Sears Mission and Vision Paper

Currently, vision and mission statements have been diluted in the business world to the extent that they have become less significant (Whiteley, 2007). As such, visions and missions have been mainly identified with unenthusiastic connotations. Nonetheless, when utilized appropriately vision and mission statements have proved to be very helpful.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Sears’ Mission and Vision Paper specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Poorly structured vision and mission statements are misplaced opportunities for drawing and enhancing organizational culture, enhancing productivity, and drawing and preserving new talent. Researchers have shown that corporations that have distinct vision and mission statements that are supported with tactical strategies do better than those who do not (Whiteley, 2007). Therefore, vision and mission statements offer organizations with bearing. Through this, corporat ions can be able to implement actions that guide their businesses forward and keep away from allocating capital to actions that do not (Whiteley, 2007). In their absence, the organizations will find it very difficult to come up with a unified plan. In this article, mission and vision statement of Sears Holdings is analyzed. Sears Holdings’ mission statement assert that the corporation is focused on expanding their businesses by means of offering excellent goods and services at a huge value when and where their clients require them, and by creating optimistic, permanent relations with their clients (Shop internationally at Sears, 2014). On the other hand, the corporation’s vision is to be the favored and be the most reliant store for goods and services that improve home and family lives. Based on the above mission and vision statements, the organization aims are augmenting their clients’ trust, acting with honesty in all they do, treating all persons fairly, bein g answerable for their acts, and winning as a group. Currently, there are over 4000 Sears’s stores in North America. Despite its growth, the company is currently fighting to gain profits. At the present, the company’s production is worsening on all levels amid a cutthroat environment. In the recent past, the company recorded murky Q1 incomes resulting in a huge net loss of $2.62 per share (Shop internationally at Sears, 2014). The precipitous slide was way below what the analysts had anticipated at a loss of $0.60 per share. In the same report, the company’s revenues had decreased by nine percent to $8.74 billion. The slide was below what financial forecasters had predicted at $8.74 billion. The company’s management team blamed the adverse weather for the losses. However, their claims fail to validate for the deterioration in the struggling Kmart sections.Advertising Looking for assessment on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get you r first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The company’s financial records indicate that the corporation sales have been declining for the past six years. The only optimistic performance was that the company recorded a growth of 20% in its online sales (Shop internationally at Sears, 2014). Nonetheless, an increase in online sales does not imply that the company is in a turnaround process. Without immediate interventions, the company is expected to perform poorly through to the year 2016. To reduce on the losses and to stage a comeback, the corporation has put in place measure that will ensure that it gets lean, focus on men’s clothing, and concentrate more on their core services. Notably, for the last few years the organization has been able to operate majorly owing to trades of its real estate section. The shutdown of a number of its Kmart stores has helped the corporation reduce its operation costs. However, the shutdown of a number of its store is not enough fo r the company to get lean. The company should invest hugely in the remaining stores. Equally, strict inventory management has helped the company from increasing its losses. Despite this, it is apparent that Sears is short of the one vital thing that will enable it to turnaround. As such, the company should come up with an appropriate plan that will enable it to reverse the declining losses and return to their prestigious position in the market. Through this, the corporations can be able to implement actions that guide their businesses forward and keep away from allocating capital to actions that do not. A good vision statement should indicate what the business is all about, where the business wants to be in the future, the clients the organizations wants to engage relate to, and connect with the mission and be different from it (Carpenter, Bauer, Erdogan, 2010). Equally, a good mission statement should portray the organization’s reasons for operations and plans to satisfy th e stakeholder’s needs. Based on the above requirements, Sears mission and vision does not require any revision. As such, its vision has captured where Sears wants to be in the future, the clients it plans to engage. Similarly, Sears’ vision is related to its vision because it seeks to achieve what the mission highlighted. Therefore, the company’s dismal performance cannot be attributed to their mission statement or vision statement. Instead, the company’s management team should be blamed for failing to abide by the organization’s mission and vision. This has resulted in poor performance, declining sales, terrible management choices, and lack of concise efforts to advance branding plans.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Sears’ Mission and Vision Paper specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More References Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., Erdogan, B. (2010). Principles of management 1. 1. Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge.  Shop internationally at Sears. (2014, January 15). Web. Whiteley, A. M. (2007). Core values and organizational change: theory and practice. Hackensack, New Jersey: World Scientific. This assessment on Sears’ Mission and Vision Paper was written and submitted by user Red Cr0w to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Bessie Coleman, African American Woman Pilot

Bessie Coleman, African American Woman Pilot Bessie Coleman, a stunt pilot, was a pioneer in aviation. She was the first African American woman with a pilots license, the first African American woman to fly a plane, and the first American with an international pilots license.   She lived from  January 26, 1892 (some sources give 1893)  to April 30, 1926 Early Life Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892, tenth of thirteen children. The family soon moved to a farm near Dallas. The family worked the land as sharecroppers, and Bessie Coleman worked in the cotton fields. Her father, George Coleman, moved to Indian Territory, Oklahoma, in 1901, where he had rights, based on having three Indian grandparents. His African American wife, Susan, with five of their children still at home, refused to go with him. She supported the children by picking cotton and taking in laundry and ironing. Susan, Bessie Colemans mother, encouraged her daughters education, though she was herself illiterate, and though Bessie had to miss school often to help in the cotton fields or to watch her younger siblings. After Bessie graduated from eighth grade with high marks, she was able to pay, with her own savings and some from her mother, for a semesters tuition at an industrial college in Oklahoma, Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University. When she dropped out of school after a semester, she returned home, working as a laundress. In 1915 or 1916 she moved to Chicago to stay with her two brothers who had already moved there. She went to beauty school, and became a manicurist, where she met many of the black elite of Chicago. Learning to Fly Bessie Coleman had read about the new field of aviation, and her interest was heightened when her brothers regaled her with tales of French women flying planes in World War I. She tried to enroll in aviation school, but was turned down. It was the same story with other schools where she applied. One of her contacts through her job as a manicurist was Robert S. Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender. He encouraged her to go to France to study flying there. She got a new position managing a chili restaurant to save money while studying French at the Berlitz school. She followed Abbotts advice, and, with funds from several sponsors including Abbott, left for France in 1920. In France, Bessie Coleman was accepted in a flying school, and received her pilots license- the first African American woman to do so. After two more months of study with a French pilot, she returned to New York in September, 1921. There, she was celebrated in the black press and was ignored by the mainstream press. Wanting to make her living as a pilot, Bessie Coleman returned to Europe for advanced training in acrobatic flying- stunt flying. She found that training in France, in the Netherlands, and in Germany. She returned to the United States in 1922. Bessie Coleman, Barnstorming Pilot That Labor Day weekend, Bessie Coleman flew in an air show on Long Island in New York, with Abbott and the Chicago Defender as sponsors. The event was held in honor of black veterans of World War I. She was billed as the worlds greatest woman flyer. Weeks later, she flew in a second show, this one in Chicago, where crowds lauded her stunt flying. From there she became a popular pilot at air shows around the United States. She announced her intent to start a flying school for African Americans, and began recruiting students for that future venture. She started a beauty shop in Florida to help raise funds. She also regularly lectured at schools and churches. Bessie Coleman landed a movie role in a film called Shadow and Sunshine, thinking it would help her promote her career.   She walked away when she realized that the depiction of her as a black woman would be as a stereotypical Uncle Tom. Those of her backers who were in the entertainment industry in turn walked away from supporting her career. In 1923, Bessie Coleman bought her own plane, a World War I surplus Army training plane. She crashed in the plane days later, on February 4, when the plane nose-dived. After a long recuperation from broken bones, and a longer struggle to find new backers, she finally was able to get some new bookings for her stunt flying. On Juneteenth (June 19) in 1924 , she flew in a Texas air show. She bought another plane- this one also an older model, a Curtiss JN-4, one that was low-priced enough that she could afford it. May Day in Jacksonville In April, 1926, Bessie Coleman was in Jacksonville, Florida, to prepare for a May Day Celebration sponsored by the local Negro Welfare League. On April 30, she and her mechanic went for a test flight, with the mechanic piloting the plane and Bessie in the other seat, with her seat belt unbuckled so that she could lean out and get a better view of the ground as she planned the next days stunts. A loose wrench got wedged in the open gear box, and the controls jammed. Bessie Coleman was thrown from the plane at 1,000 feet, and she died in the fall to the ground. The mechanic could not regain control, and the plane crashed and burned, killing the mechanic. After a well-attended memorial service in Jacksonville on May 2, Bessie Coleman was buried in Chicago. Another memorial service there drew crowds as well. Every April 30, African American aviators- men and women- fly in formation over Lincoln Cemetery in southwest Chicago (Blue Island) and drop flowers on Bessie Colemans grave. Legacy of Bessie Coleman Black flyers founded the Bessie Coleman Aero Clubs, right after her death. the Bessie Aviators organization was founded by black women pilots in 1975, open to women pilots of all races. In 1990, Chicago renamed a road near OHare International Airport for Bessie Coleman. That same year, Lambert - St. Louis International Airport unveiled a mural honoring Black Americans in Flight, including Bessie Coleman. In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service honored Bessie Coleman with a commemorative stamp. In October, 2002, Bessie Coleman was inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame in New York. Also known as:  Queen Bess, Brave Bessie Background, Family: Mother: Susan Coleman, sharecropper, cotton picker and laundressFather: George Coleman, sharecropperSiblings: thirteen total; nine survived Education: Langston Industrial College, Oklahoma - one semester, 1910Ecole dAviation des Freres, France, 1920-22Beauty school in ChicagoBerlitz school, Chicago, French language, 1920

Introduction to an Oligopoly Market

Introduction to an Oligopoly Market When discussing different types of market structures, monopolies are at one end of the spectrum, with only one seller in monopolistic markets, and perfectly competitive markets are at the other end, with many buyers and sellers offering identical products. That said, there is a lot of middle ground for what economists call imperfect competition. Imperfect competition can take a number of different forms, and the particular features of an imperfectly competitive market has implications for the market outcomes for consumers and producers. Oligopoly is one form of imperfect competition, and oligopolies have a number of specific features: Several large firms - Oligopolies generally consist of a few large firms, and this is part of what sets them apart from competitive markets. Similar or identical products - While it is possible to have an oligopoly with slightly differentiated products, firms in oligopolies usually sell non-differentiated products. Barriers to entry - There are barriers to entry into an oligopoly, making oligopolies different from competitive markets with a large number of relatively small firms. In essence, oligopolies are named as such because the prefix oli- means several, whereas the prefix mono-, as in monopoly, means one. Because of barriers to entry, firms in oligopolies are able to sell their products at prices above their marginal costs of production, and this generally results in positive economic profits for firms in oligopolies. This observation of markup over marginal cost implies that oligopolies do not maximize social welfare.

Slavery and Paternalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Slavery and Paternalism - Essay Example The official system was also not a choice for slaves to rely on for aid as they had no official rights. Douglass stated his story when he was a slave. He declares many horrible acts committed by the slaveholders in Talbot County (his birthplace). Douglass declares that in Talbot County slaying or punishing a slave is not considered as unusual or offensive. He further explains the story of a slaveholder who kills two of his slaves and despite of his declaration of the two murders neither anyone put him in jail, nor taken any action against him. Douglass gave some more examples of such horrible deaths of slaves for their minor mistakes. He stated the story of his own cousin who was beaten harshly by a lady with an oak stick just because he fell asleep while watching the lady's child. Such harsh and horrible behavior and dreadful murder of a slave needed to be noticed and forwarded for some solution but this horrifying murder did not seem enough to take action against the lady. One more declaration was that an old slave of Colonel Lloyd was shot just because he encroached mistakenly onto private land. The killer visited Colonel Lloyd to clarify what occurred and the entire issue settled down. Douglass declares quiet repulsively and regretfully that 1"it was worth a half-cent to kill a 'nigger,' and a half-cent to bury one." Chapter 4, pg. 69 Douglass disagrees with the statement that the slaveholders take care of their slaves from their birth till their death and he also refused that slaves have any kind of freedom. As he declares, 2"The whisper that my master was my father, may or may not be true; and, true or false, it is of but little consequence to my purpose whilst the fact remains, in all its glaring odiousness, that slaveholders have ordained, and by law established, that the children of slave women shall in all cases follow the condition of their mothers; and this is done too obviously to administer to their own lusts, and make a gratification of their wicked desires profitable as well as pleasurable; for by this cunning arrangement, the slaveholder, in cases not a few, sustains to his slave the double relation of master and father." Chapter 1, pg. 49 Douglass stated the whole period of his slavery in pain and did not like the rules that were just in favor of the slaveholders. He wanted to escape from this disgraceful and terrible County where the slaves were not even considered as human beings. He hated the behaviors of slaveholders with their slaves. The statement of Douglass further points toward the cruelty and fear of the white men (slaveholders). 3"A single word from the white men was enough-against all our wishes, prayers, and entreaties-to sunder forever the dearest friends, dearest kindred, and strongest ties known to human beings." Chapter 8, pg. 90 To support his argument he gave many examples of murders committed by the masters and their cruelty even as a result of the minor mistakes. Colonel Lloyd had a lot of slaves that he does not recognize them all and they do not all recognize him. It is stated that one day as Colonel Lloyd was on a trip; he meets up a slave and inquires him about his master. As the slave answers that he belongs to Colonel Lloyd, he inquires the slave if his master takes care of him. The slave, unaware of

Organisational Behaviour Individual Case Study Assignment

Organisational Behaviour Individual Case Study - Assignment Example It helps in perceiving ideas about organization, groups and individual employees involved in the organisational structure. Thus, the concept is often considered as a parameter pertaining to the explanation, understanding, forecasting and calculation of human behaviour in an organization (Pomsuwan, 2007). In order to access the individual or group performance in an organization, certain areas are primarily focused which include personality, perception, attitudes, job satisfaction, group dynamics, politics, leadership, job design, culture, communication chain, stress of work, and decision-making power that tend to influence the employees’ behaviour at large (Rollinson, 2008). This paper intends to present an understanding of the concept of organisational behaviour and its influences on the employees in case of mergers and acquisitions. Based on a case study scenario of David Orton and Cost Wise, the discussion in this paper also aims at identifying the various issues faced by th e organizations and its employees due to structural changes as a result of acquisition. 2.0. Methodology Organisational behaviour is also known as organizational science which encompasses a prearranged study and cautious relevance of knowledge about how people operate in an organization. ... s which are considered in this regards are employee morale, job satisfaction, absenteeism rate, salary issues and various other inter as well as intra organisational conflicts. The approach considered for this project tends to be purely qualitative based on an objective-oriented research design. The data collected for this study majorly includes journals, books, articles related to the research issue and similar other relevant secondary sources. In order to gather primary data, interviews were conducted with the former employees of Cost Wise and the management personnel of David Orton. Observation technique was also used to identify the various dimensions of the work culture within the organisation from September 2011 to November 2011. In addition, staff visits have also been considered in this study to support the views of the other staffs associated with a similar industry. As often noted by researchers, mergers and acquisitions not only affects the organisational structure and the financial operations, but also influences the employees’ needs at the basic level (Salame, 2006). To conclude on this prediction, the analysis of the data collected will be based on the Maslow’s Need Hierarchy so as to determine the gap between the employees’ interest in these two companies before and after the merger. 3.0. Findings 3.1. Motivational States of Cost Wise Employees Motivation is typically referred as the forces that account for the arousal, selection, direction and continuation of behaviour. These forces act as foundations for enhancing both individual and organizational needs and can be better described by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels. The first four levels are

The opt-out clause of the Working Hours Directive 1998. :: Business and Management Studies

The opt-out clause of the Working Hours Directive 1998. The European Working Time Directive (EWTD) was adopted in 1993, and came into force in the UK under the Working Time Regulations 1998 as a safety measure, because of the recognised negative effects on health and safety of excessively long working hours. It also provides for statutory minimum rest-break entitlements, annual leave and working arrangements for night workers. The EWTD is also designed to help work life balance by limiting long hours, which is both stressful and harmful to health. For example, some research has shown that driving while tired provided similar results to driving after having drunk alcohol. The EWTD regulations place a legal requirement on employers, which means that if it is not implemented, national governments will be liable for payment of heavy financial penalties and potentially sanctions from the European Union (EU). There are no rights to work long hours, but there is legal protection to protect workers’ rights to reasonable working environment and conditions, and to family life. The main features of the EWTD are; no more than 48 hours work per week; 11 hours continuous rest in 24 hours; 24 hours continuous rest in seven days (or 48 hours in 14 days); a 20 minute break in work periods of over 6 hours; four weeks annual leave; and for night workers, an average of no more than 8 hours work in 24 hours over the reference period. The EWTD was considered by the UK Government as an issue of working conditions, not as a health and safety issue. As a result, in 1993, the UK negotiated an opt-out clause, which allows Member States not to apply the limit to working hours under certain conditions, such as: prior agreement of the individual, no negative fall out from refusing to opt-out, and records kept of working hours of those that have opted out. The European Commission announced on 23rd September 2004 its controversial proposal to update the 1993 Working Time Directive. This will most likely mean the UK will have to abandon its opt-out clause. If this is the case, and working hours are restricted, there will be many advantages and disadvantages for both employees and employers. The advantages and disadvantages range from health and safety issues to financial issues. The advantages for employees are; firstly, no longer shall employees be pressured into signing a contract with an opt-out clause stating if required, they must work extra time. This will also stop a lot of employers blackmailing potential and/or current employees, which can be often the case. For example, an employer may say to a potential employee, that if they do not sign the opt-out clause contract then

Understand How to Handle Information in a Social Care Setting

Understand how to handle information in social care settings It is essential that in a social care environment information is collected, used and stored correctly. Current legislation requires everyone working in social care to maintain certain records and keep them secure. Most of the information is sensitive and therefore not available to the general public. Information that is sensitive is called Confidential. Examples of confidential records are :- * Care & support Plans * Risk Assessments Personal information about individuals being supported * Personal information about workers Always record any information given to you by an individual even if you think it is trivial as it may help someone else. Always check an individual’s care and support plan before working with them as there may have been changes since you last worked with the individual even if it was only a short time ago. Access to all information should be restricted to those people to whom the information is re levant.Legislation relating to information handling includes :- * Data Protection Act 1998 * Freedom of Information Act 2000 * Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Essential Standards) Two key components of maintaining confidentiality are the integrity of information and its security. Integrity is achieved by the accuracy and completeness of information using proper processing methods. Security measures are needed to protect information from a wide variety of threats.It is important to have secure systems in place in respect of information handling in order to * Comply with legislation * Protect confidentiality * Prevent identity theft * Maintain the rights of individuals * Ensure information is accessible for those who need to know Guidance, information and advice on handling information can be obtained from :- * Colleagues * Senior Staff Members * Individuals (Service Users) * Policies & Procedures * Internet Find out what records your employer keeps and how they are stored and kept sec ureIf you become aware of any situation where you suspect or know that the agreed procedures have not been followed or are not being followed by yourself or another person, you have a duty of care to report the situation immediately to your manager or supervisor. If you have any worries/concerns over recording, storing or sharing information then :- * Report to a colleague * Report to a senior member of staff * Don’t share any information if unsure Assignment 209 Task B Amanda Clegg