Business

    Why might Smith be exhibiting aggressive behaviors towards her subordinates and other managers
Aggression in the workforce has been identified as counterproductive work behavior which is defined as voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization, its members, or both (cited in Landy  Conte, p. 186). The manifestation of this behavior really affects the organization directly and indirectly considering that the behavior attacks the organization and the members of the organization.  Landy and Conte noted that harassment, gossip, verbal abuse, and fighting (p. 187) are some of the manifestations of counterproductive behavior directed against interpersonal deviance.

    Obviously, Smiths aggression exerted against other people in the organization is for the personal reason and interest.  Considering the details provided in the case, Smith would favor a person whom she can relate with such as her favorite nursing assistant who is also a single mom like her at the same time, she harasses employees who are recognized by the company as highly competent and effective like that of Peters.  Lardy and Conte, identified that Smiths behavior in particular is classified as sabotage in which it has the intention to damage, disrupt, or subvert the organizations operations for personal purposes of the saboteur by creating unfavorable publicity, damage to property, destruction of working relationships, or harming or employees or customers (Crino, 1994, cited in Lardy and Conte, p. 187).

    Similarly, Smiths counterproductive behavior is triggered by certain stimuli in the workplace. In particular, employees evaluation is very tight that seems difficult for her to beat because of financial mismanagement that goes on with the company, which she has direct involvement. The evaluation focuses on task performance in fifteen items that includes obedience to supervisory directives, and many others. Secondly, working in Cedar District Hospital may seem unchallenging that causes her job dissatisfaction. It is noted that Smith stays on that small hospital simply to gain work experience. Third, the continuing layoff in the hospital gives her the feeling of discomfort and instability. These conditions create in her a very strong emotion to carry out an action. 

According to a theory that acknowledges the role of emotion in the persistency of behavior which is known as Psychoevolutionary Theory of Emotion, the purpose of emotion is adaptation, and that emotions are activated in an individual when issues of survival are raised in fact or by implication (Hartel, Zerbe,  Ashkanasy, p. 70).  This theory clearly explains that Smith commits aggression against co-employees because she sees Peters and her other subordinates as threat to her existence as a CFO considering the differing result of their work performance. Her status as having two illegitimate children is also a disadvantage on her career because of moral issue.  Indeed, Smiths aggression is motivated by a strong emotion that points directly to her feeling of insecurity and dissatisfaction.

    In addition, this practice becomes a habit since Smith has already developed the habit of criticizing other employees. It stated that Smith did not hesitate to criticize those who were overweight which indicates her ignorance of others feeling. Smiths behavior towards her officemates may also be analyzed in light with the social bonding theory in four different dimensions as attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief (p. 158).  Accordingly, Anderson explained that deviant behavior may be due to her closeness to the person as her subordinates, or the risk of engaging in the counterproductive behavior, she is not busy, or she may be ignorant of her own action (p. 158).

What effects might Smiths behavior have on the workplace and, possibly, the organization
    Consistent attack on a person results to emotional stresses that prevent him or her to perform hisher work as effective as he does before because he is fully governed by negative emotions. At the onset, Peters response to the bullying affects her disposition there is a sudden change in her attitude towards the situation but not towards other people in the company. Spector, Fox, and Domagalski (2005) understand the role of emotion in the responses made by the individual who receive bullying. To explicate this, they developed a model which explains the effect of deviant behavior to non-deviant.  First, those who perceive the behavior as stressful develop negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, and depression (p. 31), that motivates them to either retaliate or acquire CWB or counterproductive behavior later on in life.

    Fox and Spector mentioned Retaliation theory as one of the effects of CWB that pertains to reactions to the injustice because of the negative reactions that are developed such as helplessness, learned helplessness or substance abuse, anger, and even aggression, revenge or sabotage (p. 32).  Spector, et.al emphasized the role of emotion in the emotional responses of a person to stressor as in the case of Peters. Peters as a response begins to experience emotional stress as quoted, it didnt make her feel any better. She is very worried for the outcome of her decision and indecisive for what actions to take. 

    Moreover, the emotional state of a person that is developed as a result of counterproductive behavior could also affect organization in such a way that employees may acquire high levels of job tension, somatic tension, fatigue and burnout (Spector, et.al., p. 33).  In a meta-analysis made, Spector identified behavioral outcomes as a result of employees frustration as job satisfaction, work anxiety, physical health symptoms, employee withdrawal behavior, aggression, hostility, and sabotage (Spector, et.al, p. 34). Similarly, the deviant behavior would also affect other people who have personally experienced the sabotage or have witnessed the situation. As a result, employees will contradict or disobey policies related to CWB if those policies are not enforced properly (Giacalone, p. 177). Landy and Conte on the other hand, argued that deviant behavior will even endanger the well-being of the organization, its members, or both (p. 183) because of the presence of gossip.

Though bullying and other forms of deviant behavior are exhibited by many successful bosses because they are able to get the best result they want from their employees, still it produces many other administrative problems such as the employee turnover, absenteeism, and sometimes legal issues that may put the company at risk.

Are Peters concerns about repercussions valid Why

    Peters concerns about the repercussions are not valid however, her responses to Smiths statements are normal because she occupies a subordinate position, and she understands that her boss remarks or evaluation could affect her good standing in the company. What happened to Peters is that she lost her ability to understand the situation and to reason out clearly.  This condition may happen naturally to a person who becomes a victim of sabotage like her other co-employees.  Zerbe, Hartel, and Ashkanasy wrote, One unexplored variable with the potential to impact ethical behavior and decision-making is emotional intelligence (p. 226).  On the other hand, her reactions may be due to her being too conscientious. Barling and Cooper quoted,  job stressors have a greater impact on counterproductive behavior when individuals are high in negative affectivity (p. 145). Thus, Peters ability to weigh or accept criticism is based on her personality and own perception of the situation.

    Similarly, her repercussions cannot validate her explanation because she is governed by fear.  Fear is considered a negative emotion and because of that, it will subjugate her self-perception until she gets lost to her track.  Thus, Peters fails to use her reasoning ability in analyzing the real situation and see the whole thing in a wider perspective because of the presence of fear and worry.

    Peters is only a subordinate and it is difficult for her to counteract any misconduct her superior is done on her or to call the attention of the administration regarding the problem through submitting a letter. She might as well settle things to herself and take things constructively which means, she will not allow those feedback to interfere with her work rather,  see the criticism on its positive side by learning from it and by accepting that she is responsible for her own behavior. If she will approach the problem this way, she will also learn to ignore the criticism, deny the criticism if it is not true, or blame others for possessing counterproductive behavior if that severely affect her.  This reaction would definitely keep her away from having trouble with Smith, as she might think.

What is important in this approach is that, it hinders the development of depressing emotions that may affect her work attitude.

    Given the two options (counteract what her boss has done and inform the administration about Smith misbehavior) her standing as trusted and competent worker may place her in a difficult situation because the company values employees who are obedient. On the other hand, the constructive approach will help her realize many underlying factors of the situation but may lose the opportunity to resolve the problem that may continue to put the company at risk in the future.

If you were called in to investigate this situation and make recommendations to the CEO, what would you do

    In case the administration has learned about the sabotage and Peters is tasked to do investigation and make recommendations about the problem, as a person of credibility, he has already the right to find out the truth without hesitation.  By means of this, she can explore all the possibilities regarding the truthfulness of the issue. 

Thus, the investigation can be done through a research study focusing on one type of behavior the researcher will conceptualize the questions in the questionnaire that seek to discover ones real personality or to utilize a ready-made Psychological Test.  Research study I think is highly important to resolve the issue because the process of research writing requires balance and careful analysis of data.  Another way is to use a Psychological Test applicable to such problem. The recommendations that will be made at the last part of the paper are based on the findings of the study.  Here, the researcher will gather information relating to personality traits with attempts to manifest counterproductive behavior, or the act of counterproductive behavior has been done.   

A group of employees who are randomly selected will be requested to answer the Psychological Test on one afternoon.  After the data are gathered, tabulated and treated using statistical tools, the results will be interpreted to answer the questions posted in the objective of the study. In the end, the data gathered with its conclusion, will be used in providing recommendations to the problem.

    One good aspect of research study as a means of finding solution to a problem is that, the problem is treated in a very objective way.  It avoids finger pointing on one person rather, it helps presents other factors underlying for the manifestation of such behavior. Research writing provides ground where and what to start when it comes to dealing with the problem.  Third, the person who is identified possessing the unwanted behavior will not have any excuse or reason to refute the result.  It is now a powerful basis that the company will use for the next move that it will do for this purpose.

Finally, what overall recommendations would you make to the CEO and Board of Directors

    At this point in time, there are many approaches that I must recommend being a person entrusted of this problem.

First is to develop a corporate culture that the management desires for the company because it is useful in realigning the principles of the company that will be carefully observed through the policies that will be made afterwards.

    Secondly, the company must identify any form of counterproductive behavior common among the employees and make them responsible for it in the light of policies that have been developed to resolve the issue.  Start dealing with each problem through counseling session with the Human Resource Department.

    Third, develop teamwork among groups in the hospital instead of individualism. People are expected to be more productive when they discover their worth, and working in a team makes a person highly fulfilled because they discover what they can contribute to the groups efforts through which a person realizes his worth and heighten job satisfaction.

    Fourth, the company must enhance its Human Resource Departments program and policies.  One good recommendation to avoid having new employees who have psychological problem is through giving each applicant psychological test.  Once proven guilty of possessing negative emotional behavior, applicant should not be accepted despite his or her achievements.

    Last, the company has to draft policies that will deal with different kinds of counterproductive behavior in pursuant of the corporate values.  By means of that, the company can prevent the likelihood of    the existence of any counterproductive behavior.

These may not be effective methods but continuous involvement and dealing with the problem makes the company grow mature gradually in resolving issues related to this one.

    In order to investigate the degree to which the sports celebrity endorser influences the male purchase decision and brand choice in the Irish sportswear market, this study will adopt a theory development and application design (Saunders et al. 2007). Therefore, this study will proceed from a research philosophy, research approach, applications strategy, research plan, data collection approaches and verifications of the outcomes. This research theory has attempted to establish how male customers make choices of sportswear in the Irish market with a predictor that male celebrity sports endorsers being a major influence.
Furthermore, this study theory development sought, though the literature review sought and understanding of the brand and sports product unity, depth of appeal, width of ideas and the possible intuition that the celebrity endorsers impact on the customers purchase. Therefore, this study developed from exploration of the literature, explanation of the facts and testing of the outcomes (Saunders et al. 2007). From the available theories in the literature review regarding purchase of sportswear, a fresh theory will evolve to confirm the certainty and predictability that many male customers will prefer to purchase celebrity endorsed sportswear products.
3.2 Study design
    This study embraces two major research paradigms, the empirical cycle and the design cycles. The empirical cycles conforms to the universal stages of research aims and objectives, study design, primary and secondary data collection, data analysis and presentation (Saunders et al. 2007). The Design cycle on the other hand conforms to the universal stages of study goals, limits and delimits applications of various methods, choice of various designs and presentation. Thus, this study hypothesis will follow a diagnostic, constructive and application approach as show below.
   
Source Saunders et al. 2007.
    From this general view, it is apparent that these study cycles are trajectory. While in the process of exploring the study theories, new variables were realized (Saunders et al. 2007). These outcomes test the study designs such as the development of the questionnaire from the empirical literature outcomes from a non-biased angle. The outcome of the theory of the cycles forms and empirical background to assess the effects of celebrity endorsement on purchase of sportswear.
As outlined earlier, the aim of this study is to investigate the degree to which the sports celebrity endorser influences the male purchase decision and brand choice in the Irish sportswear market. Therefore, this approach is expected to describe male customers attitude and predictability to purchase celebrity endorsed sportswear and brands. To a wider extend this methodology should enable the researcher establish how the buyers make a judgement to purchase.  Additionally this methodology could be useful in enabling the sellers or major sports brands on how to position their promotional strategies as well as how to select their celebrity endorsers.
    The exploratory stage of this research dwelt on the literature review as the theory basis and the application for the empirical basis. This methodology is validated for accuracy, consistency, fitness, sensitivity and reliability. The literature review give a good starting point for understanding the celebrity case studies and their impacts on purchases following endorsement contracts. When testing the hypothesis, the feedbacks from the interviews come in handy to validate the empirical nature of the study (Saunders et al. 2007).
    The theoretical aspects of this study defines how the study questions resolve the investigation of the degree to which the sports celebrity endorser influences the male purchase decision and brand choice in the Irish sportswear market. Much as the study would like to validate give hypothetical positions, the outcome will however be sensitive to possible suggestions to adopt by the sellers of major sports brands. This study scope is nevertheless, delimited by time and resources to cover in-depth impact of the celebrity endorsement in terms of actual sales and profits. To that extent, the following is a diagrammatic presentation of the projections and convergence of this study design stages (Saunders et al. 2007). Source  (Saunders et al. 2007).
3.3 The Research Onion Design
    Saunders et al (2007) came up with the research methodology called research onion as elaborated below.
As shown above, the research philosophy layer is composed of the following approaches positivism, interpretivism, realism, objectivism, subjectivism, pragmatism, functionalism, radical humanist and radical structuralism. The Research approaches layer is composed of both the inductive and deductive methods. The research strategies layer of this study is composed of the experiments, case studies, grounded theory, surveys, ethnography and actions. The time zone horizons are composed of the cross-sectional and longitudinal methods. The research choices compose of single methods, mixed methods and multiple methods. Finally, the data collection methods are composed of the sampling methods, secondary data, physical observations, questionnaires and interviews (Saunders et al. 2007). Since not all these approaches were applicable, this study adopts a top to down peel of the onion while justifying every approach and decisions.
3.4 Research Philosophy
    This research philosophy proposed various ways in which data are collected and analyzed, given that this study falls under social science of marketing. A clearer understanding of the study subject commences from the customers purchasing views from and interpretation of the sellers application of celebrity endorsers.  This approach posits that the ideas will vary while the interpretations will converge and diverge (Saunders et al. 2007). Subsequently, the ontology of this study dwells on the real nature of the sportswear products and brands. Therefore, the celebrity endorsement qualifies the subject as a social science. The epistemology of this study dwells on the wide knowledge that celebrity endorsement can actually increase the purchasing of the sportswear and related products and brands. Therefore, the epistemology of this study is establish if the social nature of purchase can be studied as a natural science using validity, accuracy, sensitivity and reliability approaches (Saunders et al. 2007, p. 108). The epistemology of this study guides the methodology to predict the customer behaviour in the Irish sportswear market.
    The research positivism entails the use of data collection to support the general social behaviour following a celebrity endorsement. Thus, the survey technique is preferred with a questionnaire attached at the appendix I. The survey is also be used to test the hypothesis of this study. The positivist approach is most applicable to capture the wider sample population for fair deduction. The application of deduction implies that the literature review has preceded the survey in a truthful and verifiable manner (Saunders et al. 2007, p. 108).
    This study also adopts critical realism that faces the research. This position is supported by the possibility that celebrity endorsement could improve the purchase of sportswear whether there is empirical evidence on not. The real power of the celebrity endorsement is appreciated. Thus, critical realism seeks to separate the actual attitudinal influence from the real purchase or expenditures in the sportswear (Saunders et al. 2007). This study seeks to interpret the possibility that negative celebrity endorser image could negatively impact on the purchase of the endorsed products. This interpretation as mentioned earlier is important for the seller of the sportswear brands to shift endorsement or fortify the process using multiple endorsers (Saunders et al. 2007).  This study seeks to understand the objectivism of using celebrity endorsers as a modern promotional and marketing strategy. Whether all endorsement has been successful is a cut off point form the seller to ponder (Saunders et al. 2007).
This study considers the subjectivism of the Irish buyers to purchase certain sportswear following endorsement by their favourite sports personalities. Whether the subjectivism is personal or peer influences is however out of scope of this study (Saunders et al. 2007).  This study considers the pragmatism (Saunders et al. 2007) of the celebrity endorsement process in the Irish market. Given that most celebrity endorsers are coming out of the Irish region, the true impact and practice is investigated. However the sales and profits pragmatics are a limitation of this study. Nevertheless, the expenditure pragmatism is sampled. This study is inclusive of the functionalism of the marketing process with the celebrity endorsement taking lead role in the promotion.
 This study also considers the radical humanist (Saunders et al. 2007).   capabilities that major sport celebrity personalities like Michael Jordan, David Beckham among others have had in their various seasons of endorsements. The fluctuations in the purchase define the radical humanist for example in the case of David Beckham. This study considers the radical structuralist (Saunders et al. 2007), that celebrity endorsement has on the market and sportswear branding structures. Some brands like Nike have been carefully structures from the celebrity endorsement by Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and others. Finally, under the research philosophy, this study considers that the collective interpretive approach is applicable to validate the study hypothesis after a detailed quantitative data collection and analysis.
3.5 Research Approach
    This study adopts both the inductive and deductive approaches (Saunders et al. 2007). The inductive reasoning is justified because the purchase observations are measurable following the celebrity endorsement. Thereafter a wider conclusions and theoretical framework is plausible. This study approach also justifies the use of deductive reasoning. The matter posed by wrong celebrity endorsement and negative image of the celebrity endorsers to lead to decline in purchases or association is purely deductive in nature. Overall, the inductive research seemed most appropriate in this study because the researcher gathers a wider understanding of the attitudes and influences of purchase of sportswear in the Irish market. The inductive approach is also most appropriate because the research background is clearer to gauge (Saunders et al. 2007).
The use of the questionnaire to gather data posits that the inductive approach takes higher preference to the deductive approach (Saunders et al. 2007). Due to the flexibility of the inductive approach, the researcher is able to manoeuvre the process while being part of the whole process. Finally, the fact that the inductive approach lessens the tendency to generalize the outcome as compared to the deductive approach makes it even more appropriate (Saunders et al. 2007). This study, by applying the triangulation method succeeds in interpreting the literature review, the case study and the questionnaire outcome (Breitmayer  Knafl 1991).
3.6 Research Strategy
    This study adopted an elaborate data collection strategy, which from the exploration to the analysis and testing stage (Noor 2008, p. 1602-1604)..
3.6.1 Exploration Phase
    In Chapter 2, this study reviewed literature about the subject under study with the guidance of the study objectives. The use of the literature review at the exploration stage is justified because the researcher gains a social science setting of the marketing attitudes and drives for the sportswear in the Irish market. Thereafter the theories of push and pull towards purchase with the celebrity endorser as the stimulus get clarity. Second, the application of the literature review is justified because the researcher is able to breakdown the complex nature of the subject under smaller subtitles and sections within a very short time (Armitage  Keeble-Ramsay 2009, p.1-36). Third, the use of literature review is justified because the researcher can access past studies in the area of marketing of sportswear from a celebrity endorsement angle.
After this detailed exploration stage, the literature is explained with a critical review with brief consideration of celebrity cases such as David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and others. At the explanation stage, the literature review is effective in guiding the study questions. This exploration stage established that many studies completed in the subject globally, but very few covered the Irish market in particular.  The use of case studies, according to  Noor (2008, p. 1602-1604) will enable the investigation of the celebrity endorser push and pull to purchase phenomenon from a realist view especially since the limits of the phenomenon and case are blurred. The use of case study is also justified because the phenomenon of celebrity endorser to push and driver purchases is a practical matter. Therefore, the nature of the specific purchase is an occurrence that needs a case study (Hartley 1994). The use of the case study is also justified because of the central tendency of the customers to associate with brands and products that are endorsed by the celebrities. This has implications of grounded theory (Dick 2000) that more purchase is evitable with celebrity endorsement. Therefore, the case study will attempt to understand how the customers make specific decisions, with justifications, how they proceed with the decisions and the outcome (Noor 2008, p. 1602-1604).
3.6.2   The Testing Phase
    The importance of the testing stage is to validate whether the above-mentioned triangulation approach is effective in highlighting the issues of the subject study. The testing stage will also form a future grounded theory to be adopted by the stakeholders in the sportswear and similar branded products to market in the Irish region. The most applicable strategies in this subject are the action research, the experiments, surveys, and the case studies (Saunders et al. 2007).
    The first research strategy in this study is the action research. According to this paper, both the theory application and development are justifiable, because the attitudes and influences of the public to purchase following celebrity endorsement are social matters whose impacts are valuable (Saunders et al. 2007). On the matter of theory development, the study breaks down the celebrity endorsement phenomenon in connection to the application in the marketing of sportswear.  Action research will also call for the researcher to give their observations as well as input of experiences. However, this posses some bias. Hence, the strategy of action research does not take priority in this study.
    The second research strategy is experiment, which is most applicable for the case study (Saunders et al. 2007). This strategy is justifiable in understanding the how celebrity endorsement improves the purchases of sportswear and why. Thus, the case study acts as the actual events. However, the experiments were partly discriminated due to their boundary requirements (Saunders et al. 2007). The experiment were however partly applicable owing to the sportswear and brand organizations such as Nike, Puma, Adidas, and others input on their experiences of purchases following their engagement of celebrity endorsers.
    The third research strategy is the surveys, which offer contemporary evidence on the marketing issue under study (Saunders et al. 2007). The surveys are very categorical on whom the celebrities are what products they endorse where they endorse the products how they endorse the products how many product they endorse at a time and how much payment they receive for each product endorsement. The surveys are composed of both open and closed ended questions. The surveys also include a range of questionnaire setting techniques including variance scales, multiple options for feedback and attitudinal scales. The surveys adhered to ethical concerns in research such as confidentiality and truthfulness among other key issues (Noor 2008, p. 1602-1604).
    The fourth research strategy is the case study of the celebrities and their endorsement impact. This strategy is justified because the celebrities have a perceived influence in the marketing of the sportswear. Even though this strategy implicates the researcher in bias when it come to validity and reliability, the use of case study is justifies in the clarity of facts that are helpful in the testing stage of this study (Noor, 2008, p. 1602-1604).
3.7 Research Choice
    This study adopts a multiple method that involves literature review, case study and interviews, interpreted via triangulation for validity, accuracy, sensitivity and reliability (Breitmayer  Knafl 1991). The research choice elaboration is below
Completed Conduct of Research Choice  
 SHAPE   MERGEFORMAT Source Breitmayer  Knafl 1991
3.8 Research Horizons
    The two major aspects of time horizons that impact on this study are the cross-sectional and horizontal horizons (Saunders et al. 2007). The horizontal horizon is quite challenging because most of the marketing and brands organizations are unlikely to offer some information they deem confidential and unsafe in the hands of their competitors. Therefore, the cross-sectional horizon is the most appropriate because the various companies such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, and others case are viewed from the secondary and case study methods.
3.9 Data Reliability and Validity
    The three research approaches, namely case study, literature review and interviews, on the own have weaknesses in reliability and validity (Saunders et al. 2007).This justifies the multiple method approach in this study to reduce the error posed by their validity and reliability. The case study method has weaknesses in study reliability, internal validity, external validity and constructs validity. This posse a research dilemma on the best method to approve the outcome of case study. Overall, Noor (2008, p. 1602-1604), outlines a conventional way of trusting the various research approached such as case study, literature review and surveys.
3.9.1 Study Reliability
    This study gained reliability of the case studies and literature sources because the celebrity endorsement events are recorded in various academic databases that are accessible to the researcher and other interested verifiers. The case studies and developed following an approved procedure such as use of questionnaire and peer reviews (Saunders et al. 2007).The literature review on the other hand was peer reviewed therefore, this study gained reliability.
3.9.2 Construct validity
Otherwise called triangulation, this study gained construct validity because of the application of the case study, literature review and surveys as the foundation of the multiple sources to cover for the limits of each source. This study also adopted the triangulation method to provide synergy for the results (Saunders et al. 2007).The primary sources of information were the application of the questionnaire to the customers of sportswear in the Irish market. The data coding was for confidentiality and for future traceability. At least two contributors verified the outcomes from the case studies. The literature-reviewed sources are also traceable by credible web link.
3.9.2 Internal Validity
Internal validity is achieved by matching the celebrity endorsement explanations with the tested outcomes. However, the internal validity of this study guards against perception errors that the celebrity endorsements were effective in boosting purchase of products against halo effects that respondents had prior feedback against memory recall that respondents could not get the past fact rights and against reflexivity, that the respondents gave convenient feedback to the researcher (Noor 2008, p. 1602-1604).
3.9.4 External validity
    The outcomes from this study require external validity. Since most of the celebrity endorsements take place in most first world nations, the outcomes will be externally valid when they show similar trends to other nations. Therefore, the gaps arising in the external validity fill by various case studies as elaborated in the research process. The main aim of external validity is to predict a trend in celebrity endorsement and familiar literature review as well as to outline any major differences in the theories (Noor 2008, p. 1602-1604).
3.10 Data collection and analysis process
    This study adopted a multi-method approach in data collection. Whereas there was plenty of qualitative information within the scope of this study, the quantitative data was equally useful for the sake of current findings. The questionnaire was the preferred instrument of collecting the quantitative data with the researcher getting a first hand opportunity to test the variables in the study questions (Saunders et al. 2007). The following  is the process in the questionnaire development.
   
Source (Saunders et al. 2007).


 The following diagram represents the process of data collection in this study.
   
Source (Saunders et al. 2007).
This study adopts a statistical analysis method in social science. The SPSS software is used for that matter because it has the capability of performing multivariate, bivariate and monovariate data analysis. This has implications that the various relationships between the study variable can be assessed for either single of multiple patterns, trends and models (Saunders et al. 2007)
3.11 Ethical Issues in this research
    The researcher had an obligation of building trust with the respondents. The researcher had the ethical obligation of truthfulness, by informing the respondents of the actual purpose of the research and reporting the outcome as accurate as possible. The respondents had the ethical obligations of reporting as truthfully as possible to the researcher without withholding information in most cases. The researcher had an ethical obligation of observing and interpreting the outcomes in a valid manner. The researcher has an ethical obligation of avoiding personal bias to influence the outcome of the study. The researchers role is thus exclusive to observing the research occurrences without unnecessary interjections (Saunders et al. 2007).
3.12 Conclusion of chapter
    This chapter has outlined the research process, strategy and design. Since there are many celebrity endorsement theories as established by the literature review, the study adopted an exploratory and explanatory approach. This study also adopted a positivist approach to triangulate the literature review, case study and surveys for an interpretivistic view. Overall, this study was more inclined to inductive than deductive approach because of the availability of various literatures in the field. There are potential limitations of this study in the area of reliability and validity. However, these are reduced by use of appropriate research strategies and processes. Ethical issues affecting this study process are highlighted with proper mitigation in place whenever a breakdown occurs.





References
Armitage, A.  Keeble-Ramsay, D. 2009. The Rapid Structured Literature Review
as a Research Strategy, US-China Education Review, vol 6, no. 4,  pp. 1-36. Online Available at   HYPERLINK httpwww.teacher.org.cndocucedu200904ucedu20090403.pdf httpwww.teacher.org.cndocucedu200904ucedu20090403.pdf.
  Accessed on 4th December 2009
Breitmayer, B.J.  Knafl, K.A., 1991. Triangulation in Qualitative Research Issues
of Conceptual Clarity and Purpose in Qualitative Research In J. M. Morse (Ed.), A Contemporary Dialogue, (pp.226-239) Newbury Park,CA Sage Cited in  HYPERLINK httpwww.igi-global.comdownloadsexcerpts8160.pdf httpwww.igi-global.comdownloadsexcerpts8160.pdf
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Appendix I
Questionnaire to the customers
1.) Age of respondent (Tick only one option)
a 18-24
b 25-35
c 36-45
d 46-55
e Over 56 years
2.) The male sport celebrity endorser influences the male customers purchase decision and choice in Irish sportswear market. (Tick only one option)
a Strongly Agree
b Agree
c Uncertain
d Disagree
e Strongly Disagree
2.) What Criteria is used to select a male celebrity endorser (Tick only one option)
a Credibility
b Charisma
c Expertise
d Reputation
e Personal Identity
f Type of sport
g Looks
f Market Savvy
g Visibility

3.) What influence does male sports celebrity have on the purchasing decisions (Tick only one option)
a Popularity and publicity of brands
b Increased Sales and profits
c Improved product ratings and preferences
d Bad publicity and behaviour leads to drop in brand preferences
e Improve on product preference and public attention.
f Define a consumption culture
g Association with product characteristics and benefits
4.) As a male customer, how frequent to you purchase sportswear endorsed by male sports celebrities (Tick only one option)
a Always
b Fairly Often
c Occasionally
d Seldom
e Never
5.) What impression do the brands endorsed by the celebrity create in your mind (Tick only one option)
a Permanent  (more than 6 months)
b Semi permanent  (Lasting 1-6 months)
c Temporary  (Less than 1 month)
6.) Which media is often passes advertisement messages for the brands endorsed by male sports celebrity (Tick only one option)
a Television
b Radio
c Internet
d Newspaper
7.) Which male sport celebrity endorser have you associated with the products or brands they promoted (Tick only one option)
a Michael Jordan- (Basketball)
b David Beckham- (Footballer)
c Mike Tyson- (Boxer)
d Tiger Woods- (Golfer)
e Adrian Mutu- (Footballer)
f Dale Earnhardt- (Racing Driver)
g Michael Phelp- (Swimmer)
h Kobe Bryant- (Basketball)
i John Daly- (Golfer)
j Louis Armstrong- (Cyclist)
k Others
8.) What is your perception of your preferred male celebrity sport endorser towards the positive image of the sportswear products (Tick only one option)
a Very Satisfied
b Somewhat satisfied
c Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
d Very dissatisfied

9.) From the time a celebrity endorser was associated with your preferred sportswear brand, what advertising effects has it had on the product(s) purchase by yourself (Tick only one option)
a Much better
b Somewhat better
d About the same
e Somewhat worse
f Much Worse
10). The male celebrity sportsperson has improved your acceptance of the promoted sportswear products. (Tick only one option)
a Extremely likely
b Very likely
c Somewhat likely
d Likely with 50-50 chances
e Somewhat unlikely
f Very unlikely
g Extremely unlikely
11.) Do you prefer sportswear product endorsed by single or multiple celebrities (Tick only one option)
a Single
b Multiple




12.) How many celebrity endorsed ads do you see every day (Tick only one option)
a None
b 1-5
c 6-10
d More than 10
13.) How does the celebrity endorse match up affect your product perception (Tick only one option)
a Enables longer recall of products
b Improved your attitude towards the product
c Makes the products more attractive and trustworthy
d Makes the product more credible
14.) What is the suitability of choice of the male celebrity endorser for the sportswear product on sale (Tick only one option)
a Most suitable
b Somewhat suitable
c Least suitable
15.) What impact has the male sport celebrity had on the brand they contracted to endorse (Tick only one option)
a Strengthened the brand equity
b Neutralized the brand equity
c Weakened the brand equity
d Improved the brand physique
e Improved the brand likeability
f Improved the brand friendliness
h Improved the brand occupational features
g Improved the brand social affiliations.
16.) How has the male celebrity sport endorsement affected you brand choice
Tick only one most appropriate scale tendency.
a Pleasant             -3-  -2-  -1-      Unpleasant 
b Friendly            -3-  -2-  -1-       Unfriendly
c Rejecting              -1-  -2- -3-       Accepting
d Helpful            -3-  -2-  -1-       Frustrating
e Unenthusiastic  -1-  -2- -3-       Enthusiastic
f Tense                 -1-  -2- -3-       Relaxed
g Distant               -1-  -2- -3-       Close
h Cold                  -1-  -2- -3-        Warm
i Cooperative         -3-  -2-  -1-     Uncooperative
j Supportive           -3-  -2-  -1-     Hostile
k Boring                 -1-  -2- -3-          Interesting
l Quarrelsome        -1-  -2- -3-          Harmonious
m Self Assured       -3-  -2-  -1-         Hesitant
n Efficient               -3-  -2-  -1-         Inefficient
o Gloomy                -1-  -2- -3-          Cheerful
p Open                    -3-  -2-  -1-          Guarded      
17.) What importance do you attach to the image, characters and behaviour of the celebrity sports endorser towards your choice of the brands they promote (Tick only one option)
a Very important
b Somewhat important
c Least important
18.) What would you not like to see from a celebrity sport endorser attached to a brand or product (Tick only one option)
a Controversy
b Social conflict
c Lack of commitment
d Scandals
19.) What is you most common interpretation of the celebrity endorsement advertisements (Tick only one option)
a Uplifted social status
b Value addition
c Product source authenticity
d Persuasive
g Familiarity with the brands
20.) How much do you spend to purchase male celebrity endorsed sportswear in a year (Tick only one option)
a Nil
b   1- 100
c   101- 500
d   501-1,000
e   1,001-2,000
f   2,001-5,000
g Over   5,001


Appendix II
Questions for case study
What is the general understanding of sports celebrity endorsement in the marketing arena
What is the definition of  celebrity, what are the characteristics of celebrities and what are the qualities that make them appeal to the consumers in the market
 What is sports celebrity endorsement role in marketing of sportswear
What is the impact of using sports celebrity endorsers in the Irish sportswear market
    (a)Does use of male celebrity endorsers have any positive influence to the male in     Irish on their purchasing decisions
    (b) Does this create a bias on the choice of sportswear brand for the men in the     Irish Market
    (c) Is there a relationship between sports celebrity endorsement and advertising
3. Is the choice of sportswear brand determined by the sports celebrity endorser behind the brand
    (a) How does this happen, what makes one brand more credible in the market than     the other
    (b)What are the characteristics the consumers look for in these celebrities
4. What are the considerations used by companies in choosing sports celebrity endorsers
    (a)What are the characteristics of the sports celebrity endorsers suitable for an     endorsement

a.      14-1. What are financial markets What function do they perform How would an economy be worse off without them
Financial market is a place where buyer and seller easily interact with each other by trading different stocks, bonds and securities. The role of financial market is very pivotal in building the economy of any country and it is the barometer of the economy. The functions of financial markets are stated below
It provides a hub where investors buy and sell their securities.
Financial market helps in transfer of funds from one place to other and transfer the risk associated with.
Without financial market it is not possible for and financial analyst to assess the performance of any countrys economy. If financial market not exists than it is not feasible for an investor to evaluate the risk, inflation, prices of any commodity, etc.
14-3. Distinguish between the money and capital markets.
Money market is a place where short term liquid securities are transact. The life of those securities is less than a year such as CDs, T-Bills, Commercial Paper, etc. In money market the role of banks, mutual funds, etc is very significant.
Capital market is a place where long term liquid securities are transacts in form of bonds, stocks, etc. In addition, capital market is a place where either the corporate firms or government raises its long term funds.
c.      14-4. What major benefits do corporations and investors enjoy because of the existence of organized security exchanges
Some of the major benefits that the corporations and investors enjoy due to the existence of organized security exchanges are stated below
It provides a guarantee that over the investment of the potential investor.
It provides a space where to the businesses where they motivate the potential investors to invest in any particular security.
  Where new companies raises its capital through an IPO.
15-12A.
COMPUTATION OF BREAKEVEN IS STATED BELOW
STEP 1 COMPUTE MARGIN
Margin x Operating asset turnover  Return on operating assets
Margin x 5  0.25
Margin  0.05
STEP 2 COMPUTE SALES
Sales  Operating assets  Operating asset turnover
Sales  20,000,000  5
Sales  20,000,000 x 5
Sales  100,000,000
STEP 3 COMPUTE EBIT
EBIT  Margin x Sales
EBIT  0.05 x 100,000,000
EBIT  5,000,000
STEP 4 COMPUTE REVENUE BEFORE FIXED COSTS
Revenue before fixed costs  Degree of operating leverage x EBIT
Revenue before fixed costs  4 x 5,000,000
Revenue before fixed costs  20,000,000
STEP 5 COMPUTE TOTAL VARIABLE COST (TVC)
 Sales  TVC  20,000,000
100,000,000  TVC  20,000,000
TVC  80,000,000
STEP 6 COMPUTE FIXED COSTS
Revenue before fixed costs  Fixed costs  5,000,000
20,000,000  Fixed Costs  5,000,000
Fixed Costs  15,000,000
STEP 7 COMPUTE SALES PER UNIT  VARAIBLE COST PER UNIT
Price per unit  Sales  Units
Price per unit  100,000,000  10,000,000
Price per unit  10
Variable cost per unit  TVC  Units
Variable cost per unit  80,000,000  10,000,000
Variable cost per unit  8
STEP 8 COMPUTE BREAKEVEN
Sales  Variable expenses  Fixed expenses  Profits
10Q  8Q  15,000,000  0
2Q  15,000,000
Q  15,000,000  2 per unit
Q  7,500,000 Units
e.      15-13A.
A. BREAK-EVEN POINT (In Units)
Sales  Variable expenses  Fixed expenses  Profits
180Q  126Q  540,000  0
54Q  540,000
Q  540,000  54 per unit
Q  10,000 units
B. BREAK-EVEN POINT (In Dollars)
Breakeven units x Selling Price per Unit
10,000 Units x 180
1,800,000
C.
UNITS12,00015,00020,000Sales  1802,160,0002,700,0003,600,000Less Variable Cost  1261,512,0001,890,0002,520,000Contribution Margin648,000810,0001,080,000Less Fixed Costs540,000540,000540,000EBIT108,000270,000540,000
D.
UNITS12,00015,00020,000Contribution Margin (a)648,000810,0001,080,000EBIT(b)108,000270,000540,000Degree of Operating Leverage (a b)6 times3 times2 times

According to Deakins and Freels,Converting an idea into a business opportunity is the key element of the process of business creation (200360).  In this report, I will attempt to prove that this statement is relevant to starting a business and also that the statement is not completely accurate.  Turning ideas into opportunities can help a business that is starting out or one which is attempting to expand, but is not a key element in the process of business creation.  The core of a business is an independant financial entity which maintains a cash flow and is normally tracked with an accounting system.  Money comes in from customers and leaves the business to employees as payment for their work and to other companies for the products and services which they provide for the new business.  Money is only one asset which a company retains and when starting a company the goal of creating the business is to establish a positive cash flow where the business will be receiving and creating more asset value than it is going to be sending out.   This profitability does not need to be instantanious but must be possible at some point in the future to ensure that the business has the potential to survive.

    Management is a major concern in the development of a new venture.  The management of a venture can play a major role in the success or failure of the business.  There is no management structure which will guarantee success, but tested management techniques used by successful companies such as Six Sigma can be used to increase any ventures chances of being successful.  There are also Six Sigma training courses available for assisting management skill development (The Six Sigma Group 2008).  With the vast amount of information available in libraries and on the internet on the topic of business management there is no excuse for new ventures to fail because of poor management.

 The role of small businesses in the economy
One way of starting a business is taking a fresh idea and turning it into business opportunities.  One prediction is that if one in ten of the respondents realised their ambition, it could create 1.1 million extra jobs (SB 2009).  Here the word ambition displays that respondents have ideas to turn into business opportunities, and that these opportunities can create jobs.  The potential for small businesses to create over a million jobs shows small businesses play a significant role in the economy.  Some small businesses have developed into the large corporations we know today.  Kentucky Fried Chicken is one example.  The company started from a single resturant which was put out of business by the construction of a new highway (Bell 2009).  Today the company has franchises across the globe and supports many employees.  The question which reamains is how can a business take an idea and turn it into opportunities

Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, account for a significant portion of the economy.  In 2005 it was reported that there were over 4 million SMEs which accounted for the employment of over 24 million people (Small Business Service 2005).   Even very small businesses, those with less than 5 employees, are making a large impact on the economy by employing over 1.7 million people.

    The possibility of success of these SMEs can be increased with improved flexibility.  Take the example of Harland Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders.  In the early 1950s a highway was built which would bypass the town which Harland Sanders had his resturant (Bell 2009).   This nearly ended Harland Sanders business.  Instead of giving up, he sought out investors to purchase his recipies and started the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.  His flexibility and unwillingness to give up created large profits from his business.  The market is a changing environment and being flexible enough to change is a key element for any business.

The problems small businesses face are not small
    Small businesses face internal and external problems which threaten their survival on a regular basis.  Finances and labor are key internal issues which constantly threaten a small businesses survival.  A small business must find ways of cutting costs to compete which is often more difficult.

Small businesses often lack the resources to make purchases in larger quantities and may not have the ability to internally produce resources which can be handled internally by larger corporations.  Some small businesses are able to adjust by specializing.  If the company limits their product range they are often able to make larger purchases of specific items which can reduce their purchase costs.

    Maintaining skilled labor is an internal issue which most small business must find a way to deal with.  When starting a business it may be difficult to find skilled labor and some work may need to be outsourced to other companies until qualified labor can be found.  Internal conflicts between employees can also cause a huge problem in small businesses as it may not be possible to separate employees with conflicts into separate departments.  In family run businesses these conflicts can tear a family apart and lead to problems which last longer than the lifetime of the business.  Another problem for small businesses is that with less employees if one or two employees require time off the business may be completly cripled as there may not be employees available to fill their roles.  Some small businesses are able to protect themselves from this with the help of insurance policies and employment contracts.  It is not unusual for employees of small businesses to be required to perform aspects of their job while they are out of the office.  Insurance policies can also buffer the difficulties caused by the loss of critical employees.

    The most difficult external problem a small business faces is competition.  In many industries there are more companies providing a serice than there are customers requiring those services.  This highly competative environment drives down prices which further increases the difficulty of maintaining a small business.  Large corporations also have more financial resouces available for marketing and advertising which can make it much more difficult for a small business to be noticed.  To make up for this many small businesses will utilize local advertising media which larger companies may not be aware of, such as posting advertisements at local government offices.  While a large corporation may have an intimidating amount of resources, the small business is often more prepared to provide one-on-one customer service and be able to better match the needs of the customers.  This is a key advantage which helps many small businesses survive the competative environment.

Converting an idea into a business opportunity
    Turning ideas into business opportunities is the process of identifying potential sources of income from ideas and the realisation of their potential within the current and future business environments.  The first step is often to identify the customer by asking the question who can benefit from this idea   If potential customers are not readily available giving up on the idea immediatly could be a big mistake.  The potential for home based business ideas and for network marketing on the Internet is huge (Plumb 2009).  Any venture can turn to experts and anyone available for assistance.  Trade secrets which are unique to the idea should still be protected.  This can be done by asking general questions which need answers to identify who will benefit from the ideas.  Once potential customers have been identified the next step is to determine who is willing to pay a new company for these benefits.

    With ideas and potential customers identified the next thing to do is test the ideas.  In order to test the ideas, a plan must be developed to implement the idea for the customers.  Identify and prepare everything which will be needed to implement the idea and find customers to test the idea on.  Remember that this is still part of the testing phase of the business idea.  Normally only one customer is required to test  new ideas.  Once a customer is found, the next step is often completing the first sale.  If the customer is satisified with the results of the sale than the ideas have successfully been turned into a business opportunity.

Building off of someone elses success
    A unique idea is not required to start a business venture.  There are many business opportunities available either publicly or privately through direct contact with businesses who have needs which can be provided by a new business.  There are many companies with more work than they can handle or who are incapable of efficiently producing various products and services who adjust for this by resorting to outsourcing customer requirements to other companies.  This is often done transparently to the customer where customers only see one business.  They will not always know that another company is providing them the products and services they are requesting, and in many instances this fact would be irrelevant to customers.

A venture does not always need its own resources to produce products and services which the business will provide.  The chart below, titled IT Leading as Most Active Area of Outsourcing, shows there are wide ranges of services that can be provided with the assistance of outsourcing.  Outsourcing companies work for other businesses often transparently to the customer.  Using outsourcing small businesses can produce wider ranges of products and services to appear larger than they are.

An ideal situation for small businesses is to attach to larger businesses with a contract which guarantees work for the smaller business.  This relationship benefits businesses greatly by providing reliable income streams and service providers.  This relationship strengthens the new business based on the success of the parent company.  It is possible, though rarely advised, that small businesses can rely entirely on income from a single company.

The small business enironment
    Small businesses can range from one person home based operations to companies with over 50 employees.  These businesses face a highly competative environment from other small businesses and from large corporations.  In many industries, such as marketing research, there are more businesses competing for work than there is work available.  This can create a great deal of down time for employees when there is no work available.  Unlike large businesses, a small business normally will not have enough equity and available credit to maintain these employees while there is no work available.  This downtime can also be a large financial blow to a small business as some expenses, such as rental agreements and license fees, are still presant even when the business is not active.

Small businesses also face an intimidating amount of competition from larger corporations.  Larger corporations often are able to use their vast resources to decrease their operating expenses below what a small business is capable of.  This makes it even more difficult for the new business to attain a share of the market since they are unable to provide services at a lower price than the larger corporations.  Larger corporations can often afford more advanced technologies such as automation technologies which can be too expensive for the small business to attain.  In some cases, such as Walmart, the larger company is able to provide products at or below cost by increasing the cost of other products.  Large corporations are also often capable of establishing labor centers in coutries with cheaper labor which further increases their competative advantage over small businesses.  These practices ultimatly can put small business out of business.

They key element of business creation is flexibility
    Possibility of success can be increased with improved flexibility.  Take the example of Harland Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders.  In the early 1950s a highway was built which would bypass the town which Harland Sanders had his resturant (Bell 2009).   This nearly ended Harland Sanders business.  Instead of giving up, he sought out investors to purchase his recipies and started the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.  His flexibility and unwillingness to give up created large profits from his business.  The market is a changing environment and being flexible enough to change is a key element for any business.
Every business faces needs for flexibility as the environment of any business will change.  Prices will change,  suppliers go out of business and new suppliers will become available who can produce higher quality products or similar products with lower prices.  Technologies are often developed which offer a business using them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.  Companies utilizing technologies which decrease their expenses have an increased chance of survival during the times when the economy is weak.  These innovative companies have higher potential for profits when the economy is strong.  Leaving room for flexibility in the development of ventures ultimately increases the chances of success and provides room for growth.

    The marketplace is filled with individuals with unique needs.  Being flexible is practically a requirement for creating new businesses because every business must be designed to serve the needs of customers which rarely match the original plan.  Harland Sanders did not originally intend building a chain of resturants he wanted a resturant to sell his recipies for fried chicken.  He had to be flexible with his plan and was forced to change them when the environment caused his business problems.  Ventures are best implemented by open-minded people who are ready to make changes.  When potential customers are found with needs which do not exactly match the original idea, the new company may fill those needs if they are willing to be flexible. Ultimately, the new venture is developed to serve customers. It helps if the people managing companies remember that they are in business for the customers.

The business development process
    Business development is a process and not a one-time event.  The world changes and companies must adjust to survive.  The managers of some companies may not be capable of producing enough ideas for the company, and can adjust by hiring employees to specifically analyse the business environment and use this information for improving and growing the business.  Other companies have more ideas than they are capable of implementing, and keep lists of all ideas for future implementation.  From that list, management can select ideas which are likely to create the most benefit for the business.

    Business development can be broken down into key parts.  First is the introduction of new ideas or opportunities.  Once a new opportunity is accepted, the next step is planning.  Without a plan to establish the idea within the business, it is likely the idea or its benefits to the company will be lost.  Once the plan is established, the next step is testing the plan.  After the testing phase is complete, the next step is deciding if the new idea is beneficial or detrimental to the business.  If the new idea is benefiting the company, then the completing step is the full implementaiton of the plan into the business.  This is not the end of the process but instead, the point at which the idea is cycled indefinately through the business development process.  The idea may outlive its usefullness, and the same process is used to remove the use of the idea from the business or new ideas may be born as a result of these new ideas which require the process to be repeated.  The business development process will be used for the lifetime of the company and over time the development process which is used by the business will also be improved in an effort to keep the business alive in its changing environment.

Partnerships and business agreements
    There is a saying that no man is an island (John Donne, as cited in The Phrase Finder c. 2008). How this applies to a small business is that the business is not alone in the market.  Partnerships and agreements are an important part of any business.  Seeking out partnerships with success-minded people and businesses can greatly increase the success of any company.  In the computer programming of artificial intelligence, there is a method of creating systems which is referred to as hive intelligence (Team 006 from Albq. Academy 1998)  Hive intelligence is a system-based on the individual parts of a system understanding how to perform their specific tasks even though they do not have full access to the entire system they are working in.   Adding partnerships and agreements with other companies can increase the capabilities and success of a business the same way since the company will be able to share in the success of a larger part of the market.

The market has existed for a long time and any business wishing to enter the market will need to form partnerships and agreements with companies which are already part of that market.  These connections with other businesses will strengthen the business which is being created. Having more connections is preferable since businesses close and new businesses are opening all of the time.  A business relying solely on a parent company is likely to collapse completely if the parent company fails.  When creating a company, it is often preferable to plan for multiple partnerships, plan for the creation of new partnerships, and even plan for the dissolving of partnerships.

Management concerns for a new venture
    A new business venture often creates a small business where there is little or no separation between the owners and management (Beaver  Jennings 2005).  What is seen is that, as a business grows, the business will reach a point where the owners are no longer able to manage the company without the assistance of a dedicated management staff.  A new venture should include plans for the current and future management of the business so that when the time comes for dedicated management, then there are established policies and procedures for the new managers to utilize to take over management of various operations within the company.  These policies and procedures should be written out clearly and maintained as the policies and procedures change.  Having these procedures in writing helps as a reference when customer issues arise.  Many customers will appreciate having policies quoted to them as that establishes to them that the company is treating them as fairly as possible.  Making policies and procedures public which directly affect customers and do not reveal any trade secrets is one way a new venture can begin building trust with their customers.  This can also help reduce customer complaints. The customers can easily review the policies which are establishing their relationship with the new business venture before a complaint is filed or after the complaint is filed to quickly resolve the issue.

    Management of the new ventures relationship with its vendors is also very important for many businesses.  Keeping consistent open communication with vendors is part of this and is a good way to maintain a view of the current business envoronment.  Many vendors provide newsletters which they utilize to release important news about changes in their services and pricing.  Newsletters are only a one-way communication so when possible, it is good for a company to regularly communicate news about the business with the vendors.  A vendor of one service can often become a customer of another service which creates the possibility for a barter agreement which in some cases are tax-free.

    As you can see there is a wide range of opportunities available for starting and growing a business.  The creation of ideas and turning them into opportunities is one method of starting and developing a business. There are also many other ideas available which have already been developed into opportunities by other companies and it is possible to maintain a business using these opportunites.  Small start-up businesses are creating many jobs and therefore, have a significant impact on the economy.  Ultimately, these jobs are providing money to consumers which further helps drive the entire economy.  Some of these small businesses also develop into large international companies which create significant impacts on both local and global economies.  As long as a business is developed to be flexible enough to respond to changes and challenges in the business envoronment, it is likely that there will always be opportunities available for an entrepreneur to utilize to maintain the success of the business even if they are not utilizing their own ideas which need to be turned into opportunities

Staples Inc. is the worlds largest office products company boasting with  27 billion annual sales with a profit margin of about 15 billion in the market. The company has a broad market niche as it serves North and South America, Europe and Asia. This can be attributed to the companys smart marketing strategies that have led to acquisitions that have broadened the market segment of the company with fully financed new stores opening in the emerging, markets across the U.S and the rest of the global market. In the same light, Staples successful acquired the European based Corporate Express that had established strong business roots in the supply of office merchandise to corporate and institutions across Europe (Staples, 2008).                 Nevertheless, the company is losing its profit margins to its top two competitor being Office depot and Office Max whose combined profit margins and sales volume far surpass Staples market share due to lack of proactive marketing strategies. Staples lack a closely tailored business strategy to overcome the two market rivals due to its dependency on its cheaper priced products thus offering false market security (Troy, 2003). Therefore Staples need to work on building customer confidence besides its low-priced products by engaging in aggressive public relations to redeem profits.

Staples Inc. provides services chiefly to large businesses while companies unlike OfficeMax that has thoroughly accomplished profitability in serving the broad small scaled companies and homes (Staples, 2008). With the present world recession and promotion of home-based offices connected via the web Staples has to reconsider its marketing strategy in order to cover the mushrooming home based offices through establishment of retailer based sales points instead of expansive development of branded store houses that can only serve a small niche of customers.
    The international market is a major venture that Staples Inc. has neglected thus reducing its competitiveness power in the global market. Notably, Office Depot has developed a broad international market that has increased its capital base and in return this competitor can use their financial ability to chip into the existing Staples market (Troy, 2003). Consequently, Staples management need re-draw its priorities in order to take advantage of the global market place so as to increase its operating capital to overcome future competition threats.    
    Conclusively, Staples is facing a future retail market difficult unless strategies are implemented to cover the biggest retail and international market. Common unavailability of Staples products in small markets has hindered its market expansion thus losing customers who rather use any company products.

Q.1 Is SEI using an organic or mechanistic design Provide support for your answer.
It is very obvious from the scenario mentioned in the case that SEI is using an organic structure. Briefly, Organic design is the one, which eliminates various tiers of an organization to make horizontal communication possible. This, in a particular situation, is deemed fit to achieve organizations goals. SEI is using organic design, can be supported by various facts. Employees are working in teams moving from one team to another having formal titles. Moreover, authority is not centralized and only the best is considered to be the boss, without having any tag on hisher forehead (Reigle.,  Ronda., 2001). Apart from this, employees are ready to take on others role if needed. Finally, employees can freely wok in different teams, just by communicating verbally to the supervisor, if needed.
     
Q2 What kind of technological interdependence is present at SEI
SEI, being a financial services firm, is bound to be technologically interdependent. Like every other field, global financial markets have become closely interlinked. Without having access to technology, such as internet, a financial analyst wouldnt know if heshe is taking a well informed decision, regarding making an investment or any other matter. 

Q3 What type of organizational design would work best for SEI Explain.
I think SEI can use a middle approach towards its design. Using organic and mechanistic design are two extremes, but there is always a continuum between any two extremes. Since, SEI is in financial services business, where promoting a creative and open culture is not a critical success factor, it can slightly tilt towards a mechanistic design. Because, moving from here and there results in loss of productivity and it is not necessary either, it should be avoided.

Im a loner and Im an introvert. So when Im dealing with all these people, theyre taking every ounce of my being and my energy when Im engaged, Im engaged, Im passionately involved (Moeller, 2007).
    Former DriveCam CEO, Bruce Moellers key for an effective leadership is maintaining his ways of communication open. As the companys head, it is his duty to oversee everything under his wing from the large-scale finances down to the personal-leveled talks with clients. He makes it a point that no one is hindered for expressing himself just because of intimidation. Moeller has his unique ways of making everybody feel comfortable with him without removing the respect.
    Evident in his manners are few principles of ethics such as the principle of informed consent which is therightand responsibility of everycompetentindividual to advance his or her own welfare. This right and responsibility is exercised by freely and voluntarily consenting or refusing consent to recommended medical procedures, based on a sufficient knowledge of the benefits, burdens, and risks involved (Key Ethical Principles, n.d.) and the principle of respect for autonomy which pertains to a persons capacity for self-determinationTo respect an autonomous agent is to acknowledge that personsrightto make choices and take action based on that persons own values and belief system (Key Ethical Principles, n.d.).
    Aside from Moellers work ethics, he also practices the concepts based from the evidence-based management model by always trying to go into the facts. His ways of observing peoplemay it be a subordinate nor a client, are always based on the personalities of the people that hes dealing with. Because of those techniques, he proved himself to be an efficient people-person despite being an introvert.

A crisis is a sudden problem that breaks out of control and comes in a greater magnitude beyond the normal anticipation. The happenings that can be classified as crisis and which normally strike beyond control include highly communicable diseases at a work place or in a social venue, aspects of natural disaster, including floods, winds and wildfire. Other aspects that can be classified as crisis include evacuation from danger spots, workplace violence, and employee crimes. Because a crisis normally strikes when least expected and not a single institution is immune, it is increasingly becoming a matters of great concern with the corporate sector to have a crisis management strategy. The issue of crisis management has drawn wide interest to an extent that institutions of learning are currently offering course in risk management and emergency management that have a very close association with crisis management (TXLA 2009).
    Crisis management requires that a good and effective strategy is developed so that a new crisis does not emerge while attempting to solve one. In order to realize effective crisis management, it is important that fundamental components including effective communication, delegation of responsibility, risk assessment, media communication and placeholder statement are developed. These would work towards ensuring a smooth flow and proper coordination of activities during a crisis (TXLA 2009).
    It is highly important that preparation for a crisis is undertaken because the forces of nature that often lead to crisis can never be prevented. It is even argued that prevention of a crisis is the most important aspect of crisis management. For an organization to be able to respond effectively to a crisis, it is important to put in place a crisis management team that will be responsible for handling the crisis whenever it is to occur. This is very critical because attempting to put in place teams when a crisis has already occurred may lead to furthers damages that could have otherwise been avoided. The crisis management team is very important in an organization because it is this team that will be responsible for the identification of potentially hostile situations and coming up with strategies for managing them successfully. Situations that amount to a crisis differ from one organization to another and it is therefore important that every individual organization organizes its own crisis management team on the basis of their understanding of their possible crisis (Trest et al. 2003).
    This paper analyses into details of the most critical aspects of crisis management, including the crisis management prevention plan, crisis management plan implementation, and crisis management media strategy. The research further goes to recommend to organizations the measures for implementing the crisis management plan and the media strategy. The first part of this paper outlines the steps that were followed in developing this research paper and the main guiding factors. The second part of the paper reviews the works of other authors who have previously addressed this topic. The paper is concluded by making recommendations to organizations on principles of effective crisis management.
Literature Review
 Effective crisis management in organization is highly dependent on the ability of the crisis management team to handle such situations when they occur. As such, the composition of the crisis management team is very important. A good and effective team should be composed of persons who participate in core decision making of the organization with a good knowledge of crisis management. A good understanding of the activities of the organization will be a prerequisite for this team since it is on this basis that they will be able to identify the potentially catastrophic situations to the organization. It is the crisis management team that is capable of identifying the true existence of a crisis. The composition of a crisis management team is dependent on the size of an organization. Small organizations can have the normal management team to double up as the crisis management team. Larger organizations are however opting to constitute a special team of representatives of the core disciplines that would be acting independently in the event of a crisis (Trest et al. 2003).
    Since the composition of crisis management team should reflect the core decision making organs of an organization, it is important that the following departments are represented in the team the risk management department, legal department, facility management, information technology department, financial services department, and human resources department. The other departments that should be represented include real estate management department, corporate security department, and the communications department. The involvement of these critical departments is very important since each segment of an organization should be continually assessed for possible crisis. Once a crisis management team is constituted in an organization, it is important to identify the team leader who will lead it in strategy development. The crisis management team of an organization is charged with the responsibility of developing a written crisis management plan for the organization, delegate responsibility among the team members, coming up with a good plan for communicating crisis related issues and accurate exchange of information. The other responsibilities include the establishment of training schedules for the team and establishment of a crisis culture for the organization that would be useful for a long term (Trest et al. 2003).
    In order for a crisis management team to effectively diagnose the potential crisis aspects to the organization, conducting a threat analysis becomes very essential. The analysis of threat assessment can enable a crisis management team to do an assessment of the environment. This will facilitate the identification of the potential threats and how such threats may impact on the organization. Evaluating the possibility of occurrence of the threats would ensure that they are prioritized and effectively planned for. Once a crisis planning is implemented, it is important to regularly test the effectiveness of the strategy to ensure it complies with response to potential threats. This calls for regular training on crisis management so that a false sense of security is not created in the organization just because a crisis team exists (Trest et al. 2003).
    Development of a crisis plan is very significant towards implementation of crisis management. A good plan should not be very comprehensive and highly detailed because it can not contain all the details necessary in the management of the crisis. The basics for effective action plan should however be addressed within the plan. A crisis management plan should capture issues relating to assessment of potential risks clearly outline the team and the responsibilities of the individual members in the event of a crisis. The step by step action plan and a checklist, the communication plan and a list of key media should be reflected. Details of crisis training, media training, development of material for media information, and preparation of statements for a variety of risk scenarios should be developed and outlined in this plan. Preparation of a crisis management plan is very important to an organization and statistics indicate that organizations that failed to create crisis management plans in advance have always suffered major crisis related setbacks (BNET Editorial 2009).
    Implementation of a crisis management plan becomes critical in the event that a crisis occurs in an organization. In the case of a crisis, it is important first to ensure that an assessment of life safety is undertaken. This should be immediately followed by making available all equipment that may be required for emergency care. It is only after ensuring the first two emergency steps that the top management in the organization, that is normally the head of crisis management team is informed. As a requirement, the head of crisis management is not supposed to be at the crisis scene. Instead, the team leader should remain stationed at a point where it is possible to coordinate the crisis management exercise. The team leader is expected to immediately activate the crisis management team. It would be necessary that the leader dispatches the security team and other trained emergency care representatives. In doing this, the team leaders should strictly follow the guidelines for specific crisis management as contained in the manual. It is important that the crisis area is evacuated and secured to prevent more people from coming into contact with the crisis. The team leader is supposed to implement the notification systems and finally call for back-up from emergency rescue agencies (Kapiolani Community College 2007).
    Communication management is a very essential aspect of crisis management. This is because whenever a crisis occurs, attention of the medial will automatically be drawn. It is therefore important that a good media communication strategy is developed. This calls for the preparation of media communication material to be used for media briefs. It is therefore important to identify the person who will handle media communication and other inquiries. The team member who is identified to handle communication aspects in the event of a crisis should be highly knowledgeable on media issues. The person should also be of senior position within the organization so that that the media briefs may be credible. A crisis communication plan should be guided by the target audience, communication medium to be used, and how the message would be relayed. The communication plan should reflect the contacts with all the stakeholders of the organization (BNET Editorial 2009).
    Preparation of communication material in the event that a crisis occurs is very important in avoiding the creation of a negative image to an organization. This is critical because the media generally do not care about the effects of their reporting on the reputation of an organization. It may not be possible to predict all details relating to the crisis, but a background material should be able to relatively fill in the gap in the crisis story. Preparation of a skeleton document should be able to give a guiding framework for the full development of a complete release when need arises. An organization is able to attract sympathetic responses and very fair press coverage during a crisis if it had created good relationship with the media, its customers and all other stakeholders. (BNET Editorial 2009).
Methodology
In research undertaking, the methodology section is one of the crucial areas to be tackled in a proposal document. This is due to the fact that it forms the basis of the results of research findings. A research can be faced with big challenges due to a wrong choice of the method to be used. Avoiding this good planning of method is essential in order to get reliable results. The issue of reliability establishes that a research should have the ability to show consistency in the results even after a study is done by different researchers repeatedly.   Reliability in research study can also be enhanced through good structure of the methodology. When the correct data collection methods are used, proportional samples are collected and the correct method of analysis is used in a research that can achieve validity.
    The research problem forms the basis of research (Morgan  Smircich 1980, pp. 491-500) and this is where the study should focus on. The methodology can take on either the positivist approach also known as the quantitative, or take the post positivist approach also known as the qualitative approach. The qualitative approach is a more detailed than the quantitative approach as it lays more emphasis on the finer details of the data  and in most cases, it involves a researchers judgment and interpretation. Quantitative approach deals more with quantification like calculating the population sample, population size among others. The choice of the researcher on either the qualitative or the quantitative approach depends on whether the researchstudy is inclined to the natural sciences or the social sciences (Finch 1986, pp.6-10 Easterby-Smith et al. 1991, pp.23-25).
Setting
 This study was conducted at the Dranoff International Two-Piano Foundation. This is a non-profit organization specializing in the promotion of careers of young two-piano artists and their music. This organization that is based in Miami is also involved in student outreach activities.
Data collection methods
 Both secondary and primary data sources will be used. The triangulation method of data collection will involve the use of interviews, literature review and case studies (Zikmund 2003, pp.1-745).The primary data method that will be used is the questionnaire method of data collection. Questionnaires will be distributed among the management organization. There will also be case studies to be conducted for other organizations to know about the crisis management strategies in the other organizations and compare with the ones in Dranoff International Two-Piano Foundation. This will also draw an insight of the various operations of crisis management in other organizations.  There will be use of literature review in order to gather information on crisis management generally. The literature in this research will include research journals, books, articles and sources from university libraries.
The four categories of quality management in research were highly considered. These include validity, reliability, ethics and rigor (Zikmund 2003, p.300). Reliability of a research is its ability to have consistence in results. This will be done on controlling the sample by stratifying the population to get a more representative sample. Validity is the ability of a scale to measure what it is intended to measure but not going beyond the topic of the study. The triangulation method was used to control this aspect in research. Ethics involves adherence to the norms accepted in gathering of information. This will be ensured by providing secrecy on the information collected from the organization. The rigor of the research was directed towards efficient sample size in a critical facet in any investigation. The main purpose a researcher utilizes a sample is to reduce the charges and collect important data faster (Zikmund, 2003).
Data Analysis
 The raw data that was collected using the survey questionnaire was transformed into a body of facts in a suitable format that have been utilized in making informed decisions. This had called for the analysis of the data involving the application of several interrelated procedures intended at summarizing and rearranging the data. For this research, the following analysis procedures were applied. The data was edited for omissions, legibility and consistency.
The data was then coded by assigning the data numerical symbols so as to facilitate efficient computer processing. The data was then entered into the computer from where analysis was done. The triangulation method for data analysis and interpretation was used to interpret the data collected basing arguments on grounded theory. In addition, the information obtained from literature review was analyzed and comparisons were made between the different data sources (Dick 2000 Breitmayer et al. 1991).
Results
 Data for this research was obtained through the use of carefully crafted questionnaire that was sent to the management of the organizations. Some of these organizations had successfully implemented crisis management, some were in the process of implementing crisis management, and the rest were yet to make any move towards crisis management strategies for one reason or the other. Among the organizations that had implemented crisis management strategies, some had achieved positive results while others registered very limited returns. The reason for this variation was attributed to the crisis management strategy adopted.
    Research findings indicated that out of the 20 representatives of organizations, 12 had implemented crisis management strategies, 5 were in the process of implementing crisis management strategies, while 3 considered the process as unnecessary since everything was all right without implementing such strategies. Research findings further indicate that out of the 12 organizations where crisis management had been implemented, 6 organizations admitted achieving positive progress as a result of adopting good crisis management strategy. 4 of these organizations indicated that they were yet to register significant improvement from the crisis management process while 2 organizations indicated that their operations had been negatively affected as a result of implementation of poor crisis management strategies. Research findings indicate that out of the 20 responses that were received, 5 respondents considered crisis management in organizations as very important. 7 respondents viewed crisis management as important though not very much. 5 others were of the opinion that crisis management is something that an organization could do with or without, while 3 respondents did not consider strategic crisis management as anything important.
Discussion
Organizations should implement crisis management in their units. This is because crises are caused by external forces from outside and are not subject to the control of an organization. In addition, crisis is inevitable in businesses in the current world. This is because it is associated by certain inevitable factors like changes in the political system, development of new markets and natural disasters. Therefore, the only way to adapt to such circumstances is to implement crisis management in the organization. Although a successful crisis management is started from top management for an organization to achieve an amicable crisis management strategy all the different staff and stakeholders should be involved. This is not to be an issue that should be left in the hands of the management alone. However, after the procedures for crisis management are drafted, there is a need to use a crisis management team to coordinate the whole process.
Conclusion
As crisis is associated with uncertainties, it is important for organizations to set up crisis management teams and programs that can sensitize the stakeholders about any anticipated crisis. This can be directed more to the employees as they are the most uncertain population in the organization in regard to crisis. Through training the employees earlier, this will prepare them psychologically to accommodate crisis. Abrupt crisis in many occasions brings about confusions in the organizations. It is through effective communication with the media that an organizations corporate image may be protected in the face of a crisis. Training of employees could be a better way to ensure that they are up to standards in the world of crisis management. This will enable the employees adapt to crisis whenever they occur.