Denmark Globalisation and the Welfare State

Human (Cultural) geography is the other part of g Essays - Clothing

Human (Cultural) geography is the other part of g Essays - Clothing Human (Cultural) geography is the "other part of geography". It is the study of cultural diversities "found throughout the world" in relation with spaces and places "where they originate and travels" throughout the world "as people continually move across" different "areas"(web). Human geography studies "cultural phenomena" such as "language, religion, different economic and governmental structures, art, music and various cultural aspects" which will define "how and why people function as they do in the places in which they live" (web, Human Geography: An Over View of Human Geography). The article is related to religious aspect of cultural geography. There is a mutual relationship between "religion and geography". Every individual studying geography with social science have "little interest in religion". This will provide knowledge about "how religion develops, spreads and impacts on people's lives are rooted in geographical factors and they can be studied from a geographical perspective". Here in the article which was previously written by Tom Gjelten has a discussion about hijab (headscarf worn by Muslim women) (Park, C.2004) Religion and geography. Ch. 17). Hijab, or covering headscarf, "takes the center stage whenever there is battle between truth and falsehood". Those women who wear hijab with "religious conviction, the truth is clear". For others who has "limited knowledge" of it may be "confusing". It is essential to get into the realization of various clues related to "hijab and modesty". If one goes through the historical research of various time period, one would find "modest covering of women in almost every society". The other fact is that "modesty" is a part in almost "every world religion, particularly in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam". Besides religious aspects hijab represents woman's obedience, respect and her attachments towards faith. To elaborate this, Allah Almighty says: "That is more suitable that they will be known..." . More than religious importance there are other "purpose and functions of hijab" to explain these the following "purposes and functions of hijab" will explain this point. "Hijab is a test for t he Muslim woman". It is "clear from the Qur'an" that "hijab is a religious obligation, which a woman has to undertake" (Web, Wikipedia), This shows a devote to Allah and a belief of not exposing private parts of women. In this article there is a story about a Muslim girl wearing hijabs in USA where majority of people are non-Muslim. Maryam Adamo talks about her professional life, social life in relation with her religious life. She further more explains her experience of wearing hijabs. Asma Uddin is another woman who is a devote of her religion also explains her religious identity being a burden despite her faith towards it. Another woman Asra Nomani (journalist and teaches journalism at Georgetown University and is co-director of the Pearl Project) in her article says non-Muslim woman wearing hijab "gives an interpretation to the rejection of Islam". She also elaborates "the headscarf has become a political symbol for ad ideology of Islam that is exported to the world by the theocracies of the government of Iran and Saudi Arabia" There is much about who should wear hijabs? And much about how others interpret about Muslim girls wearing hijabs in countries where most of the people are not Muslim. Religion is a learned behavior, it is carried by medium of people who are the followers to the different part of the world, even it is evolved in certain part of the world. Actually not only religion but all the cultural dimensions such as language, art, music are also spread by the people, so it is natural to have people following others cultures knowingly or unknowingly. But there is much focus into hijabs in this article saying non Muslim who don't know about what it means to wearing hijab. Todays world is much getting into religious controversies, in this situation we should maintain peace and harmony rather than arguing about religious topics. As I have realized there is nothing to go with religion being a human, in my perspective, nobody by birth came with a religion, it is a learned behavior, we learned form our society where we lived. Religion is a medium to bind human together to foster positive attitudes and to develop a

Anti-Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anti-Globalization - Essay Example Globalization is portrayed as a positive thing from which undeveloped countries can benefit. However an alternative view suggests something else. Some people are of the view that through the excuse of globalization the developed countries are exploiting the weak economies. They are making the undeveloped countries dependant on themselves and would eventually result in making them their slaves. The theory behind the movement was so strong and convincing that it brought together the ideological school of thoughts who believed in anarchism and communism, and the activists who have a much pragmatic approach to life. Before this movement nothing had worked in order to unite these two opposite forces. The ideology behind the movement is as I have previously mentioned, strong economies use the excuse of globalization to further strengthen their economies and in the process drain the weak economies. Basically, globalization is giving rise to accumulation of wealth and power. The strong are getting stronger and the weak weaker. The undeveloped countries have started becoming increasingly dependant on the developed nations and thus the developed countries are in a position to make or break them. One of the ba... They do not understand the basic value systems. For instance Pakistan's electricity company has been taken over by a Saudi company and now Pakistan is facing the worse electricity crisis ever. According to Noreena Hertz, in her book 'The silent takeover' "Corporations have become behemoths, huge global giants that wield immense political power" and in the process of their evolution, "justice, equity, rights, the environment, and even issues of national security fall by the wayside." This as we can see is very true. Another major issue is that anti-globalization activists believe that the concept of intellectual property has been overly dramatized and stretched. Now information and intellectual property which used to be possessed collectively by a country or an ethnic group is being retained by a smaller portion of people. Thus sharing of resources has finished. The people cling on to their intellectual property and share very little of it with others. Thus weaker people can not benefit from it and are at a loss. Generally they are the big companies who have retained this kind of intellectual property thus their market concentration increases. Labor issues are also a major back bone of the movement. Referring back to the privatization of Pakistan electric company we see that the developed countries are influencing the developing countries to privatize their businesses. This is because in their opinion privatization is a good thing and therefore they are forcing others to go for it too. However privatization causes unemployment for many of the employees. There have been many influential works seen in the movement. Examples of them include Naomi Klien's book 'NO Logo'. This book talks about the unethical side of the production processes of the multi

Scientific Journals Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Scientific Journals - Term Paper Example BP is British Petroleum (Alexander, 2010). Three months later, the spill oil was blocked and about half of the oil spilled was removed through evaporation, natural dissolution, and human action (Ocean Conservancy, 2010). However, about half of the estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil had already polluted the environment (Ocean Conservancy, 2010). Rather than blaming the BP, a House panel blamed a rig device for failure to cut the oil flow (Doggett, 2010). In May 2010, the BP and the US government jointly estimated that more than 5,000 barrels a day of crude has been leaking into the environment and scientists warned of an environmental damage that could rival the 1989 Exxon spill in Alaska (Ball & Hughes, 2010). Other scientists say, however, that the spill may be more than 10 times the 5,000 barrels-a-day joint estimate of the US government and the BP (Ball & Hughes, 2010). On the month, US scientists estimated that the oil spill â€Å"could cause more of Louisiana’s retreating marshland revert to open water† (Ball and Hughes, 2010, 4th paragraph). U.S. Greenpeace, a leading environmental group, has her own interpretation of the timeline of the BP oil spill disaster (2010). According to the Greenpeace US, as early as 2007, the US Interior Department’s Mineral Management Services (MMS) has acquired data that oil-drilling projects are marked with a history of accidents, fires, and deaths (Greenpeace, 2010). In July 2008, a top agency manager of the MMS was criminally charged for having conflicts of interest with oil companies (Greenpeace, 2010). Yet, however, the MMS was allowed to give BP an exclusion from the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement for BP’s drilling operations (Greenpeace, 2010). Based on the â€Å"timeline† of the Greenpeace (2010), the BP oil spill can be blamed to the lax application of US environmental policies as well as to the congruence of

Organizational Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Organizational Development - Research Paper Example In the last section, the study has recommended OD intervention strategies for the organization in order to improve its performance. The research paper has also suggested evaluation technique which can monitor the efficacy of recommended OD interventions for the organization. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Literature Review 5 2.1 Organizational Context 5 2.2 Theories of OD 6 8 3.0 Organizational Needs 10 4.0 Impact of Environmental and Internal Issues on OD 10 4.1 Labor Pool Diversity 10 4.2 Technological Advancements 11 4.3 Global Expansion 13 4.4 Ethical Standards 14 5.0 Recommended Intervention 14 5.1 Human process based intervention strategies 16 5.2 Techno-structural intervention 17 5.3 Socio-technical intervention 17 5.4 Organizational transformation (OT) 18 6.0 Success Factor for Recommended Intervention 19 7.0 Evaluation of Recommended Intervention 20 8.0 Conclusion 21 Reference 22 1.0 Introduction Gone are the days when organizations can stay at top of both organic and inorganic growth by banking on first mover’s advantage in sustainable manner, in hypercompetitive modern business environment, a particular organization need to be flexible and ready to change in order to keep going. The concept of organizational development (OD) was postulated by research scholars almost 50 years ago. According to supporters of OD, the concept can be used solving pertinent issues of change management for a modern organization as like other neo-classical concepts like business process improvement, business process re-engineering, organizational life-cycles and total quality management (TQM). According to Holland and Salama (2010), OD can be described as sustainable and one way improvement of activities for an organization. The scholars’ duos have also pointed out that, implementing OD process is a challenging task for an organization due to reasons like, First- the organization needs to breakdown its structure in partial or comp lete manner in order create room for newly implemented system, Second- the organization needs to adopt resource hungry intervention strategies in order to ensure efficacy of the change management process and last- the organization needs to influence its internal and external stakeholders to align their interest with common mission and vision statement of the change process. Holland and Salama (2010) have found that interaction of organization with the external environment decides the dynamics of OD process. Interesting fact is that, academic scholars state that OD is an initiative of top management to develop mid level and lower level organizational members but there are examples where employees develop themselves without seeking intervention from top management (Mulili & Wong, 2011). The concept of job security has changed after the recession during 2007-2009 and sovereign debt crisis and organizational members are enrolling themselves to flexible and lifelong learning process in o rder to remain employable in changing and harsh economic environment. Therefore it has been observed that employees are embracing various facets of OD process such as, off-the- job education, on-the-job training and many others. Now the question is can an organization improve its performance by using the theoretical framework of OD. Well, answer of this crucial question is the key essence of this research paper. Contextual analysis of OD process

Samsung Performance Appraisal

Samsung Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal is the process of collecting, observing and analyzing the recorded information about the relative worth of an employee. The min motive behind carrying out the process of performance appraisal is to measure the actual performance of the employees with the expected performance that has been set. 1.2 Process of Performance Appraisal: ESTABLISHING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS: this accounts for the first step in the performance appraisal system which involves setting up of the standards that will act as a base to judge the performance of the employees. It also measures the degree of their contribution towards achieving organizational goals and objectives. The standards set should be clearly communicated, easily understandable and in measurable terms. COMMUNICATING THE STANDARDS: once the standards have been set, it is the duty of the management to effectively communicate the same to their employees so that they are well aware of their duties and responsibilities to be performed. This enables the employees to understand their roles and the kind of performance expected. The standards also have to be duly communicated to the evaluators or appraisers and can undergo changes at this stage if required, on the basis of feedback received from employees or evaluators. MEASURING THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE: this stage is the most important as it is crucial to measure the actual performance of the employees in the right manner within the specified period of time. Performance appraisal being a continuous process involves monitoring the performance throughout the year and it requires careful selection of appraisal techniques, eliminating degree of personal biasness and providing assistance rather than interfering in an employees work. COMPARING THE ACTUAL WITH THE DESIRED PERFORMANCE: as apparent, this stage involves comparing the actual performance with standard performance and identifying deviations in the same. The deviation can be positive, i.e. actual performance is more than the standard performance or negative, i.e. the actual performance is lower than the desired performance. Thus, the crucial functions to be carried out in this stage are recalling, evaluating and analyzing of the data related to employees performance. DISCUSSING RESULTS: then the result of the performance appraised is communicated and a follow up session with the employees on a one to one basis takes place. The aim of this follow up is to solve problems and reach a consensus. The feedback should be given with a positive attitude or else it might have a negative impact on the employees morale and performance. DECISION MAKING: the final step to performance appraisal system is to take decisions as to improve the performance of the employees, take corrective measures to eliminate the deviations identified and HR related decisions like rewards, promotions, transfers, etc. 1.3 Samsung: Samsung is one of the leading brands of electronics in the world. It has become even more popular with the launch of its android smart phones which are similar to the Apple iPhones. Samsung has several branches in India which are running successfully. Samsung also sells basic mobile phones that are very cheap, thus popular with the lower income groups. We interviewed Mr. Rajesh Dhadich, the Area Business Manager of Samsung, Pune. He was very helpful and provided us with the necessary information about the performance appraisal system that is used in their organization. Samsung uses the traditional method of performance appraisal, i.e target vs. achievement method. The employees performance is evaluated based on their achievement in the specified period, whether they are able to meet their target or not. 1.4 Hierarchy: President Vice president Director All India head regional manager Zonal Self Manager Area Business Manager 2. Objectives of the Study: To observe and analyze the performance of the employees over a specified period of time. To find out the difference between the actual performance and the expected performance. To give the employees feedback of their previous performance. 3. Methodology Adopted: There are two types of methodologies to find out the system of performance appraisal used. They are: Primary data collection Secondary data collection This survey was conducted using primary data collection. Mr. Rajesh Dhadich, Area Business Manager of Samsung, Pune was interviewed. 4.Data Analysis and Interpretation: Do you follow a well-defined performance appraisal system in your organization? Yes, a well-defined performance appraisal system is carried out in the organization where in the employees are judged on the basis of the targets achieved by them. The employees have the freedom to cross question their bosses if they are not satisfied with the rating. Which type of performance appraisal system do you use? Samsung uses a traditional system of performance appraisal. They follow the system of target vs. achievement wherein every employee is given a specific target to achieve in the beginning of the month. This target may vary from an increase in the market share or an increase in the total sales. Depending on the target achieved, performance of the employees is rated. For example, an employee may be given the target of selling 1000 smartphones in one quarter. If the employee achieves his target, he is given a high rating. What is the purpose of having a well-defined performance appraisal process in your organization? Training and development: performance appraisal helps to find out the drawbacks in an employees performance and hence he can be trained in those skills which would help him perform better. Succession planning: through performance appraisal, employees with good leadership are identified, which helps the organization to spot people to fill future key role positions. Does the employee have a clear understanding of his duties and responsibilities? The office provides the employees with an employee friendly Human Resource (HR) Manual at the date of joining which gives them a brief idea about what is expected out of them, their duties, responsibilities, along with their rights. Are the employees free to express themselves in case of a mismatch between the actual and the desired performance? In case the employees are unsatisfied with their bosses ratings and think they deserve more, they are free to post their grievances and differences through a great workplace portal. They are free to express themselves and negotiate with their bosses. For example, if an employee is rated 8 on 10, and he feels he deserves more because of his performance, he is free to express himself and negotiate with his boss and find out the reasons for the bosss rating. This shows that Samsungs work environment is open to discussions and extremely work friendly, which satisfies the employees in the long run. What are the incentives given to the employees apart from monetary benefits? If the employee wishes to buy any electronic gadget, Samsung products are available to him at a discounted rate, say for example 25%. Quarterly rewards are given to the people with the best performance. Further, outstanding performers are given special rewards and allowances. All these induce the employees to perform better and achieve their target. What are the challenges faced by you while evaluating the performance appraisal of the employees? Sometimes due to a positive change in the market conditions, an employee may be able to perform better than his colleague in the previous quarter leading to confusion for the manager as to who has performed better. Due to this reason, it becomes difficult for the manager to differentiate between a performer and non-performer, and rating becomes a little confusing. What is the feedback given by your employees on your performance appraisal system? Employees were asked to rate the performance appraisal system of the company in which it was concluded that 85% of the employees are satisfied with the feedback given to them. 5.Conclusion: Samsung is one of the leading electronic brands having its branches all over India which are running successfully. After conducting a thorough research, it was found that Samsung follows an employee friendly approach of performance appraisal wherein target vs. achievement method is used. Performance appraisal in an organization is very important as it helps in finding out the difference between the actual and the desired performance of an employee. It also helps the employers in guiding their employees to achieve their goals. Training and development of the employees is also possible with the help of a good performance appraisal system. Thus, it is necessary for every organization to have a well-defined performance appraisal system.

Returning to a Pre-Print Culture Understanding of Music :: Web Internet Technology Essays

Returning to a Pre-Print Culture Understanding of Music If the Web technology like Napster is eventually incompatible with the current print based recording industry, which values individual works (i.e. records, CD’s, videos) as commodities, then the paradigm of the current music industry will have to be changed drastically. To bridge the gap, something akin to cable service, which uses a flat rate for basic service and then has add-ons like pay-per-view might be used to curb or at least contain free dissemination of files while still remaining lucrative. This does not change the current industry paradigm so much; it simply awards more commodity status to access than product. Last July, Bertelsmann and Napster CEO's met to discuss a subscription partnership. "Between the two of them, the price for a subscription to the new Napster was floated at somewhere between $4.99 and $15 a month" (Alderman, 171). The problem with this solution is that many people may not be willing to pay for something that they have in the past acquired at no cost. It has been relatively easy to bypass security limitations placed on Napster, and in addition, similar applications have appeared to compete with Napster, or replace it in the event that access is blocked (i.e. Morpheus, Gnutella, Aimster [2]). A more effective solution might be one similar to what Grateful Dead lyricist John Barlow proposed in a 1994 issue of Wired: "Intellectual property law cannot be patched, retrofitted, or expanded to contain the gasses of digitized expression†¦ We will need to develop an entirely new set of methods as befits this entirely new set of circumstances" (Alderman, 20). To completely change the paradigm might involve going back to a pre-individualist, pre-high capitalist system. To keep the industry lucrative, the question that record labels, musicians, and other industry types should be asking themselves is not â€Å"How can we make money using existing copyright laws in the networked environment?† but â€Å"How can we still survive as an industry in an environment where copyright does not?† A possible alternative, and an option that hearkens back to pre-print culture, is that musicians might be salaried on the basis that they provide a service. Their art would be free for public enjoyment, but the musicians themselves would be compensated on salary to ensure that music continued to be made at its current rate.

Marriage/Chana Miller Essay

Fully explain and concisely illustrate two (2) of the â€Å"Theoretical Perspectives on Families† discussed in your text (pp. 37–49). Use families presented in television programs, the movies, novels, or the Bible to illustrate the selected perspectives. The functionalist perspective focuses on stability and cooperation and emphasizes the importance of the family in maintaining the stability of society. The functionalist theory states that marriage is a microcosmic replica of the larger society, and the family fills six basic needs for the survival of society. Family life is organized in ways that are useful or functional for society. Despite being antiquated, the breadwinner-homemaker family is an efficient way to organize family life. The husband works outside the home while the wife does the housework and child care. The functionalist perspective is a male-dominant perspective (Strong et. al. 2011). In modern times, feminists have attacked patriarchy view and many women resisted male domination. The Feminist Perspective argued that the functionalist view is inadequate and idealized. It stated that gender defines social roles and cultural characteristics. Yet these roles have no biological reason behind them but are culturally dictated; therefore, they are socially constructed. These roles appear to be constructed to give men power. Experience of living in a family is different for women than it is for men. Families can be sources of social inequality, especially reinforcing the inequality of women. Women having economic power can lead to many challenges within the family, and within society (Strong et. al. 2011). Independence is a good quality for feminists, but not for functionalists. Since families involve domination and struggle, there must be compromise and good communication or there can be many problems, leading to domestic violence and other such abuse. During the 1950s, the Cleavers on the television show â€Å"Leave It to Beaver† epitomized the American family. In 1960, the majority of American households were like the Cleavers: made up of a breadwinner father, a homemaker mother, and their kids. During most of the 1950s and 1960s, white middle-class families dominated programs. The 1960s, however, began to showcase more structural variability, with an increase in families headed by a single widowed parent, such as in The Andy Griffith Show. (Fleahman et. al. 2009) Today, â€Å"traditional† families with a working husband, an unemployed wife, and one or more children make up a very small percentage of the nation’s households. And as America’s families have changed, the image of the family portrayed on television has changed accordingly. Today’s television families run the gamut from two-career families to two single mothers and their children and an unmarried couple who cohabitate in the same house. Another factor reshaping family life has been a massive influx of mothers into the work force. As wives have assumed a larger role in their family’s financial support, they have felt justified in demanding that husbands perform more child care and housework. Feminism has also been a major force that has transformed American family life. The women’s liberation movement attacked the societal expectation that women defer to the needs of spouses and children as part of their roles as wives and mothers. The larger mainstream of the women’s movement articulated a powerful critique of the idea that child care and housework were the apex of a woman’s accomplishments or her sole means of fulfillment (Strong et. al. 2011). Historically, television has promoted a traditional family model with wise parents, little serious conflict, and mostly conforming behavior. Families on television during the 1950s and much of the 1960s talked with each other, and parents always helped their children through adolescence. Although the 1970s had a number of sentimental portrayals, such as â€Å"Little House on the Prairie† or the still popular â€Å"Brady Bunch,† it also experimented with more diverse relationship patterns in such favorites as â€Å"All in the Family† and â€Å"The Jeffersons. † In â€Å"All in the Family. † family members were likely to ignore, withdraw, and oppose one another, in addition to showing support and caring. (Fleahman et. al. 2009) During the 1980s, â€Å"The Cosby Show† dominated public perceptions of family portrayals with an enviable family. Primetime soap operas such as â€Å"Dallas† and â€Å"Dynasty† explored the seamier side of extended families. The end of the 1980s saw a more cynical view of the family in such comedy hits as â€Å"Roseanne† and â€Å"The Simpsons. † By the 1990s family relationships were again portrayed more positively in terms of psychological health on shows such as â€Å"Family Matters† and â€Å"Home Improvement. † (Fleahman et. al. 2009) Although conflicts in family programs have increased rapidly from the late 1970s, family members almost always successfully resolved the conflicts by way of positive, constructive, and pro-social communication.

Social Pressure and Perception Essays

Social Pressure and Perception Essays Social Pressure and Perception Essay Social Pressure and Perception Essay Picture yourself in the following scenarios, youve answered an advert in the local paper to take part in an experiment for psychology purposes, you arrive along with others but not realising that you are the only true volunteer. You are all placed in a darkened room and the only thing you can see is a pin point of light which tends to move (The Autokinetic Effect). Then later your all asked how much the pin points of light moved and then compared the answers collected from the other volunteers (Stooges). As an individual you give your answer which is different from your group answer. Another experiment involves two cards, one contains a single vertical line and the other card contains three different lengths of vertical lines. The end result in both of these experiments shows how we conform to others. Im going to explain in two ways in depth how we Conform to others, the Self Concept and Obedience. At the end of this essay you will see that Ive noted how important it is that we meet the BPS ethical guidelines when experiments like these are done. Conformity In 1935 a Psychologist called Sherif wanted to show how people conformed to other peoples ideas, so he used an experiment called the Autokinetic Effect and this involved placing the subjects in a darkened room with a pin point of light which would eventually move about. Sherif asked the subjects to estimate how much the pin point of light moved and they all gave very different answers ranging from one to seven inches. Each subject tended to make the same sort of judgement whenever they were tested. For instance their answers for the next set of tests would be the same as the previous experiments. These were the results that Sherif got when the subjects were tested on their own. However when they were sat in a room all together they seemed to give the same answers as each other. The result in this experiment is Conformity. In 1951 a Social Psychologist called Solomon Asch invented an experiment to explore how pressure from one person could affect another persons perceptions. In total, one third of the subjects who were put in this situation went along with the clearly erroneous majority. Aschs experiment involved 4 lines, 3 of the lines were different lengths to the 1st line. These were shown to college students in groups of 8 to 10. He told them that he wanted to study the visual perception and that their task was to decide which of the lines matched the same as the 1st line. It was obvious to see what the correct answer was. Asch asked the students to give their answers aloud. Only 1 student in each group was the real subject. All the others were confederates who were instructed to give inaccurate answers on a number of trials. Asch made sure that the real subject was the next to the last person in each of these groups to provide their answer. This is because Asch wanted the subject to hear most of the confederate incorrect answers before giving his own. The question is would the subject go along with the crowd? Asch was amazed to find that most of the subjects conformed to the majority at least once and the rest of them conformed on more than 6 of the 12 trials. When confronted with a unanimous incorrect answer by the other group members, the mean subject conformed on 4 of the 12 trials. Asch was disturbed by these results: The tendency to conform in our society is so strong that reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black. This is a matter of concern. It raises questions about our ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct. Theories of the self  When we are born into this world we do not know anything. We are unable to do things for ourselves and do not understand anything. As we grow and develop our self into the unique human we are today we see ourselves through others.  Charles Horton Cooley proposed the theory Looking Glass Self the process of developing a self-image on the basis of the messages we get from others, as we understand them. There are three components to the looking glass self: 1. We imagine how we appear to others.  2. We imagine what their judgement of that appearance must be.  3. We develop some self-feeling such as pride or mortification, as a result of our imagining others judgement.  4.  Charles Cooley basically tells us that we use others as a mirror and that is how we think others see us.  In 1969 Michael Argyle described four main factors that affect the way an individuals self concept develops and is maintained in day to day living. These factors are:  1. Other peoples reactions for instance if we are talking to another person and they seem to look at something else or seem to be in another place we feel that we are dull and boring the other person or dont seem interesting enough for the other person to want to pay full attention. 2. Comparisons with other people and how we should look to fit in, to be accepted by others. How we look in comparison to the next person for instance within a group/gang we would always want to be the better person within the group/gang.  3. Roles, Everybody has different sets of roles that they play in their life, for example: as a parent, as a neighbour, as a wife/husband etc. Each set of roles come with different types of behaviour. 4. Identification with others. Self-identity originally comes into existence through identification with others. Being part of a family, group, community or a culture is a primary psychological motivation based on the primacy for attachment, relatedness, emotional involvement with others, and the desire for acceptance and love. Through the process of identification with others the rudiments of the self are constituted through the internalization of others who possess the psychological characteristics of similarity.

Logistics Issues Facing Both Easyjet and Ryanair

Logistics Issues Facing Both Easyjet and Ryanair Free Online Research Papers 1. INTRODUCTION After the deregulation of the airline industry in Europe which became fully effective in April 1997, one of the main and most interesting aspects of the free market has been the entry in the industry of Low Cost Airlines (LCA). Taking their business model from American air carrier Southwest, Ryanair and its Luton-based rival EasyJet are by far the largest low cost airlines in Europe. Even though the two firms have slightly different strategies the competition between them is extremely intense. This paper will be made up of three parts: first a general description will present some interesting figures of both companies EasyJet and Ryanair followed by a more accurate explanation of their strategies and eventually logistics issues will be discussed. 2. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION LCA fly to short-haul destinations and use only one or two types of aircraft. Most competitors have chosen the Boeing 737 to have large flexibility, fewer stand-by crews, and lower training and maintenance costs (Cranfield University Report, 2000). 2.1 Fleet Headquartered in Luton, UK, EasyJet is one of the leading low fare airlines in the European airline market, with a fleet of 122 aircrafts in 2006 from which 35 are Boeing 737 and 87 are Airbus A319s (see Appendix, Table 1).The age average of the aircrafts being 2.2 years. Meanwhile Ryanair’s fleet is made of 120 Boeing 737 with a capacity of 189 passengers each. 2.2 Employees On the 30th of September 2006, EasyJet employed 4,859 people. Among them were cabin crew, pilots, baggage handling agents and others. Meanwhile, Ryanair employed 3,453 people. 2.3 Route Network Both firms have high frequency daily flights (which correspond to â€Å"product availability† for Kasilingam, 1998). Ryanair has even â€Å"been voted as the airline with the best punctuality and highest frequency† (Ryanair Holdings PLC Datamonitor Report, 2007). It operates between 133 airports across 24 countries on 436 routes, carrying approximately 45% of all scheduled travellers traffic between Dublin and London (Ryanair Holdings PLC Datamonitor Report, 2007). Regarding EasyJet, it flies between 74 key European airports providing a transportation service for leisure and business customers on 289 routes in 11 countries which are UK, France, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, and Portugal (see Appendix, Map 1 and 2). 2.4 Passengers According to their respective websites, in 2000 EasyJet transported annually 5.996 million people while Ryanair carried 7.002 million passengers. Last year, in 2006, EasyJet and Ryanair transported respectively 32.953 million and 42.500 million customers (see Appendix, Chart 1). 3. TWO COMPANIES, ONE STRATEGY: COSTS REDUCTION According to Proussaloglou and Koppelman (1999), when passengers choose a flight, they try to maximise their â€Å"air travel utility†. In their analysis, the elements that influence the choice of travellers are â€Å"the market presence, quality of service, frequent flyer membership, fare levels and travel restriction, and schedule convenience offered by each available flights†. Do EasyJet and Ryanair meet travellers’ requirements? Ryanair’s Chief Executive Michael OLeary is obsessed about keeping costs down and said We want to be known as the Wal-Mart of flying (Maier, 2006) In order to be competitive and be able to offer low fare airline services, LCA try to cut all unnecessary costs so that they can boost their tight profit margins. Regarding the â€Å"placement of facilities†, EasyJet flies mainly to leading airports while Ryanair uses far more secondary airports; In so doing, they reduce costs as secondary airports are generally â€Å"less congested than major airports and can be expected to provide higher rate of on-time departures† (Ryanair Holdings PLC Datamonitor Report, 2007). O’Leary wants to make air travel free (free as in zero cost). By the end of the decade, he promises, more than half of our passengers will fly free (Maier, 2006). EasyJet gains efficiencies through rapid turnaround times (30 minutes and below) and progressive landing chares agreements with the airports. Free seating which is offered by both airlines, contributes to the rapid turnarounds. The use of an innovative distribution system such as the Internet enables EasyJet and Ryanair to reduce their distribution costs. Over 90% of all seats on EasyJet’s flights are sold over the Internet, making them one of Europe’s biggest Internet retailers. â€Å"Ticketless† travel reduces costs as it eliminates the cost of issuing, distributing, processing and reconciling millions of tickets each year. Furthermore the Internet allows travellers to book; change and view flights 24 hours a day which is referred to, by Kasilingam as â€Å"accuracy of filling an order† (Kasilingam, 1998). LCA do not, in general, provide loyalty cards to attract frequent flyers, thereby avoid the setting up and maintenance costs of the service. Other ways in which EasyJet and its main rival reduce costs include not serving meals to passengers on their flights, which reduces the cleaning fee. It also means charging passengers for practically every amenity they might consume. 4. LOGISTICS ISSUES Kasilingam (1998) defines logistics as the â€Å"process of moving, storing and retrieving material, people and information efficiently and economically†, then goes on to divide its system into major planning areas: 4.1 Customer service levels â€Å"Product availability† and â€Å"accuracy of filling an order† have already been mentioned in sub-sections 2.4 and 3.1 respectively. ? Regarding staff language skills we can say that English being one of the most popular language worldwide, staff members from United Kingdom are advantaged. But, it is not enough. Both companies require their cabin crew to be fluent in written and spoken English. No other languages are required and no language training is conducted. According to Ryanair and EasyJet passengers’ comments, staff language skills are respectively â€Å"very poor† and â€Å"poor† (Skytrax). This could be a major problem for both airlines as globalisation is expending very fast. Wanting to avoid language training costs or not hiring enough qualified staff could make them lose customers as it diminishes the quality of the customer service provided. ? This lack of skills can also result in complaints. EasyJet and Ryanair had to face lot of complaints regarding the fact that there is no information about compensation for missing a flight and no attempt to provide alternates solutions to travellers. Some passengers put forward the fact that it is cheap but the cheap prices do not in any way make up for the lack of services (Skytrax). The fact that these companies are viewed as â€Å"money grabbing tactics† users is damaging both companies’ brand image and reduces their competitiveness. 4.2 Location decision The competitive advantage taken from â€Å"Placement of facilities† has already been discussed in sub-section 3.1. 4.3 Transportation Management â€Å"Transportation mode, fleet size, route selection and just in time† have been examined in section 2. But we can also point out that the creation of new route networks leads to another logistics issue. More routes imply more flights and consequently more planes. This means that, the more routes companies take on, the more planes they will have to purchase. Apart from Kasilingam major planning areas, companies like airlines have to face other issues related to logistics: 4.4 Petrol We all know that petrol is one of the commercialised goods that suffer fluctuation nearly everyday. It affects not only direct consumers in gas stations (car/motorcycle owners) but also airline companies who generally augment ticket prices to cover the rises. Ryanair remains one of the only airlines to guarantee no fuel surcharges ever, prompting even more passengers to flock to their lowest fares. This marketing strategy allows the firm to keep the same price range whatever the variation of petrol price. In doing so, its customers will not be affected and thus not disappointed by the petrol fluctuation. 4.5 Airlines and the Nature 4.5.1 Environment By owning young fleet and flying to short haul destination, with an average of 954 kilometers in 2006, EasyJet was able to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel burn per passenger kilometre. Ryanair has as well achieved to reduce fuel consumption and emissions of almost 52% between 1998 and 2006 (Ryanair). Both airline companies deliver travellers directly to their destination, it is to say with only one flight (point-to-point).This avoid passengers to take connection flights which necessitate two take-offs and two landings, in so doing both airlines limit emissions. This concern for environmental issues does not go unnoticed by clients and, like for the petrol issue, it permits both companies to gain new clients and/or keep their customers. 4.5.2 Climate Bad weather is a big worry for airlines, and LCA are well known for their lack of organisation when it happens. Kevin Shanahan, an EasyJet client, witnesses on the 20th March 2007 on a Skytrax passenger forum: â€Å"Inbound flight to Geneva couldnt land due to bad weather late at night. Found out by phoning home before EasyJet told us at the airport. No help from EasyJet staff to find a hotel for the night (Too late for tourist information), no help to get transport to the hotel. Insufficient places on flight next day [†¦]†. Once again disappointment is present. 5. CONCLUSION â€Å"The traditional low-cost model has been that of the charter or non-scheduled airlines which have been such a success in Europe. But the second model introduced into Europe in the late 1990’s is that of the point-to-point, low-cost, no-frills scheduled airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair† (Doganis, 2001). Europe’s LCA models are without a doubt EasyJet and Ryanair, but as every other firm, they have to cope with logistics issues. In this report we have tried to examine them at a strategic level, not focusing on what they do and how, but on WHY. 7. REFERENCES ? Cranfield College of Aeronautics, 2000. Europe’s Low Cost Airlines. An Analysis of the economics and operating characteristics of Europe’s charter and low costs scheduled carriers. Air Transport Group, Cranfield University, Cranfield. ? Doganis, R. (2001) The Airline Business in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge ? Easyjet, About us (2006) Information pack. [Cited 20th March 2007]. ? Kasilingam, R.G. (1998) Logistics and Transportation: design and planning. Kluwer Academic. ? Maier, M. (2006) A radical fix for airlines: Make flying free. Business 2.0 Available on CNN Money website ? Proussaloglou, K. and Koppelman, F. S., 1999. The choice of air carrier, flight, and fare class. Journal of Air Transport Management. 5: 193-201. ? Ryanair, About us (2007). [Cited 21st March 2007]. ? Ryanair Holdings PLC Datamonitor Report, 2007. ? Skytrax, Airline Ranking (2007). [Cited 26th March 2007] ? Yahoo, Finance UK (2007) Investing. [Cited 15th March 2007] Research Papers on Logistics Issues Facing Both Easyjet and RyanairNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaTwilight of the UAWDefinition of Export QuotasOpen Architechture a white paperMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Project Managment Office SystemInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 Europe

Statistics in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Statistics in Business - Essay Example ii. Inferential statistics is the second type that deals with the collection of samples from a large statistical set of data and deducing general conclusions. Therefore, descriptive statistics summarizes business data while inferential statistics computes the same information in the form of representative samples. i. Nominal statistics. It is the categorical discrete data for example names that represent the units being measured. In business such names may include examples like the types of cars being sold or the organizational department involved in a particular transaction ii. Ordinal or Rank. Refers to the ordering or ranking of the quantities being measured. A business empire may choose to rate its departments in a particular order of merit when conducting statistical analysis iii. Interval data. It is similar to ordinal in terms of ranking except for the fact the intervals between statistical values are split on an equal basis. Financial information appertaining to a business can be split orderly to create equal intervals to aid in statistical analysis iv. Ratios. Show statistical relationships between various sets of data. Therefore, comparison of financial and other statistical business information is made possible. Examples of business ratios are liquidity, profitability and efficiency Statistics gives a scope of the market and enable the managing body of a business to plan appropriately for the customers. When statistical analysis is conducted on a representative sample of customers, the process becomes cost-effective because not every customer has to be involved. Therefore, the organization is able to formulate a cost-effective financial plan in relation to the target market. Leaders in business organizations make vital decisions for the business. Such decisions should be supported by an accurate and substantive basis. Statistical

To study the morphology and behavior of primates in a zoo setting Essay - 1

To study the morphology and behavior of primates in a zoo setting - Essay Example They are also very generous because they share their prey with members of other groups. They are cunning and diligent after they kill their prey because they eat it on trees to avoid other predators. The primates also remove tree leaves and use it to create a tool that they use capture insects that they eat as food. Interestingly, chimpanzees steal honey from beehives that they eat and later use small shrubs as toothpick. Leaves are folded to create a ridge that is used to fetch drinking water. Conversely, chimpanzees use rocks to hunt for their prey. Unfortunately, they experience difficulty when they use such weapons because their lack proper hand coordination (Palomar, paras.1-2). The zoo is a home for the red Ape, which is becoming extinct. They have a well-built body structure and are unsociable. The organization has made measures ensure that they protect the endangered species, and construction of the equipment is underway. The zoo supports initiatives to protect the orangutan from becoming extinct have been put forth. According to the organization, a breeding project is ongoing in the United States to enhance the lives of the primates (Toronto zoo, paras. 1-3). Monkeys are also part of the primate family. During the tour, we observed monkeys were vegetarians. They affectionately relate with their young ones and are united in groups. The young ones also monitored how their elders were hunting for food and at times tried to imitate them. The animals also Quadra pedaled in groups and in some instances chased away other animals that tried to attack them. They hunted without having any interference because other animals were scared of them. Unlike chimpanzees that send signals to other members of the group when they find food, monkeys are selfish when they find food. Monkeys are very greedy and only share the food among group members if it is only available in abundance (Palomar, paras 4-5). Chimpanzees are the unique primates according to