Courage to Change

Courage to Change â€Å"In Balfour, where he landed early in the morning, he almost lost courage when he found out that nobody understood him. But at the hardware store a man- the same who had made him a present of the cap he was wearing-had made signs to him as if pitching sheaves, meanwhile talking to him, tentatively , in short monosyllables, apparently asking questions. / he thought that now he looked exactly like a Canadian. † (Frederick Philip Grove 21-22). Many people immigrate to other countries because they want a better life and future. However, it's often not an easy transition.Immigrants have to deal with problems such as the language barrier, discrimination, and alienation. In the story† The First Day of an Immigrant†, by Frederick Philip Grove, one of the characters named Niels Lindstedt, is an immigrant of Canada and faced similar problems when he moved. However, he was successful in overcoming the challenges of immigration because of his courage. Th is story demonstrates that immigrants cannot be afraid to work hard, make changes to fit in, and to seek help from others in order to be accepted into the society. When an immigrant arrives into a new place, one of the most difficult things is to find work.In order to look for a job, one has to be able to communicate with others. But as an immigrant, without knowledge of the local dialect, finding employers is rendered impossible. When Niels Lindstedt landed in Balfour, Manitoba, he only knew how to speak his native Swedish language. He almost lost courage as he was unable to talk to, or comprehend with others. But that didn't stop him from finding work. Niels Lindstedt began working on his own initiative when he saw the two men frantically lifting some load of bushel. He immediately set out to help them even though it was not his job.This sudden cause of action both confused and impressed Jim, the Scotsman. Jim was so impressed in fact that he relayed the presence of Niels to the b oss which eventually landed him the job. Niels Lindstedt is courageous as he volunteered himself without someone directing where he should work. Immigrants have to be brave in order for them to overcome challenges that could prevent them from achieving a better future. Immigrants make a lot of sacrifices in order to fit into their new home. In order for them to become part of society, they have to leave behind some of their beliefs and values.For instance, changing their appearance; to help adapt to the culture of their new country, immigrants usually have to exchange their traditional garments for those of what the general population wears. When you stand out as a foreigner, it might deter other people from working with you and wanting to talk to you. When Niels Lindstedt was dressed strangely â€Å"in a new suit of overalls, stiff with newness, his flaxen-haired head covered with a blue-denim cap† (Frederick Philip Grove 19), people judged him as â€Å"foreign and absurdâ €  (Frederick Philip Grove 19).His effort in trying to adapt himself to this new country seemed so obvious and unsuccessful because he tried too hard to look Canadian. This represents that he was not afraid to make changes although it did not necessarily work. Immigrants can sometimes feel lonely. When they go to a new country, they leave behind their friends and family and end up all alone. But there are people who can help. It's up to the immigrant to seek out these helpers and ask for their advice and take them into consideration.When Niels Lindstedt arrived in Balfour, Montreal, his plan was to look for work. There he met a hardware dealer and took the advice of changing his clothes because what he wore was unsuitable for working in the harvest field. This reveals that Niels is not afraid to make changes in how he appears and â€Å"he thought that now he looked exactly like a Canadian† (Frederick Philip Grove 22). The importance of acceptance by others is that you woul d not feel lonely and be left out. Soon the people around you become your friends or family that would accept you for who you are as an immigrant.Everyday people migrate into a new country to start a new life. Many immigrants face the same problems that Niels Lindstedt had to deal with when he immigrated into Canada. They encounter the problems of finding work and acceptance by others caused by not knowing the new language and not being able to communicate with people. Works Cited Grove Philip, Frederick. â€Å"The First Day of an Immigrant. † Making a Difference: Canadian Multicultural Literature in English. 2Nd ed. Ed. Smaro Kamboureli. Print.

Managerial Accounting In Business Essay

Managerial Accounting is known as the tongue of business. Formalization of data and numbers in such a manner so as to help to arrive at decision making and financial planning is the main object of accounting process. While book keeping is mainly concerned with organizing and keeping records, i.e. books of accounts but managerial accounting are employed to examine the data of information for taking major business decisions. Managerial reports are prepared from Managerial accounting statements. Managerial accounting assists managers to plan and manage an organization’s operations. Budgets are prepared to convey management’s goals in financial terms by measuring, identifying, analyzing, accumulating, communicating and interpreting accounting and financial information. Over a period, performance reports are prepared to evaluate the actual results with that of budgeted one. With the help of cost accountants, the management keeps watch of how much it costs a company to manufacture a product or to provide the service. (Horngreen, Stratton & Sundem, p.5) Managerial accounting does not require complying with rules and procedures of the GAPP. An organisation can develop its own internal accounting system that will suit most to the needs of the company. Managerial report is a devise for using a financial metric (dollars) as a normalizing mechanism for taking decision about different choices and alternatives. For instance, a managerial report helps you to come to a conclusion whether it is better to add 1000 customer account advocates in a call centre in UK, against staffing a user experience and technical writing department in California and investing in billions in intuitive products, Managerial reporting helps to take decisions and to do right thing. The practice of financial analysis   germinate from the budgeting and accounting reports of an organisation and thus directs to generation of managerial reports that explain into the firm’s overall strategic decision making process. Hence the quality of the report at all level is more significant. The financial statement should reflect the true fiscal position of the organisation and it should not be an obscure. Financial and managerial reports should disclose a factual picture of the organization’s performance, making it to the outsiders and financial analyst to interpret financial results on their own. MAKING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS THROUGH APPLICATION OF FINANCIAL DECISIONS: In this chapter, let us view how financial analysis and reporting are processed and is being used as efficient financial tools. For all decisions made in an organisation must be based on prudent financial information and careful analysis. Can we open a new branch? How many hours per week can we afford to operate our factory? How productive is our employees? How much money is being lost on workers idle time? How cost effective was the training intercession? Can we prolong our services at current costs?   To answer to all the above questions, a manager needs financial and managerial input mainly accounting data’s. (Wertheim Paul, 1993) A prudent financial analysis may help to diagnose the deficiencies in other management areas like project or program management, human resource management, the availability and use of technology or the organization’s leadership. As a curative measure, a manager may have to review his organization’s management strategies, resources, structures, internal and external information needs and capabilities. This broad view may help to enlighten manager’s perspective on how financial management contributes to one’s organisation. Thus this will induce the manager to suitably design or change the chart of accounts, reports, improve financial reforms and databases and train staff to efficiently employ financial information on continuous basis. 2.1. Deciding on Labour and Staffing patterns: Employee cost will disclose the hours worked, cost of staff time and this will help the manager to analyse the labor, compensation issues and staffing matters. One can evaluate from good financial data to study how overtime pay and leave pay accrual are influencing labor costs or employee cost of the organisation. This financial analysis can reveal which actions are most labour oriented which may guide you to restructure management processes and control the level of effort of employees of an organisation. (Hake, E. R., 2005). 2.2 Fixing fees for services and other fees: Cost to provide a particular service can be derived from financial data’s of an organisation as this will help the management to take critical decisions like estimating prices for any products or services , developing budgets , bidding for new projects or business or planning in reduction of costs. If the cost per service of an organisation is arrived at, then it will be easy to take into other factors such so as to come to a decision how to offset these costs. 2.3 Determing the combination of services: Cost per unit of production, cost per unit sold of different services and their cost effectiveness can be derived from financial data of an organisation and this can be utilized to decide to which services to provide, emphasize, promote or subdize. Further information’s like clientele, catchments’ population, service utilization and service volume are also needed for this purpose. By monitoring the services which are rarely used or often lose money, a manager can conclude how best to apply appropriate changes. 2.4 Estimating future supply costs and inventory: From the financial data of an organisation we can infer the price fluctuations, consumption patterns, the costs of keeping supplies in stock which includes transportation, logistics, personnel and facilities management. A manager can use this information for taking decisions such as which supplier to select, which supplier has to be renegotiated, to purchase inventory on a seasonal basis so as to reap the benefit of price advantage through out the year. A manager has also to decide whether the costs of spoiled and expired stock need to be controlled or contained. 2.5 Analysis of Variance: A variance analysis is an exhaustive assessment of disparity between actual and planned results. The main three part of variance analysis are assessment of the actual cost with that of budgeted cost (expenses), assessment of the intended quantity of an activity or procurement with the actual quantity and valuation of the actual output with the planned output. (Kohl beck, M., 2005). 2.6 Budget: It can be explained as a detailed financial plan revealing expected future income and expenses. As an effective controlling tool, it helps to scrutinize current operating environments of an organisation. Immediate corrective action can be resorted by analyzing  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and on reviewing and reacting variances between expected and actual expenses once variance is reported. 2.7 CASH FLOW STATEMENT: It signifies how cash was engendered and how it was used up for the business purpose. It discloses the incoming   and outgoing of cash in an organisation and it reports various types like cash flow from financial activities, cash flow from operating activities and cash flow from investing activities. It is being deployed by financial managers to assess whether there will be sufficient cash on hand to meet expenditure requirements. RISK MANAGEMENT: A prudent manager can manage the risky conditions by constant examining of financial status of his organisation. Certain happenings may bring potential impairment to the organisation. For instance, a sudden increase in repair costs and sharp decline in sales revenue may leave the organisation without enough funds to provide services and fulfill objectives. A manager must review likely risk and to shun or control perilous situations like failure to meet quality, performance, budget objectives. Financial data’s are the immense source in risk management process which will help to quantify the risks by resources type like inventory, employees, cash, facility or receivables. Finance managers normally apply two techniques for handling risk mitigation and contingency planning. Risk alleviation guarantee strategies and procedures to control, prevent, or reduction of impact of the risk event if it transpires. For instance, if there is risk of fall in sales revenues, a mitigation technique would be to add more products or diversification of business so that the decline in sales of a particular product may not be detrimental. Like wise, a contingency plan would be to add up a reserve fund that could be used to supplement the fall in sales revenue due to competitors strategy or depression. (Kristy James E., 1994) PRUDENT MANAGEMENT DECISIONS FROM FINANCIAL DATAS: One of the critical financial management aspects is to build good financial decisions. Since financial management influences all parts of management, it is better to recognize and realize the sound financial management and discover how to use sound financial information. One of the best ways to compare the financial performance is to look into the competitor’s performance. For instance, a hospital may look into the hospital wide financial reporting which helps to understand how they have performed and to analyse the reasons for poor performance if any. Comparing the gross and net margin with the other hospitals will help to fix the loophole. Further comparison of actual with that of budgets will also assist to know whether revenue and expenses are with in the budgeted range and if there is a variance, the reasons for the same. A hospital may keep a strict eye on its margins and various means to measure the level of profitability by having close watch on emergency department visits, inpatients admissions, surgeries, revenues from scan and x-rays and blood testing etc. This information will help a hospital to manage its cost either on monthly or periodical basis. Admission rates, costs and gross revenues may act as best performance indicators. For example, if the number of outpatient department visits at a particular facility is trailing back, then CEO will talk to physician to know the reasons. Thus managerial report helps to take a decision for the discontinuance of a poorly performing product line.[1] CASH FLOW RATIOS CAN BE EMPLOYED TO FIND REASONS FOR BUSINESS FAILURES: Cash flow information can be utilized to find out the success or failure of the business in advance as it has been evident from the previous empirical studies like Gentry, 1984, Bernard and Stober, 1989, Carslaw and Mills ,1991 , BarNiv 1990. Most of these studies have found that the level of cash inflows and outflows from various activities are highly interconnected and a failure of any part of the system to function may jeopardize or cause the entire firm to fail. (Glover, J. C., 2005) The key ratios are [2] Current ratio:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2 to 1, Quick ratio  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1 to 1 Liquidity ratio  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   0.40 to 1 Equity / debt ratio  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     1.65 to 1 Return on Equity  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   14% If you apply the above ratio and can find out the 80% of the financial health of any company. For instance, if unusual increase in accounts receivable may lead to conclusion that accounts receivable are being managed very badly and may result in high bad debts. But if you have at closer look, you may find out that the company may have introduced a new product or a new market where such receivables are considered to be rational and the new product may elevate the company to soaring heights later or vice-versa. Financial Ratio’s can foretell warning signs: Companies in distress offer difficult analytical problems for analyst. Financial problems like problem in meeting obligations like equity deficiencies, liquidity problems, funds shortage and debt default. Operation problems may result in prospective revenues may be doubtful, ability to operate in danger, consistent failure in operational success, inefficient management, poor control over business operations. Special indicators like incurring operating losses , initiation of liquidity process , a waning allocation of product market , delaying payments to short term creditors , skipping of dividends , bond default and rating changes , bank account excessively overdrawn , insufficiency of cash flows . (Barker, R., 2004). The major disadvantages of the financial ratios include the timeliness of the financial statements, location within the trade cycle, the lack of consideration of the business sector and the overlook of accounting policies. The financial ratios are the best indicators for further examination and not to be construed as a means themselves. CONCLUSION: Thus, management reports are very key elements of the business world. Most of the companies have some form of each type of accounting knitted into their business operations. By adopting appropriate standards for each, the company will be able to successfully keep track of their financial standing for internal as well as external objectives. Banks and financial institutions which have vested interest in borrowing firms should ascertain that the borrowers have to adopt policies regarding requiring customer to prepare the financial reports as per the guidance of Generally accepted accounting principles ,auditor rotation , necessary information on off balance sheet items . Financial analyst should view corporate financial statements and pay special attention to accountant’s opinion letter, management discussion, and the notes to the statements and analysis on public companies and also consider the implications of management’s decisions relative to accounting policies. A financial analyst should also review the company’s latest form 8-k, which is filed with SEC which records the occurrence of any material events or corporate changes of importance to investors or lenders like any disagreement the firm has had with the auditors, any of late changes in the constituent of audit firm.( Saatci, E,2004) By diligent financial analysis, one can identify the accounting irregularities from the financial and managerial reports of an organisation and thus avoid doing business with the management of questionable integrity. Likewise, benchmarking surveys and best practices reviews are beneficial tools for detection of problems, finding out ways to improve and signaling positive changes. Though benchmarking and best practices are modern tools for business improvement but they will not cure everything that is ailing a company. Benchmarking and best practices initiatives are most triumphant when they are advanced with an open mind and the belief that they symbolize an education process. Cash flow information can be utilized to find out the success or failure of the business in advance as it has been evident from the previous empirical studies like Gentry, 1984, Bernard and Stober, 1989, Carslaw and Mills ,1991 , BarNiv 1990 Operation problems may result in prospective revenues may be doubtful, ability to operate in danger, consistent failure in operational success, inefficient management, poor control over business operations. Special indicators like incurring operating losses , initiation of liquidity process , a waning allocation of product market , delaying payments to short term creditors , skipping of dividends , bond default and rating changes , Bank account excessively overdrawn , insufficiency of cash flows . Thus this study proves that the company’s managerial report and internal report are excellent tools for the measurement of efficacy and financial achievement and also a diagnostic tool to detect the perils in advance to undertake correctional measures. A company may overcome its negative factors by undertaking timely correctional methods through its managerial and financial ratios or else it has to remain as an old dog which never learns new tricks.       BIBILIOGRAPHY:    Horngreen C.T, Straton, W.O & Sundem, G.L, Introduction to Management accounting (12th ed,), Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Montgomery, H., Lipshitz, R., & Brehmer, B. (Eds.). (2005). How Professionals Make Decisions. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Cocheo, S. (2005). The Efficiency Ratio: How Good a Tool? ABA Banking Journal, 97(6), 10+.          [1] ‘Are you keeping an eye on your organization’s financial pulse? Healthcare financial Management, Dec 2005. [2] Kristy James E., ‘Conquering financial ratios: the good, the bad and the who cares? –Business Credit, Feb, 1994.

Employee Satisfaction and Motivation in London Retail Dissertation

Employee Satisfaction and Motivation in London Retail - Dissertation Example Table of Contents Executive Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 2 Table of Contents †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3 1. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 1.1 Purpose of the Study †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 1.2 Research Objectives †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 1.3 Rationale for Choosing the Research Topic †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 6 1.4 Scope and Limitations †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 2. Literature Review †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦... 8 2.1 Motivational Theories †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 2.1.1 Content Theories †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 2.1.1.1 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦... 9 2.1.1.2 Alderfer’s ERG Theory †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 2.1.1.3 Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. ... .†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 15 2.1.3 Summary of Theory in Practice †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15 2.2 Importance of Keeping Each Employee Motivated and Satisfied with their Work †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...†¦. 17 2.3 Factors that May Increase or Decrease Each Employee’s Work Satisfaction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 21 2.4 Factors that May Increase or Decrease Customer Satisfaction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 21 2.5 Strategic Ways on How Employees can be Motivated in Increasing the Quality Service They Give to the Company’s Customers †¦ 22 2.6 Theoretical Framework †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 25 3. Research Methodology †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 26 3.1 Research Method Design †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 26 3.2 Research Questionnaire Design †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 28 3.3 Research Ethics †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 29 4. Research Findings and Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 29 4.1 Part I – Demographic Profile ......................... ............................................... 29 4.2 Part II – Employees’ Work Attitude and Behaviour .................................... 31 4.3 Part III – Relationship between Dependent and Independent Variables ..... 32 5. Conclusion and Recommendations †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.....................†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 36 References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 38 - 45 Appendix I – Research Survey Questionnaire

Blue ocean strategy report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Blue ocean strategy report - Essay Example The book Blue Ocean Strategy urges the readers to revisit their basic strategy in trying to run a successful business and acquire a favourable profit while competing with similar companies/ businesses in the market who are offering the same products or services to a limited pool of clients. Ever since people have started doing business, they have been engaged in competition with other companies and have fought over market share and sustained profitable growth. This book deals with two separate market spaces, which are referred to as the â€Å"Red Ocean† and the â€Å"Blue Ocean† respectively. The Red ocean is comprised of all recognized industries also called ‘the known market’ (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). This market has industry boundaries that are properly defined and rules of competition that is clearly understood. Here, the companies try to outdo their competition in a bid to capture a bigger share of the available market. However, with an increasing number of companies opening up, the market space starts to become saturated and the margins of profit and growth are diminished. This creates a tensed and complex competition in the market (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). On the other hand the blue ocean represents an unexplored market place; it comprises of those industries that do not exist presently and an unknown market space is present where the competition ceases to exist. The blue oceans offer greater prospects of growth and profit of the company as it simply makes the competition irrelevant. There are no hard and fast rules of competition in this market place due to an absence of competitors. This market opens up new avenues for businessmen to explore where the profit, the market, and the clients are shared with little or no competition (Kim & Mauborgne, 2015). The Blue Ocean Strategy has been applied in the real world with great success; a few examples are Southwest Airlines as it became the world’s first low cost

Relationship between Locus of Control and Optimism among Students Essay

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Management (Bounded rationality) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Philosophy Movie Paper Apocalypto Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

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Bureaucracy and administration - Assignment Example Woodrow Wilson, the founder of the American public administration was a public bureaucrat who stated that the English have studied well the art of doing away with executive powers. This motivated the Native Americans and the English to set their governing tones. According to Henry (118), the English and the Indians motivation for bureaucracy were as the result of the satisfaction they got for working for the public and serving the society to bind them closer. Hamilton is another public bureaucrat as well as one of the first public administrators who worked as the treasurer of the bureaucratic system. He was interested in administrative apparatus and contemplated to make investigations of the science and history of civil government. According to Henry, â€Å"Hamilton displayed a strong interest in understanding the administrative apparatus of the state†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.9). He was determined to write a book on public administration that would make modifications which would give humank ind freedom and happiness. He believed that heads should be well paid as they had more power than those who appointed them and the congress to his recommendations. According to Henry (116), Hamilton’s motivation was to make a difference to society. To him, doing good to the public was far more important than doing well for one self. Another motivator was his personal characteristics. Hamilton had the energy and strong interest to understand administration in different perspective and convince people on importance of bureaucracy to the society. He also argued that money does not necessary make the world go round but the happiness of the public and their freedom is what should matter most in public administration. The behavioral bureaucratic proposition dictates that organizational people differ in various ways (Henry 117). There is the administrative man who is defined by rationality, emotional needs and tricks. Economists use models to be able to understand the changes in eco nomy with the change in behavior of men and their activities. Rational men are motivated by their own self interest like making massive profits and will use all resources available to fulfill that. Administrative men understand the behavior of the organization as well as the mission and their interest to the society. According to Henry, â€Å"Administrative man has all the unique idiosyncrasies, blind spots, and limited power of psychological man, but, like economic man, also understands the mission and behavior of the organization†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p.117) Henry (118) also explains unsatisfied bureaucrats who are not impressed by the work they do and demand variation of themes from public administrators. A fraction of the public demand to have job satisfaction, including the people who do not have the intelligence to manage the moods of others as well as not having the ability to comprehend what is required in their jobs. Their motivation, according to Henry (119), is the federal sati sfaction which stated that majority of employees were satisfied with their jobs and the left percentage would be rewarded with jobs that met their satisfaction as long the changes did not have negative effects to the organization. According to Henry (119), there are also the frustrated bureaucrats who do not appreciate the way they are treated in their organization. They

Persin development Essay Example for Free

Persin development Essay Silkysteps early years forum planning ideas for play Welcome to Silkysteps Early Years Forum Early Years Discussion Forums Training, Qualifications CPD Level 3 Diploma NVQ SCH 32 2. 3 Describe how own values belief systems and experiences affect practice User Name Remember Me? Password Register FAQ Members List Calendar Arcade Level 3 Diploma NVQ Level 3 : NVQ Childrens Care, Learning and Development and Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce. Please DO NOT COPY and PASTE information from this forum and then submit the work as your own. Plagiarism risks you failing the course and the development of your professional knowledge. Go to Page Page 1 of 2 1 2 Thread Tools Display Modes #1 10-16-2010, 08:02 PM easylife Acorn ~~Putting down roots ~~ Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 11 SCH 32 2. 3 Describe how own values belief systems and experiences affect practice Hi, I really would like to thank every one here in this site. Without posting any question last year for my NVQ Level 2 that I passed I really benefit from all of your posted answers. I have now started my Level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young Peoples Workforce and we have 21 units this year I am in unit 052 is any one here doing the same course? Just need some help with 2. 3 : Describe how own values, belief systems and experiences my effect working practice? Manythanks easylife View Public Profile Find all posts by easylife #2 10-16-2010, 10:11 PM Ruthierhyme Administrator Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 5,959 Hi a warm welcome to the site xx You need to look at what you value, what beliefs you personally have and the experiences that you have that may or maynot affect the way you work. How would you describe your outlook on life? Negative? do you feel things will go badly Optimistic? maybe youre open to a range of possible outcomes Are you positively focussed? do you find it easy to be keen, motivated, eager to plan, witness and take part. The collins handbook lays out guidance for this assessment criteria by category .. Family background: the make-up of your immediate and extended family and their impact; whether you were an only child or were there many children; sibling rivalry; a mix of genders; the history of your family; whether there was a harsh discipline or permissive attitude. Environment: the house/flat/caravan you grew up in and its location, within town or rural setting, within a cetain geographical area, or a different country. Finances: whether you were wealthy or struggled to have your basic needs met. Education: the ethos of your school; whether single or mixed sex; boarding or day school; inspirational teachers; success academiucally; whether you were bullied; whether you developed special interests. Religious or spiritual beleif system including if you embraced or rejected this. Moral influences: values passed onto you as being of central importance to the way you live your life. Pg 54 Everyone is influenced and shaped by their unique experience of life. It can be hard to separate personal and professional responses when youre asked to perform both simultaneously throughout each working day. For the ability to maintain objectivity or be unaffected by personal bias maybe look at your personal views, beliefs, feelings about aspects that you might find relate to daily practice. Would it help to evaluate examine them by refelcting on your feelings? .. eg. if you were asked to write a sentence using your positive/indifferent/negative thoughts on each of the following, what would that single sentence be/ what would it sum up? childrens rights? a good idea or bad idea? human rights? ECM and positive outcomes? partnership and working together as an internal and external team? male / female roles who stays home to care for children, who goes out to work, who uses different tools, who drives different vehicles, who takes which managerial position human appearance skin colour, eye colour, hair, height, weight, family size/number smacking, time-out, other methods for behavioural management homosexuality: same sex union, same sex parents transgender transvestism labels disability sensory impairement hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste infection control risk individual faiths prayer, worship, marriage:religions local community worldwide networks country based culture language, accent, dress, food, music, art, festivals, weather age does age change capability? pregnancy and age welfare, safeguarding, protecting adults, children, animals academia, training and opportnities to gain knowledge lifestyles and lifestyle choices - multicultural lifestyle - veganism, vegetarianism - activism - celebrity - products, brands - homes a house, flat, caravan, boat, tent - traditions, celebrations, annual occurances, observances discrimination how do you react when others discriminate against others, against you. How do you know when youve discriminated against others or found youve contradicted yourself. healthy eating substance use smoking, drugs, alchol mental health sexual health Consider the role that youre charged with, the title description of your job and the responsibilities involved that mean you implement ways for children to achieve positive outcomes during their time with you and as an underpinning expectation for their forevers. Which of the above do you feel you can whole heartedly support, enjoying all the opportunities available that would promote learning about it. Which do you accept are an individuals own choice, whilst not your personal choice you respect their rights/right to be safe, express themselves Which do you struggle to understand, challenges your thinking, causes you to feel defensive or makes you feel a need to justify or re-examine your reasoning. How supportive could you be to someone with views and beliefs that conflict with your own. How do you think your views, beliefs impact on your practice? Are you able to separate personal and professional responses? Are you able to see what difference exists between personal and professional practice objectivity? Are you able to overcome strength of personal feeling to safeguard the children in your care and work in partnership with parents and colleagues? For ideas on methods of relective practice ie. thinking, writing, discussion, enacting or role play this thread may help

Historical Institutionalism Summary and Analysis

Historical Institutionalism Summary and Analysis Introduction In this essay I will argue that Historical Institutionalism offers a superior and more comprehensive view of change than the Sociological Institutionalism or Rational Choice Institutionalism alternatives. Is important to point out that the definition of change considered for this essay is the intended or unintended consequences of a strategic set of actions taken in a precise and determined time and space, in contrast to other possibilities in the same context (Hay and Wincott, 1998). To do this I will compare the competing views of Institutional Change that are presented in Rational Choice Institutionalism, Sociological Institutionalism and Historical Institutionalism to unveil that the view of the latter is more comprehensive than the other two due to the wide scope of the concept of change and the versatility provided by the cultural and calculus approaches included in the branch. I will examine the proposal of Rational Choice Institutionalism, first. Describe shortly what this new form of Institutionalism introduces to the discipline and evaluate what the scholars of this form consider that institutional change is. Then I will show how and why their vision is narrowed and cannot really explain most of institutional change on its own. Secondly, I will analyse Sociological Institutionalism, mentioning the elemental characteristics that separates it from the other two forms of New Institutionalism. Following I will explain the engine of change for sociological institutionalism and I will point out why there is not enough comprehension of how context affect the outcomes and why it is inherently contradictory by denying Rational Choice assumptions, yet assuming rationality in the way organizations operate. Lastly I will describe Historical Institutionalism to recognize their originality and explain the ambidexterity it possesses between Rational Choice Institutionalism and Sociological Institutionalism. I will clarify the calculus and cultural approaches to understand how they bring concepts of the two previously mentioned into the historical study. On the last part I will explain why is the analysis of change superior under the branch of Historical Institutionalism than both Sociological and Rational Choice Institutionalisms by pointing out how scholars on the first one have surpassed the critiques and flaws of the other two. Rational Choice Rational Choice Institutionalism is predicated on the idea that the individuals composing a society seek utility maximization (Tsebelis, 1990). In a process of rational negotiation, individuals consciously enact the rules determined to act upon every member of society. In that way, they choose rationally the characteristics that will shape their institutions (Shepsle, 1989). In other words, institutions are, for this approach, a set of rules, agreed by society in order to set the correct behaviour under certain circumstances and in specific situations. This way conflicts are prevented and the social costs of collective actions are contained and reduced (Hall and Taylor, 1996). To understand more about this current, we need to point out that the genesis of the Rational Choice Institutionalism is the study of congressional behaviour in the United States as a way of expanding classical Rational Choice into matter that did not fit the models provided up until then by the discipline, like stability of congressional outcomes (Hall and Taylor, 1996). When referring to change in institutions, Rational Choice does not offer much explanation or even -some would argue- does not consider the existence of a possibility that institutions might change. The term renegotiation-proof must come into consideration now. This concept defines the situation where none of the actors with considerable power to change an institution are willing to do so. Since the core affirmation is that institutions are selected rationally by rational thinkers that seek to optimize their benefit within society, it is logical to understand that there was a previous negotiation process prior to the adoption of such institution, in which all the related subjects to the institution where discussed and approved by the individuals.   According to Selten (1975) an institution must be the proof of renegotiation since that particular and central characteristic provides society with the consistency that precludes any deviation of the expected behaviour, therefore eli minating the cost of instability. Since the utility and effectiveness of institutions is locked to its capability to regulate the behaviour of the members of society, changes would bring instability, confusion and unexpected set of affairs that would increase social costs. It is, thusly, understood that one of the main duties of the state and the higher governmental apparatus is to maintain the institutional arrangement among the individuals, utilizing the processes of cooperation and socialization, (i.e. education) to inculcate this and minimize the virtual perception that institution do not serve the common good (Seznick, 1949; Lipset and Rokkan, 1967; Eisenstadt and Rokkan, 1973; Widavsky, 1987; Sunstein, 1990; Greber and Jackson, 1993 in March and Olsen, 1996). Instead of changing institutions, according to Rational Choice, it is expected that institution, when faced to different context from which it emerged, apply a pre-arranged framework that can support the inclusion of the new ideas and perceptions of the society but keeping the fundamental attributes of the institution itself. Therefore we may say that beforehand, institutions provide a plan of change that is intrinsic to the institution itself, preventing the transition from one to the other but not impeding the transformation of the original one, meaning that this variations are included in the starting vision of the institution (Shepsle, 1989) In other words, institutional change would only consist of institutions following the pre-set plan. For this reason, it is my consideration that the Rational Choice Institutionalism concept of change, should be replaced and referred more precisely as Institutional Evolution since it does not contemplate the substitution of one institution for another nor a transformation that suits better for reality or for the societys need, rather than the morphology of the existing ones according to the original projection. In brief, institutions do not really want to change, those who can change it rather reaffirm it through education to avoid the costs of uncertainty and re-adaptation. Therefore, we can state that Rational Choice Institutionalism studies the ways in which an institution is reinforced and reproduced within the members of a state, by sustaining the idea that spontaneous change or diversity has more cons than pros. Also it is comprehended in this argument the idea that a functional society works better with a faulty institution than without institutions. On the other hand, Rational Choice Institutionalism face the undeniable modification of an institution, it is assumed by this view that all transformation occur within the evolutionary plan of an institution, so that it is not viewed as a change, rather than a natural development through time. And, more importantly, departing from the point that institutions are rationally constructed for the benefit of an organised society, one might al so ask, as a valid criticism, cui bono from this arrangement. Sociological Institutionalism The second current of the new institutionalism is the one that arose from organizational theory in the field of sociology. Since the work of Weber, the sociologists turn their attention to the bureaucracies that shaped structures in different societies. Whether that was on state level, private enterprises, educational organizations, etc. Later in the 1970s, the need to separate those who study organizations from those focused on culture related analysis was explicit. But opposing to this, the new form of institutionalism arrived. It stated that the way bureaucracies where organized was not predicated on the premise of the greater efficiency, but they were often shaped to its core by the particular culture surrounding the structure in question. They found that this mandatory resemblance to the cultural identity was, in that way, in order to secure and support the complex process of cultural transmission. From this perspective, we can say that it seeks to answer the question of why do certain organizations take a particular shape and form (Hall and Taylor, 1996). Sociological Institutionalism is concerned with the legitimacy of organizations and bureaucracy. This branch of institutionalism considers that legitimate institutions get bureaucratized essentially following the norms that culture imposes. That is to say, institutions are shaped by culture, to the point that it is difficult to find two with a perfect resemblance since they must be adapted to the context in which they are reproduced or take place. Although certain degree of affinity can be found, for example, in the education systems of different countries, which researchers of this form of new institutionalism call isomorphism. If it is so that culture is the ultimate determinant of the shape of organizations and the structures of institutions, then there would be no room in this current for this type of isomorphism, but said concept is cleverly explained by the natural similarity of the needs of every human community in the world. Since we all have the same basic needs, and advance s in those specific areas have been done to make them more efficient, it is logical to think that structures in some degree will copy a functioning model (Meyer and Rowan, 1977). The most important factor for a social behaviour to be transformed into an institution and ultimately bureaucratized is the legitimacy gained among the actors of the society (Finnemore, 1996). The State is considered to be the ultimate example of such phenomenon. Finnemore (1996) argues that institutions are constantly challenged because of the contradictions within the dominant cultural norms, pointing at their constant need to refresh and renew their legitimacy to ensure endurance. In this idea lies the concept of institutional change according to the sociological discipline. They argue that organizations often adopt and promote new institutional practices, leaving aside the rational concern of efficiency and cost reduction, to increase the legitimacy of such organization (Hall and Taylor, 1996). Ironically, though, following Finnemore (1996), institutionalized bureaucracies are rationally substituted for other institutionalized bureaucracies for reasons that go against a rational scope. As for my opinion, sociological institutionalism does not really focuses on explaining the change in institutions but rather excuses the fact that institutions change by saying it is all a matter of the legitimacy of the organizations trying to stand the test of time. If it is so, that organizations have the power to shape the structural context of behaviour in such way as to regulate what is considered wrong and right behaviour, then there would be little stopping organizations from assuming total control of society they indirectly direct. Further, it is clear that they deny strongly the grand rational assumption that individuals act rationally (which I consider an appropriate critique) upheld by Rational Choice Institutionalism, yet they reinforce with the same effervescence the rational claim that all organizations act rationally in pursue of their interest moulding institutions accordingly. Finally, for a branch of new institutionalism that claims that context is the key concept in the development and understanding of the institutions, saying that change is only promoted by organizations, is undermining the possibilities of cultural diversity, as proven recently by the Arab Spring or , not so recently, the communist revolutions on the beginning of the 20th century. Historical Institutionalism Since the 1990s there has been an increment in the importance that ideas, economic interest and political institutions have and the relation between them. This has led to a great transformation of the historical institutionalism school trying to explain political outcomes (Bà ©land, 2005). Historical Institutionalism took great influence from structural functionalist, but for a change, they reject the idea that psychological, cultural, social or any individual trait could be extrapolated as a general characteristic of the system that contains them. Instead they suggest that institutional organizations shape the behaviour of the collective, thus generating political outcomes (Hall and Taylor, 1996). In this analysis they include the factor of rationality of the individual and the organizations but under an historical interpretation of the culture in order to decode the interpretation of both the norm and what was considered rational in such a context (Ferejohn, 1991; Thelen, 1999). This way, Historical Institutionalism has a pivotal approach that comprehends and exceed the previously two analysed (Hall and Taylor, 1996), specifically when one analyses the cultural and calculus approaches. Hay and Wincott (1998) argue that Hall and Taylor (1996) are trying to propose a dialogue between the Sociological Institutionalism and the Rational Choice Institutionalism by incorporating the cultural and calculus approaches to the Historical branch. The calculus approach assume that in every period of time, individuals tend to act strategically to maximize their gain, and institution provide a frame to make it easier to predict and limit the set of actions possible to take place. Now the Historical Institutionalism part in this approach is that the possibilities are reviewed into the historical context surrounding the decisions taken. The cultural approach contrast the calculus without denying it, analysing the degree on which individuals leave aside the rational decision, and lean to familiar structures or established routines. But for that it is necessary to comprehend the historical and contextual rational decision that was left aside and the familiar structures and established routines of such individual in that precise time (Hall and Taylor, 1996). The main contribution of Historical Institutionalism leads logically to the concept of path dependency. This is the assumption that the same processes can generate different results on different places because there are no two equal circumstances, an assumption that can be considered axiomatic, and therefor problematic (Hall and Taylor, 1996). One way to look at it is that the specific order in which things occur affect how they occur (Hay and Wincott, 1998; Fioretos, 2011). Following Fioretos (2011) the particular timing and sequence in which a phenomenon takes place contributes to four characteristics that remark the importance of context: i) unpredictability, by which it is expected that outcomes on similar events vary in great manner; ii) inflexibility, the idea that as more time passes, it gets harder to reverse the effects of such event; iii) nonergodicity, the probability that this effects can stand the test of time; iv) inefficiencies, the fact that abandoned ideas and altern atives might have produced more efficient outcomes but are out of the possibility range anymore. Another concept that is essential to path dependence is historical inefficiency (Fioretos, 2011: 376). The idea that the specific consequences of the path dependence of one precise experience would make institutional alternatives designed in a different context, far more likely to fail, despite of the fact that analysis of utility models may indicate their superior expected performance (Fioretos, 2011). The concept of path dependence, although taken from a blend between Rational Choice Institutionalism and Sociological Institutionalism, particularly from and formed inside the original contributions of Historical Institutionalism renders the first two approaches out-dated and unhelpful when talking about institutional change (Thelen, 1999). Change is comprehended as the outcomes, whether they are intended or not, of a set of strategic actions that are conceived inside the context of institutions in a definite time and space that provided the conditions needed to favour certain choices over others (Hay and Wincott, 1998). And that exact analysis is only provided by Historical Institutionalism thanks to the incorporation of calculus approach and cultural approach and path dependence. Since the concept of path dependence tell us that there is no way in which we can calculate with certainty what will be the overall cost of choosing an option over another when undergoing institutional change, considering unknown factors may intervene and affect the outcome, there is no way of formulating a model that can apply to any situation without risking a mayor margin of error (Harty, 2005). By leaving aside grand generalizations Historical Institutionalism can easily surpass the barriers of Sociological Institutionalism and Rational Choice, of assuming that organizations only use institutional change to reinforce their legitimacy and that every institutional change made in any context must fall into a rational choice, respectively. Moreover by not denying rationality, Historical Institutionalism does not fall in the contradiction of using Rational Choice to understand the behaviour of organizations or individuals, such as the case of the Sociological branch. Lastly, in my opinion, Historical Institutionalism is stronger than Rational Choice also, because it contemplates real change on institutions and not merely the evolution of them, since they hold no delusion of a supposed pre-calculated plan by institutions to transform within in order to avoid undergo real change. And is stronger than Sociological Institutionalism, also, as a result of giving the deserved and necessary level of importance to context as a determinant of the outcome and structure of the institutional change process. Conclusions We have showed that Historical Institutionalism has a more precise and deeper view of institutional change than the other forms of new institutionalism, Rational Choice Institutionalism and Sociological Institutionalism. I have compared the concept of change in the three branches, and found that Rational Choice Institutionalism and Sociological Institutionalism have a reduced view of what composes and provokes change leading to unsatisfactory conclusions that leave aside important parts of the reality without encompassing the inputs of one another. Rational Choice Institutionalism, due to its genesis, has defined a very limited scope, and only considers change to happen within and according to the institutions plan, assuming that in every step of the way, rationality is a perfect process undergone by every individual and actor in the society. Historical Institutionalism embraces a wider view of what constitutes change, enabling it to study a much substantial range of political situations that would be left out by Rational Choice. Moreover Historical Institutionalism goes as deep as to question what seemed like a rational choice in the context of analysis, providing with a view that does not deny rationality but also, does not consider it to be fixed and static. Sociological Institutionalism denies the absolute rationality that is assumed by Rational Choice Institutionalism. Scholars in this branch understand institutional change as the tool that organizations use to endure in time. They suggest that organizations are the ones that promote and seek institutional changes that fit their own maximization of benefits, but by doing this; they make use of the principle that they so firmly oppose from Rational Choice. Sociological Institutionalism only analyses context as a force that shapes the form of the institutions upheld by a society. Historical Institutionalism gives much more importance to context, saying it can determine not only the particular shape of an institution, but also argues that we should take into consideration the values and possibilities provided by the context. It also calls upon the importance of context in the elaboration of the concept path dependency under which it is understood that due to the specifics of some situatio ns, the same process may have different results. Lastly, since Historical Institutionalism does not deny rationality of actors, rather than question what rationality is, it does not fall on the contradiction that we saw on Sociological Institutionalism. We have seen how Historical Institutionalism, thanks to the calculus and cultural approaches and the path dependency concept is a synthesis of the Rational Choice Institutionalism and Sociological Institutionalism. Historical Institutionalism is capable of analysing much deeper into political phenomena by bringing together concepts of both and stating that results may not replicate in the exact same way due to the differences in context. Therefore not intending to push grand assumptions or create laws on studies and in that what being able to widen the range of situations to study. Bibliography Bà ©land, D. (2005) Ideas, Interest, and Institutions: Historical Institutionalism Revisited in Lecours, A. New Institutionalisms. Theory and Analysis, University of Toront-o Press. 29-50 Ferejohn, J. (1991) Rationality and interpretation: Parliamentary elections in early Stuart England. In Monroe K, The economic approach to politics Harper-Collins, 279-305. Finnemore, M. (1996) Norms, culture, and world politics: Insights from sociologys institutionalism, International Organization, vol. 50, no. 2, 325-47. Fioretos, O. (2011) Historical Institutionalism in Intenational Relations, International Organizations, 65, 367-99. Hall, P. and R.C.R. Taylor (1996) Political Science and the Three New Institutionalisms. Political Studies, Vol. 44(5): 936 57. Harty, S. (2005) Theorising Institutional Change in Lecours, A. New Institutionalisms. Theory and Analysis, University of Toronto Press. 51-79 Hay, C. and Wincott, D. (1998) Structure, Agency, Historical Institutionalism, Political Studies, Vol. 46: 951-57. March, J.G. and Olsen, J.P. (1996) Institutional Perspectives on Political Institutions, Governance, 9 (3), 247-64. Meyer, J.W. Rowan, B. (1977) Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 83, no. 2, 340-63. Selten, R. (1975) A Reexamination on the Perfectness Concept for Equilibrium Points in Extensive games International Journal of Game Theory, 4, 25-55. Shepsle, K.A. (1989) Studying Institutions: Some Lessons from the Rational Choice Approach, Journal of Theoretical Politics, 1 (2), 131-47. Thelen, K. (1999) Historical Institutionalism in Comparative Politics, Annual Review of Political Science, 2, 369-404. Tsebelis, G. (1990) Nested Games: Rational Choice in Comparative Politics, University of California Press.   Ã‚  

The Specialist And Inbound Tour Operators

The Specialist And Inbound Tour Operators Mass Market tour operators have dominated in the outbound market for years, with the rise of holidays abroad becoming more and more popular since the end of the Second World War. Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice are examples of mass market tour operators. Thomson and First Choice belong to TUI, these are known as mass market tour operators as they sell/sold holidays that appealed to the majority of holiday makers. Some of the larger mass market tour operators have diversified in now offering more specialised products such as safari and skiing. TUI (www.tui-group.com/en/company/sectors/tuitravel) TUI AG is the largest travel group in the world; Thomson belongs to TUI and is a travel agency as well as having its own airline. First Choice is another travel agent that has its own airline, which belongs to TUI. TUI travel was formed in 2007, with the merger of TUI; their existing distribution, tour operators, air-lines and destination groups; with First Choice Holidays Plc. TUI AG is separated into three sectors: TUI Travel TUI Hotels Resorts TUI Cruises TUI also has a shipping container department. TUI travel is the majority shareholder of the company and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. They operate in 180 countries worldwide, making TUI the leading tour operator within Europe; to become this they provide a wide and varied service for over 30million customers. TUI is a British based company, with their head office in Crawley, West Sussex, not too far from Gatwick Airport; one of the UKs busiest international airports. TUI has over 200 different brands to over, over 140 aircraft and 3,500 retail shops across Europe, employing approximately 50,000 employees. TUI is separated in too four sectors of business, covering all 200 plus brands, these are: Mainstream Specialist Activity Accommodation and Destinations The mainstream sector is the largest of the four sectors in size, operating profit and the number of employees. The 3,500 retail outlets through-out Europe, providing over 25million customers per year, with package, self-package, sun and beach holidays. This sector operates over 140 aircraft to a wide variety of destination through-out the year, incorporating a large number of high street retail stores. The Specialist and Emerging Markets sector includes 40 specialist tour operator companies, providing and selling tour destinations to a smaller demographic, this sector is becoming more popular as people are starting to spread away from the usual package beach holiday. Specialist travel and emerging markets are places such as tours in North America, Europe and further afield such as China and Russia, the emerging markets that have not been popular in the past due to inaccessibility. This sector also provides escorted tours to the Galapagos, around-the-world trips and student gap years to Australia for example. The Activity sector is designed in providing customers that are seeking adventure or active holidays unique tours or packages to suit them. These specialised tour operators operate in the marine, adventure, ski, student and sporting segments, for example hiking in Kilimanjaro, polar expeditions, skiing in Canada and chartering yachts in the Caribbean. The Accommodation and Destination sector provides on and offline accommodation and destination services worldwide; selling accommodation directly to the customers through online hotel booking sites, such as Laterooms.com; Hotelpedia.com and Asiarooms.com. It also provides accommodation, transfers, excursions and a destination agencies portfolio to tour operators, travel agents, cruise lines and other corporate customers. Thomas Cook is another example of a mass market tour operator. As with TUI, Thomas Cook has travel agencies, airlines, hotels and tour operator; Club 18-30. In 2007, Thomas Cook merged with MyTravel; this was to cut costs; a predicted  £75million per year saving; and to combat competition from the low-cost airlines and web-based travel agents, that are on the rise in where customers are buying their holidays from. All tour operators that offer air inclusive packages are required by law to have an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL). This protects customers from losing their money and/or being stranded abroad if something was to happen to the flights. ATOL is managed by the Civil Aviation Authority (www.caa.co.uk) Specialist Tour Operators Specialist tour operators cater for niche market holidays, they specialise in particular destinations and/or in a particular product. For example Journey Latin America specialises in the particular destination of Latin America (www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk) and Active Diving specialise in Scuba Diving holidays around the world (www.activediving.co.uk). Journey Latin America (www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk) specialises in holidays to Latin America; some of the destinations they include are: Antarctica Argentina Belize Chile Cuba Caribbean El Salvador The Galapagos Islands The Falkland Islands Guyana Peru Mexico Nicaragua Venezuela They provide a wide variety of different types of holidays for a wide range of different markets. The types of holidays available are: Tailor-Made Tours Small Group Tours Value Active Beach Wildlife Expedition Honeymoon Responsible Family Learn to (learning a new skill) Cruise JourneyLatinAmerica markets to everyone, with holidays suitable for low-budgets to the higher budgets, family holidays to romantic honeymoons. Wildlife holidays with JourneyLatinAmerica offers the traveller a vast array of wildlife and birdlife to see, from giant tortoises to llamas to sloths and penguins, all depending which country has been chosen to go to, there is the added advantage of there being the largest rainforest, driest desert to the longest mountain range and biggest river within the territories of the holidays available. There is plently of advantages of travelling with a smaller, specialised tour operator, the service is more personal and the smaller operators tend to have more of a passion for the area they specialise in. Smaller operators are experts in their destination, enabling them to give first-hand advice and recommendations to the holiday maker. They also have more care towards to the places, the people and the environment and try to minimise the negative effects of the holiday. Inbound Tour Operators Not only is there tour operators for outbound tourists, either specialised or/and mass market; there is also many tour operators for inbound tourists, specialised and/or mass market. These tour operators specialise and cater for inbound tourists to the UK from many different countries. They provide tours and holidays in many different languages and for different budgets. One example of an inbound tour operator is British Tours. British Tours (www.britishtours.com) specialise in tours of Britain. They provide tours to all size groups, from private groups up to 7 persons by car with their own guide; to larger groups by mini-bus or coach, with own guide. All prices are per car not per person. Tours are available in most languages, at an extra cost; including French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. Tours are suited to individual travellers, families, people with special interest, people with special needs and anyone who wants the freedom to travel at their own pace with their guide to help and inform. The tours of Britain cover the main tourist attractions and sites; the more famous to the lesser known authentic tourist sites; all with guide that are local to the area with a vast knowledge and interest of the particular site. Some of these tours are Stonehenge at Dawn, Legal London, Harry Potter and Englands Gardens. British Tours offer private day tours leaving London as well as personally guided tours of Scotland, Wales and England, special interest tailor-made tours. They also provide European destination tours, such as Paris, Normandy Beaches by private plane and private bus tours of Rome and Italy. British tours work with 100s of travel agents worldwide, as well as many UK companies for sightseeing, ground-handling, interpreting and corporate entertainment within the UK. British Tours is a member of the London Tourist Board, the British Incoming Tour Operators Association, The Society of the Golden Keys and the American Society of Travel Agents. An example of a tour and costs with British Tours: Harry Potter Tour includes the locations where the Harry Potter films have been made, including London, Oxford and Gloucester. Oxford and Gloucester tour only (not including the London sights) for up to 7 people taking roughly 10 hours to complete would cost  £655 per car; price includes private car and guide, collection and return to hotel; anywhere in London; entrance and meals are not included in the price. These tours are also available in most languages.

The Characters of Hamlet and Holden Essay -- compare, contrast, compari

To some, this argument may seem the most blatant form of mistruth, horrendous, even, in its lack of taste, a kind of literary sacrilege, in fact. Surely we have reached the end, one might say, when one can considerer comparing the immortal Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, with the adolescent protagonist of Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Salinger’s hero has been compared to many literary figures, from Huckleberry Finn to David Copperfield. So many different attitudes have been taken toward him. Let’s stop talking about him and write something else. Isn’t the subject getting boring? Perhaps so, but Holden will not go away. He continues to pester the mind, and while reading A.C. Bradley’s analysis of Hamlet’s character, it was hard to resist the idea that much of what Bradley was saying about Hamlet applied to Holden as well. Perhaps the comparison is not as absurd as it first appears. Of course, there is no similarity between the events of the play and those of the novel. The fascinating thing while reading Bradley was how perfectly his analysis of Hamlet’s character applied to Holden’s, how deeply, in fact, he was going into Holden’s character as well, revealing, among other things, its potentially tragic nature. After demolishing the theories of other critics, Bradley concluded that the essence of Hamlet’s character is contained in a three-fold analysis of it. First, that rather than being melancholy by temperament, in the usual sense of â€Å"profoundly sad,† he is a person of unusual nervous instability, one liable to extreme and profound alterations of mood, a potential manic-depressive type. Romantic, we might say. Second, this Hamlet is also a person of â€Å"exquisite moral sensibility, â€Å" hypersensitive to goodness, a m... ...dy view holden as symbolizing the plight of the idealist in the modern world. Most importantly, however, it suggests why Holden Caulfied will not go away, he continues to remain so potent an influence on the now aging younger generation that he first spoke to, and why he continues to brand himself anew on the young. In fact, in this age of atrophy, in this thought-tormented, thought-tormenting time in which we live, perhaps it is not going too far to say that, for many of us, at least, our Hamlet is Holden.  Works Cited Bradley, A.C. â€Å"Hamlet.† Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1981. 89-174. Sanders, Wlibur, and Howard Jacobson. â€Å"Hamlet’s Sanity.† Shakespeare’s Magnanimity: Four Tragic Heroes, Their Friends and Families. New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. 22-56. Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Washington Square Press, 1992.

Fascades of Current Society Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout history women, men, and children have all felt the pressures and manipulations by the media through some faà §ade style form or shape. A Faà §ade by definition is a false, superficial, or artificial appearance or effect, which is primarily imposed or placed on an object, group, or even individual. Through the use of words, deliberate images, and material items advertised within society, as a result have become pressures felt by all types of individuals. Many of these pressures forced upon individuals, prevalent in society today, has in turn created a false sense of ideals and an artificial basis of reality. Men, women, and children all wear some form of a mask in a faà §ade sense as an attempt of self defense against one another, which is clearly an affect of the media’s dominance. In turn, we are all targets and victims to the controlling media weather we realize it or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Advertisers have shaped and evolved our society from the beginning and has made it into what exists currently: It defines what it is to be a â€Å"Girl† or a â€Å"Boy†, even a man or woman, and images presented of these â€Å"supposed† ideal gender definitions have become the basis for our decisions made in our lives everyday. These pressures of social definitions overtake men, women, and children’s thoughts; some of which are feelings the having to look or act a certain way in order to be beautiful or accepted in this world severely obsessed with appearances as a basis for self-worth. From the clothes one chooses to wear or the product chosen to consume, all are somehow related to the media’s images seen in magazines, newspapers, internet, and television advertisements. Messages conveyed through all forms of common media known to contemporary man affects them subconsciously regardless of age, color, beliefs, or any aspect which many diversify one man from another, one woman from another woman, etc. Advertisers pursue knowledge of society’s defining aspects and embrace all diversities of individuals in order to be able to target their product or message to all these parties. Advertisers have been quite successful, but in part gave birth to an obsessive and consumptive society which has severely damaged the aspect of personal identity, especially among young women.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The idea of anyone wearing a type of meta... ...es. Authors even depict their major and famous characters display the negative effects on physical and mental attributes from media based aspects. One way or another, the business world of advertising and marketing will find any way possible to affect individuals in a manner to benefit them. And even it means pressuring young girls to starve themselves, forcing them to wear a metaphorical mask of false beauty, all in order to sell, sell, sell.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This mask does not literally reflect what I personally wear metaphorically, but there are some themes which I admit have thought over. Nor do I deny that the media has brainwashed me along with everyone else, but at least I am able to recognize the problem society faces. The truth is girls and boys should not be obsessing what lies on their outsides, but rather what lies within. This inner beauty is what everyone needs to realize and get in touch with. There are so many other qualities within everyone and this is where true beauty lies. It is a beauty that wearing a mask of make-up of designed clothes cannot deny or illuminate, and lies within is a major part of ourselves which must be nourished and cultivated.

Failure of the Schlieffen Plan Essay -- Papers

Failure of the Schlieffen Plan In just over a month of fighting, two deeply disturbing features of the war were evident even to the generals who had unleashed the first campaigns: a quick victory was impossible, and the human and material losses incurred as a result of the industrialization of war preparation were on a scale never before seen. The Schlieffen plan had at first seemed to go according to schedule. Although the Belgians had declared war rather than allow the Germans passage across their borders, their great fortresses had not proved a big obstacle. The right wing had swung along the Channel coast to enter France on August 27, and at one time were within forty miles of Paris. But the British had supplied an unexpectedly large expeditionary force, which helped strengthen the French center; the Russians penetrated into East Prussia and thus compelled the Germans to detach part of their forces from the western to the eastern front; and the poor leadership of Von Moltke had allowed his two armies on the Belgian front to lose contact. The French commander Joffre seized his opportunity to counterattack, and threw in his reserve against the dangerously extended German line to the east of Paris. In the first Battle of the Marne, the Germans were forced to retreat to the line of the river Aisne, where they were able to establish a strong defense line. By November, when the winter rains began and operations literally bogged down, the war of rapid movement originally planned by the generals had turned into a slogging match between entrenched armies, disposed in double lines of ditches behind barbed wire barriers along a front that ... ...ternate fire-bays and traverses. Duck-boards were also placed at the bottom of the trenches to protect soldiers from problems such as trench foot. Soldiers also made dugouts and funk holes in the side of the trenches to give them some protection from the weather and enemy fire. The front-line trenches were also protected by barbed-wire entanglements and machine-gun posts. Short trenches called saps were dug from the front-trench into No-Man's Land. The sap-head, usually about 30 yards forward of the front-line, were then used as listening posts. Behind the front-line trenches were support and reserve trenches. The three rows of trenches covered between 200 and 500 yards of ground. Communication trenches, were dug at an angle to the frontline trench and was used to transport men, equipment and food supplies.

Identification of Key Problems in Panera Bread Essay

Synopsis of the situation Panera Bread is a fast food company that aims to provide a quality product. They make and sell specialty breads, salads and soups. They started strong in 1981, and currently have over 1800 stores with company managed and operated as well as franchised locations (Panera Bread, 2012). The company jumped into the frontline of restaurant chains and has gained, with great effort, a good number of customers. If you go to any one of their restaurant locations you will find similar services in each and every store. There is always a choice to dine indoors or outdoors, a fire place which aims to make you feel at home while reading your paper or drinking you coffee in the morning, especially in the winter months. They are also known for their services of free refills on coffee, tea or fountain drinks as well as complimentary water with slices of lemons. There is also free access to the internet through Wi-Fi, making Panera locations a great study environment for college students. It is also well equipped with screens that display the  product they offer which adds another great feature to their appealing design. Although they have been growing so fast, they still maintain a competitive place in the market. This is all due to their great design, dining atmosphere, fresh products, reward cards, accessible study and work environment, and efficient services. The experience that a customer is provided with at Panera is unique in the fast food industry. All of their competitors, such as McDonalds and Burger King for instance, only offer a fast product that may be cheaper in monetary price than Panera, but at the expense of health and sometimes quality. Panera Bread combined all of their competitor weaknesses and now provide fast food services, with quality, healthy products to millions of customers and this is the secret to the business’s success (Panera, 2014a). Key issues For us to identify the key issues at Panera Bread, we have to look at them from a competitor stand point and compare them to what others have. It is necessary to first examine Panera Bread. Panera Breads’ focus is on small neighborhood environments and will rarely be found in a major or large city. When lunch time comes and we start to think about what and where we should go for lunch, then Panera Bread is one of the options. After finding one and driving there, you will be shocked with how busy the place is and will doubt that you will have time in the one hour lunch to wait on line to place an order and pay around 11-13 dollars for a quality meal. Then, due to the large number of customers, they usually give a machine that vibrates and flashes when your order is ready. By that time, you should run to your car and eat your meal while driving because this meal might cost you your job, on top of what you just paid. Even if you have time and decided to dine in, there will be no place to sit because most tables have been occupied by others and will probably resemble a library, since most people are sitting with their laptops open or reading a book. A regular value meal costs a minimum of 11-13 dollars. This is their â€Å"You Pick two† value meal, which includes two items of your choice; your choice combinations of sandwich, pasta, and soups, which all come with a small  piece of French bread (Panera, 2014c). The same amount of money would probably feed 2 people at McDonalds with desserts, two at Quiznos, and possibly one at Applebee’s. Being identified as a fast food chain, just like McDonalds and Quiznos, Panera Bread involves a longer wait time. Finding a location, then parking your car and walking in to just wait on a huge line to make an order and then wait for your meal to be ready takes time. Even though they are efficient at their job, it still is not as fast as the other fast food competitors. Panera Bread is very attractive environment for someone looking to spend the day especially with their unlimited free refills of drinks both cold and hot. A college student might sit there from sunrise to sunset studying, just like what I am doing right now, working on my assignments and leaving no place for a family or group to sit. Identification of one key problem and the opportunity The problem: College students mostly are sitting on most of the tables without any space left for the neighborhood families or the other short term customers. In some way Panera has replaced the libraries for a lot of students due to their free drinks, as mentioned earlier. Panera is proud of their achievement of having established these types of customers. As long as they are not interfering with the other type of customer, then it is a great idea asset. However, in reality, when most of who are sitting and occupying the tables are students and almost no other type of customer, then the business operation will be compromised. When you buy a meal, you need to be able to sit to consume it and this is not possible when everything is occupied, which creates unhappy customers who are less likely to return. The opportunity: It is possible to be able to accommodate both types of customers by making parameters to serve the needs of both parties of these types of populations. What attracts students is the free Wi-Fi that Panera provides and by intelligently controlling this feature, they can actually control the student population in the establishment and create a balance  between these two populations by serving both of their needs. The solution made through Wi-Fi control is an opportunity after identifying the problem that Panera is having. The solution involves shutting down the Wi-Fi service during lunch peak hours. At the beginning students will probably relocate and then they will most likely adapt to the change and come right back since they know they cannot get what they get at Panera at any other place. So the new lunch time hours without free Wi-Fi would be from 11am-2pm. It is important for Panera not to scare their current student population away, because these are already established customers. When it is not peak hours and the place is filled with these students, this helps to create a relaxing and a very attractive dining that is only linked with Panera locations. This opportunity and approach will serve both of these customer populations and help build a healthy relationship with both types. This is better than just targeting one population over the other and makes it possible for both to be happy and have a good experience at Panera. Alternative solutions to the one key problem There are some other available strategies to deal with the issue of too much student population occupying the tables at Panera. A fee for the Wi-Fi could be charged. This would, however, make them less likely to choose Panera as their study spot. This solution will not only decrease the number of student occupants, but it will also have an impact on the environment that Panera created in their locations as being known for their special dining experience and this will hurt their reputation in the long run as a friendly and welcoming restaurant. Many of the Panera locations already have a limit of half an hour on Wi-Fi in lunch peak hours, which has left some unhappy customers (Panera, 2014b). These customers argue that Panera is advertising free Wi-Fi, but not providing the service. In reality, thirty minutes is not enough for anything. Also, Panera bread is well known as a casual place for meetings for some businesses and workers and limiting the Wi-Fi to 30 minutes is  limiting the ability for customers to treat the restaurant as a work environment. This could easily transform Panera from a friendly experience to an unfriendly one (Graham, 2012). This type of control of Wi-Fi will not solve the problem in reality. Thirty minutes of Wi-Fi is not enough and it will only make people run away and be reluctant to bring their computers. Another potential solution to this problem would be to enforce table sharing by students. Instead of one student spreading his or her papers all over a big table, he or she could sit comfortably with having someone else sit and share the table. This will make more seats available for usage by both populations of students and regular everyday customers. Another possible solution is to identify the number of regular customers that the restaurant gets on a daily basis and know how many table is needed to serve them appropriately. Or they may just chose a number of tables that is only selected for students to sit in and limit their access to other tables. This is done by placing flags on the tables or by just disabling the electric outlet on these tables, since most students require an electric outlet to access their computers. Selected solution and why it was chosen Panera Bread should accurately identify the amount of tables needed to accommodate all of the different populations of customers. After that, they should determine the number of tables needed to accommodate for students and the other customers who might remain seated for long periods of time using the free internet services. Then, they should mount a flag in the middle of these dedicated tables that says â€Å"Student Friendly. â€Å" This way, the student customers will respond better and not feel as if they are being chased out of the restaurant. This will also help maintain the environment and Panera’s image as a friendly and welcoming restaurant. As a matter of fact, the customers will show more loyalty to the business. When I go to Panera Bread myself, I notice how many student customers are sitting at the tables and the number is overwhelming. It is hard to only think about one consumer base and neglect the other, as both are important to the business. As a matter of fact, the student customers are actually  the one that gave Panera Bread its unique image. Some important questions that need to be answered include: What would a Panera manager do in a location where the number of student customers would interfere with the business of the short term customers, especially during peak hours? Regardless of the answer, whether that is to leave them alone, ask them to leave, or limit their internet use, there is actually no good permanent solution for the future success of Panera to be maintained. Recommendation(s) on how to implement the selected solution In order for the selected solution or change to be successful it has to be done smoothly without interrupting any of the current customers’ population. This is done by taking the necessary steps that would make the change as smoothly as possible. Also, this change has to happen at all of Panera’s locations. Since Panera keeps a record of a large number of customers through their reward cards, they should have access to their emails. They should start by sending emails to their customers informing them about the current change at least a month prior to the actual change. This announcement should also take place at all of their locations by posting signs and giving out fliers notifying customers to the new change. These fliers could be given with a customer’s receipt. The notification would have to explain what the change is and the reasons behind it. Panera has to clearly state that they are willing to accommodate both types of customers and be able to satisfy them at all levels without significantly affecting the environment of the business and trying to keep a balance between both types. If this is done, the change will be smooth and with just little effort it can effectively implement the change with the least amount of stress on the customers. When this is complete, the needs of both types of customers are met without significant interruptions. Most importantly, Panera will still be recognized as having respect for all of their customers without forcing them to new changes that they might not like. This will lead to effectively utilizing the tables for both types of customers. For students, sharing will be a possibility to a maximum number matching the number of chairs on each table as opposed to only one student sitting and unnecessarily occupying the  whole table. Summary Panera bread is a very successful business that was established a long time ago, with a great and unique environment that they created to suit customers of both types. They have some key issues that are still waiting to be solved but the main issue and the most important one is how to control the effect of student customers, who are utilizing the business tables as libraries, with keeping the balance of not hurting the regular everyday short-term-stay customers. For the problem to be solved, they have to find a solution that will serve both types of customers without significantly changing the current services that both get. One of the solutions would be to control the Wi-Fi access in a way that will serve the everyday short term customer and without significantly altering the access of Wi-Fi that is attracting the student consumer base and at the same time not compromise the business operation. The best possible solution involves limiting the number of tables that the student custom ers could use after identifying the number of tables needed to serve this purpose. References Panera (2014a). (n.d.). Our History. Our History. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/company/about-panera/our-history.html Panera Bread. (2012, June 25). Nation’s Restaurant News, 46(13), 27. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA295171410&v=2.1&u=lom_davenportc&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid=593729bfd26cc732941cbf2cefe738ed Panera (2014b). (n.d.). You’re connected to the Panera wi-fi network.. WiFi. Retrieved July 14, 2014, from https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/wifi.html Graham, J. (2012, May 17). Talking Tech: Customers clog Panera’s free Wi-Fi. USATODAY.COM. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/talkingtech/story/2012-05-16/panera-bread-wifi/55028144/1 Panera (2014c). (n.d.). You Pick Two. You Pick Two. Retrieved July 15, 2014, from https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/featured-menu/you-pick-two.html