History of education Essay

â€Å"Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed for a lifetime. † This adage is completely true in its meaning and substance. It means that if you educate a person, you are showing him the way to the future. You are giving the necessary training that helps him earn his bread and lead a better life for himself and his children in future. Education is the only way which distinguish human from the animal. According to Aristotle, the distinguishing feature of man is his moral sense. Man can learn from his experiences and from his experiences of others; he knows what is good and what is bad. He is capable of revising his judgements whenever he doesn’t agree with the circumstances of life. It is because of this reason that education became a part of the training of man. We are the superior because we contain the knowledge and the education which has only bought us in this condition. Education is described as the training and instructions given to the human. It also gives a person ability to develop character and mental power. It is compared to light that light up the darkness. In other words, it means that people become more aware of things in life and they see things from different perspectives. It also leads a person from mental bankruptcy to enlightenment. Education can be obtained formally and informally. The education we get at schools and colleges is termed formal education and the education ewe get at homes regarding family values and social relationships is called informal education. A Chinese proverb says, â€Å"If you are planning for a year, sow rice, if you are planning of ten years plant trees nut if you are planning of hundred years, educate people. † Education is the backbone of a society. It holds the foundations of civilizations and development. If the system of educating people is good in a country, the country makes rapid progress. This is the reason why millions of dollars are earmarked for education in the developed countries. The real purpose of education lies in disciplining our reasoning and emotion. If our emotions are not properly channelised, we are reduced to the status of animals. If our reasoning is not properly controlled, it my go wrong. Similarly, emotion and reason should have their due share in determining the personality of a person; otherwise man becomes a lopsided creature. At last, education is the important thing which we should not discourage. The real purpose of education can be achieved if it is not tagged with any other motion expect education. We all have the right to study and gave as much information as we can so let gather the knowledge and be educated.

Singapore Airlines

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/researchregister The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0960-4529. htm MSQ 15,3 A case study of service failure and recovery within an international airline David Bamford Manchester School of Management, UMIST, Manchester, UK, and 306 Tatiana Xystouri Ministry of Finance, Nicosia, Cyprus Abstract Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the effectiveness of internal processes of service quality recovery for an international airline. Design/methodology/approach – An action research methodology was adopted. The research involved: a review of available service quality literature; the identi? cation of causes of failure/errors within the host company; the development of key lessons and management guidelines. Findings – It is argued that, for service recovery to be effective, it must be external (to the customer) as well as internal (to the organisation). The need to incorporate employees and not overlook their signi? cance, power and in? uence on the delivery of quality service is highlighted. Through comparison with another airline the ? ndings re-assert that service quality excellence can only be achieved through employee satisfaction, commitment and loyalty as a result of senior management commitment, focus and drive. Research limitations/implications – The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and from which to draw speci? c conclusions. A perceived limitation is the single case approach; however, Remenyi argues that this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge. For further investigation, there is an ongoing opportunity for future research n the area of service quality, failure and recovery, as well as the service quality gaps within the airline. Practical implications – Key lessons and management guidelines for improving service quality are presented. Originality/value – The paper describes how an international airline has tangible service quality failure and recovery systems in place, but fails to cap italise on the data and information generated. Keywords Customer services quality, Service failures, Service improvements, International travel, Airlines Paper type Research paper Managing Service Quality Vol. 15 No. 3, 2005 pp. 06-322 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0960-4529 DOI 10. 1108/09604520510597845 Introduction Services marketing and management literature widely acknowledge that keeping current customers and developing relationships with new ones is a key business strategy (Piercy, 1995). The growing sophistication of consumers does represent an ongoing challenge to all manner of service organisations. According to Zemke and Bell (1989) nothing is as common as the organisation committed more to lip service than customer service; more interested in advertising than action. This is not helped in the link between customer satisfaction and pro? s being neither straightforward nor simple. Zeithaml (2000) highlights three major problems in measuring relationships as: (1) the t ime-lag between measuring customer satisfaction and measuring pro? t improvements; (2) the number of other variables in? uencing company pro? ts such as price, distribution; (3) that other variables (such as behavioural issues) should be included in the relationship as they explain causality between satisfaction and results. However, a number of studies have demonstrated a clearly positive relationship between organisation performance and customer satisfaction/service excellence. Wirtz and Johnston (2003) highlight the positive correlation between the pro? ts and service excellence of Singapore Airlines (SIA). Commenting on the competitive nature of the airline industry, one of their interviewees states: [. . . ] it is important to realise that they (customers) are not just comparing SIA with other airlines. They are comparing us against many industries, and on many factors (Wirtz and Johnston, 2003, p. 11). A case of service failure and recovery 307 Van der Wiele et al. (2002, p. 191) ? d the same result for an employment agency, stating â€Å"perceived quality is related to organisational performance indicators in the same year and/or in the next year†. Service failure and the subsequent complaints from customers are a likely occurrence over a product/service lifetime and the rapid, effective handling of these has proven to be vital in maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Indeed, the importance of service recovery reinforces the need for or ganisations to ? nd approaches that are effective in both identifying service failure and in developing strategies to recover successfully. Service recovery should be the cornerstone of a customer satisfaction strategy. This paper examines the effectives of internal processes of service quality recovery for an international airline. Literature review The changing environment in the service sector ? According to Gronroos (1987) the dimensions of service quality are diverse and relate to both the basic service package and augmented service offering. Two important contributions in developing models for measuring service quality are from Johnson et al. (1995) and Silvestro et al. (1990, cited in Dale, 1999), who assessed service quality in the UK. They identi? d 15 aspects of service quality, and categorised them into three factors: (1) Hygiene factors: those expected by the customer. (2) Enhancing factors: those that lead to customer satisfaction, although failure to deliver is not likely to cause dissatisfaction. (3) Dual threshold factors: those whose failure to deliver will cause dissatisfaction while delivery above a sp eci? c level will cause satisfaction. While the above model gives a clear view of what criteria a customer may use to judge service quality, it is not as widely reported as the one proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1985) who condensed ten original factors into ? e categories (tangibles, ? responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy). Gronroos (1988a, b) later added a sixth factor and called it recovery. Parasuraman et al. (1985) also suggested quality consists of the gap between what the customer expects and receives and that this gap is affected by four gaps on the MSQ 15,3 308 provider side (customer expectations; management perceptions of consumer expectations; service quality speci? cations; actual service delivery). Unfortunately when customers are asked for feedback the methodologies used sometimes lack empirical rigor and are often a response to a speci? crisis in the organisation (Berman, 1996). This loss of data at the organisational level means that operational change s are not tied to customer priorities in a routine manner. Dale (2003) summarises three major changes in the service sector. Stating the present emphasis on the service encounter, in particular the contribution made by service providers in enhancing and maintaining service quality, arises from environmental trends relating to: . consumers’ awareness and expectations; . technological developments and sophistication; and . competitive elements. In terms of consumers’ awareness and expectations, as society gets wealthier and the marginal utility derived from additional increments of goods declines, people turn to service expenditures. The growth in ? nal demand from consumers may be attributed to consumer expectations of quality, which are believed and accepted to be increasing (Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 1998). With regards to technological developments and sophistication, computerisation and technological innovations are radically altering the way in which many organisations do business with their customers. They can make a major contribution in the delivery of quality service. One view is that technological advances offer an opportunity to increase service in a variety of ways to improve the competitive stance (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). In terms of competitive elements, since entering the new millennium, it has become clear that most organisations are increasingly, in their quest for progress and advancement, interested in how they can achieve differentiation and competitive advantage (Verma, 2000). Globalisation and value driven business imperatives therefore mean that mistakes will not be tolerated. Services failures, recovering and learning The impact of active recovery strategies on a company’s revenue and pro? tability is dramatic. For example, Hampton Inn hotels in the USA realised $11 million in additional revenue from the implementation of its service guarantee and scored the highest customer retention rate in the industry (Ettorre, 1994). Research by the Of? ce of Fair Trading (OFT, 1990) illustrated when people make a complaint about goods and services and the complaint is satisfactorily resolved, three quarters of them will buy the same brand again. Where the complaint is not resolved, less than half will buy the same brand again. Clearly there is a pro? t to be made by retaining the customer loyalty of those whose complaints the company resolves (Citizen’s Charter Complaints Task Force, 1995). The ability to deal effectively with customer problems is closely related to employee satisfaction and loyalty. These are critical concerns in industries where customer relationships are closely associated with an individual service provider (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). Heskett et al. (1994) identi? s a number of factors that are considered important for employee satisfaction. These include: satisfaction with the job itself; training; pay; advancement fairness; treatment with respect and dignity; teamwork; the company’s interest in employees’ well-being; and the service worker’s perceptions of their abilities to meet customer needs. Of course the greatest barrier to effective service recovery and organisati onal learning is that only 5-10 per cent of dissatis? ed customers choose to complain following a service failure (Tax and Brown, 1998, p. 7; Dube and Maute, 1996). Instead, most silently switch providers or attempt to get even by making negative comments to others (Singh, 1990). Why are customers reluctant to complain? Several authors such as Dube and Maute (1996) and Singh (1990) uncover four reasons: (1) customers believe that the organisation will not be responsive; (2) they do not wish to confront the individual responsible for the failure; (3) they are uncertain about their rights and the ? rm’s obligations; and (4) they are concerned about the high cost in time and effort of complaining. To counter this several approaches have been highlighted that are effective in identifying service failures: setting performance standards; communicating the importance of service recovery; training customers in how to complain; and using technological support offered through customer call centres and the internet (Dale, 2003). According to Bitner et al. (1997) the level of customer participation in a service experience varies across services and customers can play a variety of roles. Through a review of the literature Bitner et al. 1997) identify three: (1) the customer as productive resource; (2) the customer as contributor to quality, satisfaction and value; and (3) the customer as competitor to the service organisation. These roles are not mutually exclusive, meaning individuals’ behaviours in a speci? c situation may apply to more than one of the three roles. What can ? rms do to improve recovery performance? Academic evidence, for example Hart et al. (1990), Mason (1993) and Bowen and Lawler (1995), suggests there are speci? practices that improve service-recovery effectiveness: hiring, training and empowerment; establishing service-recovery guidelines and standards; providing easy access and effective responses through call centres and maintaining customer and product databases. Bitner et al. (1990) in a study of 700 critical incidents found that it is not necessarily failure itself that leads to customer dissatisfaction, most customers do accept that things can go wrong. It is more likely the organisation’s response/lack of response to the failure that causes resentment and dissatisfaction. Boshoff (1997) surveyed 540 travellers, presenting them with a constantly negative service situation (a missed ? ight connection caused by ? ight delay) and looked for the most successful recovery strategies. They were: a fast response by the highest possible person in terms of seniority; a fast response accompanied by full refund plus some amount of compensation; a large amount of compensation provided by a high ranking manager. An apology was of limited use unless accompanied by some form of tangible compensation. A market-driven approach to service recovery consists of many tools in addition to identifying and responding to complaints: surveys; mystery shopping; focus groups; customer and employee advisory panels; and service operating performance data (Day, A case of service failure and recovery 309 MSQ 15,3 310 1994). In identifying opportunities to improve services, many ? rms integrate complaint data with data gathered through one or more of these research methods. Firms determining investment priorities in service improvement examine the impact of various options (e. g. ncreasing the speed of front-desk check-in versus expanding the room-service menu at a hotel) on customer satisfaction, repurchase intention, process cost, and market share. The goal is to identify those process improvements that will have the greatest impact on pro? tability (Rust et al. , 1995). Investment decisions should also be driven by customer pro? tability assessments. For example, United Airlines determined that business travellers account for 40 per cent of its business by headcount, but supply 72 per cent of its revenue; â€Å"mile-collecting vacationers† constitute 60 per cent of travellers but provide only 28 per cent of revenue. The most frequent business travellers, dubbed â€Å"road warriors†, generate 37 per cent of revenue even though they make up only 6 per cent of the passengers. United learned through complaints and survey results that the road warriors were the customers least satis? ed and most frustrated with air travel. Based on the data, the company invested $400 million to provide business travellers with better seats, food, and lounges; a pre-departure service to avoid long lines; more frequent-? ier bene? ts; and perks such as showers in terminals (Rust et al. 1995). The relationship between service recovery and organisational pro? tability can be clearly seen by examining the service-pro? t chain (Heskett et al. , 1994). This argues that pro? t results from customer loyalty, which results from customer satisfaction with the service system; customer satisfaction (value) is generated by satis? ed, loyal, and productive employees. The impact of service recovery can be traced through impro vements in the service system and through the direct effect on satisfaction of resolving a customer complaint. Resolving problems effectively has a strong impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty (McCollough and Bharadwaj, 1992). Conversely, poor recovery following a bad service experience can create â€Å"terrorists†, customers so dissatis? ed that they actively pursue opportunities to criticise the company (Heskett et al. , 1994). Loyal customers expect problems to be dealt with effectively and are disappointed when they are not, making service recovery key (Zeithaml et al. , 1993). Examples from the airline industry Wirtz and Johnston (2003), comment how SIA continues to get service quality right. They have consistently been one of the most pro? table airlines in the world and are routinely voted â€Å"best airline†, â€Å"best business class†, â€Å"best cabin crew service†, â€Å"best in-? ight food†, â€Å"best for punctuality and safety†, â€Å"best for business travellers†, â€Å"best air cargo carrier†, and even â€Å"Asia’s most admired company†. SIA seems to follow many of the normative models that are well researched and published in the service literature such as: a strategic focus on customers; adopting a â€Å"total company† approach to service excellence; incremental improvement and periodic process redesign; and continuous benchmarking. The company strives for a constant â€Å"exceeding of expectation† (e. g. Berry, 1995) and has active customer feedback systems (e. g. Berry and Parasuraman, 1997, Wirtz and Tomlin, 2000). SIA’s culture of service excellence at a pro? t is in line with the service pro? t chain (Heskett et al. , 1997) and the cycle of success (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). Final observations made by Wirtz and Johnston (2003, p. 18) include what they term as these â€Å"somewhat surprising ? ndings†: SIA’s holistic process perspective – a culture were all staff look at all processes all the ime to search for incremental improvement; SIA strive to maintain consistency in service excellence that meets the needs of every customer (maintaining the dif? cult balance between standardisation and customisation); a simultaneous focus on service excellence and costs/pro? ts, pushed right out to the front line staff. Their conclusion is that SIA has no secret formula for succe ss; they just follow widely known and applied frameworks and models. At British Airways (BA) in 1983, the then chief executive, Colin Marshall, launched the Customer First campaign. The cornerstone of the Customer First campaign was detailed research into what customers expect in terms of personal service. BA established monitoring mechanisms, which continually told them what the customers expect, and how well they were doing against these expectations. The market research covered both customers and staff, so as to form the starting point for a fully integrated campaign to improve standards of service. The training programmes included a personal development course looking at such aspects as handling feelings, understanding and coping with stress, and being assertive. The programme was then extended to embrace all non-customer contact staff. Great emphasis has been placed on teamwork and on an appreciation of the contribution that each individual and each role makes towards the success of the airline as a whole. Further, the Quality Assurance Unit, whose activities were to focus on de? ning detailed customer service standards, and develop quality control mechanisms by which BA could measure their local performance against customer expectations, monitored the progress of improving service quality. At the same time, a service quality audit was developed to meet the needs of overseas stations. The objective has been that all staff within the company becomes actively involved and committed to the corporate objective of improving customer service, with the slogan: â€Å"Putting our customers ? rst – if we don’t, someone else will† (Hamill and Davies, 1986). SAS suffered an $8 million operating loss in 1981. Within two years, they achieved a gross pro? t of $71 million on sales of $2 billion, although the industry as a whole lost a total of $1. 7 billion (Albrecht, 1985). The success story at SAS was claimed to come from an organisational commitment to manage the customer’s experience through so-called â€Å"moments of truth†, â€Å"the ? rst 15-second encounter between a passenger and the front-line people† (Carlzon, 1987, p. viii). Carlzon, SAS President at the time and later author of ‘Moments of Truth’, his take on successful customer service quality, put all 27,000 employees through a company-wide training programme. Everyone, from baggage handlers to company vice presidents received the training in a two-day workshop, speci? cally targeted to meeting the needs of their customers. According to Carlzon this cross-functional training is essential; if only front-line staff have it then their best efforts to satisfy customers may be blocked by back-room staff. He goes on to propose that the link between tactics and strategy is not made in many customer service organisations, ultimately resulting in failure of service quality. Research method An action research methodology was adopted (Remenyi et al. , 1998). Action research was developed during the 1960s and has proven particularly useful in the area of managing change and identifying areas for improvement (Remenyi et al. 1998). Moore (1999) states that to be properly regarded as action research, a project must contain a continuous thread of objective evaluation and a mechanism whereby the results of the A case of service failure and recovery 311 MSQ 15,3 312 evaluation and the lessons learned during the project can be fed back into the process so that it becomes something which is dynamic and constantly modi? ed in the light of experience. The main advantage of action research is that it is done in real-time; produces a concrete result and everyone in the organisation can see what is going on. This can have its disadvantages as well – mistakes made are very public, but on the whole it makes for research which has the support and backing of people who might otherwise have shown little commitment to the idea. Its distinguishing feature is that it integrates something of real, practical worth into an organisation. This has to be the case, otherwise the research would never have been sanctioned – ? rms do not have resources to spare and would not waste their own time and resources on a futile project. As detailed above, one potential weakness of the adopted research methodology might be its very public nature. If the project did not produce tangible real-time results, those supporting it may lose interest and bias any future initiatives. The applied methodology needed to be systematic so that it ? tted with the basic aims of the research. Informal interviews, observation and company documentation were all used. This investigations objective was to make an assessment of the airline’s process of service quality recovery with respect to service failure, driven by the goal of customer satisfaction and internal improvement. Once access was established key measurables, and causes of failure were identi? d through a detailed examination of company processes, informal discussion with Company personnel, and formal interviews with various employees. This process, over a period of time, allowed the identi? cation of sources of errors within the host company. The case study The research presented here involved full participation from an international airline. During the 1990s the airline concen trated on improving customer service, reducing costs and aggressive marketing. Signi? cant effort and new approaches were initiated to improve the quality of service delivered to the customer, in order that the organisation remains ompetitive in future years. A central pivot of the airline’s approach was a commitment to improve service to the customer and they subsequently won a number of passenger accolades. Service failure in the airline Among the key data was the record of passenger complaints during a four-year period. These records included the revenue-passengers carried by the airline, number of complaints received, number of complaints offered compensation and the amount of money paid out during each of the four years. They are represented in Table I. The number of recorded complaints increased by nearly 60 per cent and those offered compensation increased dramatically by 147 per cent during this period. The Year Revenue passengers carried Complaints received Instances paid Amount of money paid (? ) Table I. Passenger complaints records 1 2 3 4 1,298,000 1,355,000 1,346,000 1,400,000 545 684 715 870 253 403 462 626 22,736 47,048 70,253 73,869 manager of the complaints department commented on these numbers by asserting the increase re? cted â€Å"only a small extent of the increased passenger movement†, even in year three when a slight trough was observed, the numbers of complaints showed no sign of decline. The percentage â€Å"complaints paid† increased from 47 per cent in year one to 72 per cent in year four. The complaints department manager af? rmed that increasing customer complaints have been a factor for the previous decade indicating the complaints/passengers ratio has been st eadily increasing. In 1990 one complaint was recorded for every 2,700 passengers, a decade later, one complaint is recorded for just over 1,500 passengers. Figure 1 represents the number of complaints per 10,000 passengers during an 11-year period. In year 1, the complaints average was 3. 6 per 10,000 passengers, within ten years that became 6. 2. Due to this upward trend in complaints, the airline’s expenditure on compensation is increasing noticeably year-by-year, demonstrated in Table I. Expenditure on compensation increased by more than ? 50,000 in the period year eight to year 11, with the most fundamental increases being witnessed in ? scal years nine and ten. Table II demonstrates which recorded complaints are the most frequent and re? cts the main causes of recent service failure in the airline. Commenting on the ? gures of Table II, a senior manager identi? ed the majority of complaints concentrating around three areas: (1) delays, usually technical in nature; (2) service interruptions, e. g. through frequent strikes; and (3) complaints regarding the attitudes of ground staff. Complimentary letters were seldom received b y the airline and were never logged or recorded. Anecdotal evidence suggests when a passenger compliments an employee it is done face-to-face, not in writing. Interestingly, all current effort at the airline is put A case of service failure and recovery 313 Figure 1. Number of complaints per 10,000 passengers MSQ 15,3 Nature of complaint Act of God Cabin staff attitude Downgraded Flight cancellations/diversion of ? ights/delays Food and beverage Ground staff attitude Lack of facilities Mishaps during ? ight Overbooking Reservation problems Strikes Travelled on jump-seat Cases 1 4 6 544 5 103 7 17 18 39 124 2 314 Table II. Passenger complaints records into recording complaints not compliments; senior managers believed this was because the board of directors (BoD) expected complaint data to discuss ithin their meetings. The service recovery plan The airline’s activities for service recovery and in-house improvement are proceduralised through a detailed ? owchart shown in Figure 2. Monthly â€Å"service recovery†, â€Å"customer voice† and quarterly meetings with cabin crew supervisors take place to allow issues to be raised and discussed to seek improvement. Appreciation for outstanding performance is provided through gifts (e. g. free business class two-way tickets to any destination), and printed letters of appreciation, signed by the president of the airline. Discussion The research data revealed that 89 per cent of customer complaints resulted from 25 per cent of the problem areas, evidence of the Pareto principle in action. Evidence indicated the service recovery plan of the airline was not addressing these priority areas according to their signi? cance. Presented in Figures 3 and 4 are cause and effect diagrams (Dale, 2003) re? ecting the main service failures of the airline. With regard delays, diversions and cancellations, senior managers asserted that some causes, such as the weather, are predictable yet cannot be controlled – little can be done to avoid their consequences. According to the US Department of Transportation (1989) 70 per cent of delays in the commercial airline service are caused by weather. In addition, external factors beyond the immediate control of the airline can cause service failure (? ight diversion or cancellation due to air-traf? c congestion, a failure in another airport where the airline’s aircraft are engaged). For the airline the planned purchase of new aircraft and a scheduled upgrade of existing ? eet should reduced problems caused by purely technical failure. Service quality should improve and expenditure on compensation reduced. Findings here also con? rmed assertions from the literature that technological advances can offer opportunities to increase service in a variety of ways to improve competitive stance, and lead to cost savings (Mulconrey, 1986). Although this contrasts with the view that customers insist on â€Å"client-centred† performance as opposed to â€Å"technical-centred† A case of service failure and recovery 315 Figure 2. Flowchart of service recovery and in-house improvement processes performance (Kotler and Connor, 1977), the ? dings indicated that a reliable â€Å"personal touch† service is what the airline’s customers perceived as being good service quality. Findings indicated the perceived â€Å"bad attitude† of ground staff was a major area of service failure. The airline’s senior management team agreed that for employees to be competent in offering soft quality, rigorous se lection procedures and appropriate training was vital. However, research evidence suggests that these principles were not applied throughout the company. Dobbs (1993) af? rms that without formal training staff have few tools to meet the expectations of customers or managers. The level of consistent, appropriate and focused training was found to be a key issue within the airline. Ground staff were not suf? ciently trained for the highly MSQ 15,3 316 Figure 3. Cause and effect of delays/ diversions/cancellations Figure 4. Cause and effect diagram of bad ground staff attitude â€Å"customer centred† aspects of their jobs and therefore lacked appropriate key skills and diplomacy for handling the demands of customers. This is demonstrated in Figure 5. The ability to deal effectively with customer problems is closely related to employee satisfaction and loyalty (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). Customer satisfaction is also increased when company management attempts to couple the service recovery process with offering initiatives to the employees (Reichheld, 1993). However, within the airline employee satisfaction is not as important as customer satisfaction. That ground staff are perceived as having a bad attitude con? rms assertions from the literature (Heskett et al. , 1994, p. 164) that important factors for employees are: satisfaction with the job itself; treatment with respect; and the company’s interest in employees’ well being. A case of service failure and recovery 317 Figure 5. Ground staff attitude complaints Research ? ndings indicated a range of reasons for employee strikes. The diffusion of the single union 20 years ago (the Union of the Airline Staff) and the creation of several resulted, according to one senior manager, in â€Å"the power to in? uence events in the hands of an uncompromising few†. Employees who felt their needs were not taken into consideration used their union to make demands. Weak management support, in combination with discontented employees, results in continual strike action that gives an impression of a disorganised company (see Figure 6). The management of the airline failed to work towards a process of identifying and resolving the issues triggering employee dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the senior management team has been unsuccessful in attempts to improve internal company communications. Although researchers have studied the concept of service for several decades, there is no real consensus about the conceptualisation of service quality (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Rust and Oliver, 1994). Different researchers focus on different aspects of service Figure 6. Cause and effect diagram of strikes MSQ 15,3 318 quality. The most common de? ition is the traditional notion that views quality as the customer’s perception of service excellence (Berry, 1995; Parasuraman et al. , 1985). Attempts have been made to provide applicable conceptual models, see for example Zhu et al. ’s (2004) paper on â€Å"A mathematical model of service failure and recovery strategies† for an example. Of perhaps more direct use here is a simple comparison of how the Airline operates re service quality, with one of the best in the business, SIA. Table III offers a straightforward comparison between various service recovery elements of the two airlines. Taken from Wirtz and Johnston’s (2003) paper on SIA, which took SIA’s senior managements perspective on sustaining their service excellence, we used ten key service recovery elements. Of these, all of which SIA excel at, our research indicates the airline actively pursue only one, acknowledging the challenge of delivering service excellence. Disappointingly, they would appear to fail on every other element. As the two companies have similar systems in place the key difference would appear to be the level of senior management commitment. Indeed this comes across compellingly in the Wirtz and Johnston paper. If similarities exist in the perceived execution of objectives, a difference in perception of what the â€Å"long-term† view actually is may be key (see Bamford and Forrester, 2003). The research does indicate the airline BoD is actively trying to improve its service quality. Through enhanced organisational intelligence they are striving to improve the fundamentals of their service delivery. They can ? x what they can see; they can ? x what they can directly in? uence. New equipment is easy, though expensive to bring in; changing company attitudes is another issue. The comparison with SIA highlights key differences between a so-called â€Å"best in class†, in terms of airline service quality and an airline that is trying very hard to survive in an increasingly competitive market sector. Key lessons and management guidelines As business and management research is essentially a ? eld of applied studies it is appropriate that research of this type should convert at least some of its ? ndings into a series of practical management guidelines (Remenyi et al. , 1998). Therefore, although it Singapore Airlines (Wirtz and Johnston, 2003) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Service recovery element Acknowledge the challenge of delivering service excellence Adopt a â€Å"total† systems approach Strive for consistency with personalisation in service delivery Understand customers and anticipate their needs Listen to both customers and front-line staff Log compliments and complaints Continuously training and motivate the front-line staff Provide dedicated resources for communication and motivation Manage the organisation with an eye for the detail in everything Focus, above all, on delivering consistently high quality at a pro? t for the company The airline Yes No No No No No No No No No Table III. Airline service quality set-up and recovery comparison is not our main purpose to present prescriptions, the following maybe useful for practitioners. The key lessons presented below offer straightforward advice: . Do not lose focus of internal service quality: quality of the workplace; job content and variation; recruitment; selection and suf? cient training of employees; management support; rewarding employees for good job performance; recognising employees for good job performance. The latter is said to wield signi? cant in? ence over the quality of employee job performance (Piercy, 1995). . Put evaluation and reward systems into practice to ensure good performance is monitored and rewarded (e. g. with cash bonuses or free tickets). . Empower front-line employees. This is a tool for improving employee motivation, as having the power to own, manage and resolve a problem makes roles more meaningful and interesting. . Frequent ser vice education and training can enhance the ability of front-line staff to provide greater levels of customer care. It also prepares them for handling the differing demands of customers. A case of service failure and recovery 319 Conclusions This research has reported the main causes of service failure within an international airline and through comparison with another airline the ? ndings re-assert that service quality excellence can only be achieved through employee satisfaction, commitment and loyalty as a result of senior management commitment, focus and drive. The paper has assessed the organisation’s process of service recovery with respect to the main causes of service failure, in its goal to achieving customer satisfaction and internal improvement. The analysis of the ? ndings conformed to the Pareto principle, by which the majority of the organisation’s failure resulted from a small proportion of the problem areas (technical problems; strikes; ground staff attitude). The ? ndings indicated that for service recovery to be effective, it must be external (to the customer) as well as internal (to the organisation) so that internal improvement can be ensured. The ? ndings also substantiated previous claims of the need to approach service quality in a manner that goes beyond unsophisticated and narrow-minded practices that verlook the signi? cance, power and in? uence of the employee on the delivery of quality service and the smooth operation of the organisation’s activities. Finally, the ? ndings con? rmed previous assertions that employee satisfaction, commitment and loyalty require high levels of management commitment, as well as frequent communication. This research raises a number of implications for management. T he interactive concepts of external and internal quality and their importance raise issues of recruitment and training to achieve the right blend of employee skills and motivation. There appears to exist the need for the organisation to adopt management-employee relationship strategies, to ensure it manages and gets the best out of this key resource. Periodic review of performances and reward schemes are considered of vital importance, to aid the co-evolution of mutual understanding between managers and employees, and hence the development of superior service quality. A further implication for management is re? ected by the importance of understanding the positive effects of internal marketing on the pro? tability of the MSQ 15,3 320 rganisation. As the literature suggests (Albrecht, 1985; Hamill and Davies, 1986), satis? ed employees have all the means to make customers happy by offering superior quality service and thus reducing the occurrence of complaints substantially. The eventual result on the pro? tability of the organisation can only be encouraging, even at its most basic level fewer complaints mean less complaint expenditure and thus improved pro? ts. The methodology applied for collection of the research data was wholly appropriate and consistent with the perceived outcomes required. It generated ample data, which facilitated discussion and the drawing of speci? c conclusions. A perceived limitation is the adoption of a single case approach; however Remenyi et al. (1998) argues that this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge. As a result of this research the Airlines senior management team have recognised the need to address internal marketing in a manner that will be translated into the company’s philosophy and cultural attributes. This research has also provided a foundation for future work. Although many valuable insights were revealed through this research, there is an ongoing opportunity for future research in the area of service quality, failure and recovery, as well as the service quality gaps within the airline. References Albrecht, K. (1985), â€Å"Achieving excellence in service†, Training and Development Journal, Vol. 39 No. 12, pp. 64-7. Bamford, D. and Forrester, P. (2003), â€Å"Managing planned and emergent change within an operations management environment†, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 546-64. Berman, E. 1996), â€Å"Implementing TQM in state welfare agencies†, Admin. Soc. Work, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 55-72. Berry, L. L. (1995), On Great Service – A Framework for Action, Free Press, New York, NY. Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1997), â€Å"Listening to the customer – the concept of a service-quality information system†, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, Spring, pp. 65-76. Bitner, M. J. , Booms, B. H. and Tetreault, M. S. (1990), â€Å"The service encounter: favourable and unfavourable incidents†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, January. Bitner, M. J. , Faranda, W. T. , Hubbert, A. R. and Zeithaml, V. A. 1997), â€Å"Customer contributions and roles in service delivery†, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 193-205. Boshoff, C. (1997), â€Å"An experimental study of service recovery options†, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 110-30. Bowen, D. E. and Lawler, E. E. (1995), â€Å"Empowering service employees†, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 36, Summer, pp. 73-84. Carlzon, J. (1987), Moments of Truth, Ballinger Publishing, Cambridge, MA. Citizen’s Charter Complaints Task Force (1995), Complaints Handling in the Public Sector: A Research Study Conducted by MORI, HMSO, London. Cronin, J. J. and Taylor, S. A. (1992), â€Å"Measuring service quality: a re-examination and extension†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, July, pp. 55-68. Dale, B. (1999), Managing Quality, 3rd ed. , Prentice-Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Dale, B. (2003), Managing Quality, 4th ed. , Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. Day, G. S. (1994), â€Å"Continuous learning about markets†, California Management Review, Vol. 36, Summer, pp. 9-31. Dobbs, J. (1993), â€Å"The empowerment environment†, Training and Development, Vol. 47 No. 2, February, pp. 55-7. Dube, L. and Maute, M. (1996), â€Å"The antecedents of brand switching, brand oyalty and verbal responses to service failures†, in Swartz, T. , Bowen, D. and Brown, S. (Eds), Advances in Services Marketing and Management, Vol. 5, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 127-51. Ettorre, B. (1994), â€Å"Phenomenal promises that mean business†, Management Review, March, pp. 18-23. Fitzsimmons, J. A. and Fitzsimmo ns, M. J. (1998), Service Management: Operations Strategy and IT, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. ? Gronroos, C. (1987), â€Å"An applied service marketing theory†, Working Paper, No. 57, Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsingfors. ? Gronroos, C. 1988a), â€Å"Service quality: the six criteria of good perceived service quality†, Review of Business, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 10-13. ? Gronroos, C. (1988b), â€Å"Assessing competitive edge in the new competition of the service economy: the ? ve rules of service†, Working Paper, No. 9, March, First Interstate Centre for Service Marketing, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Hamill, B. and Davies, R. (1986), Quality in British Airways: Are You Being Served? , Phillip Alan, Oxford, pp. 77-87. Hart, C. W. L. , Heskett, J. L. and Sasser, W. E. (1990), â€Å"The pro? table art of service recovery†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 8 No. 4, July-August, pp. 148-56. Heskett, J. L. , Sasser, W. E. Jr and Schlesinger, L. A. (1997), The Service Pro? t Chain, Free Press, New York, NY. Heskett, J. L. , Jones, T. O. , Loveman, G. W. , Sasser, W. E. Jr and Schlesinger, L. A. (1994), â€Å"Putting the service-pro? t chain to work†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72, March-April, pp. 164-74. Johnson, R. L. , Tsiros, M. and Lancioni, R. A. (1995), â€Å"Measuring service quality: a systems approach†, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 6-19. Kotler, P. and Connor, R. A. (1977), â€Å"Marketing professional services†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 1, January, pp. 71-6. McCollough, M. A. and Bharadwaj, S. G. (1992), â€Å"The recovery paradox: an examination of consumer satisfaction in relation to discon? rmation, service quality, and attribution-based theories†, in Allen, C. T. , et al. (Eds), Marketing Theory and Application, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 102-7. Mason, J. B. (1993), â€Å"The art of service recovery†, Retailing Issues Newsletter, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 1-4. Moore, N. (1999), How to Do Research: The Complete Guide to Designing and Managing Research Projects, Library Association Publishing, London. Mulconrey, B. G. (1986), â€Å"High-tech that create high touch†, Best’s Review, October, pp. 28-33. Of? ce of Fair Trading (1990), Consumer Loyalty, OFT, London. Parasuraman, A. , Zeithaml, V. and Berry, L. (1985), â€Å"A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, pp. 41-50. Piercy, N. F. (1995), â€Å"Customer satisfaction and the internal market: marketing our customers to our employees†, Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 22-44. A case of service failure and recovery 321 MSQ 15,3 322 Reichheld, F. F. (1993), â€Å"Loyalty-based management†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 71, March-April, pp. 64-74. Remenyi, D. , Williams, B. , Money, A. and Swartz, E. (1998), Doing Research in Business and Management, Sage Publications, London. Rust, R. T. and Oliver, R. L. (1994), â€Å"Service quality: insights and managerial implications from the frontier†, in Rust, R. T. and Oliver, R. L. (Eds), Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA. Rust, R. T. , Zahorik, A. J. and Keiningham, T. L. (1995), â€Å"Return on quality: making service quality ? ancially accountable†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59 No. 2, pp. 58-70. Schlesinger, L. A. and Heskett, J. L. (1991), â€Å"Breaking the cycle of failure in services†, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 32, Spring, pp. 17-29. Singh, J. (1990), â€Å"A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response styles†, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66 No. 1, pp. 57-99. Tax, S. S. and Brown, S. W. (1998), â€Å"Recovering and learning from service failure†, Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 75-88. US Department of Transportation (1989), Federal Aviation Administration Airport Capacity Enhancement Plan, US Government Printing Of? e, Washington, DC, p. 3. Van der Wiele, T. , Boselie, B. and Hesselin, M. (2002), â€Å"Customer satisfaction and business performance†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 184-93. Verma, R. (2000), â€Å"An empirical analysis of management challenges in service factories, service shops, mass services and professional services†, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 8-25. Wirtz, J. and Johnston, R. (2003), â€Å"Singapore Airlines: what it takes to sustain service excellence – a senior management perspective†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 10-19. Wirtz, J. and Tomlin, M. (2000), â€Å"Institutionalising customer-driven learning thro ugh fully integrated customer feedback systems†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 205-15. Zeithaml, V. A. (2000), â€Å"Service quality, pro? tability and the economic worth of customers: what we know and what we need to learn†, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 67-85. Zeithaml, V. , Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1993), â€Å"The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service†, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 1, pp. 1-12. Zemke, R. and Bell, C. R. (1989), Service Wisdom: Creating and Maintaining the Customer Service Edge, 2nd ed. , Lakewood Books, Minneapolis, MN. Zhu, Z. , Sivakumar, K. and Parasuraman, A. (2004), â€Å"A mathematical model of service failure and recovery strategies†, Decision Sciences, Vol. 35 No. 3, p. 493. Further reading Zeithaml, V. , Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1988), â€Å"Communication and control processes in the delivery of service quality† , Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, April, pp. 35-48.

Assessment Philosophy Essay

In my opinion, assessment is what teachers do in order to better understand where their students are on the cognitive learning level of a subject matter. Assessment is a continuous process that takes time and understanding. As a teacher I will constantly assess my students by getting feedback from them in class. I feel that it is important for me to do this as a teacher, so I know which students need more attention on certain areas of the subject. By assessing my students, I will gain knowledge on how to use types of differentiated instruction where necessary. I believe assessment is a tool used to evaluate both the teaching and learning of  content of the student. A variety of assessment tools should be utilized to effectively reach students strengths. I realize that children learn differently and at their own pace. The types of assessment I will use to determine if my students have gotten where I want them to go will vary. Samples of my formative assessment tools I would use in the classroom would include informal and formal questioning, oral presentations, peer evaluations, variety of projects, quizzes, test, demonstrations, drawings, and web quest observations. We all have strengths and weaknesses and we all have different means of  demonstrating each. If I use a lot of assessments, and vary the types I use, it gives my students the best opportunity to show me what they have. I will allow students the opportunity to pick from various projects that will enhance their learning ability, so I can see what they are able to accomplish. As a teacher I will need to use assessments in my classroom to determine how to act upon the assessment to improve the students’ learning. I think assessments are an important part of being a successful teacher and I hope to encourage my students and show that I care about each one of them.

Course work business law environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Course work business law environment - Essay Example The above legal forms of doing business offer different benefits, rights as well as obligations to the owners of such businesses and as such as one moves from one form of business to another, the extent and nature of the rights and obligations also change. For example, a sole proprietor is personally liable for all the liability of the business running by him and as such the personal property of the sole proprietor is therefore also subject to liquidation if business fails and files for bankruptcy. Similar, in partnership, the partners are subject to personal liability also however as one move up towards formation of a company either a private or a public, the nature and extent of liability start to change. The shareholders of the private and public limited companies are only liable to the extent of their individual shareholding within the business. It is also important to note that in public limited companies, the function of management and ownership are two separate functions i.e. owners and the managers of the business are separate from each other. This paper will prepare a written analysis of a problem which identifies relevant legal principles; identify remedies and obligations appropriate to the circumstances of a legal situation presented in the given question. From the facts provided in the question, it is clear that the apparent form of the business is a sole proprietorship with Ivor being the legal owner of the business and Andrew as the employee of the new business. Sole proprietorship is considered as the oldest and common form of business formation where an individual can form a business without going into too much detail about the legal consequences of the business formation. Typically a Sole Proprietorship is owned and managed by single person and unlike limited company; there is no separation between the ownership as well as the management of the business. This is also the most distinguished character of the

Breast Cancer Treatments Lumpectomy vs. Mastectomy Essay

Breast Cancer Treatments Lumpectomy vs. Mastectomy - Essay Example Consequently, both are the main choices of patients and physicians in treating the disease. Both procedures are also found to have equal survival rates. However, with the increasing awareness of women afflicted with breast cancer on the impact of surgery on their psychological state related to loss of their breast, more and more women are resorting to a less invasive treatment which is lumpectomy and adjuvant therapies. Added to this is the notion that mastectomy is over used. Lumpectomy is a surgical removal of the breast lump including some normal tissues. Although, lumpectomy and adjuvant therapies are preferred methods of treatment for most women with breast cancer, their use is bombarded with several controversies. Body One distinct issue with lumpectomy includes the inadequate outcome data to the extent of its use and efficacy. Clinical trials included insufficient size to establish a convincing result of its application. Although, there had been multiple randomized trials of l umpectomy in patients with or without radiation, it was found out that the survival rates are based solely on unpublished analysis. In addition, participants in several studies were over treated producing a bias result. This was revealed in the study by Cumming (n.d) where he added that using a meta- analysis pose a risk on grounds that methods might be a concern. Cumming also found out that in the case of ductal carcinoma alone, data is limited to show importance of lumpectomy and other treatments following it. Consensus among pathologists on pathologic staging is also a question because there is no recommendation as to the exact stage lumpectomy is effective. It was further revealed that studies on radiation therapy after lumpectomy had no uniform techniques in using different radiotherapy agent such as iridium, electron beam, and cesium needle brachytherapy. Added to the above problem is controversy surrounding the falsified claim that lumpectomy with adjuvant therapy was as effe ctive as mastectomy. The lead investigators are found to commit misconduct with the result of their study of not providing the correct result of their study. Although, lumpectomy has been found to be effective with the early stages of cancer, its credibility was damaged because of the controversy which ruined the trust not only of patients but the public in general towards lumpectomy and adjuvant therapies. This shows that not only the lack of data on the efficacy of lumpectomy combined with adjuvant therapies is a problem but is accompanied with several other problems. Interestingly though, the study published in the Journal of National Cancer Institute ( 2004) reported that there is a significant decrease in the recurrence in the number of patients who went through lumpectomy with radiotherapy however not in lumpectomy alone. There is also no survival advantage even with the addition of radiotherapy. Similar with the study of Cumming, the JNCI reported that information from curren t and previous studies are found to be deficient in attesting that lumpectomy in combination with adjuvant therapy is more promising. Whether lumpectomy is a choice of the patient or the physician, cost is also an issue for the choice of therapy among women with breast cancer. Lumpectomy with radiation therapy is more costly than mastectomy. Munoz and company (1986) found out in their

Components of metaphors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Components of metaphors - Essay Example Using our example above, the eagle is the topic of the metaphor. Vehicle: This refers to both the expression and concepts that are called upon by the words i.e. the term that is being used metaphorically or non-literally. Using our example above, the lion is the vehicle of the metaphor. Grounds: This refers to the relationship between the topic and the vehicle. There is a relationship between the lion and the eagle. This is in relation to the strength of the lion and the tenacity of the eagle which is being used as the ground that supports this metaphor. The tenacity of an eagle is being equated to the strength of the lion. b) Explain the claim that metaphor is found in most writing very frequently. Illustrate with examples taken from the attached text about Jack Ashley (Appendix A). The metaphor is a powerful language tool as well as being a quite complex one too. Metaphors are powerful tools to give ideas to people that they will always remember. This is one of the reasons why the metaphor is found in writing very frequently. Metaphors are also great tools of imagery. Imagery refers to the method whereby a writer would utilise words that paint pictures of scenes and characters in the minds of their readers. In this age of expanded imagination, writers have had to adopt metaphorical writing to enable the reader to actually experience the scene as well as the characters in the story. Metaphors are one of the effective tools in writing fiction. They give life to the normally dull prose thus their frequent use. With these features, it is very easy to see why the claim that metaphors are found in most writing very frequently is quite true. We have sought metaphorical examples from the Jack Ashley text as below: ‘If the media is a smug insiders club’: The metaphorical component of this metaphor refers to the media as the topic of discussion. The vehicle would be the insider’s club while the ground for this is equating the smugness of the insider ’s club to the current media characteristics. ‘Britain seems much more of a stitched-up country’: The metaphorical component of this metaphor refers to the Britain as the topic of discussion. The vehicle would be the stitched-up country while the ground for this is equating the characteristic of the new Britain to the perpetual collusions between the wealthiest and most powerful citizens. ‘Parliament starts to feel like a fig leaf for things as they are’: The metaphorical component of this metaphor refers to the parliament as the topic of discussion. The vehicle would be the fig leaf while the ground for this is equating the characteristic of parliament to the fig leaf. A fig leaf is construed as a devise intended to conceal something regarded as shameful therefore equating the parliament to it, means that without the backbenchers and strong journalism, parliament would be a shameful institution. B. Comment on the teaching implications. How could sui table materials be designed to enhance intermediate students’ ability to understand metaphorical language, to re-use metaphors they have seen before appropriately in new contexts, and to know about metaphor in general? You may refer to examples of effective or ineffective materials from existing EFL textbooks if you wish; if so please include a copy of the relevant section. Difficulties are encountered by

The Capital Structure Decision and the Cost of Capital Essay

The Capital Structure Decision and the Cost of Capital - Essay Example The products include dolls and accessories, vehicles, games, puzzles, as well as play sets. The company’s popular toy brands include the Barbie dolls, Polly Pocket, Little Mommy, Monster High, BabyGear, WWW Wrestling figures, Fisher-Price, CARS, Toy Story, Max Steel, and Batman. The company sells it toy products in physical stores as well as online stores. Based on the module discussions discussed, the nature of the Mattel (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=MAT+Balance+Sheet&annual) company’s toy business operations and its toy clients, it is highly recommended that the capital structure (total liabilities or debt and equity proportions) must be adjusted to the medium debt ratio (1.0) type of business structure. The medium debt type of business organization can be equated to a financial position where there is an equal amount of total debt and total l equity. For, increasing the debt to an amount which is higher than the total equity would entail an increase in interest p ayments to the creditors. Creditors lend money in exchange for interest payments. In terms of amount, the current Mattel debt and equity amounts are high debt for both debt and equity amounts do not reach $3,000,000,000. Thus the medium debt ratio (1.0) amount can be reached my making either the debt equate the equity amount or the equity amount to equate the debt amount. Mattel Company has the best debt to equity ratio at 1.0. In terms of cost of capital, Mattel has the lowest of the three companies. On the other hand, an increase in the stockholders’ equity amount would generate more cash on hand needed for the company’s continuance of its current operations. However, the stockholders may not have enough funds to increase their investments in the company. In terms of risks, borrowing funds will increase the amount of the unpaid liability. Likewise, borrowing funds will generate the risk that creditors may not be able to grant the required loan amount. In terms of ris ks, the company will not be able to generate enough revenues to pay for the loan amount. One advantage of the generation of funds through debts is to avoid increasing the balance sheet’s stockholders’ equity figure. An increase in stockholders’ equity would produce lesser dividend distribution per share of stock. An advantage of the increasing debt amount is the avoidance of decreasing the company’s dividend per share contribution. The company’s 2010 beta is $0.99 each. Clorox The Clorox Company (http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=CLX+Key+Statistics) is engaged in the manufacture and sale of consumer products. The products are sold in the United States and around the world. The company’s products are segregated into four major divisions. The divisions are cleaning, household, lifestyle, and international. The company’s popular brands include Clorox cleaning products, liquid – Plumr, S.O.S., STP, and Armor All. Internationally, the company focuses on the home care products, cat litter products, plastic bags, containers, wraps, and charcoal products. The company’s beta is 0.35. In terms of amount, the current Clorox debt amount is less than $5,500,000,000 and the company’s equity amount is less than $100,000,000. Thus medium debt ratio (1.0) amount can be achieved by either increasing the current equity amount to equal the debt amount or reducing the debt amount to equal the current equit

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning Research Paper

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Learning - Research Paper Example Although the disorder is present in both sexes, it is most common in males. ADHD is a disorder where the child has problems with being highly impulsive, exhibiting over-activity or inattentiveness, or some combination of these three aspects (PubMed Health). ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in children and the most well studied (Myayes, Bagwell and Erkulwater 1). Children with ADHD tend to have a much higher level of activity than normal children and often act impulsively. The principle of ADHD is heavily debated, as all children show some degree of this behavior, especially in early age (Myayes, Bagwell and Erkulwater 15-16). ADHD is a complex disorder and the exact symptoms that children show can differ significantly from one another (Lougy and Rosenthal 22). This case study considers Alice, a ten-year-old girl who has ADHD and experiences considerable learning difficulties and problems establishing friendships as the result of this disorder. Literature Review Diagnosis of ADHD ADHD has a range of symptoms, which are generally grouped into three categories. These are impulsive behavior, hyperactivity, and lack of attention. There are nine diagnostic symptoms for inattentiveness, five for hyperactivity and three for impulsivity. ADHD is a difficult disorder to diagnose, as many of the behaviors can be associated with other conditions as well as normal behaviors that occur as part of childhood. The complexity of the symptoms means that there are many children who are incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD, and others who have ADHD but have not been diagnosed. One of the difficulties in diagnosing ADHD is that the symptoms are only evident at some points in time, most commonly during school hours. A child with ADHD generally does not show the symptoms during a physician’s visit, and so other people must be the source of this information (Myayes, Bagwell and Erkulwater 5). In fact, children are often first diagnosed with ADHD when they enter school because many of the behaviors associated with ADHD do not appear to be abnormal without the increased demands on attention, sitting still and following a direction that is present in the school environment (Lougy and Rosenthal 22). In addition, ADHD often co-occurs with other disorders, and some of the behavioral symptoms that are part of ADHD also occur as part of other disorders (Myayes, Bagwell and Erkulwater 20).To assist in diagnosis; the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following guidelines. That child has at least six symptoms from either impulsivity and hyperactivity, or six from the attention category, some of which began prior to seven years of age.

Cost and financial management Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Cost and financial management - Coursework Example The analysis will be based on the 2012 annual report. The consolidated financial; statements are analyzed through incorporation of the traditional techniques as well as the ratio analysis. The traditional techniques employed include the horizontal, vertical as well as, the trend analysis. Ratios are significant when analyzing the financial statement s of a given company. The ratios are, therefore, analyzed in this report to measure the profitability, liquidity and the solvency of the company. Everything in the report has been thoroughly analyzed and errors minimized to the most professional levels. Apologies are made in case any errors or omissions are identified in the report. The company is fully committed to achieving the best position in the market share in terms of leading the market as well as ensuring customer satisfaction in the delivery of their products and services. Various initiatives have been executed and are still being executed. These initiatives relate to the improve ment of the product with the aim of achieving their set objectives or goals. The good cash performance observed in the past years has rendered the liquidity of the company strong. At the year end of 2012 for instance, the net cash flow was 122.6 million pounds. About WS Atkins The headquarters of WS Atkins is located in Century Way, in the United Kingdom. The Company is an engineering consultancy firm based on the international boundaries. The operations specifications include management technical and engineering services. The services are offered to both the public as well as the private sector clients that are located globally in all economic sectors. They are termed as general contractors. It is a holding company whose significant operations are limited to consultancy in the engineering as well design fields. The company operates in the United Kingdom, in the Middle East, in Europe, Asia Pacific and Energy. Different segments are observed in the five continents. The areas of oper ation in the United Kingdom include designs in environment, water, education defense, aerospace and design of the infrastructure. A lot of operations in North America include management services. The company provides planning of infrastructure, management services in construction, engineering, and consultancy in the environmental field, urban planning, and program management services as well as architecture. The range of the services the company offers in the middle east include design services as well as project management and engineering services in transportation, building and other programs relating to infrastructure. Asia Pacific business provides or offer services relating to engineering, urban planning and design, planning, rail design services and architectural services. The services the company offers in Hong Kong and Energy are very limited. In Hong Kong, the operations lie on urban rail developments, while, in Energy, the services include both engineering and management o f projects services. The records outline that the company owns Poyry Plc since the year 2011. The major competitors of WS Atkins include AMEC Plc, Amey UK Plc and Bechtel Group Inc. the fiscal year that ended 2012 reported revenue amounting to 2735.50 million pounds. According to the 2012 annual report of the company, the year ended 31st March 2012 marked a turnover growth rate of 9 percent to 1,711.1 million pounds. At the end of March, the number of employees is 17,420. The

Oscar Zeta Acosta Essay Example for Free

Oscar Zeta Acosta Essay Abstract The paper that I wrote talks about Oscar Zeta Acosta and his impact on the Chicano community. In the leaders contribution I talk about how Acosta was an attorney for the Chicano movement and generated controversy. In the leaders contribution section I talk how Acosta addressed political, social, and educational injustices against Chicanos. Acosta used his time and profession to help the Chicano movement. He contributed through two of his books that are a major part of the Chicano literacy renaissance. He also clashed with the Judicial system a lot of times for reasons that he thought were right. In the section others perspectives I talked about how he was scrutinized by many people but was still recognized through his significance in the Chicano movement. Leaders Context Oscar Zeta Acosta was born in El Paso, Texas on April 8, 1935. A little after he turned five he and his family moved to Californias San Joaquin Valley because his family couldnt make a living during the Depression. His parents started working as migrant field workers. Acostas father was different from other people. He had a passion for competition he had to compete with people more then anything. When Acosta was little his father would always make him argue with him. As he said in his book Oscar Zeta Acosta: The Uncollected Works I guess that is where I became as nasty as I am. (5). When Acosta went to high school he wasnt one of the average Chicanos going to school. He became involved in sports and music he was also president of his class. He got a scholarship for music at the University of Southern California. But he decided not to go. After finishing high school, Acosta joined the U.S. Air Force. Acosta then worked his way through college, becoming the first member of his family to graduate. Acosta attended night classes at San Francisco Law School and passed the California Bar exam in 1966 on his second try. (Oscar Zeta Acosta: The Uncollected works) In 1967, Acosta began working as an antipoverty attorney for the East Legal Aid Society in Oakland, California. Then he moved to East Los Angeles, where he joined the Chicano Movement and generated controversy as an activist attorney during the years 1968-1973. But his activities began in Oakland but it was in East Los Angeles where he gained notoriety. He defended various Chicano protest groups and activists such as the Saint Basil 21 and Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez. As an attorney, he figured prominently in legal cases which addressed political, social, and educational injustices against Chicanos. Acosta is also a well known author of two most important novels of the Chicano Protest Movement. An Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972), and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) . Acostas characteristics involve him being savage, nasty, not giving up nor letting anyone out him down as he said in his novel The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo I dont give a shit what other people have to say about me(130). I believe that all of these characteristics has made him, become who he was. Because he didnt care what others thought about him, he kept on going when things got hard . Acostas father had to do a lot with him becoming like this, because Acostas father would push Acosta to become better then anyone else made him become the nasty interior person he was. He would never show his emotions and never really found his true identity because Acostas father would always push him to do extracurricular activities, and he didnt have that extra time to spend it with the other Chicanos out on the block. It was until later on working as a Legal Aid and saw the Chicanos rioting and walking out for causes he didnt know existed. Leaders Contribution Oscar Zeta Acosta contributed to the Chicano community through two novels that he wrote. Those two novels were a literary contribution to the Chicano community and movement. He used his profession as an attorney to defend Mexican/ Chicano walk outs for better education. Acosta demonstrated his contribution through joining the Chicano movement. He used his profession as an attorney to defend various Chicano protest groups and activists such as the Saint Basil 21 which was The Catholics for la Raza the coalition in an ill-fated protest at St. Basil’s on Christmas Eve, 1969 and also the Rodolfo Corky Gonzalez where he led a Chicano contingent to the Poor People’s March on Washington D.C and issued a â€Å"plan of the Barrio† which demanded better housing, education and restitution of pueblo lands. Acosta figured prominently in legal cases which addressed political, social, and educational injustices against Chicanos. He frequently clashed with the judicial system, winning ardent supporters as well as making political enemies. He also contributed two novels that he wrote called Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972), and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973) . Those were two novels that were highly acclaimed as major contributions to the Chicano literary renaissance. Acosta was a catalyst for change because he contributed his time and profession to the Chicano Movement. Acosta defended his community and race and he also took cases that defended Chicano education, and Chicano rights. He contributed to the Chicano literary renaissance. He is someone that may not be well known to everyone because no one talks about him now but during the Chicano movement he was a catalyst for change because he helped the Chicano community be what it is today by not attaining the injustices they had in the education and in the living of the Chicano community. Other Perspectives Oscar Zeta Acosta is a controversial Chicano author, activist and attorney whose work focuses on ethnicity and ways that people of Mexican ancestry in the United States forge an awareness of themselves and how they get treated by other people. Even though Acosta sometime contradicts himself he is still considered by a few a very great person and activist. The website  ¡Para Justicia y Libertad! said that Acosta was A gifted writer and storyteller, an activist, a civil rights attorney, and is considered the Malcolm X of the Chicano/a community. Also in the article called Oscar Zeta Acosta: One of God’s own prototypes he said Oscar was a legendary, compelling figure in Chicano history his remains in the shadows of the general American culture ( p.1) . There is one thing was for sure that most Chicana would say that he was a feminist and grouse! (Bandido 115) . Some Chicanas even dislike the way he talks about women in his book. He talks about women as if they were objects and he also talks about them in a vulgar way in the books by calling them bitches of hoers. He also talks in a very feminist way, when you read his books you can notice how he mentions or trys to lower the feminine perspective and the mentality of a women. Conclusion Based on the research I have conducted it is my view that Oscar Zeta Acosta was a key component in the Chicano movement because of the role he took by defending the Chicano community when no one would defend them, and especially because Acosta took his profession and his time to defend them. His work affected my life because it showed me that in life you have to pursue your goals to achieve them. Even though it might be tough there reachable. What surprised me about Acosta was his language in his books because I thought an attorney would not talk or especially write a book with vulgar and derogatory language. Another thing that also surprised me about Acosta was that he was a feminist I believed that someone that would defend people like the Chicano community because of the injustices they are facing in society would discriminate other people. Acostas importance during his lifetime was that he was an essential part in fixing the Chicano education and living in the Anglo world. Reflection Leader Selection.I am pleased with my catalyst for change choice Oscar Zeta Acosta. I learned more about the Chicano education injustices and also about the Chicano movement. Even tough there where parts that I wasnt pleased about hearing like on how he was a feminist and how vulgar he talked about women in his books and how he just thought they were objects. I still found my catalyst for change interesting like on how he wasnt like the rest of the Chicanos while he was growing up, he was like an outsider to his own race. Methodology. At first it was difficult to find books that Acosta has written or books that talk about him, because every book store I went to said they did not have them but they could always order them but it would take about to two weeks and when I would say no thank you ill try some where else they would look at me if I was crazy. At the end I ended up going to the downtown public library and I was luck there was only one copy of the books. Maybe next time what I would do differently is choose a person that has sources that are available everywhere. I believe that I did pace my self with reading the books and writing the paper. My time management was effective at times, because there was times I go carried away doing other things but I would still do my paper even though at times I would have to sleep late. Critical Reading. Reading the sources was some what difficult because of the language and sometimes the metaphors he used. What I learned about the whole reading concept is that it is going to be very useful in college and that you have to learn how to pace yourself when you read also that you have to skim the book, also having a dictionary in hand would be very useful to. Note taking did become easier as I worked along. I found note taking very useful since the books I was reading were not mine so I couldnt highlight the important information that I would be using for my research paper. I found the note taking system very useful, probably the other useful thing that would of helped me would have been if the books were mine because I wouldnt have speed threw the books to get them in by their due date. Writing. In writing my research paper the difficulty I faced was not knowing how to get my point across I found that difficult to do because everyone that read my research paper did not know who Oscar Zeta Acosta was. Probably the one thing that would of been useful was choosing a person that people knew at least the name to. The paper we got with the prompt and the instructions on what we had to answer helped a lot because while I was writing my paper I was looking back to see if I answered the prompt and followed the instructions and criteria. The skills that I believe that I need to work on is on my writing and how I try to get my point across because I found that hard to do. The skill that I believe that I was getting better at was knowing how to paraphrase. Experience. I did enjoy working on this project alone because I worked on it at my own pace, but I do enjoy working with others. I believe this research paper would have been better in group because you dont have top rush threw books because everyone can read a book, also because everyone has their own style of writing and looks at the prompts differently so it would have been easier because everyone could have contributed through their opinions and ideas and could have answered the prompt more efficiently. I believe that the most interesting part of this research paper was getting to know everything that your catalyst for change did, because I just knew a couple of thins that Acosta did like being a lawyer and defending the Chicano community, but I didnt know or have a clue everything else he did and how he acted and how he was a feminist. I believe that the most difficult thing about the research paper was the paper itself, because everything was just new to me because I have ever used MLA format before.

Study Of Ben Jonson The Alchemist English Literature Essay

Study Of Ben Jonson The Alchemist English Literature Essay The play starts in a mansion in London which is in absence of its master, Lovewit, who has departed to Kent to be safe from the Plague. The housekeeper, Jeremy, acting out as a captain Face, with the aid of two of his friends, Subtle, a charlatan, performing as an alchemist and Dol also in the role of a lady while in reality a prostitute; has turned the house into a domain of their conceit. The tripartite change their identities and play and act out roles in order to make benefit and earn money by deceiving some foolish clients who believe Subtle is a doctor in power of the art of alchemy and thus able to transmute metal into gold. As a result humorous and entertaining consequences start happening, while at the same time Jonson mocks many social classes of 17th century London such as the Puritans whose greed of money is even more excessive or nobilities like Kastril, and his widowed sister who came to the house in search of a husband and, on the other hand, Lovewit the master of the house who marries this woman because of her money. As soon as the play starts the audience understands the chaotic situation. The master of the house, the supposedly real practitioner of power, is absent, and like a typical Renaissance and Jacobean drama with the absence of power, chaos has turned up. The chaos is shown through the shifting and altering of identities mostly practiced by Face, Subtle, and Dol who are in pretention; the hierarchical boundaries are broken down and servants are in the place of masters, masters in the place of clients, and we have Dol Common for a great lady (IV.i.90) Therefore since identities are understood through appearance, realities are subverted and identities are performed and thus through performed identities deception, con, and fraud has turned up. But the reader may ask what the significance of performed identities is? In other words why individuals try to act out their subjectivity? According to Lacans theories people act out their identities and pretend to be the persons who the other characters desire them to be. That is to say in Lacans study of the subjection of the infant, in the mirror stage the child grasps herself in the mirror as an independent subject who is divided and separated from the Other whom up to now for her was her mother. She understands that she is separated from her mother and from the world so this separation hints her about her lacks. She realizes that in order to construct his subjectivity she is in need of the Other or the others to define her and as a result she feels the desire to define herself according to the Others desires. Thus, she would not be a complete subject, if she does not know anything about the desire of the Other. In The Alchemist, as Ann Barton discusses in her book Ben Jonson, Dramatist, people of all classes and temperaments make their way to Subtles consulting rooms because they think that somehow he can make their lives better, because they have become dissatisfied with what they are (Barton 138). Contrary to Shakespearean characters, Jonsons characters themselves yearn to be changed since they are not content with the paltry dimensions of their habitual lives and selves (ibid 138). To put in Lacanian terms they are totally lead by their own desires. It is their desire-which here is pictured by Jonson as ugly, material desire and greed for money and gold-that not only guides them towards Subtle but also creates Subtle. In fact as Lacan discusses about the role of desire in the realm of language and subjection [w]e are born into language-the language through which the desires of others are articulated and through which we are forced to articulate our own desire (Homer 44). According to Lac an we want to be objects of the Others desires and our identities are shaped by the Others desires just as the alchemists identity is created out of the other naÃÆ' ¯ve characters desires. As long as there are dupes like Dapper, Mammon, Drugger, Tribulation, and Ananias with their illusory hunger of turning metal into gold, inevitably individuals like Subtle are created as well. Not only the three cheaters are in lack of the fools to be identified, but also the fools are in need of the frauds: as was mentioned earlier they themselves are ready and eager to be deceived since they are against the rationalities of reality and are in search of the dreams of their unconsciousness and this desire is fulfilled only through false identities of a non-existent alchemist, a fake captain and a Queen of Faery. As a result since their aspirations are restricted by the very limitations of intellect and social position from which they want to escape. This is why they need Face and Subtle, masters of illusion who can liberate and objectify their inchoate feelings of restriction and discontent. (Barton 138). Their greed of gold can be labeled as their desire that revealed their lack and therefore their need towards Subtle and his colleagues in order to be defined as a winner of gambles (Dapper), as a savior (Mammon), and as devoted Puritans (Tribulation, and Ananias). In this chaotic world that is pictured in the house the people yearn for an ideal status brought by alchemy; in fact alchemy can be considered as the real desire, as the lack that individuals feel in order to identify themselves and as the Other whom individuals yearn to be. Alchemy is the art that brings order and unity and simultaneously the complete pleasures and contentment of what Lacan terms as the Real Stage in which persons were born into and in which they were united with the mother, and a perfect happy, unified world was experienced by the infant. But the point stressed by Lacan is that human beings can never return to this ideal stage so that it is an illusory condition for subjects and is created only by peoples desires and can only happen in peoples dreams. The desire for such a world is shown through idealistic ambitions of Epicure Mammon, who wants to change the world into a utopia by turning everything into gold. With the power of alchemy he wants to enrich his friends, free England from the plague, restore the aged to youth, and cure all diseases, comming of all causes (Barton 140). Besides, by turning any metal into pure gold he is set to remove any separation and differentiation among objects i.e. no lead and silver and all metals to be changed to the highest and noblest of metals. What he is yearning to accomplish is out of the capability of human being; an idealistic condition which Lacan calls the Real Stage, and which can never be achieved, just as the world Mammon describes is out of reach and just as turning metal into gold is. MAMMON. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ He that has once the flower of the sun, The perfect ruby, which we call elixir, Not only can do that, but by its virtue Can confer honour, love, respect, long life, Give safety, valour: yea, and victory, To whom he will. In eight-and-twenty days, Ill make an old man, of fourscore, a child. (II.i.38) Apart from appearance, Subtle uses the Others language. It is not hard to find out that in this play changed identities are followed by changed language. Language is a device, an instrument that shapes identities. The person in power is Subtle, the alchemist, and it is his ability in words that equips him with power. He manages in what way to handle the situation and in what way to fool the clients according to their greedy ambitions. It is the power of his words that makes his clients to believe that he really is an alchemist. Although Face is the one who provides them the place to perform, when it comes to the domains of language he is not that much powerful as Subtle is. To give an example, in the first scene during their quarrel, Subtle burst out saying that it was he who taught Face the art of language: SUBTLE . à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦have I taen thee out of dung, So poor, so wretched, when no living thing Would keep thee company, but a spider, or worse? Raised thee from brooms, and dust, and watring pots? Sublimed thee, and exalted thee, and fixed thee Ithe third region, called our state of grace? Wrought thee to spirit, to quintessence, with pains Would twice have won me the philosophers work? Put thee in words, and fashion? Made thee fit For more than ordinary fellowships? Given thee thy oaths, thy quarrelling dimensions? Thy rules, to cheat at horse-race, cockpit, cards, Dice, or whatever gallant tincture else? Made thee a second, in mine own great art? (I. i. 17) In fact it is in language that Subtle is created as a different subject, i.e. an alchemist. This reflects in one way or another Lacans theory that Language is not so much to be seen as our means of expression but as the medium through which and in which our very identity is structuredà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Language creates us as it creates the world around us. This is not to suggest that things do not exist, but rather that it is only through language that materiality becomes meaningful (Halstead 197). To put it in other words, identities are created in language, and through language individuals are shaped just as Subtle, creates the identity of an alchemist by talking like an alchemist. On the other hand, Jeremy and Dol build up a Captain and a Lady through the shift of language. For instance a shift of language is vivid in Dols speech, the first extract is taken from Act I in which Dol is quarrelling with her two colleagues: DOL. And you, sir, with your menstrue, gather it up. Sdeath, you abominable pair of stinkards, Leave off your barking, and grow one again, Or, by the light that shines, Ill cut your throats. Ill not b e made a prey unto the marshal For neer a snarling dog-bolt oyou both. (I.i.19) And this quotation is uttered when she is playing her role as a lady in front of Mammon: DOL. Sir, although We may be said to want the gilt and trappings, The dress of honour; yet we strive to keep The seeds, and the materials. (IV.i.91) Another example that can be look at as the role of language in construction of identity is Surlys transformation into a Spaniard; first of all let us begin with the fact that he is the only character who does not believe in Subtles words and his promise of alchemy from the very beginning. He rudely questions and devalues the promises of the supposed alchemist Faith, I have a humour, I would not willingly be gulled. Your stone Cannot transmute me (II.i.39). Just as Barton says Surly is a man impatient with pretence, someone who declines to be taken in. A rationalist from the start, he believes neither in Mammons grandiose visions nor in the promises of Subtle. He identifies Dol Common quite accurately as a whore, at first sight, although Mammon tries to persuade him that he actually knows her ladyships noble brother, and has the whole, dignified family history lodged somewhere in the back of his mind. As Subtle and Mammon fill the air with brightly coloured alchemical terms, Surlys observations are caustic. He cannot resist trying to expose the charlatans for what they are (Barton 146). In scene three of Act IV, it is Surly who appears in a fake disguise, like a Spaniard, and this time Subtle and Face are totally deceived since Surlys language has completely changed to Spanish. Another language brings another identity; Subtle and Face do not doubt him and later when they understand that they have been fooled they get shocked. Surleys knowledge of the Spanish language enables him to discover about Subtle and Faces charlatanism. Taking him as a Spanish man, Subtle and Face speak in English in front of him revealing their true identity and their real intentions, while Surly is listening to them. They do not understand what Surly is saying in Spanish and their lack of understanding in this language disarms them and their power is taken away and so their plan is revealed. SURLY. Entiendo. SUBTLE. Do you intend it? So do we, dear Don. Have you brought pistolets? or portagues? My solemn Don? Dost thou feel any? FACE, {he feels his pockets) Full. SUBTLE. You shall be emptied, Don; pumped, and drawn Dry, as they say. FACE . Milked, in troth, sweet Don. SUBTLE. See all the monsters; the great lion of all, Don. SURLY. Con licencia, sepuede ver a esta senora? SUBTLE. What talks he now? F ACE . Othe senora. (IV.iii.101) The two rascals make fun of the Spanish man whom they regard is out of the realm of language and thus unable to recognize their words, which ironically is vice versa. To sum up, the notion of language is highlighted in this play in its comical way to show that language is not separated from peoples subjectivity and that as Lacan mentions individuals are constructed within language. So that language gives power and it is the power of language that helps Subtle and his colleagues to abuse other characters. Since the play is about the power of alchemy and turning base metal into gold, metaphorically we can assume that the real alchemy is that of the language that makes identities out of bodies, that the elixir of language can be more powerful than that of the Philosophers Stone.