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Factors for Designing Organizational Websites

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Businesses deploy websites for the commercial activities due to the widespread use and dependency on web technology. An organization should consider factors put into consideration while designing an organizational website (Herbert et al, 2012). This discussion will focus on websites from three retail stores namely; Zappos, Men’s Wearhouse, and Nordstroms. These retail stores have so far produced the best websites that the organization should aim at adapting.

Zappos management has taken a step in maintaining the website simple so that customers have an easier time accessing it. Simple websites provide an easier navigation and makes customers shopping easier and fact. On the other hand, Zappos provide the most reliable website for online shopping since web pages and links are easily downloaded. Customers do not wait for a long time while downloading company files (Zappos Milestone, 2013). Nordstroms Company website also is easily accessible and customers access links quickly, but not as fast compared to Zappos (Nordstrom, 2013). Organizations should provide an online application forms for potential candidates to use while submitting an application (Herbert et al, 2012). The three companies analyzed have a provision for this. Moreover, Men’s Wearhouse has gone a step further to load the applications forms and make them accessible in all company databases (Men’s Wearhouse, 2013). According to Wilson (2013), an organizational website should save money in terms of online efficiencies. Providing an online application process saves the company the cost of printing application forms and sending them to potential tendering firms.

Information about culture is particularly crucial for an organization development and growth. Most employees require knowledge of the organization culture in order to make a decision about joining it or not (Herbert et al, 2012). Zappos, Mens Wearhouse, and Nordstrom’s websites have well explained culture in their websites matching the requirement of each retail store. Putting the necessary information about an organization is another factor that a website must have. Nordstroms management has made available only the company’s necessary information required by new applicants and customers. Zappos has included a lot of unnecessary information in their website that give readers a lot of confusion in fishing the valuable information (Zappos Milestone, 2013). In addition, the organization’s website should have such an arrangement resembling Men’s Wearhouse’s website because all the necessary information is easily searched. Moreover, the organizational information in the website should have a systematic arrangement in order to attract viewers on first sight (Men’s Wearhouse, 2013).

According to Herbert et al (2012), selected links on relevant websites always makes it easier for browsers to access information about an organization. They make necessary calculations related to products and services offered. Zappos’ Retail Market website provides many links where customers check the costs of various products and make a comparison. The website should also give links that direct the customer on how to acquire a product and the most appropriate mode of payment (Zappos Milestone, 2013). On the other hand, Nordstroms’ website has modified its website to include a section for career advice directed to new recruits in the company. Lastly, an organization should consider the factor on keeping current information. The business world advances at a high rate as technology also keeps on growing. The high rate of globalization has made Zappos, Nordstroms and Mens Wearhouse retail shops keep on updating their website most frequently to keep browsers informed. In case, an organization wants to recruit new staff day to day update on the current organization information is extremely necessary.

By adapting the above 7 factors in designing the website, the organization enjoys all benefits necessary for growth and increased productivity.

References

Herbert, G. H III., Timothy A. J., and John D. Kammeyer-Mueller. (2012). Staffing

Organizations. McGraw Hill/Irwin. Print, p. 248.

Men’s Wearhouse. (2013). Men’s Clothing – Men’s Suits, Dress Shirts & More | Men’s

Wearhouse. Retrieved February from:

http://www.menswearhouse.com/shop/Ho

Nordstrom. (2013). Company History. Retrieved from;

http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/company-history

Wilson, R. (2013). 12 Website Design Decisions Your Business or Organization Will Need to

Make. Retrieved from:

http://webmarketingtoday.com/articles/12design/

Zappos Milestone. (2013). Timeline – Markets – Footwear News – WWD.com. Fashion, Beauty

and Retail News – WWD.com. Retrieved February from:

http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/markets/zappos-milestone-timeline-2121760

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Facebook: Watching the Watchers by Patrick White

The influence of Facebook has grown tremendously over the years affecting the lives of both young people and adults. Its inception lies in Harvard University where programmer Mark Zuckerberg designed it as a profile site for university students. Its use started spreading to other schools including colleges and high schools before becoming popular to the entire world. Today, one cannot neglect the benefits as well as harms that this social networking site presents to people far and wide. Facebook helps in fostering and maintaining relationships while at the same time exposing private information about users to strangers. Patrick White’s watching the Watchers article attests to both aspects of Facebook in a lucid manner.

The social platform, Facebook, transformed “oh nothing” responses that Ms. Van der Spank would often get from her children to healthy relationships, and the same effects could multiply to any parent. Ms. Bromberg serves as another example that illuminates the benefits of the social site to family relationships. However, Facebook also made Ms. Van’s private information public, and it only took a short while before she began complaining about how people spy on her through Facebook. This article also suggests that Facebook is taking away the need to socialize in person. True to these sentiments, young people today exhibit profound changes in the way they make friends and ask for dates. While the article praises the social networking site for its ability to manage and maintain relationships, it also presents the bad side of Facebook. In a nutshell, watching the Watchers by Patrick White opens up Facebook users, young and old, to both sides of Facebook enabling them to devise ways and set limits to ensure a balance between the positive and negative aspects.

Factors Influencing Chinese Employees’ Job EngagementContents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177450” Factors Influencing Chinese Employees’ Job Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177450 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177451” CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc376177451 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177452” 1.1 Backgrounds PAGEREF _Toc376177452 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177453” 1.2 Problem Statement PAGEREF _Toc376177453 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177454” 1.3 Research Aim and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc376177454 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177455” 1.4 Structure of the Dissertation PAGEREF _Toc376177455 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177456” CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW PAGEREF _Toc376177456 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177457” 2.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc376177457 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177458” 2.2 Employee Job Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177458 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177459” 2.3 Impact of Leadership Style on Job Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177459 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177460” 2.4 Impact of Performance Assessment on Job Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177460 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177461” 2.5 Impact of Compensation and Welfare on Job Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177461 h 13

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177462” 2.6 Impact of Training and Development on Job Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177462 h 15

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177463” 2.7 Summary PAGEREF _Toc376177463 h 17

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177464” 3.0 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc376177464 h 19

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177465” 3.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc376177465 h 19

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177466” 3.2 Research Philosophy PAGEREF _Toc376177466 h 19

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177467” 3.3 Research Approach PAGEREF _Toc376177467 h 20

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177468” 3.4 Research Strategy PAGEREF _Toc376177468 h 21

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177469” 3.4.1 Questionnaire survey PAGEREF _Toc376177469 h 21

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177470” 3.4.2 Questionnaire Design PAGEREF _Toc376177470 h 22

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177471” 3.5 Sample and Sampling Techniques PAGEREF _Toc376177471 h 23

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177472” 3.6 Data Collection PAGEREF _Toc376177472 h 24

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177473” 3.7 Data Analysis PAGEREF _Toc376177473 h 25

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177474” 3.8 Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc376177474 h 25

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177475” 3.9 Research Ethics PAGEREF _Toc376177475 h 26

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177476” 4.0 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION PAGEREF _Toc376177476 h 26

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177477” 4.1 Overview of the Study Findings PAGEREF _Toc376177477 h 26

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177478” As the reviewed literature shows, there is no doubt that leadership style, performance assessment, compensation and welfare, and training and development have a direct bearing on employee engagement (see for example BlessingWhite, 2011; Bakker and Later, 2010; Downey, 2008; Kim et al. 2008; Schaufeli et al. 2002; Albrecht, 2010; Appelbaum, 2000; Attridge, 2009; Avery et al., 2007; Avolio et al., 2004; Armstrong and Baron, 2005; Cawley et al., 1998; Denisi and Pritchard, 2006; Nnazir, 2012; Castellano, 2001; Muller and Trannoy, 2011; Robinson et al., 2004; Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004; Brum, 2007; Becker, 1993; Virginia, 2012; Herzberg, 1966; Maslow, 1943). The respondents confirmed this through their comprehensive answer to question 6 of the introductory part of the questionnaire – all the respondents had a clear understanding of what employee engagement entails – they said it entails unrivalled commitment, desire to want to achieve the set personal and organisational goals, desire to work for the current employer for the long term, low burnout levels, and the ability to withstand organisational challenges without desiring to resign. Specifically, this is in line with Attridge (2009) assertion that “the concept of employee work engagement describes the extent to which workers are involved with, committed to, and passionate about their work” (p.1). PAGEREF _Toc376177478 h 26

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177479” 4.2 Impact of Leadership Style on Employee Engagement PAGEREF _Toc376177479 h 28

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376177480” 5.0 CONCLUSION PAGEREF _Toc376177480 h 28

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1.1 BackgroundsWith the arrival of new economic times, competition among enterprises is increasingly fierce. In order to keep a strong market footing and sustainable operational improvement, enterprises are gradually realising that talents are the key factors of remaining competitive (Bakker and Laiter, 2010). Today, more and more enterprises have started to conduct researches on job engagement with a view to improving job performance and satisfaction (Kaplan et al., 2009). This has given popularity to the field of positive psychology. This is due to its utility in understanding employee behaviours and how such behaviours can be adjusted to realise high productivity. In recent years, managers and researchers are gradually realising the great impact that positive psychology has on improving business performance (Bakker and Leiter, 2010; Warr and Inceoglu, 2012). Through positive psychology employers are able to rollout new employee welfare programmes to boost employees’ morale and hence their ability to remain focused and committed to organisational goals.

Under the backdrop of this realisation, job engagement as a business management concept has become very popular in China as well as in the western world. Job engagement pays attention to the individual’s positive attitude towards the job. This exerts a significant impact on the business performance and can greatly improve job efficiency and retention rate (Rich, Lepine and Crawford, 2010). Therefore, it is necessary for enterprises to try to improve employees’ job engagement by rolling out programmes that address the individual, group and family needs of the employees.

The concept of employee engagement is multidimensional. Attridge (2009) posits that “the concept of employee work engagement describes the extent to which workers are involved with, committed to, and passionate about their work” (p.1). For Bakker and Leiter (2010), employee engagement is a concept of managing contemporary enterprises that involves increasing the overall involvement of employees towards the organisational goals. Normally, employee engagement is measurable in terms of how employees positively or negatively attach themselves emotionally to workplace processes, people and the organisation in general. However, it should be noted that employee engagement is very different from employee satisfaction or employee motivation but motivation and satisfaction forms part of employee engagement (BlessingWhite, 2011). From these closely related arguments it can be concluded that the concept of employee engagement which is also referred to as worker engagement or even employee job engagement is a set of positive attitudes towards the organisation, its vision, mission and values.

Employee engagement is a function of multiple factors. Conventional knowledge gathered from multiple sources show that employee engagement is normally influenced by factors that have a direct bearing on the employees compensation levels and welfare at the workplace (see for example Bakker and Leiter, 2010; Muller and Trannoy, 2011; Warr and Inceoglu, 2012). This is an indicator that organisations that embrace collectivism and other worthwhile, modern human resource management practices such as share-based employee loyalty programmes strengthen their long term strategic standing while those that do not practice this are at a disadvantage.

Studies carried out by Avolio, Bass, and Walumbwa (2004), Tims and Bakker (2011), Walumbwa and Hartnell (2011), Wang and Chen (2005) all point out to the notion that leadership style has a great bearing on employee engagement. Specifically, these studies believe that transformational leadership style has the greatest impact on employee engagement among all existing leadership styles. This is so because transformational leadership increase employees’ dedication and commitment to their tasks, increases employees’ potency and efficacy, and increases employees’ ability to undertake complex organisational tasks.

Employee engagement is also influenced by performance assessment. According to studies carried out by Denisi and Pritchard (2006) and Muchinsky (2012), employee engagement is influenced by performance assessment related factors such as performance management and target setting. On the other hand, studies carried out by Schraeder, Becton and Portis (2007), Sudarsan (2009) show that employee engagement is influenced by factors related to employee welfare and welfare programmes. Performance appraisal has strong bearing on employee engagement as it gives employees an opportunity to re-examine and align their capabilities with those of the organisation (Armstrong and Baron, 2005; Denisi and Pritchard, 2006; Manasa and Reddy, 2009; Muchinsky, 2012). On their part, Gruman and Saks (2011) and Keeping and Levy (2000) when performed professionally, performance appraisal help to identify training needs, communicate employee skill needs and how best these skills can be acquired. However, Cawley, Keeping and Levy (1998), Keeping and Levy (2000), and Muchinsky (2009) cautions that if performed unprofessionally, performance appraisal can be detrimental to employee engagement as it can kill employee morale and commitment especially when the appraiser is biased.

Lastly, studies carried out by Brum (2007), Becker (1993), Castellano (2001), York (2010) and Truss et al. (2006) argue that employee engagement is influenced by factors related to training and development. These studies argue that employee training and development is the best way of managing human capital. Specifically, these authors argue that when employees are given the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their tasks, they tend to become more happy, resourceful and engaged. Moreover, Truss et al. (2006) posit that employees need to be taken through regular training drills so as to become their overall productivity, an organisational target that is directly impacted by the level of employee engagement. Overall, these studies seem to arrive at the conclusion that employee engagement is a business management idea whose core premise is to make employees more productive.

Employees who are not meaningfully engaged are costly to maintain. A study commissioned by the Gallup Organisation show that employees that are not meaningfully engaged cost between $250 and $350 billion every year to employers in the United States (Attridge, 2009). Another study carried out in the 1990s show that employees that are not connected to their jobs pose a major challenge to CEOs especially when building competitive advantage through cost reduction and sustainable innovation (Wah, 1999). These two studies are reflective of the situation at ground in many organisations across the global divide. For instance, BlessingWhite (2011) argues that studies carried out in the 1990s show that only about one out of every five employees is meaningfully engaged. This converts to about 20 percent of all employees in the world. According to Attridge (2009), a survey whose results were tabled in a 2005 Conference Board showed that about two thirds of employees lack the will power to pursue their employers’ goals; another 40 percent employees lack a genuine connection to their jobs, while another 25 percent only attend their tasks to get paid. This large number of unengaged employees could be responsible for the occasional market crises and losses in the global market especially among large multinational companies with foot prints in major markets that are known to treat their employees differently according t the local labour and employment cultures.

1.2 Problem StatementIn the past decades, job burnout has become a hot topic among western and Far East organisations. Based on survey results published in the Chinese Human Resource Development website, almost 70 percent of Chinese employees possess different levels of job burnout. This is due to the rapid development of the economy and the gradual westernisation of the originally conservative society. Under this background, job engagement becomes important point in human resource management among many organisations.

Many researchers have studied the antecedents of job engagement and factors including leadership style, performance assessment, compensation and welfare and training and development (see for example Hassan and Ahmed, 2011; Albrecht, 2011; Attridge, 2009; Bakker and Leiter, 2010; BlessingWhite, 2010; Earnshaw, 2005, Kaplan et al., 2009; Maslach and Leiter, 2008; O’Neil and Maitland, 2008; Taylor Nelson Sofres, 2011; Warr and Inceoglu, 2012). As expected, majority of these studies address employee engagement from an international perspective while only a few narrow down their scope on Chinese situation. Studies addressing Employee engagement in China include BlessingWhite (2011), Earnshaw (2005), O’Neil and Maitland (2008) and Taylor Nelson Sofres (2011) all suggest that employee engagement in China is at its lowest compared to other countries in the world. For instance, BlessingWhite (2011) argue that employee engagement in China was found to be 52 percent, about 6 points lower than the situation in other parts of the world. BlessingWhite study found that the number of Chinese employees likely to leave their jobs was triple the global benchmark (16 percent against 5 percent). The study also found that employees engage themselves because they like their work while employees disengage themselves from their work because of lack of career opportunities, desire for better compensation, and because they do not like their work.

Despite these cross cutting studies, it is wise to argue that studies on job engagement in China are still in their nascent stages – most of the existing studies do not critically address the major factors that affect employee engagement, they only report employee engagement levels in the country without outlining in deeper detail the reasons behind these levels. Therefore, it is important to carry out a study that critically analyses the major factors that influence employees’ job engagement in China by collecting information from practising human resources management professionals through the China Human Resource Website. In addition, the extremely low employee engagement levels in China are another precursor for more studies to be done on this area. Moreover, with the prevailing uncertainty in the international market and the growing competition in both local and international markets following the country’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, it is only fair to assert that more studies need to be carried out so as to establish the degree which critical factors such as leadership style, performance assessment, compensation and welfare, and training and development impact employee engagement. This will provide useful information that organisations can utilise to improve employees’ job engagement level and the wellbeing of the entire organisation.

1.3 Research Aim and ObjectivesCurrently, in the intense market competition around the global business, talents are the core resources of enterprises, and organisational performance greatly can be determined by the level of these talents engaging in the work. Job engagement is a crucial facet for building competitive advantage among organisations in emerging markets such as China. Therefore, this research is very crucial as it seeks to analyse the factors influencing employees’ job engagement among Chinese organisations. From this overarching aim, the study will also pursue the following specific research objectives:

To explore the impact of leadership style on employees’ job engagement in China.

To investigate the impact of performance assessment on employees’ job engagement in China.

To report the impact of compensation and welfare on employees’ job engagement in China.

To analyse the impact of training and development on employees’ job engagement in China.

1.4 Structure of the DissertationThis dissertation comprises of five chapters. Chapter covers a background of the study, problem statement, research objectives and aims. Chapter two covers a comprehensive review of the existing relevant literature gathered from journal articles, textbooks, and authentic websites. The third chapter will cover the research methodology, sampling, data collection and data analysis methods. The fourth chapter will present a set of findings and discussion of these findings. Lastly, the fifth chapter will wrap up the study and offer recommendations that organisations in China can employ to enhance employees’ job engagement.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Introduction

This chapter provides a rich set of information on job engagement. This is in line with Creswell (2009) who posits that a literature review chapter should cover information related to the study aims and objectives. To this end, chapter is divided into five main sections. Firstly, the chapter covers a comprehensive discussion/definition of job engagement. The second section addresses information related to leadership style and job engagement, the third section will address literature related to performance assessment and job engagement, the fourth section will address literature related to compensation and employee welfare and job engagement while the fifth section will address training and development and job engagement. Lastly, the chapter will be wrapped up with a short but comprehensive summary addressing all the major points reviewed in the chapter.

2.2 Employee Job Engagement Researchers have put forward multiple definitions and dimensions of employee engagement. For instance, Wefald and Downey (2008) defined job engagement as the ability for organisational members to control themselves to integrate with work related roles. From this definition, it can be deduced that self and work role are actually in a dynamic process of transformation. When job engagement is relatively high, individuals will input the energy to role behaviour (self-employment), and express self in role (self-expression). Based on this point, Kahn further divided job engagement to physical, cognitive and emotional dimensions. Kim, Shin and Swanger (2008) redefined job engagement as the omission of burnout. They regarded burnout and engagement as two external points of a three-dimensional continuum and divided job engagement into three dimensions of energy, involvement and efficacy. On their part, Schaufeli et al. (2002) defined the concept of job engagement as a kind of durable perfect state full of positive emotion and motivation characterised by vigour, dedication and absorption. Based on the above discussions, it can be summarised that job engagement refers to the state of mutually satisfying contentment among employees. Employee engagement is a facet of emotional attachment. Studies show that actively engaged employees have strong emotional attachment towards both the organisation and the values it stands for. A 2010 study by BlessngWhite shows that only about 31 percent of all employees are emotionally attached to their jobs (BlessingWhite, 2011). These employees have been noted to work with great passion and are always willing to paint a good image of their organisation – a big chunk of the emotionally engaged employees believe that they have the capacity to make their organisation succeed in the long run (Bakker and Leiter, 2010). Specifically, these employees believe they have a positive impact on the quality of the product an organisation sells to its customers, they can positively influence customer perceptions regarding brand quality and most importantly, they can positively impact on an organisation’s cost reduction efforts. Again, emotionally attached employees will most likely recommend the organisation to their colleagues (Robinson and Hayday, 2003). Overall, emotional attachment has to do with the intrinsically positioned prompts that an organisation extends to its employees such as personal growth and a sense of common purpose and involvement in core organisational processes such as workplace restructuring and change of mission statement. Extrinsic prompts such as pay and rewards too have substantial impacts on emotional engagement but it is intrinsic prompts which have the biggest influence.

Employee engagement entails maximum employee involvement in organisational processes and activities. According to a study carried out by Appelbaum et al (2000) on 10 electronic manufacturers, 17 apparels manufacturers, and 15 steel mills, to compare and modern production systems, it was found that employees become more engaged if they are involved in organisational activities. When employees are involved in making decisions they develop positive attitudes towards the organisation and are easier to manage. To this effect, Attridge (2009) argues that engaged employees are usually passionate about their organisation. Bakker and Leiter (2010) argue that employee engagement is a contemporary business management concept that whose core goal is to generate morale and therefore make employees more involved in workplace activities. Overall, employee engagement is determined by how employees positively or negatively attach themselves emotionally to workplace processes, people and the organisation.

Employee engagement also incorporates commitment involvement and higher organisational performance. Employee engagement is a function of many performance related constructs which all narrow down to employee involvement and performance (Attridge, 2009; Bakker and Leiter, 2010). According a study carried out by Lockwood (2007), engaged employees were found to be 87 percent less likely to quit their current jobs, perform 20 percent better, are committed to the organisation. Lockwood also agrees that engaged employees are likely to serve customers well and therefore earn the organisation more revenue. Moreover, engaged employees are less likely to be involved in workplace accidents as they command a better understanding of organisational processes. This helps to reduce operation costs and therefore freeing the much needed funds for use in income-generating activities. Again, two studies one involving over 3500 employees from 49 organisations and the other one involving over 4800 employees from 92 organisations in the life insurance industry found that when employees are constantly involved in running the organisations, their morale increases and hence their performance (Konrad, 2006). Overall, these findings lead to the conclusion that organisations with committed and engaged employees outperform their colleagues whose employees were less engaged.

2.3 Impact of Leadership Style on Job Engagement

Leadership style refers to the different characters expressed by leadership in the long-term operations process of an enterprise. The leadership style varies a lot from one enterprise to another. Mainly, there are three typical kinds of leadership styles including autocratic leadership style, democratic leadership style and laissez-faire leadership style (Albrecht, 2011; Wang and Chen, 2005). Democratic leadership style can further be broken down into transformational and transactional leadership facets (Vugt et al., 2004). Overall, a leadership style shapes the employer-employee relationships and makes the workplace more accommodative.

Trust is an important facet of democratic leadership styles as shown by a survey conducted by BlessingWhite (2011) in China – trust creates a sense of entitlement and belonging among employees (Tims, Bakker and Xanthopoulou, 2011). BlessingWhite (2011) found that most of employees would like to have more chances to engage in their jobs because they considered that leadership is an important factor in employees’ job engagement. Further the study found that about two thirds of all employees working for various organisations in China reported to have trust in their organisation’s leadership. This was the second highest show of trust on organisational leadership after India (with 75 percent) and ahead of Southeast Asia (with 62 percent), Australia/New Zealand (with 55 percent), North America (52 percent), and UK/Europe (50 percent). Further, the study found that 3 in every 4 Chinese employees have trust in their managers, an almost similar trend with the situation in other major markets of the world. On their part, Ludwig and Frazier (2012) found that when employees can connect with the destiny and purpose of enterprises, they will possess high level of engagement with high aspirations. Through conducting research on ten thousand employees in Great Britain, Institute of Employment Studies found that a sense of being involved and valued is a significant driver of job engagement. It has been achieved that leadership qualities can help organisations achieve high level of engagement (Markos and Sridevi, 2010). It is arguable that leadership and management styles have a great impact on employee engagement because employees tend to trust leaders and managers are capable of setting a good organisational culture and inspiring them to greater heights.

Leadership styles that enhance workplace interpersonal relationships have a greater impact on job engagement than others. Tims et al. (2011) investigated whether supervisor’s leadership style has a direct influence on employee work engagement and found that transformational leadership that puts in place strong workplace relationships boosts employee engagement. Bass (1985) found that transactional leadership and laissez-faire leadership styles have a lesser impact on employee engagement compared to transformational leadership. The author argues that this is because the former two leadership styles lack motivational and inspirational appeal and therefore cannot impact on employee engagement as transformational leadership does. This is because transformational leadership provides individual support for employees. These findings are supported by Vugt et al (2004) who found that employees are more likely to leave groups headed by transactional and laissez-faire leaders and join groups headed by transformational leaders. Vugt argues employees are discouraged by the limited control they enjoy when it comes to decision making processes when in transactional leadership groups and lack the drive to invest more efforts in their tasks when in laissez-faire leadership groups. These findings are supported by Skogstaad et al (2007) that leadership styles that does not support to employees normally reduce employee morale. Overall, transformational leadership transforms employees’ norms and values, inspires employees and makes them more happy and useful to the organisation. This in turn boosts their job engagement.

Leadership styles that address employees’ interests increase job engagement. Since managers are known to exercise a hard style of leadership where employees are assumed to be knowledgeable enough as to undertake their tasks without guidance or motivation, it is arguable that the gist of leadership in an organisation is to create a soft approach for achieving the set organisational goals (see for example Tims et al, 2010). Evidence shows that employees tend to become more committed to their tasks if the top management rolls out programmes that improve their overall welfare such as programmes aimed at covering their medical insurances expenses or aligning employees’ interests with organisational interests. Transformational leadership for instance, inspires employees, influences employees positively, takes into consideration employees’ individual needs, and stimulates employees’ intellectual faculties (Tims and Bakker, 2011). Inspiration takes the form of objective communication that is appealing in nature while idealised influence take the form of convincing employees to believe that group interests are more important than individual interests. Together, idealised influence and inspiration constitutes what is generally referred to as charismatic leadership style as demonstrated by renowned leaders such as the late Steve Jobs or Apple Computers (Warr and Inceoglu, 2012). On the other hand, individual consideration acknowledging employees career growth needs and providing tailor made programmes that fulfil these needs (Avolio, Bass, and Walumbwa, 2004). Lastly, intellectual stimulation has to do with the constant talks that managers hold with employees to convince them to practice a multidimensional approach to workplace challenges. This involves critical thinking and can only be made possible if employees are more engaged with their tasks (Avery, McKay, and Wilson, 2007). When followers are challenged, involved, share the vision of the leader they tend to drop their own personal visions and work towards the collective organisational vision.

Communication, as a facet of transformational leadership style has a great impact on employee engagement. According to a series of studies conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide between 2002 and 2006 among a wide range of enterprises to test the impact of communication-based leadership style on employee engagement, firms that communicate regularly with their employees have a chance of improving employee engagement up to four times more compared to their counterparts who do not communicate to their employees regularly. One of these series of studies indicated companies that practise corporate communication realised a 91 percent total return to shareholders, a facet for measuring the level of employee engagement in public owned enterprises. This was phenomenal improvement compared to only 62 percent return to shareholders for companies that did not embrace corporate communication. These studies also found a correlation between corporate communication and market value improvement of up to 16 percent for the observed companies (Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 2007). Another study conducted by Mercer in 2002 dubbed “People at Work Survey” supports these later findings. Based on more than 2500 persons working for United States based companies, the study found that the effectiveness of workplace communication improved the level of employee engagement as it boosted employee satisfaction, employee commitment, and employee loyalty. Specifically, the study found that when senior management communicated a company’s mission and vision to the junior employees, a large section of the employees became more confident and focused to their specific organisational responsibilities up to a margin of 39 percent compared to a margin of 7 percent when such communication was absent (Attridge, 2009). Overall, these studies seem to support the notion that interactive and individualised leadership styles increases the level of certainty among the employees, increases employees knowledge of organisational values and therefore boosts employee engagement in the long run.

A transformational leader creates a good environment that influences employee engagement. A study carried out by Tuckey et al (2009) found that apart from instilling worthwhile states among employees, leaders boost employee engagement by creating friendly environment that stimulates their cognitive faculties. Tuckey et al studied 84 Australian fire fighters and found that their empowering leadership style was responsible for increasing the number of voluntary workforce. According to Albrecht (2010), empowering leadership style is characterised by sharing an organisation’s vision with the employees, showing how tasks should be carried out, involving employees during critical decision making processes, and offering regular coaching to employees. To this end, Tuckey et al

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Facebook, Inc. is the largest social networking organization which allows users exchange information, share videos and photos play games or interact with each other via online profiles. The company started in 2004 and became public in 2012 posting one of the biggest IPO witnessed in the American history. Facebook, Inc. has successful incorporated the 4Ps (Promotion, Place, Price, Product) in positioning the brand to target customers.

Promotion

Promotion involves all approaches to communication that make customers aware of a product. To promote the social network, Facebook, Inc. used blogging and other internet forums to make people aware of its existence. Also face book created an application that requests everyone who joins to invite their friends to join. These spread the information about the social networking site which now has over 915 million users.

Place

Place refers to provision of a product at the specific place that consumer need it or can access it. Facebook provided its product on the internet ensuring that everyone with a computer and internet could access it easily. To make the product more accessible, Facebook, Inc. modified their website making it easily accessible on the phone that could access the internet. This was followed by creation of applications that enable those with powerful phones to access all face products similar to PC access (Hartung).

Price

Price involves the amount a customer has to pay to access a product. Facebook made its product free to users who can create a profile freely and access it without limitations. Facebook also charges very minimal prices on advertisers and online game providers compared to other website. The continual attracts and retains its targeted customers (How Does Facebook Make Money?).

Product

Product is the good the company provides to the customers. Facebook provides social networking services, advertising services, games virtual gifts, virtual cards and millions of networking applications. Face service are unique and tailored to meet its customers need. The ability to identify and meet the needs of the customers has made it the most popular and profitable social network site around the world. Facebook also made it easy for one to find and add a friend on the network as well as provided unbeatable privacy to users (Kelleher).

In conclusion, facebook has successful use the 4Ps be creating a unique product, placing it at a place that can be accessed easily, and can be accessed freely by users at a minimal fee by marketers. The promotion strategy which allows users to invite their friends to join has also made the company to realize its success.

References

Kelleher, Kevin. “How Facebook learned from MySpace’s mistakes.” November 19, 2010. Web. August 5, 2012 <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/19/how-facebook-learned-from-myspaces-mistakes/>

Hartung, Adam. “How Facebook Beat MySpace”. January 14, 2011. Web. August 5, 2012 <http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/19/how-facebook-learned-from-myspaces-mistakes/>

How Does Facebook Make Money? 2012. Web. August 5, 2012 < http://www.tech-faq.com/how-does-facebook-make-money.html >

Factors Influencing Companies’ Supply Chain Partnership: The Case Of Haier And GomeContents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179943” Factors Influencing Companies’ Supply Chain Partnership: The Case Of Haier And Gome PAGEREF _Toc376179943 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179944” 1.0 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc376179944 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179945” 1.1 Background PAGEREF _Toc376179945 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179946” 1.2 Research rationale PAGEREF _Toc376179946 h 4

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179947” 1.3 Aim and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc376179947 h 5

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179948” 1.4 Structure of the dissertation PAGEREF _Toc376179948 h 6

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179949” CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW PAGEREF _Toc376179949 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179950” 2.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc376179950 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179951” The concept of supply chain has different meanings in different times, while the understanding also varies from one research to another (Lemke et al., 2003). In relevant field, researchers illustrated supply chain from different perspectives. However, it is generally believed that formal researches on supply chain started at the 1960s. Stadtler (2005) pointed that Forrester (1961) first used system dynamics model to optimise the dynamic relationship between industrial upstream and downstream and put forward the term of supply chain, so that Forrester is recognised as the father of supply chain. Many modern supply chain design principles can track back to the production distribution system of Forrester. Since the 1990s, researches on the theories and application of supply chain management have attracted wide attention, while, with the continuous evolution of corporate development, there emerged many representative definitions of supply chain (Kopczak and Johnson, 2003; Kulp et al., 2004). Early researches defined supply chain as a network (Lee and Billington, 1992; Christopher, 1994; Ganeshan and Harrison, 1995). Lee and Billington (1992) pointed out that supply chain is a network in which an enterprise obtains raw materials, produces semi-finished products or finished products and then delivers the products to consumers through sales channels. Ganeshan and Harrison (1995) pointed out that supply chain is a logistics distribution selection network instrument, which enables enterprises to obtain raw materials, transform raw materials into semi-finished or finished products and then distribute the products to consumers. Later, researches defined supply chain as a dynamic process. Kalalota and Whinsto (1996) argued that supply chain is a series of independent steps and enterprises can meet customer needs if following these steps. Harrington (1997) pointed out that supply chain includes product flow, information flow, and capital flow, while supply chain is a two-way process which links all members from suppliers to consumers into a virtual aggregate, while supply chain also links procurement, manufacturing, and product/service distribution activities. At that time, supply chain took suppliers, manufacturers, and customers into account, while the entire supply chain was divided into different organically-linked processes. After 2000, the definition of supply chain emphasised that supply chain is a dynamic process and that the management plan needs to be continuously adjusted. Chopra and Meindl (2001) maintained that supply chain is a dynamic chain of information, product, and capital flow in various stages, while supply chain is made up of the mutual linkage between a series of upstream suppliers and downstream customers. PAGEREF _Toc376179951 h 7

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179952” 2.3 Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179952 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179953” 2.3.1 Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179953 h 10

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179954” 2.3.2 Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179954 h 11

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179955” 2.4 Factors Influencing Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179955 h 13

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179956” 2.4.1 Enterprise-related Influencing Factors PAGEREF _Toc376179956 h 14

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179957” (1) Factors Influencing Supplier Selection PAGEREF _Toc376179957 h 14

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179958” (2) Factors Influencing Vendor Selection PAGEREF _Toc376179958 h 15

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179959” 2.4.2 Partner-related Influencing Factors PAGEREF _Toc376179959 h 16

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179960” 2.4.3 Influence of Major Factors on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179960 h 17

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179961” 1) Influence of Organisational Structure on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179961 h 17

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179962” 2) Influence of Organisational Culture on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179962 h 18

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179963” 3) Influence of Organisational Reputation on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179963 h 20

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179964” 2.5 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc376179964 h 21

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179965” 3.0 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc376179965 h 22

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179966” 3.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc376179966 h 22

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179967” Research Philosophy PAGEREF _Toc376179967 h 22

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179968” Research Approach PAGEREF _Toc376179968 h 23

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179969” Research Strategy PAGEREF _Toc376179969 h 24

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179970” 3.3.1 Case Study PAGEREF _Toc376179970 h 24

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179971” 3.4.2 In-depth Interview PAGEREF _Toc376179971 h 25

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179972” (1) Introduction of In-Depth Interview PAGEREF _Toc376179972 h 25

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179973” (2) Interview Protocol PAGEREF _Toc376179973 h 26

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179974” Research Method PAGEREF _Toc376179974 h 28

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179975” Data collection and Analysis PAGEREF _Toc376179975 h 29

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179976” Limitations of the Research PAGEREF _Toc376179976 h 30

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179977” Ethics in Business Research PAGEREF _Toc376179977 h 30

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179978” 3.2Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc376179978 h 31

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179979” 4.0 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION PAGEREF _Toc376179979 h 31

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179980” 4.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc376179980 h 31

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179981” 4.2 Background of Case Companies PAGEREF _Toc376179981 h 32

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179982” 4.3 The Current Supply Chain Partnership between Gome and Haier PAGEREF _Toc376179982 h 36

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179983” 4.4 The Influence of Organisational Structure on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179983 h 39

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179984” 4.5 The Influence of Organisational Culture on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179984 h 42

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179985” 4.6 The Influence of Organisational Reputation on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179985 h 44

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179986” 5.0 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS PAGEREF _Toc376179986 h 48

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179987” 5.1 Restatement of Study Aims and Objectives PAGEREF _Toc376179987 h 48

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179988” 5.1 The Current Supply Chain Partnership between Gome and Haier PAGEREF _Toc376179988 h 48

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179989” 5.2 The Influence of Organisational Structure on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179989 h 49

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179990” 5.3 The Influence of Organisational Culture on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179990 h 50

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179991” 5.4 The Influence of Organisational Reputation on Supply Chain Partnership PAGEREF _Toc376179991 h 51

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179992” 5.2 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc376179992 h 51

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179993” 5.3 Research Limitations PAGEREF _Toc376179993 h 52

HYPERLINK l “_Toc376179994” 5.4 Future Research PAGEREF _Toc376179994 h 52

1.0 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1.1 BackgroundWith the increasingly fierce competition in global market, the growingly short product life cycle, and increasingly high customer expectation, the market demand also becomes growingly individualised. Changes in market frequently expose the disadvantages of traditional operation models, while the competition among upstream and downstream enterprises hinders enterprises in the way of development. Under such situation, more and more enterprises begin to attach importance to supply chain management. Chow et al. (2008) argued that, with the intensifying global market competition and the growing importance of supply chain partnership (SCP), the competition in the strength of supply chains becomes a mainstream tend in market competition nowadays.

In supply chain management, partnership between companies is a factor that determines whether the supply chain will succeed or not (Wisner et al., 2005). Supply chain partnership is a tailored business relationship based on mutual trust, openness, shared risk and shared rewards (Lambert et al., 2004). Survey of China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP), however, found that the failure rate of Chinese companies’ supply chain partnership has reached 50%-60%, while it remains at a high level and there is a severe lack of stability and duration in supply chain partnership (China Logistics Development Report, 2010). Hence, it is always a focus of Chinese enterprises to find out the factors influencing supply chain partnership and thus establish stable supply chain partnership.

Although the failure rate of Chinese enterprises’ supply chain partnership is rather high, yet there are still lots of successful cases. In the early cooperation stage of Gome and Haier, Gome always adheres to low price, while Haier advocates value war rather than price war, thus the partnership between the two is always rigid. Since 2002, however, Haier has begun to change the strategies and comprehensively cooperated with Gome. With the upgrading of partnership, the cooperation field of the two keeps on expanding. Gome announced that it would no longer charge Haier of non-contractual fees and slotting allowances and gradually realise transparency of transaction between the two. Through logistics system integration, Gome and Haier realised the integration of B2B and B2C business and improved the supply chain efficiency (Haier, 2012). In addition, Gome no longer charged fees which are not stipulated in the contract or slotting allowance, and Gome and Haier has maintained a stable partnership in the past decade (Haier, 2012). The partnership between Gree (Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai) and Gome is a sharp contrast with the partnership between Haier and Gome. Gree is a most successful air-conditioner enterprise in China. Over years, Gree has been a leader in Chinese air-conditioner market and enjoyed good reputation among consumers. However, there are always some conflicts in the partnership between Gree and Gome. In February 2004, Gome (Chengdu) and Gree (Chengdu) had some disputes as Gome (Chengdu) greatly lowered the price of Gree air-conditioner without informing Gree (Chengdu). In March, the supply chain partnership between Gree and Gome further deteriorated due to disputes on price promotion, which resulted in the withdrawal of Gree from Gome. Neither Gree nor Gome made compromise, thus the supply chain partnership between Gree and Gome completely broke (cb.com, 2004). The partnership between Gome and Haier goes form failure to success, thus the influencing factors can be clearly perceived. Hence, this research takes Gome and Haier as the case to study the factors influencing supply chain partnership.

1.2 Research rationaleIn the researches on supply chain partnership, most researches focused on the development process, operation mechanism, and performance appraisal of the partnership (Sodhi and Son, 2009; Kim et al., 2010), while there are only a few researches on the factors influencing supply chain partnership. Bensaou (1999) summarised 6 factors influencing supply chain partnership, including organisational member and skills, market competitiveness, supplier, nature of cross-organisational work, relationship between organisational functions, and partnership benefits. Wilson (2001) pointed out some factors contributing to successful partnership, while partner-related factors include reputation, unrecoverable investment, and performance satisfaction. When studying the determinants of partnership, Sethuraman et al. (1998) pointed out that, from the perspective of manufacturer, the factors influencing partner advantage include: reputation, market penetrability (including skills, professional knowledge of market, inventory management, controllability, and financial capacity), which are the major factors influencing partner advantage. Hence, from the perspective of sociology and economics, this research adopts in-depth interview to discuss the factors influencing supply chain partnership, while this research can serve as an effective supplement to existing researches on supply chain partnership.

In addition, there are relatively rich research results on the relationship between organisational culture, organisational structure, and organisational performance, yet there are only a few researches on the relationship between organisational culture, organisational structure, and supply chain partnership (Bailey and Francis, 2007). This research studies the influence of organisational culture and organisational structure on supply chain partnership and expands the research object from a single enterprise to supply chain partnership, while relevant empirical results can further enrich the research results on organisational culture and organisational theories. At last, under the background of Chinese enterprises’ high supply chain partnership failure rate, this research can provide Chinese enterprises with some suggestions on establishing and maintaining stable supply chain partnership, so that this research is of some practical significance.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

This research aims to analyse the factors influencing supply chain partnership in current context by taking two Chinese enterprises, i.e. Gome and Haier as the case. And the research objectives include following ones:

To analyse the influence of Gome’s and Haier’s organisational structure on supply chain partnership (between Gome and Haier);

To analyse the influence of Gome’s and Haier’s organisational culture on supply chain partnership (between Gome and Haier);

To analyse the influence of Gome’s and Haier’s organisational reputation on supply chain partnership (between Gome and Haier);

Through case study, to provide Chinese enterprises with some suggestions on establishing and maintaining stable supply chain partnership.

1.4 Structure of the dissertationThis dissertation has five chapters. Chapter One is an introduction, which primarily elaborates the research background, rationale, research methods, research objectives, and structure of the dissertation. Chapter Two is literature review, which primarily elaborates the theoretical and empirical support of this research, including the factors influencing SCP from the perspective of manufacturers and the perspective of manufacturer-supplier relationship; while this chapter also analyses the influences of organisational reputation, organisational structure, and organisational culture on SCP. Chapter Three is methodology, which primarily elaborates the research philosophy, research approaches, research strategy, research method, in-depth interview, and data collection and analysis method. Chapter Four is empirical analyses, which primarily processes and analyses the interview data under the guidance of Chapters One-Three. Chapter Five is conclusion, which primarily analyses the research results based on literature review and empirical analysis in Chapter Four and then compares the research results with those of previous scholars, while this chapter also analyses the research limitation and presents some suggestions to future research.

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW2.1 IntroductionThis chapter is literature review and mainly introduces and reviews relevant theories and researches. First of all, this chapter introduces relevant theories of supply chain. Secondly, this chapter introduces relevant researches on supply chain partnership and the influencing factors. At last, this chapter discusses the relationship between organisational culture, organisational structure, and organisational reputation, and supply chain partnership.2.2 Supply Chain ManagementThe concept of supply chain has different meanings in different times, while the understanding also varies from one research to another (Lemke et al., 2003). In relevant field, researchers illustrated supply chain from different perspectives. However, it is generally believed that formal researches on supply chain started at the 1960s. Stadtler (2005) pointed that Forrester (1961) first used system dynamics model to optimise the dynamic relationship between industrial upstream and downstream and put forward the term of supply chain, so that Forrester is recognised as the father of supply chain. Many modern supply chain design principles can track back to the production distribution system of Forrester. Since the 1990s, researches on the theories and application of supply chain management have attracted wide attention, while, with the continuous evolution of corporate development, there emerged many representative definitions of supply chain (Kopczak and Johnson, 2003; Kulp et al., 2004). Early researches defined supply chain as a network (Lee and Billington, 1992; Christopher, 1994; Ganeshan and Harrison, 1995). Lee and Billington (1992) pointed out that supply chain is a network in which an enterprise obtains raw materials, produces semi-finished products or finished products and then delivers the products to consumers through sales channels. Ganeshan and Harrison (1995) pointed out that supply chain is a logistics distribution selection network instrument, which enables enterprises to obtain raw materials, transform raw materials into semi-finished or finished products and then distribute the products to consumers. Later, researches defined supply chain as a dynamic process. Kalalota and Whinsto (1996) argued that supply chain is a series of independent steps and enterprises can meet customer needs if following these steps. Harrington (1997) pointed out that supply chain includes product flow, information flow, and capital flow, while supply chain is a two-way process which links all members from suppliers to consumers into a virtual aggregate, while supply chain also links procurement, manufacturing, and product/service distribution activities. At that time, supply chain took suppliers, manufacturers, and customers into account, while the entire supply chain was divided into different organically-linked processes. After 2000, the definition of supply chain emphasised that supply chain is a dynamic process and that the management plan needs to be continuously adjusted. Chopra and Meindl (2001) maintained that supply chain is a dynamic chain of information, product, and capital flow in various stages, while supply chain is made up of the mutual linkage between a series of upstream suppliers and downstream customers.

Although researches posed different definitions of supply chain, yet the connotation of supply chain can be summed up out of these definitions: Firstly, participants are subjects of different behaviours and including enterprises as well as the departments in enterprises, such as raw material suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers, while supply chain is the interaction and correlation between these units as well as the cooperation between enterprises and inside the enterprise (Maheshwari et al., 2006). Secondly, specific elements circulate in supply chain, such as logistics, information flow, capital flow, and technology flow. The business flow and operation of supply chain can be analysed from four aspects: work flow (business flow), physical flow, information flow, and funds flow. Information flow in supply chain drives work flow, while work flow determines physical flow, and physical flow feeds back to funds flow (Qiao, 2009). Thirdly, supply chain has specific functions and provides certain products/services. The essence of supply chain is to provide customers with valuable products/services, while supply chain is the business process which links all forces from raw material supply to product/service delivery to terminal customers.

Supply chain is made up of different interest groups, which take actions to maximise their own interest, while supply chain is a typical complicated system. With the transformation of seller’s market to buyer’s market, global market competition becomes increasingly fierce, and new product life cycle growingly short, and customer expectation growingly short. In such context, supply chain management attracts the attention of more and more enterprises, which stimulates supply chain members to think over the operational practice from the perspective of overall supply chain interest, so that supply chain members began to establish strategic alliance with up- and down-stream enterprises or coordinate the operation strategies, so as to improve the competitiveness of the entire supply chain system and realise win-win or multi-win (Simch et al., 2007).

Supply chain management is also a hot topic in the management science field in the past two decades. Combining the actual problems in enterprises’ supply chain management, researchers conducted many researches and obtained lots of research findings, while many theoretical research findings are already used by enterprises and generate significant economic benefit. The major researches in the past two decades can be summed up into: supply chain coordination contract (Chen et al., 2006; Cai et al., 2010); supply chain risk management (Lian and Deshmuk, 2009; Gan et al., 2004); closed loop supply chain management (Li and Cai, 2007; Guide and Van, 2009); supply chain management in context of incomplete/asymmetric information (Azoury and Miyaoka, 2009); integration and optimisation of supply chain operation and other management functions (Caldentery and Haugh, 2009), and decision making behaviour in supply chain (Bolton and Katok, 2008; Shen and Su, 2007).

Although there are many different opinions in the researches on supply chain management, yet the focus is still put on how to stimulate supply chain members to think about the operational practice from the perspective of overall supply chain interest, establish strategic alliance with up- and down-stream enterprises, or coordinate the operation strategies to improve the competitiveness of the entire supply chain system, so as to realise win-win or multi-win, i.e. the focus is put on supply chain partnership. Therefore, this research takes the partnership between Gome and Haier as the case to study the factors influencing supply chain partnership.

In addition, supply chain can also be analysed from the perspective of a single enterprise or from the perspective of supply chain network, while supply chain can be divided into ultimate supply chain, extended supply chain, and basic supply chain. In this research, Haier and Gome share a partnership, which is an extended supply chain in the entire supply chain.

2.3 Supply Chain Partnership2.3.1 PartnershipThe definition of supply chain partnership is based on the definition of partnership (Christopher, 2005). So before defining supply chain partnership, this research firstly analyse the content of partnership. Lambert, Emmelhainz and Gardner (1996) argued that, from one-time exchange to multiple transactions, the relationship between enterprises can generally be divided into: arm’s length, partnership, joint venture, and vertical integration. (1) Arm’s length: The seller only provides the standard products/services needed by customers, and the relationship ends with the end of transaction. (2) Partnership: The buyer and the seller carry out transaction based on mutual trust, openness, risk sharing, and profit sharing and emphasis on long-term competitive advantage (Corsten and Kumar, 2005). (3) Joint venture: The seller and the buyer have some ownership of the other, while joint venture is a relatively long-term relationship (Kogut, 1988). (4) Vertical integration: It is closer than the interaction relationship in joint venture.

When defining partnership, most researches focused on information and benefit sharing between enterprises, establishment of common goal or trust, coordination and commitment, and risk sharing (Fynes et al., 2005). Lambert, Emmelhainz and Gardner (1996) pointed out that partnership is a relatively close relationship between two organisations which mutually support each other to attain certain objectives. As for buyers and suppliers, partnership is the promise and agreement formed in a relatively long time, of which the content includes information, and benefit, and risk sharing. That is to say, the concept of partnership must be based on cooperation and trust. Hutt et al. (2000) pointed out that partnership management includes four aspects: professional knowledge, good process, common goals and motivations, and the same views, while these conditions should be available both inside the organisation and between organisations. Trust is a key factor in successful alliance, while trust must be based on the communication and information processing flow between partners (Wong et al., 2005; Gulati and Sytch, 2007; Johnston et al., 2004). Herzog (2001) agreed with the view of Hutt et al. (2000) and pointed out that partnership refers to the strategic relationship of independent entities sharing common goals, working toward common interests, and highly and mutually depending on each other. However, Dwyer and Tanner (2002) emphasised the relationship characteristic in their definition of partnership and argued that partnership is a relationship characterised by mutual commitment, high trust, and common goals.

Summing up the above definitions on partnership, this research argues that partnership refers to a close cooperative relationship between two independent enterprises with common strategic goals, supplementary resources and capacities, compatible organisational culture, organisational structure, and management operation that work together to accomplish the tasks which they cannot accomplish on their own (Douma et al., 2000).

2.3.2 Supply Chain PartnershipSeuring and Muller (2008) pointed out that most traditional enterprises select suppliers based on price and continuously change suppliers to obtain lower price. However, with the competitive environment becoming increasingly fierce, to continuously improve the profit, increase market share, and enhance competitive advantages, enterprises begin to establish partnership with suppliers and gradually change the previous hostile relationship with upstream suppliers (Cousins et al., 2008). However, Saccani and Perona (2007) pointed that the distrust and information asymmetry between enterprises and suppliers has a long history, and enterprises, as buyers, keep on looking for suppliers offering lower price in the market, while suppliers gradually lose their loyalty to and trust in the buyers under exploit. In addition, apart from switching cost, enterprises will also face uncertainties such as time and quality if they want to switch to other suppliers, thus many enterprises find that the traditional transaction-based procurement is no longer efficient (Harrison and van Hoek, 2008). Hence, enterprises gradually cooperate with the major suppliers and begin to establish supply chain partnership (Christopher, 2005).

Supply chain partnership has many names, such as supply chain relationship, supplier-manufacturer or supplier-buyer relationship, supplier partnerships, supply chain alliance, strategic network, and inter-firm network, while most of these terms emerge with the development of supply chain and illustrate the concept from different perspectives (Lu and Yan, 2007).

Currently, existing researches’ definitions of supply chain partnership are based on the establishment of supply chain and partnership (Benton and Maloni, 2005). For instance, Speakman et al. (1998) held that supply chain partnership mainly refers to the relationship between two independent enterprises in the supply chain to achieve certain goals and profits, while these two enterprises are often suppliers and buyers/customers who agree to share information and risks in a certain period and improve financial or operating performance by reducing the cost and inventory. Different from the definition focus of Speakman et al. (1998), Baker (2002) mainly emphasised the durability of supply chain partnership and pointed out that supply chain partnership is a long-term close supplier relationship, in which the parties can negotiate and reach consensus in case of unexpected events. However, Lambert et al. (2004) held the same opinion with Speakman et al. (1998) and maintained that supply chain partnership is a special enterprise relationship based on mutual trust, openness, risk sharing, and benefit sharing.

This research mainly studies the factors influencing supply chain partnership by taking the partnership between Gome and Haier as the case. Hence, this research mainly refers to the definition of Speakman et al. (1998) when defining supply chain partnership: Supply chain partnership generally refers to a relationship between two independent enterprises aiming to attain certain goals and profits, while these two enterprises are often supply and buyer/customer who agree to share information and risk in a certain period and improve the financial or operating performance by lowering the cost and reducing the inventory.

2.4 Factors Influencing Supply Chain PartnershipSince the 1990s, researches have taken great interest in the factors influencing enterprises’ establishment and cultivation of relationship with external organisations, while many researchers have developed scales and conducted empirical researches (Lee et al., 2001). These researches can be divided into two groups: One group studies how environmental factors and enterprise factors affect the relationship by studying the correlation between dependent variables and independent variables and testing the hypotheses; while the other group mainly studies how personal relationship factors influence the relationship by summing up the possible influencing factors through interviews and questionnaire surveys with managerial personnel, while these researches did not put the influencing factors in the uniform theoretical framework not proved whether these factors are complete in logic. According to the research topic, this research mainly reviews the first group of researches.

According to systems theory, system output is the product of the common effects of system elements, element correlation, and external environment, thus the cooperation effects of supply chain system are affected by enterprise quality, node enterprises’ interaction, and external environment (Benton and Maloni, 2005). According to the source and nature of influencing factors, this research divides the factors influencing supply chain partnership into three categories: enterprise-related controllable factors; partner-related coordinate-able factors; and uncertain factors outside supply chain enterprises, such as environment and policy. The third category of factors is highly uncontrollable, thus this res

Elements Sentence/s

Claim Facebook’s security ineffective against identity fraud

Evidence A 2014 report from Symantec Security point by point an increment in character misrepresentation assaults on Facebook clients from 56% in 2012 to 81% in 2013. This sentence help the case investigates. It expand the quality of the case. It is a solid articulation on the grounds that it tells more than half is consistently character misrepresentation throughout the previous years

Warrant As social networking utilization increments and the innovation connected with it propels, so do the related security issues. Essayist is directing the vitality of more created security frameworks. On account of the expanding number of clients and propelling innovation the security require more regard for stop personality misrepresentation.

Backing It is evident that Facebook lacks the ideal framework to secure funds from its uses as well as all the information provided its clients.

Rebuttal Specifically Facebook gives the clients numerous security settings to counteract false conduct including passwords, protection settings and the capacity to breaking point profile access. The essayist is attempting to propose the ineffectual security arrangement of Facebook and how programmer dependably get pass it.

In any case by this sentence the author likewise calling attention to the exertion Facebook keeping in mind the end goal to build the wellbeing of its clients.

Qualifier Symantec denotes that although there is a commonness of fraud tricks on Facebook, it is basically the clients’ terrible practices in connection to secret word and data offering that was putting the clients’ themselves at danger of more awful results.

The case put the fault of character extortion of client totally on the face book’s wasteful efforts to establish safety. Yet the client call attention to the activities of clients are additionally a part to be faulted. As indicated by this sentence the principle purpose behind the helplessness is created by the clients.

Your Opinion The case of this article is ‘Facebook security is insufficient against character extortion. Author give information which makes the case solid. The proof show the expanding character extortion rate. It demonstrates how frail the security of Facebook against these programmers. Essayist additionally attempt to persuade the peruser by an implied warrant. It educates the peruser concerning the need of stronger security framework against the data fraud. Despite the fact that the author bring up the powerless efforts to establish safety of Facebook he call attention to the exertion Facebook makes to stop personality extortion. Author let the client to know the new security frameworks Facebook actualized. That can be taken as reply. In the qualifier the essayist part of the way put the fault on clients as well. Author shows aftereffects of an exploration as proof to demonstrate the announcement he makes as the qualifier. The essayist had the capacity make a solid contention which underpins the case of the article.

FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER RETENTION IN SUDANESE MOBILE PHONE SECTOR: TESTING AN INTEGRATED MODEL

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction A firm’s value is derived from its financial, physical and intangible assets. With physical and financial assets fast becoming obsolete, firms are turning to intangible assets as a way to gain advantage over competitors. Intangible assets give an organization a competitive advantage because they are hard to duplicate and imitate. Having realized the importance of human capital, customer capital, social capital, and intellectual capital, companies are embracing different strategies with the aim of improving the welfare of their employees. A good example is the Southwest Airlines which emphasizes on training and development to provide its employees with skills to perform multiple jobs. By enhancing its human capital, Southwest Airlines has achieved a competitive edge over other airlines that have similar or even greater levels of financial and physical assets. Companies such as Southwest Airlines have also developed a culture in the work place that encourages employee’s sense of ownership through shared decision making and leadership (Bauer & Erdogan 2009). In addition, such organizations have developed proper compensation programs to motivate their workers.

Background

Starbucks Corporation was started in 1971 but it has since expanded to more than 16,000 locations in 50 different nations. The company was started by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Seigel and Gordon Bowker, who were lovers of fine coffee and exotic teas. Initially the business was registered as Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spice but it was later renamed Starbucks Coffee Company. The company concentrates on selling high priced quality coffee to urban dwellers and those seeking sophisticated lifestyle experiences. From a humble beginning Starbucks Corporation has become one of the most rapid growing corporations in America. The company is not only renowned for its quality coffee but also its quality customer service and quality environment. As per April 2010, the company had 142,000 employees, worldwide (Booth & Strudwick, 2012).

The company depends on innovations to reduce transaction times. Some of the notable innovative products that the company has introduced include automatic espresso machines, pre-paid cards, and wireless internet service. The organization is very efficient and has registered monumental financial growth since its inception. Its strong financial performance allows it to create a positive working environment to the employees. In addition, the company uses its financial assets to pay its employees higher than the industrial standards. The company has also invested heavily on research and development and to expand its operations to foreign countries.

Although the company has registered huge success in the past, it relies heavily on its home market. This is an indication that the company needs to transform itself into a global organization in order to improve its revenue. At the same time, the company relies on a rather narrow product. In this regard, the company offers beverages as the main product. This is detrimental because relying on one product group makes the corporation vulnerable to changes in customer preferences. The corporation can address these threats by increasing its international presence. By so doing, the corporation should be able to tap into the still growing market for specialty coffee. In this regard, the company is already considering increasing its presence in BRIC countries where there is a sizable share of upper and middle classes.

Despite these opportunities, the corporation faces stiff competition from other players that are entering the coffee market. Already, Starbucks faces huge threat from McDonald’s which has established McCafes in numerous countries. Lower-priced competitors such as McCafe and Dunkin’ Donuts are no doubt likely to negatively the original Starbucks brand. In addition, unlike Starbucks, McCafe and Dunkin’ Donuts focus on multiple products which make them less susceptible to the escalating prices around the world. The company has also acquired a negative image from the media, a situation that is likely to affect its attractiveness especially to the young consumers. Most importantly, the 2008 economic crisis led to lower consumer spending for upscale goods including coffee. It is expected that the company could leverage on its workforce to increase the quality of products and services. To increase the working conditions of its employees Starbucks has initiated several strategies which will be evaluated in the rest of the paper.

Employee engagement

Weber (2005) defines employee engagement as the degree to which employees are fully involved in their work and the company. When employees become highly engaged, firms benefit from higher productivity, better customer service and lower turnover. Unfortunately, a survey conducted by Hilton (2008) indicates that in the U.S., 13% of the employees are disengaged, 76% are moderately engaged while 11% have high levels of engagement.

Employee engagement is influenced by many factors some of which are detailed below.

Team work

In each store, employees work in groups of three to six. Working together allows the employees to better serve the customers. The small teams of three to six, enhances communication while reducing role ambiguity. Small teams at the Starbucks also work well for the employees because they are able to arrive at the right decisions as fast as possible. Having a small number of workers in each store is also advantageous in that the intra-team conflict is minimized. All the employees within each Starbuck’s store work towards one common goal and as such the chances of natural disagreement and personal frustration are minimal. In addition, working in small teams reduces tension and unhealthy competition. This is important given that Starbucks Corporation relies heavily on good reputation to win over customers.

Improving team-work in the company

Although Starbucks continues to provide quality services to its customers through small teams of three to six workers, this strategy has led to work overload. To improve the situation there is need for the management to increase the number of team members in each store. Alternatively, the corporation could create a network of well trained baristas for temporary deployment on a need-to-need basis. The baristas could be sent to stores where workers are overloaded or where there is a temporary shortage of staff members. Finally, in order to improve the experiences of the team members there is need to give the managers the autonomy to devise their own training and development programs. However, these programs should meet the standards and guidelines set by the corporate headquarters.

Corporate culture

Starbuck’s corporation respect for workers is reflected in one of its six mission statements which is “…to provide great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.” (Serwer, 2004). The management always strives to have a satisfied workforce by holding constant meetings with the employees. When the workers have any grievances they can easily approach the management for remedy. On a more important note, Starbucks’ employees play an important role in the decision-making process. In particular, the employees are allowed to make decisions without needing any clearance from the management. Open communication in the company is encouraged by the matrix organizational structure. This flatter organizational structure in the company ensures information is easily communicated between the existing levels.

The management is required to treat the workers equally. In order to create a culture of cooperation and enhance interaction, the managers are required to co-work with the basic level staff in the front line. Constant interaction allows the management to identify any needs that the workers might have. The suggestions of the employees in every store are appreciated when formulating policies and plans to achieve their goals. Most importantly, the leaders help the employees to enrich their careers.

Starbucks Corporation always strives to create a culture that respects diversity and inclusion. The need to respect the values of its employees has become necessary because the organization has established its presence in many diverse countries. To promote the culture of inclusion among its leaders and its employees, the corporation uses the help of the following partner groups: Starbucks Access Alliance, Armed Forces Network, Black Partner Network, Asia Pacific Network, Pride Alliance Network and Women’s Development Network.

The corporation’s culture stresses the importance of people over profits. This aspect of the company’s culture was evident during the incident that happened in 2004. At the time, three employees were killed during a robbery at a Starbucks in Washington. The employees get to learn about the company’s culture through training programs. As a sign of being remorseful to the victims, the CEO declared all future profits from that store to be channeled to charities involving burglary investigation. The philosophy of respecting people over profits is also evident in the way the company deals with the protesters. Cases of discontentment among its workforce are always solved by positive agreements between the affected employees and the management. Becausing of respecting and constantly engaging the dissatisfied workers, Starbucks has been listed as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.” In order to pass over its culture, Starbucks readily embraces leadership development to identify future leaders and managers. It is also worth noting that the company is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and all partners are treated equally during the recruitment process. This process also applies during transfer, promotion, compensation, eligibility for promotion and termination.

In order to improve the relations between the employees, the corporation has a comprehensive Anti-Harassment and Anti-Retaliation Policy (Dexter, 2007). The workers are required to use the established “Reports Complaints” process to report abusive behavior to their store managers, district managers of the partners’ resources manager for the region (Pressman, 2007). This procedure is important in the workplace as it protects the integrity of the workers and assures them of their safety. Obviously, commitment from the employee to the employer is likely to improve only when a safe working environment is maintained. To further promote the satisfaction of its employees, the corporation regularly conducts Partner Voice Surveys. Through such surveys the management is able to address areas of concern while improving the employees’ working conditions.

Human resource strategies

According to Boulton, Libert and Samek (2000) human resource strategies refer to practices that are used to influence the employees’ behaviors, attitudes and performance. These practices are pivotal in attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining workers. Some of the common human resource strategies that are commonly used include recruiting employees, selecting employees, work design, compensation, developing good labor and employee relations and training and development (Cateora & Graham, 2007). The following section will discuss how training and compensation have been used to improve the employees’ working environment at Starbuck’s corporation.

Training and development

According to Serwer (2004) the corporation is revered for its training and development programs. Before any training program is conducted, a need analysis is conducted. After a need a need analysis is conducted, the trainers choose an appropriate instructional technique and then use it train the employees. The employees require the training experience so that they can settle on their jobs well. After the training is conducted, an evaluation is performed by the HR department to assess the program’s strengths and weaknesses for future adjustment. Every employee in the corporation starts his job in paid training known as the ‘First Impressions.” During this sessions the employees how they can create a positive experience for customers.

The employees in the corporation are refereed to as partners. Employees are provided with adequate training in order to produce quality products and services. Training is uniform across all individual stores. However, employees moving from one store to another may face difficulties adapting to the new location because practices sometimes vary. Training is particularly beneficial to the transferred and borrowed partners. Remember also, the recruitment process is sometimes informal which means that recruits must be imparted with the necessary skills before they can start performing their duties. The orientation is carried out by the line management and partner resources department.

One of the common training programs that are tailored for the employees in the Starbucks Corporation is the Barista 100 training program. The Barista 100 training consists of internships, computer aided instruction, internet-based training, and on the job-training. The programs are particularly important to employees who switch primary store locations his program particularly targets the baristas. Another program is the Partner Café, and it a great learning resource for the current Starbucks partners. Through this program employees acquire new knowledge and ideas through formal learning and individual development discussions. The employees are trained by the store managers and established baristas. The Partner Café program is very personalized to meet the individual needs of each employee. According to Tharenou (2001) the first portion of training surrounds first impressions, customers while introducing the employees to the Starbucks experience. Afterwards, the barista then receive the Whole Bean, Brewed Coffee and Tea, and Food Case Training. As part of the program, 16 hours are dedicated towards training employees about bar practices, machine use and drink standards.

Continued training

The baristas undergo continuous training. In this regard, the corporation has a store portal, which has pertinent information about the recipes, tips and news about the company. Alternatively, baristas undergo further training during promotional periods, when a standards change occurs or when products and services are introduced. In this regard, in 2004, the corporation introduced the Coffee Master Program for the staff to learn more about the particularities of coffee. The program uses a blended training approach consisting of on-ob training, online portal work and classes. On-job training entails showing the employees how particular tasks are performed, after which the supervisors diminishes his or her role in training. On the other hand, internet-based training provides the employees with generic information and initial instruction. This form of training advantageous because employees can review the course contents from virtually anywhere. The Starbucks training programs not only gives the employees the necessarily skills to perform their jobs effectively, but all workers are treated equally. Just to illustrate, both the part-time workers and the corporate employees take up similar courses at the start of their career. In this case, if you apply for a managerial position at Starbucks Corporation, you must undergo immersion training which involves working in a Starbuck’s store and learning how to make coffee just like the baristas. To further enhance the skills of the employees, the corporation dedicates a whole day each year during which all stores all closed for training purposes.

Improving training and development programs

Although the available programs are effective for training and development purposes, the employees find it difficult to relate to the traditional idea of Starbucks. In order to address this problem, there is a need to come with more exciting programs. In this regard, the organization should consider initiating an exchange program and it expected that this new initiative is likely to increase motivation.

Another major problem with the current training programs is that they do not address the needs of the transferred and borrowed partners. To address this problem, it is important for the HR department to establish an electronic record detailing the training and performance of all its employees. For borrowed partners, they should report to their temporary stations before the required time, so that they can receive the necessary orientation.

Compensation

The corporation’s philosophy is to reward the outstanding employees. Starbuck’s corporation total package is known as “your special blend” and it offers a competitive pay, bonuses, paid time off, equity in the form of discounted stocks, adoption assistance, domestic partner benefits, free coffee and retirement savings plan (Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2007). The partners are also free to join numerous clubs and programs such as the Thrive Wellness program, Elite Athlete Assistance Program, Internal recognition program, and Career sabbaticals (Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2007).

One of the biggest challenges for the company has been to maintain a high level of employee performance, to attract a young workforce and give provide the part-time workers with an enabling working environment. To motivate these workers, the CEO thought it wise to extend the health benefits to all employee groups. It was expected that doing so would improve the employees’ confidence, reduce turnover and reduce hiring and training costs. Another important element of the Starbuck’s compensation program is the stock option plan. This initiative was introduced in 1991 by the CEO, Mr. Howard Schultz. By investing in the company, the employees are motivated to increase the sales in order to earn more dividends.

Beside the base pay, and the corporations, gives the employees financial incentives such as stock options, employee discounts and cash bonuses for stores going above the target sales. Although the corporation offers good benefits, it has decided to reduce some of them. This was the case in the UK at the end of the 2012 when the corporation resolved to cut the paid lunch breaks, sick leave and maternity benefits for thousands of British workers. The new contractual terms removed cash incentives and the bonus scheme for women returning from maternity leaves. The move was highly criticized by the workers, trade unions and the UK government. Workers were forced to sign the revised employment terms. This move affected 7,000 coffee shop staff across 750 stores and according to Booth and Strudiwick (2012) who work as reporters for the Guardian, the new changes were being affected in response to an increase in company’s tax bill. Although the revised terms and conditions could be considered necessary under the circumstances, workers were no doubt de-motivated in the process. It is also worth noting that Starbuck employees are not unionized. If problems arise in the work places, the employees are required to adhere to a formal grievance procedure. This has not gone down well with the employees, because they feel they do not have a viable channel through which they air their grievances. The corporation has also been at logger heads with different trade unions all over the world due to its unfair labour practices. A case in point was on 18th August 2007, when the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) held widespread protests against the corporation. There is also a perception that its employees are dissatisfied and under-appreciated which poses the danger of negative service impairment.

In another different incident, on July 15th 2011, Starbucks’ workers in Chile staged huge protests seeking pay and benefits increases. The strike paralyzed its operations in its 31 cafes in Chile. The strike which was organized by the baristas drew huge support from the Chilean Labour Agency. To prevent such strikes in future maybe the corporation should increase the number of workers in order to reduce the workload.

In America the corporation has been accused of punishing workers for engaging in the activities organized by the Starbucks Workers Union. A case in point was in 2005 when Daniel Gross and another union activist were fired for engaging in protests against the corporation. The corporation has also been by its employees for unfair labour practices in Grand Rapids and Michigan. The corporation has been accused of failing to provide workers with good working conditions, guaranteed work hours and poor pay.

Despite Starbucks anti-union stance, some of its employees in the recent past have successfully become members of the Industrial Workers of the World. A case in point was on June 16th, 2006 when Starbucks employees in Manhattan announced their membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. Similarly, in August 29th 2006, employees in Chicago’s Logan Square Starbucks filed declared their union membership.

Conclusion

The Starbucks Corporation has enhanced employee engagement by initiating extensive training and development programs. In addition, employee engagement has been achieved by increasing the frequency, quality and the number of workplace learning opportunities and employee orientation programs. The training programs and job design creates equality between those in front-line management and low-skilled workers. The culture at the Starbucks encourages interaction and communication between the management and the other employees. By increasing the level of communication throughout the existing hierarchies, the decision-making process and employees’ motivation has been enhanced. Employees’ motivation has also been achieved by giving all employees an attractive pay, stock options and numerous benefits. As a result turnover rate of Starbucks is much lower than other industries on average. However, in the recent past, the commitment of the employees has been affected by the company’s anti-union stance, lack of guaranteed work hours and work overload. The management needs to address these concerns by employing more employees and encouraging the employees to join the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.

References

Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2009). Organizational behavior (1st ed.). New York: Flat World Knowledge

Booth, R. and Strudwick, P. (2012). Starbucks to slash paid lunch breaks. The Guardian

Boulton, R.E.S., Libert, B.D., & Samek, S.M. (2000), A Business Model for the New Economy. Journal of Business Strategy,

Cateora, P. R., Graham, J. L. (2007). International Marketing. New York: McGraw-HillIrwin.

Dexter, R. (2007). Forbidden Starbucks. Business Week Online, July, p.14.

Pressman, P. (2007, August 19). Archrivals Storm Starbucks. Business Week Online,p. 24

Serwer, A. (2004). Starbucks Taking on the World. Strategic Direction, vol. 20, issue7, 13-5

Tharenou, Phyllis. “The relationship of training motivation toparticipation in training and development.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 74. (2001): 599-621

Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. J., & Gamble, J. (2007). Crafting and Executing Strategy: Text and Readings. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Weber, Gretchen. “Preserving the Starbucks Counter Culture”. Workforce Management, February 2005, pp. 28-34

Facility Departments

Name

InstitutionFacility departments

Facilities department in a health facility is the department that is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the design, planning, operation, construction, and maintenance of health care facilities, assets and grounds facilitate administrative, research and treatment activities of a health care facility while continually sustaining a balance between technical and financial challenges its faces. The facilities management department is one that is responsible for the overall physical development and maintenance of the health care centre while still ensuring that that the institution can provide a sustainable environment that promotes its basic duty of treating and facilitating the recovery of patients. The facility departments in a health care centre is handled by a team of facility managers, which is headed by a department manager, that have sufficient knowledge on asset management as well as an informed background on medical issues and the provision of these services hence they know best how to maximally utilise the available resources while still growing its profit margins. (Cotts, 1999)

Interview Questions for the department’s manager

Has the department managed to handle all its roles adequately in the past period of twelve month with minimal or no complaints from the staff, visitors or patients? Does the department focus on continuous innovation and development within the health facility? Is the management body of the health facility supportive of the department’s initiatives and how well has they succeeded and showed good results? How good are the public relations and is there a customer based quality program that ensures that clients get the best of services from both the facilities and staff?

Personal thoughts and analysis

It is of essence that any enterprise or institution sustains a functional facility department for it to run successfully and also be ranked among the top in its sector. Facility management enhances the competitiveness of the health care facility in a bid to reduce the costs incurred in running it and ultimately adding value to the core business of the clients, who in this case are clients. Any facility department ought to be dynamic and quick to adopt changes that are essential in maintaining a successful health care centre. (Rondeau et al, 2006)

References

Cotts, D. G. (1999). The facility management handbook. New York [u.a.: AMACOM

Rondeau, E. P., Brown, R. K., & Lapides, P. D. (2006). Facility management. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.

Factors Influencing Food and Culture

Author

Institution

Introduction

Food habit and culture come as some of the most defining aspects of any society. This is especially considering that they encompass the fundamental values, norms and traditions pertaining to the particular society. It goes without saying that different societies have varying traditions, norms and values, as well as habits pertaining to foods that would be considered indigenous to those societies. Indeed, these aspects have defied all efforts for their extinction resulting from economic, social and cultural globalization. Indeed, some aspects pertaining to culture including foods have only had their status elevated and their popularity in the globalised world increased (MacClancy & Macbeth, 2004). For instance, it is not difficult to obtain Chinese or Indian food in the United States, irrespective of the increased globalization of the contemporary human society. Nevertheless, questions have been raised as to the aspects that influence food habits and culture in the contemporary human society. While there may be differing opinions, it is evident that an individual’s food habits and culture is a product of a myriad of influences spanning the social, cultural, health and economic aspects of his or her life.

Economic factors

First, an individual’s food habits and culture may be influenced by economic aspects of the individual, as well as the area in which he or she lives. Cost has been identified as one of the most crucial factors determining an individual’s selection of food. This is especially in the case of low income families, the elderly and students. Research shows that these groups usually spend about 33% of their income on food. There are variations in the cost of food in line with the amount that is purchased at once, the levels of processing or even the places where an individual purchases the foods. On the same note, the economic factor comes into play with regard to the available resources. In most cases, time and money limit the foodstuffs that individuals buy and the amount of preparation to which they subject their foods. In some cases, resources may be interchangeable, where an individual who has the money may opt to go to a hotel or even do his or her own cooking (MacClancy & Macbeth, 2004). Testament to the influence of resources is the fact that rich individuals may afford freezers in which they can store foods and consume them even when they are not in season.

Economics also come into play with regard to the marketplace or the places in which an individual purchases his or her foodstuffs. Marketplaces may be corner stores, suburban shopping centers, small local supermarkets, or even purchasing and selling foodstuffs in the world market (Haden, 2009). Scholars have noted that there is an inverse relationship between the size of the selling venue and the cost of foodstuffs, in which case smaller selling venues would have higher selling prices of food items as they buy their items in small quantities from wholesalers and larger stores and mark up their selling price to cover their costs (Haden, 2009). This means that low-income individuals would be forced to buy only particular food items, or do without some foods thanks to the price at the selling venues.

On the same note, an individual’s food habits and culture may be determined by his or her finances and occupation. Scholars have underlined the fact that an individual’s food choices are a reflection of his occupation’s physical demands, as well as its social expectations (Houston, 2005). Indeed, the income that an individual receives from his employment would determine the quantity and quality of the food that he chooses (Kittler & Sucher, 2004). Scholars have underlined the fact that a large number of individuals all over the globe primarily consider economic factors when making any food selection.

Social factors

The society or cultures within which an individual lives, alongside the contact that individuals have play an immense role in determining an individual’s food habits and cultures (Katz & Weaver, 2003). This is especially with regard to the taboos, traditions and beliefs that pertain to a particular group of people, as well as the life, education, job and family, as well as importance of hospitality in the social group. Researchers note that different traditions are repeated at certain times, with certain foods being served (Kittler & Sucher, 2004). Indeed, social and festive occasions involve food to some extent, with the meals being the key focus of the occasions. For instance, the Chinese New Year is a celebration that involves displays of special foodstuffs like rice cakes.

Social interactions may determine the food cultures and habits especially considering that food has, since time immemorial, been considered as a symbol of hospitality and friendship. Indeed, individuals usually offer visitors food or drink, as these help in creating a relaxed atmosphere. On the same note, the media has played an immense role in determining the food habits and culture (Katz & Weaver, 2003). This is especially with regard to advertisements, which expose individuals to numerous types of foods. As much as the foods advertised in the media may have extremely low nutritional value, they are presented as if they make the foundation of happy and healthy lifestyles.

Peer groups exert the most pressure as far as the formation of any habit is concerned. The peers of an individual are individuals that are roughly in the same social status, as well as age group. As much as peer pressure is felt the most during adolescence, almost every person can have his or her habits influenced by his or her peers (Montanari & Sonnenfeld, 2006). This is especially considering the need for acceptance, which would make individuals eat when and what one’s friends are eating irrespective of the nutritional value of the foods (Kittler et al, 2012). Indeed, individuals often feel safer when trying new stuff with their peers, especially considering that sharing foodstuff is an incredible technique for knowing people, as well as cementing friendships (Medina, 2005).

Psychological factors

These factors revolve around an individual’s emotion and mind. There are variations in beliefs and attitudes among individuals subject to an individual’s upbringing and lifestyle. Nevertheless, scholars have underlined the fact that psychological factors such as habits, past experiences, values and beliefs constantly influence one’s selection of food while selections made from self-concept, attitudes and emotions may be different from day to day (Kittler et al, 2012)

Values are sufficiently strong as to motivate action and influence an individual’s behavior. It is noted that the values of an individual are a reflection of the cultural and family values to which an individual subscribes, or may revolve around personal response to experiences through which an individual has gone in his or her life (Montanari & Sonnenfeld, 2006). In selections of food, the values that have the highest likelihood for influencing one’s choices revolve around the food origins and health concerns. For instance, vegetarianism may be reflecting value-based food habits or cultures, where an individual respects the rights of animals to live peaceful and without being subjected to pain (Counihan & Van, 2008). Indeed, a vegetarian may find the idea of killing and eating an animal extremely revolting or even contest the conditions in which some of these animals are raised as a source of food. Of particular note is the fact that some people place such a high value on the rights of animals to freedom to the extent that they disagree with consumption of all animal products including milk and eggs (Civitello, 2008).

This is also the same case with beliefs pertaining to the things that are acceptable. In most cases, these beliefs emanate from religious teachings. Beliefs are convictions and opinions that do not necessarily have to have a basis in positive scientific proof. Buddhists, for instance, are vegetarians in part as they can only consume fish and not any other animal. Christians, on the other hand, are prohibited from eating animals whose hooves are divided such as donkeys or animals that have claws (Counihan & Van, 2008). Cultural conventions may also create taboos, as is the case for parts of mid-Africa where individuals believe that animal milk is composed of repulsive body secretion that is similar to urine, while some individuals in South East Asia believe that chickens or their eggs destroy an individual’s fertility, in which case they do not consume them (Civitello, 2008).

On the same note, food habits and cultures may be influenced by individual’s self-concept or their view of themselves (Medina, 2005). For instance, individuals may limit their consumption of fast-foods if they view themselves as obese or badly shaped, or even consume fish in an effort to increase their IQ.

References

Haden, R. (2009). Food culture in the Pacific Islands. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood Press.

Katz, S. H., & Weaver, W. W. (2003). Encyclopedia of food and culture. New York., NY: Thomson/Gale.

Medina, F. X. (2005). Food culture in Spain. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

Houston, L. M. (2005). Food culture in the Caribbean. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press.

Montanari, M., & Sonnenfeld, A. (2006). Food is culture. New York: Columbia University Press.

Civitello, L. (2008). Cuisine and culture: A history of food and people. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley.

Kittler, P. G., Sucher, K., & Nahikian-Nelms, M. (2012). Food and culture. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.

Counihan, C., & Van, E. P. (2008). Food and culture: A reader. New York: Routledge.

Kittler, P. G., & Sucher, K. (2004). Food and culture. Australia: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

MacClancy, J., & Macbeth, H. (2004). Researching food habits: Methods and problems. New York [u.a.: Berghahn Books.

Facilities Engineer Assessment Of Three Field Development Options With A Clear Recommendation

Introduction

The gazelle oil field is located forty five kilometers from the nearest land fall to the North West-a remote desert region with limited infrastructure. Water depth is 100m. The nearest town, Fort Thompson, 200 km south west of the field, has a deep water port with tanker berthing capability, a refinery and export facilities. The oil refining facility in the fort Thompson currently processes crude oil and NGLs from a number of onshore fields to the south and west in addition to the gazelle production. There is a strong local market for natural gas for power generation. This paper assess three field development options for the gazelle offshore oil field, which has been producing for a number of years. The development options are refurbishment to upgrade the present system, replacement of oil export system via the FSO and complete system replacement.

Question 1

Refurbishment of Present System

The present water handling and treatment system entails allowing water to settle in an FSO tank, which is discharged directly overboard, when the requirements of oil in water specifications to be met. This system has worked over the years and will still to offer an alternative when proper refurbishments are carried out. The FSO tank for the gazelle oil field needs to be changed since its nearing the end of its useful life. In changing the FSO tank a centrifuge system will be integrated to ensure the waste water produced is with acceptable limits. The centrifuge system is used with the aim of reducing the oil content in water produced in oil operations. Separation of oil and water in the centrifuge is as a result of the action of centrifugal forces as well as the specific gravity difference of water and oil (Emmanuel, 15). Produced water from the oil drilling process is inserted into the centrifuge. In the centrifuge, the water is rotated at very high speed. Water will accumulate at the exterior of the centrifuge while oil will gather at the inner layer. Water and oil are removed individually, under controlled conditions. The oil and water interface has to be sustained. Oil is usually pumped back into the process while the water is removed. A centrifuge permits the separation of minute oil droplets than the hydrocyclone even though it consumes more the energy (Samson 8). Centrifuges are normally applied as a purification step when the performance standard cannot be accomplished. In the gazelle offshore oil, the use of centrifuges will be useful in maintaining the standard of the waste water as well as removing skimming from degassers as well as induced gas flotation units, hence preventing the accumulation of sludges.

WATER

SEA BED

Figure 1: showing oil flow to ESO from the wells

Replacement of the Oil Export System via the FSO

A floating, storage and offloading (FSO) unit can be defined as a floating vessel utilized in the offshore crude oil and gas production industry for the production of hydrocarbons and for storage of oil. The FSO vessel is built to receive crude oil drilled from a close by platforms, process them, as well as store the crude until it can conveniently be offloaded onto a receiving tanker or, less often, transported via a pipeline. FSOs are used more in frontier offshore areas as they can be installed easily, and do not need a local pipeline structure to export oil. FSOs may be a modification of an oil-tanker or may be a vessel created particularly for the application. (Mollard and Robert). Crude oil drilled from an offshore platforms may be transferred to the mainland through the use of a pipeline or tanker. When the tanker is selected to transport the crude oil, it is essential to collect the oil in a storage tank so that the oil-tanker is not incessantly occupied during the crude oil production. It should only be used once significant oil has been accumulated to fill up the oil tanker. At this stage, the transport tanker links to the storage units’ stern and oil is offloaded.

FSO vessels are predominantly effective in deep-water or remote locations where the seabed pipelines aren’t cost effective. FSOs remove the requisite of laying costly long distance pipelines from the production/processing facility to the onshore terminal. This creates an economically suitable solution for minor oil fields, which could have their oil exhausted in a short period of time. Also, once a fields’ oil resources are depleted, the FSO may be transferred to a different location. Some FSO contain both processing and storage equipment for the produced crude oil or natural gas. The usual design of most FSOs contains a ship shaped vessel, having topsides and processing equipment, in the vessel’s deck as well as a hydrocarbon storage tank below within the double hull. Once crude oil has been collected and in some cases processed, the FSO stores gas or oil before offloading intermittently to shuttle tankers or transporting processed petroleum through pipelines. Fixed in place by several mooring systems, FSOs are very useful development solutions for deep-water as well as ultra-deep water fields. The central mooring system enables the vessel to move freely to adequately respond to different weather conditions, while spread mooring systems anchor the FSO from different points on the seafloor. Normally attached to subsea wells, FSOs collect hydrocarbons from the subsea production wells via a matrix of in-field pipelines. Crude oil tapped using subsea wells, are transmitted with the aid of flowliness and risers, which move the oil as well as gas from the seafloor to the turret of the vessel and then into the FSO usually floating on the surface of the water. The processing equipment on the FSO is same with what would be seen on other production platforms. Normally built in modules, FSO production equipment consist of gas treatment, water separation, oil processing, gas compression and water injection, among others. Crude oil is transferred to the double-hull of the vessel for storage. Hydrocarbons are stored onboard are later transferred into ocean barges or shuttle tankers going ashore, through a loading hose. Transporting oil from the FSO stern to the shuttle tanker bow termed tandem loading.

The FSO can be replaced using the installation of pipes. The gazelle offshore oil field can replace the FSO unit. The collected water and oil are separated after drilling from the wells. The separated oil is moved through pipelines to the refinery while the collected water is treated and re-injected into the earth’s surface.

WATER

SEA BED

Complete system replacement

Hydro-cyclones and Down Hole separation will be used together with pipes in crude oil drilling to completely replace the FSO unit. Hydro-cyclones can be described as an existing and established technique for the extraction of dispersed oil from large oil fields (Henry, 18). Oil and water separation in the hydro-cyclones is also based on the action of centrifugal forces as well as the difference between the specific gravity of water and oil (Ojo, 24). The water produced is inserted under pressure tangentially. A hydro-cyclone usually consists of two exits on its axis: the smaller exit at the bottom (reject or underflow) and a larger exit at the top (accept or overflow). The underflow is usually the coarser or denser fraction, while the accept or overflow is the finer or lighter fraction. Forward hydro-cyclones remove elements, which are denser than their surrounding fluid, while the reverse hydro-cyclones remove elements that are usually less dense than their surrounding fluid. Normally, in the reverse hydrocyclone, at the apex the overflow takes place while at the base the underflow occurs. Parallel flow hydro-cyclones also exist in which the reject and accept are ejected at the apex. Parallel flow hydro-cyclones remove elements, which are usually lighter than the fluid in the surrounding. Hydro-cyclones can be manufactured from metal (mainly steel). Metal hydro-cyclones are utilized in situations where more durability or strength in terms of pressure or heat is required. In situations where the level of abrasion is high, polyurethane functions better than ceramics or metals. Metals covered with polyurethane are utilized in cases of collective high pressure and abrasion. In a solution of particles having the equal density, a sharp cut may be made. The particle size in which the particles are separated is directly proportional to the cyclone diameter, feed pressure exit dimensions, and the comparative characteristics of the liquid and the particles. The separation efficiency is related to the concentration of solids: increased concentration will reduce the separation efficiency. An important difference in the suspension density exits between the exits at the base (fines) as well as the exit at the apex, where the liquid flow is low. When the range of the element and particle size is restricted, differences occur in the density between different particles types, the particles that are denser would exit specially at the apex. The hydro-cyclone shape creates a speed increase, resulting in creation of a large centrifugal forces as well as the separation of water and oil. The heavier water would move within the vortex in the direction of the cyclone exit, while the lighter oil would move in the secondary vortex towards the cyclone center. Dissolved oil particles and impurities, such as heavy metals would not be removed (Emmanuel, 6). In recent types, rotating cyclones have been developed. These cyclones function as both a hydrocyclone as well as a centrifuge. Rotating cyclones usually have higher removal effectiveness than the static hydrocyclone. Down-hole separation for oil can be described as a technique where the production of a water-oil mix at the base of the production well is separated through a hydrocyclone. The separated water is inserted into an appropriate underground zone while the remnant oil and water mix is transported to the surface. Thus, the quantity of water produced can be decreased by over fifty percent. This would result in a greater oil production, a fairly low water production as well as the utilization of lesser chemicals. The treatment and discharge of the water produced is significantly decreased.

Question 2

ECONOMIC EVALAUTION

From the data obtained from the excel sheet the summary table was obtained.

cum oil cum CAPEX cum OPEX $/bbl

Decline Base Case 106 100 1564 15.69

Refurbish GAZELLE & FSO 253 0 0 0.00

Replace GAZELLE complete and Pipeline 266 0 0 0.00

Replace GAZELLE & FSO (no pipeline) 266 0 0 0.00

From the table obtained, the cum oil during the refurbishment and replacement processes increased against the decline base case. They was also no cum CAPEX and Cum OPEX during the refurbishment and replacement exercises.

Question 3

FLOW ASSURANCE ISSUES

Flow assurance describes a relatively novel term in the oil & gas industry. Flow assurance denotes ensuring the economical and successful flow of crude oil from the reservoir to the sales point (Henry, 2005). Flow assurance issues are extremely diverse, encompassing several discrete as well as specialized subjects along with bridging the gap across various engineering disciplines. Flow assurance denotes the most serious task during deep-water crude oil drilling since the occur at high pressures and very low temperatures. The environmental and financial loss originating from production break down or asset destruction as a result of flow assurance accidents can be crippling. What makes flow assurance even harder is that these resource deposits can react together with one another and can cause deadly blockage in pipelines and cause flow assurance failure. An example of a flow assurance process is thermal pipeline investigation. Another example is the assessment of erosion as a result of the presence of sand particles in equipment.

For the refurbishment of the present system, old existing flow assurance measures should be utilized. Thermal investigation should be carried out. Also the pipeline pumping crude form the wells to the platforms should be constantly monitored to prevent leakages, which will cause oil spillage.

Replacement of the FSO with pipelines carries significant risks. The pipelines need to significantly monitor to ensure no leakage. Also the pipelines used must meet standard specifications to ensure that they do not rupture as a result of excessive pressure. There are several methods of handling the flow assurance concerns in offshore pipelines and installations. A most commonly utilized method is to apply particularly designed flow assurance coverings on the pipe as well as field joint area. In the oil industry, many flow assurance coatings manufacturers employ a “one size fits all” methodology by offering only particular types of coatings for flow assurance irrespective of the project design parameters (such as water depth, maximum functioning temperature and method of installation). This type of flow assurance coatings will not be used for pipelines in option 2. The coatings used will provide end to end anti-corrosion as well as flow assurance systems, which will include the factory fitted line pipe coating along with a highly functional field joint coating. An end to end flow assurance coating mechanism offers significant merits to the offshore-pipeline operators as well as contractors. Operators will obtain definite long-term thermal performance assurances for the complete pipeline operation, an optimized thermal design that enhances the pipeline performance. The only drawback of this is that it comes at added costs.

With complete system replacement comes novel problems and flow assurance issue. The new system must be properly evaluated to ensure no unexpected or foreseen problems.

Question 4

The three options are viable options and will be evaluated based on risk of environmental pollution and present manpower available to implement this system. They first option entails the refurbishment of the FSO as well as the addition of a centrifuge system. This system is very viable and the present gazelle staff can be trained on how the centrifuge system functions. The present gazelle staff already know how to use the FSO system hence adapting to the new system will be easier.

The second option involves changing the process to using an appropriate pipeline system where pipes are installed and used to perform the function of FSO. This system is viable but the implementation costs are very high. The amount of money to be spent on the pipes will be high and the staff will need to be trained on how to use the pipelines. This will take time and errors will exist. Using pipes also pose risks, since leakages easily occur from pipelines cause significant environmental degradation.

The third option involves changing the whole system. A new FSO unit will be bought and installed. This system will use Hydro-cyclones and Down-Hole separation in conjunction with pipes for the purification of contaminated water. The system is costly, will require intensive training of the staff, and will cost more money. Also the risks from the pipelines are very high. The can easily be ruptured and environmental pollution will occur.

Question 5

My recommended developmental option is option 1. Option 1 has been successful since the creation of the Gazette offshore oil field. The refurbishment will revitalize the already existing system. The centrifuge system will be integrated to ensure that the generated waste water is treated to meet environmental standards before disposal. Using pipes to replace the FSO will work but this pipes will be expensive to install and can easily rupture causing severe environmental degradation at very high costs.

Decommissioning outline for option 1

Injection and production wells

Downhole equipment for example the tubing inside the wells would be removed while the perforated segments of the wellbore along the reservoir will be cleaned of scale, sediment and other form of debris. The remaining hydrocarbons in the production wells would be displaced using weighted brine and the wells would be cement plugged to inhibit fluid migration from the wellbore to overlying formations or the seabed. The subsea trees would also be removed while the wellheads would be about 4m above the seabed. These wellheads would have water depths of between 1,100 m and 1,600 m. They will not serve as a hindrance to fishing or navigation activities in the future. The precise decommissioning requirements would differ slightly for each well. The wells would be abandoned individually using a well service vessel or drilling rig.

Decommissioning the FSO

The FSO would be detached from the risers as well as the production system separated from the wells. Equipment, which are topsides, would be decommissioned offshore. Production system would be washed from the FSO end with the aid of seawater to remove any residual production fluids and oil. The flushing water would be returned back to the FSO for treatment. The remaining hazardous waste would be carried to shore as well as treated at a suitable approved waste treatment plant. After the system for production has been flushed as well as confirmed clean, the FSO would be released for removal from the mooring-system.

The final disposition of the FSO would be based on its current condition at the conclusion of production and upon the other options available for future use. When the decision is to decommission the FSO, it would be moved from the production site to a location where it would be dismantled or scrapped based on the adequate international conventions. Based on the state of the FSO it may be refurbished as well as re-used at other sites (Adedayo, 6). The mooring system chains and lines would also be recovered.

Subsea Facilities

Subsea facilities, which lay above the seafloor, would be removed. The flexible risers up to the FSO would be disconnected from the bases and recovered through reeling onto the lay vessel. Umbilicals would be recovered and the termination boxes along with other subsea important control equipment. Subsea manifolds, production as well as wellhead jumpers will be recovered to the surface after flushing while any steel piles used to support the subsea equipment will remain in-situ and protrude a maximum of about one to three meters above the seabed within waters bodies between 1,100 m and 1,600 m deep.

Wastes and discharges, which occur in the course of the decommissioning, will satisfy the same discharge standards that applied during the operational stages of the project (Climate and Pollution Agency 15). After abandonment of the subsea facilities and wells a seabed survey would be carried to check the effectiveness of this abandonment process.

WORKS CITED

Adedayo, Ayoade. Environmental Risk and Decommissioning Of

Offshore Oil Platforms in Nigeria. NIALS Journal of Environmental Law. 2011. Pdf

Climate and Pollution Agency. Decommissioning of offshore installations. Oslo. 2011. Pdf

Emmanuel, Philip. Using Advanced Water Protection systems in the Niger Delta Area of Nigeria. Lagos: Universal, 2008. Print

Henry, Marcus. Flow Assurance Processes. Lagos: Universal, 2005. Print

Kumasi, Hart. Flow assurance guidelines. Accra: Essien, 2006. Print

Mollard, F and Robert, C. Floating LNG: the challenges of production systems and well fluid management. n.d. Web. 12 Nov 2013

Ojo, K. Water processing systems. Abuja: Wilford, 2009. Print

Samson, Hyacinth. Separation Techniques. Lagos: Universal, 2004. Print