Running head: THE BIRD OF DAWNING CASE STUDY 1

The Bird of Dawning Case Study

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX University

MNA-XXX
Dr. XXXX
March 4, 2015

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Table of Contents
Abstract..................................................................................................................................3
Overview/Problem Statement4
Company Profile...4
Current Business Situation...4
Proposed Management Solution....5
Situational Analysis .8
Strengths8
Weaknesses8
Opportunities...8
Threats.8
Analysis............................................................................................................................10
Recommendations10
References.13

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Introduction
This case study is an analysis of Cyril Trewsberrys efforts to captain a boat after the original ship
sank and the captain went down with it. The main focus will be on the characteristics of various
people in an emergency type environment including communication, initiative, and leadership
skills. The main problem illustrated in this case would be the human characteristics exhibited by
each person and the effect of that behavior on the group. Some of the ships crew chose to lead
while others chose to support and yet others chose to be selfish and not help very much. The Bird
of Dawning is set in the mid 1800s during the China to London tea trade by ships called clippers.
In this sailing race there was a collision between clippers that resulted in a leader by accident, a mismatched crew, food rationing and conflicts along the way. In addition to the captain trying to
inspire the crew to survive, circumstances make it so they actually had a chance to win the race.
This student will utilize various tools to analyze the leadership skills of Cyril Trewsberry including
situational analysis, problem identification and the choice of action that he took.
Situational Analysis
The definition of a situational analysis is the collection and examination of economic, social,
and political data that affect an organization's market in order to decide on the best plan of action for
the organization's future, according to Cambridge Dictionaries Online.
S.W.O.T.
One of the most widely used situational analysis tools is the SWOT analysis. The SWOT
analysis is a method for identifying opposition for a venture or strategy. Short for Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, this allows someone to identify all of the positive and
negative elements that may affect any new proposed actions ("What Is SWOT Analysis?" 2011).

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Strengths

Experienced Crew

Hard Workers

Floating Vessel

Weaknesses

Limited Food

Selfish Crew Members

Conflicts

Weather

Boat Condition

Health

Win Race

Make Money

Competition

Conflicts

Opportunities

Stay Alive

More Work

Threats

Weather

Collision

Internal Environment
The Strengths and Weaknesses of the internal environment will include culture, crew, and
the captain. The strengths of the crew include the experience level of the people on board. Cyril
Trewsburry had been a second mate for some time although only 22 years old had 7 years on the
seas. During the collision the Captain went down with the ship and 16 men survived including the
second mate Cyril Trewsburry. During the evacuation into the scuttle boats, Cyril was giving orders
to the other crew members to gather supplies and water which they followed. Cyril had the
initiative to take control immediately and made some announcements to the crew that made it
aboard. While explaining the situation, Cyril announced that he was in charge and made some

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additional appointments for second mate and the starboard and port watches. The culture of the
crew members of a clipper was of hard work, dedication, and responsibility. A majority of the crew
that survived follows that culture and is of great help to Cyril while a few others werent so helpful.
The weaknesses are plenty given the situation with limited food, ocean weather, crew conflicts, and
deteriorating health of the crew members. Discipline, strong leadership skills and a clear vision
would be included as strengths while possibility of mutiny, conflict, clash of personality and power
struggles along with limited food supply constituted weaknesses.
External Environment
The Opportunities and Threats of the external environment include staying alive, possibly
winning the race, along with the possibility of a night collision, other competition, and worsening
weather. The opportunity to be able to finally make it to the island is the biggest one since it was
the most important motivating factor. Everyone who was staying hungry, feeding on very limited
food supply, working hard to help each other survive were doing all this with one purpose in mind
i.e. to stay alive and finally reach the island. Threats included possibility of being captured, taken
over by others, collision, deaths, weather and more which could lead to complete destruction of the
mission and failure of the plan that Cyril had set out for everyone to follow. The external
environment is however out of ones control and it is therefore far more important to eliminate
internal weaknesses while preparing for external threats by studying trends.
In any organization, just like the ship, there are plenty of weaknesses and threats. The firms
understand that while they can work on internal weaknesses, the external threats are out of their
immediate control. The only way they can have some kind of influence on external environment is
by studying and researching the trends and become proactive. In their bid to achieve some kind of
control over external environment and hence have some semblance of influence, they will study
trends carefully, and becoming more prepared for the same so when the threats hit, their impact is

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less powerful than was previously expected. Those firms that didn't use scanning at all tended to be
laggards in the marketplace. In summary, using environmental scanning to understand the everchanging marketplace and then adapting the marketing mix accordingly are critical to long term
success of organizations. (Lamb, 2011, p103)
In much the same way a ship captain would prepare for trends that he notices. For example
if too many bigger ships are found in the same waters, possibility of attack or collision cannot be
overlooked. Similarly Cyril understood that bad weather can impact their journey and was prepared
to handle this. He was also dealing with internal weaknesses by preparing for them. For example he
knew that food supply was limited and hence made it clear that milk would be reserved only for
those who fell sick and hence no one was allowed to touch the very limited supply of milk.
Problem Identification
Problem identification refers to one issue that is at the bottom of current business situation.
This problem needs to be correctly identified in order to help the firm build its future strategies. For
example some firms might find turnover rate to be their real issue and hence this would be the
problem that must be identified and then all kind of tools are used to figure out the reason why
turnover is high and what can be done to control it. Problem finding (problem sensing, problem
identification) refers to claims that some set of conditions in the real or virtual future world ought to
be considered a 'problem', that is, ought to be seen by others as an undesirable situation. (Hoppe,
2011, p30)
In this case, Cyril knew the primary problem was lack of solid transportation and limited
food supply. He knew he would handle everything else including conflicts but the fact that they had
moved to a boat and had very little food to survive on made the situation far worse.
Best Choice of Action

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Every firm in the situation of crisis needs to know what will be the next best course of action. In this
scenario, the leader will brainstorm three or four action plans and then choose the one which
appears to be most practical and suitable. Cyril knows that he has some action plans and the best
one is the one he already has in place. He knows that getting to the island is the best way they can
survive and finally reach their destination after they feel well. However getting to the island is not
an easy task by any means. Thus he needs to take into account various factors including:
1. Resources available
2. Urgency of situation
3. Possible threats in the environment
A firm for example would know it has multiple actions in view. It can then choose the right one
based on its unique situation. Cyril comes across many problems while getting to the island but
it is important for him to keep his eye on the ultimate goal which is getting to the island alive
and healthy. He is firm in his vision and his dedication. It is just the same way for organizations
when they decide on a course of action. In many cases that course of action would not actually
turn out to be very fruitful initially and the firm may wonder if it actually chose the right plan
but it is rather futile to drop the entire action and choose something different because difficulties
will be encountered in any plan of action chosen. For this reason, the firm must keep its eye on
the goal and make sure everyone shares the same vision. The entire journey would then become
easier but no journey would ever be without problems, roadblocks or challenges.

Possible Recommendations for Future Action

The captain in a young man in his early twenties who has been given the responsibility in
the absence of another capable person. In future all expeditions must have two or three highly
trained people on board who can take over in case of emergency or if the captain in incapable of

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running the ship. This would ease the problem of deciding who would run the ship, second only it
would also reassure everyone that the person being entrusted with the responsibility is actually
trained to do so.
The ship must also travel with plenty of food supply and medical supplies. No ship should
have just enough for the journey alone. There must be plenty of food and medical supplies for
unseen contingencies and possible emergencies. All ships must start with the knowledge that
journey can go on much longer than anticipated in case of weather problems or other disturbances.
There must be an emergency plan ready in case of various kinds of problems. The
communication system must be in place and even though this story was written in centuries when
latest technology was unheard of, there was still ways people communicated in emergencies and
hence that communication method must be in place to follow so immediate relief can be sought.

Characters
Student Use of Initiative Learning Outcome
The writing process helped in understanding problem identification and brainstorming
process. This is what we have learned in leadership related chapters that it is important for a leader
to understand what the real problem is and then choose the best course of action. This current case
helped me relate everyday problems with leadership theories and problems we learned. We might
often assume that what happens in an organization is different than what happens elsewhere but the
truth is that we often encounter situations where someone has to be a leader and he needs to guide
others to the right destination. He is the one who inspires in others a will to survive and get to the
final destination.
Conclusion

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Cyril may have been a young man but he was certainly a leader who had his sense of
capability and authority coming from years of experience. It is thus true that experience cannot be
replaced with anything else and in this case we notice that even though Cyril is a young man, it is
his years of experience that give him a sense of authority and he knows he can guide people to the
final destination. If he lacked that experience, his age would have made him incapable of taking
over such a huge responsibility.

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10

References
What is SWOT Analysis? (2011, May). Retrieved October 8, 2014, from
http://www.notredameonline.com/resources/business-administration/what-is-swotanalysis/#.VCiR-PldVS0
Lamb, C., Hair, J., & McDaniel, C. (2011). Essentials of marketing. Cengage Learning.
Hoppe, R. (2011). The governance of problems: Puzzling, powering and participation. Policy Press.