Adaptations and Marketing Strategies Used by Oil Firms in Nigeria

Introduction Nigeria has plans for increasing the production of oil to about 40 million. Nigeria is the chief oil producing country in Africa and is ranked the seventh internationally (NNPC 2004).The federal government aim at achieving 50% of the constituents in oil by 2010.Oil and other natural recourses are seen as national assets.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Adaptations and Marketing Strategies Used by Oil Firms in Nigeria specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, research indicates that this is not true in case of Nigeria. Birdsall and Subramanian (2004, p.77) explain that many developing countries rich in natural resources and oil have a per capita income that is less than 1 dollar per day. Such countries have poor health indices, high infant mortality rates, low life expectancy and high levels of literacy. They further explain that the fluctuations in international prices result in dangerous econ omic cycles that make it difficult for the government to plan for development especially, if they use their money wisely during times of economic boom and run dry when there is a fall in oil prices resulting in an economic bust. According to Birdsall and Subramanian (2004, p.84), there is a Dutch disease when resources are discovered that makes the economy strong. The currency becomes strong which results in products being expensive in the global market that leads to less revenue and low export. This makes the economy suffer from economic slump. There are inadequately strong political and economic institutions in countries rich in resources. Researchers further show that countries that have resources like oil should adopt marketing strategies to improve on their performance (Obadina 2003, p.11). Petroleum is the leading mineral produced in Nigeria. It is largely established in the Niger Delta that is made up of Ondo and Imo states, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Delta states. Oil exploratio n in Nigeria began in 1938. Today, Nigeria is the chief oil producer and exporter in Africa. Petroleum provides 70% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange. Nigeria accounts for 25 billion barrels out of the 66 billion barrels reserved by Africa. However, Nigeria has more oil and gas deposits but this has resulted in negative impacts consequently making the exploration of oil a curse rather than a blessing.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This study has an intention of expanding the use of marketing strategies to improve on the performance of oil industry in Nigeria. To achieve objectives and goals that have been set by the organization, an organization should implement and design various marketing strategies. Various authors view marketing strategies in various perspectives for instance: It is seen as a matrix to plan, promote, produce, and mega market ideas, services, and goods that are applicable to clients and customers. It has been identified that Nigerians oil producing companies were not entrepreneurial and this was attributed to several factors: Inadequate trained manpower, poor development of infrastructure, and inadequate capital to employ marketing strategies in their oil companies. Problem Statement Some oil firms in Nigeria have been experiencing low sales from the sale of oil. Nigerians through occupy Nigeria are protesting against the removal of the subsidy claiming that this will affect the people of Nigeria, for instance, there might be a hiking of prices that will result in a commensurate increase in the cost of production of services and goods that will later be transferred to the community, leading to high rates of inflation. They claim that before the removal of the subsidy, the rise in the cost of production remained the same. The outcomes of this research will enable future research in this area, as well as will identify the strategies of marketing that will be used by oil firms in Nigeria and the impacts of the marketing strategies used to improve on the sale of oil. Purpose of the Study The aim of this research is to analyze strategic management as a way to success for oil firms in Nigeria. The majority of research that has been carried out focused on the environmental effects of oil exploration and exploitation. Even though exploitation of oil in Nigeria has resulted in adverse positive impacts on the economy of Nigeria, much has to be researched about marketing strategies used by oil firms in Nigeria to market oil products. Aims and Objective of the Study These objectives are formulated for the current study to be carried out: To evaluate the marketing strategies used by oil firms in Nigeria to Market their products. To evaluate an oil firm that has benefited from the use of marketing strategies in marketing of oil. To assess the efficiency of the marketing strategies in marketing of oil in Nigeria Research Questions This research will address the following questions:Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on Adaptations and Marketing Strategies Used by Oil Firms in Nigeria specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More What are some of the marketing strategies used in marketing of oil products in Nigeria? What is the effectiveness of the use of these strategies in improving oil performance? Which oil firm has highly benefited from the use of these strategies? Literature review The expansion of oil producing companies in Nigeria is in relation with factors affecting competition. The expansion in companies for oil products in Nigeria is not in relation with the increase in awareness of gas and oil services to the interested clients in the public. The oil industry in Nigeria ids believed to have a type of corporate performance for the past years to attain a significant market share (Okwor 1992, p.8). There re various def initions of marketing strategies reflecting various aspects (Li et al 2000, p.6). Marketing strategy enable a company to utilize resources of an organization so as to achieve its aims and objectives. This will involve the use of environmental factors and marketing mix (Li et al 2000 p.20). The purpose of marketing strategy is to find the strength, nature, and the relationship between the environmental factors and marketing mix in a certain circumstances (Jain and Punj 1997, p.37). According to McDonald (1992, p.37), the aim of the marketing strategy in an organization is to defend, build, maintain, and establish its competitive advantage. The development of a marketing strategy requires the following: It needs one to have intensive knowledge of the business. It requires managers to have judgment, intuition and experience (Brownlie Spender 1990, p.42). One should have wide information about strategic management (Berry, 1997). This research will determine strategic management used by the oil industries in Nigeria, the effect of ecological factors on the marketing strategies and the efficiency of these marketing strategies. There are several marketing tools that can be used by marketers in marketing their products for instance: megamarketing (Kortler 1996, p.11), and the 4Ps of marketing. Many managers use the marketing concept to perform various services of a firm (Kotler Connor 1997, p.15). Marketing is a very important aspect that helps many organizations to achieve their goals and deal with challenges facing the business organization (Kotler Connor 1997, p.15). According to Brownlie and Spender (2005, p.38) strategic marketing involves making preferences. The method is used to help managers to in achieving their methods and goals. Woodward (2004) states that strategic management is a process of forecasting the future and coming up with appropriate procedures to enable one achieve his goals. Methodology The research method that will be used for this resea rch is a cross sectional survey. I chose this method because it can handle a large population. This survey method will be used to assess the function of strategic marketing in the survival and expansion of oil firms in Nigeria in order to attain the desired outcomes. I will choose 350 respondents from the target population of 2500 people through random sampling.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More We will also use questionnaires to collect information from employees of oil companies in Nigeria. The stakeholders to be interviewed include: employees of oil firms in Nigeria, leaders and residents of other oil companies in the country (Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team 1999, p.288). I will present data that I will analyze by use of frequency tables, descriptive statistics, correlation coefficients, and analysis of variance. Descriptive statistics will help me to analyze the features of the population as shown by the sample. It will also indicate if the marketing strategies used were effective in the oil industries in Nigeria. The target population for my research is employees of oil producing companies in Nigeria. An Overview of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited Shell Company started its business in Nigeria in the year 1937 and acquired a license of operation in 1938. It discovered its first oil field in 1958 at Oloibiri in Niger Delta and started to export oil in 1958 (Oshineye 2000, p.23). It is the largest fossil fuel company in Nigeria. Its major activity is exploration of oil and physical production. The exploration of gas and crude oil by the shell company in Nigeria has various activities that include the use of explosives and dynamites. Explosives are usually exploded from the earth through dry land and water bodies. This directly affects fauna and aquatic life (Prince 1993, p.230). It is claimed that the exploitation of oil by this company has negative effects like negative influence on the capability of mammals and sea birds to procreate. According to Sandberg (1996, p.12), the transportation process of the exploded natural gas and crude oil leads to gas leakages and oil spillage. It has also been claimed that oil production and exploration by Shell Oil Company has resulted in the abuse and violation of cultural, social and economic rights. Studies carried out indicated that this company uses marketing strategies li ke the market mix to improve on its performance. Discussion and Analysis The following are the techniques that I will use in analyzing information I have collected and the questions that will be answered: Data Editing This technique will be used to make sure that all information collected is monitored to avoid questionable and missing information. This will be maintained by monitoring technique to help detect any irregularity. Visual and manual will be utilized in editing before we computerize the collected information (Garrity Levings 1990, p. 140). This technique will also help us to code the questions. Data Cleaning We will use a computer to check the collected information. We will also use range checks that will help us to notice and correct any unacceptable values, to note and find any unusual values. Additionally, consistency checks will be used to determine every pair of interlinked information. They will be used to identify and rectify impermissible combinations, to note, a nd find strange combinations, and to determine the reasonableness of joint distributions. Anticipated Problems While carrying out this research, problems may arise when collecting information. For instance, one method that will be used for collecting information is questionnaire and the respondents may not be willing to answer my questions. Some of them may be illiterate so they may have problems in understanding the questions on the questionnaire. The possible solution to this problem is to approach individuals to read, understand, and request them to answer the questions. This may affect my entire research because the researcher may not be able to collect adequate information for my research. Anticipated Timetable Time Activity April Initial research Literature review May Completion of methodology June Completion of primary research July Analysis Final writing Company Liaison and Project Management In addition to my dissertation, I have been asked to fin d the possible solutions to the problems resulting from oil exploration. We have also agreed that I will visit the company twice a week. I will review the progress of my research with my company supervisor by frequently visiting the company. List of References Birdsall, N Subramanian, A 2004, Saving Iraq from it oil. Web. Brownlie, D. Spender, J.C 1995, ‘Managerial judgment in strategic marketing: Some preliminary thoughts’, Managerial Decision, vol.33, no.6, pp.39-50. Garrity, S Levings, S 1990, ‘Effects of an oil spill on the gastropods of a tropical intertidal reef flat’, Marine Environmental Research, vol.30, no.2, pp.119-153. Jain, S.C Punj, G 1997, ‘Developing marketing Practices: A framework Approach’, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, vol.7, no.3, pp.34-42. Kotler, P. Connor, R.A 1997, ‘Marketing of professional services’, Journal of Marketing, vol.5, no.4, pp.12-18.84 Li, S, Kinman, R, Duan, Y Edwards, J 2000, â⠂¬ËœComputer-based support for marketing strategy development’, European Journal of Marketing, vol.34, no.5/6. Mba, C 1995, ‘Mineral resources exploitation in Nigeria: the need for effective physical and environmental planning’, Paper presented at the 26th Annual Conference of Nigerian Institute of Town of Planners, Held at Hill-Station Hotel, Nigeria, October 1995. Mc Donald, M, 1992, Marketing plans: How to prepare them, how to use them, Butter worth- Heinemann, Oxford. Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team, 1999, Nigeria’s threatened environment: a national profile. Web. Obadina, T 2003, Oil wealth as a curse for Africa’s poor. Web. Okwor, K 1992, ‘Oil industry and the Nigeria economy’, The Bullion, vol.9, no.3, July-Sept. Prince, R 1993, ‘Petroleum spill bioremediation in marine environments’, Critical Rev. Micobiol, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 217-242. Salu, A 1999a, ‘Securing environmental protection in the Nigerian oil industry’, Modern Practice Journal of Finance Investment Law, vol.3, no.2, pp.222-260. Sandberg, EC 1996, ‘Development of remote sensing for coast guard applications’, Remote Sensing, vol.7, no.28, pp.12. Woodward, R 2004, ‘Technological expansion: The interaction between diversification strategy and organizational capacity’, Journal of Management Studies, vol.33, no.3, November, pp.701-712. This dissertation on Adaptations and Marketing Strategies Used by Oil Firms in Nigeria was written and submitted by user Emmett Hewitt to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. 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Subject Specialism Reflection Essay I have a degree in Computer Networking and Communication. Since then I have been continually developing my subject knowledge via various mediums. I have been teaching my subject specialism for a number of years, and in that time I have gained tremendous amount of knowledge that has helped me to deliver more confidently to make the teaching and learning experience more enjoyable for me as a tutor and for the learners. The first point to mention here is the teaching observations they have helped me to plan and deliver my sessions according to the national standards. This has enabled me to demonstrate my knowledge of the subject area. I also attended one day course on Usability and accessibility on 7th February 2007 at The McDonald St Paul Hotel. The part that interested more was to learn and understand about the various challenges disable people face when using websites. Details of course in appendix. †¢ Disability Discrimination Act and legal obligations †¢ Overview of disabilities and assistive technologies †¢ Overview of standards and guidelines †¢ How to incorporate accessibility into an organisation †¢ Benefits of accessible websites This led me to investigate this issues further. The following website was quite useful: http://www.tiresias.org/ , it provides lots of guidance on how ICT can be made accessible for specialist use. I need to learn more regarding latest software and advance courses. I also need to deliver to more advance level of learners. An opportunity has arisen for me to develop my skills to do this. I shall be attending an advanced Excel course in a couple of weeks time organised Crown Enterprise and Training. I feel that in some areas of ICT I already have the requisite skills so it is important that I deliver higher end IT courses which would be more in line with my level of knowledge and skills. Otherwise my experience will only be of teaching at lower level of IT courses and very little experience of teaching higher level and that will not help my long term plans of teaching higher-level courses. I was actually a member of the British Computer Society, http://www.bcs.org/ , for a period of time, though this is no longer the case I do however continue to access their website regularly to update my knowledge on the latest developments in the computer industry as it relates particularly to using technology for learning and for professional development. I have developed myself academically and professionally through the first year of the PGCE course. I need to build on this foundation in the second year and extend both my pedagogic and professional skills. One of the key components that should help to do this would be the ICT module taught on the course. From the content of the module I look forward to learning how to design a web page. This should enhance my capacity in delivering my specialist subject area of IT by exploring the idea of using a web page to deliver part of my course/courses. I shall explore various websites for developing web pages and undertake any training that might become available. I also intend to develop my knowledge about learning to use Apple Mac in the first instance and then hopefully to apply this knowledge in order to teach Graphic Design. This is quite a challenging target and I would need to tap into all the available resources to achieve this. I need to identify some interactive websites and online learning materials that would allow me to enhance my professional and pedagogical capacities further. The important lesson for me to learn is as suggested by Hughes and Kennewell (2007, p.100) is to approach ICT so that â€Å" what becomes increasingly important is not so much what you know about a topic, but your willingness to learn new skills, to be open to advice and not to hide your ignorance of relevant knowledge. Regular reading of educational, professional and hobby literature in ICT will be important throughout your teaching careers, as well as attending local, regional and national conferences.† References British Computer Society, 2008. Professional Development. [online] (updated 5 May 2008) Available at: http://www.bcs.org/ [accessed 6 May 2008] Hughes Tiresias, 2008- Making ICT accessible for blind and partially sighted. [online](updated 10 May 2008) Available at: http://www.tiresias.org/ [accessed 11 May 2008]

GE Organizational Structure Analysis

GE Organizational Structure Analysis 1. Introduction This essay identifies GE on the life-cycle chart during the transition from Jack Welch to Jeff Immelt as CEO. It also addresses the changes he made to its organizational structures, thereby achieving his goals. Furthermore, highlighting the risks and trade-offs accompanied with those changes. Finally, this essay also gives recommendations to the transportation department of GE for the new Hybrid project. 2. Life-cycle Source: Adapted from Robert E. Quinn and Kim Cameron, Organizational lifecycle and Shifting Criteria of effectiveness: Some Preliminary Evidence, Management Science 29 (1983), 33-51: and Larry E. Greiner, Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow, Harvard Business Review 50 (July-August 1972), 37-46 (Cited in Organizational Theory and Design Daft et al, 2010) In terms of structure, GE was focused on having close relationship with all members of staff, with small company type thinking where everybody was on first name calling basis. In a speech by Jack Welch in his final management meeting he stressed the following, Fight like hell to keep the small company spirit, involve everyone, reward broadly celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate! Hate bureaucracy, hate it every day and dont be afraid to use the word hate, laugh at bureaucrats and get rid of Layers make fun of layers, joke about layers. They slow, they insulate, and they are what cheap people do in lieu of pay raises for people. (Jack Welch, 2000) As for products and services, Jack  Welch shifted GE business from purely manufacturing to financial services through numerous acquisitions. A list of GE products include Aviation, lighting, electric distribution, media and entertainment, energy, oil and gas, finance- consumer, finance- business, rail, water, healthcare. Reward and control systems in GE where extensive, tailored to product and department. The reward system was greatly differentiated by Jack Welch and he did so mainly based on performance and those who failed where fired from the company. Jack Welch differentiated employees by implementing pay for performance matrices applied to all GE staff where he grade staff from outstanding to unacceptable and bonuses were based on these ratings. Any who fell below par were eliminated from the company. (Jim Pinto, 2007) The main focus and goal of the company is to maintain their reputation as well as complete organization. The stress on reputation was also paramount in GE a quote from Jack Welch the retiring GEO attests to that fact. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Just someone doing something stupid from a legal point and bringing tarnish to the company and destroying themselves and their families in the process (Jack Welch, 2000). Top management style means team approach, attack bureaucracy. As earlier quoted we see the emphasis on attack of bureaucracy and the team approach encouraged by the then CEO Jack Welch. Organization reached stage maturity and may encounter periods of temporary decline. Figure 2 (Taken from investorguide.com) acts as evidence showing the company stocks at a decline from 2001 when Jeff Immelt took over as CEO from Jack Welch. This was as a result of external factors such as the post internet bubble stock market drop and the downturn in the economy which resulted in the drop of confidence of investors in big organizations especially after the post Enron scam. Figure 2 GE Stock Chart (Taken from investorguide.com) Need for revitalization-The decline of stocks and profits in GE indicated a need for revitalization in the company. The Company shares was trading at $23 compared to its $60 in August 2000 ,and the modest increase in profits on revenues by 7% compared to the double digits delivered by the former CEO. There was a need therefore to improve company performance and this could not be accomplished by replicating the same strategy of his predecessor. He therefore embarked on a change in strategy focusing on organic growth through technological leadership, commercial excellence and global expansion. 3. Immelts goals It is apparent that in the year 2000 after Jack Welch retired from GE, Jeff Immelt who was elected by the board members of the company became the new CEO. However, at the same time, the global economy was experiencing a significant downturn, which exerted some detrimental influences on GE. As a result, Immelt did not have an easy situation and besides, he tried to combat the economic problems. Most importantly, he could not copy the business strategy used by Jack Welch his predecessor since the economic environment had changed significantly in the last several years. Generally speaking, Immelt wanted to make a big revolution to the company and besides, Brady (2005) found that Immelt had decided to make GE become an innovative and creative company rather than a process-oriented one. Besides, GE had to shift its attention from cost-cutting to develop new products, improve services and open up new markets. In order to achieve this goal, GE should make a host of changes, particularly in four areas. Specifically, in terms of the organic growth, the most famous action was the imagination breakthrough (IB) which can generate 100milllion dollars in new business during some years and took GE into a new line of business or markets (Prokesch, 2008). After that time, GE developed some famous and successful IBs, such as EVO and GML. Furthermore, Immelt wanted the company to be innovative and creative. Consequently, in 2002, GE began to engaging in new fields, such as oil and gas technology, water technology as well as paying much attention to the research and development. The research group found that some certain areas with the potentials to bring huge profits to GE should be taken into consideration by GE, such as biotechnology. Despite the organic growth, Immelt also hoped GE enter into a stable growth trajectory. As a result, the concept of Ecomagination materialized, since it is a huge business opportunity and most importantly, it is an immerging trend in the economy which can bring GE sustainable and long-term growth rather than only a few months. Immelt announced in 2005 that GE had prepared to focus its future to the eco-friendly technology, such as clean water and clean energy. Makower (2005) also found that almost every year, GE dedicates a vast amount of money in cleaner technologies, thereby developing some eco-friendly products. Moreover, GE tried its best to reduce the greenhouse emission by 1% as well as make some alternative energy, such as hybrid-dual-fuel, which can bring huge profits to GE and improve its reputation in the global market. The third area which Immelt wanted to focus on is the development of infrastructures. After setting his goal, Immelt invested a large amount of money in upgrading the RD facilities and set up some research centers in other countries, including Shanghai and Munich. Furthermore, GE expanded its emerging market in China, India, and Africa. GE also gave priority to the marketing. Brady (2005) made a definition to the marketing; a companys marketing group should pay attention to understanding the market needs and meet customers demands rather than just create slogans for the products. 4. Changes in Organizational Structure GE underwent a change in the basic structure of the organization in several aspects. Specifically, The Global Research Center agenda became more long term oriented rather than focus on short-term product development as it had in the past; the GRCs agenda became more oriented towards the long-term. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Besides, the organization had a more commercially oriented perspective to its decisions; Immelt wanted the organization to turn its attention to the marketplace and to bring in a more commercially oriented perspective to its decisions. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Furthermore, Increase in Human Resources by the reinstatement of chief marketing officer role formally abolished. In one of Immelts first appointment, Beth Comstock was named GEs chief marketing officer, a position Welch had abolished decades earlier. (Bartlett et al, 2008). Moreover, The external recruitment of human resources a formally uncommon practice in GE. Because of the shortage of internal talent, many of these marketing leaders had to be recruited from the outside, an uncommon practice at GE. (Bartlett et al, 2008). The formation of commercial council and experienced commercial leadership program are to monitor and drive change and the slowdown of job rotations, so that the mangers can develop more in depth market and technological knowledge. Immelt also encouraged an innovative nature in his employees and to take more risks and possibly fail, which was contrary to the immaculate completion of objectives formerly encouraged in Jack Welchs era. 5. Trade-offs In order to implement the shift in strategic focus from the interior to marketing, Immelt realigned the human resource by recruiting marketing leaders from outside to compensate the lack of internal talent and forming the Experienced Commercial Leadership Program to integrate newcomers into GEs culture and system. In terms of global expansion, which is also one of the Immelts strategies, Comte increased the Transportation marketing staff by 18 people. These implementations led to extra investment in terms of increasing personnel and training newcomers. On the other hand, instead of operating efficiency and cost-cutting, Immelt focused on technology leadership by upgrading RD facility, upping RD budget 14% and authorizing two Global Research Centers in Shanghai and Munich. The change caused higher costs and more resources required in terms of RD. Rather than focusing on short-term RD as it had before, GE concentrated mainly on the long term. Furthermore, as one of Immelts management styles, spending longer on developing products is prior to acquiring companies for technology, compared to previously consistent growth primarily through acquisitions. Therefore, the result required longer time to reflect on profit. Immelt slowed the job rotation in order to develop growth leaders with deeper understanding in expertise such as market and technological knowledge. Moreover, the evaluation and reward processes which had focused on flawless and short-term execution were adjusted in order to encourage employees to take risks. As a result, although improving professional skills and innovation, these changes led to lower operating efficiency. 6. Risks In terms of earning per share, the average growth per annum from 1981 to 2000 as Welch was the CEO remained 23%, while only 7% from 2001 to 2009 when Immelt changed the strategic focus. Furthermore, focusing on long-term, more modernized and more limited RD projects led to larger uncertainty of the business, which might be risky due to its innovation and unknown market acceptability. Therefore, although these changes represent a new era of GE, shareholders might lose their faith of the company. On the other hand, one of the GEs major divisions is GE capital services. From late 1980s, GE Capital Services increased largely and by 2000 it accounted for almost half of the total sales of GE Consolidated. However, Immelt put more emphasis back on GE Industrial, and the operating profit fell overwhelmingly from US$6,593 in 2004 to US$2344 in 2009. (GE Annual Report, 2009) There was a symbiotic relation between GE Industrial and GE Capital Service. As Jack Welch was CEO, the main strategy of growing industrial division was acquisition because remaining profit of GE industrial enabled GE to be ranked as industrial company so that GE Capital Services could borrow at cheap rates and lend at higher rates, the fact how GECS increased its revenue. Immelt, nevertheless, abandoned the strategy of acquisition and upgraded the RD budget in order to enhance GE industrial because he wanted to make GE as a research-based and innovative enterprise. This move led to a collapse of the balance betw een GE Industrial and GECS and might cause potential risk in GE because GECS accounted for more than 40% sales revenue of total. (Froud, 2005) 7. Transportation recommendation Besides the EVO, GE also prepared to focus its attention to the hybrid project since it is the perfect candidate to fit into the Ecomagination project which GE just announced and committed to save the environment. Hybrid was a project which aimed to reduce the emission and captures the energy generated during braking and stores it with the batteries. Consequently, by using the hybrid, it could reduce fuel consumption by almost 15% compared with other locomotives, which was helpful to the customers, environment and GE. However, the costs for developing the batteries and hybrid technology were extremely high and GEs limited finances and engineering resources required GE to weigh the opportunity cost of embarking on this project. These factors required the transportation division of GE to come up with three possible scenarios; The first option would be to explain that while the project as currently defined appeared to have very limited to short- to medium-term commercial viability, the business would commit to it as an IB and continue to explore alternative ways to make it successful; The second approach would be to acknowledge the hybrids long-term potential, but suggest that it be placed on hold as in IB, perhaps by transferring primary responsibility to the Global Research Center to work on the battery technology in collaboration with various GE businesses including Transportation-that had an interest in its development; The final alternative would be to recommend that the company acknowledge the fact that after three years of hard work on Hybrid, neither the technology development nor the market acceptance of the concept had indicated that it could be a viable commercial proposition in the foreseeable future, and therefore that it be dropped as an IB. After considering all the elements, GE should opt for the second option by the following reasons. First, to hold hybrid as an IB and meanwhile to develop the present technology may help GE to not only remain the leading position among the present market but move forward to the future by researching in future trend. Furthermore, it would be relatively less risky than the first option due to the separation of the investment. The increased emphasis on gas emissions ensure that the hybrid engine will definitely become a necessity for the rail transport industry, this is also in line with Immelts goals for GE to be the 1st in innovative technology and embarking on trends that cannot be easily imitated. The battery technology when completed can be used for alternative businesses in GE there by helping the company to be green and promote the environment. Due to the environmental importance of the project GE can solicit help from the government to aid with the cost for the development of this new technology as highlighted by Bartlett et al (2008), Compte explained that his marketing organization had located some potential government funding for hybrid project. 8. Conclusion In conclusion GE is a company with strong strength of organizational cultures and uses task type of organizational culture. It was identified in the case study to be at the elaboration stage of the lifecycle chart at the time Immelt was made the new CEO of the company. The company was at the revival stage of organizational development, he accomplished this by changing the company from a result oriented closed system to a process oriented open system. Moreover it is an organic organization which uses learning to improve its organizational and managerial capabilities. As a result it has diversified quality production and can be prospective in its environment, strategies and technology. Word Count: 2492

Wolves Should Be Hunted

Wolves Should be Hunted The Grey Wolf was reintroduced in the United States in the mid 1990’s after years of extinction. In 1973 Northern Rocky Mountain wolf subspecies were listed on the endangered species list. In 1980 congress started talking about reintroducing the wolf back into the U. S. Since then this has been a heated debate. Animal rights activists were all for bringing the wolves back while many other opposed it. (Wolf Reintroduction: How the Wolves Came Back) The thing that the government forgot to think about was that they were reintroducing a wolf that was not native to the U.S. and that this wolf was much bigger, aggressive, and used to much harsher weather conditions than the Timberwolves native to the U. S. , when they decided to introduce Canadian Wolves. Canadian wolves weigh from 160 to 180 pounds, they are huge killing machines. Upon reintroducing gray wolves they also promised that once the wolves reached a certain population, they would be hunted to keep the wolf population to a sustainable number. The government first reintroduced the Canadian Gray Wolves into the Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. They started with 35 Canadian Gray Wolves.They said their plan was to increase the wolf population to 300 and to at least 30 breeding pairs across Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. The government then promised that states that were forced to accept wolves would be able to manage them once they reached a healthy breeding stock and were settled. The Government said that the reason for the reintroduction was to control the Elk population that had grown out of control in the Yellowstone National park. (Harkings, 2009) They argued by bringing a natural predator back into the ecosystem that this would take care of the over population of elk naturally.They said that the wolves would come in and take out the elk that were sick and failing. In the beginning this worked, however when the elk number were back to where they should be and the wolf numb er and packs grew, the government failed to let the state start managing them as they had promised before. This has brought much turmoil with the ranchers and sportsmen. The Governments plan worked so well that when the Canadian Wolves who are very territorial, spread into the small population of Timberwolves, they took over pushing the few native wolves out of the area killing them.The Federal Government’s Biologists failed to mention that this could happen. The wolves very quickly began to form packs and multiply. A typical breeding pair of wolves will have two litters of pups a year and with each litter they have up to twelve pups. This is the reason the wolf population has grown out of control. According to Idaho Fish and Game Idaho currently has 846 wolves in 88 pack’s and 39 of them are â€Å"breeding packs†The Canadian Wolves are now threatening healthy elk and deer. (Harkings, 2009) The elk and deer populations are now dwindling due to more harsh winters and wolves.They are also killing rancher’s livestock and putting rancher’s well-being at stake. Wolves have been proved to kill not only for food but for sport. For every one animal they kill to eat they kill three more just for the fun of it. Biologists call this â€Å"sport-reflex killing† or â€Å"lustful killing† the Canadian Gray wolves are killing machines (Harkings, 2009). They have also been proven to kill people’s dogs just for the fun of it. A wolf typically consume 16-24 hooved animals a year for consumption but that number must be doubled for all the animals that the wolf kills for sport and leaves left to die or rot. Harkings, 2009) The forests are being littered by carcasses left by the wolf. Wolves will wait until an elk, deer, or moose cow are giving birth and kill both the cow and the calf. Either eating them or leaving them and moving on to the next kill. They will dig up hibernating bears and kill them for both food and sport. W hen wolves are hunting in packs they are afraid of nothing. They will attack adult male grizzly bears and adult male moose. They are fearless and the only predators wolves have are humans. (Wood, 2005) That is why we need to start controlling their population before we have no hooved animals left.Wolves are such big killing animals that when they have taken out a species they will turn on their own and kill them for food. Wolves will stop at nothing they are killing machines that have to be stopped and their populations must be maintained before they become more out of control. Wolves have become so bold they have now been videoed stalking hunters in Northern Idaho. They also tried to attack a woman who was walking up her driveway. I would hate to think what would have happened if she didn’t have her cell phone and help hadn’t arrived soon enough.They are becoming more and more fearless every day and are coming closer and closer to humans. We not only have to put the f ear back into wolves for our own safety but for theirs. If we do not do something now wolves are going to diminish all of our wild hooved animals and start moving closer and closer to captivity. They are fearless and will stop at nothing. That is why we need to start taking control of the wolf before the wolf takes control of us. We have to start hunting wolves and maintaining their populations before these murderous creatures takes over.So go out get a tag and today and kill a wolf. Works Cited Harkings, D. (2009, June). Idaho Home to over 4,000 of the Biggest Baddest Wolves in America. Retrieved November 15, 2011, from http://proliberty. com/observer/20090623. htm Wolf Reintroduction: How the Wolves Came Back. (n. d. ). Retrieved November 13, 2011, from http://www. class. uidaho. edu/kpgeorge/issues/wolves_reintroduction/reintroduction_question. htm Wood, K. (2005, January 29). The Truth About Those Canadian Wolf â€Å"Re†introductions. Retrieved November 13, 2011, from htt p://rliv. com/wolf/DailyChronicalTruth. pdf