Mr. Everest Case Analysis

†¢ The leaders, the guides and the Sherpa assistants discovered the business opportunity in guiding clients to the summit. †¢ Since Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world and is a symbol of overcoming difficulties to fulfill the dream, most of the clients wanted to conquer it, especially when some of them (mountain climbers) failed to push to the summit before. †¢ Jon Krakauer, from Outside magazine, had a special agreement with Hall. He regarded the opportunity as a â€Å"free lunch†. †¢ Sandy Pittman, also worked in the media industry, joined the expedition in order to give daily web reports to NBC. Gammelgaard wanted to become the first Scandinavian woman to reach the summit. †¢ Other clients like Adams and Madsen, chose it because they enjoyed the struggle of the upward of life and they believed that this was what life mean and what life was for. b. What type of person tries to ascend the world’s tallest mountain? †¢ The type of person who tries to ascend Mt. Everest with extremely strong willingness to challenge themselves, good physical fitness, well-trained climbing skills and perseverance. c. What personal Qualities does it take to succeed? Strong willingness to reach the summit, perseverance, good team spirit, problem solving skills, positive attitude, and avoid making the same mistakes. d. Do you see any similarities between a high-altitude mountain climber and an MSB? †¢ Yes. The personal qualities listed above are also important for an MSB student if he/she wishes to achieve business success in the future. But strong willingness should be the willingness to help enterprises achieve sustainable growth and leverage business as a powerful tool to contribute to society. e. Based upon this analysis, can you draw any conclusion about the dangers that may lie ahead for you in pursuit of your career objective? †¢ The dangers that may lie ahead include making wrong decisions again and again, encountering unexpected changes or crisis, failing to deal with conflicts, lacking team spirit, declining good advice. 2. Causes of the Tragedy a. What caused this tragedy? †¢ Human errors, including recruiting clients without high-altitude experience, ordering insufficient oxygen supplements and taking antiquated radios, caused the tragedy. Flawed characteristics in human nature caused this tragedy. Having many experiences in climbing Mt. Everest made Hall and Fischer unwilling to accept others’ advice. Each client thought and acted for his/her own. †¢ Unexpected weather changes also caused this tragedy. b. What types of mistaken judgments and choices did the climbers make? †¢ The leaders recruited climbers with no high-altitude experience. †¢ The leaders and the clients were not well prepared for the expedition. Fischer did not order enough oxygen supplements and did not have a plan B for the logistics problem of his order. Many clients did not get high-altitude climbing training before the experience. †¢ The leaders did not provide opportunities for guides to participate in decision-making. Fischer preferred Hall’s suggestion instead of Boukreev’s. †¢ Did not accept the advice from others. Topche ignored Fischer’s suggestion and insisted to climb. Fischer did not listen to the advice of Boukreev about the possible weather change on the way from Camp 2 to Camp 3. †¢ Made the wrong decision again and again. Harris made a critical error in assuming that there was no supplemental oxygen remained at the South Summit. Bad time management skills. Hall and Fischer stressed the importance of turning back but neither settled on an exact turnaround time. †¢ Some clients only thought about themselves. Pittman should have turned around instead of placing an overwhelming burden on Jangbu. c. Consider your own business experiences for a moment. What causes people to ignore rules in organizations? Why do individuals find it so difficult to ignore sunk cost? †¢ Not being aware of rules, lack of supervision, lack of appropriate punishment, insufficient education causes people to ignore rules in organizations. Because individuals already have spent time and money on a project. It is so difficult for people to ignore their efforts even though the efforts are invalid or the dream cannot come true. d. Did these teams function effectively? Why or why not? †¢ No. †¢ They didn’t work as a team. Each client acted for his/ her own goods. †¢ Team leaders made repeating wrong decisions. By Hall’s requirement, the guides waited over an hour for the clients before moving to the Balcony. That made them late for the timeline. †¢ When the guide Harris made a critical error, no one paid attention to his physical condition and gave him help. Team leaders had bad time management skills and didn’t stick to the turn around time. e. What is your evaluation of Fischer and Hall as team leaders? †¢ I would consider them as unsuccessful team leaders not because they failed to lead the team to reach the summit, but because they made several critical errors. A successful team leader should provide opportunity for others in decision-making, accept constructive advice, have good time management skills, good communication skills and be able to lead his team members. †¢ Despite this, Fischer and Hall both have high-altitude experience and are responsible for their clients and teammates. . Are we being a bit too hard on Hall and Fischer? Might tragedies such as this one simply be inevitable on the slopes of Everest? †¢ Yes, I think we are being a bit too hard on Hall and Fischer. Multiple elements caused the tragedy, such as weather, human error and unexpected crisis. People cannot imagine what will happen during the summit bid. People can never be fully prepared for the unexpected changes. That is why climbing Mt. Everest is so dangerous. g. Having conducted all this analysis what would you conclude is the root cause of the catastrophe? †¢ I think the root cause of the catastrophe was human error. Although unexpected weather change was another key cause of the tragedy, team members, especially the leaders and the guides, should have been aware of the possible weather change and make the right decision. When they failed to follow the summit timeline, they should have turned around instead of continuing. h. Can we identify a root cause? Why or why not? †¢ Yes. In any case, there must be some factors that have more influence on the result than other. So we can identify a root cause. i. Does the notion of system complexity apply in this case? In what ways did complex interactions and tight coupling characterize these expeditions? Yes, the notion of system complexity applies in this case. Each small mistake made by the leaders tended to relate with each other and finally came to a chain reaction that led to the tragedy. These are the complex interactions that happened in these expeditions. Both leaders set up a rigid timeline and did not provide opportunity for other experienc ed guides to participate in decision-making. When an unexpected crisis came, there were no flexible areas to change the plan in the timeline. These are the tight coupling characterize in these expeditions. 3. Constructive Dissent and Psychological Safety a. What factors created a climate in which people felt uncomfortable expressing dissent and engaging in a candid exchange of ideas and opinions? †¢ The leaders did not provide opportunity to others in decision making. †¢ Other teammates did not have professional experience in high-altitude mountain climbing. †¢ Lack of teamwork and trust between team members. b. Moving beyond Everest, what factors might inhibit constructive dissent in organizations? †¢ The manager does not provide others an opportunity in participating in decision-making. †¢ The manager treats people unfairly. †¢ Bad teamwork and lack of trust between colleagues inhibit good advice. . Is dissent always appropriate? Under what conditions do leaders want to encourage dissent? When should they strive to discourage dissent? †¢ No. The dissent is constructive and is raised to the managers at a proper time and place. †¢ When the dissent has destructive effect on employees and company, t he leaders should discourage it. 4. Lessons for Business Leaders a. What are the lessons for business leaders from our analysis of this tragedy? †¢ Business leaders should avoid being bossy and inaccessible to employees. It is significant to encourage and accept constructive dissent from others. They should be aware that their words and actions might have great influence on the employees. †¢ They should provide equal opportunities to employees. †¢ They should avoid making the same mistakes again and again. b. Drawing on your own experiences, can you identify a situation in which some of the factors contributed to an organizational failure? How might you take corrective action to prevent that situation from occurring once again? †¢ We failed to organize a graduation trip for the whole college. We did not do research in a large scale, prepare a practical plan or to provide several options. If given the second chance, I would take several steps to avoid the organizational failure. First, I would str ess the importance of this trip to everyone, and find out an exact date that would work for everyone. Then I would do a survey on the place, the period and the price preferences of the students. After that, I would list several options for students. Lastly, I would try to find out the reason that a student declined the offer and improve the travelling plan. c. What qualities make Hall and Fischer great mountaineers? Are these the same attributes required to lead an effective team? Does this same tension exist in business organizations? †¢ Lots of practice, perseverance, good physical fitness, well-trained climbing skills and strong willingness make Hall and Fischer great mountaineers. †¢ These are not the same attributes required to lead an effective team. In order to be a good team leader, a person should provide others with an opportunity in decision-making, be accessible to others, have good time management skills and communication skills. d. Can we train people to become better team leaders and more effective high-stakes decision-makers? If so, how? †¢ Yes. Introduce to people how those effective high-stakes decision-makers perform, so that people can pay attention to how their words and actions have an influence on others. Moreover, people will realize that it is important to build confidence and reduce the conflicts within the team. More importantly, they can understand and learn from the failures in the past. †¢ Develop different exercises to train people, including group projects, case studies, brainstorm training and crisis respond practice etc. Practice makes perfect. After each practice, people should have a self-assessment on their performance and list aspects that need improvement.

Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 10

Art - Essay Example Just like the expression that ‘beauty is in the eyes of the beholder’, the appreciation for aesthetic value in art, lies in a more profound understanding of the beholder. The significance of studying art as a discipline is taken in the context that with greater knowledge of art, one gets the chance to be enriched, not only in theoretical knowledge of different works of art from various time frames; but more so, develop a more keen and analytical perspective in appreciating the intended meaning that the artists have relayed through their personal creation. Thus, more than just seeing or visualizing art works, the study of art has provided the improvement of skills in interpretation, in possessing a critical eye, as well as in understanding how art evolved through time using different media, elements, resources, and the application of creative skills and styles, as evident from one period to the other. In a particular work of art, for instance, one previously responds through interpreting the creation in its purely visual representation. This means that one gets to comment on the aesthetic quality: the vividness of the colors, the shading, and the images that are seen. Upon delving into a more in-depth understanding of art through the course, one recognized more elements of art could actually be evaluated as forming an integral part of the art work. For instance, one could analyze the juxtaposition of images and how it contributed to the overall unity and message of the work of art. In addition, one could discern, despite the abstract expression of an artist, the real meaning that was intended for the viewers through the use of colors, forms, and creative style. As such, when figuring out an art work that one plans to hang on the wall, the qualities that would be included in the selection process would not merely depend on the way the art work looks (visual qualities); but on the overall ability of the

How Will Nanotechnology Affect The Future Economy Term Paper

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Introdiction to airline and airport management Essay

Introdiction to airline and airport management - Essay Example It is important to evaluate whether these factors are positively affecting the commercial air transport or not. The expectations of air passengers have increased in terms of quality of air transport services. Since passengers groups can be segmented into various categories based on different variables therefore, their needs may vary. The immense variability among the needs of the passengers has always been a major concern for the airlines. The ultimate need of all passengers is their satisfaction. Apart from the service quality improvements made by all airlines, the airports have widely adopting the quality criteria. Since the airports are also operating in a more competitive environment therefore, airport management is improving to serve passengers in a better manner. In the previous years, the customers used to buy tickets directly from the airlines and no contractual relationship used to exist between the customers and the airport. Today, the situation is very different because even without having any contractual relationship with the airports, the passengers expect to have excellent airport services. For fulfilling the needs of the passengers, the airport nowadays are giving great focus towards ground handling, security checks, airport access and border controls etc. The European airports have developed â€Å"Airport Voluntary Commitment on Air Passenger Service.† It has been developed after the extensive consultation of airport management with Consumers, European Commission and European Government. According to the voluntary commitment, European airports accept the responsibility to provide defined quality of services to the travellers without any legal binding on a consistent basis. For example, according to Airport Voluntary Commitment, â€Å"Each airport will prominently publicise the services it offers for assisting passengers with reduced mobility (PRMs).† 2 The

Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy, Business Cycles, and Economic Growth Assignment

Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy, Business Cycles, and Economic Growth - Assignment Example Owners of multinational companies in Malawi will receive reduced dividends. Some multinational corporations’ employees in Malawi will either be laid-off or receive lower salaries (Hansen, 2013). 6.b). If the president of Malawi imposes a mandatory minimum wage of $5.00 per hour, workers in multinational companies will receive better pay. Consequently, the level of poverty will reduce in the country. Multinational corporations will incur more cost especially salary expenses. Due to higher costs profits for the companies will reduce thus shareholders will receive lower dividends. Multinational corporations might lessen the number of employees to reduce the salaries expenses they incur (Hansen, 2013). 7. Western states like the United States and United Kingdom resort to deficit spending by borrowing money to stimulate economic growth or recovery in times of economic recessions. The main disadvantage with deficit spending is that it leads to interest rates. High-interest rates reduce the ability to borrow. High-interest rates discourage entrepreneurs to invest. Consequently, low investment rates mean that the production capacity of a country is reduced the general output of the country decreases hence. Reduction in the output of a country reduces the rate of economic growth in a country. Deficit spending means that the government spends more than the private sector. States tend to utilize resources inefficiently. So these actions might lead to wasted resources. Deficit spending and increased borrowing increases an economy’s inflation rate. Increasing inflation rate reduces the value of a currency and adversely affects its competitiveness with other currencies. Inflation wi ll also lessen the amount of savings (Hansen, 2013). 8. Listening to Laurence Kotlikoff of Boston University, I was interested in the argument he brought forward regarding the government’s concealment of its debt obligations. Kotlikoff pointed out that United

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Research Paper Example Android is considered a game changer in the mobile developer community since it is well placed to address the growing needs of the mobile marketplace. Introduction According to Haseman, Android is a Linux based operating system and a platform for which applications are developed. The Android operating system was originally designed and produced for touch screen mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones (2008). The android was originally released in 2007 and sold the first Android powered device in 2008. Android is open source software released under the Apache license and therefore the Android software can be freely modified and distributed by developers and device manufacturers. Being that android is a platform for application development in addition to the fact that it is open source, it has a large community of application developers presenting unlimited applications for the mobile devices running on android. The ease of application development on android platform has presen ted a variety of applications for mobile device customization which in turn has seen android as the most popularly used mobile platforms especially for Smartphones. The Android operating system has grown to be used on game console and television applications despite the fact that it was originally designed for tablets and mobile phones. The applications developed on android extend the functionality of the mobile devices (Haseman, 2008). Interface The user interface provides the display and the user control or command of the Android operating system. It gives the user the power to interact with the operating system directly by use of touch manipulation objects on the display. The display is supported by the fluid enabled interface designed to aid the interaction process between the user and the Operating System. The interface is fully-touch screen enabled with operations such as flicking your finger across the screen to flip to the next page of items. The user interface comes in seve ral shapes and sizes. The user interface is also enabled by simple configuration applications that can make the text on screen appear bigger and clearer such as text size and screen size configuration preferences(Udell, 2009). Android Operating System user interface has a home-screen that hosts the operational application icons and widgets. Icons are graphic symbols that take up the commands to open up the application while widget displays the graphic user interface directly on the screen. The operational application icons and widgets displayed on the home-screen are known as Android views that include Context menu, Options menu, Digital clock and Web view. These applications offer additional options and links to different pages that are not directly visible on the main Menu driven interface on the home-screen. The menu applications also play a vital role in displaying information directing the user on what command it initiates. In addition, the Menu driven interface gives notice on notification messages (Hoog & McCash, 2011). Processes Process management is a distinctive operating system that uses several complex data structures and algorithms to process data on Android devices. Â  Android uses this data processing technique in control

The Big Mac Index and What About China Case Study

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