Oprah’s Empire and Organizational Theory, Design and Change Essay

The Oprah Case was a brief view into the life of Oprah Winfrey and the empire she built. Born in Mississippi, Oprah had a gift for public speaking. She delved into journalism and landed her own day time TV show in Chicago. The broadcast television industry proved to be a wonderful source of revenue for Winfrey and here her empire began. Oprah then went into acting and found interest in producing. She founded Harpo, Inc. and began acquiring rights to film books. The Oprah Winfrey Show became a hit success propelling Oprah forward to be one of the world’s most influential people. She launched a website, oprah.com; a magazine, O, The Magazine; and began her own network, OWN. She organized several charitable organizations around the world and is recognized as the most generous celebrity as it relates to giving away her own money. There is a component in Emotional Intelligence by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves’ book that emphasizes the need for Self Awareness. With much o f Oprah Winfrey’s success being attributed to not compromising her beliefs for society, Oprah has to continuously guard against being mislead or possibly used by others. Although her intentions may be good, Oprah Winfrey’s tendency to be hard on herself if she neglects to reach success can cloud her talent to recognize her own efforts. There are three key indicators of Self-Awareness that Oprah Winfrey utilizes in order to maintain her public image and reputation. First, Oprah exudes self-confidence in order to effectively market anything that she endorses or supports. Because of this keen awareness of her self-worth, throughout any appearance, Oprah presents her viewers with a self-assurance which enables her to voice views that her followers can assess and take into consideration. Over the years, Oprah has become a beacon for making sound decisions despite the uncertainties and pressures of the media. Next, Oprah is aware of her strengths and limits, therefore, she is able to give an accurate self-assessment and accept candid feedback. Early on in her career she was able to learn that she was not able to operate as owner, president, and CEO. Knowing this, Oprah was able to profit more in the grand scheme of things because her limit was recognized and valued. As Tim Bennett acted as the President of Oprah’s Harpo Productions, he was able to give Oprah a new perspective and aid in her self-development with his expertise. Lastly, Oprah has a self-deprecating sense of humor that shows she doesn’t take herself too seriously. This is important in the candid feedback she receives from viewers, bloggers, and other forms of news. As a person in the media, Oprah is self-aware and realizes the need to trust yourself and not let negative energy hold you back from operating at your full potential. As a steward of her brand, it’s safe to say that Oprah Winfrey pays close attention to the quality of her message and products. Oprah Winfrey has a great gift of compassion, tenderness, and kindness. For balance, Oprah Winfrey promotes mature self-obedience, self-management, and personal responsibility. In doing this, Oprah utilized four core competencies to build her personal brand. First, she discovered what she wanted her brand to convey and laid out a development plan for herself, which included where she was presently and future goals. Oprah Winfrey is most successful because she was able to merge her passion of journalism with expertise. Next, Oprah created her brand by positioning herself as extraordinary in her niche of talk show hosting. The point of this is to tell her audience what she values and the benefits of watching her show. Besides tangible incentives, Oprah gives advice and offers community awareness through her many projects. Then, Oprah uses communication to allow her to gain the visibility to be looked to as a guru of opinions. Oprah attracted her viewers and followers by becoming accessible through forums, book clubs, mail, and social media. Lastly, Oprah has been able to maintain her brand through constant revisits and updates. Constantly Oprah goes back to everything she has created; her O magazine, OWN network, book club and everything that she has endorsed to refresh it with current information and maintain its reputation. The mission for The Oprah Winfrey Show was â€Å"to be a catalyst for the transformation in people’s lives.† In keeping with core competencies, the organization was able to continue to generate revenue by using the skills and abilities in value-creation activities that allowed all of the business subunits to achieve superior quality and consumer responsiveness. Because the mission was one of empowerment, Oprah’s team made sure that anything that was done supported that mission and by doing so it increased intrinsic value. Oprah’s following knew what to expect, they enjoyed it, and they kept coming back even bringing new consumers. Oprah was known to surround herself with high performing people. The business was demanding there were constant deadlines and long hours. Many were known to work from 15-17 hours in order to keep up. They had a code of excellence and anyone who could not meet that code did not last long. The type of environment that came from this fast-paced work style is in part related to the expansion strategy. Harpo was growing rapidly due to the corporate-level strategy. Oprah had harnessed a command in the daytime TV domain and used this base to expand into new media domains through related diversification. There are so many cultural differences such as diverse communication styles, different approaches to completing task and different attitudes toward conflict. As a leader within her brand and enterprise, Oprah has mastered the art of working around cultural differences and effectively coordinating outsourcing relationships. She has conquered working with different cultures by encouraging and rewarding creativity, creating a diverse workforce and educated staff and offering support while having fun. Oprah has also effectively coordinated outsourcing relationships with her many international projects, specifically her school in Africa. Benefits of outsourcing include higher performance, a better mitigation of risk and reduced confusion and wasted time. Oprah opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007 with the goal in mind of giving children who are less fortunate the chance to better themselves with a proper and suitable education. In order to effectively accomplish this goal, it was a mission of Oprah’s to have access and acquire the best talent. Oprah has been able to enjoy the benefits of outsourcing because of her quality commitment and reputation. Throughout Oprah’s career, several conflicts within her organization have risen. Although conflict is perceived negatively, some conflict is good for an organization. Conflict can be beneficial because it can overcome organizational inertia and lead to organizational learning and change. This is extremely evident when Oprah’s Book Club introduced A Million Little Pieces by James Frey to the public. This is a great example where Pondey’s Model of Organizational Conflict is illustrated. Latent Conflict, the first stage of this model, surfaced in 2005 when Oprah introduced this book. In several ways, the work was an unconventional choice for the Book Club where potential for conflict was at a high risk. The book was a classified as a memoir, not the ordinary book for the Book Club. Frey’s memoir, an account of his descent into alcohol and drug addiction, offered a graphic, unsparing look at the consequences of his illness and at the long, difficult road to recovery. It was the first contemporary piece of writing that Winfrey had selected for the Book Club in more than two seasons. The second stage, Perceived Conflict, happen on January 8, 2006. The investigative web site The Smoking Gun delivered a devastating blow to Frey’s insistences of authenticity. The site revealed numerous instances of exaggeration in A Million Little Pieces. This brought many aware of this conflict and people began to analyze it. The conflict escalated when Oprah battled against what was being said. She stated, â€Å"that the underlying message of redemption in James Frey’s memoir still resonates with me. And I know that it resonates with millions of other people who have read this book and will continue to read this book.† In the third stage of Pondey’s Model, conflict is felt. Investigative reports showed that he had exaggerated his criminal past to the point of fancy. But he had also distorted the stories of others, including two high-school classmates who died in a car crash in 1986. Marianne Sanders, the mother of one of the deceased, called Frey’s account â€Å"flat-out lies.† What began as a small problem had now escalated into a huge conflict. On January 26, 2006, these issues came to a head when the talk-show host brought Frey back onto her show. Winfrey confessed that the facts that had come out about Frey’s past since the scandal broke had caused her to revise her opinion of his work. â€Å"I feel duped,† Winfrey told Frey. â€Å"But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers.† Conflict had manifested. This is demonstrated in the fourth stage. In the fifth and final stage, the aftermath of the conflict is present. Conflict is resol ved in a way that leaves subunits feeling combative or cooperative. In this case, Winfrey also apologized to viewers for her own role in supporting Frey’s actions and attitude toward self-representation. The truth, it turned out, mattered to many people. In the aftermath of the controversy, Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, the imprint that had published Frey’s book, also issued an apology. Winfrey’s response in particular, spurred a large-scale conversation among publishers, authors, and journalists about the state of nonfiction writing. Oprah used her power and ability to manipulate decision making. She uses two tactics that has led to her success. The first tactic she uses is her ability to control the agenda. Oprah si involved in the majority, if not all, departments and committees of her empire. She likes to be on and involved in these committees and departments so that she can control business decisions, especially if the issues affect how and when to change the organization’s strategy and structure. Bringing in an outside expert is the second tactic. The biggest mistake Oprah made in the beginning was that she did understand that she needed infrastructure and systems in order to run a business. And it wasn’t until 1994 that she actually brought in someone to be president and organize the systems. She described herself as a crazy person, trying to do it all. In 1994, Winfrey hired Tim Bennett to serve as Harpo’s president. 8. Infrastructure 9. Organizational Life Cycle Oprah has put up her $5.6 million Gold Coast Condo on the market, and moved to California to run her network OWN. Her condo that sits on top of a huge building in downtown Chicago can be rented for $15,000 a month. Rosie O’Donnell’s current OWN talk show was being taped at Harpo, but no longer. The Rosie O’Donnell show has been moved to New York. The move resulted in low ratings and the lack of obtaining special guest for the show. It was a constant challenge trying to get people to come to the show, so they decided to move to a location that was convenient for special guest. This was never a problem for Oprah. Therefore, Harpo Studios is dark and inactive. Possibilities of putting it up for sale to those buyers who want to have their own production facility, or to those who want to tear it down to build a high-rise building are beginning to surface. Despite struggles with OWN, Oprah.com is still successful. What’s next for Oprah? The future of the Oprah Empire is a topic that many people find may be threatened. Much of Oprah’s target market is the baby boomer middle class. With her target market aging and the culture of broadcast journalism changing, where does this leave Oprah? Oprah’s future relevance will heavily rely on the diversification of her current and future business developments. Currently worth $2.7 Billion, Oprah has plenty of cushion room to reinvest in new strategies or add to her current ventures. With the stability of her magazine and online presence, Oprah has made her name an international staple touching the homes of millions around the globe. Her integration of technology into her business model has transcended generations inviting the more tech savvy to join the ranks. The real question is about the future of OWN network. While it is experiencing difficulty now, expect it to make a transition into a network that is developing future leaders with the power of persuasion. In the future as Oprah ceases to have a world presence, her legacy will remain.

Mastering Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Mastering Management - Essay Example tem to machine design as well as production, managing the shift from functional communication lines and responsibility to a plant-level dimension and handling unsatisfied employees at the plant based on their new task assignments and hence mitigate the chances of worker unionization. The selection of a plant manager can be challenging, especially in a situation facing Heritage Appliance Company’s River Woods plant. Consequently, the selection committee must take into consideration certain desirable aspect in order to find the right person for the crucial management position. As the selection committee, the suitable candidate must have expert, referent and reward power, which will successfully interplay with legitimate power accorded by the virtue of being the plant manager to steer the project to success. The candidate must generally have good interpersonal skills, critical problem-solving skills and be proactive. An internal candidate would be more desirable for the position because he/she is already familiar with the culture of the organization and what it intends to achieve. Besides, He already knows the strengths and weaknesses of the staff and can easily help them upgrade to match the new tasks facing

Pharmacotherapeutics for prescribing Assignment

Pharmacotherapeutics for prescribing - Assignment Example Vomiting is the forcible involuntary or voluntary stomach contents emptying ("throwing up") through the mouth (Schnell F, 2003) .However vomiting, nausea and constipation might be as a result of gastric cancer related complications that the patient had. To really understand how this condition of the patient can be managed or treated, the Pharmacotherapeutics of these two suggested drugs has been discussed in detail. Metoclopramide 10mg is used in the treatment of vomiting, Digestive disorders, Nausea and Migraine. Metoclopramide increases the muscles contractions or movements in the intestines and stomach (Schnell F. 2003). These results to a decrease in the duration the stomach contents take to move through the digestive tract. On the other hand, Co-danthramer suspension and capsules have 2 active ingredients, Poloxamer 188 and Dantron. Both of these drugs are referred to as laxatives. Hence in combination it is called co-danthramer. Dantron is laxative type referred to as stimulant laxative. It acts by nerve endings stimulation in the intestines walls. This results to intestinal wall muscles to contract frequently with increased force. The gut’s contents are moved along the intestines as a result of these muscles contraction, hence relieving constipation. Poloxamer 188 is referred to as faecal softener. It aids in drawing water into the faecal material, hence the water content and stools volume is increased. This makes it easier and softer to pass. Therefore these drugs best suit the treatment of this patient condition and its Pharmacotherapeutics have been explored in the next section. Pharmacotherapeutics of Metoclopramide and Co-danthramer Pharmacokinetics of Metoclopramide Metoclopramide is well and rapidly absorbed. Relative to 10 mg intravenous dose, the absolute oral Metoclopramide bioavailability is 80% Â ± 15.5% (Baxter Healthcare Corporation, 2010) .This was indicated in a crossover study which had 18 subjects. Concentrations of Peak plasma are experienced at approximately 1 - 2 hours following a single oral dose. It is also observed that same time to peak can be experienced at steady state following individual doses (Baxter Healthcare Corporation, 2010). According to a single dose study carried out on 12 subjects, it was observed that the area under the drug concentration-time curve linearly increased with doses to 100 mg from 20(Jordan et al, 2004). This means that the Concentrations of Peak linearly increase with dose, but time concentrations of peak don’t change; whole body clearance doesn’t change; and the rate of elimination doesn’t change (remains the same) (Jordan et al, 2004). In normal renal function individuals, the half-life of average elimination is 5 - 6 hours. Processes of Linear kinetic describe the Metoclopramide elimination and absorption (Baxter Healthcare Corporation, 2010). In a certain study carried out, it was observed that about 85% of the radioactivity of Metoclopramide dos e which was administered orally appeared in the urine within 72 hours. Out of this eliminated 85% in the urine, approximately half of it was present as conjugated or free Metoclopramide (Jordan et al, 2004). It is known that the drug is never bound extensively to plasma proteins (approximately 30%). The whole body distribution volume is relatively high, approximately 3.5 L/kg, implying that there is always extensive drug distribution to the tissues (Naeimet al, 2008).

Interior Design Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Interior Design - Assignment Example With the fascinating variety of experiences, but textural and cultural to dip into, there has never been a better time to be an interior designer, or interior architects as we are often known as. The first and most noticeable challenge that our profession faces is control over the gradual but inexorable dominance of technology. The curricula in colleges are software specific, to the extent that in cases the act of design itself is limited by what can be designed then displayed with the available software. Design firms use colleges like training grounds for their own recruitment, by encouraging instruction in software and technology used by their firm. The use of technology in all its forms is a boon without a doubt, but the challenge is the need to propagate the use of technology as a tool, rather than as a set of design-defining parameters. Another challenge that is faced by the field of interior design is the corporatization of the field, where a relatively small group of design firms amass the resources and the means to dominate every aspect of the profession.. To deal with this, Interior designers have to redefine themselves and the way they project their skills and their profession, so as to enable their potential clients to see the innate value in personal interaction.

Written response Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Written response - Research Paper Example The reading is also motivated by the need to explore the influence the memories associated with a given locations, the physical characteristics and the geology on the overall architectural design process. One of the interesting aspects of this reading which comes out to be very engaging is way it explores the relationship between the buildings and the various environmental parameters which in the site where it is located. The reading explores how the orientation of the building, movement of the sun and movement from one building to the other affects design (Farrelly, 2007). It not only impacts on the height and the materials that can be used to construct the building. Generally, the reading is quite informative as it engages the reader to appreciate the key role which the location or site of a building has on the overall project starting from the design to the issue of the building upon

New Product Introduction Processes. ( Engineering Strategy ) Coursework

New Product Introduction Processes. ( Engineering Strategy ) - Coursework Example Protection is better than treatment and even if it is expensive because here the cost we pay is through money but when we have to treat a disease we pay it through both our health and money. In this new era where health research has got to a point where a vaccine is available for all the difficult and resistant disease why not just avail it. â€Å"Although many successful antiretroviral drugs have been developed with enormous impact on HIV-associated morbidity and mortality, access to antiretroviral therapy remains limited to only 5% of the total population of HIV-infected subjects in developing countries† (Schwartlà ¤nder, 2434–2436). There are antiretroviral and a few more new vaccines developed by two pharmaceutical companies. These vaccines have a lot better efficacy and safety profile that has been tested and made sure through animal models first and then through clinical phase III trials. â€Å"Over the past 10 yr there has been a progressive increase in resourc es for vaccine research, allowing the generation of several candidate vaccines capable of stimulating anti-HIV immunity (Bart, 286–293. & McMichael, 227–255. ) These vaccinations need to be advertised in such a way that people get to know the facts of their productions and more importantly their good impact on health. These are T cell based vaccines, which have proven to be the most promising one out of all the other categories so that point should be the point of focus to get the customer’s trust in this new product. â€Å"T cell vaccines are unlikely to prevent infection but may control HIV replication after infection, leading to attenuation of HIV disease†(Desrosiers, 221–223& Pitisuttithum, 1160–1165). It is hard to accept a new thing easily and specially when it is dealing with human being’s health but in order to take care of these viruses that are merging day by day and

Planet Venus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Planet Venus - Essay Example Venus is the closest planet to earth both in distance and radius and this proximity has meant that we know more about it than any other planet. As shown below a lost has been discovered regarding the planets formation, composition, and visibility. Picture of Venus Venus was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago together with the rest of the solar system when our sun was formed in a cloud nebula referred to as the solar nebula (Cain). The cloud nebula must have been destabilized by a strong external force such as a nearby supernova as it began to deteriorate and with its crumbling down many stars were formed including our sun which due to its gravity attracted residue from the nebula that rotated in the form of hot rocks. The rocks would join together to form the planets of our solar system and one of them was Venus. It is believed that Venus must have collided with another huge object that affected its rotation as it the only planet to rotate in a clockwise manner. Proof of this is also seen in the fact that Venus has the longest day in the solar system the equivalent of 243 which is longer than the time it takes to revolve around the sun. In spite of this collision, Venus would still remain the biggest region within its location and it is believed it might have even absorbed the object that collided with it. While Venus is similar to earth in size being 95 % the size of our planet and given their close proximity it is likely that they formed during the same time. Venus does however have some stark differences that have made it be nicknamed earth’s evil twin by scientists. Comparative photo of Venus and Earth by NASA The lower atmosphere of Venus is filled with Carbon Dioxide and nitrogen while the upper atmosphere has a strong presence of sulphur dioxide which makes the temperatures of Venus extremely high due to a Greenhouse effect. With recordings of over 460? Centigrade the temperature on Venus are the hottest recorded on any planet even surpass ing Mercury which is the closest to the sun and the sulfur fumes make the environment acidic as it rains sulfuric acid in the upper atmosphere. These factors make Venus a lifeless planet as the places are highly inhospitable for terrestrial life as we know. The surface of Venus unlike other planets does not have craters due to meteorites and two theories have arisen to explain this: either the gases are so thick that any object that enters the atmosphere will burn up due to the air pressure with the exception of the largest of meteorites, or the planets volcanoes have been erupting frequently and so cover any asteroid collisions that have occurred (Redd). The planet does not have any water on the surface due to the high temperatures but it does have two huge continents that have mainly volcanic plains. Venus also lacks a magnetic field like that of the earth and it is thought that the main cause of this is that the core has cooled down significantly thus lacks many ionized particles . Several projects have been initiated to send probes to Venus so as to explore the planet a significant number of which were done by the USSR during the cold war era where it was competing with USA in the space race. The first successful landing was done in 1970 by the Venera -7 space probes however, several fly by missions had been done before it. The Venera successfully transmitted date from the planet’s surface regarding its composition and in 1975 the Venera – 9 sent the first images from the planet. From then other probes have been sent as well as fly by missions conducted with the European Union sending its own orbiters to study the planet (Anatoly). Photo of surface of Venus from Nasa 2005 Venus is a highly inhospitab