Developing an action plan Essay Example for Free

Developing an action plan Essay The Utah Symphony has proven its ability to generate substantial sums of Revenue with both performance revenues and by securing large sums of income from governmental grants along with generous contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. The Symphony’s ability to draw large crowds along with their demanding schedule length allows them to offer the community ample opportunities to participate. The Symphony provides sustainability for 83 full time musicians, and this allows them to concentrate on the goals of the Symphony without the worries of looking for other income opportunities. Mr. Lockhart is a very talented and experienced music director that has a personal commitment to his symphony. Mr. Lockhart’s role as the music director comes with many challenges, it is through these challenges that he has elevated the Utah Symphony to the status they enjoy today. The musicians and Mr. Lockhart have developed a relationship of trust and respect, Mr. Lockhart has publicly acknowledged how important they are to the overall success of the symphony and his success as a director. The Utah Symphony has a very demanding schedule and with it comes great expense; the symphony needs to look for cost cutting options to maintain operations. They are relying on generous governmental funding and other contributions that are simply not what the previously had been. The symphony will need to look towards the possibility of reducing its staff’s income and benefits, to overcome this shortfall, which is a hard situation to deal with. Mr. Lockhart will need to take a stronger leadership role and develop a plan to approach the musicians about the dire situation they are in and try to develop a strategy to cut cost, however his personal relationship with them present a challenge that is not easy to overcome. Another concern is Mr. Lockhart does not want be perceived as â€Å"playing second string† when it comes to his Symphony and will need to look at the bigger picture to see what is best for the Symphony. Anne will need to be as straight forward and honest as possible about the  realties that the symphony faces, with regards to budget management and cost saving techniques. She will need to gain the trust of the musicians much the same way Keith has by developing the understanding of the importance the musicians hold within the developing organization for the merger to be successful. She needs to develop a relationship with Keith and his position with the symphony that does not create tension within the merged organization. The Utah Opera has developed a business strategy that works. They are running a very profitable organization that utilizes effective methods for fundraising and obtaining other contribution resources. They have appropriated their budget to allow them to maximize what revenue they attain wisely; they will have very little reduction in governmental grants, and a projected increase in contributions for individuals, corporations and foundations in the year to come. They have a large inventory of costumes and productions sets and own the building and land they operate in. With Anne as the head of the UOC she has grown the budget from 1.5 million to almost 5 million; she’s an accomplished fund raiser for the UOC. Anne bring many talents to the UOC from stage director, to general director Anne is a very crucial part of the success of the UOC. The UOC faces a challenging future with the lack of performance revenues projected for the upcoming season and increase in production cost they may have to make adjustments to staff to maintain their level of security, however they have been running an impressive surplus of nearly half a million dollars. With the merger details made public they have had some staffing concerns and even the resignation of the Director of operations Leslie Petersen. Some members of the UOC staff feel they may be placed in the shadows of the Symphony and end up flipping the bill for the symphonies failures. Anne has undertaken a huge role within the merger of the organizations and she will need to make sure she doesn’t lose focus with the day to day operations of the UOC, since she is currently without a Director of operations. Anne has a proving record of running efficient organizations and may not be sensitive to the needs and desires of the employees from both the UOC and USO, due to her drive for efficiency. Anne needs to place a Director of operations for the UOC as soon as possible. She will need to talk with her current employees and provide the assurance they need in regards to the important role they play in a successful merger. She will want to assure that the organizations will work together as one and the UOC will not be left flipping the bills from the shadows. Anne will want to continue to meet the needs of the UOC to maintain it level of success. Analysis of Company scorecards Financially the goals of the USO and UOC are quite similar they both are concerned with financial stability with increased profitability. Fund raising is realized as being very important to maintain that profitability with the USO focused more on keeping ticket prices the same as last year and the UOC with increasing their endowment being a priority, which has one to think that the UOC is more concerned with money then the artistic exposure aspect that the USO has. Both organizations have goals of increasing profitability, with the USO planning on a significant increased goal, the UOC just wants to increase the reserve funding (there security blanket). Both organization have similar goals with respect to notoriety however due to the size and scope of the entertainment they provide, the USO has a more world vision on success with the UOC is focused on national and regional recognition. Both organizations realize their success depends on great performances and talented performers; they remain very similar in that aspect. The crowds say it all and both the UOC and USO know that feedback and attendance is very important, but they have different views on how to gauge this with the USO focused on feedback directly from exiting customer and the UOC judging this by the ability to producing sell out performances. The internal processes of the two organizations are quite different with the USO maintaining the staff of it musicians tear round, and the UOC gaining new performers for different performances, they face different sets of challenges they both negotiate salaries for the performers and talents with  profitability being a major tactic. They measure the success of the internal process differently as we with the USO depending on improving ticket sales and returning customers the UOC is depending on reviews and profitability measurements for success. With respect to learning and growth, the organizations differ slightly. They are concerned with increasing the amount of performances, with the USO focused more on gaining a younger crowd the UOC is just trying to keep sales growing. They both realize the importance of ticket sales to their success with the UOC again is concentrating on having the increase in bottom line, where as the USO wants greater returning audiences. The scorecard does address some of the strengths and weakness, I developed prior but should have a better focus on what the organizations can do to improve and assure they will be successful in the future. The balance score card may not align with all the strengths and weaknesses of an organization but it more approximately focuses on what direction the organization desires to go to meet its desired outcome. USO UOC Balanced Scorecard Financial  ·Strategic Goal: Being Financially stable with increased profitability  ·Critical Success Factor: Maintaining highly successful fundraising efforts to maintain ticket prices and endowments.  ·Measure: Increase profits providing Surplus deficits. Customer  ·Strategic Goal: Providing Top notch performances and gain Notoriety  ·Critical Success Factor: Acquiring quality performers  ·Measure: Ticket sales and exit surveys Internal Process  ·Strategic Goal: Attracting top talent while improving profitability  ·Critical Success Factor: Negotiating contracts closely to assure profitability  ·Measure: Improved profitability, and ticket sales. Learning and Growth  ·Strategic Goal: Increase of productions to more appealing crowds  ·Critical Success Factor: Increased profitability with Larger demographic  ·Measure: Return sales and exit survey results The weakness of the merged organization with regards to the financial stability will be how to distribute the profits; they both have goals to increase profitability which is a good starting point, they will just need to develop a solid plan. With regards to the customer the organization wants to increase its overall notoriety and exposure to different demo graph’s and this is a great strength they share and can benefit from. With regards to Internal processes the current goals they share to maintain profitability while negotiating salaries is a weakness due to the inherently different classes of talents the organizations face and how they can balance that difference while maintaining peace. The organizations share the goal of increased growth and exposure to a varied age group while increasing production so this should be a strength that they both will benefit from and have little trouble adapting to. With the balance scorecard in place, the financial issue that could arise would be how the profitability of the organization should be allocated, whereas the UOC is more focused on maintaining its endowment the USO is more concerned with keeping ticket sales stagnate while keeping the musicians happy. The Humans resources department will be dealing with two very different groups of talent and with the USO musicians union to deal with they will have a very challenging task with the merger.  When dealing with customer satisfaction, due to the organizations producing very different types of productions they have a level of frustration and confusion with scheduling and production run times. The best way to educate customers on the performances will be through advertisements and customer interactions such as exit surveys and questionnaires. The new merged company executive will want to develop a detailed business strategy that will show how the organization will be able to maintain its level of profitability while achieving all the financial goals it has developed. The new executive must help the Human resources department understand their roles and assemble this department from both organizations to be successful. As with any company customer satisfactions should be a priority and by educating the public about the benefits of the newly merged company and the great performances you provide can greatly increase your exposure to a larger customer base.

Nationalism from a Marxian Perspective :: Politics

Nationalism from a Marxian Perspective The mobilization of the masses to both support and participate in a wide variety of cultural and political endeavors is often achieved through nationalism. It can be used to get a society to push for a return to traditional ways and old-time religion, to press on for national liberation and self-determination, to support or fight vast acts of imperialism and genocide, as an excuse to severely obstruct rights and liberties for citizens, and ultimately be used as a great tool in a quest for all out war and full throttled vengeance in any case in which a country is attacked. For decades, the Nationalist tendency of America has not been as clear or strong as it has been during the current aftermath of the attacks in New York City. The response across America has been widespread and clear: people, by and large, and in full support of the state and whatever path it wishes to choose, with a majority of the population even supporting secret military trials and a strict curtailing of civil liberties in America. Nationalism is running rampant in America, much of which goes far beyond mere patriotism and concern for the state of one’s nation and rather into astonishingly high levels of First World chauvinism. But what does this mean on a larger level? How is nationalism used on a larger scale? Is it most always used to have the mass blindly follow the interest of elites? Or is nationalism more complex? To answer these questions, in this paper I will address nationalism on multiple levels and from a Marxian perspective. Nationalism will be dealt with at a structural level, with an examination of how it utilized in both the First World and the Third World. Many basic descriptions of what nationalism is exist, and defining precisely what nationalism means is not an easy task. This is in large part because the causes and effects of nationalism greatly varies from social context to social context, as the concrete social reality determines the specific shape and character that the nationalism idea takes when it comes to hold a large part of the consciousness of a society (I say the ‘nationalism idea’ for I feel that nationalism is, primarily, in the realm of the ideological). Put more succinctly â€Å"Nationalism can be, and has been, democratic and authoritarian, forward-looking or backward-looking, socialist or reactionary† (Kamenka 1976: 3).

Global Inequality Caused by Consumption

Core issue: consumption causes global inequality. Global inequality is the inequality in distribution of income and wealth between rich and poor countries. A concentration of wealth is in the hands of very small number of people. A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000, and that the richest 10% of adults accounted for 85% of the world total. The bottom half of the world adult population owned barely 1% of global wealth.According to the wealth concentration theory, those who already hold wealth have the means to invest in new sources of creating wealth or to otherwise leverage the accumulation of wealth, thus are the beneficiaries of the new wealth. Over time, wealth condensation can significantly contribute to the persistence of inequality within society. This correlation between being rich and earning more is also contributed by plutocracy: t he ability of the rich to influence government disproportionately to their favor thereby increasing their wealth. This unjust global trade regime as a primary cause in increasing global inequality ————– Wealth and poverty make life different in a host of ways. health, education, literacy, child labour, employment, gender, political participation, higher level in countries with higher income Compare their economic productivity–>classify countries.Gross Domestic Product (GDP) & Gross National Income (GNI) The World Bank uses GNI per person to classify countries. Low income (P559) For example, workforces in China, much of which is well trained and educated and now receive extremely low wages-sometimes less than one-twentieth of hat workers earn in comparable jobs in the developed countries. These institutionalised inequalities result in greater marginalisation within society. The report emphasises the inevitable social disintegration, vi olence and national and international terrorism that this inequality fosters. Ironically, the diversion of social development funds to national/international security and military operations produces further deprivation and marginalization, thus creating a vicious cycle.

Analysis Of The Poem How Of Tame A Wild Tongue

The essay, â€Å"How to tame a wild tongue† written by Gloria Anzaldua is a staggering piece on important social issues such as racism, cultural differences, individuation, and domination. Anzaldua believes that her language is yet the most central and important component for her ethnic identity as a person. If her language is threatened, then her individuality is threatened. She basically responds to the violence she experienced as her character was restricted in this dominating society that she was trying to adapt in. Anzaldua used quotes from various scholars who feel the same way about the society as she did about language, identity, racism, and cultural imperialism. Additionally, her writing was based on personal experience which enriches the essay with credibility since the reader is able to get the experience first handed by the victim of these crimes. Furthermore, as an immigrant myself, I was attracted to this essay because I could relate to many of the topics she cov ered. I also saw this as a way to compare my experience with hers’ so I could see how much this society has improved overall. I was gulped in the essay by the use of metaphor in the beginning of the essay which created this interesting curious vibe that grasped my attention. A dentist visit was used metaphorically to describe the struggle between her identity and the society. The doctor symbolized the society, and her tongue represented her identity as it was trying to survive in the restricting societyShow MoreRelatedA Wild Tongue By Gloria Anzaldua1779 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"How to Tame a Wild Tongue† Critical Analysis When Anzaldua says â€Å"So, if you want to really hurt me, talk badly about my language† she wants you to feel every aspect of what she is saying. In â€Å"How to Tame a Wild Tongue† she persuades her readers to believe this and that she has went through hell to fight for what she believes in. â€Å"How to Tame a Wild Tongue† is published in Borderlands/La Frontera, by Gloria Anzaldua and â€Å"the book talks about how she is concerned with many kinds of borders--betweenRead More Descent to the Underworld in the Aeneid by Virgil and the Odyssey by Homer1534 Words   |  7 PagesOdyssey and Book 6 of the Aeneid, since that is when both of the main characters make an educational visit to the underworld. The description of the underworld created by Homers wild imagination, inspired Virgil eight centuries later. Virgils masterpiece was planned as an imitation of Homers poems, so one automatically starts comparing the creations of the two authors. They were separated by eight centuries and by the cultural differences of their people. These differencesRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagesused in conjunction with the correct constellations, this chapter is devoted to the latter. The author gives a descriptive list of the twenty-eight mansions of the moon, according to the â€Å"Indian† system, and assigns to each its correct talisman. Analysis of the passage shows that it is a compound of â€Å"Indian† doctrines, the tenets of Dorotheus of Sidon (both attested by Ibn abi ‘l-Rijà ¢l) and elements from a list ascribed to Hermes (attested by the Ihwà ¢n al-Safà ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢) (pp.14-21). At the beginning of theRead MoreOrganisational Theory230255 Words   |  922 PagesOrganizational Theory takes you on a joyful ride through the developments of one of the great enigmas of our time – How should we understand the organization? Jan Ole Similà ¤, Assistant Professor, Nord-Trà ¸ndelag University College, Norway I really enjoyed this new text and I am sure my students will en joy it, too. It combines rigorous theoretical argument with application and consideration of how managment practice is formed and shaped by ideas and concepts. The authors have brought their wealth of experience