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Current Domestic Issue Policy Paper Obamacare
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Current Domestic Issue Policy Paper: Obamacare
There have been current media debates about the performance and effectiveness of the Patient Protection and Affordable care Act, commonly referred to as Obamacare, following its passage and implementation after bitter counter arguments by the economists, medical practitioners, media and the political class. The United States Health Care system were the subject of political campaigns for decades as regime after regime seeks to improve the terms of the Medicare and Medicaid Act that was passed in 1965. The US citizens have time after time demanded from the federal government, a healthcare plan that would guarantee equitable access to health care insurance and healthcare facilities. On March 23, 2010, president Barrack Obama signed into law United States federal statutes that seek to satisfy these demands from the people of America. The Patient Protection and Affordable care Act, commonly called the Affordable care Act of “Obamacare,” was a new regime’s answer to a problem that has dogged the US for nearly half a century. Together with the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act, it represented the most significant overhaul of the US healthcare system. However, this Act has been met by both support and critics. Whereas proponents of the Act praise the affordability and increased access to health care it accords citizens, its adversaries have taken to more political and economic dissection of the Act. It is no wonder that to date this Act continues to be a hot subject of debate and contention between different political wings.
None has been more critical of President Obama’s Healthcare plan than the Republican Party members. The Republicans have continued their assault of the “Obamacare” accusing the president of betrayal of the Americans. According to Landler and Michael, “there have been counter election-year attacks by Republicans on the law’s success and viability” (1). For example, in the party’s weekly address, the Indiana representative Todd Young passed on stories from residents in his state who were concerned that their insurance had been cancelled as a result of the affordable care Act. Todd’s rage seems to have been sparked by president Obama’s repeated reassurance of the public, in his speeches over the past four years, that they could keep their insurance plans if they liked them.
The scrutiny on the law recently emerged again following sustained audit. Obama recently tried to qualify that statement arguing that his meaning was that the people of America could keep their existing healthcare insurance. April 2014 Statistics shows that “the total number of enrollees exceeds by a million the target set by the administration” ( Landler and Michael, 1). However, even when the president tried to apologize for the Affordable Care Act’s rollout problems, the Republicans still could hear none of his apology. They kept on with the attacks and Wisconsin senator, Ron Johnson, sponsor of a bill to let people keep their existing healthcare insurance, used another one of the Republicans’ weekly address to call president Obama’s acknowledgement of the problems facing the rollout of the new healthcare plan a “phoney apology”. Johnson embarked on a mockery of the president’s speech criticizing that his fumble acknowledgement was like telling a dog owner you were sorry his dog died, but not acknowledging you had run over the dog. While acknowledging the problems facing the rollout of the new healthcare plan, president Obama revealed some progress made in ensuring reduced dependence on foreign oil significantly, Johnson focused on the challenges of the healthcare reforms. He argued that Obama was playing political fraud and that the US needed long-term solutions to Obamacare debacle.
On the other hand, the Democrats rallied behind the commander-in-Chief arguing that the problems with the disastrous rollout of the Affordable care Act will be fixed in good time to achieve the intended goals. The house minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, was quick to caution that this was not going to be an easy task. She insisted that what mattered most was the events that went on in the kitchen tables of the American people and how they would have more “affordability, more accessibility, better quality care, prevention, wellness, a healthier nation” (Rushe 1). The rollout of the “Obamacare” has been dogged with serious problems, especially with the federal website healthcare.gov ( PBS, 1). Coupled with uproar concerning Obama’s statement that no one would lose their health plan under the new reforms, the program has attracted criticism from both the Republican and Democrat quarters. Indeed, 39 House Democrats, under fear of being victimized in the 2014 midterm elections, voted for the Republican “Keep you Plan” Bill ( Rush, 1.). It is this event that prompted key democrats, including Pelosi, to publicly come out and support Obama’s healthcare reforms. Pelosi advises that this is an issue that ought to be dealt with, but did not warrant political asylum seeking. Her rationale is that the reforms were too valuable for the people of America and politicians should not be thinking about who gets re-elected in 2014. Instead, they should only see to it that Americans are well served by the new healthcare reforms. She rightly observes that nobody can foretell what will happen next year. However, she promises “democrats stand tall in support of the Affordable care Act” (Rush, 1).
In a possible move to resolve the existing problems with the Affordable care Act, president Obama seems to have yielded to pressure from both his party and the Republicans when he announced changes in the Act to address the rampant cancellation of insurance policies. While the move was meant to address a staunch problem that had threatened to ruin the president’s reputation and credibility in the eyes of the public, it raised a number of questions. The issues include; whether insurers would adjust, whether customers would need to pay higher premiums and whether the states would make the fix available. In his announcement, president Obama admitted that he was in the dark about many aspects of his crowning achievement of his presidency. Obama has appreciated that the federal government rules were an impediment to individual political ambitions and lamented the political damage he had caused for members of his party (Eilperin, Goldstein and Sun, 1).
Despite the many critics and support, facts about the Affordable care Act show better results. The Act had the intention to enhance access to cheap, valuable health insurance. Contrary to widespread myths, the Act has bettered healthcare quality and affordability since its enactment. Its specialized form of operation has also seen it help specific target groups. Among the most benefited are the elderly through a clause to improve community healthcare centers to help those who cannot access private healthcare services. “Eight million older Americans have saved $10 billion because of lower prescription drug costs under the law” (Landler and Michael, 1). In South Carolina, the Act has been implemented successfully. In the region, “18 districts are already implementing Aesop, [and they] have decided to employ additional personnel to keep up with the requirements are paying up to $43,000 a year” (Frontline, 1).
Judging from these facts, it is inevitable to conclude that the controversy that surrounds the Affordable care act was primarily a factor of a political interplay rather than a factor of merit. The Act in its bare essentials has the good of the American people at heart. However, this cannot be achieved without stepping on to some mighty shoes. These revelations show that the decision on the suitability or unsuitability of the Act ought to be left to the individual citizens rather than their political representatives. The current news coverage and debate in the Act is very healthy. The process should continue to enhance transparency and accountability in management of the program.
Works Cited:
Frontline Orangeburg Approves Aesop to Help With Healthcare Reform Requirements. Frontline
News. May 2, 2014. Washington D.C.
Landler, Mark and Michael, Shearapril “Enrollments Exceed Obama’s Target for Health Care
Act”. New York Times. 17 April, 2014. New York.
Rushe, Dominic. “Democrats rally behind president in defense of Obamacare.” The Guardian,17 November 2013. New York.
Eilperin, Juliet; Goldstein, Amy and Sun, Lena H. “Obama announces change to address healthinsurance cancellations.” The Washington Post, November 14, 2013.
PBS. at enrollment deadline, affordability may be real test of Affordable Care Act. The News
Hour 31, March, 2014.
Current Czochralski MonoCrystalline Growth
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Current Czochralski MonoCrystalline Growth
Abstract
The purpose of this report is to discuss current crystal growth process. There are several Silicon growth processes commonly used in the industry, the Czochralski MonoCrystalline Growth seems to be a popular choice among other ingot grow processes. The Silicon Growth process is considered as one of the most time consuming and expensive on the development of silicon cell (Tom P. Hough, 49). The process requires state of the art equipments to meet the critical requirements. The growing Process first start with high purity semiconductor-grade silicon, this is the primary source of the silicon wafer. The material has been process to at least 99.99% purity from one of the silicon grade refining process. The substance will be placed in a crucible, which is usually made of Quart. The material will be heated up to 1500°C and dissolve in a vacuum into its liquid form. Then a small piece of seed crystal will be dipped into the melted silicon, it is the leading source for the ingot grow. The melted silicon will be attracted to the seed and the ingot begins to grow. The seed will be slowly pulled upward and rotate at the same time. In the meantime, the crucible will be rotated in an opposite direction to minimize the convection (Vasileska, 114). The ingot will first grow neck and the diameter increase in a constant rate until it reaches to the desired diameter also known as the body. When the body has reached to the desired length or when the crucible is low on silicon material, the tail diameter of the ingot will reduce to the seed diameter to exit the process. The process will take around two days to produce high purity MonoCrystalline ingot (Hough, 76).
Introduction
The Czochralski process is a method used in crystal growth and it produces single crystals of semiconductors like gallium arsenide, silicon and germanium. The name of this process is derived from a polish scientist who discovered it in 1916 Jan Czochralski. Jan discovered this new method of crystal growth while studying the crystallization features of metals. The Czochralski process is mostly used in the growth of solitary crystal silicon as well as cylindrical ingots and boules. The process can also be used to grow other semiconductors like gallium arsenide although it requires the use of alternatives of the Bridgman-Stockbarger technique.
Process requirements
The first major requirement for the crystal growth using the Czochralski process is a vacuum pump. In dusty environments, the Czochralski process can produce a lot of silicon monoxide particles which can lower the quality of the crystals grown. The vacuum pump is used to absorb such particles therefore reducing their impact on the final crystal. The second requirement for the Czochralski process to be successful is an iridium crucible. The iridium crucible is the most preferred material mainly because of its superior compatibility to chemicals as well as their durability. Iridium is also used because it has a higher boiling temperature compared to the aluminum mixture used to grow the crystals (Vasileska, 28). The second requirement for the Czochralski process is a cooling system. After the aluminum mixture is melted, there is need to maintain it in a constant temperature of above 2050 degrees. The cooling system also known as the kiln contains nitrogen which keeps the iridium crucible oxidizing. The kiln also helps the iridium crucible react with the melt. To produce prefect crystals, the process requires a computer system is required for maintaining measurements while the crystal is being pulled from the mixture.
The Czochralski process involves slowly withdrawing a solitary crystal from a molten mixture of oxide. The melt hardens and turns into a seed which is later turned into a crystal of required diameter. This is achieved through controlling the amount of heat entering into the crucible. The most common methods used in heating the melt that is put into the crucible are resistance radio frequency heating (Geilker, Kwapil and Rein, 3). Iridium cubicles used in the Czochralski process are of different sizes and capacities and they are cylindrical. The crucibles are made from molten and rolled iridium sheets through welding. They can also be manufactured from iridium powder which is hot pressed. During crystal growth, the crucible undergoes several processes including charging, growing the crystal during the oxide melting point and cooling both the residue and the crucible charge after the bond between the melt and the crystal is broken.
The main steps of the Czochralski process
In the first step of the Czochralski process, a fused silica crucible is charged with undoped electronic grade polycrystalline silicon (EGS). After this, the charged silica crucible is also loaded with an exact amount of a watered down silicon alloy. During the crystallization process, there are gases that are contained in the growth chamber. After the first process, the second process involves releasing the gas in the growth chamber so as to avoid lowering the quality of the crystal produced. After releasing the gas in the growth chamber, the third step involves refilling the chamber with an inert gas. This process is important as it holds back or inhibits the entry of atmospheric gases into growth chamber. Entry of atmospheric gases into the melt is dangerous as it could lower the quality of the final crystals during crystal growing. The silicon charge contained in the chamber is them melted a temperature of 1421 degrees Celsius. After silicon is molten into the required temperatures, a thin seed of crystal silicon with exact orientation tolerance is lowered in. After a short time; the seed crystal is then removed from the molten silicon at a much regulated rate. During the removal process, the seed crystal is rotated in opposite direction with the crucible (Xakalashe and Tangstad, 89).
Electrical features of silicon are managed by incorporating materials like boron or phosphorous to silicon before its melted. These materials that are incorporated into silicon to control electrical characteristics of silicon are known as dopants and the process of adding them is known as doping. Other than silicon, the doping is also used with semiconductor materials like gallium arsenide. Growing silicon using the Czochralski method
Challenges of the Czochralski process
The Czochralski process presents several challenges and its necessary that great care should be taken to ensure that end product is of the desired quality. The first challenge of the process is temperature should be carefully monitored. Temperature monitoring is important because if it rises too high, there is a danger that the seed crystal may melt. If the temperatures are too low and the crystals are lowered into it, there is a risk that all the contents in the crucible may crystallize prematurely (Castellano, 43). When this happens, the resultant crystal is of a very low quality and this can be exhibited through fracture lines and cracks. The withdrawal of the crystal can also be challenging because one needs to be very careful and ensure that the withdrawal is correctly measured.
Production cost
The product cost of the Czochralski process is mainly dependant on the required raw materials as well as the size of the crystal being manufactured. Compared to small ones, large crystals are more expensive and difficult to grow. They also require higher degrees of control to ensure that the resultant crystals are of high quality. When choosing raw materials for use in production of crystals in the Czochralski process, one should consider different options since some are more expensive than others (Geilker, Kwapil and Rein, 5). Crystals grown using the Czochralski process are chemically the same to those of natural formations but they are more reliable and of higher quality. In normal circumstances, the production cost of the Czochralski process MonoCrystalline is about $24.55 per kilogram while that of polycrystalline is about $9.97 per kilogram.
Conclusion
The Czochralski process is the most popular method for growing crystals of high quality. A crucible is heated in a furnace after which the material to be melted put in. The crystal only grows when it’s pulled out vertically and this is due to phase change. After the melt has heated up, a seed crystal is lowered into it. The temperature of the melt in the crucible is constantly adjusted such that the temperature at the middle of the melt attains the freezing point of material. After this, the seed crystal is removed by being rotated as the crystal begins to grow. Compared to other methods, the Czochralski process has several advantages (Vasileska, 59). First, the Czochralski process makes it possible to observe both seeding and growth. Secondly, crucible walls do not restrict the crystals during cooling down and growth. Lastly, it is easy to control the level of forced convention in the melt.
Works Cited
B.S. Xakalashe and M. Tangstad. ”Silicon Processing: From Quartz to Crystalline Solar Cells”. Sothern African Pyrometallurgy, 2011.
Dragica Vasileska. Nano-Electronic Devices: Semiclassical and Quantum Transport Modeling. Springer, 2011. Print.
Juliane Geilker, Wolfram Kwapil and Stefan Rein. “Light Induced Degradation in Compensated P- and N- Type Czochralski Silicon Waters”. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol 109, 053718, 1-6, 2011.
Robert Castellano. Solar Panel Processing. Archives contemporaines, 2010.
Tom P. Hough. Recent Developments in Solar Energy. Nova Publishers, 2007. Print
Current and future challenges of VCL
Current and future challenges of VCL
Executive Summary
This report will focus on the current and future challenges of VCL .The current challenges include management and operations. Besides that the report will highlight the strengths of the company because they are the ones that have brought it this far. Though these challenges are temporary if they are not addressed they could jeopardize the mission of the organization in future. The workforce of this company is comprised of generalized staff that is expected to play roles of different personnel at a go. This is just a clue of the current challenges that will be covered in this report. On the other hand, there are future challenges that are yet to be experienced. This report will focus on the threats that are posed by these challenges and develop an action plan that will remedy these forthcoming issues. By understanding future challenges, the organization will have ample time prepare itself in anticipation of future changes.
Introduction
VCL specializes in automobile spares and of late it has managed to establish three branches. In organizational development it is important to analyze what has been achieved and what is yet to be achieved. Once this is done then the focus shifts to the barriers of development. In the case of VCL the size of workforce is in itself an obstacle because no one can be an expert in all fields. Moreover the challenges fall into two categories namely current and future challenges. An organization therefore needs to have a clear vision of future expectations and make the necessary adjustments. The challenges could also come with new opportunities. For instance if the market for automobiles is flooded then the organization could venture into a new market. But then care should be taken while drafting the action plan because every move will cause a positive or negative impact to the organization. It is therefore important to weigh the options early enough.
1.Current and Future Challenges at VCL
Current Challenges
The present challenges revolve around the company’s human resource department and the finance department The HR department is more of administrative rather than strategic. In addition, the employees represent the inputs that VCL use to generate results. Besides that, the financial situation is the core element of the organization because it reflects on the status of the company (Baum & Locke, 2004). From the look of things, VCL puts more efforts towards retaining its customers. Perhaps what the managers of this company do not know is that it is unhealthy to make sales without paying attention to accuracy of financial reporting.
The organization does not understand the significance of finance department, but perhaps by the time the truth will be downing on the administrators it will be too late. The finance department requires effective support services for it to improve its performance. The success of an organization is not measured by the number of sales generated, but also on the performance of each individual department (Shantz & Latham, 2009).
The provision of the necessary resources will ensure that the tasks performed by employees in the finance department will be more accurate and satisfying to both the employees and the customers (Cornelius & Schwab, 2003). Similarly, the tasks will become easier, and thus they will be completed within a very short time. Upgrading the finance department will help in reducing the expenses that are sometimes avoidable. The records that are held within the finance department can be relied upon to give a history of VCL since its inception four decades ago. Moreover, the impact of all company initiatives is reflected in the finance department, regardless of whether the impact is negative or positive.
Strengths Weakness
Ability to meet market demand and Effective preventive maintenance.
£600 million annual turn over.
Adequate workforce.
Have been in the industry for 40 years
Operations are not centralized Staff without relevant skills
Inadequate support staff ( shared secretary)
Poor policy implementation
Neglected HR and Finance departments
Opportunity Threat
Introduce new products
Newer markets beyond national boarders
Increased client base
Creation of new sources of income Stiff competition from other competitors
The market could collapse in the near future
SWOT Table
As shown in the SWOT table above, the workforce of VCL is not well resourced and the administrators do not reckon this shortcoming. The company has managed to remain competitive for forty years because of the reliability of its workforce and therefore the workforce should not be disregarded (Drach-Zahavy & Erez, 2002). In fact, VCL would not have achieved its goals without the workforce. This is why more emphasis is needed in this area. The HR department needs to appreciate the efforts made by the employees for all those years because this is what will keep them going.
Just like one cannot serve many masters at the same time, the generalized staff can serve all their assigned roles evenly. It is illogical to think that an employee can be an expert in everything to make him/her work all round the entire company. Perhaps VCL prefers a generalized staff because it costs less to hire and maintain such personnel (Gully et al., 2002). While the administrators may be overlooking the importance of HR department the staff who work there could be overwhelmed by the numerous roles they are supposed to play.
In essence, it seems the generalized staff serves different purposes simultaneously. For instance, the two persons are the company’s help desk, public relations and human resource managers, and one support staff aids them. Both the support staff and the generalized personnel cannot work efficiently because they will concentrate on areas that they are more acquainted with. For instance, if the personnel is a trained accountant he/she will deliver outstanding results in this area because he/she has the relevant training. The other areas will be overlooked and he/she will attend to other areas for the sake of pleasing the employer. Maybe this approach of generalized recruitment was employed for the sake of minimizing operations cost but then VCL should consider what specialized personnel could achieve (Jay, 2004).
Zhao, Seibert, and Hills (2005) reckon that the generalized staff is forced to tackle tasks that they are not familiar with and they are likely to make uninformed decisions. The above argument is supported by the fact that the same generalized personnel have the mandate of drafting the policies that are implemented in other branches of the organization. For instance, an accountant cannot make policies that are going to influence the other departments in an organization without consulting the people who head the other departments. This is because does not understand the concepts that can or cannot work in every individual department. It is like forcing a marketer to emulate the policies recommended by the manufacturer while it is clear that marketing is not close to manufacturing.
When the policies drafted by the supposed mastermind fail to deliver the desired results, VCL should blame itself. This is because the wrong person drafts the policies. Additionally, the generalized staff is always at the head office and so they do not know exactly what happens in the sites apart from the information that is conveyed to them by the site managers. In fact, the policies should be drafted after the site managers have been consulted. Centralizing functions is another challenge because it reduces the process of implementation. Having a centralized HR means that each branch cannot make its decisions without the approval of the head office (Locke & Latham, 2002). VCL should embrace the latest technology for effective management of its branches. This is because each branch has its own unique needs, and the individual HR managers understand the areas that need improvement.
Future Challenges
The generalized staffs at VCL make decisions that are based on their previous experiences in other organizations. The strategy employed by VCL does not create room for exposure, which is much needed by the generalized staff (Pinder, 2008). Situations change with time, but since the HR department is under staffed the approaches recommended by the policy makers may not work in future. When challenges arise, VCL can only rely on generalized personnel to draft an action plan. This limits the chances of solving the problem because the people on the ground are not involved in making decisions that affect them on a daily basis.
In addition, VCL branches have a single client and this could spell doom in the future as competition stiffens. This implies that the existence of VCL is fully dependent on the existence of these designated customers. The company would no one to buy the automobile parts. Seijts and Latham (2005) argue that by having a single customer, the company has limited its options and its chances of survival are very narrow. Should this speculation happen, VCL will be ejected from the market because it will not meet the market demand.
The company has one stream of income and this is a problem in waiting because the company will have to close down incase the market does not favor its ambitions. Having several different product lines guarantees survival because revenue can be obtained from either side. A time will come when the current personnel will have to leave the company and thereafter a vacuum. In will be left in the company. This is because VCL does not have a succession plan especially in the head office. In essence, the STEEPLE table below depicts the issues discussed in this section,
Social Disposable income, ageing population, shift in customer demand
Technology keeping with technological trends
Environment policies and pollution
Economical Recession, Interest rate, inflation, Fuel price going up
Political Britain not part of Europe, changing Government policies, export regulations.
Legal Employment law, Legislation
Ethics CSR,( ethical practices with labor according to UN ETC
Learning and Development Implications of VCL’s Challenges
The development of an organization is dependent on the knowledge that is contained in the organization. This knowledge can be obtained through learning which comes in different forms (Baum & Locke, 2004). Knowledge can be transmitted in formal learning institutions or through observation. VCL employs apprenticeship and vocational training. This strategy is ideal because it is voluntary, and thus the learner learns at his/her own pleasure. Likewise, apprenticeship is convenient and cheap both to the organization because it takes place within the premises of the company (Selden & Brewer, 2000). However, a functional HR department must be established to oversee the implementation of learning and development.
Learning through observation is also useful because the learner applies the concepts of the lesson in his/her tasks. Alternatively, vocational learning enhances the talents that are possessed by individuals by refining them for the benefit of the organization. The advantage of apprenticeship is that it gives the learner hands-on experience, and therefore incorporating those skills becomes easier (Shantz & Latham, 2009). Learning contributes to increased performance because the employees are able to improve the outcome of their inputs. However, learning can loose its relevance if the learners are not allowed to apply the concepts learned. In the end it will be a waste of time. This suggests learning is the catalyst of organizational change. There is no point of investing in learning if the organizational behavior will not change (Wise, 2005).
The challenges that have been cited in VCL can be traced in the company’s organizational culture. However, the Chartered engineer at Windy Hill site is herself an agent of change. She is a very radical person because when she came on board she assessed the situation at the site and identified a fault in workforce management. It is impossible to initiate change without understanding why certain are done in a particular way (Srivastava, Bartol, & Locke, 2006). She relied on her broad experience, which in this case was her source of knowledge. She may have encountered a similar challenge elsewhere and fortunately, for her those challenges presented an opportunity to learn. She realized that the employees, especially the junior employees, were not motivated in any way. The head office would have initiated change long before the new manager was hired but then they chose to ignore the challenges.
In light of this, organizational learning and development should be a gradual process (Jay, 2004). The new manager is aware of this because she realized that change was not going to be experienced overnight. She realized that change need to start from somewhere and spread to other branches of VCL. So far, her initiative has achieved commendable results, and thus her station should be viewed as the role model by the other branches. The new manager must have spent time with the employees in her site for addressing their needs.
Organizational learning should be inclusive because the members have to move ahead as one block (Gully et al., 2003). Currently, VCL employs selective learning and thus organizational development cannot be felt in the entire organization. Likewise, biased learning can cause the employees to be demoralized because they think that the organization favors certain people at the expense of other employees. It is important to solve the current challenges because with time they will pile up, thus causing the organization to be overwhelmed. This is because there are future challenges that are yet to be solved (White, Bandura and Bero, 2009). The current challenges at VCL should be viewed as lessons for handling future challenges. This means that once the problems are eliminated, the lessons should be retained and advanced because the future challenges will be more complex.
The challenges do not have fixed solutions and that is why organizational learning must continue (Whyte & Saks, 2007). The new manager has created a balance between branch growth and personal development. It is evident that she has established a working relationship with her team, which has led to improved performance. Most managers think that employees are only concerned about their pay, which is wrong because there are other issues that contribute to employee satisfaction.
Employees are motivated when the organization appreciates their contribution towards the growth of the company (Jay, 2004). This can be achieved by sharing the achievements with the people who contributed to the achievement of those results. For instance, the yearly turnover stands at 600 million pounds. A certain fraction of this money should be given to the employees because without them this figure would not have been realized. Employees have their own goals that go hand in hand with those of VCL and if those goals are not achieved the employees will be demoralized because they do not have anything to show for their hard work (Wise & Freund, 2005). It is likely that the junior employees at VCL work for the sake of their survival and thus they will leave the organization in case new opportunities show up elsewhere.
Action Plan for VCL
The management of VCL should not wait until the environment demands for change because that way they will miss the organizational goals. The current and future challenges need to be addressed by involving all the members of the organization. The decisions made by the management of VCL should include the voice of employees who work in different sites. This is because each workstation is unique and thus requires unique solutions. The change strategy should be documented so that all the aspects and elements that need to be altered are clearly understood. It is important to set a period within which the changes should be implemented (Zhao, Seibert, & Hills, 2005). Before scheduling change, VCL should set realistic goals that are dependent on availability of resources. For instance, more staff needs to be brought on board but then this exercise requires a commendable amount of money to be dedicated to this purpose. Furthermore, the organization should come up with long-term solutions so that the problems are entirely solved.
Other branches should emulate the changes implemented by Windy Hill’s site manager. However, the changes need to follow a specific sequence because changes are not easy to implement. This is because each workstation has its own capacity and thus unique strengths and weaknesses. The changes should then be allocated priorities based on their importance. The management should identify ways of motivating its employees. A simple gesture such as involving them in decision-making processes will help build lasting relationships.
Furthermore, the generalized staff should be retained, but new experts should be hired for the sake of relieving the overwhelmed staff. This will contribute to improved performance because the employees will concentrate on a single task. Recruitments should be based on qualifications for the sake of guaranteeing effective performance. Further, VCL needs to focus on strategies that can contribute to increased market share. It seems the marketing approach that was employed by VCL was not effective.
More efforts should be directed towards gaining new customers before competitors flood the market. The company should establish a target market and ensure that the products of the company are marketed to people who are likely to make a purchase due to their needs. Potential competitors should be identified for preparing to defeat them. This can be achieved by focusing on the activities of the competitors and advancing them for the benefit of the organization. VCL should identify a different venture that should act as a back up plan.
Markets are very dynamic and thus an organization should be prepared to cope with these changes or risk being ejected from the business. VLC should then identify and document another niche product in anticipation of market change. It is not possible to experience change without knowledge because being aware enables an organization to identify its weaknesses and strengths. Since situations are not dormant, learning should also be continuous. This implies that learning programs should be integrated with the organization. The management should provide the support that is required to facilitate the learning process.
Consequently, the initiatives of VCL need to be assigned resources such as budgetary allocation. The resources allocated to each initiative should not be fixed because the changes in the environment may exhaust the available resources. VCL should also establish channels of communication. Besides that, communication should take a two-way traffic instead of the current one-way approach. This will ensure that the appropriateness of the decisions spear headed by management is closely managed. When the underlying issues are addressed, VCL will forge ahead successfully and remain intact.
Conclusion
VCL must continue assessing its current and future challenges. This is because challenges do not have permanent solutions because they are also subjected to change which makes them tougher than ever before. The HR and finance departments need to be accorded equal relevance just like the other sections. VCL needs to weigh its strengths before embarking on the implementation of the action plan. The plan should include how the market share will be increased over a given period of time. Besides, the goals that will be set need to be realistic because if they are not then the mission would be a waste of time and resources. Organizational learning should be documented in the company’s culture to ensure that it is a continuous process.
REFERENCIES
Cornelius, P., and K. Schwab, 2003. The global competitiveness report. New York: Oxford University Press.
Jay, W., 2004. International perspectives on workforce education and development. New York: Information Age Publishing.
Pinder, C., 2008. Work motivation in organizational behavior. 2nd Ed. Toronto: Psychology Press.
Baum, J. and E. Locke, 2004. The relationship of entrepreneurial traits, skill and motivation to subsequent venture growth’. Journal of Applied Psychology [online], 89, pp. 587-598.
Drach-Zahavy, A. & Erez, M. (2002) ‘Challenge versus threat effects on the goal-performance relationship’. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 88, pp. 667-682.
Gully, S.M., et al (2002) ‘A meta-analysis of team efficacy, potency and performance: interdependence and level of analysis as moderators of observed relationships’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, pp. 819-832.
Locke, E.A. & Latham, G.P. (2002) ‘Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35 year odyssey’. American Psychologist, 57, pp. 705-717.
Seijts, G.H. & Latham, G.P. (2005) ‘Learning versus performance goals: when should each be used?’ Academy of Management Executive, 19, pp. 124-131.
Selden, S.C. & Brewer, G.A. (2000) “Work motivation in the senior executive service: testing the high performance cycle theory’. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10, pp. 531-550.
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