ilar strategies to increase competition, many of them related to human resource management. Jet Blue has cut costs by lowering labor requirements on board flights, while attempting to attract and retain quality employees through unionization. Employee turnover can be costly to an organization. The University of Minnesota is also experiencing unionization issues, but conflict between management and union leaders is impeding growth. Mediation or other strategies to resolve union issues that are win-win oriented are needed to resolve this issue.
             Dell Inc. and Kellogg's Company are both dealing with human resource issues that reflect poorly on the respective companies' image with the public and federal authorities. Dell Inc. is struggling with charges of improper hiring/firing practices, something that shows the importance of adhering to all regulations and laws pertaining to hiring and termination of personnel. Likewise, Kellogg's Company is suffering in its attempts to become a member of the NYSE because of inappropriate accounting techniques declared fraudulent by one employee. Whistle-blowing has become more common in contemporary American business, as have more stringent accounting laws like Sarbanes-Oxley, in the wake of numerous and costly scandals at major companies and accounting firms.
             Finally, many of these companies share the similarity of needed to become flatter, leaner (i.e. reduce middle-management), and more responsive to change to adapt more quickly and successfully to increasingly rapid change in both the internal and external business environment. Dell is experiencing how to get all stakeholders informed about and committed to the company through greater collaboration and communication. The U.S. Army has moved away from centralized decision-making toward flatter, leaner organization that develops co-leaders in the field where rapid decision-making can cost lives when wrong decisions are ma...