HBS Case Innovation and Collaboration at Merrill Lynch Essay

In a rapidly changing world, organizations need to continually identify new opportunities beyond existing competencies if they are to survive and prosper. Customers also increasingly want customized products. Customer service has become a hygiene factor and customer loyalty is now being driven by faster innovation, rapid concept-to-market and product co-creation. This has led to the extension of the collaboration paradigm to customer facing functions in the supply chain, namely the product design and prototyping phase. Collaboration is becoming a new and important source of competitive advantage. Historically, analysts in the investment bank tended to work independently. Especially, in the beginning of 1990s, the globalization overwhelmed the market and investor became to think that they should not just invest in the local market, but invest in the international market. With this change of clients’ attitude, the investment bank became to feel the need of innovation of their working style. Under these situations, Merrill Lynch decided to create totally different style of research report, the capital structure report which was only possible with the collaboration of international-market, cross-sector, and cross-asset analysts. The First Capital-Structure report about the U.S. Cable Industry covered seven companies. It was the first try of collaborative work in Merrill Lynch, so it didn’t have any clear guide lines for the effective team work. There was no clear goal of team work, and also there was no motivation for the participant. Analysts from different sections were asked to get together one day, and asked to make a capital structure report. Without any clear goal, and without the structure and system of team work, the whole procedure proceeded very inefficiently. It took lots of time to get the final report, but the quality of report was not satisfied. In other words, its try to change was innovative, but the team work itself was not so much â€Å"value-addable†. The second Capital-Structure report about U.S. Utilities covered 5 companies. This time, it seemed like there were clear goals; â€Å"The idea from get-go was that people would be able to pick up this thing and start generating trades  from it. That was goal number one. The second goal was to have the report sitting on people’s desks for a good period of time as a reference guide to how different parts of the capital structure impacted each other and affected valuations and potential opportunities† In addition, the participants in this project worked pretty closely together already. However, these were not enough for the effective collaboration. They were still not motivated to the project a lot, and the more commitment might have been called for. This means that they still didn’t have specific goal to head for. Absence of specific goal naturally brought lots of debates which slow the progress. When the team finished the project, the report got a lot of positive feedback from clients. And it seems that Merrill Lynch met its goal in the beginning. However, without the specific goal of what they should achieve, and with the lots of information they should mix all together, â€Å"it was a grinding exercise† to reach on the final result. The Third Capital-Structure Report was about auto companies. At this time U.S. specialists and Europe specialists worked together. Analysts did not need much convincing because they already knew the need for this collaborative work. There were lots of energy and enthusiasm already. In addition, this third project started with a plan; they knew what they want to achieve specifically and they also had the clear deadline. The whole procedure was progressed very smoothly from this step to the next. As a result, Sales heard from a client that â€Å"the value-added ideas contained in the report are original, differentiate Merrill from the rest of the Street, and give them another reason to pay Merrill commissions.† Even though Merrill Lynch learned lots of things undergoing the upper three cases, there still are many issues remained. The project might have been more timely and had a clear leader. To achieve the further successful innovation and collaboration, there are many important things Browning as the director of the research department should have thought about. As a leader for change, Browning should set the theme by communicating inspiring visions, which provide a picture of the future combining poetry and prose, imagination and pragmatism, drawing on destination, dream, prize,  target, message, and first step. So, first, as a leader Browing must be secure about team’s charter, mission, goals and objectives to team members. And employees must believe a certain level of individual effort will lead to achieving the corporation’s standards of performance. So Browing should set stretch goals which they energize people. And Browing must confront the key questions that must be answered and then communicate the inherent truth that inspires. The communication of that inspiring vision is arguably the indispensable condition. So For this, he should launch internal website for his innovative project and this website will help team members expedite project’s vision communication as well as timely information access. To be specific, formally, the analysts can share information about each sector regularly through email, e-news letter, and regular cross-sector meeting. For example, the equity analyst can have the summary about current bond market or derivative market weekly or biweekly. Also, through inner-information session for cross-asset collaboration report the analyst could have a chance of analyzing pros and cons of the collaboration report. Second, for effective communication, Browning has to build the trust and respect in the innovative project team. Informally, just as Fleishman insisted, through casual lunch or regular dinner, cross-asset analysts could be close to each other, and all-of-sudden they could be collaborating. And this interaction would encourage meaningful dialogue around issues of compelling importance to analysts. To develop solid foundation and mutual trust, face-to-face interaction is needed. In addition, just as Hezig recommended, having new hires rotate for a period of time before getting allocated to do research might be a useful tool for effective communication. New employees not only could be comfortable with cross-asset resources, but also could have close relationships with cross-asset colleagues. Third, Browing has to build the culture which voluntarily stimulates voluntary collaboration. So he has to pay attention to structure a collaborative innovation team which can add flexibility to planning and control systems. Without flexibility, analysts can stop their creative and productive ideas. So Browing need to consider this flexibility in a long term goal. Creative collaboration respects and honors the talents and  contributions of each person involved, regardless of rank, seniority or expertise. Organizations that are serious about collaboration make sure there is a safe environment for taking the risks that are necessary for creative collaboration. Fourth, Browing should create atmosphere where stimulates breakthrough ideas. It means that he should create norms to promote creativity. Collaborative Innovation is a new practice that improves on current practice or responds to new opportunities and challenges. Actually, many organizations are trying to build their own culture for innovation. Thus Browing needs to focus on risk taking for change. Risk taking is ‘no punishments for failure’ and ‘freedom to try things and fail’. For example, laughing at those who suggest new approaches can stop sharing information each other. Another norm to promote creativity is openness. Openness includes open communication and help share information, open access, willingness to consult others. Browing should be careful of knowledge evaporation. He should build up internal knowledge database as an instrument at the corporate level for collecting ideas and then promoting them. And also he has to give all the relevant employees to access the database. As a result, employees who are interested in any relevant subject can give negative or positive feedback and the subject can develop in a better way. Innovation is a process, not just an output. Time out is as important as time in. If we have a problem, our brains continue to search for the solution even while we are doing other things. Fifth, Browing should celebrate accomplishment making everyone hero. Celebrating accomplishments provides support for staff undergoing change. Just as Casea said, Browining has to convince analysts that collaborative project is additive to their franchise, that it’s not just an extracurricular activity. Financial rewards do encourage people to produce results. But the kind of ownership that really generates energy is not financial. It is emotional. Employees must feel that the rewards offered are attractive. Providing adequate pay, at the same time he could compliment the effort and result whenever he encounters. This will impart a motivating  sense of personal accomplishment and little by little will build commitment to the collaboration. A solid performance management system requires due respect to both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. So Browing should be skilled at communicating instrumental and expressive messages concurrently. The last suggestion for Browning is to decide or delegate the suitable leader and make him control the team under strong leadership. Just as Casesa indicated, non-hierarchical relationships across divisions among analysts complicated the task since there was also no actual leader when analysts made the third capital-structure report. To maintain this innovation, Browning also has to consider human side of innovation, because even the most technical of innovations requires strong leaders with great relationship and communication skills. The good leader might pull human resource to the collaboration when needed. Just as Haggerty brought an editor in meeting to help them structure the report, the environment which makes analysts easy to collaborate would also promote the positive image of collaboration. Under good and respectful leader, the future collaboration would create more successful capital-structure report. BIBLIOGRAPHY AMBLER, S. (1995) â€Å"USING USE CASES: REDUCE DEVELOPMENT COSTS WITH USE-CASE SCENARIO TESTING,† SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, 3 (6), JULY. BILOW, S. C. (1995) â€Å"DEFINING AND DEVELOPING USER INTERFACE INTENSIVE APPLICATIONS WITH USE CASES,† REPORT ON OBJECT ANALYSIS AND DESIGN. 1 (5): 28-34. INNOVATION THE CLASSIC TRAPS ,SKILLS LESSONS THE NOT-SO-SECRET INGREDIENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, BE A GOOD BOSS LEADERSHIP FOR CHANGE: ENDURING SKILLS FOR CHANGES MATERS, WRITER:ROSABETH MOSS KANTER THE NOT-SO-SECRET INGREDIENT OF HIGH PERFORMANCE, INTRINSIC REWARDS GENERALLY MOTIVATE BEST CORPORATION, CULTURE, AND COMMITMENT: MOTIVATION AND SOCIAL CONTROL IN ORGANIZATIONS, WRITER:CHARLES O’REILLY INNOVATION, WRITER:ROSABETH MOSS KANTER BUILDING AN EFFECTIVE GLOBAL BUSINESS TEAM, CULTIVATING A CULTURE OF TRUST Title :Leadership for Change: Enduring Skills for Changes Maters, Writer:ROSABETH MOSS KANTER, Page:4   See Building an Effective Global Business Team, Cultivating a Culture of Trust, page 69   Title:Innovation, Writer:Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Page:10   Title :Leadership for Change: Enduring Skills for Changes Maters, Writer: ROSABETH MOSS KANTER, Page:3 Title:Corporation, Culture, and Commitment: Motivation and Social Control in Organizations, Page:15, Writer:Charles O’Reilly   Title:Corporation, Culture, and Commitment: Motivation and Social Control in Organizations, Page:15, Writer:Charles O’Reilly   Title :Leadership for Change: Enduring Skills for Changes Maters, Writer:ROSABETH MOSS KANTER, Page:14   See Motivation: The Not-So-Secret Ingredient of High Performance, Intrinsic Rewards Generally Motivate Best, page 5-7   See Innovation The Classic Traps ,Skills Lessons, page 4   See Motivation: The Not-So-Secret Ingredient of High Performance, Be a Good Boss, page 17-18

Importance of language development Essay

Introduction As psycholinguists began to chart the course of language development, they were amazed that children could learn such a complex symbol system at such good pace. After all, many infants are using arbitrary words to refer to objects and activities before they even begin to walk. By age 5, children already seem to know and use most of the syntactical structures of their native tongue, even though they have yet to receive their first formal lesson in grammar. Marian Whitehead, a consultant on the early years of children, compares the Steiner approach with that of a nursery. She states in her book Supporting Language and Literacy Development in the Early Years and believes that Steiner’s growth stems from the fact that parents are worried about the over-formalization in early education (Whitehead, 2004). Learning theorists represent the empiricist point of view. From their perspective, language is obviously learned. However, other theorists point out that children the world over seem to display similar linguistic achievements at about the same age: They all babble by 4 to 6 months of age, utter their first meaningful word by age 12 to 13 months, begin to combine word by the end of the school year, and know the meaning of many thousands of words and are constructing a staggering array of grammatical sentences by the tender age of 4 or 5. Importance of Language in Imparting of Knowledge to Young Children All the other ways of knowing are controlled by language. The appropriate use of language is central to virtually all aspects of learning and social development. Successful and appropriate language communication is also closely linked to the individual’s place in society, while the inability to communicate clearly hampers and may virtually eliminate a person’s ability to cope with even the simplest educational and social situations. For teachers, language is important and in fact, traditionally, psychological accounts of language development have been developed by theorists who have included language learning in their discussions of a general acquisition process (Miller & Dollard, 1941; Skinner, 1957). Skinner, for example, believes that language is learned, in large measure by waiting for children to emit approximations of the forms of speech which are ultimately desired and then by gradual shaping (by parents or other socializing agents) until the correct sounds and sentence forms can be reproduced in appropriate situations with a high degree of fidelity. This is a fair representation of the interrelationship between perception, emotion, reason and language, for numerous experiments have now disclosed that principles for generating novel responses can be acquired through the observation of others (Bandura & McDonald, 1963) If principles of language usage, rather than mere words, can be shown to be acquired through observational learning, then this would provide at least a partial account of the process of language acquisition. Importance of Language in Schools. How the schools perceive language and whether modifications in the curriculum and imparting of knowledge are made as a result are important factors to keep in mind. The fact that English speakers rarely have the opportunity to enter bilingual education programs reinforces status of these programs. This is where the methodology of knowledge is more important than the knowledge itself. Similarly, imitation and reinforcement clearly play some part in early language development. Certainly, it is no accident that children end up speaking the same language their parents speak, down to the regional accent. In addition young children are quicker to acquire and use the proper name for toys when reinforced for doing so by receiving the toys to play with (Whitehurst & Valdez-Menchaca, 1988). One’s cultural and social upbringing affects the way a person views this. There are no assumptions or deducing involved here. One can verify the information by just looking again at the dizzying array of program alternatives in bilingual education, each claiming to be more successful than the others. In general, most research has found that bilingual programs of all kinds are effective not only in teaching students content area knowledge in their native language but also in teaching them English. This has been proven time and again to be the case in research analyses and specific program reviews (Hakuta, 1990). Whitehead claims that there is an insight in Steiner’s kindergarten routine that can be useful in mainstream settings. Examples of these are its emphasis on play, arts and crafts and storytelling and its integrated curriculum. It is important that children have a good background on language development from the early years. Conclusions If we want our schools to educate the students well, we need teachers who are well-trained, highly respected professionals. But teachers today are not given the right opportunities to be trained well. We simply cannot expect to implement rigorous standards and testing, tightened discipline and effective early interventions without true professionals to deliver them. It is imperative that colleges of education should overhaul their curriculums to include methods of evaluating scientific research. Teachers must know how to determine the effectiveness of new ideas, textbooks and methods of teaching. They have eagerly swallowed too many myths and fads for too long. Knowledge of the social learning theory and its application in a classroom set-up will afford them the chance to create activities that will enhance learning through modeling and imitation. The professionalization of teaching extends beyond teacher preparation to the way educators are treated once they enter practice. Schools cannot possibly train, recruit, and retain teachers who possess sophisticated critical thinking skills until they reward teachers with respect and support. But rewards must also be associated with expectations. Almost miraculously, many excellent, dedicated and well-educated teachers work in public schools today. However, society must muster the courage to weed out or retrain educators who lack the necessary talent and skill to teach our young. Our children deserve true, highly regarded professionals to lead them especially during the early years of his language learning. The child is unique and perceives and understands the world differently from the way the adult does. Thus, the child’s ideas are valued. This kind of philosophy has an integrated core curriculum which is best suited to the developmental interaction and sees the child as a thinking self-propelling, well-adjusted individual. A teacher must believe that the basic tenet of her kind of approach is that the growth of cognitive functions–acquiring and ordering information, judging and reasoning, problem solving, using systems of symbol–cannot be separated from the growth of personal and interpersonal processes–the development of self-esteem and sense of identity, internalization of impulse control, capacity of autonomous response and relatedness to other people. This active form of learning permits young children to quickly acquire literally thousands of new responses in a variety of settings where their â€Å"models† are simply pursuing their interests and are not trying to teach them anything. Thus, when we look at it really close, children are continually learning both desirable and undesirable responses and proceeds so very rapidly along so many different paths, especially in the area of language development. REFERENCES Bandura, A. & McDonald F. J. (1963) The influence of social reinforcement and the behavior of models in shaping children’s moral judgments. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67, 274-281. Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. New York, NY: General Learning Press. Hakuta, K. (1990). Bilingualism and Bilingual Education: A Research Perspective,† no. 1 Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Miller, N. E. & Dollard, (1941). J. Social learning and imitation. New Haven: Yale University Press Whitehead, M. (2004). Language and Literacy in Early Years. Whitehurst & Valdez-Menchaca, (1988). What is the role of reinforcement in early language acquisition? Child Development. 59, 430-440.

Competitors and Competitive Rivalry Research Paper

Competitors and Competitive Rivalry - Research Paper Example It sells its products in physical store format along with online stores (Goldberg, â€Å"Why the toy industry isn’t having any fun†). The first company to start a television campaigning. The shop owners provide excellent customers service by catering to individual customer’s needs for all festive occasions. The brand is established since the year 1920 Weakness The company targets pet owners because it specializes in making customized stuff toys for the pet owners (Goldberg, â€Å"Why the toy industry isn’t having any fun†). The company lays emphasis on the manufacturing of core products like greeting cards and other gifting products. Opportunity The threat of substitutes is low for the company because there are few companies who manufacture customized stuff toys for pet owners. ... The company lays special emphasis on the manufacturing of greeting cards and has lost its exclusivity of producing stuff toys. The company has slowly lost its reputation as a leading stuff toymaker. The competition in the toy industry is very intense and the profitability of the company is decided by certain factors like quality of the stuff toys, price and play value. Among the top stuff toy companies Build a Bear and Pillow Pets are expected to maintain its market position and also yield a decent amount of profits even in the current situation (â€Å"Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc. Competition†). Pillow Pets has not been able to manufacture stuff toys on a large base but Hallmark has been an established stuff toy maker and greeting card manufacture since 1910 (Linders, â€Å"Competitiveness Proofing Toy Related Industry †). Emerging Trends & Future Competition in Stuff Toy Industry The current scenario in the stuff toy industry is weak and the industry has been witnessing decreasing trend in the purchase of the stuff toys and pillows. The US stuff toy industry has been witnessing weak sales and it has currently generated profits of $ 17 billion (â€Å"Annual Sales Data†). The worldwide sales of the stuffed toy have also decreased since 2010; the profits amounted to $83.4 billion in the year 2012 (â€Å"Annual Sales Data†). However, certain series of toys imitated from the popular movies like Skyline series have remained popular among the children and teenagers. The Disney series has also been popular and has gained worldwide popularity. By observing the current trend it has been noticed that the stuff toy industry has been witnessing declining sale and only certain series have been generating huge amount of revenue amidst this economic slowdown. The

Health determinants Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Health determinants - Assignment Example The patient encountered hardships as a result of his lack of income. He was unable to provide for his daily needs, which was accelerated by rising cost of living. He was not able to acquire basic education due to his lack of finances and therefore could not cope with the demands of the current job market. Such people are discriminated against in his society and would not be considered for leadership positions. Consequently, this socio-economic instability also affected the patient’s ability to establish and support his own family. Moreno and Warah (2007) state that a significant proportion of the world’s population lack access to a proper living environment. The physical environment in which the patient lived exposed him to health hazards and stress, leaving him without adequate shelter and clothing. This is a significant determinant of health as the patient was not protected from hostile environmental conditions such as rain and mosquito bites, among other harmful issues. Moreover, personal hygiene cannot be maintained without proper shelter and access to safe food and water. Individual risk factors also determine the overall health status of a person. For example, the patient turned to substance abuse as a mechanism of coping with his stress. Maurer and Smith (2013) argue that emotionally stressed people accelerate their demise through a lack of understanding their predicament and by engaging in negative behavior. Stressed individuals tend to seek self-gratification through undignified behavior especially when they lack money and resources. They tend to abuse illicit drugs that are easily obtained through the black market. The patient had a long history of abusing substances such as cannabis sativa and resin. Although these substances made the condition worse, the patient used them as stimulants. Jacobsen (2014) postulates that a minor change in a social system might influence the entire system; therefore, it should not be ignored. It is important for

Statistical Analysis (FINAL) Unit 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Statistical Analysis (FINAL) Unit 5 - Essay Example Through the groups formed we intend to find out if age is a factor that affects job satisfaction or not. Using the central measures of tendency, mean mode and median we therefore can determine the variation in job satisfaction. From the mean; we want to determine the average value of the observations in the intrinsic ,extrinsic and overall job satisfaction. This gives us a picture of where we expect the values of the different observations to lie. From the results, of the findings we have 5.336 as the mean for the intrinsic ,4.54 for the extrinsic and 4.352 for the overall job satisfaction mean. All this values of the findings lie centrally placed when compared to other observations in the data. The median gives a picture of where the central value of all the observations I the data lie. From this we have the values,5.4, 5.75, and 4.63 for the median of the overall observations ad finally the extrinsic observations, intrinsic observations in that order. These values when keenly looked at are close to the mid values in the observations in the data. The mode also gives us the values that appear most times in the data. From this data we learn that the mode is 6.8, 5.33 and 8 for the overall values, intrinsic and extrinsic value s in that order. The mode is almost the central value for all the observations. From the measures of central tendency, we see that using age as a grouping factor we find that the results gi

Genetics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Genetics - Assignment Example Accordingly, the accumulation of mutant mtDNA in the reproductive tissues appears to underlie/impair fetal viability, thus, increasing chances of having recurrent miscarriages. 8 In the following pedigrees, the disorders or traits presented follow simple patterns of Mendelian inheritance. For each trait, determine the most probable mode of inheritance, stating whether the trait is due to an autosomal or X-linked gene, and a dominant or recessive allele. In each case, indicate and explain the evidence for each pattern, giving at least one statement and example from the pedigree to defend each part of your analysis. Then, providing a legend for your symbols, assign genotypes to the specified individuals. (15 marks) 9 Achondroplasia is an autosomal dominant disorder associated with a gene on chromosome 4. Sickle cell anaemia is due to a gene on chromosome 11. A man and a woman with achondroplasia, who each had a normal parent, are carriers for sickle cell anaemia. Every individual has two copies of each of the genes in their system, one from each parent. The color of the human eye color is determined by at least three hereditable genes. However, only two are well understood. A gene often has two alleles: a dominant one that confers eye color (B for blue eye color) and a recessive one which gives rise to the brown eye color. A brown eyed dad and a green eyed mom may be carriers of the recessive gene of eye color, and thus be able to pass down brown eye genes to their children. As alluded to in the diagram above, both parents are carriers of the brown eyes genes. There is, thus, a slim chance that brown eyed child [bb/gg] being born in the family. Both lead to monoallelic expression [without altering the genetic sequence]; that is genomic imprinting and X-inactivation share certain physical properties such as DNA hypermethylation, altered replication timing

Impact of Science Fiction on Historical and Modern Literature Essay

Impact of Science Fiction on Historical and Modern Literature - Essay Example Both genres continue to be popular at the start of the twenty first century, although mainstream and traditional literature is regarded by some as more worthwhile, simply because of its longer and more respected tradition. This paper analyses the impact of Science Fiction on historical and Modern Literature by looking at five writers in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) is one of the first and best known writers of science fiction. He was an accomplished writer of novels and stories, notably having invented the character of Tarzan and producing a series of works on this subject. His stories about Mars and Venus opened the eyes of the public to a whole new dimension of story telling, in which brave heroes like the character John Carter venture out into the far reaches of space to meet whatever they find there with curiosity and courage. Some critics see this line of storytelling as a reflection of the early history of America, in which white settlers sought out the distant frontiers and killed the Indians whom they met on the way.1 This may well be true, but it also true that the fictional exploration of space gave Rice Burroughs some insights into the mentality of the frontiersman and he wrote a number of Western themed novels later in life including Apache Devil in 1933 and The Deputy Sherriff of Commanche Country in 1940. In this case it seems, science fiction helped him to imagine historical situations and write engaging stories about confronting the unknown. Lord Dunsany (1878-1957), also known as Edward Plunkett, was a contemporary of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and was born in Ireland. The mythology of Irish fairies and ancient gods and heroes undoubtedly influenced his well-received work The Gods of Pegana (1905). The most striking contribution of Lord Dunsany is his ability to create a whole world of alternative divine beings, describing their history, their function and their fantastic origins in a parallel universe. It is w ritten in a quasi-religious format, like an ancient holy text, and although it is clearly not intended to be followed as a religion, it sparked off a tradition in science fiction for the construction of alternative cosmologies. This freed up later writers to consider the dimension of belief in their work, and allowed many to construct moral codes that are different from the standard Judaeo –Christian models that prevail in Western Society. This work also may have influenced writers such as Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, who combined religious elements with their fantasy worlds, albeit within the Christian tradition. The writer Stephen King (B. 1947) is one of the most prolific and widely read modern authors of fiction. He grew up without his father, who left the family very early, and wrote many novels which have become classics in the horror and science fiction genre including Salem’s Lot (1975), The Shining (1977) Pet Sematary (1983). His fascination with horror means that he is often compared with Gothic horror writers like Edgar Allan Poe and Bram Stoker. His works lend themselves well to film adaptation and through this he has won an even wider audience. One of his main contributions to literary studies is his fearless exploration of the human