Monday, September 30, 2019

The American Economy in the 1920’s Was a Bubble Destined to Burst

â€Å"The Economy of 1920’s America was a bubble destined to burst† The statement that the economy of 1920’s American was a bubble destined to burst is thoroughly correct. The uprising issues of Protectionism, weak industries, weak banks, overproduction of goods and an uneven distribution of wealth meant that America was in a vicious spending spree that could only be broken by the 1929 Wall Street Crash. When one thinks of an economic depression, one first considers the banks and how they were linked to the said crash.The banks in the case of the Depression were closely related to the Wall Street Crash. In the 1920’s banks weren’t the large networks that they are today, so when they went bankrupt, there was nothing to fall back on. Banks had also loaned out far too much money keep a stable economic flow. Many Americans also decided to join in on the share market game in hopes of living out the American Dream in a â€Å"get rich quick† manner and were borrowing huge amounts of money to invest, often in an uneducated manner.As this was continuing, banks were making it possible to borrow huge sums of money and the government, still stuck in its belief of Laisseize Fare- that is, that the government would simply let the economy sort itself out without any government intervention. With this flimsy and unstable system of banking- there was bound to be a huge economic impact such as the crash. After the atrocities of World War 1, America decided it’s safest way to keep out of global issues and wars was to focus on being a self-serving country run on the idea of Protectionism.The key act of Protectionism was that tariffs were placed on imported goods, thus making American products much more appealing to its citizens. This also created a huge economic flowing acting almost exclusively nationally. However the notion of Protectionism became detrimental to America as 23 countries soon placed tariffs on American exports that were already seen as luxuries by other countries. It could be said that most other long term causes of the crash of the American economy simply snowballed off the issue of protectionism.One of the largest of these was over production. As American export rates came down, the country was met with the newfound issue of overproduction. As sales for products such as cars dropped dramatically (how many new cars could one family need? ) America still did not stop making them. There were now warehouses full of products that were either un-wanted or that couldn’t be afforded. Soon enough, many companies began to close down in a domino ffect, leaving only the products necessary to live as a profitable part of the economy. The issue of overproduction is closely linked to the un-even distribution of wealth in America. As there were only a select few who could afford to buy the luxury items companies were trying to sell, and because of the tariffs now placed on American goods, there were no exports. As 5% of the country’s population held a massive 30% of the wealth, that too was far too unstable to continue.Thus proving that the American economy was in fact, a bubble destined to burst. The final factors of the economic crash of 1929 are closely linked. The cotton, farming and railroad industries being far weaker than they seemed and the instant panic when there was any cause for concern by the American people were both such issues because of lassiz fare and the conservative government not being willing to back down on this that the economy ended up in a crisis.There were low wages for people industrial workers and farmers- (ironically enough the jobs that could have saved the economy) yet Americans were encouraged to have the highest faith in the farming, cotton and railroad industries. In 1929- the year of the crash, President Hoover himself said that America could expect a â€Å"financial triumph over property†. It was due to this huge faith and over confidence in the economy that the panic when things went a little haywire Americans were in such shock that all they wanted to do was sell their shares and get their money back.This of course was just making matters worse for themselves and their country. It is because of these factors, that it is indeed obvious that America in the 1920’s was simply a bubble destined to burst. There were too many half-thought-out ideas put into immediate motion and the lack of communication or assistance from the American government lead to the three factors that made the American crash inevitable.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Toyota Etios Consumers behavior

More for less positioning strategy has been used. Toyota is offering more benefits at a less price. It is the most trustworthy brand name. The very limited numbers in which it will be sold, which means that if a person have one of these then he/she will be only one of 900 people In a country of over a billion to own It. B) Is the new product evolved because of changing consumer behavior? Toyota has been known forIts commitment towards the changing customer requirements so the new Egos Exclusive has been introduced to bring in freshness and exclusivity to the existing product. Toyota has also launched its car in both petrol and diesel. Consumers who are looking for aspects such as reliability and fuel efficiency are now also giving great preference to technology when buying and driving an automobile so Toyota has designed this car keeping In mind the preference of the buyers. Previous Otiose faced lots of criticism for Its unlearning design and below par quality of the Interiors butOt iose Exclusive have all the essential elements that were previously missing and it is now more impressive to look at and provide a great driving experience. C) Resulted modification in the consumer behavior. Otiose with its latest model and new alluring features is getting great attention from the customers. The exclusive limited offer of providing only 900 cars In a country of population over a billion Is also helping Toyota In gaining customers Interest. Tells headlamp and ROVE. The Otiose Exclusive also has a new Bluetooth Audio system and s based on the G grade of the current lineup.Otiose Exclusive being launched in both petrol and diesel is also attracting people interested in either of two. Toyota has also kept in mind the preference of the customers for fuel efficient car and has accordingly designed the product, thus making it a fuel efficient car. This along with various features of Otiose Exclusive has managed to attract lots of customers and has resulted in booking of ca rs in advance. D) Customization of marketing mix Elements of marketing mix PRICE List Price: RSI. Sacs to 7. 1 lacksCredit Terms- Toyota Financial Services is offering Otiose Exclusive customers an exclusive opportunity to avail a 100% on road funding for seven years on a zero down payment scheme. Discount- Otiose Exclusive owners will also be offered a free Smile Service Package which will get them a 50% discount on service related to value added services. PRODUCT- Otiose exclusive new front full-chrome grille, new chrome garnish on the titillate, headlamp and ROVE. The Otiose Exclusive also has a new Bluetooth Audio system and is based on the G grade of the current lineup.Toyota is offering this car n two existing colors – Classic Grey and Symphony Silver. Service- Toyota Financial Services is offering Otiose Exclusive customers an exclusive opportunity to avail a 100% on road funding for seven years on a zero down payment scheme. Toyota has also worked on reducing the time taken to service a vehicle through Toyota Express Maintenance Service which has brought down the servicing time to Just 60 minutes. Quality- Toyota Otiose Exclusive is offering superior ride and handling quality.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Aviation Regulatory Framework Comparison UK Vs USA Engineering Essay

Aviation Regulatory Framework Comparison UK Vs USA Engineering Essay This report looks at the aviation regulatory framework in both the United Kingdom and the United States, their differences and similarities. Due to the high level of cooperation between the FAA and the CAA and also EASA most regulation is very similar if not the same. By looking at the structure and functions of the regulatory bodies in terms of safety and security it is obvious that because the two countries are aiming for the same high level of safety that they should be taking the same steps in order to do this. The main difference between the regulation of civil aviation between the two countries is the fact that the FAA is the regulation making body for the US alone whereas the UK has regulation passed to it from EASA which the CAA has to implement over and above any regulations the CAA or the British government may have had in place previously. The US has a system where the FAA literally regulates every single aspect of civil aviation and although they freely communicate their findings and recommendations with foreign countries the FAA alone control us Regulatory framework reporting only to the Department of Transport. Introduction In this report the aviation regulatory framework of the United Kingdom will be compared and contrasted with the aviation regulatory framework of the United States. The report will describe the structure and functions of the bodies responsible for aviation regulation in both countries while addressing the responsibilities of airports, airlines and aircraft manufacturers within the respective frameworks. The issue of UK regulation being underpinned by EU legislation will also be discussed and anomalies between the UK and US framework will be identified. Report In the UK the secretary of state for transport is the government minister responsible for civil aviation. This position is currently held by the Rt Hon Lord Andrew Adonis who oversees the Department for Transport (DfT) which is involved in a number of areas in civil aviati on although the regulation and supervision of civil aviation is the function of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Aviation Regulation in the United Kingdom is statute law created by acts of parliament most of which is covered by the Civil Aviation Act 1982 which lays down the roles of the main authorities for the control and regulation of civil aviation in the UK, mostly covered by the secretary of state for transport, the department for transport and mainly the CAA. The Civil Aviation Act 1982 aims to deal with issues of roles, functions, duties and policies but does not act alone as other legislation affects civil aviation regulation. For example international conventions such as the Warsaw Convention and the Airport Act 1986 which provides of most of the regulation for UK airports (Blackshaw, 1992, p. 30). Civil aviation in the UK is also influenced heavily by EASA who will be discussed in detail later. The CAA is the National Aviation Authority (NAA) for the UK and amongst oth er things deals with most of the key functions of the regulation of civil aviation.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Reading Response 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reading Response 5 - Essay Example The rule is to use a singular verb with a singular subject and a plural verb with a plural subject. However the tricky part is to identify the subject and recognizing it as singular or plural. The next step is then to use the appropriate verb. If the subject is singular, an ‘s’ is added at the end of the verb. For example, in the sentence, ‘The cat chases the birds’, ‘Cat’ is the subject which is singular and hence the verb used is ‘chases’ rather than ‘chase’. There are some rules which are important in recognizing the subject as singular or plural. They are listed below: A paragraph is a collection of many sentences that are carefully organized and talk about the same subject. A paragraph talks about a single idea which is stated clearly in the topic sentence. The topic sentence can be at the start of the paragraph or anywhere in between. All paragraphs follow a certain structure, mainly the introduction, body and the conclusion. The introduction usually contains the topic sentence along with other sentences that provide the reader with the background information. After the introduction, comes the body of the paragraph that talks about the topic introduced earlier. It builds up the topic using facts, arguments, examples or other information. In the end comes the conclusion which is necessary to wrap up the whole paragraph. The conclusion summarizes the main ideas stated in the paragraph and may talk about the implications of the topic

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Hierarchy of Gender Roles in the Traditional Jewish Religion Essay

Hierarchy of Gender Roles in the Traditional Jewish Religion - Essay Example I found that atmosphere to be more family-oriented and comfortable for the crowd that gathered. There were several differences that caused me to have a negative reaction. First, in the traditional Jewish religion, there is a strong and obvious hierarchy of gender roles in which the men and women engage. While some might dismiss that as chauvinism, others think differently and truly appreciate the importance of the different gender portrayals. Regardless of personal preference, Judaism has a particular set of laws that have not changed; nor will they change any time soon. One of these laws indicates clearly that women are forbidden from holding the holy Torah book, and are not allowed to lead the ritual ceremony. Without getting into the theological explanations of why these laws are important, I would simply like to point out an idea which I believe all religions have in common; follow the laws as they are given to you. While individuals can interpret these laws differently within certain parameters, the main idea should stay the same. That is why a Jewish woman should not walk around holding the Torah book or, prior to that, go to the arch where the book is placed and open it. Yet, they do this at Temple Sinai. Another negative exp... So, once I entered the temple, I turned off my cellular phone and got into the mood of that special holiness that a synagogue provides whenever I attend a service there. I found it particularly ironic that, during the service, the Rabbi who lectured us about the importance of keeping the Shabbat, as it was written specifically in the Torah, was violating the Shabbat by using a microphone to deliver his speech! According to the Jewish faith, he was committing a great sin, and he made other Jews join in that sin as well. To makes things worse, and even bizarre, there was a man next to him that played the keyboard (again, on Shabbat and inside a synagogue!) which made me feel that I was taking apart in a mass, in a church on a Sunday morning. Further, I wore my "yamaka" (a small hat that Jewish men put on their heads when they pray), and put on my "tall" (a special cloth that Jewish men put on top of their clothes at the time of prayer) as is the requirement for men who attend the service. Some of the male participants that morning did not respect even this simple requirement of covering their heads during the reading of the Torah.  Ã‚  

How to Perform and Interpret Regression Analysis Essay

How to Perform and Interpret Regression Analysis - Essay Example The results of a statistical and probability analysis conducted using the database provided by a company indicate that; 1. Employee turnover ratio also depends on the gender of the staff. Female staff remained with the company for much longer (20.83% of the female population had worked in the company for over five years as against 12.50% of the male population). Similarly, studies relating to smoking to lung cancer are correlational (increasing number of lung cancer cases means an increasing number of smokers and vice-versa). Therefore, measurement of two variables and determining whether they are associated with each other is called correlational study. Causation: If an event of the first kind occurs, an event of the second kind will or must occur, and the first event is the 'cause' of the second event. This is called causation. A relation is called a causal relation if a change in one variable is not only correlated with but actually produces a change in another variable. For examp le, negligence on the part of a computer programmer may cause, malfunctioning of the inventory control programme. On the other hand in a correlation, two correlated variables might or might not result in a change in each other. In correlation, the changes are in general proportionate, but in Causation the changes may not be proportionate and measurable.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Business Systems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8750 words

Business Systems - Coursework Example Design approach 17 Assumptions 18 Technical Development Environment 18 User Interface 20 Support issues 27 Cutover strategy 29 Training issues 32 Data conversion 33 Test Plan 35 Test cases 37 b.Integrity controls 38 User documentation/Help 39 Network design 39 Security issues 41 Project progress 43 Gantt chart 43 Brief discussion 44 Introduction Document Purpose The idea of this paper is to incarcerate the blueprint of the innovative system. Once approved by the key stakeholders, systems development will proceed in accordance with this design and the deliverable will be more than promised. Project Objective The objective of this project is to develop and implement a new computerized software product for Classic Hire Equipment Rental Company that would provide the following benefits: Provide highly revamped computerized systems for its 100 franchises Better interface with customers with the new system Reduced data duplication Better networking Better brand creation in the market Better use of resources Better use of information for customer tracking and growth Better payment facilities with respect to both customers and service providers Report generation for management purposes and tracking resources Finally to track the satisfaction level of the customers with ease for future betterment and prosperity. Non - Functional Requirements Project scope The proposed software application is designed to cater to the Classic Hire firm for its hiring equipments to customers. It starts with the very approach of a customer for service and handles all the resources including people in the process and ends with the return of equipment and final transaction with the customer. It can be termed as customer-to-customer service. It caters to customer request for...We will be pleased to discuss any issue concerning our analysis and design for your acceptance and successful implementation of the system at your end. It starts with the very approach of a customer for service and handles all the resources including people in the process and ends with the return of equipment and final transaction with the customer. It can be termed as customer-to-customer service. It caters to customer request for service, processing of the request, handling the equipment transfer process and finally transaction handling process. These are the broad categories of business functions of Classic Hire which the system envelopes in its road to creation and implementation. Description: The customer fills up this form once he is into the system and before he avails the services of Classic Hire. The rating of the customer is checked and he is then taken to the secured environment to get the equipment of his choice. The rating forms a very important part as this would guarantee whether the customer will be allowed to access the services of the company or not. Description: A form which shows the hire agreement detailing a single hire transaction for an individual customer. It has a section for the customer to sign agreeing to the conditions of the hire company policies.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

The Internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Internet - Essay Example The same letter now takes just the click of a mouse to bridge that distance over the Internet. With the advent of VoIP, it is now possible to engage in ‘face-to-face’ video chats with persons in any corner of the globe with tools such as Skype. Moreover, this is accomplished at a miniscule price, in comparison with the cost of airmail postage or telephone tariffs. The speed of communication the Internet offers is particularly appreciated at times of emergencies, and natural disasters, when warning signals can be instantly transmitted across the globe. The life-saving benefits of this speed of communication cannot be denied. Social life has undergone a sea-change with the advent of the Internet. As the Internet has demolished â€Å"the traditional communications constraints of cost, geography, and time,† it has opened up a whole new world of social interaction (Glassman, 2010). Before the Internet, socialization was defined by the limited boundaries of face-to-face interaction. E mail, social networks, online chatting, files sharing, gaming, and discussion groups have made social horizons infinite. The Internet provides opportunities for the development and improvement of social ties. Long-lost friends from school and college days, who faded irrevocably out of lives in the past, are now rediscovered, and friendships are renewed, on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. News and photographs are exchanged easily. The Internet remains unrivalled in â€Å"creating, cultivating, and continuing social relationships† (Glassman, 2010). It is now possible to maintain twenty-hour social connectivity and frequent updates through sites such as Twitter. The Internet creates opportunities for social interaction between... Social life has undergone a sea-change with the advent of the Internet. As the Internet has demolished â€Å"the traditional communications constraints of cost, geography, and time,† it has opened up a whole new world of social interaction (Glassman, 2010). Before the Internet, socialization was defined by the limited boundaries of face-to-face interaction. E mail, social networks, online chatting, files sharing, gaming, and discussion groups have made social horizons infinite. The Internet provides opportunities for the development and improvement of social ties. Long-lost friends from school and college days, who faded irrevocably out of lives in the past, are now rediscovered, and friendships are renewed, on social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace. News and photographs are exchanged easily. The Internet remains unrivaled in â€Å"creating, cultivating, and continuing social relationships† (Glassman, 2010). It is now possible to maintain twenty-hour soci al connectivity and frequent updates through sites such as Twitter. The Internet creates opportunities for social interaction between people of like-minded interests and tastes, regardless of their place of residence. Voluntary organizations, religious, civic and social groups harness the power of the Internet to encourage participation, organize activities, raise funds, and recruit members through tools such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and texting. The Internet has remade the business world. Shopping no longer requires a visit to the mall or the corner supermarket.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Is Interagency Working in England Beneficial to Childrens Learning and Essay

Is Interagency Working in England Beneficial to Childrens Learning and Development - Essay Example From this paper it is clear that interagency workings in England started long time ago around in the mid 19th century in the health and social care sectors. Nevertheless, the trend has being gaining popularity over the past few years especially since the death of Victoria Climbie on February 2000. This research paper is going to critically analyze whether interagency working in England are beneficial to children’s development and learning. Victoria Climbie decease prompted to a large and thorough research analysis of the United Kingdom child protection and development services. This led to publication of various studies highlighting the need for multiagency working and sharing of information with the main goal being to protect children, help them develop and facilitate their learning. Such studies have led to numerous reforms as it had been suggested by different publications among them being the ‘Green Pape:Every Child Matters’ which was made in 2003, a publicati on that prompted to a dramatic increase in the number of voluntary and non-voluntary organizations working together to help children lead a full life. According to the study agencies working alongside other agencies has proven to be an effective strategy of improving children’s outcomes of development because of the cross cutting themes that different organizations bring forth together. Coming together of different organizations and sharing information increases the probability of shielding children from any harm and most importantly promote their welfare in a way that only a few children if any have to face terrible situations like the ones Victoria Climbie faced. Publications like the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ year 2010 highlight the need for the collaboration of the general England society in promoting and safeguarding the welfare of young people and children.  

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Library Ict Essay Example for Free

Library Ict Essay Introduction Rapid developments in information and communication technologies (ICT) and their wide application in all aspects of life have led to dramatic changes. These changes are so revolutionary that is not realistic to expect stability in their wake 1 . Information technology (IT) entered into libraries, especially academic and research libraries, during the 1960s. Libraries employed IT to speed up their daily activities and reduce their operating costs. Many repetitive activities were upgraded using IT 2 . IT allows integration of library activities and increases efficiency and enables users to have remote access to information and around the clock access. New technologies provide unlimited information from different sources and facilitate reformatting data from different sources 3. Definition Ebijuwa and ToAnyakoha (2005) 4-5 define ICT as tools and as well as means used for collection, capture, process, storage, transmission and dissemination of information†. The American Library Association (1983) 5 defines IT as the application of computers and other technologies to the acquisition, organization,storage, retrieval and dissemination of information. The computers are used to process and store data, while telecommunications technology provides information communication tools, which make it possible for users to access databases and link them other computer networks at different locations. IT and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) are used somewhat interchangeably. Objectives of the Study The major objectives of this study are 1. To identify the ICT infrastructure facilities available in the university libraries. 2. To identify the ICT based software implemented in the university libraries. 3. To find out the various types of electronic resources available in the university libraries. Methodology The study is based on the primary data collected from the government university libraries and deemed university libraries given in table 1. Table 1. List of University Libraries S. No Name of the University 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Anna University,Chennai University of Madras, Chennai The Tamil Nadu. Dr. Ambedkar Law University,Chennai Tamil Nadu Dr. M. G. R Medical University,Chennai M. G. R . Educational and Research Institute, Chennai SRM University,Kattankulathur Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences,Chennai B. S. Abdur Rahman University,Chennai Bharath University,Chennai Sri Ramachandra University,Chennai Deemed universities Type of university Government Universities 8. 9. 10. A structured questionnaire was designed to obtain data. The questionnaire was divided into four sections: Hardware, Software, Technologies, and Electronic Resources. Sixteen questionnaires were distributed among university librarians, of which 10 university librarians were responded (62.5%). Review of Literature Walmiki and Ramakrishnegowda (2009) 7 studied ICT infrastructures in university libraries of Karnataka and found that most of the libraries were uâ€Å"lack sufficient hardware, software facilities and do not have adequate internet nodes and bandwidth†. The campus LANs were not fully extended to exploit the benefits of digital information environment. Ahmad and Fatima (2009) 8 found that researchers use a variety of ICT products and services for research and further remarked that ICT products help â€Å"to find  information, access information, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and communicate information more easily†. It was recommended that training be organized to increase the use of ICT-based products and services. Adeleke and Olorunsola (2010) 9 studied ICT and library operations found that ICT facilities were the major constraints facing libraries in the use of tools. Shafi-Ullah and Roberts (2010) 10 found that ICT infrastructure is necessary to make provide a research culture in higher education institutions and recommended allocating funds for ICT infrastructure. Etebu (2010) 11 studied ICT availability and found a situation that is not encouraging. Patil (2010) 12 found that users were not trained to use ICT- based products and services and further recommended an ICT training programme to increase the use of ICT products and services. Data Analysis The study was carried out in ten university libraries. The demographic information related to these respondents is shown in table 2. Table 2. Demographic Information about Respondents S. No Description 1. 2. Total Percentage 40% 60% 100% Government University 4 Deemed University Total 6 10. Five ICT infrastructures such as computers, printers, laptops, scanners and photocopiers were identified for this study and same is shown in table 3. Table 3. ICT infrastructure vs. University Libraries S. No Description ICT Infrastructure 110 1. Computers 1 4 11-20 21- 31 30 above 2 3 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 1. 5 5 2. 1 2 3. 2 1 Total WAM Rank (10) (40) 2. Printers 9 1 (20) (30) 0 0 (90) (10) 3. Laptops 9 0 (0) (0) 0 1 (90) (0) (0) (10) 4. Scanners 9 1 0 0 10 (100) 10 (100) 2. 1 2 (90) (10) 5. Photocopiers 9 1 (0) (0) 0 0 2. 1 2 (90) (10) (0) (0) It can be seen from table 3 that 4 (40% ,WAM 3. 2, rank 1) libraries were between 11 and 20 computers, followed by printers, scanners, and photocopiers ranging between 1 and 10. ICT infrastructure mentioned in table 3 were further distributed library-wise, shown in table 4. Table 4. ICT Infrastructure vs. University Libraries S. N Description Government University Libraries n=4 Total Deemed University Libraries n=6 110 11- 21- 31 20 30 above 1 0 2 (50) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 4 N 1A 10 (0) 0 1120 3 (50) 0 (0) 0 2130 2 31 above 1 6 Total N A 1. Computers (0) 1 (0) (25) (25) (0) 2. Printers 0 3 1 0 (100) (0) (0) 4 0 6 (33. 33) (16.67) (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 6 (100) 6 (100) 6 (100) 6 (100) (0) (75) (25) (0) 3. Laptops 3 1 0 0 (0) 0 (0) 0 (100) (0) (60) 4 0 5 (75) (25) (0) 4. Scanners 0 4 0 (100) (0) (83. 33) (0) 4 0 5 1 (0) (100) (0) 5. Photocopiers 0 3 1 (100) (0) (83. 33) (16. 67) (00 4 0 6 0 (0) 0 (0) (0) (75) (25) (0) (100) (0) (100) It can be seen from table 4 that 2 (50%) government university libraries had more than 31 computers and 3 (50%) deemed university libraries had from 11 to 20 computers. All libraries 4 (100%) from government universities and 5 of those from deemed university libraries had scanners. Three government university libraries and 6 deemed university libraries had between 1 and 10 photocopiers. Four important software applications library automation, digital library, e-learning, and digitization were identified and further ascertained using an Objective Scaling System. The results are shown in table 5. Table 5. ICT based Software in University Libraries S. No Description ICT based Software Total WAM Rank Yes No 1 (10) 9 (90) 9 (90) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 1. 0 4 1. 1 3 1. 9 1 1. 9 1 1. Library Automation Software 9 (90) 2. Digital Library Software 1 (10) 3. E-learning Software. 1 (10) 4. Digitization Software 0 (0) (Yes=Available, No=Not Available) Ninety percent of the libraries have implemented library automation and digital library software. Most of the libraries have yet to implement e-learning software and digitization software. The software were further distributed library-wise and are shown in table 6. Table 6. ICT based Software vs. University Libraries S. No Description ICT based Software Government Universities Libraries Deemed Universities Libraries Yes 1. Library Automation Software 3 (75) 2. Digital Library Software 0 (0) 3. Digitization Software 0 (0) 4. E-learning Software 1 (25) No 1 (25) 4 (100) 0 (0) 3 (75) Total 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) Yes 6 (100) 1 No 0 (0) 5 Total 10 (100) 10 (16. 67) (83. 33) (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 6 (100) 6 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) (Yes=Available, No=Not Available) Three-quarters of government university libraries and 6 (100%) deemed university libraries have implemented library automation , while one (25%) government university and one (16. 67%) deemed university had implemented both e-learning and digital library software. Technologies such as barcode, smart card, RFID, videoconferencing, and Internet technonologies were identified and are shown in table 7. Table 7. ICT based Technologies vs. University Libraries S. No Description ICT based Technologies Total WAM Rank Yes 1. Barcode Technology 2. Smart card Technology 9 (90) 3 (30) 3. RFID Technology 3 (30) 4. Video Conference Technology 0 (0) 5. Internet Technology 10 (100) No 1 (10) 7 (70) 7 (70) 10 (100) 0 (0) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 2. 00 1 1. 00 5 1. 3 3 1. 3 3 1. 9 2 (Yes=Available, No=Not Available) All the libraries surveyed provide internet facilities, while 90% have implemented barcode technology. Three libraries have implemented smart card and RFID technologies. None of the libraries has implementing videoconferencing. The technologies mentioned in table 7 were distributed library-wise and are shown in table 8. Table 8. ICT-based Technologies Universities Libraries S. No Description ICT based Technologies in University Libraries Government Universities Deemed Universities Yes 1. Barcode Technology 3 (75) No 1 (25) Total 4 (100) Yes 6 (100) No 0 (0) Total 10 (100) 2. Smart card Technology 2 (50) 2 (50) 2 (50) 0 (0) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 1 5 10 (16. 67) (83. 33) (100) 1 5 10 3. RFID Technology 2 (50) (16. 67) (83.33) (100) 6 (100) 0 (0) 0 (0) 6 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 4. Internet Technology 4 (100) 0 (0) 5. Video Conference Technology (Yes=Available, No=Not Available) All libraries in government and deemed universities provide Internet facilities. Seventy-five percent of government university libraries and 100% of deemed university libraries have implemented barcode technology. Nine electronic resources were identified for this study and are shown in table 9. Table 9. Electronic Resources vs. University Libraries S. No Description E-Resources in University Libraries Yes 1. E-Books 6 (60) 2 E-Journals 9 (90) 3. Full text Databases 5 (50) 4. Bibliographic databases 4 (40) 5. CD-ROM databases 8 (80) 6. E-Learning Resources 7 (70) 7. ETD 4 No 4 (40) 1 (10) 1 (10) 6 (60) 2 (20) 3 (30) 6 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 10 1. 4 7 1. 7 4 1. 8 2 1. 4 8 1. 1 9 1. 9 1 1. 6 6 Total WAM Rank (40) 8. DVD 7 (70) 9. Library Consortium 8 (80) (60) 3 (30) 2 (20) (100) 10 (100) 10 (100) 1. 8 2 1. 7 4 (Yes=Available, No=Not Available) Nearly all the libraries subscribe to electronic journals, and an almost equal number belong to a library consortium. Electronic resources mentioned in table 10 were further distributed library-wise and are shown in table 10. Table 10. Electronic Resources vs. University Libraries S. No Description Electronic Resources in University Libraries Government Universities Deemed Universities Yes 1. E-Books 2 (50) 2. E-Journals 4 (100) 3. Fulltextdatabases 1 (25) 4. Bibliographic databases 2 (50) 5. CD-ROM databases 3 (75) 6. E-Learning Resources 3 (75) 7. ETD 1 (25) 8. DVD 2 No 2 (50) 0 (0) 3 (75) 2 (50) 1 (25) 1 (25) 3 (75) 2 Total 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 (100) 4 Yes 4 No 2 Total 6. (66. 67) (33. 33) (100) 5 1 6 (83. 33) (16. 67) (100) 3 (50) 2 3 (50) 4 6 (100) 6 (33. 33) (66. 67 (1) 5 1 6 (83. 33) (16. 67) (100) 4 2 6 (66. 67) (33. 33) (100) 3 (50) 5 3 (50) 1 6 (100) 6 (50) 9. Library Consortium 4 (100) (50) 0 (0) (100) 4 (100) (83. 33) (16. 67) (100) 4 2 6 (66. 67) (33. 33) (100) (Yes=Available, No=Not Available) All the libraries from government universities and a large number from deemed universities subscribe to e-journals. large number have acquired other electronic resources and belong to library consortia. Conclusion and Recommendations. The application of ICTs are increasing in academic libraries, especially in the university environment. Users’ expectations have increased due to developments in technologies. The study recommends the following The University Libraries must increase the numbers of computer available to enable the users to maximize the usage of ICT-based resources and services. The Digital Library Service† is one of the most useful services in the university library. Users can access digital resources using a number of different open source digital library software packages. The libraries should implement digital library software. It is found that no library was implemented digitization software. It is very useful to digitize rare collections such as older and out of print editions. References 1. Webster, F. (2001). A new politics. In Webster, F. (Ed. ), Culture and politics in the Information Age. London: Routledge. 2. Igwe, P. O. (1986). The electronic age libraries: Present and future prospects. International Library Review, 34(1):43-52. 3. Haglund, L. , Olsson. (2008). The impact oo university libraries of changes in information behavior among academic researchers: A multiple case study. The Journal of Academic librarianship, 34 (1):51-69. 4. Ebijuwa, A. A. (2005). Information and Communication Technology in university libraries: The Nigeria experience. Journal of Library and Information Science, 7(12) :23-30. 5. ToAnyakoha, M. W. (2005). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in library services. Coal City Libraries, 2(12) :. 2-12. 6. American Library Association (1983). The ALA glossary of library and information science. Chicago. ALA. 7. Walmiki, R. H. , Ramakrishnegowda (2009). ICT infrastructures in university libraries in Karnataka. Annals of Library and Information Studies, 56:236-241. 8. Ahmad, N. , Fatima, N. (2009). Usage of ICT products and services for research in social sciences at Aligarh Muslim University. DESIDOC Journal of Library and Information Technology, 29(2):. 25-30. 9. Adeleke, A. A. , Olorunsola, R. (2010). ICT and Library operations: More on the online cataloguing and classification tools and techniques in Nigerian libraries. The Electronic Library, 28(3):453-462. 10. Is ICT infrastructure capable to accommodate standardized library management systems? : Case studies of library automation from public sector universities in Islamabad (Pakistan). Available: http://www. crl. du. ac. in/ical09/papers/index_files/ical-44_191_402_1_RV. pdf 11. Etebu, A. T. (2010). ICT Availability in Niger Delta University Libraries. Library Philosophy and Practice. Available: http://unllib. unl. edu/LPP/etebu3. htm 12. Patil, S. G. (n. d. ). Usage of ICT Products and Services for research at MET’s institute of engineering, Bhujbal Knowledge City (met-bkc-ioe): A case study. Available: http://knol. google. com/k/usage-of-ict-products-and-services-forresearch#

Friday, September 20, 2019

Effective Leadership: Implementing change

Effective Leadership: Implementing change In todays volatile economy landscape, changes are inevitable and necessary. Continuous organisational developments and restructuring are vital for survival and growth. Therefore, it is important to identify growth opportunities in order to ensure the organisations sustainability and at the same time overcoming their weaknesses (Cranfield University School of Management, 2010). However, organisational change generates resistance in employees, making it challenging for successful implementation. Moreover as organisation expand, the challenges of implementing change will be greater due to diverse environment. Leaders can lead/motivate employees towards the achievement of goals in time of change. They process the quality traits which create vision and direction to motivate employees to strive harder towards goals. Also, they can facilitate employees in overcoming challenges and resistance induced by change. Leaders also have power to communicate, influence and negotiate employees away from the harmful cashes of conflicts (Robbins Judge, 2008). The objective of this report is to determine how the modern day organisation in this research can make use of effective leadership to implement and achieve successful change. It will provide more insights on how leaders can identify factors that bring about change. Discussion will be carried out on how to diagnose change factors and identify threats/opportunities. Next, the report sets to determine the impact of communication styles of the leaders on organisational cultural values. Communication plays an important role in the change process as it helps employees to see the need for change. It also highlights the importance of the affected parties role in the whole change process. The report will also examine suitable leadership style which will help with transformational change. Effective leadership translates to effective communication and overcoming resistance. Furthermore, leadership is crucial to identify, lead and manage change. Lastly, this report will set to understand how leaders overcome employees resistance within the organisation. It is of paramount importance for leaders to implement appropriate solutions in order to minimize resistance and maintain sustainability of new change. BACKGROUND OF ORGANISATION The organisation in this research is an Indonesian IT firm specialising in the importing/exporting of self-manufactured laptops. The Singapore regional office was established four years ago and has staff strength of twenty five direct employees. It has a local regional manager in-charge of running Singapores daily routine operations. Since its establishment, the regional office has been experiencing deficits in their income statements. The organisation emphasizes on a tall organisational structure, where top-down hierarchical authority is being practised. Decision-making is made by the head office in Indonesia without any effective communication with the regional office. Quarterly review meetings are held with regional manager to only report on business performance that the regional office is currently experiencing. Owing to a lack of demand for IT peripherals due to the worldwide economic meltdown in 2009, the regional office had recently carried out a retrenchment exercise as a cost-cutting measurement. Prior to the recent downsizing exercise, each of the thirteen departments was led by a supervisor. Each employee is expected to keep to his/her individual job scope and is held accountable for all his/her actions. Strict protocols for individuals are laid out and upward interactions are usually not encouraged. The decision for the recent exercise came straight from the head office without any consultation with the regional manager. The retrenchment announcement was made through email and did not state any future plans for the remaining employees. After the downsizing exercise, the remaining employees have low morale, little sense of pride in their work and are alienated from the management team. Employee absenteeism and turnover rate has been increasing. This change has lead to further deterioration of productivity and quality of the products that are offered by the regional office. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Sampling Schedule In order to define situation concisely and to gather comprehensive information on objectives for the study, the research design methods of interview and personal observation is carried out for this case study. Before primary research is conducted, a group of respondents from regional office is selected for an interview to obtain their opinions. For this selection, non-probability sampling (Quota Sampling) is carried out. The sample audiences (quota) are to be made up of potential leaders of the regional office. They have direct and regular interaction with head office. They are someone of a seniority level, with leadership capabilities and have the power to influence subordinates. The sample audiences are identified to be the regional manager (whom is accountable for the operations of regional office) and the human resource officer (who is responsible for the linking of employees-related policies and organisational strategies). For personal observation, it will be done by researcher of this study in her course of work as a regional sales executive (In charge of generating sales revenue). 3.2 Methods of Gathering Data (*There is limitation of the research design as it all measures information entirely from the regional offices prespective. This might result in possible biasness/prejudices from common method variance. Primary and secondary research time-frame is in Appendix B) 3.2.1 Observation Observation is done by researcher to obtain informal visual assessment of the regional office. Events associated with the objectives are monitored, accessed and recorded. Structured observations are carried out in her course of work for the visual assessment of the organisation as a whole so that the behavior is carefully documented to ensure its validity/reliability. 3.2.2 Interview For this study, direct interview is more efficient and accurate due to small staff strength of only twenty-five. An interview study is held in order of the initial development of interview questions, the conducting of interviews, followed by data analysis. Two identified interviewees whom have interactions with the head office would be interviewed. The interviews (Appendix A) are carried out in the research direction to comprehend actual work practices, procedures, structure and embedded problem/issues faced by the organisation. 3.3 Secondary Data In order to provide in depth assessment, there is also the collection of secondary data. Besides using the online search engines for obtaining information on objectives and findings; books and journal databases (existing articles on literature review and case studies) are the main sources of references. Frameworks obtained are verified using different sources in order to validate the research findings without subjecting them to any form of prejudices. The results from the interviews and personal observation are analyzed with comparisons to secondary data. 4.0 LEADERSHIP AND CHANGE 4.1 External Macro Environment As head office is unfamiliar with Singapores working environment, leaders do not have proper business strategic plan and this would bring about disastrous consequences. Decision making are based on day-to-day responses by the head office. They have no sense of urgency to develop a long term strategic planning as they lack an external consultative opinion on how to operate the business. They also do not have good leadership skills to develop effective strategies as they had only focused on the situations at-present and eventually lost sight of main objectives. Perhaps this could be due to the differences in the cultures, where Singaporeans being highly efficiency is a stark contrast with the more laid-back mindset that most Indonesians possess. The need for change encompasses within all organisations in order to cope with the rapid environmental influences. The business environment is defined as a concept whereby external forces play a major role in the successes/failures of any organisation. By paying attention to the wider environment, leaders can identify threats/opportunities to ensure effective planning and implementation of change (Brooks Weatherston, 2000; Griffin Ebert, 2006). 4.2 PEST Analysis Hayes (2007) and Robbins Judge (2008) agree that PEST analysis will allow leaders to examine the external macro environment in which a business operates and search for evidences of change. Understanding the impact and situation of external forces would help identify factors that could possibly bring about change within the organisation. Political Griffin Ebert (2006) and Hayes (2007) concur that political change will pose threats or create opportunities for any organisation. It has a huge influence upon the regulation of businesses and the possible spending power of consumers. It is important for organisations which are exposed to international risks as the political stability of different countries will affect operations and ultimately, revenues. It consists of elements like regulations set by the government on business practices, acceptable business conducts within an economy, environmental management legislations, labour law, international trade regulations, tariffs and political stability. Economic Economic factors refer to the condition of the trading state in which the business operates in. It includes exchange rates, money supply, changing consumption patterns and power and trade cycles. All these factors will impact the operation and decision making of an organisation. For example, in an economy in which the organisation is in is experiencing economic growth. The organisation would expand leading to change and leaders must establish control during the transition period. Leaders must develop a new vision, direction, new plan and to allocate resources properly to deal with the change (Hayes, 2007). Socio-Cultural Socio-cultural factor consists of having the elements of customs, moral values and demographics of the society where the organisation operates in. It affects business ethics and operations across countries so leaders must be mindful of the different customer preferences within national boundaries. For example, MacDonalds do not sell pork items in its menu in Singapore due to the differences in religious practices in the multi-racial environment; whereas in Thailand this acceptable. Change in employees attitude towards education, work and leisure which will impact on labour force and consumption demand. Leaders should produce a working environment that is conductive enough to motivate them and improve efficiency (Hayes, 2007; Griffin Ebert, 2006). Technological Technology is defines as innovations applied into society and organisations to carry out tasks. Some examples are level of investment in Research and Development (RD), availability of new materials and new production process. Technology is constantly changing and hence staying ahead of competitors has been increasingly difficult. Organisation must have the latest equipment, processes and resources to deal with technology change. Leaders must make sure that organisational structure, vision and resources align with technological aspect. Leaders must ensure that sufficient funds are allocated on RD for better technology to improve competitiveness and gain competitive advantage (Griffin Ebert, 2006; Hayes, 2007). 4.3 Findings: Implication of PEST and SWOT Analysis The interview findings (Appendix C) show that the organisation adopts a top down approach management style by the head office in Indonesia. PEST analysis is recommended so leaders in Indonesia will be able to improve on its decision-making process as it allows them to assess Singapores market potential, situation and business development. It encourages proactive thinking and allows them to plan ahead. With the analysis, leaders will know their present position, environment and how they can develop in the future. As they do not understand the impact and situation of external factors; they will need PEST to understand Singapores regulations, labor market, economy, customers, competition and technology. The analysis at external level helps to identify opportunities and threats of the external environment. With PEST, there will be detailed preparation and formulation of strategic plans, good leadership skills can be deployed to anticipate change and align businesss vision. The regional office will have better decision making process, productivity, competitive advantage and sense of belonging in employees. An example of the PEST analysis of the organisation is as follows: Singapores Regional Office -PEST Analysis * Data adapted from Morrisons website (2009) External Environment Factors Potential Impact: (+) / (-) Relative Importance Political Strict Government Legislation in Singapore High Opportunity Critical Labour Law (Singapore) Medium Opportunity Critical Political Instabilities in Indonesia High Threat Critical Economic Economic Downturn High Threat Critical Decrease in Consumers Demand and Investments High Threat Critical Stable Money supply Medium Opportunity Critical Social Demographic Trends Low Opportunity Unimportant Consumers Change in Preference and Attitudes High Threat Critical Attitudes towards Work and Employment High Threat Critical Technological Technology Revolution and Development High Opportunity Critical R D High Opportunity Critical New Production Processes/Ideas/Innovation High Opportunity Critical 5.0 LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATION 5.1 Communication Barriers The lack of communication, especially in terms of feedback from employees whom are familiar with the local demands of customers, coupled with stringent cost cutting measures could said to have contributed to poor sales performance. Many consumers are unaware of products that the regional office is offering due to lack of budget in generating brand awareness. Comparing to the bigger players whom have higher levels of economies of scale, it would definitely lose out in terms of its revenues. The regional office does not hold any weekly meeting within departments and there are no consultative approaches. Head offices quarterly meetings are only held with regional manager to obtain report solely on its current business performances. There are no established channels to voice employees feedback to the head office and it often results in a lack of information for proper accomplishment of tasks. Without proper communication structure, there is no room for improvement and employees will commit the same mistakes repeatedly. This would also mean that the head office would be unfamiliar with Singapores working environment, which would result in ineffective communications amongst the employees. Robbins Judge (2008) stated that communication is the life support for any organisation and it plays a vital role in the change process. Communication links people who believe in a common cause and unites them with a common vision to achieve goal congruence for the organisation. 5.2 Styles of Communication 5.2.1 Downward and Upward Communication Leaders would engage in top-down communication to disseminate information/goals, inform job procedures and highlight problems (Robbins Judge, 2008). Gilley et al. (2009) argued that in times of change, leaders must provide employees with abundant and value-added information with regards to change. Leaders must give justifications for rationale for change and also address employees concerns. Well-developed rationalizations are more likely to be accepted as employees acceptance and participation depend on their perception of personal benefits associated with the change. Hence, proper explanation and feedback is important for leaders to work on in areas of change to increase employees acceptance. Upward communication is used by employees to provide feedback, inform progress and issues towards goals to leaders. It is important for leaders to know about how employees feel and to allow for opportunities for growth and improvement. Upward communication has its limitation whereby leaders are overwhelmed and distracted. Employees morale would be affected as it would be time-consuming and demoralizing if it is difficult to get their leaders attention (Robbins Judge, 2008). Hayes (2007) exclaims that without proper upward/downward communication, it will lead to organisational silence which is a major barrier to change. One illustration within the cited organisation Due to Indonesias culture, leaders like to be respected and will disregard negative feedback from subordinates as a form of attack on their credibility. A culture might be cultivated whereby employees might be afraid to voice out the truth to their leaders. It is a double-edged sword when employees do not highlight issues to leaders and leaders will find it tough to get employees to accept change. In times of change, leaders must acquire a diverse set of effective communication techniques to convince employees to embrace a new breakthrough (Robbins Judge, 2008). In contrast, leadership ambivalence reduces acceptance to change and increases resistance. Communications should be regular, motivating and yet achievable. Unfulfilled vision will weaken leadership credibility leading to employees feeling a sense of injustice. Gilley et al. (2009) explain that employees whom experienced unjust treatment would be resentful towards their superiors, thus destroying commitment. Being honest and fair when things go wrong enables employees to accept an undesirable outcome. Therefore, there is a need for realistic and truthful communication that includes communicating negative aspects of change implementations when necessary. 5.2.2 Communication Strategy In every change process, communication plays a big part for leaders to ensure a smooth transition. There are five basic communication strategies (Hayes, 2007): Spray and Pray Showing all the information and hope others can understand and share the vision. The effectiveness is low as it depends on employees perspective of what is important. One major drawback is that the employees would be overloaded, thus increasing resistance. Tell and Sell Leaders would only communicate the core issues that relate to the change and pushes the idea for acceptance. This strategy is a one-way-communication process without any channels for meaningful feedbacks to express concern. Employees will tend to feel uncommitted as little input is required from them. Underscore and explore Similar to the Tell and Sell, but the sender listens to the receivers feedback to prevent misunderstanding. This is a very effective communication method as leaders would listens to employees concern to clear embedded doubts/queries. Identify and reply This is a reactive approach as leaders will listen and respond to the employees concerns which would guide employees out of complexity. One short-coming is that employees might not be aware of the critical issues currently hence, it might be time-consuming. Withhold and uphold Most of the information are withheld and employees are unaware of the real situation. Leaders who adopt this strategy are power-oriented and think that employees are not capable enough to handle core issues. This strategy will lead to dissatisfaction and mistrust amongst employees. Communication can be an effective tool in shaping organisational cultural value in motivating employees, providing feedback and reinforcement during the change. This would foster an environment with better decision making process to deal with obstacles (Gilley et al., 2009). 5.3 Findings: Implication towards Effective Communication Base on the interview findings (Appendix C), the organisation adopts the Withhold and uphold strategy to deal with the downsizing exercise. As leaders in head office are power-oriented due to Indonesias culture, they make decisions without consultation with regional office. Subordinates are expected to carry out requests of the retrenchment in exacting detail. As there are no justifications for the change and unable to express concern, employees are feeling resentful and thus causing the high turnover. There is also lack of proper downward/upward communication between the two offices. It leads to the improper sharing of information which results in inefficiency. One recent incident that happened that illustrates this effectively. The Head office had instructed the dealers to return an outstanding consignment of laptops and they had made arrangements to ship it back to Indonesia. However, this message was not communicated to the regional sales executive. She was unaware of this agreed communication, continued to send e-mails, reminding the dealers about the outstanding consignment. Such miscommunications inevitably tarnish the organisations reputation as the dealer was very unhappy and spread this among other dealers. She was made responsible for this miscommunication and feedbacks by her were rebuked. As remaining colleagues felt unjust for the sales executive, the miscommunication drove conflict between head office further and aggravated the misunderstandings and hostilities. In t he long run, with only top down communication and no feedback, it will lead to organisational silent with disastrous consequences. As the main problem lies with the internal communication of the organisation, leaders needs to resolve the problem by setting up basic structures to promote effective communications. For the head office to improve relationships with employees, internal communications must consist of the personal touch. Electronic communications cannot be a substitute for personal interactions. Going forward after the retrenchment, leaders should convey messages personally to their employees as this allow opportunities to clarify complex or sensitive issues. Leaders must foster an open environment, using underscore and explore strategy which allows feedback as communication is a two-way street in any change process. Leaders must have an open-mind to be more receptive to new ideas from employees. Regional manager should hold weekly meetings within departments to gather information and feedbacks. It would help employees to understand and follow up with the outstanding issues and for the managers to establish their authority. Constructive feedback from employees would help to identify problems which help the organisation to improve. By keeping employees informed and involved with the implementation of change programs; it would help increase the commitment levels and increase productivity. 6.0 STYLES OF LEADERSHIP 6.1 Leadership Role in Change Process The organisational structure emphasizes on top-down hierarchy authority and major decisions are made by the head office. The top-down leadership approach and strictly-defined job scopes reduces the employees into becoming merely cogs of the machines, where they would merely perform the bare minimum within their stated job scopes, with minimal dedication to what they do. As such, everyone will only specialize in what they are doing, without a clear picture of the main business objectives, which impedes innovation and quality improvements. Weak leadership is also shown by the surprise retrenchment exercise, which caught many employees in the regional office off-guard. Without proper leadership to establish/lead new direction after the retrenchment, it eventually might be a possible factor that would lead to the downfall to the organisation. Kotter (Senior Fleming, 2006) emphasise that in all change process, effective leadership is needed to establish direction (develop vision/strategy), align members (communication to gain cooperation/acceptance), motivate and inspire (leading members to overcome various barriers) and overcoming change. 6.2 Transactional Leadership Robbins Judge (2008) indicated that transactional leadership would ultimately influence employees into the direction of achieving pre-established organisational goals by being task-oriented. Transactional leaders aim to maintain the status quos by making use of contingent and monetary rewards for effort and good performances. They would state their expectations; establish rules and procedures, and emphasize a fair deal with their employees. When work is allocated to employees, the leaders would expect them to take full responsibility. If the tasks are not performed to expectations, employees would be held liable. Hence, it is important for leaders to engage in open forms of communication to bring about mutual trust between employees and themselves. Contributions should be acknowledged and rewarded by the leaders towards their employees according to the industry standards, so as to bring about job satisfaction. However, Hoogh et al. (2005) argued that stringent goals, rules and procedures due to transactional leadership would only promote stable work environment with high degrees of structures. It results in employees having little ambiguity in pursing the goals. The lack of ambiguity would help ensure fairness and set straightforward guidelines. Moreover, with stability, it would not promote inducements or opportunities for change. Employees would not be motivated to perform beyond expectations. They would not be flexible and innovative enough to response quickly and effectively to environmental change; it would be difficult for the transactional leaders to bring about change. 6.3 Transformational Leadership Kotter (Senior Fleming, 2006) Robbins Judge (2008) agree that transformation leaders goes beyond transactional leadership by inspiring members to achieve goals, paying attention to their needs and encouraging new breakthrough in goal attainments. They will make use of charisma (providing vision, direction and gaining trust), inspiration (using communication/symbols to get things done), intellectual stimulation (promoting participation and problem solving) and individualized consideration (treating individual members equally/individually) to handle change. Transformation leaders will encourage followers to be more innovative and creative to increase efficiency. Hence, Followers would push beyond boundaries to pursue ambitious goals/vision of organisation, be more committed and will pursue it with due importance. Transformation leadership is able to induce higher levels of motivation and satisfaction leading to higher performance. There will also be lower turnover, higher productivi ty and lower stress levels. Transformational leadership is critical in helping mangers to identify change, which would in turn aid them with leading and managing change by ensuring effective communications and encouraging acceptance. Transformational leadership will ensure vital planning and design assumptions to allow leaders to recognise change by paying attention to the external environment, financial resources, and company staffing. In addition, it ensures proper management of formal and informal relationships between members to increase change momentum and improve managerial change interventions. Finally, it helps to overcome employees resistances when the organisation is disturbed by initiatives to change (Karp Helgo, 2009). 6.4 Leaders Checklist for Leading Change Every leader can adopt a process perspective on change management on top of the above-mentioned leadership approaches by adopting a checklist to control the change process and ensure smooth transitions (Kotter, 1999). Establishing Sense of Urgency Leaders must alert employees to need for change by creating a sense of urgency. They should begin examining the organisations external environment and communicate these findings to induce aggressive cooperation of employees and motivate them to change. Forming Powerful Coalition Leaders should form a competent strong team with expertise and have sense of urgency to kick start the change process. Leaders must lead the team to assess the problems, identify opportunities and change the mind of oppositions. Creating Vision The coalition team would need to create a shared vision to clarify the possible attainable directions, thus providing a guideline about organisations future to the employees. It must be flexible to encourage involvement and develop strategies to deal with the change. Leaders must allocate ample time to develop the shared vision so that it would be ingrained as a strong set of shared values. Communicating the Vision Leaders should communicate the vision as it would establish the direction, commitment and learning within the organisation towards the structural changes. They must use every method to communicate the new vision and strategies to ensure that employees understand and make short-term personal sacrifices in order to help the organisation achieve its goals. Empowering Others to Act on Vision through Leadership Good leadership skills are needed to lead transformational change and raise demands that are consistent with overall change effort. Leaders must remove obstacles and encourage risk taking to generate more creative actions to support the vision. Leaders must make use of compensation to encourage employees acceptances of new vision. Planning and Creating Short Term Wins Leaders should plan, and create visible performance improvements and reward employees involved in the change improvements. As changes cannot take place overnight, it should be implemented in phrases, allowing time for maturity. The short-term goals in phases would act as a source of motivation in continual efforts for change. Consolidating Improvements and Producing More Changes Leaders should capitalize on early wins but should not declare victory too early should there be any possible amendments to the winning efforts; and use that as further motivation for continued and subsequent changes. Next, leaders should use increased creditability due to short term improvements to overcome the current structures that are not in alignment with the vision. Institutionalizing New Approaches Leaders need to ensure that change is consolidated by showing employees how change has produced optimal performance. Every opportunity should be taken to demonstrate the benefit Cervical Cancer: An Action Plan Cervical Cancer: An Action Plan INTRODUCTION Cervical Cancer also recognized by ‘cancer of the cervix’ occurs from the tissue of the cervix. The cervix is a component of the female reproductive system, which also encompasses the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, vagina and vulva (Australian Government-Cancer Australia, 2014). The cervix is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina. It is sometimes called the neck of the uterus. Cervical Cancer affects the cells of the lower part of the uterus that joins the inner end of the vagina also known as the uterine cervix (Cancer Council Victoria, 2014). In Victoria 179 women were diagnosed in 2010 with cervical cancer (Department of Health 2014). This is considered to be the twelfth most common cancer in Australia (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Canberra, 2013) and has a much greater impact on indigenous women than non-indigenous complements. An indication of evidence shows that 59% of the women population died from this disease. According to Vic toria Health, 85% of women developed cervical cancer and either never had conducted a Pap smear test or failed to follow the recommended two yearly screening programs therefore leaded to a lack of participation in cervical screening which is one of the main risk factors for cervical cancer and is common against Indigenous women. Due to the inadequate time frame and the availability of health services such as the Bunurong Health service, Dandenong and District Aborigines Co-operative Limited to contribute in the project, the Indigenous population in the City of Greater Dandenong is the focus of this assignment. The objective of this is to reduce the occurrence of cervical cancer rates among Indigenous women in the City of Greater Dandenong over a three year plan. The strategies conversed in the project involvement plan by engaging the broader participation of indigenous people and their culture imparting a holistic approach to addressing this specific issue. Intensifying cultural awa reness and cultural safety is also a significant component. This realization plan will focus mainly on two detailed strategies: to familiarize and educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the City of Greater Dandenong by 50% informing about the new and easy technology use for cervical screening to reduce the pain and discomfort by 2015-2017. Another significant strategy is to ensure that the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women diagnosed with cervical cancer are met physically, culturally, spiritually and medically within the timeframe of three years 2015-2017. This curriculum will provide two-yearly Pap tests to women aged 18-69 for the early detection of cervical cancer. This implementation plan will initially present an action plan and next it will discuss about methods that have been used to encourage sustainability. Then methods of communication, which will be developed to connect stakeholders involved in the assignment, will be conversed along wit h the supply of resources. ACTION PLAN STRATEGY 1:To familiarize and educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the City of Greater Dandenong by 50% informing about the new and easy technology use for cervical screening to reduce the pain and discomfort by 2015-2017. STRATEGY 2: To ensure that the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women diagnosed with cervical cancer are met physically, culturally, spiritually and medically within the timeframe of three years 2015-2017. SUSTAINABLITY Attention to the sustainability in a community based cervical cancer; controlled program over a 3 year period must have extensive experience in planning implementing and evaluating a program which engage the indigenous aboriginal women, to educate women in City of Greater Dandenong. To sustain the program of prevention of cervical cancer, various steps must be put in place to maintain that the sustainability in the implementation scheme (Shediac-Rizkallah Bone, 1998, p.87-108). For instance, an entire program may be continued under its original or an alternative organizational structure, parts of the program be institutionalized as individual components, or there may be a transfer of the whole or parts to the community ownership (Shediac-Rizkallah Bone, 1998, p.87-108). In 2013 an study conducted by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare identified the main changed that would be needed to occur and which stakeholders would be likely to be impacted. Projects with training (p rofessional and paraprofessional components are more likely to be sustained than those without: those trained can continue to provide benefits, train others and form a constituency in support of the program. As strategy 1 states that it is aimed to familiarize and educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the City of Greater Dandenong by 50% informing about the new and easy technology use for cervical screening to reduce the pain and discomfort. Therefore; by having general community and professional monthly and or yearly meetings and follow ups will help the project be sustained for a longer period of time and this will be evident with the use of data towards the participation of Pap screening tests for the population of Indigenous women. The results of this data in future within the 3 year time frame will help to detect whether more education and support implants are needed to be put in place culturally, physically and mentally or whether the results show an increase towards the population of Pap screening tests for cervical cancer in Indigenous women specifically. Topromote ongoing skills, development in health promotion and training/education, by allocating half a day to train the leadership skills and furthermore; being qualified to maintain their relationship with the Indigenous women for better health. It is important to train the trainers to help health services and programs to be sustained, patient-centered care, self-management support and behaviour change within their organisations therefore will be structured to be continued for the management and progress (Practice change requires staff skills development and systems implementation planning, 2013). For that reason, where the team will identify a reliable person who will be appropriate for the subject of leadership in future and have a greater understanding of the vision and management skills about health project towards the Aboriginal culture. Managing the culturally supportive environment for the Indigenous women will encourage the team to promote and achieve the sustainability and health promotion goals. COMMUNICATION To build a therapeutic relationship among indigenous women is quintessential; Health workers must gain trust and build rapport and considering their cultural background. There are various stakeholders one needs to consider while promoting health. For instance; while developing and delivering Aboriginal specific cervical screening health promotion training to health professionals, health promotion workers, aboriginal health workers and others who are working within the project. However; to establish organizational supports, such as local advisory committees, and in order for the project to develop effective relationships, within the Indigenous women committee (Gruen et al., 2008, p, 1579-89). One of the key strategies to achieve in this project is to train local clinicians to provide education and awareness about Pap screenings and cervical cancer to Aboriginal women in a form of considering their cultural background. Public is the first and prime stakeholders as the implementation of health promotion plan deals within the public domain (Hetzel, Glover, Gruszin. 2012). Apart from public, local councils and local councilors, Australian Health department and party workers were in the middle stakeholders (Gruen et al., 2008, p, 1579-89). Medical expert’s dealing in the treatment and research institute where diseases are the first lane resources, therefore; is vital to be included in any plan in prevention for cervical cancer (Anne F.Rositch, Michelle I. Silver, Patti E. Gravitt, 2014). CONCLUSION In conclusion, cultural barriers prevent Aboriginal women from seeking for their sexual and reproductive health and creative strategies are needed to encourage Aboriginal women to attend for Pap screens. For example: Information needs to be presented to the community in a format and language that is understandable to the target population. Services need to be provided in a safe and confidential environment and services need to be available on a â€Å"walk up basis† to avoid the need for appointments which can lead to a fear of loss of privacy and confidentiality. Due to cultural impediments, past research has proven that the establishment of women’s advisory committee was/is a strong scheme as a strategy to facilitate the promotion of the project within the community by engaging respect within the community and the women who are involved in the project so they could promote to the targeted group. In order to continue the momentum started by the project, community awareness of the need for cervical screening, needs to be maintained and raised contained by the Aboriginal women. This will require ongoing consultation with the community and ongoing health promotion activity which has been mentioned above. Ongoing involvement and collaboration with other community stakeholders such as Bunurong Health Services, Local Government – Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Health Service, Cancer Council- Victoria, Royal Women’s Hospital Aboriginal Advisory Unit, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and City of Greater Dandenong are also seen as dominant too long term success in increasing awareness and promotion of cervical screening in the City of Greater Dandenong among Aboriginal and Indigenous women.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Transformational Leadership Essays -- Leadership

James MacGregor Burns has defined leadership as â€Å"leaders inducing the followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations – the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations – of both leaders and followers† (Burns 1978. p.19.) The concept of leadership as a whole encompasses different explanations, theories and leadership styles and has been popular not only from the organizational perspective but in the educational and political context as well. This essay aims to address the key concepts of Transformational leadership which belongs to the more recent approach taken towards leadership. From around the mid-19th century, social scientists have been engaged in understanding and developing the nature of leadership in social evolution. This has led to the development of various theories and approaches to leadership. The early approach to leadership began with the Great man theories and has gradually led to the formation of the ‘New Leadership Approach’ (Bryman 1992) which included ‘visionary’ (Sashkin 1998) , ‘charismatic’ (Conger 1989; Conger and Kanungo,1988; House 1977) or ‘Transformational models’ (Bass 1985; Tichy & Devanna,1986). While the early approaches to leadership focused on the traits of the leader the subsequent approaches gave more importance to additional variables such as skill level and the situational factors ( google- dads link) Review of Literature Max Weber’s (1947) approach to leadership was based on charisma and it was based on his approach that James MacGregor Burns proposed the theory of Transformational Leadership. In his book titled Leadership (1978), Bur... ...t of the early research on Transformational leadership Theory originated from studies that were conducted in the United States. Therefore there was a need to develop a UK version in order to address some of the problems of generalizability and to most importantly, determine whether the dimensions of Transformational Leadership that have emerged in the North American studies were similar to those found in the UK. (Alimo- Metcalfe & Alban –Metcalfe, 2001) What must be taken into account is the fact that Leadership as a part of the â€Å"New Paradigm Model’ has been viewed as a process of â€Å"Social Influence† (Bass 1998a, b; Bryman 1992). The main objective in developing and designing a UK instrument was to create one that is of practical value to managers at all levels (Alban-Metcalfe & Alimo-Metcalfe,2000) (MENTION 14 DIMENSIONS)

Contemporary Significance of the Greek Views of Paideia :: Philosophy

Contemporary Significance of the Greek Views of Paideia ABSTRACT: We argue that there are three basic views of paideia in ancient Greece. After briefly discussing them, we turn our attention to the contemporary situation. We try to show that the dialogical or Socratic view of paideia can contribute toward a deeper understanding of the contemporary problem of multiculturalism. In this article we will argue first that there are three basic views of paideia in ancient Greece (I). Then after making a brief overview of their fate in the later history (II), we will turn our attention to our contemporary situation and try to show that it is the dialogical or Socratic view of paideia which can contribute to a deeper understanding of the contemporary problem of multiculturalism (III). I. The three basic views of Greek paideia are all connected with the concept of truth and the relation of man to it. I call these views "basic", simply because I consider the man's "transcendental" relationship to truth (which includes the denial of this relationship) fundamental for our understanding of paideia, especially in ancient Greece after Parmenides. 1) The authoritarian view is found in the so-called Presocratic thinkers, such as Parmenides and Heracleitus. They assert the existence of absolute eternal truth that can be grasped intuitively and expressed verbally by a few wise men (sophoi). Even though they disagree and dispute each other on the content of truth, they all share in the esoteric view of truth. Just as Being is separated from the realm of appearance by Parmenides, so the wise man who alone can discern Being is clearly distinguished from the common crowd who cannot move beyond the realm of appearance. Or according to Heracleitus only the wise man can give ears to the eternal Logos amid the ever-changing flow of the world; whereas fools are compared with swine that are content with mud. This view gives the wise the authority to teach Truth ex cathedra. 2) The relativistic view of the Sophists, especially of Protagoras and Gorgias, is more "democratic". We should not forget that the Sophists flourished especially in democratic Athens as testified among others by the friendship between Protagoras and Pericles, the greatest statesman of democratic Athens. Both Protagoras and Gorgias criticized and ridiculed the Parmenidean concept of Being. The famous words of Protagoras, "man is the measure of all things" should be interpreted in this light.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Birth Defects Essay -- essays research papers fc

Birth defects, or congenital malformations, are the faulty formation of structures or body parts present at birth. Sporadic, hereditary, or acquired defects may be immediately observed or may become manifest later in life; they may be visible on the body surface or present internally. Birth defects may be life threatening and require surgical correction, or they may interfere with function or appearance. It is estimated that about 3% of all children are born with major defects; minor defects or variations are estimated to occur in 10% to 15% of births. Malformations may be single or multiple. Multiple malformations that occur in a regular recognizable pattern are referred to as syndromes--for example, the FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME sometimes observed in infants of mothers who drank heavily when pregnant. Birth defects may result from the action of genes, chromosomes, or the environment on the developing fetus, but often the cause cannot be determined. Inherited Defects Abnormal genes cause a significant number of different birth defects. Some can be identified as a single-gene disorder that is inherited in a simple Mendelian mode, that is, either a dominant or a recessive pattern. For example, lobster claw deformity of the hands and feet (split hands or feet) is inherited and results from the effect of a single dominant gene. A person who has this deformity runs a 50% risk (1 in 2) of bearing offspring who will inherit the gene and will therefore also be affected. Autosomal rece...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Ford Motor Company: Supply Chain Strategy Essay

The Ford Motor Company finds itself in a dynamic business environment where new technologies and practices offer the potential to alter in a significant way the landscape in which it operates. Henry Ford was in his time an innovator in offering ‘cars for the masses’. He introduced to the car industry methods and systems innovative in their day. Ford needs once again to forge new paths to ensure future competitive advantage . Executives at Ford have been considering the ‘Direct Model’ created by Dell Computer Corporation and finds that there is considerable appeal. Dell has been able to speed up inventory velocity such that there is only eleven days of inventory on hand. This has led to an inventory turnover rate of thirty times per annum . This achievement, termed by Michael Dell ‘Virtual Integration’ has been achieved by blurring the line between supplier, Dell and client, to the extent that third party service staff are often thought, by clients, to be Dell’s own staff. In order to see how congruent the Dell model is to Fords’ business we need to examine the similarities and differences between the two companies. This will allow us to gain some insight as to whether virtual integration could work at Ford. Ford Motor CompanyDell Computer Corporation Similarities *Cars are consumer items.*Computers are a consumer item. *Suppliers are often located close to manufacturing facilities.*Ford maintains close locational links with suppliers. *Number of suppliers is small.*Ford is working to build relationships with a limited number of strategic suppliers. *Ford’s customers range from large corporations, to government institutions, to the consumer.*Dell’s clients range from large corporations, to government institutions, to the consumer. Differences *Cars are personal in nature and many clients want to have close contact. A showroom is usually preferred.*Computers are generic in nature and do not need showrooms. *Safety and reliability are major concerns.*Computers are not expected to be entirely reliable. *A car is made up of generic (tyres, petrol caps) and custom (dashboards, body panels) parts.*Computers are made almost entirely of generic parts. *Suppliers are often completely dependent on Ford*Suppliers are not entirely dependent upon Dell. *Ford is large and may have limited manoeuvrability.*Dell is flexible and can rapidly respond to market or supplier pressure. *Ford has a large dealer network, both independent and company owned.*Dell has no retail network, all sales are Direct. *Ford has a vast range of products.*Dell has a limited range of products with a narrow palette of variations. Analysis and Suggestions Key to Dells’ strategy is their policy of outsourcing all manufacture. Dell  acts merely as the assembler and packager. The company is able to pick and choose from the range of industry leading components, allowing other manufacturers to make the investments in leading edge technology. The suppliers manufacture their, essentially generic, products for many customers and therefore are economically independent of them and also have little difficulty in meeting the JIT (just in time) requirements of Dell. Ford has at one time, both notable similarities and striking differences in terms of their relationship with suppliers. Many Ford components such as tyres, windscreen wipers, and electrical components are sourced from large suppliers who supply the same components to other companies. These products are well suited to a closer integration of supply – virtual integration. On the other hand, a very large proportion of Ford components are custom made for Ford. Tier one suppliers of custom components such as body panels, seats and engine components are heavily dependent on Ford and other large carmakers. These suppliers second tier suppliers, who in turn also have suppliers. If virtual integration is to succeed with these components every company along the value chain right back to the raw materials would need to be involved. This would be a very difficult and complex network to coordinate. Fords’ history is a factor to be considered, their longevity and size in the industry gives them a tremendous degree of influence when compared with Dell, a relative newcomer to business and whilst a large buyer of components, not so influential on trends and technology. The disadvantage may be that this stature may make it hard to bring their very large organisation and supplier network along the road to virtual integration. The dealer network must be considered. The dealers carry a very limited range of products, which they hold in stock. If Ford decides to carry the Direct Model towards the end consumer they need to ask whether they need a dealer network and in what form. The possibility of disintermediation needs to be examined. Alternative forms, that use the existing network ay be viable, for example, the dealer might be used to postpone the final form until the point  of customer order. This might be the fitting of audio equipment, air conditioning or interior trim customisation. This would enable more consumers to benefit from the vast possible range of options, as well as, at the same time reducing the factory lead-time for manufacture. Recommendation If Ford is to successfully emulate Dell then they are best able to do this in areas where they have similarities. The most notable congruency is in the area of supply of generic components. Here Ford should continue its process of building strategic relationships. Where components are of a more specialised nature then Ford should examine the relationships to ascertain whether bringing suppliers closer to the company will offer benefits to both parties. Ford should work on its’ internal culture. Integration of supply chains on the scale practiced by Dell can only occur in an environment where information flows freely to all points of the supply network. As outlined in the case documents; Ford maintains a high degree of separation of the purchasing departments from marketing and production. Ford will not be able to provide focus up and downstream unless they themselves are committed to an open culture where logistics information is a part of the life blood of the company. The relationship with customers is more difficult. The dealer network will probably be averse to Ford moving towards direct sales, as it will threaten their livelihood. They can reap some of the benefits by introducing a web based ordering service for cars, allowing clients to specify the car that they want and then matching the requirement to the cars already in stock through out the network. If a client prefers they could order a vehicle built to order and supplied to a local dealer. This will enable Ford to become closer to the needs of clients, seeing accurately what they want rather than what they buy because it is available. This compromise will give the company some benefits: *Information about customer wishes. *Opportunity to reduce both dealer stocks and Fords’ stocks by avoiding duplication. *Delaying the final form of the product by increasing the range of dealer fitted items will enable Ford to simplify manufacture, whilst offering a greater degree of ‘real customisation’ to clients. *Delay of final form will increase dealer revenues, buying their enthusiasm and consent for the next stages of coordination. Epilogue Since this case was written, Ford has, in collaboration with General Motors and Daimler Chrysler established a joint venture, now called Covisint. It is envisioned as a global business-to-business supplier exchange. Its purpose is to share information with suppliers Each of the partners has combined their E-business initiatives in order that suppliers would be able to develop systems to deal with a single system rather than . The hoped for benefits are: *Increased levels of collaboration *Lower costs for all members of the supply chain *More efficient business practices GM is now piloting a build to order system for its Brazilian ‘Celta’ model. They are able to do this because they have the support of dealers who are sharing the cost savings with GM references Austin, Robert D. 1999. Ford Motor Company : Supply Chain Strategy. In Huff Wade Schneberger. New York: McGraw-Hill. Joan Magretta. The Power of Virtual Integration: An Interview With Dell Computer’s Michael Dell. Harvard Business Review, March – April 1998, pp. 73 – 84. Covisint web site, < http://www.covisint.com/about/history > [Accessed: November 2nd, 2002] Ibid. US News.com web site, < http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/020401/1industry.b1.htm > [Accessed November 2nd, 2002]

Monday, September 16, 2019

Comparing Hedonistic and Utilitarian Products Essay

Utilitarian Consumption: The consumption of products has tangible benefit for consumer. In western culture, such products are often labeled as practical or necessary. Utilitarian products are purchased and consumed to satisfy consumer’s practical or functional needs. Utilitarian consumer behavior has been described as ergic, task-related and rational. In the marketing literature choice and decision with respect to utilitarian products and informed by the utility maximizing perspective. Thus the consumption of utilitarian products is more instrumental. The motivation initiating the need for a utilitarian product suggests that these products are primarily thought of in terms of their functional performance. Hedonic Consumption: The consumption of products for fun, amusement, fantasy, arousal, sensory stimulation, or enjoyment. Hedonic, pleasure-oriented consumption is motivated by the desire for sensual pleasure and fun. In western culture such products are often labeled as frivolous or decadent. The concept of hedonic consumption recognizes that individuals consume many types of products because of the feelings and images that are associated with the product. The cognitive motives driving the consumption of hedonic products are arguably the need to satisfy symbolic and value-expressive motives such as ego gratification, social acceptance and intellectual. Hedonic products have pleasure potential whereas utilitarian products perform functions in everyday life. Products with pleasure potential provide intangible, symbolic benefits and are likely to hold greater potential for evoking positive emotions in a consumer. Consumer decision making process: Consumers are often faced with these types of choices between hedonic and utilitarian alternatives that are at least partly driven by emotional desires rather than cold cognitive deliberations. Hence, these choices represent an important domain of consumer decision-making. Yet much of the pioneering work in behavioral decision theory has largely focused on the cognitive aspects of decision-making without exploring its emotional dimensions. Consumer decision is driven by functionality, usage and benefits out of various functions of product in the case of utilitarian consumption. But the decision making process is obsessed by symbolism, status, value-expression and social acceptance. For example: the decision of buying bread is driven is by its generic functions and attributes not by brand or image, which are already underlined and understood by every consumer. In case of designer suit the decision is influenced by its brand, image, labels and certain associations like brand ambassador , designer and promoters or co-owner also.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

English Channel and Resultant Displacement

An ostrich cannot fly, but it is able to run fast. Suppose an ostrich runs east for 7. 985 s and then runs 161 m south, so that the magnitude of the ostrich’s resultant displacement is 226 m. Calculate the magnitude of the ostrich’s eastward component and its running speed to the east. 1. Kangaroos can easily jump as far as 8. 0 m. If a kangaroo makes five such jumps westward, how many jumps must it make northward to have a northwest displacement with magnitude of 68 m? What is the angle of the resultant displacement with respect to north? . In 1926, Gertrude Ederle of the United States became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. Suppose Ederle swam 25. 2 km east from the coast near Dover, England, then made a 90o turn and traveled south for 21. 3 km to a point east of Calais, France. What was Ederle’s resultant displacement? 3. Cheetahs are, for short distances, the fastest land animals. In the course of a chase, cheetahs can also change direction very quickly. Suppose a cheetah runs straight north for 5. 0 s, quickly turns and runs 3. 0 x 102 m west. If the magnitude of the cheetah’s resultant displacement is 3. 35 x 102 m, what is the cheetah’s displacement and velocity during the first part of its run? 4. The largest variety of grasshopper in the world is found in Malaysia. These grasshoppers can measure almost a foot in length and can jump 4. 5m. Suppose one of these grasshoppers starts at the origin of a coordinate system and makes exactly eight jumps in a straight line that makes and angle of 35o with the positive x-axis.Find the grasshopper’s displacements along the x and y axes. 5. The landing speed of the space shuttle Atlantis is 347 km/h. If the shuttle is landing at an angle of 15. 0o with respect to the horizontal, what are the horizontal and vertical components of its velocity? 6. The fastest propeller-driven aircraft is the Russian TU-95/142, which can reach a maximum speed of 925 km/h. Fo r this speed, calculate the plane’s resultant displacement if it travels east for 1. 50 h, then turns north and travels for 2. 00 h. 7.The longest shot in a golf tournament was made by Mike Austin in 1974. The ball went a distance of 471 m. Suppose the ball was shot horizontally off a cliff at 80. 0 m/s. Calculate the height of the cliff. 8. What would be the initial speed of a projectile that is launched from a cliff 210 m high and hits the ground 420 m away from the cliff? 10. The world’s largest flowerpot is 1. 95 m high. If you were to jump horizontally from the top edge of this flowerpot at a speed of 3. 0 m/s, what would your landing speed be?