Approaches To Leadership In Tata Group Management Essay

Approaches To Leadership In Tata Group Management Essay Introduction: Leadership is an integrated part of our life. According to corporate chief and former US presidential candidate Ross Perot, the principles of leadership are timeless because, in a rapidly changing world, human nature remains a constant. We all experience leadership in our life from early childhood in our families, through friendships, social sports activities, school higher education, in politics, in government and of course in our work. We all recognize leadership in other people and often in ourselves. In government, global corporations and small businesses alike, the leadership role is becoming more demanding, more open to scrutiny and more difficult [Gill, R. 2006]. The development of leadership theory also parallels the development of organizational theory. The bureaucratic form of business organization is characterized by laissez-faire leadership whereby so-called leaders tend to avoid taking a stand, ignore problems, not follow up, and refrain from intervening or transactional leadership, in which leaders practise management by exception, focusing only on deviations from what is required, and contingent reward, rewarding people (either materially or psychologically) for achieving what is required. The emergence of the post-bureaucratic form of organization in the late nineteenth century reflects the development of the concept of transformational leadership [Gill, R. 2006]. Theory Approaches to Leadership: Many Leadership theories and approaches have been evolved around Style, Trait, Behaviour, Situation and Charisma. Many researchers made efforts linking these theories across these leadership approaches. However, each leadership model has its merit, assumptions and limitations. Most recent researches are conducted on Situational Transformational leadership styles. Various leadership Gurus presented new models as variations to the already existing models. Max Weber, MacGregor, Bass, Bennis Nanus are some of the most important researchers in the area of transformational leadership. The difference between transactional and transformational leadership is vital in getting the whole concept of transformational leadership theory. In general, a relationship between two people is based on the level of exchange they have. The more exchange they have the stronger the relationship. Managers expects more productivity from employee in order to give good rewards. In this way, if something is done to anyone based on the return then that relation is called Transactional type. In business, leaders announce rewards in turn to the productivity. These relations are all about requirements, conditions and rewards (wordpress.com). In our life at various stages some things are happen without any expectation from other side e.g. mothers love for her babies. This is one for of transformational approach. Transformational Leaders work toward a common goal with followers: put followers in front and develop them, take followers to next level, inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests in achieving superior results (wordpress.com). Here we discuss the various forms of leadership and Table 1, given below shows how Basss full range model of leadership works [DBS Notes]. Table 1 By studying the evolution of leadership approach of the TATA Group, an in-depth analysis of importance of leadership model is given now onwards. Leadership Approach in TATA Group: TATA Group founded in 1868, is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. The Group has more than half million employees spread across over six continents (more than 100 countries) and is the largest private corporate group in India. The estimated market capitalization of the group is worth $80bn. It is the biggest employer in UK as well, employing more than 50,000 people. It has main interests in communications, IT, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Its present chairman, Ratan Tata is the most influential business leaders in India. He is also one of the worlds most influential people as per Forbs magazine. The Group is known for ethics and value based business approach. Evolution of Leadership in TATA Group: Under the leadership of the Ratan Tata, the Group has incorporated more leadership changes which were essential in current environment to drive towards to be more competitive. In terms of leadership style, the Group has adopted a team-led culture and collective effort approach. Trust became a major factor and theme of the group. Ratan has put a complete organisational restructuring, since he became chairman of the group in 1991, by taking a more matrix-style approach building teams. These changes have transformed a lot in the group business, senior managers have to be on their toes and flexibility and adaptability became essential qualities to have. The leadership changed from a centralised, command centre to a much more distributed form with employees and all managers enjoying greater responsibility and knowledge, which in turn motivated them to work harder and as a group. From well established leadership models such as the McGregor Theory X and Y; in which the theory X manager believes workers dislike work, are not creative and avoid all responsibility whilst the theory Y manager believes that workers get as much enjoyment from work as they can derive with leisure, accept responsibility and be creative. Theory Y approach has been adopted by the Ratan Tata. He wanted all his managers to be modelled as closely to Theory Y and he himself could be called a Theory Y facilitator. He encourages managers to be more innovative and share all their ideas, consulting actively with them and giving them more responsibility and importantly encouraging team-working. Five Factor Leadership Model: Emotional Stability: Ratan has very low anxiety within him and has great sense of security with his future leadership. Extraversion: Even being a bachelor Ratan is very sociable. He has produced very positive affect on future leadership of the Group. Openness: He believes in originality and versatility. By making  £1200/- car he has shown his great interest with and innovation seeking personality. Agreeableness: Within his management team and outside world, Ratan is well trusted and very friendly. Conscientiousness: He is very dutifulness. He spent most of his life working for Group without having any self-interest. He leads a very well organised life. Style (Behaviour) Theory in TATA Group: As per style theory, there are three kind of leadership models are available in literatures. These are as given below. Autocratic Democratic Laissez-faire Ratan Tata is a leader who engages in more democratic style of leadership approach and occasionally shows the other two leadership styles as well. He is more democratic because he always encourages his group leadership to be creating good communication and participation. The budding leadership are well informed about group future strategy and they are very well engaged in decision making process. Most of the group long-term and short-term strategies are formulated by the lower rank of the leadership and are treated as stake holders. Ratan has occasionally shown some short of autocratic style of leadership. Sometimes when needed especially when quick and informed decisions have to be taken, but he is never too commanding in his nature, being a man of few words and being more of a man of action. This is evident from the manner he aggressively pushes for bold international deals, such as during the global acquisitions of business powerhouses such as Corus, JLR, and Tetley. One of his se nior leadership team members, Muthuraman refers him Ratan was the chief architect of the Corus deal. I was worried about the magnitude and the amount of money. But he instilled confidence. In daily routine matters and in developing the leadership, Ratan also uses the Laissez-Faire model such as the delegation of important duties and decision-making, he also do not interfere with any managers functioning, he might make a broad strategic assessment but he does not interfere in operational issues and details, which shows that he has his trust and faith in his managers and believes in their ability. Another quote from Gopalakrishnan, an executive director of the company, expresses how much value Ratan places on his trust, this can be highly motivating for managers and workers alike, I remember what Ratan told us at a meeting. He said that he will continue to trust all his managers, but once they lose that trust, he will go after them. I think that is a very fair deal. Max Webers Leadership Model in TATA Group: Looking at Max Webers Transactional and Transformational Leadership models, where leadership is classed in three forms, Bureaucratic, Charismatic and Traditional, where a Bureaucratic leader is one who is always bound by the set rule and never go beyond them; a Traditional leader is one who does and follows everything from a history and always loyal to obey these traditions and a Charismatic leader is one who uses his own wit or abilities to inspire and is one who can be described as radically opposed to administrative rules and set principles. From these models, Ratan Tata falls into the Charismatic form because he is one who leads by example, coming up with highly innovative ideas such as  £1200 (Rs. One Lakh) car the Nano, budget hotels or low-end watches, he brought radical change to the Tata Group as a whole, changing it from its Traditional mindset to new more flexible and adaptive cultural mindset in global world. Bennis Nanus Transformational Leadership Model in TATA Group: We can see from Bennis and Nanuss Transformational Leadership model that the transformational leaders groom their followers into self-empowered leaders and their main focus is to articulate vision and values clearly so these self-empowered leaders know where to go. Their traits include logical thinking, persistence, empowerment and self-control. Benniss and Nanus has evolved the model which emphasis on the four Is of Transformational leadership, which are Idealised Influence (being a role model) Inspirational Motivation (creating a team spirit, motivating and provide a challenge) Intellectual Stimulation (innovation and creativity) Individual Consideration (mentoring and providing support for followers) Ratan Tata has been proved a true transformational leader. We can see all Is built-in in Ratan Tata. He is the leader with great vision hence he knows right approach to groom future leadership. He has created the team spirit in whole group at every level. He has empowered all his managers and executives and has complete faith in them. He is extremely innovative and is credited for much of the Groups new products; he places a great deal of importance to his RD department. He deeply cares about the welfare of all his employees and managers. During the Mumbais terrorist attack in Taj Hotel (belongs to TATA Group), he took front line in leading at the time of crises. In his leadership statement he articulated One hundred years from now, I expect TATA Group to be much bigger, of course, than it is now. Best in the manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver and best in our value system and ethics. [tata.com] As a leader of a global business group, Ratan, knows the fierce competition experienced by group business empire. He put a lot of effort in making his business competitive at global level. Through transformational leadership process, the group has made their processes and technology up to date. Ratan Tata said to his managers in his leadership speech A company or business which remains static is a business that will die; a company that constantly changes and accepts that there are better ways to do things than the way they are done today, is a company that will survive in the global market that we face. From this statement we can infer that he knows the importance of developing a good leadership within group to take Group to new heights. Ratan, involves strategy in leadership. He is a deep thinker and a brilliant strategist as is described by one of his Executive Directors, Alan Rosling, He is a deep thinker and extremely strategic. He is always 2-3 steps ahead. Ratan Tata is a man o f strong integrity, ethics and valued principles. He cultivated the same across the Group companies. One of his companies CEO said Tata has shown that there is no other way he will do business other than do it ethically. He believes in strong value based leadership approach in doing business. Ratan Tata has led the TATA Group to transforming from local business group to become a global leader. Leadership Development in TATA Group: TATA Group has long standing leadership program in-place. Their leadership program is based in British Administrative Service model. Groups leadership development programme aims at grooming the managers of today into the leaders of tomorrow. The leadership development programme conceived by JRD Tata, the late chairman of Group in 1950s. The idea behind the leadership programme known as Tata Administrative Services (TAS) was to select and groom young managers, provide them opportunity for professional growth, and make them leaders of tomorrow. This is TATAs in-house programme and has goal is to provide training to high performers, act as a cradle of change and develop the leadership qualities. Most of the Group companies are traditionally led by these in-house groomed leaders. Cons in Leadership Development in TATA Group: Although Ratan Tata has been very successful in leading the group to a new height, but as in case of every leadership he lacks in few of the areas, these areas includes his successor and integration of his own companies in smaller numbers. Due to large number of companies within group, there is chance of internal conflict between its own companies leadership. There have been cases when the Ratan Tatas leadership has been ineffective in dealing with some critical situation. Ratan Tata will be retiring next year and the group is still struggling to get his replacement. He made himself bigger than the group as a whole. Most of the group leadership hover around him and whole leadership has become Ratan centric. Due to recent scam in 2G spectrum allocation in India, the group reputation has been affected severely. Its few of the top leadership were involved in different scams which could prove detrimental to group business in future. Furthermore TATA Group leadership lacks international f lavour. This could be a major hindrance for the group in becoming a major global player. Conclusions: Ratan Tata has transformed TATA as global brand under his leadership. He has created a rank of leadership to whom he can easily pass the leadership baton. Grooming 98 CEO/MD (TATA Group has 98 companies in its group) is a challenging job in which Group has been very successful so far. He has provided inspiration to leaders within his own company. Ratan Tata has successfully led and motivated its CEO/MD of the group companies to be ambitious. Ratan Tata has adopted a management by consensus style. Leading a large group of companies in current business scenario of changing regulations, increasing competition and global economy could be a tough challenge for many business leaders. Leading the business through these tough times and growing multi-folding revenues could be a dream for many business leaders. Achieving this requires clear vision, innate conviction, ability to inspire and guide along the way. Ratan Tata established himself to be the right leader who has helped the company sai l through the turbulent waters and reach the desired lands. Appendix: Reference List DBS Managing People Lecture Notes Roger Gill, Theory and Practice of Leadership, Sage Publication, 2006 Robins, S.P Judge T.A (2010) 10th Edition, Essentials of Organizational Behaviour, Pearson, ISBN 0-13-815763-4 http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/transactional-leadership-vs-transformational-leadership/ http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=682editionid=22catgid=70subcatgid=464 http://www.tata.com/company/Articles/inside.aspx?artid=YJbf7uiUY0M= Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for Your Organization (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series): Burt Nanus Tata Group Annual Reports (1991 -2011)

AirAsia

Cold Storage mission statement is, â€Å"not only do we strive to provide the freshest food produce, the most extensive range of products and wines from all over the world, we also take great effort in making shopping at Cold Storage and Market Place stores exciting, fun and easy! † It promises customers a wide range of products and great shopping experience. Mission statement states the company's direction and goals, and what the company wants. It defines the product or service the company provides and what makes it unique. Most importantly, it lets employees now the purpose of the organization and guide them to achieve the company's objectives.By understanding company's mission statement, employees will know what is expected from them and helps them to be dedicated on their Jobs. Having employees who are committed to the company's mission will certainly have an impact on the service delivery. Process Layout and Service Blueprint Process layout is used at Cold Storage superma rket. The layout aims to improve efficiency by grouping work stations and equipment according to its function and varied processing requirements, and strategically positioned to create a continuous low when customer enters the supermarket. It is flexible and capable of handling a wide variety of products.Products are grouped and displayed according to categories. Causeway Point supermarket outlet has two separate areas in their layout. Entering the supermarket, customers will see the first area with stations displaying only fruits and vegetables. The layout somewhat guide customer to the next area where rows of shelves, freezers and chillers are positioned to display other products. The checkout counters are positioned in one row and located near the exit. The frontline of the supermarket are the checkout counters. Possible risk exists here because this is where customers have direct contact with the employees.A possible risk is the quality of service provided by the employee perfor ming the cashier duty may not meet company or/and customer expectations. Different employees have different behavior and skills and so the service delivery may vary too. There is also the risk of customers being frustrated when the queue is long and not moving as quickly as they want. Although the layout is well organized with spacious aisles for customers to move easily, the space between the checkout counter and the nearest helves is not big enough which result in congested queue during peak hours.However, preventive measures have been taken. Dedicated counters were setup strategically to prevent long queue formation. With a dedicated express counter for few items purchase and two other counters proportioning customers with small children and customers who are either elderly, pregnant or have disability. In addition, during peak hours additional employee is assigned at each counter to assist in packing the purchased items while the cashier focuses in entering/scanning the prices a nd handle cash or credit card transactions. This speed up the process while ensuring customers from feeling frustrated.Although there may be a possibility of long queue, with additional staffs and counters, the checkout will be fast and customers will appreciate the store's effort. Cold Storage has achieved efficiency of operation. The spacious layout allows easy mobility for customers in getting the products they want and the average queue turnaround time during peak hours are successfully reduced by its preventive measure at the checkout counters. The company also achieved quality service as per observation. The cashier exudes armor personality when communicating with customers.By providing temporary assistance to the cashier during peak period, it reduces the employee's stress level by providing a conducive environment for staff to achieve the service standard requirement. Quantitative and Qualitative Performance Measures One quantitative performance measure that is relevant for Cold Storage would be calculating its growth rate in sales. By calculating the sales growth rate profitability, it tells if they meet their sales level target. It is one way to gauge how well a company is doing as well as knowing its potential for future sales growth.Another quantitative performance measure is finding the percentage of sales obtained from new products. This performance measure will indicate whether customers engage in browsing the store and if they manage to attract customer to the new products in the store. If the percentage is found to be low, then the company can take appropriate measures to increase customer's engagement or implement ways to attract customers to buy the new products, for example, by offering special offer promotions and better display of signage, etc. One qualitative performance measure is by looking at the number of customer complaints.Monitoring the number of customer complaints will provide an indication on the service level, ability to ident ify the problems that lead to the complaints and to find a resolution. Customer's complaints and feedback are a good source of information that identifies problem and appropriate steps to solve or eliminate the issues. Another qualitative performance measure is computing the average output per employee. This measures each employee's productivity and thus, the company will be able to identify which employee has difficulty in his work or if he has behavioral issues.Then a resolution an be implemented through various methods such as rewards for the most productive employee, retraining employee who lacks the required skills and disciplining of employees if required. SERVICEABLE Serviceable are the physical factors of the store that can be controlled by the firm to enhance (or constraint) employees and customers' activities. It influences customers' perception of the quality of the service experience. Its supermarkets' entrances have big â€Å"Cold Storage† signage with the slogan â€Å"The fresh food people†. The store is well lighted with its white walls and floors.The store's layout is big and spacious and signed in such a way that it guides customers throughout the store with ease. Several large signage are displayed at all counters. The store is well ventilated and air-conditioned at a Just nice temperature. The signage at the entrance acts as a stimulus that communicates non-verbally to customers about the company and its expected outcome. Serviceable influences the perception and customers will distinguish companies by the way it is categorized. In this case, customers can identify that Cold Storage is the place for fresh food purchases. Serviceable can evoke emotional response.Environmental factors such as colors, lighting and dcord may have an influence on customer's mood. Places that cause pleasurable experience tend to make people spend more time and money while unpleasant environments are usually avoided. Cold Storage serviceable evokes a welcoming feeling with its white color, good lighting and spacious layout. Serviceable can also evoke physiological responses. Low lighting might decrease ability to see products and may cause the eyes to strain. â€Å"Inhospitable† temperature and a crowded layout will cause discomfort or/and stress to customers which may lead to them to hasten their hopping experience.Whereas a well-designed spacious layout with the right temperature and lighting will make customers feel more comfortable. Cold Storage well designed serviceable makes customers feel comfortable and encourages engagement in more browsing which may lead to more purchases. Serviceable may influence social interaction between the customers and employees too. Customer's response to the serviceable can influence the quality of interaction. The physical set up of Cold Storage check-out counter facilitate positive employee-customer interaction as it encourages customers to approach its employees if they assistance.St orage can redesign their website and app so customers can suggest particular products they would like the store to carry. Using such information, the company will know its customers' wants and needs by evaluating the suggested products for quality and salability before stocking them. Another recommendation would be providing kid-friendly carts that are video-equipped to entertain the children while parents can shop at ease. This aligns to the company's mission in making shopping at Cold Storage exciting, fun and easy. However, both recommendations require some investment from the company. (1455 words)

Exploiting the Network: Synergy, Product Placement

The media industries have a suggestive and coercive power on society, embodied within the artifacts, images, and brands we consume. As these industries diversify, so do the products and the avenues in which they are offered. Synergy allows corporations the power to maximize advertising through a variety of cross-market promotional mechanisms, proliferating their products or logos exponentially. Initially, this essay requires an explanation of the use of synergy and cross-market advertising. Subsequently, I will illustrate how television shows such as Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants and MTV’s The Osbournes and Total Live Request (TRL), use the vast internal synergistic network of their parent company Viacom. Such programming appears to exploit its viewer-ship through commodification – product placement, branding, and celebrity endorsements. Synergy: The True Meaning of Cross-Market Advertising â€Å"We are reaching a position where the challenge for the 1990s should be to seek a greater understanding of the best ways, creatively, to exploit the potential for media synergy†(Confer, 10) The concept of synergy is not new, however evidence suggests it has only been fully realized and exploited over the last decade. Synergy is created through the integration or combination of different but complimentary business interests, each feeding off the other. Ultimately, large corporations or conglomerates are diversifying their market interests rather than specializing. This diversification benefits the company by offering a new strata of opportunities thereby complimenting its existing functionality. An example of this is a movie production company allying or buying out a major video game provider. The synergy created from such a merger allows for a film and a video game to use the same characters, story line or premise. Synergy works for two reasons. Primarily, synergy is an engine that provides cross-marketing and cross-selling opportunities, which would allow for greater sales, exceeding what would be possible from each division separately. (Hesmondhalgh, 141). Secondly, corporations also â€Å"plan and design texts, in order to encourage subsidiary spin-off texts† (Hesmondhalgh, 239). Even if these texts or preplanned products are not of great quality or a commercial success, they will still sell thus generating profit. This is because there is a pre-existing, underlying product network that has already been established through the fan base. If synergy can be classified as the â€Å"the ability to keep cash flows inside a corporate family† (Klein, 148), through its internal use of cross-market production, promotion, and sales; Sumner Redstone’s Viacom is a perfect example of synergy at work. The Viacom Empire has tapped into many markets throughout the entertainment and media industry. Viacom’s major subsidiaries include: Nickelodeon – children’s cartoon network; MTV – music network; NBC – television network; and Paramount – movie production company, which also runs numerous theme parks all over North America. Klein, 2000, comments on this phenomenon as â€Å"synergy nirvana† (160). According to Klein, ‘synergy nirvana’ is attained when a conglomerate works internally to â€Å"successfully†¦churn out related versions of the same product, like molded Play-Doh, into different shapes: toys, books, theme parks, magazines, television specials, movies, candies, CDs, CD-ROMs, superstores, comics, and mega-musicals† (161). Basically, ‘synergy nirvana’ is the proliferation of standardized products in different packaging, through a preexisting framework of cross-market advertising; which is done on a vast scale through the exploitation of many different mediums and industries in the name of profit. ‘Synergy’ is Viacom’s number one marketing tool for it allows them to link the vastness of their empire together, into a culmination, dissemination and consumption of products, images, ideals, and brands. Furthermore, ‘synergy’ in programming, such as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Osbournes, has evident implications for the viewer-ship. SpongeBob SquarePants: The Future of Product Placement â€Å"Nickelodeon has more children between the ages of two to eleven watching than the four major networks combined†¦ This is significant in the competition for the children’s advertising market, which averages about $500 million a year† (Roman, 223). SpongeBob SquarePants is a lovable, animated sea sponge that manages to find himself in undersea trouble during every episode. The â€Å"cartoon† (Mittell, 18) runs every â€Å"Saturday morning† (Mittell, 18) on Nickelodeon and is syndicated to most major television networks due to its incredible popularity among children viewers. What started out in 1999, as a comical concept for a children’s television program, has grown seemingly overnight into a ‘juggernaut’. Nickelodeon cannot only boast that it is â€Å"the number one rated program among children 2-11†, but according to Nielson ratings, â€Å"53. 7 million viewers tune into the show each month†¦including 22. 1 million kids 2-11, [and] 12. 7 million between 9-14† (Olson, blogcritics. rg). With such commercial success and an immense viewer ship, Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants uses synergistic principals of massive product placement to have free rein and ‘seep into every pore’ of consumer culture. SpongeBob employs Viacom’s cross platform synergies to network and gain access to most children’s homes. The motivation is a given when children between the ages of 2 – 11 are not only watching between 24 – 28 hours of television a week (Roman, 74), but are â€Å"responsible for either spending or influencing the spending of $100 billion annually† (Roman, 74). This is clearly an influential and lucrative market. SpongeBob SquarePants should be the archetype for synergistic corporate product placement. With SpongeBob’s insurgence into popular culture, there have been similar synergistic trends of product placement. Support for this notion is found through looking back to 2004, days before the premier of the SpongeBob SquarePants movie in New York. Paramount, another Viacom subsidiary, launched a brand new SpongeBob SquarePants amusement park theme ride to coincide with the movie launch. Additionally, Burger King (also owned by Viacom), released a SpongeBob SquarePants value meal that comes with SpongeBob SquarePants plastic figurines from the movie – ‘collect all 42. ’ Nickelodeon, the Viacom subsidiary that operates SpongeBob must not be ignored. Nickelodeon aired a 24-hour SpongeBob SquarePants Marathon that hyped up kids for the movie and forced unsuspecting parents to shell out $12 a ticket. Furthermore, during the Marathon’s commercial breaks, SpongeBob advised the viewers to eat SpongeBob value meals, collect all 67 figurines, and go to Paramount Theme Parks to try his new ride. SpongeBob has saturated the market with his yellow sponginess, which must be overpowering to any parent; he can be found everywhere, in every nuance of daily life. Since the movie, product placements and cross-promotional marketing have skyrocketed. SpongeBob now has a line of clothing, DVD box sets, bed linens, and bowling balls with a real tenpin set. Of course a 5 year old needs a bowling ball and set of bowling pins with SpongeBob SquarePants on them – SpongeBob said so! MTV: Branding a Nation â€Å"MTV is associated with the forces of freedom and democracy around the world. When the Berlin Wall came down, there were East German guards holding MTV umbrellas† – Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom MTV is known for hosting different music video programs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In 1998, MTV was watched in â€Å"273. 5 million household worldwide† (Klein, 120), where it was reported, â€Å"85% of them watched everyday† (Klein, 120). The station offers a host television shows, including TRL and The Osbournes, that entrance its youthful audience through flashy music videos and the celebrities portrayed. MTV’s popularity, since its inception in the early 1980s, is as a self-perpetuating â€Å"fully branded media integration† (Klein, 44). Klein, 2000, writes: From the beginning, MTV has not been just a marketing machine for products it advertises around the clock; it has also been a twenty-four-hour advertisement for MTV itself†¦[where] viewers didn’t watch individual shows, they simply watched MTV†¦Advertisers didn’t want to just advertise on MTV, they wanted to co-brand with the station (44). Today, advertiser branding can be seen throughout MTV. As MTV endeavors to diversify in a changing market place, video shows like TRL are coupled with reality-based television shows intimately linked to ‘celerity’ including The Anna Nichol Smith Show or The Osbournes’. Beyond these shows lack of merit, their entire function is product branding and celebrity endorsements. Even though The Osbournes’ are a revival to the â€Å"original early 1950s format of the American sitcom† (Gillan, 55), I cannot fathom that product branding, product placement, and celebrity endorsements were as prevalent on national television in the 1950s as they are in modern programming. Within the first ten minutes of the show, the audience can blatantly see a mansion full of expensive electronics, furniture, and cars – at a closer look, the brand names facing the camera and are a part of the Viacom conglomerate in a myriad of ways. All The Osbournes offer the predominately teen audience (other than a few less brain cells) is copious amounts of product branding though celebrity endorsement. Product branding on MTV is a big issue. Much like the red carpet on Oscar night, where the predominant question on everyone’s lips is ‘who are you wearing? ’ MTV offers its audience the same intellectual stimulation, especially when all that its audience sees are ‘hella-cool’ rock stars and all the ‘bling’ they wear throughout their music videos, interviews, and award ceremonies. No wonder the Y generation is all about over consumption and bad taste. As we have entered the 21st Century, multi-media conglomerates have risen to great power in our society. They offer the consumer the media and entertainment that they desire. However through internal synergistic networks, these companies, such as Viacom, can link the lucrative children’s market or the 24-hour advertising nature of MTV, to all other aspects of their company. As consumers, we neglect what these companies are telling us to do – to consume – in order to watch our favourite programs. We refuse to witness how the realities of consumerism, and sickening nature that these corporations control the very artifacts and images that we relate to and enjoy for their own personal profit.

Analysis Of Harvey Specter s Story Of Suits - 1434 Words

Suits: Main Characters: Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) Harvey is a newly promoted senior partner at the New York law firm Pearson Hardman, and is known as one of the city s top litigators. Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) Mike is a lawyer with an eidetic memory who never attended law school. Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) Louis is a junior partner at Pearson Hardman who is the firm s leading authority and expert on all financial matters and the direct supervisor of the firm s associate attorneys. Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) Rachel is a paralegal who also works at Pearson Hardman. Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) Donna is Harvey Specter s legal secretary. She has worked with him since his first year as an Assistant District Attorney, and joined†¦show more content†¦How Management and Leadership plays a role in the series: First of all what is leadership and management? According to Team Technology 2017: Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, i.e.: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction. Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have been established. An example of management and leadership in the series would be in season 1 episode 3 where Harvey wishes to expel the CEO of Mckernon Motors who wishes to sell his company in order to move overseas for a better, cheaper operation. Harvey’s client, who is the top engineer of this company will be negatively affected by this decision as well as Harvey’s firm in the long run. Having this business deal could decrease harveys firms income and do damage to their business growth. Harvey instructs Michel to investigate in Mckernon motors files to spot anything that could expel their current CEO. Michel finds a document that could both expel the current CEO and appoint the top engineer as the company’s new CEO which puts things in Harvey favour. In the end Harvey and Michel succeed to in expelling the old CEO. By having done this Harvey helps to double the firm’s growth and profits in the long run. In Harvey’s words to his management partner, Jessica: â€Å" I did it for the firm.† Shows a good example in leadership where Harvey saw whatShow MoreRelatedMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesfollowing classification of cases by subject matter to be helpful. I thank those of you who made this and other suggestions. Classification of Cases by Major Marketing Topics Topics Most Relevant Cases Marketing Research and Consumer Analysis Coca-Cola, Disney, McDonald’s, Google, Starbucks Product Starbucks, Nike, Coke/Pepsi, McDonald’s, Maytag, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Newell Rubbermaid, DaimlerChrysler, Kmart/Sears, Harley-Davidson, Boeing/Airbus, Merck, Boston Beer, Firestone/FordRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesby Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds