Coral Reef Extinction

Coral Reef Extinction
Julie Malone
University College
University of Denver
MALS 4020 Graduate Research and Writing
May 31, 2010


Introduction

If the average person on the street expressed their opinions or ideas on the topic of the coral reefs, what might immediately come to mind are images of vacationing in Australia, scuba diving, snorkeling, and enjoying the abundant life that lives in the ocean. The general public has had little reason to ponder the purpose of the coral reefs except for how beautiful they are to view, swim around, and look vivacious in a photograph. At times, the public has had instances of exposure to the true function of the coral reefs through news clips on television or the Internet on oil spills, shortage of seafood, or watching a documentary on the Discovery Channel (Discovery Communications 2010). This is when reality sets in with human consciousness that the coral reefs provide a vital function to the coral ecosystem (NOAA 2010) and to this planet and is not just here for its beauty. Media exposure is providing illustrations of the current issues directly involved with the coral reefs.

This paper will provide a brief overview and background of the coral reefs and why they are vital to this planet. Then we will examine the importance of the coral reef ecosystems, such as their biodiversity, coastal protection, and economic value. Once we have established the value of the coral reefs, the paper will briefly summarize the causes and results of coral reef damage. Finally, we will discuss changes that must be enacted, opposing opinions, and possible innovative solutions exist to counteract coral reef damage.

Pollution, overfishing and increased oceanic acidification are causing the extinction of the coral reefs and unless immediate changes occur by everyone to halt the damaging human activities and repair this vital marine biosphere the extinction of the coral reefs will cripple the world economy and cause mass starvation.

First, it is important to understand the composition and history of the coral reefs. This information sets the stage for the discussion as to why the coral reefs are vital to the ocean's ecosystem and mankind's economy. To know about the coral reefs is to learn about their background and how important they are to this planet’s future.

Overview and Background

Coral reefs have existed on the planet for approximately 450 million years and provide an extremely diverse marine ecosystem (Bellwood and Wainwright 2002). Coral reefs are the largest natural structures in the world, and are the result of a remarkable relationship between coral animals (known as polyps) and microscopic algae (known as zooxanthellae) living within the coral tissues (Withgott and Brennan 2008). The zooxanthellae convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbohydrates. Polyps use carbohydrates to make calcium carbonate in a process known as calcification. The calcium carbonate forms the skeleton of tiny colonial marine organisms known as corals (Withgott and Brennan 2008). Most coral polyps have clear bodies and their skeletons are white, like human bones. Their brilliant color comes from the zooxanthellae living inside their tissues. Several million zooxanthellae live and produce pigments in just one square inch of coral. These pigments are visible through the clear body of the polyp and are what gives coral its beautiful color. If the zooxanthellae were to disappear, depriving the coral of nutrition, the coral reef will undergo bleaching leaving ghostly white patches as they lose color and die. Coral reefs return the favor by providing food and shelter for thousands of organisms which co-exist in complex interconnected food chains. Pollution, overfishing, and increased acidification will ruin this relationship forever by killing organisms with toxins, interrupt the ecosystem through seafood extinction, and acidification will deprive coral of the carbonate ions (Coral Reef Alliance 2010) which play an important role in shell formation for the corals in order for them to produce their structural parts. By understanding the coral reefs history and background we can learn why the coral reefs are important to the ecosystem.

Importance of the coral reef ecosystems

Biodiversity

Even though coral reef organisms have different behavior patterns, they all interact as members of the same marine ecosystem and participate as friendly neighbors by sharing common objectives of protecting their space to feed and reproduce. Coral reef ecosystem biodiversity is in a constant state of change since various sea creatures such as sponges, bivalves, urchins, and fish live or feed on the different parts of the coral reefs and are all part of one tropic level or rank in the feeding hierarchy (Withgott and Brennan 2008). Each tropic level provides energy for the next level; from the coral reefs to seafood such as crab, lobster, and fish. When humans consume seafood they are also consuming energy from every organism up the food web from the coral reefs. If corals are damaged by pollution, overfishing, or increased acidification the complex equilibrium of the reef will be permanently altered. Once biodiversity at all levels of the ocean life is lost to human impact, extinction occurs. Extinction is a normal process; however, humans are assisting the process along at a rapid speed. The result is loss of productivity and biodiversity, both of which having a serious economic consequence (NOAA 2010).

Coastal Protection

Coral reefs provide a function to our coastlines; they protect shorelines by absorbing wave energy and provide food and shelter for fish and other sea creatures. Biological structures, such as mangrove forests, salt marshes, seagrass beds, and coral reefs calm waves and, as a result, provide coastal protection. Corals also create shelter for mangrove and seagrass growth (Koch et al 2009). Without the coral reefs, tsunamis and ocean storms can destroy the coastlines such as happened in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean.

The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (Dearen and Senensky 2010) discharged plumes of oil over the coral reefs along the coastline and marine scientists fear that Gulf currents will carry the oil to other reefs along the Florida Keys, Louisiana, and as far as Texas. Due to the political controversy over offshore drilling, this type of catastrophic disaster should have been avoided due to lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez spill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency briefly allowed BP to shoot massive amounts of potentially toxic dispersing chemicals deep underwater to help protect vital marshes and wetlands on the Gulf Coast. But the tradeoff may result in significant effects on more sea life, including the coral reefs (Dearen and Senensky 2010). Big corporations such as BP and other oil moguls focus on profit rather than on ocean life when making decisions on offshore drilling. Wildlife protection takes a backseat to oil-company profits.

Economic Value

Coral reefs have an important function in sustaining the fish and shellfish populations that provide protein for billions of people. For thousands of years our ocean life has been a part of our lives, from watching the animal life move in the ocean to catching them for profit and food.

Coral reefs are a source of medicine by providing new compounds and technology to treat serious diseases. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2010) says that nearly half of the medicines in use today have their origins in natural products, mostly derived from terrestrial plants, animals, and microorganisms. Creatures found in coral ecosystems are important sources of new medicines being developed to induce and ease labors; treat cancer, arthritis, asthma, ulcers, human bacterial infections, heart disease, viruses, and other diseases, and provides sources of nutritional supplements, enzymes, and cosmetics.

Coral reefs attract millions of visitors spending billions of dollars annually creating economic value to the local communities by scuba diving, snorkeling, diving tours, recreational fishing trips, hotels, and restaurants. Coral reefs can be enclosed as marine protected area (MPA) to preserve them for divers. The Similan Islands, also known as Mu Koh Similan Marine National Park off the coast of Thailand, became a MPA in 1982 where the coral reefs play a significant role in maintaining ecological stability and preserving biological diversity of flora and fauna, as well as offering visitors a variety of attractions for recreation and education. Over 50,000 tourists flocked to the islands back in 2003 to enjoy the beautiful, seemingly untouched, and uncommercialized natural conditions of the Park’s flora and fauna. Tourism at Mu Koh Similan Marine National Park generates the highest revenue compared to other national parks in Thailand and scuba diving is one the major tourist attractions that brings in significant revenue to the Park each year (Tapsuwan and Asafu-Adjaye 2008).

In the next section, we will examine the causes and results of how human have impacted the coral reefs through pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification.

Causes and results of the coral reef damage

Pollution

Pollutants, such as oil or toxins, originating from land and sea are responsible for significant lethal and sub-lethal effects on marine life. Pollution impacts all trophic (nutritional) levels of marine life, from primary producers (plants) to top predators (whales), and interferes with the structure of marine communities and the ecosystem functionality (Todd et al. 2010). Oil tankers leaking oil make up a big part of ocean pollution (Lauinger 2010) and can kill or harm the animal life that live within and care for the coral reefs. The oil coats the polyps on the coral reefs and block out sunlight; when the light is blocked, the photosynthesis seizes up and everything that relies on it dies. All of the dead organisms begin to decompose which produce bacteria that use up the oxygen that is needed for the coral reefs to survive. With this type of pollution there is no way that coral reef organisms can acclimatize themselves to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (American Geophysical Union 2000).

Pollution also originates from a main point on a river, flows down, collecting more pollution as it goes from sources such as agriculture, animal feedlots, urban neighborhoods, factories and disposal sites, construction sites, and mines, and disburses all of these toxins at the mouth of an ocean. Fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides containing nitrogen and phosphorus accumulate from agriculture and are flushed down the Mississippi River and into the ocean. These excess nutrients urge drifting organisms to flourish in the Gulf of Mexico causing a depletion of oxygen (hypoxia) in the ocean known as the “dead zone” (Withgott and Brennan 2008). Nutrients, waste, and bacteria from animal feedlots; salt used on roads during winter season, oil, grease, and chemical from urban runoff; industrial waste and toxic chemicals from factories and disposal sites; eroded soil from construction sites, deforestation, and overgrazed land; and acid drainage from abandoned mines eventually filter out to the Gulf of Mexico and harming the coral reefs and sea life.

Since pollution has a negative impact on the coral reefs, there are solutions to this issue. Federal legislation created the Federal Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 to restrict dumping and discharges in navigable waters, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (amended to the Clean Water Act in 1977) makes it illegal to discharge pollution from a point source without a permit and sets standards for industrial wastewater and contaminant level in surface water and funded construction of sewage treatment plants (Withgott and Brennan 2008). These Acts have assisted with solving the problem of adding additional pollution that would harm the coral reefs.

Since we learned how pollution is damaging the coral reefs, next we will examine how overfishing can prove to be a harmful affect to the coral reefs.

Overfishing

Coral reef fisheries support tens of millions of people worldwide, mostly in developing countries (McManus et al 2000). Rapid human population growth, demand for fishery resources, use of efficient fishery technologies, and inadequate management and enforcement have led to the depletion of key reef species and habitat damage in many locations, such as the Florida reefs (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 2010).

Overfishing has caused ecological unsustainability due to people depleting fish faster than they can be reproduced. Fishing on reefs is classified into three stages: manageable, ecosystem-overfished (decline of once abundant fish stock), and Malthusian-overfished (use of illegal gear such as blasting devices and poisons, such as cyanide). The latter type of fishing occurs when a hand-made bomb, consisting of chemical fertilizers such as potassium nitrate or in the form of a dynamite stick, is thrown into a coral reef area to stun any fish in the immediate area. After shocking the fish, the divers collect them by hand (Burns 2003).

The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 created the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (2010) and it has made a positive impact on overfishing by creating fishery management plans and amendments designed to manage fishery resources. The plans or amendment regulate the amount of fish that are harvested in order to maintain the best interest of the people of the United States. On January 12, 2007, former President Bush signed the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006 to mandate the use of annual catch limits and accountability measures to end overfishing, provide widespread market-based fishery management through limited access privilege programs, and calls for increased international cooperation (NOAA 2010).

An opposing argument on overfishing comes from fishers and the fisheries that make a living and profit off fishing. Cod fishing was once abundant off the shore of Labrador and Newfoundland; unfortunately, due to hundreds of years of overfishing from trawling (dragging nets through the water with weighted nets across the floor of the continental shelf) the cod started to disappear and trawling caused severe structural damage to the coral reefs and its habitat. On July 2, 1992 Canadian Fisheries Minister John Crosbie announced a two-year ban on commercial cod fishing. Without jobs, the fishers’ lost income and relied on unemployment benefits and coastal communities faced economic ruin. However, this negative impact created a positive outcome; the fishers were offered alternative training for new skills and incentives for early retirement (Withgott and Brennan 2008). We learned how overfishing has proved to have negative impacts on the coral reef; the third area of concern is ocean acidification.

Oceanic Acidification

Acidification damages coral reefs and has other chemical and biological consequences. The acidity of oceans is changing very rapidly. The hydrogen ion concentration of surface ocean water (a reflection of pH) is now about 30% higher than it was 200 years ago. Princeton University researchers (Potera 2010) found that ocean acidification has negative impacts on the tiny one-celled plants which reside at the bottom of the food web and support commercially important fisheries. Researchers are finding that with a low pH balance, phytoplankton take up less iron, a key nutrient needed for photosynthesis and growth (Potera 2010).

According to Saunders (2010), human industrial activities contribute to climate change and to the CO2 generated that is absorbed by the world's oceans. CO2 reacts with seawater to form carbonic acid which decreasing the hydrogen-ion (pH) concentration of seawater and leading to environmental degradation. This includes damage to coral reefs and the inability of the ocean to absorb low-frequency sound, which sea life relies on as a channel of communication.

In the past 200 years the oceans have absorbed approximately half of the CO2 produced by fossil fuel burning and cement production. If emissions from human activities continue to rise, the average acidity of the oceans might increase by 0.5 units by 2100 causing devastating effects to the marine biosphere (Cribb 2008).

Now that we have read about pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification, we will examine the changes needed to prevent coral reef extinction.

Changes to Prevent Extinction

The coral reefs are part of the foundation of the ocean food chain and are eaten or inhabited by many sea-going creatures, not to mention (Donovan 2010) provide services with an average annual value estimated at $172 billion (Ecos 2009) to millions of people worldwide that depend on coral reefs for their food and livelihood (Skoloff 2010). Preventing extinction takes investment. Investing money in coral reef restoration can provide a great rate of return by working with the coral reef instead of killing it. It is difficult to put an exact price on the coral reefs except for calculating the amount of negative impacts that can happen if we did not have the coral reefs. The ecosystem, coastlines, jobs, tourism, and food supply would suffer immensely without the coral reefs. Investment is necessary in qualified worldwide environmental organizations to clean and purify the existing ocean pollution correctly and fund federal regulations and policies to prevent pollution.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2009) offers solutions to repair damage and prevent further extinction to the coral reefs. There has been an increasing effort to establish better management and conservation measures to protect the diversity of these biologically rich areas such as a joint venture with The NOAA (2010) to establish marine sanctuaries. By having both agencies collaborate together, the coral reefs have a great chance of surviving extinction.
Changes are not simple or easy. In addition, the United States is also faced with politicians and businesspeople who will disagree with the idea that pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification cause coral reef extinction, and believe the issues are an exaggeration. These people tend to look at short-term results and profit rather than long-term consequences. If a catastrophic event occurs, such as an oil spill, the “blame game” is more appealing and disregards personal responsibility. Some people have eyes on the economic value of the coral reefs and disregard the damages that are occurring from their actions.

To change a situation means to find innovative solutions. The next section discusses how we can help solve the problems of the coral reefs.

Innovative Solutions

Innovative solutions are currently being proposed to solve the problems caused by oil and gas development activities in the marine environment. The solutions are based on a holistic environmental approach, which takes into account the complexity of natural processes and also takes advantage of these processes, rather than working against them.

Some of the proposed models include marine protected areas in oil sites (MPAOS), ocean fertilization and CO2 utilization (OFCU), integrated coastal pollution balancing (ICPB), artificial recruitment in fisheries (ARFS), and artificial reefs from oil rigs (AROR). The main goal of these proposed approaches is to maintain and restore ecological sustainability and ecosystem integrity (Khan and Islam 2008, 121-132).

Marine Protected Areas in Oil Sites (MPAOS)

MPAOS are special areas established for conservation, but allow specific recreation and commercial uses, much like national parks. The U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of the Interior implemented The National Marine Protected Areas Center in 2000 to develop a Classification System for MPAs to focus on conservation, maintain diversity, cultural value, and permanent protection of the coral reefs. The center’s mission is to facilitate the effective use of science, technology, training, and information in the planning, management, and evaluation of the nation's system of marine protected areas to protect the coral reef from harm (MPA 2010).

Ocean Fertilization and CO2 Utilization (OFCU)

According to Khan and Islam (2008, 126) OFCU can provide a solution by fertilizing the oceans with iron to help phytoplankton growth and increase their environmental range to help control the ecosystem. Iron and silicon can also help with the accumulation of wastes and be used as nutritional sources for marine phytoplankton. The OFCU model has the potential to minimize atmospheric CO2 levels, which may ultimately slow down global warming. The idea is to balance CO2 emissions by sinking enough organic carbon in the ocean bottom by applying this method.

Integrated Coastal Pollution Balancing (ICPB)

According to Khan and Islam (2008, 127) 700 million gallons of oil enters the marine environment yearly, 55 percent enters the coastal areas through runoffs from agriculture such as the Gulf of Mexico. The ICPB model will make use of the runoff oil and pollution through the use of balancing ecosystem components by implementing bioremediation, fisheries, food web enhancement, aquacultures, and seaweed plantation which will require an ecological plan to implement. The total number of pollutant inputs can be estimated in a selected area such as runoff oil, agricultural waste or municipal waste release, and other industrial pollution, and an ecosystem model would be developed to use those pollutants. Due to their nitrate and phosphate discharge, plants such as seaweeds and other algae can be planted in such a way that they play a role in the phytoremediation of drainage oil as well as oil (or oil products) released from nearby sources. If agricultural or industrial pollution increases, seaweeds and other plankton can go into production overdrive. To control phytoplankton growth, herbivorous fish can be shipped in to control this trophic level. Mussel farming can be set up to control the number of plankton particles in the water. By controlling all levels of the marine environment, an overall ecosystem can be developed in the selected coastal areas (Khan and Islam 2008).

Artificial Recruitment in Fisheries (ARFS)

By studying the stock assessment at oil and gas development sites, one can estimate the status at fisheries and any possible negative scenarios that can impact a particular site. The ARFS method compensates fishery production if anything happens as a result of oil and gas development by helping to increase the existing fish stocks and transplant species in targeted areas such as development sites or an alternative site. This allows fishermen to extend their fishing activities into open waters such as lakes, reservoirs, rivers, seas, and oceans. The main objective of the ARFS is to increase the fish stock of selected species through artificial propagation of seed (fish larvae) in targeted areas and to resuscitate the stocks of over-fished or environmentally altered bodies of water. It will fill ecological niches, use biological resources, and compensate for the effects of barriers on the migratory routes to spawning grounds (Khan and Islam 2008, 128).

Artificial Reefs from Oil Rigs (AROR)

In the last model, AROR will use different types of oil rigs to be installed according to water depth. Oil rigs are huge structures and weigh thousands of tons. By law, abandoned rigs must be decommissioned and removed from marine waters. These rigs are usually cut down to manageable size and brought back to the shore. The AROR model can use the rigs as artificial reefs for fisheries yield and production, recreational activity, prevent trawling, repair degraded marine habitats, and overall economic and social benefits. The rigs can be kept at their original sites to establish a reef community or be transported to another planned site, giving a choice of type of seafloor conditions. Existing oil rigs have spawned lush marine habitats that are home to a profusion of rare corals and ten thousand to thirty thousand fish per rig. Oil companies can save between $400 and $600 million per rig by converting them into artificial reefs instead of offshore decommissioning. Using the AROR model is economically profitable and can be implemented with coordination of other governmental agencies.

Investors and organizations need to collaborate and work innovatively to solve the issues of pollution, overfishing and increased oceanic acidification to repair and avoid further damage to the coral reefs to prevent extinction. They may not entirely halt human activity from destroying the ocean but they can create jobs and innovative ideas to slow the process down and prevent mass starvation in the meantime.

Conclusion

The coral reefs have existed for 450 millions years, yet they have been the center of controversy for the last few decades. Even though they are the largest natural structures in the world, human interference threatens their existence. Pollution, overfishing and increased oceanic acidification are causing the extinction of the coral reefs. Unless every person initiates change today to halt damaging human activities and repair this vital marine biosphere the extinction of the coral reefs will cripple the world economy and cause mass starvation. Pollution, overfishing, and ocean acidification will create turmoil socially, economically, and politically if we do not act today and consider future sustainability.

Scientific consensus shows that the coral reefs are on the path to extinction through observation, direct evidence, and collected data; however, time will tell if society can prevent more damage, repair what has already been harmed and become sustainable before the coral reefs disappear forever.

On the other hand, the global economy is also a human concern since society relies on the coral reefs for their value in tourism, medicine, and food for human consumption. While both sides have great points, it comes down to extinction. If we overuse and abuse the coral reefs, they will die.

The solution is for a compromise between extinction and valuing the ecosystems using creativity, innovation, and sustainability. Pollution, overfishing and increased oceanic acidification can be slowed down through new and updated policies environmental laws, sustainability, and investing in new innovative solutions (NOAA 2010).

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Project Plan for Online Website Program for Adult Educators and Learners

Final Project
Julie Malone
October 31, 2009
Jones International University

Abstract

Adult learners inherited an evolutional maternal or paternal behavior of wanting to teach and share knowledge between themselves and future generations. Some adult learners have the opportunity to teach their children while others would rather share knowledge with the world. When adults have the instinct or desire to share information, facts, past experience, or discuss current issues, there needs to be a place to share. When technology combines with the Internet adult learners get an instantaneous learning and teaching environment; this is what this project plan entails. When considering a project plan, I evaluated the parameters of what purposes needed to be served for adult education. The structure of the project plan, type of project, focus, audience, need, goals and benefits need to involve adult learners, globally, to interact and learn from each other using technology and education.

Introduction

This project plan is a model for the purpose of designing an online website program for adult educators and learners solely based on the education in different areas of our lives. What people know or want to learn is vital to the education of the current and future generations and information provides the catalyst for the formation of the educational industry. By combining technology with educators and learners, this plan can fulfill a need for people worldwide to find solutions to their educational desires by having a program available. The following plan is described through six components: 1) Self-Reflection (adult learner self-portrait); 2) Portrait of an adult learner; 3) Adult education learning environment; 4) Teaching philosophy; 5) Teaching strategies; 6) An assessment. This plan initiates from my personal experience as an adult learner, builds through a portrait of an adult learner, my views on teaching philosophies and strategies, and closing with an assessment plan.

Component 1

Self-Reflection (Adult Learner Self-Portrait)

In this segment, self-reflection looks at one of my memorable experiences, the context of adult learning, and my teaching situation. Adult learning can prove to be an exhilarating and challenging adventure, yet frightening when learning a new subject. When enrolling at the University of Phoenix, contemplating on which degree and concentration to achieve was a bit daunting considering a degree should have a purpose, substance, and prove beneficial to my future career goals. This decision would alter and transform my educational beliefs considering it would be a life-changing experience and require years of focusing on a particular type of adult learning.

Memorable Experience

After carefully contemplating on a memorable experience as an adult learner, the main focus of my business degree came to mind. When selecting a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Organization Innovation I felt I could be part of a new transformational (Mezirow’s theory) learning theory and create vital changes within adult learners. This theory is about examining essential changes in the way a learner can see themselves through a mirror (self-reflection, past experiences, and examining one’s own Truth) and the world in which they live. This theory questions if adult educators have the right to ask learners to examine and change the basic life assumptions as part of the educational system. The theory questioned if I could examine who I was and what I stood for as an individual (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 58). Since innovation is a “frame of mind”, the act of developing an idea in its physical form (new product, service or process), and finding solutions to problems, this theory fits well within my degree.

Being an individual leaner, knowing my personality is based on being logical, analytical, and investigative, and realizing that learning happens internally, organizational innovation would prove to be the perfect choice for a degree (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 56). This focus can be categorized as an innovation of a product, process, or service, and can be implemented through idea selection, development, and commercialization.

After attending the five focus classes on innovation (innovation, design, and creativity for a competitive advantage; business management and the principles of design; the innovative organization; disruptive business practices: management and technology; and management of intellectual capital); the realization that classes teaching about organizational innovation would provide a valuable memorable learning experience for me as an adult learner.

Context of Adult Learning

Organizational Innovation provides an environment and framework to teach the adult learner how to bridge the gap between traditional business thinking, innovative and design focused philosophy, while learning how innovation, design, and creativity could be used for a company to use for a competitive advantage. Within the courses, I learned that a company can have a huge impact on today’s economy by educating employees through adult learning, such as participation, training, and motivation, to introduce how innovation, design, and creativity through strategy, process, product, and services of any product can create a profitable and growing company.

Organizational innovation was a learning experience to realize creativity can be used as an essential part of innovation considering it assists with the development of an idea, inspires thinking and being different, thinking laterally, and making new connections. Being creative is not just limited to a few selected individuals; it can be stimulated and supported through training, education, and utilization in the right work environment and atmosphere. Creativity cannot be controlled since it relies on basic motivation, enthusiasm, inspiration and knowledge. Companies must rely on raw data, but creativity and innovation only occur when data is combined with intuition (von Stamm, 2003). This new concept of learning would be considered the theory of experiential learning since it threatens how individuals normally think and persuades self-initiating learning and using past experiences to find solutions to a present problem. My adult learning process could be described as an andragogy (Knowles’ theory), since it is self-directed and my instructors expected students to take responsibility for decisions when writing papers (Kearsley, 2008).

Teaching Situation

Having this type of adult learning experience provided me an in depth opportunity of realizing that there are new ways of learning about how an organization can work. When attending the classes, I experienced teachable moments that I found to be transferable to certain teaching situations. By using the adult learning theories (transformational learning theory, experiential learning theory, and Knowles’ theory) I could educate adult learners by taking an opportunity to ask the students their opinions about a situation, have they ever gone “out on a limb” during a situation using faith, how decisions impacted people around them, how can they learn from past mistakes, trust their decisions and not be controlled by others, and use past experiences, skills, and knowledge to write essays. The idea is to have the adult student learn about themselves and the world around them.

After completing a self-reflection about my memorable and teaching experience, I interviewed an individual with a similar educational background and career focus in adult education of training and development. Below is a portrait of Stori Hybbeneth, her views on the theories of adult learning and development, along with the types of multiple intelligences she uses while training adult learners.

Component 2

Portrait of an Adult Learner (Stori Hybbeneth)

Stori Hybbeneth compliments her background in adult learning by combining a 10-year history of education and work-related experience with receiving a M.Ed. in Education/e-Learning: Global Leadership and Administration, followed by a series of positions to assist her with a focus on adult learning. Stori was a Volunteer Instructor/Lead Teacher where she supervised, coordinated and trained volunteer instructors; facilitated testing for all students; taught English skills to adults to assist them in communicating in an English-speaking society; created curriculum supplements with real-world examples to establish relevance; initiated educational activities in the classroom to maintain a fun, interactive and open environment.

Stori was the Training and Development Manager, Bilingual Education Counselor at Jones International University (JIU). She managed and developed on-boarding and ongoing training programs, including the Gagne ISD method (described below) creation of support materials for Admission and Academic Service Counselors; maintained an online portal for collaboration and reference repository; represented the needs of Admissions Counselors for implementation of new Student Information System; coordinated requirements gathering, testing, training and implementation of the Student Information System for Admission; consulted with prospective students to help identify educational goals and correlating to program requirements and areas of interest; presented information at educational fairs to expand public awareness of JIU.

Currently Stori is an eLearning Consultant/Project Manager, in the Advanced Services Group (under Customer Advocacy) at Cisco WebEx. Stori offers consulting services to customers. When customers (ranging from small and home business to large enterprises) purchase the company’s web conferencing software called Training Center (as a service), her company offers a range of services to help them make the transition from a traditional classroom to a virtual classroom. Stori primarily works with the training organization at the client’s facility. The training organization can be within the business unit, under Human Resources or wherever the service is needed. Training can come from different avenues such as learning straight feature functionality of the product, while at other times they do instructional design for the virtual classroom, and at other times it is the roll out strategy or a combination of the services.

Since Stori is both an eLearning consultant and project manager, she combines responsibilities for adult learning including facilitating on-site client meetings and deliver on-site discovery workshops; develop and manage multiple ongoing projects, schedules, resources, and associated project deliverables from initiation through delivery utilizing MS Project and project-related software; plan and manage service schedules, project resources, budgets, and revenue; develop job aids, help text and other documentation required to meet the client's business requirements.

Stori also shares her time volunteering as an instructor as ACCION International, a non-profit micro-lending company in Latin America. She develops and teaches a live ESL (English as a Second Language) (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 441) class over the web, described as an Knowles’ theory of the andragogy learner where online/distant learning is directed towards the non-traditional adult learner in which students learn globally instead of at a local school campus (Kearsley, 2008).

Adult Learning and Development Theories

Stori uses the Gagne ISD (Instructional System Design) method when teaching instructional design to her customers. She believes this method encompasses aspects of experiential learning (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 76) and behaviorism (Baumgartner, 2001). The method is experiential learning since methodology requires the participant to practice and apply the new information (content) along with past experiences and education. This method has elements of behaviorism because there is a set pattern/rhythm to the session and there is also feedback positive and negative reinforcement) given based on the participant practice went.

Gagne ISD consists of four phases: analysis, design, development, and implementation, with evaluation flowing throughout each step. ISD in the basic model is simple to understand and easy to use in almost any training environment and production for training adult learners. Analysis involves research (thoroughness, objectivity, and a systematic approach) and determines training needs and expresses them as information useful for training development through needs assessment, job analysis, and target audience analysis. Design involves planning and converting relevant information into concise, behavioral objectives, and creating the instructional "blueprint" with the end product of training materials, tests, visual aids, handouts, and methods. Development involves writing the lesson plans by using objectives, instructional approach, and media selections from the design phase, and produces course materials for the trainer, course materials for the trainee, and evaluation instruments. Implementation focuses on the training delivery, training facility, preparing an agenda, and setting up the training environment. The evaluation phase flows throughout each of the other phases to ensure that the training material is developed in a timely manner to achieve training goals, evaluates strengths and weaknesses through the stages, and ensures that the material improves performance of the adult learning situation (Air War College, 2009).

Multiple Intelligences

When Stori teaches adult learning at her company, she uses four of Howard Gardner's intelligence theories including linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence. Due to the nature of Stori’s adult learning methods, linguistic intelligence (poet) is used in order to communicate and express her thoughts to adult learners when training them on a particular product. Logical-mathematical intelligence (scientist) is used to analyze and investigate training and client needs, and the ability to detect the adult learning patterns, reasoning, and logical. Since Stori is a motivator, leader, and educator, interpersonal intelligence (salesman or teacher) gives her the opportunity to work effectively with adult learners. Stori uses intrapersonal intelligence (self-reflection) since she has the capacity to understand her motivation, feelings, fears and thoughts (Infed, 2009).

After writing a self-reflection about me, and interviewing Stori Hybbeneth about her philosophy and teachings on adult learning methods, my project plan became clear and adaptable. Education could be fun, learners could come from different avenues of the world, and learning could be functional. The next step would be to explore the possibilities of a project plan.

Component 3

Adult Education Learning Environment (Project Plan)

When researching for a project plan for adult learners, technology and globalization came to mind. The project plan had to be centered on the Internet and education since this is our future. Adult learners, globally, need to have discussion forums and related groups to discuss ideas and educate each other on a variety of topics within the educational world, and find themselves in a situation where they need general or specific knowledge or expertise about a certain subject.

This section answers questions about the project plan such as show context of the project plan, who the program will serve, the characteristics of adult learners, how theories from this course will help construct the learning environment, who are the stakeholders for the program, and who will be involved with the project and what their role is in the organization.

Context of the Project Plan (what organization will the plan serve?)

When interviewing Shaun Manzano, Chair of Business for ITT Technical Institute (ITT-Tech, 2009), he introduced me to a new website he is building called, “757 Empowerment Group” (Manzano, 2009), based on education and networking for adult learners. When asking him about developing a project, he recommended building a social network as a tool for the learning environment where adult learners can post concepts and theories on adult learning. The project can serve the local community about educational events, free memberships, jobs, and advertise.

Who the program will serve, describing the characteristics of adult learners
The program will serve every adult learner and educator globally who are self-directed, problem-centered, results-oriented, creative, logical, bring past experiences (work and education), open-minded, and wish to share knowledge. Adults can also become the student-teacher and visa versa.

How Theories from this course will help Construct the Learning Environment
The learning environment will be based on self-directed learning in order to become independent learners. Constructivism (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 255) can be used by individual adult learners in the forums to motivate each other through an educational issue. People are able to post questions if they need expertise in a certain area. Others will be encouraged to use past experience and knowledge in this adult learning forum. Critical Social Theory is helpful to obtain trust and respect from other adults. Hopefully, people will use patience and passion when dealing with others who are learning about a new concept or idea.

Cross' adult learning theory (Week 1, Theme 3) will be useful when using technology and interaction between adult learners across the globe to help understand the importance of Internet communication and education, and obtaining trust from other group members. Experiential Learning theory (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 76) will be part of this project by providing adult learners the ability to participate in surveys and questionnaires on different avenues of education such as personality and learning style. The learners can identify the benefits of knowing their individual learning styles and create a strategy of their own on how they can use this knowledge to maximize learning opportunities.

Psychological/cognitive (Baumgartner, 2001) approach can be used in this project for adult learners to transform their current knowledge and expertise, while learning about education, knowledge management, and innovation to increase their levels of educational development. Mezirow’s theory will be used during discussions between adult learners as part of the adult learning and development process. The atmosphere in this project will be geared towards trust and respect in which adult learners can feel comfortable expressing their ideas, concepts, and experiences.

The Contextual/Sociocultural theory will provide an opportunity for adult learners to increase cultural awareness and to observe how cultures have impacted education globally (Baumgartner, 2001). Adults will be given an opportunity to question, comment, and share ideas on how societal inequities are reproduced in an adult learning situation.

The integrated approach theory (examines development of mind, body, spirit, and sociocultural outlook) will be used in the project so that adult learners can use various approaches to education (Baumgartner, 2001).

Stakeholders for the Program

Me (website creator), adult learners and educators (locally or globally) who joins the website and educational forums, local community, advertisers, career advisors, employees in the educational field, and professional bodies.

What kind of needs assessment has been done or needs to be done
• Are there enough websites and forums for adult learners to discuss education on
any subject?
• Is current information on the Internet understandable or digestible for the
average adult learner?
• Is education undervalued in this country?
• Create a place where adult learners can discuss any topic to educate each other?
• Will combining all educational subjects be helpful to the site?

Who will be involved with the project and what their role is in the organization
The project will be initiated by me. I will author a website and blog to create an education forum and discussion groups. Once created, the website will be introduced globally through various Internet sources to get the news out about the website for adult learners.

By introducing the origination and context of my project plan, who the program will serve, the stakeholders, assessments, and who is involved with the project, the project will show the important education needs to be distributed globally. In the next section I will narrate a survey that I took, The Principles of Adult Learning Scale (PALS) to determine what type of instructor might teach adult learners in an online classroom setting, my philosophy through the paradigms from Theme 2, a description of my teaching strategies as I would use in my adult education program, followed by discussion of how my philosophy will be an integral part of my adult education program.

Component 4

Teaching Philosophy (PALS Survey)

The results of the PALS inventory survey (Week 4, Theme 1), were of no surprise to me; I could consider linking my results to practicing as an adult education and could teach by the results of this inventory survey, given my background as a student in adult education.

Factor 1 (learner-centered activities) had the highest sum of 37, mean of 3.08 (due to number of the sum), standard deviation (“SD”) of 1.67, and based on negative items. I believe in a minimum of disciplinary action when needed, provide a curriculum for educational objectives, and prefer not to use written tests to evaluate students’ progress.

Factor 2 (personalizing instructions), had a sum of 22, mean of 2.44, SD of 1.87, and based on a mix of positive and negative items. I believe that all students are treated equally, using the same curriculum, and abide by the same assignment deadlines. I think that adult learners should not compete, but rather cooperate and share ideas as a group.

Factor 3 (relating to experience) had the second highest sum of 30, mean of 5, SD of 0, and based on the positive items. This means that adult learners are encouraged to use past experiences, growth, independence, ask questions, and discuss issues of everyday living. The remaining factors showed average to low, depending on the question.

Factor 4 (assessing student needs), had a sum of 11, mean of 2.2, SD of 2.2, based on positive items. I did not score high in individual counseling, but I do believe in helping students to identify educational needs and developing short and long range objectives. Factor 5 (climate building), had a sum of 18, mean of 4.5, SD of 1, and based on positive items. I encourage dialogue between students, use existing competencies, accept errors as a learning process, and allow breaks for students to refresh their minds.

Factor 6 (participation in the learning process), had a sum of 12, mean of 3, SD of 1.63, based on positive items. I somewhat agree that students should participate in developing the criteria for evaluating their performance in class; I think that students should be able to interact with each other in class and discuss current issues; however, I believe that students should be somewhat limited to the topics of discussion in the classroom.

Factor 7 (flexibility for personal development), had a sum of 11, mean of 2.75, SD of 0.95, based on negative items. I would stick to the instructional objectives from the beginning of the program, maintain a well-disciplined classroom to reduce interferences of learning, and avoid some controversial subjects that involve judgments.

Philosophy Paradigms

My PALS inventory scores lined up with progressive and humanistic paradigm (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 75), with a slight influence on behaviorist theory (Week 4, Theme 2) (p. 182). The progressive paradigm, similar to the learner-centered style (Week 4, Theme 1) and Factor 3, is based on the learner’s needs, experiences, and interests (including promoting change in a democratic society). As an instructor, I prefer to be organized, set up learning situations, assist students to explore different subjects and allow them to test theories and make decisions through active participation in the learning process.

Humanistic paradigm is education based on experiential learning (Wilson, 2000, p. 75) and is a way that learners can achieve self-actualization and live up to their full potential as human beings, as in Factor 1. The adult learner is self-motivated and self-directed as they explore their educational future. The behaviorist theory is similar to Factor 7 by focusing on the curriculum objectives, controlling and monitoring classroom activity, providing student feedback, and maintaining a well-disciplined classroom to reduce interference with learning.

Teaching Strategies used in Adult Education Program

My teaching strategy is known as cooperative learning (George Mason University, 2009), since it will encourage adult learners globally to work together for a common goal of teaching various topics in education to each other. My program will be based on Factors 1 and 3 and both progressive and humanistic paradigms since adult learners will bring both questions and answers, experiential learning, skills, and knowledge to the forums and discussions.

My philosophy as an Integral Part of my Adult Education Program

My philosophy has a foundation of progression and will have an integral part in my adult education program considering every adult learner will play an important role in my program. I want adults to express their thoughts, ideas, and comments about educational situations of all types and be able to freely share their knowledge with anyone who wants to absorb it. We have a democratic society where everyone needs to share and transfer important information.

I found the above inventory survey, philosophy paradigms, teaching strategies’, and philosophy on an adult education program to be educational and positive, as it proved that by being an online adult learner that I could teach in the same manner as an instructor in a distant learning environment.

The next section will show student learning objectives, explain which teaching strategies that will be used in my program and how each strategy will help students to achieve the learning objective; a sample lesson plan using one of the teaching strategies; and a description of how technology will match my learning strategies.

Component 5

Teaching Strategies (Student Learning Objectives)

Student learning objectives focus on the audience (who is the target), behavior (learners demonstrate need for this website), and conditions (how will students learn through the website such as graphs, imported images, or attached information) (Clark, 2004). After researching the Internet, I noticed that adults crave education, self-direction and motivation, can offer a rich variety of life experiences, and want to learn more about what the world has to offer.

My adult education program is focused on sharing current and future educational information in a fast changing world (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 224), and to help society, from all demographic areas, get anxious and excited about learning. The audience will include anyone with the desire to want to learn about education. Student learning objectives for the adult education program involve sharing knowledge globally (though a self-directed online forum and discussion questions) which is vital to the growth of our globalized human society. This knowledge is shared through skills, expertise, know-how, problem solving, and specialization.

The program will assist the audience by providing an educational website where adults can demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and specialization of various areas in politics, social-economic and cultural issues that affects adult education. The program will supply a source for adult educators to share knowledge of research methodology and studied case studies such as real-world scenarios, attaching data and documents, and having open-ended discussions (JIU, 2009).

The Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised version) can assist with the student learning objectives through cognitive learning (domain) by remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating (Forehand, 2005). Students will recall previous experiential experiences and relevant knowledge and write about an event. Understanding will initiate from reading other learners’ written reports and interpret, summarize, compare notes, and apply how their experiences are related. Students will have the opportunity to analyze each others’ work and experiences, organize their thoughts, and discuss options to the discussion question. Students will have to opportunity for self-evaluation when discovering solutions to issues during discussion questions. Students will have the chance to create original discussion questions on the topic of choice once they are comfortable with the format structure.

Teaching Strategies

My adult education program involves teaching strategies that will help students achieve the learning objectives by providing an instructional delivery method and tool for an online educational environment where adult learners (globally) can come together to converse on education. The program will provide an area for case studies on subjects like knowledge management, innovation, and education for adult learners to focus on solutions to different problems. Adult educators can post lectures for discussion, case methods that were used in the workplace (experiential learning), and problem-focused discussion in order for adults (globally) to use cognitive skills to solve a particular issue (Background of problem-based learning, 2006). In this manner, the adult learner can learn and understand this new application and use it to troubleshoot a particular issue in the workplace or home life.

Sample Lesson Plan using one of the Teaching Strategies

In my adult education program, a sample lesson plan may be composed of an initial discussion of a case study, such as the healthcare system, that can expand through conversations. Students can reply by talking about their life or work experiences (negative or positive) within the healthcare system, what they need from a new system, and how their families’ have been effective by the current system. In this type of discussion, students can educate themselves on other students’ opinions towards their own healthcare system without negative politics getting in the way. The website is about sharing information, not for students conducting themselves in an unprofessional manner with arguing about an issue.

Technology Plan when Teaching Learning Objectives

My adult education program will require the use of a computer and the Internet to access the website. This delivery mechanism will give adult learners access to other students worldwide. The program will provide user-friendly tabs to assist the adult learner in navigating through the site, including locating forum(s), discussion questions, and chat rooms to post educational information. Educators will be given an opportunity to post graphics, presentations, videos, word documents, spreadsheets, and databases through an attachment or link button.

According to our text (Wilson and Hayes, 2000), computers are expanding in the rural areas where 6% of the community have access to the Internet. Communication and I.T. can reduce the barriers of distance that disadvantages rural areas. These adult learners are able to gain access to my program, learn, chat, and create discussions of their own. Learners have the freedom of posting a viewpoint of their living and educational circumstances and educating others on what it is like to live in these communities.

After reading about student learning objectives, teaching strategies, a sample lesson plan, and a description of how technology will match my learning strategies, the next section will outline the student learning objectives, supply specific assessment strategies used to measure student progress, and give an example of an assessment plan that incorporates the assessment cycle. The assessment plan is an important part of designing an adult education program since the plan provides data to interpret whether or not learning objectives are being achieved and if the program needs to be adjusted.

Component 6

An Assessment - Student Learning Objectives
(Relating to the above section)

Our society craves knowledge, learning, self-direction, and motivation. The student learning objectives of my adult learning program are for educators and learners worldwide to come together on one website to discuss educational topic, through a self-directed online forum and discussion questions, by sharing current and future knowledge, upload reports, graphs, imported images, and other attached documentation (Wilson and Hayes, 2000, p. 224). This knowledge is shared through methodology, case studies, skills, expertise, know-how, problem solving, and specialization of various areas in politics, healthcare, social-economic and cultural issues that affects adult education. By using the Bloom’s Taxonomy (see above) my program can assist with student learning objectives through remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating (Forehand, 2005) different ideas and concepts through the forum and discussion questions. Students will bring previous experiential experiences and relevant knowledge to the table, apply the new knowledge to their workplace, self-evaluate themselves, and begin to create synopsis of their own on the forum.

Specific Assessment Strategies to Measure Student Progress

To test whether student learning objectives are being met, an assessment needs to be conducted. Since my adult learning program is based on a formative structure (JIU, 2009) the assessment strategy will be different from the traditional student learning process.

Assessment strategies used to measure student progress for my program will consist of classroom assessment techniques (CATs) based on observation (through case studies), attitude surveys, concept mapping, weekly reports, and Kirkpatrick’s Model of Assessment (JIU, 2009). By students posting case studies, the program can assess what students are learning and absorbing throughout the forum and discussion questions. Attitude surveys will provide information on opinions, viewpoint, type of questions asked, and what students agreed and disagree upon in a particular area (Florida Center for Instructional Technology, 2009). Concept mapping, such as a graphic organizer, can evaluate whether or not students understand and relate to the material. Weekly reports can prove what students are learning from replies and comments to discussion question and forums, and clarify any unclear material (JIU, 2009).

The Kirkpatrick model of assessment can be useful during the assessment process. The program can review and measure student reaction and what they learned through surveys conducted at the end of a particular discussion question session. Behavior can be obtained through conducting a survey three to six months after a discussion question or forum has completed. This assessment could prove if the student retained information from and learned from the experience, or if future classes are needed. Results can be assessed by having the students evaluate if a particular lesson has assisted them in the workplace or home environment.

Assessment Plan Incorporates Assessment Cycle

The assessment cycle consists of nine steps: 1) student learning begins with educational values, 2) is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time, 3) works best when the programs it seeks to improve has clear, explicitly stated purposes, 4) requires attention to outcomes and to experiences that lead to those outcomes, 5) works best when it is ongoing, not sporadic, 6) encourages wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community are involved, 7) makes a difference when issues are involved that affect society, 8) leads to improvements or change, and 9) through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to society (JIU, 2009).

An assessment plan that will incorporate the above assessment cycle for the adult learning program will include 1) focusing on student and educator needs globally and can incorporate the assessment cycle by asking people what they value in education; 2) since the program is online, the learning atmosphere will be multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time through assessments; 3) the objective is to provide the best clear, explicit online program for people of all demographics to enjoy learning; 4) the program will need specific assessment strategies (see above strategies) to measure the outcome and experience of each session; 5) considering this is an online forum with discussion questions, the program is geared for ongoing issues and concerns, rather than random discussions; 6) the program encourages students, educators, employers, employees, and the general public to get involved in this educational community; 7) the plan will makes a difference when educational issues are involved that affect society; 8) this type of program is geared for improvements or change considering it is an ongoing Internet educational site; 9) through this assessment plan, student and educators can learn from each other to meet educational responsibilities that are needed globally.

Conclusion

The project plan outlined in this paper provided proof that it will be a program developed for adult educators and learners and solely based in an online environment in order for adults, worldwide, to combine their knowledge and experience and learn from each other. The foundation for this project is to show how vital education is to the world, now and in the future. This analysis provided information to the background of my project plan through a description and who the program served, the stakeholders, assessments, and who is involved with the project. The analysis showed results of my PALS inventory survey, philosophy paradigms and teaching strategies used, and my philosophy towards my adult education program.

When designing my adult education program, I needed to consider the accessibility to this program. Since adult learners come from all types of backgrounds, skill levels, age brackets, and geographic areas of the world, technology was an important concern. My program can help with these issues by providing a pleasant, user-friendly environment for all adult learners to come and enjoy their educational ride. The above plan provided information towards learning objectives, described which teaching strategies will be used in my program and how each strategy will help students to achieve the learning objective. This analysis supplies a sample lesson plan using one of the teaching strategies, along with a description of how technology will match my learning strategies. This analysis also provided specific assessment strategies and a plan to carry out the intention of educating society using the Internet. By using this technological method of learning, this program provides a means to assess the current and future needs of education.

References

von Stamm, B. (2003). Managing Innovation, Creativity and Design. Unites States: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Wilson, Arthur L. and Hayes, Elisabeth R. (2000). Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Innovation Guideline

Innovation Guideline Paper
Julie Malone
University of Phoenix
OI 463 The Innovative Organization
Eric Hogan
September 1, 2008

Abstract

When it comes to rules, every company needs some type of direction on what to expect from upper management down to the employees on innovation needs. This report introduces seven different guidelines of innovation (exert strong leadership on strategy and portfolio, integration into business mentality, align with strategy, manage creativity and value capture, neutralize organizational antibodies, establish networks, and use metrics and incentives) that companies need to focus on to make a growing and thriving organization succeed in this competitive global society, along with the samples of how each guideline effects the Siemens Corporation.


Innovation Guideline Paper

In the book Making Innovation Work (Davila et al., 2006), the authors say that a key to successful innovation is for the CEO of a company to perform a periodic health check to determine exactly what part of the organization needs attention. In order to achieve results within a limited time frame and resources requires the ability to focus on the parts of the innovation effort that need the most attention. What is surprising is how few companies have effective diagnostics for the overall innovation activities. Without solid innovation diagnostics, managers have a hard time knowing where to begin, and when the innovative process can become entangled making the task of separating the symptoms of the problems from the root cause. In addition, without periodic diagnostics, a sense of complacency builds lack of focus on maintaining the right mix of innovation. While conducting research, the authors located a short list (known as the Seven Innovation Rules) of the most important aspects of innovation in which senior management should examine.

1. Exert strong leadership on the innovation strategy and portfolio decisions: Managers need a clear direction from the top of the organization and saturates down to employees in order to motivate, support, and reward the activities that encourage innovation (Davila et al., 2006). Siemens offers management training programs that teach managers how to leverage effectively and develop the talents of its employees across the entire spectrum of similarities and differences (Siemens, 2008).

2. Integrate innovation into the company’s basic business mentality: Innovation is not a magic trick on special occasions or a “nice to have” element, but an integral part of the way a company operates every day and is essential to the continuation of the organization. Innovation encompasses two established activities – technological (research and development) or new product development and is strategic (defining the business model) (Davila et al., 2006).

Since 1847, Siemens offers technological advancements in information and Communication (telegraphy, telecommunications and microelectronics), power (power plants, circuit breakers, and gas turbines), transportation (electric railway, subway, and electromagnetic levitation with the Transrapid), healthcare (x-ray apparatus, echocardiography, and cardiac pacemaker), lighting (various lamps), and household appliances (washing machine, television, and dishwasher). For over 150 years Siemens has been a technology powerhouse in electronics. The factors that drive the company’s success include a clear portfolio policy, long-range financial planning, an international setup and strong employee orientation.

3. Align the amount and type of innovation to the company’s business: Innovation may or may not be the key to success for the overall business strategy; management has to determine the types and amounts of innovation needed to support the business strategy and more is not necessarily better. A company’s business strategy is focused on winning innovation is a fundamental element of long-term success. The importance of innovation depends on timing of the last innovation, the nature of the competition, and the overall business strategy. The CEO and senior management team decides which innovation strategy best fits the external competitive and market situation and the company’s internal condition is the responsibility (Davila et al., 2006).

Since 1847 Siemens has always been an innovative company; but in the 1940s and during the final years of World War II, numerous plants and factories in Berlin and other major cities were destroyed by Allied air raids. To prevent further losses, manufacturing was moved to alternative places and regions not affected by the air war. The goal was to secure continued production of important war-related and everyday goods. Siemens was operating almost 400 alternative or relocated manufacturing plants at the end of 1944 and in early 1945. Germany’s political, military and economic collapse led to the closure of Siemens’ plants in Berlin on April 20, 1945. By the time the war came to an end, the greater part of Siemens’ buildings and industrial installations had been destroyed.

4. Manage the natural tension between creativity and value capture: A company needs strength in creativity and profit; innovation requires processes, structures, and resources to manage significant levels of creativity (developing new concepts and ways of doing things) while executing (transforming creative concepts into commercial realities) (Davila et al., 2006). In April 1994, Siemens Medical Systems suffered about a $140 million decrease in sales as a result of suspended production at three manufacturing facilities which manufactured patient monitors, ultrasound equipment, radiation therapy devices, pacemakers, hearing aids and other devices were not manufactured in conformance with the FDA's Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). The FDA determined that Siemens did not adequately address consumer complaints and that the company's quality-assurance programs were inadequate (findarticles, 2008).

5. Neutralize organizational antibodies (resistance): Innovation necessitates change, and change stimulates explicit routines and cultural norms that act to block or negate change. When people have experienced success for a long time, there can be a tendency to become complacent and resist change. In order to innovate, senior management must create a culture that has the ability and the courage to change, explore, and innovate at the same time can be stable enough to deliver on its innovations. Part of an innovation-friendly culture is recognizing that what brought success in the past does not necessarily bring success today. This requires a culture that is open to questioning assumptions and to debating alternatives to the current approach to business. Managers must also understand that only by taking risks (preferably small risks where the cost of failure is low), closely observing results, learning from them, and trying again, can innovation occur (Davila et al., 2006).

In the 1900s, Siemens changed from a company dealing mainly with public customers in regulated markets to a global competitor increasingly due to pressure from the shareholders. To meet these new challenges effectively and efficiently, the company introduced programs that represented a radical change of approach, based on the strategic pillars of productivity, innovation and growth. The company had to optimize its business portfolio through divestments, acquisitions, the formation of new companies, and the founding of joint ventures.

6. Recognize that the basic unit (or fundamental building block) of innovation is a network that includes people and knowledge both inside (R&D, marketing, manufacturing) and outside (customers, suppliers, partners, and others) the organization: A successful organization excels at combining its internal resources with selected portions of the vast resources of the world’s capitalist economy. Innovation requires developing and maintaining this network as an open and collaborative force, which is no easy task considering the complexities of relationships, differing motivations, and differing objectives. Some companies choose to isolate innovation efforts from the organization to avoid its antibodies, through stand-alone departments or incubators. These approaches can be successful but only if they establish and maintain a rich network with the critical resources in the company and with outside partners. These stand-alone or incubator innovation initiatives often fail because, in an attempt to isolate the innovators from organizational antibodies, they sever critical links with key resources and ideas (Davila et al., 2006). Today, Siemens has 66,000 employees in the US and 400,000 persons working in 190 countries worldwide. Siemens builds and strengthens the world's infrastructure in everything from energy and transportation to healthcare and water technologies to communications and lighting (Siemens, 2008).

7. Create the right metrics and rewards for innovation: People react to positive and negative stimuli, and a company’s innovation is no exception. A manager will never achieve the level of innovation that is needed if people do not have the proper rewards to drive performance. Often these rewards focus on meeting budgets and avoiding risk. Rewards of this type cause managers to invest in safe products to prevent big loss but also little chance of a big profit; these rewards totally block whatever motivation there may exist to explore riskier paths. A badly designed measurement or reward system will mute the rest of the rules, even if optimally designed. The question then becomes: What should a company measure and what type of rewards would best motivate employees to get the innovation results that management needs? In some companies, the measurements are a big part of the problem (Davila et al., 2006). Siemens has a tendency of looking at the rewards system from the top downward; upper management receives praise and yearly bonus and the hourly wage-earner receives a small raise if the budget permits. If the company needs to downsize due to economic conditions, the hourly white-color and administrative workers are the first to exit the company.

Conclusion

Organizations need systems in place that provide the proper measurement, motivation, incentives, rewards to foster innovation that is aligned with the innovation strategy, and need to create an environment where taking risks on breakthrough innovations is recognized as valuable to the company. The first innovation rule is leadership since it is where a company needs to start, metrics and rewards is the seventh and last innovation rule since it closes the circle, and creates the motivational and behavioral links to all of the other innovation rules (Davila et al., 2006).

References

Davila, T, Epstein, M .J., & Shelton, R. (2006). Making Innovation Work. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing.

Design Audit Model

Design Audit Model
Julie Malone
University of Phoenix
OI 462 Business Management and the Principles of Design
Ray S. DePuy, PE
December 15, 2008

Design Audit Model

Design can be a key competitive weapon that companies and managers can examine in their own corporate use of design to address problems in corporate competitiveness. A design audit can be used to help a company identify the design capabilities of the business and identify where and how design can be most effectively applied to boost the company’s competitive advantage. A properly performed design audit reviews the company’s purpose and vision, the competitive and organizational strategy, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), and the organization’s positioning, product, people, and process capabilities.

Design audit consists of four different levels: environmental issues, corporate culture, design management, and the physical implementation of the design (strategy, process, products, and services). This report will focus on the corporate culture of Siemens Corporation for its design audit model. The corporate culture includes corporate design strategies’, design awareness/understanding (values and vision), design and other function integration, and design activities undertaken (Cooper and Press, 1992).

An employee opinion survey was used as a design audit for the quality of human resources. This company-wide survey audit can provide the company with important information about the employees’ opinions, thoughts of the company, and personal values and visions. The audit’s objective is to gain knowledge of how employees feel about the company, the job, pay and benefits, work environment, management, training, communication, corporate culture, overall satisfaction, and general overall opinion of how the company is being conducted.

The employee opinion survey found a general sense of lack of communication and feeling of involvement by employees in the aims and goals of the company. This analysis provides information leading to the following recommendation to help the company improve in the overall quality and find ways to re-energize and re-commit employees in order for them to feel a sense of loyalty to the company. The problem identification depends on if the feedback is positive or negative. I would make the following recommendations for improvement:

1. Siemens can improve on communicating with employees by offering conference calls to update them on company updates and changes, values and vision, and to invite employees for their opinions and comments as to the current and future direction of the company.
2. Employees should have the opportunity to express their ideas on how they feel the company could strategize more efficiently, be innovative, and use the SWOT more productively within the company.
3. Employees should be able to express ideas about their current job function (possible re-design the company into a learning culture for employees to share information and knowledge company-wide), additional training and education to expand on the value as an employee, and how to lower the employee turnover rate.
4. Pay and benefits could be improved by adding incentive programs to employees such as extra projects for overtime and offering flexible benefits.
5. The work environment could improve by offering flexible work schedules and telecommuting to the employees.
6. The middle management could take additional leadership training to be a more effective leader to its employees and how to loosen hierarchy constraints in favor of teamwork and employee empowerment.
7. Siemens should improve technology through updated software and computer systems to improve faster technical support assistance to the customer.

If the above recommended improvements were used as a tool and implemented within Siemens Corporation, the communication between the company and the employees could improve the corporate culture and help the employees understand the aims and objectives of the company in order to contribute effectively and to show a general overall satisfaction throughout the company. In the end the company’ management team needs to strategize and execute good management practice to make improvements and change the current conditions.

Reference
Cooper, R., and Press, M. (1995). The Design Agenda. West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Design Process Models

Design Process Models Paper
Julie Malone
University of Phoenix
OI 462 Business Management and the Principles of Design
Ray S. DePuy, PE
November 24, 2008

Abstract

A design process model consists of a series of activities and methods drawn together in a way which meets the requirements of a problem or project in order to achieve an intended purpose, goal or outcome. Although, the models have similarities within companies, models can have different design processes which vary depending on the size, scale and nature of the problem. This report describes four different design process models and distinguishes between their similarities and differences. In addition, the report identifies a model that best fits a company known as Pixar Animation Studios.

Design Process Models Paper

Designers play a central role in shaping the world around us. People, products, and places are all touched by a design that was created and produced by a company. Design at any company can be an innovative and ambitious undertaking especially when building on the existing strengths of the current structure. Different designers manage the process of design in different ways. Following are four ways that companies use the design process models, including a sample of a familiar company known as Pixar Animation Studios.

Internal Creative Process of Design

When the design process becomes a creative act within a company, it presents a five-stage model called the internal creative process of design that describes what designers do when working on a problem consisting of defining, understanding, and thinking about the problem, developing an idea, and detail, design, and testing the final product. This model focuses on how designers can think through a problem (reason for the model name).

The creative process is rarely linear since new information or insights may require designers to return to an earlier stage and amend the definition or design at any stage. When problems emerge within the organization, the designer’s results are evaluated and developed further elsewhere in the company. A new product or corporate identity will be launched having an effect on the company’s environment and creating new design problems.

This particular model recognizes the difference between the process used by the individual designer, design skills use to solve a problem, and the design process as the strategic planning of product development. The model demonstrates the design process as it occurs from the individual’s perspective and describes the thought process as the problem is addressed, which is often personal and based on education and experience (Cooper and Press, 1992, p. 36).

External Productive Process of Design

In contrast, on a corporate level the process called the external productive process of design (reflects two key activities of planning and production) has a much broader scope and incorporates external factors such as finance, marketing and tangible measurable aspects of business. The external productive process of design includes:
• Concept: Developing concepts that fulfill given objectives.
• Embodiment: Structural development of the most suitable concept.
• Detail: Confirming precise specifications and production processes.
• Production: Manufacturing the product or providing the service.
This model succeeds in reflecting a combination of the corporate design process and the individual designer’s process, and its more structured methodology and process to design activities can help to anticipate problems and manage risk (Cooper and Press, 1992, p. 38).

Total Process of Design within Management

In the total process of design within management model, objectives are set within each phase, planning procedures are established, and methods of evaluation implemented. The input to the concept phase is a design brief, which defines the nature of the problem (market research) to be solved. The output from the production phase is a product or service which meets the requirements of the brief. This is distributed and advertised, performance evaluated, and a new or amended brief may be set depending on if market research if required.

Hollins and Hollins (Cooper and Press, 1992, p.38) compared their concept of the total design to Walker’s and came to the conclusion that the total design should include an indication of market pull or technical push, emphasize the multidisciplinary and iterative nature, and to explain that the purpose is to produce a product or service, and goes beyond the start of production, including the issues of product disposal. Total design integrates market research, marketing strategy, engineering, product design, production planning, distribution, and environmental monitoring within one cyclical model. Both theories see design as internally applying new technologies, developing product concepts and externally meeting the needs of the market and the wider environment, and guided by planning process. Both see design as a process involving more than just design skills. The difference between the two theories is that Walker’s design process contained on one side by planning and production on the other side.
The total process of design within management model is based around the internal and external environment of a company. The Internal and external part of the environment include the brief, proposals, product launch, market test, and research. These five areas encompass objectives, concept, embodiment, detail, production, advertising, distribution, use, perceived value, and reassess. Planning, design and development, production, and market response surround everything (Cooper and Press, 1992, p.39).

Design as a Planning Process

Design as a planning process, begins with the design process, extending out to information collection (markets, technological innovation and competitor activity), strategy (product, distribution, marketing, and production), and specification (product performance characteristics, product image, production processes and allied activities) that develops strategic planning on new product development (Cooper and Press, 1992, p.41).

Similarities and Differences

Each design process model of internal creative process of design, external productive process of design, total process of design within management, and design as a planning process all have the similarity of sharing the basic process of defining a problem, developing an idea, design, and testing the final result. The difference between all four is the expansion of the process. The internal creative process of design works internally and uses the basic process; external productive process of design goes beyond the basic process and uses external factors such as finance and marketing; total process of design within management uses both internal and external parts of the environment and the process is extremely thorough from conception to production; design as a planning process tends to “plan” the design by using product specifications and gathers information for research.

Design Process Model at Pixar

Pixar Animation Studios (filmmaking process) can be described as an internal creative process of design since designers define and contemplate a problem, develop ideas, provide a detailed design, and test the particular piece of artwork. The artwork may require designers to return to an earlier stage and amend a design at any stage. When problems emerge with a particular piece, the designer’s results may be evaluated and developed elsewhere at Pixar. Each designer used personal education and experience during the process. Pixar’s design process is based on a few simple approaches, traditional skills (drawing, painting, sculpture and storytelling, and low-tech (rather than high-tech). The designers work as a team and ideas are developed slowly using an iterative process that adds value to everyone’s work (Pixar, 2001).

Conclusion

The above report introduced four types of design process models and how each worked within a company, a comparison of how each model offered similarities and differences, and provided Pixar Animation Studios as a sample of a model. As one can see, each design originates as the basic process, but then expands with the process needs of the company.

References

Cooper, R. & Press, M. (1992). The Design Agenda: A Guide to Successful Design
Management. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.