Great Leaders In Their Respective Fields Business Essay - Free Essay Example

In order to be a leader a man must have followers-Dwight Eisenhower. In simplest terms, a leader is one who knows where he wants to go, and gets up, and goes-John Erksine, The complete Life. Leaders are dealers in hopeNapoleon. Real Leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determinationAnonymous The other word that comes to the mind is leadership which is quiet closely associated with leaders. What is Leadership? Leadership is capacity to translate vision into reality-Warren.G.Benis. Leadership is action, not positionDonald McGannon. Leadership is getting someone to do what they dont want to do, to achieve what they want to achieveTom Landry From the above discussion it can be seen that our research paper revolves around leaders and leadership. The principle aim of this study is to determine the influential leadership competencies that are evident in the successful management of an organisation; highlighting, or otherwise, how a charismatic vision can improve performance. This will be investigated primarily through the opinions of employees representing an organisation deemed successful. Keywords: Leadership, Management and Leaders 1.0 Introduction Sharp and Howard (1996, as cited in Saunders et al, 2003) explain two major reasons for reviewing literature published by accredited scholars and researchers. The preliminary search enables the researcher to generate and refine ideas. This is followed by a critical review, a crucial element of any research project. The purpose of the theoretical underpinning is to convey to the reader what knowledge and ideas have been established regarding the subject matter. Saunders et al. (2003) state that a review of the literature is necessary to help develop a thorough understanding of, and insight into previous research of ones research question (s) and objectives. The following literature review will aim to differentiate between the process of leadership and the position of a leader. Knowledge and ideas of the two will be presented with the strengths and weaknesses highlighted. The importance of explaining this variance cannot be underestimated; confusion between the two exists and is ofte n debated. This review will show leadership to be collaborative; involving cooperation, teamwork, networking and the mobilising of resources; whereas a leader is presented as individualistic, special, with successful figures further examined. Understanding the requirements of leadership and the development of positive leadership skills is arguably the single most important task for society (Krause, 1997); this view is particularly true in the management of an organisation. Leadership in contemporary organisational life has become a pervasive phenomenon.(Storey, 2004: 3.) Storey (2004) believes there are few, if any, hotter topics in management, business and organisation theory at the present time, than leadership. Professor Gareth Jones (ed. The RSA, 1999) asked why, as the 20th century came to a close, are we so obsessed with leadership? Jones believes it is historically fundamental to be so and cites Karl Marx and Charles Darwin as intellectual giants of such a philosophy. It is widely regarded (Bennis, 1989; Conger and Kanungo, 1998; Hodgkinson, 1983; Wright, 1996) that leadership advice is generally, anecdotal and situational, based on an individuals own experiences and beliefs. Leadership has always been recognised as a complex enterprise (Burns, 1978; Hodgkinson, 1983; Knowles and Saxberg, 1971), and as recent studies assert (Kouzes and Posner, 2002; Mole, ed. Storey, 2004), vision and collaboration are now more important characteristics of effective leadership. Management is an organised body of knowledge (Drucker, 1985) and is about seeking order and stability, however, leadership is about searching adaptive and constructive change (Northouse, 2004). Max Weber was deeply intrigued about the leaders charisma and how the affects it has on those around (Conger and Kanungo, 1998), the researcher shares this interest through reading around the array of published literature on the subject. Charismatic leadership obviously represents a percentage of the ever-increasing amount of secondary data available; however, compared to other approaches, this percentage is low. The researcher has a keen interest in the differing styles of leadership used in todays society. Being given the opportunity to establish, which type of style achieves success, in a particular industry, is of great importance to the researcher; is a justification for research, and a personal motivation towards the study. Remember the difference between a boss and a leader: a boss says Go!, a leader says, Lets go!'(Hughes et al., 1999:128) 1.1 Research Qu estion Can leadership offer competitive advantage to corporations on regional basis irrespective of national culture? What are the core characteristics possessed by founders or great leaders those have helped regional subsidiaries in conservative states to achieve sustainability till date? Our main focus is to provide and analyse characteristics those can offer competitive advantage to todays competing organisations worldwide. On the other hand, we are also interested to witness and analyse leadership characteristics or styles or visions those have helped particular organisations enhance long-term sustainability. This is because both these questions and the propositions revolving are complimentary to each other (i.e. leaders with particular characteristics will be incepted in corporate culture offering that particular organisation competitive edge against closest peers) and can enhance the reliability and validity of our analysis and findings. These findings will be translated to witness whether great leaders such as Sam Walton, Michael Dells unique leadership characteristics still prevail on regional basis or just confined to corporate headquarters. In other words, if a multinational corporation has unique leadership skill driven corporate culture will its subsid iary in conservative business environment such as Middle East share the same or differ? If it does then leadership offers competitive advantage irrespective of cultural and regional bias. 1.2 Background Leadership should be viewed as achieving goals through people; furthermore, all managers are leaders so should act accordingly (Armstrong, 1990). However, if managers are to achieve optimum results then there is a need for them to understand the nature of leadership before establishing a suitable style. Leadership must be grounded in principles, which are properties of the universe (Covey, 1992). According to Covey (1992), there exist four levels of principle centred leadership with key principles: Organisational Alignment. Managerial Empowerment. Interpersonal Trust. Personal Trustworthiness. Mahatma Gandhi (below) once said seven things would destroy us, Covey (1992) attempted to relate this statement within the leadership framework. Many lessons were drawn from Gandhis life, and could be used to develop a leadership framework to bring the moral and spiritual dimension to leadership and guide employees to a higher standard (Nair, 1994). Simple methods such as personal observation and a commitment to the truth allow a leader to see things as they really are, understanding the true needs of the followers they are leading (Nair, 1994). Leaders need to develop their own values, by reading scriptures, the New Testament, words by Gandhi, etc. (Giuliani, 2002). If the leader fails to uphold values of his society, or the values to which his society aspires, he is unworthy of that uncommon honour which the leader represents.(Atherton, 2003: 114). The development of leadership has long been on the agenda globally; Alimo-Metcalfe, Beverly and Lawler (2001) reported the findings of a study of public and private sector organisations. Employees were constantly fending off lies and felt their opinions and feelings were not being sought. A key recommendation from the findings was the development of in-house leadership skills. Leadership is like athleticism, that is one has to stay in shape. By handling crises as they occur, they may one day be conditioned to handle the worst kind of test (Giuliani, 2002).Giuliani (2002) discusses leadership principles that have proved successful to him in a distinguished career; he is convinced that leadership is not exercised in a vacuum, independent of their individual past. This, of course, is quite the contrary of much leadership literature; certainly affirming words. Giuliani (2002) believes a leaders approach must be formed from the raw material of his or her own life, because leadership does not simply happen, however, can be taught, learned and developed. Much of Giulanis (2002) theories on leaders and leadership include articulate advice on the many issues involved. However, not all of the principles should be adhered; Giulani advocates keeping expectations low at all times so th at the leader looks good when results turned out better than expected, under promise and over deliver is how he put it. The notion flip-flopping is rarely recommended throughout much of the literature, this means changing your mind as a leader. It is not a sign of weakness; moreover, it is an indication of intellectual honesty (Giuliani, 2002). Giuliani (2002) seldom highlights the current concepts of leadership, however does offer much quality in regards to some key aspects of the subject, with certain characteristics being given individual chapters. Preparation is a major rule in leadership, and stays with us our entire lives; without it, there can be no leadership. A career of relentless preparation means leaders can borrow from their other contingency plans (Giuliani, 2002). When selected for a position of leadership, do not believe you were selected by God,(Giulani, 2002: 100). It is apparent how James Stokesburys words are so accurate when he expressed how leadership always remains the most baffling of arts, and one of the highest and most elusive of qualities; it will remain an art (Stokesbury, ed. Waddell, 1994). 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 Leadership offering competitive advantage Despite their best efforts, a significant number of firms are still a long way from having the leadership capacity they need to excel today (Kotter, 2001). Though many may be moving in the right direction, progress seems to be coming very slowly (Yukl, 2002). In some cases, firms are clearly making no progress at all (Bennis Robert, 2002). Just as vision helps leaders to produce change that eludes managers and bureaucrats, powerful ideas can transform situations that are impervious to programs, tools, or simplistic advice (Mintzberg, 1994). New ideas are what we need or, more precisely, new ways of thinking about some very basic issues. It would help greatly if we could take the concept of the professional manager who can manage anything and drive a stake through its ever so resilient heart (Bennis Robert, 2002). That concept is still very influential today, despite some peoples efforts to demonstrate the problems with it. It haun ts MBA education (Yukl, 2002). It influences how managers think about their careers (sometimes in most destructive ways). It is used to justify tragic staffing decisions, some of the more outrageous acquisitions by raiders, and many of the least successful diversification efforts seen in the last two decades (Kotter, 2009). Unlike management, the requirements for leadership include some things that are very situation-specific and that tend to take time, often much time, to develop (Storey, 2004). This is why no one has ever dreamed of suggesting the concept of the professional leader (Mintzberg, 1994). Of course, all this does not preclude the existence of a few unusually broad and talented people who can move easily across industries and companies (Bennis Robert, 2002). There will always be some people like that. But they will always be rare (Mintzberg, 1994). And even those people will have limits to what they can manage (Kotter, 2001). For the foreseeable future at least, mos t managerial jobs will have a leadership component to them. Big jobs will usually require a lot of leadership (Bennis Robert, 2002). It is time we explicitly recognize that in the way we think about those jobs (Storey, 2004). When we do, it will have a powerful impact on how we staff managerial jobs and on how we go about developing people for those jobs (Mintzberg, 1994). It will also shape (for the better) how we think about business strategies, especially regarding acquisitions (Yukl, 2002). Mention the word leadership, and the vast majority of folks will think of Gandhi or Churchill or Iacocca. In doing so, they raise the concept to a level where it seems relevant to a handful of people at most (Kotter, 2001). Thinking that way, the young manager doesnt try to develop her own leadership potential, because, after all, she realizes that she is just a mortal and was surely not born a leader (Mintzberg, 1994). Thinking that same way, her boss does nothing to develop that potential either (after all, the boss rationalizes, the kid is not a young Iacocca). The same boss also does not worry about leadership when recruiting (finding the next Leader, he points out, is surely the CEOs job). The overall effect of all those actions is obviously enormous (Storey, 2004). Leadership, with a small 1, is of incredible importance in todays world. (Mintzberg, 1994) Its cumulative effect often makes the difference between dreadfully stifling and unresponsive bureaucracies and lively, adaptive organizations (Kotter, 2001). At the level of a single individual, it sometimes occurs in such a subtle way that we dont even notice it (Storey, 2004). That is especially true if the vision is borrowed (developed not by the individual but by someone else) and the number of people who must be led is very small, as is so often the case (Yukl, 2002). A firm that has taken the time to develop practices and programs that build strong management teams able to provide a business with effect ive leadership has a most powerful source of competitive advantage today (Kotter, 2001). And even if a firm is competing against a very rich and very large corporation, if that competitor does not have comparable practices, my research suggests that it may well require a decade to develop the conditions that can sustain those practices (Yukl, 2002). And during the 10-year period, the firm with strong leadership has a chance, in a truly competitive environment, to pulverize the competition (Storey, 2004). The problem today is that many people consider these issues either esoteric (e.g., leadership is about Gandhi and Churchill) or personnel trivialities (e.g., recruiting), or possibly both. That is, they fail to see that the business environment today has, in a sense, democratized leadership, making it relevant not for the few but for the many (Bennis Robert, 2002). They also fail to recognize (or refuse to acknowledge) that whether the many are prepared for the leadership challenge is directly a function of core organizational practices, not peripheral personnel programs (Storey, 2004). And in the broadest sense, they fail to realize that what we are discussing here is how a changing business environment is shifting the bases of competitive advantage, and thus of what will be required to excel in the future (Yukl, 2002). 3.0 Secondary Research-Empirical Evidence 3.0 Corporate Leaders In this section we will sketch the philosophies approaches, which were followed by four great corporate leaders. This will help us to differentiate in built leadership skills and those that can be acquired through training and coaching or team work. The literature review provides characteristics of past leaders who characteristics could be viable in 21st century but can have some pitfall with the fast moving 21st century corporate world (Krames, 2003). To remove this bias we would look in short in lifes of some corporate leaders. They are John. D. Rockfeller Sr, Sam Walton, Jack Welch Michael Dell. There are many Great corporate Leaders other than these four e.g. Andy Groove, Bill Gates, Herb Kelleher, Percy Barnevik etc. The reason to choose these is just Random Sampling but has chosen Rockfeller to see whether leader characteristics changed/remained same with time. Most of the biographies about the leaders is taken from the book What the Best CEOs Know (2003) written by James Krames 3.1 John.D.Rockfeller Sr He was born in the year 1839 and raised in the strictest Baptist faith (Krames, 2003). He was greedy from his childhood as he used to buy candies from the shops sold them to his siblings at a profit. After finishing his basic schooling entered a job as an accountant at the age of 16 (Krames, 2003). Along with an Associate a Chemist founded the first refinery in Cleveland in 1863 and named it as Standard Oil. Standard Oil grew at a rapid rate as Rockfeller reinvested his profits kept the cost wages as low as possible (Krames, 2003). He never liked to be in public and the only place people found him was in his office. He was never seen in the Oil regions (Bass, 1985). Rockfellers vision was that he knew by controlling refining he was going to be the King in the oil segment but at the same time he started Vertical integration i.e. controlling the chain from extraction- Refining (Krames, 2003). Rockfellers strict Baptist faith made him despise personal luxury drove him to reinvest all his profits (In 1886 Net profit = $15 Million/year). When a new distillation Method came in 1875 he quickly decided to do refining in only three of his outlets to improve Economies of Scale (Krames, 2003). He always had one more philosophy which he followed and took Standard Oil to success was that When in a sector not much happens you can achieve success by grabbing the Distribution Channel (Bass, 1985). 3.2. Sam Walton There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere elseSam Walton. Most everything Ive done copied from someone elseSam Walton. Sam Walton regarded as one of the greatest Entrepreneurs of the 20th Century who founded Wal-Mart the worlds largest company (Wal-Mart topped the list of Fortune500 companies in 2002 (Krames, 2003). Sam born in Oklahoma to Thomas Walton a farmer cum banker who taught Sam that Success= Work+ Work + Work (Bathory, 1978). Sams taste in retailing grew when he seldom visited his family owned small store during the holidays. After graduating from college he started as a Management Trainee at J.C. Penney Management for $75/month (Krames, 2003). He always wanted to open his own business so took franchise of Ben Franklin who was number two to Sterling stores (Bathory, 1978). He used to spend much more time in Sterling store studying their displays, comparing prices annoying its owner. In 1962 first Wal-Mart store was opened based its model on Discounting+ location of store in rural areas (Bathory, 2978). When it came to learning there were no limits to Walton (Krames, 2003). He studied competitors prices, merchandising techniques to improve his own store. His one of the philosophies was To improve something everyday (Krames, 2003). He created a culture of partnership in Wal-Mart, which is give employees share of profits; Voice and then they will work hard. He said Learn from competitors but remain faithful to your company vision which was discounting (Bathory, 1978). 3.3 Jack Welch I never associate the word passion with manager, and I have never seen a leader without it. Jack Welch You have got to have incredible energy to lead any organisation. You have got to be on fire, if you will. Jack Welch. John Frances Welch was born in Salem Massachusetts in 1935 (Krames, 2003). He completed his M.S PhD from the University of Illinois in Chemical Engineering. Jack Welch mentor was his mother who taught him the mixture of unconditional love and to set very tough standards for achievement which brought best in him as well as in others (Welch, 2001). His greatest break was to grow up in an atmosphere in which there were a lot of team sports (Krames, 2003). He learnt from that winning is about having the very best people . When Jack Welch joined GE its revenues were $25 billion and when he stepped out it showed $130 billion. He cr eated a Learning culture in GE. His approach to create an Authentic-learning organisation was as follows (Welch, 2001): Import best ideas into your organisation. Reward those who bring the best ideas celebrate the new ideas i.e. put it in GE magazine. During his tenure of 20 years in GE spend almost 1 billion on training learning (Krames, 2003). Welch introduced some new concepts such as 4Es of Leadership (Energy, Energize, Edge Execute) six-sigma concept in Quality control, which he also made mandatory for all professionals in GE to learn (Krames, 2003). His legacy still prevails after his retirement (Summer 2000 a publisher paid $7 million to publish his memoirs). 3.4 Michael. S. Dell From the start, our business- from manufacturing to sales- was oriented around listening to the customerMichael Dell. Michael Dell was born on 23rd February in Houston Texas, USA (Krames, 2003). He published his first product catalog at the age of 12 (Krames, 2003). He attended the University of Texas at Austin to become a doctor but dropped out at the age of 19 and started Dell Computer Corporation. At the age of 27 he was the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company (Krames, 2003). His strategy vision was based on keeping customer needs preferences at the central stage (Chandler, 2004). His once said, Managers cant force their philosophies or views in the market place but learn from market make products accordingly. He created a culture Involve customer in every thing organize people to satisfy them (Krames, 2003). 3.5 Past studies and derivation of common characteristics in corporate leaders J.Krames in his book What the Best CEOs Know, 2003 gives five basic characteristics a leader should possess in order to transform any business, which he found in seven exceptional leaders like Jack Welch, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Andy Groove three more. The common characteristics which all these four well-known corporate leaders possess are as follows: Star t with a view of the market place create an organisation focused on satisfying customer needs They possess an evangelical leadership gene. In other words they are devoted committed to a cause/philosophy. They understand the critical role of culture know how difficult it is to bring a cultural change. Create next generation products, solution etc. Implement the best ideas regardless of their origins. Henry Mintzberg in his article book The fall Rise of Strategic Planning, HBR, January 1994 urges that the middle level managers are crucial in the organisation as they are the only link between the lower and the top management. The middle level managers according to Mintzberg are closer and possess more information about whats happening outside the organisation than the top management personnels. Mintzberg (1994) then urges that the strategies made by the middle level managers are deliberate (planned) and those made by top management /leaders/ strategic thinkers are em ergent. The environment outside the organisation is not stable it always fluctuate thats why Mintzberg says that deliberate strategies are good for inside the organisation but for outside the organisation strategies should be emergent and should be made by strategic thinkers i.e. leaders. The role of middle level managers should be to provide sound information to the strategic thinkers through his analytical technical skills. Bottom line: From the literature review above its clear that motivation (self and team), understanding sub ordinates and other peers, ability to control people, self confidence and building a team are the five most important characteristics required by a leader. These are the five pillars sketched by Goleman (2004) for Emotional Intelligence. If we look at the corporate leaders of 21st century we can easily differentiate the leadership styles of majority of them Example Rockfeller Sr, Michael Dell and Sam Walton can be termed as charismatic while Jack Welch lies in the transformational leadership domain. This can be mainly due to the fact that the first three were entrepreneurs while the later was more of in-house leader of General Electric. James Krames on other hand provides a theoretical framework defining the key common characteristics in corporate leaders. Krames (2003) has narrowed down the broader characteristics define by other academics like stakeholder or customer centric focus i.e. concern about society values as uttered by Gandhi. The other elements such as understanding role of culture is similar to building a team as its truly said organisation doesnt has culture but itself is culture. A visionary attitude found in most leaders such as Michael Dell, Rockfeller Sr, Bill Gates and more is one of the symptoms of charismatic leadership style. 4.0 Primary Research-Leadership creating competitive advantage discussion From the above secondary research deck we have analysed the common leadership characteristics present in todays corporate leaders such as Rockfeller, Jack Welch, Sam Walton and Michael Dell. This surely answers one of our research questions related to understanding characteristics those make up a great leader. Now, we would like to understand whether these unique characteristics have provided long-term competitive advantage to organisations such as Dell, Exxon Mobil, Walmart etc. A respondent size of 50 business students in UAE are selected as sample to understanding the current status of organisations those were or are represented by corporate leaders such as Rockfeller, Jack Welch, Sam Walton and Michael Dell on regional basis. Sr No Questions Yes No   1 Do you feel ExxonMobil, Dell, Walmart and GE are market leaders in respectively segments globally? 100% 0%   2 Do you feel Jack Welch, Rockfeller, Michael Dell and Sam Walton incepted long-term leadership vision in their respective enterprises? 100% 0%   3 Are these organisations mentioned above are still run on leadership visions incepted by great leaders or need some restructuring 100% 0%   4 Do you feel Middle East business subsidiaries of ExonMobil, Dell Corportation share the same leadership vision and culture as headquarters 95% 5% Organisation as family In fluxed self confidence across all organisation level High spirited motivation Understanding micro and macro factors 5 What is one thing that you feel is good in these corporations or their great leaders style? 35% 15% 15% 35% Thus from the above short survey it could be seen that great leaders such as Sam Walton, Michael Dell have created visionary organisations i.e. long-term sustainable corporations via inception of their unique leadership characteristics across corporate culture and appoint top management executives those will always adhere to the same. Thus leadership surely creates competitive advantage and great leaders or founders characteristics shape up the corporate culture elements which remain forever. Even after great leaders such as Sam Walton pass off Wal mart still dominant the global retail segment. This is predominantly because Sam Walton incepted leadership culture or characteristic of Walmart as complete family business and which is still prominent in the corporation (2010). As part of corporate culture Oneness across Walmart recruitment of right candidate that will perceive the company as family is primary to the organisation and shapes up the primary business strategy. In the similar fashion if we take the example of Dell Corporation, the founder and CEO Michael Dell has the ability to control individuals. Dell Corporation has one of the most flat and disciplined organisation culture and is build on virtual factory concept. Majority of candidates recruited as required with disciplined people management skill sets. Finally, leadership characteristic of Michael Dell has shaped up the corporate culture and provided Dell Corporation competitive edge against much older peers such as HP and IBM in past 5-10 years. Finally, it could be witnessed that unique leadership characteristics helping organisations to achieve regional competitive advantage irrespective of cultural and other individual managerial perceptions and business ethics. Thus Walmart and ExxonMobil Middle East subsidiaries behave in similar fashion as headquarters or any other regional business unit due to strongly bonded leadership vision and characteristics influxed into corporate culture. 5.0 Propositions Thus it could be seen that unique leadership offers competitive advantage to corporations which could be easily seen from examples of Walmart, Dell Corporation etc from above secondary and primary findings. On the other hand, great leaders possess one or more of the following characteristics which is used to shape up strong corporate culture which will drive a particular organisation towards sustainable competitive advantage (motivation (self and team), understanding sub ordinates and other peers, ability to control people, self confidence and building a team). Majority of great leaders such as Sam Walton, Michael Dell etc recruit personnels/ top management executive carefully aligned with their leadership vision to reduce pitfall on long-term basis. In order to enhance the validity of research it would be great in near future to extend the topic and understand whether unique managerial characteristics can enhance competitive advantage for organisations or not using Kotter skill se ts differences benchmarking matrices. Great leaders characteristics drive unique leadership further enhancing visionary corporate culture helping enterprises achieve competitive advantage. Thus great leaders unique characteristics are so strong and ground rooted that even after their non active participation it stands test of time and helps enterprise achieve regional and international dominance status quo. Thus irrespective of location and regional corporate culture, unique leadership characteristics vision incepted by great leaders such as Sam Walton, Michael Dell etc shape up a regional subsidiary or operations towards sustainable competitive advantage for centuries along with the core business unit i.e. global operations or headquarters.

Why I Shut Down Sweet Briar College, The Historic...

Why to shut down: Sweet Briar College, the historic perspective. John R. Thelin called the period from 1970 to 1980 â€Å"turbulent waters† for all institutions (Thelin, 2011, p. 317). After the golden age, the industry of Higher Education in the U.S. faced the not-so-bright future with a lot of colleges and universities being shut down. Thelin (2011, p. 337) points out that the institutions could have been prepared to handle the steadily declining enrollment, decreased revenues, decline in funding, stagflation, and rising campus maintenance costs if only they picked on the first signs of upcoming financial crisis when in 1970, the share price of the NSMC fell from $140 to $7 over the short period of time (Thelin, 2011, p. 317). However, the universities and colleges of that time were so confident and relied on â€Å"the public image of higher education as a â€Å"growth industry† (Thelin, 2011, p. 318) so much, that they were not monitoring the changing situation and thus, were not fast enough in adopting to new conditions. It does not mean that there were many college closings; vice a versa, some colleges grew, opened new programs and applied for research grants. These colleges adopted the enterprise thinking (Thelin, 2011, p. 337). Enterprise thinking, according to Thelin (2011, p.337), is about making strategic planning decisions based on the available data. One can think that by 2015 institutions of higher education would have learned how to utilize the results of ongoing

Social Marketing and Innovation Trends

Questions: 1. What type of journals I can address to frame my literature review? 2. Do I need to use the idea that I have established in the literature review in part B of my report.? Answers: Introduction The aim of the paper is to understand the issue of malnutrition in children and develop practical application of models, approaches, and techniques in "social marketing" to the identified social problem. The paper discusses how the social marketing plan was developed to promote healthy eating behavior among children and eliminate the issue of children malnutrition using the social marketing framework developed by the commercial marketers. Literature Review A rich literature is available highlighting a high rate of malnutrition among Australian children (Haynes et al. 2016). According to Rosen et al. (2014), many children in Australia have adopted the broad spectrum of different diets as this country has high cultural diversity. The present trends of children diet reflect a gross overconsumption of fast food and saturated fats habitually. A very low percentage of children in Australia are consuming nutrient dense food. The results of poor nutrition include obesity, anemia, vitamin and mineral deficiency diseases (Morris et al. 2016). The reports of Brindal et al. (2014) showed the nutritional consequences of the diet rich in fast food. The study executed focused on the fast food purchasing behavior of the Australian children above ten years. The results showed that 28.3% of this children consumed ready-to-eat fast food once in a week. It further found that the 80.3% the respondents consumed fast food diet in 6 months of the serving taking place. However, the study does not emphasize or recommend any model for promoting healthy eating behavior among children. Brindal et al. (2014) studied that the popular children fast food chains such as McDonald's, Dominos, and Hungary jacks offer food with little nutritional value and high-calorie content. The junior meal of Hungary Jack containing Whopper Junior, small chips and a medium Coke has 30.5g of fat content and 3147KJ calories. With the increase in fast food chain restaurants and being readily available there is a greater shift towards consuming pre-prepared meals. T here is a cultural acceptance of fast food in Australia. A similar study by ODea and Dibley (2014) highlighted that as per the National food intake data many children between the age 10-18 years intake very few servings of foods rich in nutrition such as dairy foods, green vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Further, the study highlighted that the children are consuming foods rich in sugars, sodium, and fats more than the recommended servings. As per the study results, these dietary pattern prevents children from taking vital nutrients. Consequently, it is increasing the risk of chronic disease such as type II diabetes. In Australia, the new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2014 in children (10-14 years) was found to be 3 in 100,000 populations and for children of 15-19 years was found to be 8 in 100,000. Grube et al. (2013) described eating habits healthy or unhealthy once developed in childhood are established by the age of 15, and in due course it becomes habitual. Due to increasing consumption of fast food, there is a growing number of overweight and obese children in Australia. These children continue to stay overweight and obese in adulthood. Further, the study by Olds et al. (2013) highlighted that the children of obese parents remain obese and continue to ignore the importance of healthy eating behavior or staying fit. Some Australian researchers have studied that absence of nutrient dense food is associated with mental illness although the exact relationship was not known. In a large-scale study conducted in Western Australia it was found that the people who highly consumed a western dietary pattern in their childhood that mainly comprised of soft drinks, fast food, confectionary, full fat dairy products; and refined grains commonly had high scores of psychological symptoms s uch withdrawal, aggression and depression (Miller et al. 2014). These studies found that people who have consumed healthy dietary pattern which comprises of vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains in their childhood had the lower percentage of psychological symptoms. A similar study by Forbes et al. (2015) revealed that children having breakfast consisting three or more food groups were found with better mental health scores in the adolescence. Researchers investigated that fortified breakfast cereals, milk, and bread are a good source of vitamins, calcium, and other nutrients that enhance the brain function (Choo 2016). As per Burns et al. (2015), the Public Health and the Nutritional Organisational Study the lower socioeconomic groups within Australia have inferior nutritional standards. Random households were selected from Melbourne for this study. It investigated the correlation between the fast food consumption and the financial condition. According to the results 330 households out of 2500 examined were found experiencing the financial crisis. Consequently, these families opted for fast food alternatives instead of healthy food. The study recommended making available health food alternatives at a lower price. Christopher Grant (2015) studied nutritional habits of Aboriginal Australians, and the results showed that 11% of children (2-14) in this community are malnourished and underweight and 35% between 15-18 years are obese. A similar study by Dyer et al. (2015) showed that 85% of these Indigenous children do not intake recommended quantity of vegetables. Another redeeming nutritional factor fo r these groups of children is the physical activity which is more than the required daily average hours. However, the level of physical activity is not balanced with the dietary consumption. Moreover, Indigenous Australians were found with the higher prevalence of Overweight and Obesity. Roberto and Kawachi (2014) argued that most healthy eating campaigns are not successful as they fail to lack elements necessary to induce behavioural change in children. These campaigns mainly help parents in understanding the significance of nutrient dense food in early life. It suggested a need of psychology and behavioural economy to promote healthyeating Based on the literature review it can be concluded that eating habits and patterns in childhood highly correlate with behaviors in the adulthood. Malnutrition in children is a burning problem in Australia. The increasing depth of nutritional concerns warrants large-scale interventions. Therefore, interventions for child malnutrition must focus on behavior change in childhood. There is a need to promote healthy eating behavior in children. Social Marketing Plan In this project, the social marketing plan aims to gain extensive knowledge on the targeted audience. Based on this knowledge a nutrient dense food promoting program for the children is developed the concepts of which can be applied to a broad range of social conditions and health behaviours. Social marketing refers to planning, implementing and evaluating programs developed to bring about a change in the health behaviors that is efficient and sustainable using techniques developed by the commercial marketers (Tobey et al. 2016). This study uses the exchange theory for the purpose of social marketing. The exchange theory refers to voluntary exchange of resources between the consumers and the providers which is necessary for true marketing to occur (Baker and Saren 2016). Further, the study implements four Ps of marketing which are Product, Price, Place, and promotions. In this project, the term Product refers to "behavior change" among the target audience. It refers to the competition relate to the product, the benefits associated with the change in the unhealthy eating behavior among the children, and the needs that the product can fulfill. The team Price refers to the cost that each target audience has to pay regarding effort, lifestyle, money, to engage in the desired behavior change. The term places refer to the perceptions of the target members regarding the place where the products are available or if any barriers are associated with it. The term promotion refers to communication with the target audience regarding the products through a combination of media relations, personal selling, advertising and entertainment (Grnroos 2016). Using standard practices, the study conducted focus group interviews for collecting information from the children (Dilshad and Latif 2013.). The respondents were asked to describe their perceptions about the consequences of eating nutritional food. They were further asked to state the barriers of taking nutrient dense food such as the low-fat dairy food, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains. The interview further focused on the children's preferences in learning about healthy eating behavior and food nutrition. The descriptive information was collected from low-income middle schools students (34) between 11-14 years in Melbourne. The process involved a moderator, two adults, and co-moderator in all the discussion. The interview process was guided by the Extension nutrition specialists. The study included seven focus groups categorized based on grades and gender. The interview process was collected in School, and for each focus group, it lasted for 55 minutes and fully audiotaped . The data in the form of transcripts were codified according to the method discussed in (Silverman 2016). The questions (Appendix) developed using the four Ps methods to the social program were used to summarize the results. From the product related information it was found that most of the participants enjoyed eating fast food due to their satisfaction of food carvings and highly enjoyed the taste of the fast food. Most of the participants loved to eat chocolates, fruits milk, and yogurt. Very few participants enjoyed eating vegetables. The reason for this behavior based on the information provided by the students include convenience in eating yogurt, and fruits, familiarity with the food, and abatement of hunger (mainly found in boys and is not associated with the specific group of foods) and improved physical and scholastic performance associated with whole grains and dairy food. When asked to state generalized benefits of eating vegetables most of them answered in vague terms such as "it is healthy," "they are good for our body." Most common answer derived from the students includes consumption of dairy foods, and calcium-containing beverages lead to strong bones and teeth. No psychological benefits were found from other food groups. It was found that it was difficult for the children to describe what healthy eating is and its benefits. When the participants were asked about stating the cost associated with changing their eating behaviour into healthier one the responses indicated unpleasant taste due to deeply coloured vegetables and non-fat milk. Further, cost issues are high inconvenience in cooking whole grain foods and vegetables as it requires more time and effort, lack of familiarity with low-fat dairy food and other vegetables, dry texture and coarseness of whole grains and unpleasant taste associated with most vegetables (mainly among girls) and milk. Based on the response it is evident that the participants do not perceive that the cost associated with the change in eating behavior is a fair exchange. The recommendations suggested by the respondents for minimizing the cost associated with healthy eating includes- adding chocolate to milk, honey to whole grains, hot sauce or butter to bread, vegetables, cooked cereals, and cheese to vegetables and cereals. Further, the participants suggested that the unplea sant taste of certain food groups can be altered or disguised by serving them with most preferred food groups for example serving cookies with milk and bread, adding vegetables to soup, having cereal or bread with milk. Place related barriers affecting healthy eating choices in these children include misperceptions that nutrient dense food is less available than the fast food, food choices were limited to that purchased by their parents, and items available in the local market, food cooked by the cafeteria workers and food served by their parents in their house. Therefore the two strategies to reduce the barriers associated with place includes changing the food purchasing habits of others particularly parent and improve their food preparation skills and as well as of children as per Woodruff and Kirby (2013). To know the level of interest of the children with regards to food advertisements they were asked to state their preferences when communicating about food products. Most of the participants answered that they like to consume food that is good to taste, visually appealing, readily available, half cooked or ready to eat, convenient to purchase and have high familiarity. Participants described tha t they enjoyed food advertisements that contained humor, the element of surprises that exaggerated everyday occurrences, and informing heath consequences. These participants commonly preferred music videos, radio contests, computer games, cooking shows, as a means of communicating health messages. They mentioned that they mainly receive health and nutrition-related messages from their parents and enjoyed to learn from classmates and when demonstrated by school teachers. They showed a high preference for the school cafeteria, libraries, in health centers, clinics, movie halls, and community parks for receiving the nutrient education. Since the required descriptive information is obtained, the next step is to develop a market plan for increasing the consumption of the nutrient dense food among children in Australia. Firstly, calcium containing food and beverages will be targeted which contains personal benefits such as taste enjoyment, readily available, specific psychological benefits, and convenient. Therefore, the product strategy is to position nutrient dense food as the substitute for other competitors for example substituting sodas with orange juices containing calcium or sweets with flavoured yogurt (Roberto and Kawachi 2014). The target audiences are highly likely to adopt healthy eating behavior if varieties of food items in the product line are available. With more number of calcium-rich food products entering the market, the product line is expanding (Bigliardi and Galati 2013). Secondly, the pricing strategy aims to implement cost minimizing strategies suggested by the respondents to multivitamin conta ining foods and beverages. Further, food products that will mainly be targeted are those having fewer cost issues such as flavored yogurt. Thirdly, the placement strategy for the product includes increasing the accessibility, availability, and visibility of the food products mentioned by the respondents keeping in view the nutrient factor, cost, availability, taste and other preferences of the students. For occasions where the targeted audiences prepare their food the strategy is to promote dishes that are simple to prepare and less time consuming, for example, cream soups, and puddings rich vitamins and minerals (Wingert et al. 2014). The promotional strategy for the products includes delivering messages that the foods and beverages containing calcium are highly tasty and readily available. The rationale is to enhance the eating behavior change among the targeted children. The strategy is to contrast the significance of required calcium consumption during the adolescent growth spurt with the prevalence of inadequate calcium intake among children." To demonstrate the importance of the calcium rich food products, the materials/media incorporates three-dimensional models, simple texts, graphs, and funny images depicting how calcium strengthens bone and consequences of inadequate calcium on health (Naderer et al. 2016). Provide nutrient education to children in their preferred locations and guide them to use Food Guide Pyramid" particularly the group containing milk, cheese, yogurt and other study materials that will help the children to identify calcium and iron rich foods (Wingert et al. 2014). Engage children after school in activities that demonstrate the health importance of vitamins and minerals. Develop a sustainable program for nutrient education in schools using teachers as delivery channels and further promotions through cafeteria and classroom activities. Involve family members in the homework assignments (Roberto and Kawachi 2014). Conclusion The paper illustrated the way of using the social marketing plan to collect information from schoolchildren for developing a healthy eating program. Social marketing is a useful tool for extension educators for changing health behavior in people and can be adapted for any target audience. The strategy statement is to increase the consumption of nutrient rich food in school children by changing their misperception about the cost and benefits associated with consuming nutrient dense food. 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