Thursday, November 28, 2019

Ikea Vision Essay Example

Ikea Vision Essay The IKEA vision is To create a better everyday life for the many people. ? Our business idea is To offer a wide range of well designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. the IKEA concept is based on the market positioning statement. We do our part focuses on our commitment to product design, consumer value and clever solutions. By using inexpensive materials in a novel way and minimising production, distribution and retail costs, our customers benefit from low prices. he IKEA product range is developed to be extensive enough to have something that appeals to everyone and to cover all functions in the home. The products are modern not trendy so they are practical enough for everyday use. IKEA is the home furnishing specialist. IKEA products are functional and appealing, and enable many people to improve their home life through practical solutions to everyday problems. low price is not appealing unless it represents good value for money. This is where IKEA is able to make a real difference. IKEA is committed to having a good relationship with our suppliers and so we are able to purchase good quaility, economically produced designs that are bought in bulk to keep costs down. By making all our furniture flat packed we cut down on transportation and assembly costs. convenient shopping The IKEA store offers everything under one roof, most of it available for immediate take-away. IKEA offers service where you need it, but allows customers to make most of the decisions themselves. This means that we need to make it easy to choose the right products by displaying them correctly, describing them accurately and having a simple returns policy. a day out for the whole family IKEA aim to look after our customers by planning for their needs. Not only do we provide inspiration and ideas, but we also encourage people to touch, feel and use the products on display to see how they would fit into their own home. We have new products arriving all the time, seasonal themes, play areas for children, special events and a great value family restaurant. he IKEA catalogue is the main marketing tool with around 70% of of the annual marketing budget being spent on this alone. It is produced in 38 different editions, in 17 languages for 28 countries. 110 million catalogues were circulated last year three times higher than that of the Bible, with 13 million of these being available in the UK. The IKEA restaurants are important in providing our customers a place to eat and relax whi le shopping. There are 3 different concepts offering food in IKEA stores . We will write a custom essay sample on Ikea Vision specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Ikea Vision specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Ikea Vision specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The main restaurant serves meals based on our Swedish heritage, with traditional dishes such as Gravadlax and meatballs with Lingonberry relish. There are also bistro areas which sell localised snacks such as; hot dogs in the UK, baguettes in France, and pizza in Italy. The IKEA Swedish food markets are also in every store and encourage customers to take home a taste of Sweden. The wide range of traditional Swedish foods helps customers understand our Swedish origins and also lives up to our low price promise. IKEA is the worlds largest furniture retailer. The company originated in Sweden and has now moved to the Netherlands. They designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances and home accessories. In the current economy, consumers are holding on to their money more tightly and making hard choices about if, and where, to spend it. Having a great customer experience greatly increases the chances that a) customers will come back to shop there again and b) they will tell their friends and family about how great it was! Word of mouth is very powerful marketing; studies show that consumers trust friend recommendations more than information from vendors. IKEA is one of those stores with a great shopping experience that evokes word of mouth. In addition to the fun one can have by sitting on all those couches or envisioning how that bedroom would look in your own house, Ikea does things to make a difference even to the smallest customers. Ikea has a play area for the littlest ones, where they can romp while their parents are enjoying the shopping. However, Ikea actually encourages families to bring their children with them through the showroom experience, starting right rom the entrance. The Consumers are more young couples and middle classes of society. Women are more accurate. More measure, they write more Notes. Most customers without know what to want exactly come there and buying process based on product selection compared another products. It’s Pleasant experience that the customer in a great atmosphere could to tour, so the exact product reviews and compare another products and in this process Presence Of   Seller and h is comments not disturb the buyer. hen the customer wants to some information could go to information section . Decoration of products attract customers and affect their selection so that almost pass all the different parts . For example, putting together the sofa in different colors allowing the client to compare that product with different colors. putting small objects near decors like picture frames, dolls†¦ attracted customers to things that are not easily seen.

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Domestic violence in mature women in the United Kingdom A review of the literature The WritePass Journal

Domestic violence in mature women in the United Kingdom A review of the literature Abstract Domestic violence in mature women in the United Kingdom A review of the literature , 1.2 million women suffered from DV (Home Office, 2013). However, fewer than 1 in 4 individuals who suffer from DV will report this (Home Office, 2013) and therefore the estimation of DV in the UK is likely to be grossly underestimated. Thirty-one percent of the funding to DV charities from local authorities was cut between 2010/11 to 2011/12, a reduction from  £7.8 million to  £5.4 million (data obtained using Freedom of Information Act requests by the False Economy project, and analysed by the research team). The National Violence against Women Survey (NVAWS) states that about 1.5 million women are raped or physically assaulted by an intimate partner yearly (Tjaden Thoennes, 2000). The Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, which measured only physical assaults, concluded that there were 691,710 nonfatal violent victimizations committed by current or former spouses, boyfriends, or girlfriends against victims during 2001(Rennison, and Planty, 2003). Of these cases, 85% were against women (Rennison and Planty, 2003). The NVAWS also found that 22.1% of women surveyed, compared to 7.4 percent of men, and reported being physically assaulted by a current or former partner in their lifetime (Rennison and Planty, 2003). In the United Kingdom, national policy has started to identify DV as a concern for mature women. Subsequently, the Government has put policies in place so that healthcare and social professionals are able to identify cases of DV. For example, funding of nearly  £40 million has been allocated to specialist support services and help-lines until 2015 and the piloting of a domestic violence disclosure scheme that gives individuals the right to ask about any violent criminal offences carried out by a new partner (Home Office, 2013).   An estimated 27,900 women have had to be turned away by the first refuge service that they approached in the last year because there was no space, according to new figures from Women’s Aid (2012). These figures demonstrate that services are under some strain to deal with the large amount of DV cases in the UK. Prolonged episodes of DV can result in the development of mental health problems such as depression, panic attacks and mental breakdown (Roberts et al., 1998; Astbury et al., 2000). . Women often find it difficult and challenging to communicate about the psychological abuse they suffer during DV and often prefer to suffer in silence than complain about it (Home Office, 2013). This may have resulted in creating a barrier to finding data on mature victims of domestic violence. Abused women are three and a half times more likely to be suicidal than non-abused women (Golding, 1999). Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO, 2005) indicates that domestic violence puts women at risk from a range of negative health outcomes such as physical injury, mental health problems, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, emotional distress, fatigue, sleeping and eating disorders and general fear. There are a wide range of social factors thought to contribute the high occurrence of DV against women in the UK. These factors include some religious and political practices that undermine women (Walker, 1999). Factors such as financial hardship. a lack of resources, educational shortcomings, extreme alcohol consumption, high levels of jealousy, belonging to a large family and substance abuse have also all been linked with the rising risk of domestic violence (Martin et al., 1999). Furthermore, in comparison to their younger female counterparts, mature women may have a limited understanding of the term abuse as a result of their older generation (Zink et al., 2003). For example, DV may have not been considered as a criminal offence when they were growing up and feminist movements were generally unheard of. Despite figures showing that DV against mature women is rising considerably the UK, the government is considering serious funding cuts for crime prevention programs as well as staff cutting plans including over 50, 000 job cuts in the ‘National Health Service’ (NHS) over the next 10 year period (Scripps, 2013). In light of these cuts, this research aims to study the relationship between DV and the prevention programs that have been designed to tackle this crime. In particular, a counsellors’ perspective will be adopted and the challenged that counsellors face in the light of budget constraints will also be explored. Using an extensive review of the literature, the following sections provide a brief overview of the various aspects pertaining to DV and its psychological influence. The review will conclude with a discussion of government interventions and policy recommendations. This review will evaluate and critique the available literature pertaining to DV including an assessment of the historical evolution of DV as a general concern for mature women, theoretical explanations of DV and consideration of the significance of gender. This underpinning process will be used as a basis for examining the impact of DV against mature women (39 years old and above). It will also look at the value and effectiveness of current resources, initiatives, and support networks used to tackle DV and assist victims. This review will illustrate that DV in mature women is a complex and multifaceted subject. Definition of Terms For the purpose of this review, the following terms shall be defined as follows: Domestic violence: The term domestic violence is defined as a physical type of abuse carried out by an individual directly towards their significant other previously or currently, through the use of violence. The intent of the abuse is to somewhat establish and maintain a sense of dominion and control over another person, and is depicted in a context of uneven authority or entitlement. This therefore increases the likelihood of inflicting harm to both the physical and emotional welfare of that individual. Well-being: According to Ryan and Deci (2001), the term ‘well-being’ refers to the full spectrum of people’s emotional experiences and to their quality of life. Mature women: Mature women would be defined as those persons aged 39 years and above. Health: This is a state of physical and mental well-being, and thus not necessarily means the absence of symptoms, illness and morbidity (WHO, 2004b). Quality of life: This is an ‘individuals’ understanding of his or her status in life, in relation to the culture and value system of society, viewed against their personal goals, standard, and expectations in life (The WHOQOL Group, 1995). Qualitative Study: Qualitative studies are exploratory and are particularly well suited to social research. Cresswell (1998) defines a qualitative study as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants conducted in a natural setting.† Typical data gathering tools employed in a qualitative research design include observation, interviews, video documentaries, and focus groups. Quantitative Study:   Quantitative studies measure information in numbers using a set of pre-defined variables as the focus of the study. Using the definition given by Cresswell (1998), it â€Å"is an inquiry into a social or human problem, based on testing a theory composed of variables, measured with numbers, and analyzed with statistical procedures, in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory holds true. Data collection methods typically include questionnaires, standardized tests and codified forms. Scope and Objectives The main objective of this research was to increase awareness of DV against mature women and to improve the standard and efficacy of the care that is provided to the victims. The researcher’s experience in looking after this group of victims has been challenging and may have been much improved if their experiences and needs were better understood. This piece of research aimed to: Carry out a literature review of DV in mature women. Identify how the government and society in general support victims of domestic violence in recovery. Identify the counsellor’s role while caring for victims of DV. To provide an opportunity for mature women to speak of their experiences in order to highlight their experiences and to develop resources to support and inform mature women (Mears, 2002). To explore the prevalence of physical and verbal abuse among the study population (Mouton at el, 2004). This research will use a positivist approach, focusing on the dilemma a mature victim of DV often faces and the importance of the therapeutic relationship they hold with their counsellor. This approach focuses on gaining â€Å"positive† evidence from observable experience, rather than depending on intuition or assumptions on behalf of researchers. In particular, this approach believes that there are general patterns of cause-and-effect and that these can be used to predict natural phenomena such as DV. Research Methodology This dissertation will use review the literature and contain analysis of secondary data and the summarising of the literature’s findings on the topic of DV in mature women. Procedure This piece of research used a literature review to gather data on the topic of DV amongst mature women in the UK and beyond. The following key terms and words were used in various academic search engines including Web of Knowledge (http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/), Science Direct (www.sciencedirect.com) and PubMed (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed): Domestic violence AND mature women. Domestic abuse AND mature women. Domestic violence AND women. Due to a limit in the number of articles generated using these search terms, no exclusionary criteria were applied. Literature review This is a secondary review research project involving an extensive literature review on the topic of DV and its impact and effects on mature women. The material for this review was obtained from peer reviewed psychological and counselling journals, which were accessed through online journal databases such as PUBMED and CINAHL. Governmental reports such as those published by the Department of Health (2000), BACP (2000), World Health Organisation (WHO, 2004) and technical reports from scientific research groups and working papers from social welfare committees were also used within the research. This review adopted the â€Å"best evidence synthesis† method proposed by Franche et al. (2005). This method involves summarizing the literature and drawing up conclusions, based on the balance of evidence. Epidemiology and Economic Impact Domestic violence among mature women is a pressing national problem. As a recent report from the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2004) indicates, domestic violence   against mature women has increased   five-fold resulting in increased   depression, physical ill health, psychological effects and other mental health disorders (Scripps, 2013). In addition to the huge impact DV has on women, there is also a large economic cost. The Centre for Mental Health (2010) has reported an annual loss to the tune of  £30.3 billion due to mental health problems suffered by abused women, with over two thirds of this amount accounting for lost productivity within the workplace. Mental ill health which   may be the result of DV   has been identified as   the primary reason for ‘incapacity benefit payment’ and over   43% of the 2.6 million individuals presently on long-term ‘health-related benefits’ present with psychosocial behavioural disorder as their primary condition (Department of Work and Pensions, 2010). DV can also have a direct negative impact on witnesses. Hewitt (2002) claims that almost 90% of DV occurrences are witnessed either directly or indirectly by children. Furthermore, the British government have stated that women can be distressed by witnessing DV carried out against other women (He witt, 2002). The literature also reveals differences in the prevalence of DV between younger and older women. For example, mature women are two to three times more likely to report minor physical attacks such as been pushed grabbed roughly and shoving than men (Tjaden Thoennes, 1998). It has also been found that women are 7 to 14 times more likely than men to report serious physical attacks of DV that include having been strangled, threatened with weapons or use of weapons (Tjaden Thoennes, 1998). Barriers to Accessing Care The literature search highlighted a number of key differences between the experiences of younger and mature women when it comes to DV. For example, unlike younger women, older women may be even less aware of the services available to those experiencing DV. For example, Scott et al. (2004) reported that there is a widespread myth among service providers and women themselves that Women’s Aid and other DV services prioritise younger women and younger women with children. Friedman et al. (1992) have postulated that abused mature women volunteer to share their uncertainties and concern to their health practitioners the majority of the time. Those women that do not share their concerns   may not do so because of pride or shame. The other reason that mature women do not disclose DV is a fear of being judged by society and this has been challenged during the research as well as shortage of theoretical clarity concerning this matter since the majority of affected women were embarrassed to put across what they are facing and this has made data collection challenging. Zink et al. (2003) investigated the reasons for staying in an abusive relationship in women aged over 55 years. It was found that reasons could be divided into three categories: cohort effects, which included reasons such as lacking education or job skills, period effects such as rejection from help services or difficulty accessing services, and aging effects, which related to the physical limitations that their age can cause. These results suggest that although mature women experience similar barriers to leaving abusive relationships such as a lack of faith in their ability to find employment and support themselves, there are also barriers unique to mature women such as worries regarding their physical strength. Therefore, health workers and counsellors must be privy to these differences in order to improve the level of care and support that mature victims of DV receive. Theoretical Concepts There are a number of different theories that make be used to explain how DV comes about and what motivates its perpetrators.. For example, the social exchange theory (Emerson, 1976) offers a foundation for law enforcement and the prosecution of offenders. Furthermore, this assists in helping to explain how children who observe abuse mostly grow up to be abusers themselves. In contrast, a feminist approach may provide support for interventions targeted at supporting perpetrators to improve their behaviour   and helping to empower victims. However, looking at these theories they do not appear to provide an inclusive foundation and a comprehensive approach for dealing with the various underlying outcomes or scope of DV. The more integrated ecological framework theory (see for example, Heise, 1998) is the one that appears to provide the required basis for an inclusive approach. The ecological framework theory has been used to conceptualise DV as a multi-faceted and complex phenomenon that has its foundations in a multitude of different factors including those of a situational and socio-cultural foundation (Heise, 1998). Unlike other theories, this theory is not reductionist and acknowledges that DV can be the result of many different factors. Discussion This researcher sought to increase knowledge and understanding regarding DV against older women by allowing older women themselves to speak out about how they define domestic violence; their views about causes, reporting, interventions, and consequences for perpetrators; factors that deter or prevent help-seeking from the justice system and community agencies; and elements of outreach and intervention strategies they see as acceptable and/or desirable. Results and Conclusions: Two important constructs that emerged were Domestic Abuse (DA), which encompasses emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and Barriers to Help-Seeking (BHS), which appears to be closely related to the experience of victimization. In addition, eleven sub-concepts emerged from the data. Seven of these, Isolation, Jealousy, Intimidation, Protecting Family, Self-Blame, Powerlessness, and Spirituality, appeared to be related to both the experience of DA and BHS. An additional four factors defined as Secrecy, Hopeless ness, Concern for Abuser, and Justice were identified. This review has highlighted that violence amongst mature women has reached endemic proportions in most parts of the world. It also finds that no ethnic, racial, or socio-economic group is resistant from DV. Nonetheless, the review emphasized considerable heterogeneity in methodologies, sampling periods, sample sizes and the population studied. In some studies, ethnicity, age, and socio-economic status were not reliably recorded, resulting in difficulties in comparisons and evaluations. However, it must be emphasised that the WHO multi-country study   was a significant effort to amass globally similar statistics by the use of identical study approaches. There were a number of key methodological issues identified in the studies included in this literature review. A key weakness of surveys is that they   may not measure the real figures of abused women, especially as some abused women will be unwilling to reveal and report DV against them.   In view of problems associated with self-reports, it is likely that results are biased by both over-reporting and under-reporting (Koss, 1993). According to Krauss (2006) DV differs from nation to nation, and occasionally within the same culture. Therefore, there are cultural factors to take into account when comparing research. For example, in Asian cultures women are brought up with the belief that family needs are superior to individual members’ needs (Rydstrom, 2003). Though women from poor countries are possibly most pre-disposed to believe that men have a right to beat their wives, it has been found that women in developing and developed countries can also be inclined to beliefs which vindicate violence against them (Fagan and Browne 1994). Furthermore, there are cultural differences in the societal view of DV. For example, the review has shown that not every woman who suffers abuse identifies themselves as ‘battered’ women (Mahoney 1991). For example, Islamic nations do not view domestic violence a major issue, despite its increasing incidence and serious consequences. Extracts from religious tract s have been improperly used to validate violence against women, although abuse may also be the result because of culture as well as religion (Douki et al. 2003). Nonetheless, power issues and gender (Caetano et al. 2000), rather than race and ethnicity (Anderson 1997), are likely to be more significant in building and preserving male supremacy and the inequality of power between wives and husbands (Harris et al. 2005). Furthermore, various ethnic groupings are frequently distorted into one single class, for example Asians (Mobell et al. 1997). Due to this, statistics collected on violence amongst minority populations are regularly inadequate, thereby preventing meaningful generalizations. Waltermaurer (2005) argues that the choice of measuring and the practice used to establish the occurrence of domestic violence have important bearings on the occurrence rates being reported. The majority of television and film images, as well as the images in magazines, often display images of abused younger women who have children and this may give a false impression that domestic violence is not something that may occur later on in life. This literature review has found that in comparison to younger women, older women throughout their lives have been less aware of all services and treatments readily available for those going through DV. The previous Government legislated in the Crime and Security Act 2010 for the introduction of Domestic Violence Protection Notices (DVPN) and Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs). On the 30th of June 2012 the domestic violence protection notices and orders (DVPO) were introduced in West Mercia, Wiltshire and Greater Manchester through three p olice forces. The operations will continue for another year while the Home Office works hand in hand to assess the pilot and decide whether or not a permanent change in the law system is required.. The scheme gives victims who might or may have fled their homes the kind of support they may need. There was a gap in protection in DV before the scheme was founded in 2012. Previously, police were unable to charge perpetrators because of lack of evidence and also because the process of granting injunctions to the perpetrators took time. The (DVPO) scheme closes the gap between then and now and gives the police and the magistrate the power to protect a victim after the attack as soon as they possibly can and try to stop the perpetrator form getting in contact with the victim or returning home for up 28 days. Disclosure of being abused itself is insufficient to reduce the risk of adverse mental health outcomes for mature women who have been victims of DV unless the listener’s respon se to the disclosure was repeatedly supportive (Coker et al. 2002). Mature women report key characteristics of helpful encounters with health-care providers as non-judgemental, sympathetic and caring response (Gerbert et al. 1999). Public and private organizations have kept on enhancing their contributions in fighting DV. In the United Kingdom, The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004)  furnishes superior power to police and the courts in dealing with cases of DV and in providing security to victims. Furthermore the British government has recently issued a national domestic violence action plan which sets fourth ambitious goals: Reduction in the occurrence of domestic violence Increase in the rate that domestic violence is reported increase the rate of domestic violence offences that are brought to justice Ensure victims of domestic violence are satisfactorily protected and supported nationwide Reduce the number of domestic violence related homicides. The review has shown that despite all Government initiatives towards domestic violence, healthcare agencies are still under-represented (Hague et al., 1996). It was not until the year 2000 that the Department of Health (DoH) started to take steps to implement   front-line interventions from health professionals by publishing two documents known as Domestic Violence: A Resource Manual for Health Care Professionals’ and ‘Principles of Conduct for Health Professionals’ (Department of Health, 2000a, 2000b). The aim of these documents was to integrate best practices recommended by the various governing bodies of differing health professionals. This documentation aims to provide guidance for healthcare professionals in their practice and daily interactions with women experiencing DV. After the publication of these documents, DV was seen for the first time as a health care issue as opposed to a mainly social care problem. The police and the criminal justice system cannot address the issue of domestic violence alone. The cost of protection for those women who experience domestic violence is of such a scale that it should be considered a major public health issue (Department of Health, 2000a: 2).   Validity and Reliability As most of the literature referred to in this research was phenomenological, there are some key methodological limitations. For example, phenenological research is often open to interpretation. In particular, the same words may have different meanings for different people (Beck, 1994). This may be of particular importance for the topic of DV as some women who are included as participants may report that they are abused but may not attach the same negative connotations that the researchers do. The most reliable estimates of the extent of domestic violence in England and Wales come from the Crime Survey of England and Wales (CSEW; formerly known as the British Crime Survey). The CSEW asks people about their experience as victims. Being a household survey, it picks up more crime than the official police figures, as not all crimes are reported to the police, let alone recorded by them. Two sets of figures are available from the CSEW: the first, collected from the survey’s inceptio n in 1981, come from the results of face-to-face interviews; the second, available from 2004/05, come from confidential self-completion modules, which respondents complete in private by responding to questions on a computer. The unwillingness of respondents to reveal experience of domestic violence to an interviewer means that the first measure significantly underestimates the extent of domestic violence. Conclusion The high occurrence of  Ã‚   DV experienced by mature women suggests that doctors and other healthcare professionals working in all areas of medicine must identify and explore the potential significance of DV when considering reasons why mature women present with ill health. The issue of DV against mature women should be integrated into medical training, therapist training and also into governmental policy. Heterogeneity within the methodology of the different studies discussed in this review has highlighted the significance of developing stronger definitions to improve coherence across findings during a literature search.   Future research work must try to recognize cultural differences when working with families and women of ethnic minorities. Contrary to   previous assumptions that mature women may consider DV as acceptable, results of a study found that mature women were able to identify abuse and actions seen as abusive, which demonstrates suggesting that care workers may be misinterpreting victims’ feelings. The study also demonstrates how the attitude of mature women has been altered over time, from something acceptable to something that must be dealt with. Society must stop viewing domestic violence against mature women as a problem which only affects women, as the issue is overall a public health issue. All forms of violence against mature women are abhorrent and support for those who have been abused in any form should be readily available. We need a clear and decisive answer for calls for help from the health sector, in collaboration with women’s organizations and other related public powers. As observed by Hamberger et al. (1992), future research is essential in order to help determine the reason behind some re-occurring factors that are prevalent in contributing toward cases of DV against mature women. A collective societal intervention is necessary to address the social determinants of DV. Counsellors, as frontline care providers, have an essential role to play in controlling the negative impacts of DV amongst mature women. 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[Online] Available at: who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/en/ [Accessed 19 August 2013]. Women’s Aid (2007) What is domestic violence? [Online] Available at: womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-articles.asp?section=00010001002200410001itemid=1272 [Accessed 23 August 2013]. Women’s Aid Press Release (2012) Cuts in refuge services putting vulnerable women and children at risk.[Online] Available at: womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-press-information.asp?itemid=2944itemTitle=Cuts+in+refuge+services+putting+vulnerable+women+and+children+at+risksection=0001000100150001sectionTitle=Press+releases [Accessed 19 August 2013]. Zink, T., Regan, S., Jacobson, C.J. and Pabst, S. (2003) Cohort, period and aging effects – a qualitative study of older women’s reasons for remaining in abusive relationships. Violence Against Women, 9(12), pp. 1429-1441.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

E-commerce Web site evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E-commerce Web site evaluation - Essay Example The words car and audio do not figure independently within the meta tags for keywords. This site would hardly be picked up by search engines if someone is looking for something as specific as ‘car audio systems in Lancashire’. Google did not. At least not in the first three pages of the search results. The basic point is that the homepage fails to convey instantaneously what it is all about, a major lapse in presentation. Not a good first impression. But let us take things one at a time, and try to evaluate the website from the perspective of the most important features that any worthwhile e-Commerce website should possess. The concept of usability, which is concerned with making software systems easy to learn and easy to use, has recently gained increased attention with the development and wide diffusion of end-user interactive software applications (Dray 1995, p. 18). Navigation, hyperlink positioning, clear demarcation of advertisement area from content area, use of colour codes and continuity in design are some of aspects on which the usability of a website depends. The website under evaluation does not distinguish in anyway between hypertext and ordinary text. Though underlining of the hyperlinks is not necessary as they are placed in the conventional left hand navigation bar, the font and colour of the hyperlinks are exactly the same as other text used in the site resulting in the impression that the address of the firm are also hyperlinks. There is also no difference between visited and unvisited links. This goes against the basics of website navigability: The way the website displays its products looks very much like the advertisements or company logo that it carries. Advertisement area and content areas are not demarcated. The danger in this case lies in how users tend to scan web pages: ‘Most famously, users exhibit incredibly powerful "banner blindness." Eye-tracking studies have recorded microseconds-long

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada v.V Annotated Bibliography

Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada v.V. Bell Canada - Annotated Bibliography Example The copyright board had stated that a certain high school should pay the royalties for copying material form a given textbook. However, the court ruled out the statement and stated that the high school should pay no royalties to the board. The decision was made even after the board stated that the material was not used in a fair deal as the copyright legislation states. In a certain case that covered the issue of music downloads, the lower court decided that the society of composers, authors and music publishers should collect royalties from the individuals downloading the music or videos. The royalties of the copyright are recognized and approved by the copyright board of Canada. This copyright stated that those individuals who did not agree to pay the royalties; the board should seek for judicial help and then sue them in the federal court of appeal. On the other hand, the Supreme Court turned down the decision made by the lower court. The supreme disagreed with the fact that the board should collect royalties from individuals downloading music from the internet. The Supreme Court stated that the telecommunications companies or organizations that give music services to customers won’t pay any royalties to the copyright collection agencies. The court said that they will pay a royalty to copy the song but if the organization transmits the so ng to another person or customer, it should not pay. The society of composers, authors and music publishers presented an appeal case to the court following the court’s decision on the payment of royalties upon music downloads. The organization stated that the use of the music was not under their copyright constitution. Their constitution stated that the use of downloaded music or videos should be done on affair dealing. The society then presented their rights to the court which included

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Consumer bahaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer bahaviour - Essay Example The research was conducted on Thursday and Friday, in the afternoon and the evenings of the weekend. The reason for research at Gucci is simple, had we chosen a common store, we would have made numerous efforts to judge people as it is hard to find differences in people's behaviour at a lower level, but at Gucci, a particular society enters to buy the expensive items, so it is a lot of fun to measure how they look for something and what particular thing about Gucci changes their facial expressions. The place is excellent for people who prefer to stay fashionable and who have got the buying power. The store does not cater every one as its target audience but those who can really afford the high prices, further once the customer enters, the staff prefers to look at the customer from top to bottom but it has got its own charm. It is important to describe the outlook of the store first. The store seems to be transparent as there is just a glass with an entrance door, upon entering the sh elves are carrying bags straight ahead. People do complain about the staff as the staff is really rude especially if it sees that the customer does not look like an interested buyer but nevertheless the staff greets upon entrance. The atmosphere within the store is absolutely wonderful as it seems that there is no one near you due to silence. It seems that thousands have been invested in the interior of the shop but the figure could also be a million. A General View on Consumer Behaviour: Lifestyles emerge from various social influences. They are also derived from the individual's personal value system and personality. Marketers need to study the way consumers live and spend their money as well as how they make purchase decisions (Holbrook: 1999). For example, blue jeans may serve as inexpensive, functional clothing to bluecollar workers, but as fashionable, self-expressive apparel to upperclass members. Credit cards may be used as a convenience for the affluent, while others use them as a basis for installment purchases since balances are not paid off immediately. Decisions emanating from lifestyles are learned as the result of many influences such as culture, subcultures, social class, reference groups, and family (Beckman, William: 1967). Activities, interests, and opinions reflect how consumers spend their time and their beliefs on various social, economic, and political issues. When understood by marketers, these variables ca n help reduce risk in the decision-making process. At Gucci, people prefer to buy those materials that involve less risk and are long lasting, however the brand name itself is a guarantee that no matter what the customer buys would be long lasting and fashionable. So it is fair to say that perception plays a major part in the answer to perceived risk of purchasing a product or service. Perceived risk represents the anxieties felt because the buyer cannot anticipate the results of a purchase. A number of different strategies may be used to reduce risk. First, perceived risk can be reduced by a prepurchase information search, by decreasing the probability of failure. Second, the buyer can shift from one type of perceived risk to another type that is of less impact on the realisation of

Friday, November 15, 2019

Budgeted Airlines In The Airline Industry Management Essay

Budgeted Airlines In The Airline Industry Management Essay This report in-depth analyzes the European airline Industry and reports the challenges the budgeted airline faces in the industry and especially for Ryanair. Here it shows how structure, system, leadership, culture environment focus in order to see Ryanairs position and growth in the low cost market. It clearly states the Ryanairs current strategy and identifying its long term strategy. The Business Plan ranges from an industry analysis to an internal financial capability. An integrate understanding of the functioning of the company in terms of human and technical operations, leadership, customer relationship and financial structure. This material critically analyses the internal functioning to create viable strategic positioning and discus any approach changes of Ryanair for its improved sustainability. It refers its capability, structure, system, leadership, culture, people and environment in the low cost European market. The analysis has been done by using some major theories such as 7s matrix, balance score card, double loop learning of Ryanair, ansoff matrix and culture web. Accordingly, this material primarily analyses the current business strategies of Ryanair to understand the nature of their operations. Subsequently, conducts a PESTEL analysis, Porters five forces and value chain analysis to understand the environment of Ryanair, drivers of profit in the industry at present and the future and financial analysis. In addition to balance score card analysis also has been done to understand finance situation in the context of Ryanair and to evaluate its performance. Finally, this report will recommend the recommendations where its applicable. The analysis of this report was complete with the support of the case information provided and through industry related information from academic books, journals, websites and other publicly available secondary data sources. Introduction Ryanair is an Irish airline started its operation in 1985 competing in European budgeted airline industry in the recent years. Ryanair is one of the most profitable and key players in the European budgeted airline market. (Refer Appendix 1) Low cost business model was intruded by the US biased southwest in early 1070s. In 1992 Ryanair was the first to introduce low-cost business model in European market. Easyjet is the main low-cost business model competitor for Ryanair in European market, The reduction of the cost is the center point for low-cost business model. Some of the innovative choice made by Ryanair to maintain low-cost, no-frills service are eliminating traditional in-flight catering and by that reducing labour-related cost, use of on-line booking system, connecting point to point network using secondary airport, comfortable but not spacious seats by that increasing seating capacity, use of similar fleets. This report carries out detail study of Ryanait by analyzing Ryanairs current strategy and the management of the strategy. It recognizes how the business functions and operations are affecting the customer and leadership with their overall strategy. Critical success factor of Ryanair Currently Ryanair is facing lot if problems especially in cost strategy but it overcome from these problems by adding new strategies and grow up in market place. It uses different strategies to have Ryanair alive and to competitive with competitors. It gets a positive competitive advantage from competitors. Ryanair become the first largest low cost airline industry in Europe. Recently Ryanair is awarded for punctuality. It keep up times when flies through countries. Ryanair adopt new strategies to grow in market place and use tactics to keep low cost for flying and remain to get profits. Ryan airs goal is to meet the need of travelling places in low cost. Critical success factor are low cost, customer satisfaction with pricing, reliable and comfort service for customers. Ryanairs main critical success factor is to provide low cost. For that it eliminates in flight services. Seats adjustment and drinks but for their target market they prefer on time facilities, frequent departure and seat reservation. Low cost carrier business model The Low cost airline concept first was used in America by Pacific Southwest Airline in 1949. Southwest is now grown to become one of the largest profitable airlines in the United States. European history low cost airline model started in late 1990s. Low cost airline business model could be defined by the following three key elements. (Refer Appendix 2) Simple product: No in-flight catering and catering on request with extra payment. Plane with beiger capacity with narrow seat. Only single class without any seat allocation. Positioning: Price-conscious business passengers. High frequency point-to-point traffic using secondary airport. Aggressive marketing and competition with all transport carriers (Refer Assignment 1 appendix 6, p.25 and Appendix 10, p. 29) Low operating cost: Uniform fleet low maintenance cost, reduced crews training cost, low airport fees. Low wages, high usage of recourses and productivity, simple boarding process reduces ground waiting, high percentage of internet advance reservation, reduced clearing time and no hub service. Ryanairs current strategy Ryanair is an Irish airline competing in the low cost European airline industry. They are the most profitable and key players in the market. Ryanairs main objective to establish leading low-fare schedule passenger airline in the European market through continued improvements and expanded efficient low cost service. Low fare: Ryanairs low price policy increases price-conscious leisure and business travelers otherwise they would have used other mode of transport such as train, couch and cars. Ryanair sell one way air ticket for the schedule service by eliminating minimum stay requirement. Customer satisfaction: Ryanair achieved grater customer satisfaction by reduced cancellation and few lost baggage compare to other airlines. Achieve better punctuality by using less congested secondary airport. Regular point-to-point flights on short-haul routs: Ryanair provides regular point-to-point flights on short-haul routes around major populated centers by connecting secondary airport. This benefited higher rate of on time departure and faster turn around tine. Point-to-point non stop flying benefited Ryanair by way of cost of providing service for connecting passengers, baggage transfer and cost associated with transit passenger. Market segment: Early entrance in France, Italy, Scandinavian low cost airline market creates more profit brand recognition in the Europe budgeted airline industry. The success of the company is being able to attract more passengers at the both ends of their routes. This creates a name for Ryanair stating that Europe first number one no frills airline. Ryanair identify it maket growth through ansoff matrix (Refer Appendix 10) Competitive advantage: The main competitors for Ryanair in the low cost market are carriers including easyJet, FlyBe and ThomsonFly. All they try to attract potential customers by lowering the ticket price. In early stage favorable relationship with airport operators helped Ryanairs aggressive pricing until EU commission ruling in 2004 (Refer. Assignment 1, Appendix 11, and page number 30). Dispute with EU commission gives free publicity across the Europe continent. (Refer Appendix 7) Business functioning: Internal resources of the business and its functioning are extremely important for the business to prosper. Ryanairs important function and how this will affect business decision explained in SWOT analysis (Refer Appendix 15, Assignment 1- Appendix 9.p 28) Employees and Technical operations. Human resources are one of the most important functions in an organization. Ryanair keep their staff more happy and motivated. This they do by introducing incentive scheme for all operational employees and share option scheme which allow employees to participate for the success of overall company. Customer relation. Ryanair continues to offer no frills low fare service to keep the ticket rate at minimum level. Also Ryanair uses regional airports instead of national airport in order to keep the ticket price at lowest level and helped them for their punctuality due to less congested in the airport. Customers are looking for cheapest way of travelling; hence any bad publicity does not affect sales figures. Profitability. Ryanair have consistently year by year increased its profitability with customer satisfaction by keeping low cost ticket pricing and comfort service to the customers. Ryanair announced profitability despite bad year for airline industry such as gulf war and an outbreak of SARS. (Refer Appendix 6) financial statement published in Ryanairs annual report and also profit in euro for the period 2005 2008 and projection for 2009, passenger numbers and average fare for 2007 Less operating costs: Ryanairs operating cost is the lowest compare to other European airlines. It control major schedule airline operating cost such as aircraft equipment cost, personal productivity cost, customer service cost and airport handling and access cost Aircraft equipment cost Ryanairs aircraft acquisition strategy is to purchase single type aircraft. In 1998 Ryanair has taken a decision to purchase Boeings latest generation aircraft Boeing 737-800 replacing Boeing 737-200A and starts to use from 2005 onwards. Purchase of aircraft from single manufacture benefited Ryanairs barraging power for the new aircraft and cost advantages from personal training, maintenance and purchase and storage of spare parts. Also it has greater flexibility in terms of scheduling crews and equipment. Personal productivity Ryanair control their labor cost by continuously increasing its productivity with highly competitive work force. Ryanair pay productive-based incentives for employees including flight attendants for in-flight product sales and payments based on number of sectors and ours flown by pilots and cabin crews with limit of industry standard of maximum number of hours. Ryanair average salary per employee is high compare to its competitor easyjet, Lufthansa, British airways, Lberia and Acer Lingus. Customer service cost Ryanair has entered into competitive log term third party agreement for certain airport passenger, aircraft handling and ticketing and other services. Approximately 96% of the ticket sales through Ryanairs website and telephone and by this eliminating travel agent commission cost. Airport access charges Ryanairs constantly high volume of passenger traffic many of the airports benefit them to favorable contracts with those airport for access their facilities. Booking Advantage on internet The Ryanairs internet booking system Skylight reservation system allows internet users to access Ryanair host reservation system to make a reservation and to pay the confirmed reservation in real time. The company advertises heavily about reservation system though newspaper, radio and television As a result 94% of the reservation comes through the companys reservation system. Safety and quality maintenance Ryanairs management fully committed for the safety and quality maintenance to the aircrafts. The company operates latest Boeing 737-800 with additional safety features inbuilt in it. Also the company committed to hire and training pilots, cabin crews and maintenance staffs in accordance with highest European airline industry standards. In past 24 years Ryanairs operating history, it does not had any major incident injuring pilots or cabin crews or passengers. Although Ryanair aggressively practice low cost model, it gives high importance for the aircraft safety, maintenance, training and quality assurance. Increasing operating results through ancillary services Ryanair provides various ancillary passenger services connected to its main air passenger service such as in-flight sale of food, beverage and merchandise and also it provides through telephone reservation officers and Ryanairs internet system accommodation service, travel insurance and car rentals. Ryanairs corporate strategy The Ryanairs corporate strategy (Appendix 3) has been defined much advance and its main objective developed before it commence. Emerge of Ryanairs corporate strategy is the final objective is developed during the course its life. Ryanairs business visor, mission, main objective please. (Refer Assignment 1, Appendix 1 and p. 16-17) Ryanairs business strategy Ryanairs business strategy is to offer very competitive affordable fare for the airline users to reach their destination in the European market. Ryanairs long term marketing plane and its position: Ryanairs long term marketing plans please refer Appendix 2 and its position please refer (Assignment 1 and p. 8 Appendix 6.p 25) Porters competitive strategy model for low cost carrier Porters (1980) competitive strategy model (Appendix 5) describes that there are three types of strategies are used by business for their long term survival. They are cost leadership, differentiation strategy, and market share and market segmentation strategy. These strategies are measured along with business strategic scope and strategic strength. Stuck in the middle OVERROLL LOW COST LEADERSHIP FOCUSSED DIFFERENTIATION COST FOCUS BROAD DIFFERENTIATION Differentiation Narrow Market Cost Low cost Broad Ryanairs business strategic scope Ryanairs business strategic scope is to become number one low cost airline in the European market for cost conscious business and leisure travelers. Ryanairs business strategic scope Ryanairs business strategic scope is to become number one low cost airline in the European market for cost conscious business and leisure travelers. Ryanairs business strategic strength. Ryanair was first Europe discount airline capitalized by the EU decision to deregulate the airline industry stating that any European airline can operate anywhere in the Europe Its aggressive pricing and grater customer satisfaction for the punctuality, reduced cancellation and few lost baggage compare to other airline. In 2005 it became market leader in the low cost airline market. Cost leadership Use of secondary airport: Ryanair did not fly to the major hub airport bur instead it uses secondary airport some distance away from the main airport for low airport access charges. Rapid turnaround: Ryanair maximize use of aircraft by turning around the aircraft within 25 minutes Point-to-point routing: Ryanair fly point-to-point and it avoid cost connected with passenger and baggage transfer Boeing aircraft: Single aircraft family the being 737. It palace big being aircraft order just after September 11 2001 benefiting purchases price advantage. Aviation fuel: Major portion of fuel porches hedged hence increase in fuel price not affected to the company. In-flight service: No free in-flight service such as free drink or snacks. No refund for no-shows. Staffs and overhead: Ryanair staffs are non-union and pilots and cabin crews get low salary but compensated with other benefits. Differentiation strategy: Ryanairs operation provided several positive features for the passengers towards its punctuality, reduced cancellation, few lost baggage compare with other carriers. Passengers always were assured to reach their designation on time with their baggage. Many other revenue generating service such as travel insurance, car hire, couch and train ticket. Market share and market segmentation strategy: Ryanair has taken grater market share in the low cost airline business in the European continent and it became market leader in that sector. (Ryanairs route map in Europe Refer appendix 8) Organizational Structure DIRECTOR Paolo Pietrogrnde CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD David Bonder man DIRECTOR James Osborne DIRECTOR Klaus Kirchberger DIRECTOR Michael Horgan DIRECTOR Emmanuel Faber DIRECTOR Kyran McLaughlin FLIGHT OPERATIONS David O Brien COMMERCIAL REVENUE SF HUMAN RESOURCE EW PILOT RC ENGINEERING Michael Hickey CUSTOMER SERVICE Caroline Green LEGAL SECURITY JK COO Michael Cawley CFO Howard Millar CEO (Source www.ryanair.com, last update February 14th 2010) This diagram shows the organizational structure for Ryanair. The airline is operated with the name of Ryanair Ltd. Subsidiary for this Darley Investment Ltd. In this organization all international dealing are done by Ryanair.com. Nature of this business is aircraft trading. These boards of directors are responsible for the strategic view and functions which are in Ryanair Ltd. Chairman is Michael OLeary and other directors responsible other activities such as audit, executive, remuneration, nomination and the air safety committee. Leadership. Ryanair fight for its survival in early 1990s. In 1992 Ryanair introduced low cost no frills business model in Europe market under the leadership of Mr. Michael O Leary. Despite huge success Mr. Michael O Leary has come under both praise and criticism about his leadership and management style. Financial Times Magazine Mr. Tim Jeans argue that Mr. Michael O Leary genius in his ability motivate people with single-handedly transforming European air transport. Mr. O Leary leader ship style doses not fit rigidly into one style. His characteristic highly task oriented controlling cost, aircraft acquisition, and rout development. Also at the same time he is highly people oriented both with customers and people. His outspokenness has made him to expose into public-eye. EU commissioner for Belgium describes him in the Financial Times as irritating and arrogant Creaton (2004). But former and present staffs prized his leadership style in an interview with Financial Times Magazine. (Refer Append ix 4) There are three main characteristic of leaders in an organization Finley (2000). They are Leader should have strong held vision Mr. Michael O Leary took the leadership of Ryanair with very clear vision to the model the carrier on Southwest Airline and to create low fare no frills carrier in Europe. Leader should be able to communicate the vision External communication concern Ryanair was well recognizing one of the first budgeted airline in Europe. Internal communication concern he motivated and created incredible energy among the people to achieve the desired objective. Leader should be able to convert the vision into reality. Certainly the vision has turned into reality Ryanair grown and created a record profit low cost no frills airline in the European market. Culture The culture web describes the paradigm of an organization and physical manifestations of an organizational culture. (Johnson and schools, exploring corporate strategy, p.230) culture basically explained the organizational behaviors. Culture will include stories, symbols, system, structure, routines and rituals. (Refer appendix 11) Ryanairs pricing strategy Ryanairs cost leadership is the backbone for its lower piecing strategy. Ryanair is the lowest cost in Europe and its 40% low compare to closet competitor in Europe. (Refer Appendix 6) Implementation of gap Strategic implementation is complex and time consuming but success of an organization lies on this stage. However good the business or corporate strategy is, it is off little value unless implemented (Hubbard R.C, 2008, pg 349). Therefore, during this phase, strategy makers should consider the question of who implements that strategy, what must be done and how the strategy is implemented (Fletcher, 2001, p.2). Hence, 7S framework has been applied to Ryanair to identify gaps the issues that should be addressed during implementation phase (Refer appendix diagram 9) Recommendation Ryanair continues to attract customers with heavy advertisement stating that they are not going to charge furl surcharge with the aim to keep the fare low. Davey (2006) states that the figures release by the Ryanair shows that its low cost formula is continue to work. Ryanair in order to increase the business travelers who needs punctuality, the carrier reduce the turnaround time from 30 minutes to 25 minutes by dropping there cargo service even they new that they are going to lose à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 500,000 per year However budgeted airlines continues to enjoy its boom with low cost and opening new routes in the European market. If there is drop in demand Ryanair would certainly suffer and they might have to change their strategy by offering drink vouchers and making alliances with hotel groups in order to offer complete package and attract more people to its carrier. Also Ryanair should pay attention technology changes happening such as on line check in and would able them to cut their cost. Ryanairs innovating action creates future sustainability. In future if they found new routes reach places quick it will bring more tradition of getting more passengers for Ryanair. Ryanair for low cost uses secondary airport it will cause inconvenient for some customers to reach their place so they have to consider this point to get a solution for customers to reach their place easier. Conclusion Overall RYANAIR is in good position when compared to other players. The strategies implemented seem to be more effective since they have helped to match RYANAIR with its external environment. The adoptability flexibility of RYANAIR to the environmental changes have contributed to the success of RYANAIR. Ryanair seems to be using their strategy sensibly which work for them. They aware the environment and understand the importance of monitoring and they are the first to come into low-cost market in Europe. However they constantly monitor the environment and any change they should be ready to change their strategy. The flexibility adoptability to environmental changes was possible especially because of the value adding factors RYANAIR has focused. The value chain of RYANAIR has been designed to deliver the low cost concept by emphasizing only in value adding activities and by eliminating non value adding activities such as eliminating catering. In my point of view I believe RYANAIR was successful in managing the strategic management process by matching itself to its external environment. However, it does not have a major market share as the leader though it has beaten the market leader in many areas. Therefore, I suggest following recommendations for RYANAIR to achieve its potential improve its market share. References Cavendish, Camilla, A policy that pretends we can all fly on the cheap is a policy that wont fly, The Times, 5 January 2006 Doganis, R., 2001, The Airlines Business in the Twenty-first Century, Routledge, London Fletcher J (2003) .Strategic management Study guide and plan Edith Cowan University Perth Australia Hubbard, G. Rice, J. Beamish, P. [2008] Strategic management Thinking analysis action 3rd edition Pearson education Australia Lynch, Richard (2000), Corporate Strategy 2nd Ed. Pearson Education Ltd, ISBN 0- 273-64303-7 Miller A, (1998), Strategic Management, McGraw Hill, 3rd Edition. New York. Study Guide: Strategic Management Ryanair industry details retrieved on the 21st may 2010 from www.ryanair.com Viljoen, J. Dann, S. 4th edition (2003). Strategic Management, Frenchs Forest, New South Wales: Pearson Education Pty Ltd. Appendix Appendix 1 Ryanairs Introduction Ryanair started its operation in 1985. In the first year more than 5,000 passengers traveled between South Eastern Ireland and London. The company expanded continuously and 600, 000 passengers traveled per year in 14 aircrafts by 1989.Past four years the cost increased substantially and ends up with loss of  £20 million. In 1990 the current CEO Mr. Michael OLeary took over the management and conducted major changes in the company. Ryanair followed the low cost-low frills concept and reduces the routes from 19 to 5 by 1991. The company increased the fleet to 21 over the next 6 years and remarkable increase in passenger traveled in Ryanair due to its low pricing policy. European regulation restricted Ryanair to take advantage to implement low pricing policy. Ryanair took full advantage in 1997 open new routes in Continental Europe due to deregulation of European Union air transportation regulation. Ryanair established 160 routes by 2001 and hubs established around the continent in London, Glasgow, Brussels, Frankfort, Milan, Now Ryanair is the most profitable and key players in the European budget airline market. Appendix 2 Low cost carrier business model (Source MERCER management consulting 2002) Appendix 3 COPORATE STRETEGY. Corporate Parenting Parenting strategy Portfolio Analysis BCG Matrix Directional Strategy Growth Stability Retrenchment Corporate strategy basically explains about the direction of the firm. It go through in three ways. They are as follows: Directional strategy This strategy includes three points which are growth, stability and retrenchment. Growth explains expansion and growth of the company. Here we are going to look at the growth perspective of Ryanair. Stability explains ryanairs did not change its current activities. Retrenchment explains strategies reduce the companys level of activities. Portfolio Ill explain about the BCG Matrix. BCG Matrix is a best analysis part to analyzing and managing the performance of a business unit within the organization. It developed to identify the growth rate of an industry by classifying its business unit. This BCG matrix relies on lifecycle and experience curve Relative market Share Low High DOGS CASH COWS PROBLEM CHILDREN STARS Industry Growth Rate% High Low This BCG Matrix growth strategy explains the growth of the company. If we looked at this case study Ryanair is in stars position that means high industry growth rate and having high relative market share. COPORATE LEVEL Low High Cost reduce Need for local responsiveness High Low Global strategy Export strategy Multi domestic strategy Transactional strategy Ryanair is moving from export strategy to transactional strategy. Export strategy which explains products are standard but can varied, market is usually main market, operation location done in home market, and strategy control is done by home. Here coordination level and local responsiveness is low. Transactional strategy explains the product are same as export strategy, market means all markets, operation location done in two way organizational structure, strategy control varies with a product are within global framework and coordination level as well as local responsive level is high. Ryanair moves from export strategy to transactional strategy to adopt more strategies to survive in the world. Ryanair evaluate on No Frills segment, low fare cost leadership, ancillary revenue into focus differentiation and adopting transactional strategy and no fares relationship. Appendix 4 Leadership vs. Management Leadership and management are two terms used to define a group behavior in a professional setting. Leadership and management are inter-connected and inter-dependent concepts. Leadership Management Setting up new goals, vision or planning a new strategy Contorting the organizing to achieve realistic goals and objectives Managing the group properly Help the leaders to achieve the goals on collective vision of the group Seeks effectiveness do the right thing Seeks efficiency do things right Provides direction to the group Enforces control Thrives on opportunity Lives for the job well done Make people go down in history as great men to inspire generations. Only behavioral aspects that alter with environment and requirements Leaders are made, not born According to Great Man theory, Leaders are born and not made. In my point of view leader are made and some or all of the following helps them to become a great leader, their background, education, knowledge and experience, and their career path. If we further explain leadership as anyone in a position whose success requires the support of others can play the role of a leader. Leaders have ability to discuss, communicate, influence, and control others to do things is absolutely indispensable to everything you achieve in life. Of course, everyone you meet has different values, opinions, attitudes, beliefs, cultural values, work habits, goals, ambitions, and dreams. Successful leader should have leadership traits. When you become capable in your job or skill, then you become skillful at understanding the motivations and behaviors of other people. Michael OLeary deeply believes leaders are made not born. Mr. Herb Kelleher is the one born with leadership quality the founder of original budgeted airline, Southwest Airline in the United States Mr. Michael OLeary is made leader who flowed budgeted Southwest Airline model in the European market Leadership Skills Getting and giving information Getting and giving information is probably number one competency required from leaders. Leaders should be communicating effectively and must be able to exchange information effectively and accurately. In Ryanair Michael OLeary is the leader who gives decision to others to do. He has the charismatic power to control all its staff and work under him. Understanding the needs and characteristics of the Group As the group plans and carries out activities, Michael OLeary learns more about the individuals needs and characteristics. Knowing and understanding the resources of the Group Knowing group peoples skills, attitudes, backgrounds and experience and to use an effective technique for bring a group together and creating commitment to common goals. Controlling the Group A group exists for a purpose. As a leader exerts control, he needs to balances to get the jo

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Stress in Athletics Essay examples -- Sports Athletics Athletes Teams

Stress in Athletics In the Journal article by Mark H. Anshel, entitled Qualitative Validation of a Model For Coping With Acute Stress In Sports. Explains how stress affects athletes, and how they can go about to deal with the problem, or cope with the problem. The author breaks this down into four categories. First, they want to perceive a stimulus or experiencing an event, secondly, appraising that event as stressful, thirdly, using either approach or avoidance coping strategies each consisting of either cognitive or behavioral strategies, and finally enacting post-coping activity that consists of either remaining on task, reappraising the stressful situation, examining the effectiveness of the coping strategy, or disengaging from further sport participation. Stress itself is a widely studied characteristic; it is defined as an interaction between an individual and the surrounding environment. Most research on stress is just new, but has been a topic for the last 20 years. But most new studies on stress have to deal more with the coping process. â€Å"Coping is the person’s conscious attempt at reducing or managing the demands of a stressful event or expanding the person’s resources to deal with the event (Anshel, 2001).† Previous research by Gottlieb (1997) explained â€Å"how coping strategies related to acute forms of stress differ from chronic stress, and that many contexts of chronic stress do not end themselves to an event-centered strategy of measuring coping (pg...

Sunday, November 10, 2019

First person point of view in “Raymond’s Run” and “Cathedral” Essay

The authors of â€Å"Raymond’s Run† and â€Å"Cathedral†, both use a first person point of view in their short stories. In â€Å"Raymond’s Run†, by Toni Cade Bambara, the first person point of view shows how the narrator is dealing with the situations around her and maturing in the process. In â€Å"Cathedral†, by Raymond Carver, the reader can see the change in the narrator’s understanding of the blind man through different situations that happens throughout the story. Both authors have similar purposes in mind when they were writing the story, they both wanted to show the growth and transition of the narrators. The use of the first person point of view makes it easier for the readers to see the thoughts and emotions that are being experienced by the narrator, which will give us a better insight into their thinking and actions. In â€Å"Raymond’s Run†, the narrator of the story is Hazel, and the whole story is seen through her eyes. In the beginning of the story, the reader finds out that Hazel looks after her older brother with a mental disorder. She does not mind looking after her brother, and she is also really protective of him because many people like to make fun of him and he also gets himself in trouble. Hazel’s protectiveness of her brother can be seen when Hazel says, â€Å"If anybody has anything to say to Raymond, anything about his big head, they have to come by me†. She is also a very boastful little girl, especially when it comes to her running, she thinks that no one can even come close to her running speed. Her boastfulness can bee seen in the third paragraph when she says, â€Å"There is no track meet that I don’t win the first place medal†. As the story moves along, Hazel bumps into a gang of girls that she does not really like and confronts them. She especially does not like Gretchen because Gretchen is Hazel’s main competitor. Then a transition occurs when Raymond is calling Hazel and â€Å"rattling the fence like a gorilla in a cage†. She realizes that she already has a lot of medals and ribbons, but Raymond has nothing, and also realizes that Raymond is a very fast runner who has the potential to become a winner. So, it does not matter if she wins, loses or ties the race because she can always retire and coach Raymond. Through the first person point of view, the reader can see the personal experiences that Hazel goes through, and how she came to understand that: winning was not everything, she should help others enjoy winning and  she could gain respect for someone through competition. In â€Å"Cathedral†, husband is telling the story from his point of view, which is in first person. The reader can see that in the beginning of the story, the narrator appears to be hostile and irritated because his wife invites her blind friend to stay for the night. The husband does not want the blind man to stay at his house because he does not understand the blind man and the blind man’s relationship with his wife. To alleviate some of his uneasiness, the narrator makes a brainless comment to his wife about taking the blind man bowling. Then, when the blind man comes, he asks the blind man which side of the train was he sitting on. Gradually, as the evening wears on, the narrator begins to relax with the blind man. They start drinking and smoking weed together, eventually the narrator turns on the television. When the show on cathedrals is showing, the narrator tries to describe a cathedral in words to the blind man. When that does not succeed, the blind man asks the narrator to help draw a cathedral. They start by having the blind man hold the narrator’s hand as he draws a cathedral on a paper bag. The blind man tells the narrator to close his eyes and draw. So the narrator complies and closes his eyes and draws, saying, â€Å"So we kept on with it. His fingers rode my fingers as my hand went over the paper. It was like nothing in my life up to now†. The ending reveals to us that the narrator is learning more about himself and human communication than the blind man is learning about cathedrals. Through the first person point of view, the experience of the successful communication between the blind man and the narrator allows the reader to see the transformation that occurs in the narrator. In both of the stories, the authors basically have the same purpose in mind when they are using the first person point of view. From all the events that happened to Hazel in â€Å"Raymond’s Run†, it is clear that the author used the first person point of view to see the change and growth in her thinking. Hazel went from a very anti feminine, competitive and straightforward little girl to a mature, and respectful little girl. In â€Å"Cathedral†, the author uses the husband as the narrator because the author wants us to see how the husband interacts with the blind man and slowly understands him. With the first person point of view, the author generally wants their readers to get  a more personal understanding of the narrator and how they see things. Therefore, in both these stories, the authors’ purpose was to show the changes that occur to the narrators of each story.

Friday, November 8, 2019

“Silence” by Shusaku Endo Essays

â€Å"Silence† by Shusaku Endo Essays â€Å"Silence† by Shusaku Endo Essay â€Å"Silence† by Shusaku Endo Essay â€Å"Silence† by Shusaku Ebdo provides detailed overview of life and adventures of Portuguese missionary priest. The author shows that the priest was responsible for administering Christian community in Japan. However, the author raises the themes of religious intolerance and discrimination showing that main hero suffered from religious prosecution by Japanese authorities. Also the author explores eternal themes of despair, apostasy, faith, martyrdom, redemption and religious sin. The book, thus, can be considered profound exploration of Incarnation logic. Actually, the author tends to show that God’s journey from Heaven isn’t paid proper attention and God’s omnipotence is contradicted. One more theme is hero’s personal struggle as Christian in Japan meaning that the author explores the paradox of a crucified God. Speaking about interesting moment it is necessary to explain the meaning of the book’s title – Silence. Endo assumes that Silence symbolizes strangeness of Christ’s death and incarnation. The author shows that Rodriguez is rather concerned with God’s silence. He can’t understand why God prefers to keep silence when seeing human agony and suffering. Firstly the hero thinks the God is simply sitting and doing nothing: his arms are folded. Rodriguez claims that God remains indifferent when simple and innocent people in God’s name. Nevertheless, the author shows that Rodriguez in such a way is tempted to apostatize with the purpose to save peasant because he asserts that God won’t help and save them. Finally, God’s silence leads to the fact that the pres loses faith in God. Nonetheless, the author points out that sometime Rodriguez hears that God breaks the silence. It is suggested that it is merely Rodriguez imagination. He imagine s that Christ speaks to him from the fumie: â€Å"Trample! It was to be trampled on by men that I was born into this world. It was to share mens pain that I carried my cross†. In such a way God has responded to the misery and suffering of humans by giving the Word. Endo, Shusaku. (2006). Silence. UK, London: Peter Owen Publishers.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Capital Punishment in Political View

Capital Punishment in Political View Introduction Capital punishment refers to death sentences that are accorded to individual offenders by judicial institutions. The sentence has raised controversies especially due to the fact that innocent individuals may be victims of such sentences in inefficient judicial processes. Political influence has also been raising controversies over the sentence.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Capital Punishment in Political View specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper seeks to discuss the political view of capital punishment. The paper will look into political parties’ views over the punishment, its related policies in different countries and related forces towards its abolition. Trend in abolition of the Death Penalty Death penalty can be viewed as a traditional exercise in many territorial jurisdictions as it was widely practiced in many countries. The move for its abolition however started in the nineteenth century with Venezuela in the year 1863. The abolition trend was then spread to other countries across the globe even though it started slowly with a gradual growth. Costa Rica and San Marino joined Venezuela in the nineteenth century to the abolition with only a few more countries in the first half of the twentieth century. By the end of the first half of the twentieth century, only about ten countries had abolished the penalty. The trend however picked up in the second half of the century (Neumayer, 2007). Political Perspective of Capital Punishment Though a number of factors may be attributed to the abolition of Capital punishment by a number of countries, political factors have played a significant role in the trend. This is because quiet a number of the abolitions have been associated with democratic developments in political systems of the countries that have abolished the penalties. This argument is consistent with the fact that all countries that still practices the penalti es, in high numbers, apart from the United States are still under dictatorships. Most of the countries that realized transitions into the abolition also did so following political transformations into democracies. Such political impacts have also been associated with alignments in political views. Conservatives and liberals are for example associated with varying views regarding the abolition of the considered harsh penalty along political lines. These views are for instance significant in both politician and even the electorate (Neumayer, 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on criminal law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The conservatives are for example identified with the opinion that capital penalty establishes responsibility of the offenders over their crimes. They hold the opinion that the practice is moral as it has a biblical basis. They also believe that by having the penalty, a significant accountability f or crimes by individuals will be held and others will be deterred from committing such crimes. The liberals on the other hand are opposed to the capital penalty which they identify to be harsh to human life. They hold the opinion that the approach is not effective in curbing crimes besides putting innocent lives at risk (American, 2004). Conservatives have in the United States been strongly opposed to the abolition of capital penalty (DPIC, 2010). These divisions have also been realized among countries following their alignment along liberals and conservatives views. China for instance provides an example of imposition of death penalty according to transparency international (Hong, 2008). Conclusion Capital punishment has been enlisting different opinions along political lines as countries move to its abolition with time. Though undertaken at national legislative levels by political leaders, the change is being driven by varied factors such as international pressure and democratic m ovements into movements for human rights preservation. References American. (2004). Issues and allegations: capital punishment. Web. DPIC. (2010). New voices – conservative voices. Web. Hong, L. (2008). China’s death penalty: reforms on capital punishment. Web.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Capital Punishment in Political View specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Neumayer, E. (2007). Death penalty: the political foundations of the global trend towards abolition. Web.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Week 5 Discussion-Environmental Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Week 5 Discussion-Environmental - Essay Example   DDT offers much more benefits in saving lives from the Malaria menace which are  Ã¢â‚¬Å"well worth the risk†. Amir Attaran, Donald  R. Roberts, Chris F. Curtis & Wenceslaus  L. Kilama. (2004)  The pesticide DDT was touted again as â€Å"the most effective way to fight malaria† after being shunned for decades  as â€Å"an environmentally damaging chemical†. The  World Health Organization announced its support  for generally indoor spraying of  the pesticide   DDT specifically   to control the menace of mosquitoes in high risk countries. [Nature, Apoorva Mandavilli (2006)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But this was not to be, and earlier this year, May (2009), â€Å"the UN agency quietly reverted to promoting less effective methods† to tackle the disease, which is definitely going to affect millions of the world’s poorest sections of society who depend greatly on this effective and affordable material. The UN officials are actually pushing for a â€Å"zero DDT world†, citing a pilot program, that reduced Malaria cases in Mexico and South America by using ‘chloroquine’ pills to unaffected people,†. But the fact is that ‘chloroquine’ is more effective in therapeutic use. In fact, scientists have reservations about the safety of the drug as it has proven to be toxic and can cause heart problems. This drug was effective in the sub-Saharan Africa, where maximum death occurs due to Malaria, but it started failing during 1970’s as the parasite developed resistance against the drug. Even if these drugs worked, they are very expensive for people to afford them and so impractical to be used especially for some of the poorest regions around the world.   So it shows that spraying of DDT is an integral part of  the effort to eradicate Malaria.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although WHO has not totally banned DDT, yet by revoking its approval, it has made things difficult for the poor

Friday, November 1, 2019

Leadership styles and their impact on the effective development of Dissertation

Leadership styles and their impact on the effective development of faculty members at the College(sechool) of Education at Ha'il - Dissertation Example The Impact 29 1.3. A Brief Look at Ha’il University and College XYZ 31 1.4. Some Gaps 33 Summary 34 Chapter 2 Methodology of Research 35 2.0. Introduction 35 2.1. Qualitative and Quantitative Methodology 36 2.2. Collection of Data 39 2.2.1. Qualitative Survey 39 2.2.2. Interview 40 2.2.3. Sampling Size 43 2.3. Validity and Reliability 44 2.4. Data analysis 47 2.5. Ethical considerations 48 Chapter 3 Results 49 3.0. Introduction 49 3.1. Questionnaire Results 50 3.3. The Interview 59 Summary 61 Chapter 4 Discussion 62 4.0. Introduction 63 4.1. The Research Questions and Departments XYZ of College XYZ at Ha’il University 63 4.2. Leadership Styles in the Academe: A Fertile Ground 65 4.3. Development of Faculty Members: More than Just Encouragement 67 4.4. The Relationship: Leadership Styles and Development of Faculty Members 69 4.5. The Impact and Effect of Leadership Styles to Faculty Development 73 4.4.1. Departments XYZ of College XYZ at Ha’il University 74 Summar y 75 Chapter 5 Summary, Conclusion, and Recommendations 77 5.1. Summary 78 5.2. Conclusion 79 5.3. Recommendations 81 References 84 Appendices 101 List of Figures, Tables, and Charts Figure 1 p. 5 Figure 2 p.9 Figure 3 p. 11 Figure 4 p. 15 Table 1 p. 16 Chart 1 p. 36 Chart 2 p. 37 Chart 3 p. 38 Chart 4 p. 38 Chart 5 p. 39 Chart 6 p. 40 Chart 7 p. 40 Chart 8 p. 41 Chart 9 p. 42 Abstract Education is one of the most value–laden institutions in modern society but like other organisations, it faces the challenge of keeping its identity and embracing the ethos of corporatism. In this regard, as universities and colleges embrace the current duality of its nature, understanding leadership styles in the Academe vis-a-vis development of faculty members has become pivotal as higher educational institutions meet the demands of the 21st century. As such, this study will look into how leadership styles impact and influences the development of faculty members. This study is significant as there are limited studies pertinent to leadership styles and faculty development in developing countries. As such, this research will help in augmenting the literature tackling the said issue. This research will be addressing the primary question â€Å"What is the effect and impact of leadership in the development of faculty members?† In order to clarify further this issue, the following sub-questions will also be answered by the study. These are (1) What leadership styles are deemed most effective for faculty members? (2) What is the relationship, if any, between leadership styles and development of faculty members? (3) What kinds of leadership styles are used by three department heads at the College of XYZ at Ha'il University? In order to address the questions, a qualitative case study had been adopted. Some of the results of the study are: (1) Combination of leadership styles is used by leaders in the Academe in general and in Departments of X, Y, and Z in particular. (2) Leadership styles provide the arena or environment where creativity may flourish or scholarly pursuit may stagnate. (3) Leadership styles serve as a ‘push and pull factor’ in the development of faculty members. Finally, it has been observed that leadership styles are the necessary condition for authentic faculty development. Introduction Background of the Study Education provides the path in which the freedom from mental slavery is attained. To this end, higher education is one of the institutions recognize to be most-value laden in modern society (Scott 2004).