Feedback Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Feedback - Essay Example In a speech provided by the White House Web site (2009) titled â€Å"Remarks by the president on the home mortgage crisis,† President Barak Obama highlighted how the mortgage phenomenon challenged the American dream and it frightened our nation’s financial system, the strength of our families and communities. President Obama (2009) said that, â€Å"its a crisis that strikes at the heart of the middle class: the homes in which we invest our savings and build our lives, raise our families and plant roots in our communities.† Millions of this country’s citizens ended up losing their jobs and are still at risk of losing their properties. The foreclosure crisis impacted the United States economy dramatically, and I strongly believe that one way to protect ourselves from foreclosures is to control the risk of our financial activities, and as homebuyers we should be well aware of what type of loans we can afford. As homeowners it is essential to take responsibility and take proper actions when it comes down to correctly distributing the household’s budget. According to Petrovich (2008), usually one individual manages the books in the majority of our households, meaning taking charge for bills getting paid and supervising the finances. Moreover, Petrovich (2008) had written that the person in charge knows if the total income is enough to keep up with the expenses. It is easy to review your expenses increases versus the earnings you are bringing home. Are you considering in your monthly balance sheet costs like utility bills or simply groceries? Determining and examining your spending behaviors is crucial to be successful at managing your finances, and have a lifestyle that meets your budget (Petrovich, 2008). But what do we know and why do we care about foreclosures? According Frame (2010), foreclosure can be defined as a legal

Workforce Diversity at IBM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Workforce Diversity at IBM - Essay Example IBM had already implemented Workforce diversity as early as 1953 while this only became a requirement over ten years later under the Civil Rights Act of the US in 1964. This shows that IBM has always been committed to implementing workforce diversity unlike other firms who do it because it has to be done. IBM had already realized the importance of diversifying the workforce for the sake of the firm in order to not only increase productivity but also to increase their strategic advantage. The fact that IBM had already embraced the idea of workforce diversity as early as the 1950s is very important in considerations that the globalisation of trade had not begun. Globalisation, which was very fundamental in forcing organisations into embracing workplace diversity, only came much later in the 1980s and it is at this time that most international firms realised they had to diversify their workforce in order to ensure that they are globally competitive and that they can meet the challenges of a global market (Strachan, French and Burgess 4). In this regard, IBM can be regarded as the pioneer of the principle of workforce diversity. Looking at the information provided about IBM workforce diversity in this section, it becomes clear that the person is increasingly clear that implementing workforce diversity should not be driven by the affirmative action of the Civil Rights Act of the US in 1964. ... a modern world, any firm, especially those operating in the global environment should be able to make sure that their work is as diversified as much as possible. A diversified workforce is not only more likely to give the firm more innovations but is also able to meet the needs of the diverse market. IBM was the first to realize that diversifying the workforce would help the reorganisations to be able to be competitive in a global market. In fact, according to Richard (477), modern organisations are realizing that diversifying the workforce is not just the right thing to do, but a requirement for the organisation in order to acquire competitive advantage in the market. This probably explains the reason why IBM went on to become one of the most successful companies in the world. The other issue which comes out from the topic is the fact that implementing workforce diversity is not an easy task and it is a task which must be looked at in a very serious manner. Firms should be able to u nderstand workforce diversity is not just about hiring individuals from all categories of people such as from different races, different abilities etc. Workforce diversity however is being able to look for talents from all walks of life. IBM was the first firms to break the ice at a time when segregation in the workplace was very high. Many firms misunderstand workforce diversity and implement it in the wrong way. Not only do firm misunderstand diversity, but also the legislations which have been made such as the Civil Rights Act of the US in 1964 have the wrong view of what diversity should be. Diversity should not be inspired by giving the minority groups an added advantage over the majority. Equal opportunity employment should be inspired by the need to have all people of all sorts of

Relationship Between Employer and Employees | PEL, Pakistan

Relationship Between Employer and Employees | PEL, Pakistan Every business is looking for a key that unlock their success and satisfy their employees. Employers need employees who go the extra mile and do their best work and employees need jobs that fulfil their needs and encourage them. Simply it can be said that employers need an engaged workforce. Employee engagement can be said to be a combination of commitment to the organization and organizational citizenship (willingness to help out colleagues) (CIPD, 2010). The purpose of this research is to understand the role and importance of employee engagement and to identify the causes of employee disengagement at PEL in Lahore, Pakistan. In todays competitive business environment it is very important for every business to improve productivity and sustain competitive advantage to survive in the market. Marchington (2001 cited in Bratton and Gold, 2007) state that employee engagement is a key dimension of employee relations and plays a central role in the development of higher performance system. Most organisations expect employees to perform well and follow rules and regulations of the work place engaged employees can fulfil such expectations of employers. Similarly employees have some expectations of job security, growth in future career, to be paid well and be recognised in response from an organization. A positive attitude held by an employee towards the organization and its value employee engagement defined by Robinson et al (2004) cited in Markos Sridevi (2010). An engaged employee is aware of business context and work with colleagues to improve performance within job for benefit of the organization. PEL must work to develop and nurture engagement, which require a two-way relationship between organizational goal and employee. Company Profile The research will be carried out in PEL (PAK ELEKTRON LIMITED), based in Lahore, Pakistan. Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) was established in 1956 in technical collaboration with AEG of Germany and is a part of Kohinoor Industries Limited. PEL is the pioneer manufacturer of electrical goods in Pakistan with approximately 7000 employees all over the Pakistan. In October 1978, the company was taken over by Saigol Group of Companies. Since its inception, the company has always been contributing towards the advancement and development of the engineering sector in Pakistan by introducing a range of quality electrical equipment and home appliances and by producing hundreds of engineers, skilled workers and technicians through its apprenticeship schemes and training programmes. PEL export many products to other countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh. PAK ELEKTRON LIMITED spends a considerable amount on employee training and development to improve their performance and to boost organisational productivity (Company History, 2010). There are two main divisions in PEL Power Division and Appliances Division. PELs Power Division manufactures Transformers, Switchgear, Electric Motors, Energy Meters, Kiosks, Compact Stations, Shunt Capacitor Banks, etc. of highest quality and of latest international Standards.ÂÂ  PELÂÂ  is one of the major electrical equipment suppliers to Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), and Karachi Electrical Supply Corporation (KESC) which are the largest Power Companies in Pakistan. In additionÂÂ  PELÂÂ  is also supplying to major projects in the private sector. The PEL Appliances Division was established in 1980-81 when the Company launched the first consumer product to its production range i.e. Window TypeÂÂ  Air conditionersÂÂ  of 19000 BTU. PEL is also manufacturing Refrigerators, Deep freezers, Microwave Oven, Split Air Conditioners andÂÂ  Colour Televisions. This research was carried out in the switchgear department of power division. Approximately 1000 employees are working in this department. Organisational Context Pakistan has been facing both economic and political instability over last few years in parallel to the global financial crisis. PEL is a manufacturing company that contributes a major part in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. Manufacturing industry is badly influenced by the recent flood and power shortage problem in Pakistan (Statistics Pakistan 2010). Purchasing power of the customers is also adversely influenced by inflation in Pakistan. The direct competitors of PEL are Dawlance, Waves, LG, and Haier. The Dawlance is market leader in the refrigerator followed by PEL. But PEL is dominant in market with maximum share in window room air conditioner (WRAC) in Pakistan. Statement of Problem: PEL Annual and monthly production reports show production targets were not achieved in time. After discussion with a PEL HR representative it understood that the production gap is possibly due to low level employee engagement. Some other important factors that can influence production are machinery faults, poor materials, poor logistics, unavailability of material, falling demand due to recessionary pressures and labour faults such as unskilled worker, skilled workers and low/no employee engagement. Significance of Research This research focuses on current employee engagement in PEL. Causes of employee disengagement will be identified that can help organization to choose appropriate strategy. PELs mission statement says To focus on personal development of our employee to meet the future challenges. PEL is committed to employee engagement and selection of practise according to employees needs and wants is very essential to achieve the organisational goal. An organization with an engaged workforce can perform better and employee can be engaged by different factors such as; job security, future growth, appreciation, motivation etc. This research helps PEL analyse the level of employee engagement, empowerment, satisfaction and causes of disengagement. This research will be helpful to the organization to review the current employee engagement practices and importance of effective employee engagement practices. Research Aim and Objectives Aim: To identify the effectiveness of employee engagement in PEL Pakistan Objectives: To investigate current levels of employee engagement in PEL. To critically evaluate the perceptions of employee engagement by different worker groups in PEL. To recommend an improved set of practices to aid employee engagement in PEL, Pakistan. Chapter 2:Â  Literature Review Employee Engagement: Employee Engagement is defined by Corporate Leadership Council (2004) cited in Lockwood (2007, p11), The extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their organization, how hard they work and how long they stay as a result of that commitment. Employee engagement concerns employees beliefs about organization, leaders and working conditions. Employee engagement is not only simple job satisfaction and loyalty with employer but it is a passion and commitment with job, willingness to help colleagues and discretionary effort for success of the organization (Macey and Schneider, 2008). Rutledge (2005) also explains truly engaged employees were attracted to and inspired by, their work, committed and fascinated. Organizational success depends on engaged employees along with other resources like material, machinery, finances etc. If an organization has disengaged employees it may likely suffer because people can be a source of competitive advantage or disadvantage Catlette Had den, (2001). There is no universal definition of employee engagement but according to some authors employee engagement can defined as: According to Kahn (1990, p694) engagement means in engagement people express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally during role performance. A positive attitude held by an employee towards the organization and its value an engaged employee is aware of business context and work with colleagues to improve performance within job for benefit of the organization Robinson et al (2004) cited in Markos Sridevi (2010, p90). Kroth and Boverie (2003) said engaged employees feel passionate and energised by their work. Excitement, enthusiasm and productivity come with passion. Erickson (2005) referred Kroth and Boverie employee engagement definition cited in Macey Schneider (2008, page number) employee engagement is a desirable condition, passion, enthusiasm, commitment, loyalty for organization, focused effort, energy and connotes involvement this definition also supported by Katzenbach (2000), engaged employees are committed motivated, energetic, enthusiastic and enjoy problem solving. Saks and Rotman (2006) argued that commitment is different from engagement, commitment refers to a persons attitude and attachment towards the organization whereas engagement is not merely an attitude it is the degree to which an individual is attentive to their work. Employee engagement has both physical and behavioural components. If employees work under all these physical and behavioural conditions the consequences are thought to be valuable for organizational effectiveness depending upon the nature of the organization. Importance of Engagement: There is a psychological relationship between business performance and employee engagement (Harter et al, 2002) and it has a positive impact on both employees and on the organization (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004). Managing the workplace in such a way that promotes engagement, employees are said to be happier and organization benefits as a result Harter et al. (2003) cited in Rich (2006). Along with all other factors like labour, machinery, materials and finance etc two important factors; lack of commitment and motivation can lead some organizations to poor performance (Harter et al, 2002). An organization that wants to keep valued workforce, employee engagement is critical for them. Engaged employees look for challenging work in the organization because they are in a cycle of building skills and knowledge so they are finding work according to their abilities (Csikszentmihalyi Hunter 2003). Engaged employees think innovatively for the growth of the organization. Engaged employees perform better than others they think about organizational not personal goals. Employee outcomes, financial performance and organizational success predicted by employee engagement (Saks and Rotman, 2006). There is a link between employee engagement and profitability engagement leads to employee retention that leads to customer satisfaction, a satisfied customer use products again and again that boost organizational profitability. There is also a physical relationship between engaged employees and the organization, engaged employees express themselves physically in their roles (Kahn 1990). Engaged employees build an emotional relationship with the organization: emotions play a vital role in ones performance; emotions energize an employee psychologically for an appropriate action (Rich 2006). They put their emotional commitment at work that enables them to make or deliver better services that can constitute as a competitive advantage (Katzenbach, 2000). Their attitudes reflect care for organizations customer thereby it improves customers satisfaction. Key Drivers of Employee Engagement: Along with the definition of employee engagement many authors define several key drivers of employee engagement. Research shows that there is a relationship between organizational strategy and employees job, employee understanding that how important is his work for the success of the organization is the most important driver of employee engagement Lockwood (2007). Some of factors that not only aid employee engagement but also provide means for measuring current level of employee engagement in an organization such as organizational culture, leadership and communication. In the past, many researchers worked on employee engagement and contributed their ideas in form of models and explained factors that influence employee engagement in the workplace. There are two most important factors that drove employee engagement explained by Hosford (2007) cited in West (2008); awareness about operational and organizational goal, policies and procedures. Other is their participation to drive these goals depending on their knowledge. McCoy (2007) criticised these factors as it is difficult to communicate organizational goals, policies and procedures throughout the organization to foster employee engagement. Gallup (2009), contributed to employee engagement by providing a set of 12 questions that drive engagement (1) expectations at work (2) availability of material and equipments (3) opportunity to do what an employee do best every day (4) any recognition or praise for good work (5) care from supervisor (6) encouragement for development (7) participation in decisio n making (8) importance of an employees work for organizational mission (9) co-workers commitment (10) friendly environment at work (11) discussion about employees progress (12) opportunities to learn and grow. Little Little (2006) also referred to these factors. Robinson (2004) describe following characteristics of employee engagement Involvement of employees in decision making Value for employees ideas and their contribution Opportunities of growth for employees and job security Organizations concern about employees heath and well being Following are some important factors that can influence employee engagement in an organization. Organizational Commitment: Organizational commitment has a significant importance in the study of employee engagement. Organizational commitment is an individuals psychological attachment to an organization and desire to remain part of it (Encyclopaedia, 2006). Meyer et al (2002) defined three component model of commitment; affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment. Affective Commitment means positive emotional attachment of an employee with the organization. William (2004) also agreed to Meyer and Allen (1991) commitment concept and defined three types of commitment affective, continuous, and normative commitment. Affective commitment refers to employees perceptions of their emotional and psychological attachment to with the organization. Continuance commitment means employee is committed to the organization because he doesnt want to leave organization. In Normative commitment an employee remains commits because of his feelings of obligation (Meyer et al, 2002). If an employee can find opportunities for growth and job security he would be more committed (Robinson, 2004). Organizational commitment is directly linked with employee engagement few benefits to employee engagement by organizational commitment are demonstrated here: organizational commitment increase job satisfaction (Vandenberg and Lance, 1992), it decreases employee turnover, decrease intension to search for other employers and decrease absenteeism (Cohen, 1991), Balfour and Wechsler (1996) also said that organizational commitment decrease employee intension to leave the organization. Organizational Culture: Organizational culture has a significant influence on employee engagement. It is a concept that explains values, attitudes, beliefs and experiences of an organization (WiseGEEK, 2011). Every organization consists of formal and informal dimensions, it is simply impossible to understand organizational working without understanding its informal characteristics. Organizational culture is critical to any organization which distinguish individual of one organization to the other organization (Hofstede, 1997). Most of the organizations believe that managers have the power in the organization/employee relationship but that is not true always. Employee engagement is the key to capture the employees mind, hearts, intensions and attitudes (Fleming and Asplund, 2007). The culture of a group/ organization is defined by Schein (1993) cited in Shafritz and Ott (2001) as a pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group learned to solve internal problems and problem of external adaption after valid ation that assumptions taught to new members. Martin (1992) defines that there are three different perspectives of organizational culture: (1) Integration perspective mean employees share a common set of values and basic assumptions that facilitate them to understand organizational environment. (2) Differentiation perspective explains that organization consist of different subcultures based on power and areas of interest. (3) In fragmentation view organization is a web of individuals which are interconnected loosely (Martin, 1992). One of the employee engagement key drivers is organizational environment if there is a friendly environment in organization employees would be more engaged. Secondly healthy relationship with other colleagues and managers also facilitate employee engagement. Organizational culture provides an environment for employee engagement and it helps in strengthen the employee commitment. Organizational Leadership: Effective leadership motivates employees to stay with the organization become responsible and engaged. Leadership is defined by Stodgill (1950) cited from Huczynski and Buchanan (2001), The process of influencing the activities of an organised group in its efforts towards goal setting and goal achievement Organizational culture directed by the leadership style. Leadership means to guide, to influence, course, action or opinion. Goleman (2000) explained the emotional aspect of leadership that leaders motivate, inspire, guide and persuade employees to achieve organizational goal. Burnes (2004) said management is about today and leadership is about future. An important factor that influences employee engagement is employee and leader relationship (Lockwood, 2007). Organizational Communication: An effective organization knew how to communicate its goals and objectives to its workforce (Hoffman and Tschinda, 2007). If leaders want to effectively lead a group they should have efficient thinking and communication. Organizational communication can maximise employee engagement along with organizational commitment and organizational leadership. If an organization is communicating organizational goals and objective clearly and successfully that can improve employer and employee relation which leads to better engagement (Lockwood, 2007). Effective organizational communication can create engaged employees that can improve organizational performance by providing better services and creating loyal customers (Blanchad and Bowels, 1998). These characteristics support the Kahns (1990) and Maslach et al.s (2001) psychological condition of employee engagement in the workplace as discussed before. All these characteristics include physical and psychological attachment with the job and with the organization. Engagement Models: In the literature there is a dearth of research on engagement (Saks and Rotman, 2006). However research work done by Leter (1997) and Maslach (1999) provided in-depth analysis of engagement. There are two main streams of research that provide models of engagement first one is Kahns (1990) meanfulness, safety and availability theory and second Maslach et als (2001) six areas of work life (Saks and Rotman, 2006). According to Kahn (1990) there are three psychological conditions which relate to engagement or disengagement in the workplace; meaningfulness, safety and availability. He argues that an employee in the workplace thinks of these three factors (1) how meaningful is to perform at this level? (2) Is it safe to do so? (3) Am I available for this job? He found more engaged employee when conditions were psychologically meaningful, safe and workers were psychologically available. May et al (2004) empirically tested Kahns (1990) and found that engagement is significantly related to meaningfulness, safety and availability. According to Maslach et al (2001) six areas of work lead to burnout and engagement at workplace; workload, feelings of choice and control, rewards and recognition, community and social support, perceived fairness, meaningful and valued work. He argued that job engagement is associated with sustainable workload, feeling of choice and control enables employee to think openly, reward and recognition motivate employees, supportive and friendly work environment help to enjoy the job, equality at work, employee understand value of its work to the organizational success. May, Gilson Harters (2004) research also support Maslach et als (2001) meaningful and valued work is associated with engagement. Both models discussed here are explaining the psychological conditions that are required for engagement but both models are not explaining how an individual will react depending upon his level of engagement (Saks and Rotman, 2006). Social Exchange Theory (SET) can explain employee engagement theoretically in a better way. SET argues that obligations are generated when two parties are reciprocally linked which each other. A relationship between two parties can be strong trusting, loyal and mutual commitment over time as long as they abide by certain rules of exchange (Cropanzano and Mictchell, 2005). Rules of exchange mean give and take, if an employee getting something from an organization in return he will try to benefit the organization. Robinson et al (2004) refers to social exchange theory as description of employee engagement is a two-way relationship between employee and employer. Chapter 3:Â  Research Methodology Introduction An investigation has been conducted after literature review in chapter two regarding employee engagement and motivation with the help of theories. At this point for the selection of appropriate research method a clear understanding of research philosophy and methodology is essential so that trustworthy results of research objectives can be find out. Continuum of ontological assumptions Objective 2 Objective 1 Reality as a concrete structure Reality as a concrete process Reality as a contextual realm of symbolic discourse structure Reality as a social constructivism Reality as a projection of human imagination POSITIVIST REALIST INTERPRETIVIST Source: Morgan and Smircich, (1980) cited in Longwe, (2010) Research Philosophy Importance and significance of research philosophy and methods would be different for different researchers who are carrying out their research on the same industry but with different perspective. For example, if a researcher is concerned with requirement of resources for manufacturing process, will adopt a totally different philosophy and method for research, from a researcher who conducted a research to find out feelings and attitudes of employees towards managers Saunders et al. (2007). Use of research philosophy may be significant with reference to the research methodology. It helps the researcher to be specific and refine the research. Understanding of research philosophy enables researcher to choose the right methodology and leave the inappropriate at the early stage of the research Easterby-Smith et al. (2002). According to Saunders et al (2007) there are three different ways of thinking about the research: (i) Positivism (ii) Interpretivism and (iii) Realism. Positivism Research undertaken by this approach will be on quantifiable observations and results in statistical analysis. Positivism approach in social sciences used biology and physics Nwokah et al. (2009). Doing a research on human beings without considering their social context is impossible, researchers bring their own values and interest in research results in positivism approach, measuring the complex phenomena in a single measure is misleading Hussey (1997). Interpretivism Some researchers argued that Interpretivism is highly appreciated in business management particularly in the field of human resource management, marketing and organizational behaviour (Saunders et al. 2007). Interpretivism is known as anti-positivism because it takes the view that scientific methods are inappropriate for the study of society (Abbott 2010). Realism Realism says that reality is totally independent of the researchers mind. According to this philosophy existence of an object that senses of researches shows is real and independent of his mind (Saunders et al 2007). Realism has some aspects of positivism in it as it develops knowledge with scientific approach. There are two types of realism Direct Realism and Critical Realism. Direct realism means that things should be considered as they appear. Critical realism says that what we experience are sensations, images of the real world not actual things (Saunders et al 2007). Selection of Research Philosophy: All the approaches have been used in majority of management researches depending upon the nature of research. First objective is investigation about current level of employee engagement. Level can be measured (positivism) but perhaps causes of (low) level of engagement are rooted in interpretivism. Both philosophies cannot be adopted so the position adopted will be realism. This is highly dependent and influenced by social process that exist inside the organization. Organizational culture and leadership play an important role in improving employee engagement. Second research objective is related to perceptions of employees which makes it social construct which can be determined by what employees say it is. This objective refers to an interpretivist approach. According to the aim and objectives of this research realism is likely to be used in this research. The research is based on understanding perceptions rather than any statistical analysis also according to aim and objectives phil osophical position of this research work is that of realism. Research Strategy There are several strategies available for doing a research but this researcher adopts a case study (of PEL) strategy. Case study strategy involves observations, empirical results and multiple sources of evidences (Robson 2002). Case study can also include interviews, questionnaires, observations and documentary analysis (secondary data). This strategy usually used in explanatory and exploratory research. An advantage of using case study strategy is to use multiple sources of data collection that is useful for triangulation (Saunders et al. 2007). Case study strategy enables researcher to challenge existing theories and provide source of new research questions. Research Methods Research is a systematic method of finding solutions to problems. Following three methods will be used to achieve the results according to the research objectives: Secondary Data Analysis Self-Administered Postal Questionnaire for Workers Telephonic Structured Interviews with Executives Secondary Data Analysis These data can be analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. According to Ghauri and Gronhaug, (2005) cited in Saunders et al., (2007) secondary data are very useful and it provides saving in time, less expensive and it can be of higher quality data than could be obtain by oneself (Stewart and Kamins, 1993), it is helpful in triangulation, it can be useful to compare research results. There are disadvantages in that secondary data may differ from research objectives of this research; it may be too old; it may be unobtainable. There may be fewer resources available (Saunders et al 2007). Sometimes it is very difficult to find secondary data related to research work. Self-Administered Postal Questionnaire for Workers Questionnaires can be used in case study research strategy in order to collect primary data (Saunders et al. 2007). Questionnaires are more objective then interviews. It is relatively a quick, easy and cost saving way to collect information using questionnaires; information can be collected from a large group of peoples at the same time (Kirakowski, 2000). The most important thing in questionnaires is design of questions because reliability, validity and response of participants totally depend on that. Questionnaires normally require fewer skills to administer than semi-structured interviews or in-depth interviews (Jankowicz, 2005). There are few disadvantages of questionnaires it tells only users reaction as user perceives situation, questionnaires usually designed to fit certain situations thus it cannot tell what is right or wrong in the organization (Kirakowski, 2000), there is a possibility that a one person complete all questionnaires which would not answer research objectives effectively. 758 workers are working in switchgear department at PEL in 7 different workshops i.e. Quality Control, Maintenance, Health and Safety, Paint, Design, MV Equipment Workshop and LV Equipment Workshop. Simple random sampling has been used to select the samples. In random sampling few important issues can be a problem such as how long is the employee working with organization, what are personal issues of workers and management, a new employee may not be aware of organizational engagement practices. N = Total population = 758 N = Sample size =190 n/N = 190/758 (y sample size is 190?) A pilot research Questionnaires will be sent to 20 workers so that result of those questionnaires can be compared against the research objectives. Improvements will be made after pilot test if required any. Final questionnaires will be sent via e-mail to person who is coordinating with researcher from PEL he will print out all questionnaires for researchers time saving purpose. These questions are specially designed for workers who are important entity of this research, questions would be closed. So that workers can easily answer that without hesitating and without wasting anytime. Telephonic Semi-Structured Interviews with Executives In this research third method for data collection is telephonic semi-structured interview with executives so that they can discuss every aspect of employee engagement related to asked questions. Semi-structured interviews are non-standardised interviews and are often referred to as qualitative research interviews (King, 2004). 24 executives are working in Switchgear Department at PEL. One executive from each section of Switchgear Department will be interviewed telephonically who has minimum one year experience in PEL. There is a flexibility in semi-structured interviews that researcher can ask more questions or omit some questions in particular interviews. No need to encourage interviewee because they can ask questions from interviewer. Semi-structured interviews not only provide answer to research questions, but the reasons for answers. Individual interviewee can discuss sensitive issues easily and freely depending on how sensitive the issue is. There are also some disadvantages of semi-structured interviews such as it is difficult to collate more, difficult to control interviewee it can bring a lot of unnecessary information and it can be time consuming (Saunders et al, 2007). It might be difficult to evaluate nonverbal behaviour of interviewee. Response from interviewee may be very quick and interviewer has to be very quick to record all discussion. Triangulation Combination of different methods to collect primary data effectively can be said triangulation (Bryman, 2004). Use of more than one method to understand one phenomenon broadly and more clearly (Veal 2005). Three different methods have been used for the effectiveness of triangulation, validation and reliability of data in research secondary data from the organization, questionnaires from worker and semi-structured interviews from executives. Validation and Reliability of Data:

Ogden Nash: An Amazing Poet Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ogden Nash was a poet that used nonsensical and humorous verse to draw people into reading his poems. Then, he would slip in insightful poems that speak a lot about life. His light verse even earned him a place on a postage stamp. His poems contain uneven lines that all rhyme, and he even made up spellings to words to achieve the best effect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Frederick Ogden Nash was born August 19, 1902, in New York. His family thought that education was very important, and this was the basis for his love of languages and writing. At the age of seven, he got an eye infection, so he had to stay in a darkened room for almost a year. During this time, his mother schooled him, and this helped him develop his incredible memory. By the tender age of 10, he was already writing the humorous poetry that he became famous for.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He went to Harvard briefly, but his family didn’t have much money, so he had to quit and get a job. His first job was as a high school teacher, then as a bond salesman, then as an advertising copy-writer, then as an editor, and finally as a writer for the â€Å"New Yorker.† He published many of his poems in books, but he also made sure to do lecturing, even though he hated it. The lecturing ensured that he would make enough money to support his family. He died May 19, 1971, in Baltimore, Maryland. His tombstone says that he was a master of light verse. Archibald MacLeish contests that, saying that his poetry is so much more than that. Sure, some of his poems are lig...

Reaction Paper Essay

Natural Disasters and the Philippine Stock Exchange Index: A Garch-M Analysis by Adrian P. Gallido, Ph.D. and Martites A. Khanser, D.B.A This study examines the effect of earthquakes, tropical cyclones and volcanic eruptions on the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) over the period of 2 January 1985 to 30 December 2010. In the context of the Philippine Market, the composite index can be seen to support the â€Å"gaining from loss† hypothesis of Shelor et al. (1990), where it was implied that stock prices are positively influenced by disasters. The losses derived from disasters contribute to gains in some business sector. For instance, the 1989 California earthquake can be viewed as unfavorable to real estate firms (Property index) but, in contrast, beneficial on the stock price of insurance firms. The negative response of the stock prices on real estate firms was regarded as indication of the unfavorable location of the properties. In contrast, the positive market response on the stock price of insurance firms was considered likely due to investor expectations of higher demand for property-liability insurance-related products. I’ve also learned that there are criteria of events to be considered a disaster, According to Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), an event is considered a disaster when it meets at least one of the ff. criteria: i) 10 or more people are killed; ii) 100 or more people are affected; iii) a state of emergency is declared; iv) a call for international assistance was made. A good point on this study that I’ve also learned is that the future work can also consider other events including technological disasters as well as disasters of human origin such as terrorism (man-made disaster). In my own opinion, since investors sell shares at the slightest hint of anything that might impact stocks negatively, and that pushes the stock market down. The reverse is also true— the good news is, the demand for stocks is higher and it motivates shareholders to buy. And as for the effect of natural disaster on the stock market, specifically, I think investors fear, at least in part, that when our country broadcasts or announces some disaster, it will contribute huge sums of money and manpower to disaster aid, and it places a strain on our economy. Overall, Disasters have an insignificant effect on market returns and investors can consider including market movements in measuring the impact of natural disasters, and can come up with disaster-based strategies. This is an interesting study for those who wanted to invest or other stakeholders such as investors to be aware of the extent disasters that can affect market performance for us to make appropriate steps to better manage our portfolio and to be ensured if the market is doing good, resilient or strong. Alissa L. Munez Dr. Trinidad MBA- Colegio de San Juan de Letran Portfolio Management Reaction Paper The Study of Relationship between Asian Stock Exchanges and New York Stock Exchange by Neda Bashiri, Amir Mohammad Zadeh This study investigates the linkages between equity markets of 5 Asian countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and Turkey and those in USA employing correlation analysis and Vector Auto Regressive (VAR). The study of relationship between ASE and NYE gives knowledge of the degrees of relationship and co-movement among international financial markets that can help both individual and corporate investors to manage their portfolios for maximizing their risk and return trade-off. Also,  co-movements between two countries can affect the pattern of the economy. It was learned that the time series are correlated and correlation between markets is positive, which tends to indicate that there is common trend/factor that is driving the markets in the same direction. According to the result in one of this study, the US was found to be the most exogenous. These results are achieved for Asian Markets, USA and Indonesia influence Malaysia. USA also influences Turkey. The Philippines are affected by Malaysia, Indonesia, and USA while Indonesia is affected by Malaysia and the Philippines, while Japan is affected by Malaysia and the USA. This study can help investors to look out for the movement or changes in different financial markets all over Asia. It was learned that there is no stock exchange that can affect the USA stock exchange but actually NYSE influences all developed markets. The explanation for the US is the fact that it is the largest and most dominant market in the world. One of the ideas for this study originates from the fact that globalization is an important trend. Substantial involvement of globalization for the financial markets comes form the Modern Portfolio Theory, which allowed all international investors to diversify globally in order to reduce their portfolio’s risk level to a level lower than their home country’s systematic risk level. In this study, Mentalities causes a great factor on the effect of the movement of the stock market, it was characterized by a lack of individuality, causing people to think and act like the general/major population in the world. Because of this mentality, investors become sensitive regarding on the news of financial crisis in USA and they quickly pull out from financial markets. However, this does not necessarily mean developments in other markets should be completely ignored. Though, this is a great study that we learned the relationship between ASE and NYSE. And learned that the USA returns is a dominant market that influences most markets. Alissa L. Munez Have Filipino Households Become Less Prudent? By Akiko Terada-Hagiwara It’s an interesting study to know why the average household saving rate in the Philippines declined by 5.2 percentage points to about a mere 5 percent disposable income from 1996-2006. By presenting the article based on Surveys, Decomposition Analysis and Estimations it shows the declining savings rate has been due to the reduced precautionary motives as partly expected by development such as the expansion of social security system. I agree that the slow moving income growth is magnified by more extensive coverage of the system to the informal sector employees, which appears to have reduced households’ precautionary savings. According to this article, a number of factors are relevant in affecting the precautionary motive of the Filipino households. First, the Philippines’ Social Security System developed significantly during the 1990’s. Existing studies found that the coverage by social programs, such as disability insurance, unemployment insurance and health insurance is negatively associated with savings. In 1988, only less than half of the Filipino workers were covered by the system. The system now covers 3 out of every 4 workers (75%). This expanded coverage of the SSS implies a reduce need for the younger cohorts to accumulate precautionary savings. I agree with the writer that the demographic factors do not fully explain the declining timesaving rate profile because it was more associated with the changing precautionary motives of Filipino households. The precautionary saving was strong in 1990s when the coverage of SSS is still limited. However, the precautionary motive does not seem to be present in the 2000s. The less prudent behaviors are found to be significant with households with informal sector jobs, but only in the 2000s validating the extended SSS being the major factor affecting the Filipino households’ savings behavior.  Moreover, this impact is found particularly strong with lower income households in 2000s. Just to add another reason why Filipino households’ savings rates declined is our poor spending habits; we wanted to have the latest gadgets and anything that is trending. As for our OFW’s, when they go home for vacation, they spend like a one day millionaire and go back to abroad to earn money and just to repeat the cycle. Also, the Lack of Financial Knowledge, we know that Finance is a very complicated subject. I believe that we should start to invest in our knowledge. And if you ask most Filipinos about where their savings are, most of them will tell you that they keep their money in the Bank. Only few of us know about investments on stocks or mutual funds. Alissa L. Munez Reaction Paper Dynamic Correlation between stock prices and exchange rates by Chin-Hao Lee, Shuh-Chyi Doong and Pei-J Chou This article is interesting because it examined the interaction between stock price and exchange rate and explored their dynamic correlation influenced by the stock market volatility.   The correlation between stock market and foreign exchange market is affected by the stock market volatility. The correlations become higher in Asian emerging countries except in the Philippines when their stock market is volatile. I agree with the writers that this study is particularly important for international investors and managers in diversifying their strategies for improving their investment performance because the correlations between stocks and foreign exchange markets become higher while the stock market volatility increases in Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan, but not in the Philippines. Moreover, based on the findings of this article, investors can hedge risk between stock and foreign exchange markets domestically when the domestic stock market is stable. Otherwise, when stock market becomes volatile, investors diversify their portfolios intentionally for hedging risk since the correlation between stock and foreign exchange rates becomes higher. So it was learned that an international company would certainly be directly affected by currency fluctuations. They will often try to mitigate this with a hedge fund, so any losses they take on one-currency balances with gains on another. I guess the stock price of a company is based on perceived value, not necessarily on the predicted value of their assets and relationships. However, as currency exchange rates are merely indications of the general state of an economy, an issue that would affect a product based company, might or might not show up as a fluctuation in the currency exchange. A financial services company is heavily influenced by exchange rates, but still, the perception of their value, would not immediately be affected. 1. Lean Branch Banking Practice: We are now implementing Lean Branch Banking, where we eliminate â€Å"deposit slip, withdrawal slips and bills payment slips† for Over-the-counter transactions (cash and check deposit/bills payment, withdrawals). For Deposit- Each deposit or bills payment shall be supported by a duly validated slip or transaction receipt. The customer, payor or representative shall confirm the completeness and accuracy of the deposit or bills payment  accepted via the issuance of transaction receipt by signing on the transaction receipt. For Withdrawal- a duly validated Withdrawal/Debit slip or transaction receipt shall support each withdrawal. The processing teller shall ensure the completeness and accuracy of the posted withdrawal. Any alteration on the withdrawal/Debit slip shall be signed FULL by the customer. This was implemented to improve customer experience on making deposit, bills payment or withdrawal by shifting to a paperless process. Recommendation: The Lean Branch Model that was implemented in our company was great but unlike other Banking institutions that provide this kind of services, they use a more systematic and enhance technology. Where clients can be more responsible on doing their own banking transactions. I’ve observed that the implementation of the company’s Lean Branch Banking really improves customer experience because clients just wait their numbers to be called and just dictate their account numbers and amount they need to deposit or to withdraw. The only thing that they will do is to wait and to confirm their transaction before they sign the slip. But there are many instances of misposted transactions or wrong transactions that was overlooked by the teller and was signed by the client. The client did not check his/her transaction and just sign the slip. If not properly handled, such error may result to financial and reputational risk of the bank. So I suggest that, since we’re implementing a Lean Branch Model we should update more on the system and provide queuing machines to the branches. Where their clients could update their own passbooks, check their account balances, etc. inside the bank that can give knowledge on their clients and let them feel the Real Banking Experience. The bank should not limit technology just by providing an online banking transaction outside its branches but must also provide online banking transaction inside the branches. Since we are now in the modern era, where technology is more advance. We need to help one another to be familiarized on how to used this technology for faster, innovative and great banking experience. 2. Gold Members VS. Senior Citizens, PWD’s and Regular Clients Practice: Gold Members are clients with VIP treatment who maintains their PHP100, 000 Average Daily Balance in the bank. They are given a priority queuing just like the senior citizens and PWD’s. There are times that the clients with priority queuing get inside the bank all at once. Because they know that they should be prioritized, they don’t get numbers for queuing and just go directly to the counter for their transaction. Recommendation: Sometimes it just happened that your clients with priority queuing gets inside the bank all at once and will be disappointed if you will tell them to just wait for their turn because there’s a client with the same level of priority that transacts first. This kind of situations must be opened to meetings or huddles on the Quality Circle to mitigate the problem and to maintain the quality service the company wants to implement. There should be a certain person/employee to collect or to receive their transactions so that the process will be discreet by delivering the transaction to the processing teller and it will be delivered back to the client, without requiring the clients to get in line to be able to feel their privileges and importance in the organization. 3. Human Resources Practice: In a branch, there’s limited employees that operates the system (4 employees per branch). There are times that the clients became disappointed on Long Lines, Long waits, etc. and they will notice the number of employees should be increased to give faster service. Since we know that management has a way on determining on how many employees that is needed in a branch to operate, it takes time to wait for a new hire employee that will be given on a certain branch. Recommendation: Since the Company is implementing a Lean Branch Model; they will hire more competent persons to be trained, give sufficient workshops and seminars to help their employees to grow and to be ready on their  assigned tasks. The Company must hire Auxiliary personnel to fill up the gap of a branch office and to prevent future complaints. 4. Trainings Practice: To the Loyal employees of the bank who are working for several years in the company, they are sometimes familiarized on the Job they’re doing and since they almost know all about the operations and the systems of the bank, sometimes they’re having a hard time to understand the new system without the updated trainings and workshops. Recommendation: Give employees the trainings and workshops they deserved especially for those who is working for the company for several years. This is the person who remains loyal to the organization and they must be given training on updated systems and operations. 5. Job Rotation/Employee Rotation Practice: Because there are one-man employees inside the branch, employees are not given a chance to be familiarized on another job to be able to learn how the whole branch operates. There are some instances you need to learn to do another job because your co-worker is sick or you need to be assigned to another branch because there’s also a risk on being familiar or attached to our clients. Recommendation: Job rotation can help employees be more productive. Rotation can raise worker morale because they get to try new jobs, so boredom and burnout are less of a problem. Sometimes employees may be less likely to call in sick, show up late or quit. Employees can also learn skills on one job that can be applied to another job, which helps them perform work more efficiently. This is why cross training increases productivity to the employees.

Cinderella and Fairy God Mother Essay

Cinderella’s story portrays a perfect example of that GOD is with those with whom no one is. Poor Cinderella grew up without her mother, and then later was raised fatherless in an abusive environment by her wicked stepmother and two stepsisters. Deprived of her possessions, rights, and dignity, she is forced to toil daily in the house her family once owned but although she lost a lot but she never loses hope. Cinderella is shown as a good hearted young lady. She is hard working and does her best to make her dreams true. She is loyal to her friends and her work, she never lets her friends down. She is also good in studies and fulfills all of her duties without negligence which shows that she is responsible. She is smart and sensible. Her character displays her kind nature, she is very obedient she has been emotionally and physically tortured by her step mother and step sisters but still she respects and obeys them and does her best to keep them happy. She is just like a normal high school girl, with large hopes and ambitions. She quietly searches for her prince charming to find peace of heart. She gets her heart broken again and again but yet she never lets herself get broke. She is not evil and avoids being in conflicts at school, even while being bullied she does not react back which shows that she is very decent. She tries to make others happy by putting others ahead of her own self. THE ROLE OF FAIRY GOD MOTHER: Without fairy God Mother cinderella’s story would not have been complete, fairy god mother in the form of her friend helps her through out her journey. She is very good towards cinderella she Supports Cinderella both verbally and practically, shows her the right path through the darkest of times and guides her to meet her unknown friend. Fairy Godmother always appears in the right place at the right time. Fairy God mother is a god’s gift to Cinderella. Cinderellas good character and the role of fairy god mother in her life are the only reasons that in the end she gets what she truly deserves.

Tri-State Comparision essays

Tri-State Comparision essays Tri-State Comparision The State of Missouri is very comparable to the majority of the United States based on several identical variables. In order to shorten the length of this study, three states, including Missouri, have been chosen to compare variables. The three states are Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. The first two states were chosen because of location to demonstrate the comparability of Missouri with bordering states. All three states have state debt and the following numbers are per capita. The state with the highest debt is Illinois with a debt of 1702 putting the state at number 18 on the ranking list of the United States. The lowest debt goes to Iowa with a debt of only 651, ranking number 33. Missouri is in the middle of both states, but closer to Illinois, with a debt of 1245 per capita, leaving Missouri to place number 26 in the United States regarding state debt. The population of Missouri is 74.3 people per square mile. This ranks number 27 in the United States. Iowa is the least populated of the three states with 49.7 people per square mile, ranking number 33 in the United States. Illinois has the largest amount of people per square mile with a total of 205.6 people per square mile and ranking number 11 in the United States. Missouri falls gracefully between both of these numbers. After looking at the states population, we should consider family income. All incomes that are presented are based on the median. Not surprising, the top family income will go to Illinois with an income of $38,664.00, ranking 12 in the United States. The middle will go to Missouri with an annual income of $31,838.00, placing Missouri number 32 in the United States. And last and surprisingly, Iowa. Iowa has a whopping $31,659.00 of family income leaving Iowa right behind Missouri in ranks. Illinois was the highest of the three states in family income so it is no surprise that they are the highest in income tax paid ...

Writing a KILLER LinkedIn Profile The Essay Experts First Interview

Writing a KILLER LinkedIn Profile The Essay Experts First Interview When I first launched The Essay Expert 10 years ago, I quickly realized that LinkedIn was going to be important. But I only got as far as â€Å"I think I need to have a LinkedIn profile if I’m going to be a business owner.† I had no idea at the time that the LinkedIn platform would become my focus and the bread and butter of The Essay Expert. Soon, I was making connections. One of them, a marketing expert, suggested that I do LinkedIn profile reviews for free. â€Å"Free?† my non-marketing brain protested. But since I knew pretty much nothing about marketing at the time, I trusted him. Thus, LinkedIn profile reviews from The Essay Expert were born. I got an overwhelming response and completed 25 free reviews in no time; soon I was offering 25 reviews for $25. Those went like hotcakes too. One of the first connections I made through LinkedIn caught wind of my budding LinkedIn expertise and referred me to Ellen Ingraham, a fellow Yale alumna. Ellen connected me with Carol Ross of what was then Networking Naturally. Carol invited me to do my first-ever recorded interview. The title, created by Carol, was †¦ drumroll please †¦ â€Å"Writing a KILLER LinkedIn Profile.† Great title, Carol! For this week’s blog, I dug up that interview. It’s an oldie but a goodie! Amazingly, just about all the advice in the interview is still applicable today. Like how to attract recruiters, get good recommendations, and stay active on LinkedIn. So today I’m sharing that first interview. You are now privileged to have a window into the beginnings of The Essay Expert’s speaking career. I’m a little less polished and confident than I am now in my speaking appearances, and I say a few more â€Å"y’knows† and â€Å"ums† than I do now. But there’s something nice about the relaxed and conversational tone of the interview. And the advice is spot on. Here it is!! document.createElement('audio'); https://theessayexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/17511753154230-001.mp3 The rest is history. Through doing all those LinkedIn reviews mentioned above, I learned a ton about what worked and did not work on LinkedIn, and I started blogging about it. Eventually I had enough material to write a book. What did I choose for the title of that book? The title of that first successful teleseminar, almost verbatim. That’s how How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile was born. I suppose the lesson in all this is to say yes to things. Yes to people’s advice and to opportunities that come your way. I did that and it helped me become a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and successful businesswoman. Ten years later, I’m still speaking and still offering LinkedIn Profile Reviews (for $75 each now). And I have not forgotten that first teleseminar where I got my start! If youre interested in a personal, 20-minute review of your LinkedIn profile, click here to learn more about my LinkedIn Review Special. I look forward to helping you craft a KILLER LinkedIn profile!

6 Kinds of Simple Machines

6 Kinds of Simple Machines Work is performed by applying a force over a distance. These six simple machines create a greater output force than the input force; the ratio of these forces is the mechanical advantage of the machine. All six of the simple machines listed here have been used for thousands of years, and the physics behind several of them were quantified by the Greek philosopher Archimedes (ca. 287–212Â  BCE). When combined, these machines can be used together to create an even greater mechanical advantage, as in the case of a bicycle. Lever A lever is a simple machine that consists of a rigid object (often a bar of some kind) and a fulcrum (or pivot). Applying a force to one end of the rigid object causes it to pivot about the fulcrum, causing a magnification of the force at another point along the rigid object. There are three classes of levers, depending on where the input force, output force, and fulcrum are in relation to each other. The earliest lever was in use as a balance scale by 5000 BCE; Archimedes is credited with saying Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth. Baseball bats, seesaws, wheelbarrows, and crowbars are all types of levers. Wheel Axle A wheel is a circular device that is attached to a rigid bar in its center. A force applied to the wheel causes the axle to rotate, which can be used to magnify the force (by, for example, having a rope wind around the axle). Alternately, a force applied to provide rotation on the axle translates into rotation of the wheel. It can be viewed as a type of lever that rotates around a center fulcrum. The earliest wheel and axle combination known was a toy model of a four-wheeled cart made in Mesopotamia about 3500 BCE. Ferris wheels, tires, and rolling pins are examples of wheels and axles. Inclined Plane An inclined plane is a plane surface set at an angle to another surface. This results in doing the same amount of work by applying the force over a longer distance. The most basic inclined plane is a ramp; it requires less force to move up a ramp to a higher elevation than to climb to that height vertically. No one invented the inclined plane since it occurs naturally in nature, but people used ramps to build large buildings (monumental architecture) as early as 10,000–8,500Â  BCE. Archimedess On Plane Equilibrium describes the centers of gravity for various geometrical plane figures. Wedge The wedge is often considered a double inclined plane- both sides are inclined- that moves to exert a force along the lengths of the sides. The force is perpendicular to the inclined surfaces, so it pushes two objects (or portions of a single object) apart. Axes, knives, and chisels are all wedges. The common door wedge uses the force on the surfaces to provide friction, rather than separate things, but its still fundamentally a wedge. The wedge is the oldest simple machine, made by our ancestors Homo erectus at least as long ago as 1.2 million years to make stone tools. Screw A screw is a shaft that has an inclined groove along its surface. By rotating the screw (applying a torque), the force is applied perpendicular to the groove, thus translating a rotational force into a linear one. It is frequently used to fasten objects together (as the hardware screw and bolt does). The Babylonians in Mesopotamia developed the screw in the 7th century BCE, to elevate water from a low-lying body to a higher one (irrigate a garden from a river). This machine would later to be known as Archimedes screw. Pulley A pulley is a wheel with a groove along its edge, where a rope or cable can be placed. It uses the principle of applying force over a longer distance, and also the tension in the rope or cable, to reduce the magnitude of the necessary force. Complex systems of pulleys can be used to greatly reduce the force that must be applied initially to move an object. Simple pulleys were used by the Babylonians in the 7th century BCE; the first complex one (with several wheels) was invented by the Greeks about 400 BCE. Archimedes perfected the existing technology, making the first fully-realized block and tackle. Whats a Machine? The first use of the word machine (machina) in Greek was by the ancient Greek poet Homer in the 8th century BCE, who used it to refer to political manipulation. The Greek playwright Aeschylus (523–426 BCE) is credited with using the word in reference to theatrical machines such as the deus ex machina or god from a machine. This machine was a crane that brought actors playing gods onto the stage. Sources and Further Reading Bautista Paz, Emilio, et al. A Brief Illustrated History of Machines and Mechanisms. Dordrecht, Germany: Springer, 2010. Print.Ceccarelli, Marco. Contributions of Archimedes on Mechanics and Design of Mechanisms. Mechanism and Machine Theory 72 (2014): 86–93. Print.Chondros, Thomas G. Archimedes Life Works and Machines. Mechanism and Machine Theory 45.11 (2010): 1766–75. Print.PIsano, Raffaele, and Danilo Capecchi. On Archimedean Roots in Torricellis Mechanics. The Genius of Archimedes: 23 Centuries of Influence on Mathematics, Science, and Engineering. Eds. Paipetis, Stephans A. and Marco Ceccarelli. Proceedings of an International Conference Held at Syracuse, Italy, June 8–10, 2010. Dordrecht, Germany: Springer, 2010. 17–28. Print.Waters, Shaun, and George A. Aggidis. Over 2000 Years in Review: Revival of the Archimedes Screw from Pump to Turbine. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 51 (2015): 497–505. Print.

The war on terror has contibuted to abuse of human rights Essay

The war on terror has contibuted to abuse of human rights - Essay Example No, have not attached my survey results; though have used that information to answer queries. 5. Put your claim/position and â€Å"evidence† through the â€Å"Scientific Method† and â€Å"Proving a theory† steps. Are there any steps on which your claim/position and evidence do not measure up to the examination? If so, what can you do to make them more acceptable? My purpose is to campaign and put emphasis on human right. I would wish my audience to think about the ideal way on how to deal with in just practice globally. Specifically ways on how to curd terrorism globally. I would wish them to think on the in justice done to the Arab countries by the Americans. Dropping of bombs to destroy lives of the innocent and infrastructure in those countries by America and its allies could also be termed as terrorism itself. If, America and its allies wished to get rid of terrorist they could have used a more appropriate way. In this sense, a way that would have spared the innocent souls. 8. What words or phrases have you included to cause your audience to do, feel, or think the way that you want them to do, feel, or think? Include all of your motivational or empathetic â€Å"cues† for your audience. My purpose is to campaign and put emphasis on human right. I would wish my audience to think about the ideal way on how to deal with in just practice globally. Specifically ways on how to curd terrorism globally. I would wish them to think on the in justice done to the Arab countries by the Americans. Dropping of bombs to destroy lives of the innocent and infrastructure in those countries by America and its allies could also be termed as terrorism itself. If, America and its allies wished to get rid of terrorist they could have used a more apt way. In this sense, a way that would have spared the innocent souls. I feel that my audience will get

Are Tax Cuts Promoting Economic Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Are Tax Cuts Promoting Economic Growth - Essay Example And the same thing can be seen happening with President Bush's 2003 tax cuts since 2003 annual GDP has increased by 4.3% as opposed to the 2.4% during the two years preceding. There can, however, be a downside to tax cuts. If the taxpayers save their increased income or buy outsourced commodities, the government may have to deal with balance of payments difficulties that could cause a deflationary effect leading to a "budgetary crisis with a painful readjustment to follow" (Wikipedia, 2006, n.p.). But how many people do you know bother to put their tax returns into savings or shop overseas Of course, you can buy almost anything from anywhere on the Internet, so the downside might be all too accessible these days. An alternative to cutting taxes is to increase minimum wage. Of course, that comes with its own share of downsides; mainly, the same downsides that tax cuts have. While researchers could find "no statistically significant relationship between minimum wage rate increases and business failures" (Rendell, 2006, n.p.), it is still no better than tax cuts and prone to the same downsides. So, when in doubt, cut taxes. Of course, doing both simultaneously could produce some interesting results.

Smoking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Smoking - Research Paper Example A person who smokes subtracts and average of 14 years from their lives and significantly lowers the quality of life in all the years they continue the habit. The country’s economy loses as well, $75 billion in health care costs and $82 billion in productivity each year. â€Å"Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease, costing us too many lives, too many dollars and too many tears. If we are going to be serious about improving health and preventing disease we must continue to drive down tobacco use.† (â€Å"New Surgeon,† 2004) Smoking causes many negative health issues. Many were identified in 1964. A partial list includes lung, throat, mouth and bladder cancers, heart disease and chronic bronchitis. A 2004 report added stomach, kidney and pancreatic cancer, pneumonia and periodontitis among others. Statistics show that since 1964 more than 12 million Americans have died and another 25 million living today will likely die due to illnesses assoc iated with smoking. (â€Å"Smoking†, 2004) COPD, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, affects smokers almost exclusively. It cause severe breathing problems, slowing choking the sufferer until they finally succumb and die by asphyxiation. Cigarettes that are marketed as low tar and nicotine do not reduce the harmful effects of smoking. According to former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, â€Å"There is no safe cigarette, whether it is called ‘light,’ ‘ultra–light,’ or any other name.† (â€Å"New Surgeon,† 2004) Secondhand smoke (SHS), that which is inhaled by a non-smoker unlucky enough to be in the close vicinity of a smoker, has been shown to be a cancer causing agent and affects the non-smoker to at least the same degree as the smoker. Cigarette smoke has more than 4,000 chemicals and, maybe surprisingly, SHS contains 7,000, 250 of which have been found to be harmful and more

End-of-Life Ethical Dilemma for Nurses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

End-of-Life Ethical Dilemma for Nurses - Essay Example In a qualitative study, the differences in the ethical burden on end-of-life decisions between nurses and doctors were determined.   Although the research covered small sampling, which included seven doctors and 14 nurses working in critical areas, it never failed to convey the universal dilemma encountered by healthcare workers which is the struggle to arrive at a conclusive and moral decision regarding euthanasia.   Furthermore, the study’s findings concluded that the main difference in mercy killing is that physicians are to deal with the â€Å"decision making itself† whilst nurses have to â€Å"live with these decisions†.   Mercy killing is the kind of problem that does not leave the patient the sole right to decide.   It comes in varied forms of condition where the end result is the termination of the life of the patient.   Although a patient voluntarily requests for the termination of his life, ethical considerations must be taken into account.   More often a terminally ill patient is depressed so that the only solution he regards to, is death.   This issue leaves nurses and physicians the responsibility of determining the mental and emotional capability of the patient to decide for himself.   There is also the issue of the legality of the family to represent the unconscious, clinically dead patient and to request for discontinuation of life support.  Ã‚   Across the world, euthanasia has occupied a constant seat in the debate regarding morality.

Building Information Modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Building Information Modelling - Essay Example This development has particularly been important in the engineering field in which some stakeholders develop models and different stakeholders who interpret the developed models simulate their properties undertake the constructions for achieving reality. Ensuring ease and success of such simulations has further prompted the need for standardization in modeling and communication of developed models in engineering. Of particular interest to the scope of application of information technology in engineering and modeling is the concept of Building Information Modelling that defines establishment and management of digital models of physical and operational features of a facility. The concept has been approved for its advantages and is being advocated for among government contractors. It has at the same time, though increasingly being adopted by many players, raised mixed reactions over its effectiveness and effects on business and clients. I, in this paper, explore the statement that †˜the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) into the construction industry has the potential to change or influence the way project managers work in the future.’ In exploring this statement, I identify the significance of IBM to project managers’ approach to work. ... The different role is attributable to the project manager and the roles vary with different stages of a project and different scopes that a project may adopt. One of the identifiable roles of the project manager is the development of project proposals. This may be achieved together with other stakeholders to a project such as a project’s principal. This role includes the development of a project’s scope and determination of economic necessities for implementing the project and facilitates an understanding of the project. The project manager also plays a significant role in initiating a project, a role in which the manager identifies necessary personnel, ensures availability of the personnel, and mobilizes them towards implementing the subject project. The role also includes identification of necessary skills for the project, goals to be achieved in the project, and interests and motivational factors of the member of the project team (Hopper 2012, p. 18). In cases where project goals are developed by other parties and communicated to the project team, the project manager approves the objectives before they can be incorporated and communicated to the team. Placing an order for required resources in a project also forms part of a project manager’s role (Acs, p. 1). Other roles of the project manager include evaluation of potential risks to a project and establishment of control measures against identified risks and establishing minimum operating costs and making sure that operations adhere to the stipulated costs.

Theories and Models of Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theories and Models of Communication - Essay Example The hypothesis of communication assists individuals in comprehending this phrase, since communication involves analysis of facts to deduce the meaning. Failure to evaluate these facts of information might lead to failing to deduce the correct interpretation. This way this hypothesis assists in analyzing information. For instance, it is easy to discern someone’s intentions; by the way, they speak. Lack of these visible signs might imply otherwise (Griffith, p.10). Mass media describe all media technologies utilized to reach an enormous audience through mass communication. Mass media also describes the institutions which manage these technologies, for instance, television stations, as well as publishing companies. An exemplar of mass media includes broadcast media, which describes the electronic transmission of information via television, radio, as well as CDs and DVDs. In addition, broadcast media involves other devices such as cameras, as well as video consoles. Another exemplar is print media, which involves utilization of a physical object as a way of transferring information. Other print media include brochures and pamphlets among others (Igor, p.10). The mass medium is an extremely powerful tool which significantly influences peoples’ ways of existence. It is extremely influential in that the images or information media displays have the capacity to foster stereotypes, products, alter cultures among others. For instance, in many countries, the dress code displayed by media is usually adopted by the youngsters. Media particularly Internet media is also readily available and affords a massive outreach. It can be utilized in varied parts of the globe concurrently and cost-effectively. This portrays the influence of media. 4 Semiotics involves the study of symbols, as well as sign systems. Semiotics also entails indication, description, metaphor, similarity among others. The fundamental component of meaning is the symbol. It is anything that can characterize an idea. It also includes studying the organization and meaning of lingo. The significant elements of any semiotic include content, as well as expression (Littlejohn and Foss, p. 23). Rhetorical evaluation assists in looking into

Building Information Modelling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Building Information Modelling - Essay Example This development has particularly been important in the engineering field in which some stakeholders develop models and different stakeholders who interpret the developed models simulate their properties undertake the constructions for achieving reality. Ensuring ease and success of such simulations has further prompted the need for standardization in modeling and communication of developed models in engineering. Of particular interest to the scope of application of information technology in engineering and modeling is the concept of Building Information Modelling that defines establishment and management of digital models of physical and operational features of a facility. The concept has been approved for its advantages and is being advocated for among government contractors. It has at the same time, though increasingly being adopted by many players, raised mixed reactions over its effectiveness and effects on business and clients. I, in this paper, explore the statement that †˜the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) into the construction industry has the potential to change or influence the way project managers work in the future.’ In exploring this statement, I identify the significance of IBM to project managers’ approach to work. ... The different role is attributable to the project manager and the roles vary with different stages of a project and different scopes that a project may adopt. One of the identifiable roles of the project manager is the development of project proposals. This may be achieved together with other stakeholders to a project such as a project’s principal. This role includes the development of a project’s scope and determination of economic necessities for implementing the project and facilitates an understanding of the project. The project manager also plays a significant role in initiating a project, a role in which the manager identifies necessary personnel, ensures availability of the personnel, and mobilizes them towards implementing the subject project. The role also includes identification of necessary skills for the project, goals to be achieved in the project, and interests and motivational factors of the member of the project team (Hopper 2012, p. 18). In cases where project goals are developed by other parties and communicated to the project team, the project manager approves the objectives before they can be incorporated and communicated to the team. Placing an order for required resources in a project also forms part of a project manager’s role (Acs, p. 1). Other roles of the project manager include evaluation of potential risks to a project and establishment of control measures against identified risks and establishing minimum operating costs and making sure that operations adhere to the stipulated costs.

My Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

My Leadership Style Essay According to the leadership assessment, I am more of task-oriented leader than a people-oriented leader, though I scored high in both areas, therefore I have a healthy balance of both which is important for a leader in any company. My leadership style allows me to get my work completed in an organized fashion, while being open to other ideas; I can focus on the small projects while continuing to see the big picture or vision. Because I score higher on the task-oriented side, I can be more autocratic in my thinking. This will limit my ability to show my apathy for my staff and employees Furthermore, I am also a transformational and charismatic leader. I am most effective in smaller organizations that have direct interactions with my staff. According to Robbins, this helps to make me effective as a leader, which will give a company â€Å"low turnover, higher productivity, lower employee stress, and burnout, and higher employee satisfaction.† Furthermore, Robbins shared that this leadership style is not effective with those who are â€Å"highly individualistic and do not readily cede decision-making authority.† Since I am able to communicate with my staff the expectations, visions ad engage my staff, I also have a Charismatic leadership style. I continuously focus on the end goal, big picture and tie that big picture to the work of my staff, making it attainable to my staff. One of the major downsides to charismatic leadership is that it can be situational, according to Robbins. Role in Company The role I would like to pursue within the company is that of a managerial supervisor. According to Robbins, organizations need strong leadership and  strong management for optimal effectiveness. I feel that because I have leadership and managerial traits and characteristics, I would be a great candidate for that particular role. In a managerial supervisory role, I am a direct leader. I work directly with my staff on a one-on-one basis and in a team format; I will have more influence directly on my staff. As the managerial supervisor, I am able to support, recognize, develop, plan, and coach/mentor my staff while monitoring, setting goals, and overseeing day to day operations. This is evident because of my healthy balance of task and people orientation. Leadership theories applicable to my leadership approach The Big Five Trait Leadership Theory is applicable to my leadership approach because research has shown that the big five personality factors are strong indicators for job success and performance. I scored high in the areas of extroversion and conscientiousness. The positive factors about scoring high on conscientiousness’s is that overall, those with high marks in this area have better job performance and those are more reliable, thorough, organized, angle to plan, and persistent according to the assessment. These traits are consisted with those of task-oriented leaders. However, the Leadership Substitute Theory would be counter indicated for the areas of subordinate, task, and group/organizational characteristics. This is because my staff could need little direction from me as their supervisor if they have extensive experience. Also, when staff repeats their task over and over, they become proficient and don’t need feedback, but are building their own motivation. As a task-oriented, transformational, and charismatic leader, I would struggle more with staff who are more independent or did not work well in the group. I like to give freedom to my staff, but my style makes it necessary to know what is going on in the jobs at all times. Conclusion My leadership style is transformational, charismatic with my main focus on task-oriented management. I work hard to inspire my staff, while also meeting deadlines. I focus better when I’m working with a team rather than individuals who do their own thing. Research has shown that my leadership style is an asset to many companies if utilized in the right way. This is why I would like a position that allows me to shine, take the lead of a team, while focusing on the companies â€Å"big picture.† References Robbins, S. P., Judge, T. A. (2011). Organizational behavior (14th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Yuki, G. (2010). Leadership in organizations (7th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Benefits of Developing Integrated Global Strategies

Benefits of Developing Integrated Global Strategies â€Å"As multinationals mature, they become aware of the opportunities to be gained from integrating and creating a single strategy on a global scale.† Discuss, with reference to theories regarding economies of scale, scope and global competitiveness, drawing on real world organisation to illustrate your answer. â€Å"Clearly, a substantial challenge for multinational corporations (MNCs), in the current environment of intensified competition and rapid industry consolidation, is one of much greater worldwide integration. Necessitated by intense competitive pressures, MNCs are integrating their disparate country operations in order to achieve economies across markets and operating units. Preliminary results from a pilot study of the characteristics of common global practices among a sample of MNCs†¦explore the benefits MNCs derive from the implementation of common practices across their worldwide operations, in pursuit of a global strategy.† (Cavusgil, Yeniyurt and Townsend, 2004) It is clear from this most recent piece of research into the worldwide integration of multinational corporations that there are immense potential benefits to multinationals from pursuing a strategy of integration across markets and regions. However, expanding internationally requires managerial adaptation due to differences between national cultures, and these dynamics have not necessarily been used to represent the cultural diversity that may hinder efforts to integrate and coordinate efforts as required by global strategies. Tempering popular perspectives that extol the benefits of diversity, some theories claim that cultural diversity among international divisions of a global firm may actually impede efforts to merge activities and expertise between those units. Specifically, direct, such as market, production and technology, and indirect: knowledge-based benefits are more difficult to exploit when cultural diversity makes activity sharing and expertise transfer less efficient. Pa rallel to established product relatedness theory, this postulates that culturally related international firms will enjoy greater efficiencies than culturally diverse multinationals. (Johnson and Scholes, 2002) Nowhere is this better seen than in the strategies of Novotel, a strategic business unit of the Accor group, and one of the worlds major hotel chains, occupying a leading place in Europe and with locations globally. Calori, Baden-Fuller and Hunt (2000) interpreted Novotels change management programme in the 1990s, summarising the actions that managers took in terms of strategy and organization, also carefully considering the sequence and timing of events, and how this resulted in rapid transformation in an organisation employing more than 30,000 people. They also strongly emphasised the dialectical nature of the change processes: an element often ignored in the literature, observing both deliberation and experimentation; both integration and differentiation. They found that, Novotel was careful to offer different offerings in each nation it operates, dependent upon the local customs, culture and expectations for a hotel. However they also found that, in line with several of Morriseyà ¢â‚¬â„¢s (1996) theories on long range strategic planning, the managers were careful to always ensure that the company’s global direction and overall strategy were clear and consistent in the minds of staff, and were strongly projected to the customers. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than on Novotel’s website, with its headline: â€Å"412 Hotels Resort in 56 countries. Novotel guarantees you the best price†, showing that no matter where in the world you go, Novotel always aims to offer you a budget hotel room. Such clear positioning and marketing is one of the main reasons the company has been so successful for so long. Another important consideration in integrating a strategy is that competitive advantage can be gained through quality, even in mature commodity industries, but that a quality-based competitive strategy will be successful only if managers understand both how quality is perceived by their customers and their company s level of quality performance. As such, the critical issue of many modern strategies is the importance of gaining customer attention: the underlying view that a global business strategy can be simply programmed and customers merely involved in the activity as rational agents ignores the value of seasoned judgment and, ultimately, critical thinking. The essential objective is clearly to engage in producing a value- added customer relationship, and therefore, gaining customer attention is equally, or indeed, more important than a simple focus on customer relationship management. What is required is a strategic focus on the real complexity of the relationship which organizati ons are initially able to establish with customers. (Pearson, 1999) Nowhere is this more apparent than in the UKs food and beverage sector, which remains the countrys single largest manufacturing sector, thanks in part to a general economic recovery and its world-renowned high quality and innovative products. In recent years, the economic performance of the UK has been robust, owing to low inflation, resilient growth, strong job creation and increases in consumer spending: â€Å"According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UKs GDP rose 3.1% in 2004, compared with 2.2% in 2003. As a result, household spending on food has been increasing over the past few years. Merger and acquisiton activity in the UK is on the rise. According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of MA in the food industry increased 14.4% in 2004 to 278 deals from 243 in 2003.† (Mergent Industry Reports, 2005) There is a significant foreign investor interest in UK companies, which shows a general confidence in the UK economy. In addition, the increase in convenience stores and hypermarkets: which sell groceries and offer a much wider choice of brand products, along with intense competition, has had a large impact on the food industry. As a result, many food companies are looking to consolidate their business to maximize competitiveness in terms of price, innovation and coverage. As companies seek to improve corporate profitability in a competitive market environment, further consolidation is expected. The growth of convenience stores and hypermarkets is likely to be the main force in the food and drink sector over the next few years. (Mergent Industry Reports, 2005) Judith Bevan (2005) examines the battle between the supermarkets in a recent book: â€Å"Trolley Wars†, where the ‘wars’ in question are not just price wars; they are space and strategy wars. With UK retail being the most competitive sector in one of the most competitive countries in the world, supermarkets desperate for supremacy fight over prices, squeeze suppliers and grab land in order to win. Each of the players has brought the industry forward at a crucial time: â€Å"Whether it was Sainsbury for quality, MS for innovation or Tesco for value, one message is clear: the winners, and today this is Tesco by a long way, never forget that the customer is king and that only by constantly listening, anticipating and reacting can they survive in todays market.† (Bevan 2005) UK supermarket customers are in search of quality, price and value, and are among the savviest in the world. The lesson is clear: complacency kills, and a fragmented, unclear, strategy, as witnessed in Sainsbury’s recent advertising campaigns, which have driven away some of the chains traditionally loyal customers. (Finch, 1999) However, it is also vitally important for firms to consider that any strategy they formulate should not only offer customers what they want and expect from the overall corporation, but should also be financially and commercially viable. In particular, managerial considerations, desires, priorities and egos should not override the need to remain profitable and fulfil shareholder, and other stakeholder, goals and expectations. This is covered quite clearly in the managerially theory of the firm, developed by Stoelhorst and van Raaij (2004) as a meaningful alternative to the neoclassical theory of the firm. Their paper argues that the main use of a managerial theory of the firm is explaining performance differentials between firms, especially in the area of marketing strategy, which we have already seen is of great import to multinational corporations. Indeed, the authors explicitly state that: â€Å"Marketing shares an interest in explaining performance differentials with strategic ma nagement and organizational economics.† (Stoelhorst and van Raaij, 2004) Likewise, they show that a generic understanding of the sources of performance differentials is emerging across these three disciplines, and incorporate this understanding in a unifying conceptual framework that is both managerially relevant and embedded in economic theory. The lessons from this paper would be well learnt by easyGroup ltd. director, and well known entrepreneur, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. In 2003, Haji-Ioannou announced that easyCinema would open in Milton Keynes, England, with the introductory cinema chain aimed at providing an addition to the existing easyGroup architecture, which at the time encompassed rental cars, internet cafà ©s and an airline. (Ritson, 2003) Haji-Ioannou has frequently admitted that price elasticities are ‘the core’ of the easy brand, and is careful to always select markets where consumers will make differential trade-offs between time and price. â€Å"For example, if one is a price-sensitive European student flying home to spend holidays, he is likely to book months in advance and will probably accept an early morning departure.† (Ritson, 2003) By using technology and just-in-time inventory systems, easyGroup allows its component firms to flexibly set prices and automatically respond to market el asticities. However, just two months after Ritson’s article, Haji-Ioannou was forced to admit, in June 2003, that he may have to close the easyCinema in Milton Keynes by the end of the year. EasyGroup companies, excluding the publicly owned easyJet, in fact lost about  £120m over the past four years, with EasyInternetCafe forming the bulk of this, turning in about  £90m in losses between 1999 and 2003. However, in the same time period, easyCar lost about  £20m, the Internet shopping portal easyValue lost  £5m and the easyMoney credit card  £2.7m. The basis for these losses can be seen in the fate of easyCinema, a good model for the management style of Stelios Haji-Ioannou and â€Å"his declining empire, EasyGroup.† (Kroll, 2004) Kroll’s article recalls the earlier giveaway of airplane tickets on the steps of an Athens courthouse, where he was being sued by travel agents, but focuses on his ‘potshot’ at U.S. film distributors, which initially refused to give EasyCinema first runs because his ticket prices were too low to offer them a decent cut. The US film distributors’ move was mirrored by distributors in Britain, which meant that, although Stelios had found another price elastic market: in its first week, easyCinema filled 56% of its seats, patronage has dropped steadily since. (Wylie, 2003) The main reason for this is the lack of recent release, as traditionally distributors make money by creaming a high percentage of box-office revenue in the first weeks of a films run, a percentage that easyCinema was unwilling and unable to provide. Stelios tried to persuade Britains Office of Fair Trading to investigate what he alleges is illegal collusion and resale price maintenance among distributors (Wylie, 2003); but this appeared to be yet another publicity stunt from the self-styled ‘consumer’s champion’, who had yet again failed to address the concerns of some of the most powerful stakeholders in one of his ventures. Of course, a single, integrated strategy pursued to it’s fullest: by integrating the strategy of a multinational corporation involved in just one market, can reap the highest rewards of all. Research into this was recently conducted by Kim and Lee (2001), who admit to being â€Å"motivated by an empirical observation that two Korean carmakers, Daewoo and Hyundai, have pursued very different globalisation strategies despite their structural similarities.† Using in-depth case studies and extensive interviews with top managers, they explained several lessons that can be drawn from these strategies. Being direct competitors in the Korean automobile industry has affected the firms globalisation strategies to a great extent: each company took into account its competitive position, vis-à  -vis the other’s, when forging its global strategy. For instance, Daewoo focused on achieving economies of scale by targeting the East European markets for its overseas capacity expan sion, as a way of overcoming its manufacturing cost disadvantage in the domestic market vis-à  -vis Hyundais. Likewise, Hyundais globalisation strategy: exporting supported by technological advancement; was driven by an implicit assumption of its competitive advantage vis-à  -vis Daewoos. This initial observed pattern of decisions was formed mostly by such determining factors as top managements commitment to specific strategic decisions and resources, both managerial and financial, from each companys parent business group. It is vital to note here that, unlike easyGroup’s strategy, driven largely by the ego and self-image of it’s director, was in fact driven by the core competencies of each company: developing and exploiting new markets to obtain economies of scale, and maintaining a technological advantage. Subsequently, these integrated strategies were altered or reinforced as each company accumulated different learning experiences, demonstrating that unless the learning process is well managed, it can do as much harm as good to a company. (Kim and Lee, 2001) Indeed, Hamid (2002) has shown that leading companies around the world are developing integrated global compensation and benefit strategies in order to help them stay ahead of the competition. â€Å"These companies are finding that their human resource strategy can be structured using similar philosophies to reward people regardless of their geographic boundaries.† (Hamid, 2002) The need to develop more consistent global strategies in concert with reward practices worldwide, is driven by companies finding that global compensation and benefit strategies can also, in fact, achieve cost savings through economies of scale. The ability to shed the costs of communicating, administering and coordinating several compensation strategies is proof positive that multinational corporations can derive benefits from integrating their global strategies in almost any area of their operations. An excellent example of this is Ryanair, which in August of this year (2005) shrugged off â€Å"soaring fuel charges, fierce competition and an ongoing row with pilots, to announce record pre-tax profits of â‚ ¬76.9m for the three months to July. Despite increasing capacity by 30pc, the airline managed to increase its yield per seat by 3pc, while simultaneously cutting costs per passenger by 6pc. Yesterday, by way of an encore, it released figures which showed that it carried a record 3,198,977 passengers in July, breaking the 3m barrier for the first time, and taking the number of passengers it has carried over the past 12 months to just over 30m. But, according to Michael Cawley, Ryanairs chief operating officer, whether you are talking about expansion, cost cutting or alternative revenues, the airline, which now operates on 250 routes across 21 countries, is only just beginning.† (McEnaney, 2005) One of the key messages from the latest results is that Ryanair has no trouble cutting costs and generating economies of scale: both vital advantages in the global budget air travel market. In fact, when you factor out fuel costs, over which the company has only limited control, Ryanair managed to reduce costs by 11pc in the last quarter. This is despite the fact that Ryanair is now unable to significantly reduce costs by cutting back on the trimmings: with no trimming left to cut, the company has been forced to take a ‘big-picture approach’, through a single intergrated global strategy: take as many passengers as cheaply as possible. According to Mr Cawley, much of the current cost reduction is due to the replacement of the companys 737-200 airplanes, which carry 130 passengers, with new 737-800 aircraft, which carry 189. â€Å"The 737-800 has boosted passenger numbers per plane by 45pc. As we get more and more of them in the fleet, our costs per passenger go down. Als o, newer aircraft have lower costs.† (McEnaney, 2005) There seems to be no end to the expansion of Ryanair, which also recently announced that it would fly eight routes to Poland by November, and recently made Pisa in Italy its fourteenth European base. In the coming months, the airline is expected to announce two new European bases. One of these will most likely be Beauvais in France, which is the only major European country where Ryanair does not yet have a base. The second is likely to be either in Spain or in Scandinavia. According to Cawley, this expansion also helps to lower costs: â€Å"We enjoy significant economies of scale. We used to have three routes from Pisa. Now we have eight, but there is no increase in our Italian advertising costs.† (McEnaney, 2005) Thus, the potential opportunities gained by multinationals that develop integrated global strategies are almost too large to measure, with economies of scope and scale, and large technological and consumer based advantages However, it is also extremely important that, as well as aim for these advantages, and the associated global competitiveness benefits, that MNC’s ensure that they are not pursuing a single integrated strategy for the wrong reasons, as easyGroup has done recently. They must also continue to monitor and analyse the needs and demands of all shareholders and stakeholders, especially the major ones, and remember that the most important stakeholders in many markets, regions, cultures and industries may not be the customers, as is usually believed. This task is far from easy, but for a multinational with the required knowledge, capabilities and learning capacity, the benefits cannot be overstated, and the potential to grow, diversify and consolidate, as Ryannair ha s recently shown, can be huge. References: Bevan, J (2005) Trolley Wars. Profile Books. Calori, R. Baden-Fuller, C. and Hunt, B. (2000) Managing Change at Novotel: Back to the Future. Long Range Planning; Vol. 33, Issue 6, p. 779. Cavusgil, S. T. Yeniyurt, S. and Townsend, D. (2004) The framework of a global company: A conceptualization and preliminary validation. Industrial Marketing Management; Vol. 33, Issue 8, p. 711. Finch, J. (1999) Rivals maul Sainsbury GM ad. The Guardian. Authors: Hamid, H. (2002) Global convergence in remuneration patterns. Business Times (Malaysia). Johnson, G. and Scholes, K. (2002) Exploring Corporate Strategy; Sixth Edition. FT Prentice Hall. Kim, B. and Lee, Y. (2001) Global Capacity Expansion Strategies: Lessons Learned from Two Korean Carmakers. Long Range Planning; Vol. 34, Issue 3, p. 309. Kroll, L. (2004) Easy.com, Easy Go. Forbes; Vol. 174, Issue 12, p. 138. McEnaney, T. (2005) Man with a mission, airline with a future. Irish Independent. Mergent Industry Reports (2005) Food Beverage – Europe. Morrisey G. (1996) A Guide to Long-Range Planning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Pearson, G. (1999) Strategy in Action. Prentice Hall. Ritson, M. (2003) Stelios shows theres an easy way to a smart pricing strategy. Marketing (UK); p. 16. Rogers, D. (2003) Not So Easy After All. Marketing (UK); p. 20. Stoelhorst, J.W. and van Raaij, E. M. (2004) On explaining performance differentials: Marketing and the managerial theory of the firm. Journal of Business Research; Vol. 57, Issue 5, p. 462. Wylie, I. (2003) In Movieland Not So Easy. Fast Company; Issue 75, p. 35.