Running Head: British Airways †A Marketing Plan

British Airways is one airline that has gone through both bright and turbulent times since its founding in 1974.[i]   After thirteen years of government control, British Airways went into privatization in 1987.[ii]   The airline is the surviving entity after merger and consolidations made with British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA).Currently it operates about 240 aircrafts servicing 120 destinations throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific.[iii].British Airways competes with about 42 other British airlines but has maintained leadership in most areas of the aviation industry not only in the United Kingdom but in Europe as well.[iv] Its main competitor is Virgin Atlantic, an airline established by Richard Branson in 1984 and with about 10 per cent market share in terms of kilometers logged as of 2007.[v]As airlines around the world struggle to survive in the m idst of the worldwide financial crisis, British Airways vows to target growth and raise its market share while intently addressing its operational concerns towards excellence and financial health.The surging complexity of the market ahead is expected to put the airline industry on the offensive to obviate possible downturns as what happened to the automobile and the investment banking industries during the last quarter of 2008 leading to the global financial turmoil.Reports had it that requests for government bailouts were made in the face of lower demand from car buyers. The airline industry thus, is among those expected and likely to be affected by the crisis due to the expected economic contraction in the aftermath of the financial meltdown.Importance of the StudyThe study is an attempt at providing a trajectory, focus as well as strategic road map on how British Airways should repackage itself towards upgrading and raising its potentials in a cutthroat aviation industry not mere ly in the United Kingdom but in the airline’s other service areas around the globe, Europe especially.For a start, British Airways dutifully crafted the BA Business Plan (BP11) which is aimed at focusing on four key priorities arising out of the previous year’s plans. These are:  (1) Upgraded customer experience with its trademark Basics and Brilliance, Club World, First Cabin and similar programs meant to introduce innovative customer come-ons with its plan to acquire long-haul aircrafts as well as counter the negative impact of the operating glitches during the transitions experience at Heathrow Terminals 1, 4 and 5. Incidentally, this was planned to introduce new forms of premium customer experience through increased presence in the European and American markets;(2) Planning for growth in terms of new long haul aircrafts, premium services and added destinations between Europe and the Americas;(3) Continuing need to control costs in the face of tight competition, r ising cost of delivering service, fuel and administrative costs. The entity additionally attempts at undertaking a more efficient assets and liability management to reasonably assure itself the advantage of liquidity and solvency under the current economic environment; and,(4) Taking a lead in corporate social responsibility to articulate a social and corporate balance in the conduct of its operations.[vi]A critical component of BP11 is the marketing plan (MP11) which identifies and concentrates on the opportunities available to British Airways worldwide in congruence with its identified key priorities.The marketing plan clearly outlines a road map towards market recovery via excellence in the basics, and ultimately to the deployment of brilliant premium services not available anywhere or in other airlines competing in identical routes.Specifically, the Marketing Plan MP11 cross links with the Business Plan (BP11) with the former as the centrepiece of the airline’s assertive leadership thrusts towards the first half of the 21st century. Just like the Victoria era slogan that the â€Å"sun does not set on the British empire†, British Airways is determined to head for industry prominence after several turbulent encounters with difficult challenges that it had to go through.Apparently brought about by its own weight, its bigness is without the support mechanism it needed to stabilize its moves.   A component of the BP11, the MP11 describes in more detailed fashion how the BP11 will breathe through the heart of the MP11 which is considered the heart of the Business Plan.On the aspect of significance on research, the MP11 serves as the management blue print for strategic decision-making; especially in the area of marketing management under various assumptions, scenarios, alliances and configurations.Strategic marketing management which is contained in this road map MP 11 will enable management to adopt strategies such as cost leadership, attractive premium services, human resource strategies and expanded terminal network in the industry as means to create a demand gap in the long haul travel sector as well as a similar gap in the premium business travel from continental Europe to the premier city of New York in the United States. The experiences of the past years are expected to provide hard lessons for British Airways management towards strategic marketing processes.For the business traveller all over, the MP11 attempts to redefine the concept of basic and premium travel. With the integration of cost advantage expected to ensue along the airline’s objective of operational excellence, airline travellers can reasonably expect these cost rationalization measures to have a positive effect on the pricing competitiveness of British Airways while maintaining the class with which British Airways has been known for.The airline industry, for one, is likewise expected to significantly benefit from this study specifically in the a rea of collaboration, alliances and economic cooperation without any attempt at abusing the regulatory privilege this union may provide such alliances.Hence, partnerships should be undertaken for the development and maintenance of constructive relationship with other companies in the industry as at work.[vii] In the same way that this will be tempered and enhanced by a strong corporate social responsibility not only in terms of the environmental aspect, it is expected similarly to be strong along the social issues directly and indirectly affected by the industry.The society, in general, and the employees in particular will reap benefits from this study in terms and along the key balanced scorecard perspectives over secure employment tenure, human resource training and performance recognition dimensions incorporated into the business and marketing plans; all considered critical components and means to stabilize the goal of operational excellence with a genuine corporate social respon sibility.Primarily, the shareholders are the targets of this study as among the major beneficiaries through which an innovative and unprecedented pricing incorporates real shareholder value and corporate pride enhanced with financial viability through operational excellence.   British Airways aims to show gratitude for continued support and recognition as Britain’s primary carrier.The academe is similarly expected to acquiesce the benefits from this Plan which comes as a result of intensive research and careful study on the travel and industry markets in which British Airways is among the major players.Of equal importance is the fact that British Airways is a corporate organization that is considered an excellent source of academic studies in an industry characterized with great risks, complexities as well as opportunities with huge potentials for learning, and even further researches. [i]   Annual Report, 2007, British Airways, http://www.britishairways.com, accessed Dec ember 28, 2008 [ii]   Ibid. http://www.britishairways.com,  [iii]   Ibid, http://www.britishairways.com,  [iv]   Ibid., http://www.britishairways.com,  [v]   Ibid., http://www.britishairways.com,  [vi]   Ibid,   http://www.britishairways.com,p. 34  [vii]   J. Hicks, The Challenge of the New Millenium: winning the Struggle with Ourselves, New Falcon Publications, Arizona, 1997, p. 131.   

Answer Key

Professor Mumford [email  protected] edu Econ 360 – Fall 2012 Problem Set 1 Answers True/False (30 points) 1. FALSE If (ai , bi ) : i = 1, 2, . . . , n and (xi , yi ) : i = 1, 2,  ·  ·  · , n are sets of n pairs of numbers, then: n n n (ai xi + bi yi ) = i=1 i=1 ai x i + i=1 bi yi 2. FALSE If xi : i = 1, 2, . . . , n is a set of n numbers, then: n n n n n (xi ? x) = ? i=1 n i=1 2 x2 i ? 2? x i=1 xi + i=1 x = ? i=1 2 x2 ? n? 2 x i where x = ? 1 n i=1 xi 3. TRUE If xi : i = 1, 2, . . . , n is a set of n numbers and a is a constant, then: n n a xi = a i=1 n i=1 xi = a n x ? here x = ? 1 n i=1 xi 4. FALSE If X and Y are independent random variables then: E (Y |X) = E (Y ) 1 5. TRUE If {a1 , a2 , . . . , an } are constants and {X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn } are random variables then: n n E i=1 ai X i = i=1 ai E (Xi ) 6. FALSE For a random variable X, let  µ = E (X). The variance of X can be expressed as: V ar(X) = E X 2 ?  µ2 7. TRUE For random variables Y and X, the variance of Y conditional on X = x is given by: V ar(Y |X = x) = E Y 2 |x ? [E (Y |x)]2 8. TRUE An estimator, W , of ? is an unbiased estimator if E (W ) = ? for all possible values of ?. 9.FALSE The central limit theorem states that the average from a random sample for any population (with ? nite variance) when it is standardized, by subtracting the mean and then dividing by the standard deviation, has an asymptotic standard normal distribution. 10. TRUE The law of large numbers states that if X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn are independent, identically distributed random variables with mean  µ, then ? plim Xn =  µ 2 Multiple Choice Questions (a) ceteris paribus (b) correlation (c) causal e? ect (d) independence (20 points) 11. The idea of holding â€Å"all else equal† is known as 12.If our dataset has one observation for every state for the year 2000, then our dataset is (a) cross-sectional data (b) pooled cross-sectional data (c) time series data (d) panel data 13. If our dataset has one observation for every state for the year 2000 and another observation for each state in 2005, then our dataset is (a) cross-sectional data (b) pooled cross-sectional data (c) time series data (d) panel data 14. If our dataset has one observation for the state of Indiana each year from 1950-2005 then our dataset is (a) cross-sectional data (b) pooled cross-sectional data (c) time series data (d) panel data 15.Consider the function f (X, Y ) = (aX + bY )2 . What is (a) 2aX (b) a(aX + bY ) (c) 2a(aX + bY ) (d) a2 X ? f (X,Y ) ? X 3 Long Answer Questions (50 points) 16. The sum of squared deviations (subtracting the average value of x from each observation on x) is the sum of the squared xi minus n times the square of x. There are ? several ways to show this, here is one: n n xi (xi ? x) ? i=1 = i=1 n (xi ? x + x) (xi ? x) ? ? ? n = i=1 n (xi ? x) (xi ? x) + ? ? i=1 n x (xi ? x) ? ? = i=1 (xi ? x)2 + x ? ? i=1 n (xi ? x) ? (xi ? x) = 0, so ? and we know that i=1 n i=1 (xi ? x)2 ? 17. Th ere are several ways to show that this expression equals the sample covariance between x and y, here is one: n n xi (yi ? y ) ? i=1 = i=1 n (xi ? x + x) (yi ? y ) ? ? ? n = i=1 n (xi ? x) (yi ? y ) + x ? ? ? i=1 (yi ? y ) ? = i=1 (xi ? x) (yi ? y ) ? ? 18. Correlation and causation are not always the same thing. (a) A negative correlation means that larger class size is associated with lower test performance. This could be because the relationship is causal meaning that having a larger class size actually hurts student performance.However, there are other reasons we might ? nd a negative relationship. For example, children from more a? uent families might be more likely to attend schools with smaller class sizes, and a? uent children generally score better on standardized tests. Another possibility is that within a school, a principal might assign the better students to smaller classes. Or, some parents might insist that their children are in the smaller classes, and these same pare nts tend to be more involved in their children’s education. Given the potential for confounding factors such as these, ? ding a negative correlation between class size and test scores is not strong evidence that smaller 4 class sizes actually lead to better performance. Thus, without other information, we cannot draw a meaningful economic conclusions. A correct answer should explain that we should be careful about drawing economic conclusions from simple correlations. (b) The sample correlation between N and T is de? ned as: s rN T = N T sN sT where the sample covariance, sN T , is given by: sN T = 1 999 1000 ? Ni ? N i=1 ? Ti ? T and the sample standard deviations are given by: sN = 1 999 1000 Ni ? N i=1 2 sT = 1 999 1000 ? Ti ? T i=1 2 Note that there are several alternative ways to write this and statistical programs generally use other algorithms to calculate the correlation that are less prone to loss of precision due to roundo? error or storage over? ow. 19. Wage data ( a) There are 526 observations. (b) There are 274 men in the sample. This means that the sample is 52. 09 percent male. (c) The average level of education in the sample is 12. 6 years. The median level of education is 12 years. (d) The highest education level in the sample is 18 years of school. 9 people in the sample report having 18 years of education. (e) The average hourly wage in the sample is $5. 90. The median hourly wage in the sample is $4. 65. 20. Fertility data (a) There are 363 women in the sample. (b) The average number of children ever born to a woman in the sample is 2. 3. The median number is 2. (c) The largest number of children ever born to a woman in the sample 7. Six women report having seven children. (d) 25 percent of the sample lived in the eastern United States at age 16. (e) The average level of eduction in the sample is 13. 2 years. 5

Black Genocide Essay Example for Free

Black Genocide Essay Essay Topic: African American , Abortion â€Å"Black Genocide in the 21st century† also called â€Å"Maafa† is an anti-abortionist documentary made in 2009 that speaks about the relevance of birth control, White America and Black America, Planned Parenthood and how it was established, also, the conspiracy behind abortion. The movie also deeply discusses the argument between abortion being genocide and it specifically targeting African Americans. Black Genocide was a very intriguing and interesting piece of material that filled my knowledge with much more than I had intended it doing. Before watching this video, I knew a little about abortion but not about the black genocide part. You see, I knew that abortion was a way for the government to obtain legal rights to abort children who weren’t able to be cared for but I didn’t know the government was using abortion as a way to limit the black population. I also knew that African Americans were having a lot of abortions and there were, and still is a lot of abortion facilities but never put together the idea of how they were getting access to this information, furthermore, the connection between eugenics and genocide. During the film, I learned so much information that is disgusted me and changed many of my views toward abortion and other things. I learned that in the early 1800’s, Americans feared retribution and resurrection because slavery was supposed to have ended. Intermarriage also lead to the loss of international purity and for that, they had a plan of colonization. Colonization was an affect that took place, and caused African Americans to be sent back to Africa. After the colonization, the new philosophy was established and was called â€Å"eugenics†, the perfect solution to what was known as â€Å"negro dilemma.† I also learned that Eugenics believed that Africans were inferior and without guidance, they couldn’t make it. Margaret Sanger was the founder of the â€Å"American birth control league† and was successful for promoting abortion and birth control. After watching the 21st century of black genocide, I wanted to know more about the situation with the NAACP and why the government still hasn’t publicly announced the conflict between the protesters and there undercover targets. I’d also like to know more about the positive and negative eugenics and why White America was considered positive eugenics when it was used to try and dominate the black parts of America and used as a companion to exterminate African Americans. I’d also like to know more about Planned Parenthood and to see if the facilities were still being targeted in minority places. I’d also like to know more about White America and the Planned Parenthood meetings, and also if Planned Parenthood groups still targeted low poverty neighborhoods of different race, such as Caucasians. Black Genocide. (2016, Apr 12).

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Strategic Management Accounting - - Assignment Example The company has been able to maintain a competitive edge through increased innovative, good corporate image and technological advancement. In this organization, decision making can be characterized as participatory where all the management is employed in decision making process. The second problem is presence of management teams that does not have long-range plans, also the management team is not dynamic, i. e., the majority of the management impedes change in the organization. In order to determine whether to replace the existing machine with the new mechanism, we need to calculate the Net Present value relative to the old machine. In order to achieve this objective we will follow the following steps: The decision criteria of the company are to select projects that have their payback period as five years and below. In the case of AL II, the payback period is 9.05 years, therefore, the replacement process should not be undertaken. My advice is to reject the project since the IRR is below the company cost capital. In addition to this, internal rate of return is one of the best criteria as it is considered to be a measure of marginal efficiency of the capital invested. There is need to analyze the firm financial capacity toward financing the replacement proposal. If it is not financially capable in implementing the proposal, the firm should search from resources elsewhere. In this case, the firm may result in borrowing, thus, the firm should consider the cost of borrowing and covenants attached to such borrowed funds (Hoque, 2005). It is necessary to consider the level of environmental degradation occasioned by the implementation of the proposal. If the existing machines pollute the environment at higher rate, that increases chances of the company facing legal suits emanating from environment pollution, the company might consider undertaking the proposal. Another strategic factor that needs to be

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Ethics - Essay Example Those who are in the favor of the kind of happiness recognized by Aristotle believe that happiness is an objective element and not a subjective one and to recognized whether one is happy or not requires inquiry and not only introspection. Body The feeling of happiness does not last for a longer period of time. Certain times an individual experiences higher level of happiness as compared to other times and it is undoubtedly a fact that an individual might experience state of happiness at one moment and might even face unhappiness at the other moment. According to Bentham an individual gives more importance to events of happiness that lasts for a longer period of time (Pojman 122). Aristotle claims that stability is very important for one to be happy and the identification of whether an individual is happy or not can only be judged over an extended period of time (Pojman 305). According to a conventional tradition a person was said to be happy if he is really happy throughout his life. Happiness is desired by every one and everybody wants to experience it throughout their lives but individuals experience various events throughout their lives and they may at a certain point in time loose their feeling of happiness. ... Different philosophers may agree about both the events but they link happiness and actions in different ways. The followers of Bentham and those who support his view focus on benefits and believe that benefits provide satisfaction and they focus on the methods through which benefits can be obtained (Pojman 123). Those who follow the philosophy of Aristotle focus on an individuals desire to obtain a good life. Every philosopher is in agreement that happiness is the motive due to which individuals are promoted to conduct any action, but certain believe that it is the ultimate goal and certain believe that it is not necessarily an ultimate goal that individuals want to achieve. Every individual is in the pursuit of achieving happiness, certain philosophers believe that certain factors such as health and wellbeing are necessary to achieve happiness but individuals may experience lack of these factors due to their own fault and fault of others. An individual’s well being comprises of three main elements, these include benefits, satisfaction and pride. Satisfaction itself is a form of happiness, it can not be referred to as a feeling or believe but according to utilitarian it is one of the major elements of attaining wellbeing. If contentment is to be realized as an element of wellbeing, it needs to last for a longer period of time and not just for a few moments or a small period of time. Benefits are even recognized as an element of wellbeing, benefits refers to the satisfaction of the needs of food, drink, shelter and clothes which results in the flourishing state of an individual. Welfare can be of two kinds, psychological welfare and material

In what ways can interprofessional working improve the quality of the Essay

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Historiography Paper II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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A Review of the Role of Entrepreneurship in Stimulating Economic Growth Essay Example for Free

A Review of the Role of Entrepreneurship in Stimulating Economic Growth Essay They also further states that entrepreneurs have been responsible for growth and development over the centuries and are identified as the key role players in the economy of every country. The paper identifies the different definitions of an entrepreneur which are identified as the different channels in which entrepreneurship lead to economic growth, reduced unemployment and increased levels of income among countries. As a result of the role of entrepreneurship in any country, most countries emphasises on integrating entrepreneurial activity in its economic policy. A discussion is made on developing economies mainly South Africa, China, Brazil and Russia comparing the entrepreneurial activity within the economies. Economic growth is best defined as a long-term expansion of the productive potential of the economy. It is measured by the comparing the difference between the Gross National Product (GNP) in a year with the GNP of the previous year. A growing economy is when the difference is positive. The term simply refers to an increase in the ability to produce goods and services. It is easier to define unemployment when there is an understanding of the term economic growth. Unemployment refers to when a person who is actively searching for employment cannot find work to do. This is an instrument used to determine the healthiness of an economy. After knowing the levels of unemployment in an economy, determining the level of income distribution becomes a bit projected. The level of income in an economy refers to the way in which in money is distributed among the population in an economy. The above three defined terms has a link to each other. The level of economic growth have a direct proportional influence on the possible jobs available in the economy while a reciprocal relationship exist between the level of income in the particular economy and levels of unemployment. The level of income is directly proportional to economic growth. Also, the level of unemployment is directly proportional to the level of income in an economy. However, all the above aspects are influenced by the level of entrepreneurship in the particular economy. An economy with high activity of entrepreneurship is more likely to be characterized by high economic growth, reducing levels of unemployment and increasing levels of income while an economy with low entrepreneurial activity on the other hand can be characterized by low economic growth, high levels of unemployment and low levels of income. Entrepreneurship cannot be separated from the following terms â€Å"economic growth†, â€Å"employment† and â€Å"country income level distribution† as all the entrepreneurial activities contribute largely to economic growth, levels of employment and income distribution. Different nature of entrepreneurs stimulates the growth of an economy in different ways. In any country with high levels of entrepreneurial activities or which experienced high entrepreneurial activity, the economy tends to be of middle to high income and the unemployment levels tend to be decreasing if not low. However, economies with low income distribution are characterised by low entrepreneurial activities and mostly, there are significant levels of unemployment. Such low income economies have high records of poverty which leads them to seek donors. Different authors made contributions on this topic and this paper compares and links the information obtained into a comprehensive review. The term entrepreneurship has been defined by Schumpeter (1934) as lying in the perceptions and exploration of new opportunities in the realm of business. He further states that it always has to do with bringing about a different use of resources in that they are withdrawn from their traditional employ and subjected to new combinations. Schumpeter relates entrepreneurship to be influenced by entrepreneurs who are innovative and hese people have to be extra-ordinary as they have to come up with extra-ordinary events. They come up with new technological possibilities hence are able to establish large businesses from these. Carland etal. (1984) confirms that an entrepreneur is someone innovative and further says that he or she employs strategic management practices in the business. Timmons (2000) believes entrepreneurship as the process of creating a nd seizing an opportunity and pursuing it, regardless of resources currently controlled. Nieman and Nieuwenhuizen (2009) define an entrepreneur as the person who sees an opportunity in the market, gathers resources and creates and grows a business venture to meet these needs. They also further states that he or she bears risk of the venture and is rewarded with profit if it succeed. With different definitions of entrepreneurship defined by different authors through the way they define an entrepreneur, the researcher generally defines entrepreneurship as the act of being an entrepreneur who establishes business through the organisation of resources taking risk with the aim of realising profit. The Schumpeterian entrepreneur as defined above is innovative. In support for this, Curran and Stanworth (1989) defines entrepreneurship as the creation of new economic entity centred on a novel product or service or, or at the very least, one which differs significantly from products or services offered elsewhere in the market. Such entrepreneurs play a very crucial role in stimulating economic growth. They come up with huge organisations which can be monopolies in the economy. With the nature of big businesses, they would be more likely to produce large volumes of product increasing the GNP thereby contributing significantly to economic growth. With their capacity to produce large volumes, such organisation would take considerable number of employees hence reducing unemployment. By employing people, such entrepreneurs contribute to the increased levels of income in an economy. Another author Kirzner presents a different way in which entrepreneurship can be influenced by an entrepreneur through the way he defines an entrepreneur. According to Kirzner, the entrepreneur is someone who is alert to profitable opportunities for exchange. Such an entrepreneur believes in gathering the needed information, refining and providing it to those in need of it. Such entrepreneurs act as intermediaries for example between suppliers and customers. They are also very important in the growth of an economy as they facilitate inception, incubation of businesses through the provision of supportive information. The information they provide acts as a catalyst into venturing into business and builds confidence to emerging businesses. Emerging businesses require business support for them to have high chances of success hence the Kirzner entrepreneur makes the perfect match for such new businesses whose success lies on business support services. Such an entrepreneur can offer business support services such as business counselling, business mentoring and business incubation.

Kant Metaphysical Exposition of Space Essay Example for Free

Kant Metaphysical Exposition of Space Essay Explain and asses what you think to be the best argument Kant gives as his Metaphysical Exposition of Space (B37-40) that space cannot be either and actual entity (Newtonian concept) or any independent relation among real things (Leibnizian concepti be on). In other words, is he successful in arguing that space must be (at least) a form of intuition? Do any of his arguments further show that space must be ONLY a form of intuition and not ALSO something Newtonian or Leibnizian? In his Metaphysical Exposition of Space, Kant attempts to show that the experience of space is just a form of intuition. Kant defines space as that of which we sense out side of us, in comparison to our mind, which is our inner sense. This outer sense of space, he claims, is known only to us because we have a intuitive sense of there being space in the first place. Kant asserts this argument in direct response to two other claims about the nature of space. The Newtonian concept of space holds that space is an entity existing in its own right, with objects merely being in it. The Leibnizian concept of space however holds the opposite, space doesnt really exist and is just a relation created between existing objects. Kant believes both concepts are wrong and claims that to first know about objects in space, we must have some deeper knowledge of space to put them in space. He further tries to claim that space is only a form of intuition and not just the foundation to support either of the other two concepts. Kant presents some strong points showing the faults in the other concepts and provides a reason alternative to what makes the nature of space. However his concept too, that space is known only through intuition, also isnt as strong as it should be. It appears that space may be known through intuition from an individual perspective, but on closer investigation, taking in all forms of life and evolution, where did this pre wired intuition of space have its start? Kants concept of space seems to be well grounded in some areas and not in others. Kants definition of space helps him prove that the concept of space is a form of intuition. Space, he holds, is everything that is sensed outside of us. The mind is the inner sense and everything else is in space. We then represent objects in that space, where they are interpreted as having shape, magnitude and relationships to other objects in space. But then what is this space, Kant questions? Not satisfied with the current theories of the nature of time, Kant moves to show their faults through a set of arguments. The Newtonian concept of space claims that space exists as an entity in its own right. This concept is the most user friendly, and it is similar to the common sense view that most people grow up with. That is, we experience objects around us as exist in a void of space, where that void itself can exist on its own. Objects exist in this space, which is an infinite entity. The theory claims that through our sense, sight, touch extra, we learn about the world. We learn from our senses about space and how it works. We start of in the world with no idea of space and through a trial and area type system of learning, we being to understand the nature of space and of objects in it. Space exists and we lean of its existence though life experience. Kant cannot accept the Newtonian concept of space. In his first argument, Kant claims that space is not a concept that has been drawn from our experiences. His reasoning behind this is; how can we know to put the data that we gain from our senses into a world of space if we dont know of space to begin with? That is, to know to put this sensory data into a thing called space, we must first have some idea of space. Kant does not think that it is possible to stumble across the idea of space just through trial and error. Space, he claims, must be an intuitive idea that we are born with, so we know to put the data we gain into some logical order. We cant experience space without first having some idea of it being there. We must know what we are looking for, before we can find it. Kant seems to be onto something with this argument. It does seem plausible to think that the idea of space is already programmed into our brain. For we are objects ourselves that did develop in this world. But then isnt that learning about space through experience just over a few generations. So on a longer time scale we gradually learnt how to interact with space. The intuition of space is just another characteristic that we gain from our ancestors. The species, or life, learnt about space. But this is not what Kant is trying to claim. He is claiming that it is intuition that we have always had, the entire human existence has always had. This on the biological level seems rather odd. Is it just humans that have this intuition? It doesnt seem grounded to answer this question with a yes. But then back in early beings of life, do single cell organisms also have this intuition, do they even know they exist? So Kant must mean fully developed humans, or at least fairly intelligent animals. But this still suggests that having the intuition of space is something that is developed over evolution. So in turn is something that is gain from the species evolutionary experience. It is an odd claim to say that just one day a higher level animal just suddenly experience space. Perhaps now we have some basic animal instinct of how space works, Kant does not justify how this come about. The intuition of space my have evolved, which is a from of long term experience. The Leibnizian concept claims that space is just the relationship between objects and cannot exist on its own. Unlike the Newtonian concept of space, this theory claims that space does not and could not exist without the presents of objects. Space is just an attribute of objects, without them space is not present. If there was no objects there would be no need for space and it would not be present. We see objects all around us, and in order to understand the raw data presented by our senses we dream up relationships among them which we call space. Space is not an entity in its own right, it is simple the relation between existing objects. Kant can also not accept the Leibnizian concept of space. In his second argument, Kant claims that it is possible to have space without the presents of objects. Using a thought experiment Kant tries to show that we can image an empty space, a space without objects in it. He uses the experiment as a direct attack on the Leibnizian concept that space is just an attribute of objects. Kant believes that it is possible to image empty space, free of any objects. He claims that since this is possible space must be more then just an attribute of existing objects. Kants argument here doesnt seem as strong. He just seems to state that we can imagine empty, boundless space. It seems slightly more difficult to achieve then what he makes out. At first it seems sure, we can think of empty space, but is it really empty space that we are imagining here? Maybe we can think of a void, but isnt that just the space between objects? The depths of space, are just long distances from existing objects, not empty space. It seems every time we try to think of space it is in relation to objects or boundaries. Kant tries to make the thought experiment seem simple, but on closer inspection, imagining space total separate to objects is very difficult. Space might be its own existing thing, but it is not shown through this method of reasoning. It still seems plausible that space in known by our intuition, however that intuition is just knowing to see that existing objects have the attribute, and relation to other objects, space. Kant does not strongly prove that space can exist on its own. Kant claims that space is an existing thing that we are born being aware of and nothing more. It can only be this and not a combination of intuition and the Newtonian and Leibnizian concepts of space. It cant be, for example, that space is an intuition of a simple relationship between objects, or that we intuitively need to learn of its existence through experience. Kant uses further arguments to show this. In his third argument Kant further shows that to understand space we must first have the framework set out to understand that space must exist. That is it must be known by pure intuition alone. For the Leibnizian concept to be correct, it would seem possible to think of separate spaces. That is, according to the theory, space only exists with resect to objects, or every object has its own space. It seems the concept is suggesting that there is lots of little spaces everywhere, that connect, or not connect, regarding if the objects are close or near. Kant believes that is not a very reasonable way of seeing how the world or space works. Intuitively we seem to know that there is one infinite space, that maybe divided up by objects, but is still known to be part of the one big whole of space. Kant even seems to suggest that it is impossible for our minds to imagine no space at all. Our intuition of space is so strong, our minds cannot interpret the world without it. Space cannot be intuitive and a relation between objects, Kant believes it must only be known intuitively The mind experiment Kant uses here seems much more agreeable. I does seem that we see space as one big infinite entity, in which all objects exists. The Leibnizian theory does seem to infer that there are lots of little independent spaces following the object they belong to. This seems to be a very strange way of seeing the world indeed, and one very hard to imagine. Kants argument against the Leibnizian concept is strong here, but does it prove that both space is an intuition and not at all an aspect of an object? It appears we can agree with Kant that space is not just a relation between objects, that it exists in its own right. But what is not strong is that intuition is the way we can experience and not through learning from our senses. In his forth and finally argument on the nature of space, Kant tries to show that it is not something we intuitively know to look for, but that we are already born knowing of its existence. Kant believes that it is not possible to interpret the raw data given to us by our senses into any order without first knowing to put it into space. The data would simple not make any sense. And why would just having this data spore the idea of putting into an order of space. How do we know to link that sound with that vision? Yes we learn other things about the world from experience, but this only possible by having the framework of knowing how space works in our heads to being with. All other knowledge is built on the bedrock of us knowing that things outside of us work in space. Kant claims that knowing space is through intuition alone, and through a combination of intuition and learning. Kants argument here is partly agreeable. He makes a strong point that linking to very different experience, like sight and sound, into one event, would be very difficult achieve, if at all, if they werent put into space. From a person to person basis his concept of space is quiet agreeable. If each person was to learn in their life time about how space worked, wouldnt there, by numbers, be some people they never stumble across its working, or even people taking different amounts of time to achieve this knowledge. It would seem that these people would behave very strange in the world. Babies seem to develop an idea of how space works in all about the same way and time frame. If it was up to each individual to learn, or to stumble across the truth, the world would probably be a very different place. So yes, Kant seems to be on the right track that each person is pre wire to expect a world with space, this does not however explain how and when and for what level of life this pre wiring occurred. Kants theory of intuitive space needs to be more developed. Kant finally concludes that space cant be known through trial and error, it cant be an attribute of objects, and must be known through the intuition alone. The raw data that our eyes and ears gather would be useless if our mind didnt have space to make sense of it all. But would space still exist even if it wasnt an intuition? Kant would seem to answer yes to this. So is the need to have the intuition of space to understand it just a human condition? Kants reply to this one does not seem as clear. Surely before humans there were living beings interacting in space. Did these living things need an intuition of space to survive? For humans it seems necessary that we understand the nature of space, otherwise I dont think we would be able to survive. But then if we didnt understand what our senses where telling us by putting them into the concept of space, why would we evolve senses at all? Surely we wouldnt have eyes and ears ect. If we evolved not needing or using them. So does every animal that has the same sensors as us have the same intuition of space as we do? This idea seems to be begging the question ? what came first the intuition of space, or the senses and the ability to perceive it? For one seems to be seems to be surely useless with out the other. Kants concept seems to work if we just look at a snap shot of the world functioning today, however it does not satisfy how the world got to be the way it is. Perhaps this is not goal he was wanting to achieve, but for his concept to hold these questions of evolution need to be answered. Kants claims show the faults in past concepts, however his concepts is not total solid yet either. Kant resolves some issues, but then raises some more. It seems now that we cant take for granted what we all assume that we learn about space through experience, and it seems too that space exists in its own right. Kant seems to make this clear, he does not however clearly prove that space is known by intuition alone.

Reasons For Change Within An Organisation Management Essay

Reasons For Change Within An Organisation Management Essay Some changes are implemented as a result of problems within organisations, but many Changes come about as a result of organisations proactively seeking business benefits such as reducing costs or improving services. The Change Management process ensures that standardised methods and procedures are used to minimise the impact of changes on quality of service, and improve the day-to-day operations of the organisation. It is important that in implementing changes to an organization that the board of directors and management of the organisation assess risk to the continuity of the organization, resource requirements needed for the change and maintain a proper balance between the need for Change against the impact of the Change. It is particularly important that Change Management processes have high visibility and open channels of communication in order to promote smooth transitions when Changes take place. It is imperative to get employees to buy into the need for change and the changes themselves. It is very important that all employees be informed about the issue bringing on the need for change, the possible outcomes and the plan for solution. They must also understand their own roles in the process. This will help break down barriers to implementing the change. This study will appraise the implementation of the change process including resistance to change and practical management aspects. In this study we will use Chorus as real life example of the change process and its implementation. Chorus, a steel company operates in a fast changing environment. They had to respond to these changes to beat rivals and meet customers needs. Chorus needed the commitment and support of staff to make changes that shape the business in the longterm. Corus has three divisions, one of which is Corus Strip Products UK (CSP). CSP UK makes steel in strip form. CSP UK has put in place a major change programme called The Journey to overcome any barriers to change and secure a better future for the business. Reasons for change Organisations typically change in response to the external environment, as well as through the development of competitive strengths within the organisation. External environmental factors include: Social factors e.g. changes in demography and consumer buying patterns. Legal factors legal pressures that force organisations to change to comply with laws, e.g. by responding to environmental legislation. Economic factors relate to booms and slumps in general economic activity, changes in interest rates, inflation rates etc. Political factors relate to wider political changes for example, a government taking a particular line on privatisation/the role of the state in society. Technological factors relate to new developments in technology e.g. the development of new web based selling methods by companies. On top of the above SLEPT (Social, Legal, Economic, Political and Technological) factors a major influence on the organisation is what the competition is doing. A SLEPT analysis is an analysis of key changes in an organisations environment. It is sometimes referred to as scanning the environment. The management of change is a key aspect of the way in which an organisation responds to change in an appropriate way. The emphasis should be on managing the change rather than reacting to change. Other ways in which organisations change are by altering their culture, i.e; changing the typical patterns and behaviours within the organisation e.g. moving from a top-down organisation to a more democratic form. Becoming more customer or marketing focused as opposed to production oriented. Most organisations today are developing this customer focus. Altering the scope of their activities e.g. by taking on new activities or by operating in new geographical areas. For example, most large companies today have become global enterprises and they have often reduced the number of brands and products they offer in order to concentrate on power brands in global markets. Usually organizational change can be brought about by some major outside driving force, e.g., substantial cuts in funding, address major new markets/clients, need for dramatic increases in productivity/services, etc. Typically, organizations must undertake organization-wide change to evolve to a different level in their life cycle, e.g., going from a highly reactive, entrepreneurial organization to more stable and planned development. Transition to a new chief executive can provoke organization-wide change when his or her new and unique personality pervades the entire organization. According to Kurt Lewin good communication is an important part of the process of changing the organisation. This involves communicating the direction of change, the objectives, how the change will be carried out and who will be involved. Downloaded from The Times 100 Editi http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/downloads/theory/the_organisation_and_change.pdf Change in a Chorus was a planned process. It followed a clear structure. Chorus identified the barriers to its changes, created and applied a plan for change and a method for measuring its success. Internal drivers for change at Chorus UK were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ poor delivery à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ competitiveness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ high wastage à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ low staff morale. External drivers were: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ new rivals à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ changing customer needs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ new technology à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ poor views of the steel sector. Barriers to change Different types of change require different approaches, but fundamentally managers of staff need to ensure that they support their team through the change. Individuals must also prepare themselves for change. Typically there are strong resistances to change. People are afraid of the unknown. Many people think things are already just fine and dont understand the need for change. Many are inherently cynical about change, particularly from reading about the notion of change as if its a mantra. Many doubt there are effective means to accomplish major organizational change. Often there are conflicting goals in the organization, e.g., to increase resources to accomplish the change yet concurrently cut costs to remain viable. Organization-wide change often goes against the very values held dear by members in the organization, that is, the change may go against how members believe things should be done. Thats why much of organizational-change literature discusses needed changes in the culture of the organization, including changes in members values and beliefs and in the way they enact these values and beliefs. Every organization has a distinct culture. Sometimes the culture is fragmented and difficult to understand, but most organizational cultures are very strong. Organizational culture influences and affects many aspects of employees personal and professional life. It affects what decisions are made, who gets promoted, how people dress and how the work force behaves. Culture binds people into a cohesive group. However, change can be perceived as a threat. Yet one thing is constant. People are resistant to change. We are all creatures of habit and will continue doing the things that we are doing unless those habits are reformed in some manner. Organizations can often be more resistant to change than an individual. They are made up of several individuals, each having his/her own resistance, therefore providing collective resistance. Change also requires utilization of limited resources. Costs can be prohibitive. The politics of an organization and threats to an individuals power or influen ce can often deter necessary change as well. Fullan, M. and Stiegelbauer, S. (1991). The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York: Teachers College Press. Excerpted from Leadership and Technology, published by the National School Boards Associations Institute for the Transfer of Technology to Education. Chorus identified from very early stages that change would challenge or threaten peoples abilities, experience, customs and practice. It identified the following barriers to its planed change: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ an attitude of this is the way we do things around here à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ some staff saw change as a threat to their teams and roles à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ some of Corus past changes had led to job cuts. This caused insecurity and low morale à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Corus gave rewards for long service rather than great service. This meant that staff who had been with Corus a long time gained greater rewards than new staff who were performing better. www.thetimes100.co.uk EDITION 15 Downloaded from The Times 100 Edition 15 | www.thetimes100.co.uk Overcoming barriers to change Brief Case Overcoming barriers Cummings and Worley (Organization Development and Change, 1995) describe a comprehensive, five-phase, general process for managing change, including: motivating change This phase includes creating a readiness for change in your client organization and developing approaches to overcome resistance to change. General guidelines for managing this phase include enlightening members of the organization about the need for change, expressing the current status of the organization and where it needs to be in the future, and developing realistic approaches about how change might be accomplished, creating vision Leaders in the organization must articulate a clear vision that describes what the change effort is striving to accomplish. Ideally, people in the organization have strong input to the creation of the vision and how it can be achieved. The vision should clearly depict how the achievement of the developing political support This phase of change management is often overlooked, yet it is the phase that often stops successful change from occurring. Politics in organizations is about power. Power is important among members of the organization when striving for the resources and influence necessary to successfully carry out their jobs. Power is also important when striving to maintain jobs and job security, http://www.authenticityconsulting.com managing the transition This phase occurs when the organization works to make the actual transition from the current state to the future state. In consultations, this phase usually is called implementation of the action plans. The plans can include a wide variety of interventions, or activities designed to make a change in the organization, for example, creating and/or modifying major structures and processes in the organization. These changes might require ongoing coaching, training and enforcement of new policies and procedures and sustaining momentum Often, the most difficult phase in managing change is this phase when leaders work to sustain the momentum of the implementation and adjustment of plans. Change efforts can encounter a wide variety of obstacles, for example, strong resistance from members of the organization, sudden departure of a key leader in the organization, or a dramatic reduction in sales. Strong, visible, ongoing support from top leadership is critically important to show overall credibility and accountabilities in the change effort. http://www.managementhelp.org/misc/reqs-for-successful-change.pdf In my opinion, the first step in implementing change is to get employees to buy in to the need for change and the changes themselves. It is very important that all employees be informed about the issue bringing on the need for change, the possible outcomes and the plan for solution. They must also understand their own roles in the process. This will help break down barriers to implementing the change. Once the changes have been implemented, over time they will become the new habits that bring desirable results. There is a relatively new and innovative process called appreciative inquiry (AI), which addresses change by using the organizations employees, customers and vendors to design the future of the organization. According to the article, Appreciative Inquiry: An Innovative Process for Organizational Change, from Employee Relations Today, Appreciative inquiry engages the entire organization in discovering the best of what has been and dreaming about the best of what might be. Forming transition teams of employees from all aspects of the business can also help to facilitate change and encourage employee involvement and buy-in. Some organizations gather input from surveys, but if that is the preferred method, it is imperative that the results are shared and discussed. Not doing so will destroy employee morale and trust. When seeking input, make sure the responses are communicated. Be honest in providing feedback to the employees. Address their concerns, and if the issues cant be resolved within the resources and constraints of the organization, simply explain the reasons. Willis Mushrush, business specialist MO SBTDC for University of Missouri Extensions Creating Quality newsletter Sept. 2003. Successful change must involve top management, including the board and chief executive. Usually theres a champion who initially instigates the change by being visionary, persuasive and consistent. A change agent role is usually responsible to translate the vision to a realistic plan and carry out the plan. Change is usually best carried out as a team-wide effort. Communications about the change should be frequent and with all organization members. To sustain change, the structures of the organization itself should be modified, including strategic plans, policies and procedures. This change in the structures of the organization typically involves an unfreezing, change and re-freezing process. The best approaches to address resistances is through increased and sustained communications and education. For example, the leader should meet with all managers and staff to explain reasons for the change, how it generally will be carried out and where others can go for additional information. A plan should be developed and communicated. Plans do change. Thats fine, but communicate that the plan has changed and why. Forums should be held for organization members to express their ideas for the plan. They should be able to express their concerns and frustrations as well. Corus has overcome these barriers by working with staff. Staff were also urged to take ownership of the new values. Workers are now more involved in choices and are recognised for doing well. Corus ensures that all staff know what is expected through a range of means. Workshops, newspapers, billboards, intranet, video and direct one-to-one talks spread the message. A programme with shock tactics was brought in to show staff the plants condition, identify weak points and urge staff to make changes. Measuring the outcomes of change Corus set targets to make sure that actions led to results. Steps were set so staff would know how well CSP UK was hitting targets. CSP UK has improved many aspects of its business by facing up to its internal weak points. This has helped it to grow. Key Performance Indicators have shown improvements in: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ production à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ lower costs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ less absence from work à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ quality and service for customers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Health and Safety targets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ CO2 emissions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the impact on the local community. Conclusion To respond effectively to ever-changing demands, organizations must be prepared to change constantly. Managers must be able to recognize the need for change and identify and manage sources of resistance. The key to successful organizational change is to involve the employees in each step of the process. Change management at CSP UK meant bringing the issues out into the open. CSP UK tackled barriers to change by winning the support of its staff. Its effective plan for change has helped CSP UK to continue to make profit in spite of the recession. www.thetimes100.co.uk EDITION 15 Downloaded from The Times 100 Edition 15 | www.thetimes100.co.uk Honesty Professionalism Integrity Fairness Improvement Transparency Respect Excellence #506 from Innovative Leader Volume 9, Number 12 December 2000

Programming Under The Wizards Spell :: essays research papers

The computer is a tool that has become indispensable to the modern family and company. In flourishing so successfully the computer has passed from incredibly complex and unusable to anyone how was not well versed in its intricacies, to consumer oriented and user-friendly. In Ellen Ullman's essay, Programming Under The Wizard's Spell, she attempts to convince to reader that the computer has been over simplified to the point of no return. The simplification of the computer made it more user-friendly and there for more appealing to customers, this only blinded people into using the computer the way corporate America wanted them to, using without understanding. First, this essay is a hybrid, it is a mix of the expository and comparison and contrast essay. In the first part she attempts to examine the differences between various Microsoft operating systems and the Unix operating system. Then the author tries to answer the question ''What is it ?'' and ''What is it not ?'' in paragraphs 3, Ullman states : ''Unix always presumes that you know what you're doing.'' and in referring to Microsoft she states it as: "Consumer-oriented, idiot-proofed, covered by its pretty skin of icons and dialog boxes [...]". She has tactfully drawn the boundaries between the two products which start to take one the appearance of the good and the corporate induced bad. Ullman has now inferred her goal, she wishes to convince the reader of her convictions of the new computerised corporate America. Also, she uses simple wording, narration and a somewhat comic anecdote of her experiences, effectively leading the reader into drawing negative conclusions about the new consumer oriented computer. She does not truly attempt to be objective but gives that illusion by shortly stating in the first paragraph: ''a reasonable, professional choice in a world where Microsoft platforms are everywhere''. This was a reasonably good statement that inspires in the reader to believe that Ellen Ullman is waying the good and the bad. Further more, once finished, the reader can only conclude that there where so many more bad things than good things about Microsoft that it most likely a bad product hinged on reducing our computing freedom. This conclusion is of course the only one possible to anyone how reads the essay. she made it this way but without actually expressing this opinion herself, she is merle telling a story littered with an unfavourable tone that seeped out of the text by her choice of wording: "My computer.

Technology of LADS - Laser Airborne Depth Sounder :: essays research papers

An aeroplane flies about 400-500 metres above the water at a speed of approximately 60 - 70 m/s. Then the aircraft will send out a pulse which is moderately reflected off the surface of the water and moderately broadcasted into the water and reflected off the oceans floor, as a result two pulses are sent back to the aircraft. The pulse which was reflected of the surface of the water is a red beam (infrared) which measures the aircraft height above the water and is directed vertically downward. The beam which reflects off the seabed is a green colour and is examined over a semicircle of +/ -15 degrees to the planes bearing and pulsates at approx 160 pulses per second. The aircrafts equipment will record the speed of the wave and the travel time during air to calculate depth . Therefore LADS must be flown during hours of darkness to eliminate the errors caused by the reflection of the sun off the water, which return false reading to the aircraft causing inaccurate depth. The calculate the green beam (which travels to the seabed and back up) you must obtain the speed of light in water which is given by Maxwell?s equations which basically show that When passing through a transparent or translucent material medium, like glass or air, light will have a slower speed than in a vacuum . Therefore the extra time and distance traveled by the green pulse can be calculated, giving the depth of the water. The aircraft needs to use two beams to ensure that the pulses return to the aircraft. In certain situations the pulse may not return to the aircraft due to flat glassy water surface (because of the law of reflection) . The Lads software automatically compiles arrival times and fixes errors in the data like tidal variations. Maps can be made after data is compiled from the aircraft by using Global Positioning Satellites, which constructs coordinates and data collected. The green laser is used due to its incorporation of light in murky waters is the slightest at these wavelengths. One laser is applies which creates an infrared laser. A frequency double then changes the frequency of a fraction of the beam by a aspect of two , resulting in a green light laser. Some Advantages and Disadvantages of LADS include: Advantages Disadvantages ? A quick and effortless way of measuring depth of waters. ? Can compile its data and send it to satellites, which create map images.

Revelation and Rebirth in Helena Viramontes The Moths Essay

Revelation and Rebirth in Helena Viramonte's The Moths  Ã‚      The famous phrase "looks may be deceiving" strongly pertains to Helena Viramontes's short story, "The Moths." The story, instead of focusing the creatures in the title, is actually about a young girl who comes of age as she is faced with the deterioration and death of her grandmother. Even though the title, "The Moths," seems to have no relevance at the beginning, these creatures help to portray a sense of spirituality, rebirth, and become, finally, an incarnation of the grandmother. The relationship between the moths and the main characters aids in conveying the main theme of the story, which is not simply the death of a loved one, but a spiritual and maturing experience undergone by the grandchild. The moths help illustrate a sense of spirituality in this short story. Abuelita, the grandmother, uses old remedies which stem from a religious/spiritual nature to cure physical illnesses such as scarlet fever and other infirmities. Her granddaughter is very disrespectful and doubtful of the medicines which her grandmother used, but they always work. The granddaughter tells us that "Abuelita made a balm out of dried moth wings . . . [to] shape my hands back to size" (Viramontes 1239). In this way the granddaughter begins to accept the spiritual belief and hope. The spirituality is not only present in the moth wing balm, but is also evident after the death of her grandmother. A sense of spirituality is apparent in the quote, "Then the moths came. Small gray ones that came from her soul and out through her mouth fluttering to light" (1242). This presents a religious parallel in which the light resembles heaven. These moths represent angels who are carrying Abuelit... ...esses the grandchild?s comfort when she is at her grandmother?s house (1239). Abuelita is her grandchild?s guardian angel or moth?she shows her the light. She cures her illnesses, instills values in her, and brings religion into her life. She is the reason that the grandchild undergoes such spiritual and emotional maturation. It is clearly apparent that "The Moths" is not only the title, but also an important piece of the story which embodies its central theme. The moths become the catalyst that gives identity to the grandmother and her granddaughter, bringing revelation, security, rebirth, and the desire to be reunited. The grandmother, in becoming a moth herself, leaves some of herself behind with her grandchild. Works Cited Viramontes, Helena. "The Moths." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1239- 1242.   

Crown Corporations – Lcbo

Which Canadian Crown Corporation should be privatized? Crown Corporations are government-owned entities (Stastna, Kazi. ). An example includes the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). LCBO stores are the only stores, in Ontario, allowed to distribute liquor and other distilled beverages; therefore, LCBO is a monopoly (â€Å"Beverage Alcohol Service Review: A Matter of Balance†). The main purpose of this regulation is to limit the consumption of such products in Ontario – for better health (â€Å"Beverage Alcohol Service Review: A Matter of Balance†). However, the government ownership of LCBO may not be ideal.The corporation should be privatized because its products do not benefit everyone in Ontario, and because privatization may be better for the economy. Firstly, LCBO distributes distilled spirits which not everyone living in Ontario may be fond of. As the corporation is government owned, any losses will have to be accounted for by the government. For this, the government will have to use taxpayers’ money. LCBO’s products are not public goods. Not every taxpayer will benefit from the existence of LCBO, so it would be unfair to use taxpayers’ money in case of any losses.Furthermore, liquor is a private good. According to John Kenneth Galbraith’s theory on public purpose, â€Å"poverty is due to social imbalance that results in a lack of public goods. † (Dunn, Stephen P. and Steven Pressman) Also, LCBO’s products undergo a great deal of advertising. As a result, their products may be considered â€Å"artificial wants† – goods that people do not necessarily need (Snm090). With this in mind, the government should focus more on public goods, and less on private goods. Secondly, the privatization of LCBO would benefit the economy. LCBO, being a monopoly, faces zero competition.Hence, the corporation will not feel the need for innovation. If the liquor industry was privatized and legal b arriers to entry were abolished, the industry could expect the arrival of new companies. The industry will no longer be a monopoly and competition will exist. This competition would lead to innovation. Moreover, the privatization of LCBO would still benefit the government. According to the â€Å"LCBO Annual Report 2010–11†, net sales and other incomes reached $4. 7 billion in 2011. There’s no doubt, then, that the government could sell the corporation for billions.Although this is a one-time profit, the government could still continue to make profits by imposing heavy taxes on the sale of distilled spirits. Since such beverages are habitual goods, their price elasticity of demand would be inelastic. This means that as price increases, the total revenue would also increase. The government would find themselves profitable if they were to impose taxes. To conclude, LCBO’s government ownership may not be a wise idea. The Crown Corporation should be privatized as it produces goods that do not benefit the entire population of Ontario, and as privatisation could benefit the economy.Works Cited â€Å"Beverage Alcohol Service Review: A Matter of Balance. † ApolNet. n. p. , June 2005. Web. April 13, 2013. Dunn, Stephen P. and Steven Pressman. â€Å"The Economic Contributions of John Kenneth Galbraith. † Bib. n. p. , April 2005. Web. April 12, 2013. â€Å"LCBO Annual Report 2010–11. † LCBO. LCBO, n. d. Web. April 12, 2013. Snm090. â€Å"Does Advertising Create Artificial Wants? † Papercamp. n. p. , November 11, 2012. Web. April 13, 2013. Stastna, Kazi. â€Å"What are Crown corporations and why do they exist? † CBC. CBC, April 1, 2012. Web. April 12, 2013.

Energy Society Essay

The Kyoto Protocol The official name of the Protocol is The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is an agreement by 165 countries for mandatory targets for the reduction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. These gases—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and several fluorinated gases are believed to contribute significantly to global warming. The targets of the Protocol are primarily industrialized countries, which are expected to reduce their combined emissions to 95% of 1990 emission levels between 2008 and 2012. The Protocol was agreed on in 1997, although it only took effect in 2005. Between the years 1990 and 2000, the overall emissions of industrialized countries have been reduced by 3%, but largely because of the drastic reduction of emissions from former Soviet countries because of their failing economies. Other industrialized countries overall had an increase of 8% emissions. It is estmated that emissions from industrialized countries will be 10% above 1990 emission levels by the year 2010. For industrialized countries, the emission reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol is only around 5%, and many climate scientists are concerned that this is not enough to curb the effects of global warming. They believe that in order for the agreement to actually help solve the problem, the emission rates would be cut down by 60%. This has led to the opinion that the agreement lacks real value, more so without US backing. However, advocates believe that the Protocol lays out the groundwork for future negotiations. Emission reduction laws were already signed in many countries and would continue to take effect even when the Protocol itself has ceased to exist. â€Å"Happy Kyoto Day† – This site has an unusual approach to the problem of determining the Kyoto protocol’s merit. According to the author, â€Å"In and of itself, the Kyoto treaty won’t solve global warming or avert disastrous climate disruption.† The author states that the protocol is essentially a catalyst. It will put the world in an environmentally aware mindset—even if the Kyoto protocol fails, it will force the world to come up with something better. It will also encourage economic changes that strive towards greater efficiency and sustainability. Lastly, the protocol â€Å"is a symbol, a conscious step in the right direction for the planet. â€Å"Kyoto & global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?† – According to this site, â€Å"global warming alarmism† is indeed the â€Å"mother of all environmental scares.† The author states that it is definitely not settled whether human activity has had any significant effect on global warming; global warming is a theory, not a fact. Some effects of the Kyoto protocol would include â€Å"impoverishing the USA and creating intense disaffection within the ranks of the working classes.† Basic necessities would become very expensive. â€Å"Electricity would double in cost, fuel would skyrocket.† Lastly, the author claims that the Kyoto protocol is a political â€Å"device to lead the Social Communists closer to world dominion.† One of the worst effects that global warming could have would be the rise of sea levels, due to the melting of ice caps and to thermal expansion of the world’s waters. A hundred years from now, if the worst global warming predictions come true, millions of people will be displaced from their homes, which will be submerged. This will have drastic economic and cultural impacts. The effects of the mass displacement on the economy could reach far into the future. The loss of farmland, of business districts, etc. may spawn another (much worse) Great Depression in many areas. Forced cultural dispersion will be commonplace, making the ubiquitous problem of the generation gap much more considerable. Many people who would call themselves environmentalists would not necessarily have good knowledge of environmental issues. They may pay lip service to the environmentalist cause without inconveniencing themselves in any respect to protect it. But I would venture to say that a majority of those who call themselves environmentalists would be willing to go out of their way to ‘serve’ the world. However, it is certain that, as in other controversial issues, there would be much hypocrisy. If by ‘environmentalists’ we mean those who are—or claim to be—‘concerned’ about the environment, then certainly most of them would just be claiming belief in the cause, but be too lazy. In them would be an awareness of an ideal—the preservation of the environment—but a lack of initiative, probably because of the lack of any immediate incentives. References    Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Australian Greenhouse Office, Available at: http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/international/kyoto/index.html The Kyoto Protocol, New Zealand Ministry for the Environment, Available at: http://www. climatechange.govt.nz/about/kyoto.html Cascio, Jamais, 2006, Happy Kyoto Day, Available at: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002119.html Kyoto & global warming: good stuff or part of a dark conspiracy to dominate the world?, 2006, Available at: http://uspolitics.tribe.net/thread/e4978f31-0439-4b70-bbf3-f0ce93a09a42 Q&A: The Kyoto Protocol, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/ 4269921.stm The Kyoto Protocol – A brief summary, 2006, European Union, Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/climat/kyoto.htm Kyoto Protocol, 2006, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Available at: http://en.wikipedia. org/w/index.php?title=Kyoto_Protocol&oldid=80236719 Kyoto Protocol comes into force, 2005, BBC News, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/ science/nature/4267245.stm

Nike ERP Implementation

What are the failure factors for the first NIKE-12 ERP-SCM implementation? All ERP implementations have risks associated that can lead to failure situations. The complexity of ERP systems together with demanding business environment, represent big challenges for companies when implementing an ERP. In the case of Nike, the situation is even more challenging because of the worldwide ERP deployment, and the large and complex scope of the project.Inevitably, and like all ERP implementations, Nike-i2's project faced complications at the different stages of he implementation cycle but those complications could have been minimized if the so called â€Å"Critical Success Factors† (CSF)I had been planned and managed properly. Using the 5 stages structure proposed in the report â€Å"Drawing Competitive Advantage through Successful ERP Implementation Projects†2, the failure factors are analyzed in detail in the following sections.First stage of implementation (project preparation ): One of the failures in the Nike-i2 ERP implementation was the lack of Formalized project plan/schedule. Feeling the market pressures, Nike did not commit to a isciplined plan and rushed up ERRS implementation, by â€Å"began to input data for its forthcoming Spring 2001 line when the system was still to stabilize†3 , giving reason to the opinions that projects cannot be driven by external deadlines4.Industry experts also warned about the boomerang effect (tight and unrealistic deadlines would come back in low quality results in the future) but Nike felt â€Å"12 technology was smaller and therefore easier to implement†. The result was the project failure and a financial storm (reduced profits) in the following financial periods. The executive eam as the responsibility to define the mission and scope of the project by analyzing the project business benefits and goals, and aligning them with strategic business goals.It is clear that in this case, Nike's executives wer e too ambitious by trusting blindly in a forecast system that was not completely adequate to Nike's business model (model was order based and not demand forecast oriented). As stated in Cnet â€Å"12 had past success projects with big clients such as Boeing, Nortel Networks, Raytheon and WalMart.. proving that 12 software is not perfect, but if implementation s done correctly, with proper planning, investment and scheduling, it will work well. â€Å"5 Implementing software is not a goal by it itself, remaking the business with the help of software is.Nike business goal was to create an efficient global supply chain by reducing inventory and manufacturing cycle, and this was a large and complex goal, thus, the software implementation could not be taken as simple and easy as Nike's executives toke it, failing to give Sustained management support to the project. In the second stage of implementation (Business Blueprint) the failures were: Nike elied too much in the (supposed) power o f the forecasting technology and underestimated its impact on the business processes changes such as orders processing, raw materials purchasing, fabric production, and demand management.That impact also affected the way employees and partners used to work. Anytime companies changes employee's working habits, it can get difficult to them to adapt to the new reality, thus, an Effective organizational change management is critical. Nike tailed ensuring that this complex change got the right results by not integrating properly people, process and technology. Nike's business context was very complex (120000 SKUs, operations in all continents, four seasons product turn over and product life cycle very short), thus, a deep knowledge of this industry was critical when implementing new business processes and ERP systems.Despite previous supply chain applications were troublesome Nike hired 12 that was inexperienced in the footwear industry. This situation could have been avoided if Nike had appropriately used consultants by integrating third-party specialists with industry experience in the project's team. By not managing this factor, Nike took a big risk and ncreased the probabilities of failure. Nike's business requirements were too complex and over detailed (like footwear's forecasting for styles, colors, sizes).If Nike had appropriately used consultants and also had promoted User involvement and participation, those experts could had shared their know-how in the definition of business requirements more realistic and aligned with the real organizational needs. The failures in the third stage of implementation (Realization) were: â€Å"i2's software did not offer all the required functionalities†6. Usually, ERP systems do not provide all the functional requirements nd 12 system is not an exception. That's why, ERP vendors offer interfaces to communicate with third-party products.The problem with Nike implementation was that there was not an Critical Success F actors is a concept presented in the report â€Å"Drawing Competitive Advantage through Successful ERP Implementation Projects†, by Jos © Esteves – Instituto de Empresa (Spain) and Joan Pastor Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona (Spain) 2 ibid 3 SCM and ERP Software Implementation at Nike – From failure to success 4 http://www. cio. com/article/32335/Five_Lessons_Learned_from_Nike_s_i2_Debacle 5 ttp://news. cnet. om/i2-Nike-fallout-a-cautionary-tale/2100-1017_3-253829. html 6 SCM and ERP Software Implementation at Nike – From failure to success 1 adequate infrastructure and interfaces prepared in advance and tested before going live. The result was that the â€Å"Demand application and its planner did not integrate easily†¦ â€Å"7. Nike's demand for high customization was one of the main failures in this project. To Avoid ERP customization, Nike could have appropriately used consultants to reduce the need of very detail level forec asting (style, color, size).Consultants ould have brought also an experienced business vision, focus on ERP processes really needed to run Nike's business, alignment between Nike's requirements and ERP functionalities, and ERP best practices (including ‘2's recommendations and methodology) Forth stage (final preparation) is critically important to ensure the quality of the results, Nike's tailures were: To ensure that the ERP accomplishes the business requirements defined at the beginning of the project a Formalized testing plan is mandatory.In theory, this test plan should cover functional tests, data flow between ystems, user testing and performance tests. Nike did not perform any of those tests activities and the catastrophic results were: â€Å"System could not process large amounts of info. It was very slow and crashed†, â€Å"System could not handle thousands of variables to generate forecasts†, â€Å"Demand application and its planner did not integrate ea sily because different data formats. , â€Å"System sent inaccurate orders to manufactures and errors were not detected†8 In this phase, User involvement and participation, Adequate training program and Preventive troubleshooting are critical to guarantee that: the technical staff and end- sers know how to use the system; to prepare users to perform tests; and to prevent unexpected situations.These activities were not performed and under-evaluated by Nike as confirmed in the case: â€Å"it would work with requiring a pilot test†; â€Å"12 application was smaller†9; No communication between forecasting and inputs from sales and marketing; and no super users used in training. Data migration and data testing are crucial activities before system go-live because data is what really gives competitive advantage to a company and data is the core foundation for all business decisions, thus, an Adequate data migration process s essential. Analysts raised questions about a dequacy of information that Nike input into the system. â€Å"10, this means that Nike did not planned in advance the data activities (migration, conversion, cleaning, etc. ) and in the end the result was â€Å"Input data was estimated and didn't reflect the business reality, thus, forecasts could never be accurate†ll For the final stage (go live) Nike failed in: 0 Not giving sustained management support since â€Å"Executives did not hold review meetings, neither analyzed forecasting results†12.This transmitted a sense of no wnership and no own involvement to employees, resulting in no encouragement of system usage. From other point view, Nike also failed on the study of vendor's evaluation criteria: 0 According to the â€Å"six-stage model of the buying process for ERP software†13, one evaluation criteria is â€Å"Association with or the availability of third party vendor/ partners† and other criteria is â€Å"Qualifications, experience, and success i n delivering solutions to organizations of a similar size, complexity, and geographic scope†.It was clear that 12 did not had experience on the footwear industry and was not prepared or Nike's business complexity, so Nike should had decided for another vendor with industry knowledge or as an alternative to integrate 12 with a specialized third-party. 0 Nike seemed to desire the best-of-breed for each application area, ex: SAP for ERP, 12 for planning SCM, Siebel for CRM, etc. , which is not always the best option.As for 12, Nike knew that there were many disadvantages to choose this vendor, such as: 12 technology could not met all business requirements; data models were different between i2's demand and planner application raising integration problems with egacy systems; high effort was necessary to customization; there were 2 development and delivery cycles at the same time (one for 12 and other for SAP); and 12 had no experience in industry. A better option would have been t o integrate planning SCM with SAP from the very beginning, which turned out be what exactly happened atter the 12 Conclusion M project tailure.Nike-i2's ERP implementation failed in all stages of implementation on several CSF and also on the evaluation of the vendor. The failures were related mainly to project management and organizational factors proving that success is much related to eople and process and not Just technology. 7 SCM and ERP Software Implementation at Nike 10 11 12 13 – From failure to success ibid â€Å"A six-stage model of the buying process for ERP software† by Jacques Verville and Alannah Halingten 8 9 2.How do you evaluate the role of 12 in this process? Many factors which Nike failed to manage can also be applied for 12, resulting in a shared responsibility for the project failure. 0 12 did actually recommended Nike to â€Å"minimize customization to 10-15% of the software†14 but at the same â€Å"Nike and 12 worked together to incorpora te the desired hanges†. 1 5 This means, 12 agreed to do the changes when Nike insisted on high level of customization, thus, 12 also has responsibilities on the high customization failure.Responsibility could be different if the level of customization was written in the contract to be limited by 10%, and above that, 12 would not offer product guarantee. 0 The project did not have formal plan and no realistic deadlines. 12 as company, cannot be Just a software vendor, it must participate on the plan definition and monitoring. By accepting Nike's deadlines, 12 was also responsible for the delays nd for the low quality of the delivered software. 0 Nike began to input data while the system was not yet stable but 12 did not force Nike to stop this.A vendor must deliver his product when it is ready and according to negotiated deadlines. 0 12 did not have footwear industry knowledge but accepted to be part of the project, taking a big risk and being too ambitious like Nike was. The r esult was that 12 became overwhelmed with the business complexity and in the end the forecasts did not worked out as expected. 12 should had analyzed better Nike's business and industry, nd sub-contracted a third-party specialist in that industry. Nike did not use ‘2's implementation methodology; executives did not hold review meetings, neither analyzed forecasting results; there was no pilot test and no training. A vendor must also be part of the project management team to: define and negotiate formal deadlines, implementation phases, methodologies, tasks, roles, test plans, risk management plans, performance goals, etc. A vendor must assure that the contract is clear about: who owns the project; who is responsible for what; what resources will e available during the project; what are the expected benefits and results. 3.Describe the main problems associated with ERP software modification (short-term and long-term) Short-term 0 More time to implement a modified ERP compared w ith the time to implement an original ERP. 0 Higher costs during project's implementation to pay analysts to define customized business processes and to pay programmers to customize the new functionalities on the system. 0 Higher costs to run additional tests to guarantee customized functionalities work as expected and do not affect the original system apabilities. 0 Additional costs to train end-users on the customized functionalities.