The global business environment's changes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The global business environment's changes - Essay Example ttaining comparative advantage led to the intervention of the national governments in holding part or full stake of the oil industry in various countries (Paul, 2006). This has brought about changes in the stake holding pattern. Almost 85% of the oil reserves were held by the super-majors in 1950s and the current scenario exhibits that 90% of the oil reserves are held by the national oil companies. The worldwide economic expansion and the growth of the emerging economies have led to the increase in customer base in the automobile markets, increasing trade across the oceans and skies, increasing number of air traffic. Due to this, the demand for oil is likely to increase enormously in the next twenty years. The use of advanced technologies in oil exploration and distribution in order to meet the increasing demand has led to the decrease in the supply level of available oil reserves. Thus the major player would need to look into the possible usages of natural gas, etc as substitute sources of energy in order to meet the future demand of

Technologies and Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technologies and Innovation - Essay Example Technology and its innovation tend to change every so often that concentrating in one particular aspect of technology is hard. As mastery of the current technology is achieved emerging technologies and innovation makes the current technology passe if not archaic. And the whole cycle of self–education or formal education starts again. The dynamism of information technology therefore has created opportunities within the industry that should be explored further. Governance framework is an area of information technology that is often neglected during implementation or use of technology. This framework is technology generic and it is not specific or partial to the type of technology being implemented. However, the success of a business is often dependent on these two success factors. Often technology is implemented with the promise of reduction of operational cost, increased profits, efficiency and expansion of business interests. However, as each concept or framework is implemente d the true measurement of technology’s impact has yet to be realized.   Many organisations have come to recognized that they can gain more and up-stand their competitors better in the marketplace with the use of technology. Appropriate and clever use of information systems by organisations can achieve great successes and expand opportunities. There is no limitation in combining information systems and businesses today which provide opportunities for opportunities for growth. Also, using information systems today has became essential to many organisations rather than ‘nice to have’. Globalization forces many organisations to enhance the quality of services and product in order to survive and be competitive in the marketplace. As globalization provides many opportunities to success, it is also carry some risks. Thus, clever use of advancement in technology and information systems can help in the exploitation of these promising opportunities. The available material for this area of research exists in abundance and is readily available in journ als, books and other literatures. However, most information that is readily available is the successes and pains of organisations in implementing their Information System strategy. However, the framework that they have adopted needs to be explored so that the best possible permutation of frameworks or strategies that can produce the best result can be formulated. Information Systems can transform the traditional way of doing business today in order to be better.  

How Is Machinal A Reflection English Literature Essay

How Is Machinal A Reflection English Literature Essay Machinal is a strong echo of its cultural context, making it an interesting and refreshing piece of theatre. It touches on the rising issues of the time, which would go onto have an immense impact on todays popular culture. This makes Machinal both relevant and timely for a modern audience, without obscuring Treadwells original aims and views, through her use of expressionism. Treadwell was one of the first few dramatists that brought this obscure genre to the Broadway, in the late 20s. The aim of the expressionist movement, which was shared by Treadwell, was to replicate the new and regenerated spirit of American culture. Treadwell uses the character of the young Woman as a vehicle for this view. Though Treadwell never achieved the same celebrated success and recognition of many of her male colleagues, today she is considered one of the most accomplished writers and dramatists of the early twentieth century. Machinal is considered the best and most successful of her works and first opened on Broadway in 1928. In a South Atlantic review, (Weiss 2006) states that Treadwell has dedicated her literary career to exploring the lives and motives of lonely and trapped individuals. In spring 1927, Treadwell attended the infamous trial of Ruth Synder and her lover, Judd Gray, although, Treadwell did not officially cover the trial as a reporter, the time she spent in the courtroom served as the catalyst for Machinal. Synder seemed like a harmless housewife and her lover was portrayed as an unintelligent accessory in her crimes. The trial attracted an amazing public interest, with over 180 reporters that wrote a total of 1,500,000 words on the case. Almost every day there was some new coverage about the Synder-Gray trial. The media turmoil did not stop until Synder and Gray were finally executed via an electric chair in January 1928. Synder became the first woman to be executed in 20th century New York State. Many have argued that Treadwell chose to use expressionistic techniques in an attempt to focus solely on the theme of one womans imprisonment in an indifferent marriage. By using expressionism, Treadwell distances Machinal from the melodramatic case on which it is based on. Treadwells character of the young woman is the unprecedented embodiment of the 1920s new woman. This new type of woman was not devoted to social service, in comparison to the progressive generations, resulting with a woman more in tune with the capitalistic spirit of the era. The first episode takes place within the George H. Jones Company office. The Young woman is late for work and scolded by her co-workers. Treadwell writes Helen as a unnerved woman, who is clearly crushed by society a feeling probably expressed by the old woman. She is often late as she cannot stand the stifling crowds of the subway, this serves as a metaphor for how Helen feels about society in general. Daunted by urban industrialisation, represented here by deafening machine noises, train whistles and welding riveting sounds. (Dolan 1992). Helen wants nothing more put to be free of her prison of a job, but instead is forced into a callous marriage with an unattractive, unappealing man. Unlike the old woman, the new woman was eager to compete and longing to find personal fulfilment. You could argue the new woman, was now selfish. The young woman wants personal fulfilment, whereas, her mother clings to the old view of women. Here Treadwell clearly expresses the vast difference between the Helen and her mothers generation and their personal views of women. What replaced the moralizing piousness of the matriarchy was an irreverent egalitarian popular and mass culture which was steeped in the ethos of terrible honesty as Raymond Chandler puts it. Douglas interprets the desire to strip away the deceptive appearances of modern life and glimpse the sometimes unpleasant underlying realities (Glenn 1997). This is what Treadwell does with the Husband and the Young Women. On the surface it looks like the perfect opportunity for a marriage, hes a successful business man and shes a woman destined for motherhood, with no real future, however, below the surface a horrific murder takes place. New women also began staking claim to their own bodies, taking part in a sexual liberation. We see this in Machinal where the young woman doesnt allow her husband to be too intimate with her, but happily has an illicit love affair with a stranger she has control of her body! Many of the ideas of this era, and those Treadwell expands upon in her play, have fuelled the rapid change in sexual thought. Nevertheless, these ideas were already floating around intellectual New York circles prior to the First World War, in the writings of Sigmund Freud, Havelock Ellis and Ellen Key. Here, thinkers expressed sex as being central to the human experience, emphasising that women are also sexual beings with human impulses and desires, just like their male counterparts. Restraining these impulses would be self-destructive. By the 1920s these ideas idea flooded the mainstream media. Treadwell puts focus on this again through the young woman (the expressionistic vehicle), as the only way she finds freedom is through an illicit love affair. Machinal reflects a culture moving closer and closer to being more secular and leaving behind biblical verses such as The women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. Christianity inevitably plays a very important role in the last episode of Machinal. The young womans attempt of objectification finally explodes into murder. Treadwell represents her final suppression at the hands of the church and the court. The ultimate justice of God, where the priest continually says: Father forgive her, Christ forgive her. Treadwell is possibly stating how the young woman is now beyond the help of any earthly justice. She is finally secluded behind bars and continues to be determined to resist any governing authority. The executioner shears a clip off her hair, the final invasion of her bodily privacy, this suggests that the young woman has finally been sterilized and is completely under the law. One of Treadwells main messages is that all men are born free, whereas women are not. However, this is not what the bible teaches, the bible teaches that the entire human race are bound by sin, however, it was woman who sinned first and as a punishment she was made to submit to the authority of man and allow her husband to rule over her. This is something that would have been deeply rooted in the views of the people from the 1920s and Treadwell is trying to express, that women do not have certain freedoms, like men do. Dolan states that Treadwells text ironizes the liberal humanist notion that all me are born free (Dolan 1992). From further inference we also notice that no one in the play is given a clear identity. The fact that we dont find out what the young womans (Helen) name is until later episodes reveals that this is not important to character development. Many of the characters are defined purely by their occupation or role in life (in the case of the Mother) this device elucidates the idea that the young womans struggles can be the plight of any woman. Machinal can also be read as a feminist version of Elmer Rices 1923 play The Adding Machine, as both plays use expressionistic techniques and attempt to contextualize an secluded act of murder. To do so is to worry the abstract mode of Expressionism itself. Writing a type of play meant to highlight the universality of a subjects experience; Treadwell begins by suggesting her subjects specificity as a woman, and as a woman based on one individual woman. (Strand 1992) The plot of Machinal might portray Helen Jones as the villain; her role is quite the opposite. Treadwell clearly intender her to be a tragic heroine, the play is written with heated anger. Treadwell suggests women are doomed to wander forever in the dead wasteland of male dominated society, under complete authority. Since this is an expressionistic piece, its intent is to convey emotion and feeling, not realism, which would make Helen the villain. Helen does not murder her husband because she is evil; she does it because she has no other option. In conclusion, Machinal is indeed a strong representation and reflection of the cultural context of the time, using expressionism as a way for the audience to sympathise and empathise with the characters, rather than viewing them as social products of the 1920s, bringing the characters into the 21st century.

Entrepreneurship: Advice on Starting a Business Essay -- Tips for Star

The venture to be the owner of an accounting and tax service provider is not a small task, and you have realized the challenges that many experience in starting their own business. Fortunately, you have taken steps early within the life of your new business in an attempt to correct any problems and learn from past mistakes in order to be successful in the future. In our previous communications you mention that you started your own business because you wanted to work in your own community, have the flexibility of owning your own business, while also being able to make a good living, and these are all worthy motivators for a fledgling business owner. You have earned your degree and your certified public accountant (CPA) designation, which has allowed you to realize success as an employee of a popular accounting firm. While employed at the firm, you were able to progressively take on greater responsibilities during your tenure and gain much needed experience; however, starting and m anaging a business requires some additional skillsets. Regina, you have proven that you are a bright individual with the necessary resourcefulness and skills to be a certified professional accountant and open your own business, and I am confident that you will be able to gain the skills needed to be successful with your business, and to become an effective leader. I commend your ability to grow your clientele quickly, having the forethought to hire additional CPAs to be able to handle the influx of business that is relative to the tax season, as well as hiring Lisa to provide administrative support for the office. Through the gathering of information from our discussions, interviewing staff, analyzing customer surveys, review of financial docu... ...House, R. J. (1996). Path-Goal Theory of Leadership: Lessons, Legacy, and a Reformulated Theory. Wharton School of Management, Leadership Quarterly. 7 (3) P. 323-352. Retrieved from http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/l_change/publications/House/house2.pdf Iveta, G. (Mar. 2012). Human Resources Key Performance Indicators. Journal of Competitiveness. Vol. 4, Issue 1. Retrieved from http://www.cjournal.cz/files/89.pdf Norman, L. (2014). What Are the Four Basic Functions That Make Up the Management Process? Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/four-basic-functions-make-up-management-process-23852.html Principles of Management. N.d. The Saylor Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.saylor.org/books Small Business Association. (n.d.). Leading Your Company: Being a Leader. Retrieved from http://www.sba.gov/content/being-leader

Rates of Reaction Essay

An enzyme is a protein molecule that helps other organic molecules start chemical reactions with one another; however, the enzyme itself is not affected by the reaction. A substrate is the substance acted upon by the enzyme. In this lab, catalase is the enzyme and hydrogen peroxide is the substrate. Catalase is found in both plant and animal tissues, and is abundant in plant storage organs. In this experiment, catalase is used from potatoes. Catalase is important to living things because it prevents the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the cell. Hydrogen peroxide is produced naturally as a byproduct of metabolism. It tends to disrupt the cells’ chemistry, too much can kill a cell. Therefore, the presence of catalase is needed to survive. Catalase breaks down the toxic hydrogen peroxide into harmless water and oxygen. If the concentration of the substrate hydrogen peroxide is related to the reaction rate of the enzyme catalase, then an increase in the concentration of hydrogen peroxide will increase the reaction rate of catalase. Catalase: Methods and Materials In order to experiment and determine the affects concentration has on reaction rate, you will need several materials. Such as, potato extract, crushed ice and water in a large beaker to keep the catalase cool, since catalase is sensitive to temperature. Hydrogen peroxide solution is needed at six different concentrations (10%, 25%, 40%, 60%, 75%, and 100%). Also, 0% hydrogen peroxide is needed, which is just simply water. In addition, you will need a 10 ml graduated cylinder, a 50 ml beaker, forceps, paper dots (Whatman #1 filter paper, 1 cm diameter), a paper towel, a stopwatch, and graph paper. During this lab, be careful of the hydrogen peroxide because it can damage skin and clothes. Be sure to immediately rinse and spills with water. Throughout the lab, always keep the potato extract in the ice-water bath; catalase is very sensitive to warm temperatures. For starters, 0% hydrogen peroxide was tested as the control group; 10 ml of hydrogen peroxide was measured of using a graduated cylinder. This sample is then poured into a 50 ml beaker. After swirling the potato extract, using forceps a paper dot is picked up and immersed into the potato juice for five seconds. Then the dot is drained on a paper towel for 10 seconds. Using the forceps the dot is picked up and placed in the bottom of the beaker containing the hydrogen peroxide solution. Soon the dot was expected to rise to the surface because the potato juice’s catalase would break down the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. The oxygen gas gets trapped in the pores of the paper and caused to float. A stopwatch was used to measure the time in seconds from when the dot touched the solution until it reached the surface. The data was then recorded. The class was split into groups and each group was assigned a different percentile of hydrogen peroxide solution.

Bald Soprano Research Paper

A Cycle, A Cycle, A Cycle No one is bald, nor is there a singing soprano. So what is going on in Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano? Ionesco slowly strips his characters of all things that define them: religion, roots, the way in which they communicate and at times, even the functioning of their brains. Thus creating blank humans with no individual character who are useless and absurd. Now these people with no concrete definition to their being are to live in this gigantic world to the best of their ability. Their lives aren’t normal ones.Ionesco brings out the absurdity in his characters by excluding any solid foundation or motivation for living on earth. One very important form of guidance on life’s journey is Time. If there was no concept of time then all chaos would ensue and no one would know when anything is to be done. It is also a key factor to know how to live and work alongside time: to work with it, not against it. Will they be able to live in some sense of no rmality or will they be off on their own supernova to be absurd for evermore.Through the use of symbolism, irony and dialogue, Eugene Ionesco’s, The Bald Soprano conveys the idea that life is a never-ending cycle to express the absurdity of the human condition. The cycle of life is symbolized through the clock to reveal that the characters are stuck in an endless loop of time. The clock seems to take on a life all its own. It seems to decide when it wants to ring and how many times. The clock rings in a way that is quite shocking to the audience. This is because in the real world a clock does not normally ring 17 times. Nor is it normal for it to shoot out random times that don’t even go in order.In only one moment â€Å" The clock strikes seven times. Silence. The clock strikes three times. Silence† (The Bald Soprano 2). There seems to be no set regimen for time to follow. Time in the play is unorganized and almost absent in its common purpose. In no possible w ay could these characters even have the smallest possible chance of some normal routine when they have no constant to guide them through. Yes, Time is present but it is not the way in which we calculate it. There is no repeating pattern in this aspect and yet it still proceeds on which causes an endless loop of lunacy from which they cannot escape.The peculiar thing about it is the characters are not even finding it odd, as this is their notion of normalcy. In the play â€Å"the abnormal is treated as if it were thoroughly normal† (knowlson). And its funny because they don’t even realize that it never rings the same way or goes in a repeating pattern. The clock is random. It intrudes illogically. There is no logic in the Smith’s lives. The concept of reality is being distorted and no ounce of sense remains. The characters are flat, broad and general, which clearly emphasizes the absurdity of the human condition: trying to find a meaning and purpose to life.Even the primary characters last name, which is Smith, is so plain and typical. The plays cyclical structure accentuates repetition of the illogical happenings in the incompatible world in which the Smiths, Martins, the Maid and the Fire Chief live in. The play includes a â€Å"circular trajectory that ends where it began† (Kraus), thus causing the whole disordered cycle to start over and where the characters are involuntarily perplexed for all eternity. The characters live in a world of irony. They are lost in a continuum of memory loss without even realizing that they are losing their minds.Considering they don’t realize, they have no recollection of what has been going on around them and therefore not knowing what their purpose is in being where they are. This constant back and forth concept is for one, ironic because they have no memory of no longer having memory, but it is also mind-boggling. Mrs. Smith says, â€Å"We were expecting them. And we were hungry. Since the y didn't put in an appearance, we were going to start dinner without them. We've had nothing to eat all day† (The Bald Soprano 4). Mrs. Smith said she and Mr. Smith were going to eat but they didn’t.The characters can’t even remember what decisions they made and can’t remember to follow them. There is no stable element to guide them along a steady path. In the real world our memories our like our personal book of stories that hold the events that have happened in our lives. It defines us as a person of who we are in the past as well as who we are now. We as humans also interpret things we experience differently and remember things in different ways. Though we rely on our memory and mind quite heavily, who says it is a reliable resource to begin with?Ionesco is pointing towards the idea that our minds can’t possibly do everything for us as well as remember anything and everything we want it to. Unreliability of the memory is a concept that Ionesco wa nts us to take a look at, and that is a natural human failure that is part of our absurdity. As seen in The Bald Soprano the mind isn’t always a dependable tool that is conducive to everyday living. Our experiences make up our life’s journey and define our being. Ionesco’s characters do not know who they are and their purpose for living. At the end of the play the two couples switch places.The Smiths become the Martins and the Martins the Smiths. This results â€Å"in a da capo conclusion [with] the words that had been spoken by the Smiths at the beginning of the play [are now being spoken by the Martins]† (Knowlson). It’s ironic how they repeat the story but as different people but with the same name, because what is the purpose of having a name and being somebody if anyone can be anyone? Ionesco brings out inconsistency, which is a major factor in the play and possibly a factor in our lives. Without consistency the lives in which we lead would la ck substance and meaning.Ionesco suggests the idea of a normal daily schedule in which a human being can follow and keep order is a necessity. The human condition may seem absurd at times because what really is the point in doing the same thing everyday for as long as we live? The answer is, the consistency in the constant never ending cycle is life, which is why we are living. There may be nonsense in the play but somehow it leads to sense. The ironic statements due to memory loss show the absurdity in which humans possess. Mr. Smith is one who can be categorized as so.Without his memory he puts out ironic phrases without even putting thought to it and this leads to a lack of sentence structure. The play is made up of dialogue that sometimes seems to lack a sense of logic. The language in the play decreases in substance as the play progresses. The â€Å"language flows independently from meaning† (Feal). The words are not communicating what they seem to say but rather the und erlying meaning, which is found in the way the language is used or how really how it is informally used. Language and meaning march to the beat of a different drum.The words are separate entities that work independently yet together to convey Ionesco’s view on language, which is that it is made out to be more than what it is really worth. Language is used as a communicator and the order, or lack of it, in which words are placed, conveys a message of pure insanity. The characters â€Å"actions contradict words, and [their] words contradict [their] actions. Even the title is misleading, since there is no bald soprano in the play† (Esteban). Ionesco writes where there is meaning in no meaning, so he probably intended on writing with meaning all along.The characters talk just to talk and they really have nothing of importance to say. As the play drags on while the structure becomes less and less until dialogue has lost all value and â€Å"made into mere exchange† (K nowlson). The words on the page are out of content and have become particles of matter that are floating in the air. The more they talk, the less they are actually communicating and this is causing the precious tool of language to no longer articulate. Like when Mr. Smith states â€Å"The pope elopes! The pope's got no horoscope.The horoscope's bespoke† (The Bald Soprano 17). The play starts out with sentences that make no sense at all then it breaks down to just words without meaning until finally all that is left is a bunch of frenzied sounds. The characters have gotten quite angry that they lost all ability to communicate that their chatter swells up into mushy sound. They live in a never-ending cycle of insignificant discourse. This is Ionesco pointing out the absurdity of how humans converse. The Bald Soprano is a piece under the genre of the Absurd. It is very easy to see why.In this genre a common aspect is that the characters are rapt in an endlessly repeating cycle. This cycle usually leads nowhere as it is a cycle with no beginning and no end. Ionesco uses this cycle to emulate life. Life is filled with a bunch of meaningless things that fill our everyday lives. Banana. When something is of meaning we know because we have experienced the everyday typical life of a human. Broadway. Dreams. Goals. That’s what we are. Well that’s what we should be. Life is pretty much repeating. Repeating. Repeating. Repeating. We have a set way of doing things and we follow it.We repeat these actions to fill up our lives with substance so that there is at least something there to start with and so that we have the ability to move forward and continue. Think of it as muscles. Muscles give our body substance to stand up and it is what allows us to move as well as other necessary functions. In our world we use a clock to stay in touch with time. Time. Timing. Bad timing. Time is a fundamental concept that guides humans through life, gives structure, a s well as ages and heals. We also say funny things sometimes and we do use a language to communicate. It is how we use all these things that matters.

SmallBizMaster Classes you never thought would help in an online business

SmallBizMaster Classes you never thought would help in an online business Classes you never thought would help you in an online business Did you wonder why you had to suffer through most of the courses you took from kindergarten to the completion of your education? Do you remember the sense of joy with which you emptied your locker on the last day of school?Advertising We will write a custom article sample on SmallBizMaster Classes you never thought would help in an online business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Were you one of those kids who abandoned books, papers, pencils, extra clothes, and any recollection of the content of your classes the moment the semester was completed? Did you vow never to crack a book again, once you had your mortarboard? You are not alone. However, there were sound reasons for most if not all of your courses and you may find them remarkably useful when trying to start or grow a small business, even if you missed the memo back in school. Writing, reading, manipulating numbers, all should seem like rather obvious skills for a small independent businessperson. However, understanding statistics, using artistic principles, and grasping the import of current events are just a few of the additional competencies you will need as an entrepreneur. Let’s look at some of the classes that you never imagined would enter your consciousness again after you closed the textbook for the last time. The three Rs: It may seem so boring to hear this again, but everyone needs to know how to read. You need to be able to read analytically and critically. This means being able to summarize what is said, identify and articulate how the writer made their point or achieved their effect, and assess the quality of their arguments. These skills from literature and rhetoric class are the best defense against propaganda or scams, and allow you to identify where a speaker or writer is making an unsupportable assertion, rather than merely feeling uncomfortable with what is being con tended without knowing why. Furthermore, you need to be able to persuade and influence others. Don’t you want them to purchase your product or servc9e? If anyone is going to have an impact using words, shouldn’t it be you? Whether mathematics was fun or terrifying to you, you will need it in business. Until you can hire someone to do all your quantitative thinking for you, you will need to be able to do the calculations involved in setting up and managing your enterprise. Figuring taxes involves math, but even deciding whether you owe taxes and how much involves calculating your income minus your expenses. If you took business math, you are ahead of the game.Advertising Looking for article on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Lies, Damn Lies, And †¦ The complexities of determining how successful you are and how to be more so may require a bit more than just math. You need to understand som e basic statistics as well. Perhaps you have heard the humorist Evan Esar’s definition of statistics, â€Å"The science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures. As a businessperson, you need to be able to understand what the data you observe imply. These days, as well, with Big Data as a hot commodity, you need to be able to assess whether a particular statistical measure is worth purchasing. Art: You may have wondered where you would ever use what you learned in History of Art, if you were lucky enough to take it. However, every time you update your business web page, you will need to use the principles of design. The same design ideas that make a classical painting pleasing and effective: balance, emphasis, movement, and so forth, make your web site and your marketing effective. Social Studies: Remember all that emphasis on current events? A businessperson has to keep current and spot trends in the news in order to anticipate and respond to the marketplace. You r ability to track and analyze news and trends could mean the difference between your capturing, or missing out on, important opportunities. Those fusty musty courses were doubtless a pain at the time. However, you will be pleased to have those skills under your belt and in your portfolio when you are trying to establish and grow your business.

Effect Of Flextime On Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Essay Example

Effect Of Flextime On Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Essay Example Effect Of Flextime On Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Paper Effect Of Flextime On Work Life Balance Social Work Essay Paper The ( phrase ) Work-Life Balance was originated as a effect of the Family Friendly Policies that were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s in UK, chiefly as a keeping tool for adult females, and since so it has become a widespread construct. With this, they were for adult females and about adult females. To avoid the booby trap of being viewed as discriminatory and the demand to convey a more, across-the-board significance into these policies, they were renamed as work-life balance policies. Since the 1970 s, the UK Government has introduced several governmental alterations to beef up and to protect the rights of workers. In response to these alterations, demands from employees as besides from clients who want a larger concern window a big figure of organisations in the UK, have today introduced varied and advanced Work-life balance policies. The Government continues to play a cardinal function in guaranting that ( WLB ) continues to derive impulse through statute law, fiscal induceme nts and support and publicity of best patterns ( Milburn, 2003 ) . 2.1.1 What is Work-life Balance? Meanwhile, the definition of Work-life balance is about people holding a step of control over when, where and how they work ( DTI, 2003 ) . This is achieved when an person s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the common benefit of the person, concern and society. work life balance emphasizes on the accommodation of working forms, and it focuses on the demand for everyone, irrespective of age, race or gender, to happen a gait ( that suits them ) to assist them unite work with other duties or aspirations. Work-Life Balance has an of import implicit in deduction that Work-Life Balance is for everyone, non merely for female parents or households and is critical in non merely developing policies but besides in reexamining them and their impact on employees ( Alexandra, 2003 ) , that s why the thought that employers should heighten flexibleness has been promoted late. Within the UK, The Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the Work-Life Balance run, in March 2000. The purpose of the run was in double. First, to convert employers of the economic benefits of work-life balance ( this was done by the employment of real-life instance surveies ) . Second, to convert employers of the demand for alteration ( DTI, 2003 ) . Work-life concerns are merely added to an organisation s package of patterns that are designed to profit competitory scheme to help attractive force and keeping in tight labour markets, cut down high degrees of absenteeism, and set up long-run relationships with employees based on committedness and productiveness. 2.1.2 The Need for a Work-life Balance As persons, are all expected to play multiple functions, i.e. employee, foreman, partner, parent, kid, sibling, friend, and community member. In bend, each of these functions imposes demands on us that necessitate clip, energy and committedness to carry through. The struggle of work-family or work-life happens when the cumulative demands of these many work and non-work life functions are miss-assorted in some regard so that engagement in one function is made more hard by engagement in the other function ( Duxbry and Higgins, 2001 ) . Duxbry and Higgins gestate work-life struggle to include countries such as, function overload ( RO ) ( holding excessively much to make and excessively small clip to make it in ) every bit good as function intervention ( when incompatible demands make it hard, if non impossible, for employees to execute all their functions good ) . Additionally, function intervention can be divided into two factors: household to work intervention ( FTW ) and work to household intervention ( WTF ) . With the first instance, intervention occurs when the functions and duties of the household impede the work related duties ( i.e. , a household unwellness prevents attending at work ; struggle at place makes concentration at work hard ) . With the latter instance ( WTF ) intervention occurs when work demands make it harder for an employee to carry through their household duties. 2.2 Background on Flexible Working Rights In April 2003 employees in the UK were foremost given the right to bespeak flexible working. In the modern work environment, the debut of these new rights helped to indicate up that traditional working forms could no longer be sustained by employers and that there was a demand to turn to the work/life balance. Organizations already confronting accomplishments shortages would happen enlisting and so keeping made harder if a more flexible attack to working forms was non adopted. 2.2.1 Suite of Rights The flexible working rights which were established were important in themselves, nevertheless, they formed portion of a new set of rights which sought to make a more family friendly work environment. Until April 2003, single parental rights were chiefly limited to pregnancy go forth for a new female parent giving her the right for a leave, the right for parents to take exigency clip off for dependents ( non merely limited to kids ) and to take up to 13 hebdomads parental leave, which had been introduced in December 1999. In April 2003, nevertheless, the following new rights were introduced: The right to pregnancy leave was extended well so that, for the first clip, all employees ( irrespective of their length of service ) were entitled to 26 hebdomads pregnancy leave and those with more than a twelvemonth s service acquired the right to 52 hebdomads pregnancy leave. Fathers besides gained rights, albeit limited to 2 hebdomads paternity leave, on the birth of their kid. Extraordinary new rights were given to those seeking to follow, with statutory acceptance leave and statutory paternity leave, giving rights reflecting pregnancy and paternity leave, for following parents. It is important ( and possibly indicates the extent to which this Government is acute to back up working parents ) that the following point on the flexible working docket, announced in 2004, is the possibility of leting flexible pregnancy leave between parents ; alternatively of merely a female parent holding the right to take up to 52 hebdomads pregnancy leave, there is the vision of some limited swapping of the right to maternity absence as between the female parent and male parent of the kid. Before these radical new rights in 2003, the ability of any employee to work flexibly or so part-time was really much limited to fortunes where an employer agreed through good will or good pattern to such an agreement. Before they existed, there were merely two fortunes where flexible working forms of any kind could be enforced: First, where an person was a handicapped employee and could show that some signifier of accommodation to their on the job hours or responsibilities and working agreements amounted to a sensible accommodation which their employer was thankful to do in conformity with the disablement favoritism. Second, and merely as a manner of disputing a refusal, female employees could reason that in regard of parttime working, a refusal to hold to parttime work was contrary to the sex favoritism. This is on the footing that it can be shown that a pattern within an organisation forbiding parttime working ( or so a pattern leting merely full-time working ) operates to the greater disadvantage of adult females than work forces and therefore falls within the construct of indirect sex favoritism. 2.2.2 Why was it implemented? The history that reflects the flexible working Torahs introduced in 2003 goes back a figure of old ages. In June 2001, the UK Government established a Task Force whose function was to see specifically the issues which working parents face ; in peculiar the Task Force was to see how to help parents in run intoing their desire for flexible working forms, whilst at the same clip staying compatible with the demand for concern efficiency and demands. The constitution of the Task Force was against the background of a voluntary run and Government support to promote employers and concerns to turn to work/life balance issues. In March 2000, the Prime Minister launched a run known as the Work/Life Balance Campaign with a position to carrying organisations to better the batch of working parents in such a manner as to nevertheless continue accomplishing concern and client demands. The original run was non in fact focused upon parents, but looked at all employees irrespective of whether they had caring duties or non. It was important, nevertheless, in acknowledging that the attitude, civilization and doctrine of workers had moved on well from the ambitious society of the 1980s and 1990s. Harmonizing to information from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Work/Life Balance Campaign was accompanied by a trial fund which, in the tally up to the debut of legislative demands and legal duties, encouraged employers to present and develop advanced working agreements. By assisting to fund consultancy support, undertakings were undertaken with work/life balance in head, including the debut of new working forms every bit good as specific enlisting undertakings. Over the three old ages from 2000 to 2003, the Work/Life Balance Challenge fund benefited employers to the amount of ?10.5 million. In its study on 19 November 2001, the Government Task Force made nine recommendations to the Government, many of which were translated to organize the footing of the new statute law. In add-on to the run and the recommendations of the Task Force, the Government had besides informed itself of the positions of the working population, through the issue of a green paper: Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice. This audience paper was issued in December 2000. The responses to the audience paper made clear that whilst bettering pregnancy and so paternity rights ( such as parental leave ) would be of benefit to working parents, by far the most popular and so important benefit was improved flexibleness to run into child care and work duties. Armed with these responses and the Task Force study About Flexible Working, the Government tabled parts of the Employment Act 2002 which resulted in execution of important new flexible working rights, implemented through an amendment to the Employment Rights Act 1996 and two sets of ordinances. Demographic Changes Demographic alterations have played a important function in affecting the demand for organisations to develop more varied and non-traditional working forms: With the ageing population, many more people are happening that they have caring duties such as looking after aged or handicapped relations. As we are all life longer, more persons are going disabled, harmonizing to the Employers Forum on Disability in UK. With the move off from extended households and as people become more nomadic, so they are non populating near to relations and parents, those with kids are less able to trust on grandparents or other relations to assist with kid attention duties. The per centum of adult females who have taken up employment has increased. The tendency for life anticipation, although different for work forces and adult females, has increased by approximately five old ages. The Business Case So much for the demographic alterations, but there are besides concern benefits for organisations which offer new or more flexible working agreements, peculiarly given the high accomplishments deficit in the UK and more older people who themselves are acute to work but may prefer or so necessitate more flexibleness. Employers may be surprised to cognize that for some persons the ability to work flexibly is more of import than the wage or benefits that a peculiar occupation may supply. In an on-line canvass carried out by Reed Recruitment in concurrence with the Department of Trade and Industry in UK as portion of its Work/Life Balance Campaign 2002, a 3rd of those polled ( out of 4,000 people ) expressed a penchant for holding the chance to work flexibly, instead than holding a ?1,000 wage rise ( Reed.co.uk ) . Over 43 % of the work forces who responded to the canvass selected flexible working as the benefit they would most look for in a new occupation, compared to 13 % who would look for a company auto, and 7 % who considered gym rank to be the precedence. Adopting household friendly and flexible working policies has the undermentioned advantages for employers: Retention of staff is the key to the stableness and cognition of the organisation. Knowledge is lost when person leaves and webs are broken. This can be critical in a little concern where major clients can travel elsewhere when an employee, who understands their demands and whom they trust, moves on to a rival. The typical enlisting costs of replacing an person have been estimated at an mean ?3,500, runing from ?1,000 for an unskilled manual worker to over ?5,000 for a professional employee. These costs do non take history of the investing made in preparation ( both formal and informal preparation ) which is lost if skilled employees leave the workplace, every bit good as lost clip and experience. Consequently, it makes commercial sense to seek and retain staff instead than enroll new staff ( Labor Turnover, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, October 2000 ) . Savingss in absenteeism. Absenteeism costs about ?500 per employee a twelvemonth. A one-fourth of employers rank place and household duties as one of the five chief causes of sickness absence. Employers that help their employees to equilibrate their work with their household lives see betterments in concern public presentation ( Cheibl, L. and Dex.S, 1998 ) . It enables concerns to profit from a greater part from the work force and maximizes the parts that working parents are able to do to their employers. Many employers observe benefits from flexible working and leave agreements including: improved employee satisfaction and motive improved keeping rates and enlisting benefits increased employee productiveness reduced labour turnover improved repute Reduced absenteeism. All of which provide improved concern consequences. After holding introduced the new rights for parents in 2003, a study was conducted and analysis of how successful the new rights have been within the UK ( Employment Relations Occasional Documents: Consequences of the First Flexible Working Employee Survey, Tom Palmer, Department of Trade and Industry ) . The result of that study demonstrated that one million parents had made petitions for flexible working. That is merely a one-fourth of those who are eligible, intending that three million who could hold made such a petition have non done so, portion of the principle behind that is the 52 % of parents who are eligible are incognizant in the first topographic point that they have the right to bespeak flexible working. And it significantly seems that employers when faced with such petitions do non hold any major trouble submiting them. 80 % of those employees bespeaking flexible working had their petition agreed. The Government has declared an purpose to widen these new rights beyond parents with kids under six. The fact that 10 % of employees without dependent kids were reported in the study to hold requested flexible working, suggests that there is a demand on the portion of persons without kids to derive this benefit. In organisations where petitions were made, despite that persons did non ever have the legal right, the grounds for the alteration were: 13 % quoted work life balance 11 % cited household duties 11 % merely because they wanted more free clip ( i.e. voluntary and non driven by child care or household force per unit areas ) 7 % because of travel agreements 7 % to run into the caring demands of relations or friends 6 % due to wellness jobs. As these statistics demonstrate, an organisation s ability to offer flexible working agreements provides a important benefit to an highly broad pool of existent or possible employees. What the study does non analyse is how many persons merely do non prosecute a petition. In the Equal Opportunity Commission s Annual Report for 2003-2004 ( available at www.eoc.org.uk ) four in 10 female parents, one in 10 male parents and one in five attention suppliers have left an organisation or refused a occupation because of caring duties. This suggests that there are many who do non hold assurance in their organisation s willingness to suit them. 2.2.3 What can be requested? The legislative petition for flexible working, which should be written and must be dated, can bespeak a fluctuation to the person s contract in one of the undermentioned ways: a alteration to the hours of work ; a alteration to the clip when the work is required ( for illustration, the same eight hr twenty-four hours but an early start and early coating ) ; a alteration to the topographic point of work as between place and topographic point of concern. The statutory commissariats do non travel beyond these reasonably focused and limited flexible agreements. Nothing within any of the commissariats appears to forestall the employee seeking a alteration to more than one of the above, for illustration to cut down hours and work from place. However, in this research we are aiming merely the 2nd proviso which is bespeaking a alteration to the clip when the work is required, that is called flextime, and its consequence on the work. 2.3 What other bookmans said: Work-family struggle is an inter-role struggle where occupation outlooks interfere with family-related duties ( Netemeyer, Brashearaˆ‘Alejandro, and Boles 2004 ) . Given the viing demands of work and life, it is unsurprising that many employees experience struggle between the two spheres. Work-life struggle can impact any employee but people with attention duties are more likely to endure most because of the greater demands on their clip. Research has tended to happen that female parents, peculiarly those with immature kids, are less satisfied with their work-life balance than other groups of workers ( Saltztein, Ting and Saltztein, 2001 ) . Consequences of work life struggle can be categorized into personal and organisational injuries. In the first topographic point, feelings of work-life struggle have been associated with, psychological and physical wellness jobs ; matrimonial and household relationship jobs, decreased life and occupation satisfaction and even impact kid development ( Evans and Steptoe 2002 ; Gornick and Meyers, 2003 ) . The effects of work-family struggle on organisational results have been good documented in the direction and psychological science literatures. Work- household struggle has damaging effects on productiveness and personal effectivity ( Gornick and Meyers, 2003 ) . It farther affects occupation satisfaction, employee keeping, and consequences in increased illness absence ( ODriscoll, Brough and Kalliath 2004 ) . Employers do recognize that employee emphasis is partly due to the challenges in equilibrating work and household ( Matusicky 2003 ) . Thus a good balance between work and household life has been said to profit employers, as it is linked to better life satisfaction and later to workers being more productive, originative and efficient ( Zelenski, Murphy and Jenkins 2008 ) . In a survey of over 700 houses in the US, UK, France and Germany ( referenced by the Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisers EOPCEA, 2010 ) research workers found a important positive relationship between work-life balance patterns and productivity.A A The research besides reported that houses with flexible work agreements driven by good direction besides tend to encompass flexible workplace patterns. Related to work-family struggle, individuality theory suggests persons possess certain life functions ( i.e. , work-family functions ) that may conflict, therefore making a spillover consequence ( Thoits 1991 ) . When function clang occurs, the more valued function ( i.e. , household ) takes precedency, and persons are likely to transfuse protective steps to safeguard valued functions against possible harm. Harmonizing to individuality theory, these defence mechanisms may be implemented at the hazard of abandoning the conflicting function ( i.e. , work ) ( Thoits 1991 ) . Consistent with this impression, a survey based in the retail gross revenues industry indicates that when salespeople brush struggle between two chief functions ( work and household ) , they tend to retreat from the less outstanding work function through higher turnover in order to keep the more valued household function ( Netemeyer, Brashearaˆ‘Alejandro, and Boles 2004 ) . Numerous surveies have demonstrated that employees who are dissatisfied with their occupations are more likely to prosecute in organisational aberrance behaviours such as working less difficult, absenteeism and company larceny ( Lau, Au, and Ho 2003 ) . A recent meta-analysis on the effects of ethical clime suggests that occupation dissatisfaction poses a important menace to organisations due to its escalating effects on dysfunctional behaviour ( Martin and Cullen 2006 ) . ( Drew, Humphreys and Murphy 2003 ) believes that a figure of factors might promote employers to follow policies to advance work-life balance. These include the concern instance for such constabularies such as a lower staff turnover, reduced absence and improved productiveness, every bit good as alterations in human resource direction and alterations in engineering that enhances chances for working from place. Another cardinal factor is increasing demand for greater flexibleness from employees. Some research consequences show positive impact of flextime on the work-family balance. Flextime workers with kids under the age of 18 study lower degrees of clip force per unit area and a higher degree of occupation and life satisfaction than make their non-flex opposite numbers ( Zuzanek 2000 ) . Flexible work hours are associated with more satisfaction with household life ( Jekielek 2003 ) and a decrease in sensed clip emphasis ( Tausig and Fenwick 2001 ) . Analysts Comfort, Johnson and Wallace ( 2003 ) besides found flextime to be related to increased occupation satisfaction, increased satisfaction with wage and benefits, and a decrease in paid ill yearss. All of these relationships appeared somewhat stronger for adult females. A research on flexible working in Ireland has found these agreements are more common in the populace than in the private sector and that, adult females make usage of them more often than work forces ( Drew, Humphreys and Murphy 2003 ) . Gender and the public/private sector differentiation are two cardinal factors in the analysis of the effects of flexible working. While another survey in Canada, reports over tierce of Canadian employees holding flextime agendas ( Comfort, Johnson and Wallace 2003 ) .The proportion of those who reported holding flextime agreements is higher among work forces than among adult females and is chiefly found in little constitutions, non-unionized scenes, low-skill businesss, retail and commercial industries. As this country of research is new to the Bahraini society, and as the flextime has been adopted by some organisations merely late, we need to measure some research that leads to a decision sing the being of a relationship between flextime, work life balance, and between the flextime and employees productiveness.

Analysis of Emily Dickinsons Poem, Because I could not stop for Death

Emily Dickinson's poem I can not stop dying Out of Emily Dickinson's poem Can not stop dying represents a reflection of the speaker against death. This poem focuses on the concept of life after death. The background of this verse reflects the approach of death, death is kind and considerate. Through immortal promises, fear is removed, and death not only becomes acceptable, but also is welcomed. As a human being, we believe that death is never coming at a convenient or appropriate time. Eunice Glenn commentator on Emily Dickinson 's Emily Dickinson' s I can not stop dying commented as follows. The word good will is particularly meaningful as it may become a feature of death soon. This is also surprising (Glen), as death is often considered serious and horrible. - Analyze Emily Dickinson's poem I can not stop dying. This poem focuses on the concept of life after death. The background of this verse reflects the approach of death, death is kind and considerate. Through immortal promises, fear is removed and death not only becomes acceptable but also welcomed Since I can not stop death, I was declared Emily Dickinson's most famous poem. This poem reveals the acceptance of calm death of Emily Dickinson. She portrayed her death as a gentleman and she was surprised at her visit. Emily depicts everyday scenes as life cycles. Her metaphor is exploring death in a fictional way, but her lines often contain as much uncertainty as meaning. Life and death are oriented forever and are considered not so important in the eternal framework. - Emily Dickinson, using symbolism, was able to create a theme with the theme I can not stop death. . We travel with the speakers and guide us through life, death and other stages. In this poem the symbol we first encountered is death. At their conference, the lecturer is dying as if he is the boss who is at the meeting.

The Post Bureaucratic Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

The Post Bureaucratic Organization - Essay Example It will be structured according to the following outline: The first part introduces the reader to the idea of the bureaucratic organization. The major characteristics of the bureaucracy will be presented and discussed in order to provide a good background for the post-bureaucratic organization. The second part will be a discussion of the features of the post-bureaucratic organization and the final part will discuss the challenges and pressures that managers face in a post-bureaucratic environment, with some ideas on how managers can cope with such pressures and challenges. The essay will also discuss and evaluate the post-bureaucratic organization on the basis of the characteristics of the bureaucracy as expounded by Max Weber. There have been many views about the bureaucracy as an organizational form. Many have criticized it saying it is very impersonal and is not responsive. The hierarchical structure is also said to be inflexible and does not allow for dynamism. However, there are also those who believe that the bureaucratic structure is here to stay. And still there are those who think that organizations are neither strictly bureaucratic nor non-bureaucratic. ... However, since much of the writings of Karl Marx are more focused on the philosophical and social ideologies, especially with his concept of revolutionary communism, Max Weber has come to be known as the proponent of the concept of bureaucracy. This essay will focus on the ideas advanced by Max Weber regarding the bureaucratic organization. The description "Weberian", referring to Weber's model, has become a comfortable term to use in readings about the bureaucracy. Weber's bureaucracy is considered by scholars and practitioners as the "ideal organization" or the "ideal-type" organization. This idea of an ideal structure however draws out varied reactions from different people. Some agree with the idea of achieving order through its prescribed system of doing things. Others condemn it for causing problems like delays, corruption, being too impersonal, etc. In order to put all these in their proper perspective, a good starting point is to define the concept of bureaucracy. The first and most common word one comes across in readings related to bureaucracy is the word rationality. Quoting Weber, Neil Garston defines bureaucracy in the book Bureaucracy: Three Paradigms through an explanation of the categories of rational legal authority. Authority in this sense is equated to bureaucracy and involves the following: 1 1. A continuous organization of official functions bound by rules 2. A specified sphere of competence involving spheres of obligations marked by division of labor; incumbent being provided with authority to carry out functions; clearly defined means of compulsion 3. The organization of offices follows the principle of hierarchy 4. The rules which regulate the conduct of an office may be technical rules or norms 5.

Design patterns Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Design patterns - Research Paper Example The observer design pattern highlights a one-to-many reliance between a subject object and any amount of server objects. This is significant when the subject object alters situation, all its observer objects will not be updated and notified instinctively (Butler, 2012). The observer design pattern is also used when the subject object is not aware of the number of observer objects present. Finally, it is used if the subject object is required to inform its observer objects without being aware of the nature of the objects. Advantages First, the observer pattern is a terrific way of maintaining action based applications in significant architectures. In a given application, an individual may have a large number of events taking place at the same time in a browser session. Second, a person may reduce event attachment and enable the observable object to deal with the actions on your behalf using a sole event listener and pass on the information to different subscribers, thus lessening spee ding up connection and memory performance. Third, the dynamic link between observer and subject may be instituted at run time. This provides extra programming flexibility. Fourth, there is support for broad communication. The notice is transmitted involuntarily to the interested objects that may subscribe to it (Madsen, 2012). Disadvantages One, there is a lot of cost incurred in load time when installing the observable objects. Two, there are unanticipated updates. Observers are not aware of one another and are oblivious to the cost of alteration in subject. Three, the update dependence may be difficult to discover due to the dynamic association between observers and subject (Madsen, 2012). Creational Pattern: Prototype Creational design patterns refer to design patterns that handle object creation mechanisms, attempting to develop objects in a way fitting to the situation. The prototype design pattern identifies the form of object to develop utilizing a prototypical instance, and develops novel objects through cloning the prototype. The prototype design pattern is used to elude the intrinsic cost of developing a novel object in the conventional way when it is prohibitively costly for a specified application (Chandler & Munday, 2012). In addition, the prototype design pattern is utilized to avert subclasses of an object designer in the application of the client, in the same way as the abstract factory pattern. Advantages One, the prototype design pattern establishes a profound copy of the complicated hierarchy of objects. The prototype design pattern assists in lessening the work given all objects in the composition can enforce ICloneable interface. This is an essential design pattern in copying objects, for example, trees. Two, the design pattern causes a decreased load of initialization. All novel objects developed using the clone technique highlights the precise object form of the initial object (Proctor, 2011). The need of initialization may be tremendous ly lessened by utilizing the prototype design pattern. It allows an individual to develop a clone of the original object developed in the application to readily have the objects initialized to the default or non-default state. Three, the design pattern causes a simplified process of copying objects. Since copying the object is conducted recursively by calling the clone tech

Introduction to Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Introduction to Marketing - Essay Example , branding, modifying and  influencing customer behavior and buying decisions.  All of such strategies are used to increase sales of products and services. Marketing has a lot of definitions. One of them defines marketing in a way such that it relates marketing to the way society promotes spending on  particular products and services. Marketing generally targets a specific consumer segment depending on the type of merchandise or service. It is very important for marketing initiatives to focus on customer needs and wants of the specific target audiences. Marketing is such a topic that covers a wide range of  aspects, which includes advertises, public relations, sales, and product promotions. Many people confuse sales with marketing, when the truth is the two are a lot different from each other. Sales involves activities which aim at getting a product or service  into a market, promoting the product, influencing the behavior of consumers, and influencing the consumer buying b ehavior. The actual function of a Sales division is to transfer the ownership of the products or services from the produces to the customers. The marketing and financial results of the companies depend on a number of interrelated internal and external factors. The analysis of these factors has been a constant concern for academicians and practitioners. The very complexity of this subject requires indulging into more narrow aspects of research of the issue. One of the many possibilities is that while seeing through the glass of marketing initiatives of a company, while assuming that such possibilities predetermine any contact between the company and the target market. These initiatives significantly influence overall growth and success of the company. However, the span of marketing initiatives as well as their influences are extremely wide and can hardly be analyzed at once as a single entity. One way to cover logically a part of such a broad picture is through analysis of the marketing division

Engineering Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Engineering Ethics - Essay Example An engineer’s job is rather complex as they have to not only learn about the technicalities of their subject but also be aware of the ethical issues that are inextricably intertwined with what they produce. The issue is not that straightforward as it may seem. Let us consider a hypothetical scenario where the manufacturer of a refrigerator discovers that if the humidity of the room where the refrigerator is kept exceeds a certain level, owing to faulty insulation, anybody touching the machine might experience electric shock that would, though not be fatal but surely would generate a stinging sensation that would last for at least ten minutes. It must also be mentioned that under normal conditions humidity would hardly ever reach levels that might be dangerous. Now what would the manufacturer do? Would they recall all those refrigerators that they feel might be faulty or would they simply keep quiet as humidity would hardly ever reach such dangerous levels? This is a question of engineering ethics and it acquires a special dimension as any decision to keep silent might harm customers while there will be considerable economic loss if all faulty units are recalled. Engineering ethics like ethics in general has intimate connection with the ethos and culture of the country to which the manufacturer belongs. A recent case in point is the recall of 6, 46,000 City and Fit/Jazz cars by Honda Motor Company for replacement of faulty window switches that might overheat when exposed to liquid resulting in a fire.

Technology in Zara Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Technology in Zara - Term Paper Example This study discusses that Zara’s strategy is to focus on the popularity that has been achieved on its consumers rather that popularizing the less recognized stock. The managers are accorded outstanding obligation to determine the products that would have a positive implication on the revenue that would be generated by the company. The desire to trust these employees with the principal decision has led to the generation of the realized profit because the company does not dictate the available merchandize, but have an indirect link to consumers through the manager. An added strategy to regulate the revenue spent is realized in the reduction of advertising fees as the company fails to engage in the process. This strategy is applied in creating a modernized store to attract the customers because of the position in the urban centers that require better display. Zara applied a consistent procedure to ensure its goals are attained, and a wider market niche satisfied. These were categ orized into simpler units.This paper outlines that orders were placed to La Coruna on a two times weekly basis. This ensured that the required items that were on demand delivered to customers and the managers applied a system that checked on the deliveries through a dial-up modem system. Fulfillment was achieved through checking for orders that the customers had been engaged in consuming updating the manuals to satisfy the ordered merchandize.... The managers are accorded outstanding obligation to determine the products that would have a positive implication on the revenue that would be generated by the company. The desire to trust these employees with the principal decision has led to the generation of the realized profit because the company does not dictate the available merchandize, but have an indirect link to consumers through the manager. An added strategy to regulate the revenue spent is realized in the reduction of advertising fees as the company fails to engage in the process. This strategy is applied in creating a modernized store to attract the customers because of the position in the urban centers that require better display. Zara applied a consistent procedure to ensure its goals are attained, and a wider market niche satisfied. These were categorized into simpler units. Orders were placed to La Coruna on a two times weekly basis. This ensured that the required items that were on demand delivered to customers and the managers applied a system that checked on the deliveries through a dial-up modem system. Fulfillment was achieved through checking for orders that the customers had been engaged in consuming updating the manuals to satisfy the ordered merchandize. Value Chain Designing and manufacturing ensured that the latest fashion had been implemented, and a wider collection maintained in stock. The design established the trend within the market to alter the merchandize that would sell more to the clients predicting the future pattern of the goods. This made sure that Zara had stayed with the competitors to capture the consumer market that appreciated the latest trend of items. The

Internal and External Factor Analyses of the Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Essay

Internal and External Factor Analyses of the Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc - Essay Example The first section will present a brief profile of the company. The next section will then tackle the opportunities and threats faced by the company which will lay the foundation for the external factor analysis. Lastly, the paper will look at the internal functioning of Vermont Teddy Bear Co, Inc., through its strengths and weaknesses. The paper will also present summaries of the internal and external factor analyses. Vermont Teddy Bear Co, Inc. began in the streets of Burlington, Vermont in 1981. Its founder, John Sortino began this business by "selling hand sewn teddy bears out of a pushcart." His venture marked the foundation of a business which is basically involved in the conceptualization, manufacture, and marketing of teddy bears. The company is known for its products which are manufactured by Americans using local inputs. Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc., however, has begun utilizing imported materials to lower the costs of production and boost profitability. The major business line of the company is the marketing of bears through a program called Bear-Grams which delivers the company's products to customers who can order online or through phone. Bear-Gram was originally advertised through radio stations and orders were taken for special occasions like birthdays, Valentine's Day, and others. The company has latter diversified in the retail of its products. Expansion also meant opening up retail outlets in lucrative areas in the United States. This expansion aimed to promote Vermont Teddy Bear as a national brand. Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc.'s performance peaked during 1994 but slipped off due to managerial problems and constraints (The Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc 1994). External Factor Analysis External factor analysis is lifted from the opportunities and threats faced by Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc. Opportunities include market developments, competitors' vulnerabilities, lifestyle or industry trends, technology development and innovation and a lot more which poses an opportunity which can enable the company to grab a larger portion in the market, maximize shareholders' value, or boost profitability. On the other hand, threats can be political events, drop in market demand, and other obstacles faced by a business entity. Table 1 is a summary of the external factor analysis conducted on Vermont Teddy Bears Co., Inc. Opportunities abound for Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc. The boom in the collectible market posts a bright prospect for the company this means a larger customer base which can be serviced by Vermont. The collectible industry is estimated to be a $9.2 billion industry with the plush collectibles segment cornering a $441 million share (Calta, 1995). In the past five years, there has been a growing preference for the upscale bear, the limited editions, and the artist-designed bears (Leccese, 1998). Companies in the teddy bear industry can take advantage of this trend by expanding their product lines in response to this growth. Vermont Teddy Bear Co., Inc. as one of the most prominent players in the teddy bear industry is in a very advantageous position to grab this opportunity. Manufacture of bears to suit the changing needs of customers can be pursued. Market diversification strategies can also be undertaken by the company both in the United Sta

Technology in Zara Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Technology in Zara - Term Paper Example This study discusses that Zara’s strategy is to focus on the popularity that has been achieved on its consumers rather that popularizing the less recognized stock. The managers are accorded outstanding obligation to determine the products that would have a positive implication on the revenue that would be generated by the company. The desire to trust these employees with the principal decision has led to the generation of the realized profit because the company does not dictate the available merchandize, but have an indirect link to consumers through the manager. An added strategy to regulate the revenue spent is realized in the reduction of advertising fees as the company fails to engage in the process. This strategy is applied in creating a modernized store to attract the customers because of the position in the urban centers that require better display. Zara applied a consistent procedure to ensure its goals are attained, and a wider market niche satisfied. These were categ orized into simpler units.This paper outlines that orders were placed to La Coruna on a two times weekly basis. This ensured that the required items that were on demand delivered to customers and the managers applied a system that checked on the deliveries through a dial-up modem system. Fulfillment was achieved through checking for orders that the customers had been engaged in consuming updating the manuals to satisfy the ordered merchandize.... The managers are accorded outstanding obligation to determine the products that would have a positive implication on the revenue that would be generated by the company. The desire to trust these employees with the principal decision has led to the generation of the realized profit because the company does not dictate the available merchandize, but have an indirect link to consumers through the manager. An added strategy to regulate the revenue spent is realized in the reduction of advertising fees as the company fails to engage in the process. This strategy is applied in creating a modernized store to attract the customers because of the position in the urban centers that require better display. Zara applied a consistent procedure to ensure its goals are attained, and a wider market niche satisfied. These were categorized into simpler units. Orders were placed to La Coruna on a two times weekly basis. This ensured that the required items that were on demand delivered to customers and the managers applied a system that checked on the deliveries through a dial-up modem system. Fulfillment was achieved through checking for orders that the customers had been engaged in consuming updating the manuals to satisfy the ordered merchandize. Value Chain Designing and manufacturing ensured that the latest fashion had been implemented, and a wider collection maintained in stock. The design established the trend within the market to alter the merchandize that would sell more to the clients predicting the future pattern of the goods. This made sure that Zara had stayed with the competitors to capture the consumer market that appreciated the latest trend of items. The

Background and conditions Essay Example for Free

Background and conditions Essay How is it possible that two people grow up together in the same family background and conditions, yet turn out to be strangers? How is it possible that two people who have lived together for many years are strangers to each other at the end? In Sonnys Blues, two brothers the narrator and Sonny, grows up together in Harlem, fall apart as they grow older, and live completely different lives. In Lullaby, Ayah feels that Chato, her husband, has remained stranger to her even when they have spend forty years together, facing all the hardships and sufferings given by life. In Sonny Blues, the narrator is the older brother who is conservative, determined, and a kind of family person. Sonny, who is his younger brother, is carefree and undecided about his future plans. It is sometimes very difficult to understand how two people coming from the same background live life completely opposite from each other. As the narrator and Sonny grow into adults, one moves towards success and the other moves towards failure. Once when their mother was dead, their lives completely changed. The narrator wants Sonny to finish his school and think about his future seriously. After knowing Sonnys plans to play jazz music, the narrator is surprised and annoyed. His conservative thinking and definition of success makes him unable to understand his brothers feelings. He fails to understand that music is Sonnys life and thats what he wants to do all his life. That makes him feel that he doesnt know his brother at all. He is like a stranger to him. The narrator, in some way or the other, wants his brother to be like himself and wants him to do whatever he thinks is safe and right for his future. So Sonny was forced to move in with his brothers fianci e, Isabel, where he has to stay until he finished high school. Sonny starts skipping school and eventually he ceases to go all together. He has been spending all his time with some musicians in a white girls apartment. He is scolded and screamed at by Isabels mother and that is what breaks him down and he runs away. After that, whenever the two brothers met they always fought awfully. It is hard to not be able to fit into society and that is why Sonny turned to drugs for a sense of belonging. Nobody was aware about this problem until it was too late. The narrator has never been a good listener to his brother. That is what I think is the greatest factor that gives him the sense of alienation towards his brother. Sonny was always kept away from his dreams. At the end of the story, the narrator for the first time listens to his brother after all these years and tries to understand him and the sufferings he has to face all his life and tries to console him. Thats when he hears him playing the piano and he ends up being proud of his brother. He becomes the important person in Sonnys life, on the way from suffering to success. They both end up happy and understanding each other much better. In Lullaby, Ayah, the old woman and her husband, Chato have lived together for forty years. Together, they have seen their three children getting apart. Ayah hates white people because she thinks that Jimmie, their eldest son, died due to them. BIA-Bureau of Indian Affairs, who consists of white people, takes away her other two children. On the other hand, Chato is always eager to learn white ways of living. He is fluent in both English and Spanish languages and works for white people in a horse farm. She hated him for teaching her to sign her name in English because thats what takes her children away from her. If she had not signed it, her children would never have departed. The white people fired Chato; he became ill after that. As Ayah describes it, That satisfied her. To see how the white man repaid years of loyalty and work. All of Chatos fine -sounding English talk didnt change things(Baldwin 127). This shows that Ayah was so rigid about her thoughts for white people that she didnt even spare her husband from criticizing. They got some money from the government that Chato spends for his wine. He was sick and drunk one evening when Ayah had to go to pick him up from the bar. That is when she feels a sense of alienation and estrangement towards Chato. She could not see him as a person so ill, drunk, and broken mentally from what he has faced after his sincere and loyal work toward white people. This feeling is very different from what the narrator in Sonnys Blues feels about his brother at some point in the story. Even if Ayah and the narrator in both the stories feel the sense of estrangement and alienation towards the people, so close to their hearts, it is different. The narrator and Sonny never stayed together for long when they grew up. They were always apart and different. Ayah and Chato were different in every way but they lived together all their life, they knew they had, and faced every suffering together. When Ayah sees Chato losing his strength to fight against the hard facts towards life, she feels this sense of estrangement. She has never seen Chato losing or giving up. She has always seen him facing the difficulties with courage and determination. She feels that they are old now. In Sonnys blues, both the brothers end up happily, but in Lullaby, the end is sad. Ayah has nothing to say about anything anymore. Her life has become memories. But the narrator and Sonny have a lot to do together in their life.

The Leadership Theories Of Machiavelli

The Leadership Theories Of Machiavelli Machiavelli, born on the 3rd day of May 1469, acquired his university education in the University of Florence. He wrote a famous book entitled the Prince. This book is famous for its break down on the issue of attributes of leadership and as such has become a guideline for leaders. He wrote the book based on his earlier experiences, addressing how a prince (leader) should rule. Although the book gained a lot of popularity, his views on the attributes of good leadership had a lot of flaws. In The Prince he advocates mean rule instead of liberalism. He talks of the benefits of being a dictator or exercising the autocratic style of leadership. There are a lot of leaders who have and are following the Machiavellian style of leadership as he had described in The Prince. Examples of such leaders who exercised or exhibited this type of leadership style were Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi of Libya and Idi Amin of Uganda. Muammar Gaddafi being a Machiavellian according to his leadership style has been the leader of Libya since he staged a military coup on the 1st of September 1969.  [2]  With the strict fellowship he has in the Machiavellian style of leadership, he has sought to maintain the power he has had ever since. In a recent article Gaddafi made a statement saying, I will fight to the last man and the last bullet  [3]  This goes a long way to emphasize on one of the shortfalls of Machiavelli when he talked about the fact that a leader has to gain power and should be able to maintain it by any means possible. In the same way, Gaddafi promises to maintain his power even if it means he has to kill. This action is affecting Libya in a negative manner since the world is pushing for democracy and finding all means to eradicate autocratic system of governance and as such it is affecting the economy of the state due to the current instability the country is facing now. As such, most investors w ould not be willing to invest in a country where peace does not prevail. Also, with growing rate of civilization, killing just to maintain power is barbaric and this would then send the state to a state of regression. Idi Amin was an autocratic leader who sought to exercise his power through military means. In his era, he created the situation whereby he was the only one who had the final say and no one could voice out their values in any way he or she deemed fit. He created and environment which had and still has a traumatizing effect on the people of Uganda now. During his reign as military dictator, there were issues of the abuse of ethnic affiliations, cases of the abuse of human rights and potent radical control, Asians faced expulsion from Uganda and killed outside normal legal proceedings.  [4]  Ugandans have still not devised the means of changing their government through undisturbed measures. Violence has become an option for which their voices could be heard. Again, Machiavelli talked about the situation whereby the prince did not have to possess any thoughts apart from that of war. He describes meanness as an attribute of a good leader. He says liberality would lead a prince or leader to be despised and hated whiles meanness would lead to reproach without hatred hence, being mean is the answer to greater leadership.  [5]   Moreover, Machiavelli allowed the hatred he had in him to take the greater side of him when he was imprisoned because of suspicion of his involvement in a conspiracy where he lost the trust he had in humans. A typical example of such a leader who exhibited Machiavellian traits in his style of leadership was Ghanas former president, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings. Just as it is of human nature to seek revenge for every pain inflicted upon him, Rawlings came into power through military means to seek revenge for all the pain inflicted upon him in the past. He knew gaining power would be the only way to show his hatred and have his revenge best served.  [6]  This is because having the power he needs, all he has to do is to order for the people responsible for his pain to either be killed or assassinated. As a result of this shortfall of Machiavelli which Rawlings also exhibited, most affected Ghanaians even after the change from a military government to democratic governance still cann ot find it in their hearts to forgive him for his actions. It is for this reason that the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) was set up. In addition, Machiavellis concept makes mention of the fact that the end justifies the means. He says that if the action a leader takes brings about catastrophe in an area of specialization or nationwide despair then the action taken should not be regarded as a good one.  [7]  Combining this concept to the idea of establishing fear amongst ones followers, some Machiavellian leaders tend to modify this act by protecting the citizens by any means possible so as to be loved by them. When the Americans annexed Iraq, the Iraqis tried to resist their forces even though they were technologically more competent and outstripped them in terms of their quantity, Saddam Hussein having inculcated a great amount of fear in and hatred for Americans in his followers. He made himself an adherent of the Machiavellian style of leadership. Also, as a result of the fear the Tunisian president drum in his people, the only way they could show they were fed up with all his activities was have someone st art the protest and this was done by the unemployed and frustrated young man who felt the only way his voice could be heard was to set himself on fire. Again, this action did not just end there. Egyptians under the rule of Hosni Mubarak saw this as a platform to also voice out their values. Therefore one can say that all these people were simply quiet because of the brutal fear they had for their various leaders and were thus waiting for the right moment to retaliate. Furthermore, Machiavelli in his book wrote about a leader (the prince) being feared rather than loved by his people. Here, this situation would not work in a democratic society where the people decide how long one should be a leader but in the communist society like China, the leader could in his own discretion decide to practice the Machiavellian style of leadership and it would work perfectly for him since he has to instill fear in his followers due to the fact that it is less likely for them to revolt against the government or protest by defying authority.  [8]   In conclusion, these Machiavellian leaders mentioned above, considering the good and bad sides of Machiavellis thoughts on good leadership has led them to impact their nations in a negative manner. Most of the countries like Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, among others are still in a state of unrest and this posses as a threat to the surrounding nations since there is the fear that such actions could be transferred.

St. James Food Pantry: How Homeless can Occur Essay -- hunger, poverty,

â€Å"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.† Helder Camara What is hunger? According to dictionary.com, hunger is feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food. A person that has no shelter, love and food is considering being homeless. This makes their demand for food and shelter high. Poverty, for centuries has been look over in the United States of America, and for America to have one of highest poverty rates, it is a disgrace. It is a disgrace because America is one of the wealthiest countries, therefore; the government has the resource, in order for poverty not exists at this caliber. By going to St. James Food Pantry, it showed me that poverty in America is still being overlooked. Since the semester started, I have been volunteering at St. James Food Pantry located on 29th and Wabash which serves the 60605 and 16 zip codes. As an African American female, being a part of society middle-low class, I was shock to see that it was other races especially Asians, coming into the facility for help. I was shock to see Asians coming into the facility because in the media African Americans are the ones depicted to need assistance not Asians. However, volunteering at St. James showed that all races need help, not one more than other. Walking into the food pantry, one will immediately be welcomed by the secretary or volunteer coordinator, Ben. The staff at St. James is friendly and aware of their client’s needs. They bring a since of hope and love to the community in which the government has overlook the demand of hunger their citizens face daily. St. James Food Pantry was not what I expected it to be. It is small-quaint building on the corner o... ... comparing their clients to the people in different community’s s there is a significant difference in class inequality. Not able to support themselves or family shows the differences in class because to support living a person needs money. In majority money is the main aspect in determine class difference. Being in a society where people only care about themselves shows why there is a disparity between the have and have not’s. In the healthcare field, people need to demonstrate an altruism behavior because they service the people. Going to St. James showed me that I need to be more humble in order to be a successful RN. St. James Food Pantry helps their client to build life skills so they can be able to function in today’s society. As I volunteer more at St. James, I hope to receive more direct contact with clients and understand how homelessness can occur.

The North Korean Nuclear Crisis Essay examples -- Weapons Nuclear Kore

The Nuclear Crisis of 1993 The question of a nuclear North Korea has roots dating back to the 1980's. Initial concerns arose in the mid-1980's, with intelligence reports proposing the potential for North Korean nuclear ambitions. Reports cite the construction of a nuclear reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium . The reactor in question, located in Yongbyon, was the focus of the first North Korean nuclear crisis in 1993. The Clinton administration proceeded with diplomatic efforts, forging an agreement by 1994 that effectually ended the crisis. Under the Agreed Framework, North Korea agreed to: (1) halt operation and construction of nuclear reactors, (2) freeze reprocessing of spent fuel (from which plutonium can be derived to make nuclear weapons), and (3) allow IAEA inspectors to monitor nuclear facilities. In return, the US agreed to: (1) lead an international consortium in the construction of two proliferation-resistant light-water reactors (LWR), and (2) supply fuel oil until the firs t reactor is deemed operational . The Current Crisis in Brief The current crisis officially began in October 2002, when a visiting US delegation, led by Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, confronted North Korean officials with evidence of a nuclear weapons program (using enriched uranium, as opposed to the plutonium used in its first weapons program). Pyongyang admitted to the program?s existence, stating, ?We will meet the sword with the sword. ? The US, South Korea, and Japan subsequently halted all shipment of fuel oil to North Korea, in November, on the grounds that the once covert nuclear program was in violation of the Agreed Framework. In December, North Korea announced the reactivation of its nuc... ...?we will not attack you? if all nuclear ambitions are abandoned . The administration should also make good on its proposition to agree on a system in which ?corresponding measures? are taken on both sides to resolve the crisis. It will be imperative to develop a verifiable means of dismantling Pyongyang?s weapons program. Furthermore, the focus of future dialogues should be on the issue of nuclear dismantlement, straying from the topic as sparingly as possible. As President Bush and other administration officials have reminded the international community, and in particular North Korea, ultimately ?all options are on the table.? Given the current status of dialogues and continued willingness of countries in the region to proceed with diplomatic efforts, however, the option for military action is effectively taken off the table for the US for the time being.

Critical Success Factors of Mobile Telephony Companies

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF THE MOBILE TELEPHONY COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE EASTERN REGION BY : AMARTYA DHAR(08BS0000240) ICFAI BUSINESS SCHOOL 10. 12. 09 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF MOBILE TELEPHONY COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE EASTERN REGION SUBMITTED BY : AMARTYA DHAR(08BS0000240) SUBMITTED TO :PROF BHASKAR BASU 2 ABSTRACT: India, the world’s fastest-growing mobile services market, has added a record 16. 02 million new wireless subscribers in March 2009, which are the highest ever additions in a single month till now. As the country continues to add around 10-11 million new connections each month, the target of 500 million telephone subscribers by 2010 is expected to be met in advance. 3 INTRODUCTION: The Indian mobile telephony industry is highly competitive with increasing number of players the companies are on the lookout for factors differentiating their service from the competitors. When a business takes a product to market, whether it is a basic product like corn or a highly engineered offering like the digital camera the company must make the product itself compelling (Frances X. Frei HBR April 2008). With price cuts and attractive rental schemes being offered by each and every service provider the two above mentioned factors are no longer the factors which can guarantee a large consumer base . That is why the mobile telephony companies are continuously on the lookout for factors which can give them a competitive edge. This project is an effort to find out the critical success factors which are necessary for the success of a mobile telephony company in the present scenario. The data have been collected through secondary research , primary research with the help of questionnaires was also done. CURRENT INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR SCENARIO: India’s telecom sector has made rapid progress since the announcement of the National Telecom Policy – 1999 (NTP-1999). Since 2000, the telecom sector has been a key contributor to the Indian economy’s impressive performance registering sustained high growth rates. Predominantly, over the last three years, the telecom sector has gr own remarkably in the range of 29% – 47%. Growth in mobile phones was the principal driver for telecom growth in the country as they have been in other parts of the world. Currently, India continues to be one of the fastest growing telecommunication markets in the world. A progressive regulatory regime, network expansion by operators, reduction in tariffs and cost of handsets, which essentially make the service affordable for the common users, all acted as demand booster to the growth of the telecom sector. Growth of the Telecom Sector in India: Year (End March) 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Mobile Fixed Total Additions (during calendar year) 21. 84 (28. 5) 41. 96 (42. 4) 65. 54 (46. 7) 94. 65 (46. 0) 129. 21 (43. 0) 35. 61 56. 5 98. 78 165. 11 261. 09 391. 76 40. 92 41. 42 41. 54 40. 75 39. 42 37. 96 76. 53 98. 37 140. 32 205. 86 300. 51 429. 72 5 The mobile sector has grown from around 10 million subscribers in 2002 to around 35. 61million in 2003-04. The year 2004 was a watershed year for the fixed-line services in India, as mobile subscribers outnumbered fixed phone subscribers. In October 2004, the number of mobile phone users in India has crossed the number of fixed-line subscribers for the first time. So the year 2004 can be viewed upon as a landmark year in the history of Indian mobile telephony. Today, the mobile subscribers are not only much more than the land-line subscriber in the country, but their number is also increasing at a much faster pace. This was along the expected lines as, for the past few years, mobile phone subscriptions are growing at much faster rate than fixed phone subscriptions with almost all leading operators focusing more on wireless. Consequently, between March 2005 and March 2009, the country has added around 335 million new wireless subscribers to reach a total of 391. 76 million; however, the fixed line subscriptions have declined by 3. 46 million, down to 37. 6 million over the same period, partly reflecting the substitution effect. During the year 2008-09 around 0. 13 million average subscribers per month surrendered their land-line phone services except in the month of March which witnessed net additions of0. 23 million new subscribers. However, the telecom analysts opine that the fixed line telephony segment is definitely poised for growth in the coming years as the telephone operators are increasingly focusing on enhancing broadband penetration levels in the country and looking at introducing new value added services to enhance the experience of customers. BSNL is planning to use new technologies such as internet protocol television (IPTV) for tapping the fixed-line market. Tele-density: Tele-density (the number of telephone subscribers per 100 people)grew initially slowly from 7. 2 in March2004 to 12. 8 in March 2006, but thereafter galloped to a level of 36. 9 in March 2009 . Notwithstanding such remarkable achievement, it is necessary to note that India still lags far behind countries like Brazil and China, where the tele-density is over 50. China’s subscriber base is whopping. According to the China’s Ministry of Information Industry (MII), by the end of calendar 2007, China’s gross subscriber base consisting of fixed and mobile users had touched 912 million. Of the gross subscribers’ base, mobile subscribers have numbered 547 million and 6 fixed-line subscribers about 365 million at the end of December 2007. However, India’s tele-density is much higher compared to the neighboring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The telecom subscriber base in the fiscal year 2008-09 has reached a new milestone, as more than 129. 1 million telephone subscribers have been added during April 2008 – March2009 registering a growth of 43%. As indicated in the Table , the growth of mobile phone subscribers during the fiscal year 2008-09 has been phenomenal at 50%. Total subscribers & Teledensity In India 7 Monthly Growth Rate Of India’s Telephone subscribers 2008-09 The mobile subscriber base in the country is growing at su ch a fast pace that mobile operators are breaking the record for net additions almost every second month. India, the world’s fastest-growing mobile services market, has added a record 16. 2 million new wireless subscribers in March 2009, which are the highest ever additions in a single month till now. As per telecom analysts, this was the highest growth recorded within a 30-day period in any country. The previous best was 15. 41 million in January 2009. Consequently, the total number of mobile subscribers [(GSM, CDMA & WLL (F)] at the end of March 2009 has touched 391. 76 million as compared to 315. 31 million in September 2008 and 261. 09 million in March 2008. In recent years, smaller towns have fuelled further growth in mobile telephony . An interesting revelation is that currently, the cellular subscriber base is growing at a faster rate in Circles B and C as compared to Circle A and metropolitan cities. Interestingly, the bulk of the new mobile users are from the rural areas. As the country continues to add about 10-11 million new connections each month, the target of 500 million telephone subscribers by 2010 is expected to be met in advance. 8 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: Acquisitions: Sahara India Investment Corporation has acquired 11. 7% stake in Chennai-based telecom company STel Ltd, for an undisclosed amount. STel has licences to operate in several northern and eastern states. As per telecom analysts the deal can be worth around Rs 250 crore, if STel’s stake sale in Bahrain Telecommunications earlier this year is taken as the benchmark. Cell Phone for Rural Areas: A mobile phone that can be charged by a common pencil battery cell will be launched by next year. Techtium, the Israeli hybrid battery manufacturer is having discussions with various cellular phone manufacturing companies to make and market these low-cost handsets. This technology will be revolutionary, especially for rural areas in countries where availability of power is a major problem. The company has already launched a mobile phone in collaboration with Philips, which not only runs on the lithium battery, but also uses a single AAA battery as aback-up option. Investments Telecom player Aircel Ltd will be investing Rs 1,000 crore in Andhra Pradesh (AP) by 9 December 2009, as part of its $5 billion pan-India expansion plan spread over the next 3 to 5 years. The amount will be used to build base stations, install switches, create a data centre and enhance retail presence in AP. New Ventures India’s fifth largest telecom service provider, Aircel has launched its GSM mobile services in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company is the seventh service provider in Mumbai’s saturated market and has to compete with six well established telecomcompanies – Airtel, MTNL, Vodafone Essar, Idea, Reliance, Tata Teleservices and Loop Mobile. Aircel has around 1,000 cell sites in Mumbai and will be increasing it to around 2,000 sites by the year-end. The company has presence in 17 circles among 22 circles in the country. Maxis Communications (Malaysia) holds a majority stake of 74% in Aircel. The company commenced operations in 1999 and became the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu within 18 months. Aircel began its outward expansion in 2005 and met with unprecedented success in the Eastern frontier circles. Tata Communications (formerly VSNL) an Rs 800 crore data and communications service provider company, has announced its participation in the $600 million new West AfricanCable System (WACS). The consortium includes Angola Telecom, Broadband Infraco, Cable &Wireless, MTN, Telecom Nambia, Portugal Telecom, Sotelco, Telkom SA, Togo Telecom and Vodacom. The operators have recently signed a construction and maintenance agreement and supply contract for the implementation of the WACS. ZTE Chinese telecom equipment provider, which has provided infrastructure to Indian telecom companies like Reliance Communication, Tata Teleservices, Aircel and Loop Telecom, has found a novel way to expand business in India. Recently, ZTE has tied up with China Development Bank for financing mobile operators in India for upgradation of the telecom infrastructure. The new strategy adopted by ZTE is not only to compete with existing, well established players like Ericsson, Nokia-Siemens, but also to increase its market share in India’s fastest growing telecom sector. 10 With 35. 53 Million net additions during the Quarter, Total Wireless (GSM + CDMA) subscriber base increased to 427. 28 Million at the end of June-09, and wireless Tele-density reached 36. 64. 4. Wireline subscriber base declined to 37. 54 Million at the end ofJune-09, taking the wireline teledensity to 3. 22. 5. Internet subscribers increased to 14. 5 million at the end of June2009 registering a quarterly growth rate of 3. 80%. However, this growth rate is lower than the growth rate seen in the previous quarter (5. 3%). 6. Share of Broadband subscription in total Internet subscription increased from 46% in Mar-09 to 47% in June-09. 86. 66% of the Broadband subscribers are using Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. 7. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for GSM-Full Mobil ity service declined by 10% from Rs. 205 in QE Mar-09 to Rs. 185 in QE Jun-09. 11 8. ARPU for CDMA – Full mobility service declined by 7. 2% from Rs. 99 in QE Mar-09 to Rs. 2 in QE June-09 9. ARPU for dialup Internet usage increased by 2. 97% from Rs. 236. 47 in QE March 2009 to Rs 243. 50 for the quarter endingJune 2009 10. MOU per subscriber for GSM – Full mobility service continued to show a declining trend. It declined by 6. 19% from 484 in QE Mar-09 to 454 in QE Jun-09. The outgoing MOUs declined by 5. 30% and incoming by 7. 04%. 11. MOU per subscriber for CDMA-full mobility service declined by 4% from 357 (Q. E March 2009) to 342 (Q. E June 2009). The Outgoing MOUs declined by 2. 7% and Incoming MOUs declined by 5. 2%. 12. Gross Revenue (GR) nd Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of Telecom Sector for the QE June-09 has been Rs 39,108. 33 Crore and Rs. 29,732. 52 Crore respectively. There has been a reduction of 3. 3% in GR as compared to previous quarter. AGR has shown slight increase of 0. 02% vis-a-vis previous quarter. 13. Average licence fee as percentage of AGR is 8. 43% in June-09 as against 8. 4% in previous quarter. 14. The wireline Service Providers met the QoS parameters of Customer Care Service (Closures)and Response time to the customer for assistance [%age of calls answered (electronically)within 20 sec] 15. The performance of wireline servce providers improved as compared to the previous quarter, in respect of parameters Provision of Telephones, Faults repaired by next working day,Mean Time to Repair, Call Completion Rate, Customer Care Services (Shifts and Additional Facilities) and Time taken for refund of deposits 16. The wireline service performance has deteriorated in this quarter, as compared to the previous quarter, in respect of Faults incidences, Metering & billing credibility, Response time to the customer for assistance [%age of calls answered (electronically) within 40 sec & %age of calls answered by operator (voice to voice)]. 2 Market Share – Rural & Urban 25. 225. 6% 74. 4% 13 Service Area wise Access (Wireless +Wireline) Subscribers 14 Subscribers (Rural & Urban) & Market share: 15 List of Cellular Mobile (GSM & CDMA) Service Providers currently providing service [As on 30th June 2009]: The operators currently operating in Kolkata are Airtel,Vodafone ,Tata Teleser vices,Idea, Reliance telecom, Aircel group, BSNL etc. Bharti is the leading service provider in this region . 16 CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR: Critical Success Factors (CSF’s) are the critical factors or activities required for ensuring the success your business. The term was initially used in the world of data analysis, and business analysis. Critical Success Factors have been used significantly to present or identify a few key factors that organizations should focus on to be successful. critical success factors refer to â€Å"the limited number of areas in which satisfactory results will ensure successful competitive performance for the individual, department, or organization†. Identifying CSF's is important as it allows firms to focus their efforts on building their capabilities to meet the CSF's, or even allow firms to decide if they have the capability to build the requirements necessary to meet Critical Success Factors (CSF's). Types of Critical Success Factor There are four basic types of CSF's They are: 1. Industry CSF's resulting from specific industry characteristics; 2. Strategy CSF's resulting from the chosen competitive strategy of the business; 3. Environmental CSF's resulting from economic or technological changes; and 4. Temporal CSF's resulting from internal organizational needs and changes. Five key sources of Critical Success Factors MAIN ASPECTS OF Critical Success Factors and their use in analysis CSF's are tailored to a firm's or manager's particular situation as different 17 situations (e. g. industry, division, individual) lead to different critical success factors. Rockart and Bullen presented five key sources of CSF's: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The industry, Competitive strategy and industry position, Environmental factors, Temporal factors, and Managerial position (if considered from an individual's point of view). Each of these factors is explained in greater detail below. The Industry Critical success factor Industry: There are some CSF's common to all companies operating within the same industry. Different industries will have unique, industryspecific CSF's An industry's set of characteristics define its own CSF's Different industries will thus have different CSF's, for example research into the CSF's for the Call centre, manufacturing, retail, business services, health care and education sectors showed each to be different after starting with a hypothesis of all sectors having their CSF's as market orientation, learning orientation, entrepreneurial management style and organizational flexibility. In reality each organization has its own unique goals so while these may be some industry standard – not all firms in one industry will have identical CSF's. Some trade associations offer benchmarking across possible common CSF's. Competitive strategy and Competitive position or strategy: The nature of position in the marketplace or the adopted 18 industry position Critical success factor strategy to gain market share gives rise to CSF's Differing strategies and positions have different CSF's Not all firms in an industry will have the same CSF's in a particular industry. A firm's current position in the industry (where it is relative to other competitors in the industry and also the market leader), its strategy, and its resources and capabilities will define its CSF's The values of an organization, its target market etc will all impact the CSF's that are appropriate for it at a given point in time. Environmental Factors Critical success factor Environmental changes: Economic, regulatory, political, and demographic changes create CSF's for an organization. These relate to environmental actors that are not in the control of the organization but which an organization must consider in developing CSF's Examples for these are the industry regulation, political development and economic performance of a country, and population trends. An example of environmental factors affecting an organization could be a de-merger. Temporal Factors Temporal factors: These relate to short-term situations, often crises. These CSF's may be important, but are usually short-liv ed. Temporal factors are temporary or one-off CSF's resulting from a specific event necessitating their inclusion. Theoretically these would include a firm which â€Å"lost executives as a result of a plane crash requiring a critical success factor of rebuilding the executive Critical success factor Critical success factor Critical success factor 19 group†. Practically, with the evolution and integration of markets globally, one could argue that temporal factors are not temporal anymore as they could exist regularly in organizations. For example, a firm aggressively building its business internationally would have a need for a core group of executives in its new markets. Thus, it would have the CSF of â€Å"building the executive group in a specific market† and it could have this every year for different markets. Managerial Position Critical success factor Critical success factor Managerial role: An individual role may generate CSF's as performance in a specific manager's area of responsibility may be deemed critical to the success of an organization. Managerial position. This is important if CSF's are considered from an individual's point of view. For example, manufacturing managers who would typically have the following CSF's: product quality, inventory control and cash control. In organizations with departments focused on customer relationships, a CSF for managers in these departments may be customer relationship management. INFORMATION FOR WRITING CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS: (CSF's) For the organization following the CSF method, the foundation for writing good CSF's is a good understanding of the environment, the industry and the organization In order to do so, this requires the use of information that is readily available in the public domain. Externally, industry information can be sourced from industry associations, news articles, trade associations, prospectuses of competitors, and equity/analyst reports to name some sources. These would all be helpful in building knowledge of the 20 environment, the industry and competitors. Internally, there should be enough sources available to management from which to build on their knowledge of the organization. In most cases, these won't even have to be anything published as managers are expected to have a good understanding of their organization Together, the external and internal information already provides the basis from which discussion on CSF's could begin. USING CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR STRATEGIC AND BUSINESS PLANNING: I have considered t following factors to be the critical success factors for the mobile service providers of the eastern region. 1) CONCEIVE AND DESIGN: a)GSM b)CDMA 21 c)3G 2) HUMAN RESOURCE: 3) MARKET: a) Advertising b) Sales offers c) Network Coverage. ) Customer Service e) Value Added Service. 4) MANAGEMENT: a) Planning. b) Organizational Structure. 5) FINANCE: a) Budget System. 22 FINDINGS: The cellular subscriber base is growing at a faster rate in West Bengal, Bihar, Kerala,Himachal Pradesh, Punjab as compared to Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Andra Pradesh and metropolitan cities. The number of subscribers for the urban sector is more for every service provider in comparison with the rural sector, the monthly addition of new subscribers for the urban sector is also more than the rural sector . The period april 2008-march2009 has saw a phenomenonal addition of 129. 1 million telephone subscribers, an increase of 43%. Total wireless (GSM + CDMA) subscriber base increased from 391. 76 million in march -09 to 427. 29 million at the end of june-09, showing a growth of 9. 07%. Airtel and Vodafone was found out to be leading service providers of Kolkata. 23 REFERENCES: 1)www. trai. gov. in 2)Harvard Business Review (Article by Frances X. Frei—April 2008) 3)Harvard Business Review(Article by Christopher W. Hart—March 2007) 4)www. hindu. com 5)Competitive strategy by Michael E. Porter 6)Competitive Advantage by Michael E. Porter 24