This is an acronym that stands for Political; Economic; Social and Technological factors that are behind the business strategy and the company needs to address the factors for their success.
PESTEL analysis
Numerous factors exist in macro-environment which has a significant impact on the decision making processes among the managers. The analysis of these factors is based on the classification by PESTEL model. These include the analysis of political factors, economic, factors, social factors, technological factors, environmental factors, and the legal factors.
The application of PESTEL model is likely to yield a higher level of sustainability in competitive advantage
The main strategic options that are available to either European railway companies or the low cost airline companies include the following:
Market development; Market development is used to imply to a strategy of growth based on the adoption of different ways.
Diversification; with respect to diversification, in case it is unrelated then it can lead to some synergy with the original company business. This is consequently associated with a risk in that the detailed knowledge of the most vital success factors may pose some important limitations to the company.
Bibliography
Ackoff, R., 1974, Redesigning the Future: A Systems Approach to Societal Problems, NY, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Anderla, G. Dunning, A., & Forge, S., 1997, Chaotics: An Agenda for Business and Society in the 21st Century. Westport, CT, Praeger Publishing.
Baldwin, J., 1996, Bucky Works: Buckminster Fuller’s Ideas for Today. NY, John Wiley & Sons.
Barry, R., 1993, A Theory of Almost Everything. Chatham, NY, Oneworld.
Bennis, W., Benne, R.. & Corey, C. 1976, The Planning of Change. NY, Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Boulding, K. E., 1964, The Meaning of the 20th Century. NY, Prentice-Hall.
Casti, J. L., 1994, Complexification: Explaining a Paradoxical World Through the Science of Surprise. NY, Harper Collins.
Cohen, J. & Stewart I., 1994, The Collapse of Chaos. NY, The Penguin Group.
Cummings, T. G. & Srivastva, S., 1977, Management of Work: A Sociotechnical Systems Approach
Flood R. L. & Jackson, M. C., 1996, Critical Systems Thinking: Directed Readings. NY, John Wiley and Sons.