Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Ethical Challenges in Business Organization Essay Example

Ethical Challenges in Business Organization Essay Example Ethical Challenges in Business Organization Paper Ethical Challenges in Business Organization Paper Associate Director such as requesting an appointment, so that, we can have the exact date to meet her. The Interview session runs smoothly without any major problem. The cooperation given by all group members and Madam Sarnia is very satisfying. Introduction On the morning of 4 November 2013, two our group members, Attica and Aid, went to the 33rd floor of Meaner Mbabane, Clan Tuna Appear, Koala Lump to have an Interview session with Madam Sarnia Bat Dally who Is the Associate Director of Debt years old and was born in Juror Barr. She graduated from University Malay in degree of Accounting in the year 2003. She started working in Mbabane Investment Bank or formerly known as Assemblers in the same year she graduated. She has been working there for more than 10 years. She is an experienced worker in her position. Since she is a competence employee and have a good reputation in her Job, we are interested to interview her regarding the business ethics issue. Literature review Definition of Business Ethics There are people who wish to be honest in business, but they must be sneaky or dishonest in order to make profit. Anyone who thinks about what he or she ought to do is, consciously or unconsciously, involved ethics. Ethics deals with values, with good and bad, with right and wrong. Business ethics is no longer concerned solely or primarily with the criticism of business and business practice. The new concern is just how profit should be thought of in the larger context of productivity and social responsibility and how corporations as complex communities can best serve both their own employees and the surrounding society. There is some misunderstanding in the means of doing business. Adopt a too narrow vision of what business is such as the pursuit of profit and then derive unethical decision. It is only say that the idea of the profit motive as an end in itself , as opposed to profits as a means of encouraging and rewarding hard work and investment, building a better business and serving society better. It is true that business is and must be competitive, but it is not true that it is cut-throat or that one does whatever it takes to survive. The central concept of much of recent business ethics is the idea of social responsibility. Managing ethical behavior is one of the most pervasive and complex problems faced by business organizations today. The employees decision to behave is influenced by a myriad of individual and situational factors such as background, personality, decision history, managerial philosophy. The model of for understanding ethical behavior had been proposed in the article. The question of ethics in business conduct has become one of the most challenging issues confronting corporate America in this era. Current behavioral research strongly supports a person-situation interaction explanation of human behavior in which both individual and situational factors influence the behavioral choices made by individuals. Researchers have suggested three personality measures that may influence ethical behavior which is ego strength, Machiavellian and locus of control. Colonization also seems to influence a person ethical system. The model of ethical behavior in organization would help the managers to understand both employees behave ethically or unethically in business organization and what managers can do to influence this behavior. As the individual enters and gains managerial philosophy and behavior, the reinforcement system and the characteristics of the Job itself. Ethical Challenges in Banking The global financial crisis resulted in widespread disruption to financial markets and institutions. As a consequence, policy makers and supervisors took steps to improve regulatory interventions in order to support financial stability. Trust is the very cornerstone of the financial services industry but this trust has been eroded, not only as a consequence of the financial crisis but by a growing catalogue of examples of MIS-selling, malpractices and poor market conduct behavior by individual financial institutions across the sector. This lack of trust has made the general public extremely cynical over the very values, the self interests and the excessive rewards hat still characterizes the industry. Nowadays, the financial sector is the sectors which have the lowest of trust from people include investor confidence since there is a lot of misconduct in company of financing. Misconduct is still widespread in the financial services industry. Restoring investor confidence is crucial to overcome this crisis, but it remains difficult . The example of their misconducts such as financial fraud and recent banking scandal. The financial sectors need to redesign their incentive, rules and regulations. Regarding the current outlook for banks it was pointed out that they had already dad improvements in their risk management while down-sizing their balance sheets. Consumer groups pointed out that financial consumer protection had not yet received appropriate attention by regulators in those sectors. Too many actions by the financial sector have been destructive that leading to negative returns for pension funds, misapplication of resources, and scandal. A main cause of the crisis was a wrong regulatory paradigm, relying too heavily on self-regulation, but there have also been shortcomings in corporate governance and ethics. Banks have adjusted their activities and business models and while risk capital models have come more sophisticated, the scarcity of capital more generally has made regulatory capital rules more binding and important in risk management considerations. Contingency planning is also playing a more vital role in risk management. It was noted that there is no perfect regulatory system, but some principles of governance of regulation should be observed. Conflict Of Interest Conflict of interest is a very big ethical problem which precisely for that reason deserves special attention, both from a legal viewpoint and from the point of view of ethics applied to organizations and professions. In recent years, conflict of interest is getting more attentions from society. Some examples are provided, such as a doctor advises her patient to undergo certain tests or treatments in doctors own clinic or interest arises in many of decisions that professionals, managers, and employees, as well as public and private companies and organizations, have to make in the course of their normal activities. Another example, an employers interest in increasing her earnings conflicts with her employees interest in reducing company wages bill. Attitudes toward conflicts of interest tend to vary considerably. In a sense, conflict interest in unavoidable problem, there is no point in worrying about its ethical dimension. The problem of conflict of interest is closely related to the problem of corruption. Corruption is a clearly a type of deliberate or accepted conflict of interest in which the interest of the agent is illegitimate. A great variety of solutions has been offered on this problem. Some solutions are intended to prevent the conflict of interest before they arise. Misuse of Company Resources (Internet) and Social Networking Every company mostly would have internet for business matters. Somehow, there are some employees that are using social media for personal business. This is under unethical problem. Somehow, some companies provide social network for their employees to make them productive and not overworked. Another possible use is marketing tool. For managers, it is quite difficult to contacts with the employees. Social networking website provides an opportunity for management to have faster contacts with their subordinates. If there is an issue that needs immediate attention, a manager can send a message through social networking websites and the internet to their employees to get the information they need to make a decision. Social networking websites reduce the amount of time it takes for a Job to be completed because they cut down the amount of time it takes for employees and management to contact each other. Somehow there are some potential problems. According to Wilson (2009), there are five principle worried that management has in regard to social networking, such as, perceived loss in staff productivity, data leakage from staff gossiping freely in an open environment, damage to a company reputation, scam practiced by cyber crooks, and the open access to company information because of outdated passwords. Nowadays, employee Internet misuse and abuse has become a growing concern that has impacted several predominant corporations. According to a survey of human resource directors, approximately 70% of companies provide Internet access to more than half of their employees and such widespread corporate reliance on the Internet has spurred a series of industry-driven studies to investigate the prevalence of employee Internet abuse. As employee Internet abuse has become an identifiable concern, corporations have developed various strategies to help combat the problem. Employers have utilized Internet Use Policies to set forth written deadlines on acceptable or unacceptable Internet conduct. The Internet Use Policy is a visible tool that not only provides guidance on appropriate online behavior but also outlines how violations will be handled. They also advise employers to regularly alert employees that their online activities may be monitored and that inappropriate use strategies to avoid abuse of internet usage. There are some employees use internet for personal, not for organization. This is included in misuse of organization resources. This problem cited as evidence of declining ethical standards. Using company computers for personal business is one of the most common ways employees misuses of company resources. In articles, it state that while this survey of large companies suggests that access to social networking sites may be restricted by some organizations, employees may well make use of these outside the workplace. In the article, it state method to avoid this problem which is monitoring the employees. This method has some policies and rule as well such as clear purpose of monitoring. There are hundreds of software and hardware solutions available on the market to monitor a vast array of activities. The price of monitoring or surveillance software ranges from several thousand dollars down to free. Most solutions can log keystrokes typed, application and website usage, detailed file usage, incoming and outgoing chats and e-mails, internet connections, windows interacted with, internet packet data, desktop corrections, software installations, and much more. The software can present all activities logged in easy- to-read graphical reports. Employers can set specific alerts to notify management when an employee performs a certain action or is perhaps not meeting productivity locals. Keystroke monitoring is perhaps one of the most invasive types of monitoring. There are programs that generate reports detailing every key pressed on a keyboard. The companies that make the appliances to monitor employees cite uses for their products to stop leaking sensitive information, stop breaking laws, stop violating company policies, limit legal liability, and to monitor and recover lost crucial communications to name a few. Companies can implement easily and stealthily the advance monitoring systems allowing the employer to monitor workers without their knowledge. The corporation may install hardware devices at the firewall that will track all electronic transactions or can remotely install software made invisible to the computer user. The technology to monitor an employees activities is extremely sophisticated and fully capable of exposing any action taken on a business computer. The practice of employee monitoring is in practice by large and small businesses throughout the world. It is also very important to note that employers are monitoring more than Just computer usage, many also employ telephone and video monitoring. According to California state law on California Public Utilities Commission, organizations monitoring phone calls are required to inform participants of the recording or monitoring of the conversation by either putting a beep tone on the line or playing a recorded message (1983, General Order 107-8). Many companies also observe employees using video surveillance equipment. Over the last couple of decades, devices that they are completely oblivious to are recording an increasing number of events in every citizens daily lives. There is an all-out assault of tools including hardware, software, telephone systems, and video recordings that organizations are using to protect themselves and work to increase productivity. Ethical Climate There are alarming statistics regarding the amount of misconduct within organization. These unethical conducts includes lying to internal or external constituents, engaging in abusive behavior and others. To reduce the problem of misconduct, scholars are interested in the role of leadership. Ethical leadership is defined as, the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two way communication, reinforcement, and decision making. Ethical leadership has two main aspects which is the moral person component, such s integrity, concern for others, Justice, trustworthiness, and second aspects is moral manager component, such as communicating, rewarding, punishing, emphasizing ethical standards, role modeling ethical behavior. Ethical leaders embody many positive personal characteristics and also seek to influence their employees by actively managing ethical conduct. Leaders set the ethical tone for an organization by enacting practices, policies, and procedures that help facilitate the display of ethical behavior and reduce the likelihood of misconduct. Ethical leaders, as role models of ethical behavior, demonstrate to followers how to be skilful in recognizing ethical issues and equipped in handling ethical issues. The ethical leadership bring the ethical climate. Ethical climate will be related to employee misconduct within work units by drawing on social information processing theory. Individuals look to their environment for cues to characterize their work environment and to understand appropriate ways to behave. Workplace Discrimination Measurement of prejudice, discrimination, and attitudes toward diversity in the workplace is becoming important for two important reasons. First, business and industry are increasingly recognizing the need to address diversity and multicultural issues in workplace practices (Redound, 1996; Cox, 1993; Daly, 1998; Sue, 1995). Although affirmative action may have been a primary impetus to addressing these concerns (Baker, 1996), by and large, many organizations are recognizing the overall diversification of the workforce (Block Newsletter, 1989; Johnston, Packer, Gaffe, 1987). As this demographic shift occurs, organizations are recognizing the need to contend with the cultural sensitivity of managers and employees, interpersonal elations with a culturally diverse workforce, and the need to increase co-worker appreciation of cultural diversity (Carr-Ruffian, 1999; Fernando Davis, 1999). To address these issues, consulting psychologists are designing and implementing training programs to increase cross-cultural sensitivity, tolerance, and appreciation of diversity in the workplace (Redound, 1996; Baker, 1996; Sue, 1995). Certainty, business and industry efforts to address multicultural training are to be encouraged, however, there is no clear focus or agreement about what constitutes good multicultural training in organizations. The vocational psychologists and muskmelons are recognizing the influence of prejudice and discrimination on career development, particularly for people of color, such as, racism. Racism may be resulted in some African American women limiting their career choices. With some formula, they could measure the level of discrimination in the workplace. The number of people of color who apply for employment, and the hiring rate for people of color at all organizational levels are examples of archival data that may be useful in assessing workplace diversity. Unethical Misconduct There are many reasons for employees misconduct in a company such as being reed, for financial benefit, or others individual motivation. Carol, who said in 1991 that business ethical conduct, is a vital part of Corporate Social Responsibility. Misconduct is defined by Ethics Resource Center 2005 as any behavior that violates the law or organizational ethics standards. Employee misconduct has a wide range of levels of impact upon an organization, ranging from small-scale dishonesty to corruption and fraud for personal gain. In order to minimize the problems and to improve ethical conduct, the business leaders and human resources managers are leading the roles on ethics management. Some methods to improve the ethical conduct is integrity program. This program is to encourage shared commitment by employees to be responsible for self-managed conduct. The methods used under this program are such as education, penalties and leadership. Besides this program, compliance program is one of the ways to improve the ethical conduct. Methodology The method used for this research is by conducting an interview with one respondent. The interviewee is free to give her opinion regarding the matters asked by the interviewer. Qualitative Research Method The interview method is considered as the best way in order to obtain a more understandable views on ethical challenges faced by the respondent in her company. This is in line with Clansmans and Stratuss (1973) assertion that The interview must be used to provide context and meaning. Qualitative method provide the means to gather information about business ethics, unethical misconducts in the bank and making conclusions regarding the matter. Sample Design The upper senior manager that we chose to be interviewed in Madam Sarnia Bat Dalai. First and foremost, before we have a direct and proper interview with Madam Sarnia Bin Dalai on 4 November 2013, we have done the personal appointment with her arsenal assistant a week before the interview session, therefore we have no problem to meet her on the day of the interview was conducted. She is a highly skilled manager in her field with more than 10 years working experience. She is a Muslim, thus we believe that her faith influence her work ethics and professional conduct. The structure of reporting the results of this study has been organized in the context of three main issues. The main issues are the definition of business ethics, unethical issues in business organization, and codes of ethics in an organization. The focus of he reporting structure was to study the extent to which the interviewee is able to give information regarding the ethical practice in Mbabane Investment Bank and how can we use the information to relate them to the business ethics that we should apply in our daily life and businesses. The definition of business ethics depends on the principles practiced by the person per SE. This is mentioned by the respondent in the interview, Madam Sarnia: Business ethics are moral principles that act as guidance to the way a company should act and do their business. The principles that determine a persons action will also shape his or her ways of doing business. It usually involves the act of distinguishing between what is right and what is wrong. It should be easy to differentiate unethical practices. For example, the most unethical practice that we always hear about is bribery. The respondent also mentioned about her concept of an ethical organizational behavior in the interview: To me, an ethical organization is those with a clear value identified in doing the day-day business and in dealing with the relevant stakeholders including the shareholders, customers, the employees, regulators and the public at large. An ethical organization would live and breathe the industry best practices in corporate governance by promoting a culture of excellence, transparency, integrity and accountability in its day to day operations. One of the challenges in order to be ethical in a business is to make an ethical decision. Decisions are made amongst others based on the familiarities of the issue and the experience I had so far during my tenure with the bank, as to be honest, there is no book written that could teach you how to make the right decision until and unless you personally experience the event and learn to move forward. Making a right decision is not easy but it is a skill that needs to be acquired on the Job. Most of the time, I know the decision that I made is right as it was done after seeking other views relevant to the issue at hand from my peers, bosses and the experts. If it involves a legal issue, a view from the legal counsel will be sought whilst if it is a regulatory issue, then the regulators view will be sought prior to making such decision. In addition to the above, decision made are also driven by the value that we adopt here in the bank. Therefore, the correct business philosophies and decisions are essential n order to ensure a business is practicing the correct ethical behavior. Unethical Challenges There should be many unethical issues faced by organizations around the globe. In this research we will focus on the dilemmas faced by the respondent in the bank. There are three unethical issues that is going to be discussed which are conflict of interest, misuses of company resources and discrimination in work place. Conflict of interest is a situation that has the potential to undermine the impartiality of a person because of the possibility of a clash between a persons self interest and public interest or professional interest. L also faced some conflict of interest in hiring new staffs. Especially when some of my younger relatives are applying to work here. Misuse of Company Resources Misuse of company resources is often included in workplace code of conduct not only to serve as a theft deterrent but also to promote productivity and ethical conduct within the workplace. Some common misuses of company resources include inappropriate use of the internet, personal phone calls, and personal use of fax machines or copiers and other workplace equipments. These actions are not only considered as an inappropriate use of company equipment and resources, but also lower the productivity of the individuals performing these actions. In many ways, this is considered a form of theft because the inappropriate use of time means that the company is paying an employee to perform a Job task while that employee is engaging in some other activity unrelated to their work. According to the respondent, the misuse of company resources mostly involves the usage of the internet: Here is some of my intern who uses the companys computer for personal use. Of course that is not a huge crime but a few of them use the computers to access social networking sites like Backbone. It would be a huge problem if they neglected their work. The youngsters nowadays Just cannot get enough of the internet I guess. Discrimination Discrimination is the unequal treatment of people based on identifiable characteristics. Some types of discrimination are illegal, and there are policies against other types in government agencies and public organizations. Many of the legal provisions are based on the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Discrimination in the aerospace is regulated to ensure that people have equal access to Jobs and equal benefits once hired. There are many different ways of discrimination such as race discrimination, age discrimination, gender discrimination and also disability discrimination. In accordance to the the discrimination issues, we asked the respondent opinion regarding this matter: l really object any type of discrimination. People should be treated with equity. Codes of Ethics A guide of principles designed to help professionals conduct business honestly and with integrity. A code of ethics document may outline the mission and values of the equines or organization, how professionals are supposed to approach problems, the ethical principles based on the organizations core values and the standards to which the professional will be held. We asked the respondent about the codes of ethics that is been practiced in Mbabane Investment Bank: Moneybags T. I. G. E. R values are the essential guiding principles for those situations where the rule book provides no run the day-day business and life. We also asked Madam Sarnia about her opinion regarding the relevance of business ethics code in a business and got her immediate respond: A good practice, good provenance, transparency and doing business with full integrity will be good for business as it helps in building the trust with the customers or client, creating a long term relationship with the customers or clients. A good code of ethics is important for every organization. It should not be viewed as a burden. According to the respondent: No it should not be viewed as a burden but rather as a value that need to be embraced by the employees in an organization, believing in it as what it is stand for and practice it in a day-day work so it became part of us, work wise or personal life. Adopting best practices in what we do will lead to greater things and brings an organization to a greater height and standard, be it from the shareholders stand point or from the public stand point. Moneybags tagging Humanism Financial Services Across Asia is very close to our heart as it represents the way we do business here in Mbabane, for example, having the customers interest first, making banking friendlier, convenient and easily accessible and are committed to our corporate social responsibility in helping the less fortunate. In preventing the unethical misconduct, there should be regulators. Those who involved in any type of conducts should be punished accordingly. We got the respondent view on this matter: If any, the respective individual who did any misconduct will be penalized internally. More or so that in the course of our business in Mbabane B in particular, each of us is required to be licensed with the Securities Commission (SC), therefore requires each of us to be aware of what we do or otherwise be subjected to a serious penalties by the SC. Our human resource or compliance department would have the mechanics in dealing with such personnel who commit any misconduct internally. Unethical Implication on Organization There are many hidden costs of doing unethical practices. They may give a short term profit but will cost dearly in the future. These are the few of the implications of unethical practices that we come out with from the interview: Unethical behavior harm sales According to a survey by Within Worldwide on 2003, 80 percent of people said they decide to buy a firms goods or services partly on their perception of its ethics. Unethical behavior harms stock price Seventy-four percent of people Writing polled said their perception of a firms honesty directly affected their decision about whether to buy its stock.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Hull House essays

Hull House essays While in Europe, Jane Addams and Ellen Starr visited the university settlement of Toynbee Hall which had inspired them to start a similar project in Chicago. Helen Culver agreed to rent them Hull House for $60 a month. Most of the people living in the area were recently arrived immigrants from Europe. Addams and Starr moved in to Hull House on September 18th 1889. They started out by inviting the people living in the area to the House. Addams and Starr decided to start a type of school. Addams attended to the boys and Starr taught the girls basic home skills. The women then decided to turn Hull House into an art gallery. Starr began art and developed a system where people could borrow art and hang in their own homes. The locals preformed songs, dances, games and food associated with their home country. Jane Addams said that it was obvious that the object of the settlement program should be to "help the foreign-born conserve and keep whatever of value their past life contained and to bring them into contact with a better class of Americans." Women were influenced by Christian Socialism which had also been the base of Toynbee Hall. And Florence Kelleys arrival at Hull House attracted other social reformers to the settlement whom then influenced the working-class women. Kelley and several other women at Hull House contributed to the passing of the Illinois Factory Act. Wealthy people in Chicago contributed money. This enabled the group to expand its activities. The Hull House settlement has received a lot of support and is spreading to other cities in the United States. So far there are 74 settlements in the United States. These women are just beginning a revolutionary change throughout the U.S. ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Juvenile delinquency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Juvenile delinquency - Essay Example The American government has taken a lot of steps to lower the crime rate amongst the juvenile. The first jail for such offenders was opened in 1825 and by the year of 1875, there were forty juvenile prisons. (Musick, 24). Chicago Reformers also worked a great deal for such children by opening the state reform schools. Musick says that, â€Å"by 1900, thirty-two states passed compulsory attendance laws† (25). Juvenile courts were another effort by the legislators. The history shows that the legislation has been influenced through out to make the changes concerning the juvenile delinquency. The government always tried to look into the reasons which cause such horrifying situations. There are many reasons, which influence the legislation again and again to change its approach towards the juvenile criminals. Immaturity, drug addiction, severe poverty, and abuse, which can be physical, mental or sexual, are the most obvious causes so far. Musick writes that, â€Å"by the middle of twentieth century, news about neglect and abuse began to influence children’s laws† (28). Macko writes that, â€Å"Unfortunately, statistics prove that such youths are disproportionately affected by social problems linked historically to crime. These social problems include: the breakdown of the family, poverty and poor education.† Homicides can become another basis for it. Macko estimates that, â€Å"The United States averages, currently, about 21 ,000 homicides per year.† Musick stresses on â€Å"homelessness, current pattern of father abandonment and dual wage earnings† (37,) which are getting the children to indulge in criminal acts. He also points out that, â€Å"Quality child care is expensive and scarce.† Hart wrote that, â€Å"Juvenile sex offenders pasts might go public† to stop them from committing crimes. â€Å"A federal law in July 2010, however, could compel states to reveal the identities of many young sex offenders on a

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Tyco International Company Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Tyco International Company Culture - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that ethics signifies the habit, customs, disposition, and significance of an individual. Ethics has been related to honesty and morality conducted by an individual or employee in their personal or professional lives.   Although, there is no widely accepted definition of   business ethics but according to author Lewis it is defined as rules, standards, principles, codes, which provide guidelines   for the morally right behavior and the truthfulness   in certain specific situations It is observed that an organization with a diverse workforce face various situational dilemma and issues arising out of ethical values. Ethics can be termed asset of moral standards that help the managers and the employees to arrive at a unified decision with the stakeholders. The influence of the legal laws on the managerial decision making is huge and has a considerable amount of influence on the personal and professional lives of the people. Tyco Intern ational Ltd It was observed that after the scandalous activity performed by the management of Enron Corporation the share prices of Tyco International started decreasing gradually. Initially, the accountability of the decreasing shares was given to the heavy intraday trading on a particular day which amounted to the US $68 million. However, the share price of the company started decreasing drastically from $4.45 to $ 47.95 per share. The final blow to the employees and the shareholders was when the management announced that the total earnings of the company had dropped down drastically to 24 percent in the year 2001 compared to the year 2000. The share price of the company had dropped down to $29.90 which was a decrease of 50 percent since January 2002. Tyco International was facing one of the biggest financial crises and the incident had sparked controversies in the entire United States of America. This had led to the management of the company to borrow funds and an analyst had cal led the situation as â€Å"crisis in confidence†.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Analysis of Kingfisher. Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Kingfisher. Essay Introduction: Kingfisher Airline is a private airline based in Bangalore, India. The airlines owned by Vijay Mallya of United Beverages Group. Kingfisher Airlines started its operations on May 9, 2005 with a fleet of 4 Airbus A320 aircrafts. The airline currently operates on domestic routes. The destinations covered by Kingfisher Airlines are Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Guwahati, Kolkata, Pune, Agartala, Dibrugarh, Mangalore and Jaipur. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. The airline offers several unique services to its customers. These include: personal valet at the airport to assist in baggage handling and boarding, accompanied with refreshments and music at the airport, audio and video on-demand, with extra-wide personalized screens in the aircraft and three-course gourmet cuisine. Kingfisher is one of only 6 airlines in the world to have a 5 star rating from Sky tax, along with Asian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. The airline offers several unique services to its customers. These include personal valet at the airport to assist in baggage handling and boarding, exclusive lounges with private space, accompanied with refreshments and music at the airport, audio and video on-demand, with extra-wide personalized screens in the aircraft, sleeper seats with extendable footrests, and three-course gourmet cuisine. HISTORY Kingfisher Airlines is a subsidiary of the UB Group, one of the largest beverage companies in the world. The branding of the airline is linked to that of Kingfisher Beer, India’s largest brewery. The airline, which is headed by the charismatic Dr Vijay Mallya, took to the skies in May 2005, and attracted attention for its high quality product with personal in flight entertainment in every seat; custom interior designs for each aircraft; valet assistance at airports and complimentary hot food and beverages. The airline initially operated a single class service but subsequently introduced a highly acclaimed First Class, allowing it to compete with Jet Airways for the high yield corporate market. In addition to its A320 family aircraft used on domestic routes, Kingfisher Airlines also operates ATR-72 turboprops on regional sectors. Under current Indian regulations, which require airlines to operate 5 years domestic service before being granted international rights, Kingfisher will not be permitted to operate overseas until 2010. However, the airline has very clear international ambitions, with an order book for 45 wide body aircraft, including A330s, A340s, A350s and A380s. In just over two years, Kingfisher Airlines has achieved a market share of 10% and has one of the most aggressive expansion plans of all Indian carriers during 2007. In Jun-07, it dramatically increased its influence in the market with the acquisition of a 26% shareholding in India’s largest LCC, Air Deccan, for approximately USD130 million, and an open offer for a further 20%. Through schedule coordination and joint operations in ground handling, training, and maintenance, the carriers are projecting annual cost savings of over USD70 million. There will also be greater coordination between the two brands, with Air Deccan to adopt the Kingfisher image in its logo and to switch to a red, rather than a blue color scheme. The combined Kingfisher/Deccan group has a market share of just over 30% and a product range spanning from the price-sensitive, first-time flyer, to the high yield business traveler, making I tone of the key pillars of the airline industry. The airline which started its operation on 9th May 2005, following the lease of 4 Airbus A320 aircraft. As of July 2007, Kingfisher operates only on domestic routes; however it has announced plans to start flights to the USA with Airbus A380 aircraft. The airline is  owned by the United Beverages Group under the leadership of Vijay Mallya (which also owns the popular Indian beer of the same name). The airline promises to suit the needs of air travelers and to provide reasonable air fares. Kingfisher Airlines main luxury component is its In-Flight Entertainment System, a first among Indian airlines. The airliners in-flight Mobile Phone and Internet Services will be provided by On Air starting 2008 for long haul flights. VISION â€Å"The Kingfisher Airlines family will consistently deliver a safe, value-based and enjoyable travel experience to all our guests.† VALUES  Safety  This is our overriding value. In our line of business, there is no compromise. Service  We are all in the hospitality business; we must always seek to serve our guests and gain their trust, goodwill and loyalty. Happiness  We seek to build an organization with people who choose to be happy, and will Endeavour to influence our guests and co-workers to be happy too. Teamwork  We will succeed or fail as a team. Each one of us must respect our colleagues regardless of their rank, and we must work together to ensure our mutual success. Accountability  Each one of us will be held accountable for the successful execution of our duties, commitments and obligations, and we will strive to lead by example. MISSION Kingfisher Airlines will have Fly the Good Times approach and this will reflect in the experience we will offer to passengers. SERVICES DOMESTIC Kingfisher First The domestic Kingfisher First seats have a 48 inch seat pitch and a 126 degree seat recline. There are laptop and mobile phone chargers on every seat. Passengers can avail of the latest international newspapers and magazines. There is also a steam ironing service on board Kingfisher First cabins. Every seat is equipped with a personalized IFE system with AVOD which offers a wide range of Hollywood and Bollywood movies, English and  Hindi TV programmers’, 16 live TV channels and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio. Passengers also get BOSE noise cancellation headphones. Domestic Kingfisher First is only available on selected Airbus A320 family aircraft. Kingfisher Class The domestic Kingfisher Class has 32-34 inch seat pitch.  Every seat is equipped with personal IFE systems with AVOD on-board the Airbus A320 family aircraft. As in Kingfisher First, passengers can access movies, English and Hindi TV programmers’, a few live TV channels powered by Dish TV, and Kingfisher Radio. The screen is controlled by a controller-console on the seat armrest. Ear cup headphones are provided free of cost to all passengers. The default channel shows, alternating every few seconds, the aero plane’s ground speed, outside temperature, altitude, distance and time to destination, the position of the aircraft on a graphical map, and one or more advertisements. Passengers are served meals on most flights. Before take-off, passengers are served bottled lemonade. Economy class meal on-board a Kingfisher Airlines domestic flight. Kingfisher Red After Kingfisher Airlines acquired Air Deccan, its name was changed to Simplify Deccan and subsequently to Kingfisher Red. Kingfisher Red is Kingfisher Airlines low-cost class on domestic routes. A special edition of Cine Blitz magazine is the only reading material provided. Kingfisher Airlines is the first airline in India to extend its King Club frequent flyer program to its low-cost carrier as well. Passengers can earn King Miles even when they fly Kingfisher Red, which they can redeem for free tickets to travel on Kingfisher Airlines or partner airlines. INTERNATIONAL Kingfisher First The international Kingfisher First has full flat-bed seats with a 180 degree recline, with a seat pitch of 78 inches, and a seat width of 20-24.54 inches.[32] Passengers are given Merino wool blankets, a Salvatore Ferragamo toiletry kit, a pyjama to change into, five-course meals and alcoholic beverages. Also available are in-seat massagers, chargers and USB connectors. Every Kingfisher First seat has a 17 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touch screen controls and offers 357 hours of programming content spread over 36 channels, including Hollywood and Bollywood movies along with 16 channels of live TV, so passengers can watch their favorite TV programmers’ live. There is also a collection of interactive games, a jukebox with customizable playlists and Kingfisher Radio. Passengers are given BOSE noise cancellation headphones. The service on board the Kingfisher First cabins includes a social area comprising a full-fledged bar staffed with a bartender, a break-out seating area just nearby fitted with two couches and bar stools, a full-fledged chef on board the aircraft and any-time dining. A turn-down service includes the conversion of the seat into a fully flat bed and an air-hostess making the bed when the passenger is ready to sleep. Both Kingfisher First and Kingfisher classes feature mood lighting on the Airbus A330-200 with light schemes corresponding to the time of day and flight position. Kingfisher Class  The international Kingfisher Class seats offer a seat pitch of 34 inches, a seat width of 18 inches and a seat recline of 25 degrees (6 inches). Passengers get full length modacrylic blankets, full size pillows and meals. Each Kingfisher Class seat has a 10.6 inch widescreen personal television with AVOD touch screen controls. The IFE is similar to that of the international Kingfisher First class. It can also be controlled by a detachable remote-control console fitted in the armrest. This device can be used to control the IFE, reading-lights, play games and even has a credit-card swipe for shopping on Kingfishers Air Boutique. It also has a facility for sending text-messages, though the service isnt provided by Kingfisher. CARGO Kingfisher Xpress Kingfisher Xpress is a new Door-to-Door cargo delivery service from Kingfisher Airlines. Kingfisher Xpress same day service will be Indias  first and only same day delivery by air service. In-flight entertainment Kingfishers IFE system is the Thales Top Series i3000/i4000 on-board the Airbus A320 family aircraft, and Thales Top Series i5000 on-board the Airbus A330 family aircraft provided by the France-based Thales Group. Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to have in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems on every seat even on domestic flights. All passengers were given a welcome kit consisting of goodies such as a pen, facial tissue and headphones to use with the IFE system. Now, passengers of Kingfisher class are not given welcome kits but, as mentioned earlier, a complimentary bottle of lemonade and earphones for use with the IFE are still given. The in flight magazines are special editions of magazines owned by Mallyas media publishing house (VJM Media) viz. Hi! Blitz for domestic flights and Hi! Living for international flights. Initially, passengers were able to watch only recorded TV programming on the IFE system, but later an alliance was formed with Dish TV to provide live TV in-flight.[34] And in a marked departure from tradition, Kingfisher Airlines decided to have an on-screen safety demonstration using the IFE system; however the conventional safety briefing by the flight attendants still exists on many flights. King Club The Frequent-flyer program of Kingfisher Airlines is called the King Club in which members earn King Miles every time they fly with Kingfisher or its partner airlines, hotels, car rental, finance and lifestyle businesses. There are four levels in the scheme: Red, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels. Members can redeem points for over a number of schemes. Platinum, Gold and Silver members enjoy access to the Kingfisher Lounge, priority check-in, excess baggage allowance, bonus miles, and 3 Kingfisher First upgrade vouchers for Gold membership. Platinum members get 5 upgrade vouchers. Kingfisher Lounge Kingfisher Lounges are offered to Kingfisher First passengers, along with King Club Silver and King Club Gold members. Lounges are located in: Bangalore International Airport Chennai International Airport  Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Mumbai) Cochin International Airport (Kochi) Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi) London Heathrow Airport Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (Kolkata) Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Hyderabad) However, note that the airline has suspended operation in London, Kochi, Kolkata and Hyderabad. AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS Kingfisher Airlines frequent flyer programme, King Club has won Top Honors at the 21st Annual Freddie Awards in the Japan, Pacific, Asia and Australia region. King Club has won the Freddie Awards 2008 in the following categories: Best Bonus Promotion Best Customer Service Best Member Communications (First Runner-up) Best Award Redemption (First Runner-up) Best Elite Level (Second Runner-up) Best Website (Second Runner-up) Program of the Year (Second Runner-up) Kingfisher Airlines has received three global awards at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2010 Named Best Airline In India / Central Asia; Best Cabin Crew – Central Asia. Kingfisher RED named Best Low Cost Airline in India / Central Asia. NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation. Indias only 5 Star airline, rated by Skytrax and 6th airline in the world. Rated Indias Second Buzziest Brand 2008 by The Brand Reporter. Ranked amongst Indias Top Service Brands of 2008 by Pitch Magazine. Voted as Indias Favorite Airline. Rated as Asia Pacifics Top Airline Brand. Brand Leadership Award. Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in Customer Responsiveness. Indias No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction by Business World. Rated  amongst Indias most respected companies by Business World. Rated amongst Indias 25 Innovative Companies by Plan man Media in 2006. The Best Airline and Indias Favorite Carrier in a Survey conducted by IMB for The Times of India. Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine by Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA). Service Excellence 2005-2006 for a New Airline by Skytrax. Ranked third in the survey on Indias Most Successful Brand launch of 2005 under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by Business Standard. Busiest Brands of 2005 by agency fans and The Brand Reporter. Rated amongst the Top Ten Internet Advertisers by Yahoo. Rated amongst the top ten in the Best Television Commercial Jingles by NDTV. Best New Airline of the Year Award for 2005 by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region. Listed in the top 100 most trusted brand in The Brand Trust Report. POLITICAL FACTORS 1) Open sky policy 2) FDI limits: 100% for Greenfield airports 74% for the existing airports 100% through special permission 49% for airlines ECONOMICAL FACTORS 1) Contribution to the Indian economy. 2) Rising cost of fuel. 3) Investment in the sector of aviation. 4) The growth of the middle income group family affects the aviation sector. SOCIAL FACTORS 1) Development of cities leads to better services and airports. 2) Employment opportunities. 3) Safety regulations. 4) The status symbol attached to a plane travel. TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS 1) The growth of e-commerce and e-ticketing. 2) Satellite based navigation system. 3) Modernisation and privatisation of the airports. 4) Developing green field airports with private sector for example in Bangalore the airport corporation limited. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS 1) The increase in the global warming. 2) The sudden and unexpected behavior of the atmosphere and the dependency on whether. 3) Shortage of the infrastructural capacity 4) Tourism saturation. LEGAL FACTORS 1) FDI limits 2) Bilateral treaties 3) Airlines acquisitions and the leasing cost. STRENGTHS Strong brand value and reputation in the minds of customers. Quality of the service. Route rationalization. First airline to have a new fleet of airbuses. Quality and continuous innovation. WEAKNESSES Still a not in profit organization. High ticket pricing. Facing a tough competition from competitors. OPPORTUNITIES The expanding tourism industry. The non penetrated domestic market. International market. Untapped air cargo market. THREATS Competitors Infrastructure issues. Fuel price hike. Tourism saturation Economic slowdown. Promotions and sponsorship declining. STP ANALYSIS SEGMENTATION Geographic Region Density Social Classes Income Level TARGETING Kingfisher First company executives Kingfisher Class lower middle, upper middle, lower upper segment POSITIONING Lifestyle Benefits Quality P’s PRODUCT Fleet Size Aircrafts International Foray PROMOTIONS Advertisements Magazine and Newspaper ads Exposure at non-corporate event Participation in International Air shows Endorsing celebrities like Katrina Kaif and Yana Gupta PRICE Dynamic pricing model Multiple fare levels Uniform rules No hidden restrictions. Pricing model 8 different levels Discounts provided from time to time PEOPLE Backbone of the brand Extensive trainings Hospitality industry and consider their customer as guests Interpersonal skills, aptitude, and service knowledge PLACE Online Booking www.flykingfisher.com Online Booking Yatra.com, MakeMyTrip.com, ezeego1.com Credit Cards Debit Cards Payment SMS / Call Outlets in every major city and at every airport across the country PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Personal valets Exclusive lounge space Hi! Blitz Gourmet cuisine world class cabin crew 5 trendy video- Fun TV; 10 music stations -Kingfisher Radio PROCESS Booking the ticket online booking or tele-booking or from any of the kingfisher outlet COMPETITORS Company Sales (Rs.Million) Current Price Change (%) P/E Ratio Market Cap.(Rs.Million) 52-Week High/Low Jet Airways (I) 127768.30 305.85 6.38 0.00 26405.26 518/167 Spice Jet 28795.08 29.50 8.66 0.00 14288.32 43/15 Kingfisher Airlines 62333.79 12.95 2.78 0.00 8747.08 44/13 Global Vectra Helico 2315.75 9.70 -0.10 0.00 135.80 26/9 Jagson Airlines 97.25 4.10 2.50 0.00 82.69 10/3 MARKET SHARE PROFIT LOSS STATEMENT Mar11 Mar10 Mar09 Mar08 Jun07 12 Months 12 Months 12 Months 12 Months 12 Months INCOME: Sales Turnover 6,233.38 5,067.92 5,269.17 1,456.28 1,800.21 Excise Duty 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 NET SALES 6,233.38 5,067.92 5,269.17 1,456.28 1,800.21 Other Income 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 TOTAL INCOME 6,422.58 5,140.00 5,863.60 1,504.92 1,830.19 EXPENDITURE: Manufacturing Expenses 3,466.83 2,911.81 3,715.47 1,297.51 1,597.06 Material Consumed 56.69 40.89 51.19 43.79 45.94 Personal Expenses 680.54 689.38 825.42 244.96 247.72 Selling Expenses 659.07 687.02 683.82 85.00 17.90 Administrative Expenses 426.21 418.41 546.47 110.20 154.00 Expenses Capitalised 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Provisions Made 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 5,289.34 4,747.51 5,822.36 1,781.46 2,062.61 Operating Profit 944.04 320.41 -553.19 -325.17 -262.40 EBITDA 1,133.24 392.49 41.24 -276.54 -232.42 Depreciation 203.02 162.80 133.20 18.28 17.67 Other Write-offs 38.01 54.49 38.39 18.31 26.25 EBIT 892.20 175.20 -130.35 -313.13 -276.34 Interest 2,340.32 2,245.59 2,029.33 434.44 466.05 EBT -1,448.12 -2,070.39 -2,159.68 -747.57 -742.39 Taxes -455.35 -700.00 -546.38 -494.45 3.40 Profit and Loss for the Year -992.76 -1,370.39 -1,613.30 -253.12 -745.79 Non Recurring Items -107.62 -405.38 4.47 64.98 312.12 Other Non Cash Adjustments 72.99 31.28 0.00 -0.9 14.09 Other Adjustments 0.00 97.27 0.00 0.97 0.00 REPORTED PAT -1,027.40 -1,647.22 -1,608.83 -188.14 -419.58 KEY ITEMS Preference Dividend 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Equity Dividend 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Equity Dividend (%) 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Shares in Issue (Lakhs) 4,977.79 2,659.09 2,659.09 1,357.99 1,354.70 EPS Annualised (Rs) -20.64 -61.95 -60.50 -18.47 -30.97 CASHFLOW STATEMENT Particulars Mar11 Mar10 Mar09 Mar08 Jun07 Profit Before Tax -1,520.78 -2,417.92 -2,155.21 -682.59 -416.18 Net Cash Flows from Operating Activity -2.23 -1,665.09 -645.78 -541.52 -552.58 Net Cash Used in Investing Activity 38.05 235.13 206.63 13.82 119.48 Net Cash Used in Financing Activity -81.72 1,464.55 290.11 -9.23 993.68 Net Inc/Dec in Cash and Cash Equivalent -45.90 34.60 -149.04 -536.93 560.57 Cash and Cash Equivalent Beginning of the Year 206.47 171.87 320.91 817.05 256.47 Cash and Equivalent End of the Year 160.57 206.47 171.87 280.12 817.05 BALANCE SHEET Particulars Mar11 Mar10 Mar09 Mar08 Jun07 Liabilities 12 Months 12 Months 12 Months 12 Months 12 Months Share Capital 1,053.83 370.39 371.02 145.89 135.47 Reserves Surplus -4,005.02 -4,268.84 -2,496.36 52.99 249.23 Net Worth -2,951.19 -3,898.45 -2,125.35 198.87 384.70 Secured Loans 5,184.53 4,842.43 2,622.52 592.38 716.71 Unsecured Loans 1,872.55 3,080.17 3,043.04 342.00 200.00 TOTAL LIABILITIES 4,105.88 4,024.15 3,540.21 1,133.26 1,301.41 Assets Gross Block 2,254.26 2,048.14 1,891.80 322.33 340.77 (-) Acc. Depreciation 682.37 493.62 316.29 43.55 33.74 Net Block 1,571.89 1,554.51 1,575.52 278.78 307.03 Capital Work in Progress. 673.35 980.60 1,630.95 346.25 357.62 Investments. 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.00 0.41 Inventories 187.65 164.88 147.25 48.64 61.62 Sundry Debtors 440.53 322.49 229.84 27.16 35.24 Cash And Bank 252.36 206.47 171.87 280.12 817.05 Loans And Advances 5,380.19 4,604.31 3,640.42 832.48 149.76 Total Current Assets 6,260.73 5,298.13 4,189.37 1,188.41 1,063.68 Current Liabilities 4,463.86 3,908.03 3,814.63 687.31 449.15 Provisions 62.11 46.77 45.55 9.52 6.94 Total Current Liabilities 4,525.97 3,954.80 3,860.18 696.83 456.09 NET CURRENT ASSETS 1,734.76 1,343.34 329.19 491.58 607.59 Misc. Expenses 125.84 145.64 4.51 16.64 28.75 TOTAL ASSETS (A+B+C+D+E) 4,105.88 4,024.15 3,540.21 1,133.26 1,301.41 FUTURE STRATEGIES Market Penetration Can tie up with Corporate and Government Companies by Providing Unique Travel Solutions for Professional and Personal Use. Can implement programs implemented by South West Airlines to penetrate market. Product Development Seek additional distribution channels such as more tie ups and Collaboration. Collaboration with international carriers, bilateral discussions over seats and code sharing between the carriers. Market Development Special offerings for first time fliers. Try to find out new customer group such as old-retired persons. Diversification Can enter into other Transport Services like Bus Services between Major Cities and Other Services. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION Current Indian scenario : Air travel For majority of people preference-No frills – low cost airlines Kingfisher competing with both the â€Å"no frills low cost† airlines as well as those with frills. Three unique classes of service :– Kingfisher First (Business class) Kingfisher Class (Premium economy) Kingfisher Red (Low fare) Current segmentation based on social class income level Social classes: which use full carrier services and those which use first class services of the railways Income level : Low cost carrier for those who travel by first class railway Problem with positioning Brand relates to Lifestyle RECOMMENDATIONS Needs to change brand perception Currently perceived as Lifestyle slogan Red color of crew :Reflects Royalty Over dependence on brand image of Mr. Mallaya Jet airways : Reflects professionalism Advertisement reflecting Value for Money Gain operational efficiencies through alliances as with Jet Airways Leverage Upon: New fleet, Unmatched flight service Innovative ideas-LIVE TV with 16 channels Air Boutique, in Kingfisher Airlines A joint promotion, i.e. using MakeMyTrip services and flying Kingfisher Airlines. By partnering with Kingfisher Airlines, further convenience in travel is offered at no extra cost- Added value Fleet size expansion SUGGESTION Reduce the labor cost Simplify the flight operations Offer more transparent pricing Get smart on fuel The process of acquiring spice jet if complete would make kingfisher the largest player in the aviation industry Different modes of pricing should be taken care of. CONCLUSION After doing a study of this project representing on Kingfisher Airlines, I have come to a conclusion that Kingfisher Airlines is one of the largest and most widespread airlines of the country providing its services not only in India as well as outside India also. It has alliance with many other airlines in this sector. Kingfisher Airlines offers world class services to the customer at a nominal rate. The national carrier takes immense pride in having successfully played a pivotal role in making various facets of India popular with the people of the world and acting as the country’s cultural ambassador. The airline uses the services of one of the advanced plans been operated in the world. To sum up I would like to say that Kingfisher Airlines is serving its customer in an appreciated way and going to be in the list of best services providers in coming years.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Concept Paper :: essays research papers

Truth, Honor, Integrity Truth, honor, and integrity can be used and interpreted in many different ways. These three concepts are instilled into people during childhood, enforced during school years, and reinforced as adults. In the end, though, it all depends on how an individual chooses to interpret these principles before any of them can be seen as good or bad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The dictionary definition of truth is an agreement with fact or reality. There are many different aspects of truth; there is the whole truth, and the partial truth. When someone tells the whole truth there is no lacking in it. It is the complete and absolute truth with no editing for personal reasons. An example of partial truth would be the case of President Clinton and, White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. Although Clinton did admit to having oral sex with Ms. Lewinsky he denied having sex with her. What is the difference, you ask? Clinton claims that the dictionary definition of sex says that it involves intercourse, which he never had with Ms. Lewinsky.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Honor is another word for respect. The Bile states that children should honor their fathers and mothers. My interpretation of this is that children should not only show respect directly towards their parents, but also show it to their name, in the way that they act. The Bible also states that the same respect that is shown to parents should also be shown to peers and authority. There are many different ways to show that you have respect for someone. Doing things like: obeying orders, even if they do not appear logical, and behaving appropriately when in public, can show respect.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Integrity is the state of total honesty and sincerity. Showing integrity is like coming out ant telling the whole truth, no matter what the consequences may be. One of my favorite examples of integrity is shown in the movie While You Were Sleeping. In that particular movie, a lonely female is mistakenly identified as the fiance of a man who has been rendered unconscious.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Dysfunctional Relationships Between Sonny’s Blues and Shiloh

Jeremy Raymond Professor Gazzara ENG 102-109 April 6th, 2013 It Takes Two To Tango What makes a relationship dysfunctional? Is it the changes one sees in another whether they be physical, emotional, or financial? Is it a change in their own personality that is now changing their views on their family member or significant other? Tina B. Tessina defines a dysfunctional relationship as this:Dysfunctional Relationships are relationships that do not perform their appropriate function; that is, they do not emotionally support the participants, foster communication among them, appropriately challenge them, or prepare or fortify them for life in the larger world. (Tessina 1) In â€Å"Sonny's Blues† and â€Å"Shiloh†, we see two different types of dysfunctional relationships. In â€Å"Shiloh† we see a marriage relationship between Norma Jean and Leroy Moffit. In â€Å"Sonny's Blues†, we see a brotherhood relationship between Sonny and his brother.These relationshi ps are considered dysfunctional based on the actions and lack of actions based on those involved. In Mason's â€Å"Shiloh†, the relationship between Leroy and Norma Jean was off to a good start. They have been married sixteen years and had a kid named Randy. Randy passed away from sudden infant death syndrome at a very young age. We can infer through the text that both Norma Jean and Leroy were left traumatized by this. The death of a child can leave a person traumatized and shook-up for the rest of their lives. The couple's relationship takes a turn south due to numerous reasons.One reason being Norma Jeans newfound lifestyle. Ever since Leroy suffered his accident, She has morphed into the manly figure of the household. She's starting to lift weights to strengthen herself up. Leroy is now observing changes in Norma Jean he has never seen before. In addition to lifting weights at home, she is now attending a body building class which puzzles Leroy. Through Leroy's eyes, she is already a changed woman. Besides for Norma Jeans' newfound physical changes in herself, she is also attending night classes.Norma Jean is also developing sleep patterns that concern not only Leroy but also Mabel, her mother. Mabel in a conversation with Leroy states â€Å"She used to go to bed with the chickens. Now you say she's up all hours. † (73). The quote shows how both Leroy, her husband who's loved her for the past sixteen years and Mabel, her own mother are worried and confused by her new patterns in life. In addition to changes in Norma Jean, Leroy has undergone changes as well. Since he had his accident, he is unable to drive tractor trailers across the country anymore.He is now cooped up inside of the house because of his injury. He has developed a hobby for building crafts and has turned that into a plan with blueprints to build a full scale log cabin. The thought of the cabin disgusts Norma Jean, where in a conversation between Leroy, Norma Jean, and Mabel, L eroy states, â€Å"I'm aiming to build us a log house† (70). Norma Jean quickly responds to Leroy with â€Å"Like heck you are† (70). She clearly shows her disapproval with his plan. We as readers can interpret that Leroy is a man stuck in the past and Norma Jean has evolved into a new woman.We see an attempt at resolving the dysfunctional couples relationship when they take a trip to Shiloh. Leroy is trying to hold onto the love of his life while Norma Jean is trying to free herself and move on to bigger and better things in life. She has changed her life, physically and mentally and Leroy has done nothing with his life which is why she is leaving him. The attempt at reconciliation fails terribly and Norma Jean and Leroy split paths and go on with their separate lives. In â€Å"Sonny's Blues† we see another dysfunctional relationship, this time between brothers. The narrator of the story, is the brother of Sonny.A schoolteacher in Harlem, he has grown up around men and women who have suffered from alcoholism, drug addictions and many more problems. Similar to Leroy from â€Å"Shiloh†, he is a family man also reeling from the loss of their youngest child, Grace. The death of their child spurred the brother into writing to his troubled brother Sonny. Sonny was the younger brother of the two who has been through many difficult life lessons throughout his short life so far. Sonny has suffered from a heroin addiction which landed him in a local jail which further weakened the bond between the two brothers.Sonny's brother has lived in Harlem and has seen heroin addicts and victims of alcoholism and has showed no remorse for them. We see Sonny's brothers intolerance for the men around Harlem who suffer from an addiction when he is talking to an old friend of Sonny's after he leaves the school one day. â€Å"Look. Don’t tell me your sad story, if it was up to me, I'd give you one. † (294). This shows how Sonny's brother is in different regarding people who have suffered from a addiction. While Sonny was in jail, the relationship continued to dwindle. After Sonny's release from prison, their relationship began to heal.In addition to his drug addiction, Sonny's inability to decide on a career in life irritates his brother. Sonny's aspirations spread as far as India, a military job stationed throughout the world , and/or landing a job as a musician in his hometown of Harlem. This inconsistency of Sonny enrages his older brother, who has made a promise with their mother to look after him and make sure he grows up to be a proper man. In contrast to the relationship between Norma Jean and Leroy, Sonny and his brothers relationship is able to rebuild after a time of hardship between the two.Sonny is able to recover fully from his heroin addiction and begin to get his life back on track. In addition to cutting his heroin addiction, he makes a life decision regarding his future and chooses to become a musician in Harlem. The theme of dysfunctional relationships is present in both stories with very different endings. In â€Å"Shiloh†, we see a relationship between two married people end abruptly. Leroy, the man stuck in the past and holding on to what he knows and Norma Jean, the woman who has changed everything about herself.Opposites do not attract and the marriage ceased to continue after their visit to the Shiloh battlefield. In â€Å"Sonny's Blues†, the brotherhood relationship between Sonny and his brother is able to recover and progress due to the changes Sonny has made with himself. Works Cited Tessina, Tina. â€Å"What Is A Dysfunctional Relationship? †Ã‚  What Is A Dysfunctional Relationship? N. p. , n. d. Web. 09 Apr. 2013 Mason, Bobbie Ann. Shiloh. N. p. : Flamingo, 1988. Print. Baldwin, James. Sonny's Blues. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 1993. Print.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Incomplete

Froes explains that the â€Å"One Lesson of Business† is that, â€Å"Wealth is created when assets move from lower to higher-valued uses. † (p. 12) Froes goes on to spend most of the chapter talking about how taxation destroys wealth and that government subsidies (and all government spending is a subsist) also destroys wealth. Apply Frost's â€Å"one lesson of business† to a specific government tax-and- spend decision that you support or else use the â€Å"one lesson of business† to explain why you are an anarchist.AY) If you are not an anarchist, then explain how the government creates wealth by axing-and-spending to produce some program somewhere that you support. Why do you think that the tax dollars are worth less to taxpayers than the value of the government program you selected? This can't be a zero-sum game that happens to benefit you personally. The â€Å"One Lesson of Business† is about wealth creation. For example, I can't simply defend Me dicare because I like that it pays for my mother's healthcare. That doesn't explain whether Medicare creates wealth.I would need to justify whether Medicare's total benefits to society are greater than its cost to society. If government doesn't create value somewhere, then we would be better off without it and we should be anarchists. AY) If you are an anarchist, then explain why all taxation and government spending (subsidies) should be eliminated. In particular, you should take on the biggest spending programs of government: defense, healthcare (mostly Medicare), pensions (mostly Social Security), and education.These programs account for over 2/3 of total government spending (including state and local government), so if you are an anarchist, you should focus on where most of the money goes. . Froes says that businesses that are less bureaucratic and more free-market will be more successful. For example, on page 16, Froes says that, â€Å"Organizations impose ‘taxes,' Ã¢â‚¬Ë œsubsidies,' and ‘price controls' within their companies that lead to unprofitable decisions. Pick one of the following questions and indicate whether you have chosen to address X or Y: X) How do corporations and other organizations â€Å"tax† the individuals, divisions, and/pr departments within the organization? Give a specific example. Do not use any government mandated taxes as your example. Would the organization be better off if it completely avoided the kind of ‘taxation' in your example? Y) How do organizations impose â€Å"price controls†? Give an example where a bureaucrat (manager) imposes a price control (a pre-determined, fixed price) upon the people in the organization.Explain whether it is better to eliminate this particular price control. 7. Suppose you have capital that is currently worth $1,000 and your cost of capital (WAC) is 10%/year. How much operating profit per year would you need to earn to be generating economic value by staying in business according to EVA? 8. Think of a pacific example outside of the textbook where someone in an organization (team, school, business, government, etc. ) made a bad decision and use Frost's rational actor paradigm to diagnose the problem. A) What is the problem (very briefly)? B) What caused the bad decision?C) How could you fix the problem? Could anyone change the organizational structure, information, incentives, (or culture)? How well would your proposed change solve the problem? 9. You traveled to Memphis over the weekend but need to return to work in Columbus early Monday morning. On Sunday afternoon, your flight is postponed until Monday night due to hurricane Eke. Since this is a pleasure trip, you bought a non-refundable ticket for $250. You can still get a ticket on a Greyhound bus for $90 and still get home by 6:AMA. Under what circumstances should you buy the Greyhound ticket and â€Å"ride the dog† overnight? 0. You are the production manager for Widgets, Inc . Current production is 1,000 widgets and all have been ordered by your regular customers. The phone rings and a new customer wants to buy 1 more widget and offers you $1,000 if you increase production to 1,001 widgets. Should you accept this offer? Remember that it is often harder to make decisions if you Just try o estimate the cost than if you figure out the total profit. You do not need to know what the other customers paid. Below are your average total cost which is the total cost divided by the quantity of widgets.Quantity Average Total Cost Current Production 1 ,oho $200 Make One More? 1,001 $201 A) What is the marginal revenue of selling one more? B) What is the total cost currently (selling 1000 units) C) What would the total cost be if you sell 1001 units? D) What is the marginal cost of producing the 1st widget? E) What do you tell the new customer? 11. A) Your firm received an REP (request for proposal) on a wire harness from GM hat will require an investment with fixed costs of $1 million and a constant marginal cost per unit of $1 with expected sales of 1 million units.What is the break-even price per unit that you will need to quote in order to avoid losing money? B) GM agrees to the price you quoted, and then hands you with a POP (purchase order) for 0. 5 million units, what do you say? Why? 12. You have fixed costs of $100/year, and you can produce and sell 100 units per year but you sell a commodity, so you are at the mercy of the going market price and you cannot raise your price above whatever price the market is currently at. Your marginal cost is $5. If the market price declines, what is your break-even price below which you will shut down?Note that there are two different answers for two different possible scenarios. Give both possible answers for full credit. Don't worry about the opportunity cost of capital (WAC). Assume that that is included within the fixed cost figure. 13. Suppose there are two technologies for producing pizzas in M acaque. The solar oven requires $100 in fixed costs, but $9 in marginal costs versus the electric oven which requires $50 in fixed costs but $10 in marginal costs due to the high cost f electricity.What quantity of production will make you indifferent between the two different technologies? This is useful because in making capital expenditure decisions there is often this tradeoff and finding the break-even quantity helps strategies about which investment will be most profitable. The idea is that for small quantities one technology will have higher total costs and for large quantities the other technology will have higher total costs. Your Job is to see what quantity makes you indifferent between the two technologies because they have the same total cost.

Friday, November 8, 2019

4 Essay Outline Templates That Will Simplify Your Writing Process

4 Essay Outline Templates That Will Simplify Your Writing Process Have you ever put together a piece of furniture (or maybe stood by and watched someone else do it)? The task was made a lot easier thanks to the instructions that came in the box. The piece of furniture didnt exactly build itself just because it came with instructions, but without these instructions the task would be nearly impossible to complete.You can think of an outline for your essay kind of like a set of instructions. Although you still have to put in quite a bit of effort while youre building/writing it, the instructions will help guide you through the entire process so that you dont have to go in there completely blind.An essay outline is especially helpful for those who are novice writers, but even the old pros use outlines. The prolific William Faulkner was known to use an outline, and he wrote a timeline out for his novel A Fable on his office walls, which can be still seen on display at his home Rowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi. Now were not advocating for anyone to write on their walls (sorry to all the moms out there!), but his method was effective because he was able to visualize his timeline and organize his writing around it.When you are assigned an essay, you might be tempted to wait until the last minute and just write something out really quickly. But without a concrete plan or knowing what it is that youre going to say, you might find yourself hovering over a computer with a blank page and a blinking cursor in the middle of the night. Nobody wants to be in that position, so lets aim to plan ahead, shall we?Why you should use an outline for everything you writeHave you ever heard the phrase great ideas take time? No amazing writer in the history of the universe just started typing one day and then had his or her writing magically turned into a book. Great writing requires great planning. Even if a writer didnt physically write down her timeline, she had a general idea of what she was going to write about before she started typing. Of course, there is such a thing as being inspired and acting on that inspiration (but lets be honest, your history essay isnt probably going to spark that kind of creativity in you).So, because we are writing a very structured piece with a somewhat predictable layout, its always best to use an outline. After you do your required research for your topic, an outline will help you to keep all of the points you want to make organized so that you dont skip any important pieces of information and so you can stay on track.How do you write an outline?The beauty of an outline is that no one will be seeing your outline - unless, of course, your teacher is making you turn it in beforehand so that he or she can review it before you turn in your paper. However, even if your teacher is reviewing the outline before you turn in your essay, its doubtful that he or she will grade too harshly on how you organize your thoughts. The main idea is that your teacher wants to see that youre putting in some thought before you write the essay.Because theres not as much pressure to make an outline sound nice and be grammatically correct, you can get out your thoughts quicker and easier. You can use a piece of scratch paper for an outline and just jot down a few points or you can get really intricate by creating a writing outline on the computer. Whatever way you want to write your outline is fine - just make sure youre doing it. Generally, in an outline you will need to have an idea of what your thesis statement will be, how your body paragraphs will support your thesis statement, and how you are going to wrap everything up in a conclusion at the end.Still a little unsure of how to start? Weve provided some examples below of what an outline will look like for a few different types of essays. Remember that these outlines are just samples. They arent necessarily something set in stone that you cant adapt for your particular assignment or idea.The argumentative essayThe argumentative essay is as o ld as writing is. The idea of an argumentative is - you guessed it - to establish an argument and provide evidence of why your claim is correct. You will collect evidence in defense of your argument and evaluate it.Here is a sample of what an argumentative essay outline might look like:IntroductionGeneral background information about your topicThesis statementBody paragraphsArgument 1 in support of your thesisSupporting factSupporting factSupporting factArgument 2 in support of your thesisSupporting factSupporting factSupporting factArgument 3 in support of your thesisSupporting factSupporting factSupporting factOpposing arguments and your response to these claimsOpposing argument 1 to your thesisYour response to this claimOpposing argument 2 to your thesisYour response to this claimConclusionReiterate arguments made in thesis statementWhy this essay matters (ideas for future research, why its especially relevant now, possible applications, etc.)Expository essay outlineExpository essays often get confused with argumentative essays, but the main difference is that the writers opinions and emotions are completely left out of an expository essay. The objective of an expository essay is to investigate a topic and present an argument in an unbiased way, but to still arrive at a conclusion. Because of this subtle difference, its important to have a solid outline to get you started on your writing.IntroductionThe presentation of the topicYour thesis statementBody paragraphsTopic sentence 1Supporting evidenceAnalysisTransition sentenceTopic sentence 2Supporting evidenceAnalysisTransition sentenceTopic sentence 3Supporting evidenceAnalysisTransition sentenceConclusionReiterate the points with an overview of the main points you discussed throughout the paper.Offer solutions, insight into why this topic matters, and what future topics could be expanded upon in a future paper.Reflective essay outlineReflective papers are a fun exercise where you get to write about a par ticular experience in your life and to discuss what lessons you learned from it. First-person essays are a really popular genre right now and are designed to make people from all different backgrounds reflect on a common human experience like receiving your first kiss, failing at something, or triumphing over obstacles. Because reflective essays are a little bit less rigid writing than a traditional classroom essay, the structure is definitely not set in stone. Feel free to play around with what makes sense for your particular story and experience.IntroductionA really great hook that will have the audience want to keep reading on (an example from the great writer David Sedaris, I always told myself that when I hit fifty I was going to discover opera, not just casually but full force: studying the composers, learning Italian, maybe even buying a cape.A brief little tease of what the story is going to be about. Youll probably need one to two sentences tops.Body paragraphsAct I of your storyWhat happened initially?Who were the key players?What obstacle did you have to overcome?Act II of your storyDescribe the obstacle/problem in more detailWhat role did the key players have?Act III of your storyWhat happened at the end?Was everything tied up neatly or not?ConclusionSummary of the eventsWhat lesson did you learn? Or, maybe, what was the lesson you learned much later on in life?Compare and contrast essay outlineWe compare and contrast things all the time in real life. We analyze what kind of healthcare plan we want, what major to pick, what phone we want, what career we want to pursue, etc. Having the skills to analyze two (or more) items and discovering what the facts are about them so that you can make an educated decision on which to pick are pretty crucial.A compare and contrast essay gives us the building blocks to understand how to make these decisions with real-life applications - and they can be pretty fun too. Although these compare and contrast essays do nt have as complicated of a structure as an expository or an argumentative essay, its still important to plan out how youre going to tackle this type of essay. Heres an idea of what a compare and contrast outline might look like:IntroductionA brief introduction to the topic and what Point A and Point B areYour thesis statement (which will contain some sort of equivalence or dissonance between Point A and Point B)Body paragraphsTopic sentence 1 about Point AClaim 1 about Point AClaim 2 about Point AClaim 3 about Point ATopic sentence 2 about Point BClaim 1 about Point BClaim 2 about Point BClaim 3 about Point BTopic sentence 3 that connects Point A and Point BWhat is similar between these two points?What is dissimilar?What comparisons can be made?ConclusionWhat conclusions can we draw about comparing these two points?Any further research required or suggested for the future?Is there a third thing that we should be comparing these two points to?Need help with your outline?If after rev iewing these guidelines or examining these sample outlines youre still a little bit unsure about how to incorporate an outline into your particular essay, be sure to ask your instructor for more guidance.And, if you need another pair of eyes to look over your paper after its been written, be sure to check out the services of our professional editors. Our expert editors can help you to polish up your paper, ensure that all of your citations have been made according to the style guide, and give you direction if the essay needs to be revised or rearranged in any way.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Parody - Definition and Examples of Parodies in English

Parody s of Parodies in English Definition A parody is a  text that imitates the characteristic style of an author or a work for comic effect. Adjective: parodic. Informally known as a spoof. Author William H. Gass observes that in most cases parody grotesquely exaggerates the outstanding and most annoying features of its victim (A Temple of Texts, 2006).See Examples and Observations below. Also see: AmphigoryCaricaturePasticheSatire Words at Play: An Introduction to Recreational Linguistics Examples of Parodies Christmas Afternoon, by Robert BenchleyHow Shall I Word It? by Max BeerbohmJack and Gill: A Mock Criticism, by Joseph DennieA Meditation Upon a Broomstick, by Jonathan SwiftThe Most Popular Book of the Month, by Robert BenchleyShakespeare Explained: Carrying on the System of Footnotes to a Silly Extreme, by Robert BenchleySome Historians, by Philip Guedalla You! by Robert Benchley EtymologyFrom the Greek, beside or counter plus song   Examples and Observations [P]arody works only on people who know the original, and they have to know it intimately enough to appreciate the finer touches as well as the broad strokes of the imitation. Part of the enjoyment people take in parody is the enjoyment of feeling intelligent. Not everyone gets the joke: if you dont already know about the peach, you wont laugh at the prune. Its fantasy baseball for bookworms.(Louis Menand, Parodies Lost. The New Yorker, Sep. 20, 2010) Lewis Carrolls Parody of a Poem by Robert SoutheyOriginal PoemYou are old, Father William,’ the young man cried;‘The few locks which are left you are grey;You are hale, Father Williama hearty old man:Now tell me the reason, I pray.’‘In the days of my youth,’ Father William replied,‘I remember’d that youth would fly fast,And Abus’d not my health and my vigour at first,That I never might need them at last. . . .(Robert Southey, The Old Mans Comforts and How He Gained Them, 1799)Lewis Car rolls Parody‘You are old, Father William,’ the young man said,‘And your hair has become very white;And yet you incessantly stand on your headDo you think, at your age, it is right?’‘In my youth,’ Father William replied to his son,‘I feared it might injure the brain;But, now that I’m perfectly sure I have none,Why, I do it again and again. . . .(Lewis Carroll, Alices Adventures in Wonderland, 1865) Lord of the Rings ParodyAnd that boy of his, Frito, added bleary-eyed Nat Clubfoot, as crazy as a woodpecker, that one is. This was verified by Old Poop of Backwater, among others. For who hadnt seen young Frito, walking aimlessly through the crooked streets of Boggietown, carrying little clumps of flowers and muttering about truth and beauty and blurting out silly nonsense like Cogito ergo boggum?(H. Beard, The Harvard Lampoon, Bored of the Rings, 1969) Characteristics of Parodies[M]ost parody worthy of the name is ambivalent toward its target. This ambivalence may entail not only a mixture of criticism and sympathy for the parodied text, but also the creative expansion of it into something new. Most other of the specific characteristics of parody, including its creation of comic incongruity between the original and the parody, and the way in which its comedy can laugh both at and with its target, may be traced to the way in which the parodist makes the object of the parody a part of the parodys structure.(Margaret A. Rose, Parody: Ancient, Modern, and Post-Modern. Cambridge University Press, 1993) Six Parodies of Ernest Hemingway  - Most of the tricks were good tricks and they worked fine for a while especially in the short stories. Ernest was stylish in the hundred-yard dash but he didnt have the wind for the long stuff. Later on the tricks did not look so good. They were the same tricks but they were not fresh any more and nothing is worse than a trick that that has gone stale. He knew this but he couldnt invent any new tricks.(Dwight Macdonald, Against the American Grain, 1962)- I went out into the room where the chimney was. The little man came down the chimney and stepped into the room. He was dressed all in fur. His clothes were covered with ashes and soot from the chimney. On his back was a pack like a peddlers pack. There were toys in it. His cheeks and nose were red and he had dimples. His eyes twinkled. His mouth was little, like a bow, and his beard was very white. Between his teeth was a stumpy pipe. The smoke from the pipe encircled his head in a wreath. He lau ghed and his belly shook. It shook like a bowl of red jelly. I laughed. He winked his eye, then he gave a twist to his head. He didnt say anything.(James Thurber, A Visit From Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner). The New Yorker, 1927)- I rolled into Searchlight around midnight and walked into Rosies beer joint to get a cold one after the ride over from Vegas. He was the first one I saw. I looked at him and he stared back at me with those flat blue eyes. He was giving me that kind of howdy wave with his good right arm while his left sleeve hung armless from the shoulder. He was dressed up like a cowboy.(Cactus Jack, The One-Armed Bandit, 2006 Bad Hemingway competition)- This is my last and best and true and only meal, thought Mr. Pirnie as he descended at noon and swung east on the beat-up sidewalk of Forty-fifth Street. Just ahead of him was the girl from the reception desk. I am a little fleshed up around the crook of the elbow, thought Pirnie, but I commute good.(E.B. White, Across the Street and Into the Grill. The New Yorker, Oct. 14, 1950)- We had great fun in Spain that year and we traveled and wrote and Hemingway took me tuna fishing and I caught four cans and we laughed and Alice Toklas asked me if I was in love with Gertrude Stein because I had dedicated a book of poems to her even though they were T. S. Eliots and I said, yes, I loved her, but it could never work because she was far too intelligent for me and Alice Toklas agreed and then we put on some boxing gloves and Gertrude Stein broke my nose.(Woody Allen, A Twenties Memory. The Insanity Defense, 2007)- In the late afternoon the Museum was still there, but he was not going to it any more. It was foggy in London that afternoon and the dark came very early. Then the shops turned their lights on, and it was all right riding down Oxford Street looking in the windows, though you couldnt see much because of the fog.(David Lodge, The British Museum Is Falling Down, 1965) David Lodge on ParodyIn a way, it may be impossible for writers themselves to identify what is parodiable in their own work. It may be dangerous even to contemplate it. . . .One would suppose that any writer whos any good has a distinctive voicedistinctive features of syntax or vocabulary or somethingwhich could be seized on by the parodist.(David Lodge, A Conversation About Thinks in Consciousness and the Novel. Harvard University Press, 2002) Updike on ParodyPure parody is purely parasitic. There is no disgrace in this. We all begin life as parasites within the mother, and writers begin their existence imitatively, within the body of letters.(John Updike, Beerbohm and Others. Assorted Prose. Alfred A. Knopf, 1965) Weird Al Yankovics Chamillionaire ParodyLook at me, I’m white and nerdyI wanna roll withThe gangstasBut so far they all think I’m too white and nerdyFirst in my class here at MITGot skills, I’m a champion at DDMC Escherthat’s my favorite MCKee p your 40, I’ll just have an Earl Grey tea.My rims never spin, to the contraryYou’ll find that they’re quite stationary.All of my action figures are cherrySteven Hawking’s in my library.My MySpace page is all totally pimped outGot people beggin’ for my top eight spaces.Yo, I know pi to a thousand placesAin’t got no grills but I still wear braces.(Weird Al Yankovic, White and Nerdyparody of Ridin by Chamillionaire) Pronunciation:  PAR-uh-dee

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz - Case Study Example Starbucks has embraced a differentiation strategy at its business level of strategies (Geereddy, 2012). It provides products that cater for the needs of a specific targeted group of customers. The company offers tailor-made varieties of goods and services, and the premium prices. The company has more ways of differentiating products than most of its competitors since a customer gets an experience when he shops for coffee. They can thus charge a premium price. Starbucks focuses on innovation by continually introducing new products and coffee such as â€Å"instant coffee† Via. The instant coffee earned the company a sales growth of over 200 million. The new products are the force behind Starbuck’s evolution into a company that provides unique customer experience. The company tries to understand its target customers. Hence, they have grown globally as a number one choice for many clients. They provide a superior coffee to its clients. They value branding the image and product through word of mouth. As a result, they ensure their clients get a maximum experience in order to spread the word. They seek to understand the particular needs of an individual customer and serve him appropriately. For instance, they can allow customers to pay online or via phone if it is convenient for them (Starbucks Corporation, 2015). Starbucks applies demographic segmentation (categorizing markets by gender, age, ethnicity, income, and family life cycle). The company’s main target is men and women aged between 25-44 years. The market accounts for about a half of its total business. The company targets this group by offering special drinks that appeal to them. It further creates its business to be the third place to go between work and home by establishing unique and relaxing atmosphere. The next large group that Starbucks targets consist of young adults aged 18-24 years old. They account for about 40% of the company’s sales. Starbucks entice the young adults through the

Friday, November 1, 2019

What key skills do employers want fresh university graduates to have Research Paper

What key skills do employers want fresh university graduates to have - Research Paper Example Now-a-days, the employers are trying to find effective and fresh university graduates to enhance their several business operations. It is important for the fresh graduates to avail effective knowledge and skills in their educational fields to achieve significant employment opportunity. However, the employers usually look for general behaviors and competencies that are important for the successful working. These aspects are often overlooked by the fresh university graduates but these are the basic things that the employers or recruitment officials want to find. Discussion The recruitment officers or the employers generally want ten important skills and competencies from the fresh university graduates. These are communication, commercial awareness, teamwork, problem solving, negotiation and persuasion, leadership, perseverance and motivation, organizations, confidence and ability to work under immense pressure. These ten aspects are discussed below in details. Communication Verbal comm unication and ability to listen are considered as important skills of an employee. Clear, focused and concise communication helps an employee to tailor his or her message for the target audience. On the other hand, listing to the views and suggestions of others can enhance and effective communication process. Clear and concise communication is required in an organization between the employers and employees to reduce the possibilities of conflict. Inadequate communication process can affect the business performance of the organization in several ways (Heneman, 22). Ultimately, it can affect the business performance of the organization. Looking into these mutterers, the employers try to hire fresh university graduates who avail good communication skill. Commercial Awareness Commercial awareness or business awareness is quite important of the fresh university graduates. The recruitment professionals always try to observe the knowledge and awareness level of the applicants during the re cruitment process. According to the employers, effective knowledge about an organization can help an employee to perform in significant way. Teamwork Effective teamwork within the workplace can drive an organization towards successful business performance. The fresh university graduates need to prove that they are effective team player. In addition to this, the fresh university graduates should have the ability to delegate and mange other team members within the workplace (Lipman & Hall, 2008). Effective team management is about developing positive and effective working relationship to achieve professional and personal goals. Problem Solving Problem solving and decision making method is quite important for business operation. Effective problem solving and decision ability of the employees can help an organization to achieve successful business outcome. In addition to this, effective problem solving ability of the employees can help an organization to resolve critical issues during s erious situations. Negotiation and Persuasion Effective negotiation and persuasion process of employees can help them to put forward in their desired ways. In addition to this, effective negotiation and persuasion process helps an employee to understand the background of several unknown individuals (Paper, 2007). This key understanding process and the effective negotiation ability of the employees can help the organization to meet business objectives within quick time period. Leadership It is true that each and every leading organization around the globe is trying to improve and maintain their workplace and