Observational And Social Learning Theory Essay - 899 Words

Critical Thinking Activity #1: Observational/Social Learning Theory The purpose of this paper is to discuss the validity of the Observational/Social Learning Theory. I will investigate what the observational/social learning theory is and its use in an everyday classroom environment. I will also relate this learning theory to any relevant Saint Leo core values. What is the observational/social learning theory? The observational learning theory, sometimes called the social learning theory, states that an individual can learn by observing another person’s (i.e. model) behavior or actions. â€Å"An observer’s behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences–called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment– of a model’s behavior† (Funderstanding.com, 2011). In order for observational learning to occur, four process must take place: attention, retention, production and motivation. The observer must pay attention to the model ’s behavior (attention); retain the behavior in memory (retention); be able to produce the behavior them self (production); and have a reason to want to copy the model’s behavior (motivation). The evidence of the validity of the observational/social learning theory can be found in the research of Albert Bandura. Albert Bandura conducted a series of experiments known as the â€Å"Bobo doll† studies. In these experiments, he was able to show that children’s behavior was changed by watching how others acted toward the bobo doll. After watching aShow MoreRelatedBehaviorism Theory And Social Cognitive Theory1082 Words   |  5 PagesLearning perspective also known as behavioral perspective is a theory that is apprehensive with how a person’s behavior changes because of their environment and experiences. The learning perspective has two theories; behaviorism and social-cognitive learning theory. 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Advanced quantitative analysis free essay sample

The paragraph has a few grammatical mistakes. Moreover, doesnt summarize what is exactly said in your essay. The report gives an overview of the agile and lean strategies that have been implemented in the MAS holdings, a Sri Lankan private company. The report starts with an introduction to the case study that is under discussion. Furthermore it provides the solutions to different problems that arise from the change process. Demand predictability and unpredictability is explained with an overview of how to deal with the changing condition. First, the lean supply chain strategy is implemented and its behavior on the overall value chain is explained with help of examples. Secondly, the importance of ethical behavior in business development is discussed. Moreover, the advantages that a company can gain strategically by informing the customers about the ethical practices being conducted are also explained. Company profile: The MAS holdings manufacture a wide variety of fashionable women apparels, leisure wear, sleepwear, undershirts and lingerie. The company also provides swimwear; sports, fabrics and accessories such as lace warp knit fabric, fortitude and lastics in Sri Lanka and works as suppliers for the major brands like Victoria secrets, Marks Spencer, Nike and GAP. The headquarters of MAS holdings is situated in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The company is privately owned by Amalean family with almost 34,450 employees. It provides the manufactured apparels to the most famous brands from its 21 factories that are located in 10 different countries. (Watson, 2006) 1. Introduction: about case study The case study about MAS holdings that is currently in review is about how the company is managing the delivery solutions to the global apparel industry. It gives an overview of global textile and apparel industry followed by an overlook of the industry in Sri Lanka where the headquarters are located. Because of low labor cost and different financial incentives given to the labor, there are over 1000 companies related to apparel manufacturing are operating in Sri Lanka. MAS holdings initiated a joint venture with MAST that helped the company to access other markets and prove its manufacturing excellence. One of the major goals of Amalean was to develop such strategies that results in meeting the demands ot customers wit n the ever hanging fashion trends. In this regard, the speed and flexibility in the operations were crucial to the success of the business. The company started backward vertical integration in order to keep running the operations in long-run as it was difficult to import raw material from countries like china and UK due to WTO trade restrictions. Another major goal was of information sharing within the company and bringing IT solutions in managing the operations that could provide a competitive edge to the company. The company started the SAP enterprise Resource planning solutions in 997 and become the worlds fourth apparel manufacturing company to do so. In order to speed up the production process to meet the needs of clients, MAS holdings need to enhance its operations. In this regard it need to figure out that whether lean manufacturing should be implemented in the operations that can produce stable volumes or the company should go into more agile strategy that is difficult to implement for challenging volumes. 2. Unpredictable demand: (r u giving solution or just explaining? MAS holdings currently run a business that is fast pace. To cope with the changing eeds of the customers, the company must lower its lead time. Apparels industry is a very dynamic industry as the demands change seasonally. In order to gain a competitive edge, the company needs to speed up its communication process within the company as well as outside and it can only be achieved when the companys IT services are well es tablished without any errors. As the company is dealing with I-JK and U. S top brands like Victoria secrets, Gap and Nike, the demand for the products become unpredictable at times. As these companies have enough competition in the market. Dian Gomes, the managing director of MAS holdings, in an interview with ATA Oournal for Asia on Textile Apparels) in 2009 explained that the competitive edge the company is having right now is its comprehensive and precise supply chain that keeps on extending with the changing demands. The nature of current supply chain is integrated and the company makes partners with other leading and globally renowned company for the supply of raw materials. MAS holdings suppliers are Noyon Dentelles (France) for lace, stretch line global for elastic fabrics and with texprint for fabric printing etc. Whats this? Solution or explanation? Seems without context) This is the solution. I have written the context above the paragraph 3. Predictable demand: (this seems normal explanation) In order to deal with the customer demand that is more predictable, the company is using lean manufacturing techniques like Toyota production systems in order to cut down the cost and the lead time. Phong, 2009). According to the case study, the company was still in the process of devising solutions for the problems that whether they should apply lean strategy in order cut down the lead time and makes large olumes of products or to be more flexible. These questions were solved when the company started using the lean manufacturing Just like Toyota productions in 2005. The lean strategy was the solution to one of the problems with regard to cutting cost and reduc ing lead time. *** As it was asked in instructions to use all the latest news regarding the topic thats why I have mentioned that the lean strategy is being implemented and that is why is have mentioned the importance of implementing lean strategy in the company that in what aspects it is benetlcial tor the company. Problem with current strategy: The problems with the recent supply chain strategy arise when the employees are not motivated to adapt to the changing new technologies and environment. The decision making process using the SAP technologies are only at an optimal level. According to the current case study, The IT managers at the company are not satisfied with the implementation of SAP system into the supply chain process. They are of the view that although employees were trained in such a manner that there be no errors in the data entry process but on the technical level the system is not tilized at even half of its capacity and on strategic level the employees are not able to make decision on the system. They are not mature enough to deal with the change process. Another problem that company is facing is to meet the demands of its most valuable customer; Victoria secrets. As Victoria secrets is in need to reduce the time of the cycle that is required for one design of an item to arrive in market. Being the suppliers to Victoria secrets, its the responsibility of MAS holdings to reduce their own lead time. It also includes the decrease in time to produce one item, reduction in ransportation time. 5. How the problems can be solved: Though MAS holdings have currently implemented the Toyota production systems (MAS holdings, 2012) (Phong, 2009) and are applying the lean logistics in order to deal with the massive amount of orders from its clients. According to Mayo (2010), the lean production system of Toyota includes the items as shown in fgure. Figure 7. 1 . http://txemainlogisticsworld. wordpress. com/2010/05/06/toyota- production-system-tps/ It is essential for the organization to build a strong agile base for its strategy. An article on daily news combines the business strategy with HR. the article implies that as the work load increases, the motivation of the employees decreases and they tend to perform Just at the base line of performance so they are not fired. But they do not show high performance and never exceed expectations. The Jobs are becoming dynamic and complex day by day. The employees require the staff to perform in such a way as to meet the desired performance level. It is only achieved by having the required skills, knowledge and attitude for the Job which is possible only with training the employees so they are able to cope with the changing needs (Daily News, 2009). Training the employes to deal with the changing demand is one of the solutions. They should be trained regarding their behavior and skills. The skills to use the SAP software upto full capacity can only be achieved by proper training 6. Importance of applying lean strategy: (you said before that Lean strategy is already being applied, then why are you giving reasons? ) I have changed the heading to importane of applying leand strategy. In order for the reader to fgure out that why lean strategy was applied. Its importance needs to be explained. I have given references A Report for U. S Environmental protection Agency by Ross Associates consulting (2000) shows the importance of using lean manufacturing Competition in the global markets force companies to reduce the prices by elimination the processes that ads no end value to the product. It helps in reducing cost. As Victoria secrets is one of the major clients of MAS holdings. Their demands are of top priority for MAS holdings. Victoria secrets wanted to reduce the 76 weeks cycle that took one design of bra to enter the market. It helps in reducing the time it takes for one bra design to enter the market. Customer Responsiveness is another major key. It means that companies need to work on the principles of Ford motor company in order to increase its efficiency and also to meet the Just in time customer demands that can be achieved with increasing volumes of production. In order to fulfil the demand of the customers to reduce the lead times so that the whole supply chain process can be finished with improved efficiency, MAS holdings need to reduce the transportation time from its own supplier. Consistent quality and desired outputs is another major reason as to why MAS holding should mplement lean strategy. According to Sehgal (2010), the lean and agile strategies can both be used simultaneously in order for a business to succeed. A misconception in using these strategies is that they are adequate for a company if used separately. They lean supply chain strategy focus on cutting the cost while it oversees the ever changing environment. While on the other side, an agile supply strategy responds to the changing environment but fails to deliver cost-effective results. So MAS holdings can take both the strategies simultaneously to meet the predictable and unpredictable demand. Wal-Mart is the best example that a company can apply both lean and agile supply chain approaches in order to make its mark. Wal-Mart sells its items at lowest possible rate sticking to the lean strategy while it adapts the agile strategy when it comes to clearing the store selves at discount and managing the overstocked stores. The optimization of inventory and transportation is conducted by using lean strategy of supply chain and in order to fulfill the store demand it used the agile strategy of cross docking that gives it a competitive edge. (Sehgal, 2010) 7. Implementing change management in lean implementation: The experts believe that in order to implement the change successfully, a company needs to transfer and install the change process deep into the system one step at a time. (Kovacheva, 2010) Step 1 . Changing the overall business culture to support the lean manufacturing: Apparels exports contribute to a major part of Sri Lankan Economy. The recent challenge that MAS holdings face in regard to the recent change in strategy to lean manufacturing. This change in strategy needs to be implemented throughout the group (Kovacheva, 2010). The complications arise when the deeply rooted culture needs to be changed. The change is implemented step wise. Changing the culture at MAS holding might not be a problem as the company eventually adopted the autocratic style of management due to business extension. But according to the case study the culture of young energetic ideas, sporting mindsets, social responsibility and performance still prevails. (How can you say this? Any reference? Lean and Culture are related? ) Step 2. Financing the training programs: The problems arise when the employees are not well trained and the company does not spend much on the training programs. Just like MAS holding IT software are not sed in full capacity by the employees as they do not have enough knowledge and expertise to make strategic decisions using the SAP sottware. According to Kovacneva (2010), the training programs are important to that extent that if the managers need to stop the productions for a while in order to conduct training programs they should not hesitate in doing so. Step 3. Communication of the new initiative by leadership: The third and final step is the communication of the new strategies being implemented in the system. The employees at MAS holdings are not used to autocratic style of management. The decision is made in different teams so they ight resist changing as the working hours of the employees will increase. At this level, the top management needs to inform the employees beforehand about the overall situation and to motivate them to work for the benefit of the customers. At this point the management can install some performance bonuses and other facilities inside the factory like clean environment, child care centers, health care centers for the employees so they can focus more on the product development. 0. 1mportance of ethical behavior in business development: According to Hill (2005), the importance of ethical behavior in any business evelopment can not be ignored as it sets the standards for what is right and wrong in the overall company. The relationship with the customers is based on trust. If a company is giving out its products at high prices and they are being mistreated and the sh ipment is not reached to customers on time then it will ultimately shatter the repute of the company and the customers will not be loyal. Similarly, compensation and equal opportunity for promotion and knowledge building must be provided to employees to they can perform with motivation. Furthermore a positive work environment and team work is essential. Being Ethical helps the company to avoid any legal problems as well. E. g. at MAS holdings, the workers are being trained and offered classes of English, financial management and IT through its Go beyond framework. 11. The risks of being unethical: Nowadays many companies are preferring money making over ethical practices. There are many risks associated with being unethical and not sticking to a standard code of conduct and industry regulations. 11. 1 Tarnished Repute: According to Zeiger (2000), the companies that do not apply ethical practices lose their credibility among people. This lack of trust on the company can affect its repute resulting in less business offers from the clients. Some of the companies might force their way out of the credibility issue by marketing campaigns but once a company is marked by people as unethical its repute is tarnished completely. According to Mok (2010), Gap holds factories in India that violates the child labor acts. The factory was raided and found that children at the age of 8 were also working in those sweatshop factories that resulted in a massive campaign against Gap. 11. 2 Employee Performance: Unethical behavior negatively affects the performance of employees. In order to achieve the given targets, the employees tend to practice unethically which results in more mistakes and more paper works with correction of errors. Sometimes they act unethically without getting noticed and the coworkers who believe in sticking to the ethical values stay behind and unable to complete the task assigned due to lack of motivation. This affects the overall performance of the company. (Zeiger, 2000) 1 1. 3 Legal Issues: The risks of being legally accused of unethical practices are many. The companies often have to pay large amount of practices for their unethical practices. Some ompanies believe in taking the risk and paying the fines for higher profits but in the long run these companies are avoided by the clients as customers do not want to be a part of legal practices and accused of being unethical. For example in 2008, an undercover investigation was conducted by a news channel in U. K. hat some of the Nikes contractors in Malaysia are confiscating the passport of migrated workers and forcing them for work in order to pay the immigration debt under contract. And in 2010 it was found that Nike still owes its old workers a severance pay of $2. 2 million. (Kon, 2010) 12. Maintaining transparency: In order to provide a healthy and ethical environment, the companies must enforce the code of conduct among all the suppliers, customers and employees. It is the duty of top management to maintain transparency and ensure that the rules and regulations are fully functional and communicated. 3. Code of conduct at MAS: According To Watson (2006), there are serious accusations on the apparel industry for being unethical in their behavior in order to get low prices. Child labor and sweat shop factories are used in the process. These unethical practices can tarnish the good repute of a company. The major brands dealing with apparels like Victoria secrets, GAP, Nike, and Marks Spencer have a reputation to maintain and they all prefer MAS holdings to be their suppliers as the company is conducting the following ethical practices to maintain its good position in market. It empowered almost 92% of women employees at the company through education and skill development. It also provides the basic facilities like transportation, free meals twice a day, medical facilities for the workers and banks inside the factory premises. The operations are shifted near the villages so that women wouldnt have to leave their homes in order o get work. Furthermore the company doesnt employee people less than 18 years of age Hygienic and clean work place is provided to the employees with a safe environment which helps in increasing the performance. As mentioned on pg 53 of the case study, MAS holdings enjoy a distinct place in the apparel industry for being socially responsible. The overall organizational culture at MAS is supporting for the employees and they take part in decision making process. If the decision turns out to be wrong then another chance to rectify it is always there which gives confidence to the workers. The employees are motivated, hardworking and passionate with the minds that question the top management. The culture was of agile nature. 4. Awareness among customers of the ethical practices conducted by the company: When a company acts ethically and provides green environmental facilities it become news and customers automatically gets attracted to the new schemes as it is beneficial for the society on the whole. For example when MAS holdings started working witn S and provided green power during the manutacturing ot its MAS holdings immediately became popular among its other clients like Nike and Gap. (Sri Lanka Apparel, 2008). 5. Strategic advantages for suppliers and customers for being ethical: Some of the most important strategic advantages for the suppliers and customers of a company being ethical are: Improved performance of employees A morally upgraded position among the customers which results in trustworthy relationships Being ethical provides a competitive edge and other competitors will be forced to take the same steps in order to succeed. 16. Ethical Behavior as Marketing Technique: The ethical behavior can be used as marketing technique. Nowadays the companies that focus on CSR have more intangible assets like its repute, being fair to the mployees and customers, services for community and its adherence to UNs corporate values. According to Watson (2006), MAS holdings spend more on CSR rather than on marketing because whatever the company does for the betterment of society on the whole shows for itself. The major clients like Victoria secrets wants to work with those suppliers whose activities are not questionable. Conclusion: (needs rewriting, proper summary) It can be concluded that the company can improve its value chain by applying the agile and lean strategies. Both these strategies are required in order to solve the roblems regarding reduction in lead time and cost of production and to use the SAP software up to its full capacity. In order for these strategies to be implemented properly, the company needs motivated and well trained staff. Furthermore the companys ethical practices can serve as a marketing technique. Poor ethical practices can result in tarnished repute, poor employee performance and legal issues. Moreover, the ethical practices like employees skill development and education, transportation facilities, hygienic and clean workplace must be communicated to all the suppliers and customers to maintain transparency. These thical practices are strategically important as it improves employee performance, builds a trustworthy relationship with customers and the competitors will be forced to take same steps which are beneficial for society on the whole.