Understanding Organisations and the Role of Human Resources free essay sample

ACTIVITY A – INFORMATION SHEET FOR THE NOKE BY THISTLE HOTEL (742 WORDS) Organisation / Products / Services The Noke by Thistle is a Thistle Hotel, owned by Guoman Hotels, located in Chiswell Green, St. Albans. Situated just off junction 21A of the M25 and junction 6 of the M1, its location is perfect for both travelling business clients and those seeking leisure breaks. The hotel offers a wide range of products and services, spanning from accommodation, breakfast lunch and dinner services, conference rooms and locations for both wedding services and wedding receptions. Couples to be married at the site are allocated a wedding planner to organise and to help manage their perfect day. The Wedding Planner has contacts with photographers, dressmakers, caterers and other companies. They are trained to liase with the couple at an informal meeting to get to know how they imagine their special day to be. Customers During the week, our customers are made up of predominantly business clients from organisations all over the country. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Organisations and the Role of Human Resources or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is vital that sound relationships with businesses are retained and accommodation deals are arranged with each company to keep these relationships. At the weekend the hotel hosts numerous functions and is mainly occupied by families. With a large marquee in the grounds, the venue is used for christenings, birthday celebrations, retirements, Christmas parties and of course weddings amongst others. In the winter months the marquee is fully heated allowing the venue to be used all year round. The on site creche service allows parents to leave their children in the care of child care professionals, allowing them to enjoy weddings, parties and other such functions. Purpose / goals The organisation provides comfortable bedrooms, conference rooms, wedding venues, high quality food and drink and a pleasurable stay that satisfy customers. The following focus points allow this to be achieved. Providing a quality gym to allow both business and non – business clients to relax and unwind. Plans to offer more classes at the gym. Recent refurbishment of rooms to exceed customer requirements. Internet access Tailoring menus to different functions. Look to expand conference facilities. Look to introducing a â€Å"baby listening† service for guests attending a function at the hotel. External factors and their impact A PEST analysis can be undertaken by the organisation to recognise the external factors that may affect its future direction. †¢ Political – land behind the hotel – planning permission to external body resulted on objections from the local residents. The local council opposed, as confirmed by the General ma nager (2011). †¢ Economic – recession – had to reduce room prices to meet customer needs. Social – immigration quota. CIPD 2011. Changing immigration laws will mean a reduced pool to recruit staff from when resourcing will be particularly evident over the coming Summer months at the height of the hotels busiest period. †¢ Technological – staff training on new software programme Opera. Transition from current software programme Fidelio to Opera to keep up with technological advances, as recognised by Line Manger A (2011). Structure The Noke by Thistle adopts the Matrix model because different departments eport into other departments as well as their own superior, which allows it to meet its strategic aims. (See appendices page 1). The following functions help contribute to the organisation’s success; †¢ Events – Take and manage conference room bookings. Relationships are built with different companies, the reputation increases and the business comes back time after time. †¢ Housekeeping – Ensure that rooms are spotless and match the requirements of guests so that they return. Accounts – Process payments correctly and manage and analyse profits and growth. †¢ Restaurant – Provide an exceptional service to guests to ensure that their stay is pleasant and thus return. Culture Coined as â€Å"the way we do things around here† (Deal and Kennedy, 1983, p. 501), culture encompasses how an organisation is run, its â€Å"personality†, and the norms, values, beliefs and attitudes (Armstrong, 2010) that reflect the organisation’s mission, aims and goals. Four types of culture were identified by Handy (1981) Power – boss in the centre – source of power. Spider web framework. Role – each employee has job descriptions. Pyramid framework. Task – project driven. Person – individual expertise, for example, doctors. The Noke by Thistl e tends to adopt a mix of the power / role culture. Each employee has a role within a department with a job description, specifying requirements, responsibilities and boundaries. (Handy, 1993) The blend comes for example when accommodation deals with businesses are finalised by the General Manager. ACTIVITY B – REPORT TO JUSTIFY THE EXISTENCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES / LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT FUNCTION (739 WORDS) 1. 0 Introduction Following the proposal to close reduce / close the Human Resources / Learning and Development department, this report shall highlight the needs for retaining the function by drawing on the following; The organisations strategy and how the Human Resources / Learning and Development function supports this. The strength of the support Human Resources / Learning and Development give to line managers and their staff. The following methodology was undertaken. Research into current Human Resource Management, business studies and hotel management literature in order to gain a full understanding of how the Human Resources function contributes within this industry. Examination of Thistle literature to understand what Human Resources / business planning is currently being undertaken. Interviews and discussions with the General Manager, line managers and staff to establish how the Human Resources function works within the organisation. . 0 Findings 2. 1 Strategy The organisation has a long term strategy of growing its customer base by providing further products and services, increasing their conference facilities, increasing it’s wedding sales and maximising the services available to families. With the refurbishment of Westminster Lodge, the local swimming pool and gymnasium, plans are being put together to extend the on site gymnasium Otium leisure centre. (General Manager, 2011). 2. Benefits of Human Resources / Learning and Development Staff development – Pfeffer’s (1998, cited on CIPD, 2011) research found that â€Å"the combination of a number of powerful tools and policies of human resource management, acting as a total system, produce the highest levels of employee commitment and sustained company business success. † Employee commitment is extremely evident within this organisation and it’s due to the opportunities given to employees to develop, as employee A (2011) states. I’ve just done my intermediate level Food Hygiene course. I’m able to progress within this company and ever improve. † As Line manager A (2011) reports, â€Å"we value employees and it is necessary to develop employee talents to enable us to reach organisational aims and hence optimise organisational performance. † Employee relations – employee relations involves â€Å"managing conflict situations and seeking to gain the commitment of employees to organisational goals. (Martin, Whiting and Jackson, 2010, p. 215). The organisation has practices in place, including daily meetings, departmental meetings and suggestion boxes that engage all staff and value their work and well being. Employees continually work to the organisational goals and staff turnover levels are extremely low. Reward Human Resources advise managers and employees on the reward package and have produced a section for the staff handbook to explain all aspects of this. As line Manger B (2011) commented, â€Å"Human Resources worked closely with us (accounts) to ensure that a fair pay system is being implemented. † Line Manager A (2011) also added â€Å"Human Resources attend induction programmes to explain the reward package to new employees. † 2. 3 Supporting line managers and their staff Policy and procedure advice – the support that the Human Resources function gives to line managers regarding policy and procedures gives them heightened confidence to follow it in accordance with the strategic aims of the organisation. This is echoed in their staff and thus improves the highly consistent performance of all staff. Employment Law advice – employment legislation is ever changing and staff need a specialist person to interpret these changes and ensure all staff are working in accordance with them. The provision of exchange programmes and English language training – the organisation is an equal opportunities employer and pride themselves on providing support where necessary for all members of staff. For example, where English is not an employee’s first language, providing an opportunity for the employee to attend an English language evening class. This gives employees increased confidence and further skills to work to the organisations goals. 3. 0 Conclusions Human Resources / Learning and Development highlights clear benefits for the organisation in terms of staff development, employee relations and reward that will help meet the long term needs of the organisation. Human Resources / Learning and Development provides specialist advice on policies and procedures and changing laws to support managers and staff to deliver a high quality service that both simultaneously meets the needs of customers and works towards the strategic aims of the organisation. Human Resources / Learning and Development provide the provision for exchange programmes and language training programmes in conjunction with schools and the local college to better the education of employees to work towa rds the organisation’s aims. BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary research General Manager (2011) – Interview 31st May 2011. Line Manager A (2011) – Interview 1st June 2011. Line Manager B (2011) – Interview 1st June 2011. Employee A (2011) – Interview 1st June 2011. Secondary research Handy (1993) Understanding Organisations (4th ed) Harmondsworth: Penguin. Martin, Whiting and Jackson (2010) Human Resource Practice (5th ed) London: the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development. Journals Deal, T. E. and Kennedy, A. 1983), â€Å"Culture a new look through old lenses† The Journal of Applied Behavioural Sciences, volume 19, number 4, 498-505. Websites CIPD (2011) HR in Tough Times: Adapting to a Changing World. Available: http://www. cipd. co. uk/hr-resources/research/hr-tough-times-adapting-chang. aspx [Date accessed: 29th May 2011]. CIPD (2011) Immigration Debate needs to take into account recruitment difficulties. Available: http://www. cipd. co. uk/pressoffice/_articles/24012005125239. htm ? IsSrchRes=1 [Date accessed 29th May 2011].

Early Childhood Observation

Early Childhood Observation In order to conduct the investigation based on the known Piaget experiments, one child is chosen. For the purpose of confidentiality, the name of this child is changed to Jenny. She is a five-year-old girl, the elder one among her two brothers. There are only two people in this room: the girl herself, and me, an observer and experimenter. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Early Childhood Observation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is the afternoon of Saturday, May 16, 2009. The experiment does not take much time, as the girl demonstrates her interest and desire to communicate with a new person. The very experiment takes about 30 40 minutes. Before the experiment, her parents told that she could easy talk with unknown people, but only being in her room; this is why the place for this observation was obvious – Jenny’s room. The first experiment is connected with conservation of volume. Piaget tells a lot about the abilities of children of five and six years and admits that their abilities to conserve are not perfectly developed. â€Å"Their thought processes are dominated by the appearances of things, and they do not realize that the volume of an object may not change just because the appearance changes.† (Hobart, 155) Piaget points out that children at this age use rather primitive reasoning to answer any question and are not able to follow and think about the actions other people do. This is why Jenny does not pay attention to the volume of water, compare the forms of the glasses, or concentrate on the level of water; all she does is make conclusion visually. Jenny sees two absolutely identical glasses of water. I ask her which glass has more water; she surely answers that none, as both of them has the same volume of water. I take another, thinner and taller glass and pour water of one glass to it. The girl smiles and admits that now, there is more water in the thinne r glass. I ask her to explain why she thinks so; her answer is rather clear, because the second glass is taller. The second experiment lies in conservation of mass. I present two equal balls of clay and ask her whether they are of the same shape. The girl touches both of them in order to play a bit and puts them on the table. In several seconds, she admits that they are of the same size. However, when I roll one of them and change its form into the shape of a sausage, the child looks at them attentively and tells that the sausage is bigger than a ball because it takes more place on the table. Jenny does not take into consideration that the sausage was made of the same material, get them up in order to find out which one is harder, or pay attention that nothing is added or deleted, and, finally, she does concentrate only on its general view. Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This experiment, as the previous one, proves the facts, offered by Piaget: a child at the age of 5 is disable to analyze the events, does react only on some visual changes, becomes very curious and tries to participate in everything, and cannot grasp how the objects with different forms may be equal in their weight . The third experiment helps to analyze child’s awareness of length. Piaget mentions that a child is able to notices certain changes, however, does not concentrates on details, and can easily make fast decisions. I show her two similar straws; they lie parallel to each other. After I ask whether these straws are similar, she looks at them and, in a second, gives a positive answer. Then, I put one of the straws a bit higher, and ask the same question. She tells that the end on one straw is far than the end of another straw, this is why the higher straw is longer. Her answer proves that a she concentrates on one end of the straw only and does not take any actions t o compare the sizes. It does not take much time to give the answer and follow the first impressions only. This experiment shows that Jenny is not able to conserve length and still trust her vision skills only. She may find enough reasons to prove that she is right and is ready to explain her choice. This is why it is necessary to remember one more fact regarding early childhood development: egocentric thinking, when a child is ready to tell why he/she make such choice or give such answer. The next experiment deals with number conservation. Many children, who may count, pass this test in different ways, and it is rather interesting to me how Jenny passes it. There are two rows of pennies; each of these rows contains five coins. I ask Jenny whether the number of coins is similar in both rows; Jenny counts them carefully. Her counting is certain and correct. She answers that there are 5 coins in each row, this is why she states that these rows are equal. Then, I change the space betw een each coin in own row, and it become longer. I pose the same question. According to Piaget, many children, who face some problems with conservation, give answers without counting and say that the row, where the coins are far from each other, have more coins. His experiments still prove that 50% of children may demonstrate their perfect ability to conserve. Jenny is one of those who like to count guests in her house, toys she like, etc. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Early Childhood Observation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is why in order to answer my question, she does not pay attention that one row in longer than another, but does start counting the coins, and gives the right answer. The facts by Piaget that children don’t use logical thinking and ground on their visual abilities to answer are proved again. Object grouping is one more experiment, Jenny is eager to participate in. We use severa l toys in her room. There are 2 dolls, 4 animals, 1 big car, and 5 flowers. I ask her to unite these toys into some groups, her division impressed me a bit. She unites 2 dolls and a big car, because she thinks that these dolls can be transferred on it. Flowers and animals create two more groups; she explains her division this way â€Å"Animals have legs, and flowers do not.† She explains everything, and her explanations sound properly. It proves one more time that fact that 5-year-old children are able to give some explanations to their answers. There is no concrete task to divide toys according their size or functions, so, she demonstrates interesting approach to this experiment. Classification may be done according to one of the following criteria: association, colour, or mobility. Piaget says that children classify objects by one single feature. To my mind, Jenny uses personal associations to each subject. For my next experiment, I choose a story and read it to Jenny. It is crucially important to pick out not too long and boring story. I create something on my own: about mother, daughter’s duties to put all her toys at their places, candies, and encouragement. While I am reading the story, I try to observe Jenny’s reaction to the events, described in the story. She listens carefully to each word and looks around, maybe, in order to check whether all her toys are on their places. After I finish reading, I ask how she finds the story. She says that she likes more the stories about adventures and sailors, she events wants to tell me another story of her own. I make an attempt to stop her and develop the conversation about my story. She says that the mother is too strict and mentions that her mother also gives her candies, when she cleans her room. Then, she starts talking about chocolate and other sweets. Of course, she does not get the very essence of the story. She remembers only some final words and the major characters, the mother and daughter. She comprehends each of my word (I try to use simple English), however, she concentrates only on those words, she is interested in. Candies turn out to be the major theme in the story. Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Her discussion about candies impresses me: of course, she does not use too complicated words and tenses, however, her mimicry is great. I even think she expects that I present you another candy. Vygotsky, Piaget, and Donaldson presented absolutely different approaches to language development in children, however, each of them are connected to children language development as a social phenomenon and their talks to themselves. Jenny is eager to communicate, and her language seems to be properly developed. Piaget’s facts regarding early childhood development are easy to track during this experiment: ability to count, awareness about tenses (today, tomorrow, yesterday), ability to pronounce long sentences, the use of more or less correct grammar, awareness of antonyms – big-small, high-tall, and comprehension of the question and proper answer. All these experiments show that Jenny’s development is good in some sphere, counting for example. However, as lots of child ren, Jenny demonstrates that her visual perception of information is more important than other abilities. Approaches, offered by Piaget, help to analyze and even predict some Jenny’s reactions and admit that she turns out to be a normal child with all skills, inherent to the children at the age of five. In general, my experiment was successful; and the necessary results were achieved. Conversation with Jenny on her ‘territory’ was not complicated; and each of us was satisfied. Hobart, Christine and Frankel. Jill. A Practical Guide to Child Observation and Assessment. Nelson Thrones, 2004.

StrategicManagement Analysis of The Package Holiday Company Thomas Assignment

StrategicManagement Analysis of The Package Holiday Company Thomas Cook - Assignment Example Thomas Cook is an international operator of tours. The company stands out because of the participation of vacationers and tourists in order to ensure the vision of the company â€Å"The Whole World of Travel†. A publicist of English origin named Thomas Cook commenced the business operations back in the year 1841. The company accomplished growth at a quite higher rate in the industry of tourism through continued strategies of business. Strategies of group tourism and package tours are implemented by the company to make certain soaring share in the market and growth. The company with employee strength of 23,300 and sales of â‚ ¬7.7 billion is counted in the best three companies of travel services all over the globe and is the second best travel company in Europe (SAP, n.d.). The growth of the industry of package holiday has been quite rapid. The earlier decade has given immense chance to a lot of people to visit, travel and avail holidays at such places that were formerly accessible only by the privileged and affluent. The industry of package holiday has become an industry of multi-million pound that is operated by handful big players and numerous smaller ones. The holiday packages are structured by ‘tour operators’ who ‘bundle together’ the assorted elements of a holiday into a ‘package’. The packages are available directly as well as through travel agents as well. The industry can be aptly expressed as oligopolistic meaning ‘competition among the few. ... The industry can be aptly expressed as oligopolistic meaning ‘competition among the few’ (High Beam Research, 2011). There are essentially four companies in the industry of package holiday in the UK that carry over a million people every year (High Beam Research, 2011). The segmentation of the package holiday industry of the UK is shown in the model below: Category %Population Groups Wealthy Achievers 25.1 1. Wealthy Executives 2. Affluent Greys 3. Flourishing Families Urban Prosperity 10.7 1. Prosperous Professionals 2. Educated Urbanites 3. Aspiring Singles Comfortably Off 26.6 1. Starting Out 2. Secure Families 3. Settled Suburbia 4. Prudent Pensioners Moderate Means 14.5 1. Asian Communities 2. Post Industrial Families 3. Blue Collar Roots Hard Pressed 22.4 1. Struggling Families 2. Burdened Singles 3. High Rise Hardship 4. Inner City Adversity Source: (Williams, 2008) The reason behind choosing the company Thomas Cook is its international popularity. 2. Task A 2.1 P ESTEL Analysis Political Severe laws of immigration and tight security as an outcome of terror attacks If few of the destinations are kept off-limits by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, then the people visiting there will be refused insurance by the travel insurers Political instability affects package holidays Policies of taxation on tourism imposed by other countries affect the industry of package holiday (Scribd, n.d.) Economical A critical role is played by the exchange rates in the trade of package holiday. Greater stability in the exchange rates would have a constructive impact on the package holidays Globalisation has a good impact on package holiday as more companies are entering new markets Recession affects the industry of package holiday

Evaluate the transition from oil based world economy to an economy Essay

Evaluate the transition from oil based world economy to an economy driven by alternative energy sources - Essay Example Further, there have been adverse effects on the environment from using oil. In the last fifty years, industrialization across the world has led to increases in carbon emission, depletion of the ozone layer, melting of ice caps and a general decrease in the quality of life. Besides this, oil is a non-renewable resource. This means that its quantities on earth are limited and will at some point be depleted. This makes the use of oil as a source of energy unsustainable and unreliable. Herald (12) uses the phrase ‘Peak Oil’ to describe the time when the world will reach its peak oil production. This will subsequently lead to decline in oil production and the rise in oil prices, causing a significant, yet unpredictable impact. At the moment, some of these consequences are already being experienced in the world. The amount of oil being produced surpasses the amount of new oil supplies being discovered. This indicates that the peak oil stage is fast approaching. With these fact s in mind, there is a greater need to shift the world economy to one that is dependent on renewable energy sources that can be replenished and which do not harm the environment. The following is an evaluation of the significance of this transition and its link to the economic and political processes of the world and the effects of this new venture on the world climate. To avert the effects of oil shortage on the world economy, there have been collaborative efforts to focus on alternative energy sources. These are other sources of energy besides fossil fuels. According to Michaelides (20), what constitutes to an alternative energy source is still being debated. However, the idea behind the term refers to any energy source that is environmentally friendly and not necessarily renewable. Some of these sources include wind, solar, ethanol, hydroelectric power, geothermal power and nuclear energy. These sources have enormous potential and they are able to meet the world energy demands man y times over. Their uptake despite being on the increase over the years has not yet surpassed that of traditional energy sources. Combined, these sources contribute up to only 20 percent of the world energy demand currently. Wind has been one of the best alternative sources which have become a competitive energy source in the world. It is preferred because is clean energy source and produces no pollution in generating power. Its rebirth was particularly focused on after the 1970 oil crisis. This saw a lot of research being conducted to harness wind and to improve wind turbines. Much more needs to be done to promote the use of wind energy such as the reduction of the cost of equipment, better policies to address the competitive land use and availability of distribution and transmission channels. Energy generation from wind is facing a challenge because it relies on high wind speeds, a factor which is not easily attained in densely populated regions. To tackle this hurdle, countries s uch as the Netherlands are opting to set up wind stations in areas which are far from the population although this requires for increase in distribution costs. Some of the countries that have fronted wind energy and encouraged its use include Spain, USA, Denmark and Germany. Wind energy is fast growing as a replacement for oil and these governments are giving incentives to encourage this

GBST Reading Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

GBST Reading Summary - Assignment Example In Amoral Familism, corruption is an aspect involving particularism, wherein providing resources, one believes it is only to those that the person feels obligated to (Harrison and Huntington, 2013), with nepotism as its most expressed form. Majorities of market forms are established on universalism and not particularism; hence, corruption does not sustain such market values. Similarly, corruption is equally attributed to religion and culture, based on the perspective that certain cultural and religious settings influence the occurrences of corruption. For example, from social science consensus, it is evident that religion is a significant determinant of varied secular cultures such as protestant-dominated environments having an increase in corruption compared to those with least domination of Protestants (Umphlett, 1985). Such a point of view is because protectants in contrast to other Christianity denominations believe that the ability to avoid sin is a personal issue, and each has the ability of so doing. The link between Protestants and corruption goes a long way to affect the economic developments of such areas. Considerably, the relationship between Protestantism and perceptions of corruption indicate that such a relationship enhances in the control of per capita income. Such an indication shows that higher corruption-prone areas influences higher economic development of the individuals participating in the corrupt dealings (Harrison and Huntington, 2013), according to the article â€Å"Religion, Culture (Kent, 2008), and Corruption.† In the contrary to â€Å"Amoral Familism,† ties that are most important and significant are those between families, as in a mother and her child. It is considered that such close ties, are the ones most responsible for influencing corruption through elements such as nepotism, and not ties of the

Growth Strategies Of Kelloggs, India

Growth Strategies Of Kelloggs, India This report aims at discussing and evaluating the growth strategies adopted by Kelloggs in India. Kelloggs is a universal brand operating in about 160 countries having its manufacturing plant in more than 16 countries to produce breakfast cereals, snack and other confectionary. Kelloggs marked its presence in the Indian market in 1994 to increase its business as it saw huge potential growth owing to Indias large population and growth in economy. This report will analyse the main challenges that the company is facing now in India. Further the report aims at recommending and justifying the actions that Kelloggs should take in India to maintain their market leadership. The present day multi-national food empire of cereals was accidentally discovered by William Kellogg in Michigan, USA in 1870s. On February 19, 1906, W. K. Kelloggs officially filed the papers and incorporated the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Company which later came to be known as Kelloggs. Kelloggs India has gone a remarkable growth from 1994 to the present day. To analyse the growth strategy of Kelloggs, various strategical theories can be used like Ansoff Growth theory, the 4ps of marketing, Product development process, etc. In the initial stage Kelloggs entered the Indian market in the year 1994 with three varieties of cornflakes. Then Kelloggs improved its growth strategy by changing the packaging and product to be more attractive to the targeted consumers. The company chased through the process of product development and diversification. To understand it we have to follow the Ansoffs Matrix. By adding ethnic flavours like coconut and mango, Kelloggs embarked on the process of the product development. Product development is a necessary growth strategy and can be compared with the strategy of market penetration. Kelloggs strategy becomes more effective due to the fact that the organisation not only embarked on product development with just a particular aim in mind in fact Kelloggs early entry in the Indian market draws more attention towards the customers needs. Diversification is being demonstrated by Kelloggs when it introduced its products like Sunrich and Cheez-it which were made focussing more on the impulse food rather than the breakfast cereals. The process of diversification helps an organisation to represent its brand name more widely and to decrease the risk of focussing heavily on individual market. Regardless of various attempts and strategies the products of Kelloggs were not successful. The Marketing Mix and the 4Ps of Marketing:- Neil Borden brought up the concept of the concept of the 4ps in 1964 (Adcock et al 2001) which include Product, Price, Place and promotion. These are broadly being used by the different companies to take strategic marketing decisions to develop product to satisfy customers requirements, the right price, taking the product to the right place and then promote it. 1 Product:- Products means the actual product or service that the company offers to its consumers. According to (Levitt, 1969). People do not buy products, they buy the expectation of benefits. It is the benefits that are the product. Kelloggs paid much focus on the products as it continuously changed its product. It introduced flavour like coconut and mango in its cereal products for the Indian taste. The company changed the packaging to attract the target customers. Even some of the products were given the Indian names. 2 Price:- Price provide revenue. Kelloggs has always faced problems for Price in India as Indian masses couldnt afford its products. In 1994, when Kelloggs entered India the average cost of its product was INR 21 per 100gm compared to Mohans INR 16.50 per 100gm (Vasudha, 2009). Rather than offering customers small packages of its products, Kelloggs didnt do much in reducing its price. Place:- Place implies distribution through various medium like supermarkets, offices, grocery shops etc. Kelloggs has over 200 distributors in India which has made its distribution quite efficient. While operating in India, it used to launch a new product every month to target the Indian customers. Promotion:- This strategy is used by the companies to let people know what they are offering to them with an intention to make them buy and use their products. It involves commercial ads, sales promotion etc. Kelloggs used a lot of promotion techniques to promote its products like sponsoring school programmes, associating itself with JWT ad agency, movies like Spiderman 2 etc. to boost its brand and sales of its products. To understand the various Challenges, various opportunities and threats that Kelloggs now face in India can be done by examining the external environment of Kelloggs. To understand it the PESTEL Analysis, SWOT Analysis and the PORTERS 5 GENERIC FORCES have been analysed. PESTEL ANALYSIS:- Political: The political challenges and threats Kelloggs is facing results from the rising ethnic conflicts in the disturbed areas of India like Kashmir and the other regions of it. According to the latest report of IFC and the World Bank, India is being ranked I34 in the list of Ease of Doing Business 2011. Further Indian Governments policy under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (1973), which requires foreign investing companies to dilute their equity holdings to 40% act as a political challenge to it. Economic: According to the CIA Factbook 2001, about 1/4th of Indian population lies below poverty line. Kelloggs products are quite high priced. No doubt the Indian economy is booming as one of the largest economies of the world, still people feel price reluctant to buy Kelloggs product. Further being a huge country, there is a huge difference in the spending power of the people. Social: Difficulty in understanding the mindset of different geographical segment of customers i.e. Indian customers, e.g. Indians misunderstood how to eat cereals with cold milk. Instead, they used to take it with hot milk and thus make it soggy. People prefer the traditional Indian breakfast dishes. But still people are changing their traditional way to more global cultural traits owing to the factors like health benefits, Getting in Shape predominantly among women, increment in the awareness of convenient foods and growing concern for the deficiency of vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients especially among the kids. Technological:- The increasing use of the internet provides a useful medium for communication. Consumers remain up to date of the global trends. Environmental:- India is a vast country which requires a widespread and well set up distribution infrastructure. SWOT Analysis:- . Strength:- Kelloggs is a leading brand with international quality standards. Kelloggs strength includes its advertising campaigns. It is the first manufacturer with the highest experience of ready to eat breakfast cereals which gives it a competitive advantage over the new companies. Kelloggs has a great distribution channel that help its products to reach the target consumers. It has a wide range of innovative, nutritional and convenience products that helps it to suit a range of customer taste and preferences. WEAKNESS:- Kelloggs failed to analyse the taste of customers culturally and biologically. E.g. Northern Indians used to eat Paranthas and South Indians used to eat Idli/Dosa. A complete and thorough Indian market research was needed before introducing Kelloggs in India. Its high prices act as a weakness as most of the Indian masses find it difficult to afford it. It did not succeed in repositioning itself as a convenience food company. E.g. its product Cheez-It was far away from breakfast and was an impulse food, therefore a different strategy was required for it. The fluctuating oil prices, non availability of good power supply hinders Kelloggs to lower its prices. Porters 5 Forces: Threat of New Entrants:- Multinationals like Heinz, Nestle etc. have entered in Indian market owing to its potential growth. So threat of entry is high. Threat of Substitute product:- Threat is medium owing to local breakfast meals. Rivalry:- Threat is low as there as just a few competitors for Kelloggs. Suppliers bargaining power:- Low threat as suppliers have more opportunity to bargain in terms new organisation entering the market. Buyers bargaining power:- High threat as buyers have an open option to buy from other organisation like Heinz etc. Recommendations and Justifications:- On the bases of above report following recommendations can be given to the organisation:- Kelloggs should spotlight more on the market research and monitoring before launching any product or conducting any other activity. This is quite important as India is a huge market place with diversity in terms of costumers spending power. Kelloggs should increase its communication channels so as to address the huge population of India. Further one of the main challenges for Kelloggs is to find product to suit well to the Indian taste. It should find products that could appeal well to the Indian masses. Kelloggs should collaborate with other small local companies of India which can lead to saving its costs and adding constancy to its productions. As India is one of the booming economies of the world with a vast potential of growth, so Kelloggs moving to Indian market is fully justified. Its entrance in the Indian market was not quite easy as it had to suffer huge loss due to unacceptance of its products by the Indian masses. Kelloggs used a lot of innovative strategies to remain in the Indian market. There are a lot of challenges which Kellogs has to face in India like fluctuating oil prices, repositioning its brand correctly, conducting good market analysis and monitoring the Indian culture, taste and price sensitive market.

William Shakespeares Hamlet :: Excessive Thought in Hamlet

Books upon books have been written about Shakespeare’s Hamlet. About an equal number of books, however, have been written about one character; Hamlet. A critic of Hamlet once said, â€Å"a man set out to read all the books about Hamlet would have time to read nothing else, not even Hamlet.† What is the great fascination with Hamlet and the characters contained within. The great intrigue comes from the ambiguity of the play and it’s characters. â€Å"Hamlet is the tragedy of reflection. The cause of the hero’s delay is irresolution; and the cause of this is excess of the reflexive and speculative habit of the mind.† (Halliday. 217) The reason that there are so many critics is that there are just as many theories and speculations. Even in the twentieth century on could create or â€Å"discover† a new theory or criticism based on the play or it’s characters. The character Hamlet, alone, has over two dozen critics from Quinn to Coler idge. Some critics come up with sane interpretations of Hamlet while others use wild and crazy themes. Some conclude that the problem with Hamlet, and a classic thesis used by many students, is insanity versus sanity. The theories progress from there. The theories range from manic-depressant to homosexual. Some are even very creative; such as the thesis that Hamlet is actually a female raised as a male. But no matter how many theories, speculations, or thesis there are, many hold some ground. This thesis paper will not stress on any of the statements I have listed above. However, I will take a stand with Coleridge and speak about Hamlet’s genius and cognitive activity. Hamlet’s true dilemma is not one of sanity -Vs- insanity; but one pressing his intellectual capacity. Being a scholar, Hamlet is prone to thought rather than actions. â€Å"Cause of Hamlet’s destiny. . . in intellectual terms . . . is a tragedy . . . of excessive thought.† (Mack. 43) Hamlet ’s role was to make a transcendental move from scholarly prince to man of action. Hopefully this report will help open another, or even stress a classic, view as to Hamlet’s character and his prolonged delay. When a student goes to write about Hamlet’s character they often begin by hitting a wall. Not the usual writers block in which the mind goes blank, but one of information loaded upon information.

Human Society

In discussion of inhumane treatment, a controversial issue is whether animals are entitled to their rights. While some argue that only humans have rights, others contend that animals should have the same privileges as humans. The author of â€Å"A Change of Heart about Animals,† Jeremy Rifkin, claims that animals should have better treatment. Rifkin rhetorically changes one’s view on this subject without the consent of the reader. Rifkin begins by showing the animals’ human qualities, then giving a counter statement to common objections, and finally ends it by utilizing negative language. Rifkin’s expressive strategy is to note the similarities between animals and humans. Rifkin mentions Koko, a 300-pound gorilla. Koko was able to learn sign language and yet some people never even learn how to communicate in sign language. Rifkin also notes the similarity between rats and humans. He states, â€Å"Recent studies in the brain chemistry of rats show that when they play, their brains release large amounts of dopamine, a petrochemical associated with pleasure and excitement in human beings. Rifkin shows that not only do animals have the ability to learn the things we do, but also have some features that we do. After providing the analogy between the two, Rifkin anticipated that many people would view animals as one of them. The result is that to believe that animals are not any different than us, so they shouldn’t be in the brutal situations they face every day. It also, makes much more likely to accept the statement he makes based on the similarities he provides, that we must work to increase the benevolent treatment of animals. Among Rifkin’s subtly persuasive strategies is to denote the common objections and give a counter statement. Jeremy Rifkin for showing us that science supports what we pet owners and animal rights activists have known in our hearts all along: animals have feelings and abilities not very different from humans. When will more people begin to realize that we share this world with many creatures deserving of our care and respect? Animals have a right to live without being confined, exploited, and tormented.

The Natural Scenery Of The Journey Tourism Essay Essays

The Natural Scenery Of The Journey Tourism Essay Essays The Natural Scenery Of The Journey Tourism Essay Paper The Natural Scenery Of The Journey Tourism Essay Paper Ecotourism was first put frontward by the particular advisor of IUCN, H A · Ceballos Lascurain in1983. It was non merely refers to all the natural scenery of the journey, but besides emphasized that the scenery should non be lost. Ecotourism, as a new type of touristry has become a hot subject for argument. To understand nature, enjoy nature, protect nature and non destruct the ecological balance is really of import. Tourists in natural, reliable, perfect scenery can enlighten and sublimate the head. There are many different benefits and impacts from ecotourism if people use it as a tool to do money or do other things. Because of this, people should raise of public consciousness to protect it. Further more, there are many plans aimed at advancing it, including universe organisations and local organisations. Ecotourism, responsible touristry, A jungle touristry and sustainable development have become prevailing constructs since the late eightiess, and ecotourism has experienced arguably the fastest growing of all sub-sectors in the touristry industry. The popularity represents a alteration in tourer perceptual experiences, increased environmental consciousness, and a desire to research natural environment ( Randall, A. 1987, 55 ) The country this study will concentrate on is Malaysia, which is one of the states in Southeast Asia. Malaysia s natural landscape lends itself rather of course to eco-tourism. Visitors are able to plunge themselves in the many rainforest militias and well-sign aged Parkss throughout the state. There is truly no better topographic point in the universe to see alien vegetations and zoologies in their pristine tropical environment, so up near and personal! ( About-Malaysia, n. vitamin D ) About 75 % of Malaysia s land country is still forest, and about 60 % of it that is origin rain forest. In one meeting, Malaysia promised to maintain more than 50 % rain forests in the universe. As one of the diverse states in the universe, Malaysia has at least 15000 species of flowers and 286 species of mammals, etc. In recent old ages, many developing states have used the foreign net incomes from the ecotourism to protect the rain forest. Ecotourism is going the 2nd of import industry for the Malayan economic system. It has been said that Malaysia additions RM655 million per twelvemonth from ecotourism. Even so, there is still more to be done. Peoples need to cognize its pros and cons, at the same clip ; people should hold greater consciousness of it. Body There are so many Parkss for people to hold out-of-door activities in rain forest. Main Parkss are: Gunung Kinabalu, Kuala Selangor Nature Park, Taman Negara Pahang, Endau-Rompin Gunung, Mulu National Park. Ecotourism is caused by the deterioration of environment and the environmental motion development. It besides needs public consciousness to maintain the nature balance. The rain forest in Malaysia is the oldest wood in the universe so that demand more careless and more notice. More people have no instruction, which causes them has no consciousness that protect the rain forest. It is reported that the degree of young person consciousness based on their educational background and cognition ( wcyf2009, n.d ) . As worlds, everybody should hold the responsibility to analyze good and value the ecology. Malaysia has decided to concentrate on ecotourism as the future way in touristry development in order to make greater consciousness among the universe community on the importance of conserving the natural and cultural heritage, Tourism Minister Leo Michael Toyad said in his written address in the concluding twenty-four hours of the International Media and Environment Summit ( IMES ) . ( R edorbit, Saturday, 3 December 2005, 09:00 CST ) which is claimed that authorities has already paid attending to the ecotourism that is incorporating rain forest. Rainforest belongs to everyone, but more and more rain forests are being destroyed by the people who are selfish. Harmonizing to the study, 80 % of the rain forests belong to the populace, but community, personal and corporate proprietor ship and direction in increasing. Therefore, they treat the rain forest random so that there are many rainforest fade off. On the other manus, some rain forest besides under the influence of natural forces, such as fire, drouth and storm. Even so, it can normally through the ecological system of residuary life and rapid sketch, which is different topographic point with semisynthetic devastation. To sum up, everyone should derive more consciousness about rain forest and do nature more beautiful. The rain forest in Malaysia is progressing society, economic system and environmental issues. It besides provides many new opportunities for the investing and employment so that more people have their ain wage and more companies have been run. Furthermore, the development of rain forest keeps the nature balance. Rainforest would derive visitants interesting and gratifying experiences every bit good as the chance to appreciate the natural environment and observation birds. The natural is really beautiful and pleasant to people s eyes. Peoples will experience relaxed when they hear the birds vocalizing and see the natural scenery. It non merely helps to dirty and biological growing, besides has the map of modulating clime. Rainforest helps Malaysia develop the economic system and raise financess. It appealed to more people s attending and travel to there to see the natural. ( See table 2 ) Comparison with 1986 to 1990, the plans of allotment has a important addition from 1991 to 1995, which is besides a ground for why so many visitants go to Malaysia. Rainforest is good for people healthy and can salvage more wildlife. it offers tourists a scope of activities in which they may prosecute to see and to the full appreciate the ecotourism experience such as caving, hike, jungle trekking, white H2O rafting, stone mounting, bird observation, plunging and river cruising. ( touristry, n. vitamin D ) Rainforest is a good topographic point for cultivating people s moral character. The tabular array i1i?†°is about the development allotment for touristry Under 50 and 60 Malaysia programs plans Fifth program ( 1986-1990 ) Sixth program ( 1991-1995 ) allotment outgo allotment Preservation of national/historical heritage 1.5 0.7 4.1 Tourist adjustment 2.0 0.0 171.7 Beautification and environmental protection 2.5 2.5 43.6 Cultural merchandise development 2.5 2.5 112.9 Facilities and substructure 79.2 76.7 157.4 other 52.8 49.7 7.2 entire 140.5 132.1 533.9 ( www.unescap.org.2010, Mohd Nawayai Yasak, n.d, 85 ) Although rain forest has big returns for Malaysia, it still confronting many negative impacts -including the people was enforced to go forth their places and their rights are violated. It besides causes many environmental jeopardies. Anything about ecotourism may impact the sustainable development of society. The system of it has fiscal and political influence. there is a tenseness in this relationship because eco-tourism frequently causes struggle and alterations in land-use rights, fails to present promises of community-level benefits, amendss environments, and has plentifulness of other societal impacts. ( no day of the month, wikipedia ) Ecotourism sometimes fail to acquire the end of environment protection. Although it survives for little groups, it besides causes many force per unit areas on the local environment and necessitate another investing for the base installing. If it has weak substructure, the H2O pollution and air pollution will no ways to work out so that ecotour ism besides leaves behind rubbish and pollution, Through the sustainable development of agribusiness save rain forest which is going a major issue in this universe. As people increased consciousness, more and more people arrival to Malaysia for a better life. Visitor s reachings have steadily increased from 1987 to 2007. ( See table 2 ) While advancing the natural attractive forces in the state to tourers, the Malayan Government besides realizes the importance of sustainable touristry and of equilibrating preservation and development. As such, the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia, has adopted the National Ecotourism Plan ( NEP ) to supply policies and guidelines for the painstaking development of ecotourism.A A ( touristry, 200810. ) In Malaya, both local and authorities can set the engineering to the local people s agricultural undertakings to advancing the sustainable of rain forest. Through the agribusiness can avoid wholly destroy rain forest, the system of agribusiness and forestry can keep rainforest system, dirt and biologica l diverseness to a higher degree of ordinary agricultural engineering. The agribusiness engineering can be applied to larger rain forest and old ages of workss in yearly, at the same clip, the direction and cost may increase, the negative factors may countervail the income of variegation and maintain the map of rain forest. A The tablei2i?†° is about International Arrivals in Malaysia ( Tourism Malaysia website.2010 ) A A Decision In amount up, rainforest in Malaysia is good for the environment, civilization, economic system and people s healthy. Rainforests represent a shop of life and take a breathing renewable natural resources that for eons, by virtuousness of their profusion in both carnal and works species, have contributed a wealth of resources for the endurance and wellbeing of world. ( rain-tree, 2010/03/20 ) Therefore people need more public consciousness to protect it and believe out more ways to work out the jobs about nature balance. Ecotourism is most of import portion in people s support. In order to halt pollution, people should cover with it more careful. Appendix ( The chief Parkss in Malaysia )

Details to Give Recommendation Letter Writers

Details to Give Recommendation Letter Writers If you have someone writing a recommendation letter for you, what information do they need to make it stand out? First, assume that your letter writer will not remember all the details about your credentials that you will want to highlight in the letter. That said, you will need to provide all the information that you think may be helpful or that you would like to see in the letter of recommendation. It makes it easiest for the writer, who is donating their time to do you a huge favor, so putting together comprehensive information is completely worth it. Making this information easily available for your recommendation letter writer can go a long way to produce a dazzling, youre in kind of letter. What Goes Into a Recommendation Letter Create a folder or include these details in an email to the person writing your rec letter.   The Correct Spelling of Your NameYour GPAList of Relevant Courses Taken- note if you were a member of a class or project togetherTitles and Abstracts of Any Research Papers You Have WrittenHonor Societies to Which You BelongAwards That You Have WonActivities in Which You Have Participated (professionally relevant only)Relevant Work ExperienceService Activities such as Volunteer WorkA Description of Your Professional GoalsA Curriculum VitaeCopies of Admissions EssaysInformation About Your Experiences with the Letter Writer (e.g., courses taken, copies of papers, etc.) Sometimes that person may not remember you until you refresh their memory. Who Makes a Good Recommendation Letter Writer? Sometimes it can be difficult to choose someone to write you a recommendation letter. You may want to choose a professor you clicked within the past, but it also pays to vary the pool of writers. Perhaps a supervisor from a job or volunteer opportunity can attest to your strengths and ability to balance multiple tasks just as well as a professor. A guidance counselor, or advisor from an extracurricular activity is also a great choice. You dont want to pick a friend; instead, stick to people who are familiar with your academic and related skills. The best person to write a recommendation letter for you is someone who knows you well and can provide a glowing testimonial of your ability to perform well. Some of those sources can be: An undergrad professor youve worked withSomeone who has earned the degree which you are seeking in your graduate workA person with an advanced degree who has supervised you in a job or internship that relates to the program in which you are applyingA source who has academically evaluated you in an upper-division class

Agile Software Development Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Agile Software Development - Research Paper Example Agile accelerates the development process while maintaining the flexibility of adjusting to changing requirements through iterative development (Dingsoyr et al., 2010, p. 33). This report gives an overview of agile method of software development. It presents a brief technical comparison with the traditional, non-iterative waterfall model, the intent and guiding principles for agile methods, the people involved its advantages and disadvantages, two common agile methodologies and lastly the future of agile. 2. Agile vs. Waterfall In contrast to the traditional non-incremental models such as waterfall, agile does not have distinct phases of capturing requirements, forming architecture and design, development, testing and incorporating feedback as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Waterfall Model In agile all these phases are meshed up as can be seen in Figure 2. The intent is to develop a feature set in a way the customer wants. A release of the system is built on the initial requirements wit h respect to the features set provided by the customer, the miniature system is then tested by the customer, requirements are revised and readjusted into the release and then the new system release based on some other remaining features is built. Hence, there is only one similarity present between the traditional non-iterative waterfall model and agile model which is with regards to the testing phase. Agile model has a distinct testing phase as well which is a common process in all of the iterations. Generally, the testing phase comprises of two categories of testing; unit testing done from developer’s perspective and acceptance testing carried out from customer’s perspective. ... The difference lies in the fact that in agile, the developers and the customers are in close communication with each other while in waterfall, the case is different. In waterfall, the testing is done as per the set of requirements and design details initially put together in form of documents in the initial phases of the software cycle. Customer involvement is limited to merely the requirements capturing phase. Any change of requirements on part of customer is not guaranteed to be incorporated in the system. Therefore, agile provides a worthwhile alternative to the heavy-weight document-driven software development methodologies such as waterfall. 3. Agile vs. Rapid Application Development Agile is an incremental model similar to Rapid application development (RAD) model (Linger & Fisher, 2004, p. 180). Figure 3 shows the RAD process. In RAD, initial set of requirements are used to design a prototype for customers to test. The prototype helps customers in realizing the system requirem ents as mostly the customers are unaware of what they want. Figure 3 Rapid Application Development In agile, the underlying model is the same as RAD except that the delivery is made in form of releases that contain a subset of features. Unlike prototypes in RAD, these releases are supposed to be complete miniature software fulfilling a portion of the feature set. The customer defines a set of features and provides a brief detail of how the system must offer these features. A release based on a subset of the features is built within a specified interval and is tested for acceptance by the customer. Any changes requested are adjusted through constant cooperation with the

Histology Question and Answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Histology Question and Answer - Essay Example The common pattern is the presence of three layers – the tunica intima, tunica media and the tunica adventitia from inside out. The tunica intima is the innermost layer, towards the luminal side of the blood vessel and is composed of simple, squamous endothelial cells and the supporting connective tissue. It is separated from the tunica media by the inner elastic lamina. The tunica media is composed of circular smooth muscle interspersed with connective tissue and is separated from the outermost layer by the outer elastic lamina. The tunica adventitia is made up entirely of connective tissue. The walls of the arteries are much thicker than those of the veins as they have to carry the blood pumped by the heart to distant organs which is usually at a higher pressure. The arteries therefore comprise of more elastic tissue in the tunica intima. The medium arteries are more muscular than elastic and the internal elastic membrane is more prominent. The spiral smooth muscle cells of the tunica media assist in the propulsion of blood as well as the maintenance of the blood pressure. The tunica adventitia is composed of collagen as well as elastic fibers and the innermost portion has an external elastic membrane. More elastic and muscular tissue in the arteries serves to sustain the vigorous systolic pressure of the blood and the maintenance of its pressure. The veins, on the other hand have thinner walls. Although they possess the basic histological structure associated with all blood vessels, the three layers are not well demarcated and blend into each other. They have lesser elastic tissue and the tunica adventitia is the thickest layer made up of collagen fibers and longitudinally oriented smooth muscle cells. The tunica intima is modified into loose folds which form pockets or valves to resist the back flow of blood along its journey to the heart. 2. The integument fulfills several roles, including that