The Social Network Impact on Online Travel Service Provider - Essay Example

Running Head: W3Qop Topic: W3Qop Lecturer: Presentation: Q1: Analyze the social network impact on a specified online travel service provider such as the expediate.com. Justify how such companies can make the use of social network to boost their business. Internet technology has brought new developments in social networking through websites. These are sites whereby information that is unique to companies is posted with the aim of making it available to many people for purposes of marketing and awareness creation. It is usually expected that consumers will view the information whenever they visit the sites. There are more than 100 networking sites in the internet that provide a significant forum for people to learn and exchange information. There are certain servers that control domains such as expediate.com, carrental.net, clubnewsmaker.net e. t. c. The sites are applied by companies to promote sales through the internet. The people who visit these sites can create their profile, which allows them to display their interests and thoughts regarding various issues. Companies utilize the opportunity to identify consumer’s views regarding their products. They use the sites to promote brand awareness especially when a new brand is launched. Consumer confidence is increased when they interact through these sites. They get to know how the views of other consumers and also their questions can be addressed in unison (Hackler & Saxton, 2007). Social networks can be used to boost business especially when the marketing campaigns are designed to match the business objectives. The advertisements target specific market segments ensuring that their needs are met. The sites are significant in meeting the needs of a wide customer base especially due to the fact that the use of internet is growing rapidly globally. Consumers are allowed to interact in online forums wherever they are, and they create a large audience for the marketers. The swiftness through which information is passed to all consumers is significant in making quick sales than the conventional forms of marketing. Moreover, the marketers have an opportunity to demonstrate to the consumers through video clips or demos. The sites are flexible and the marketers can change the content fast to suit consumer demands. Value addition can be accomplished through allowing the consumers to vote for their interests to be integrated in the product. In essence, the social networks have helped businesses to make a major milestone in promoting their products (Turban et al. 2008).   Q2: Why do approaches to managerial problem solving remain imperfect? Managers do not like problems especially due to the time they consume making it difficult to accomplish good plans. Problems generate uncertainties in business and they always seem imminent. When managers identify problems, they ensure that they are eliminated as fast as possible. However, this may sometimes lead to imperfection especially if the managers go for the easiest way to solve the problems. There is usually little time that is spent in evaluating the alternatives, which leads to loss of better options that can enhance a lasting solution to problems. Sometimes the rapid response and application of the fast solutions may worsen the situation. Failures in problem solving result when managers lack a logical approach. One major aspect of problem solving that leads to imperfection is the manager’s pessimistic view of problems rather than viewing them as new openings to make change worthwhile and exciting. Rather than approaching problems in a systematic way, some managers engage in problem solving instinctively, which tends to generate unwarranted experiences. This approach does not provide room for development of skills that can enhance effective problem solving in future (Griffin, 2005). The trial and error method also adversely affects problem solving. Managers sometimes try problem solving strategies that work well while other times fail completely to accomplish their objectives. Failure to use a structured process leads to the trial and error strategies that are open to failure. On the other hand, the problem solving strategies may be clear but the managers fail to follow the guidelines that have been laid out. Without commitment and adherence to the guiding principles of the problem solving process, the approaches to problem solving will always remain imperfect. Sometimes the managers do not take time to understand the problem, identify the standards of a good decision and develop the best alternatives. When business seems to be running smoothly and managers forget to keenly look for problems, they are compelled to act on emergencies and chances of failure are high at such times especially due to lack of adequate information that can be used to solve the problem (Latham & Vinyard, 2006). Q3: What are the critical issues and challenges in evaluating leadership development and organizational performance? Evaluation may be based on scanty information due top lack of a baseline assessment conducted prior to the evaluation of leadership development. In essence, leadership development means that the leaders are moving from a particular level of leadership to the other. It becomes a major challenge to conduct an evaluation in a situation where the original circumstances are not known. In other words, it is difficult to quantify the leadership development or even understand the change in the organization in terms of performance. Determining the aspects to evaluate is another major challenge due to the multiplicity of leadership qualities that are fit for unique situations in the organization. Evaluators often make the mistake of choosing the wrong parameters, which eventually give the wrong information. Resource constraints may also hamper leadership development evaluation. It is a process that requires time and involvement of many respondents to come up with a representative sample. Organizations sometimes operate under pressure to maintain competence, which requires effective utilization of the available time for production rather than activities such as leadership evaluation that are thought to be time consuming. Adequate response is also a major challenge in the evaluation process. There are possibilities of people failing to offer the correct information without being biased especially for some evaluation techniques such as the Social Network Analysis where privacy and related ethical issues arise. Moreover, there is also a problem of knowing the manner in which the evaluation will be conducted. The wrong strategy may lead to wrong data, which may hamper the accomplishment of the goals of evaluation (Hannum et al. 2007). Q4: What are the personal transformational leadership development efforts? Why do people choose to create personal transformational leadership efforts? How are these efforts important for todays organizations?  Transformational leadership involves inspiring others towards achieving a shared vision or particular organizational objectives. It involves initiating change and becoming successful agents of change through motivating others to rise above their individual aspirations to accomplish a collective goal. Leaders acquire the capability of persuading followers to adopt new practices for their own good as well as achievement of the overall goal. Leaders strive to act as role models for the followers to emulate. Efforts for personal transformation leadership development are meant to create leaders who are capable of expressing and representing the feelings others building confidence amongst followers, thereby motivating them to work harder for the realization of personal and organizational goals. Alldredge et al. (2003) observe that transformational leadership has been significant in the success of the contemporary organizations. Leaders who are able to motivate and inspire workers to discover their talents and put it in practice usually accomplish organizational goals and also promote personal development among employees. Motivation can be as simple as appreciating the contribution of workers towards the success of the organization. As Kesler (2002) observes, a leader needs to be creative and able to make things work out according to his vision. This is accomplished through motivating people to change their perception regarding issues affecting them and being inventive to achieve in life. References Alldredge, M., Johnson, C., Stoltzfuz, J., & Vicere, A. (2003). “Leadership development at 3M: New process, new techniques, new growth”. Human Resource Planning, 26(3), 45. Griffin, J. (2005). “Telling where it hurts”. DM Review, Vol. 15(2), 62.  Hackler, D., & Saxton, G. D. (2007). “The strategic use of information technology by nonprofit organizations: Increasing capacity and untapped potential”. Public Administration Review, Vol. 67(3), p 474.  Hannum, K. M., Martineau, J. W., & Reinelt, C. (2007). The handbook of leadership development evaluation. San Francisco: Wiley.  Kesler, G. C. (2002). “Why the leaders never gets deeper: Ten insights about executive talent development”. Human Resource Planning, Vol. 25(1), p 32. Latham, J. & Vinyard, J. (2006). Baldrige Users Guide: Organization diagnosis, design, and transformation. San Francisco: Wiley.  Turban, E., Leidner, D., McLean, E., & Wetherbe, J. (2008). Information technology for management: Transforming organizations in the digital economy, 6th ed. San Francisco: Wiley. Read More