Learning Organizations Essay

In the 1990, Peter Senge published a book called The Fifth Discipline that created a flurry of change within management thinking, or at least that is what people say has happened as they avidly quote him. In the September/October 1999 issue of the Journal of Business Strategy, he was named a â€Å"Strategist of the Century†; one of 24 men and women who have â€Å"had the greatest impact on the way we conduct business today. † (Smith 2001) In recent book reviews on amazon. com he is still lauded and his work touches the international business community as evidenced by reviews from UAE and India: (The emphasis within the reviews has been added by the author) Amazon. com Peter Senge, founder of the Center for Organizational Learning at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, experienced an epiphany while meditating one morning back in the fall of 1987. That was the day he first saw the possibilities of a â€Å"learning organization† that used â€Å"systems thinking† as the primary tenet of a revolutionary management philosophy. He advanced the concept into this primer, originally released in 1990, written for those interested in integrating his philosophy into their corporate culture. The Fifth Discipline has turned many readers into true believers; it remains the ideal introduction to Senge’s carefully integrated corporate framework, which is structured around â€Å"personal mastery,† â€Å"mental models,† â€Å"shared vision,† and â€Å"team learning. † Using ideas that originate in fields from science to spirituality, Senge explains why the learning organization matters, provides an unvanished summary of his management principals, offers some basic tools for practicing it, and shows what it’s like to operate under this system. The book’s concepts remain stimulating and relevant as ever. –Howard Rothman [pic]The Book that began a fad, January 26, 2003 | |Reviewer: ggxl from Bangalore, India |This book was written quite a long time ago (in 1990) and shifted the boundaries of management from concentrating on silos (marketing, HR, finance, production) to looking at organizations as open systems which interact with outside systems and put into motion forces that may not be easily understood using traditional systems to assessment. This ability of Systems Thinking Senge called the â€Å"Fifth Discipline†, the other four being: 1) Building Shared Vision 2) Mental models 3) Team Learning 4) Personal Mastery The field of Systems Thinking was developed in MIT under Prof Jay W. Forrester, but Senge gave it the ‘managerial’ flavour, cross-fertilising [sic] it with folk beliefs, spirituality and scientific thought from around the world. The belief being, once an organization has mastery of all the five disciplines, the organization can become ‘a learning organization’. This book, therefore triggered the craze and fad on part of organizations to become ‘learning organizations’ and the rise of the ‘knowledge economy’ was perfect timing for it. Now when the hoopla has settled, it is time again to revisit the true essence of Senge’s work and what he REALLY means. [pic]An inspiration†¦ , February 7, 2002 | |Reviewer: la-layl from Dubai, UAE | The Learning Organization remains one of the most talked-of management concepts in today’s business world, and nobody is as capable of explaining exactly what is a Learning Organization or what are the requirements for such an elusive concept than Peter Senge. Senge’s five disciplines are common concepts in many corporate offices. Often quoted in the management literature, he is considered by many to be the founder of the concept of the learning organization. Thirteen years later, the buzz has died down, and while Senge is still quoted, have the principles of the learning organization been implemented? Are organizations learning? A search of the term â€Å"learning organization† produces 133,000 hits on google. com, so people still embrace the concepts. This paper will endeavor to examine the literature on the learning organization in an attempt to define it and review some of the theories about it. It will also provide examples of the attempt to experiment with the concepts of the learning organization in two organizations. The first, an education department of a church undergoing transformation and the second, the training department of a large managed healthcare network provider. What does it take to become a learning organization? Are organizations by nature, learning entities? This paper is an attempt to answer these questions. Defining the Learning Organization Learning organization, organizational learning, organizational development, knowledge management†¦ these are key terms to differentiate at the beginning of the journey of this discovery process. These are my definitions: Organizational development is a defined methodology of looking at an organization from a holistic perspective with the intention of improving it. Organizational learning is what happens as an organization matures and improves; in essence, recognizing and changing the widget-making/serving process it is involved with to build a better widget maker/server. The learning organization is an organization that takes a step back to look at the big picture of how it benefits from new ideas and errors with the intention of continuous improvement. It is a deliberate process,  and one component of organizational development. Knowledge management is the storage and retrieval of the tacit and implicit information contained within an organization, whether it is procedural or content oriented. Knowledge management makes information that is within individuals available and externalizes it for the availability of the organization. Others define these differently and have written much about them. In the research literature, there does not appear to be a common, well accepted definition of these terms, though they are used frequently. The next section will explore the theories and definitions of others. From the Experts Peter Senge In the opening (page 3) of Senge’s flagship book, The Fifth Discipline, he defines the learning organization as â€Å"†¦organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together. † (Senge 1990) As mentioned earlier, he defines the core of learning organization work based on five â€Å"learning disciplines†. To expand on them, in Senge’s words they are Personal Mastery Learning to expand our personal capacity to create the results we most desire, and creating an organizational environment which encourages all its members to develop themselves toward the goals and purposes they choose. Mental Models Reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving our internal pictures of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and decisions. Shared Vision Building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing shared images of the future we seek to create, and the principles and guiding practices by which we hope to get there. Team Learning Transforming conversational and collective thinking skills, so that groups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual members’ talents. Systems Thinking A way of thinking about, and a language for describing and understanding, the forces and the interrelationships that shape the behavior of systems. This discipline helps us to see how to change systems more effectively, and to act more in tune with the larger processes of the natural and economic world. (Senge, Roberts et al. 1994) Senge believes that â€Å"the learning organization exists primarily as a vision in our collective experience and imagination. † ( p5, 1994) He also believes that the impact of practices, principles and essences are highly influential. Practices are â€Å"what you do†. Principles are â€Å"guiding ideas and insights,† and essence is â€Å"the state of being those with high levels of mastery in the discipline. † (Senge, 1990, p 373) He looks at leaders as teachers, stewards and designers—quite a different metaphor than the traditional business practices of the time. It is the leaders who must pave the way to the creation of the learning organization, and they must also model the process. The authors of the companion work The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (1994) see the learning organization as something that develops within a team, and is part of a â€Å"deep learning cycle† where team members develop new skills and abilities, which in turn create new awareness and sensibilities, which it turn creates new attitudes and beliefs. These new attitudes are the things that can change the deep beliefs and assumptions inherent in an organization and product transformation. Within the learning organization a sense of trust and safety are established and the members are willing to reveal uncertainties and make and acknowledge mistakes. This cycle provides a â€Å"domain of enduring change† within the organization. The architecture of a learning organization is considered a â€Å"domain of action† and consists of guiding ideas, innovations in infrastructure, and theory, methods and tools. The guiding ideas include the vision, values and purpose of the organization. They have philosophical depth and are seen as ongoing. They include the philosophy of the whole, the community nature of the self and the generative power of language. The development of tools and methods test these theories and cause them to be shaped and refined, and bring about the cyclical nature of this domain of action. These changes create infrastructure innovations and â€Å"enable people to develop capabilities like systems thinking and collaborative inquiry within the context of their jobs. † (1994, p34) Senge’s philosophy has been graphically illustrated using the domain of enduring change as a circle and the domain of action as a triangle (Figure 1). It is the interaction between the two that creates the dynamic of the learning organization. [pic] Figure 1 Adapted from Senge, et al, 1994, p42 It is difficult to assess the results in this type of a system because â€Å"deeper learning often does not produce tangible evidence for considerable time. † (p. 45) The core concepts contained in this model are: â€Å"At its essence, every organization is a product of how its members think and interact†¦Learning in organizations means the continuous testing of experience, and the transformation of that experience into knowledge—accessible to the whole organization, and relevant to its core purpose. † (p 48-49) The creation of this type of learning organization comes from establishing a group that learns new ways to work together: discussing priorities, working through divergent thinking, clarification, then convergent thinking to come to conclusions and implementation of the solution. The learning organization discovers how to best work with individual styles, allowing for reflection and other individual needs. It becomes a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from the results. The learning organization also works through the five disciplines of 1) building shared vision, 2) creating mental models 3) reinforcing team learning, 4) developing personal mastery and 5) understanding systems thinking. Much of what occurs is the creation of shared vocabulary to produce common understandings. Learning about systems thinking concepts of links, reinforcing and balancing loops helps to define problem issues. Following the publication of The Fifth Discipline, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook (Senge, Roberts et al. 1994) and The Dance of Change (Senge, Kleiner et al. 1999) were released with exercises to assist in the organizational development process and support the changes it created. Both contain resources helpful in the implementation process. To summarize, Senge’s model is based on the interaction and the learning that goes on between individuals in an organization. It is an intangible process, but one that can be enhanced by taking certain measures to foster development. Peter Kline Peter Kline’s work on learning organizations, Ten Steps to a Learning Organization (Kline and Saunders 1998) focuses primarily on cultural change. He believes â€Å"to have a Learning Organization, you must begin by having an organization of learners, then show them how to function in such a way that the organization as a whole can learn. † (p8) He differentiates how individuals learn versus how organizations learn: The most obvious difference between the way organization and individuals learn is that individuals have memories, which are essential to learning, while organizations don’t†¦The main difference between a learning individual and a Learning Organization is in the information storage process. Individuals store their learning primarily in their memories, augmented by libraries, notes and other aids to memory. Organizations store it primarily in their cultures, with a secondary backup in documentation that is useful only if the culture is committed to making use of it†¦In simple terms, individuals learn through the activation and updating of their memories while organizations learn through change in the culture. (p24) Kline discusses the difficulties of creating change in the organization, realizing that people in general are resistant to change. He defines ten conditions to build a learning organization, allowing people to be able to cope with the ambiguity of the change process. These conditions are: 1) Assess the current learning culture to create a benchmark, Then have: 2) Positive expectation that dilemmas can be resolved. 3) Support for the learning process itself. 4) Willingness to delay closure long enough to arrive at significant Gestalts rather than forced and trivial ones. 5) Communication processes that bring people together to consider in a friendly and noncompetitive atmosphere many different perceptions, templates, habits of thought and possible solutions, from which the most useful may then be chosen. 6) A cultural habit that encourages exploring apparently meaningless ambiguities with the expectation that meaning can be found in them—as an expression of both a personal and organizational commitment to learning over the long haul. 7) The establishment of contexts within which meaning for new possibilities can be found as they emerge. 8) A set of modeling skills, strategies and techniques or mechanisms that allows people more easily to construct meaning out of apparent chaos. 9) A cultural understanding which is shared throughout management of the systemic interactions that will inevitably be present as complex Gestalts are formed. 10) An intuitive feeling for how complex interactions will be likely to occur. (p32) Kline’s third point is one of the key elements of creative thinking—learning to continue to look for solutions rather than just accepting the first one that fits as best. His fourth point is similar to Senge’s concept of the team learning to work together in new ways, and incorporates convergent and divergent thinking. Kline presents his change model as â€Å"The Great Game of Business,† with three elements: 1) know the rules, 2) keep score, and 3) have a stake in the action. (p 35) Knowing the rules is working to choose rules that emerge from self-organizing systems to select the ones that lead to the most productive behavior. Keeping score is about measurement, and having a stake in the action is about employee buy-in. He encourages that one of the rules must be the breaking down the cultural barriers between managers and workers. Rules should also include integrative learning, (the restoration of the natural learning of early life), strategic micromanagement tools for decision making, communication and problem solving, generally originating from the people who use them; and expanding the scoring system beyond financial reports. (p 38-39) Kline also acknowledges that the most valued asset of the organization is people, and the development of relationships between them if highly important so they can work together well. In the end of his book, Kline equates business to a theatre metaphor, by â€Å"getting the show on the road. † He speaks of improvisation, ensemble work, and creativity; then continues the metaphor making workers the actors and leaders the directors. He emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and awareness of what everyone is doing while excelling in one’s individual role as would occur in a theatrical production. He begins the process with an assessment of the culture from an institutional perspective: to learn what everyone thinks, then from an individual perspective: take responsibility for what you think and what you do. He stresses looking for fear, which can be disabling to an organization. Kline has created an assessment to look at the culture of the organization. It is designed to be filled out by the members of the organization, and discussed as a group to explore differences. The assessment may be scored by averaging the rating numbers for each question to provide an overall score of the conditions for creating a learning organization, or the individual scores may be entered in a matrix, which assigns the different questions to one of the ten steps of his later plan. Using the matrix, scores are obtained for each of the ten areas, providing a more specific idea of which areas the organization needs the most work in. In filling out the form within an organization, it is anticipated that different groups within the establishment will have different perceptions of the organization itself. He recommends creating an overall report for the organization and asking the members to voice agreement or disagreement with the results. He also encourages that at this stage, the ideal state of the organization is discussed to determine where it would like to be at the end of the process. A large portion of the learning comes from the discussions and the decisions for direction that follow afterwards. This is a similar pattern to DiBella’s model of assessment. After the assessment is completed, the organization is instructed to work through steps two through ten. Kline provides numerous activities that focus on a variety of thinking skills, working to change attitudes and behaviors of individuals. Learning to reframe things in a positive way by â€Å"looking in two directions at once: at the current reality and the positive outcome that can be developed from it† (p 70) is just one of the many ideas given for step two. He deals with learning styles, mind mapping, and teaches people how to listen to one another. He creates safe ways for people to take risks. Unlike some of the more theoretical books on Learning Organizations, Kline’s book contains practical steps for developing a group to become a Learning Organization. Working through the ten steps as a team would do remarkable things within the group as they learn to learn together. Chris Argyris/Donald Schon Argyris is best known for his concepts of single and double-loop learning. In a book written with Donald Schon (1974), they believe that organizations learn through individuals acting as agents. Organization learning is the detection and correction of error. Their key concepts revolve around single- and double-loop learning. Single-loop learning results in the organization continuing in the existing policies while remedying the situation at hand, while double-loop learning examines and modifies norms, policies and objectives as necessary. There are needs for both types of learning. Argyris’ model is much earlier than most of the other organizational learning literature, and he is revered as a founding father by others and like Senge, often quoted in discussions on the learning organization. As a side note, Argyris was one of Senge’s influential teachers: Despite having read much of his writing, I was unprepared for what I learned when I first saw Chris Argyris practice his approach in an informal workshop†¦ Ostensibly an academic presentation of Argyris’s methods, it quickly evolved into a powerful demonstration of what action science practitioners call ‘reflection in action’†¦. Within a matter of minutes, I watched the level of alertness and ‘presentness’ of the entire group rise ten notches – thanks not so much to Argyris’s personal charisma, but to his skilful practice of drawing out†¦ generalizations. As the afternoon moved on, all of us were led to see (sometimes for he first time in our lives) subtle patterns of reasoning which underlay our behaviour; and how those patterns continually got us into trouble. I had never had such a dramatic demonstration of own mental models in action†¦ But even more interesting, it became clear that, with proper training, I could become much more aware of my mental models and how they operated. This was exciting. (Senge 1990, p. 182-183) In the December 2002 issue of Reflections, the Society of Organizational Learning Journal on Knowledge, Learning, and Change, Argyris’ article on Teaching Smart People How to Learn is reprinted as a â€Å"classic. † In this article, he references single- and double-loop learning, but discusses the need for â€Å"managers and employees [to] look inward. They need to reflect critically on their own behavior, identify the ways they often inadvertently contribute to the organization’s problems, and then change how they act. † He makes the observation that the individuals in leadership in an organization are not accustomed to failing, therefore they â€Å"have never learned to learn from failure†¦they become defensive, screen out criticism, and put the ‘blame’ on anyone and everyone but themselves. In short, their ability to learn shuts down precisely at the moment they need it the most. † He sees the learning from mistakes something that must become a â€Å"focus of organization learning† and part of the continuous improvement programs within an organization. He discusses how often individuals â€Å"turn the focus away from their own behavior to that of others [which] brings learning to a grinding halt. † This type of behavior creates what he calls the â€Å"doom loop† where people do not follow the theories they espouse, acting inconsistently. He calls what they do as behaviors that apply â€Å"theories-in-use. † This type of behavior without examination creates repetition without reflection, and doesn’t promote improvement. His first recommendation is to step back and examine what is occurring, and challenging it beginning with the uppermost strata of the organization. Argyris and Schon’s model involves governing variables, action strategies, and consequences. The governing values are the individual’s theories-in-use, and the action strategies are what keeps their behavior within the boundaries created by the theories-in-use. The resulting actions are the consequences. The interaction between these concepts is illustrated in Figure 2. [pic] Figure 2 from (Smith 2001) When the consequences of the action strategy used are what the person anticipated, the theory-in-use is confirmed because there is a match between intention and outcome. There also may be a mismatch between intention and outcome. Sometimes, however, the consequences may be unintended or not match, or work against the person’s governing values. This is where double-loop learning needs to be applied and processes and concepts revised. When only the action is corrected, Argyris refers to this as single-loop learning. (figure 3) [pic] Figure 3 (from Smith, 2001) Anthony DiBella DiBella defines organizational learning as â€Å"the capacity (or processes) within an organization to maintain or improve performance based on experience. This activity involves knowledge acquisition (the development or creation of skills, insights, relationships), knowledge sharing (the dissemination to others of what has been acquired by some), and knowledge utilization (integration of the learning so that it is assimilated, broadly available, and can also be generalized to new situations. )† (DiBella, Nevis et al. 1996) DiBella’s work in How Organizations Learn (DiBella and Nevis 1998), overviews the Learning Organization literature of that time, and classifies the writing into three categories: the normative, the developmental and the capability perspectives. In the normative perspective, the â€Å"learning organization presumes that learning as a collective activity only takes place under certain conditions or circumstances†¦The role of organizational leaders is to create the conditions essential for learning to take place† (DiBella 1995) Senge’s model fits this category. In the developmental perspective, the learning organization is a stage in the development of a maturing organization or in parallel, the development phase of the organization determines its learning styles and character. The third perspective, capability, identifies that organizations develop and learn as they mature or by strategic choice, and that â€Å"all organizations have embedded learning processes. † Rather than ascribing to perspectives one or two, DiBella and his colleagues believe that all organizations have learning capabilities. These seven areas are labeled â€Å"learning orientations† and each runs on a continuum of opposites. For example, the knowledge source may be internal or external. These seven orientations and their descriptors are: Seven Learning Orientations. |Orientation |Spectrum |Description | |Knowledge source |Internal/External |Where does the organization get information from? Primarily | | | |from the inside or outside world? | |Content-Process focus |Content/Process |Which is more important: the content of the information, or | | | |the process of doing it? | |Knowledge Reserve |Personal/Public |Where is information stored? Is it accessible to all, or in | | | |the heads of individuals? | |Dissemination Mode |Formal/Informal |How is information given out in the organization? Through | | | |informal conversations, or in official meetings or written | | | |communication? | |Learning Scope |Incremental/Transformative |When learning occurs, are the changes little by little or | | | |dramatic ones? | |Value-Chain Focus |Design-Make/Market-Deliver |Is the focus more on how something is created and made, or | | | |promoted to the customer? | |Learning Focus |Individual/Group |Is intentional learning geared toward individuals, or | | | |groups? | Figure 4 These orientations are facilitated by ten factors called Facilitating Factors. These factors enhance certain orientations, and increase the likelihood of the organization functioning as a learning organization. Facilitating Factors |Facilitating Factor |Description | |Scanning Imperative |Gathering of information on best practices and conditions outside of the organization | |Performance Gap |Shared perception in the organization between the current and desired performance | |Concern for Measurement |Desire to measure key factors and discussion about the statistics | |Organizational Curiosity |Interest in creative ideas and technology, with support for experimentation | |Climate of Openness |Sharing of lessons learned, open communication about all areas at all levels | |Continuous Education |Commitment to quality resources for learning | |Operational Variety |Valuing different methods; appreciation of diversity | |Multiple Advocates | New ideas can be advanced by anyone in the organization; multiple champions for learning exist | | |throughout | |Involved Leadership |Management is personally involved in the learning and perpetuation of the learning organization | |Systems Perspective |Recognition of interdependence among organizational units and groups; awareness of the time delay | | |between actions and their outcomes | Figure 5, adapted from DiBella In the analysis process utilizing DiBella’s methods, the organization determines its current status and desired status using the learning orientations and facilitating factors. There is an interrelationship between the ten facilitating factors and the seven orientations, and focusing on specific factors can help an organization become a better learning organization. In an article written with DiBella, Edwin Nevis calls learning â€Å"a systems-level phenomenon because it stays within the organization, even if individuals change†¦Organizations learn as they produce. Learning is as much a task as the production and delivery of goods and services. † (Nevis, DiBella et al. 1995) Nevis et al sees â€Å"three learning-related factors important to an organization’s success: 1. Well developed core competencies that serve as launch points for new products and services 2. An attitude that supports continuous improvement in the business’s value-added chain. 3. The ability to fundamentally renew or revitalize. † They see these factors as â€Å"some of the qualities of an effective learning organization that diligently pursues a constantly enhanced knowledge base. † There is also an assumption made about the learning process following three stages: knowledge acquisition, sharing and utilization. There is the belief that all organizations are learning systems, that learning conforms to culture, there are stylistic variations between learning systems and that generic processes facilitate learning. The model supporting all this is comprised of the learning orientations and facilitating factors. Other perspectives Consultants online define the learning organization in similar ways. From the UK, David Skyrme (Farago and Skyrme 1995) quotes several other theorists on his website: â€Å"The essence of organisational learning is the organization’s ability to use the amazing mental capacity of all its members to create the kind of processes that will improve its own† (Nancy Dixon 1994) â€Å"A Learning Company is an organization that facilitates the learning of all its members and continually transforms itself† (M. Pedler, J. Burgoyne and Tom Boydell, 1991) â€Å"Organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to learn together† (Peter Senge, 1990). Fargo and Skyrme use these thoughts to create their own definition: â€Å"Learning organizations are those that have in place systems, mechanisms and processes, that are used to continually enhance their capabilities and those who work with it or for it, to achieve sustainable objectives – for themselves and the communities in which they participate. † They speak of four elements that create learning organizations: learning culture, processes, tools and techniques and skills and motivation. They define these as: Learning Culture – an organizational climate that nurtures learning. There is a strong similarity with those characteristics associated with innovation. Processes – processes that encourage interaction across boundaries. These are infrastructure, development and management processes, as opposed to business operational processes (the typical focus of many BPR initiatives). Tools and Techniques – methods that aid individual and group learning, such as creativity and problem solving techniques. Skills and Motivation – to learn and adapt. They also define things that inhibit learning organizations: †¢ operational/fire fighting preoccupation – not creating time to sit back and think strategically †¢ too focused on systems and process (e. g. ISO9000) to exclusion of other factors (bureaucratic vs. thinking) †¢ reluctance to train (or invest in training), other than for obvious immediate needs †¢ too many hidden personal agendas. †¢ too top-down driven, overtight supervision = lack of real empowerment Fredrick Simon and Ketsara Rugchart define a learning organization as â€Å"one that is continually enhancing its ability to get the results it truly wants. † (Simon and Rugchart 2003) They see organizational learning as â€Å"facilitative of knowledge management by first aligning common vision reduces competitiveness†¦allowing for greater demand for the shared knowledge (the information retrieval side of the equation)†¦ The greatest learning takes place in failure, when things don’t go as expected†¦[sharing] leads to a willingness to be open and to risk vulnerability by sharing the learning from failure (the input side of the equation. ) †¦Organizational learning does not replace knowledge management tools, but can provide a substantial accelerator to the KM effort. † DaeYeon Cho looks at the connectio.

Unit 4 Business P7

P7: Outline electronic and non-electronic methods for communicating business information, using examples for different types of audience. The first type of information that I am focusing on is written information that is on screen, the form of the communication is a PowerPoint presentation which is used electronically to present information to members of staff. In Sainsbury’s they hold meetings regularly and my example of a time is when they had a new product that was coming into their store, the presentation explained the product and how they can promote it.This information is internal as it is in the business its self explained to its target audience who are the employees. The non-electronic method that Sainsbury’s have explained this new product is through posters, they are put onto the notice board for their target audience that is the customers. The purpose of the electronic and non-electronic methods of this information is to keep customers updated but also the me mbers of staff, the audiences are satisfied for the way that the information is presented to them.The second type of information that I am going to explain is verbal, the form of communication that is used is face-to-face and DVD’s. The target audience for the face-to-face information is the customers, an example of a non-electronic method is in Apple store there is a member of staff who would stand and present themselves to members of the public. Their aim is to sell the product and explain as much information as they possibly can, the benefit of this is that customers can ask questions and they can be answered directly then and there.The electronic method is the DVD’s that are handed out to the target audience the employees to watch about the new product that the company has brought out. This sort of communication is suitable for the employees as they can watch the video of the new product as many times as they need to learn more about it. The third type of communica tion is multimedia, this is an electronic form and the target audience is members of the public. I am going to focus on the company Costa that created an advert for their target audience, business men and women.Costa sells various hot and cold drinks to either sit in or take away, the advert is directed to business men and women as in the advert they state, â€Å"For the hard workers on the go, sit in for a drink or take away back to the office†. The disadvantage that Costa has with their advert is that it costs allot of money, it has a time limit of how much information they can show and the target audience would have to be watching the TV at the time.The non-electronic method is billboards that are shown to the general public, the target audience is then for everyone who is able to buy their drinks, the billboard shows their coffee being delicious and puts across a short message to make people buy it. This is a useful way of communication as it attracts all types of people and not just aimed at one sort of person, this would build up the amount of potential customers.

Capital Maintenance Case of Trevor v Whitworth †Free Samples

Capital Maintenance Doctrine is not a new concept and it has existed more than a decade. This is a doctrine that was first recognized in the case of Trevor v Whitworth in the year 1887. In this case, the judge argued that it is reasonable for a company to lose money in business transactions, and this is basically because of the risks involved in business (Armour 2000). However, it is not reasonable or acceptable for a company to engage in activities that will lead to a reduction of its capital. This is because it will be against the desire of investors and their reasons of investing in a company, which is capital growth.   Ã‚  Ã‚   On this basis, it is possible to assert that the intention of the capital maintenance doctrine is to protect the capital that investors have invested in a company. However, in Ooregum Gold Mining v Roper, the court was of the opinion that capital maintenance doctrine is aimed at preserving and promoting the principle of limited liability (Hannigan 2015). The reasoning of the court is that a shareholder has a limited liability, and it is limited to the extent in the value of his shares. Therefore, reducing the capital of the organization may frustrate the ability of a company to pay off its debts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, the 2001 Corporation Act supports the doctrine of Capital Maintenance, and this is depicted in section 256A of the Act, which prevents the company from engaging in any activity that may threaten the financial position and stability of the company. Examples of these activities include financing the operations of other companies, engaging in the expensive process of purchasing buyback shares, etc (Borg 2015). In as much as the doctrine of capital maintenance is useful to creditors and shareholders, the   law allows a company to reduce its capital in some circumstances. For instance, section 254 of the 2001 Corporations Act allows a company to reduce its capital, if it is a decision that is passed unanimously by its shareholders. When a company reduces the value of its capital after getting permission from the shareholders, the process must be transparent and equitable (Hanrahan, Ramsay and Stapledon 2013). Additionally, if the company becomes insolvent because of the reduction of its capital, the directors of the company would be held liable. Therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that during the process, the value of liabilities does not exceed the value of its capital. Finally, in the case of Fowlers Vocola Manufacturing Company; it is acceptable for a company to reduce the value of its capital, if it seeks to refund investors their capital. Armour, J., 2000. Share capital and creditor protection: Efficient rules for a modern company law .  The Modern   Law Review, pp.355-378. Borg, D.J., 2015. The acquisition of own shares by limited liability companies. Hanrahan, P.F., Ramsay, I. and Stapledon, G.P., 2013. Commercial applications of company law. Hannigan, B., 2015.  Company law . Oxford University Press,.  

Jury Deliberations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Jury Deliberations - Assignment Example The Court emphasized further that the most important function of the jury is to provide "common sense judgment of a group of laymen" and shall have the opportunity to deliberate freely, without force and intimidation from outside sources as they decide on the question of a defendant’s guilt. The advantage of eliminating unanimity of 12 votes will minimize the potential for hung juries caused by bribery or juror’s irrationality and caprices, resulting in lesser number of retrials, save on court expenses and decongest the court’s dockets. In addition, there is no need for unanimous verdict since at present time, the convicted felon is no longer subjected to cruel and unusual punishment compared to olden times. On the other hand, the second proposal of changing the number of jurors from 12 to 6 in all criminal cases, though maintaining the requirement that the verdict be unanimous violates the accused's right to a trial by jury as protected by the Sixth and Fourteen th Amendments.  In the case of Burch Vs.

Case study Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Case study - Assignment Example Management is essentially an act of fulfillment of objectives through people, and efficient management implies getting the maximum output from the people. Therefore, a good manager must encourage teamwork and enhance team spirit by meeting the needs of both the individual and the team. This paper will focus on a case study regarding problems of human resources. In any organization, managerial goal is to extract optimum performance from workers and employees for the benefit of the organization. The concept of High Performance Work Practices (HPWP) is a deliberate attempt to establish working patterns that will enhance the overall performance of the organization. This concept is not new and employees who embrace this concept are only implementing common sense approach to improve their performance level. HPWPs indicate assessment of own work, flexible working patterns, and other strategies to provide maximum results. HPWPs also encompass strategic recruitment policies and motivational schemes like promotions, financial rewards and flexible working hours (Sung & Ashton, 2005, p.2). According to research based on world reports, there are two major advantages of HPWPs. First, such practices maintain a steady improvement in the performance level of employees, and second, employee satisfaction can be enhanced both in terms of work and personal lif e. The combined impact of these two benefits is reflected in high level of employee commitment, improved financial performance, sustained competitiveness, and innovation (Sung & Ashton, 2005, p.8). In this section, I will be highlighting the problems of human resources in ServiceCo which is a â€Å"support services partner in the UK providing business solutions for clients across the local government, transport, education, health and defence sectors† (Alfes et al., 2010, p.8). Currently, 10,500 employees are engaged in 200 locations in UK. According to survey

Discuss Hurricanes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Discuss Hurricanes - Research Paper Example The paper will also give a recommendation of the possible mitigation measures that can be taken into account in order to address these concerns. Hurricanes are responsible for a myriad of environmental effects in the area that they occur. They can cause cataclysmic impairment to coastlines and numerous hundred miles inland (Hemming & McCallum, 2006). This means that any property or any life that is within that area can be potentially destroyed. A hurricane can yield winds that surpass 155 miles per hour. These are very strong winds that can equally destroy both life and property in the region that the hurricane occurs. They hurricane can also generate storm improvements along the coast and lead to wide-ranging destruction from hefty rainfall (Hanfling, Lawrence & Powell, 2012). This frequently hints to inundations as well as soaring debris which are accountable for more disparaging consequences. The unwarranted flood or rainfall can prompt mudslides or even landslides. Research shows that mudslides and landslides equally contribute to the destruction of property and the loss of lives (Heitmuller & Perez, 2005). It is also po ssible to experience situations of vicious flash flooding. The four significant elements most expected to cause severe environmental effects from a chief hurricane are entrenched tornadoes, dominant winds, hefty rains and a storm increase (Heming & McCallum, 2006). The length of the storm bearing is dependent on how enormous the hurricane is. For example in the case of hurricane Katrina, it is assessed that it was ten meters long (Heitmuller & Perez, 2005). The floods and storm leads to widespread destruction to the property and trees, more especially those which are near the coastal region of the place that the hurricane has taken place. The storm surge is instigated by the onshore blast of the water that comes with the hurricane and is largely due

Interviews about American Incomes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Interviews about American Incomes - Assignment Example We usually attend all our classes, then either go home or somewhere with friends. Depends on where we are residents. I live in this state and therefore prefer to go home for a while, whereas others would probably grab a bite to eat since they don’t have a home here to go and eat. The dress code is liberal; not too liberal, but moderately liberal. You will not be mocked if you wish to wear your traditional dress because our country is open to different cultures and minorities and wishes to treat them well. On formal presentation days, it is recommended to dress better than the other days, but most people like to dress casually on the rest of the days. Sports are an important and widely accepted part of our society; there is football, basketball and ice hockey. You should definitely check that out if you want to get a feel of our culture. Me: Thank you very much. Conversation # 2 (in recess) Me: Do you mind if I join you? Anonymous: No problem. Me: I have been hearing a great de al about the elections around here. They are on November 6th if I am not wrong? Anonymous: Yes. There is always a buzz around the time of elections. Me: What is your view on the politics of your country? Are you leaning more towards the Democrats of the Republicans? Anonymous: I do cast my vote, and I am for Democracy, therefore I will probably vote for Obama. However, I am more for the social welfare of the economy than politics as a whole. Me: For a greener better society or something related to social classes? Anonymous: Both actually, but a better society would be a greener society I believe. Me: I am actually really interested in the scenario of classes in the US. If you ever have some extra time, we can discuss this in length. Anonymous: Happy to help. Interview #1: Me: Continuing our previous conversation, I was a little unclear about what comprises the concept of ‘class’ here in the US. Anonymous: Class is synonymous to socioeconomic status and there are three s tringent divides: lower middle and upper class. However, there are variations between the three as well.  

Strategies of Market Growth Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Strategies of Market Growth - Assignment Example Today, the economies of most of these markets are growing and expanding at a rate that easily attracts multinational companies from all across the world. Most of these emerging markets are also having very favourable macroeconomic and microeconomic policies that put them at highly lucrative positions to choose in the doing of global business. With the coming and advancement of technology also, there has been a major boost in terms of how effective and efficient business is undertake in these emerging markets. All of these favourable conditions notwithstanding, it remain a fact that with the level of development in these emerging markets, companies need much strategic approaches to make good use of consumers in emerging markets, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid. In this paper, two key business strategies that can be used by these companies are critically discussed. Strategies of Market Growth Gollakota (2010) identifies consumers at the bottom of the pyramid as one of the most important stakeholders of any company’s supply chain, especially those in emerging markets. ... erstanding circumstances that consumers must satisfy to meet their needs, whiles the final parameter looks into the essence of what the consumer wants to accomplish (Gollakota, 2010). Generally, though, the deep cost management centres on the second paradigm, which advises the need for prices of products and services to be cut low to ensure that those at the bottom will also have the means of responding to their needs. For the companies to do this cost cutting without running at a loss it important that they are engaged in prudent management of production cost. In the second instance, the use of deep benefit management is recommended for use. Unlike the former which focuses on cost management, this is more concerned about value management, where the need for companies to think of ways of adding new features that give unique value to their products and services is recommended (Ghemawat, 2010). In most cases, what has been observed with emerging markets is that consumers at the bottom want to use their money in the most guaranteed means that they have to be very certain about value for money. In effect, even if they will have to be paying more, they would need guarantee that the same product or service from another outfit has less value than the one they are purchasing (Pelle, 2007). Meanwhile, the best way to raise the value of a product is by introducing new features that takes away cost in an indirect manner. Some of these ways include â€Å"offering convenient locations, transport, or other services that are essential for BOP customers† Gollakota, 2010 p. 361). Conclusion In conclusion, it will be reiterated that the need for businesses and organizations to succeed is not an achievement that comes by accident, especially when reference is made to emerging markets. As

Assigment #3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Assigment #3 - Essay Example His frustration is expressed through his drinking and going to the movies in the evenings and reading and writing poetry on the job. A great deal of the play centers on Laura, though. She is extremely shy, partly because of her crippling disease (pleurosis) which forces her to wear a brace on her leg and walk with a limp, and spends much of her time dreaming about her glass menagerie. Because of Laura’s fragility, Amanda attempts to force Tom to find a suitable husband for his sister regardless of any limitations Tom might have in trying to accomplish this. In Scene 2 of the play, the characters Amanda and Laura become involved in a memory of the past as a means of escaping the reality of the present, in which Laura has stopped attending business school, and the utter terror of the future as it becomes clear that she will be unable to support herself. Amanda asks Laura if there has ever been a boy she was interested in and Laura shyly admits that there has. From here, she launches into a fantasy about her high school years and what she felt and dreamed about back then. She opens her high school yearbook to find the picture of him in the senior class musical performance of Pirates of Penzance, a play about romance and pirates and being swept away to daring new adventures. As she talks about his many achievements and qualities, he won the silver cup in debating club and an engaging grin and even had a pet name reserved just for her. â€Å"He used to call me – Blue Roses.† For a moment, she allows herself to become lost in t he special feeling she used to get whenever he saw her and hollered â€Å"Hello Blue Roses† in the halls, because that’s what he thought she’d said one time when she told him why she’d been absent. Her bubble breaks, though, when she remembers that he used to go with another girl, who she never felt was all that sincere, but who appeared with him in the personal section in an engagement announcement. â€Å"That’s – six

Motivation Project Essay Example for Free

Motivation Project Essay The drive to achieve goals is being motivated. Motivational theories are the processes to reach those goals. Being a new student in Caitlin’s situation is difficult. Catlin seems like she could be doing better. She isn’t pushing herself to her fullest. She lacks the desire to. Caitlin lacks a few of the things required for self-actualization; per her situation she is in she lacks a lot of motivation. She needs to find something worth achieving the grade for. She hasn’t achieved all the spots on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; achievement motivation and neither intrinsic nor extrinsic motivation apply. Caitlin seems to have only hit a few points on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs chart. She lacks self-actualization, esteem and love/belonging. She doesn’t seem to know herself. She seems to be distracted given her situation. Physiological and safety she appears to have. She has to have physiological and safety she seems to have achieved. She lacks three out of five levels on the hierarchy of needs given her current situation. She lacks achievement motivation. There is nothing motivating her to achieve her goals in her world history class. Her life situation has her down regarding everything It is causing her to be distracted and she doesn’t have a way to be motivated to achieve her goals. She isn’t intrinsic motivated because she doesn’t seem to realize that there is a reason to achieve better than a c. She also doesn’t have extrinsic motivation because she is living a rough life. She doesn’t feel like she can achieve anything better. There is nothing either outside or inside of her that could push her to do better at his moment. I would say try and help her. Caitlin needs a friend. She is living in the next to impossible situation no that no one going to school wants to live. She is a new student and her parents are divorced. Her world has exploded for the average school age girl. She needs to know that she can trust you as her teacher. She needs to feel that you’re there and willing to help her with her both outside and inside academic issues. If she knows you’re willing to help with both then maybe she’ll better motivated to achieve higher grades. She needs a friend. Everybody needs to know they can trust their teacher. A healthy learning environment is the best thing that could be created for children.

Malaysias Tourism Industry: An Analysis

Malaysias Tourism Industry: An Analysis 1.0 Introduction The Malaysian tourism industry seems to represent an increasingly important sector and it palys a major role within the Malaysian economy and has been responsible for the growth of the economy over the years. This industry has become a very important source of revenue for the overall economic development of the country. For an industry that is very important, it is empirical that the government take steps to make tourism a strategic economic and employment priority. Logistics is a practice that has been used in several other industries but now is appearing to be very helpful and applicable in the tourist and recreation sector. It is observed here that the travel and tourism industry in Malaysia has continued to improve over the years and this particular industry has managed to make a significant contribution to Malaysias revenue. What is known   here is that the Malaysian travel and tourism industry does continue to remain to be one of the main income earners that continue to help to strengthen Malaysias balance of payment. The tourism industry of Malaysia is capable of being classified into about seven categories ande these are as follows: Edu-tourism Domestic tourism Shopping tourism Medic-toursm Eco-tourism Agro-Tourism Sports tourism In this research, there will be an examination of the issues and problems relating to the logistics practices by firms in various relevant industries that are related to the Malaysain tourism industry and the way that these firms carry out their logistics practices. In essence, the main focus would be on devising essential strategies that would enable these firms to be able to enahnce their practices relating to logistics for the benefit of all of the industry. There are a number of strategies that can be adopted by these firms in order to enhance their performance in this research will be concentrated on identifying one strategy that can help the firms in the tourist industry in Malaysia to enhance their logistics practices. In particular, the viability of the logistics cost analysis strategy will be examined here and a theorization will be made about the viability of the utilization of this strategy to enhance the performance of firms in the tourism industry in Malaysia and the per formance of the industry itself. This research will be capable of producing efficient outputs that will make it possible for conclusions to be drawn about the logistics efficiency of the firms operating within the tourism industry in Malaysia and the possible ways to increase the efficiency of a firms logistics operations in order to ensure enhanced and efficient performance within the industry. After all relevant matter has been factored in, the researcher will be able to highlight all the logistic factors affecting travel and tourism industry in Malaysia and would be able to arrive at a conclusion that can then be used to devise a strategy or framework that can be used by firms in the industry to perfect their logistics practices. 1.1 Problem Statement As noted, there are a number of factors that have been identified as being factors that have caused for the tourism industry to experience setbacks and it is these kinds of setbacks thatt have the impact of reducing the performance of the firms within this industry. Logistical factors are the kinds of factors that could determine the efficiency at which the an organisation within the indsutry is able to operate at maximum efficiency. For a very profitable industry like the Malaysian tourism industry, it is very essential for any kind of factor within the industry that might cause for issues to be faced by the Malaysian tourism sector to be identified and addressed, in order to ensure that this industry continues to be a able to bring in revenue for Malaysia. Problems relating to logistics can always be an impediment to the progress of a firm and even an industry, if all the firms do not have an efficient logistics strategy. Among the relevant firms that are impacted by logistics in t his industry include firms from the services, hospitality, tour operating, tourism oriented and recreation oriented firms. All of these firms are able to utlize various logistics strategies in order to reduce costs and improve their services. These firms are suffering from logistics management issues that are in turn reducing the performance of the entire industry and hence it is essential that these firms adopt a strategy that would improve logistics practices. 1.2 Significance of the Research This research is signficant because it addresses a very essential issue relating to logistics and the way that the logistical practices of an organisation within the tourism industry can affect the way that the firm performs. This research will determine the state of the logistical practices of firms in the industry and the output will be used to determine if there is a deficiency in the logistics practices of firms in the industry. The research will then attempt to make a proposal of strategies in order to perfect the logistics practices of firms in the organisation through the use of strategies and frameworks. 1.3 Scope of Research This research will be focused primarily on examining the logistics practices of firms in the Malaysian tourism industry and the efficiency at which they carry out their logistics practices. The scope would be on examining the logistics practices of firms only from the tourism industry in Malaysia and to propose a strategy within the sphere of logistics that is capable of solving these inefficiencies and issues faced by these firms. 1.4 Research Objectives The main research objectives of the project will be outlined here. The main objective here will be to determine the logistic factors affecting travel and tourism industry in Malaysia. So as to be able. To be able to achieve the primary objective of this research paper, there are a few secondary objectives that have to be determined, among them are as follows: Examining the logistics performance of the tourism industry in Malaysia Determining if Malaysia firms in the tourism industry are suffering from a deficiency in logistcal performance Examining the strategies that can be adopted in order for logistics performance of to be capable of being enhanced in firms operating within the tourism industry, in order to enhance the overall performance of the Malaysian tourism industry. 1.5 Research Questions What is the level of logistics performance of the tourism industry in Malaysia? Is firms in the Malaysian tourism industry suffering from a deficiency in logistcal performance? What are the strategies that can be adopted in order for logistics performance to be capable of being enhanced in firms operating within the tourism industry so as to enhance the overall performance of the Malaysian tourism industry? 2.0   Literature Review In this chapter, there will be a literature review that will be carried out on this research topic and hence this means that there will be a review of literature relating tourism and logistical infrastructure. The review commences with an review of literature that relates to the description of the tourism product, the benefits of investing in tourism, a review of literature concerning tourism management, the charactertistics of the tourism industry, the opinions of past researchers about the strategies that can be used to enahnce the logistics practices within the industry to deliver value, the value chain of the tourism industry. 2.1 Characteristics of the Tourism Industy According to Dwyer and Forsyth, (1997), the tourism industry does have a number of characteristics of a competitive market. Essentially, there are very few barriers to entry into the market, the market can be described as being a truly global market that have a few unnatural barriers to trade, there are a large number of firms within the industry and the prices are set on the sole basis of market expectations, essentially. Within a highly competitive market like tourism, there does not seem to be any difference, when it comes to the yield from different types of tourists. Within this kind of a competitive market, resources have to be deployed at a level that does reflect their opportunity cost. What this mean here is that they will be employed at a level that makes it possible to provides a sufficient return to investors when talking in terms of the cost of capital. If there are resources which provide above normal profits they are bid up in price and any abnormal profit is dissipated into the cost of capital (Dwyer and Forsyth, 1997). 2.2 The Tourism Product Described 2.2.1 Features of the Tourism Product It has been stated that Yilmaz and Bititci, (2006), that the tourism product is said to carry the characteristics pertaining to the service product as well as the characteristics that are special to the tourism industry, and it is this that tends to make the   tourism product to be much different from physical goods. What can be said here is that these characteristics are very effective when it relates to the performance of the tourism establishments and they have to be taken into consideration when performance measurement and management systems are being designed. A very special and distinctive features of the tourism product can eb said as it being unable to be seen and touched physically before being purchased, and which means that it is intangible. It is appreicated here that this kind of intangibility does essentially make it harder to buy but easier to be able to distribute (Evans et al., 2003). It does also make tourism to be dependent on the representations as well as the descriptions that are within printed or audio-visual forms, and, hence, it is theorized here that information is the vital tool which makes it possible to bind producers within the travel industry (Ujma, 2001). The main role of travel information that is for consumers can be siad to be very significant as visitors tend become exposed to trhe risk in buying vacations that they believe to be able to satisfy their various needs and wants that are said to be very important to them (Mill and Morrison, 2002) and (Yilmaz and Bititci, 2006). The next feature of the tourism product is its perishability and what can be stated here is that the   tourism product, like an airplane seat or hotel bed, is incapable of being stored for future sale. This can be decribed as being a differences that is present between tourism and manufacturing products. It is this kind of characteristic of the tourism product that does haev an impact on the marketing efforts as well as the operations of the tourism businesses. The main marketing challenge here would be to operate at full capacity for as long as possible and the company would have to design various kinds of marketing strategies for the ultimate purpose of stimulating the demand (Callaghan et al., 1994) and (Yilmaz and Bititci, 2006). 2.2.2 The Value Chain of the Tourism Industry This industry is one that has been analysed in a holistic manner through a number of distribution channel perspective by a number of authors and researchers (Middleton and Clark, 2001), (Mill and Morrison, 2002), (Halloway, 1998) and (Laws, 1997). A common theme that has been noted among a number of researchers is that there seems to be a lack of customer-oriented approach within the end-to-end value chain. It is noted that customers tend to view the tourism product as something that is a seamless product and that needs to be handled from the view point of the customer in order to be able to measure the tourism value chain in an efficient way. There has been a great amount of emphasis that has been given to service, quality, and customer satisfaction issues, and within the connection to the business performance within the tourism industry, it is quite surprising not to find a customer-oriented approach present within the tourism value chain (Yilmaz and Bititci, 2006). The tourism value chain is noted to commence with the customer order and more often than not, customers or tourists do have a few alternatives when it comes to purchasing the tourism product and it is noted here that they are capable of either arranging their travel plan with the assistence of tour operators or even outbound travel agents, which does have an advantage of taking professional advice in relation to all of the holiday package without any kind of thinking; or arranging it themselves and this permits them to be very flexible when it comes to their travel experience. It can be said here that incoming travel agents is capable of being used to make transfer arrangements from/to the airport to/from the hotel and for daily excursions as well as   other activities that are normally held at the destination (Yilmaz and Bititci, 2006). The delivery of the services is capable of being dvided into three sub sectors and these include accommodation, transportation and incoming travel services. The performance of the delivery stage is one that is affected by the various relations between these main industry players. Hence, it can be said here that performance measures would be required to reflect the interdependency features of the industry (Yilmaz and Bititci, 2006). The transportation part of the service is where logistics really come into play and the existance of bad infrastructure would damage the entire service offering. 2.3 The Concept of Tourism Yield Dwyer and Forsyth, (1997) state here that tourism yield can be said to be the net benefit that accrues to the host country from international visitors and this means that it is the benefits minus the costs of tourism activity. This particular definition does believe the complexity of identifying, at the national level, all of the costs and the benefits of tourism, and every one of these has different kinds of patterns of activity and impact At the firm level, a measure like this is very critically important as it is a measure of survival. In essence, Tisdell (1993) has provided a list of target variables of possible importance to governments when it comes to formulating policy in terms of foreign tourism and these are listed out below: foreign exchange earnings net national economic benefits that are obatined from foreign tourists as being measured by changes that take place within the economic surpluses employment generation; cultural and sociological impact in regards to the host population conservational or environmental impact promotion of international understanding and co-operation income distribution consequences. (Dwyer andForsyth, 1997) 2.4 Market for Tourism and Recreational Services It is noted here that the market of tourist and recreational services is composed of the following: hospitality services catering services tour operating services tourism oriented services recreation oriented services (Kordel, 2008) It is these segments of the market where a large number of firms, business entities and also incorporated companies are said to operate easily and are able to successfully adopt the concept of logistics. Essentially speaking, the science of logistics is said to combine theoretical and practical issues and each and every one of its theories is capable of being easily implemented as well as confronted with realityfor the purposes of verifying that they are efficient and applicable in real life (Kordel, 2008) 2.5 Logistics and Cost Analysis Issues For instance, taking into account the hospitality services sector, it is noted that   there are some areas where logistics play a vital role and it is noted here that the efficiency as well as the quality of hospitality services is capable of being improved via efficient logistics management of the following: hotel management quality management information management marketing (Kordel, 2008) In looking at the hospitality sector from a very comprehensive point of view, a number of different processes are observed to take place and these include the following: supply processes service production processes distribution processes storage and warehousing processes information transmission processes (Kordel, 2008) 2.5.1 Minimalization of Costs These areas that have been outlined above have to be referred to when it comes to searching for minimalization of costs as well as to locate the most appropriate solutions that are possible for the purposes of gaining a strong, a very competitive and very leading position within the market (Kordel, 2008) . All of these processes have to be examined from the view point of costs that they are bringing about   and then be classified according to genre and amount. This would permit for the calculation of total and unit logistics cost, and these are noted to be very essential factors that impact the competitiveness of companies. Total logistics costs analysis can be described as being the main key to managing the logistics function and this is why it is essential that the management take into consideration all logistics cost (Kordel, 2008) With the hotel industry, for instance, the total amount of logistics cost is said to include the following: cost of supply activities cost of information cost of operation cost of marketing cost of distribution cost of additional services cost of insurance cost of transport activities cost of personnel other financial costs (Kordel, 2008) 2.5.2 Utilization of Costs Analysis to Improve Logistics Practices In essence, the issue of costs is said to be an essential problem and due to the fact that its role in todays economy can be said to continue to grow, they have to be brought up to everyones attention, they have to be properly classified, diagnosed, analyzed and then utilized for the purposes of decision making process. However, most of the companies can be said to be fitted with basic financial and accounting systems and it is noted here that these do not register the logistics costs and it makes it hard to which makes it difficult to diagnose and analyze them (Kordel, 2008). The processes noted above have to eb examined from the point of view of costs. The utlization of cost analysis is noted to be carried out accroding to these above specifications and could help when it comes to calculating all of the logistics cost concerning the particular firm in the tourism industry and it will also indicate the kind of components that are able to generate the most costs and hence are required to be minimized. It is appreciated here that companies can easily enhance their market competitiveness by reducing their logistics costs abnd this eventually results in lowering the total costs of goods and services (Kordel, 2008). Because it might be hard to make a determination of the individual component of logistics costs that have to be reduced, companies need to make attempts to integrate the logistics system as opposed to lowering total logistics costs. This kind of solution can be said to be very safe especially that wrong diagnosis of individual costs may lead to an increase of total logistics costs. Hence, it is essential to remember that in tourism and hospitality business, the effective cost reduction as well as the ability to manage the total logistics costs in the right way can be said to be very helpful when it comes to building a strong position in the market (Kordel, 2008). In essence, keeping track of all logistics costs that are said to be borne by companies from tourist and recreation sector could be easier if only these companies are equipped with additional software that are dedicated towards logistics costs registration and these companies are able to carry out regular research by themselves concerning their very own initial costs.m In general terms, for the hospitality sector to be capable of operating properly and without any sort of objections, there are some issues that have to be taken into account and these are as follows: Modern logistics solutions have to be constantly updated and implemented There needs to be an analysis of supply chain costs There has to be a much wider spectrum of controlling system that has to be implemented Essential decisions that are made have to be consulted with professionals. (Kordel, 2008) For the purposes of having a better understand of the concept that is trying to be presented here, the following matters need attention: Services that are provided by these firms need to meet certain quality standards. Customer are to be considered as being merchandise and all the costs that are borne need to be   classified as being according to the logistics processes. Realization costs related to controlling systems that are orne in logistics processes need to be implemented There has to be accurate and prompt decisions that need to be made in relation to logistics processes being executed. (Kordel, 2008) 2.6 The Role of Information Technology in the Tourism Industry and its Impact of Logistics The information technologies are said to play a very significant role within the tourism industry and it is appreicated here that the impacts of the internet (Wynee et al., 2001) and (Dambro and Wilson, 2004) and the computer reservation systems (Duliba and Kauffman, 2001) and (Alamdari, 2002) within the distribution value channel of tourism are subjects of thorough discussion. Information technologies do permit the suppliers, like the   airlines and hotels, to be capable of monitoring, managing and controling their capacity via communicating with the intermediaries together with the end consumers. For instance, it is noted here that authorized tour operators are able to access a dedicated part of a hotel companys intranet in order to be able to view room rates and the availability of these rooms for their customers. Such kind of transparency as well as interactivity makes it possible to increases the efficiency as well as the productivity of all of the value chain (Buhalis, 2003). It can be theorized here that IT does enhance logistics very well and it enhanced speed, efficiency and dependability within the entire tourism industry. 3.0 Methodology In this chapter, the methodology of the research will be outlined very comprehensively. This means that there will be an elaboration of the various methodological tools that will be used in this research for the purposes of collecting data. These are the tools that will be used to gather information that will then be subjected to analysis and for conclusions to be drawn. For this research, there would be the use of primary and secondary research tools that will be utilized in conjunction with each other. The use of both these tools will ensure that quality data will be obtained for the puposes of the research. The research design and the theoretical framework for the research will also be outlined in this chapter. 3.1 Methodological Tools Utlized As noted previously, the methodological tools that will be utlized here will comprise of a combination of primary and secondary research tools. Below will be an identification and description of the types of tools that are to be used. 3.1.1 Primary Research Tools Primary research does essentially involves the collection of data concerning a given subject directly from the real world. Here, there will be a description of what primary research is, the ethics that are involved with primary research and different types of research that can be done (Driscoll and Brizee, 2010). In essence, primary research is any sort of research that can be done through the use of surveys and interviews. A researcher that is very talented will be one that will be able to use both primary and secondary research sources and to be able to integrate them in a very cohesive fashion. The ability to perform primary research can be said to be a useful skill as it is able to acquire information that can supplement ones research in secondary sources (Purdue.Edu -Primary Research, 2010). It is appreicated here that the primary data that has been collected via the methods that have been described above are generally qualitative in nature or in some cases, quantitative (TVU.AC.UK   -Primar Research Methodologies, 2010). For this research, the types of primary research that will be carried out will be as follows: 1. Interviews 2. Questionnaires 3.1.2 Primary Research Tool 1 Interviews Interviews can be described as being one-on-one or small group question and answer sessions that will be carried out by the researcher and the interviewees. These interviews will be abel to provide a great amount of information from a few persons and they are essential when it comes to getting expert or knowledgeable opinion in relation to a particular subject, like logistics in the Malaysian tourism industry (Purdue.Edu -Primary Research, 2010) and (Driscoll and Brizee, 2010). The advantages of interviews are as follows: Able to get accurate information. High response rate. Able to be completed immediately Ability for interviewer to help if they is problems Ability to investigate motives and feelings. Ability to use recording equipment (TVU.AC.UK   -Primar Research Methodologies, 2010) In essence,   a total of 5 interviews will be carried out with managers from firms within the tourism industry in Malaysia. The researcher aims to get a wealth of information from these managers about their thoughts and perspectives about the performance of the firms in the tourism industry in Malaysia, the issues that are reducing its performance and the strategies that can be used to improve its performance. These interviews will be vital towards the satisfying of the research objectives. 3.1.3 Primary Research Tool 2- Questionnaire Questionnaires will be the next kind of primary research source that will be utilized here and in this questionnaire can be described as a type of questioning that is far more rigid as opposed to interviews and it also tends to involve much larger groups of people. In essence, these surveys are likely to   provide a limited amount of information from a very large group of persons but they are very useful when it comes to having an understanding about what a larger population thinks about the issue concerned (Purdue.Edu -Primary Research, 2010) and (Driscoll and Brizee, 2010). The main advantages of using questionnaires are as follows: Able to be used in its own right Able to be posted, e-mailed or faxed and this increases speed and saves time Able to cover a large number of persons Very wide geographic coverage. Inexpensive Respondent has the chance to consider responses. There is anonymity of respondent. Absence of interviewer bias (TVU.AC.UK   -Primar Research Methodologies, 2010) A total of 110 questionnaires will be distributed to members of the target group and these essentiall comprise of persons from firms within the tourism industry in Malaysia. The researcher proposes to collect a large amount of information from this target group in order to determine the issues facing the tourism industry, the practices of these firms, what they are doing to improve themselves and the strategies that they can adopt in order to improve their practices for the benefit of their firm as well as the industry. 3.1.4 Secondary Research Tools Secondary research methods are research methods that are used to collect information from sources that have already been researched on before. Secondary research would involve the processing of data that has already been collected by researcher previously and it makes reference to the consultation of previous studies as well as findings and these include reports, press articles as well as previous market research projects so as to be able to reach a conclusion. A secondary research method would be premised on information that has been collected from studies previously performed and hence it is a reseaerch method that is not very expensive in contrast to primary research because it does not require new research methods. The main disadvantage of this research type is that the information that has been collected might be old and obsolete and this might mean that the results of analysis could be inaccurate (Business Teacher -Primary-Secondary Market Research, 2010). There are a number of secondary research sources that can be used to collect information and the ones that will be utlized for this research invovle the following below: Published texts concerning theoretical work and aslo secondary analyses that have been carried out by ‘experts and reports Various media like the internet, television and radio that act as sources of information (Secondary Research Methods, 2010) Below would be the main advantages of secondary reseaerch: Inexpensive and highly accessible Only method of examining large-scale trends Abilit to gather a large amount of date especially from the internet (Secondary Research Methods, 2010) 3.2 Research Design In relation to to reseach design for this project, this relates to the decision making selections that are rational and here there will be an elaboration of the type of study that will be carried out, the level of control and other issues related to the project. This research typically involves making a research of the logistics practices and conditions in the Malaysia tourism industry and what improvements that need to be made to enhance the logistics so as to bring positive enhancements to the industry. Concerning the kind of study invovled, this will be an exploratory study as they has been very little research that has been carried out on the logistics of the Malaysian tourism industry and the approaches that have been taken by the Malaysian government to improve it. The level of interference by the researcher was kept minimal so as to ensure that it does not have a bad impact on the research and that the completion of the project is not delayed. Practically, there are a number of sampling techniques that can be used for a research like this and these are discussed now. The first of these is cluster sampling and this is the kind of sampling that can be used where the larger population has been divided into much smaller clusters and they are selected randomly for the study. The next type of sampling is systematic sampling and this is a technique whereby the researcher is able to sele

Red Badge of Courage :: essays research papers

Red Badge of Courage Book Report The main point in The Red Badge of Courage is Henry Flemings fear about how he will do in his first skrimish in the Civil War. Henry was a young man who lived on a farm with his mother. He dreamed about what fighting in a war would be like, and dreamed of being a hero. He dreamed of the battles of war, and of what it would be like to fight in those glorious battles. His mother was wise and caring. She did not want him to go to war. She gave him hundreds of reasons on why he was needed on the farm and not in the war. He didn't want to stay in the farm and do nothing, so he enlisted in the miliatary. After joining he found himself, with nothing to do. He became friends with two other soldiers, John Wilson and Jim Conklin. John was an obnoxious soldier, but he becomes one of Henry's best friends. Jim was tall, he was a childhood friend of Henry's. They all were exiceted about going to war. They started marching. After a few days Henry realized that they were going around in circles. They just continued marching without a reason. During this time Henry starts to think differently about war. He becomes scared about running away from a battle. Lieutenant Hasbrouck, a young lieutenant of Henry's regiment was an extremely brave man. He, unlike the other officers, cared about and defended his troops performance, and made sure that they got the recognition they deserved. He was a true leader and Henry and John wanted to be just like him. After a while, they finally discover a battle taking place. Jim gives Henry a yellow envelope with a packet inside. He is sure that he will die, and says that this will be his first and last battle. The troops manage to hold off the rebels during the first attack, but the rebels came back again and again with more reinforcements driving the soldiers back. Henry becomes scared, confuse, and goes into a trance when he sees his forces backing down. He finally gets up and starts to run like a "chicken", who has lost the direction of safety. After he has run away he starts to think about his actions. At first he thinks of himself as a coward for running, and later he feels that he was just saving himself for later. He thinks nature does not want him to die, eventhough his side was losing. He believed he was intelligent to run, and

Wind Tunnels :: essays research papers

Wind Tunnels In this report I will talk about the wind tunnel. I will described what they are used for. The different types of wind tunnels from the slow speed subsonic to the high speed hypersonic tunnels. I will also give A few examples of the wind tunnels used today. The wind tunnel is a device used by many people, from High school students to NASA engineers. The wind tunnel is a device used to test planes to see how well it will do under certain conditions. The plane maybe as big as a full size 747 or as small as a match. To understand how a wind tunnel is used to help in the designing process you have to know how a wind tunnel works. How Wind Tunnels Work A wind tunnel is a machine used to fly aircraft's, missiles, engines, and rockets on the ground under pre-set conditions. With a wind tunnel you can chose the air speed, pressure, altitude and temperature to name a few things. A wind tunnel is usually has a tube like appearance with which wind is produced by a large fan to flow over what they are testing (plane, missiles, rockets, etc.)or a model of it. The object in the wind tunnel is fixed and placed in the test section of the tunnel and instruments are placed on the model to record the aerodynamic forces acting on the model. Types of Wind Tunnels There are four basic types of wind tunnels. Which are low subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. The wind tunnels are classified by the amount of speed they can produce. The subsonic has a speed lower then the speed of sound. The transonic has a speed which is about equal to the speed of sound (Mach 1 760 miles per hour at sea level). . The supersonic (Mach 2.75 to 4.96) has a speed of about five times the speed of sound And the fasts of them all the hypersonic (Mach39.5) which has a speed of more then 30,000 miles per hour. Wind Tunnel Test There are basically two types of wind tunnel test which are static stability and the pressure test. With these two test you can determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft. The static stability test the measures the forces moments due to the external characteristic. These forces include axial, side and normal force, rolling, pitching and yawing moment. This forces are found by using a strain gauge which is located on the external portion of the plane. It measures the external flow fields. Then the shadowgraph is used to show the shock waves and flow fields at a certain speed or angle of

Free Flow of Capital in Developing Countries Essay -- Essays Papers

Free Flow of Capital in Developing Countries Today, there are very few who argue against free trade, however, the idea of capital mobility to and from developing countries is a highly debated issue. Capital is the financing(money) or goods, used to produce other goods. Capital can further be split among capital debt and capital equity/finance. Equity capital or financing, is money raised by a business in exchange for a share of ownership. Ownership is achieved through shares of stock. Debt capital is represented by funds borrowed by a business that must be repaid over a period of time, usually with interest. Typically, short term debt is of less concern because if stockholders sell out, the value of the stock falls and the stockholder is hurt. The company isn’t necessarily hurt now, but will have a difficult time raising funds through future stock issues. Debt is of more concern. If short term debt isn’t renewed, than the company has to liquidate assets in order to pay. Therefore, capital mobility is the free flow of liquid investments from one country to another. Now although capital mobility could finance the world’s developing countries, increase wages, and create a more competitive world market (which is very beneficial to consumers); there are negative affects including income inequality, corruption, and bad capital control management . This paper will tackle both the good and bad aspects of capital flows in order to further analyze the theory of capital mobility. Before continuing it is necessary to look at some of the background and purpose of capital flows. Only until around 1980, have developing countries seen this idea as positive. Before, there was the feeling that with foreign capital a... ...s should absolutely approach with caution, because capital flows are too unstable to gamble with. Resources - Class Lecture Notes: â€Å"Trade and Capital Flows† - Class Handout: â€Å"Trade and Employment† - Hartwell, A. Christopher. Policy Analysis: The Case Against Capital Controls. The CATO Institute. Washington D.C. June 14, 2001. - http://econ.cudenver.edu/beckman/econ4410/stiglitz-world%20crisis.doc - http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news pid=10000039&sid=aFNcMq9i7rx0&refer= columnist_derosa - http://www.bepress.com/ev/vol1/iss1/art1/ - http://0-firstsearch.oclc.org.skyline.cudenver.edu/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=full record:sessionid=sp07sw02-58421-e0iyjwrgp5q5z:entitypagenum=3:0:recno=1 :resultset=1:format=FI:next=html/record.html:bad=error/badfetch.html:entitytop recno=1:entitycurrecno=1:numrecs=1

When Kids Get Life

In the Frontline video â€Å"When Kids Get Life† we were introduced to 5 cases in the state of Colorado where teenage boys had been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. After watching the video I found myself struggling to have an objective opinion on the issue presented, mostly because of personal experiences being a victim of childhood abuse and also having a family member (my brother) murdered. I felt the video to be very one sided but I do find myself agreeing with the point the producers were trying to make.I feel that teenagers should have more opportunities at rehabilitation from crimes committed before the age of 21 then those criminals that are convicted after the age of 21. I also feel strongly that when it comes to teenagers and violent crimes that great emphasis needs to be placed on the motive for the crime, for example if there was long term abuse or neglect as well as any substance abuse involved, and what kind of support if any the child has ever had in their lives.In my opinion the age at which a person should be given life imprisonment is 21. I developed this opinion for three reasons. The first being my personal experience, there were two men involved in my brother’s murder one man was 26 at the time and the other was just barely 18, neither man was sentenced to any long term prison time but of the two the 18 year old has shown greater signs of rehabilitation.I have also had a lot of exposure to the darker side of society and I have seen more improvement come from the younger ‘criminals’ then I have from the older ones. My second reason is the overwhelming amount of scientific evidence regarding brain development and mental processes. According to the Time magazine article ‘What Makes Teens Tick’ Dr. Jay Giedd states that â€Å"The very last part of the brain to be pruned or shaped to its adult dimensions is the prefrontal cortex, home of the executive functions. This area of the brain is the part that allows adults to weigh the consequences of their actions.A teenager may understand the principles of right and wrong but lack the ability to realize the ramifications of any wrong they might do. In another article by Lee Bowman of the Scripps Howard News Service Deborah Yurgelun-Todd of Harvard Medical School and McClean Hospital says that â€Å"[When] shown a set of people’s faces contorted in fear, adults named the right emotion, but teens seldom did, often saying the person was angry. Yurgelun-Todd and her team performed this test using the fMRI and discovered an amazing difference in the parts of the brain being used. The adults used both the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala to process what they saw and younger teens relied entirely on the amygdala while older teens (oldest being 17) showed a progressive shift toward using the frontal cortex My third reason is the hormone factor according to an article published by the American Bar Association.One of the hor mones which has the most dramatic effect on the body in adolescence is testosterone. Testosterone is closely associated with aggression; it increases tenfold in adolescent boy. Considering all of this information I feel that 21 would be a better age to consider legal culpability of a person. I do not feel that teenage offenders of violent crime should go unpunished but life in prison seems to be an excessive punishment for a teenager incapable of comprehending the consequences of his actions.My last issue to address is the circumstances by which an offender should receive life imprisonment. I feel that when it comes to cases of long term abuse of any kind when a teenager is feeling pushed into a corner and the only way out is to ‘kill or be killed’ there will undoubtedly be a negative outcome. There is a long list of possible effects and none of them are positive anything from drug and alcohol abuse, to self harm, to suicide, to homicide. One researcher Phyllis L.Crocke r of Cleveland-Marshall College of Law wrote that â€Å"the nexus between poverty, childhood abuse and neglect, social and emotional dysfunction, alcohol, and drug abuse and crime is so tight in the lives of many capital defendants as to form a kind of social historical profile†. According to Dr. Chris Mallett, Public Policy Director at Bellefaire Jewish Children’s Bureau in Ohio more that 30% of death row juvenile offenders had experienced six or more distinct areas of childhood trauma with an overall average of four such experiences per offender.Mallett also found that such mitigating evidence was presented to juries in fewer than half of the offenders’ trials . That fact I find astonishing I feel passionately that the motivation behind a teenager’s violent act should play a very hefty role in the prosecution of any said act. The cases highlighted in the video ‘When Kids Get Life† were very disturbing to me because several of the cases invol ved long term sexual and psychological abuse and it appeared that no one took that into consideration at the time of trial.In conclusion I feel that no violent crime should be excused however life imprisonment should be reserved for those over the age of 21, or for the truly psychotic individuals out there in society. Any teenager that is convicted of a violent crime should be given prison time but then after a determined amount of time re-evaluate the person psychologically and determine level of rehabilitation. I believe that people (even criminals) can change in both directions good and bad, and teenagers have an even greater capacity to change for the better if guided in the right direction.

Why Athletes Use Steroids

One of the most heated controversies in athletics centers on the use of anabolic steroids. Behind the dispute is the evidence that steroids pose a health hazard. They are linked to the cardiovascular disease, liver disorders, and cancerous tumors. In addition, there is evidence that they cause personality aberrations. Still, an alarming number of athletes are willing to risk their health for the enhanced performance steroids provide-and it is not hard to understand why. First of all, many athletes are so blinded by the obvious benefits of steroid use that they fail to note their adverse effects. They are so focused on the increased strength, stamina, and size that result from steroid use, that athletes may overlook the abuse their bodies are sustaining-often until it is too late. That is, athletes who are delighting in turning in the best performance of their lives are not likely to think about future harmful effects. This is the same psychology that keeps the nicotine addict smoking three packs a day, until the X-ray shows lung cancer is so advance that nothing can be done. Some athletes rationalize steroid use another way. They claim that anabolic steroids pose no greater health hazard than participation in such contact sports such as football, boxing, and wrestling. However, these athletes fail to understand that in addition to harming the body, steroids also heighten the danger of contact sports by making the users larger and stronger, thereby increasing their momentum and impact. Some people think steroid use continues despite the life threatening effects because athletes are just â€Å"dumb jocks† who are not smart enough to appreciate the risks. I don't accept that explanation. Instead, I suspect that steroid use continues partly because most athletes are young, and young people never feel threatened. Part of being young is invulnerable. That is why young people drive too fast, drink too much, and take risks like bungee jumping. They just do not believe that anything can happen to them. The same psychology is at work with athletes. They are young people who feel they will live forever. In addition, athletes assume that because their bodies are so physically conditioned they can withstand more punishment than the average person, so they feel even less at risk by steroid use. Perhaps the biggest reason athletes use steroids can be explained by the spirit lies at the heart of all athletics: competition. One a handful of athletes enhances their performance artificially, and then others follow in order to stay competitive. Eventually, steroid users dominate a sport, and anyone who wants to compete at the highest level is forced to use steroids or lose out. This fact explains why unscrupulous coaches and trainers who want to win at any cost have contributed to the problem by offering steroids to their players and urging them to use them. Sadly, this practice has even filtered down to the high school level in some cases. Competition for the thrill of winning is only part of the explanation, however, Big-time athlete means big-time money. As the financial rewards rise in a given sport, so does the pressure to win at any cost. Huge salaries, big bonuses, beautiful cars, girls and incredibly lucrative commercial endorsements all temp athletes to enhance their performances any way they can. Despite drug testing before competitions and dissemination of information about the danger of anabolic steroids, athletes still use steroids because the pressures to do so are so compelling. The truth is that too many athletes think steroids only hurt the other person, or else they think using steroids is worth the risk.