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In the introduction video, Liz outlines the mission as being an â€Å"online entertainments company that sales primary music and books with the intention of branching out to online gaming and e books†. LIZ does a good Job by defining the mission at its most basic level and making it clear. Transformational Leadership â€Å"is the ability to get people to want to change, Improve. And to be led. (Morehouse, 2001 r' Liz uses Transformational Leadership as a great strength when trying to convey her ideas of online gaming to her directing management team.She was able to motivate them to commit to her vision, and encourage innovation/creativity through challenging the normal beliefs of the group. Liz weakness Is her Inability to effectively communicate with the production staff members. She chose the time to tell them about an important new initiative of online gaming while walking to a meeting. This meeting should have been an opportunity to introduce her new idea, open the floor to her associates for their input, needs and values on this project. Instead she made them question the timeline of the project and feel disenfranchised.Motivation plans a valuable role in any organization. It is a trait that should be Instilled In every member of Congo despite their designation or responsibilities. Warren shows strength with his ability to outline the talent and possibility of growth room within his department with the new online gaming Imitative. He looking for ways to increase his team motivation by developing internal talent, empowering his team to do what is best for the organization while Increasing revenue and market growth for the organization.Warren also does a great job with team motivation with his team by assigning roles, seeking their opinion through reporting and allowing their contribution to play a role in the decision making process. Warren should try using Job rotation. Job rotation Is the â€Å"practice as the periodic shifting of an employee roo m one task to another. â€Å"(Robbins, PIG. 73) Warren's team seemed to fall into the same roles within their group. By practicing rotation, this will allow them to do other lobs and challenge themselves with new responsibilities.I recommend Congo try to understand individual's strengths and weakness and how these strengths and weakness affect the person within a team. All while building the teams self esteem. Human Resource within the Congo organization can have a remarkable impact across all other functions, If is positions itself as a leader and partner In the business. Maria head of HER as aligned herself as a key player within the senior management team. She has done a great Job outlining the staffing needs and policy 1 OFF developing and a defined performance appraisal.She may have isolated Nick by blowing off his ideas in the group and team vignette. Maria must recognize Nicks radical behavior/characteristics and be skilful enough to allow him to be himself as long as he has a positive contribution to the team. In another situation she suggests him as a candidate for a promotion. At last, the appraisal. Warren should have had he tools to Judge, weather Nick had the skills and qualities to do his Job effectively. Instead, Nick left the meeting feeling like he has done a great Job with his performance.In reality, Nick has a lot of work to do as to his contribution to Congo I recommend Congo provide a clear developing plan that â€Å"clearly communicate the organization's goals and future strategies along with time for employees to learn a new position, and establish a formal performance . â€Å"(Robbins, PIG. 253) Organization structure is â€Å"how Job tasks are formally divided, grouped and coordinated. â€Å"(Robbins, PIG. 11) Liz uses the Initiating Structure, â€Å"refers to the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of subordinates in the search for goal attainment. (Robbins, PIG. 158) Congo does a great Job outlining their department. They use differentiations by grouping people by functions performed. The strengths in departmental is having the expertise in within your department. Everyone on the team seems to have similar ideas and thoughts. Maybe, Congo can implement a team structure. This will allow a representative from all five departments to share ideas and â€Å"decentralized decision aging to the level of the work team. â€Å"(Robbins, PIG. 220) The current environment is a relaxed structure.Liz wants to implement a formal culture with the upcoming Initial Public Offering. The strength of the current culture has been great moral and enthusiasms. This has lead to growth and expansion for Congo. As Congo embark on a new formal culture. This Culture change can bring turnover in leadership. I recommend Liz to take into consideration of the demographic of her team when applying culture change. â€Å"Culture change is more likely to take if the organization is both you ng and small. â€Å"(Robbins, PIG. 239) CanGo After evaluating CanGo for the last 4 weeks, we feel there are some issues that stand out that should be considered before moving forward with this new on-line gaming venture. The following are what we consider the issues that CanGo needs to be aware of and recommendations to address each. The angle that the marketing department is taking needs to be fully evaluated. The type(s) of customer CanGo will be taking on should be fully understood. The customer service department should be highly considered. The current inventory management system needs to be rethought. The phone system that is presently in place needs to be updated. The proposed second ASRS system many not be necessary at this point. CanGo’s gaming customer base is the X and the Y Generation also known at the Millennial Generation. These two segments of the buying population â€Å"will outnumber Baby Boomers in 2010† ( (Henderson, 2006). They are also referred to at the NextGen, GenY and Echo Boomers. The generation born 1961 to 1981 (several different opinions on the actual date range) is called Generation X (Gen X) and is considered the X Generation are the most over indulged generation so far. They were doted on by their parents due to having extra money in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Along with the divorced parents that double incomes, remarried and sub placing the divorce guilt. Generation Y (Gen Y) dates from 1982 to 2003, again no definitive dates have been set, but widely believed. They are the premier generation to fully grow up with all cell phones and computers in use over land lines and no home computers. They are â€Å"experiential and exploratory learners†¦(and) strongly prefer learning by doing† (Sweeney, 2006). According to Sweeney, â€Å"they almost never read the directions; love to learn†¦multiplayer gaming, computer simulations, and social networks (that) provide little penalty for trial and error learning†. As little as four years ago, this generation was being noted for its extensive use of gaming and how it has had â€Å"a very significant impact upon their expectations for learning†¦(because it) offers thrills, competition, engagement and a rich array of emotional stimuli that also enhance learning†, by having already spent thousands of hours playing electronic, computer and video games. (Sweeney, 2006). CanGo’s marketing team will need to educate the executive team all the way through management and each mployee, so they will better understand their customer base and how important it is to have the proper procedures in place to accommodate their needs. This generation will tell you if you are getting it wrong and they will take their business somewhere else. One of the best ways for any company to achieve success is through considering their customer’s needs and making improvements on service quality. There are several ways that this can be accomplished. A company can best serve its customers by understanding the type of issues the customers have before they have them. By obtaining some baseline data and implementing changes with that information, they will decrease the number of calls and returns. When they are provided with a complaint from a customer, they should retain that information so that they can decrease the number of issues even further. They should also look at ways to bridge the gap between happy, loyal customers and angry, transient customers such as with surveys. The first is through customer satisfaction surveys which helps get to the heart of critical relationships in ways that help companies move their business forward. The satisfaction, loyalty, and reference-ability of their customers directly affect growth and profitability. The next is a customer service survey which can provide management with valuable input on both short-term and long-term decision-making, offering critical operational and strategic advantages over the competition. These are flexible enough that they can be conducted online, by phone, or through regular mail. The last is a customer loss review survey that would help to identify the root causes of defections so that direct action can be taken to minimize the loss of customers in the future. Keeping new customers will be a top priority for CanGo. This will require that the current staff be retrained and any employee that will not comply with the new process will be replaced. Their skills on the phone will leave a lasting impression on the customer as to how responsive CanGo is to their perceived issues. In order for the CanGo to get their products to the right place on time, with the right quantity and highest quality, it is imperative that we choose the best possible way to approach inventory management. Since CanGo does have several centers to work out of, it is essential to identify where the supply or products are to be physically located. It should be determined which has the most benefit: storing inventory close to the supplier, the customer, or in house. This could mean that the inventory will be spread out at various CanGo distribution centers and vendor sites. In order to track this inventory we recommend incorporating a PAR method for easy and quick tracking on all supply transactions at POS (Point of Sale) and POU (Point of Use) locations. This will allow us to keep track of all of the products on a more realistic time basis, thus insuring we have the right product ready to order from a third party vendor or available in stock at one of CanGo’s distribution centers to fulfill the customer order. Another aspect is insuring inventory integrity through the use Data Collection technology. To support the proposed shop floor inventory control system or ASRS (Automatic Storage and Retrieval) solution, we need to be able to integrate how the technicians, customer service representatives, and internal and external account managers do business. This means that the inventory management solution must incorporate and interface with a materials management system, a billing system, an ADT (Admission, Discharge, & Transfer) system, as well as a cost accounting system. Getting the product to customers when and where they want it is critical to marketing success. This is why we need to include in our cost effective solution a way to monitor and keep track of all supply transactions. To do this we will maintain a library of transaction records that will give us the ability to better predict our customers buying behaviors. If we can do this, we can insure the most desired products are available and ready to ship in a more expeditious manner. Customer Service issues at CanGo: Our Team feels that one of the major areas to consider in this expansion to on line gaming is expanding and updating customer service systems, processes, and service personnel. We feel that CanGo can not overlook putting in to motion action plans early to handle the expected 400% increase in business they are forecasting. The entire phone system needs to be updated to add more trunks and roll over lines to be able to handle the increase in call volume. It is important that when a customer does take the time to call in with an issue, that they do not get a busy signal or be placed on hold too long. This will just cause them to become more irritated. A new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system should be purchased and installed at least six months before the expected call volume increase. A VoIP system is secure, takes almost no space since it is stored in a current sever rack, and will only require one or two employees to maintain and update it. Another advantage is that this type of system allows for unlimited users, mailboxes, voicemail, and auto-attendant. There will be extra room for expansion since the current large phone cabinets will be removed and sold which could help fund the new VoIP purchase. The entire phone tree/auto-attendant needs to be reprogrammed with updated company and customer service level choices along with a choice in language option. The first choice in product help should be updated to online gaming. This is the new product of the company and will be free advertising. The new call volume will be linked to the online gaming and those customers need to have that as a first choice. The gaming demographic, Gen Y, is known to be impatient and having their choice second could be perceived as not showing respect for their business. Also, listing it first is free advertising to customers that do not know that CanGo has started an online gaming (gaming) division. While most book readers are not the gaming target market, they will most likely know someone that is and word of mouth is the best advertising. All subsequent levels would be updated to match the switch between gaming and books on the call tree. The choices for each would be similar: 1. New Account 2. New Games/Books available 3. Returns/Issues 4. Technical Help a. Gaming b. Online Return Material Authorization (RMA)/Returns page The last choice on the tree would be for vendors and courier assistance. The current RMA system is not working. The customer needs to be able to request RMA number and materials on the website. Currently, the website does not allow this action, nor does it list the current process which is to call the service center to obtain the number materials. This must be automated and the return labels will need to be printable by the customer. The current process of sending shipping labels via the courier is time consuming, not efficient, and is not environmentally friendly. This will allow for less paper and trucks out on the road to deliver the labels; (maybe two attempts) and a third to pick up the package. The Green aspect would also be pointed out on the website to explain to those that may want labels shipped to them. This is also a good promotion point for the company. With the new ASRS system that has been proposed, a second ASRS will be added in the plan. Getting some more information on the necessity of this second system is crucial to making a proper decision about its importance. If the first was implemented and the second held till the volume increased, the chance of failure would decrease. It would also allow time to work out bugs with the setup, making it easier for subsequent systems to be implemented. Integration of software would be easier since only one system would be worked on at a time. Furthermore, this would allow time for everyone to have a better understanding of how to use the system and what information to look for. With these recommendations, we feel that CanGo has a very good chance of not only making a smooth transition to the gaming world, but also become a better, more responsive company overall.

Meg Cabot: A True Author Outline Essay

Ever encountered a book where you just want to smash it against the wall? Tired of reading predictable sappy story lines? Well then, you’re in luck! No matter the mood you’re in, Meggin Patricia Cabot, better known as Meg Cabot, will take you on a journey beyond your wildest imagination from the very first moment you begin reading the first page of one of her novels. In fact, she’ll connect with mind and soul in the multiple genres she writes, making you want to go to the nearest library and check out another. Meg Cabot was born on February 1, 1967, in Bloomington, Indiana. She was an active reader from a very early age, at first gobbling up comic books and science fiction at the local library. In many interviews, Cabot claims that she found her way to the library during the summer months because she was looking for air-conditioning. While cooling off in the library, Cabot soon discovered classic literature, such as To Kill a Mockingbird, by southern writer Harper Lee, and Jane Eyre, written by English novelist Charlotte Bronte(Henning). Jane Eyre, the story of the romance between a man and his daughter’s nanny, in particular, had a lasting effect on young Cabot. As she explained in a 2004 interview with Christina Nunez, â€Å"It introduced me to the world of romance, which I have never left. † In addition to reading, Cabot was also obsessed with princesses and the belief that a ‘Prince Charming’ was out there for everyone. â€Å"I was a traditional Disney-princess worshipper,† she told Trudy Wyss of Borders. â€Å"You know, I had the Snow White birthday cake when I was six, and drew Cinderella endlessly on my notepads. Cabot read about princesses (her favorite fairy tale being Beauty and the Beast ) and fantasized about being a real-life princess, often telling her mom and dad that her ‘real’ parents, the king and queen, would arrive one day in Indiana to find her. In 1977, after seeing the movie Star Wars, the ten-year-old’s obsession for royalty grew to new heights. â€Å"I became obsessed with Princess Leia,† Cabot explained, â€Å"its one thing to be â€Å"I am living proof that it is possible to profit from being a high school freak. † Princess of a kingdom; it is quite another to be princess of an entire planet! It’s no wonder she made a real success with the Princess series. Success, however, does not come overnight. With about a thousand rejection letters, Meg was able to finish off a novel that would blossom her career. The inspiration for Princess came from an event that happened in Cabot’s own life. After her father died her mother began dating her daughter’s former art teacher. Cabot was so horrified that she began keeping a diary. She expanded the diary entries into a story about a ninth-grader named Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo, also known as Mia, whose mother is dating her algebra teacher. Cabot also visited her old high school diaries to add true teen voice to her character, a gangly, shy freshman being raised by her single mom in Greenwich Village loft in New York City. How does that pertain for the title Princess? Well in addition to facing the trials and tribulations of teenage life, Mia’s world is turned upside-down when she discovers that her father is actually the prince of a tiny European country called Genovia and that she is next in line to inherit the throne. Suddenly Mia is a celebrity, and her worries about boys comes to a pause for princess lessons, bodyguards, and fending off the paparazzi(TeenReads). And after finishing seven books off of Mia’s life, Cabot created the major motion picture The Princess Diaries starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. Which later earned itself a sequel. Cabot began to write her own stories because, as she claimed in an Onion Street online interview, there was absolutely nothing else to do. â€Å"That was back in the days before cable and VCRs were opular, so there really was nothing to do but write stories of our own. â€Å" In addition, Cabot wrote for the high school newspaper and kept detailed journals that proved to be excellent when writing Princess Diaries. She was also active in after-school activities, including choir, theater, and the art club. Although she enjoyed writing Cabot never planned on becoming a professional author. Instead, she dreamed of being an actress or a veterinarian. Unfortunately, she flunked algebra and did rather poorly on the math portion of her SATs. As part of admissions requirements most universities require a student to take SAT examinations; they are divided into two sections—verbal and math reasoning—and help assess what a student has learned throughout their high school years. ) Following graduation from high school, Cabot decided to study art at the University of Indiana, where she could attend tuition-free since her father was a professor. In 1991, with a bachelor of fine arts degree in the palm of her hand, the artist moved to New York City to pursue a career as an illustrator. Instead, she landed a job as a freshman dormitory assistant manager at New York University(Nunez). It was not exactly her dream job, but there were periods when work was slow, which gave her plenty of free time to return to her early love: writing. Picking up the pace, Cabot released Insatiable in 2010. Now, this book may prove to be a bit more the adult reader, none-the-less, it is recommended. Tired of those sappy-sob vampire love stories? Well then just grade me an F. Insatiable is the first vampire/paranormal story Meg writes about. With multiple points of views, Meg Cabot leaves the reader speechless by writing about a love triangle between Meena Harper, the perplexed tomboy, Lucien Antonescu, the rich bad-boy, and Alaric Wulf, a vampire-hunter. At first, the only thought in mind might be, â€Å"another Twilight story†. Fortunately, it is not. Being the story spoiler that I am, Cabot finishes the novel not by a happy ending, but a rather joyful one. She doesn’t write about an irresistibly attractive vampire who wins the girl (though Lucien is). Oh no!  On the contrary, Cabot retells Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with a twist. The vampire doesn’t get the girl; making this book ‘a must read’. With that, author Meg Cabot has become a one-woman marketing sensation, a publisher’s dream because she is able to produce novels with amazing frequency. She is also a diverse writer who has found equal success in a multitude of genres, including historical romance(Avalon High, Lady of Skye, Abandon, etc. , ), young adult fiction(Mediator, All-American Girl, Ready or Not? , Princess Diaries, 1800-R-U-There? etc), and contemporary adult fiction(Insatiable, Portrait of My Heart, Queen of Babble, etc. ). It seems as though, Cabot knows exactly what we want to read; morals, romance, comedy, the paranormal, you name it. She knows exactly how to touch your heart and make you wish that you were the main character in the story. With this said, Meggin Patricia Cabot has written over 67 novels in a time period of 1998 till present day. So whenever you’re in the mood to read, you know you can always count on Meg Cabot to take you out of your little shell, and onto an adventure.

Company Analysis Paper (Starwoods Hotel and Resort) Research

Company Analysis (Starwoods Hotel and Resort) - Research Paper Example As such, the company plays a major role in world economy especially in America. The company embraces diversity in the provision of services where operates under nine different brands. The renowned brands that comprise this company include Westin, Le Meridien, St. Regis, Four Points, AloftSM Sheraton, ElementSM, and The Luxury Collection (Hospitality Net Web). Starwood capital is the mother company to Starwood Hotels and Resorts initially known as Starwood Lodging. Moreover, the company owns Starwood Vacation Ownership that offers high quality vacation services. The company’s mission seeks to offer high quality, affordable, and consistent products and services to its customers around the world. More so, their services seek to satisfy the needs of its customers. . The company equally has a mandate of adhering to the environment policy, respects the privacy of the customers and their personal information. The aspect of diversity applies in the operations of the company and forms the foundation to the success of the company. The company holds frequent company meetings where all the stakeholders attend. Most assuredly, the company boasts of a well-abled board and large group of volunteers that work together to guarantee the going concern of the concern. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is a company where everybody should invest. ... Internal Revenue Service gave an after-tax refund of $107 million that enabled the company to regain financial stability and record quarterly earnings of $339 million, or $1.78 a share in the year 2011 (Berzon Web). As a result, there was a 7.5% increase in total revenue amounting to $1.34 billion. At the same time, these results remained consistent even in this year where Starwood shares gained about 14 percent in value in the third quarter as lately seen in the New York Stock Exchange. Indeed, the share value of the company raised from 51 cents a share to 52 cents a share. This manifests an accelerating recovery for the company after the global recession. Indeed, in the year 2011, the demand for hotels surpassed the supply subject to many travelling businesspersons. Notably, last year the company reduced the price of the hotels due to the economic downturn that had lowered the demand. Nevertheless, now that the demand for the hotel rooms is rising tremendously, the company plans to increase the price and thus its high turnover. Indeed, it targets to record a 7% to 9% increase in total revenue per room this year. However, these statistics fall below the gains made before 2009. Actually, the company revenue declined with 20.7% because of the recession in 2009 (Berzon Web). Most significantly, the company has a better marketing strategy where it collaborates with credit companies like American Express to suit the financial needs of its customers. In addition, the company partners with 32 affiliated airlines all over the world to enable its customers redeem their points for flights. This creates a great competitive advantage over its rivals. The company has a corporate governance structure that seeks to maintain the highest standards of business conduct and corporate

Why I Would Be a Teacher Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why I Would Be a Teacher - Essay Example My internal desire to adopt the profession of teaching reflects my intrinsic motivation whereas the praise and professional awards, which I want to get as a teacher, reflects my extrinsic motivation to become a teacher. One of the main reasons for me to become a teacher is that it will enhance my communication skills and level of confidence. It is a fact that when a person interacts with a large group of people who are ready to hear that person, it increases the level of confidence of that person and makes him/her more vibrant and self-assured. Another thing, which makes me stand on my decision to become a teacher, is the role that a teacher plays in lightening up the future of a generation. I really want to put a positive impact on the community by helping young children in becoming enthusiastic and productive individuals for the society. I not only want to develop their personalities in a positive way but also want to provide such skills to my students, which can help them achieve personal and professional success in the future. A teacher not only puts a positive impact on the community but also gains respect for his/her own family. Those children, who gain some sort of success in their future lives, do not forget the role of teachers in their success. They respect and regard their teachers whenever they meet them and that are some of the most wonderful moments for the teachers. I also want to earn such respect by playing my role in the success of my students. Being a devoted citizen, I want to play my role in strengthening the foundations of my country and that can be possible if the future generation of my country will be fully skilled and qualified in running economic, industrial, and other state matters proficiently. I want to prove my commitment to my students by creating strong foundation for them upon which they can build the structure of their personal and professional success. I want to have a true vocation instead of

Identity essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Identity - Essay Example nvolves the readers through emotions, in certain cases the individual starts following the character depicted in the book or movie and correlate real life with the life represented by their role model in the novel or movie. In certain cases such perceptions provide a great impact on the developing conscience of the individual. This revolutionizes thoughts and outlook as the condition of brainpower is full of strenuous contemplations. A couple of books called "Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez and "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Wakatsuki are two outstanding books illustrating the distinctiveness an individual possess. To some extent the novels imposes thoughts that changes the outlook and provide the courage to survive in difficult situation. The novels inflict how to maintain stability and comfort in tough times (Identity). I personally feel enlightened after reading the books called "The Five people I meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom, this made me feel that how important my life is for me, what difference I made in my group, in my community, in my society and what am I contributing! It simply made me feel my worth, my self esteem and hence made me realize that everyone in the universe is important, everyone around me is important and what really does not matter to me could bring a remarkable change in others life. It has really changed my outlook and personality. I became more concerned with others, forgive and forget what harm others have done, locate deliverance, the book has magical power as it has made me more concerned about sufferings of others. All this helped me to adjust in a different environment as I am now an international student who is coping up within a different cultural circumstances. I like to listen to the songs to de-stress myself, had enough experience of life and people as I have been visiting more of places, interacting with different groups of individuals belonging to different cultural and ethical backgrounds but above

Discourse analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discourse analysis - Essay Example In this piece of conversation, the major theme is a dispute between three children, with the younger children Ayesha and Zaynad appearing to unite and take sides against the elder Kahlidja. The major issue is whether or not Khalidja went to her aunt’s house to read the evening prayer to her aunt and whether she was doing her school work on her computer or downloading other materials. In the process of arriving at a resolution of what appears to be a simple issue, the conversation in this instance reveals conflicts arising out of the differences between the conveying of a message by a speaker and its interpretation by a listener. Wardaugh (1985) states that conversation is a social activity, the participants must take each others’ feelings and sensitivities into account if communication is to be successful. They need to be conscious of each others’ needs especially the need not to be offended (Wardaugh,1985:2). In this transcript, there are several instances where participants interrupt each other, and also offend each other. For instance, analyzing the conversational trend shows that the confrontational stance seems to have developed because of the lack of sensitivity of the participants about not offending each other. For example, the conflict has developed because both Zaynab and Ayesha have alleged that Khalidja did NOT go to the mosque, whereas a better conversational approach could have been to pose their doubts about her attendance at a mosque in the form of a question. As Wardaugh (1985) states, the social nature of conversation mandates that all participants should get equal opportunities to speak; in this transcript however, some of the linguistic characteristics that may be noted arise out of the lack of sensitivity of the participants. Zaynab in particular, being the youngest, has been interrupted ever so often; hence he does not have the same opportunities for participation th at the others

Not enough though has been given in any European code to the way Essay

Not enough though has been given in any European code to the way contracts might or should be classified Do you agree - Essay Example Main land Europe is looking to create a common civil legal framework which will be developed in a number of steps. This common legal framework is currently being heralded as the European Civil Code and would require coordinated efforts over a number of decades for effective implementation3. The first step has been termed as the PECL4 and is aimed at unifying the contract law prevalent throughout Europe. Success of the PECL and its precedents will determine if it is possible at this stage to develop a common legal framework for the European continent. This could have even wider implications for the global harmonisation attempt given that the obstacles encountered in PECL would be encountered similarly elsewhere too. Importance of the PECL is enhanced by the fact that the European community is looking to create the Common Frame of Reference based on the learning from the PECL5. At this point in time the PECL is not an instrument that has been recognised by governments around Europe. In stead the PECL is more or less a document drafted by academics to serve as a standard reference when hard-core moves to harmonisation are attempted. The PECL is a broad attempt to create a set of â€Å"general rules† which are flexible enough to accommodate future developments and to provide a framework for contract law6. Here due consideration must be provided to the fact that contract law is the first thing that is being attempted in terms of a common legal framework for a number of reasons. Contract law is highly important when it comes to cross border trade. The significant differences between national contract laws make trade beyond borders costly, time consuming and often legally complex. Furthermore, a number of companies are dissuaded from trading in neighbouring nations because of complex trading instruments and their legal ramifications. This in turn promotes domestic trade at the expense of transnational trade which is not beneficial for the commercial interests of the European Union. Europe is currently looking to develop something close to the Lex Mercatoria so that trading and commercial transactions of all kinds are simple all across Europe7. In order to facilitate trading all over Europe with the same legal principles it was necessary to create a common legal framework. The PECL is the resulting legal framework which has emerged from these efforts. In addition there is another reason behind the PECL’s importance. As mentioned before, the PECL will serve as the basis for the future of the Common Frame of Reference so this enhances the important of the PECL even more. Here it must also be mentioned that the success of the PECL and the Common Frame of Reference are critical to the future of harmonisation attempts in Europe. Hence, careful consideration is mandatory in order to provide a framework that is successful and tends to provide solutions that are holistic. Any such framework would need to be carefully thought out. As mentione d before, there is no question of implementation as yet because these harmonised frameworks are merely guidance based as yet and are not strictly enforceable as yet. Drafting a standard set of principles for guidance over the domain of contracts may not be as simple or straightforward as it may seem. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to creating a common contractual framework is coming to

Cleaning Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cleaning Assignment - Essay Example coli (Food Safety, 2014; FDA, 2013). The effects that are related to the risks to food safety include: having an unpleasant working environment where the staffs would not feel comfortable to work in an environment that is unclean as it poses a risk to their health. This would also be a propagator to low staff morale. Other effects are related to the daily business operations of the meat processing company as well as their reputation to the general public. The manufacturing company in this instance is responsible in the process of producing cook chill meat products. As such, the chain of production involves a number of sensitive processes all of which need to be monitored closely as they can be the source of food poisoning from common pathogens such as E. coli 0157. E. coli 0157 has been noted in many cases of food poisoning and outbreaks and its presence is facilitated by compromised hygiene practices in the chain of food production. The procedures in the manufacturing of the cook chill meat products include: vacuum processing – which was determined to be subject to microbial contamination by E. coli 0157. The next processes were labelling, packing and distributing of the products to the food outlets. As noted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (2013), periodic cleaning as well as sanitation of the meat processing facility and equipment is a critical task in ensuring that Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) have been adhered to. Based on that, the benefits (positive effects) of cleaning the factory processing areas mentioned above include: The cleaning was conducted using detergents, disinfectants and sanitizers. Detergents were used since they simply required the use of water regardless of whether it was hard or soft water. Secondly, detergents had fewer reactions to minerals that were contained in water; hence, the detergent

Experience of Mosque Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Experience of Mosque - Assignment Example I visited the ICM on Friday and attended ‘Jumuah’ prayer at 1.30 pm. Besides, I went through the prayer calendar to find out the exact time of ‘Jumuah’ because my religious faith is different from Islam. Besides, this helped me to attend the congregational prayer that started at 2.00 pm. One can see that mosques are flooded by believers on Fridays. So, I parked my car at Lot ST8 and walked to the ICM. Entering the mosque, I noticed that most of the visitors are students. Besides, the only noticeable difference in dress is the cap or ‘Taqiyah’. But most of the visitors were not wearing ‘Taqiyah’. Besides, pants and t-shirt/shirt is the common dress among the visitors. So, one can see that there is no strict dress code implemented by the authorities because most of the believers are students. The mosque’s exterior is not so different from other buildings in the neighborhood. To be specific, the exterior does not represent the traditional mosques in the Middle East. Entering the mosque, I noticed that the main hall used for prayer purpose is symbolic of modern construction because there are fewer symbols or images that signify Islamic architecture. But the only difference is that there is a separate facility for womenfolk to pray. Besides, the noticeable symbol of Islamic architecture within ICM is the ‘minaret’ type protrusion on the bu ilding. As the believers are aware of the rules within mosque premises, there are no strict rules to be followed at ICM. Besides, silence during prayer time, proper dressing, ‘hijab’ (say, for womenfolk) are general rules. My conversation with an African American and an Indonesian student proves that they feel satisfied with the prayer services at the ICM. Still the conversation shed light into the differences between Islamic and Christian faiths. Renard (2011) states that, â€Å"In fact, a Christian attending services on Sunday could

Strategy memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategy memo - Essay Example Because its pros and cons are not properly and completely communicated to the general public, none of the taco shell products can find acceptance. Thus, communicating the research done on these food items and their respective benefits and disadvantages is the first priority. Though various organizations like FDA, GEFA and others are continuously testing and approving GM foods, it is the duty of the producer and marketer to convey details of the product to the public. Absence of this would lead to negative impact and Communicating the benefits of GM foods and adherence to FDA norms in preparing these by Taco Bell and Kraft Food in the press conference to be held. Ensuring that long term effects of these foods will be studied in detail and no harm to humans will be done. Ownership of this step to be taken by Public Relations Director of both Taco Bell and Kraft Food. Discussing the issues with government and food authorities to find healthy solutions or substitutes. Alternatively, these authorities may also provide testimony of quality and compliance on part of Taco Bell and Kraft Food. This will help counteract the negative influence of this allegation on Taco Bell Restaurants. Ownership of this task is to be taken by senior executives of both the corporations and higher authorities of government and food regulatory bodies. This action will follow immediately after the press conference. A detailed report will also be printed in major dailies. Another issue is to tackle people who have got ill by the use of taco shells. To combat it, Taco Bell and Kraft Foods have to provide treatment and checkup to those who have suffered or are suffering. This action is essential to maintain customer loyalty and correct the mistakes done by improper research and promotion of GM

Letter to Movie Director Essay Example for Free

Letter to Movie Director Essay I liked it how you connected medieval time with also the modern times. How you used medieval Crops, Setting, Characters and the modern music, clothes, language and make-up. How all the elements symbiotically connect it altogether that made our emotions and mind get lost in the imaginary world. As I teenager myself I find that most teenagers like comedy,romance,action and thriller in the usual movie s. You started off your movie with a popular song called We Will Rock You, it gave the movie a extra dimension to it. The setting was set back in the Middle Ages that made is realistic but had a modern music twist to it. It intrigued us to watch more with the excitement of the crowd in the jousting stadium clapping and singing with the music. It was nicely set out with the Wealthy people high in the stands with chairs and the poor people standing up below. The costumes were very real as well with the wealthy wearing colourful clean clothes and the peasant with dirty plain clothes. At the very beginning there is humour display when Wat bites William and says now you see how bloody hungry I am. It set the spark off. We mainly focused on the last final jousting event which was the highlight of the whole story. Sir William Thatcher fighting for his love and to change his stars against Count Ademar the bad knight trying to get the same girl as Sir William Thatcher. At the point there was different camera technique used. Extreme close-up zooming into the horses eyes with the background noise of the horse to built up more tension because you dont no whats happening but you just hear the horses getting louder and louder. t draws you in, to make you get hyped up and try and figure out what happening. Also The had a extreme close up on Sir Williams face to his eyes so you could see what his reaction was. You could tell he was thinking and planning out things while on the other hand you see Count Ademar and he seems lie his skimming. we read all this off just by looking at there faces. Wide angle was used to see them both, so that we could see there emotion. Extreme close -up was us ed just before there were going to joust. They used the extreme close-up so you could see the tension in each others eyes. There was low dramatic music and a close up angle on the second times they jousted again so show how much they want it and how much they hate each other. They both still lost so in the final round they used the zooming camera technique. It zooms as a wide shot all the way to extreme shot so you can try and see what they are thinking and feeling. The camera technique was really good and it made it seem like you were looking through the same eyes as Count Ademar , then you just here the sound of Sir Williams approaching you and his voice saying William. This fragment of the scene was a very powerful suspenseful scene. We as the audience thought that Sir William wouldnt win after Count Ademar hit him with the lance really hurt and the end stabbed into William. It caused us to want to watch more and more and see what happens. all of us sitting in our seats hoping Sir William wins but doubting that he will. At the last second Sir William goes for the final and at-last joust with Count Ademar for the tournament his blind dad and the women of his dreams Lady Joselyn his hopes rise up . He thought of when he told his dad that he would change his stars one day. The very little strength he had left in him and gave it to Count Ademar. Through all the pain he went through he finally won all 4 his Lady Joselyn, his dad,his stars and the tournament. Then it finishes with him and his lady kissing. And they lived happily ever after, the perfect ending to a story. But I do have so say I think with Lady Joselyn with some of her outfits and make-up and hairstyles were unrealistic for the middle ages. Bright coloured make-up and wavy,straight,colour hair would have not occurred back then. Apart from the I think that all the other characters dressed appropriately for the movie. I feel like this movie would entertain a teenager of the medieval period, even though its not the most accurate information it shows clearly who were the peasant and noble people and there role and real places in the world. IT showed great humour and romance and action in this movie and I believe teenagers would definitely want to watch this movie again. Thank-you for giving up your time to read this letter I hope to see an other great movie from you in the futureYours sincerely,

The Modern State and International Relations

The Modern State and International Relations Q2. What is the most significant feature of the modern state and how has it shaped international relations? The core of the early modern period to vast histories of sovereignty and state formation is a topic produced for some of the work done by the most influential political theorists of the past century. However an attempt of understanding the nature of political consciousness requires a historical understanding of the theoretical evolution of the modern state itself. This, in turn, requires an understanding of earlier state formations and ideologies that has influenced the evolution (Nelson, 2006). In this essay, I will discuss the topic of the modern state, its significant feature and how modern state has shaped international relations. In discussing the features, this essay aims to identify and define the term state, the components and key concepts of modern state, followed by the main significant feature and its impact towards the new era of international relations. The modern state is believed to have rises between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe, and later spread to the rest of the world through conquest and colonialism. This ideal of modern state comprises of four defining characteristics that is territory, sovereignty (external and internal), legitimacy, and bureaucracy. Legitimacy can come in various forms, from traditional, to charismatic, to rational-legal, the latter of which requires a highly effective bureaucracy and some semblance of the rule of law. States uses the four aspects to provide their populations goods such as security, a legal system, and infrastructure. â€Å"Weak states† are those that cannot adequately provide these goods, and once a state has become so weak that it loses effective sovereignty over part of its territory, it may be called a â€Å"failed state† (or in extreme instances a â€Å"collapsed state†) The most definitive terms of state comes from the German political sociologist and economic historian Max Weber (1864–1920). Max Weber claims that â€Å"the state is human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory†. A starting-point for Weber, which contrasted with much earlier thinking, was that the state could not be defined in terms of its goals or functions, but had rather to be understood in terms of its distinctive means. Thus, he argued that â€Å"the state cannot be defined in terms of its ends. There is scarcely any task that some political association has not taken in hand, and there is no task that one could say has always been exclusive and peculiar to those associations which are designated as political ones. Ultimately, one can define the modern state only in terms of the specific means peculiar to it, as to every political association, namely, the use of physical force†. For Web er, the modern state was a particular form of the state which was itself, a particular form of a more general category of political associations. There are two more recent definitions of a state. The first is by a sociologist named Charles Tilly and the second is by the Nobel-laureate economist, Douglass North. Chares Tilly claims that states are â€Å"relatively centralized, differentiated organizations, the officials of which, more or less, successfully claim control over the chief concentrated means of violence within a population inhabiting a large contiguous territory† (Tilly 1985, 170). Douglas North says that â€Å"a state is an organization with a comparative advantage in violence, extending over a geographic area whose boundaries are determined by its power to tax constituents† (North 1981, 21) There are two key concepts of the modern state The territorial state and the unitary sovereign will whereby the modern state project is aimed at replacing confused political order. Global spread of the idea of the nation-state Weber ‘the modern state is the result of a century’s long process of disarming non-state/private actors’. According to Charles Tilley, the state proved itself to be a superior. Modern state can also be associated with charter of the UN. A state is more than a government; that is clear. A state is the means of rule over a defined or sovereign territory. It is comprised of an executive, a bureaucracy, courts and other institutions. In a broad sense, any polity, any politically organised society, can be viewed as a state, and various criteria can be used to distinguish between different kinds of state. There are three components to the modern state comprises of territory, people and central government. Territory comprises of the element on which its other elements exist. People are every territorial unit that participates in international relations supports human life. Central government is the members of the state designated as its official representatives. States not only claim ultimate power within their realms (internal sovereignty), they also claim independence of one another (external sovereignty). Some of the significant features of modern state may be the dominant form of political authority and imagination today but it has taken many and specific forms across the world without completely removing or superseding older languages of power and public authority. According to Weber, the modern statemonopolizesthe means of legitimate physical violenceover awell-defined territory. Monopoly on force– has the right and ability to use violence, in legally defined instances, against members of society, or against other states. Legitimacy– its power is recognized by members of society and by other states as based on law and some form of justice. Territoriality– the state exists in a defined territory (which includes land, water and air) and exercises authority over the population of that territory. Changingconceptions of the modern stateinevitably provoke conflicting views of sovereignty. While some argue that the growing impact of cosmopolitan norms and transnationally-based governance are weakening state sovereignty, others claim that the concept is merely being redefined. Indeed, the latter group even includes proponents of global governance, who argue that state sovereignty can actually be strengthened rather than weakened by the transfer of power to the supranational level. Modernization has brought a series of indisputable benefits to people. Lower infant mortality rate, decreased death from starvation, eradication of some of the fatal diseases, more equal treatment of people with different backgrounds and incomes, and so on. To some, this is an indication of the potential of modernity, perhaps yet to be fully realized. In general, rational, scientific approach to problems and the pursuit of economic wealth seems still too many a reasonable way of understanding good socia l development. At the same time, there are a number of dark sides of modernity pointed out by sociologists and others. Technological development occurred not only in the medical and agricultural fields, but also in the military. Environmental problems comprise another category in the dark side of modernity. Pollution is perhaps the least controversial of these, but one may include decreasing biodiversity and climate change as results of development. The development of biotechnology and genetic engineering are creating what some consider sources of unknown risks. Besides these obvious incidents, many critics point out psychological and moral hazards of modern life alienation, feeling of rootlessness, loss of strong bonds and common values, hedonism, disenchantment of the world, and so on. Likewise, the loss of a generally agreed upon definitions of human dignity, human nature, and the resulting loss of value in human life have all been cited as the impact of a social process/civilization that reaps the fruits of growing privatization, subjectivism, reductionism, as well as a loss of traditional values and worldviews. All states use at least the threat of force to organize public life. The fact that dictatorships might more obviously use force should not hide the fact that state rule in democracies is based on the threat of force (and often the use of force). That states rule through the use of force does not mean that they are all powerful. This explains why North and Tilly only claim that states must have a â€Å"comparative advantage in violence† or have control â€Å"over the chief concentrated means of violence†. Nor does the state’s ability to use force necessarily mean that it can always enforce its will. All states tolerate some non-compliance. At some point, the marginal cost of enforcing laws becomes so great for any state that it prefers to allow some degree of non-compliance rather than spend more resources on improving law enforcement. Idealism is a classical theme of an unchanging and untrustworthy human nature, of anarchy in the international order, of ‘cold war’ as a semi-permanent state, of amorality in international affairs, of the security. The experience of the 1930s – above all, the rise of fascism and the descent into a second world war – dealt a severe blow to this liberal-minded progressivism and made space for what was to become the dominant paradigm in IR: realism and its second-generation progeny, neo-realism. At the heart of the realist approach is the insistence that we study the political world ‘as it actually is and as it ought to be in view of its intrinsic nature, rather than as people would like to see it’ (Morgenthau 1978: 15). For realists, both human nature and the character of international politics to which this gives rise are, in their essentials, timeless and unchanging. These characteristic claims of realism can be developed in terms of the eight key propositions which follow. States are the major actors in world affairs States behave as unitary actors States act rationally International anarchy is the principal force shaping the motives and actions of states States in anarchy are preoccupied with issues of power and security Morality is a radically qualified principle in international politics States are predisposed towards conflict and competition, and often fail to cooperate, even in the face of common interests International organizations have a marginal effect upon these prospects for inter-state cooperation However, critics of realism have never gone unchallenged. States are not the only major actors in world affairs Anarchy is constrained by forms of international cooperation Institutional arrangements may allow for much greater international cooperation than realism supposes International organizations may have a significant effect upon the prospects for inter-state cooperation States are not solely preoccupied with issues of military security Increasingly, international relations are about economic power Realism’ does not reflect ‘reality’ but one world-view (among many) in the service of particular interests In conclusion, while various states justify coercion in different ways, (through elections, through birth, through religion etc.), while they may use coercion for different purposes (to improve social welfare or to enrich themselves), and while their use of coercion may have different effects (higher levels of investment), it is also notable that such commonly-observed features of many modern societies as the nuclear family, slavery, gender roles, and nation states do not necessarily fit well with the idea of rational social organization in which components such as people are treated equally. While many of these features have been dissolving, histories seem to suggest those features may not be mere exceptions to the essential characteristics of modernization, but necessary parts of it. However, it is important to recognize that, although the nation-state has become by far the most predominant political entity in the world, there are still â€Å"stateless nations† like the Kurd s in Iraq and â€Å"diasporic nations† without a clearly identified homeland such as the Roma. As a result, nations and states remain distinct concepts even if they increasingly seem to occur together. References Ahmad, R.E., Eijaz, A., 2011, â€Å"Modern Sovereign State System is under Cloud in the Age of Globalization†, South Asian Studies – A Research Journal of South Asian Studies, Vl.26, No.2, pp.85-297 Clark, W.R., Golder, M., Golder, S.N., 2012, â€Å"Chapter 4: The Origins of the Modern State†, Principles of Comparative Politics, Vol. 2, pp1-66 Closson, S, Kolsto, P, Seymour, L.J.M., Caspersen, N, 2013, â€Å"Unrecognized States: The Strugge for Sovereignty in the Modern International System†, Nationalities Paper: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, Routledge Publishing, Vol.41, pp.1-9 Farr, J., 2005, â€Å"Point: The Westphalia Legacy and The Modern Nation-State†, International Social Science Review, Vol. 80, Issue 3/4, pp.156-159 Mann, M, 1993,â€Å"A Theory of The Modern State†, The Sources of Social Power Volume 2, The Rise of Classes and Nation States 1760-1914, Cambridge University Press, Vol.2, pp.44-89 Morris, C.W, â€Å"The Modern State†, Handbook of Political Theory, Sage Publications, pp.1-16 Nelson, B.R, 2006, â€Å"State and Ideology† The Making of the Modern State – a Theoretical Evolution, Palgrave Macmillan, pp.1-177 Netzloff, M., 2014, â€Å"The State and Early Modernity†, Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, University of Pennsylvania Press, Vol. 14, No.1, pp.149-154. Pierson, C, 1996, â€Å"The Modern State: The Second Edition†, Routledge Taylor Francis Group, pp.1-206 Sidaway, J.D., 2013, â€Å"The Topology of Sovereignty†, Geopolitics, Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, Vol.18, No.4, pp.961-966 Chapter 3: The Modern State, http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/fattah/courses/introPolSc/ch03state.htm Introducing Comparative Politics: The Modern State, http://college.cqpress.com/sites/drogusorvis/Home/chapter2.aspx The Problem with Sovereignty: The Modern States Collision with the International Law Movement, http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Special-Feature/Detail/?id=135613contextid774=135613contextid775=135611 1

Ryanair Strategic Analysis And Recommendations For The Future

Ryanair Strategic Analysis And Recommendations For The Future Ryanair is the first budget airline in Europe. Based on the case study of Ryanair by Eleanor OHiggins, a role of a management consultant is assumed to conduct a strategic analysis on the company. The report consists of the initial Environment Analysis conducted on Ryanair prior to the detailed strategic analysis that will be conducted in the future in order to provide the company with strategic recommendations for the future. The Environmental Analysis conducted consists of both an extensive analysis on the external environment and the internal environment. The external environment analysis is conducted in order to identify the nature of the environment Ryanair operates in and its impact on the strategic situation of the company. Through PESTEL, External factor and Industry analysis conducted, rejection of Aerlingus offer and rules and regulations imposed by governments etc. are recognized as the critical external environmental factor affecting Ryanairs strategy. An analysis of the internal environment through Value Chain model and SWOT analysis reveals the key issues hindering the strategic success of the firm; poor customer service and human resource problems. While this initial environmental analysis is used to assist the strategic analysis that is to be conducted on Ryanair, the importance of taking necessary actions regarding the critical issues is highlighted, CONTENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 CONTENT 2 1INTRODUCTION 3 2 OVERVIEW OF RYANAIR 4 3 CRITICAL ISSUES 5 4 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 6 4.1 MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS (Appendix 1) 6 4.2 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS (Appendix 2) 8 4.3 EXTERNAL FACTOR ANALYSIS (Appendix 3) 8 5 INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 9 5.1 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 9 5.2 SWOT ANALYSIS 11 Strengths 12 Weaknesses 12 Opportunities 12 Threats 13 6 CONCLUSION 14 7 RECOMENDATIONS 15 8 REFRENCE 15 INTRODUCTION Ryanair is the first budget Airline in Europe inspired by the U.S Budget Airline, Southwest Airlines. The report is based on the case study by Eleanor OHiggins, University College Dublin, and Republic of Ireland in 2007. The case by Eleanor OHiggins is based on the Strategy of Ryanair against the backdrop of the European airline industry and the burgeoning budget sector. The case discusses the opportunities and challenges faced by the industry and the firm. Leadership of Ryanairs CEO, Michael OLeary is highlighted. I will be assuming the role of management consultant identifying strategic management issues of the company. According to the contract between my consultancy firm and Ryanair my role is to conduct a strategic analysis of the environment, the industry, company in order to recommend new strategic initiatives and areas of improvement for the senior management team of Ryanair. Therefore an environmental analysis consisting of a macro environment analysis, industry analysis and internal analysis is carried out initially, in order to conduct detailed strategic analysis and provide recommendations in the future. 2 OVERVIEW OF RYANAIR Ryanair was founded in 1985 by the Ryan family to provide scheduled passenger airline services between Ireland and the UK, as an alternative to the then state monopoly carrier, Aer Lingus. Initially, Ryanair was a full-service conventional airline, with two classes of seating, leasing three different types of aircraft. Ryanairs objective was to maintain its position as Europes leading low-fares airline, operating frequent point-to-point flights on short-haul flights, mainly out of regional and secondary airports. The heart of its strategy was based on providing a no-frills service with low fares designed to stimulate demand, particularly from budget-conscious leisure and business travelers, who might otherwise have used alternative forms of transportation, or who might not have travelled at all. Company Vision- To firmly establish itself as Europes low fare, schedule passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings of its low fare service.(Ryanair, n.d) Company Mission- To become Europes most profitable low cost airline by rolling-out proven low fare, no-frills service in all markets in which we operate to the benefit of passengers, people and stake-holders. (Ryanair, n.d) 3 CRITICAL ISSUES The critical strategic issues faced by Ryanair can be identified as follows based on analysis; Poor Customer Service where the customers are unsatisfied and face episodes of dissatisfactions due to the poor services provided by the unfriendly staff of Ryanair has been identified as the critical issue that can be identified by reading the case. The high insurance charges and the lack of services regarding safety terms, lack of comfortable seating and other facilities has lead to this negative word of mouth spreading with regard to customer dissatisfaction which is clearly identified. The other main issues that can be recognized can be unwillingness and failure to recognize unions where Ryanair is also fired for providing poor working conditions for its workforce. In July 2006 the Irish high court found out that Ryanair had bullied pilots and forced them to agree to a new contract, pilots had to pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 15000 for retraining on a new aircraft if they left the airline. In 2006 pilots of Ryanair lodged a pay claim stating that there is significant difference in take home pay between Ryanair and Aer Lingus pilots it also claimed that training pilots were working for nothing. Understanding that employees and the customers are the factors that decide the success of the company Ryanair should solve these critical issues. 4 EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS External Environment analysis in conducted to analyze the nature of the environment the firm operates in. It identifies the forces in the environment affecting the firm and its degree of impact. It also identifies the opportunities, threats and challenges faced by the company. The external environment analysis for Ryanair consists of a macro-environment analysis, industry analysis and external factor analysis. The macro environment scans and indentifies the general environment factors that can have an impact on the organization whereas the industry analysis focuses on the competitive situation of the company. 4.1 MACRO ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS (Appendix 1) The macro-environment is composed of major external and uncontrollable factors that influence an organizations decision making, and affect its performance and strategies. These factors include the Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal forces (PESTEL). These forces do not change frequently, but when it does, it has a major impact on the organization. The PESTEL analysis looks at the general environment in which the organization is operating in and helps to realize the risk associated with the market growth or decline. PESTEL is the abbreviated form of the following factors respectively Political factors that can be identified that will have a great impact on Ryanair are; Aer Lingus rejection to amalgamate with Ryan Air, security measures and restrictions, stable political situation and the new EU regulation compensation law. Economical factors include the depreciation of US Dollar, availability of efficient substitute transport methods and also reduction in distribution costs from customers adapting to online check-ins where identified as the factors that has high influence regarding the economical influence. Social factors are important to be identified as firms to be aware of these factors because they can directly affect the way the organizations manage the operations, more importantly human resources and marketing. Technological is also playing a vital role as many new advances in technologies can affect the way businesses are carried on. Technological developments represent a real opportunity for the skillful people who can understand and apply them appropriately and the key factors identified that would have a high influence are environmental- friendly aircrafts and availability of online transactions. Environmental factors for Ryanair include noise level controls, global warming, green house gas effects and corporate social responsibility policies and environmental protection laws. 4.2 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS (Appendix 2) The second stage of the external environmental analysis is to assess the industry environment and the aim of this analysis is to identify those factors that could contribute to or affect the industry profitability. To aid in the industry analysis, Porters Five Forces Model will be used. Porter developed a technique analyzing five forces that affect industry profitability known as Five Forces Model. These forces shape the industry and increase the intensity of competitiveness, and therefore, the profitability and attractiveness of the industry. This model helps to indentify the dynamic factors of the industry and the market to compete effectively. 4.3 EXTERNAL FACTOR ANALYSIS (Appendix 3) The EFAS table is one way to organize the external factors into the generally accepted categories of opportunities and threats as well as to analyze how well a particular companys management responds to the specific factors in light of the perceived importance of these factors to the company. The factors which were identified as important were put in to this table to determine if they were opportunities or threats for Ryanair. According to EFAS, the key threat imposed on the company is the current political and legal factors and the increasing oil prices. The customer attitudes towards Ryanair is positive and the friendly environment of aircrafts which are seen to be key opportunities that can help lessen the effects of threats faced by the organization. 5 INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS The internal analysis aids in discovering the strengths, resources, capabilities and activities that the organization possesses in order to perform better than their competitors and those that add value to customers. To indentify the key strengths, weaknesses resources and capabilities of Ryanair, the Resource-Based View and the Value Chain Analysis will be used. 5.1 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS The vale chain is a set of activities that the organization undertakes or organizes to deliver the product to the customer. A value chain has two broad categories: primary activities and support activities. Primary activities represent the sequence of activities inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing/sales and service through which raw materials are converted into benefits enjoyed by customers. Support activities are those tasks that contribute or assist the firms primary activities and include -procurement, technology development, human resource management and infrastructure. A value chain analysis performed for Ryanair is shown in appendix 04. Each activity executed is value-adding to the organization and its customers. 5.2 SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths Company reputation first cheapest budget airline in the European industry Innovative cost reductions Use of new environmental- friendly aircrafts Substantial market growth Largest web site in traveler industry 5thmost recognized brand. Labor force of diverse cultures to better serve customers No fuel charges imposed on customers Work-life-balance practiced to prevent overflying for pilots and unnecessary accidents. Establishment of a safety committee. Weaknesses Refusal to recognize unions Decreased customer satisfaction Poor customer services no refund for cancellations, no accommodation provided for flight delays, etc. Over dependency on Michael OLeary Opportunities By merging Ryanair with Aer Lingus it gives them better advantages such as being more efficiency in the industry, will be able pay to lower tax and operation cost as well as will be able fly to more destinations. By choosing Sub-Main Airports to reduce Airport Charges Rather than choosing main air port and paying more money to them. It facilitated the introduction of new consumer oriented innovative Service. Threats While new service was introduced it was rejected 72% by poll readers of the Financial Time. As well as passengers have resisted paying à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8 to rent a games and entertainments console, probably because it was not worthwhile for short flights. Keeping the staff training and aircraft in a fleet commonality makes the Ryanair in a probable condition Due to noisy environment customers will avoid choosing Ryanair mean time it would be only a second choice for them. Gurdidian Newspaper say that insurance fee Ryanair charge from each passenger is very much high. Such shocking news avoids customers to book their own ticket. 6 CONCLUSION The external environment analysis is conducted for Ryanair in order to assist the future strategic analysis assuming the role of a management consultant. Both the external and the internal environments of the company is critically analyzed using tools such as PESTEL, Five forces model, Value Chain and SWOT analysis. The critical issues facing Ryanair can be identified as poor customer service and human resource management issues. With regard to Ryanairs external environment, the following forces can be identified as having a critical impact on the firm; rejection of Aerlingus offer and rules and regulations imposed by governments etc. According to the Value Chain Analysis, Ryanairs core competency and critical success factor is identifies as its low cost. SWOT Analysis further confirms that and also points out the weaknesses such as poor customer service and inefficient human resource practices which may eventually prove to be costly for Ryanair and hinder the effectiveness of its competitive advantage. 7 RECOMENDATIONS The environmental analysis is used as an initial analysis for the detailed strategic analysis which will provide recommendations to Ryanair. However based on the environmental analysis some initial recommendations can be made. The critical issues facing Ryanair is identified as poor customer service and human resource management issues. It is important that Ryanair attends to these critical issues immediately. Therefore Ryanair could Recognize labour unions; be more people oriented to improve employee relationships and encourage career development in order to efficiently manage their Human Resource in the future and there by achieve high employee commitment leading to a successful workforce. Improve the customer service they offer while minimizing cost. This could be achieved through improving the quality of training given to frontline employees and managing through a TQM (total quality management) 8 REFRENCE Beamish, H. R. (2008). Strategic Management. (3rd edition). New South Wales, Australia: Pearson Education Australia. BusinessDictionary.com (2009). Retrieved August 20, 2009 from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/macro-environment.html Hill, C. (2007). Strategic Management: An integrated Approach, (2nd edition.). Australia: John Willey Sons Australia, Ltd. Hubbard G. et al. (2008). Strategic Management. Pearson Education Australia. OHiggins, E. (2004). Ryanair Report. Wheelen T. L. Hunger J. D., (2000). Strategic Management and business policy. 7th edition.

The U.S. Constitution and Slavery :: USA, constitution, slavery, history,

The US constitution was written with great vision to create strong nation. The bill of right were written, it provide all humans with rights. The writers of the constitution we hypocrites, they didn’t abide by what they preached. Thomas Jefferson wrote himself â€Å" all men are created equal† but he owned slaves. The founding father didn’t look or even think about slavery when they wrote the constitution. They were pre-occupied in getting the southern state to join the union and sign the new constitution. They southern states believed that the federal government shouldn’t mess with the issue on slavery because slavery was a state issue. The south and the north made numerous compromises to create a great nation. The first indirect compromise was when the constitution didn’t mention slavery in the constitution, they left that for the states to deal with. After years after when the congress decide to stop the slave trade in 1808, they gave the south time to adjust to this but they new that by the time the slave trade died line was over the slave would have reproduces and they would have more slaves. Third compromise gave the south more power. They had notice that they had less seats in the house of representative. States with the most slaves, for instance Virginia and Maryland, were get out number in the house of representative, so the compromised to have the slave counted as part of the population. They got three counts for every five slaves. This helped balance the house of representative. Later on, after President Lincoln abolished slavery(the thirteen amendment in the constitution) the southern states decided to nullify his decision but the went against the constitution. Nullification is illegal. This action cause the bloodiest civil war in America. President Lincoln notice that the US government was not following what they were preaching. After the win in the civil war, the federal government had established themselves with a lot of power.

Television in the Information Age Essay -- TV Media Technology Essays

Television in the Information Age Introduction Television. Most Americans today cannot imagine life without it. It is how we relax, laugh, learn, and stay up to date on current events. The inventors of television may not have realized the impact of combining sound with moving pictures. For the first time in the history of the world we were and are able to peek into the lives of people we will never meet and visit places we will never go. It has even changed the way we communicate with each other in our everyday lives! Who has not heard or used the phrase coined by the sitcom, Seinfield, â€Å"†¦not that there’s anything wrong with that†¦.†? This analysis will first examine the origins of television and the evolution of television technology throughout the years. Next, it will examine the current trends within the industry, and how our government has shaped these trends, the companies that are involved in the industry, and finally, the future of television in the new sub-age of the Infor mation Age, the Digital Age. History The Information Age has its origins in the late nineteenth century when people began to see a need for ways to communicate large amounts of information to large numbers of people over a large geographical area quickly and accurately. Each Information Age invention acted as a catalyst for the next innovation, which without fail was an improvement upon its predecessor. This continuous improvement was made possible by constant research and discovery in the sciences, which enabled the development of new technologies crucial to the advancement of the objectives of the Information Age. The invention of the radio caused scientists to begin thinking about a way to develop an infor... ...result in the inseparable linkage of the two technologies. In the process of this linkage the TV in the traditional sense will start looking more and more like a computer. When this process is complete, the analog TV may have to step down from its position as the most influential Information Age invention to date and hand its â€Å"title† on to the computer. Forty years from now children may not even know what an analog TV is or how they work save what they read in a school history textbook. Computers have infiltrated nearly every area of life in general including medicine, transportation, art, music, -the list is endless, and therefore, its infiltration of TV is not surprising. For more information about the history, evolution, mechanisms, technology, marketplace, or future of TV and current trends in the industry please see this analysis’ supplemental links. Television in the Information Age Essay -- TV Media Technology Essays Television in the Information Age Introduction Television. Most Americans today cannot imagine life without it. It is how we relax, laugh, learn, and stay up to date on current events. The inventors of television may not have realized the impact of combining sound with moving pictures. For the first time in the history of the world we were and are able to peek into the lives of people we will never meet and visit places we will never go. It has even changed the way we communicate with each other in our everyday lives! Who has not heard or used the phrase coined by the sitcom, Seinfield, â€Å"†¦not that there’s anything wrong with that†¦.†? This analysis will first examine the origins of television and the evolution of television technology throughout the years. Next, it will examine the current trends within the industry, and how our government has shaped these trends, the companies that are involved in the industry, and finally, the future of television in the new sub-age of the Infor mation Age, the Digital Age. History The Information Age has its origins in the late nineteenth century when people began to see a need for ways to communicate large amounts of information to large numbers of people over a large geographical area quickly and accurately. Each Information Age invention acted as a catalyst for the next innovation, which without fail was an improvement upon its predecessor. This continuous improvement was made possible by constant research and discovery in the sciences, which enabled the development of new technologies crucial to the advancement of the objectives of the Information Age. The invention of the radio caused scientists to begin thinking about a way to develop an infor... ...result in the inseparable linkage of the two technologies. In the process of this linkage the TV in the traditional sense will start looking more and more like a computer. When this process is complete, the analog TV may have to step down from its position as the most influential Information Age invention to date and hand its â€Å"title† on to the computer. Forty years from now children may not even know what an analog TV is or how they work save what they read in a school history textbook. Computers have infiltrated nearly every area of life in general including medicine, transportation, art, music, -the list is endless, and therefore, its infiltration of TV is not surprising. For more information about the history, evolution, mechanisms, technology, marketplace, or future of TV and current trends in the industry please see this analysis’ supplemental links.

Corporate Crime Essay -- Legal Issues, Fraud

conventional criminals. For example an individual that steals bread from a supermarket to feed his/her child if convicted would go to prison or have to pay a fine that they cannot afford. However on the other hand an individual that commits corporate fraud and cons people out of millions of pounds when convicted may have to pay a monetary fine. This is typically not a problem for them as they are not committing crimes due to being in the cycle of deprivation. Usually they commit offenses because of greed. One would question whether the policies and laws are fair when dealing with conventional crime versus corporate crimes? Again this brings us back to the question as why such crimes lightly prosecuted. The sophistication of these crimes makes them difficult and expensive to investigate and prosecute because they are time consuming, labour intensive and financially expensive. For example, if a police officer occupies his/her time on fraud their overall performance would be considered as being poor, in terms of costs and benefits. Thus usually resulting in these sorts of crimes being ignored and no one being prosecuted for the offence. Due to the general invisibility of fraud there is less politicians or media pressure for police officers to deal with these crimes. For this reason fraud is regarded as low priority in most police forces. Also White collar crimes and corporate crimes usually are lightly prosecuted because the politicians do not want to bring it to light therefore there is less media attention and thus seen as being less serious and as the price paid for capitalism. Pearce and Tombs (1993) in their explanation of the disastrous release of toxic gases from the carbide factory in Bhopal, India in 1984 claimed the p... ...w and also in comparison to conventional crime. As both crime surveys and victim’s surveys do not give a clear and full picture of the true extent of crime. Police officers have to develop and become trained computer experts to be one step ahead of corporate criminals in this era of technology and computers where illicit activities occur on a more grand scale (global) and not just in the local neighbourhood. It can be concluded that this debate of why white collar crimes and corporate crimes are lightly prosecuted in comparison to conventional crimes will not end here, however one feels that due to advancement in technologies white collar crimes and corporate crimes will be on the increase thus government need to make policies and create harsher punishment in order to prevent and deter any companies committing these offenses in the near future.

Narrative Essay Example

Narrative essay Main character: genie Setting: swamp Plot: treasure is found There are four genies, which is Jinny, Winny, Tinny and Ninny, they are very good friend and they have living in a forest called The Peaceful Forest. They live in there almost 100 years, unfortunately they only can live 200 years, but they never feel sad about that and they live happily. One day, a devil has come to their place and tells them that there is a treasure inside the swamp which is behind the forest. He asks them to help him to get the treasure and he will give them a bottle of magic water that can help them to increase lifespan as the reward.After that, because the bottle of magic water only have one, so the genies started to become selfish and only think of self and try to get the magic water. But, actually the devil are lie to them, he just want them to help him to get the treasure and he does not have any reward to give back them. The four genies have a simple mind, so they do not think about the devil will lie to them, so they follow the devil to find the treasure and it take about 2 days to reach there. In the middle of the journey, Jinny, Winny and Tinny started to have conflict because they wanted to drink the magic water and do not want to let another to steal.Then, the devil started to smile because he has successful to provoke their relationship. Luckily, Niny, the leader of them which is lovely and kind, she started to tell them not to argue and try to persuade them but she failed because no one want to listen to her words. Few hours later, they reach the place, the devil is so exciting about the treasure that he have waited so long, so he call them to help him jump into the swamp to get it, but all of them are fighting because of the magic water. The devil can’t stand it, so he goes there and stop their fighting.When they all are pushing and pulling each other, the devil accidently felt into the swamp and he feel so painful because his weakness is cannot touch the swamp. The four genies quickly jump into it and try to save the devil, but it was too late, the devil has turn into ash. Unconsciously, Niny saw the treasure is floating on the swamp, so she take it and open it with the three other genies. After she opens it, they all smile to each other and hug each other because inside the treasure box, there was nothing inside. So, it means everything that they argue was a waste of time, and then they go back home and live happily just like before.

Definitions of Attitude Essay

An attitude can be defined as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or just about anything in your environment, but there is debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an attitude â€Å"a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.†[2] Though it is sometimes common to define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a measure of favorability.[3] This definition of attitude allows for one’s evaluation of an attitude object to vary from extremely negative to extremely positive, but also admits that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object meaning that they might at different times express both positive and negative attitude toward the same object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple attitudes toward the same object.[4] Whether attitudes are explicit (i.e., deliberately formed) versus implicit (i.e., subconscious) has been a topic of considerable research. Research on implicit attitudes, which are generally unacknowledged or outside of awareness, uses sophisticated methods involving people’s response times to stimuli to show that implicit attitudes exist (perhaps in tandem with explicit attitudes of the same object). Implicit and explicit attitudes seem to affect people’s behavior, though in different ways. They tend not to be strongly associated with each other, although in some cases they are. The relationship between them is poorly understood. Jung’s definition Attitude is one of Jung’s 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jung’s definition of attitude is a â€Å"readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way† (Jung, [1921] 1971:par. 687). Attitudes very often come in pairs, one conscious and the other unconscious. Within this broad definition Jung defines several attitudes. The main (but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the following. †¢ Consciousness and the unconscious. The â€Å"presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 687). †¢ Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to Jung’s theory of types that he labeled them the â€Å"attitude-types†. †¢ Rational and irrational attitudes. â€Å"I conceive reason as an attitude† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 785). †¢ The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling psychological functions, each with its attitude. †¢ The irrational attitude subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its attitude. â€Å"There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive attitude† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 691). †¢ Individual and social attitudes. Many of the latter are â€Å"isms†. In addition, Jung discusses the abstract attitude. â€Å"When I take an abstract attitude†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 679). Abstraction is contrasted with concretism. â€Å"CONCRETISM. By this I mean a peculiarity of thinking and feeling which is the antithesis of abstraction† (Jung, [1921] 1971: par. 696). For example: â€Å"I hate his attitude for being Sarcastic.† Pasted from The classic, tripartite view offered by William J. McGuire[9] is that an attitude contains cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Empirical research, however, fails to support clear distinctions between thoughts, emotions, and behavioral intentions associated with a particular attitude.[10] A criticism of the tripartite view of attitudes is that it requires cognitive, affective, and behavioral associations of an attitude to be consistent, but this may be implausible. Thus some views of attitude structure see the cognitive and behavioral components as derivative of affect or affect and behavior as derivative of underlying beliefs.[11] Despite debate about the particular structure of attitudes, there is considerable evidence that attitudes reflect more than evaluations of a particular object that vary from positive to negative. Attitudes also have other characteristics, such as importance, certainty, or accessibility (measures of attitude strength) and associated knowledge.[12] There is also considerable interest in inter-attitudinal structure, which connects different attitudes to one another and to more underlying psychological structures, such as values or ideology.[13] Attitude function Another classic view of attitudes is that attitudes serve particular functions for individuals. That is, researchers have tried to understand why individuals hold particular attitudes or why they hold attitudes in general by considering how attitudes affect the individuals who hold them.[14] Daniel Katz, for example, writes that attitudes can serve â€Å"instrumental, adjustive or utilitarian,† â€Å"ego-defensive,† â€Å"value-expressive,† or â€Å"knowledge† functions.[15] The functional view of attitudes suggests that in order for attitudes to change (e.g., via persuasion), appeals must be made to the function(s) that a particular attitude serves for the individual. As an example, the â€Å"ego-defensive† function might be used to influence the racially prejudicial attitudes of an individual who sees themselves as open-minded and tolerant. By appealing to that individual’s image of themselves as tolerant and open-minded, it may be possible to change their prejudicial attitudes to be more consistent with their self-concept. Similarly, a persuasive message that threatens self-image is much more likely to be rejected.[16] Attitude formation According to Doob (1947), learning can account for most of the attitudes we hold. Theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and social learning are mainly responsible for formation of attitude. Unlike personality, attitudes are expected to change as a function of experience. Tesser (1993) has argued that hereditary variables may affect attitudes – but believes that they may do so indirectly. For example, consistency theories, which imply that we must be consistent in our beliefs and values. As with any type of heritability, to determine if a particular trait has a basis in our genes, twin studies are used.[17] The most famous example of such a theory is Dissonance-reduction theory, associated with Leon Festinger, which explains that when the components of an attitude (including belief and behavior) are at odds an individual may adjust one to match the other (for example, adjusting a belief to match a behavior).[18] Other theories include balance theory, origincally proposed by Heider (1958), and the self-perception theory, originally proposed by Daryl Bem.[19] Attitude change Main article: Attitude change Attitudes can be changed through persuasion and an important domain of research on attitude change focuses on responses to communication. Experimental research into the factors that can affect the persuasiveness of a message include: 1. Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and processes a message. One such trait is intelligence – it seems that more intelligent people are less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied in this category is self-esteem. Although it is sometimes thought that those higher in self-esteem are less easily persuaded, there is some evidence that the relationship between self-esteem and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate self-esteem being more easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-esteem levels (Rhodes & Woods, 1992). The mind frame and mood of the target also plays a role in this process. 2. Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The credibility of a perceived message has been found to be a key variable here; if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it is from a popular newspaper. Some psychologists have debated whether this is a long-lasting effect and Hovland and Weiss (1951) found the effect of telling people that a message came from a credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-called â€Å"sleeper effect†). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial. Perceived wisdom is that if people are informed of the source of a message before hearing it, there is less likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told a message and then told its source. 3. Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in persuasion. Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes. When people are not motivated to process the message, simply the number of arguments presented in a persuasive message will influence attitude change, such that a greater number of arguments will produce greater attitude change.[20] 4. Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an individual’s cognitive evaluation to help change an attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented with the data and motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to not look at the content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that feature celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts are used. In other cases film stars are used for their attractiveness. Emotion and attitude change Emotion is a common component in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change. Much of attitude research emphasized the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns and political campaign advertising emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of cognitive, affective and conative components. Attitudes are part of the brain’s associative networks, the spider-like structures residing in long term memory that consist of affective and cognitive nodes. By activating an affective or emotion node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined. In primarily affective networks, it is more difficult to produce cognitive counterarguments in the resistance to persuasion and attitude change. Affective forecasting, otherwise known as intuition or the prediction of emotion, also impacts attitude change. Research suggests that predicting emotions is an important component of decision making, in addition to the cognitive processes. How we feel about an outcome may override purely cognitive rationales. In terms of research methodology, the challenge for researchers is measuring emotion and subsequent impacts on attitude. Since we cannot see into the brain, various models and measurement tools have been constructed to obtain emotion and attitude information. Measures may include the use of physiological cues like facial expressions, vocal changes, and other body rate measures. For instance, fear is associated with raised eyebrows, increased heart rate and increase body tension (Dillard, 1994). Other methods include concept or network mapping, and using primes or word cues in the era . Components of emotion appeals Any discrete emotion can be used in a persuasive appeal; this may include jealousy, disgust, indignation, fear, blue, disturbed, haunted,and anger. Fear is one of the most studied emotional appeals in communication and social influence research. Important consequences of fear appeals and other emotion appeals include the possibility of reactance which may lead to either message rejections or source rejection and the absence of attitude change. As the EPPM suggests, there is an optimal emotion level in motivating attitude change. If there is not enough motivation, an attitude will not change; if the emotional appeal is overdone, the motivation can be paralyzed thereby preventing attitude change. Emotions perceived as negative or containing threat are often studied more than perceived positive emotions like humor. Though the inner-workings of humor are not agreed upon, humor appeals may work by creating incongruities in the mind. Recent research has looked at the impact of humor on the processing of political messages. While evidence is inconclusive, there appears to be potential for targeted attitude change is receivers with low political message involvement. Important factors that influence the impact of emotion appeals include self efficacy, attitude accessibility, issue involvement, and message/source features. Self efficacy is a perception of one’s own human agency; in other words, it is the perception of our own ability to deal with a situation. It is an important variable in emotion appeal messages because it dictates a person’s ability to deal with both the emotion and the situation. For example, if a person is not self-efficacious about their ability to impact the global environment, they are not likely to change their attitude or behavior about global warming. Dillard (1994) suggests that message features such as source non-verbal communication, message content, and receiver differences can impact the emotion impact of fear appeals. The characteristics of a message are important because one message can elicit different levels of emotion for different people. Thus, in terms of emotion appeals messages, one size does not fit all. Attitude accessibility refers to the activation of an attitude from memory in other words, how readily available is an attitude about an object, issue, or situation. Issue involvement is the relevance and salience of an issue or situation to an individual. Issue involvement has been correlated with both attitude access and attitude strength. Past studies conclude accessible attitudes are more resistant to change. Attitude-behavior relationship This section requires expansion. (September 2012) The effects of attitudes on behaviors represents a significant research enterprise within psychology. Two theoretical approaches have dominated this research: the theory of reasoned action[21] and, its theoretical descendant, the theory of planned behavior,[22] both of which are associated with Icek Ajzen. Both of these theories describe the link between attitude and behavior as a deliberative process, with an individual actively choosing to engage in an attitude-related behavior. An alternative model, called MODE for â€Å"Motivation and Opportunity as DEterminants† was proposed by Russell H. Fazio, which focuses on motivations and opportunities for deliberative attitude-related behavior to occur. MODE is a Dual process theory that expects deliberative attitude-behavior linkages – like those modeled by the theory of planned behavior – only occur when individuals have motivation to reflect upon their own attitudes. Pasted from Theory of reasoned action From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The theory of reasoned action (TRA), is a model for the prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The subsequent separation of behavioral intention from behavior allows for explanation of limiting factors on attitudinal influence (Ajzen, 1980). The Theory of Reasoned Action was developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1975, 1980), derived from previous research that started out as the theory of attitude, which led to the study of attitude and behavior. The theory was â€Å"born largely out of frustration with traditional attitude–behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors† (Hale, Householder & Greene, 2003, p. 259). Pasted from Definition and example Derived from the social psychology setting, the theory of reasoned action (TRA) was proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1975 & 1980). The components of TRA are three general constructs: behavioral intention (BI), attitude (A), and subjective norm (SN). TRA suggests that a person’s behavioral intention depends on the person’s attitude about the behavior and subjective norms (BI = A + SN). If a person intends to do a behavior then it is likely that the person will do it. Behavioral intention measures a person’s relative strength of intention to perform a behavior. Attitude consists of beliefs about the consequences of performing the behavior multiplied by his or her evaluation of these consequences. (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) Subjective norm is seen as a combination of perceived expectations from relevant individuals or groups along with intentions to comply with these expectations. In other words, â€Å"the person’s perception that most people who are important to him or her think he should or should not perform the behavior in question† (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). To put the definition into simple terms: a person’s volitional (voluntary) behavior is predicted by his/her attitude toward that behavior and how he/she thinks other people would view them if they performed the behavior. A person’s attitude, combined with subjective norms, forms his/her behavioral intention. Fishbein and Ajzen say, though, that attitudes and norms are not weighted equally in predicting behavior. â€Å"Indeed, depending on the individual and the situation, these factors might be very different effects on behavioral intention; thus a weight is associated with each of these factors in the predictive formula of the theory. For example, you might be the kind of person who cares little for what others think. If this is the case, the subjective norms would carry little weight in predicting your behavior† (Miller, 2005, p. 127). Miller (2005) defines each of the three components of the theory as follows and uses the example of embarking on a new exercise program to illustrate the theory: †¢ Attitudes: the sum of beliefs about a particular behavior weighted by evaluations of these beliefs ââ€"‹ You might have the beliefs that exercise is good for your health, that exercise makes you look good, that exercise takes too much time, and that exercise is uncomfortable. Each of these beliefs can be weighted (e.g., health issues might be more important to you than issues of time and comfort). †¢ Subjective norms: looks at the influence of people in one’s social environment on his/her behavioral intentions; the beliefs of people, weighted by the importance one attributes to each of their opinions, will influence one’s behavioral intention ââ€"‹ You might have some friends who are avid exercisers and constantly encourage you to join them. However, your spouse might prefer a more sedentary lifestyle and scoff at those who work out. The beliefs of these people, weighted by the importance you attribute to each of their opinions, will influence your behavioral intention to exercise, which will lead to your behavior to exercise or not exercise. †¢ Behavioral intention: a function of both attitudes toward a behavior and subjective norms toward that behavior, which has been found to predict actual behavior. ââ€"‹ Your attitudes about exercise combined with the subjective norms about exercise, each with their own weight, will lead you to your intention to exercise (or not), which will then lead to your actual behavior. Pasted from In psychology, the theory of planned behavior is a theory about the link between attitudes and behavior. The concept was proposed by Icek Ajzen to improve on the predictive power of the theory of reasoned action by including perceived behavioural control.[1] It is one of the most predictive persuasion theories. It has been applied to studies of the relations among beliefs, attitudes, behavioral intentions and behaviors in various fields such as advertising, public relations, advertising campaigns and healthcare. The theory states that attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, together shape an individual’s behavioral intentions and behaviors. Pasted from Extension from the theory of reasoned action The theory of planned behavior was proposed by Icek Ajzen in 1985 through his article â€Å"From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior.† The theory was developed from the theory of reasoned action, which was proposed by Martin Fishbein together with Icek Ajzen in 1975. The theory of reasoned action was in turn grounded in various theories of attitude such as learning theories, expectancy-value theories, consistency theories,[2] and attribution theory.[3] According to the theory of reasoned action, if people evaluate the suggested behavior as positive (attitude), and if they think their significant others want them to perform the behavior (subjective norm), this results in a higher intention (motivation) and they are more likely to do so. A high correlation of attitudes and subjective norms to behavioral intention, and subsequently to behavior, has been confirmed in many studies.[4] A counter-argument against the high relationship between behavioral intention and actual behavior has also been proposed, as the results of some studies show that, because of circumstantial limitations, behavioral intention does not always lead to actual behavior. Namely, since behavioral intention cannot be the exclusive determinant of behavior where an individual’s control over the behavior is incomplete, Ajzen introduced the theory of planned behavior by adding a new component, â€Å"perceived behavioral control.† By this, he extended the theory of reasoned action to cover non-volitional behaviors for predicting behavioral intention and actual behavior. Extension of self-efficacy In addition to attitudes and subjective norms (which make the theory of reasoned action), the theory of planned behavior adds the concept of perceived behavioral control, which originates from self-efficacy theory (SET). Self-efficacy was proposed by Bandura in 1977, which came from social cognitive theory. According to Bandura, expectations such as motivation, performance, and feelings of frustration associated with repeated failures determine effect and behavioral reactions. Bandura (1986)[full citation needed] separated expectations into two distinct types: self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. He defined self-efficacy as the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes. The outcome expectancy refers to a person’s estimation that a given behavior will lead to certain outcomes. He states that self-efficacy is the most important precondition for behavioral change, since it determines the initiation of coping behavior. Previous investigations have shown that peoples’ behavior is strongly influenced by their confidence in their ability to perform that behavior (Bandura, Adams, Hardy, & Howells, 1980).[full citation needed] As the self-efficacy theory contributes to explaining various relationships between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behavior, the SET has been widely applied to health-related fields such as physical activity and mental health in preadolescents,[5] and exercise.[6] Concepts of key variables Behavioral beliefs and attitude toward behavior †¢ Behavioral belief: an individual’s belief about consequences of particular behavior. The concept is based on the subjective probability that the behavior will produce a given outcome. †¢ Attitude toward behavior: an individual’s positive or negative evaluation of self-performance of the particular behavior. The concept is the degree to which performance of the behavior is positively or negatively valued. It is determined by the total set of accessible behavioral beliefs linking the behavior to various outcomes and other attributes. Normative beliefs and subjective norms †¢ Normative belief: an individual’s perception about the particular behavior, which is influenced by the judgment of significant others (e.g., parents, spouse, friends, teachers).[7] †¢ Subjective norm: an individual’s perception of social normative pressures, or relevant others’ beliefs that he or she should or should not perform such behavior. Control beliefs and perceived behavioral control †¢ Perceived behavioral control: an individual’s perceived ease or difficulty of performing the particular behavior (Ajzen, 1988).[full citation needed] It is assumed that perceived behavioral control is determined by the total set of accessible control beliefs. †¢ Control beliefs: an individual’s beliefs about the presence of factors that may facilitate or impede performance of the behavior (Ajzen, 2001).[full citation needed] The concept of perceived behavioral control is conceptually related to self-efficacy. Behavioral intention and behavior †¢ Behavioral intention: an indication of an individual’s readiness to perform a given behavior. It is assumed to be an immediate antecedent of behavior (Ajzen, 2002b).[full citation needed] It is based on attitude toward the behavior, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, with each predictor weighted for its importance in relation to the behavior and population of interest. †¢ Behavior: an individual’s observable response in a given situation with respect to a given target. Ajzen said a behavior is a function of compatible intentions and perceptions of behavioral control in that perceived behavioral control is expected to moderate the effect of intention on behavior, such that a favorable intention produces the behavior only when perceived behavioral control is strong. Pasted from Cognitive dissonance is a term used in modern psychology to describe the feeling of discomfort when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions: ideas, beliefs, values or emotional reactions. In a state of dissonance, people may sometimes feel â€Å"disequilibrium†: frustration, hunger, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc.[1] The phrase was coined by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, which chronicled the followers of a UFO cult as reality clashed with their fervent belief in an impending apocalypse.[2][3] Festinger subsequently published a book called â€Å"A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance†, published in 1957, in which he outlines the theory. Cognitive dissonance is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. The theory of cognitive dissonance in social psychology proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by altering existing cognitions, adding new ones to create a consistent belief system, or alternatively by reducing the importance of any one of the dissonant elements.[1] It is the distressing mental state that people feel when they â€Å"find themselves doing things that don’t fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold.† [4] A key assumption is that people want their expectations to meet reality, creating a sense of equilibrium. [5] Likewise, another assumption is that a person will avoid situations or information sources that give rise to feelings of uneasiness, or dissonance.[1] Cognitive dissonance theory explains human behavior by positing that people have a bias to seek consonance between their expectations and reality. According to Festinger, people engage in a process he termed â€Å"dissonance reduction†, which can be achieved in one of three ways: lowering the importance of one of the discordant factors, adding consonant elements, or changing one of the dissonant factors.[6] This bias sheds light on otherwise puzzling, irrational, and even destructive behavior. Pasted from The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion[1] is a dual process theory of how attitudes are formed and changed that was developed by Richard E. Petty and John Cacioppo in the early 1980s (see also attitude change). The model proposes an â€Å"elaboration continuum,† which determines the extent to which arguments are processed and evaluated (high elaboration) versus peripheral cues such as source expertise or attractiveness (low elaboration) shape persuasion. The model is similar to the Heuristic-systematic model of information processing developed around the same time by Shelly Chaiken. Pasted from Central route Central route processes require the audience to use a great deal more thought, and therefore are likely to predominate under conditions that promote high elaboration. Central route processes involve careful scrutiny of a persuasive communication (e.g., a speech, an advertisement, etc.) to determine the merits of the arguments. Under these conditions, a person’s unique cognitive responses to the message determine the persuasive outcome. If a person evaluates a message centrally as reliable, well-constructed, and convincing, it will often be received as favorable even if it is contrasting to the receiver’s original stance on the message. So, if favorable thoughts are a result of the elaboration process, the message will most likely be accepted (i.e., an attitude congruent with the message’s position will emerge), and if unfavorable thoughts are generated while considering the merits of presented arguments, the message will most likely be rejected.[1] In order for the message to be centrally processed, a person must have the ability and motivation to do so. In order for the receiver to have motivation to centrally process a message it must have relevance to him or her. Peripheral route Peripheral route processes, on the other hand, does not involve elaboration of the message through extensive cognitive processing of the merits of the actual argument presented. These processes often rely on environmental characteristics of the message, like the perceived credibility of the source, quality of the way in which it is presented, the attractiveness of the source, or the catchy slogan that contains the message.[1] It is also frequently used when the argument presented is weak and/or lacking evidence. The peripheral route is a mental shortcut process that accepts or rejects a message based on irrelevant cues as opposed to actively thinking about the issue [2] The peripheral route is a process in which outside influences affect the decision making process. This is also the process used when the audience is unable to process the message. This could be from having a message that is too complex, or an audience that is immature. The most common influences would be factors such as reward. Reward could be objects like food, sex or money. These inducements create a quick change in mind and action. Celebrity status along with likability and expertise are other factors in the peripheral process that have become more popular. Humor within messages is a dominant influence in this process as well. Appearance also has the ability to gain the attention of individuals which can create an interest in the topic, but will not create a strong change in individuals. The goal of the peripheral process is to create change, this change can be weak and even temporary as opposed to the strong and lasting change in the central route. Choice of route The two factors that most influence which route an individual will take in a persuasive situation are motivation (strong desire to process the message; e.g., Petty & Cacioppo, 1979) and ability (actually being capable of critical evaluation; e.g., Petty, Wells, & Brock, 1976). Which route is taken is determined by the extent of elaboration. Both motivational and ability factors determine elaboration. Motivational factors include (among others) the personal relevance of the message topic, accountability, and a person’s â€Å"need for cognition† (their innate desire to enjoy thinking). Ability factors include the availability of cognitive resources (e.g., the presence or absence of time pressures or distractions) or relevant knowledge needed to carefully scrutinize the arguments. The ability to understand the message that is being communicated. Distractions such as noise can affect the ability for one to process a message. An example of noise would be a persuader trying to share his message in a room full of crying babies, this would make it extremely difficult for listeners to concentrate on the message being given. Noise that you can’t physically control would be if a persuaders listeners could concentrate on the message because they had something else on their mind which was more important than the persuaders message like a death in the family, or problems they’re having in their relationship. Another example of this is in children. A child will change their behavior because his or her parent told them to do so rather than taking the information given and processing it. As that child grows up, however, he or she will have a higher cognitive complexity, and therefore be able to process the information of the situation centrally in order to draw a conclusion of their own. (O’Keefe) The subject’s general education level, as well as their education and experience with the topic at hand greatly affect their ability to be persuaded. Under conditions of moderate elaboration, a mixture of central and peripheral route processes will guide information processing. There are benefits and consequences for both processes. An individual who disagrees with the message being presented will likely have a boomerang effect if he or she centrally processes the message and bounce farther away from the speaker’s goal. If that same situation takes place, but the message is peripherally processed, a weak change will not have as large of a negative effect on that individual. (O’Keefe) Type of Elaboration: Objective Versus Biased Thinking Attitude, motivation, and ability strongly increase the likelihood that a message will be ingrained in the minds’ of listeners. Although, as the social judgement theory suggests, they may not process the information in a fair, objective way. Attitudes are general evaluations that people hold that correspond with how they perceive themselves in relation to the world they live in. One way to influence attitude is to give peripheral cues. Peripheral cues can be things that lead to good or punishing or they can invoke provide guiding rules or inferences. These are often effective because they cause the audience to draw the conclusion themselves, therefore, making them believe it is their own idea, so they buy in to it. (Griffin) Many of the evaluations are based on Cognitive intelligence, behavior, and guidance. Given a basic understanding of an individuals attitudes one can interpret which type of elaboration would better suit the situation. There are two types of elaboration a listener can possess: (Biased elaboration, Objective elaboration) Elaboration can lead to both positive and negative results depending on the audience who is receiving the message. Individuals who have a Pre conception of a certain topic are going to be much harder to persuade oppose to an individual who has an open mind about a topic where only the facts hold truth. Biased Elaboration: Top-down thinking in which predetermined conclusions color the supporting data. This is used on people who likely already have their minds made up about a situation before the message is ever conveyed to them (Cacioppo) Ex. Someone who has had a negative personal experience with motorcycles will probably have made up their minds and be biased in the way they process the message.[2] Objective Elaboration: Bottom-up thinking in which facts are scrutinized without bias; seeking truth wherever it might lead. These listeners let the facts speak for themselves and approach the message with an unbias mind. Which leads to a true unbiased result or opinion. (Cacioppo) Ex. A person who is listening to a motorcycle salesman and already has a mindset about them. This person would let the facts influence their attitude.[2] Testing the Elaboration Likelihood Model To design a way to test the Elaboration Likelihood Model, it is crucial to determine whether an argument is universally seen as strong or weak. If an argument is inconsistent in opinions of strength, the results of persuasion will be inconsistent. A strong argument is defined by Petty and Cacioppo as â€Å"one containing arguments such that when subjects are instructed to think about the message, the thoughts they generate are fundamentally favorable† (Griffin). In general, a weak argument that is universally viewed as weak will entice unfavorable results if the subject is instructed to and is in an appropriate environment to consider it logically (or when testing the central route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model). In turn, a strong argument under similar circumstances will return favorable results. The test arguments must also be rated for ease of understanding, complexity, and familiarity. To scientifically study either route of the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the arguments themselves must be designed to have consistent results.[3] Conclusions of the Elaboration Likelihood Model In addition to these factors, the ELM also makes several unique proposals.[1] It is suggested that attitudes formed under high elaboration, the central route, are stronger than those formed under low elaboration. This means that this level of persuasion is stable over time and is less susceptible to decay or any type of counter-persuasion. Attitudes formed under low elaboration, the peripheral route, are more likely to cause a short term attitude change. Variables in ELM routes can serve multiple roles in a persuasive setting depending on other contextual factors (examples below). Under high elaboration, a given variable (e.g., source expertise) can either serve as an argument (â€Å"If Einstein agrees with the theory of relativity, then this is a strong reason for me to as well†) or as a biasing factor (â€Å"if an expert agrees with this position it is probably good, so let me see what else agrees with this conclusion† — at the expense of information that may d isagree with it).[4] Under conditions of low elaboration, a given variable can act as a peripheral cue. This could happen, e.g., through the use of an â€Å"experts are always right† heuristic. Note that, while this is similar to the Einstein example presented above, this is a simple shortcut, which, unlike the Einstein example, does not require careful thought. Under conditions of moderate elaboration, a given variable can serve to direct the extent of information processing: â€Å"If an expert agrees with this position, I should really listen to what (s)he has to say†. Interestingly, when a variable affects elaboration, this can increase or decrease persuasion, depending on the strength of the arguments presented. If the arguments are strong, enhancing elaboration will enhance persuasion. If the arguments are weak, however, more thought will undermine persuasion. More recent adaptations of the ELM (e.g.)[5] have added an additional role that variables can serve. They can affect the extent to which a person has confidence in, and thus trusts, their own thoughts in response to a message (self-validation role). Keeping with our source expertise example, a person may feel that â€Å"if an expert presented this information, it is probably correct, and thus I can trust that my reactions to it are informative with respect to my attitude†. Note that this role, because of its metacognitive nature, only occurs under conditions that promote high elaboration. Pasted from Attitudes Attitudes are evaluations people make about objects, ideas, events, or other people. Attitudes can be positive or negative. Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs that can guide decisions and behavior. Implicit attitudes are unconscious beliefs that can still influence decisions and behavior. Attitudes can include up to three components: cognitive, emotional, and behavioral. Example: Jane believes that smoking is unhealthy, feels disgusted when people smoke around her, and avoids being in situations where people smoke. Dimensions of Attitudes Researchers study three dimensions of attitude: strength, accessibility, and ambivalence. †¢ Attitude strength: Strong attitudes are those that are firmly held and that highly influence behavior. Attitudes that are important to a person tend to be strong. Attitudes that people have a vested interest in also tend to be strong. Furthermore, people tend to have stronger attitudes about things, events, ideas, or people they have considerable knowledge and information about. †¢ Attitude accessibility: The accessibility of an attitude refers to the ease with which it comes to mind. In general, highly accessible attitudes tend to be stronger. †¢ Attitude ambivalence: Ambivalence of an attitude refers to the ratio of positive and negative evaluations that make up that attitude. The ambivalence of an attitude increases as the positive and negative evaluations get more and more equal. The Influence of Attitudes on Behavior Behavior does not always reflect attitudes. However, attitudes do determine behavior in some situations: †¢ If there are few outside influences, attitude guides behavior. Example: Wyatt has an attitude that eating junk food is unhealthy. When he is at home, he does not eat chips or candy. However, when he is at parties, he indulges in these foods. †¢ Behavior is guided by attitudes specific to that behavior. Example: Megan might have a general attitude of respect toward seniors, but that would not prevent her from being disrespectful to an elderly woman who cuts her off at a stop sign. However, if Megan has an easygoing attitude about being cut off at stop signs, she is not likely to swear at someone who cuts her off. †¢ Behavior is guided by attitudes that come to mind easily. Example: Ron has an attitude of mistrust and annoyance toward telemarketers, so he immediately hangs up the phone whenever he realizes he has been contacted by one. The Influence of Behavior on Attitudes Behavior also affects attitudes. Evidence for this comes from the foot-in-the-door phenomenon and the effect of role playing. The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon People tend to be more likely to agree to a difficult request if they have first agreed to an easy one. This is called the foot-in-the-door phenomenon. Example: Jill is more likely to let an acquaintance borrow her laptop for a day if he first persuades her to let him borrow her textbook for a day. Social Norms and Social Roles Social norms are a society’s rules about appropriate behavior. Norms exist for practically every kind of situation. Some norms are explicit and are made into laws, such as the norm While driving, you may not run over a pedestrian. Other norms are implicit and are followed unconsciously, such as You may not wear a bikini to class. Social roles are patterns of behavior that are considered appropriate for a person in a particular context. For example, gender roles tell people how a particular society expects men and women to behave. A person who violates the requirements of a role tends to feel uneasy or to be censured by others. Role requirements can change over time in a society. The Effect of Role Playing and the â€Å"Prison Study† People tend to internalize roles they play, changing their attitudes to fit the roles. In the 1970s, the psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted a famous study called the prison study, which showed how roles influence people. Zimbardo assigned one group of college student volunteers to play the role of prison guards in a simulated prison environment. He provided these students with uniforms, clubs, and whistles and told them to enforce a set of rules in the prison. He assigned another group of students to play the role of prisoners. Zimbardo found that as time went on, some of the â€Å"guard† students became increasingly harsh and domineering. The â€Å"prisoner† students also internalized their role. Some broke down, while others rebelled or became passively resigned to the situation. The internalization of roles by the two groups of students was so extreme that Zimbardo had to terminate the study after only six days.