Analysis of Macbeth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Macbeth - Essay Example Shakespeare has employed Macbeth as a means to convey his opinion of the way aspiration and guilt affect an individual of weak character. Macbeth may be considered as irreversible evil, though the weakness of his character contrasts with other villains of Shakespeare’s plays including Edmund and Iago in King Lear and Othello respectively in that the latter are strong enough to surmount their own self-doubt and feeling of guilt. â€Å"Probably composed in late 1606 or early 1607, Macbeth [also happens to be] the last of Shakespeare's four great tragedies, the others being Hamlet, King Lear and Othello† (eNotes). Despite being a great warrior, Macbeth is not strong enough to boldly face the psychological consequences of his crime. Macbeth is overcome by guilt and worries before murdering Duncan, so he tends to almost abort the mission but his wife’s objectivity of purposefulness makes him commit the crime. Macbeth says, â€Å"Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none† (Shakespeare 16).

Heineken Company Case Study

Heineken Company Case Study Heineken is the world 3th largest beer company based on Netherlands. It has raised significant sales throughout European countries, also their products are sold in nearly almost all countries. It has breweries in 65 countries. It bought foreign breweries or acquired licensing to cut manufacturing cost, expand product line, and facilitate local distribution. For the special case, Heineken didn`t establish it`s breweries in the united states because it considered to keep images for import beer. On the other hand, it invested in new- internet based technique to manage international distribution system efficiently. Heineken has been growing up continuously by using a joint venture with big competitors to expand into a new market. To raise global market share, it also plan special strategies for each countries. Many government leaders strongly recommend domestic firms to go international in order to create jobs and economic growth. However, some companies have trouble advancing into overseas market because of a lack of knowledge about the foreign market. 1) Economic issues directly connected to the profit (sales) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Population: The potential customer population of the target market quite depends on type of the product or service (that a company is marketing). To a B2B firm, for example, the number of people in the country is not a good indicator of how large the market is. Also, B2C firms usually consider the targeted population instead of the number of the whole population. Age and gender are generally considered as main variables for assessing foreign markets. Consideration about households such as average family size in that country could be also a good indicator. However, it is hard to foresee the future and compare with other markets only with simple factors such as age and sex. It could be a good way of understanding foreign markets to pay attention to population distribution using tools like population pyramids. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Income: A critical economic factor to look into the target market is income level of the nation. Companies trying to go into foreign markets can measure the market potential through GNI or GDP. Also, they can decide which indicator to use according to the market or product type; for example GNI per capita can be a clear index to grasp the populations standard of living. Nevertheless, average values about income such as GNI, GDP are insufficient to figure out income level of the whole population. In most nations, income isnt fairly distributed among the entire population of each country; also there is no certain correlation between income level per capita and degree of income inequality. In short, using income indictors without information of income distribution can distort the result of market research. 2) Non-economic issues à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Cultural issues: Cultural factors such as language, race, religion, historical background, which reflect attitudes, values, and beliefs, vary among countries. Going into global market without understanding of the target markets culture brings about the failure. It is quite important for firm leaders to figure out how managers manage the firm, how employees behave and how consumers response according to each countrys cultural background. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Government regulations: Each nation has its regulation and taxation on foreign trade. For alcoholic beverage firms, government regulations might be stricter in some countries that are especially sensitive about alcohol consumption of their people. Additionally, taxation on alcoholic beverages varies among different countries. For example, Islamic countries such as Egypt may give a harsh control to their alcoholic beverage import. Q2. Discuss the advantages or disadvantages for Heineken of exporting its beer from one country to another. Advantages à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Expand Sales: expanding into international market gives various chances to get profit for Heineken. The long term relationship with international market lasts, export development cost can be covered and they increase their additional sales through the market. Also, company can further create economies of scale to decrease producing cost. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Acquire Resources and Compete with Rivals: Heineken can acquire resources by sharing and learning knowledge and experience with new marketing technique and foreign competitors. Consequently, Heineken will improve quality of products, and it can gain more market share in international market. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¢ Minimize Risk: Beer is sold certain seasons: especially summer. Thus, Heineken can utilize and avoid seasonal factors during different season in foreign countries. Also, selling product to multiple markets allows Heineken to diversify their business and spread risk. Disadvantages à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚  Complexity in Operations: Heineken need to plan various marketing strategies to meet different needs for each country. Thus, it causes increase in product cost. Also, there are a lot of unpredictable situations for Heineken such as establishment regulation to limit alcohol, natural disaster etc. Heineken has no choice but to be dependent on fluctuation other countries` situations. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Cultural Collision: multinational companies have to consider various cultural differences among different countries. For instance, religion, customs, purchasing behaviors are things to consider. Consumption of alcohol is a sensitive matter in this sense to many countries and can cause numerous social problems. Q3. What are the key issues facing Heineken insofar as international licensing is concerned? License, is a grant by the holder of a copyright or patent to another of any of the rights embodied in the copyright or patent short of an assignment of all rights. In the case of a beer company as Heineken, this would mean to license a brewery in a country they wish to enter. The licensed local brewery then would produce Heineken branded beer with Heinekens unique recipe. This way, Heineken does not need to personally build a new brewery in that area which saves time and money. Heineken has used licensing as a way to expand its business internationally. Although this business of licensing may sound like a complete win-win situation, at times there are side effects that come along with it. For instance, despite the advantages of licensing, Heineken has otherwise restrained itself from licensing a local brewery in markets such like the US. This was for reasons that had to do with the fact that Heineken was a beer company. Reasons that people consume a certain brand of beer can be various but simply to name the two main reasons would be because first, a consumer is simply loyal to that brand because they grew up with it or, for a second reason, to drink a particular brand of beer gives the consumer a sense of exoticness. The first reason usually goes for local brands, and the second reason goes for foreign brands. Thus, to produce a beer that people drink mainly because it is a foreign brand in a local brewery would definitely drive consumers away. Moreover because consumers believe that the real Heineken beer comes from Dutch brewerie s, Heineken is able to charge double for Dutch made beers. The case of Hoegaarden illustrates the difference of perception on locally-made beer and imported beer. After Korean consumers found out that Hoegaarden, a Belgian beer was being locally produced, many complained that the taste was different. Some even started calling the beer O-garden, referring to that fact that it was licensed to Korean beer company OB. Q4. Compare the FDI between Heineken and Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch has FDIs in usually large emerging markets such as China and Mexico. It invests heavily in these markets through large local companies. In China for instance, Anheuser-Busch paid $700 million for the Harbin Brewery and in the case of Mexico, Anheuser-Busch owns 50 percent of Modelo, the maker of Corona. Heineken who was the pioneer of entering international markets for beer companies, has slightly smaller scaled FDIs. Apart from the size of the FDIs, Heineken usually entered countries that were neighboring or African countries that had historical relations with European countries. Conclusion 1. Alternatives 1) The current situation: Heineken has refused to establish a brewery in the United States, instead, they keep shipping its beer to the U.S. Thats because customers in the U.S. dont accept the fact that the beer, which is made in a brewery in there, is the same with what Heineken export from its home country. 2) Alternatives We recommend not to ship Heineken beers into the U.S. but to set up a brewery in the U.S. In the case of Asahi beer, which is the top Japanese beer, they increased in sales, using FDI when they go into the foreign market. Penetrating into the U.S. market with FDI, which is distinguished from licensing, would help American customers notice there is no difference between beer from Netherlands and from its own country. For using this strategy in the U.S. market, we suggest a couple of effective ways to cope with the potential risk. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚   Positive marketing: The failure that Heineken experienced previously results from customers recognition. In order to make this tactic successful, therefore, Heineken has to give customers perception that beer from the U.S. brewery has no difference from the original one. Heineken could actively use various marketing strategies such as blind tasting. à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ¡ Pricing: It has high risk for Heineken to suddenly switch its distribution channel. There is possibility to bring about the same failure with before, so they can use a gradual way to relieve risks. Pricing is a good way. At the beginning, Heineken maintain the original exported beer at the same time produce beer in the U.S. brewery. Then they differentiate the price between two kinds of beer, even if there is no change in the recipe. The original exported beer would have higher price than the other. Thus, we can expect for customers in the U.S. to make a choice between Heineken beers, not another brand. 2. Recommendation Actually, Heineken is doing a quite good job in the global market, but they tend to pursue only safe way in their marketing. Therefore, we could recommend some ways to improve their state in the international market which is getting tough. First of all, we give a recommendation of growing in the U.S. market. Even though other markets of developing countries, such as BRICs, are arising, the U.S. market is still one of the largest markets worldwide. So, it would be better for Heineken to penetrate the U.S. market more positively Secondly, it would be important for Heineken to sustain and extend its global market share. Do not stop raising the number of its worldwide breweries and the reputation in each nation. Last but not least, more aggressive and innovative advertising about its product might help to improve its sales and status in the industry. It seems that the main target of Heineken cannot include young people, so it can have a chance to capture the young who would be its large target. Additionally, Heineken needs to grasp trends such as well-being. It should lead as well as follow the trend; they can introduce low-calorie and healthy beer to follow well-being trend.

Robert Burns :: Essays Papers

Robert Burns A Biography of Robert Burns Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and writer of traditional Scottish folk songs. He was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire. Burns was the oldest of seven children born to William Burness and his wife Agnes Broun. His father was the descendant of a line of tenant farmers. His wife was also eldest daughter of a tenant farmer. Burns’ parents were both not very well educated, but were deeply religious. When Burns was born, his father worked as a gardener. However, the family grew too large for their cottage at Alloway and their needs to great for his father to support as a gardener. His father then decided to try his hand at farming and moved his family to the farm of Mount Oliphant. At Mount Oliphant, Burns engaged in difficult farm work and suffered from undernourishment, which lead to permanent injury to his health. His father next moved the family to the farm of Lochlea where Burns’ father, William, died in February 1784. Burns was then left as head of the family. He and his brother Gilbert decided to rent Mossgiel Farm that later proved to be another failure. Although his family struggled, Burns managed to obtain an education. At the age of six, Burns and his brother Gilbert were sent to John Murdoch’s School in Alloway. In 1768 Burns and his brother left the school and Burns briefly boarded as a pupil of John Murdoch at Ayrshire Grammar School in 1773. Through Murdoch’s influence, Burns read Shakespeare, Milton, Pope and Dryden. However, a great deal of Burns’ education took place in his own home. He was encouraged in his self-education by his father and his mother acquainted him with Scottish folk songs, legends, and proverbs. Burns also read widely in English literature, the Bible, and learned to read French. Burns’ literary career began with the Vernacular Poems. In 1784 Burns read the works of the Edinburgh poet Robert Ferguson. Under his influence and that of Scottish folk tradition and older Scottish poetry, he became aware of the literary possibilities of the Scottish regional dialects. During the next two years he produced most of his best-known poems, including â€Å"The Cotter’s Saturday Night,† â€Å"Hallowe’en,† â€Å"To a Daisy,† and â€Å"To a Mouse.† In addition, he wrote â€Å"The Jolly Beggars,† a cantata in standard English, which is considered one of his masterpieces. Several of his poems, notably â€Å"Holy Willie’s Prayer,† satirized local ecclesiastical squabbles and attacked Calvinist theology, which brought him into conflict with the church.

Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker

An Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) (now referred to as residual current circuit breaker) is a safety device used in electrical installations with high earth impedance to prevent shock. History ELCBs were mainly used on TT earthing systems. Nowadays, ELCBs have been mostly replaced by residual-current devices (RCDs). However many ELCBs are still in use. Early ELCBs responded to sine wave fault currents, but not to rectified fault current. Over time, filtering against nuisance trips has also improved. Early ELCBs thus offer a little less safety and higher risk of nuisance trip. The ability to distinguish between a fault condition and non-risk conditions is called discrimination. ELCB manufacturers include: Legrand, Havells, ABB, Siemens AG, Areva T&D, Camsco, Telemecanique, Orion Italia, Crabtree, MEM. [edit] Types There are two types of ELCB: †¢ voltage operated and, †¢ current operated. [edit] Voltage-operated Voltage-operated ELCBs were introduced in the early 20th century, and provided a major advance in safety for mains electrical supplies with inadequate earth impedance. V-ELCBs have been in widespread use since then, and many are still in operation but are no longer installed in new construction. A voltage-operated ELCB detects a rise in potential between the protected interconnected metalwork (equipment frames, conduits, enclosures) and a distant isolated earth reference electrode. They operate at a detected potential of around 50 volts to open a main breaker and isolate the supply from the protected premises. [2] A voltage-operated ELCB has a second terminal for connecting to the remote reference earth connection. The earth circuit is modified when an ELCB is used; the connection to the earth rod is passed through the ELCB by connecting to its two earth terminals. One terminal goes to the installation earth CPC (circuit [[Power system protection |protective]] conductor, aka earth wire), and the other to the earth rod (or sometimes other type of earth connection). Disadvantages of the voltage-operated ELCB are the requirement for a second connection, and the possibility that any additional connection to earth on the protected system can disable the detector. edit] Current-operated Current-operated ELCBs are generally known as Residual-current devices (RCD). These also protect against earth leakage. Both circuit conductors (supply and return) are run through a sensing coil; any imbalance of the currents means the magnetic field does not perfectly cancel. The device detects the imbalance and trips the contact. When the term ELCB is used it usually means a voltage-operated device. Similar devices that are current operated are called residual-current devices. However, some companies use the term ELCB to distinguish high sensitivity current operated 3 phase devices that trip in the milliamp range from traditional 3 phase ground fault devices that operate at much higher currents (traditional gf devices are insensitive due to the error inherently associated with the summation of currents from multiple current transformers). [edit] Connection [edit] Operation An ELCB is a specialised type of latching relay that has a building's incoming mains power connected through its switching contacts so that the ELCB disconnects the power in an earth leakage (unsafe) condition. The ELCB detects fault currents from live to the earth (ground) wire within the installation it protects. If sufficient voltage appears across the ELCB's sense coil, it will switch off the power, and remain off until manually reset. A voltage-sensing ELCB does not sense fault currents from live to any other earthed body. [edit] Advantages ELCBs have one advantage over RCDs: they are less sensitive to fault conditions, and therefore have fewer nuisance trips. (This does not mean they always do, as practical performance depends on installation details and the discrimination enhancing filtering in the ELCB. Therefore by electrically separating cable armour from cable CPC, an ELCB can be arranged to protect against cable damage only, and not trip on faults in downline installations. [edit] Disadvantages ELCBs have some disadvantages: †¢ They do not detect faults that don't pass current through the CPC to the earth rod. †¢ They do not allow a single building system to be easily split into multiple sections with independent fault protection, because earthing systems are usually bonded to pipework. They may be tripped by external voltages from something connected to the earthing system such as metal pipes, a TN-S earth or a TN-C-S combined neutral and earth. †¢ As with RCDs, electrically leaky appliances such as some water heaters, washing machines and cookers may cause the ELCB to trip. †¢ ELCBs introduce additional resistance and an additional point of failure into the earthing system. [edit] Earth bypassing It is not unusual for ELCB protected installation to have a second unintentional connection to earth somewhere, one that does not pass through the ELCB sense coil. This can occur via metal pipework in contact with the ground, metal structural framework, outdoor home appliances in contact with soil, and so on. When this occurs, fault current may pass to earth without being sensed by the ELCB. Despite this, perhaps counterintuitively, the operation of the ELCB is not compromised. The purpose of the ELCB is to prevent earthed metalwork rising to a dangerous voltage during fault conditions, and the ELCB continues to do this just the same, the ELCB will still cut the power at the same CPC voltage level. (The difference is that higher fault current is then needed to reach this voltage. ) [edit] Nuisance trips While voltage and current on the earth line is usually fault current from a live wire, this is not always the case, thus there are situations in which an ELCB can nuisance trip. When an installation has two connections to earth, a nearby high current lightning strike will cause a voltage gradient in the soil, presenting the ELCB sense coil with enough voltage to cause it to trip. If the installation's earth rod is placed close to the earth rod of a neighbouring building, a high earth leakage current in the other building can raise the local ground potential and cause a voltage difference across the two earths, again tripping the ELCB. Close earth rods are unsuitable for ELCB use for this reason, but in real life such installations are sometimes encountered. Both RCDs and ELCBs are prone to nuisance trips from normal harmless earth leakage to some degree. On one hand ELCBs are on average older, and hence tend to have less well developed filtering against nuisance trips, and on the other hand ELCBs are inherently immune to some of the causes of false trips RCDs suffer, and are generally less sensitive than RCDs. In practice RCD nuisance trips are much more common. Another cause of nuisance tripping is due to accumulated or burden currents caused by items with lowered insulation resistance. This may occur due to older equipment, or equipment with heating elements, or even wiring in buildings in the tropics where prolonged damp and rain conditions can cause the insulation resistance to lower due to moisture tracking. If there is a 30 mA protective device in use and there is a 10mA burden from various sources then the unit will trip at 20 mA. The individual items may each be electrically safe but a large number of small burden currents accumulates and reduces the tripping level. This was more a problem in past installations where multiple circuits were protected by a single ELCB. Heating elements of the tubular form are filled with a very fine powder that can absorb moisture if the element has not be used for some time. In the tropics, this may occur, for example if a clothes drier has not been used for a year or a large water boiler used for coffee etc. has been in storage. In such cases, if the unit is allowed to power up without RCD protection then it will normally dry out and successfully pass inspection. This type of problem can be seen even with brand new equipment. edit] Failure to respond Some ELCBs do not respond to rectified fault current. This issue is the same in principle with ELCBs and RCDs, but ELCBs are on average much older and specs have improved considerably over the years, so an old ELCB is more likely to have some uncommon fault current waveform that it will not respond to. With any mechanical device, failures occur, and ELCBs should ide ally be tested periodically to ensure they still work. If either of the earth wires become disconnected from the ELCB, it will no longer trip and the installation will often no longer be properly earthed

Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis

rP os t 2095 MAY 1, 2008 W. EARL SASSER HEATHER BECKHAM op yo Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis Another long day at the office had drawn to a close. Thomas Green felt the pulsing in his temples that usually preceded a migraine. As he stepped outside Dynamic Displays’ corporate headquarters in Boston, the brisk air made him catch his breath. It was now February 5, 2008. Green could not believe that in five short months his dream promotion had turned into a disaster.When Green had been promoted to his new position in September, he was a rising star. Now, he would be lucky to celebrate his one-year anniversary with the company. His boss, Frank Davis, had sent the division vice president, Shannon McDonald, two scathing emails criticizing Green’s performance. Green and Davis had yet to see eye to eye on work styles or market trends. Tension had also risen when Green did not enthusiastically endorse the sales forecasts made by Davis. Green felt the forecasts were either overly optimistic or outright fabrications. tCBefore he left for the day, Green had reread the series of emails regarding his performance and was certain that Davis was setting him up to be dismissed. Davis’s most recent email had made it clear to Green that his position as a senior market specialist was in jeopardy. He did not have much time to rectify the situation. McDonald had emailed a formal request to him that afternoon, asking for his perspective on his performance and how he was going to improve the situation. With this in mind, Green started his commute home and began to analyze what went wrong and what he could do to save his job. NoCompany and Industry Background Do Dynamic Displays was founded in 1990 as a provider of self-service options to banks via Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). In 1994, Dynamic Displays launched a new division aimed at the travel and hospitality industry, and deployed their first self-service check-in kiosk for Discov er Airlines. In 2007, Dynamic Displays’ Travel and Hospitality Division had 60% market share with over 1,500 self-service kiosks in use at more than 75 airports. Customers included regional, national, and international airline carriers, as well as various hotels and car-rental agencies.Eighty percent of the Travel and Hospitality Division’s 2007 revenue came from airline carrier clients, 15% from hotels, HBS Professor W. Earl Sasser and Heather Beckham prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion and not as an endorsement, a source of primary data, or an illustration of effective or ineffective management. This case, though based on real events, is fictionalized, and any resemblance to actual persons or entities is coincidental. There are occasional references to actual companies in the narration.Copyright  © 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Bus iness Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School. This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. rP os t 095 | Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis and 5% from car-rental agencies.The company was a full service provider, offering hardware, software, engineering, and maintenance support. op yo Kiosks were an attractive option for airlines to quickly and easily check in passengers while reducing processing costs. Dynamic Displays’ kiosks not only reduced costs but also improved customer service, shortened passenger wait times, and provided valuable information to these travelers. In 2006, Forrester Research estim ated the average cost for an airline passenger to check in through an agent was $3. 2, versus a range of $0. 14 to $0. 32 for kiosk check-in. 1 This impressive savings was realized by allowing the repetitive tasks of selecting or changing seat assignments and printing and distributing boarding passes to be handled by the passengers themselves. Airlines reduced headcount or assigned the agents to more value-added tasks, such as solving complex customer service issues and ensuring compliance with safety and security standards. The cost savings were particularly important for the airline industry during a period when margins were razor thin and fuel costs were continuing to climb.Airlines were also aggressively promoting another self-service option for travelers. Web check-in allowed passengers to complete the entire check-in process via the internet from a remote location, utilizing their personal or office computer. Cost savings using online check-in was of even greater benefit becau se the airline did not have to purchase and install a kiosk, and passengers printed their own boarding passes using their own paper. According to a 2006 Forrester report, airport kiosks were a mature application with 75% of U. S. leisure passengers using kiosk in 2006.Web check-in on the other hand, was still experiencing dramatic growth, increasing from less than 45% of U. S. leisure passengers in 2005 to 64% in 2006. 2 Thomas Green: Path to Senior Market Specialist tC Thomas Green was born in 1979 in Brunswick, Georgia, the son of a postman and a school secretary. At the University of Georgia, he worked in a warehouse and washed cars while earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics. His first full-time job was in sales for National Business Solutions in Atlanta. Green enjoyed impressive success in the Banking Division, focusing on ATM sales to regional banks in the Southeast.In March 2007, Dynamic Displays recruited Green for an account executive position in the Southeast ter ritory for the Travel and Hospitality Division. To Green, Dynamic Displays seemed to present a great chance for a fast climb up the managerial ladder. No Green hit the ground running at Dynamic Displays. In his first four months as an account executive, he completed a contract for one of the largest airline carriers, Journey Airlines, to accelerate rollout of kiosks in 20 airports and purchase upgraded software for kiosks in the majority of their locations.Green had told a close friend, â€Å"I wanted to come in and dazzle them at Dynamic Displays. This was no easy feat. But I wanted more than an account executive position. I had heard there was a lot of opportunity for fresh talent at corporate headquarters and I made it my mission to get noticed immediately. † Do Senior executives at Dynamic Displays quickly took notice of Green’s performance and were eager to strengthen his relationship with the company. In July 2007, Green attended a week-long training session at c orporate headquarters.Shannon McDonald, the division vice president, and Mary Jacobs, the national sales director, made a concerted effort to get to know him better. Green and McDonald 1 Harteveldt and Epps, â€Å"Self-Service Check-In Clicks with Travelers,† Forrester Report, February 23, 2007 2 Ibid. 2 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013.Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. rP os t Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis | 2095 ere both University of Georgia alumni and Georgia natives. They had an instant connection, and McDonald seemed to take Green under her wing. McDonald had several informal meetings with Green, and by the end of the week Green became aware of an open position for a senior market specialist. Green aggressively campaigned to be considered for this position. Over the next month, Green made several trips to corporate headquarters to meet with McDonald. Green discussed his various client relationships, and McDonald agreed that in a short time he had developed unique insights into their markets.Following a dinner meeting at which Green offered lengthy explanations of the client opportunities he perceived and his strategies for winning them, McDonald promoted him to the position of senior market specialist. op yo McDonald told Green, â€Å"Tom, you are obviously a bright and ambitious account executive. You have a great rapport with your clients. You have made a strong case for your promotion and I’m willing to take a chance on you. I think this group needs a fresh perspective. However, I do have a couple of reservations about your lack of managerial experience.You have only held sales roles, and the senior market specialist position is very different. This new job will require you to think strategically as well as tactically, and y ou will have to coordinate between several different functions and layers of corporate management. I am hoping you compensate for your lack of experience by seeking out guidance from some of our more seasoned managers. † Green was assigned to work out of corporate headquarters in Boston. The division’s organizational structure is shown in Exhibit 1.The promotion had been a giant step upward for Green; an account executive interested in joining the marketing team usually moved first to a market specialist position and then put in a number of years in the field before reaching â€Å"senior† status. The other senior market specialists in the division were in their forties. Green was 28. His salary was now $125,000, a 50% increase over his previous salary. tC Senior market specialists were responsible for identifying industry trends, evaluating new business opportunities, and establishing sales goals.In addition, specialists developed general market and specific clie nt trategies to help the account executives obtain a sale. Green directly supervised the two market specialists in his region. Green reported to Frank Davis, the marketing director. Davis had recently been promoted from the position that Green assumed (see Exhibit 2 for relevant bios). No After Green’s Promotion Green’s promotion became effective on September 10, 2007. McDonald stopped by Green’s office that first day and told Green, â€Å"Tom, you are walking into a tricky situation with Frank Davis. Frank had expected to choose the new senior market specialist and it would not have been you.You’ll have to deal with any fallout that might result from that. You are getting an unusual opportunity with this promotion. Don’t let me down. † Do Green used most of his first week to review 2006 and 2007 year-to-date sales. He spent the next week with his boss, Frank Davis, making a rapid tour of major airline industry clients. At the end of the wee k, Davis told Green, â€Å"We had some good meetings this week and the clients responded well to your ideas. However, I think we would have been more effective if we had been able to provide the clients with some market data.When you are on your own I expect you to spend a significant amount of time preparing for client meetings and developing supporting detail for your proposals. I know you will need a little time to get up to speed on your new position, but I expect you to start developing some new market strategies for your region soon. † HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013.Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 3 rP os t 095 | Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis Green next visited clients, market specialists, and account executives in New York, Atlanta, and Orlando. In addi tion to the travel, Green’s personal life was very busy. He was searching for a house in Boston, arranging to move belongings there, and still trying to maintain a relationship with his girlfriend in Atlanta. op yo On October 8, Green attended the 2008 Budget Plan meeting in which Davis presented sales projections for the upcoming year. This was the first time Green had been exposed to the planning and forecasting process.Since Davis had held Green’s position when the estimates were due, the numbers for the Eastern region had been developed without input from Green. At the meeting, Davis assigned 2008 performance commitments for all senior marketing specialists and their teams. Performance reviews would be based upon their ability to meet or exceed the objectives. Green was surprised by the numbers that Davis was proposing. Davis estimated 10% growth in the Eastern region. According to Green, â€Å"Frank Davis was way off base with his pro forma numbers. I had been ta lking with our account execs and there was no way we could achieve double-digit growth in 2008.The sales goals Frank set for my region were totally unrealistic. In the meeting I expressed my concern that my goals would be impossible to meet. I couldn’t believe I was the only one with the guts to speak up. After the meeting, Frank stopped me in the hall and told me about all these big opportunities for the market. I listened politely, but the time I’d spent out on the road with clients gave me every reason to doubt Frank’s expectations. † tC Davis was visibly upset that Green openly challenged him at the meeting. Davis commented to McDonald, â€Å"Thomas’s negative attitude is not what we need on this team.Corporate expects this division to be a growth engine for the company. We’ve realized a 10% CAGR over the past 5 years. The market indicators are positive, and with the right sales strategy my projections are attainable. The hotel and car-r ental markets are virtually untapped right now. Thomas’s problem is that he’s too conservative in his outlook. He is thinking like an account exec who is only concerned with the sales target. In the senior market specialist position, he has to think outside the box and develop strategies to capture that aggressive growth target. † Meeting with Frank Davis NoIt was customary for employees at Dynamic Displays to have an informal evaluation in the first or second month after a promotion. When Green saw a meeting with Davis regarding his performance pop up on his Outlook calendar, he was not the least bit worried. On October 15, 2007, Green met with Davis to discuss his performance to date. Quite to Green’s surprise, Davis had prepared a list of problems he had encountered with Green’s work in the first month after his promotion. Do Davis sternly looked Green in the eye and began. â€Å"Thomas, you have not done a good job of keeping me informed of you r schedule.For example, this past Thursday, I was trying to locate you and your Outlook calendar said you were in Orlando. I needed you to send me some information on one of our accounts. You didn’t answer your cell phone. I ended up calling the account exec in Orlando and was told you had left the previous day. To make matters worse, I had asked you to deliver on that same day a brief report on that new kiosk opportunity in Tampa—and I didn’t receive it. † Flabbergasted, Green responded, â€Å"I decided to go to Atlanta a day early because I had run out of good opportunities in Orlando.I was able to get a meeting with the VP of purchasing at a client in Atlanta and thought that would be more productive than sitting around Orlando talking to nobodies. † 4 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyrigh t. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. rP os t Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis | 2095 Davis continued, â€Å"On September 20, I asked you to check why VIP Hotel Group had not purchased any of our kiosks.After three reminders, I still have not received a good answer from you. In the same vein, two weeks ago, I requested the status of the regional jet division of Journey Airlines. I have not received any update from you yet. I also asked for organizational charts on two clients in Charlotte and Raleigh. Do you remember your reply? You said, ‘What’s the value of charts like that? I have that information in my head. ’ Thomas, we can make good use of those charts—they can help us lay out a strategy for getting to the decision makers in a company. I expect the charts on my desk by end of the week.Davis and Green spent the next two hours going over various incidents and discussing a plan to improve the situation. op yo Later, Green told a manager outside his group, â€Å"I can’t shake this nagging suspicion that Frank’s criticisms of my performance are a direct result of my questioning the validity of his forecasts in the Budget Plan meeting. I was blindsided by his negative assessment of my work. Frank spent two hours picking apart my work style. You would think he would be concerned with bigger issues than how often I update my Outlook calendar. †A few days after the meeting, Davis wrote an email to McDonald, who had promoted Green, outlining the points covered in the meeting and copied Green on the communication (Exhibit 3). Three Months Later: Trouble Continues tC After the October 15 meeting, Green met with the national sales director and director of software development. Green was focused on developing a new up-selling and cross-selling software program that would allow airline passengers to upgrade seating; have meals, magazines, or books delivered to the flight; and book hotel rooms or cars at their destination.According to Green, â€Å"The only way for us to capture growth is if we can convince the airlines that our products have revenuegenerating opportunity and other advantages over web check-in. However, these programs may take months to develop and will not impact our sales in 2008. † No Green spent most of November, December, and January working independently on his special software project and traveling to meet with his market specialists and various clients. According to one of the market specialists who accompanied Green to several meetings, â€Å"Thomas is great when it comes to selling the clients on his ideas.He is very charismatic and can think quickly on his feet. I can tell he has put a lot of thought into his strategies and I really like working for him. However, the clients are starting to ask me for hard data to back up his claims of cost savings. They are also requiring memos and presentations to bring to their super iors that justify the expenditure. Thomas doesn’t really work that way. He would rather talk through the issues face to face. † Do During this time, Green avoided interactions with Davis whenever he could. Green continued to tell people outside the group he did not agree with his boss’s projections for 2008.Green stated, â€Å"With the continued financial distress in the airline industry and preference for web check-in, I don’t foresee a lot of growth in spending next year. Davis is holding firm with his upbeat projections. I deliberately steer clear of him. I know my mood is terrible. The excitement’s gone from work. I must say, though, I’ve had a couple of good chats with managers from another part of Dynamic Displays, and they‘re supportive. They told me to stand my ground. † On January 28, Davis held another performance review meeting with Green, focusing on the continuing deficiencies in Green’s work and attitude.Afte r the meeting, Davis sent an email to McDonald outlining his issues with Green (Exhibit 4). Green was not copied on this email, but someone sent him a copy by interoffice mail. McDonald met with Davis the following day to flesh out HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 5 rP os t 2095 | Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis the issue. Davis told McDonald, â€Å"I am truly disappointed with Thomas’s work.He is an intelligent and capable young man, but I do not believe he is making a strong effort. † In response to Davis’s complaints, McDonald sent a short email to Green (Exhibit 5) asking for his point of view on the situation. Green told a close friend, â€Å"It’s clear that Frank intends to get rid of me. He’s jus t putting his argument together. † Green’s Next Move op yo As Green entered I-93 on the way to his new home in North Andover, he replayed in his head the series of events and subsequent emails. Green recognized that he had not paid much attention to office politics when he’d taken on his job.He had met one-on-one with McDonald only twice since he moved to the corporate headquarters. He had been preoccupied with the job itself, and with living up to McDonald’s expectations. Now it seemed as though he had no allies in the company. McDonald’s email today struck a nerve. Because McDonald sponsored his promotion, Green had taken for granted that she would watch out for him. If Davis was indeed trying to fire him, Green wondered who McDonald would side with. Do No tC Several questions persisted in Green’s mind. What steps should he take next? Set up a meeting with McDonald?Write McDonald a detailed memo? Do what Davis tells him and keep his mouth s hut, even though he was convinced that the forecasts were inflated? Was it his responsibility to expose Davis’s overstated projections? Maybe contact a head hunter and start looking for another job? He had to sort through before he responded to McDonald’s email. Next week, his first mortgage payment was due and the new furniture he’d picked out was scheduled to be delivered. This was certainly not a good time to be out of work, for 2008 was shaping up to be a very stressful year for Thomas Green. 6 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOLThis document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Exhi bit 1 No (3) Northwest US, West Canada, Alaska, Hawaii (4) Southwest US North American Western Region Sales Manager Kent Walsh Technical Specialists2 (4) North East US, Eastern Canada (3) Southeast US North AmericanEastern Region Sales Manager Mark Washington National Sales Director Mary Jacobs op yo tC Service/ Maintenance Director John Kofalt (3) North Central US (3) South Central US rP os t North American Central Sales Manager Christine Raven Software Development Director Robert Hartley 2 There were six technical specialists (one for each territory) There were three senior market specialists (one for each region) and six market specialists (one for each territory). Thomas Green was the market specialist for Eastern Region 1 Account Executives Market Specialists1 Senior Market Specialists1 Thomas Green Jack Brown Michelle Jones Marketing DirectorFrank Davis Travel Division Vice President Shannon McDonald Abbreviated Organization Chart, Travel and Hospitality Division of Dynamic Di splays, 2007 Do 2095 -7- Exhibit 2 Relevant Bios Thomas Green (Age 28) – Senior Market Specialist rP os t 2095 | Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis Thomas Green began his career as an account executive for National Business Solutions in Atlanta, Georgia. He spent six years as an account executive in the Banking Division, selling ATMs to regional banks throughout the Southeast. In March 2007 he joined Dynamic Displays as an account executive in their Travel and Hospitality Division.He is currently the division’s senior market specialist for the Eastern region of North America. Green graduated summa cum laude from University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in Economics in 2001. op yo Frank Davis (Age 45) – Marketing Director Frank Davis is a 17-year veteran of Dynamic Displays. He joined the company in 1990 as an account executive with the Financial Services Solutions Division. He has also held positions as an account executive , market specialist, and senior market specialist with the Travel and Hospitality Division. Frank Davis is currently the marketing director for the Travel and Hospitality Division.Prior to joining Dynamic Displays, Davis worked as a sales representative for Advanced Telecommunications Services selling PBX phone systems to large corporations. He holds a bachelors degree in history from New York University (1986) and an Executive MBA from Suffolk University, Sawyer Business School (2002). Shannon McDonald (Age 42) – Division Vice President Do No tC Reporting to the Dynamic Displays Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, Sam Costello, Shannon McDonald was promoted to Division Vice President in November of 2006 and is responsible for all aspects of the Travel and Hospitality Business.Previously, McDonald was the director of national sales for the Travel and Hospitality Division (2000-2006). She was responsible for driving Dynamic Displays’ self-service business w ith the largest airline carriers in the United States. Ms. McDonald has also held positions as a strategic consultant with Chicago Consulting Group’s Travel and Tourism practice and as a marketing analyst with Quest Airlines. She holds a bachelors degree in marketing from the University of Georgia (1987) and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management (1992). 8 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOLThis document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Exhibit 3 rP os t Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis | 2095 10/19/07 Email Regarding Green’s Performance FROM: â€Å"FRANK DAVIS† TO: â€Å"SHANNON MCDONALD† CC: â€Å"THOMAS GREEN† SENT: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007 3:48:32 pM SUBJECT: THOMAS GREEN op yo Since Thomas assumed the position of senior marke t specialist on September 10, 2007, numerous incidents of poor judgment and questionable behavior have concerned me.Thomas and I talked about most of these incidents as they occurred. However, I concluded that we needed to have an overarching discussion about his performance and to develop a strategy for improving his work style. At that meeting, held October 15, 2007, we reviewed a range of problems. Among them: 1. Thomas fails to inform me of his plans and keep me updated on his schedule. 2. He does not follow up when information is requested of him. 3. Thomas’s lack of enthusiasm is troubling.He has a right and an obligation to question aspects of our plans if he finds them illogical or unfeasible, but the kind of negativity he displayed in the Budget Plan meeting on October 8 is dangerous to the organization and unacceptable to me. tC Thomas seemed to accept my criticisms in a thoughtful manner and assured me he will do what is necessary to succeed in his position. He and I plan to discuss his overall performance again in midNovember. Meanwhile, he’ll be expected to take the following corrective measures: Plan to make focused calls when dealing with market specialists, account executives, and clients.Have a specific communication strategy going into a call, and have all sales collateral and other necessary materials available. Stop making calls purely for the purpose of meeting people. 2. Update Outlook calendar regularly and always return calls from our office promptly. No 1. 3. Provide feedback to my requests in a timely manner. Thomas says he now recognizes that my requests are not merely â€Å"reminders†; they are a call for information that I genuinely need. 4. Demonstrate a more positive attitude both inside and outside the company. Do Frank R. DavisTravel and Hospitality Marketing Director Dynamic Displays 212-314-1420 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinna h Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 9 Exhibit 4 1/30/08 Email Regarding Green’s Performance rP os t 2095 | Thomas Green: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis FROM: â€Å"FRANK DAVIS† TO: â€Å"SHANNON MCDONALD† SENT: WEDNESDAY, January 30, 2008 4:28:12 pM SUBJECT: THOMAS GREEN op yoOn October 19, 2007, I sent you an email communicating my concerns with Thomas’s attitude and job performance. On January 28, 2008, Thomas and I had another meeting on this subject. I would like to summarize that conversation. Thomas wastes a great deal of time complaining about the problems of selling to our current and prospective clients and far too little time developing strategic marketing approaches and effective sales tactics. I informed him that his job is to sell the accounts, not to agree with our clients’ assertions about alleged disadvantages of our products or the current excess capacity in the industry.I told Thomas his lack of effort and enthusiasm are not consistent with the standards of Dynamic Displays and could lead to an outcome he likely would not find pleasant. Thomas then said he felt I was micromanaging his activities. It was here that I think we uncovered the root of the problem. I inquired as to what new or even slightly imaginative marketing approaches he documented in the past five months. His answer was, â€Å"None that are documented. † When I see no new targets and no thoughtful, creative marketing, I feel I must micromanage, and I communicated this to Thomas. tCI then pulled up several Power Point presentations, spreadsheet models, and associated emails that Michelle Jones, the Western Region senior market specialist, had used to shape her region’s strategy and to support their selling efforts. As we paged through her work, Thomas stated that all those email updates and fancy presentations and models were â€Å"political† and didn’t match up well with his personal approach to selling. I told him this was not only good politics, but also proved to his boss that he was working effectively. No Thomas ultimately conceded the mistakes and personal shortcomings that I explained to him..He pledged to develop creative marketing approaches and keep me updated on his progress. I hope these promises materialize in the next 30 days. If not, I recommend we part ways with Thomas Green and quickly seek out a competent replacement for this extremely important position. Do Frank R. Davis Travel and Hospitality Marketing Director Dynamic Displays 212-314-1420 10 BRIEFCASES | HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013.Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [email  protected] arvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. Exhibit 5 2/5/08 Email from McDonald to Green rP os t Thomas Gr een: Power, Office Politics, and a Career in Crisis | 2095 FROM: â€Å"SHANNON MCDONALD† TO: â€Å"THOMAS GREEN† CC: â€Å"FRANK DAVIS† SENT: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2008 8:38:53 AM SUBJECT: PERFORMANCE op yo Frank Davis has explained to me his point of view on your performance. I think all of us want to improve the current situation, which is regrettable. At this point I would like to get your perspective on your recent performance and to understand your ideas about specific areas that need improvement.I look forward to resolving this issue ASAP. I would be glad to discuss this matter with you in detail, but first I would like to receive your statement in writing. Do No tC Shannon A. McDonald Travel and Hospitality Group Vice-President Dynamic Displays 212-314-1415 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL | BRIEFCASES This document is authorized for use only by Usman Chaudhry at Fatima Jinnah Women University until March 2013. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. [e mail  protected] harvard. edu or 617. 783. 7860. 11