Ebay Case Meg Whitman Essay

In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, an on-line company whose purpose was to facilitate an environment where people could not only exchange goods, but also have discussions, make connections, and form relationships. He carefully crafted a culture based upon, â€Å"trust, respect, autonomy, empowerment, and equality,† and sought for the eBay community and company to be reflective of those principles. eBay was successful because Omidyar realized that a respectful, symbiotic relationship with this on-line community was critical, â€Å"because eBay wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for [the] community. In 1998, Meg Whitman was brought in as CEO to strengthen the eBay brand and to develop a stronger marketing strategy. In this, she was remarkably successful. In little over a year, eBay registrants grew from 88,000 to 3. 8 million users. The company successfully went public, revenue just about doubled every quarter, and acquisitions and partnerships were made to increase the customer base. However, the rapid growth under Whitman caused a major problem for eBay: it put a strain on the culture and the community upon which eBay was successfully founded. With growth came the need for more rules and policies. For instance, Whitman made the decision to ban the sale of firearms to keep the company free of legal liabilities. Many in the community and company were shocked and outraged by this policy because it violated the eBay values of open communication and trust. Also, the acquisition of Butterfield and Butterfield, a prestigious, high-end auction house, was taken as a slap in the face. It violated the eBay value of respect, and the community saw this purchase indicative of the company’s priorities being focused on higher profit margins, not building and maintaining relationships with its existing community. There are clear reasons why the eBay community felt its culture was being left behind in the wake of rapid growth. First, the strategic design of eBay dramatically changed under Whitman’s management. eBay was previously built upon a small, flat and flexible team of engineers who worked together without many formal chains of authority. This open work environment perfectly mirrored the community Omidyar sought to create online, and the internal company practiced its values of respect and trust on a daily basis. However, Whitman correctly recognized that as the company grew, more formal structures and positions would have to be put into place to bear the burden of greater demand. With expert consultation, she reorganized the engineers. She eventually added eleven different vice presidents in upper management. In little time, the company transformed from an informal, flat model to a formal functional structure. This enabled growth, but it also created tall hierarchies that diminished the culture of open communication. For instance, lower-level employees and the eBay community both back-lashed at the decision of banning firearms for largely the same reason: they had no idea such a policy was forthcoming. Upper management made this decision without outside consultation. Even though it was the right decision for the company, it was handled and presented in a way that violated the culture eBay was built upon. In 1999, Whitman formally created a Community Watch group to monitor the website for fraud. Initially, eBay â€Å"counted on its users to abide by its user agreement and take much of the responsibility for safeguarding the site themselves. But, the community had grown too large to be self-monitored. Again, the decision was appropriate, but so many structural changes implemented in so little time was too much for the community to absorb without reaction. Moreover, the political nature of eBay changed rapidly. Pierre Omidyar, eBay’s founder and developer, had the rare gift of leading with b oth referent and expert power. He used this power to create a strong sense of community throughout eBay. He also used his referent power to give Whitman legitimacy in both her position as CEO and in her consequential actions. His support was effective at getting the company to align behind her decisions, but the external community did not see this support and were more suspicious of the company’s new direction. Whitman’s decisions were all sound and applauded by Wall Street. But the community saw what was once a democratic forum turning into a big business. Her lack of consultation with the community lead one user to brand eBay as having a â€Å"cavalier attitude,† and a â€Å"political agenda. † Lower level employees also saw this lack of communication. Where there were once full company meetings weekly, now they were held, at most, once a quarter. Power was concentrating. Clearly, this power shift was positively causing growth but negatively affecting culture. In her defense, Whitman was not indifferent to the culture at eBay. She stressed hiring people who understood and wanted to expand the eBay culture. But at the same time she outsourced customer service to a location in Utah, far from where the gatekeepers of the eBay culture were to be found. Therefore, those directly working with the community may have been the least in tune with its values. Also, she applauded and maintained the â€Å"no penalty† culture where everyone could voice their opinions and feel free to change their minds. However, with the growth of the company, there were fewer opportunities for a voice to be heard, less direct contacts with upper management, and fewer voices involved in major decisions. This led to decisions being made that were sound individually but not corporately when placed in the eBay culture. It also proved difficult to spread this culture to the plethora of newly added users. And it is critical because it built the community, which built the company, and if it is removed, those elements that made eBay a unique success will be gone. Therefore, eBay needs to find a way to maintain its culture. One way to correct this problem would be to implement more cross-functional teams internally. These teams would recreate the initial eBay structure of being team-based, autonomous, and flat. They would allow different departments to address problems and offer valuable input into pending company policies. This lateral flow would lead to decisions that would keep more in line with the original eBay culture, thus satisfying the community at large. The downside to these teams is that it gives Whitman and others less authority to use in making decisions for the company. Another alternative would be to create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This would create an opportunity to communicate values as well as pending or upcoming policy changes. This system of polling through email would empower the community to have a cogent voice once again and would reestablish the feeling of one-to-one communication. The downside is that if the company decided to go in a direction different than that of the community, those polled and involved could lose faith and optimism in exercising their voice. Finally, Whitman could create a separate company under the eBay name where she could make mergers and acquisitions without alienating the base users and without directly affecting the company. This would help maintain the existing eBay culture, but it would do nothing to repair any damage done. Moreover, having a different arm will not expand their user community of eBay, which is eBay’s vision. Whitman should create a formal system of distributing information and gathering feedback from the eBay community. This mechanism would be two-fold in design. First, eBay would create a oalition of the â€Å"top sellers,† those truly engrossed in the eBay community and whose interests are aligned with both company and community. Upper management would formally integrate the opinions and responses of this group (on issues ranging from policy to community values) into its decision-making processes. Also, the use of widely sampled polls of eBay users on the same issues would help th e company get a feel for how the broader community at large feels about important issues. This would be positive for the community because it would give them a legitimate voice in the company again, just as it had at eBay’s inception. It is important to remember that eBay is unique in that the community it serves is the company itself. Soliciting, responding to, and implementing the voice of this community improve eBay; even with its now more functional structure, it will only help the company know the needs and opinions of its community, which will strengthen business. The downside to this move is that after hearing out the top sellers and looking at the data of a poll on a particular issue, Whitman and upper management may still feel that an unpopular direction needs to be taken. Some users may feel patronized and refuse to participate in future polls. Even so, many in the community will be appreciative to at least be involved in the process and to be forewarned of pending changes. Once again there will be a dialogue with the community that will attribute value, trust, and respect to its opinions, even in disagreement. In this manner, eBay can grow and still stay small.

Farming and Industry essays

Farming and Industry essays It is virtually impossible to answer the question of whether Americas farmers or industrial workers had it worse in the period 1865 through 1916, because issues of gender, culture, and race make it difficult, if not impossible, to generalize about people in either occupation. Furthermore, regional differences exacerbated the differences in how each group was treated. Therefore, instead of ignoring these differences, this paper will concentrate on how gender, cultural, and race impacted each occupation, and then attempt to determine which group, as a whole, lived under worse working conditions. Any discussion of American history that begins in 1865 has to, by necessity; discuss the tremendous social changes caused by the U.S. Civil War. First, the Civil War helped highlight regional differences in the United States; the North was linked with industry and the South with agriculture. Furthermore, after the Civil War there was no incentive for the United States government to push for industrialization in the South. On the contrary, preventing the South from becoming industrialized was a way for the North to make sure that the South would not be able to secede from the Union. Second, the Civil War was responsible for the deaths of nearly a million Americans, from injuries and disease. As with most wars, the majority of those deaths occurred in young, working age males. Therefore, the Civil War left a gap in the labor force, and also forced many women and children to work because they had no husband or father to provide financial support. Furthermore, the end of the Civ il War led to a tremendous change in financial status for many Americans. Reconstruction led to a restructuring of the economy of the South; and the defeat of the Confederate Army left millions destitute. Of course, the most significant political and social change following the end of the Civil War was the end of legalized slavery. The best-understood ty...

Comparing the Hydrogen Bomb and the Atomic Bomb

Comparing the Hydrogen Bomb and the Atomic Bomb A hydrogen bomb and an atomic bomb are both types of nuclear weapons, but the two devices are very different from each other. In a nutshell, an atomic bomb is a fission device, while a hydrogen bomb uses fission to power a fusion reaction. In other words, an atomic bomb can be used as a trigger for a hydrogen bomb. Take a look at the definition of each type of bomb and understand the distinction between them. Atomic Bomb An atomic bomb or A-bomb is a nuclear weapon that explodes due to the extreme energy released by nuclear fission. For this reason, this type of bomb is also known as a fission bomb. The word atomic isnt strictly accurate since its just the nucleus of the atom that is involved in fission (its protons and neutrons), rather than the entire atom or its electrons. A material capable of fission (fissile material) is given supercritical mass, while is the point at which fission occurs. This can be achieved by either compressing sub-critical material using explosives or by shooting one part of a sub-critical mass into another one. The fissile material is enriched uranium or plutonium. The energy output of the reaction can range to the equivalent of about a ton of the explosive TNT up to 500 kilotons of TNT. The bomb also releases radioactive fission fragments, which result from the heavy nuclei breaking into smaller ones. Nuclear fallout mainly consists of fission fragments. Hydrogen Bomb A hydrogen bomb or H-bomb is a type of nuclear weapon that explodes from the intense energy released by nuclear fusion. Hydrogen bombs may also be called thermonuclear weapons. The energy results from the fusion of isotopes of hydrogen- deuterium and tritium. A hydrogen bomb relies on the energy released from a fission reaction to  heat and compress the hydrogen to trigger fusion, which can also generate additional fission reactions. In a large thermonuclear device, about half of the yield of the device comes from fission of depleted uranium. The fusion reaction doesnt really contribute to fallout, but because the reaction is triggered by fission and causes further fission, H-bombs generate at least as much fallout as atomic bombs. Hydrogen bombs can have much higher yields than atomic bombs, equivalent to megatons of TNT. The Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated, was a hydrogen bomb with a 50 megaton yield. Comparisons Both types of nuclear weapons release vast quantities of energy from a small amount of matter and release most of their energy from fission, and produce radioactive fallout. The hydrogen bomb has a potentially higher yield and is a more complicated device to construct. Other Nuclear Devices In addition to atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, there are other types of nuclear weapons: neutron bomb: A neutron bomb, like a hydrogen bomb, is a thermonuclear weapon. The explosion from a neutron bomb is relatively small, but a large number of neutrons are released. While living organisms are killed by this type of device, less fallout is produced and physical structures are more likely to remain intact. salted bomb: A salted bomb is a nuclear bomb surrounded by cobalt, gold, other other material such that detonation produces a large amount of long-lived radioactive fallout. This type of weapon could potentially serve as a doomsday weapon, since the fall-out could eventually gain global distribution. pure fusion bomb: Pure fusion bombs are nuclear weapons that produce a fusion reaction without the aid of a fission bomb trigger. This type of bomb would not release significant radioactive fallout. electromagnetic pulse weapon (EMP): This is a bomb intended to produce a nuclear electromagnetic pulse, which can disrupt electronic equipment. A nuclear device detonated in the atmosphere emits an electromagnetic pulse spherically. The goal of such a weapon is to damage electronics over a wide area. antimatter bomb: An antimatter bomb would release energy from the annihilation reaction that results when matter and antimatter interact. Such a device has not been produced because of the difficulty synthesizing significant quantities of antimatter.

Self Reliance Essays - Eddic Poetry, Lokasenna, Free Essays

Self Reliance Essays - Eddic Poetry, Lokasenna, Free Essays Self Reliance There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till. The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried. Not for nothing one face, one character, one fact, makes much impression on him, and another none. This sculpture in the memory is not without preestablished harmony. The eye was placed where one ray should fall, that it might testify of that particular ray. We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. It may be safely trusted as proportionate and of good issues, so it be faithfully imparted, but God will not have his work made manifest by cowards. A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace. It is a deliverance which does not deliver. In the attempt his genius deserts him; no muse befriends; no invention, no hope. Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being. And we are now men, and must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny; and not minors and invalids in a protected corner, not cowards fleeing before a revolution, but guides, redeemers, and benefactors, obeying the Almighty effort, and advancing on Chaos and the Dark. What pretty oracles nature yields us on this text, in the face and behaviour of children, babes, and even brutes! That divided and rebel mind, that distrust of a sentiment because our arithmetic has computed the strength and means opposed to our purpose, these have not. Their mind being whole, their eye is as yet unconquered, and when we look in their faces, we are disconcerted. Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and play to it. So God has armed youth and puberty and manhood no less with its own piquancy and charm, and made it enviable and gracious and its claims not to be put by, if it will stand by itself. Do not think the youth has no force, because he cannot speak to you and me. Hark! in the next room his voice is sufficiently clear and emphatic. It seems he knows how to speak to his contemporaries. Bashful or bold, then, he will know how to make us seniors very unnecessary. The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature. A boy is in the parlour what the pit is in the playhouse; independent, irresponsible, looking out from his corner on such people and facts as pass by, he tries and sentences them on their merits, in the swift, summary way of boys, as good, bad, interesting, silly, eloquent, troublesome. He cumbers himself never about consequences, about interests: he gives an independent, genuine verdict. You must court him: he does not court you. But the man is, as it were, clapped into jail by his consciousness. As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat, he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutrality! Who can thus avoid all pledges, and having observed, observe again from the same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted innocence, must always be formidable. He would utter opinions on all passing affairs, which being seen to be not private, but necessary, would sink like darts into the ear of men, and put them in fear. These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the

Progressive Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Progressive Era - Essay Example As Industrial Revolution receded into the background and new modes of production, manufacturing and economic management models emerged, the socio-economic impact of the period was exposed. Indeed, as argued by Anderson (1974), with all its economic contributions and previously unprecedented productivity and growth, industrialisation had given rise to unemployment, labor unrest and poverty. The working classes, as opposed to the middle and upper socio-economic ones, were the victims of disease and poverty. The wide-scale depression which beset America from 1893 to 1897 only compounded the suffering of this class (Anderson, 1974). Within the context of the socio-economic conditions outlined in the preceding, there was a lack of appreciation for childhood and education. Rather than be the recipients of steady and stable education, working class children were sent out to work for minimal wages. Their earning, however meagre, were integral to the survival of their families. There was, accordingly, little room for education or the consideration of the value of education, not just to the child but to the country itself. As the Industrial Revolution passed, implying the evolutio... The new methods of production had simply eliminated the need for child labor (Anderson, 1974). At the same time, the era gave rise to an educated, professional middle class. It was largely due to the efforts of this class that the Progressive Era came about. According to Dumenil (1990), as this class looked towards the conditions that the Industrial Revolution had reduced the working class and urban centers to, they saw poverty, slums, crimes, disease and corruption. They also saw a myriad of discriminatory practices, whether class, gender or race discrimination. Not only did this class, the progressives, establish volunteer organizations such as the American Bar Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and National Municipal League, among many others, to address the identified socio-economic problems but they exerted such political pressure as which incited reform. Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal emerged in response to the stated (Dumenil, 1990). The issues and concerns of the era, whether civil rights, feminism, childhood or poverty, incontrovertibly impacted attitudes towards education. Apart from education being acknowledged as a right which all children should exploit to the fullest, greater focus was placed on the philosophy which informed education. As Roberston (1992) contends, John Dewey developed a philosophy of education which, rather than focus on children's absorption, often memorisation without assimilation, of a wide body of knowledge, emphasised the imperatives of personal growth. Dewey thought that children's freedom should be constructed, that it is not simply a product of their free will. He made a distinction between freedom based entirely on free will (doing whatever one wants

Totalitarianism and the individual using the book Under a Cruel Star Essay

Totalitarianism and the individual using the book Under a Cruel Star and two other readings - Essay Example horrible living conditions and galling transportations can be used to describe the camp as trying to establish one’s life and a family was hardly possible due to starvation and violence. Another form of totalitarian form of governance was in Moscow where purge was conducted as authors were controlled over the content with which they are to publish. Those carrying out the purge are described as lacking sophistication and stupidity. Under controversial circumstances, books were withdrawn and example being Lenin’s book because they were listed under Marx’s â€Å"Communist Manifesto† with Riazanov’s forward, but in many other instances this explanation breaks down. The â€Å"Authoritative† and â€Å"Educated† bunch of people were forming purging committees and recommending the removal of controversial readings. Under â€Å"philosophy† the Leningrad instructions propose that â€Å"idealistic philosophy should be removed entirely fro m circulation and this would leave only Kant’s and Hegel’s works in circulation since their writing and ideologies went in line with the governing authorities. Questions were raised over the withdrawal of many writers especially those who by the humblest and most general assessment are on a higher level and less pernicious than the hundreds of junky kinds of belles-lettres that Gosizdat put out even at this time. The kind of leadership being experienced was resulting in a totalitarian form as the main instructions of Glavpolitprosvet are more restrained and balanced, TBTW. The recommendation was to remove all the prerevolutionary literature that was concerned with upbringing and education, all prerevolutionary mathematics textbooks, all anthologies of Russian literature, collections of pieces for recitation, oral public reading and narrations from the local public libraries to central and pedagogical libraries (Kova?ly 17). On the other hand, Adolf Hitler being an arde nt militarist, during his rule rejected democracy terming it a bankruptcy and promoted an authoritarian form of politics based on the leadership principle. He was of the belief that war was a crucial test of a nation’s vigor and the defeat of Germany in 1918 was not the result of military failure but rather the product of the diseased condition of the German society in general, (Hitler 513). The corruption and weakness that was evident in the country was caused by the diabolical machinations of the Jewish people, whom Hitler had portrayed as a degenerate race engaged in an international conspiracy designed to destroy the national principle binding the German people together as a â€Å"master race† and Hitler then offered himself as the leader of the revitalized militantly nationalist Germany purged of all those who would weaken or diminish the racial purity of the German people. Hitler’s thoughts were centered along an obsessive preoccupation with racial â€Å" hygiene† which according to him was a basis of national strength. According to Hitler (517), the Jewish people with all their apparent intellectual qualities are nevertheless without any culture of their own and the sham culture which the Jew possess today is the property of other people and is mostly spoiled in their hands. He furthers the opinion that the state is a means to an end, and

Advertisement of cars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Advertisement of cars - Essay Example This advertisement is the reflection of the vanity and pride which the Mercedes possess, and it transfers the same to its customers. The intent of price was to restrict and warn the interested parties who simply approach for the sake of details but are never serious about procurement. The intent behind the publication of the price on the advertisement was to apply a filter to obtain serious customers only. It is important to note that colour of the car in the advertisement. There is a high possibility that this model has been launched with different body colors, but why color black was chosen? Black is a reflection of elite and privileged class, the colour has more admiration against criticism therefore black was perfect choice. The position of the car is itself a key to perfect advertisement. In this advertisement, the company has shown the complete layout of the car. Generally, the manufacturers prefer publication of the front, possibly because the side view is not at all attractiv e. In this advertisement, Mercedes has been dignified enough not to follow the common trend and has published the side view to give the interested customer better information about the product. In the advertisement, it is common practice as per which the precisely you reflect, the true customers you target. The precise projection of the brand will be the key in the identification of the interested customers.The one-word CHECKMATE is the reflection of the perfection and quality which the product inherits, as per the vendor BMW.... This advertisement is not for youth and energetic crowd, it is for people with style and devour. In dot at the end of checkmate is another important part of the advertisement, though it is a simple dot but it symbolizes the pride of the company. The intent of advertisement is not to appeal or request the interested customer; rather it is only information from the company. In this advertisement, the company has been reluctant to share any information about the brand, and has published the contact details. The intent behind such a strategy can be that probably there are other new models for customer review. The colour and font of word CHECKMATE are clear, but the colour of the web address posted by the company is not at all visible for the public especially during night time, therefore the advertisement will probably fail to communicate the message. Keeping in view that the target audience of the brand is elite and rich class between an age group of 45-60, the selection of fonts and co lour is not perfect. Advertisement - III This advertisement by Audi has been regarded as offensive approach of Audi against BMW. In this advertisement, the manufacturer has been blunt about its vehicle and has tried to publicly challenge its competitor. The target crowd of this advertisement is not the general customers, but the management of BMW and its customers. AUDI has simply challenge the design and model of BMW, and has launched their distinct model. After studying this advertisement, we conclude that the company has tried to avoid detail description of the brand and its feature, and has tried to resemble its product with the world's outclass automobile