The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay - 1415 Words

â€Å"The happiness of the wicked passes away like a torrent!† This quote from Jean Baptiste Racin summarizes The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in one sentence. The novel’s main focus is on three main characters and how the sins they commit affect their lives in the strict Puritan town of Boston around the year 1642. Hawthorne was very knowledgeable of his Puritan ancestry and shows it by incorporating some important thoughts and traditions into this story about sin and confession. Throughout the novel, the physical, social, mental and emotional changes that result from sin in the lives of the characters are never positive and the outcome of their spiritual battles are not always good; but the author makes it perfectly clear to us that concealing sin is not wise. Hawthorne begins the first chapter of the novel with Hester’s punishment. She had committed adultery, a crime that the Puritans often punished by death. She was sentenced to stand on the scaffold, a symbol of shame, for three hours in front of the whole town and to wear a scarlet letter â€Å"A† (meaning Adultery) for the rest of her life. She stayed loyal to her new partner and refused to expose his identity. Although she is not justified, Hester did not commit the greatest sin in the novel. Hers was a crime of passion and love, not premeditated or intended to hurt others. The sin in her actions was that her desire was of more importance to her than the Puritan moral code. This is proven when Hester says toShow MoreRelatedThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1242 Words   |  5 PagesLYS PAUL Modern Literature Ms. Gordon The Scarlet Letter The scarlet letter is book written by Nathaniel Hawthorne who is known as one the most studied writers because of his use of allegory and symbolism. He was born on July 4, 1804 in the family of Nathaniel, his father, and Elizabeth Clark Hathorne his mother. Nathaniel added â€Å"W† to his name to distance himself from the side of the family. His father Nathaniel, was a sea captain, and died in 1808 with a yellow fever while at sea. That was aRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne960 Words   |  4 Pages3H 13 August 2014 The novel, The Scarlet Letter, was written by the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and was published in 1850 (1). It is a story about the Puritan settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, set around 1650 (2). The story is written in the third person with the narrator being the author. The common thread that runs through this novel is Hawthorne’s apparent understanding of the beliefs and culture of the Puritans in America at that time. But Hawthorne is writing about events in a societyRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne919 Words   |  4 Pagessymbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†. Symbolism is when an object is used in place of a different object. Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most symbolic writers in all of American history. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, the letter â€Å"A† is used to symbolize a variety of different concepts. The three major symbolistic ideas that the letter â€Å"A† represents in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† are; shame, guilt, and ability. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, the firstRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1397 Words   |  6 PagesFebruary 2016 The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 which is based on the time frame of the Puritans, a religious group who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630’s. The Puritans were in a religious period that was known for the strict social norms in which lead to the intolerance of different lifestyles. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the puritan’s strict lifestyles to relate to the universal issues among us. The time frame of the puritans resulted in Hawthorne eventually thinkingRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne999 Words   |  4 Pages Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the prodigious book entitled The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, soon finds out about the incident after it becomes clear that she is pregnant. The whole town finds out and Hester is tried and punished. Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth goes out then on a mission to get revenge by becoming a doctor and misprescribing Dimmesdale. He does this to torture DimmesdaleRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne1037 Words   |  5 Pagesthat human nature knows right from wrong, but is naturally evil and that no man is entirely â€Å"good†. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the classic novel The Scarlet Letter, believes that every man is innately good and Hawthorne shows that everyone has a natural good side by Hester’s complex character, Chillingworth’s actions and Dimmesdale’s selfless personality. At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the â€Å"bad guy†. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, butRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1517 Words   |  7 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne composes Pearl as a powerful character even though she is not the main one. Her actions not only represent what she is as a person, but what other characters are and what their actions are. Hawthorne makes Pearl the character that helps readers understand what the other characters are. She fits perfectly into every scene she is mentioned in because of the way her identity and personality is. Pearl grows throughout the book, which in the end, help the readers better understandRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne1488 Words   |  6 Pages In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Hester Prynne, is a true contemporary of the modern era, being cast into 17th century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts. The Scarlet Letter is a revolutionary novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne examining the ugliness, complexity, and strength of the human spirit and character that shares new ideas about independence and the struggles women faced in 17th century America. Throughout the novel, Hester’s refusal to remove the scarlet letterRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1319 Words   |  6 PagesPrynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are subject to this very notion in Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter. Hester simply accepted that what she had done was wrong, whereas Dimmesdale, being a man of high regard, did not want to accept the reality of what he did. Similar to Hester and Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth allows his emotions to influence his life; however, his influence came as the result of hi s anger. Throughout the book, Hawthorne documents how Dimmesdale and Hester s different ways of dealingRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1714 Words   |  7 PagesSome two hundred years following the course of events in the infamous and rigid Puritan Massachusetts Colony in the 1600s, Nathaniel Hawthorne, descendant of a Puritan magistrate, in the 19th century, published The Scarlet Letter. Wherein such work, Hawthorne offered a social critique against 17th Massachusetts through the use of complex and dynamic characters and literary Romanticism to shed light on said society’s inherent contradiction to natural order and natural law. In his conclusive statements

Competitive the Strategy of GE-Free Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Questions: 1.In what ways has Jeff Immelt redirected the strategy of GE? 2.To what extent is the strategy aligned with the requirements of the 21st century business environment? and GEs resources capabilities? 3.What organisational changes has the new strategy necessitated? Will GE be able to successfully execute the new strategy? 4.What alternative strategies should GE consider? Answers: Introduction Competitive strategy and innovation are some of the most important aspects of an organisation. In order to dominate the business, it is necessary that every manager develop a strategy that helps them to understand and analyse the market in an effective manner. The essay highlights the strategies adopted by General Electric (GE) under its new manager. General Electric is an American multinational company situated in New York. The company is a public undertaking that was founded in 1892, by Thomas Edison. It is famous for manufacturing aircraft engines, electrical distribution and energy, gas and so on (Ge.com. 2017). The essay analyses the extent to which the new strategies adopted by the company were aligned with the business environment of the 21st century. The resources and capabilities of GE are discussed along with the organisational changes that were required for incorporating these strategies. Alternative strategies developed by the company are also discussed in the essay. 1.Redirecting the strategy of GE Leading a reputed company such as GE is always a challenging factor for any person. The fact that Jeff Immelt took over the managerial responsibilities of the company from Jack Welch proved a bold decision for the company. Some of the declarations that were made by the new manager included a long-term transformational strategy for the company. The reason for adopting this approach was due to the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 2001. According to Hill, Jones and Schilling (2014), the transformational strategy involves transformation management strategy as a critical component of modern programs. It seeks the support of the individuals as well as the organisation in order to change the functioning of the organisation. The acceptance of the changes comes after its implementation. The benefits of the changes help an organisation as well as an individual to enhance the productivity and skills. In the case of GE, the transformational change that was adopted by Jeff Immelt involved the reconfiguration of the business portfolio of the company. Apart from this, the manager also focused on directing the performance goals towards the revenue goal of the organisation. This is an important decision given the fact that the city had suffered financial loss due to the bombing of the World Trade Centre. In this regard, the focus of the company was drawn to an innovation of products, particularly in the technological field. The competitive advantage of the company can be maintained by the introduction of new technologies that can help in the growth of the company. The innovative nature of the business can also help in maintaining customer satisfaction by providing proper service. Till 2001, GE had been under Jack Welch who had been considered as one of the best managers of the company. Hence, the organisational structure and culture during that period also needed to change. This is mai nly because of the advancement in the business world due to the emergence of new technology and competitors. However, the high point of the strategy came in April 2015. A decision was made regarding the selling of most of the capital of the company. Despite such ambitious changes in the strategies of the company, the sales performance of the company had lagged considerably. The below figure highlights the changes that took place in the company since the inception of the managerial role by Immelt. From the analysis, it has been seen that despite the efforts of Immelt, the company had not been able to meet its target. During the early days of his tenure, Immelt had promised to reach new heights with GE. The increase of sales, return on capital and earnings had been the target by the new manager. Instead, not only these but also the stock of the country failed to reach a considerable position. From 2001 to 2014, the sales of the company fell considerably. Hence, the challenges faced by Immelt were more than the expected challenge. The shareholder value maximisation was also not approved off by the new manager. The emphasis was more on transforming the business portfolio of the company. Immelt wanted to identify the sources of profit of the company. In the words of Spulber (2007), the profit-making ability of a company can help it to progress in the competitive market. It was seen that GE had created profit through the process of cost reduction. This means that the assets that we re invaluable were discarded by the company. During the time Immelt took over this source of creating profit had been already mined out by the company. Hence, Immelt managed to identify four trends based on the poor growth in the economic world. The four global trends include: Demography: With the increase in population, people will need to purchase products that are important in everyday life (Eden and Ackermann 2013). GE manufactures all type of products including entertainment products. Hence, the increase in population will create more demand for these units for the younger generation. Infrastructure: The infrastructure of the company provides an opportunity to invest in energy consumption, oil and gas production, hydrological development and so on. This can be used as an opportunity to meet the targets of the company (Paley 2007). Emerging markets: Immelt manage to identify the developing countries that can add value to the growth of the company outside the USA. The GDP growth rates in countries like Australia, India and Russia are three times more than that in other countries. Environment: Environment challenges are always an important threat to any business (Galavan, Murray and Markides 2008). Challenges such as global warming, scarcity of water and conservation are main factors that Immelt have identified as problems in the business. 2.Aligning the strategy According to Johnston and Bate (2013), the selected strategy of an organisation needs to align with the tactics of the organisation. It is important for every business enterprise to ensure that the strategies undertook to address the requirement of the organisation as well as the factors that affect business. These factors can be both internal as well as external. Dealing with the changing business environment is one of the important factors that need to be considered while formulating the strategy. In the case of Immelt, the strategic decisions that were undertaken by the manager needed to align with the business market of the 21st century. La Piana (2004) stated that in order to formulate plans and strategies keeping in mind the 21st century, it is necessary that every organisation focuses on three important aspects. These aspects include competition, technology and innovation. Along with this customer focus and global presence are also important in considering approaches of the 21 st century. In the case of GE, Immelt identified the advent of technology as one of the major factors that can instigate the future growth of the company. The reliability of the technology and the fact that Immelt considered it as important is clear from the fact that he managed to increase the budget set for research and development (R D) of GE. The transformation began with an upgrade made in the R D centre in Japan. The construction of new R D centres across the countries of business also demonstrates the importance given by the managers in the development of technology. Under Immelt, the company had over 37,000 technologies working in the all the areas of the country. The focus was researching on programs that provided fewer, bigger and long-term prospects. Immelt also focused on technology as well as an approach to innovation. According to Carlopio (2010), the breakthrough in the innovation of GE consisted of diagnosing cure for healthcare patients and securing the technologies that are used. Apart from the technologies, the focus on customers is also aligned with the strategic decisions of Immelt. Despite the financial crisis of 2008, GE managed to have increased revenue of $17.8milion. This is due to the cutting down of the expenditure in the R D department. Immelt ensured that the short-term and long term borrowings were reduced in order to ensure that more cash was flowed in the manufacturing of the product. Customer orientation and value of time of the customers are two most important factors for gaining the satisfaction of the customers (Weatherall 2013). In the view of Immelt, these factors along with building relationship with customers are also important in order to retain customer loyalty. During the start of his managerial career with GE, Immelt focused his attention on the customer satisfaction level that was required for the organisation. The increase in the involvement of customers also resulted in the increase in revenue of the company. The marketing function of the company generated more responsibilities that included the hiring of talented marketing executives and formulate a process that can be used to identify the new products and services. One of the major applications related to the customer management of the organisation is the fact that it takes into consideration the needs of the customer as a whole (Grant 2014). GE focuses on providing bundling products that support services to customers. For example, a healthcare centre requires lightning, gas, turbines or any other products that are manufactured by GE. GE even started cross-business marketing campaigns to secure more funding. In order to maintain the resource and capabilities of the company, Immelt set his focus on increasing the growth rate of the enterprise. As stated by Farkas (2016), every manager needs to make strategies that address the growth of an organisation. The growth of an organisation can be attributed to the resources and capabilities that it possesses. Immelt focused on organic growth in order to attain the organisational goals. The organic growth rate of the company was attributed to about 8% per annum. This was an improvement given the fact that the growth rate under the former manager was only 5%. Apart from the growth rate, the earning of the company also improved. Immelt stated that GE can grow two to three times faster with the increased revenue. In this regard, the resources of the company can also grow. With the existing and increase in revenue, the company have managed to expand the market presence of the company. Ivanaj et al. (2015) observed that in order to survive in the busin ess market of the 21st century, it is necessary that every business expand the horizons. GE expanded the business in healthcare sectors, energy, broadcasting and entertainment. The investments in these sectors are important in order to increase the capability of the company. 3.Organisational changes initiated by the new strategy The application of new strategy can instigate changes in the policies and functions of an organisation. The fact that the new changes are accepted in the organisation is an achievement for a manager (Wirtz 2001). In the case of GE, the existing structure and culture of the organisation define the identity of the company. With the change in strategies of the company and the appointment of a new leader, the company underwent changes in the core areas of management. One of the areas that underwent change is the leadership and development of employees. In the early years, GE managed to develop their leaders by providing internal promotions within the organisation. This is one way to encourage and motivate employees based on the work that is done by them (Johnson et al. 2013). The performance management system was based on the quantitative targets that allowed focus and accountability. The strategic initiatives taken by Immelt focused on the targets that led to the earning and growth of t he company. The fact that productivity improvement, reduction in overhead cost and the practice of six-sigma are all based on quantitative target is a highlight of the company. These initiatives taken up by Immelt proved to be a challenge to performance management system that is followed in the company. Johnson et al. (2013) stated that the manner in which growth rate of a company can be determined is based on the internal talent of an organisation. The shift in the strategic priorities had the implementation of the management system of GE. The growth strategies of GE led to the development of proper internal challenge that is important for the progress of the organisation. In order to do so, the support of the employees is an important factor. Employees are put to test based on the skills and abilities that are possessed by them. These skills and abilities are evaluated based on the performance of the employees. Afuah (2009) stated that a benchmarking strategy can be used in order to identify the traits required for growth in an organisation. In this regard, Immelt managed to focus his attention on obtaining benchmarking strategies based on the analysis of 15 companies. This helped in the growth of revenue in the company and helped in identifying the required trends necessary for g rowth. It has been seen that the major change that Immelt brought about is the change in the structure of the organisational. The advent of a new and modern world warranted major changes in the organisational structure that was set up in the 1980s under Welch. Welch had broken the sectors into small divisions in order to have a concise business method. However, in order to organise cross-business integration, Immelt managed to disorganise the sectors and unite them in an effort to restore organisational goals. This reorganised tactics helped in reducing the number of business sectors. This helped in uniting the company and ensuring that the growth rate of the company keeps on increasing. During 2002, 2005 and 2008, the number of business sectors reduced from 12 to 5. However, after the reorganisation, the number was increased to 9. The innovation that was needed to drive the goal of the organisation with the profitability and cost control was the main focus for Immelt. Twomey (2012) observe d that innovation in big large projects often led to the cause of risks. The opportunities for the business required cooperation from that increased the likelihood of the business. Immelt also updated the marketing strategies that were used by the company. The development was necessary in order to transfer business from the R D and the increased technologies that help in understanding the business market. Thus, these changes are necessary in order to align the changed strategies implemented by the manager. The success of these strategies can be based on the fact that the manager and employees of GE form a united effort in meeting the organisational strategy. 4.Alternative strategies Grant (2016) stated that alternate strategies are important in order to ensure that the failure of the initial plan can be backed up. The alternative strategies need to be based on the analysis of the risk factors and other external or internal factors that may hamper the growth of an organisation. In this regard, it can be said that the alternate strategies prove as a method to reimburse the mistakes that were done at the initial stage. In the case of GE, the strategies adopted by Immelt saw both loss and profit for the organisation. The organisation did not have success initially due to the transition phase. The promises made by Immelt were not kept due to the factors that affect the growth of the organisation. The innovation and customer orientation of the company required the high level of collaboration between employees and customers. This can be considered as an alternate method to ensure that the metrics based measurement of performance management can be carried forward. Marit an and Lee (2017) stated that the manner in which most companies in the United States achieve outstanding performance can be used as a benchmark for the organisation. It has been seen that since the inception of the new role as the manager of GE, the performance of the company has been on the downside. The role of Immelt as a manager has not been proven due to the poor results of the company. It has been seen that the profit in different sectors and products have decreased considerably in the last few years. For example, the profits earned by the company using power and water supply in 2010 were $5.80 billion. However, the profit dropped to $5.35 billion during 2014. In this regard, the alternate solution based on such decrease in profit needs to be made in the marketing department. According to Chevalier-Roignant and Trigeorgis (2011), to ensure the increase in profits, it is necessary that every organisation maintain a formative marketing management that can help in analysing the market of the business. Proper investment regarding the choice of sectors needs to be done in order to maintain profits. In this regard, one alternate solution that was developed by Immelt was the fact that he managed to reduce investments in areas that had low growth and profit prospects. These areas include the domestic appliances, which did not complement the capabilities of GE. The exit fro m businesses of plastics was also notable in terms of increasing the profit of the organisation. The fact the US Financial Regulation view GE to be an important financial institution justifies the change in the financial sector in the organisation (Di Stefano, Peteraf and Verona 2014). Another important change that needs to be considered is the internationalisation of business. The global presence of the company proved to be cost-effective as the positioning of the company needs to be based on proper analysis of the market. The fact that the company wanted to work directly with the Government required huge capital investments. The fact that the company targeted Nigeria as a potential market for investment can be a downfall of the company (Porter 2008). This is mainly because of the fact that Nigeria is a poor country can have the severe impact on the profit-making policies of the organisation. Thus, the alternate strategies are important in order to understand the possibilities of risk and analyse ways to mitigate the risks that may hamper the organisation. Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded that the new managerial system of GE has not been effective in maintaining the reputation of the company. The fact that the strategies of Immelt have countered the existing culture of GE has made it difficult for employees and customers accept the changes. In this regard, it can be said that the improvement show in the company has been negligible. Bibliography Afuah, A., 2009.Strategic innovation: new game strategies for competitive advantage. Routledge. Carlopio, J., 2010.Strategy by design: A process of strategy innovation. Springer. Chevalier-Roignant, B. and Trigeorgis, L., 2011.Competitive strategy: Options and games. MIT Press. Di Stefano, G., Peteraf, M. and Verona, G., 2014. The organizational drivetrain: A road to integration of dynamic capabilities research.The Academy of Management Perspectives,28(4), pp.307-327. Eden, C. and Ackermann, F., 2013.Making strategy: The journey of strategic management. Sage. Farkas, F., 2016. 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Porter, M.E., 2008.Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. Simon and Schuster. Spulber, D.F., 2007.Global competitive strategy. Cambridge University Press. Twomey, D., 2012.Labor and Employment Law: Text Cases. Cengage Learning. Weatherall, A., 2013.Computer Integrated Manufacturing: a total company competitive strategy. Elsevier. Wirtz, J., 2001. Strategy in the contemporary world.