Cockle Isolates of Vibrio Vulnificus | Research Experiment

Cockle Isolates of Vibrio Vulnificus | Research Experiment Isolation and identification characterization among cockle isolates of Vibrio vulnificus isolated from Selangor, Malaysia Coastal area Mohammed M. Kurdi Al-Dulaimi, Sahilah Abd. Mutalib and Ma`aruf Abd.Ghani Key words: Vibrio vulnificus, cockles, isolation, characterization, Malaysia. ABSTRACT: Vibrio vulnificus infections is worldwide public health problems associated with illnesses resulting from consumption of raw or partially cooked seafood worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and identification of V. vulnificus in cockle collected from local wet (2) and supermarkets (2) from Selangor, Malaysia from July 2013 to February 2014. A total of 78 (n=78) cockle samples were examined for the presence of V. vulnificus and collected from four local supermarkets sites of Selangor hypermarkets, V. vulnificus was present in at about 32% (25/78) of the 78 seafood cockle samples were positive to this bacterium. Colonies morphological observation and biochemical characterization for those isolates showed 60% (15/78) of isolates were classified as biotype 1 and 40% (10/78) belong to biotype 2. INTRODUCTION: Vibrio vulnificus is a motile, asporgenic, halophilic gram-negative bacterium that found worldwide in estuarine and coastal warm waters that frequently contaminates seafood like oysters , cockles , shrimps and other seafood (Horseman and Surani, 2011) infections of V. vulnificus are reported in many different countries ,USA, Europe, Korea, Taiwan , Malaysia and Saudi Arabia(Tamplin et al. 1982; Chuang et al.1992; Dalsgaard et al. 1999; Hlady and Klontz 1996; Elhadi et al.,2004; Elhadi 2012; Paydar and Thong 2013). Three major syndromes of clinical illness caused by pathogenic vibrio: septicemia, gastroenteritis and wound infections. The majority of these infections is foodborne and associated with consumption of raw or undercooked variety of seafood, including shrimp, fish, oysters and clams (Bisharat et al., 1999). Probability of septicemia and necrotizing fasciitis increased in the patients with liver cirrhosis and diabetes mellitus that reduce host resistance to bacterial infections owing to the immunocom-promised status (Ito et al., 2012). V. vulnificus is a bacterial species that is virulent for humans and fish ,In terms of virulence, it has been classified based on phenotypical and serological characteristics(Biosca et al.,1997 ; Tison et al., 1982), therefore V.vulnificus isolates classified into three biotypes, biotypes 1 and 3 are classified as a human isolates and biotype 2 is classified fish and eel isolates , The virulence mechanism of biotype 2 V. vulnificus strains in eels remains unclear, although some virulence factors have been proposed. The extracellular products of biotype 2 strains exhibit hydrolytic/toxic activities and lethality for the eel similar to those produced by the biotype 1 strain (Biosca and Amaro 1996). However, a few human infections caused by biotype 2 isolates have been reported worldwide. This study aims to isolateion and identifiy characterization of the V. vulnificus among cockle from Selangor, Malaysia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Samples collection and preparing For this In the present study, cockle samples (n=78) were purchased from wet markets (2) and hypermarkets (2) in Selangor-Malaysia from July 2013 to February 2014 .The cockles were washed in distilled water and scrubbed free of dirt and shucked with a sterile scalpel and cut to small pieces with sterile scissor, 25 g of muscle and intravalvar fluid were collected homogenized into sterile stomacher bags containing 225 ml of Akaline Salt Peptone Water (ASPW) (Oxoid, England) with 3% (w/v) NaCl. Samples were homogenized with using stomacher (Stomacher Lab-Blender 400) for 2 minutes. enriched in alkaline peptone salt water and The solution was diluted and then spread onto ______(what medium) medium and incubated for 18-24 hours at 37Â ºC. Isolation and morphological characterization All samples were analyzed for potentially pathogenic Vibrios. All samples enriched in APW[DS1] and transferred a loop full of enrichment broth on to Thiosulphate citrate bile salt sucrose agar (TCBS)(Difco Laboratories, USA) and CHROMagar Vibrio (CV)(CHROMagar, France) and incubated for 24 h at 37Â ºC. After incubation colonies suspected to be V. vulnficus were picked up from the TCBS[DS2] agar and CV plates and cultured on Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) to obtain pure colonies.[DS3] (Elhadi 2012).V. vulnificus produce green colonies on TCBS and blue green (Turquoise) on Chromagar Vibrio, these colonies were picked up to nutrient agar slant and stored at 4Â °C for morphological and biochemical identification. Biochemical characterization The isolates were identified at the species level with the use of biochemical tests that may differentiated among closer species of vibrio that gave similar morphological characteristics on selective media, in this study we use some biochemical tests that distinguish among V. vulnificus and other vibrio species such as V. parahemolyticus. [DS4] Indole Production The ability of bacteria to splitting of tryptophan to indole tested , test tubes contain 9 ml of tryptone water inoculated with loop full of V. vulnificus culture and incubated for 24- 48 h at 37Â ºC, adding 1 ml of Kovac`s indicator(P-dimethyl amnobenzaldehyde in amyl) , positive reaction immediately forming red color ring in the broth. [DS5] Oxidase test :[DS6] Bacterial colonies were transferred with a sterile glass rod to filter paper moistened with oxidase reagent. Appearance of a dark purple color within few seconds was considered a positive reaction. Tolerance to NaCl :[DS7] Tolerance to NaCl was determined by the addition of NaCl to 1 % peptone broth with percentage of 0, 3, 6 and 10 % (w/v) [DS8]and cultures were examined for growth after 2 days at 37oC. RESULTS Isolation of V. vulnificus: [DS9] A total of 78 cockle samples were obtained from four different location of kajang.30, 28, 10 and 10 cockle samples were collected from pasar kajang, gaint bangi , gaint kajang and pasar bangi respectively, from August 2013 until January 2014, 11 sample (36%) of pasar Kajang was positive, 9 samples (32%) of Gaint Bangi was positive, 3 samples (30%) of Gaint Kajang was positive and 2 (20%) of Pasar Bangi was positive for V. vulnificus (table 1), The highest numbers of V. vulnificus were isolated from pasar kajang and gaint bangi , the lowest numbers of V. vunlificus were isolated from gaint kajang (Fig.1).[DS10] Table 1 percentage[DS11] of presence of V. vulnificus in cockle samples. Figure 1 percentage of positive samples. Morphological and biochemical identification: V. vulnificus in this study were identified as biotype I because all the isolates were positive for indole production. CHROMagar Vibrio (CHROMagar; Paris,France) was used in this study in conjunction with TCBS agar because of its ability to isolate and identifyV. vulnificus compared to the TCBS agar. CHROMagar Vibrio uses chromogenic technology to allow for the isolation and detection of V. vulnificus resulting in development dark blue colonies which can be distinguished from other Vibrio species as shown in Fig. 2. V. vulnificus were isolated from 25 of the 78 samples analyzed, and were identified with picked up single colonies on selective media for morphological identification, V.vulnificus isolates appeared as green colonies on TCBS medium and appeared as blue green colonies on Chromagar Vibrio medium Fig 2, green color on TCBS refer to inability of this bacteria to produce acids from sucrose, colonies on ChromagarTM Vibrio medium are accurately (99%) detect V. vulnificus isolates and differentiate it from other vibrio species. Fig 2 V vulnificus isolates on TCBS (A) and Chromagar Vibrio (B). Biochemical characterization: Distinguish between the different vibrios on the basis of colony morphology not always possible, the identification of Vibrio spp. is problematic because of phenotypic similarity of some species, there for we should be do biochemical tests to confirm the results obtained from morphological identification. V. vulnificus is divided into three biotypes according to their different biochemical and biological properties (Linkous and Oliver 1999).Twenty-five strains identified as V. vulnificus were submitted to biochemical tests. All isolates used in this study were positive for oxidase test (100%), all isolates grow on solid selective media (TCBS and CV agar). Salt tolerance show that 100% of isolates grow in 3% NaCl whiles no growth in 0 % of NaCl (table 2) because this bacterium is halophilic and it is abundantly present in estuarine ecosystems throughout the world. Table 2 biochemical tests of V. vulnificus isolates. DISCUSSION Isolation and morphological identification of V. vulnificus: The main objective of this study was to detect the incidence of pathogenic V. vulnificus in cockle samples collected from five sites in Malaysia, 25 of 78 cockle samples were positive for V. vulnificus (table 1), high percentage of cockles positive for V. vulnificus attributed to filter-feeding mollusks such as oysters, clams and mussels have high concentrations of the bacteria in their guts and other tissues (Strom and Paranjpye 2000). A chromogenic medium used for differentiation of V. vulnificus which contains bile salts and high NaCl and pH. This medium selects mainly three vibrio species (V. vulnificus, V. cholera and V. parahemolyticus) easily to differentiate among these species depend upon colony color whereas V. vulnificus isolates gave distinctive blue green color, various biochemical tests were used for more identification (Elhadi 2012). Biochemical identification: On the basis of differences in biochemical property V. vulnificus includes two biotypes (Tison et al. 1982). In this study, V. vulnificus biotype 1 and 2 were isolated. Isolates from human infections and environmental sources were described as indole positive and belong to biotype 1, whereas strains recovered from diseased eels were indole-negative and classified as biotype 2. (Amaro et al., 1992; Biosca et al., 1996; Radu et al., 1998).Ability to produce indole from trypton show 60% of isolates positive classified as biotype 1, and 40% was negative to indole production classified as biotype 2 (table 2), that indole production was the single biochemical trait which distinguished biotype 1 and biotype 2 (Tison et al. 1982). All isolates in this study were positive for oxidase, majority of V. vulnificus have cytochrome c oxidase enzyme, V. vulnificus is a halophilic marine bacterium tolerant for NaCl from 1% to 10% whereas most of V. vulnificus isolates tolerant up to 6% NaCl (table 2) but no growth in 10% NaCl and 0% of NaCl (Dalsgaard et al., 1999; Elhadi, 2012). V. vulnificus grow in wide range of temperature from 13Â °C to 40Â °C, optimal temperature for isolates in this study was 37Â °C that is an optimal temperature for pathogenic bacteria. REFERENCES Horseman, M.A. and Surani, S. (2011). A comprehensive review of Vibrio vulnificus: an important cause of severe sepsis and skin and soft-tissue infection. Int. J. of Infect. Dis., 15(3):157-166. Bisharat, N., Agmon, V., Finkelstein, R., Raz, R., Ben-Dror, G., Lerner, L., et al.(1999) .Clinical, epidemiological, and microbiological features of Vibrio vulnificus biotype 3causing outbreaks of wound infection and bacteraemia in Israel. The Lancet 354(9188):1421–1424. Biosca EG, Amaro C, Larsen JL, Pedersen K (1997) Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Vibrio vulnificus: proposal for the substitution of the subspecific taxon biotype for serovar. Appl Environ Microbiol 63: 1460–1466. Tison, D.L., Nishibuchi, M., Greenwood, J.D., Seidler, R.J.(1982). Vibrio vulnificus biogroup2: new biogroup pathogenic for eels. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 44,640–646. Biosca, E. G., and Amaro C.(1996).Toxic and enzymatic activities of Vibrio vulnificus biotype 2 with respect to host specificity. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62:2331–2337. Paydar M, Thong K.L.(2013). Prevalence and genetic characterization of Vibrio vulnificus in raw seafood and seawater in Malaysia. J Food Prot.76(10):1797-1800. Linkous D.A. and Oliver J.D.( 1999). Pathogenesis of Vibrio vulnificus, FEMS Microbiol. Letters. 174 :207-214. Hlady WG , Klontz KC(1996). The Epidemiology of Vibrio Infections in Florida, 1981-1993, J. of Infec. Dis. 173(5):1176-1183. Elhadi N, Radu S, Chen CH, Nishibuchi M.(2004) Prevalence of potentially pathogenic Vibrio species in the seafood marketed in Malaysia. Journal of Food Protection; 67(7): 1469-75. Chuang, Y.C., Yuan, C.Y., Liu, C.Y., Lan, C.K. Huang, A.H. (1992). Vibrio vulnificus infection in Taiwan: report of 28 cases and review of clinical manifestations and treatment. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 15: 271–276. Elhadi, N. (2012). Antibiotic Resistance and Plasmid Profiling of Clinically Significant Vibrio vulnificus Isolated from Coastal Water in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. British Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology 3(2): 93-97. Radu, S., Elhadi, N. Hassan, Z. Rusul, G. Lihan,S. Fifadara, N. Yuherman and E. Purwati, 1998.Characterization of Vibrio vulnificus isolated from cockles (Anadara granosa): Antimicrobial resistance,plasmid profiles and random amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis. FEMS. Microbiol.Lett.,165: 139-143. Ito, H., Shibayama A., Abe M., Antoku S., Nawata H., Isonishi M., Fujita M., Kato S. (2012). Vibrio vulnificus septicemia and necrotizing fasciitis in the patients with liver cirrhosis and diabetes mellitus. J. of Diabetes Mellitus :2(1)122-125. Dalsgaard, I., HÃ ¸i, L., Siebeling, R. J. Dalsgaard, A. (1999). Indole-positive Vibrio vulnificus isolated from disease outbreaks on a Danish eel-farm. Dis Aquat Organ 35, 187–194. Amaro, C., Biosca, E. G., Esteve, C., Fouz, B. Toranzo, A. E. (1992). Comparative study of phenotypic and virulence properties in V. vulnificus biotype 1 and 2 obtained from a European eel farm experiencing mortalities. Dis Aquat Organ 13, 29–35. Tamplin M, Rodrick G.E., Blake N.J., Cuba T.(1982). Isolation and characterization of Vibrio vulnificus from two Florida estuaries. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 44:1466–1470. [DS1]Write in ful, and short capital letter with bracket after that [DS2]Write in full [DS3]Shouldn’t has dot please [DS4]Omit this part [DS5]Not clear please clarify [DS6]remove [DS7]remove [DS8] please add [DS9]remove [DS10]make sure the valu tele with your abstract [DS11]Shouldn write in bold, please write properly and precise. Too simple is not describsable [DS12]write in full [DS13]remove this column

Wsh Policy And Objectives At Azura

Wsh Policy And Objectives At Azura AZURA Chemical was established in 2009 and is situated in the Jurong Island, Singapore. It has a staff strength of 50 people. The company is a manufacturer of Ethoxylated Surfactants. Their main products are Ethoxylate Surface Active Agents; Polyoxyethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters; Polyoxyethylene hydrogenated castor oils; Polyoxyethylene alkyl ethers. The company core values are. We believe and value open communication at every level in the organisation. We encourage creativity and challenge the Status Quo. We endeavor to respect every Individual by fostering a trusting environment and treating each person equal. Internal Factors The 3 Internal Factors are. 1. Current WSH Policy 2. Feedback from Internal Audit and Management review meeting. 3. Organisational WSH cultures. The WSH policy statement was to drive the company mission and objectives toward achieving its Environmental, Safety, Health and social responsibility. The company administered the policy via its policy deployment process by scheduling monthly communication meeting with staff and the Managing Director of the company took the personal responsibility to communicate the company policy. The Feedback from Internal Audit and Management review meeting was to put in place corrective and preventive actions plan and monitor the effectiveness of the current and new control measures put in place. It also act as a continuous improvement cycle to continually improve its Safety and Health objectives by review and making changes to its policy statement and objectives. They achieved this through their bi-yearly internal audit and 6 monthly management review meeting chair by their Managing Director. . Organisational WSH cultures. The company started the program to drive a culture shift by adopting a proactive instead of being reactive mindset in the areas of Safety and Health. Previously, program was only put in place only after a near missed and an accident situation. The procative program put in place are a weekly surveillance by management team walk-about. The senior management team basically walk through the factory and identify best practices, improvement areas and communicating with people on the shopfloor to better understand their concern in the areas of Health and Safety. The feedback are discussed during their monthly management meeting and the result or actions plan are posted in the notice board as a form of communication with their employee. External Factors The 3 External Factors are. Changes in Legal requirement. Trend in industrial practices United Nation / International labour Organisation directives. 1. Changes in Legal requirement. With the changes made to the WSH (SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND AUDITING) REGULATIONS 2009, PART III SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Implementation of safety and health management system 8.-(1) It shall be the duty of the occupier of every workplace specified in the Second Schedule to implement a safety and health management system for the purpose of ensuring the safety and health of persons at work in the workplace. Workplace safety and health audit 9.-(1) It shall be the duty of the occupier of any workplace specified in the Third Schedule to appoint a workplace safety and health auditor to audit the safety and health management system of the workplace at a frequency as specified in the Third Schedule. In order to comply with the regulation, the company have to engaged an External consultant to establish and develop the SHMS system based on SS 506 Part 3 ( SHMS for chemical industries). Thereafter, the company has to engaged an MOM approved SHMS auditor to do an audit on the company system. 2. Trend in industrial practices. Very Often, change in industrial practice or Best Practices influence the company WSH management system and control. Example are Technical Advisory from the WSHC which formulate and set-up new or updated Safety guideline for the general industry. The company will therefore need to update it management system, make changes to its internal procedures such as SWP and follow-up with the latest need for training to its employee. 3. United Nation / International labour Organisation directives. The Globally Harmonized System (GHC) was initiated at the UN Conference on the Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It aims, amongst other goals, to harmonize the classification and the hazard communication elements of chemicals (labeling and safety data sheets). The direct impact on Industry, end user and the implementation time frame for Singapore supplier, manufacturer and end-user. With the new directive, the company will need to implement new labeling format for all its Chemical Label to be pasted on all its container / drum before making delivery to all its customers by 2012. Changes will be made to its internal processes such as work and packaging procedures and changes to its OHS/WSH management system Current Policy OSH POLICY Azura Chemical Pte Ltd is committed to complying with all applicable Environmental, Health and safety Act and practices, including the commitment to meet or exceed applicable legal and other requirements, to strive for continual improvement in our OSH management system, and to minimize/eliminate safety and Health hazards. We will, therefore, manage our processes, our materials and our people in order to reduce Safety Hazards and Health impacts associated with our work. We pledges to implement and operate the SHMS Management System to further enhance safety and health performance. Our main objectives are to: Establishing current and long-term goals to provide the necessary guidelines for continuous improvement of occupational safety and health. Publishing HSE objectives, activities and performance data as part of our OHS Risk Communication efforts. Working toward ZERO Accident Rate. Improving the overall working condition in Safety and Health. This policy will be communicated to all parties interested in the performance of our OSH management system. Signed: Azio Suzuki Date: 1 Feb 2009 Managing Director After reviewing the current policy, it will be beneficial for the company to demonstrate its commitment to the objectives i.e. How are they going to achieve them? We therefore will make some recommended by adding a commitment to achieve the objectives The additions are: We will meet theses commitment by : To establish current and long-term goals to provide the necessary guidelines for continuous improvement of occupational safety and health. To publish Occupational, Safety and Health (OSH) objectives, activities and performance data as part of our OHS hazard and risk communication efforts. To provide our employee with the appropriate education and relevant training they need to better understand their OHS roles and responsibilities. To hold every employee responsible for their own action that otherwise will impact the life of others, the overall health, safety and the environment we operate in. To take and make every effort and to work toward ZERO Accident Rate. To commit and Improve the overall working condition in Safety and Health. Identify and look into the relevant organisational structure/s essential in the alignment implementation of the WSH policy. (PC2.1, UK11) The company WSH come under the responsibility of the EHS Director and he report to the Corporate EHS Director and dotted line to the Managing Director. Under the leadership of the EHS director, the Safety and Health steering committee provide the guidance to overall deployment. The WSH officer get the directive from the steering committee and act as the liaison officer for all HSE.OHS matters and program. The WSH structure consist of 6 main function i.e. EHS Director, Human Resources, WSH officer, Facilities, Manufacturing and the Safety Committee / EHS . EHS Director. The EHS director works with the corporate EHS in setting all OHS policy, Safety and Health deployment , drive and monitor and review all the OHS performance indicators. WSH Officer. The officer works under the supervision and directive of the EHS director to implement, monitor and follow-up on all OHS matters and update key safety performance indicators monthly. He also chair the monthly safety inspection and meeting. He also provide expert advise to the director and staff. He works closely with the HR training department in formulating training programs. Together with the HR training executive, they perform and conduct Job safety and training needs analysis. Human Resources ( Training and Admin support) The HR department is assigned the role to support the WSH programs and arrange for external training need and also conducting in-house safety awareness induction program for all new employee. It also provides the administrative support, maintain documentation and manage the training programs for the company. The HR officer also work closely with the finance department to ensure funds are made available to implement and promote the WSH training. Manufacturing and Operations Work closely with WSH officer to conduct regular safety and health inspection and to identify any hazards in the workplace. Is also responsible to conduct and review all Risk Assessment for all the activities under their control. Responsible to establish Safe Work procedures (SWP) and enforce/monitor all Permit to work (PTW) system. He also support the company plant-wide SHMS management system and to ensure conformity to the policy ad procedures. Participate and support training requirement and planned program. Facilities. The facilities department manages all facilities support and equipment maintenance program to ensure machines and equipment are safe to operate. It also support and monitor all the fire fighting equipment and to ensure the equipment are maintained and comply with the relevant bodies such as SCDF. Assist the manufacturing department in evaluating purchase of new machineries and equipment in meeting safety and Health requirement before they are brought into the factory. Conduct and review all RA within the scope of facilities activities. Monitor and update any process change to comply with Health and safety requirement. Safety Committee ( Chairman and committee members) The committee under the leadership of the chairman and the guidance of the WSH officers perform and carried out all the objectives set by the Steering committee and perform daily, weekly and monthly WSH activities. Activities such as weekly or monthly Safety inspection, participate in the monthly Safety meeting. The WSH chairman sits in the Steering committee meeting to provide feedback, participating in formulating policy and objective and coordination work. Emergency Director ( SMC) The Site Main Coordinator (SMC) acts as the Emergency Director in an emergency situation. His role is to coordinate with the Site Incident Coordinator (SIC), the emergency team members and the SCDF. Site Incident Coordinator (SIC) The SIC role is to manage and coordinate the emergency response team in Fire fighting, mitigating a chemical spill and rescue operations, the First aid team, Evacuation and fire warden teams and communicate and updating the SMC on the emergency situation and status on a regular basis. Emergency Response Team. The emergency response team members are responsible for to any emergency situation such as chemical spill, fire /explosion. They have been trained to mitigate, perform rescue if situation permit and to contain any emergency situation when it arise. Environment Hazardous Substance Committee. The committee members are responsible for managing, evaluating and management control of all the hazardous chemicals bought into the premise and storage. They are also responsible in drafting SWP for safe handling of chemical and storage based on SDS documents and industry best practices, CP and standards. They are also responsible to manage environmental issue such as emission, waste disposal and any environmental impact study. They act as an advisor to the ESH director, steering committee, WSH offices and employee for all Environmental, safety and Health such as policy, control, training and procedures Organisational programme for stakeholder awareness and involvement. (PC2.3, UK6, 13, 20) Ways to engage and motivate stakeholders in the change process within organisational structure and system. (UK14, 17) Establish the strategies for implementing WSH policy. (UK15) 14. Establish the impact and the resources required for implementation, prior to finalizing the changes. (PC2.5, 3.5, UK27, 28) Types of Programmes Description of Programmes Implementation of Programmes Short Long Term Impacts 1. Near Missed / Incident campaign The objective was to raise the safety awareness level of all employees and to encourage employee to feedback safety hazards while at work. With the campaign, the company hopes to move away from the RE-ACTIVE mindset ( Act only when an incident occurs) to a PROACTIVE attitude by getting every employee to be proactive and be aware of their working environment and be safe at work. A Near Missed Safety campaign to be launched by the Managing Director for a period of 3 months to get employee to be participative in identified hazard in the workplace. Forms (Feedback card) were printed and place at 8 different locations for employee to write their feedback. The WSHO was appointed to collect back all the feedback cards and review them for actions, award score and compile a weekly summary. The summary of the results were posted in the communication board to reflect the number of submission, individual and department scores. Awards were presented by the MD at the end of every month. It was awarded to individual and department for Best Individual and Best supporting department with the most submission. Financial Budget for the Reward; 3 months period was. Individual $100 Department : Trophy. Awareness Level. Lost in work productivity as staff will be away and higher cost due to overtime to cover loss hours. The short term impacts were that the safety awareness level was raised at every level in the organization, Rank and file. Getting people to act on the hazard immediately rather than later. People: Mindset changes. Reduction in Accident rate The long term impact is the positive culture mindset change based on Proactive rather than Reactive. Safety Hazard identification and risk control consideration can be built into every activities and planning / thinking process rather than fixing the problem after the implementation stage. Types of Programmes Description of Programmes Implementation of Programmes Short Long Term Impacts 2. Safety Training Programme. The safety program focus on the Hazard identified during the Risk Assessment (RA). There are: Material Handling such a forklift and pallet truck. Pen knife safety. Understand SDS with regards to PPE and risk control such as chemical spill and on the proper use chemical spill kit. Manual handling. Proper lifting technique. The safety committee members appointed to take charge of safety training were involved in preparing the training material with the help of the WSH officer and training consultant. The training were schedules monthly for all the relevant staff involved in the activities identified. The training was conducted by the WSH officer. Staff has to take a short assessment on 20 questions and pass the test. Employee attending the session was required to sign in the training log. A refresher course was also planned (within 1 month) for those who did not manage to pass the prescribe assessment test. Short Term impact. Lost in work productivity as staff will be away and higher cost due to overtime to cover loss hours. The staff safety awareness level with regards to potential Hazard in their own workplace was raised and they will able to communicate with their colleague and supervisor. The long term impact are : Reduction in Accident rate as staff will be more competent. Boost staff morale. Staff are more responsible toward taking ownership when safety is a concerns, They are able to identify safety hazard and contribute ideas on safety mitigation and hazard elimination. 3. Safety awareness exhibition. The objective to schedule a safety and Health exhibition was to raise the awareness of the industries safety trends and development. The exhibits on displayed gave the employee an visual view of the various safety hazard and the types of control measures available. The WSHO and the safety committee training team member make arrangement to have Workplace Safety Council and National Fire and Civil Emergency Preparedness Council (NFEC) organization to showcase their Fire, Safety and Health program. The fee for the external provider was set at $500 for the entire exhibition week. Short-term impact. Time away from productive work. Employee is aware of what some of the external organisation are dong to promote Safety At Work. Long Term impact. Boost Morale and Reduction is the incident rate. Staff will be able to continually understand and see safety is part of their activities at work and at Home. 4. Permit to Work System. PTW The objective in implementing the PTW system was to manage and control risk. The PTW system applied to the following activities. 1, Hot work. 2. Work at Height. 3. Confined Space. 4. Lock Out Tag Out LOTO The WSHO is responsible to authorize with the approval of the Senior manager in all activities listed in the PTW system The programs are mandatory under the WSH regulations. WSH (Confined Spaces) Regulations 2009. WSH (General Provisions) Regulations 16 2006. WSH ( SHMS Auditing) 2009 Short-term impact. Work Productivity will be affected as procedures need to be adhered to before works are permitted. Long Term impact. Most of the incident related to Hot-Work, Work at Height, Confined space will be reduced or eliminated due to effective control measured put in place. Advantages and benefits of having positive WSH culture in the implementation of WSH policy. (UK18) The benefits of driving towards a positives culture, i.e. attitude and mindset changes are: Raising the level of Safety awareness and becoming increasing informed. Taking personal responsibility and accountability in safety when at work. Take proactive step in hazard identification and suggest action to eliminate or minimise the risk exposure. People tend to think or see Safety as the sole responsibility of the Safety officers or the Safety and Health Manager. They are added to supervise and enforced Safety and Health rules. Its their roles to ensure Safety at the workplace. With a culture shift and a positive mindset, Safety is EVERYONE responsibility. Safety is MY responsibility. As an employee, I have to think Safety at all time when performing my task. When employee takes responsibility for his work safety, he will be committed to ensure he does not endanger himself and others while at work. Establish regular and effective review process of WSH policy and objectives. (PC3.1) The main purpose of any review is to align, update and ensure all the information is still relevance. The process involving going through the company current OHS policy, set objectives, corrective and preventive actions identified and put in place. Secondly it is for the purpose of continuous improvement in safety and health matters. This is necessary due to the facts the environment we work in are changing all the time. Action or plan can be ineffective due to changes in the process, equipment, technology or Legal legislation / requirement or other requirements such as code of practice and standards. By adopting a PDCA ( Plan, Do, Check, Act) model, we repeat the cycle and continually working towards sustainable improvement at all time. The periodic Management review can be schedule either quarterly or after an internal audit. The frequency of the review are as follows: Safety Performance Indicators. Monthly Review No of Reported Near Missed / Incident. eg :Loss Time Incident rate (LTIR). OHS Policy Review. (Management Review Meeting) Bi-Yearly ( Every 6 months) Safety Gap Status Review: Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA). Every 3 months. Determine the relevant information to be collected for reviewing. (PC2.4, 3.2, UK23, 24, 26) 13. Involve stakeholders in the assessment of necessary changes to existing policy and objectives. (PC1.4, 3.4 UK8, 25) Name of Information / Assessment Description Freqency/Duration of review Person in-charge 1. WSH Inspection Report. To identify any safety gap or safety violation during the walk-about by the appointed Safety committee members on a monthly schedule. To follow-up on corrective and preventive actions identified and timely close-out all identified hazard. WSH (Workplace Safety and Health Committees) Regulations 2008 Monthly WSHO / Safety Chairman. 2. OHS Safety Performance Indicators. The safety performance indicator established for the years such as: No of accident / Near missed / Total Loss time. ( LT ) Loss Time Incident Rate ( LTIR ) Severity Rate. ( SR ) Every 3 months. EHS Manager Name of Information / Assessment Description Freqency/Duration of review Person in-charge 3. Risk Assessment To conduct Risk Assessment prior to commencing of any work activities in the workplace. The risk assessment includes 3 critical areas such: Hazard Identification, Risk Evaluation and Risk Control. Any High risk identified must be reduced to Low or Medium before work can start. If risk cannot be reduce to an acceptable level, SWP must be put in place to minimize the risk level. Reference : WSH (Risk Management) Regulations 2006 Every 3 years. Or When there are changes to the process or an incident has occurred. WSHO / Department Manager/ Top Management 4. Quarterly Safety Management Review Report. The quarterly summary of the Safety Inspection report. The purpose of the summary report was for management to review safety gaps identified, status of the corrective and preventative actions Plan. (i.e. closed or pending action) To review resources and budget to fix safety gaps identified during the monthly safety inspection. Quaterly EHS Manager. 5. Safety and Health Management System. SHMS Audit report The SHMS internal and external reports are used for the purpose of continuous improvement activities. To determine whether the company current OHS policy and objectives need to be aligned with the organisation Safety and Health Management System (SHMS). The external auditor reports are use by the company for the purpose of identifying safety lapses and system weakness. During the OHS/WSH policy review meeting, management must take into consideration the Auditor comments and recommendation in order to ensure the policy can be response to the changes needed to improve. Every 6 months EHS Manager and SHMS Management Representive (MR) 15. Document and communicate to relevant stakeholders the changes in policy arising from review. (PC1.6, 3.6, UK16, 30) Documentation Record keeping, communication are necessary for the purpose of compliance to WSH Act such as WSH 1 WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations 2006 2 WSH (Risk Management) Regulations 2006 3 WSH (Workplace Safety and Health Committees) Regulations 2008 4 WSH (Safety and Health Management System and Auditing) Regulations 2009 Occupational Health 1 WSH (First-Aid) Regulations 2006 2 Factories (Medical Examinations) Regulations 1999 3 Factories (Noise) Regulations 1997. The other purposes of record keeping and communication are for monitoring and surveillance of ill health due to exposure to hazard. Any employee identified during the surveillance will be put through counseling such as suspected or confirmed NID case. For employee working in an environment where the identified hazard was radiation will be assigned other duties when the permissible exposure limit; PEL has been exceeded. The 5 WSH documentation are: Monthly Safety Inspection Report and Monthly Safety meeting minutes. Safety and Health Training Records. Risk Assessment Activities Inventory list and Risk Assessment (RA) Health Surveillance and Monitoring. ( Cyanide exposure, X-ray, Audiometric-NID ) Noise monitoring record ( Internal and Boundary Noise) Communications The 3 main type of communication that are employed by the company are: Safety Notice Board. Quarter Safety News Letter. Video display. The Safety Notice Board. The boards are used to communicate, safety inspection report, Safety meeting minutes, WSH bulletins from WSH council, MOM News alert and Safety and Health performance indicators such as No of Incident case, Loss Time Accident Case, Severity and Frequency rate. 2. Quarterly News Letter. The New letter serves as a communication channel to : showcase interview with Safety personnel, Safety ideas, safety program update, Safety performance among various manufacturing sites worldwide. Corporate EHS news and directives. 3. Video Display. The Video Display are installed at the reception and Staff canteen areas for the purpose of communicating Safety and Health update and news to internal (staff) and external (visitor, suppliers) personnel . It also displayed the company Safety policy statements and commitment and monthly Safety Videos. List of Appendices

An Analysis of Robert Ji-Song Kus Leda Essay -- Leda Essays

An Analysis of Robert Ji-Song Ku's Leda      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Robert Ji-Song Ku's short story "Leda," the main character, Sorin, leads a life of imitation. He applies himself to his graduate studies in comparative literature a little too readily: he compares not just text to text; he also compares his life to text, to "works of literature" (Wong 281). If his life does not match that of at least one literary character on several levels of interpretation, whether emotional, physical, or mental, he changes his behavior so that it will. For example, he begins to "smoke and drink - heavily...simply because every one of Hemingway's heroes did it. For a while I drank only vodka martinis in public because I read that James Bond drank it exclusively ... I ... also smoked [his] particular brand of cigarettes" (280). In "Leda," the two influential "oeuvres" (280) are Junichiro Tanizaki's The Bridge of Dreams, a "haunting retelling of the Oedipal myth" (281), and the story of Leda, in Greek mythology. Both have extensive influence on Sorin, and their influences intertwine in his behavior to the extent that it is difficult to separate and identify each.    "Leda" is primarily an Oedipal tale thanks to the influence of Bridge, but, as Sorin "frequently finds himself doing things, saying things, and make certain choices [because] ... some of the most intriguing characters in books have done the same," he mixes Oedipus with Zeus, Castor and Pollux to produce the character he becomes when interacting with Leda, his lover. Oedipus, of course, is the Greek dramatic character who, when he discovers he has married his mother and has had children with her, gouges his eyes out. Zeus is the philandering Greek father of the gods who, according to Greek l... ...or having lived his life vicariously.    Works Cited "Castor and Polydeuces." Microsoft Encarta Online. 27 February 1999 http://encarta.msn.com/index/conciseindex/54/05444000.htm. "Cheju Island." 17 February 1999 http://www.chejuinfo.net/index_e.html. Criss, P. J. "Leda." 17 February 1999 http://www.cybercom.com/~grandpa/ledax.html. Hefner, Alan G. "Zeus." The Encyclopedia Mythica. 27 February 1999 http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/articles/z/zeus.html. "Leda and the Constellation Cygnus." Department of Engineering, University of Michigan. 17 February 1999 http://windows.ivv.nasa.gov/mythology/cygnus.html. Webb, Ruth H. "Leda." 17 February 1999 http://www.princeton.edu/~rhwebb/leda.html. Wong, Shawn, ed. Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, 1996.      

The Role And Functions Of New Zealand Government Essay -- essays resea

The New Zealand Government has made significant changes to the economy throughout the last 15 years. The operation and organisation of business activity in New Zealand has been affected by this changing economy. All aspects of the New Zealand Government have been altered. The reason for this change was to improve the performance by being more efficient. The key reforms are privatisation and corporatisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and restructuring government agencies. The most significant change was the election of the Labour Party in 1984, which ended the Muldoon Administration. At this time, New Zealand was in a rut because of poor economic management by the previous Government. Unemployment was high in 1983 and still climbing, real GDP was only 1.15 between 1976 and 1984, and international debt was at 41% of GDP in 1984. The United Kingdom (the major New Zealand export market) had join the European Union in 1973, and since had to endorse a quota where they could only import a certain number on overseas products. Under the National Government, New Zealand was close to self-sufficiency because the government refused to import products from overseas. The public were to losers in this situation as there were a limited number of products offered for sale, and they were also quite expensive too. This called for some desperate transformation. When the Labour Party was elected under David Lange, they immediately changed the sectors that they thought needed urgent attention. They were Capital Markets, Financial, Industry, and International Trade. Other reforms occurred in 1985 (Monetary), 1986 (Tax and Corporatisation), 1988 (Privatisation), 1989 (Public Expenditure), 1990 (Labour Market), and 1991 (Resource Management and Social Services). In fact all state sectors underwent some sort of alteration at some stage. The period from 1984 – 1994 was dubbed â€Å"a period of radical change.† These reforms occurred simultaneously and some are still being refined now. From 1995 onwards there was a second period of â€Å"slower paced evolutionary† activity. (1999, OECD Government Reform) The key idea in the reform process was to â€Å"roll back the state† – in other words focus more on what a government should do which is, governing the people. Defining a government’s core business can be difficult because in every country it is different, even in New Zealand. It is also d... ... the long run. Bibliography Bollard, Allan, Lattimore, and Silverstone (1996). Chapter one in A Study of Economic Reform: The Case of New Zealand. Elsevier Science Publications. Boston, J et al, (1996) Public Management: The New Zealand Model. Chapter three: The Framework of Government and the Evolution of the Public Sector. Oxford University Press. Clarke. L (March 2000) Face The Nation. Television New Zealand Ltd. New Zealand Employment Relations Service (October 2000). â€Å"The Employment Relations Act 2000 and Good Faith† Pamphlet of the NZ Department of Labour. New Zealand Country Paper (1999). Government Reform: Of Roles and Functions of Government and Public Administration. OECD New Zealand Employment Relations Law (2000) Overview [Online] Available: <a href="http://www.executive.govt.nz/era/erl_over.htm">http://www.executive.govt.nz/era/erl_over.htm [2001, April 29] Palmer, G. and Palmer, M. (1997) Bridled Power: New Zealand Government Under MMP. Chapter one: The Changing System of New Zealand Government. Auckland: Oxford University Press. TV3 (March 2000) 3 News, Television 3 and 4 Network Services Ltd. TVNZ (March 2000). One News. Television New Zealand Ltd.

Midnight Journal Entry

The Midnight Journal Entry Anne T. Lawrence, San Jose State University On an overcast afternoon in Portland, Oregon, on Friday, March 28, 2003, Richard Okumoto intently studied a set of hard-copy accounting documents called â€Å"adjusting journal entries† spread out on his desk. He had been appointed chief financial officer (CFO) of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. (ESI), a multi-million dollar equipment manufacturer, just a few weeks earlier. Okumoto was in the midst of closing the company’s books for the third quarter of fiscal year 2003, which ended February 28.An experienced executive who had served as CFO for several other technology firms, Okumoto was familiar with the task, which normally would be routine. But this time, he felt that something was seriously amiss. When reviewing the company’s recent results, he had noticed a sharp dip in accrued liabilities between the two quarters ending May 31 (the last quarter of the 2002 fiscal year) and August 31 (the first quarter of the current fiscal year).Now, looking at the detailed journal entries his staff had provided, he noticed that several significant accounting entries had been made around midnight on September 12, 2002. The entries made that September evening had significantly changed the company’s results for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, a few days before they were reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission. He later recalled: The fact that the time stamps [on the journal entries] were midnight through one o’clock in the morning made me believe they were having difficulties closing the quarter.Not just because of accounting difficulties, but because they were having difficulties finding the right answers. My initial reaction was, even given a difficult quarterly close, if the team was working that late at night, that wasn’t typical. From the pass codes required by the accounting software, Okumoto could see who had made the entries. They inclu ded James Dooley, then the company’s acting chief operating officer and now the CEO, the corporate controller, and several senior members of the finance team. One midnight journal entry in particular drew the new CFO’s attention.The late-night team had wiped out an accrued liability of $977,000 associated with the anticipated cost of retirement and severance benefits to company employees in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. That entry, and several smaller ones, all of which were favorable to net income, had the cumulative effect of permitting the company to report earnings of $0. 01 per share for the quarter ending August 31, 2002, rather than a loss. When he realized that, Okumoto recalled, he felt â€Å"a sinking feeling in my gut. † He asked himself, â€Å"What happened here? At that time of night?All of the changes in a single direction? What’s going on? † He was sure something was not right. RICHARD OKUMOTO Born in 1952, Richard Okumoto was raised wit h his four siblings in a Japanese-American family in a low-income, African-American neighborhood that bordered the Pepper Street Projects of Pasadena, California. He explained how his parents’ experiences had shaped their outlook: My parents grew up during the depression years. Dad farmed with relatives, and Mom grew up tending 3,000 chickens on a three-acre ranch in Gardena, California.Shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, my parents were relocated under Executive Order 9066 [under which persons of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast were sent to relocation camps during World War II]. They met and married in a relocation camp. During their incarceration, their families could not make their payments. Dad and his relatives lost their land, and Mom’s parents lost their chicken ranch. After those experiences, my father was committed to having no debt. He built our family home in 1955, with the idea of paying off the loan in eight years.In 1962, Okumotoâ⠂¬â„¢s father, who worked as a gardener, landscaper, and salesman of Japanese mutual funds, was disabled in a serious auto accident. Fortunately, by then, he had almost paid off the loan on their home, so the family was able to survive financially. After the accident, Okumoto’s mother took a job cleaning homes to help support her five children. Okumoto described his relationship with his mother: She and I had an especially close bond. Shortly before my dad’s accident, both her parents had died. I was the one who supported her through a very difficult year.As a result, she always treated me differently from the other kids—almost like an adult. The Okumoto family’s financial situation after the accident was difficult. Okumoto had vivid memories of how they coped: Money was very short. We had to account for every penny. Every week, my mother wrote down in a leather-bound journal everything she earned and everything we spent in the household, down to the penn y. Every week, from the time I was ten years old, she went through that with me. We lived on a cash basis. There was no credit card, no second mortgage.In that situation, budgeting became extremely important. Her comment to me was, â€Å"You can’t complain [about what you don’t have] unless you understand what’s happening. † Those were her ground rules. He added this comment about his mother’s values: The ethics of doing the right thing become very important, because that’s really all you have. [My mother] instilled in me at an early age, regardless of what else you do, always take the high road, always do the right thing. That has influenced me throughout my career.After high school, Okumoto attended San Jose State University, where he completed an undergraduate degree in accounting in 1974 and attended the MBA program from1975 to 1978. He soon embarked on a highly successful career in finance. Over the next two-and-a-half decades, he held increasingly responsible roles at a number of high-technology companies in the Silicon Valley, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Novellus Systems, Measurex, Credence Systems, and Photon Dynamics. Okumoto admired a number of managers he had worked for, who had set high professional and ethical standards for him and his co-workers.He felt fortunate to have had three exceptional mentors: Woody Spedden, the CEO of Credence Systems; Jim Hefferman, his boss at Fairchild and later at Measurex; and Don Waite, the CFO at Measurex who later took over that position at Seagate Technologies. â€Å"All three individuals upheld the highest integrity,† Okumoto recalled. â€Å"Aside from the technical training I received from them, I got a strong ethical grounding. They would always tell me to ask myself—what are your obligations to others? † ELECTRO SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIES, INC. Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. ESI), the company that Okumoto joined as CFO in early 2003, was t he second-largest technology company in Oregon, trailing only Tektronix in size. Based in Portland, the company was founded in 1944 as Brown Engineering to make test and measurement equipment. As technology evolved, so did the company’s products. In the 1960s, the firm—by then called ESI—moved into lasers, and later developed applications of laser technology for the emerging semiconductor industry. ESI went public on the NASDAQ exchange in 1983. In 2003, ESI’s core business was providing precision production equipment to electronics firms.The company manufactured equipment that was used in the production of a wide range of electronics products, such as computers, cellular phones, home entertainment systems, automotive electronics, electronic games, and personal digital devices. Its products included advanced laser systems, test equipment, and packaging systems, among others. The company’s customers included many leading electronics firms, including AMD, Ericsson, IBM, Samsung, Hitachi, Flextronics, Honeywell, and Lucent. Seventy percent of ESI’s sales were outside the United States, mainly in Asia and Europe.The company owned and operated manufacturing facilities in Portland and Klamath Falls, Oregon, and in Escondido, California, and operated sales offices in many countries. In 2002, it employed 875 people and reported sales revenue of $167 million (down from $472 million the prior year). Like many firms in the electronics industry, ESI was badly battered by the economic downturn that began in 2001. After achieving record sales and income in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2001, the company’s financial results declined precipitously in FY 2002, as shown in Exhibit A.Sales and profits had continued to decline in the first half of FY 2003. Exhibit A: Electro Scientific Industries, Selected Sales and Income Data, 1998-2002 | 1998| 1999| 2000| 2001| 2002| Net sales| 252,134| 197,118| 299,419| 471,853| 166,545| Net i ncome (loss)| 22,347| 7,528| 40,860| 99,933| (15,961)| Net income (loss) per share| 0. 89| 0. 29| 1. 55| 3. 71| (0. 58)| Data refer to fiscal years ending May 31. All data are given in thousands of dollars, except per share data. Source: ESI 2002 Annual Report. The company noted in its 2002 annual report:In fiscal year 2002, ESI weathered the worst downturn in the electronics industry in over 30 years†¦We are conducting a thorough review of our overall market strategy as well as product line strategies to assure that they will generate significant shareholder returns over the inevitable cycles in our industry. To cut costs, the company initiated a shutdown of its Escondido facility, consolidating its operations in Portland. It divested several underperforming lines of business and sought to invest in areas it saw as promising through partnerships and, potentially, acquisitions.It also informally explored a merger with another firm in southern California. In early 2002, Don VanL uvanee, the company’s long-time CEO, suffered a stroke and was no longer able to serve. The board appointed David Bolender, the former CEO of Protocol Systems and a director since 1988, to step in as acting CEO until it could find a permanent replacement. At that time, the board also elevated James Dooley, who had been serving as the firm’s chief financial officer, to the role of acting chief operating officer to run the company’s day-to-day affairs.In December 2002, the board promoted Dooley to the position of chief executive officer, and Bolender became chairman of the board. (Executives and directors of ESI named in the case, and their positions, are summarized in Exhibit B. ) [Exhibit B should appear about here; it is at the end of the file. ] CLOSING THE QUARTER Shortly after Dooley became CEO, Okumoto was recruited as chief financial officer. He started work on February 17, 2003. I was excited about the job. I thought it might be my last one in the industr y. The company, management, and employees—all had a long history of stability.To me, it was another walk down the path of hard work, a fresh chance to apply my skills in strategic planning and execution as well as to implement the new Sarbanes-Oxley compliance rules. His first task was to prepare for the FY 2003 third quarter close. In reviewing the company’s books for the past several quarters, he soon noticed a sharp downward spike in the balance of accrued liabilities. He noted that fact for further investigation. In addition to closing the quarter, several other items required Okumoto’s attention.Just one week into his new job, on February 24, he got an email from John (â€Å"Jack†) Isselmann, Jr. , the general counsel, asking him to forward to the manager of the Japanese office, Mike Tetsui, a set of revised work rules (terms of employment) for ESI’s Japanese employees. As a newcomer, Okumoto knew little of the background or why he had been as ked to do this, but complied with the general counsel’s request, sending on to the Japanese office manager the revised work rules. Okumoto received the following reply from Tetsui on March 2: I have read the proposed work rule and found no section of [sic] retirement fund.I do not know what is the intention of removing that section, but it is a huge impact on each employee we have†¦I do not think I can get concents [sic] from [ESI’s Japanese] employees without reasonable change in retirement benefit. Please let me know how you would like me to proceed. Okumoto recalled: My first response was, â€Å"uh-oh. † There was a big disconnect between what I had been told and Mike’s reply. I had assumed that the Japanese had already been informed of the cancellation of their retirement benefits and agreed to the changes. It was clear they had not.In a prior job at Novellus Systems, Okumoto had set up that company’s Japanese operations, and he was aware that Japanese work rules were normally filed with the government. Regulators were very strict about altering any documented benefits. Accordingly, Okumoto believed that ESI was obligated to pay benefits that had been promised to employees, and he told Isselmann this. Okumoto also expressed the opinion that employees, if dissatisfied with the revised rules, could take the matter before the Japanese labor board, and that this would be a â€Å"quantifiable event† that would have to be recorded on the books as a liability.Isselmann responded that he was unfamiliar with Japanese law. On March 4, Okumoto spoke with CEO James Dooley about his concerns that the reversal of benefits for Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese employees might expose ESI to litigation, and this could affect the accounting treatment of the event. Dooley strongly disagreed. Okumoto recalled: He told me that everything had been cleared with everyone. He said there was full information. There was full disclosure. H e emphasized that KPMG [ESI’s external auditor], the company’s own legal staff, and the board had all signed off on it. He said I should â€Å"just get past it. Okumoto was concerned about this conversation, particularly because the CEO seemed so defensive. On March 11, Okumoto met again with Dooley, this time to discuss Okumoto’s upcoming presentation to the audit committee. The new CFO recommended that the company delay announcing its third quarter earnings and restate its first and second quarter earnings to report correctly the $977,000 in liabilities associated with the anticipated cost of retirement benefits for its Asian employees. Okumoto explained his view that not reporting these liabilities had violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.At that point, Okumoto recalled, Dooley became visibly upset. The CEO—all six feet-six inches and 280 pounds of him—turned an angry red and told me again to just get past this. That’s when I knew that this was going to be swept under the rug. It was clear I was not part of the club. Then Jim said, â€Å"If I’ve got to reverse this entry, I’ll quit. † THE â€Å"MOFO† MEMORANDUM On March 13, Okumoto attended a meeting of the board of directors’ audit committee. Also present at that meeting, in addition to the audit committee members, were Dooley, Isselmann, and several senior managers.At the meeting, Okumoto recommended that the company’s financial statements for the previous two quarters be restated, and that it hire an independent accounting firm to conduct an audit of the Asian benefits issue. Dooley countered that everyone had been fully informed of the reversal and had â€Å"bought off† on it. The audit committee declined Okumoto’s suggestion that an independent accounting firm be brought in, but it did direct Barry Harmon (formerly ESI’s CFO and a member of the audit committee), Okumoto, and Isselmann to lead an internal investigation into the matter.After the audit committee meeting, Isselmann came into the CFO’s office. Okumoto recalled: He closed the door and just broke down. He told me that after the benefits reversal in September he had asked MoFo [Morrison Foerster, an outside law firm on retainer to ESI] to review its legality. MoFo had advised it was illegal to cancel the retirement benefits without employee consent. He said he had immediately shown the memo to Dooley, who had brow-beat him, intimidated him, and essentially boxed him into a corner. I believed this, because in one meeting I actually saw Jim stand up and tower over Jack, who was only 5 feet-6.I watched Jim almost physically overtake him. Jack was a young guy, pretty inexperienced, and his job at ESI was his first in the industry. On his way out, Isselmann handed Okumoto some documents. From the documents, Okumoto learned that on October 3, 2002, Isselmann had written MoFo, asking for an opinion on wh ether or not it would be legal for the company to terminate the Asian employees’ retirement benefits unilaterally. In his letter, Isselmann had pointed out that the rules had been distributed to employees but had not been submitted to the relevant government agency.On October 7, Toshihiro So, a Japanese labor and employment attorney affiliated with Morrison Foerster, responded to Isselmann’s request. The MoFo memo, now in Okumoto’s hands, read in part: Retirement allowances are not a legal requirement [in Japan]. However, once the company agrees to pay retirement allowances in Rules of Employment (even though they have not been submitted to the relevant government agency), the company is obliged to pay them in accordance with the Rules and cannot remove them at the company’s discretion.According to Japanese case laws, as a general rule, †¦the deprivation of previously acquired rights by newly drawn up or changed work rules are [sic] not permittedâ₠¬ ¦[It] is required that before changing the work rules, the company should hear and consider the opinion of the related employees. Okumoto was shocked. â€Å"This is the smoking gun,† he thought. Investigating further, Okumoto learned that although private employers in Japan were not obligated to pay retirement benefits, doing so was considered a good industry practice, and since 1981 ESI had offered such a benefit to its employees there.Under the rules of employment established for ESI’s employees in Japan, any employee (except executives) who chose to retire after reaching the voluntary retirement age of 60 would be entitled to a â€Å"retirement allowance† of one month’s pay per year of service—in effect, a one-time severance payment. Workers who were involuntarily terminated and the estates of any workers who died before reaching the age of 60 were also entitled to this benefit. Similar rules were in effect for the company’s workers in Korea and Taiwan. At the time, ESI had 18 employees in Japan, 13 in Korea, and 23 in Taiwan, mostly in sales and customer support roles.On March 14, Okumoto called an â€Å"all hands† meeting to disclose his initial findings and discuss a path forward. Present at the meeting were Dooley, Isselmann, Harmon, and several other senior managers. The CFO asked directly if there had been full disclosure and review of all material facts with respect to the accrual reversal. Dooley confirmed that everything had been disclosed. Okumoto did not mention the MoFo memo, thinking that Dooley’s response indicated that he must have already disclosed it to KPMG and the audit committee. On March 20, Okumoto spoke by telephone with Mike Tetsui.The Japanese manager told the CFO that the employees had not yet been told that their retirement benefits had been terminated, and he—Tetsui—would resign before he would tell them that news, which he expected would be devastating. â₠¬Å"As head of the group,† Tetsui told Okumoto, â€Å"I will fall on my sword. † On March 21, Okumoto met again with Dooley to press him on how the reversal had happened. Dooley was initially â€Å"combative. † As the conversation went on, however, he â€Å"let his guard down† and began talking about what had happened on the night of September 12.As Okumoto recalled the conversation: Jim told me that he had sent a financial packet to the board of directors prior to their meeting on September 13. After he had distributed the packet, but before the meeting, he was contacted by KPMG, who told him there had been an error in the company’s calculations of its overhead costs, so the financial statements distributed to the board were incorrect. ESI’s reportable earnings were suddenly much less than they thought, by as much as a million dollars.Jim said this was particularly important because the company was in informal merger discussions with a compan y in southern California. Then he said, â€Å"No one was helping me, so I had to help myself. † When Jim made that comment, my first thought was, he was looking for revenue. He was hunting for credits. He was looking to manipulate earnings. That was a definite red flag. Okumoto walked out of Dooley’s office stunned. He called his staff together and asked them to assemble any documentation they had on accounting entries on or around September 12.He also began talking with the members of the finance team who had participated in the late-night meeting with Dooley and learned that a number of people on the finance staff had questioned the benefits reversal, but had not brought it forward. This was consistent with a negative tone at the top. I would almost characterize it as bullying. That’s one reason why no one stepped forward. That tone at the top created an environment where people really couldn’t speak out. It’s important to look at the people. Ità ¢â‚¬â„¢s similar to qualitative research. We all do that intuitively.When I looked at the body language of a lot of the people involved—the cost accountants, the financial analysts—it became apparent to me that they were scared. They knew something was wrong, and they wanted to say something, but something held them back. They reminded me of beaten animals. Growing up in the neighborhood I did, I knew what fear looked like. As part of his further investigation, Okumoto independently approached the audit team from KPMG. They told him Dooley had informed them that the company had received a legal opinion that the reversal was appropriate, and they had deemed that information sufficient.Okumoto observed: KPMG was new on the account, which they picked up after the collapse of Arthur Andersen. They didn’t have deep familiarity with it. They did not have all the information. Some of the partners were new. On March 28, a week after he had requested the relevant account ing entries for September 12, his staff finally produced the complete documentation for that date. Now, drilling down into the details, he saw the full scope of the midnight journal entries—and who had made them. WEIGHING THE RISKS Over the weekend, Okumoto considered his next moves. None of the ndividuals and groups from whom he had sought support—the CEO, the general counsel, or the auditors—seemed to share his concern about the seriousness of the issue. The audit committee had shown some interest, but had turned down his recommendation to bring in independent auditors and seemed to believe the matter could be handled internally. Okumoto was losing sleep, worrying constantly about what—if any—additional steps he should take. He had tried to warn the key players. From all, he had received the same message: We don’t see this as a serious problem. Let it go.Okumoto realized the risks of escalating the issue further. He was earning a base sala ry of $250,000, with the possibility of a 100 percent performance bonus. He reflected: I certainly realized the risks. I knew that if I brought this forward, there was a strong likelihood that I would either lose my job, or I would be in an environment where it would be difficult to operate, so I would have to leave. The idea also occurred to him that â€Å"I can leverage this for more money and stock if I look the other way. Plus, I can become invaluable to the company with this dirt.I can immediately become part of the established inside club. † He had also recently signed a contract to purchase a home in the nearby community of Lake Oswego, and wondered how he would make good on that commitment if he lost his job. However, he felt reasonably secure financially. Following the example of his parents, Okumoto had worked hard to avoid debt and to save for adverse times. He reflected: One of the first things I ask friends who are or would like to be CFOs or general managers, wh ere risks such as this can jeopardize their careers, is: Are you financially secure enough to make good decisions?Because if you aren’t, I can count on the fact that you will make bad decisions when times of adversity hit. We all talk about the value of making good decisions, but as we all know, life creeps in. There are economic commitments, family commitments, and people are sometimes moved to do the wrong thing. As the old adage goes, hire your sales people so they are hungry enough to get the deal done. Hire your finance people so they are not hungry enough to do the wrong thing. He added: Fortunately, I was financially in a position where I could afford to leave if t came to that. I was single, so I figured the only person I had to protect was myself. He also had a network of friends in the area he felt he could turn to for support. I had a number of friends in the Portland area, having worked there earlier. My prior company had a division of about 1000 employees in the area. Of these, 500 had worked directly for me. It might have been a false sense of security, but I felt I had a pretty good infrastructure of people that I knew. By this time, Okumoto was also becoming concerned about his personal safety.Several times, he received anonymous messages on his home answering machine. At the time, he was living temporarily in corporate housing while he shopped for a home, and he felt he was particularly visible there. But, he added that he was not easily intimidated. I felt that I could take care of myself. I had faced a lot worse threats than this one. As a teenager, I was robbed at gunpoint. I was stabbed in the back and left for dead. I was beaten so badly that my eyes were swollen shut. I grew up around a lot of physical violence. Although Okumoto saw risks in taking action, he also saw risks in inaction.He commented: I was concerned about my own legal liability if I did not take action. From the point of view of the DOJ [Department of Justice] and SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission], if you don’t fix the problem, you become the problem. I had potential legal risk. As Okumoto pondered the risks of both action and inaction, he reflected on the board of directors and what kind of response he might expect if he approached them directly. (See Exhibit C for a list of members of the board. ) [Exhibit C should appear about here; it is at the end of the file. ] Dooley was the only insider on the board.There were some old timers on the board—like Barry Harmon, who had earlier been CFO at ESI. But there were also a fair number of independents. Even though I was new at the company, I had a prior relationship with two of the directors. Jerry Taylor, the former CFO at Applied Materials, was a member of the audit committee. Jerry and I had worked together 25 years earlier at Fairchild. So, I had a long-standing relationship with him. Jon Tompkins, the former CEO of KLA-Tencor, was also on the board. I had known Jon from T encor days, where he had interviewed me for the CFO position.As he contemplated his next move, Okumoto thought back to an experience earlier in his career. As he told the story: I had been in a situation before where I hadn’t spoken up. I had been a CFO for another public company. I was in a situation in which I had questions on some of the accounting. But it was close enough, and I was concerned that I didn’t have enough evidence to support my reservations. I had only been with the company three months. Within four months, we had a major revenue shortfall. At that time, I made the decision not to try to cover up the revenue shortfall.But, because we had not called it to the attention of analysts earlier, we lost the confidence of the Street. At that point, the CEO and I both resigned. I made a decision then that if I ever again saw something that was close, I would act much faster. He also thought about his mother’s admonition always to do the right thing, and the advice of his mentors, who had counseled him always to ask the question—what are your obligations to others? Exhibit B: Executives and Directors of Electro Scientific Industries, Inc. Named in the Case and Their Positions (Listed in Order of Mention)Richard OkumotoChief Financial Officer (CFO) James T. â€Å"Jim† DooleyActing Chief Operating Officer (COO), early 2002 – December 2002 Chief Executive Officer (CEO), December 2002 – Don VanLuvaneeFormer CEO David F. BolenderActing CEO, early 2002 – December 2002 Chairman of the Board, December 2002 – John â€Å"Jack† Isselmann, Jr. General Counsel Mike TetsuiManager, Japanese Office Barry L. Harmon Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Director and Member of the Audit Committee Gerald F. â€Å"Jerry† TaylorDirector and Member of the Audit Committee Jon D. TompkinsDirectorExhibit C: Members of the Board of Directors, ESI Inc. , March 2003 David F. Bolender, Chairman of the Board Chairman of the Board and CEO (retired), Protocol Systems, Inc. ; President of Pacific Power and Light Co. (retired) James T. Dooley, Chief Executive Officer Barry L. Harmon (member of the Audit Committee) Senior Vice President (retired), Avocet Corp. ; formerly, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ESI Keith L. Thomson Vice President (retired), Intel Corp. ; Chair of the Board of Trustees, University of Oregon Foundation Jon D. TompkinsCEO and Chairman of the Board (retired), KLA-Tencor Corp. ; President and CEO of Spectra-Physics (retired) Vernon B. Ryles, Jr. President and CEO (retired), Poppers Supply Co. Gerald F. Taylor (member of the Audit Committee) Chief Financial Officer (retired), Applied Materials W. Arthur Porter (Chairman of the Audit Committee) Dean of the College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma Larry L. Hansen Executive Vice President (retired), Tylan General, Inc. —————————— ————– [ 2 ]. Copyright  © 2012 by the Case Research Journal and Anne T. Lawrence.The author developed this case to provide a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either the effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. An earlier version of this case was presented at NACRA’s annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, October 2011. The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Richard Okumoto and the thoughtful comments of the editor, Deborah Ettington, and three anonymous reviewers. [ 3 ]. In 2002, average annual salaries for ESI employees were $68,000 in Japan, $27,000 in Korea, and $38,000 in Taiwan (in U. S. dollars).

Power and Cultural Schools of Thought

The ‘Power’ and ‘Cultural’ Schools of Thought – A Critical Essay Introduction The ten schools of thought proposed by Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel (2009) provide an insight into different aspects of strategy formation. Mintzberg (2009) explains how we are unable to gain a complete picture of the process of strategy by simply looking at single schools alone, we must look at them all to gain the whole image. The poem the ‘Blind Men and the Elephant’, written by John Godfrey Saxe.The purpose of this essay is to evaluate and compare two schools of thought (chosen at random), the ‘power’ and ‘cultural’ schools. Analysis The ten ‘schools of thought’ are divided by Mintzberg et al (2009) into two distinct catagories. The ‘prescriptive’ schools are concerned more with how strategies should be formed and the ‘descriptive’ schools, which are more concerned with how strategies are fo rmed. The ‘power school’ is to be found in the decriptive school catagory.The influence of power on strategy formation concerning organisations can occur in two environments; the micro-environment, involving power holding parties internal to the organisation, i. e. managers, CEO’s etc. , and the macro-environment, which invoves the organisation as a single entity working with intrest groups from the external environment. It should be made clear at this point what we mean when we talk about ‘power’.French and Raven (1960) further argue that power can arise from five separate sources or bases (further explained in appendix 1); coercive power, reward power, legitimate power, referent power, and expert power. Mintzberg et al (2009) describe strategy formation in the power school as a process of negotiation, with its base discipline in political science, Kotelnikov (unknown). The eventual goal of negotiation is to form an agreement between two or more par ties whom originally may have had very different ideas about the given topic.It does not mean simply splitting the arguments down the middle, but reaching agreed goals, thorough bargaining and compromise, which will (hopefully) create positive outcomes for those involved. It is before and during this process that political influences can become prevalent. For those involved in the strategy formulation any number of ‘political games’ (Mintzberg et al (2009)) can be employed in order to affect power and influence among those involved often for personal gain or advantage.Bolman and Deal ((1997) from Mintzberg et al (2009:246) from this propose a number of points about organizational politics and among these suggest that ‘power is the most important resource’. These political games and negotiations are especially rife within the micro-environment. Once this power has been achieved Mintzberg also refers to the ‘48 Laws of Power’ written by Greene an d Elffers (1998) who having studied relevant individuals from the realms of history and present suggest a number of ways of concealing and using power for personal gain.When talking about the macro-environment negotiation becomes less of an internal affair but more so external, for example with pressure groups, suppliers and unions. In this, the macro-instance the ‘stakeholders get added to share holders and the ‘market’ gets replaced by the ‘environment’, thereby opening up the organization to a much wider array of actors and forces’ Mintzberg et al (2009:260).It is also put forward by Pfeffer and Salancik ((1978) from Mintzberg et al (2009), that under the political influences that have changed the way in which organisations operate within the external environment (through the power school) it has three strategic options available to it (further explained in appendix 2); deal with each demand as it arises, strategically withhold and disclose information and play one group against another. These three options all adapt the external environment in order to suit the needs and requirements of the organisation.The benefits of the power school allow the strongest in the organisation or the strongest organisation to survive. All sides of any occurring issues are debated and any resistance among colleagues after the decision is made is kept to a minimal. Strategy formation through the power school also allows necessary change by breaking through any obstacles that may block the way. Limitations to this school are that it uses up a great amount of energy formulating strategies and can be extremely costly. Politics can be extremely divisive and can lead to aberrations.It is also possible that no strategy is decided upon and all that happens is tactical maneuvering. Based on Mintzberg (2009). There are a number of tools available for strategy formulation within the power school (all of which are represented visually complete with advantages and disadvantages of each tool, in the appendices at the end of this paper, appendices 3 -5). The stakeholder analysis (appendix 3) is a tool used in the identification of key stakeholders and assesses their interests ‘and the ways in which these interests affect project riskiness and viability’, (Overseas Development Administration: http://www. uforic. org/gb/stake1. htm#intro). During or before the implementation of a stakeholder analysis it could also be useful to complete a (Kurt Lewin) force field analysis (appendix 4). This tool is used to; ‘investigate the balance of power involved in an issue; identify the most important players (stakeholders) and target groups for a campaign on the issue; identify opponents and allies; identify how to influence each target group’ (12Manage (unknown: http://www. 12manage. com/methods_lewin_force_field_analysis. html).Also useful within the stakeholder analysis are the internal/external and primary/seconda ry stakeholder analysis, which further help to provide a clearer picture about the positioning of an organisation’s stakeholders. Stakeholder mapping is also a very useful way of exploring power balances with the stakeholders. There are a number of approaches to stakeholder mapping which are further explained in appendix 5, these are; power / dynamism matrix (Gardener et al (1986) from 12Manage. com), power / interest matrix (Gardener et al (1986) from 12Manage. om) and power, legitimacy, urgency (Mitchell, Agle, Wood (1997) from 12Manage. com). A business example of the ‘power school’ in action can be found in Darren McCabe’s 2009 published study on a UK building society. The building society given the pseudonym Brickco, due to the retirement of the original CEO during 1996 a replacement was appointed. During the opening of the case study McCabe (2009: 158) notes that, ‘there appeared to be a struggle between the CEO and senior/middle managers over the ambiguity and contradictions that imbued the strategy discourse’.The conducted study lasted for one year and there are a number of examples of the CEO exerting his authority within the micro-environment of the organisation. After encouraging all staff to work together as a team in the July 1996 Newsletter, the CEO announced a number of changes, McCabe (2009: 159) states in relation to this, ‘as in the case of a privatized utility (Balogun and Johnson, 2004), these strategic and operational priorities were established without the involvement of managers and staff’.The ‘One Team’ strategy again seemed to be initiated alone by the CEO and also the ‘New Foundations’ program followed a similar initiation. These examples clearly identify with the CEO’s use of ‘legitimate power’ in order to set and carryout strategies of his employment along with the use of ‘political games’ in order to ensure employees work to their usual standards and also to minimize the possibility of backlash. Culture, as an aspect of management was discovered during the 1980’ due to the success of Japanese coorporations. While seemingly imitating technologies from the U.S. it was noticed that these coorporations ‘did things differently’. Mintzberg (2009: 276) writes, ‘all fingers pointed to the Japanese culture, and especially how that has been manifested in the large Japanese coorporations’. The culture school is from the descriptive category of the schools of thought (mentioned in the earier paragraphs). The ‘culture school’ has its orgins in anthropology i. e. the study of humanity and in particular cultural anthropology, ‘the study of populations based on historical records and etnographic observations (studyanthropology. rg (unknown: http://www. studyanthropology. org/types-of-anthropology)). Kotelnikov (unknown: http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide /crosscuttings/cultural_intelligence. html) defines culture as; ‘Broadly and simply put, â€Å"culture† refers to a group or community with which you share common experiences that shape the way you understand the world’. A more involved definition of the term from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute (2001), notes that culture/s can be formed around language, arts and sciences, thought, spirituality, social activity and interaction.Bringing our definition back towards our strategy school focus, corporate culture is defined as; ‘collective behavior of people using common corporate vision, goals, shared values, beliefs, habits, working language, systems and symbols’ (Kotelnikov (unknown: http://www. 1000ventures. com/business_guide/crosscuttings/cultural_intelligence. html)). An individual does not suddenly become a part of the culture of an organisation; it is a process of acculturation which itself while taking place is not visually noticeable.With in this strategy school, strategy formulation is viewed as a social process and is based on the understandings and beliefs of individuals involved with the strategy formulation process. Due to its cultural beginnings, dramatic change in strategy is discouraged but continuation is very much encouraged. ‘Strategy takes the form of perspective above all, more than positions, rooted in collective intentions and reflected in patterns by which the deeply embedded resources, of the organization are protected and used for competitive advantage’, based on Mintzberg (2009) sourced from fellner. reinhard. com (unknown: (http://fellner. reinhard. om/different_strategies. htm). Benefits of the ‘culture school’ are that it ‘emphasises the crucial role that social processes, beliefs and values are playing in decision-making and in strategy-formation’, based on Mintzberg (2009) sourced from 12Manage. com (unknown: http://www. 12manage. com/methods_mintzberg_te n_schools_of_thought. html). Also this approach assists in the process business mergers and acquisitions by bridging cultural gaps. Limitations are that cultural strategies are not at suited to radical change and it provides very little information about how the situation should emerge following the strategy implementation.When approaching strategy formation from this cultural prospective it maybe appropriate to bridge a national or even religious gap in order for the formation to occur. Hofstede ((1980) from 12Manage. com) published a framework showing five areas or ‘dimensions’ of difference, value perspectives between cultures; power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long term versus short term orientation (further explanation of these terms can be found in appendix 6).The Ashridge Mission Model (also used in the ‘strategic school’) can also be used in the formation of strategies from a cultural perspective. Developed by Andrew Campbell after a study by the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, this model allows clear thinking for those involved; allows for discussion points with colleagues about the mission; the model can be used to not only create new missions but also analyse existing missions.The model contains four separate elements that together provide the foundation for a strong mission / strategy formation, these being; purpose, strategy, values and policies and behavioral standards (the Ashridge Mission Model can be found in appendix 7). Conclusion It is widely considered that the power and culture schools are opposites when considering strategy formulation. Power school strategy formation involves those stakeholders who hold power within the business, whereas in the culture schools strategy formation is unifying among all stakeholders.Political influence and individual concerns shape strategy formation in the power school whereas organisational culture s hapes cultural strategy formation. Although not the case one hundred percent of the time power strategy is capable of allowing radical change whether it is necessary or not, while cultural strategy is unlikely to lead to much change in strategy at all. Cultural strategy is notoriously vague when determining how a situation should eventually conclude whereas goals in a power strategy are clearly defined (if only to the creator/s of the strategy as in the case of Brickco).The Sloan Management Review (1999), sourced from 1000Ventures. com, read that champions of the power school include people who like power, politics and conspiracy, particularly the French. In the culture school champions include people who like the social, the collective and the spiritual, particularly in Scandinavia and Japan. Appendices * Appendix 1 – based on the French and Raven (1959), Five Sources of Power Located at; Reference: ChangingMinds. org. , (unknown), French and Raven’s Five Forms of Pow er, [Online], http://changingminds. org/explanations/power/french_and_raven. htm , accessed October 2010. â€Å"Coercive powerThis is the power to force someone to do something against their will. It is often physical although other threats may be used. It is the power of dictators, despots and bullies. Coercion can result in physical harm, although its principal goal is compliance. Demonstrations of harm are often used to illustrate what will happen if compliance is not gained. Coercion is also the ultimate power of all governments. Although it is often seen as negative, it is also used to keep the peace. Parents coerce young children who know no better. A person holds back their friend who is about to step out in front of a car.Other forms of power can also be used in coercive ways, such as when a reward or expertise is withheld or referent power is used to threaten social exclusion. † â€Å"Reward power One of the main reasons we work is for the money we need to conduct o ur lives. There are many more forms of reward — in fact anything we find desirable can be a reward, from a million dollar yacht to a pat on the back. Reward power is thus the ability to give other people what they want, and hence ask them to do things for you in exchange. Rewards can also be used to punish, such as when they are withheld.The promise is essentially the same: do this and you will get that. † â€Å"Legitimate power Legitimate power is that which is invested in a role. Kings, policemen and managers all have legitimate power. The legitimacy may come from a higher power, often one with coercive power. Legitimate power can often thus be the acceptable face of raw power. A common trap that people in such roles can fall into is to forget that people are obeying the position, not them. When they either fall from power or move onto other things, it can be a puzzling surprise that people who used to fawn at your feet no long do so. â€Å"Referent power This is th e power from another person liking you or wanting to be like you. It is the power of charisma and fame and is wielded by all celebrities (by definition) as well as more local social leaders. In wanting to be like these people, we stand near them, hoping some of the charisma will rub off onto us. Those with referent power can also use it for coercion. One of the things we fear most is social exclusion, and all it takes is a word from a social leader for us to be shunned by others in the group. † â€Å"Expert powerWhen I have knowledge and skill that someone else requires, then I have Expert power. This is a very common form of power and is the basis for a very large proportion of human collaboration, including most companies where the principle of specialization allows large and complex enterprises to be undertaken. Expert power is that which is used by Trades Unions when they encourage their members to strike for better pay or working conditions. It is also the power of the s pecialist R&D Engineer when they threaten to leave unless they get an exorbitant pay rise or a seat by the window. * Appendix 2 – 3 strategies available to organisations in the macro-environment Located at: Reference; Mintzberg, H. Ahlstrand, B. and Lampel, J. , (2009), Strategy Safari; The Complete Guide Through the Wilds of Strategic Management, 2nd Edition, page 261, FT Prentice Hall, Great Britain. Also includes references to; Pfeffer, J. and Salancik, G. R. (1978), The External Control of Organisatins; A Resource Dependance Perspective, Harper and Row, New York. An Organisation Can Simply Deal With Each Demand As It Arises.This is another example of Cyert and March’s (1963) sequential attention to goals, but at the level of macro power. Rather than attempting to resolve opposing demands in one fell swoop, the organisation deals with them inturn, for example worrying about pressing financial demands and then turning to concerns about market share (96). An Organ isation Can Strategically Withhold and Disclose Information. In this way it can manipulate expectations and shape outcomes. ‘A group is satisfied relative to what it expects to get [also] by what the group as obtained in the past and by what competing groups obtained.Thus, employees may be willing to forego pay increases when the company is near bankruptcy and suppliers, creditors, owners are also suffering. If the employees found that the owners were secretly profiting they would be quite irate. It is in the organizations interest to keep each group or organisation feel it is getting relatively the best deal. Knowledge of what each group is getting is best kept secret (96). An Organisation Can Play One Group against the Other. For example, ‘the demands of public employees for higher wages can be juxtaposed with the demands of local citizens’ groups for lower taxes’ (97). Appendix 3 – The Stakeholder Analysis ‘A stakeholder analysis is an appro ach that is frequently used to identify and investigate the force field (appendix 4) formed by any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the acheivement of the objective of the organisation’ (12Manage (unknown: http://www. 12manage. com/methods_stakeholder_analysis. html) A visual example of a stakeholder analysis can be found below (this is not a complete guide, only a start to show as an example). Financial Community Suppliers Owners Board of Directors Project / Organisation Government EmployeesCustomers Competitors Image 1 Benefits and Limitations Benefits; the stakeholder analysis allows for a clearer insight into the relationship with stakeholders and the groups which the individual is involved with. Also it allows for a clearer picture of how larger a part of the organisation and how much power the stakeholder holds and inturn the the priorities and associated risks of the individual. This can help in the formation of better strategies and decisions and a lso lead to a better acceptance of these strategies within the organisation (adapted from 12Manage (unknown)).Limitations; the stakeholder analysis should be conducted consistantly due to the nature of power changes of stakeholders within organisations. It is the prespective of the management that ultimately decides the position of each stakeholder. It is almost impossible to completely satisfy the wants and needs of all stakeholders which allows for a couple of potential strategies; focus on the leading stakeholder group and do what is possile for the others or try to satisfy all demands according their weight or stakeholder value perspective (adapted from 12Manage (unknown)). Appendix 4 – Lewin’s Force Field Analysis Steps to follow when conducting a forcefield analysis (Valuebasedmanagement. net (unknown); 1. Describe the situation you are currently in 2. Describe the situation you want to be in (desired) 3. Identify what will happen if no change occurs 4. List the forces affecting the movement towards the desired situation 5. List the forces preventing change towards the desired situation 6. Investigate all these forces and decide if they can be changed 7. Apply a scale and decide upon the score of each factor e. g. 1 = very weak, 10=very strong 8.List the factors, driving forces on the left and opposing factors on the right 9. Determine if change is possible 10. Discuss the appropriate action i. e. making opposing factors weaker or strengthening the driving forces 11. Allow for the possibiity that changing any factor could create new factors or change the effect of others. A visual example of the force field analysis Driving Force Resisting Force Desired Position Current Situation Resistant Factors Driving Factors Resisting Force Driving Force Resisting Force Driving Force Resisting Force Driving Force Resisting Force Image 2 Appendix 5 – Stakeholder Mapping The three examples of stakeholder mapping shown below have been sourced from 12Manage. com (http://www. 12manage. com/methods_stakeholder_mapping. html), however the reference to their origianal authors are below the images. The power / dynamism matrix assess the level of power of each stakeholder and also the dynamism of their stance in order to ascertain the amount of political effort that should be put their way. High Low Dynamism Power Low A Fewest Problems B Unpredictable but manageble High C Powerful but predictable D Greatest danger or oppertunitiesPower / Dynamism Matrix (Gardener et al (1986)) The power / interest matrix assess how much power a stakeholder has and how much interest in the organisations strategies they are likely to show, thus allowing for a measure of what kind of relationship to have with the stakeholder. Level of Interest Low High Power Low A Minimal Effort B Keep Informed High C Keep Satisfied D Key Players Power / Interrest Matrix (Gardener et al (1986)) The power, legitimacy and urgency model places stakeholder behavior into on e of seven areas depending on the combination of the characters named in the model title.Below is quoted from 12Manage. com (unknown: http://www. 12manage. com/methods_stakeholder_mapping. html) * POWER of the stakeholder to influence the organisation. * LEGITIMACY of the relationship and actions of the stakeholder with the organisation in terms of desirability, properness or appropriateness. * URGENCY of the requirements being set for the organisation by a stakeholder in terms of criticality and time-sensitivity for the stakeholder. The stakeholders who show only one of the three characteristics (number 1, 2 and 3, in the picture (below)) are defined as the Latent Stakeholders.They are sub-classified further as dormant, discretionary or demanding stakeholders. The stakeholders who show two out 3 of the characteristics (number 4, 5 and 6 in the picture (below)) are defined as Expectant Stakeholders. They are sub-classified further as dominant, dangerous or dependant stakeholders. Th e stakeholders showing all 3 characteristics are called Definitive Stakeholders. POWER (dominant) 4. LEGITIMACY 1. (dormant) (discretionary) (definitive) 6. 5. 7. 2. (dependent) (dangerous) URGENCY 3. (demanding) Power / Legitimacy / Urgency (Mitchell, Agle, Wood (1997))Appendix 6 – Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Reference; 12Manage (unknown: http://www. 12manage. com/methods_hofstede. html) * Power Distance – the degree of inequality amoung people which the population of a country considers as normal * Individualism Vs Collectivism – the extent to which people fee they are supposed to take care for, or to be cared for by themselves, their families r organisations they belong to * Masculinity Vs Femininity – the extent to which a culture is conducive to dominance, assertiveness and acquisition of things.Versus a culture which is more cuducive to people, feelings and quality of life. * Uncertinty Avoidance – the degree to which people in a co untry prefer structure over unstructured situations * Long term Vs Short term Orientation – Long term: values oriented towards the future, like saving and persistance. Short term: values oriented towards the past and present, like respect for tradition and fullfilling social obligations. Appendix 7 – Ashridge Mission Model Reference; 12Manage (unknown: http://www. 12manage. com/methods_campbell_ashridge_mission_model. tml) Steps: These are the ten questions by which you can measure the quality of a mission statement. * Purpose 1. Does the statement describe an inspiring purpose that avoids playing the selfish interests of the stakeholder – shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers? 2. Does the statement describe the company’s responsibility to its stakeholders? * Strategy 3. Does the statement describe a business domain and explain why it is attractive? 4. Does the statement describe the strategic positioning that the company prefers in a way that hel ps to identify the sort of competitive advantage it will look for? Values 5. Does the statement identify values that link the organisations purpose and act as beliefs that employees can feel proud of? 6. Do the values ‘resonate’ with and reinforce the organisations strategy? * Behavioral Standards 7. Does the statement describe important behavioral standards that serve as beacons of the strategy and the values? 8. Are the behavioral standards described in such a way that individual employees can judge whether they have behaved correctly or not? * Character 9. Does the statement give a portrait of the company and does it capture the culture of the organisation? 10.Is the statement easy to read? Benefits of this model; * Combines strategic and cultural motivators to guide an organisation * The model is particularly useful to ensure that a company has a clear Mission AND it has employees with a strong Sense of Mission * The model emphasises the need for a fit between strat egy and values. Aditionally the Ashridge Model recognises the importance of the link between organisational shared values and the private values of employees and managers. * Improves decision making. Raises energy levels. Reduces the need for supervision. Promotes constructive behavior.Increases satisfaction and loyalty. * Puts corporate purpose as the corner stone and starting point of a mission. Limitations of this model; * Having inappropriate values or an inappropriate sense of mission is a powerful negative influence on employee behavior. * Shared values and sense of mission are often extremly difficult to change and can become an obstacle for change. * Strongly shared values or a strong sense of mission can lead to an insularity that becomes xenophobic. * Creating a mission statement is often a time – and resource – consuming process. Assumptions of the model; Committed employees and teams perform more efficiently and more effectively than appathetic employees an d teams do. * People connect themselves more easily to values than to abstract strategic concepts. * A mission must be clearly defined and managed. An intuitive understanding of mission is not enough. (EMPLOYEE) VALUES Employee’s personal values PURPOSE Why the company exists (COMPANY) VALUES What the company believes in STRATEGY The competitive position and distictive competance STANDARDS AND BEHAVIORS The policies and behavioral patterns that underpin the distinctive competance and the value system Ashridge Mission Model (Cambell (1992)