Easy Jet( Airline company) e-marketing strategies Essay

Founded in the year 1995 Easy Jet has been a very fast growing company. In the year 1998 they sold their first seat through the internet and as of now almost 98% seats are sold online. This has made Easy Jet one of the foremost in the internet retailing. One of the foremost reasons the company went online is because it wanted to reduce and distribute costs. According to EasyJet.com (2008.a), the concept overview gives a overview of their e-marketing strategy, they are as follows:  · Reduction and distribution of costs which includes setting up their booking centres and manual labour.  · No tickets during travel. An email containing the booking reference itself is enough to board a plane. The further reduces tasks and costs of issuing, distribution, processing and reconciliation of tickets for every year.  · All operations are paperless thereby making the internet all the more useful for other businesses such as management and administration purposes. Mc Govern.G (2004) mentions that the e-marketing strategy needs to be logical must have substance and needs to have a lot of textual matter. In general it has to â€Å"be useful†. The main reason for its success is eCommerce and the way it has been used as a part of their business plan. The main reason for Easy Jet’s e-strategy was that the company wanted to â€Å"scale down its call centre operation† and sell most of their tickets online (2001). The use of the website has made their flights even cheaper when compared to their competitors. EasyJet.com (2008.b), gives an overview of the different ways that the internet is being used and how the customers are being benefited,  · Customers who book online receive discounts for each leg of the journey.  · They make it a point to put up all cheap flights online.  · Customers can search flights by fares and also view cheap flights that are available over two weeks.  · Customers can make their bookings online. Make any flight transfers, name changes and can request duplicate confirmations by email.  · Customers can also reschedule their flight bookings.  · The website also offers online check in for its passengers.  · The customer also has the option of selecting Speeding boarding which will enable the passenger to board the flight before all the other passengers.  · There are exclusive promotions for customers who are booking online. E-strategy is aimed at selective targeting of customer groups for promotions. According to Chaffey.D (2007) e-marketing strategy includes  · Segmentation and Targeting. Online customers are from different demographic locations, their needs and even behaviours are different. So the same e-strategy needs to be able to mould itself to specific requirements of the customer.  · Differentiation and Positioning. It is also important that the online product gives appropriate value for money. Competitors will have different value propositions and Easy Jet will have to be able to meet. Based on this some of the recommendations are as follows,  · The customer base needs to be expanded, by giving the customer more promotional benefits of online booking.  · E-marketing should not be seen as the sole marketing strategy but must be integrated as a part of the bigger marketing plan for the company.  · Enhance the experience of online booking by offering benefits, advantages and promotions.  · Make online booking a priority not a necessity. As they will have to retain the customer base of internet users as well as non-users.  · Need to start tie ups with other airlines so that they can expand into other countries.  · Their strategy needs to be able to handle and adopt to competition of airlines and new business models strategies of other companies which may or may not include e-strategy.  · The service of handling customer complaints and feedbacks should be effectively managed. So that feedbacks are positive and the complaints received are as minimal as possible.  · They should also have a plan in place if inflation occurs and if prices of products are affected. They need to be prepared with alternatives and substitutes.  · Change in political regulations and governments policies should have no or else minimal effect on the functioning of Easy Jet and its low prices.  · Easy Jet also needs to be environment friendly on and off air.  · They need to introduce their booking services by taking the technology of the internet to areas that do not have the facility. There are various kinds of e-tools that can be used on the internet. Some of the e-tools used by Easy Jet are listed below,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Websites so that customers can surf through the pages and book, cancel or transfer flights.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   E-commerce to enable bookings online. There are other tools that are not being used by Easy Jet and these are listed as follows,  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Email. So that customers can have their on personal Easy Jet email id for a more personals online service.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No chat and messenger service. A customer support executive can be online to help and guide the customer through the process of making transactions or else to assist in answering queries.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Communities and forums. These can help the customers to interact with other customers thereby enabling the company to understand and evaluate its services and customer satisfaction ratio.  ·Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The website can also include videos and sound clips to help customers who are physically disabled to still be able to use the internet to make bookings. Dr Chaffey.D (2008) suggests that there needs to be some core framework for assessment and that should include the product details, price competencies, introduce e-commerce transactions across different sites and promotions. This will then keep the customer in the virtual world as happy as in the real world.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Easy Jet has a very has a very good future ahead but only if it can take up on some recommendations to better itself in the long run.

CanGo Analysis Essay

1. CanGo has too many activities without having specific goals or setting priorities. As they find something that needs to be accomplished, it is always as soon as possible without setting definite time deadlines. Setting priorities is one way to insure that the tasks which need immediate attention are worked on first, while other task can be delayed because they are not as important. Being able to schedule people to complete specific task requires careful planning while know what resources are available. According to the Business Dictionary, a resource is â€Å"an economic or productive factor required to accomplish an activity† (Resource, 2013). CanGo needs to make a chart showing what its resources are which includes how much time each employee is able to work, how much money they can spend or invest, and what needs to be done by when. This can be accomplished in a number of different methods depending on the personnel who will be responsible for compiling the data. As shown on the Adaptive Path website, one method would be to use a spreadsheet which shows three major criteria and then apply a scale to them graphing the results. Equally important, once the priorities are determined, is setting specific deadlines for completion of task so that the employees know exactly when a report is needed, or when another department needs a specific resource if a resources needs to be shared or allocated, such as an employee working on multiple tasks. When setting the times, it is also important to know if one task needs to be completed before another on starts or if tasks can be worked on by different employees concurrently.  Setting up a written schedule or calendar, for example in Microsoft Outlook which everyone can view would be a good tool so each employee knows who is working on what and when it needs to be done. 2. CanGo needs to find out their customer base so that they can market to current customers and bring in new customers. There are a few ways to find their customer base. This first step to help find a customer base is to make the company a brand name. They need to make the company known to everyone for the great services and products offered. This will make the company more noticeable on any search engine or social media. Another step to finding the base would be to use onsite analytics. Google is the best known option for this. This will analyze the sites traffic patterns. It shows what websites they come from, how long they stay on your site and each individual page. This can even determine what page the customers get to and then leave (Staff Editor). If there is a certain page that customers’ get to and then leave the site, than this is the page that needs to be looked over and re-done. CanGo should also take advantage of social media. If CanGo used a social media outlet such as Facebook, their fans could leave comments and say what they like and dislike about the company. This can help fix any problems within the company. The final step in reaching a good customer base is to make sure their website is user friendly. Make sure the homepage has the most important content on it and that it has easy to understand menus for the customers to navigate. The company should also make sure to look at the reviews both good and bad and leave all of them on there. By showing that you are not trying to hide anything the customers will have more respect for the company. . CanGo wants to implement a new technology that involves a new layout that incorporates barcoding and automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS). Jack is proposing this new implementation by contrasting the new technology versus CanGo’s current technology. Jack assures Juan that every cost has been included in the detailed analysis, but when Juan asks about how they are going to deal with the IT department, Jack replies that they need to make sure that the entire department is focus about 70 % of their time to this project in multiple locations. He also remarks that the department has to be pulled off from their current projects, so this implementation can be a priority. Prior to make the final decision of purchasing ASRS technology, there needs to be some deeper discussion as to what would happen to the security of the company’s network if the IT department had to spend more time on data integration. According to Ehow website, â€Å"the information technology department in an organization is responsible for the architecture, hardware, software and networking of computers† meaning that putting the IT department full time on the implementation of ASRS technology, can cause improper function of the mainly IT department functions, for instance, server maintenance (Kelchner, n. d. ). Agreeing to Wisegeek website statement, â€Å"if maintenance is not conducted on a computer network, regardless of whether the network is small or large, pplication software usually will not run as well as expected. In some cases, a network may even experience total or partial network failure if proper maintenance is not conducted. † Jack’s proposal can cause CanGo extra costs that have not been accountable for and put the entire company’s network at risk (server maintenance, n. d. ). In other to make this analysis effective, Jack should meet up with the IT department first and discuss how the implementation of this new technology will impact IT’s current work schedule. Jack and the IT department need to come with a plan that includes a work schedule for the new implementation without interrupting current projects. Therefore, if extra hours are demanded to complete the implementation whether CanGo will pay overtime to the IT department employees or temporary IT employees will be hired, this cost has to be added to the analysis. When choosing a strategy, every single department that is involved in the implementation should be contacted and informed about the project prior to present the final analysis.  It seems that Jack didn’t contact or discuss the implementation of ASRS technology with the IT department. 4. CanGo consumer buying process is in question when one of CanGo’s employee shares an elevated statistic that reveals over 75% of online shoppers don’t end up buying the products that they have selected in the website; as a result, Andrew replies that CanGo’s website mirrors the consumers choice by applying product recognition, informative search, alternating evaluation, etc. It seems that CanGo does not have an ongoing method for tracking hits vs. purchases on their website. The problem is that CanGo is not evaluating their consumer buying process properly. Andrew clearly wonders if that high statistic applies to CanGo clients. According to Aspire website, â€Å"using website metrics and tracking your leads and conversions should play a vital role in measuring what’s working and what’s not on your company’s website. Building up a history of metrics will enable you to identify trends and opportunities, analyze your traffic data to consistently improve your site’s effectiveness, and monitor your lead generation process, conversion rates, and your return on investment. CanGo should invest in website metrics because this will allow CanGo to conduct proper follow up that will confirm if the implemented consumer buying process is satisfactory (Website metrics, n. d. ). 5. CanGo needs to monitor the changes in purchases so that they can modify their marketing strategy. There are a few ways that CanGo can monitor changes. The company should start using web bugs on their site. A web bug is a graphic in a website or a graphic-enabled e-mail message. The Web bug can confirm when the message or page is viewed and record the IP address of the viewer (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). This can help determine how many people are viewing their homepage and any other page on their site. CanGo can also apply direct marketing to their site. Direct marketing is a sales pitch targeted to a person based on prior consumer choices (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). An example would be if the customer buys a romantic novel, then there will be suggestions for other romantic novels in a similar nature. Another method CanGo can use is behavioral marketing. Behavioral Marketing is the practice of collecting and compiling a record of individuals’ online activities, interests, preferences, and/or communications over time. Companies engaged in behavioral targeting routinely monitor individuals, the searches they make, the pages they visit, the content they view, their interactions on social networking sites, and the products and services they purchase (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse). After they have done the tracking they are able to show advertisements to the customers based on their behavior. This type of marketing is used through cookies, flash cookies, device fingerprinting and many other technologies. Whenever the customer goes to websites or social media that have advertisements on the side, the company’s ad would be there if the services were something that interested the customer. 6. CanGo seems to lack knowledge of unfamiliar territory. Since the online entertainment market is becoming saturated with entrepreneurs entering the industry, CanGo can definitely benefit from researching this particular market before they enter it. There are many reasons for any company that’s entering a new market to research it first. One reason is because it’s a way of keeping up with market trends, and in today’s fast paced world it’s paramount to stay on top of the industry and business trends. Lacking knowledge of unfamiliar territory can be extremely costly to an organization. Expanding into a new market involves a great deal of market research in addition to target customers. CanGo needs to develop an in-depth understanding of market growth rates, forecasted demand, competitors, and potential barriers to entry. CanGo isn’t entering a relatively undefined market, however, its new territory for the company. Needless to say maintaining a competitive edge is an important aspect of management today because organizations exist in a more global environment than in the past. Within most industries organizations compete with other companies that are able to provide the same goods and services. According to Steve Jobs, â€Å"Some people say, ‘give the customers what they want. ’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, ‘if I’d asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse! ’’ People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page. † This was a pretty controversial quote but it was how he actually felt. Unfortunately, although he was extremely successful and considered a genius by many there we’re times in his career where understanding customers’ wants could have led to even more success, such as with his computing company NeXT. There are both and cons to researching a market before entering but the pros definitely outweigh the cons. researching your market is also very vital to understanding your target market and increasing sales. There are many reasons for CanGo to conduct research on a market they’re entering, for instance, identifying potential customers. It’s important who will be using your product or service. Are they male or female? How old they are? and so on. It’s also important to understand CanGo’s existing customers such as; why would customers choose their product over their competition. A market should be prioritized based on the strategic fit and the ability for CanGo to serve them. CanGo should be able to answer questions like: Are there gaps in this marketplace that can be filled? If so can they do better than their competitors? What value can they deliver to this market and how much are they willing to pay for it? (Isaacson, 2011).

Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Essay

It is dif? cult to see adequately the functions of language, because it is so deeply rooted in the whole of human behaviour that it may be suspected that there is little in the functional side of our conscious behaviour in which language does not play its part. Sapir (1933) Language is a complicated business. In everyday talk, we use the word ‘language’ in many different ways. It isn’t clear how ‘language’ should be de? ned or what the person on the street thinks it actually is! We talk about how miraculously a child’s ‘language’ is developing but how they make charming ‘grammar mistakes’, like me maden that instead of ‘I made that’. Here, language is an ability that is blossoming in the child. But the word is used in a myriad of different ways. For example, people have strong views about how beautiful or how hideous the ‘language’ is of some region or country or age group; how it sounds to the ear. People say ‘I just adore Italian or an Irish accent. ’ They grimace or smile at teenager talk on television. Here ‘language’ is being judged aesthetically. By contrast, we remark that you can’t really appreciate a culture without knowing the ‘language’, as when we learn French or Japanese for that reason. Then pupils struggle with rules for tenses like the passe compose and imparfait or have to memorize genders and irregular verb conjugations, matters of grammar which seem a million miles from cuisine, ? lm, high tech or Zen Buddhism. ‘Language’ here equates with grammar. 1 Language and society Then, people relate the word ‘language’ to the expression of thoughts. They often say that they ‘can’t ? nd the words’ for their thoughts or express feelings. Or they are ‘hunting for the right words’. Alternatively, we say that language is a means of communication. Politicians often use as an excuse the fact that their message ‘just isn’t getting across’ because the media distorts what they say. In negotiations or relationships, when communication fails, we say, ‘they just don’t speak the same language’. In another sense, ‘language’ refers to a school subject. It makes sense to say that ‘little Mary is behind in her English’, although you’d never know it when you hear her chatting with her friends. ‘Language’ is being viewed as a set of skills acquired in school. We are taught to write Standard English and spell correctly. At the same time, we use the term ‘language’ analogically, as a metaphor. We talk of such things as ‘body language’, or the ‘languages’ of music, painting or dance. It is fairly clear that these various ordinary uses of the word refer to different aspects of language, and take different perspectives on the sort of thing language is. Or, alternatively, we have simply grouped together under the heading of ‘language’ a range of diverse phenomena which are only partially related to each other. In order to clarify our thoughts about language, let’s look at some of the ways language is viewed by linguists. We can then give a precise statement of the speci? cally sociolinguistic view of language, and contrast it to other views of language assumed in linguistics proper. The primary aim of all linguistic scholarship is to determine the properties of natural language, the features it has which distinguish it from any possible arti? cial language. This means that linguistics will be universalistic in its basic aims. It will examine individual natural languages in the course of constructing a theory of universal grammar that explains why the whole set of natural languages are the way they are. Natural languages, English, French and so on, are in fact the data for this theory of natural language. Arti? cial languages are of interest too since they can exhibit certain properties any language has, but they also have features that can sharply distinguish them from any naturally evolved language. Linguistics and sociolinguistics 3 We will look at some arti? cial languages to illustrate this. The linguist Noam Chomsky, in his in? uential book Syntactic Structures (1957), employed the following languages in the course of his arguments: (i) (ii) (iii) ab, aabb, aaabbb, . . . and all sentences of the same type. aa, bb, abba, baab, aaaa, bbbb, aabbaa, abbbba, . . . and all sentences of the same type. aa, bb, abab, baba, aaaa, bbbb, aabaab, abbabb, . . . and all sentences of the same type. Why would we want to call (i), (ii) or (iii) languages? The answer is that they have certain properties of any language. They have a vocabulary of symbols, in this case two letters of the alphabet ‘a’ and ‘b’. Also, they have a syntax. That is, each of the languages has speci? c rules for joining together their symbols to produce the sentences or strings of that language. If the rule of syntax is not followed, then the string or sentence produced is not a sentence of that language. Consider the syntactic rules of the three languages. In language (i) the rule seems to be that for each sentence, whatever the number of occurrences of the ? rst symbol, a, it is immediately followed by exactly the same number of occurrences of the second symbol, b. In language (ii), the rule is that, for each sentence, whatever the arrangement of a and b in the ? rst half of that sentence, then that arrangement is repeated in reverse in the second half of the same sentence. I’ll leave the reader to work out the equally simple syntax of language (iii). Note that the output of the application of their respective syntactic rules to the symbols of these languages is an in? nite set of strings which are members of the language sharply distinguishable from another in? nite set of strings which are not members of the language. In brief, then, these arti? cial languages have vocabularies and syntactic rules for joining their symbols together. And, by following the rules of their syntax, an in? nite set of strings can be produced. Natural languages can also be considered in this way. Thus, English can be viewed as a set of strings. And this in? nite set is produced by the vocabulary and syntactic rules of English. If linguists can 4 Language and society construct a device, a grammar, which can specify the grammatical strings of English and separate them from the combinations of symbols which are not English, they have gone a considerable distance towards making explicit the syntactic properties of the language. And if the types of rule in that grammar are also necessary for the grammar of any natural language, then they might have discovered some of those universal properties of language which it is the aim of linguistics to discover. Chomsky, in fact, used languages (i), (ii) and (iii) to rule out a certain class of grammars as candidates for grammars of natural language. Of course, these arti? cial languages are also extremely unlike natural languages. One very noticeable difference is that the symbols and strings don’t bear any relation to the world. They have no senses or meanings, but are purely syntactic. The study of meaning and how it relates symbols to the world is called semantics. There are other arti? cial languages which have strings of symbols which are meaningful. An example is arithmetic. Consider ‘2 + 2 = 4’ or ‘3 ? 3 = 9’. These formulae have a syntax and a semantics. And they are true, while ‘2 + 2 = 5’ is false. These are language-like properties. But there is also something very unlike natural language, the language spontaneously acquired by children, about these formulae. Nothing in the world (we feel) could ever make ‘2 + 2 = 4’ false, as long as the symbols themselves don’t change their meanings. The formulae appear to be analytic or ‘always true by de? nition’. Contrast this with some sentences from natural language: 1. 2. 3. 4. Arthur is taller than Brenda. Brenda is taller than Tom. Doreen is taller than Brenda. Tom is shorter than X? We can use these sentences to make statements which are true or false, express our beliefs that each sentence designates a state of affairs in the actual world. These sentences are synthetic, true or false according to the facts. (Strictly speaking, it isn’t the sentences which are true or false, but the propositions which they express. A ‘sentence’ may express many different ‘propositions’. However, I will ignore the distinction in this book. ) We can capture a Linguistics and sociolinguistics 5 sentence’s relation with the world by giving its truth conditions. These are precisely the possible worlds – possible states of affairs – in which it is true. For example, 1 is true in worlds where the individual designated by ‘Arthur’ is a member of the class of individuals who are ‘taller than the individual designated by â€Å"Brenda† ’; otherwise it is false. Similarly, if ‘Doreen’ is also a member of that class, then 3 would be true, otherwise false. Only if we know these truth conditions, can we use the sentences to state what we ourselves believe. Or understand what somebody else using the sentence is claiming to be the case. Intuitively, to know truth conditions is part of the ‘meaning’ of the sentences. But sentences also relate to each other. For example, if 1 is true, then Arthur is ‘bigger’ or ‘greater’ than Brenda with respect to her ‘height’ or her ‘tallness’. Synonymy is one example of sense or semantic relations. Such semantic properties constitute inferential relationships between the sentences. Another example. We know that, if both Doreen and Arthur ‘are taller than’ Brenda, and Brenda ‘is taller than’ Tom, then Doreen and Arthur ‘are taller than’ Tom. We don’t have to look at the world to know this fact. It is a result of a semantic property of the language; the ‘transitivity’ of the predicate ‘taller than’. Similarly, ‘is shorter than’ in 4 bears a systematic semantic relation to its converse ‘is taller than’. Example 1 entails ‘Brenda is shorter than Arthur’. Entailments are inferences that depend on semantic relations. If one thinks about it, this web or network of sense relations seems to describe features of the very same possible worlds in which the sentences are true. Of course it would, wouldn’t it? This is because inferential relations between sentences are just those relations where the two sentences are both true! Hence, to specify sense relations is a way to partially describe the ‘worlds’ of the truth conditions – the ones in which the sentences are true. Hence it is a way of giving the ‘meaning’ of the sentences. So far, no social factors have been mentioned. How do social factors ? gure in the explanation of language? They don’t seem directly related to either syntax or semantics. We can begin a treatment of this question by mentioning a few social aspects of semantics. A fundamental factor in making both the arithmetic and natural language examples work is convention. In the ? rst case, of the 6 Language and society arithmetic symbols ‘2’, ‘4’ etc. , we have con? dence that when we use them, our addressee will understand that we intend to refer to sets of two and four, 2 and 4, etc. , respectively. This is an example of co-operative social co-ordination. It connects the sound [tu:] or the mark ‘2’ with any set of two things. It allows an English speaker to use the term with con? dence that their intention will be understood. The ‘sign’ and its ‘object’ have a coded relationship. Similarly with the predicates ‘is taller than’ and ‘is shorter than’. They have a coded relation with the states of affairs they represent. It is important to note that any intrinsic properties that the signs ‘2’ or ‘4’ or ‘tall’ or ‘short’ might have do not explain the link with their objects. Any noise or mark could just as easily be chosen. This is the property of the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign. Signs and objects are arbitrarily linked, by convention. And this is a social phenomenon. From a different perspective, the connection of world and words isn’t arbitrary, though it is equally social. Consider the web of inferential relations sketched above. The semantic structure of language describes the possible worlds in which sentences are true. Now to even establish this structure it is necessary for us to use the signs to express belief, what we take as actually true, to coordinate ‘taller than’ and ‘shorter than’ with the world as we take it to be. In essence, semantics de? nes possible states of the world based on our beliefs. Truth has to do with ‘senses i. e. the inferential net’, the relation of ‘words and world’, and ‘our beliefs’. Without the ‘possibly true’ world set given through meanings, we couldn’t inquire, because we couldn’t think hypothetically. Without the inferential relations, we couldn’t reliably think out the consequences of our hypotheses to test them and thus be right or wrong in our beliefs, assent or dissent in the light of experience. Thus, crucially, the semantic structure of a language is the very resource necessary for humanity to form any empirical theory of the world and use language to inquire – to ? x belief and hence deal with everyday experience, be able to live. That the set of sentences can form a coherent theory can be seen by the fact that, if you believe that 1–3 are true, then you can give a true answer to 4, without further looking at the world. Tom must be the ‘shortest one of all’ in this particular universe of discourse. There is no doubt Linguistics and sociolinguistics 7  that the process of inquiry is social. We have to co-ordinate our beliefs and inferences for language to work. Are there other properties of natural language which require social explanation? The answer is, ‘Yes, there are many such properties. ’ Next we will look at one of the most de? nitive social properties of language. This property is called variability. Consider the English word ‘butter’. On the levels of syntax, vocabulary and semantics, it is a single English item; a mass noun which means something like an edible, yellow, dairy product used in cooking and as a spread. Yet although it is one item, if I asked you to describe its pronunciation in English, you would not be able to give a single answer: there are various phonetic realizations of ‘butter’. In British English Received Pronunciation the t is made by putting the tongue tip on the ridge behind the teeth, and releasing the air in a small explosion without vibration of the vocal chords. The r, however, is not pronounced, although it is present in the written form. Instead, a vowel sound, schwa (phonetically transcribed as e) follows the t. The schwa is the same sound that is normally ? nal in the word sofa. Thus, the RP speaker and many other British English speakers say [bvte]. In Canadian and American accents there is a rule that when explosive sounds like t are made between two vowels, the vibration of the vocal chords, called voice, continues through the whole sequence. This has the effect of turning the [t], which is voiceless, into [d], which is its voiced counterpart. Thus, a Canadian saying ‘butter’ in fact pronounces it as if it were ‘budder’. However, Canadians and many of their American neighbours also have r-full accents (as do the Scots and Irish). This means that, unlike the RP British English speaker, they pronounce the written r in butter, giving us the ? nal form [bvter ]. In many British English accents there is yet another variation in the pronunciation of t in this environment. The vocal chords themselves are closed tightly and then released abruptly, giving the impression that t is missing. In fact, the gap is ? lled by a socalled glottal stop, symbolized by ?. So ‘butter’ is pronounced [bv? e]. Such a pronunciation would typify London working-class speech, familiar to North Americans as a Cockney accent from ? lms like My Fair Lady. 8 Language and society This ? lm, from George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, introduces another feature of the variability we have been describing. For Professor Higgins (modelled by Shaw on the famous phonetician, Henry Sweet) to take such pains to train Eliza Doolittle to pronounce words like ‘butter’ as [bvte], as opposed to [bv? e], indicates that the variation must mean something. There is no conceptual difference in the word-meaning itself. The meaning difference of the variation is socially signi? cant and relates to those groups in a social structure who typically use one form rather than another. Such social meanings of variants can be further illustrated by looking at two other versions of ‘butter’. In the West Country of England there are some local accents which, like Canadian and some American accents, are r-full. Speakers would typically pronounce the r in ‘butter’. And this can be combined with the use of the glottal stop to give the form [bv? er ]. On British television an advertisement promoting butter used this regional form, presumably because it had a social meaning to British audiences suggestive of honest West Country farmers genuinely in touch with real, non-synthetic cows. In New York City a working-class accent will, in casual speech, be largely r-less like the British RP. But this would be combined with the voicing of the written ‘t’ between vowels giving the form [bvde]. Followers of the 1970s Kojak detective series on television will recognize this form. Imagine, however, the different social meaning that would be conveyed if Lieutenant Kojak pronounced the word [bvder ] as might an upper-middle-class New Yorker, or [bvte] as might an upper-middle-class Englishman. It would not be the impression of the ‘tough New York cop’. The diagram opposite gives a summary of the various ways ‘butter’ can be pronounced which we have looked at. The actual situation is far more complex and interesting than I have indicated, but we will be studying this in more detail later in the book. The purpose here is to merely illustrate the property of variability which natural languages possess. It is clear that this property requires social explanation. This is in contrast with the arbitrary property of language mentioned earlier. In characterizing the variant forms of ‘butter’, I needed to make reference to the geographical location in which the form

Green Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Green Power - Essay Example Furthermore Green Power is associated with a cleaner environment devoid of pollution. The Green energy sources include wind, solar, biomass and water. Renewable energy plants can provide a constant flow of power which can be the greatest realization for humanity. Presently this is not the case. There is a clarion call across the world for the adoption of Green energy in a bid to conserve Mother Nature. Indeed, the call for these safer and non-pollutant forms of energy cannot really be emphasized. Several researches have demonstrated the great harm done across the world through the usage of oil and other forms of energy not classified under this category. In few countries across the world, Green Power contributes substantially toward the total national grid. However, in most countries, the consumption of green energy is still very limited to the extent of 2 to 5% for most developed countries. Such a trend worries considering that the world’s oil resources are running out at amazing rates. It certainly calls for alternative measures to be put in place in order to address the situation before issues go haywire. The greatest challenge facing the consumption of Green Power across the world is the already established infrastructure that serves the consumers. The incorporation of green energy into such infrastructures is normally a difficult affair. The centralized nature of most electricity grids in the world means that purchasing the Green energy from the producers becomes difficult. In the Netherlands, electricity companies are compelled to buy a given amount of the Green energy to supplement the national output and to serve clients who specifically opt for the green energy sources. The Green Power affair has become an important program across the world and people are called upon to join the bandwagon. Policy makers are giving many reasons on why such renewable sources of energy should greatly be adopted across the world. The amount of carbon

Persuasive Request Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Persuasive Request - Assignment Example This shall be possible with our new wellness program whereby employees who achieve certain health benchmarks shall be able to receive deductions in their health insurance. The company shall assist you with providing appropriate fitness plans and counseling to help achieve those health benchmarks. This shall not just save you several dollars worth of health insurance deduction but also secure your health in the long run. We understand the value of our employees and do not wish to lose our best performers and loyal employees owing to health issues which is why we have initiated this program for the best interest of our employees. Keeping in view our objective of maintaining the wellness of our employees as well as reducing the burden of their healthcare insurance, we request all employees to fill out an application form before January 15, thereby registering for sessions with our fitness counselor. We hope that you shall not miss the deadline and embark on the mission to improve your health with this program. If there are questions regarding this program feel free to contact us at

Network Architectures for Data Centers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Network Architectures for Data Centers - Essay Example On the other hand, at the present technology has changed. Additionally, there is an increase in demands for operational sustainable, efficiencies corporate processes, dynamic operational service diversification, and cost efficiency. In addition, these ever-increasing demands put the data center in the crosshairs of business analysis as its significance has increased more than ever before (LSI Corporation, 2012). This paper presents a detailed analysis of network architectures for data centers. This research will offer a comprehensive analysis of some of the major aspects required for the development and application of data center architecture application and their possible implication for better corporate management. Introduction At the present, data centers serve as the central command center for the majority of business organizations in spite of size and industry. Without a doubt, it offers an excellent support for managing huge amounts of information and data, and ensures effectiv e execution of business operations 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. In this scenario, network based data centers are designed, developed and maintained to store, process, and exchange information and data for economic services corporations, companies, transport business, administration, utilities, educational institutions, network carriers and internet service providers (ISPs). In fact, investments in the development of data centers are growing at a rate of more than 20 percent per year. In view of the fact that the business organizations completely depend on latest information technologies to take actions thus the current data centers have become less efficient along the lines of competence, effortlessness and agility of maintenance (H3C Technologies Co., Limited, 2012; Juniper Networks, Inc., 2012; Greenberg, Lahiri, Maltz, Patel, & Sengupta, 2012). In addition, in the field of data centers, several major trends are happening in parallel, with each representing a fundamental chan ge in terms of how it is managed. Data centers currently include both networking and server arrangements. However, the server part of this technology based infrastructure is at the present far down the road of technology based commoditization, in this scenario high end corporate class servers have been replaced by large amounts of low cost technology based servers. Additionally, new technology based improvement in distributed technology based computing and administration systems have supported the irregularity of individual network servers to be masked by the collective communication reliability of the data center system as a whole (H3C Technologies Co., Limited, 2012; Juniper Networks, Inc., 2012; Greenberg, Lahiri, Maltz, Patel, & Sengupta, 2012). Moreover, the quality and performance of network architectures for data

Levels in a Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Levels in a Class - Essay Example That is why it is necessary to provide them with a wide range of opportunities to further improve and develop the previously acquired skills, as well as acquire and perfect new ones. So, first of all, a teacher must ensure that all the classroom students feel comfortable and secure in the given learning environment in order for their learning to be effective and productive. Successful teaching in such a case entails efficient differentiation of instructions, first of all. That is, weaker students should get easier, corresponding to their proficiency level, tasks to complete, so that they don’t loose confidence in own abilities. In such a way, they will feel comfortable with the learning process. Besides, performing tasks corresponding to their level, and based on the knowledge and skills they acquired before, will ensure that there will be no gaps in their learning process, that it is being conducted gradually and consistently. This, of course, is related to the stronger students as well. Differentiated instructions tasks may include large and small group, as well as individual assignments. Successful grouping strategies may become an effective way to solve certain problems: working in mixed groups of different competency levels will, for example, improve weaker students’ skills and abilities as they learn from stronger ones working together with them for achieving a common goal. Working in groups of same competency level will, in its turn, give weaker students an opportunity to fully show one’s potential, while encouraging for achieving better results observing the work of a stronger group. However, no matter what methods a teacher chooses, one should be sure to prepare a variety of learning materials of various levels so that the learning needs of all the students in the classroom are met (DelliCarpini). As a result, performing tasks

Inter-Global Medicare Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Inter-Global Medicare Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Any business venture demands critical economic analysis for its survival amidst the other numerous entrepreneurs in the same firm. In that respect, Inter-Global Medicare main goal is to provide the best prescription medication to our clients’ at the most affordable prices in the market. The sale of the drug would be at reduced prices through careful maintenance of efficiency in the operations of the firm and by aiming specific market segments especially those who pay for the prescribed medicine themselves. By focusing on this segment the firm will avoid inefficiencies and operational disruptions that are characterized by unsteady cash-flows and hence eliminate supply shortages. Inter-global Medicare plans to operate from one store that is to serve both mail order customers and those who visit the facility in person. The firm seeks to thrive through employment of friendlier and skilled staff, which in combination with our great prices is set to propel the repeat business that w ill be reliable. The firm expects that as the price of medication continues to rise, Inter-Global Medicare will be appealing more and more the clientele sense of value, affordability and convenience. The firm's advertising, mainly through the ads in magazines targeted by a relatively greater crowd, will be aiming at those who seek to save money on high price but necessary and regular expenses. Inter-global Medicare entrepreneurs will be led by Experienced PHD holder in the field of medicine and with an accumulated wealth of experience in relevant field not less than five years. The cost of the entire venture will be minimized by maintaining just a few pharmacists and filling the remaining gaps with pharmaceutical technicians. In so doing, the firm expects to reach profitability by third year and will generate substantial sales by mid of the same year. 1.1. Background Information The central issue of focus in this proposal is to establish the best remedial medication against the mena ce of obesity. This problem has been gaining momentum of the past centuries and is headed to ruin the better part of the coming generation. The increased nutritional imbalances and inadequate physical exercise has been blamed on this health matter. Nevertheless there are other unidentified factors attached to it that has not been given critical analysis so as to come up with an all round measure. It has also been noted that some of the medical measures that had been developed to curb this condition have failed woefully in different ways. Some of them like the fenfluramine and phentermine were found to have overwhelming side effects and this rendered them ineffective to combat the threat of obesity in the society (King & Nuala 67-72). Some other medical discoveries like Thyroid extract was tried but its effects on the bones, muscles and the heart were prohibitively dangerous leading to a consequential medical gap. It is out of this need by the society that Inter-Global Medicare entre preneurs has invested resources to come up with an obesity treatment that would see the menace reduce by more than half by the year 2030. 1.2.0. Population Affected Obesity is taking toll among the young generation and partially among women. This group of people is highly exposed to this condition due to their uncontrolled feeding habits, minimal or no exercise. The global statistics presents a high population of the young

Assignments Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Assignments - Assignment Example It relates an argument that exist between the beer producing company (Miller Coors) and the Boricuas For a positive image. It cites communications between the various parties and assumes a business tone. The writer wants us to understand and feel the tension between the two parties; he quotes specific persons, however, the reader fails to give an opinion on the matter. The two documents offer insightful current information in an understandable format. The first article presents the argument that the installation of the bike corrals will give a solution to the increased demand for bike parking. The writer supports the claim by presenting evidence from sources such as the DOT website and individuals, Aussie Saavedra a 22 year old musician who shares the agony of searching for a bike parking. The writer’s opinion supports the claim that the installation of the bike corrals will ease the parking troubles especially for those that park illegally, by locking their bikes on trees or street signs. The second article is based on the argument that the Coors Light Company produced Beer Cans that offended the Puerto Ricans. The writer goes ahead to clarify his claim by presenting the argument between the Coors and the Boricuas For a positive image. He quotes various statements that each party presented in their defense but supports no party. The first document has clear cut sections that are ideally independent since the writer presents a different idea in each section. The second document, however, has section that overlaps and are dependent on each other making it hard to understand one without reading the other since the dialogue between the two parties seems to flow. The paragraphs in these documents are medium in size and are mutually exclusive but convey the flow of thought. The organization of the documents made it possible to skim through the document and get the gist. The documents are arranged in such a way that the most

Kazakhstans Rough Road to Wto Accession Essay Example for Free

Kazakhstans Rough Road to Wto Accession Essay But talks with the WTO chief revealed a number of hurdles blocking Kazakhstans entrance into the WTO, particularly agricultural reform (Kazakhstanskaya pravda, August 27). Over the last decade the government has taken steps to increase agricultural efficiency through land privatization and financial support for farmers. But these half-hearted measures have failed to produce radical changes. Most small farmers and individual households cannot secure bank credits due to high interest rates. Without credit, it is difficult to increase production. Speaking one month ago in Petropavlovsk, North Kazakhstan, an expert from Kazakhstans Ministry of Agriculture, Akzhol Abdukalimov, noted that the country lags at least three years behind Russia in terms of processing its agricultural yield. He added that only 19 of Kazakhstans more than 600 agricultural processing enterprises were planning to introduce ISO international quality standards. Inefficient processing facilities and high production costs are among the main factors that make Kazakh agricultural produce uncompetitive even in domestic markets. Abdukalimov admitted that Kazakhstan still imports 88% of its condensed milk, 70% of its cooking oil, and 30% of its sausages. Last year only 16% of the meat and 13% of the milk produced in Kazakhstan were processed. The poor state of agricultural production minimizes the overall effect of the much-trumpeted positive economic performance. The national Statistical Agency registered 9. 1% GDP growth in the first half of this year. But the growth in agricultural sector was a paltry 5. 2%, compared to a 9. % increase in industrial output and 12% growth in transport and communications. Not surprisingly, these apparent statistical gains are actively used for propaganda purposes. Recently Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov boasted that the high economic achievements recorded in Kazakhstan for five consecutive years were characteristic of the states that hold leading positions in the world. Many analysts are more cautious in forecasting the pace of the economy in coming years. They attribute the steady GDP growth to rising oil prices in the world market over last five years. Other trends are cause for alarm. The production of goods in Kazakhstan makes up only 41% of the economy, whereas the service sector holds 53. 5%. In reality, the annual GDP growth rate is much slower in Kazakhstan than in neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where the economy is beginning to outpace the performance of Kazakhstan (Epoha, August 20). The complex relations among the Central Asian states help explain the political value Astana sees in gaining WTO membership. Kazakhstan, praised by Washington as a leading market economy in Central Asia, had its pride wounded when Kyrgyzstan became the first in the region to join the World Trade Organization. While Russia and Kazakhstan have declared their intention to synchronize WTO accession efforts within the Eurasian Economic Community, little substantive work has been done. Dozens of interstate and intergovernmental agreements aimed at regulating railway tariffs and removing customs barriers remain largely unimplemented. Nevertheless, on August 24 Prime Minister Akhmetov, in talks with CIS executive committee chairman Vladimir Rushailo, resurrected the subject of integration within the CIS and coordinated entry into WTO. Yet the Prime Ministers optimism contrasts with reality. Many regional managers are from the older generation and offer stiff resistance to the introduction of ISO standards. They favor closer ties with Russia and harbor suspicion of international institutions like the WTO. The most widespread fear is that, if Kazakhstan becomes the member of the WTO, foreign goods will flood domestic markets, driving local industries to ruin. However, there is a growing recognition that Kazakhstan needs WTO membership. Although no date has been set for Kazakhstans WTO accession, it is becoming clear that the country will join this organization. Earlier this year, the government launched an industrial innovation program to stimulate the introduction of high-tech methods into the production process.

Human Resource Planning On General Motors Commerce Essay

Human Resource Planning On General Motors Commerce Essay This report is based on Human Resource Planning of General Motors. This study includes the brief description regarding the importance of human resource planning that aligns itself with the business strategies to gain competitive advantage. Effects of Environment in General Motors on the staff, recruiting and selecting employees, dismissal and grievance processes and overall organizational culture works with the human resource planning. This planning makes sustainable goals. In short, without human resource planning an organization cannot survive. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING INTRODUCTION: About Human Resource Planning Human resource planning is a practice by which managers of the organizations ensure that they have right number of competent, proficient and skilled employees working at specific positions at the right time. Through this planning, the organizations can avoid losses and can deal with contingencies which will eventually result in profitability (Robbins and Coulter, 2006). In other words human resource planning helps organization to hire skilled and knowledgeable employees who can meet the needs of the organization in this competitive world. It helps in assessing the current needs of the organization as well as it meets the future needs of the organization (Beauregard and Fitzgerald, 1999). Global overview on Human Resource Planning Human resource planning has enabled human resource department to align with organizations strategic goals and to achieve operational excellence. Now the organizations can also evaluate the employee performance and can deal with the employee performance issues in this dynamic market environment (Winter, 1999). By amalgamation of human resource plan with organizational goals, the organization can have a flexible, customized and integrated approach to deal with its workforce planning needs (Robert, 1997). GENERAL MOTORS Human Resource Planning The organization that has been selected for this assignment is General Motors. It is the largest automaker company in the world. It is a multinational company. It does business in more than 120 countries. GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world because of strategic human resource planning. GM is well aware of the environmental negative impacts so it works with the environment and makes its future plans and projects accordingly (General Motors, 2011). Human resource planning in General Motors is a much emphasized area. They hire 209,000 people in every major region of the world. General Motors hire skilled, optimistic, engaged and competent employees who share innovative ideas and produce best vehicles. Due to human resource planning it keeps assessing and evaluating the employee performance and give growth opportunities to talented employees. General Motors gives extra benefits to its employees like medical plans and investment options because it knows how to decrease the turnover ratio and keep accelerating the employees for better performance in a competitive and dynamic environment. It knows that they have right number and kind of skilled and competent employees working at right positions at right time (General Motors, 2011). Structure This assignment is divided into five parts from A to F. Section A would discuss the brief introduction of human resource planning and its global overview, section B would discuss that how human resource plan of General Motors supports organization strategic objectives, section C would define the General Motors staffing process that what should be the legal frameworks for hiring the employees, section D is about the effects of General Motors organizational environment on staff, section E would define the General Motors grievance, dismissal and discipline process and lastly section F would discuss the conclusion and final impressions based on the analysis. HR PLANS OF GENERAL MOTORS SUPPORTS ITS STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES Because of new technology and strategies the environment is becoming more competitive so the General Motors have adopted different approach from traditional human resource practices to meet the strategic goals of the organization by selling human resource services to outside clients hence generating an additional income for the organization (Phillips, 1999). (B.1) STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE OF CURRENT, FUTURE AND EXPECTED HR REQUIREMENTS General Motors strategic capability General Motors is one of the growing and profitable organizations in the world; its main tool for achieving long term goals is reward system that is giving incentives or bonuses to the employees. It gives growth opportunities to all the talented employees. The main business strategy for long term profitability is the development of senior executive talent. General Motors does not offer jobs, they offer career. These all human resource strategies have a major effect on individual performance and on long term profitability of an organization (Tichy, Fombrun and Devanna, 1981). Its mission is to hire the competent, skilled and empowered employees who have a clear vision and ground-breaking ideas and who remain committed to work. Employees have a career in General Motors with valuable benefits (General Motors, 2011). Putting together an HR strategy General Motors collaborate with its competitors. Collaboration is a business strategy of GM to gain competitive advantage. This cooperation is a low cost method for new companies to gain knowledge about the market and technology. Because of collaboration the companies get win-win situation. General Motors make purchases of cars and components from Koreas Daewoo. For the success of collaboration both the companies should have some valuable asset to share like development skills, basic research and so on (Hamel, Doz and Prahalad, 1988). Fuel Efficiency is another business strategy of General Motors; General Motors is trying to enhance fuel efficiency capabilities through its flex fueled cars (Norton, 2010). Cost Cutting is another business strategy of General Motors, as they are reducing its brands so it will save cost which will close the dealership and will ultimately result in cost reduction (Norton, 2010). The collaboration business strategy is followed by human resource off shoring strategy. The occurrence of off shoring, supporting benefits and joint venture agreements are associated with how investors view a company in the profitability criteria. General Motors have turned to China and India as sources of employment to supplement their full time employees in the United States. Before going for competitive collaboration with other companies the organization must have an off shoring strategy (David, 2009). The fuel efficiency strategy is followed by High Performance Work System strategy of human resource department. The main focus of High Performance Work System is on the organizing work so that all the employees can participate effectively in decision making which affects on the daily operations of the organization (Azrul, 2011). The workers can make their own decisions to accomplish their goal, which is the basic par of High Performance Work System the use of technology is another component of High Performance Work System (Azrul, 2011). For cost cutting business strategy the human resource department following strategy is redundancy. If a manager of the company feels that cutback of an employee is necessary so he will straight away contact human resource department (Charles, 2001). General Motors used to have 22 layers of management but later on they learned to reduce the hierarchy levels of management and started promoting team work. Hiring and sourcing decisions are made by teams and the classification of jobs of GM has been reduced from 18 to 7 and workers are responsible for their own training (Swart, Mann and Price, 2005). Strategic importance of HR requirements Current HR requirements of General Motors are to reduce the dealerships because it has too large dealership network that is causing obstacles in its viability. In this way GM will be able to retain higher sales and service staff. GM present goals are as follows, To enable the automakers and subsidies to develop competitive business that can decrease the adverse effects on the environment. To increase the capability of the auto makers and subsidies to use efficient, aggressive and updated technology for producing vehicles. To reshape and resize the dealership network. To recruit the best talent. To staff employees who can participate in product development and in increasing market share by using their competent skill (Barofsky, 2010). Future HR requirements of General Motors are to stimulate sales by the use of diversified workers who can incorporate new technology, skills and ideas in this competitive world. General motors have always aligned its business strategies with the human resource strategies in order to be competent in this dynamic environment (Brockbank, 1999). In addition GM also focus on compensation strategy to motivate the workers and it will increase it sales by hiring competent workers (Muczyk, 1988). (B.2) HR PLANNING IMPACTS ON STRATEFIC PLANS General Motors business plan GM plan is to make innovation style vehicle with top quality and fuel efficiency features. They carry out environmental friendly practices. GM by reconstructing and strengthening wants to expand in order to share their new and better General Motors not only in U.S but throughout the world (Norton, 2010). General Motors HR planning process Demand forecasting in General Motors works for product diversity and design efficiency which leads it to hold a strong position in market. It works in cooperation according to the demand of the people (Norton, 1997). Supply forecasting is very important. General Motors may also hold back by its suppliers. In 1194 General Motors lost almost two months production of Buick Roadmaster because of late supply of doors and ashtrays (Cachon and Lariviere, 2001). For Internal movements the managers of General Motors must recruit, hire, train, motivate and organize employees, and in the same way they should acquire and organize material resources for the manufacture of its cars and trucks. General Motors must beat back its competitors by marketing its vehicles. GM increases productivity by giving rewards to the workers (Simons, 1981). General Motors components of HR plan Training plans are provided by General Motors to their employees to boost their career and make them able to meet international flexibility (General Motors, 2011). Growth plans at GM for talented, competent and skilled workers are as wide as the world.  It gives the career exposure to the employees and takes them to next gear (General Motors, 2011). Rewarding plans are on high scale in GM, along with the salary the employees will also get medical facilities as well as investment options (General Motors, 2011). Promotional plans at GM includes disability benefits, life insurance of employees, it offers paid holidays annually, GM employees and their direct family members can purchase GM vehicles at a significant discount (General Motors, 2011). Employee utilization plan at GM gives employees more responsibility and authority to make decisions and accomplish their goals accordingly and then hold them responsible (General Motors, 2011). Impact of HR plan on strategic plan High performance work system is a flexible and team based system, General Motors have work teams and performance based wages system (Rouse, 2000). By recruiting the talented and operative employees the General Motors can boost its productivity and profitability and can achieve its long term goals (Azrul, 2011). The compensation strategy that is giving rewards to the employees based on their job performance also helps organization to achieve long term goals (Muczyk, 1988). ORGANIZATIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF STAFF (C.1) CURRENT LEGAL REQUIREMENTS INFUENCING HR PLAN Fairness in recruitment and hiring General Motors recruits on the basis of an employees own self interest area. At GM they are interested in an individual abilities and skills. They assess in a fair and accurate way each and every quality of an applicant in relation with the demands of the post. General Motors follows a behavioral based interview process, they evaluate the personal and professional competencies that individual possess which can be the success factor the open position (General Motors, 2011). Fairness and protection during employment GM is committed to creating a diverse workplace. They have a policy on equal employment opportunity and harassment. Harassment based on age factor, cast, ethnicity, color, gender, disability, gender identity/expression is a violation of this policy. Harassment is an offensive act which is strictly prohibited (General Motors, 2011). Leaving the organization In 2009, General Motors needed to re size the organization therefore dismissed the employees and decided to eliminate 10,000 salaried employees. It employed 243,000 salaried and hourly workers at the end of 2008 but in 2009 it plans to cut about 47,000 salaried and hourly jobs worldwide (LaReau, 2009). (C.2) RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF NEW STAFF Legal and organizational requirements Organizations must hire right ones and reject wrong ones. As employees are the asset so you must choose asset rather than liability (Hacker, 1997). The organizations must have proper procedures for attracting the employees. Recruitment is about future predictions so while recruiting the company should hire a person whose interest and goals can be aligned with organization goals (Bach, 2005). Recruitment process Planning how to find and attract candidates- recruitment is the process of hiring those people who can contribute to the organizational goals. First review of a company is necessary then analyzes the requirements. It is necessary for choosing the assets and differentiating the right fit and wrong fit. Attract candidates by giving job requirements plus benefits (Bach, 2005). Defining requirements- it is necessary to define the requirements for job that what skills, knowledge, abilities, input, desired output and job context is needed (Bach, 2005). Job description, person specifications and competencies- the next stage is job description which defines what is the job, purpose of job, what tasks are to be done, standards, duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships. It is all about the job itself. Then next stage is to examine a person specification that is the worker psychological characteristics (Bach, 2005). Advertising the vacancy- the next step is to advertise the vacancy, this is a very creative task and needs lot of skills therefore many companies do outsourcing (give advertising work to advertise agencies). Newspaper, radio, television and e-advertising are the common sources (Bach, 2005). General Motors uses its own website for recruitment (General Motors, 2011). Reviewing the effectiveness of recruitment- at the end the HR department evaluates the effectiveness of recruitment method by the response of individuals (Bach, 2005). Selection process Sifting candidates- after recruitment the employer will filter the candidates who best matches with the job requirement (Bach, 2005). Short-listing candidates- in this step employer choose the candidates who are reliable and competent (Bach, 2005). Selection, interviewing and testing- many candidates are selected on the basis of their CVs, their past experiences and achievements (Wingrove et al., 1984). Interviewing is done which is not a reliable method because some time the interviewer and interviewee views regarding jobs may differ (Bach, 2005). Contract of employment- this contract is made between an organization and candidate. It includes job specifications, salary, benefits, time duration, working hours and other details (Bach, 2005). Inducting new employees- the final step is of introducing the new worker to the organization (Bach, 2005). GM ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT ON STAFF (D.1) GM CULTURAL EFFECTS ON RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF STAFF Organizational culture The concept of organization culture is becoming common everywhere and its gaining attention from the practitioners and intellectual bodies (Schein and H., 1990) Effect of organization culture on recruitment General Motors culture is innovative and while recruiting innovation attracts people. At GM employees are encouraged to experiment and rewarded for experimenting new products in the market place (Rao, 2010). Effect of organization culture on retention In 1950 general Motors was operating plant in Fremont, California where Chevrolet car was assembled. At that time General Motors declared to leave the United Auto Workers in the upper Middle West and it will not be dealing with them by moving to west. This statement caused the conflicts in the corporation, thus in 1982 the plant was running at disastrous low level, 5000 complaints were filled every year, 21 daily and more than 2000 complaints were unresolved. Due to poor productivity GM collaborated with Toyota and in 1985 they opened plant again and this time due to change in organizational culture only 2 complaints were filled and resolved. The plant was generating profits because of quality, efficiency, productivity, team work and employees decision making authority and none employee left the job (Cameron and Quinn, 1999). (D.2) ASSESSMENT OF WORK LIFE BALANCES ISSUES AND THE CHANGING PATERNS OF WORK BEHAVIOUR Work life balance issues Flexible workers report low levels of stress and thus increase productivity (Eaton, 2003). Workers who take family tension along with work do not perform well and in the case of downsizing they are demoralized (Vries and Balazs, 1997). Changing work practices Firms that are flexible and allow the employees working from home have good work life balance. The firms that are family friendly who allows employees to take time off for children are highly productive. The companies should be friendly practiced, should give time off for the children, job switching should not be an issue and should give time to relax (Bloom, Reenan and Kretschmer, 2009). GRIEVANCE, DISCIPLINE AND DISMISSAL PROCESS (E.1) PROCESS FOLLOWED IN GRIEVANCE SITUATION Employee informs grievance- complain is regarding work place problems and neglected staff. Informal discussion- the employees is called for the meeting with the manager and manager asks questions what went wrong, what is the matter. In case of harassment the form is filled and sent to the vice chancellor. Investigating the grievance- company investigates what went wrong and ask the employees. Making a decision-if the vice chancellor identifies that the objection is frolicsome or out of time so he will stop further process. Normally review is made before 2 months. Offering the right to appeal- the complainant may appeal. ( Thomas, 2001) (E.2) STAGES OF DISCIPLINE ISSUES RESULT IN DISMISSAL Dismissal- the employer dismisses the employees for bad conduct, improper work and inefficiency. Investigation- the investigation is carried out by HR department that what went wrong, ask questions from other employees. Meeting- a meeting is settled where employee has to answer. Decision- the decision is taken whether to fire or not. Right to appeal- the employee can appeal for the right decision (Thomas, 2001). (E.3) ROLE OF ACAS Role of ACAS in grievance, discipline and dismissal process ACAS provides practical guidance to employers, workers and their representatives on: requirements relating to disciplinary and grievance issues; what constitutes reasonable behavior when dealing with disciplinary and grievance issues; Producing and using disciplinary and grievance procedures; and A workers right to bring an attendant to grievance and disciplinary hearings (ACAS R, 2006). Role of employment tribunals in grievance, discipline and dismissal process In 2001, the government launched the consultation document Routes to Resolution its goal were a high skills and high productive economy, the fundamental principles of access to justice, fair and competent tribunals and a modern, user-friendly public service. It talks about the right of the individual and resolves dispute between employer and employee (ACAS, 2006). Role of other external agencies in grievance, discipline and dismissal process The Equality and Human Rights Commission works with organizations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to diminish discrimination and promote equal opportunities for all employees, customers and the users of services. Healthy and safety executive concerned with the employees safe conditions at work. CONCLUSION This research defines the human resource planning and the processes involved in it. General Motors is a multinational company which is ranked among 10 profitable countries. Human resource planning is essential because it deals with the business strategies and helps companies to attain long term goals. Through human resource planning General Motors can align its business strategies with human resource strategies. It gives complete structure of staffing and hiring and issues related to jobs.

Recall Crisis Of Toyota Motor Corporation

Recall Crisis Of Toyota Motor Corporation Enclosed is a copy of Recall Crisis of Toyota Motor Corporation. This report summarizes on the major causes of the Recall Crisis, its aftermath on the company and recommendations to help the company recover from the crisis. It describes the issues and problems which our company is facing while recalling automobiles with manufacturing defects. It also describes the customer concerns regarding their safety and future choice of Toyota for themselves. It also discusses how the crisis is posing threat on its reputation and market expansion strategies in future. This report implements some recommendations to overcome the crisis. The report presents detailed analysis of the causes of the various manufacturing defects in automobiles. Analysis helps to look deeply and elaborately into the reasons rather than only understanding their overview. The recommendations in the report emphasizes on adapting strategies which will help us to resume our brand image as one of the best regarded automobile brand in the world for quality and safety . It also included measures we need to follow to overcome the financial losses incurred during the crisis. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report provides detailed analysis and evaluations of the automobile recall crisis at Toyota Motor Corp Ltd during the year 2010 2011. It brings to focus the manufacturing defects which caused financial loss of around US $ 5.5 billion and setback to its brand image. Method of analysis used is secondary data research. Data was obtained from diverse sources to understand the affect of crisis in various sectors of market. The report seeks attention to the year 2009 2010, when accidents were initially reported in North America but eventually it spread to other countries in the world. The manufacturing defects caused sudden unintended acceleration making driver of the car lose the control. Initially the company considered floor mats as the only cause of the accidents but as more accidents were reported from other parts of Europe, it was understood that scenario is not as simple as it seemed and it needed detailed analysis. The major manufacturing defects identified were sticky gas pedals, floor mats and brake problems. The report has critical analysis of these key issues and problems and it explains the reasons of these defects. During the year 2009 2011 the company and its suppliers had suffered heavy monetary losses. Also Toyota is struggling to regain its brand value which has surpassed its 70 year old history. The report suggests possible measures that can be taken from immediate effect to help the company recover from the crisis. The company should setup small team to quickly research, design the fix and retest them . It should opt for software upgradation which would ensure drivers safety by forcefully shutting down the engine in the events of unpredictable manufacturing defects similar to unintended acceleration. Company also needs to have effective crisis management team and processes defined .Being a global company it is always at risk of some crisis so it should have defined process to follow during those times which would help minimise the after affects of the crisis . Also, future plans of rapid market expansion should be carefully designed in way that they secure its brand image alongside of market expansion. These recommendations if successfully implemented will be helpful to overcome the present crisis and also prepare the company to brave any future crisis. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to familiarise the Toyotas management group about the various issues which company is facing due to Recall crisis. The report is being presented to CEO of Toyota Group. The facts and figures provided in the report for recall crisis are part of secondary data information. This data is mostly the one which has been shared with public by social media since the crisis started. This report emphasises on the manufacturing defects in the top world class brands of Toyotas cars. These defects were brought into light only after many fatal accidents were reported across Europe. These sequence of events badly affected companys image and customers trust in its products. Delayed response and public interaction of made the situation worse. As the pressure mounted, in addition to the recall of millions of cars the production was stopped in the plants across the affected countries. The report also includes company background and its historical rise to be the largest company in the world. Management has been given recommendations and their corresponding implementations which will help company to get over the crisis and resume profitability. COMPANY BACKGROUND Toyota Motor Corporation is globally recognised as Automaker Market leader. In 2008 it overtook General Motors Corp to become worlds largest automaker with production of 4.8 million of cars and trucks. This is remarkable achievement for the organisation which survived Second World War and its after affects of severe economic crisis and resource scarcity. Toyotas uniquely designed management philosophy of Toyota Production System or TPS is the key contributor in its success. Toyota not only inspired the world with its innovative designs but also with its management philosophy .TPS has been adapted by many western companies. The company history is 70 years old, it was founded by Sakichi Toyoda in Japan in 1937. Toyota City, Aichi is the company headquarter, while its manufacturing business is distributed throughout the world in about 27 countries. Toyotas primary business segment is automotive design, manufacture and sales.It has also diversified in financial services and robotics segments. Initially small cars were the primary products with the first one launched in 1947 .During this time Toyota was battling with post war conditions while on the other side American companies were concentrating on manufacturing medium and large sized cars. In the following years Toyota focussed on innovation and technology and soon it started producing vehicles with conventional engine and hybrid engines. Its product line-up includes subcompact and compact cars, mini-vehicles, mid-size, luxury, sports and specialty cars, recreational and sport-utility vehicles, pickup trucks, minivans, trucks and buses. Toyotas models like Toyota Prius, Camry, Corolla, Land cruisers, Lexus have established themselves as global brand image. Key Issues / Problems: In August 2009 Toyota Motor Corp had to recall 3.8 million vehicles in US after fatal accident of Lexus ES 350 was reported in South California .Initially the company reported it as a problem with ill fitting floor mats but by 2010 many more accidents were reported across US, Europe ,Canada and there were 13 separate recalls in all . During the initial investigation the company reported the cause to be incorrect installation of floor mats and announced recalling of floor mats on 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The company appealed customers to remove floor mats and dislodge them in trunk while the dealers were instructed to reinstall the floor mats so that they no longer interfered with gas pedals. But floor mats were not supposed to be the only manufacturing defects because in December 2009 Toyota Avalon crash was reported where floor mats were found in the trunk of car. Toyota announced the issue to be unrelated to floor mats and recalled another 2.3 million vehicles. In the next 5 days of recall announcement company had to shut down its five North American plants .This cost the company and its dealers loss in profit of $ 1.5 million every week. As the company looked into the possible causes of accidents in its products, it announced recall of many other models like Toyota Venza, Toyota Highlander and Pontiac Vibe. Vehicle Sales comparison graph 2006 -2010: Significant reduced sales from 2009-10 (Source:Toyota Annual Report ,2010,pg 36) Revenues by Market 2010: Significant reduction in revenue from North America and Europe region during 2009-10(Source:Toyota Annual Report ,2010,pg 39) The three key manufacturing defects which caused accidents due to sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota automobiles were: Accelerator pedals trapped by floor mats. Accelerator pedals with poor design problems causing them to stick. Prius brake problems. The accidents continued for next few months after the companys claim of having fixed floor- mat issues. Toyota realised the gravity of issue and in addition to recalling the vehicles of few models it was forced to shut down production of top 8 selling brands in US, Canada and Europe. The neglected responsibility by the Toyota groups leadership during the massive recall of cars tarnished its brand image. Toyota did not act responsibly towards the accidents. They considered the failure cause as just the floor mats and failed to look into other possibilities of the accidents. The alert notices were sent to the customers informing them of upcoming recall of vehicles to fix the unintended acceleration issue , but they titled the letters as No defects exist. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in US , governments arm for road safety, was investigating the fatal accident of Toyota vehicle and did not accept Toyotas approach of handling the crisis .It conducted major press release and called the companys steps as irresponsible and the floor mat cause as just a provisional step. Meanwhile media brought up some unknown facts for the public, they reported that there had been numerous complaints of unintended acceleration filed by the drivers in past decade. There were also reports of some lawsuits being settled for undisclosed amount of money. These investigations had been under NHTSA control with no reports or findings published for customers. For one of model of Toyota, Camry 2006, NHTSA had asked Toyota to look into issue which in turn Toyota delegated to its supplier. With new reporting of accidents of Toyota from 2009, NHTSA was pulled up for its soft support to the company and keeping the complaints of last 8 years under cover. Thus NHTSA came up offensively against the company while investigating the accidents happened in 2009 2010 and revealed its findings through public media. These sequence of events badly affected Toyotas reputation globally. Brand Finance worlds leading brand valuation consultancy downgraded Toyotas value from AAArating and a value of $ 12billion to A rating with value of $ 24 billion. (Cited http://blogs.motortrend.com/the-toyota-recalls-the-damage-control-finally-starts-2546.html, 3 December 2011) Future marketing and production of new innovative automobiles by Toyota Motor Corp is great concern. The company has to recover its lost trust before designing and launching new cars in market. Though the crisis was only related to Toyota, it affected the global automotive industry because it made the customers over concerned about their safety and they would no longer relate their security to brand image. The various issues and problems of Toyota Motor Corp are listed above in the report. I would like to address the key issues of the Toyotas recall crisis.These would be the manufacturing and quality defects, damage to brand image and unaccountability of the management. CRITICAL ANALYSIS In 1995 under the leadership of new president, Hiorshi Okuda, Toyota started new market expansion strategy called 2005 vision. The target was set to increase global market share from 7.3% in 1995 to 10% in decade but this was achieved in 1998 when it reached 9.7% .The target was extended to 15% in 2010. This is supported by Cole, E,R. (2011). What Really Happened to Toyota?.MIT Sloan Mnagement Review 52(4), 32. This new strategy was quite different from Toyotas traditional strategy in past decades. It focussed on providing quality product to its customers than to increase its sales and customer count. The expansion required involvement of more suppliers to provide auto parts .These new suppliers were mostly not from Japan and did not belong to companys usual supplier network. But the company was falling short of engineers who could supervise the products of new suppliers to see Toyota standards were still maintained. Toyota had over decades build strong supplier network and these suppliers were involved in product development to ensure that they are aware of quality standards Toyotas customers expected. To develop new designs contract engineers were roped in and 30% of global development work was done by them. Also design cycles were accelerated and time between exterior design approval and start of sales was compressed to less than 20 months. The new suppliers did not have opportunities to follow Toyota Way.Toyota Way is based on vision and values of Toyota like continuous improvement through innovation, respect for others and teamwork. The Product Complexity also causes quality issues and this is more common in automobile industry where demand for luxury products is growing .The automakers of luxury cars focus on continuous improvement of technology in every new product they launch. Other reasons for product complexity are stricter government regulations on emissions and fuel consumption, increased competition in the industry and high demand of comfortable luxury automobiles. Crisis Management: Organisations these days are well aware that crisis cannot be predicted and none of the companies can think of themselves to be resistant to crisis. Enron, 9/11, tsunami these provide examples of the various forms in which crisis can strike. Here comes the significance of Crisis Management Program .Ineffective handling of crisis by company severely affects its brand ,operation, finance performance and customer loyalty , in short it affects it reputation as whole. Crisis Communication is crucial part of Crisis Management Program. Absence or neglect of adequate communication during crisis leads to: Operational response breaks down Stakeholders do not get clear picture of what is happening and have confused and negative perceptions. Organisation can be perceived to be inept or criminally negligent. The slow leakage of information to customers is confusing and annoying to them and this happens when companies do not organise disclosure to their customers during crisis. Toyota Motor Corp during the recall crisis suffered huge setback on its reputation due to unorganised crisis management plan. During this time social media as part of their duty was updating the public regarding the recalls happening, models affected and risk to public safety. On the other hand Toyota was hesitant to address publicly the issues. Toyotas President , Akio Toyoda , took long time about six months to admit to its customers We are in Crisis in public apology. This delay caused major harm to companys reputation. During crisis consumers and other stakeholders like dealers ,vendors look for evidences that company is committed to resolve the issues , safeguard consumers interests and be interested to get back on track of growth .This elevates trust and confidence of stakeholders in the company . An example of effective crisis communication was noticed few years back during recall crisis of automaker Ford. 2000 cars were recalled of popular brand Explorer due to defective firestone tire which caused deadly crashes. Jacques Nasser , the then CEO of Ford communicated to his consumers directly through newspapers , TV advertisements etc. He briefed them about problem and also repeated the assurances that issue would be resolved soon .Accurate timing ,response and sincerity are vital for successful crisis management. In todays world of digital media, crisis communication needs to be spread out on all digital fronts social media, blogs and company websites. Toyota could have utilised popular social networks facebook and twitter. Thousands of its fans following on these channels could have been easily communicated by the organisation about the extent of crisis control and safety measures taken for consumers. CONCLUSION This report on Recall Crisis of Toyota Motor Corp can be summarised with key findings and their causes, followed by the recommendations and implementation plan. The findings show in the later period of year 2009 that various incidents were reported of fatal accidents in North America and Europe. These were caused basically due to either of three manufacturing errors -pedals trapped by floor mats , sticky pedals and brakes problems of Prius model. According to critical analysis of key issues in this report, there were various factors over the years which lead to manufacturing defects and ineffective crisis management. These factors had been ignored by the organisation as it focussed primarily on the vision of being leading automaker of the world. As the organisation expanded into new markets to increase its sales it did not keep up with its traditional policies also known as Toyota Way. The organisations negligence towards efficient crisis management system hampered its ability to effectively follow up on the accidents at appropriate time. The recommendations and implementation plan followed up in the report will help the organisation to recover its loses and also regain its brand image for future endeavours. RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN Below are mentioned some recommendations I would like to provide, to help Toyota overcome the recall crisis, restore its brand image and recover losses by resuming its profitable production. Firstly, Toyota should find out the durable fix for sticky gas pedals for different models of its cars. Secondly, the company should preferably provide a software upgradation in its different existing models of automobiles and also the new upcoming models. Thirdly, Toyota should have functional risk management team or crisis management team. The company can also bond with other companies who provide support for crisis management. Toyota can outsource this operation to well acclaimed company. Lastly, Aggressive growth strategies should be well planned by the management. The above recommendations can be implemented in following ways: Toyota should setup small team to research and design the fixes for the issue. Team should include engineers, who have helped previously in designing various models at Toyota and the suppliers. Suppliers should work closely with the team so that they are aware of the processes to follow while designing autoparts. The company should ensure exhaustive test for the fixes before releasing it to consumer market. The software is to empower the drivers so that they have alternatives in situations of any failures in future. Some of automobile manufacturers are already using similar kind of softwares in electronic throttle bodies. Their purpose is to interrupt the flow of gasoline to engine when driver steps on pedal brakes while gas pedal is stuck. This will prevent fatality in case of similar manufacturing defects happen in future. Company can look to similar softwares already begin used by other major automakers in the world and then design / customise for their automobiles. The software upgradation is better than providing repairs for the sticky gas pedal because automobiles have thousands of components and usually the problems occurs due to interaction between different components .These are quite difficult to identify during their testing .So in case repairs are done to fix the issue by adding or removing some component parts , car will also have the upgraded software system which will allow to cut fuel supply if self intended acceleration occurs again with new repairs. It has been witnessed that most of the global historic crisis could not be predicted before its impact was actually realised. Crisis management team should include experts from all working domains of the company that is engineering, marketing, finance etc .The team members should be well trained to act decisively and quickly. Effective and timely actions are very important to recover from crisis. During the recall crisis Toyota interacted with public quite late while the social media was communicating daily with public on crisis follow up .This made the consumers doubt the company if it was really was concerned about their safety and also if company had any resolution for the crisis. While the company focuses on extensive market expansion globally and increasing production multiple times , it should also give equal importance to policies and strategies it had been following since decades. Quality and reliability were the two key things which had helped build Toyota in these many years but while it aimed to become top automaker in the world , not much importance was given to them. During the growth of an organisation its supplier chain is very crucial as its needed to join hands with new suppliers in new locations. Toyota should ensure the suppliers are familiar with its processes and standards as defined in Toyota Way.

Literature: Tool For The Masses To Grasp And Form Opinions On A Subject :: essays research papers

Literature: Tool For The Masses to Grasp and Form Opinions on A Subject Over the centuries, one of the most important tools available to protesting groups was literature. Some of the most famous protest literature in the world has its roots in American history. For example, some great American authors of protest literature include Thomas Paine, Thomas Nast, John C. Calhoun, and Martin Luther King. Through eloquent, sometimes subtle means, these authors became the spokesmen for their particular protest movements. Thomas Paine was an English-born man who seemed to stir controversy wherever he traveled. Paine's forceful yet eloquent prose made him a hero for the three great causes to which he devoted his life; the American Revolution, religious reform, and the natural rights of man. At the age of 37, Paine strove for the fabled shores of America, determined to forget his past. He made the acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin, and settled in Philadelphia. There, Paine was eventually hired into the profession of editor for the Pennsylvania Magazine. He published a series of minor essays, but his first important work was an essay written for the Pennsylvania Journal in which Paine openly denounced slavery. This was Paine's first foray into the world of protest literature, and it clearly whet his appetite. Paine soon became fascinated with the ongoing hostility in Anglo-American relations, and, much to the dismay of his publisher, could not seem to think of anything but. Therefore, in late 1775, Paine had begun what was to become a 50-page Pamphlet known as Common Sense. In this work, Paine stated that: Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a Government, which we might expect in a country without Government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise (Fast 6). This very biting and controversial stance is what characterized Paine's writing. He went on to dismiss the King as a fool, and stated that natural ability is not necessarily related to heredity. Paine argued that the colonies existed only for British profit, and that the colonies must unite quickly if they were ever to form a single nation. This latter argument was more than likely influenced by Franklin's famous "Join or Die" cartoon. Finally, Paine argued that the only way to gain the rights desired by the colonists and help from outside powers was