The Lisbon Earthquake A Natural Disaster That Evoked...

The Lisbon earthquake was a natural disaster that evoked mixed responses from various eighteenth century thinkers. Although some opinions were birthed from historical perspectives, others were a product of new ideas brought about during the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment era. The selected excerpts show this range of thought through the written words of clerics, scientists, and philosophers. History gives insightful information into how ideas have changed since the beginning of time as we know it. New challenges and goals have brought about different ways of doing things, and in some instances also new ways of thinking about life. However; the Renaissance era seems to be a time in which people began to question what had†¦show more content†¦As a result, he assumes many of the dead were in Hell because of their sins. Even in the Enlightenment era with the changing religious climate this shows evidence in the Catholics’ belief that those in authority shoul d be listened to, heeded, and obeyed by those under their authority. In the wake of the disaster which he felt could have been avoided, Malagrida, again, as an authority figure, urges that the focus be on repentance first – even before rebuilding. This would be the way to avoid future disasters such as the earthquake. God wanted to show love but He was just as willing to show judgement if changes were not made. Wesley had a stance similar to Malagrida in some ways. He cites other catastrophes along with the Lisbon earthquake as examples of God’s judgement being executed on the world. He believed people’s entire lives should be centered around and sacrificed to God. Wesley, too, touches on repentance being the avenue to avoid these types of disasters in the future. Though they differ somewhat in their religious beliefs, both of these men are examples of the general historical view of God and His authority. However; Wesley speaks out against Catholicism through h is mention of men being murdered as a result of the Inquisitions and brings this forward as another reason for God’s judgement in Lisbon. Wesley’s words more directly challenge the thinking of the

Many Causes of Alcoholism - 1290 Words

The Many Causes of Alcoholism Every story has two sides to it. Alcoholism is very complicated story in the â€Å"nature vs. nurture† debate. Alcoholism is uncontrollable and everybody has a different perception of what it is. A persons understanding of what alcoholism actually is can determine whether they think alcoholism is nature or nurture. From my own understanding, I think that alcoholism has multiple causes. Many people may think that alcoholics are people who drink often or drink everyday, but in reality, alcoholism is when people can not control their drinking. There are also different types of alcoholism. For instance, some alcohol abusers may drink everyday because they think it makes them feel better and they use it to deal with†¦show more content†¦Sure, people may be able to overcome their alcoholism, but since they can not control their drinking, alcoholics must stay away from tempting situations. Some people are raised in a poor environment, and that can cause them to turn to alcohol to deal with their problems. They may move themselves to a better environment, but they are still alcoholics. This shows that even after being in a better, well â€Å"nurturing† environment, they were still alcoholics because alcoholism wasn’t something that they learned from their past environment. Alcoholism was just something that was natural to them. On the other hand, many people think that alcoholism is a learned habit. This can be explained simply by the quote, â€Å"Monkey see, monkey do.† A child may have bad examples set for him/her while growing up. His/her parent may drink often or go on drinking binges, and this child may think that’s what people are supposed to do because that’s who he/she looks up to. Parenting has a lot to do with why people think alcoholism is caused by the way a person was raised. Those with neglectful parents who don’t pay attention to their child may turn to alcohol to escape from loneliness. Others with permissive parents who let their children do whatever they want may drink just because they know that they can get away with it and don’t have to worry about getting in trouble. It is also true that children who grew up with neglectful/permissive parentingShow MoreRelatedDrunken Driving Accidents And The Biggest Party Of The Year1182 Words   |  5 Pagesdrinking and driving. ALCOHOLISM Drunken driving accidents are one of the leading causes of death of teens. Whether they are the driver or just in the car with someone. Alcoholism plays a big role in this. With it being a chronic and progressive disease there can be many different symptoms, causes, and risk factors and complications that can be associated with alcoholism. It can include difficulty regulating how much alcohol you drink. 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Marketing techniques which leads to increase sales Free Essays

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and support from our company’s entire stakeholder they include various investors, proprietors, clients, and the government. Our company (The Shop Body) has done pretty well this year having had an increase of profits; our company specializes in boutique products. Employees of our esteemed company have also been very instrumental in the company’s success. We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing techniques which leads to increase sales or any similar topic only for you Order Now However the increases of our profits were not up to our expectations, this does not mean we are to stop here but rather we will continue to rise as time flies. ABSTRACT Many companies have collapsed due to poor marketing techniques. These bad marketing techniques include poor promotion of products, recruitment employees who do not have marketing skills, poor placing, and poor packaging among others. The purpose of this study is to find the impact of these poor marketing techniques, on the overall performance of the organization as a whole. The research found out that a number of organizations use traditional ways of marketing which led to collapse or near collapse.   The research therefore concluded that modern marketing techniques to be used for any business to succeed. Introduction Our esteemed company has come a long way. The future is still bright. To achieve a prosperous tomorrow the company has to employ various techniques. Since we are a profit making company we are to focus on increase of sales hence increase in profits. To be able to maximize sales marketing techniques have to be used. The techniques are used to increase demand for our products. Methodology There are several marketing techniques that can be used to be able to attain maximum profits for our prestigious company and this will include the 4ps (Price, promotion, place, product). Price For any company to succeed in any business, pricing is a very important element especially those customers who are price sensitive, Marketing segmentation is also very important in that the organization divides its market into segments according to there buying capability based on their level of income.   The product should price at a lower price if the consumers’ income is low unlike those consumers who have a high income which the pricing will be relatively higher. Promotion The term   promotion   means those marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising and publicity, that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealers effectiveness, such as displays, shows, and exhibitions, demonstrations and various non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine. Product The term product means anything that is offered to the customers for acquisition or purchase. since we deal with   boutique shop our products are of a very high standards since we sell the products which go with the fashion, We highly insist on quality of our products which is the selling point of our products, also our company is very innovative   to make products which fit the different segments of our customers. Distribution This is the route followed by the product as it moves from the producer to the user, our distribution channels are very efficient so that the product is brought near the consumer so that it is available to the consume whenever the need arises. There are factors to be considered when selecting channels of distribution, customer characteristics, product characteristics, company characteristics, middlemen characteristics, competitive characteristics and environmental characteristics. Other techniques which increase the sales and profits are; Warfare based This is the use of warlike techniques in marketing so as to be able to achieve success in sales. Binding A brand is a type of a product made by a particular company. Binding is pad zing and presenting of a product distinctively from other products of some category. Consumer Centered This is whereby a company’s promotional efforts of its goods are focused on the consumers. It focuses on their needs and their satisfaction. Marketing positioning Whereby an organization strategically places itself in a market where it is totally accessible by client. Who may be looking for the same products? Findings The techniques are crucial in helping The   Body shop to achieve its main objective which is to maximize sales, it was found that   by proper pricing , promotion, and efficient distribution channels, the sales will increase and then company   will increase its profits more that what it is making at present Market segmentation; ensures the market of is divided into parts so as to easily access them, mainly done by splitting peoples’ ages’ gender and their income. Warfare based: techniques will ensure the company applies military tactics which yield success. However, this does not mean that employees have to undergo strenuous labor but rather being able to counter rival techniques knowing their weak areas. Also meaning striking when least expected. For example launching a new product from The Body Shop all over a sudden to capture the market unwares. Innovation: ensure that The Body Shop comes up with new improved ways of maximizing sales. This is meant to put a boost on the company’s profit since weakness of previous strategies will be stumped out. Discussion A  Ã‚   carrying out the survey and analyzing the findings we found that for any business to succeed and to maintain continuous growth of the business organization   it was found that marketing techniques are very necessary ,Through marketing techniques   our organization has been able to maintain its growth, Recommendations For our organization to increase its market share employees should be trained on marketing techniques so that there can have skills on how to handle their customers, this will enable the organization maximize its profits and explore new markets for its products Conclusions Marketing techniques are used to help a company to serve and satisfy its customers and eventually lead to increase in profits through sales maximization, and by improving of techniques. References 1)Francis.N.K, Fundamental of marketing (1988)    How to cite Marketing techniques which leads to increase sales, Essay examples

Economy of Clipper Bay-Free-Samples for Students-Myasssignment

Question: Discuss about the Economy of Clipper Bay. Answer: Introduction Clipper Bay is a small town consisting of 5000 people, which is located at the tip of Peninsular. The town is situated by the sea and it has abundant marine life. Therefore, the economy of this town has always been revolved around fishing industry and other business related to fishing industry. In this way, limited industrial development has actually limited economic growth of Clipper Bay. Rest of the Country has already taken their initiatives towards revitalizing their economy through using their options. Therefore, this town has also been granted with a budget of $50m to invest for revitalizing their economy. The town has abundant source of cultural heritage, forest, sea, marine life, beautiful hills and many more. Therefore, tourism has been suggested in this study for revitalizing the economy of Clipper Bay. Tourism can develop economic, socio-cultural and environmental condition of a country or region (Lee, 2013). This study will provide a plan for revitalizing the economy of Clipper Bay. The study will describe the best way of revitalizing the economy of Clipper Bay. The study will analyze the comparative analysis for supporting tourism industry to be established in this town. Furthermore, different infrastructure, superstructure and other components of the suppliers will be discussed in this study, which will support sustainable approach of tourism. Moreover, the study will also describe the potential economic, socio-cultural and environmental advantage and disadvantage of tourism at Clipper Bay. Best Way of Revitalizing Economy The economy of Clipper Bay has always been revolved around fishing and other businesses, which support only this industry. The town has never been involved in any other types of industries, which can revitalize the economic condition of the town. Rest of the county has become engaged in modernizing and diversifying their economic activities towards revitalizing their economic condition. Therefore, the local government of Clipper Bay has decided to revitalize their economic condition through considering their options. While considering the options, it can be seen that Clipper Bay is located at the foot of series of hills. It also has beautiful beach, which can be special attraction for the tourists. On the other hand, the land of this town is quite unfertile for any kind of agriculture. Therefore, there is no scope of forming profitable agricultural industry. However, there is small portion of land just off the beaches having forest being stretched broadening the town, which can again be the attraction for the tourists (Stylidis et al., 2014). On the other hand, the government is also concerned about developing the transportation condition of the town. It can enhance the accessibility of the town to the tourists. All these options are indicating that tourism development would be the best way for Clipper Bay towards revitalizing their economic condition. There are adequate numbers of tourist attractions in this town, which can attract both domestic as international tourists. Furthermore, the associ ated businesses of tourism development would actually revitalize the economic condition of the tow Comparative Advantage According to Woo et al., (2015), comparative advantage can be defined as the ability of country to produce products and service at lesser cost than other countries. In the case study, it has been seen that the economy of Clipper Bay can be based on natural resources, exploration of cultural heritage and marine and fisheries. The town is already served by 2 roads; a narrow road; 2 way coastal roads and a second less developed road, which actually comes over nearby the hills. Therefore, it can be said that Clipper Bay has quite advanced transportation system, which can add to the success of tourism development in this town. Moreover, a new highway is also being built further the inland. Such transportation development is actually presenting the opportunity for increased accessibility, which can help in tourism development in this town. On the other hand, the town is also having natural resources like marine life and wild life, which can develop the tourism industry in this town with minimum cost. Apart from that, the people of Clipper Bay are having only fishing as their profession. Moreover, they do not have numerous options to choose as their profession. In such situation, the tourism industry will be an effective career option for these people. Moreover, the tourism industry would get wide availability of a pool of labor for performing tourism activities (Woo et al., 2015). The women folk of this town are highly skilled in weaving and they make fresh and tasty sea foods. Therefore, the hotel sector can easily hire such women for serving their cooking purpose. In this way, development of tourism industry would actually revitalize the economic condition of the town with increased earning people, income from local as well as foreign tourists and income from associated businesses of tourism. Tourism Stakeholder Model and Sustainable Approach While considering the economic development of Clipper Bay, it is prominent that development of ecotourism will be the best option for sustainable approach. Sinclair-Maragh et al., (2015) pointed out that ecotourism relates the involvement of undistributed natural areas and visiting the pristine and fragile components of the nature. Similarly, Clipper Bay is comprised of exclusive natural beauty such as hills, limestone caves, plenty of rock-pool foundations and the beautiful beach. According to Ma and Hassink, (2013), the tourism stakeholder model is comprised of local resident, tourists, public sector and government, tour operators, tourism activity and suppliers. Figure 1: Tourism Stakeholder Model (Source: Nunkoo, 2015) On the other hand, Carlisle et al., (2013) highlighted that tourism infrastructure is comprised of physical, cultural, service and governance components, as depicted in figure 2. Figure 2: Tourism Infrastructure Model (Source: Saufi et al., 2014) Considering the above figure, it can be identified that physical components indicate the suppliers for a tourism sector. Considering Clipper Bay, supplies will mostly come from locality. This will be beneficial in supporting the economy of both fishermen and weavers including the local farmers. At present the number of hotels and motels are quite less, however economy will raise once the attraction of tourist increases. Restaurants will be supporting the attraction aspect of tourists who are coming from abroad by offering great taste of freshly produced local and culturally eminent food items. On the other hand, water and electricity are the main two supplies, which must be supported by the government for supporting tourism (Ruhanen, 2013). For Clipper Bay, these supplies will be supported by peninsular government. Also, subsidies will be allowed through Pubic Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives involving local hotels and state level public accommodations. Finally, as described by Bunakov et al., (2015), transport and communication amenities are next most important factors for tourists just after water and electricity. Therefore, for Clipper Bay, transport facilities will be developed by new local transport system authority. Also, Government subsidy will be needed for development. According to viewpoint of Bojanic and Lo, (2016), opinions, ideas, culture, institutions and laws within the infrastructure that is confined in one geographical location, indicates the superstructure component. Similarly, while considering the tourism infrastructure model, it is evident that the culture, service and government components construct the superstructure of Clipper Bay. Therefore, while being particular about the culture, it can be said that there is very less variety and diversity in Clipper Bay population. Occupation is mostly related to fishing and skilled weaving. Local art and music is prevalent traditionally, which will surely satisfy the tourists through cultural programs. Tourist guides and travel agencies will be introduced as a form of partnership with local tourism venture. However, banking and insurance agencies are lacking within the locality, which need to be developed with progress of time. Finally, considering the governance, it can be said that customs an d immigrations have increased in Clipper Bay due to less economic opportunity. However, with enhanced tourism opportunity more job prospects will be open for third generation and adulthood who will aid in service related vacancies for hotels, motels, restaurants and transportation. Economic Advantage and Disadvantage According to Torres-Delgado and Saarinen, (2014), tourism industry is associated with several other industries like transportation and local cottage industry, food and beverage industry, hotel and restaurant industry and many others. Moreover, the development of tourism industry can also proportionately develop these industries. In this way, tourism industry can have multiplier effect on Clipper Bay through the economic development of several other industries. Furthermore, Graci, (2013) opined that tourism can also expand the towns money supply across the countries. In this way, tourism can develop the economic condition of the country. On the other hand, Ndivo and Cantoni, (2016) argued that tourism industry always needs to be dependent on the quality of security, communication system and road condition of a town. Therefore, such infrastructural development can bear the cost from the tax revenue of the town. According to Ellis and Sheridan, (2014), Balance of Payment (BOP) summarizes the economic transaction with rest of the countries for a particular period of time. BOP incorporates all the transactions between countrys residents and non-residents involving income, goods and services, transfers of gifts, financial claims and liabilities to rest of the world. Moreover, successful BOP alleviates poverty through focusing on poor towards making them producer of any good and contributing to the overall economy of the country. Tourism in Clipper Bay would provide scope to the poor people towards to develop their own business in relation to tourism needs. Therefore, such poor people will also be able to contribute to the overall economy of the town. In this way, Clipper Bay will be able to enhance its economic condition. However, Rasoolimanesh et al., (2017) argued that money borrowed for the tourism development can actually increase the debt of this town having economical disadvantage. As per Rivera et al., (2016), tourism development can actually enhance the opportunities of return on investment for this town. Therefore, apart from local entrepreneur, international entrepreneurs can also be interested in investing in the tourism industry of this town. Therefore, the increasing scope of foreign direct investment (FDI) will ultimately revitalize the overall economy of Clipper Bay. Moreover, FDI will also enhance some more domestic entrepreneurs towards investing the tourism development. In this way, increasing investment in the economy of the country would ultimately revitalize the economic condition of Clipper Bay. However, Samimi et al., (2013) argued that FDI often discourage the local entrepreneurs with their enhanced tourism facilities. It can actually negatively impact the economic development of local entrepreneurs. According to Timothy, (2014), tourism can provide ample job opportunities to the unemployed people of a country or town. In case of tourism at Clipper Bay, the unemployed people will get ample job opportunities in the sectors like hotels, restaurants, garments, art and craft and many others. In this way, tourism will enhance the earning level of the people, which will in turn enhance the overall economic condition of the town. Moreover, the tax collected from such employed person will increase the tax revenue of the town, which will revitalize the economic condition of Clipper Bay. Socio-Cultural Advantage and Disadvantage Tourism development at Clipper Bay can also be associated with some socio-cultural advantage and disadvantage. According to Gabdrakhmanov et al., (2016), tourism development can encourage the local government for preserving the cultural heritage of any region. In this way, tourism development at Clipper Bay would also encourage the local government of Clipper Bay towards preserving their cultural heritages. On the other hand, tourism can also encourage the local festival to be organized at seasonal basis for the attraction of the tourists. In this way, tourism can actually enhance the social values and norms of the town. However, Ndivo and Cantoni, (2016) opined that tourism can enhance the population density of the town, which can enhance the potentiality of health harm for the people. As per Bojanic and Lo, (2016), foreign tourists can be interested in buying the local art and craft of Clipper Bay. Moreover, tourism can enhance the demand for the local art and craft of the Clipper Bay. In this way, the local people can take interest in making and arts and crafts for the tourists, which can also provide the scope of earning. In this way, it can enhance the social value of some people through their own crafting and designing. According to Samimi et al., (2013), tourism can drive cross cultural collaboration in a particular region or country with having tourism from different countries and regions. In case of Clipper Bay, tourism development will welcome tourists from different countries and region having different cultural values and norms. The demonstration effect can encourage the local people at Clipper Bay to copy the rich lifestyle of the rich tourists from developed countries or regions. In this way, tourism can foster cross cultural appreciation in this town, where the local people of this town can develop their social value and norms as per the developed social norms of other culture. However, Saufi et al., (2014) argued that tourism can also lead to increasing crime rate in the town, while the local people want to make their life style like the rich tourists with having much money with them. Moreover, the increasing urge of being rich like rich tourists in shortest period can make them more incli ned towards making crime. In this way, it can actually lead to erosion of social value among the people at Clipper Bay. Tourism can develop ample job opportunities at Clipper Bay, which can enhance the earning opportunities of the people. In this way, the development of tourism can ultimately develop the life-style of the local people in this town with increasing economical strength. On the other hand, Torres-Delgado and Saarinen, (2014) opined that tourism development can also promote increased education in the society. Moreover, in order to promote sustainable tourism, the tourism sectors need highly educated people. Therefore, tourism will promote better education system in the society as per the needs of the tourism sectors. Environmental Advantage and Disadvantage Tourism can also have some environmental advantage and disadvantage associated with the tourism activities. According to Rivera et al., (2016), tourism can assist in protecting the natural resources of a country or region. Likewise, tourism can also encourage the local government of Clipper Bay towards preserving the natural resources like forest and marine life. They can be encouraged to protect and preserve these natural resources for enhancing the attraction of the tourists. In this way, tourism can actually preserve the natural resources of the town through protecting them from environmental damage. On the other hand, Bojanic and Lo, (2016) opined that tourism can enhance the pollution in the environment like air, water, and noise pollution. The tourism facilities and activities can emit pollutant materials in the environment, which can damage the balance of natural resources in the environment. Waste disposal of the tourism activities can destroy the fertility of the land. Timothy, (2014) pointed out that tourism can also generate the funding for protecting the natural resources of a country or region. Likewise, the local government of Clipper Bay can generate adequate money for protecting the natural resources like marine life and forest. In this way, the local government will take active initiatives towards protecting the natural resources. In order attract more numbers of tourists; the government will give more emphasis on overall beatification of the surrounding environment. Moreover, they can give more emphasis on planting of tree and landscaping for increased tourist attraction through making the town more aesthetic. Furthermore, towards tourism development, government can also make huge investment in improving the facilities like sitting areas, proper sanitation and others, which can also prevent environmental damage. On other hand, Ma and Hassink, (2013) opined that tourism development leads to developed transportation system, which can have huge negative impact on the environment. Moreover, increased transportation system at Clipper Bay for developing tourism can actually enhance the carbon emission rate and noise pollution in the environment. In this way, tourism development can also be directly associated with the environmental damage. Apart from that, towards building attractive hotels and resorts for developed tourism, the government can be engaged in deforestation of the town. In this way, deforestation can lead to ecological imbalance at the town, which can also lead to environmental damage in the town. However, towards proper tourism development, the government can take positive initiatives towards preserving the scarce natural resources of the town, which can be special attraction for the tourists. Conclusion While concluding the study, it can be said that the economy of Clipper Bay has been revolved around Fishing and other business related to the fishing. The town is not engaged in any other types of business and industry. Therefore, there has been limited economic growth with limited scope of businesses. Rests towns of Peninsular have also been engaged in revitalize their economy through using their options. Likewise, Clipper Bay has also been allocated with certain amount of budget for revitalize their economy. Clipper Bay is located at the foot of series of hills and has access to beautiful sea beaches, which can be great attractions to the tourists. Therefore, tourism has been selected as the best way of revitalizing the economy of the town. The advancing transportation system, huge natural resources and pool of labor will provide high level of comparative advantage to the town towards developing tourism. The infrastructure component of tourism like hotels, motels, restaurants, transportation and others enhance economic development to the town. On the other hand, the suppliers can also provide environmentally sustainable components for adjusting with sustainable approach of tourism. Furthermore, the superstructure components also add to the high level of satisfaction of the tourists. In this way, such components will ensure sustainable profit level of the industry. Tourism industry can in turn develop other business like food and beverage industry, local cottage industry and hotel and restaurant industry. In this way, it will ultimately develop the economic condition of the town through multiplier effect. Tourism can also develop the socio-cultural life of the people of this town through demonstration effect. Moreover, tourism can foster cross cultural collaboration within the town, which can enhance the social norms and values. Furthermore, tourism can also preserve the local heritag e and natural resources of the town, which is environmentally sustainable References Bojanic, D. C., Lo, M. (2016). A comparison of the moderating effect of tourism reliance on the economic development for islands and other countries.Tourism Management,53, 207-214. Bunakov, O. A., Zaitseva, N. A., Larionova, A. A., Chudnovskiy, A. D., Zhukova, M. A., Zhukov, V. A. (2015). Research on the evolution of management concepts of sustainable tourism and hospitality development in the regions.Journal of Sustainable Development,8(6), 39. Carlisle, S., Kunc, M., Jones, E., Tiffin, S. (2013). Supporting innovation for tourism development through multi-stakeholder approaches: Experiences from Africa.Tourism Management,35, 59-69. Ellis, S., Sheridan, L. (2014). A critical reflection on the role of stakeholders in sustainable tourism development in least-developed countries.Tourism Planning Development,11(4), 467-471. Gabdrakhmanov, N. K., Rubtzov, V. A., Baybakov, E. E., Somaeh, H. S., Nugaev, F. S. E. (2016). Tourism and sustainable development.Academy of Strategic Management Journal,15, 21. Graci, S. (2013). Collaboration and partnership development for sustainable tourism.Tourism Geographies,15(1), 25-42. Lee, T. H. (2013). Influence analysis of community resident support for sustainable tourism development.Tourism management,34, 37-46. Ma, M., Hassink, R. (2013). An evolutionary perspective on tourism area development.Annals of Tourism Research,41, 89-109. Ndivo, R. M., Cantoni, L. (2016). Rethinking local community involvement in tourism development.Annals of Tourism Research,57(C), 275-278. Nunkoo, R. (2015). Tourism development and trust in local government.Tourism Management,46, 623-634. Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Jaafar, M., Ahmad, A. G., Barghi, R. (2017). Community participation in World Heritage Site conservation and tourism development.Tourism Management,58, 142-153. Rivera, M., Croes, R., Lee, S. H. (2016). Tourism development and happiness: A residents perspective.Journal of Destination Marketing Management,5(1), 5-15. Ruhanen, L. (2013). Local government: facilitator or inhibitor of sustainable tourism development?.Journal of Sustainable Tourism,21(1), 80-98. Samimi, A. J., Sadeghi, S., Sadeghi, S. (2013). The relationship between foreign direct investment and tourism development: evidence from developing countries.Institutions and Economics,5(2), 59-68. Saufi, A., O'Brien, D., Wilkins, H. (2014). Inhibitors to host community participation in sustainable tourism development in developing countries.Journal of Sustainable Tourism,22(5), 801-820. Sinclair-Maragh, G., Gursoy, D., Vieregge, M. (2015). Residents? perceptions toward tourism development: A factor-cluster approach.Journal of Destination Marketing Management,4(1), 36-45. Stylidis, D., Biran, A., Sit, J., Szivas, E. M. (2014). Residents' support for tourism development: The role of residents' place image and perceived tourism impacts.Tourism Management,45, 260-274. Timothy, D. J. (2014). Contemporary cultural heritage and tourism: Development issues and emerging trends.Public Archaeology,13(1-3), 30-47. Torres-Delgado, A., Saarinen, J. (2014). Using indicators to assess sustainable tourism development: a review.Tourism Geographies,16(1), 31-47. Woo, E., Kim, H., Uysal, M. (2015). Life satisfaction and support for tourism development.Annals of Tourism Research,50, 84-97.

Operatinal Efficiency of Mumbai Dabbawala by Amol Dhok Essay Example

Operatinal Efficiency of Mumbai Dabbawala by Amol Dhok Essay Amol Ramesh Dhok under the guidance and supervision of Dr. V. G. Dhanakumar, Professor of Quality, Extension and Operations Management, Indian Institute of Plantation Management Bangalore, (IIPM) and no part of this Paper has been submitted for any other degree, diploma or publication in any other form. The assistance and help received during the Completion of this Synthesis Paper and source of literature have been duly acknowledged. (V. G. Dhanakumar) Place: IIPM, Bangalore. Dated: -21-12-2009 ABSTRACT Mumbai Dabbawala system is a unique system in Logistics and supply chain management dedicate to millions of employees whose firms are adapting six sigma methodologies to improve customer satisfaction, work process, profitability, speed efficiency of all kinds. Study of Mumbai Dabbawala generally carries the practice of six sigma which tell total management commitment philosophy of excellence, customer focus, process improvement rule of measurement rather than gut feel. Their way of doing business has, therefore, become a case study destination for every management guru and B-school. CII arranged interface for who’s who of industry and business to share great management lessons from them. Their mission is to serve their customers who are mainly office goers by delivering their lunch boxes at their doorstep on time. They have 5,000 people on their payroll to ensure the prompt deliver. They steal all attention just because their service is of Six Sigma qualities. We will write a custom essay sample on Operatinal Efficiency of Mumbai Dabbawala by Amol Dhok specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Operatinal Efficiency of Mumbai Dabbawala by Amol Dhok specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Operatinal Efficiency of Mumbai Dabbawala by Amol Dhok specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Six Sigma is a process that helps organizations focus on delivering near-perfect products and services. If you use Six Sigma you can measure how many defects there are in a process and can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and try and achieve zero-defect status. I will show you how six sigma makes you more competitive at every level. Six sigma eliminates wasteful variation, changes business culture and sustain greater productivity, profitability and customer satisfaction rate. Dabbawala is excellent example of six sigma and most of the company should use this technique which are getting the defects in their business and who want to improve their business condition. It will show you how it could help your company to save money and make customer happier. INTRODUCTION The six sigma story began with the Motorola in 1980 where it was first developed and proven. By changing the way you look at the process, by understanding vital few factors that cause waste, error, and rework you can improve the ability of your processes to deliver higher quality to your customer and lower to cost. Although most have heard the phrase Six Sigma, which has been an industry term ever since Motorola introduced the concept in 1986, many still do not know just what Six Sigma really is. For many business organizations and by general definition Six Sigma is the measure of quality that strives for near perfection. It is a disciplined, data-driven methodology focused on eliminating defects. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything that falls outside of a customers specifications. The results reported below by Six Sigma companies are convincing about its contribution to industry. How many customers can your business afford to lose? How much money can your company afford to lose because of mistakes? Why accept it as normal to be running processes at only three sigma or four sigma when, by changing the way you manage your processes, you could get a lot closer to six sigma all resulting benefits. Mumbai Dabbawala is an excellent example to construed execute six sigma after Motorola. Using an elaborate system of color-coded boxes to convey over 170,000 meals to their destinations each day, the 5,000-strong Dabbawala collective has built up an extraordinary reputation for the speed and accuracy of its deliveries†¦ The system the Dabbawala have developed over the years revolves around strong teamwork and strict time-management†¦ The meals are then delivered-99. 9999% of the time, to the right address. By considering this fantastic example you can bring lot of changes in your business. Methodology of Mumbai dabbawala is excellent example of six sigma, JIT, TQM. Companies who are getting losses if they use dabbawala concept they will definitely improve their position in business world. Mumbai dabbawala Before cutting to the management mantras, lets understand a few facts about dabbawallas. The origin of the Dabbawalas lunch delivery service dates back to the 1890s during the British raj. At that time, people from various communities migrated to Mumbai for work. As there were no canteens or fast food centers then, if working people did not bring their lunch from home, they had to go hungry and invariably, lunch would not be ready when they left home for work. Besides, different communities had different tastes and preferences which could only be satisfied by a home-cooked meal. Recognizing the need, Mahadeo Havaji Bacche (Mahadeo), a migrant from North Maharashtra, started the lunch delivery service. For his enterprise, Mahadeo recruited youth from the villages neighboring Mumbai, who were involved in agricultural work. They were willing to come as the income they got from agriculture was not enough to support their large families, and they had no education or skills to get work in the city. The service started with about 100 Dabbawalas and cost the client Rs. 2 a month. Gradually, the number of Dabbawalas increased and the service continued even though the founder was no more. Their mission is to serve their customers who are mainly office goers by delivering their lunch boxes at their doorstep on time. They have 5,000 people on their payroll to ensure the prompt delivery of lunchboxes within Mumbai; these delivery boys travel by local trains and use bicycles or walk to reach every nook and corner of Mumbai. The lunch boxes are delivered exactly at 12. 30 pm. Later, the empty boxes are collected and taken back to the homes, catering services or hotels before 5 pm. In fact, the next time you forget to strap on your watch before leaving for office, dont be surprised to find it in the lunchbox container brought by the dabbawalla from your home! On an average, every Tiffin box changes hands four times and travels 60-70 kilometers in its journey to reach its eventual destination. Each box is differentiated and sorted along the route on the basis of markings on the lid, which give an indication of the source as well as the destination address. NMTBSA (Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association) What is NMTBSA Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association About NMTBSA History : Started in 1980 Average Literacy Rate  Ã‚  Ã‚   : 8th Grade Schooling Average Area Coverage   : 60 Km per Tiffin Box Employee Strength  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      : 5000 Number of Tiffin’s  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   : 2,00,000 Tiffin Boxes,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   i. e. , 4,00,000 transactions every day Time Taken  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   : 3 hours (9 am 12 pm delivery of carriers,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2 pm 5 pm collection of empty carriers) Cost of Service  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   : Rs. 200/- Rs. 300/- per month Turnover  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   : Rs. 50 core per month approx. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT GENERAL SECRETARY TREASURER DIRECTORS (9) MUKADAM MEMBERS (5000) How the dabba is delivered? ? The first dabbawalla picks up the Tiffin from home and takes it to the nearest railway station. ? The second dabbawalla sorts out the dabbas at the railway station according to destination and puts them in the luggage carriage. ? The third one travels with the dabbas to the railway stations nearest to the destinations. ? The fourth one picks up dabbas from the railway station and drops them of at the offices. ? The process is reversed in the evenings. Dabbawala methodology ? Error is horror, said Talekar while explaining the operational motto. In the event of a dabbawalla meeting with an accident en route, alternative arrangements are made to deliver the lunch boxes. For example, in a group of 30 dabbawallas catering to an area, five people act as redundant members; it is these members who take on the responsibility of delivering the dabbas in case of any untoward happenings. ? The dabbawallas must be extremely disciplined. Consuming alcohol while on duty attracts a fine of Rs 1,000. Unwarranted absenteeism is not tolerated and is treated with a similar fine. Every dabbawalla gets a weekly off, usually on Sunday. ? The Gandhi cap serves as a potent symbol of identification in the crowded railway stations. Not wearing the cap attracts a fine of Rs 25. ? There are no specific selection criteria like age, sex or religion; however, I have never seen a female dabbawalla. The antecedents of the candidates are thoroughly verified and a n ew employee is taken into the fold for six-month probation. After that period, the employment is regularized with a salary of Rs 5,000 a month. Need of the study of the dabbawala As management students, there was a lot that we learnt from this lecture,†. The belief that technology is indispensable to solve complex problems was shattered. FMCGs and other industries can learn a lot from the simple supply chain logistics and efficient reverse logistics (transfer of empty lunch boxes to the source location), ~ The concept of multi-level coding (co lour coding on the lunch boxes for identification) and reverse logistics can be implemented in industries as diverse as soft drinks (where logistics becomes an important aspect, transporting the filled bottles to retailers and collecting empty bottles back to the plants), pharmaceuticals and other FMCG areas. For example, can the bar coding mechanism (a computerized format) which is prevalent and expensive, be simplified with just colors/ number coding? In small and medium scale organizations where bar coding systems would require a lot of resources, these systems can prove to be very efficient and cost effective. Moreover, the dependence on technology could be drastically reduced. The learning’s for a working executive are enormous too. Managers and executives alike spend a lot of their valuable time learning various concepts in people and time management. Newer mechanisms like Customer Relationship Management, etc, have been developed to assist executives in the same. But, in the midst of implementing technology and IT, basic principles in people management, sustainable relationship development and customer satisfaction have lost their meaning. Our friendly dabbawallas are a perfect example of an important principle of both business and management the thirst to serve customers in a simple yet effective fashion without falling into the technology trap. I think this is an aspect which needs to be re-learnt and implemented in any organization today. What is six sigma? The Six Sigma quality certification was established by the International Quality Federation in 1986, to judge the quality standards of an organization. According to an article published in Forbes magazine in 1998, one mistake for every eight million deliveries constitutes Six Sigma quality standards. The Six-sigma rating means that they have 99. 99 % efficiency in delivering the lunch-boxes to the right people. That put them on the list of Six Sigma rated companies, along with multinationals like Motorola and GE. Achieving this rating was no mean feat, considering that the Dabbawalas did not use any technology or paperwork, and that most of them were illiterate or semiliterate. †¢ A statistical measure of the process or a product. †¢ A goal that reaches near perfection for performance improvement. †¢ A system of management to achieve lasting business leadership world-class performance. The six sigma approach to managing is all about helping you identify what you don’t know as well as emphasizing what you should know, and taking action to reduce the errors and rework that cost you time, money, pportunity and customers. The goal of six sigma is to help the people processes aim high in aspiring to deliver defect free product and services. Many companies believe that dealing with errors is just part of cost of doing business. But you don’t have to accept that faulty logic. With six sigma you can eliminate most errors, reduce your cost, and better satisfy customer. Es sential of the six sigma methodology †¢ Define the project, goals, deliverable to customers. †¢ Measure the current performance of the process. †¢ Analyze and determine the root cause of the defects. Improve process of eliminate defects. †¢ Control the performance of the process. Working of NMTBSA beyond the six sigma! Fantastic team work!!! Almost no errors in spite that the Dabba changes hand about six times ? The collection and delivery has to happen by lunch time ? It is amazing organization ? Approximately 5000 people working ? It is over 100 year old They carry Tiffin (Lunch box) from the home of customer and carry it to their workplace of work. e. g. from say housewife in Virar will give Dabba to him which will be delivered at Air India bldg on 11floor by lunch time (1 p. m. . They work with clockwork precision, but without computer program! They even brought couple of actual dabbawala to speak (he made an excellent power point presentation) ? Even Prince Charles and many other are wondering how they are sorting the dabbas so precisely. They use cycle, local train or they are on foot. Even in heavy floods they deliver. Lacs of people get cooked home made food. You must have seen such dabbawalas in Mumbai. Error Rate: 1 in 16 million transactions ? Six Sigma performance (99. 999999) ? Technological Backup: Nil. ? Cost of service Rs. 300/month ($ 6. 00/month) Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space) ? Rs. 36 Cr. Turnover approx. ? [6000*12*5000=360000000 i. e. Rs. 36 crore p. a. ] ? Earnings -5000 to 6000 p. m. ? Zero % fuel Zero % investment ? Zero % modern technology Zero % Disputes 99. 9999% performance 100 % Customer Satisfaction. DISCIPLINE ? No Alcohol Drinking during business hours ? Wearing White Cap during business hours ? Carry Identity Cards ANALYZED FROM THE MICHAEL PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL I. Threat of new entrants: According to Porter, the threat new entrant is dangerous to any organization as it can take away the market share the organization enjoys. Started in 1880, the experience curve of the 125-year-old dabbawalla service serves as a huge entry barrier for potential competitors. Besides, it would be difficult to replicate this supply chain network that uses Mumbais jam-packed local trains as its backbone. ii. Current competition: Porters five forces theory states that strategy is determined by a unique combination of activities that deliver a different value proposition than competitors or the same value proposition in a better way. The dabbawallas do face competition from fast food joints as well as office canteens. However, since neither of these serves home food, the dabbawallas core offering remains unchallenged. They have also tied up with many catering services and hotels to cater to the vast number of office goers. iii. Bargaining power of buyers: The delivery rates of the dabbawallas are so nominal (about Rs 300 per month) that one simply wouldnt bargain any further. Also, their current monopoly negates any scope of bargaining on the part of their customers. Thus, we encounter a perfect win-win combination for the customers as well as the dabbawallas. iv. Bargaining power of sellers: The dabbawallas use minimum infrastructure and practically no technology, hence they are not dependent on suppliers. Since they are a service-oriented organization, they are not dependent on sellers to buy their product. Hence, sellers do not assume any prominence as would be the case in a product-oriented company. The strategy map framework in Porters theory allows companies to identify and link together the critical internal processes and human, information and organization capital that deliver the value proposition differently or better. Human capital is the greatest driving force in the dabbawalla community; as a result, they are not dependent on suppliers or technology, thus negating the sellers power in the equation. v. Threat of a new substitute product or service: As substitutes to home cooked food are not seen as a viable alternative in the Indian scenario, the threat to the dabbawalla service is not an issue at least in the foreseeable future. This gives them a leeway to probably expand their already existing network into newer cities as demand increases in these places as well. Dabbawala and six sigma!! Mumbai’s 5000 plus Dabbawalas are world famous for their impeccable service standards. They pick up lunch boxes/ Tiffin carriers from over 2,00,000 homes/ apartments, deliver them to some 80,000 destinations and again ensure their safe return to those homes/ apartments – all on the same day with each lap of journey en route accomplished within the specified time limits. The people at work are not from any high academic background; rather many of them are almost illiterate. They face the same crowded pavements, on-road dense vehicular traffic and overloaded suburban trains, which normal office goers often give excuses for their late comings. Their way of doing business has, therefore, become a case study destination for every management guru and B-school. CII arranged interface for who’s who of industry and business to share great management lessons from them. A Dabbawala figured among a handful few from India who got invitations to witness the marriage ceremony of Prince Charles. Sometime back, there was lso an All-Dabbawala ‘Deal Ya No Deal’ show in Sony Entertainment TV. They steal all attention just because their service is of Six Sigma quality. Every business concern is made of a number of interrelated processes. When inputs are made to traverse through a process, they result into certain outputs (products services) serving either internal or external customers. A process is termed as industrial or commercial depending on wheth er 80% or more of the values derived are from machinery or from human activity, respectively. No matter how perfect a process is, no product/ service will come conforming to exact targeted specifications. It would always vary. However, when it varies within certain Lower Specification Limit (LSL) and Upper Specification Limit (USL) as acceptable/ agreed to or specified by the customers, then it is considered to be defect free or quality product/ service. Further, every opportunity of delivering a product/ service is also wrought with an opportunity for the occurrence of defect. When the Defects per Million Opportunity (DPMO) don’t exceed 3. 4, the process is said to have met Six Sigma level. And Mumbai Dabbawalas’ DPMO is less than 3. 4 or precisely, it is 2! ‘Sigma (r)’ denotes ‘Standard deviation’ – a statistical measure of dispersion/ variance. It is the positive square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of deviations of given observations from their arithmetic mean. Say, it is a midsummer and your organization wants to hold a three-hour business plan meet of your 100 sales persons. You look for a conference hall with right facilities and ambience, especially the room temperature which should be maintained throughout at 2210 C. And two hotels in the city also promised the same. When measured at every half an-hour interval in the one where you held your meet, it read as 18, 28, 30, 24, 20 and 18; the arithmetic mean value and ‘r’ being 23 and 4. 7, respectively. Whereas, had you gone to the other hotel, other things remaining same, the observed values of the room temperature would have been say, 23, 22, 24, 22, 23 24. Although the mean was the same 23, the ‘r’ being less at 0. 8, the service of the second hotel was more qualitative and would have given you more satisfaction. Hence the saying, ‘Company may celebrate mean but customers are bothered by the variance’. However, its process was still not conforming to Six Sigma level. With two observed values out of six not meeting the customer expectations (22! 10 C), the DPMO worked out to 333,333. 33 (i. e. , 2/6 multiplied by 1,000,000), which was hugely far from the required 3. 4! Benefits of higher Sigma level* Sigma Level |DPMO |Cost of quality | |2 |308,537 |Not applicable | |3 |66,807 |25-40% of sales | |4 |6,210 (Industry Average) |15-25% of sales | |5 |233 |5-15% of sales | |6 |3. 4 (World class) |lt; 1% of sales | | | | | The figures in third column indicate that if, for example, you purchase a product at Rs. 10,000/- from a company operating at 4 Sigma Level, you are being made to pay about Rs. 1500-2500/- (i. e. , 15-25% of sale price) towards the cost of inefficient processes deployed by the company to manufacture the item. Putting it in other way, the company concerned can reduce the price of the product by Rs. 500-2500/- if it fixes its faulty processes or improves/ recreates the processes. This measure would also help the company to increase its market share tremendously. Why do six sigma? Six sigma allows you to achieve the constancy of the purpose that is secret to success, focusing your efforts on understanding the variation in your processes and defects that results. Here are the basic results. Money Money is generally most important reason for using six sigma. Here are few questions to consider: †¢ What is cost of scrap? †¢ What is cost of rework? †¢ What is cost of excessive cycle times and delay? †¢ What is total cost of poor quality in your organization? What is cost of business loss because customers are dissatisfied with your product? Do you know the answers of these questions in terms rupee. If so then you know how important it is to reduce process variation and defects. If not, then you need to get the knowledge that gives you power to make necessary changes. Customer satisfaction Six sigma focuses on the critical- to quality expectation of your customers than what matter most. By using six sigma management methods, your company can target the vital few factors in your processes that are allowing variations and defects that keep you from meeting the critical to quality expectation of your customers. Quality Another reason for using six sigma is the value and impact of committing to quality as a very particular way. Consider only following advantages of improving quality †¢ It inspires employees. †¢ It instills a culture and an attitude. †¢ It creates an image in the market †¢ It attracts investors. Growth As you identify and correct process variation, you save expanses which mean money to invest in growing your business. As you meet requirement and expectation of your customers more effectively and achieve higher customer satisfaction you increase your income which means money to invest in growing your business. Competitive advantages Six sigma allows you to become more competitive regionally, nationally or globally. A company that reduces its costs of doing business, meets the expectation of its customers more effectively earns reputation for quality and pride will certainly enjoy advantages over its competitor. Conclusion Six Sigma, as developed by Dabbawala, is an extension of many existing quality tools and techniques, but with the addition of business accountability. This resulted in process improvement gains that increased productivity and profitability. Six Sigma organizations become forward moving organizations by adapting new tools and techniques and overcoming learning disabilities. A gauge of quality and efficiency, Six Sigma is also a measure of excellence. Embarking on a Six Sigma programme means delivering top-quality service and products while virtually eliminating all internal inefficiencies. A true Six Sigma organization produces not only excellent product but also maintains highly efficient production and administrative systems that work effectively with the companys other service processes. In administrative processes, Six Sigma may mean not only the obvious reduction of cycle time during production but, more importantly, optimizing response time to inquiries, maximizing the speed and accuracy with which inventory and materials are supplied, and fool proofing such support processes from errors, inaccuracies and inefficiency). Much can be achieved from programmes like Six Sigma with the active, consistent, innovative, continuous and widely apparent participation by top management. When implemented strategically, Six Sigma can help companies turn over working capital faster, reduce capital spending, make existing capacity available, produce better results from the design and RD functions. Such outcomes also foster a working environment that stimulates employee development, motivation, morale empowerment and commitment. References ? www. google. com ? Six Sigma for managers Greg brue ? What is six Sigma Pete Pande and Larry Holpp ? www. wiki. compedia ? www. Mumbai dabbawala. com 13 MEMBERS GENERAL SECRETARY

Rise to Rebellion Essays - Adams Family, American Revolution

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Comparative politics and political ideas Assignment

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Pier Paolo Pasolini - Essay Example Were it simply a question ÃŽ ¿f quantity, however, were Pasolini's art no more than the indulgence ÃŽ ¿f an unrepressed narcissist, there would be scant interest in a study ÃŽ ¿f this kind. Instead, his work offers an extraordinarily fertile and dense example ÃŽ ¿f how subjectivities are built on something other and something far more complex than merely saying 'I'. Indeed, one might say that his work offers an illustration ÃŽ ¿f the ultimate incompatibility ÃŽ ¿f saying 'I' and being 'I', in any cohesive sense these phrases might have (Benveniste, 1966, 259-60). For Pasolini does indeed, as Barberi Squarotti implies, constantly offer himself up for display in his work, but to such a degree ÃŽ ¿f intensity that conventional mediation 'is cast aside: he is personally, bodily present within language, as he explains in Petrolio, 'in queste pagine io mi sono rivolto al lettore direttamente [. . .] in carne e ossa'. In other words, he uses the textuality ÃŽ ¿f his work or the semiosis ÃŽ ¿f his multiform interventions in order to embody himself, to project himself into, rather than onto forms ÃŽ ¿f expression. The project is, ÃŽ ¿f course, deeply flawed and unrealizable, but also strangely utopian. It is an almost mystical aspiration to being-in-the text, to textual transubstantiation which can be related to his homosexuality. It represents a recourse to the essential signifier ÃŽ ¿f an 'authentic' body as a public locus ÃŽ ¿f discourse, in response to the exclusion from discourse and from normative sexual ideologies. But the recourse is a subversive and not a naturalizing one, since the irreducible aura f presence surrounding the body disavows coded norms (Dollimore, 1991). It radicalizes the relations between selfhood, signification and the real by projecting irreducible markers f the latter into the first two. It brings selfhood and form into uneasy synthesis, in a dynamic akin to that seen by De Lauretis, 1984, in Pasolini's essays in film semiology: a deployment and experience f forms f discourse as active and subjective

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business Essay - 1

The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business - Essay Example As the oil industry is directly related to the political setting, it is expected that the takeover of the United States and the Coalition forces since 2003 as well as the new constitution in place will create new opportunities for foreign investors. The Iraqi Constitution of 2005 clearly stipulates the provision of business prospects for international oil companies (IOCs). The global policy forum recognizes this: "In the new setting, with Washington running the show, "friendly" companies expect to gain most of the lucrative oil deals that will be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in profits in the coming decades. The new Iraqi constitution of 2005, greatly influenced by US advisors, contains language that guarantees a major role for foreign companies" (Oil in Iraq 2006). DWI can take advantage of this by pursuing oil exploration in Iraq. This new venture is expected to raise its oil production as well as it revenue and profit. DWI will be able to produce high-grade crude that is extraordinarily cheap to manufacture. In Iraq, discovery and development cost is only $0.5/B and $0.5-$1.0/B, respectively. As the constitution of the new Iraq government is still under establishment, there are no concrete laws which govern the oil industry.

Quality Services Improvement

Quality Services Improvement The Quality of Services in Emirates Airlines: The Challenges of Continuous Improvement Summary This study examines quality of services at Emirates Airlines and reflects on the associated market orientation. The study also examines challenges and avenues for continuous improvement. These inter-connected objectives shape three research questions that are addressed based on customer responses to a structured instrument. This instrument has its origins embedded in the wealth of developments in methodological aspects to do with service quality assessment. The ‘perception- expectation gap and the gap with respect to ‘service delivery are reviewed across a multitude of research studies that are pegged around the central conceptual feature of SERVQUAL. This concept is discussed in detail including instances of its use in examining the airline industry. A structured close ended questionnaire informs this study that uses data generated from 250 respondents. The study is limited in methodological rigor due to use of descriptive statistics alone but at the same time provides a rich narrative using the data that is often not possible unless results are very strongly skewed in the case on inferential statistics. The lack of robustness has arisen due to data gaps which the study acknowledges. Findings suggest that staff training on understanding the scope of service quality, and continuing with modernization and infrastructure upgrade- should be on top of the agenda at Emirates. The results also show that personalized attention provided to customers is a key selling point in why customers choose Emirates, but that there is lack of understanding related to proper customer relations management. Some conflicting results also tend to suggest that the dichotomy between customer expectations and perceptions is influenced by the relative offerings competitor airlines make. There is also a hint that short term resource impetuses like frequent flyer schemes do not do much to improve service quality perceptions. It is the long term embedded development of staff capabilities and understanding about the holistic nature of service quality that may prove to be ‘the competency for sustained competitive advantage. The study posits a need for further research in developing comparabl e service quality metrics across international airlines that are available only in the US at present (AQR), and also a need for comparative case studies in the industry to inform globalization intentions. Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Background Emirates airlines is one of the largest and probably the most consistently profitable airlines of recent times. Since its inception in 1985 it has grown astronomically and in the last couple of years it has embarked upon a fleet upgrade and expansion that dwarfs other major airlines. It sailed through the 9/11 related downturn in aviation business, and the disturbance in the gulf to become an airlines whose success formula mystifies management wisdom. Off the cuff solutions to issues and problems as they arise seems to have worked exceedingly well for the airline. The airline claims to have an open culture and an open agenda where the need of privacy does not subsume the need to deliver from individual competencies under what can be termed a ‘fluid strategy process (Sull et al, 2006). The focus on fine issues and macro aspects alike are shared across all management levels comprising a multi-cultural workforce like no other airline. The company is used to making leaps whether it is by using the recognition from airline of the year award in 1994 to establish itself among the giants, to the massive fleet expansion in 2004-2005- to become the envy of even the giants. Surviving the 9/11 depression clearly points to the merits in Emirates approach. The key issue seems in operating as a family, where when other airlines were downsizing and cutting staff, Emirates kept status quo on these fronts and communicated a feeling of belonging in its staff. This was the crucial lever that kept Emirates going- and in fact even prosper in times that were so trying for the industry. As Carlzon (1989) notes in his aft cited work ‘Moments of Truth this is flattening of structure in the true sense so that messages get across quickly and effectively makes for a â€Å"powerful organisation that serves customers better and unleashes the energy in employees†. However, putting both these together to fine tune the market orie ntation through service quality is a challenge especially in times of growth and high momentum in external factors affecting the industry. Other beliefs at Emirates like around the prosperity of Dubai that it keeps as the nerve centre of its network, and keeping a rather conservative outlook towards alliancing with other airlines are not conventional. These shape a flexible core around which other attitudinal and behavioral aspects of the business model emerge. This emergence has often been punctuated with imposed or deliberated change this study takes place at a time of deliberated change that of rapid expansion of Emirates airlines across the globe (Leckic, 2007). The openness also transcends into the beliefs the airline has. The airline now seeks to grow more aggressively and reduce overt centering on Dubai. Creating a global brand based on current success is on the agenda. The airline realizes that reputations in a service industry are leveraged around service quality. In this light as it stretches out to routing across the globe and hiring more staff and acquiring physical infrastructure, that service quality does not get compromised remains a concern close to heart (Sull et al, 2006; Byles, 2007, Leckic, 2007; Sending 2008). 1.2. Motivation The international airline industry has seen a struggle to deliver profitability alongside ‘truly satisfying the flying public (Van Pham and Simpson, 2000). The alliancing arrangements, route mapping and offering packaged services through such alliances have tried to affect industry standards of service quality- which may not be the true reflection of customer expectations. The perception of customers about what is central to service quality vis-à  -vis the state of affairs in crucial for informing service quality initiatives and the market orientation of a firm. Needless to say given the dynamic nature of offerings that exist across industries including the airline industry, such expectation-perception balances are continuously shifting, and are even more fast moving for an airline that is growing rapidly and encountering new customers around the globe. The challenge also thus extends to one of continuous improvement (Emirates, 2005-2007). Given the success of Emirates and its unprecedented growth and plans for growth, it is clear that customer perceptions will be central to deciding performance in the future. In times of growth and expansion to new routes the probability of variation in service quality levels and variation in customer expectations is likely to be higher. How the airline can absorb such feedback to modify and fine tune its strategic marketing in the global environment is intriguing for managers, academics, and the wider industry -all having been amazed at the Emirates story so far. This study examines customer perceptions about service quality and relates it with market orientation to ponder over the way forward for Emirates, clearly something very central to research and practitioner interests in Emirates. The recommendations may also have some food for thought for the airline itself as it seeks continuous improvements for a story that is already a bestseller. From a methodological perspective the use of service quality assessment approaches like the SERVQUAL and its interface with the market orientation of the company has been a motivation (Webb, 2000; Engelland, 1998; Devlin et al; 2002; Van Pham and Simpson, 2006). That these have informed the airline industry among others on service quality, customer and market orientation among others make this research founded on robust theoretical and methodological grounds. 1.3. Research Questions This dissertation seeks to examine service quality at emirates, and examine the way forward as the airline seeks to market its image in times of rapid investment and growth. The first builds upon the second as it is service quality perceptions as customer views that need to be the focus when shaping marketing strategies. This is in particular for a business model that is well resourced as in the case of Emirates and the main concern seems to be of monitoring and improving customer uptake of service quality as the airline grows. This is to be contextualized with the market orientation of the company so far for shaping key initiatives that can augment the alignment between customer perceptions of service with their expectations of the same. Thus three central questions that inform this dissertation are: What factors affect service quality perceptions about Emirates airlines? What factors are perceived to be central in informing continuous service quality improvement initiatives? How do these perceptions associate with the market orientation of the airline from past initiatives? 1.4. Dissertation Outline The dissertation starts with an introduction to the context, scope and potential contributions from this study as here. The next chapter examines the literature in detail examining the concept of quality before leading on to the idea of service quality and research to develop methodological and conceptual paradigms around it. The idea of market orientation as a complement and associated aspect is also dwelled upon before closing the literature review that also uses research evidence across industries including the airline industry. The hypotheses development chapter links the research questions to the backdrop of service quality drawing upon the research site of the airline industry and the conceptual orientation from the literature review. The Hypotheses are aligned closely with a structured instrument that is discussed in the approach and methodology chapter. The approach and methodology chapter also provides for a rationale for selection of methodology, issues in conducting the study, limitations, and a time plan based narrative of how the study has been conducted. The sample profile, data and methods in analyses description here is carried forward in the findings chapter where results associated with each of the hypotheses are presented. A discussion chapter connects the results for a further discussion on implications and then leads on to conclusions. Here the recommendations are once again highlighted as study deliverables under each of the research questions. This is followed by a discussion on study li mitations that include revisiting methodological limitations discussed before. The final chapter closes by some focused suggestions about future research in the area of service quality that are argued to be of much use for the industry and for globally expanding firms like the Emirates Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This comprehensive literature review builds up the agenda of examining service quality in extant literature by starting off in the realm of Quality itself. In discussing TQM and consumer expectations it opens up a window to start examining the specialized concept of service quality. This concept is discussed in all its nuances especially around SERVQUAL definite leap both conceptually and methodologically in this area. This is linked up with the idea of market orientation to extract a conceptual backdrop relevant to the investigation under this study. The use of extant research both in the airline industry and in other industries provides for resources to adapt the concept of ‘gaps and dichotomy between service expectations and perceptions to shape hypotheses and instrument to collect data for this study. 2.2 The concept of Quality Quality has always concerned the societal intent of consumption. The reasons are fairly colloquial at one level where lack of quality can result in insufficient and unsatisfactory delivery of requirements from a product or service. At another level given the growing complexity of the business processes over the last century quality has evolved into a discipline characterized by an equally intertwined interface between control, assurance, and management in general (Dooley, 2006). Broadly speaking in the business context quality is the ‘perception of the ability of a product to satisfy its users. By extension it also applies to the processes and management of the processes that shape the product. However, the satisfying paradigm underpinning quality has multiple manifestations: â€Å"conformance†, â€Å"fitness for use†, â€Å"basic minimum requirements vs. attractiveness†, and as a matter of â€Å"interest and individual disposition† to name a few (e.g. Juran, 1945; Pirsig, 1974; Corsby, 1981; Kano, 1984; Reeves and Bednar, 1994). The definition of quality is rather difficult to come by because of the sheer nature of its wide applicability and strands of origin- ranging from the practical business origins to metaphysical origins. The American Society for Quality aptly captures this subjectivity in understanding quality by stating it as †¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"a subjective term for which each person has their own definition† (Wade, 2005; ASQ, 2007). Quality management is made up of two complementary aspects one is quality assurance and the other is quality control. The former is about ensuring a basic minimum standard through upfront production process design. The latter is about reviewing and monitoring output to wean out the ‘defectives. Assurance is thus inherently preventive and control is mainly curative in a functional sense (Gunter, 1998). Irrespective of the disparate origins, quality management can be safely said to be largely associated with the idea of excellence. A range of concepts and their operationalisation stem from this broader view of quality and mark the growth in research and practice of quality management. Six Sigma, Quality Circles, and Total Quality Management- are but a few from amongst numerous such frames of reference (dti, 2007). The idea of quality at the advent of the century had been around as a selection paradigm- accepting the superior and rejecting the inferior and biased towards ‘control at best- most of the time the evaluation came from the end user. Along the business value chain as production became large scale after the 1st World War- quality assurance procedures started becoming formalized. It was not only the ‘end of the road customer assessment but also a series of filters ensuring only the better quality output being delivered to the customer made control and assurance an important in house practice . The inspection oriented quality control schema had its problems mainly in terms of competent individuals that could ensure monitoring despite not being the ‘know all skill set champions. Formalized roles of inspection and quality manager thus emerged and along side assurance models provided a great lift to quality management as a capability. Generic tools for quality management l ike the control chart emerged in the 1920s and statistical process control matured towards the middle of the century. The revival of the manufacturing of war torn Japan on mature principals of quality control and management finally brought quality management into the forefront. By the end of 1970s it was a global pre-occupation with everyone trying to imitate the success of Japanese low cost and high quality products (dti, 2007; Dooley, 2006). When the word total quality came to the fore in 1970s and finally pinned quality management as a fundamental capability that ran through the organization. The Wests take on quality management was more about ‘standards than ‘culturalisation-but based around the same operational frameworks as in Japan. These gave rise to national standards in response to the need to have a quality association with the national economy as a whole. At the business level quality is now a key management responsibility and a functional paradigm that has continuous improvement at its very heart (Gitlow et al., 1989). Aside from the generalized profile of emergence of quality management above there are a few key landmarks that need to be noted. The first is probably the statistical developments in the 20s and 30s and the emergence of concepts related to probability of acceptance, risk, tolerance levels, and sampling aspects (Shewart, 1931; Dodge and Romig, 1959) establishment of standards and societies also marked the 1930s and 40s (Hutchins, 1995; Dooley, 2006). Industrial production was never under as much pressure as in the II world War. While quality assurance could not keep up with the pressure control came to the forefront to ensure acceptable working products. The maturing of the statistical processes and standards in this regard was a key development. The large scale transmission of these standards to the then military suppliers ensured that the War provided an acceleration to the diffusion of quality management standards and systems (Dooley, 2006; Grant and Lang, 1991). With the end of the war in the formative phase of reconstruction quality was again given a ‘less rushed attention. The role of top management, the interface between organisation wide processes, among others found attention. Total quality control came to the fore as a holistic concept with a stage gate approach right from design to delivery to consumer (Fiegenbaum, 1951, 1957, 1961). As mentioned, the post war Japanese revival is a key factor in development of quality management. Over the 1950s and 1960s the ideas of cultaration of quality with pride in workmanship, top management support, liberalized communication and quality circles took hold stemming from Japanese success. The good practice concepts like quality circles emerged as competencies that were tightly woven into the culture of business unique to Japan and required some effort when it came to imitation by the west (Koyangi, 1964; Deming, 1967; Juran, 1967). Quality became integral to organisational behaviour, goals, and associated personnel development. 2.3 Total Quality Management, Consumer Expectations and Continuous Improvement The coining of ‘Total Quality Management (TQM), encapsulates this coming of age of quality management as an indispensable competency in the competitive arena that is augmented by increasing customer expectations (Deming, 1986; Anderson et al., 1994; Akers; 1991; Stratton, 1990). The main characteristics-changes and developments though numerous can be safely said to be around making quality: -a responsibility for everyone, -a necessity rather than a differentiator, relate better to services and information, and ever increasing set of non-manufacturing industries. relate to best practices, dissemination and learning -recognized a key function and accordingly resourced in organizations reinforce the primacy of the customer (Green and Welsh, 1988; Marquardt, 1991; Dooley, 2006) As TQM goes from strength to strength the balance between assurance, control, and the new fangled third strand learning is becoming vital given the dynamic nature and complex requirements that are associated with quality (Green and Welsh, 1988). The standardized tools need to be customized for organisational applications with a sense to create the competitive edge-because the omnipresent paradigm itself is tending to defeat the objective to seeking the competitive edge through quality (Dean and Bowen, 1994). Context specificity or in other customization of model and tools is the call of the day for research and practice alike The generic nature however needs to be preserved in the background given wider economic and societal association of quality management. For instance, as new frontiers like e-commerce open a fertile bed of quality concepts and models will be very valuable for learning and adaptation to the economic and social context (Doty et al., 1993; Dooley, 2006). . However, having an adaptable bed for quality management across diverse industries to draw from is not sufficient. The societal realties have also undergone transition quality needs to broaden its founding grounds to reflect on new aspects like information management and the virtual realm where quality may have to question its own foundations that are deeply rooted in manufacturing. The successful adaptation to non-manufacturing i.e. services however, is evidence of the emergent nature of quality management that can take on fresh challenges that include alignment to ever changing marketing and consumer orientation needs. 2.4 Service Quality Service quality is a subjective concept that remains challenging to define and to measure (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). This associates itself and can be understood as the application of total quality in the service sector in the main and also implying the service function in frontline delivery of product in other industries. The understanding of service quality has been synthesized from extant literature by Jennifer Rowley (1998). In her work it is seen as a â€Å"perception judgment from a comparison of what they feel service organizations should offer and the performance of the organisation offering the services†. There is no dearth of definitions that try to pack in comprehensiveness to this abstract concept. For instance, Hedvall and Paltschik (1989) refer to ‘willingness and ability to serve with a mention of ‘access, Lehtinen and Lehtinen(1982) view service quality in a three-dimensional space that looks at ‘interactive, physical and corporate quality fac ets. Furthermore Gronroos (1984) simplifies the idea by seeing service quality as shaped by ‘technical and functional aspects of quality (Rowley ,1988). The link between service and performance and by extension satisfying the customer is challenging because services have a unique combination of characteristics. The first of these combinations is their intangibility- causing issues in measurement as they are a function of the ‘experience of the customer. The next is their perish ability -meaning that they cannot delivered from existing stock and thus lending a dynamic nature to service delivery that is difficult to condition. The third is inseparability between production and consumption of service and the last is heterogeneity or customizability as each end user receives a different level-nature of service partly owing to individualized perceptions that are involved in assessment (Zeithaml et al., 1985; Rowley, 1998; Engelland, 1998; Webb, 2000;; Devlin et al; 2002). The need is thus to work on ‘perceptions to assess quality given the cognitive frame of reference that dominates the characteristics of service. The associated requirement is to be able to classify services so as to peg a cognitive frame on a type of service. Such an attempt has provided for groupings within the service industry as a starting point to deliver customized measurement models (Dotchin and Oakland, 1994). The influences on consumer expectations have also been classified to augment such efforts (Gronroos,1994) . While the seminal work towards generic developments like SERVQUAL (Parasuram et al., 1988), provide founding grounds to service quality measurement- literature sees several issues in the applicability of this generic framework. This also relates to the inclusion exclusion and reconfiguration of the understanding of service attributes and the industry categories discussed before (e.g. Sasser, 1978; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994). A critical perspective on SERVQUAL comes later but upfront it is of essence is to recognize the importance and complexity in measurement given the sheer abstractness of the idea of service and its quality. The customization of measurement efforts and models in light of different service industry groups has been key to efforts at improving measurement (Dotchin and Oakland, 1994). In SERVQUAL the conceptualization of satisfaction has been found to be too simplistic and the multiplicity of the ‘total experience is arguably not captured this is in addition to the non-customized generic nature of the SERVQUAL. A longitudinal and sometimes phenomenological analysis is suggested to capture these nuanced but important characteristics of service quality (Singh, 1991; Rowley, 1994). However, the difficult in devising a comprehensive tool still disposes wider practice of measurement to simplistic methods. Important adjustments and realizations like the use of ‘importance and satisfaction grid (Harvey, 1995) provide a very useful feedback and prioritization. For instance, high importance and poor satisfaction is a combination that merits urgent management attention. Another important variable in the service quality metric that needs to be accounted for is the nature of the contract. Again this is because of the attribute of ‘psychological contracts that is unique in nature to services (Thornrow, 1998). This has found particular appeal in measurement related to provision of public services. Having formal, informal and psychological components in service contracts provide a platform for balancing expectations and perceptions. These are otherwise very difficult to manage given the basic characteristics of service discussed at the onset of this section. Finally the perceptual plane needs to be also looked at with a balance though by classical definition the perception of the customer is the defining feature of quality-for service quality in particular the perception of the provider and the resultant psychological interface is also key to the metric. The role of customers is also not to be taken uni-dimensionally. There are different stakeholde r brackets eg. users, influencers, deciders, approvers that associate with a service category and also vary in their significance (Rowley, 1988). These influence the generic satisfaction and associated performance variable. Given this multiplicity and the psychologically complex nature of interactions, the ‘relationship exchange process (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) is key to providing some cognitive stability to overtime service quality measurement. It is also a suitable conduit to ensure that feedback is smoothly translated into strategic action for improvement. Such relationships can be supported by associating service with some ‘bonds (Chu and Lin, 2004). For instance, providing unique services, incentives, and even building social ties between provider and customer. However, on the other hand, the impact of such relationships on service quality needs to be moderated for a reliable assessment. They provide grounds for stabilizing the psychological map to better associate performance and expectations but at the same time bias it. 2.5 Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Perceptions Broadly speaking customer satisfaction is a performance indicator of the extent to which a firm has managed to meet customer expectations through its business deliverables. Having formed the foundation of the marketing concept for nearly half a century the attempts at harnessing the good practices and measurement approaches is a much explored realm when it comes to customer satisfaction (e.g. Drucker, 1954; Levitt 1960; Gronroos, 1990). Over the last few years customer satisfaction has received a reinvigorated interest. Possible reasons for this have been seen as the after effects of a maturing TQM paradigm that is linked with several recognition awards, and also, arrival of national customer satisfaction barometers (Garvin, 1991; Johnson et al., 2001; Helgesen, 2006) The associated concept of customer relationship orientation is posits a strong link between customer loyalty and profitability with customer satisfaction (Zeithaml, 1988; Oliver, 1996). While customer loyalty has been referred to as central to ‘competitive advantage (Porter, 1985; Chao, et al., 2007)- this is delivered through customer -satisfaction. This is the basic rationalization behind customer satisfaction being so central to both short term and long term performance assessment. That the ‘ultimate aim of any firm is to achieve customer satisfaction remains the central thesis of market orientation (Levitt, 1960). Customer orientation seeks to align â€Å"organizational values, beliefs, assumptions and premises† to deliver a mutually enabling relationship between the customer and the firm (Day, 1994; Strong and Harris, 2004). Strong and Harris ( 2004), define a set of tactics that can deliver customer orientation. They define three sets of tactics. The first define relational tactics (essentially relationship marketing) that engages a nurturing philosophy for long run gains. The second tactic as human resource tactic is more about the direct interface with frontline of the customer and rest of the organisation -essentially empowering the front line through training and support to reap rewards of realized quality of experience of the customer. The final tactic relates to procedural aspects that routinise and systemize customer care and support systems. The study posits that there is a strong interaction and dependency between the three tactics. This key work that examines customer satisfaction and its manifestations under the customer orientation paradigm shares ground with some key extant literature (Narver and Slater, 1990) However, other studies tend to put one set of such aspects though differently labeled as more important than the others. For instance, Chao et al. (2007) say that while satisfaction remains an abstract idea sometime there is an overt component of interpersonal relationship building that because of over emphasis- instead of complementing customer orientation tends wean resources away from conditioning deliverables to meet consumer expectations. Research suggests that such a lopsided drive is ill-found in the long run While relationship marketing remains important it has to be pegged on consumer satisfaction from products and services for sustainability (Chao et al., 2007). Businesses need to focus attention on relationship building. This however has to be conditioned for long run profitability. Customer satisfaction through meeting expectations from goods, transaction services and pure services, and a sustained follow up and support culture has to be the basis for relationship building. For instance, financial incentives/offers are likely to be ineffective and short lived if quality is undermined. As most of the research in customer orientation gets focused on relationship building this is an important consideration to use as a moderator. Value to the customer can never be undermined for seeking short term profitability. This is because such profitability is not suitably tied in with satisfaction which in turn guides customer loyalty. Views to the contrary also exist mainly from some practitioners. Bruce Clapp (2007) of the Carlson marketing group says that â€Å"relationship strength is more important than satisfaction as a true indicator of loyalty. Customizing the experience of our customers, in-branch and in home, impacts the strength of relationship as it builds. In the experience, ensuring our message is relevant requires that we be closer to our customer. The communication we use, whether direct mail, e-mail or in person, must be tailored to the needs of the customer at an individual level. The term mass customization has gained ground as we look for ways to become partners with our customers and be there when they have a financial nee