Introduction
Enhancing the shareholder’s equity is one of the most effective activity of an organization for which the organizations stride for. According to majority of consensus, increasing the shareholder’s equity is the most important and critical things from the viewpoint of an organization as it is something from which positive impact would have been reflected over the bottom line of the organizations. Success story of an organization could not be derailed from any standpoint, as it something from which different aspects of an entity would be decided.
The essence of structure is an important thing from the standpoint of an organization and it is vital for the companies to stick with the same thing for a long span of time. Adhering with the structure is known as “Organizational Structure”, and it is extremely for an entity to be in a certain structure in order to increase its financial belongings effectively. Sometimes, organizations re-organize their structure and the movement of their departments in particular and such things are extremely vital for an entity. The main perspective of this assignment is to analyze the issues and problems pertain to a particular center or organization. The center which has been chosen for the same assignment is Glasgow Science Center (GSC). In the next section, a small description about the chosen company would be described followed by the analytical provision to complete this particular assignment in a well organized and perfect manner in particular.
Glasgow Science Center: An Overview
Glasgow Science Center (GSC) is basically visitor attraction destination, specifically located on the South Bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland, the United Kingdom (UK). GSC is basically a purpose built science based center which primarily composed of three principles buildings based which particularly are Science Mall, IMAX Cinema and Glasgow Tower. The tourists’ board of Scotland visited the Scotland merely to award the GSC, which is known as the Five Star rating as far as Visitor’s attraction is concerned (Spector and H. Wu, 2006, pp. 5-14).
Apart from this main location, Glasgow Science Center also manages the visit center with the name of Whitelee Wind Farm, which opened for the general public in the year 2009. All of these three categorizes are extremely famous for this particular location and has been in the list of tourism based attraction from number of years in particular. The Science Mall located in the Glasgow has a titanium clad crescent shaped structure and it has a diameter of 15 meter in total.
The second thing of famousness is the IMAX Cinema. IMAX Cinema was the first IMAX based cinema to be built specifically in the Scotland, UK. The single auditorium of IMAX Cinema had a seating capacity of 370 people in front with a rectangular screen measuring by nearly 26 meters. IMAX Cinema is one of those companies of the world which opened Starbucks on their own site merely to attract more and more consumers and tourists as well (Science And Technology Committee, 2007, pp. 54-71).
Apart from these locations, there is yet another important location found in Glasgow with the name of Glasgow Tower. The Glasgow tower is known as the tallest freely rotating tower of the world.
It is required to derive three questions and then answer them comprehensively, buy all of the questions should be related to Glasgow Science Center. The three questions are mentioned below
Are the services of the center are effectively inclined and enough for the visitors to enhance the satisfaction level of the center?
Is the center is effectively managing its finance, marketing, Human resource and operational department in terms of hiring technical people?
Is the center effectively complying with regulations to meet with its Mission and Vision, along with giving an impression as a place of Greek?
It is required to complete the assignment on the basis of these three questions relating to the case study. All of the answers would be based upon the website of the chosen destination which is www.glasgowsciencecenter.org and all of the information could be dig out from the analysis of the entire website.
Answer-1)
Products and Services
Products and services are the end things of an organization and it is something on which the entire productivity of an organization depends upon. In a broad nutshell, there are two different types of organization is concerned, which particularly are manufacturing organizations and service oriented organization. Both of types of organization have different significance with each other and every aspect is important from their own standpoint.
An organization cannot be in the net of economic based prosperity without having and launching effective and timely products are concerned. The services of a company should be Customer Oriented not for Productivity Oriented, as it is the only thing due to which a company can increase both its financial and strategic belongings in particular. Without having an effective size of services, an organization cannot attract more and more people towards their services, because it is extremely important from the viewpoint of the companies to stay together and stay competitive (Mcshane and Von Glinow, 2009, pp. 256-291). Organizations competes with other organizations on the basis of productivity and on the basis of their products or services as well
This is a common saying that without customers, there would be no business and it is extremely right indeed because products or services is the thing due to which a company could be differentiated with the other one, and from the viewpoint of a consumer, only those products would be considered perfect and eventual which has the highest proportion of effectiveness in particular. Likewise other companies and centers, GSC also has specific products or services, on which the entire productivity and strategic well-being depends upon in particular.
Issue
Glasgow Science Center (GSC) is basically a Social based Community Center or a social place to visit. It is basically an educational resource which not only provides science and technological based innovations and things/services but also provides curriculum aligned to the learning based experience accordingly. There is an issue associated with the company in the commencement of their operations, that the visits were not for the interactive based process, but this problem has been resolved comprehensively. The services of the company provided to more than 100,000 Scottish students every year, which is a positive sign from the viewpoint either from GSC and new people as well (Shortcuts, 2011, pp. 42-65). Some of the major list of services pertaining to this particular center is mentioned below which has its own significance and importance which are some of the major remedies to overcome on the said issues
Solution
- Audio based Visuals which used to enhance the level of Listening Skills of the individuals, especially by the children of the schools
- GSC is providing all sorts of Branding activities on their websites and assigned Billboards. The center is giving the place by giving a certain amount of money accordingly
- One of the biggest lines of services of the company is holding and arranging events in the center’s own premises. It has a unique and power museum and conference center on the basis of this, the center is doing an exceptional job in particular
- The Event Planning Checklist of the center is perfect and extremely high and it would certainly be effective from different standpoints in particular
Apart from these events and services, there are some future projects as well, in which the company is trying to enter or already have entered
The next important and powerful ambitious project of the center is “Powering the Future”. This particular project is designed to enable the people to think about their career and plan their career with effectiveness. This particular project has the tendency to apply relevant things in particular and it will be a positive point from the viewpoint the GSC. Apart from this particular project, the center is also strategizing and willing to launch new services as well, particularly are exploring the new ways of Sciences, Engineering and Art base meetings and Creation and Innovation. Body working and Mind Working are some of the major activities of the center, which they are wishing to share with their consumers, specifically come to Scotland to see the same.
The line of products or services of GSC is extremely broad and it is a positive sign from the viewpoint of the management. The company should bring this thing into consideration and should prolong the same accordingly. There are sciences experts associated with the center which are essential for the mental growth of children come at this place. The hypothesis of the case is proved that the center has the kind of services which are lenient and effective from different viewpoints and it is extremely effective from the viewpoint of consumers as well as economics of the company and the company should continue the process accordingly and effectively as well.
Answer-2
Issue
Every company strives for the economic prosperity from different standpoints and for this particular thing, the essence of every department is vital for the organizations. Likewise other organizations, the same stance has been found with GSC as well. There are four main departments found in GSC, which particularly are Finance, Human Resource (HR), marketing and Operational Department in particular. The major issue found in the center is the lacking of technical workforce in each of the departments due to which different problems arises in the company. Solutions relating to each department would be described simultaneously
Solution for Finance Department
The finance department is considered to be the center part of any business as it is responsible for obtaining funds for the company, internal management of funds, and plan for all types of expenditure of the fund's assets. In the absence of cautiously calculated business plan, the company virtually has become no chance of survival. The functions of finance department are unswervingly influenced on the progress and flatten of any business. Apart from it, the business is likely to get survived for a time in case of lacking in effective marketing planning, HRM failure and certainly ineffective means of strategic business structure, but it is more than impossible to run business smoothly with having drawbacks in finance department. The corporate finance department is held responsible for all sorts of financial facets of an entity. Finance department is committed to execute two extremely different positions in most companies: management of the corporate financial possessions, and the documentation of all financial transactions. In recent era, SME’s are not interested in establishing independent financial and accounting department within their organization premises. The department is also responsible for maintaining profitability altitudes of companies. This function is typically acted upon by finance administrator.
GSC is in lacking in having technical workforce in the financial department, due to which the company is unable to park their money at a perfect place and have the highest amount of investment return. From the financial records of the center, it is found that there is no investment has been associated with the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Apart from that, GSC is not complying with the short term financial obligations, which is 1:1. The main reason behind the same is that the employees found in the finance department of the center are not competent enough from which they can handle this particular issue. In the future, if this particular problem persists, the financial and strategic position of the center could be in danger.
The best remedy in overcoming this particular problem is to hire competent workforce which can handle this particular issue. Finance department is a significant department for an organization and for GSC it is extremely important as well, hence the center apply and implement a perfect and rigorous selection process from which they can hire the best talent found in the financial department in different companies. With the help this technique, the management’s of the center could become able to invest their funds at a place from where the stance of their strategic and financial strength would certainly enhance accordingly and effectively at the same time.
Solution for the Marketing Department
With having increasingly fierce competition in the world of business, marketing has become more important part than ever and for this purpose, every company has devoted a complete section which is liable for carry out marketing activities and allocate sufficient amount of budget for this department. Marketing departments are led to other departments of the company engaged in the development, production, enrichment and maintenance of products or services according to their customer’s guide.
The marketing department is committed to execute diverse range of practices by aiming to find out the customer’s needs and then take possible measures to discharge them for the customers. This includes four key elements, which is known as 4P's (marketing mix).
However, there are mainly two method under which market research can be conducted that encompasses with quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative research involves the use of other forms, such as questionnaire through survey technology to collect large amounts of information. Qualitative research consists of the work of a small sample of consumers, usually require the products and services they discussed, but what researchers need, they have to acquire notes. Usually marketing department’s research module primarily combines above two forms of research formats.
Marketing department will work to ensure that the company has a marketing focus, because all it does. It will be very closely with the production, to ensure that new and existing product development is tied closely with the customer's needs and expectations. The core responsibilities that marketing department is encountered with comprised on focus on consumer’s demand, address the market competition, create innovative ideas and others
Marketing department is an important department for an organization, and the importance is on the same level for GSC as well. Marketing department of GSC is doing a better job as compared to other departments of the center as far as intimating and apprising the general public regarding any new promotional activity and bring new things into consideration for the center. However there is a major problem associated with the center which is not to bring ethical standards into consideration while marketing their services. On the website of the company, it is found that a particular community can qualify for the services of the company which is not at all perfect and ethically perfect. The main reason behind the same that the professionals found in this particular department are not qualified enough which can make such advertising themes and slogans which not at all addressing a particular community but should address every single person. GSC has to hire more technical and ethically perfect employees specifically in the Marketing department in order to overwhelm on this particular issue.
Solution for the Human Resource Department
Human Resources department is responsible for handling numerous organizational operations within the organization. It helps in implementing the labor law compliance, proper accountability system, recruitment, manage training and development sessions, compensation, and related assistance to deal with specific performance issues. The above mentioned features of human resources are crucial in terms of increasing the morale level of employees and exertion of performance. However, if these functions have not been completed, the company will be unable to meet the basic needs of management as well as employees. Human resource department can be neglected in the startup ventures, existed business or in the phases of expanding. However, an effective human resources team can prove to be driving force in terms of company’s growth. Moreover, the department helps out in protecting the company's legal responsibilities; maintain employee satisfaction as well as introduce emerging talent to the company. By their nature, human resource department undertakes number of functions through which the company can enhance their ability to get mature.
The basic problem lies with the Human Resources department of the center is having biasness in the Performance Appraisal system due to which employee’s turnover is on a higher level in the company. Apart from that, HR department of the center not provoke their management to get their employees participated in the decision making process, which is known as Management Bi Objective (MBO) approach.
In connection to over this problem, GSC has to empower their HR department to have the command in their own hands and should make a perfect Appraisal system, which could worked automatically and the management of the company can appraise the people according to their performance, qualification and behavior with other employees and colleagues. The management of GSC should intervene in making the employees satisfied with the help of applying and implementing the MBO approach and Delphi’s Technique, in which the center can initiate their employees to get participated in the decision making stance of the center.
Solution for the Operational Department
The operational department is predominantly liable to discharge managerial, logistical and numerous practices under the premises of an organization which are significant enough to run day to day operations. According to the nature of the organization, the department of operation may also be termed as back office intermittently. This may be responsible for a wide range of obligations. Inevitably, the presence of operations department always exist in every government agencies, enterprises and other organizations in every aspect of the economy, including financial services, learning institutions, manufacturing industry and in military services. Despite of this, the operational department is deemed to be core department to drive the business smoothly and meet the prescribed targets.
More specifically, the department is held accountable for the loss, and seeks to maximize return on investment for the stakeholders in total. The members of this department have a great role on the entire entity’s performance to raise it to the next level (Adler and Gundersen, 2010, pp. 112-136). Furthermore, the department is also engaged in maintaining the significant power of company in an appropriate manner.
Operational department of GSC is the one which is doing an exceptional job as far as satisfying the needs of their customers as there is no flaw has been found in the operations of the center. However, new hiring of technical people will certainly assist the company in further increase its strategic and financial belongings with a perfect level. The company has to keep this thing alive and has to increase the strategic stance of the company as a whole. Glasgow Science Center would certainly get added advantage with its current operations.
Answer-3)
It is a duty of an organization to get in touch with effective Business Ethics stance and management. This particular action could be extremely important and wonderful for an organization in order to assess the level of effectiveness and comply with the given standards and regulations in particular. Organizations always made to earn economic profit from different standpoints, and it is extremely vital for the organizations to comply with the ethical standards and behaviors.
Ethics which also known as Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) are some of the important measures which have to be considered by the organizations in order to increase their financial competitiveness and belongings with perfection. It is more than important for the entities to cover different issues and related things in a manner that it will bring both strategic and financial competitiveness for the company. It is important for a company to comply with all sorts of ethics and regulations in order to become eminent. The main mission of the center is mentioned below
“To promote science and technology through thought-provoking, fun and exciting experiences, that inspires all to explore and understand the world around them”
Issue
Inevitably, GSC is adhering with the rules and regulations accordingly in order to comply with the rules and regulations accordingly. Glasgow Science Center (GSC) is liable to register itself on the Financial Service Authority (FSA), the United Kingdom (UK) and also liable to donate a certain amount of money each year. The main issue which may arise in this particular section is not with the regulations stance of the company, but it is associating with the brand image of the company in particular. From the analysis of GSC website and its core services, it is found that the services of the company seems more towards for the Greek people rather than for the General Public. Due to this particular stance, most of people are now avoiding to go to GSC to merely because of this particular issue and this particular issue needed to be resolved comprehensively and completely by the center
Solution
It is important for the center to arrange big seminars in order to apprise the general public regarding the feasibility of the science center and its related benefits as well. This particular tactic is time consuming but it will be effective for the center for a long span of time. The issue of wrong brand image may endanger the life of the company and may be ineffective for the center from different viewpoints; hence the center has to think over strategically over this particular issue to stay competitive and financially perfect as well in a long time frame. GSC would get certain added advantage if they adhere with these remedies in a perfect and well organized manner.
Conclusion
Glasgow Science Centre is one of Scotland's must-see visitor attractions. It is composed of Science Mall, an IMAX cinema and Glasgow Tower. It is profit making organization which has activities to educate and entertain visitors. It was opened in June 2001 and has been a noticeable educational and visitor’s site since then. Glasgow science centre has had its ups and downs since it was opened and is still struggling to accomplish its goals. From the entire analysis, it is found that there are certain issues associated with the center which have been mentioned in the above mentioned analysis, however things could be overcome and improve accordingly and effectively at the same time, if proper solution and remedies could be taken into account. The solution which have been associated in the analysis are more than perfect and if GSC would consider them comprehensively, then it would be effective for them in financial and strategic viewpoint.
Reference List
Spector, T. and H. Wu, A. 2006. The Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project: Individual case (15 copies). London: Project Management Institute.
Science And Technology Committee, G. B. P. H. O. C. 2007. The funding of science and discovery centres: eleventh report of session 2006-07, Vol. 2: Oral and written evidence. 2nd ed. New York: The Stationery Office.
Shortcuts, F. 2011. Glasgow and the Strathclyde Region, Scotland: Frommer's ShortCuts. Glasgow: John Wiley & Sons.
Adler, N. J. and Gundersen, A. 2010. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. 3rd ed. Chicago: Cengage Learning.
Mcshane, S. and Von Glinow, M. A. Y. 2009. Organizational Behavior. Miami: McGraw-Hill Education.
