Factors Affecting Organisational Behaviour - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3054 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Management Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? Organisational behaviour is a chief component of any business school core curriculum because it sets out to help students comprehend how human beings deal with being part of organisations, large or small, working in teams and so forth. It is, fundamentally, the study of the soft end of business.   The theories derive from a diversity of disciplines including sociology and psychology. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Factors Affecting Organisational Behaviour" essay for you Create order It disquiets itself with the problematical patterns of individual and group working. Thus the apparent aim of the study of organisational behaviour is to understand why people work in positive ways and then working out how to use this knowledge to improve the use of resources. Factors Effecting behaviour at work: The role of work has changed throughout the world due to economic conditions and social demands. Originally, work was a matter of necessity and survival. Throughout the years, the role of work has evolved and the composition of the workforce has changed. Today, work still is a necessity but it should be a source of personal satisfaction as well. One of the vehicles to help provide attainment of personal and professional goals is work-life benefits and programs which also helps to assess the behaviour of an individual and the factors affecting the behaviour at work. When it comes to behaviour at work, most people with the right attitude tend to think that pushing their all, is the way to go. It is important to push and give your best but it is equally important to rest and know how to recharge your batteries. One may have very good behaviour at work and strive hard to increase your efficiency but if you do not know when to say stop, you will soon see your productivity drop. But t here are many factors which affect the behaviour at work which eventually affects the performance. In December 2006 the British petroleum conducted a work life balance workshop which highlighted the factors effecting peoples behaviour at work. Following are the key factors which affect the behaviour and which are also interrelated to each other. Change is inevitable in the life of an organisation. In todays business world, most of the organisations are facing a dynamic and changing business environment. They should either change or die, there is no third alternative. Organizations that learn and cope with change will thrive and flourish and others who fail to do so will be wiped out. The major forces which make the changes not only desirable but inevitable are technological, economic, political, social, legal, international and labour market environments. In very simple words, we can say that change means the alteration of status quo or making things different. The term cha nge refers to any alterations which occurs in the overall work environment of an organisation. When an organizational system is disturbed by some internal or external force, change frequently occurs. Change, as a process, is simply modification of the structure or process of a system. It may be good or bad, the concept is descriptive only. There are a number of factors both internal and external which affect organizational functioning. Any change in these factors necessitates changes in an organisation. The more important factors are as follows: External Forces Every organization exists in some context; no organization is an island in itself. Each must continually interact with other organizations and individuals- the consumers, suppliers, unions, shareholders, government and many more. Each organization has goals and responsibilities related to each other in the environment. The present day environment is dynamic and will continue to be dynamic. Changes in social, political, economic, technology, and legal environment force organizations to change themselves. Such changes may result in organizational changes like major functions production process, labour-management relations, nature of competitions, economic constraints, organizational methods etc. In order to survive in the changing environment, organization must change. How the change in various environmental, organizations, must change. How the changes in various environmental factors necessitate change in the organization may be seen in following context:- Technology: When there is a change in technology in the organizational environment and other organizations adopt the new technology, the organizations under focus become less cost effective and its competitive position weakens. Therefore, it has to adopt new technology, its work structure is affected and a new equilibrium has to be established. Marketing conditions: Since every organization exports its outputs to the environment, an organization has to face competition in the market. There may be two types of forces which may affect the competitive position of an organization -other organizations supplying the same products and, buyers who are not buying the product. Any changes in these forces may require suitable changes in the in the organization. For example, when Indian economy was liberalized, there were many foreign organizations that entered the Indian market. This forced many Indian organizations to realign themselves with the new situations. The result in that there have been many cases of divesting the business and concentrating on the core business, acquiring core business, and developing competitive competence to face competitive threats. Similarly, there may be changes in buyers in terms of their needs, liking -disliking and income disposal for a product. These changes are from the organizations to bring those products which meet buyers requirement. .Social changes: Social changes reflect in terms of peoples aspirations, the needs, and their ways of working. Social changes have taken place because of the several forces like level of education, urbanization, feeling of autonomy, and international impact due to new information sources. These social changes affect the behavior of people in the organization. There, it is required to make adjustment in its working so that it matches with people. Political and legal changes: Political and legal factors broadly define the activities which an oganisation can undertake and the methods which will be followed by it in accomplishing those activities. Any changes in these political and legal factors may affect the organization operation. 2.0. Internal Forces It is not only the changes in external factors, which may necessitate organizational changes; any change in organizations internal factors may also necessitate changes. Such a change is required because of two reasons: changes in managerial personnel and deficiency in existing organizational practices. 2.1. Conflict: Conflict exists in every organization and to a certain extent indicates a healthy exchange of ideas and creativity. However, counter-productive conflict can result in employee dissatisfaction, reduced productivity, poor service to clients, absenteeism and increased employee turnover, increased work-related stress or, worse case scenario, litigation based on claims of harassment or a hostile work environment. 2.2. Demographic Factors: The demographic factors are socio-economic background, education, nationality, race, age, sex, etc. Organizations prefer persons that belong to good socio-economic background, well educated, young etc as they are believed to be performing better than the others. The young and dynamic professionals that have good academic background and effective communication skills are always in great demand. 2.3. Abilities and Skills: The physical capacity of an individual to do something can be termed as ability. Skill can be defined as the ability to act in a way that allows a person to perform well. The individual behavior and performance is highly influenced by ability and skills. A person can perform well in the organisation if his abilities and skills are matched with the job requirement. 2.4. Perception: The cognitive process meant for interpreting the environmental stimuli in a meaningful way is referred to as perception. Every individual on the basis of his/he reference can organize and interpret environmental stimuli. There are many factors that influence the perception of an individual. The study of perception plays important role for the managers. 2.5. Changes in the managerial personnel: Besides environmental changes there is a change in managerial personnel. Old managers are replaced by new mangers, which necessitated because of retirement, promotion, transfer or dismissal. Each new manager brings his own ideas and way of working in the organization. The relationships more in the organization, the relationships more particularly informal ones, changes because of changes in managerial personnel. Moreover, attitude of the personnel change even though there is no changes in them. The result in that an organization has to change accordingly. 2.6. Deficiency in Existing organization: Sometimes, changes are necessary because of deficiency in the present organizational arrangement ad process. These deficiencies may be in the form of unmanageable span of management, large number of managerial levels, lack in co-ordination between various departments, obstacles in communication, multiplicity of committees, lack of uniformity in policy decisions, lack of cooperation between the line and staff, and so on. Beside these internal factors, there are two more internal factors that give rise to organizational changes. 2.7. Nature of the work force: The nature of work force has changed over a passage of time. Different work values have been expressed by different generations. Workers who are in the age group of 50 plus value loyalty to their employers. Workers in their mid thirties to forties are loyal to themselves only. The youngest generation of workers is loyal to their career. The profile of the workforce is also changing fast. The new generation of workers has better educational; they place greater emphasis on human values and questions authority of managers. Their behaviour has also become very complex and leading them towards organizational goals is a challenge for the managers. The employee turnover is also very high which again put strain on the management. 2.8. To avoid developing inertia: In many cases, organizational changes take place just to avoid developing inertia or inflexibility. Conscious manager take into account this view of organization that organization should be dynamic because any single method is not the best tool of management every time. Thus, changes are incorporated so that the personnel develop liking for change and there is no unnecessary resistance when major change in the organization are brought about. Psychological Contract: 3.0 Psychological Contract: The term psychological contract was first used in the early 1960s but became more popular following the economic downturn in the early 1990s. It has been defined as ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other1. These obligations will often be informal and imprecise: they may be inferred from actions or from what has happened in the past, as well as from statements made by the employer, for example during the recruitment process or in performance appraisals. Some obligations may be seen as promises and others as expectations. The important thing is that they are believed by the employee to be part of the relationship with the employer. The psychological contract lies at the heart of your relationship with the organisation you work for. It is the deal you make with your employer and colleagues at work; it is about your mutual expectations and their fulfilment. Too often this c ontract is implicit and left to chance, resulting in misunderstanding, stress, lower commitment and performance. The author demonstrates how to use the psychological contract to raise the business game and increase personal fulfilment. The authors ideas are based on his own research and consultancy experience as well as the latest business school research. The book has a number of case studies showing how different organisations use the psychological contract. Managing the Psychological Contract is an important and extremely readable book for all those concerned with the improved performance of people and organisations. The theory of psychological contracts in organizational employment and wider psychological contracting in relationships, communications and societies The Psychological Contract is an increasingly relevant aspect of workplace relationships and wider human behaviour. Descriptions and definitions of the Psychological Contract first emerged in the 1960s, notabl y in the work of organizational and behavioural theorists Chris Argyris and Edgar Schein. Many other experts have contributed ideas to the subject since then, and continue to do so, either specifically focusing on the Psychological Contract, or approaching it from a particular perspective, of which there are many. The Psychological Contract is a deep and varied concept and is open to a wide range of interpretations and theoretical studies. Primarily, the Psychological Contract refers to the relationship between an employer and its employees, and specifically concerns mutual expectations of inputs and outcomes. The Psychological Contract is usually seen from the standpoint or feelings of employees, although a full appreciation requires it to be understood from both sides. Simply, in an employment context, the Psychological Contract is the fairness or balance (typically as perceived by the employee) between: how the employee is treated by the employer, and what the employee puts in to the job. The words employees or staff or workforce are equally appropriate in the above description. At a deeper level the concept becomes increasingly complex and significant in work and management especially in change management and in large organizations. Interestingly the theory and principles of the Psychological Contract can also be applied beyond the employment situation to human relationships and wider society. Unlike many traditional theories of management and behaviour, the Psychological Contract and its surrounding ideas are still quite fluid; they are yet to be fully defined and understood, and are far from widely recognized and used in organizations. The concept of psychological contracting is even less well understood in other parts of society where people and organizations connect, despite its significance and potential usefulness. Hopefully what follows will encourage you to advance the appreciation and application of its important principles, in whatever w ay makes sense to you. It is a hugely fertile and potentially beneficial area of study. At the heart of the Psychological Contract is a philosophy not a process or a tool or a formula. This reflects its deeply significant, changing and dynamic nature. Changes to psychological: Changes to psychological contract of hurricane are arising as a result of business pressure. Dramatically changes in the global economy including the development of low cost, high quality and now also services in China and India are accompanied by ever-fast changes in technology, liberalisation of market and changing consumer expectations. As organisation is pushed to innovate, increase markets and customers responsiveness and reduce cost, they are being forced to bring about equally dramatic changes in work practices and in turn employee behaviour. The impact and the nature of changes are described well by Hamel when he says We now stand on the threshold of new age- the age revolution. In our mind we now the new age have already arrived; in our bellies were not sure we like it for change has changed. No longer it is additive. No longer does it move in straight lines. In the twenty first century change is discontinuous, abrupt, seditious .Today we live in world that is all pu nctuation and no equilibrium. Recent research by the UK chartered Institute of Personal Development add weight to the conclusion that broad change are taking place in the psychological contract operated across different organisation in the UK. At a headline level the research suggest that organisations are now more successful in delivering against the board expectation they encourage employees to believe: they are fulfilling their sides of psychological contract more than before. CIPD conclude that employees today seek one of three types of psychological contract with their employees: Traditional: those who seek long term tenure and work long hours. Disengaged: those for whom work is not a central life interest and seek no emotional tie to their employer. Independent: those who are well qualified, and seek short tenure and high rewards. When the psychological contract was relatively straightforward and stable, as in bureaucratic organisations, it was less important to understand others expectation as these become apparent over time and day misunderstanding could be dealt with gradually. Is your company going through a period of change right now? If youre managing that change, one of the key things to consider is how this will impact on the unwritten rules. When youre in the driving seat its difficult to see beyond the logistics of making the decision a reality; you have myriad strategic deliberations, struggles with theoretical alternatives and challenges to overcome complex problems. When you finally communicate the vision for the future, you may not fully anticipate the strength of resistance to what is, after all, the best way forward for the company. Some of the causes for resistance are obvious, in fundamental change this could be job loss, increased work load, change of location etc while others are less tangible like fear of damage to prestige, working relationships or job satisfaction. The impact of this resistance is very real cau sing disengagement, reduced performance, increased turnover and sometimes even wilful sabotage of the new way of working. A major step you can take in reducing resistance is unearthing those hidden reasons that could cause problems. Try this little exercise: think about the main 5 things you value in your job (e.g. being empowered to make decisions, the challenge and variety of your role) and then consider how you would feel if your company removed these; it could be that a new level of management is brought in above you meaning decisions have to be authorised or perhaps some of your more enjoyable duties are delegated elsewhere. These 5 things are likely to be clauses in your psychological contract; they may not comprise your actual employment contract but are the unwritten expectations you have of your employer the real deal [Although you need to be careful here, for instance, significant changes to status could be a legitimate reason for an aggrieved employee to leave and claim constructive dismissal]. In exchange, you provide your employer with unwritten benefits such as being very loyal and committed. If your employer proposes a new way of working which breaks these unwritten clauses, you are unlikely to welcome such a change. Have a think about the transformation you are undergoing or planning and how they might affect the values your staff hold dear. Psychological contracts are highly subjective and differ from individual to individual; managers are more likely to know their teams underlying beliefs and can help to manage the process by taking them into account. Of course, you cant avoid violating the psychological contract in every or even most cases, but what you can do is demonstrate understanding of what the implications are going to mean, clarify what the psychological contract involves and engage people in shaping or implementing the change wherever possible.

John Updike’s Portrayal of Individualism vs. Conformity in...

A society consists of a community of people living together and sharing customs and traditions. Once immersed in this society, one can begin to see certain standards woven into the social fabric of the community. These standards, ranging from not walking into public areas scantily clad to not embarrassing people in front of others, are usually unspoken and sometimes cause strife. Young adults often find these standards to be extremely restricting and favor freedom of action over the collective control. Commonly known as individualism, this social theory is very alive in the hearts and actions of young adults and never quite leaves a human as he or she grows older and â€Å"matures.† In middle class, Protestant America individualism is subverted†¦show more content†¦In a continuing attempt to reveal this societal conflict, Updike introduces the character of Lengel, the manager. He accosts the girls and starts to make a scene accusing them of being indecent: â€Å"â₠¬ËœGirls, I don’t want to argue with you. After this come in here with your shoulders covered. It’s our policy.’ He turns his back. That’s policy for you. Policy is what the kingpins want. What others want is juvenile delinquency† (Updike, 600). When the store manager confronts three girls in swimsuits because of their indecency (lack of proper clothes), they are forced to leave humiliated. At this moment Sammy makes the choice to quit his job in protest of the manager’s handling of the situation. In his mind, and arguably in John Updike’s mind, the standards of walking into a grocery store in a bathing suit and humiliating someone in front of other people are both unacceptable. This part of the story is pivotal for one main reason: a voice in the business community is speaking. As a manager at A P, Lengel is the voice of The Establishment and guards the community ethics (Porter, 321). Queenie’s (the ringleader of the girls) bl ush is what moves Sammy to action. Here are three girls who came in from the beach to purchase only one thing, and this kingpin is embarrassing them in order to maintain an aura of morality, decency,

Effects of Emotion Regulation on Risk Aversion Free Essays

This paper is on â€Å"Emotion Regulation and Decision Making Under Risk and Uncertainty† by Mircea Miclea, Andrei C. Miu, Renata M. Heilman, Liviu G. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of Emotion Regulation on Risk Aversion or any similar topic only for you Order Now Crisan from Babes-Bolyai University, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and Daniel Houser from George Mason University in Virginia, USA. The study was published in the American Psychological Association, 2010, Vol. 10, No. 2. It deals with emotion regulation (ER) tactics such as cognitive reappraisal and expression suppression and their effects on risk aversion and decision making. Reappraisal involves reformulating the meaning of the situation. Suppression involves inhibiting the responses and behaviours associated with emotions, such as facial expressions, vocal tonality or body language. The researchers hypothesized that participants using reappraisal would portray lower risk aversion (increased risk taking) than subjects using suppression. They induced negative emotions of fear and disgust on their participants through short movie clips and then rated how they did on tests that measure risk-taking based on the ER tactic that they were previously instructed to use. (Heilman, Crisan, Houser, Miclea Miu, 2010, p. 58). Our textbook defines an experiment as a scientific method of research in which several factors called independent variables are modified to determine their effects on the dependant variable. This enables researchers to find cause and effect between different variables because they will observe if changes in one variable causes changes in the other (Baron, Byrne, Branscombe, Fritzley, 2010, p. 19). For the pu rposes of this paper, focus will be on study 1 which looked at the effects of negative emotions such as fear or disgust. The sample was of sixty participants (56 women; mean age 21. 45 years) from the Babes-Bolyai University campus. They were randomly distributed in 6 groups based on the emotion experienced (either fear or disgust) and the ER strategy employed (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression, or control/no ER instructions). The independent variables in this experiment were the ER strategy induced and the emotion experienced by the subjects. The emotion was measured using PANAS-X (posttest). The participants then completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) to confirm that they employed the instructed ER strategy. The dependant variable was the risk taking behaviour of the subjects, measured with BART and IGT tests. Results showed that reappraisers, but not suppressors, showed significantly decreased fear and disgust. Findings reveal that cognitive reappraisal increases risk taking by reducing the experience of negative emotions, while expressive suppression does not because it is ineffective in reducing negative emotions (Heilman et al. , 2010, p. 258-61). The textbook deals with the topic of emotion and cognitive regulation by addressing the topics of thought suppression, affect and cognition and emotion regulation. First, thought suppression is the effort we take to prevent certain thoughts from entering our consciousness. It is involved in two steps: the first is an automatic process which detects unwanted thoughts, and the second is a conscious process by which we decide to not think about the unpleasant thoughts and concentrate on something else. When we are too tired, the conscious process cannot operate and the unwanted thoughts become stronger. We engage in though suppression to control our feelings and behaviour (Baron et al. , 2010, p. 47-48). Second, the textbook looks at the influence of affect on cognition. Research indicates that our mood influences the way we see the world and our interactions with it. The textbook states that information of affective nature is processed differently than standard information, and as such it is almost impossible to ignore it once it has been introduced into a situation. People in a good mood are encouraged in heuristic thinking, and more likely to accept facts. Baron et al. , 2010, p. 50-53). Lastly, the textbook defines emotion regulation as a cognitive mechanism by which we use our thoughts to regulate and control our feelings. A study by Tykocinski lists two ER techniques: counterfactual thinking, when people adjust their thoughts about negative events to make them seem unavoidable and less distressing, which reduces negative affect, and giving in to temptation, which involves doin g things that are potentially bad for us but pleasant in order to improve our mood (Baron et al. 2010, p. 54-55). Some similarities can be traced between the experiment and the textbook. They both agree that our mood has an influence on our cognition. In particular, the textbook tells us that people in a good mood engage in heuristic thinking, that is employing mental shortcuts, and that they are more likely to accept fewer arguments as demonstrated in the study by Ruder and Bless (2003). The experiment by Heilman et al. (2010) shows us that the ER technique one uses can decrease our risk aversion. The textbook does discuss forms of ER techniques that are similar as the one present in Heilman’s study. Thought suppression, as discussed in the textbook, has a few similarities with expressive suppression, in that they both attempt to inhibit something. Cognitive reappraisal is very similar to Tykocinski’s counterfactual thinking. In terms of the research done for the experiment and the textbook, no similarities could be found. This translates in the different names given to the emotion regulation techniques (i. e. reappraisal vs. counterfactual thinking) in between the two. The study certainly has a lot more detailed information on the topic of emotion regulation than the textbook. The latter approaches the topic in a more general way, not surprisingly so since it is a college level manual. A critical look at the journal article reveals that, overall; they did a good job, however there are a few things that are not good. The independent and dependant variables were chosen properly and they took great care to measure the effects using a variety of tests and statistical analyses. They made sure that fear and disgust was felt and that ER strategies were employed. However, further specification on the way they instructed their participants over which ER strategy to use would be welcome. The study does not list any further information on that topic, other than the participants were given the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire at the end to determine if they followed the assigned instructions. The conclusions seem to follow the results in a coherent and logical fashion. The main problem with this study is their sampling. First of all, it is not very large, and second, it is not representative, as it consists almost exclusively of young women (56) from the campus. This does not allow for generalization. Further experiments with a larger, more representative sample would shed more light on the exact effects of emotion regulation on decision making under risk. How to cite Effects of Emotion Regulation on Risk Aversion, Essay examples

Billy liar

Billy liar-english Essay Identify the main themes in Billy Liar by focusing on extracts involving Billy and his father. As a director, how might you work with your actors to enable them to understand and convey these themes more fully?  Billy Liar by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse was written in 1959. It was adapted from the novel written by Keith Waterhouse.  The play Billy Liar is set in the 1950s, a bleak, drab decade, following the Second World War. Peoples lives were colourless and dull; things were black and white. Very few people had TV, and most were entertained by the radio. The play Billy Liar is set in a small town, which reflected the boringness of the time and the fact that there was nothing for youths to do. At the time in which the play is set, England was very poor, this was a very depressing time for its citizens. Teenage culture was non existent in the early 1950s. There was no such thing as teenage fashion or teenage music. The teenagers would simply reflect the fashion and music that their parents liked. Teenagers were expected to be seen and not heard, they would do exactly what an elder told them without question. Answering your parents back was totally out of the question and unheard of. Teenagers wouldnt dare to question their parents, as there would be serious consequences. Teenagers wore exactly what their parents wore, and listened to the same music as their parents. During the late 1950s came a time of change. Elvis introduced Rock and Roll to the teenagers, and this signified the start of the teenage revolt. Along with him, Elvis brought about teenage fashion and teenage music. This is when the teenagers first started getting out of control. They started to dress differently and develop their own style, but most of all, they started to answer back their parents and question them, and no longer did they live up to their expectations of being seen and not heard. They would come home late, and ignore their parents wishes. This was a teenage rebellion. This all leads up to a generation gap, between Billy Fisher and his father, Geoffrey Fisher. There is evidence of this generation gap, from Billys entrance, in Act 1, to Geoffreys exit. One of the main themes of the play is the generation gap and how it reflects the clashes of generation between Billy and his father. Billy behaves in the complete opposite way that his father would like him to. Billy gets a lot more freedom than his father had at his age and Billy had a better education, and Geoffrey doesnt think that Billy appreciates it. Billy is continually lying and frequently takes things that dont belong to him. Billy is completely unreliable and cannot be trusted. Billys lying is one of the main causes of the friction between Billy and his father. Geoffrey is very hostile towards Billy. Geoffrey Fisher is a lower middle class character, who has a garage business. He is aggressive. He is hostile and cold towards Billy, and he uses the word bloody a lot, however he only tends to use it when addressing Billy. He speaks in short sharp sentences, and shows no kindness or softness, and he has no time for Billy. He shouts frequent demands at Billy. Geoffrey is also sarcastic about Billy; e.g. in Act 1 scene 1 Geoffrey says wheres his bloody lordship then? Billy is 19 years old. He has at least 3 girlfriends and he is a womaniser an example to show this, is when he says Im not ordinary folk, even if she is. He is a rebellious, lazy teen, who fantasises a lot and makes things up. Billy wants to make his life more exciting and does so by, continuously lying and fantasising, Geoffrey really hates Billy lying, as it frustrates him. Billy provokes his father to be aggressive, by answering him back with sarcasm, also Billys uncaring attitude and repeated sarcasm, winds up his father as well. Billy uses long sentences and exaggerates things. In Act 1 scene1 Billy says your servant maam. This is a good example of Billys sarcasm, and it shows that Billy is sarcastic and flippant at any given opportunity.

Erwin Chargaff Essays - Genetics, Nucleobases, Nucleic Acids

Erwin Chargaff Erwin Chargaff, born 1905 in Czernowiz, Austria, was a pioneer in biochemistry contributing to the understanding of DNA. He, in 1928, earned his doctoral degree in chemistry at the University of Vienna's Spath's Institute in 1928. Erwin began his career in biochemistry at Yale University, working under Rudolph J. Anderson from 1928 to 1930. His early work included stories of the complex lipids, the fats or fatty acids that occur in microorganisms. Helping discover the unusual fatty acids and waxes in acid-fast mycobacteria led him to study the metabolism and biological role of lipids in the body. Chargaff was also a pioneer in the use of radioactive isotopes of phosphorus as a tool to study in the synthesis and breakdown of phosphorus-containing lipid molecules in living cells. He published a paper on the synthesis of a radioactive organic compound called alpha-glycerophosphoric acid. He began to study nucleic acids in 1944, while at Colombia. Until this time scientists believed that amino acids carried genetic information. DNA was also believed to contain the tetranucleotides made up of cytosine, thymine, adenine and guanine, that served as an attachment site for the amino acids that made up genes. It was already known that a cell's nucleus is comprised in part by DNA, Chargaff was able to determine how much of which bases were present by measuring the amount of light each quantity of base absorbed. He showed that adenine and thymine occur in DNA in equal proportions in all organisms and that cytosine and guanine are also found in equal quantities. Chargaff's major conclusion is that DNA carries genetic information, and the number of different combinations in which the four nucleic acids appear in DNA provides enough complexity to form the basis of heredity. Finally, he concluded that the identity of combinations differs from species to species and that DNA strands differ from species. Overall, his findings were important contributions in biochemistry, including the addition of a key piece in the puzzle of the structure of DNA. This all led to major developments in the field of medical genetics, and, ultimately helped pave the way for gene therapy and the birth of the biotechnology industry.

Sheppard v Maxwell essays

Sheppard v Maxwell essays The wife of Dr. Sam Sheppard(Marilyn Sheppard) was bludgeoned to death on July 4, 1954. She was found in the upstairs bedroom of her home in Bay Village, Ohio. The town mayor called the local police, Dr. Sheppards brother(also a doctor) and the next door neighbors. Local police advised the local coroner and the Cleveland Police Department. When the coroner arrived, he pronounced Marilyn Sheppard dead, examined Dr. Sheppard and took him to a clinic(run by Dr. Sheppard). Both Dr. Sheppard and the neighbors were investigated by Cleveland police. Dr. Sheppard was later interrogated while sedated in a hospital bed. He was also questioned with out the presence of his attorney. On July 7, the day of Marilyn Sheppards funeral, the Sheppard family refused immediate questioning and full cooperation. On July 8, Dr. Sheppard was served a subpoena and cooperated fully from that point on. The next day, he reenacted the evening of his wifes murder for the coroner(Dr. Gerber), the police, and news reporters(from which there was a detailed news casting). July 20, front page editorial that Sheppard was getting away with murder due to friendships, and hired lawyers. On July 26, Detective McArthur declared that the crime scene was tampered with. It was revealed to police that Dr. Sheppard had an extramarital affairs with a woman named Susan Hayes. He was finally arrested on July 30 at his fathers home, arraigned immediately and held over for a grand jury trial. August 17, Dr. Sheppard was indicted on the count of murder. He released a statement declaring his innocence the day after his indictment. His trial started two weeks before November General Elections. Chief Prosecutor was a candidate for judge, Judge Blythin(trial judge) was running for reelection. Jury selection started October 18, this was a highly publicized trial which lasted only nine weeks. Dr. Samuel Sheppard was found guilty of murder. ...

W1 BA541 Asign Behavior vs Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

W1 BA541 Asign Behavior vs Communication - Essay Example ranch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment† (Dictionary.com Unabridged, n.d.). As such, it could be deduced that interactive technologies, in the context of organizations and customers, mean the field of discipline that uses continuous two-way exchange or sharing of information between customers and the organization, on matters pertaining to the products or services offered and purchased by the clientele. As indicated, the emergence of new interactive technologies; meaning, the use of digital media (â€Å"combinations of electronic text, graphics, moving images, and sound, into a structured digital computerised environment that allows people to interact with the data for appropriate purposes† (England & Finney, 2011, p. 2), is not sufficient to presume that a solid bond is established between customers and the organization. The mere existence of these diverse kinds of interactive technologies does not firmly confirm that customers are able to grasp what the organization offers – if these are not effectively communicated to them. create new processes that are oriented around the coordination of all these newly possible customer interactions. And they must ensure that the interactions themselves not only run efficiently but are effective at building more solid, profitable relationships with customers† (p. 193). The key element that would allegedly enhance the knowledge on their products and services being offered; as well as on the organization’s ability to address the customers’ needs, is through effective communication. It was thereby emphasized that â€Å"the enterprise has to integrate all of its customer-directed communication channels so that it can accurately identify each customer no matter how an individual customer or a customer company contacts the enterprise† (Peppers & Rogers, 2010, p. 193). Concurrently, communication alone is still not enough.

Issue of Gender and Racial Discrimination in the US Essay

Issue of Gender and Racial Discrimination in the US - Essay Example Overly, despite these drastic demographic changes, the  connotation  of citizenship and the ability to treat or cure various germ and contagion related chronic infections were consistently blamed on the foreigners. This article’s key structure, therefore, revolves around three periods of immigration historical events, which include the 19th Century at around 1924, an era of retrenchment period of 1924-1965, and 1965 that was marked by an outrageous immigrant’s domination into American society (Markel & Stern, 2002). An outstanding quote in this article towards the understanding of feminist studies is, â€Å"If the relevant authorities and anti-immigration advocates found that one immigration classification is the most objectionable, they will soon mitigate every drawback in the United States associated with immigration† (Markel & Stern, 2002). This article presents racial discrimination, diseases and significantly the meaning of public change in feminist studies. This article beyond any reasonable doubt draws on archival registers in California’s Imperial Valley in the years 1940. These events resulted in the arrest and deportation of various groups of Mexican workers, some of whom presented themselves passionately as human rights union activists. These workers had entered the country legally and had inhabited the United States for many years. According to the immigrants’ officials, they rendered these activists â€Å"likely to become a public change† LPC, which was unlawful in America as a deportable offense (Natalia, 2010). According to me, I am in agreement with this author’s main points of argument. Firstly, immigration is one of the factors that have affected the American economic growth for quite a long period. In the 1940s, United States border patrol agents experienced intriguing migrato ry records into America. This experience, in turn, spearheaded the deportation proceedings for Mike Gutierrez, who acted as the president of a Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO) local.

BFS 3430-09D, PRINCIPLES OF FIRE BEHAVIOR (BFS3430-09D) Essay - 2

BFS 3430-09D, PRINCIPLES OF FIRE BEHAVIOR (BFS3430-09D) - Essay Example Be sure to divert the spilled fuel away from the cockpit or cabin; and take extra precaution against any possibility of fuel burst out, set up a safety border within the region of the incident site (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). 3. For fire related incidents, full protective gear must be worn including SCBAs and move towards the fire from the windward side. If no hazardous materials or explosives are present, go about the procedure as a flammable liquid fire (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). Foam must be used in fire fighting when Jet A fuel is involved. If foam is not available make use of a semi-fog stream to push the fire away from the cockpit or cabin. Make sure that the fuel spill and fire does not flow back behind you while protecting the crew and advancing towards the fire as this may trap you (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines n.d.). 4. If the fire involves hazardous and explosive materials, follow the Hazardous Materials resources guide for the product involved, and set up a safety perimeter around the incident site (Union County Standard Operating Guidelines

Tata Steel Marketing Strategy

Tata Steel Marketing Strategy In this report, Tata Steel Group (Tata Steel) has been chosen as an organisation to analyze the strategic changes made over past five years including strategic positioning, strategic capability, SWOT and drivers behind these changes. Tata Steel currently is a major player in global steel industry. In year 2005 (Figure 1), Tata Steel operation was mainly focused in Indian subcontinent and revenue generated was close to US$ 5.0 billion only. However their initiative to expand their operations globally proved very successful over last five years. From being a mere local steel producer, they transformed themselves into a major global player in steel producers (Figure 2). They have been aggressively involved in capacity expansion by acquisitions and organic growth. Business Standard once commented that Tata Steel moved into its next target to become the worlds second largest steel company by 2012 with the help of its most expensive bet worth US$ 12.9 billion on Corus Group. Last two years has been very difficult period to global steel industry because of worldwide recession. The global crude steel production for year 2009 was 1220.0 mpta (million tonne per annum) as reported by World Steel Association lower by 8% against that of 2008. The decline in demand was due to deterioration in economy experienced by key steel end users. Table 1, shows the growth/decline in terms of crude steel production for the top ten steel producing nations. However, by acquisition of Corus and other assets, Tata Steel now ranks among worlds top ten (Table 2) largest steel producers with current steel production capacity of 32.0 mpta. After five years of its expansion programme, Tata Steel is now worlds second most geographically diversified steel producers. Mission Statement In its mission statement Tata Steel expresses that while honesty and integrity are the essential ingredient of a strong and stable enterprise, profitability provides the main spark for economic activity. Founded way back in 1907, Tata Steel stress on their core ideology in its vision statement by making emphasis on their people, supplier of choice, innovative approach and their conduct. Tata Steels vision statement is now became a tangible asset, which provide right direction to their managers and employees. Tata Steel has highly skilled employee asset of 81,000 spread over five continents. Tata Steel stress on creating differential value for their customer with help of continuous improvement in their business process and product technology. Value Chain Analysis The value chain is an economic tool used to determine the strategic resources available to a company. Basic principle of the Value Chain Analysis is that the basis for a competitive advantage of a firm lies primarily in the application of the bundle of valuable resources at the firms disposal. To transform a short-run competitive advantage into a sustained competitive advantage requires that these resources are heterogeneous in nature and not perfectly mobile (Barney, 1991, p105-106; Peteraf, 1993, p180). Effectively, this translates into valuable resources that are neither perfectly imitable nor substitutable without great effort (Barney, 1991, p117). Tata Steel has few major strategic capabilities which are valuable, unique and non-substitutable. Tata Steels Strategic Capabilities Tata Steels strategic capabilities are presented in Table 3, below. Table 3 ÂÂ   Resources Competences Threshold Capabilities Threshold Resources Threshold Competences Steel production plants at various geographical locations. Production and Sales management. Offices and buildings at various geographical locations. All other general management skills. Sufficient supply of raw materials for steel making. Sophisticated IT skills. Sufficient cash flow. Safety management. Pool of skilled personnel. Excellent customer service. IT System in place. Efficient management structure. Logistic, freight and shipment facilities. Effective employee welfare system. Capabilities for Competitive Advantage Unique Resources Unique Competences Varieties of products which caters to industries like Infrastructures, Automobiles, Aviation, Energy etc. Very competent sales team with high negotiation skills which create market for their products. Tata and Corus brands. Excellent use of IT systems for very effective use in sales process. Highly capable management team. Continuous developing and upgrading new products to serve different industry levels. Online portal Metal junction for buyers. Highly skilled managers and directors who improve and support the company success. A century experience in steel making. Integrated supplier and buyer management. Strong financial backing from group. Lowest cost steel producer in world. Very strong presence in India which is a big market for their products. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) to eliminate risk associated with various processes. First mover advantage through innovative products processes. Continuous Improvement Process (CIP). Excellent RD for cutting edge technology and products. Operational efficiency and excellent quality control. Many proprietary products such as Tata Tiscon etc. Long-term relationship with buyers and suppliers. Porters Five Forces Analysis Tata Steel has registered double digit growth in past few years except their European business. By applying Porters Five Forces analysis principal, we can evaluate the Tata Steels market competitiveness and its current and future strategy towards intense competition faced at various fronts. Threat of New Entrants: Low Threat to new entrants in any industry sector is a major challenge. However in steel industry entry barrier is high hence threat of new entrants are relatively low based on factors such as huge capital investment, economies of scale, government policies and product differentiations. Steel industry requires huge capital investment to set up an integrated steel production facility plant which is currently close to US$ one billion/mtpa as per Steel Manufacturers Associations recent estimate. This deters any new entrants entering in this field. By increasing their production capacity to 50mtpa and wide variety of products they can lower their cost, hence more profit, sustainability and these conditions are unfavourable to any new entrants. Raw material is a major issue with corruption related to mining allocation and land acquisition, it makes difficult to new entrants to come in this field. Various regulatory clearance and environmental issues also pose big barriers to new entrants. Entry barriers in terms of product differentiation are very low in steel industry. Competitive Rivalry: High The steel industry is truly global in terms of competition with large steel producing countries like China significantly influencing global prices through their aggressive exports. In steel industry, branding is not very common hence little differentiation exists between their competing products. Tata Steel faces stiff competition with their competitors such as Arcelor Mittal, POSCO etc. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: High Tata Steel enjoys greater autonomy in raw materials supply as they own mines for raw material supply. Tata Steels fully integrated supply chain system keeps abundant supply of raw material for their plants. However, other steel producers, who dont have their own mines, have to rely on raw material suppliers. On global level raw material market is dominated by the three mining giants BHP Billiton, CVRD and Rio Tinto. They make mineral market as oligopolistic and supply two-thirds of the processed iron ore to steel producers hence command very high bargaining power. Other steel producers, who dont have their own mining operations, must buy raw material at market prevailing price and pass that hike to consumers which makes them less competitive. Threat of Substitute Products: Low New materials may pose threat to viability of steel. Aluminium, plastics and other composite materials are being considered as substitute in sectors like auto, aviation etc. Concrete is another substitute material that may pose threat to use of steel in infrastructure and energy sectors. Some of the substitute materials such as aluminium itself are very costly, hence doesnt pose very big threat against steel producers. However the growth led by infrastructure sector, automobile sector, aviation sector and consumable goods will keep demand up for steel hence more growth for Tata Steel. Bargaining Power of Buyers: Average Bargaining power of buyers is very limited due to their fragmentation. Big players of the major steel consumers in sectors such as auto, aviation, energy etc may squeeze greater amount of bargain. On the other hand these bulk consumers may offer long term procurement offer to the company hence more revenue generated. However, small and retail consumers are scattered, though they consume significant amount of steel production, dont have the same bargaining powers as in case of big players. Tata Steel Group SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis of any firm provides knowledge about the challenges and opportunities faced by Tata Steel group in future. They are detailed below. (S)trengths Tata Steel has acquired vast mineral reserves which is a key to their operations. These reserves can cater their raw material demand for next three decades. Tata Steels mineral reserves are located at various strategic geographical locations such as India, Australia, Canada, Mozambique, Oman, Ivory Coast etc. Tata Steel has very capable, credible and reliable top management. Their successful global expansion plan in last five years proved this. Tata Steel has successfully acquired and integrated Corus Europe, NatSteel Indonesia and Millennium Steel Thailand. Tata Steel uses custom made state of art integrated information management system for their routine operation. Their advanced RD capability has improved further by acquiring Corus which is world renowned for its product innovation. Tata Steel uses Tata Groups strong distribution and retail network. Its Groups demand for steel is very high due to their presence in most of the sectors. Currently Tata Steel produces 32 mpta of steel and by completion of DPCL project its total capacity will reach to 50mpta which will make it second biggest steel producer in world. Tata Steel has structured risk management process in place in their operation known as Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). ERMs key function is to identify risk at every level and mitigate the same. Tata Steel mitigates very well the cyclicality situation which occurs in steel industry occasionally by its broad spectrum of its product portfolio. Tata Steel expansion plan has consolidated its position worldwide and by diversifying its portfolio and market is in process to become a pioneer in steel industry. Tata Steel has very strong brand value for its products. This has strengthened further by acquiring Corus which itself is a big brand. Their successful integration with Corus was a benchmark in corporate history. (W)eaknesses Tata Steels substantial debt burden of US$9.8 billion is a major weakness. Their debt equity ratio is currently 1.77, which reflects company finances are met by debt due to Corus acquisition. Its European business (Corus) has a high exposure to spot price and a high operational gearing thus creating very high risk of price volatility. Tata Steel relies for some raw material on international suppliers, which expose their profitability in case of steep rise in their prices. Tata Steels Indian operation is very much hampered by lack of infrastructure, shortage in power supply, lesser productivity, bureaucratic hurdle in export etc. Additional levies and tax imposed by local government put them in less profit making situation. The subsidies provided by some nations (China etc) will make their product less competitive in price hence reduce their demand. (O)pportunities Currently the emerging economies are undergoing huge infrastructural developments, which require significant amount of steel in all sectors. In India the scope for expansion of its steel products are enormous in every sector, which Tata Steel can exploit very well with its increased production capacity. As per World Steel Association estimate, the consumption of steel will be doubled in next two decades. By Acquiring Corus and improving its own RD activities, Tata Steel moved towards a better product differentiation and enhanced product portfolio which provide them new opportunities over its competitors. Their geographical locations with integrated operations and marketing strategy are a key factor in capturing market share and increasing their financial performance. They can implement Coruss advanced automation technology in their own plants to improve productivity, economies of scale, cost reduction, increased output and operational efficiency to achieve better performance. Following recent recession, various assets (minerals, plants facilities etc.) are available at a very low price due to their financial difficulty. Tata Steel, with strong backing from its parent group can secure future supplies of raw materials for steel making. With increased steel production capacity of 50 mpta, they will be the second largest steel manufacturer after Arcelor Mittal and most geographically diversified company with wide variety of product mix. (T)hreats Steel Industry is major source of greenhouse gas emission, which makes them very vulnerable against many litigation and legislation in future. The raw materials used in steel production are non-renewable and their source is depleting very fast. Due to rising cost of steel products, the end users are looking for substitutes of steel; which can be a major threat to Tata Steels business. Intense competition among international steel player and cheap steel available from China are another major threat to Tata Steels performance. Tata Steels huge debt is one of major threats against them. The rising interest will increase their debt burden. Future Outlook Following two years of worst global economic downturn, the world seems to be regaining some economic stability. There is moderate growth from developed world; however emerging economies are registering very strong and sustainable growth with robust domestic market. Before recession, the steel demand was very strong with over 6% growth during last decade; this is primarily driven by robust growth in BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), South East Asia and Middle East. By 2025, as per forecast BRICS countries will have 46% of global population and will consume 65% of the global production and will have three quarter of the global GDP. The raw materials for steel making are going at record due to high demand, higher freight rates and monopoly of three big natural resources companies. The effects of the above factors are reflected in higher steel price and decrease in profit margin of steel companies. However Tata Steels strategy adopted over last five years for securing long term contract for raw materials supply or acquiring new raw material mines at various geographical location has helped them to keep their prices competitive and making whole operation as viable. Tata Steels integration with Corus has completed successfully and producing better result than expected. Tata Steels strategic effort of capacity expansion and effort to secure raw materials source at various geographical locations yielding positive results. Tata Steels upstream integration process ambition will lead them to achieve 100% self-sufficiency in India and around 50% self-sufficiency in Europe in next 5 years. Tata Steel is investing heavily in RD to get breakthrough technologies and develop new products and services that reduce the production cost and environmental impact over the product lifecycle. To improve its processes, priority is given to energy conservation schemes; in technology break-through such as Ultra Low Carbon Steel making and in other innovative projects where the Group has proprietary technology. Conclusions It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, this famous quote meant a lot to Tata Steel. Five year back, just after starting of their ambitious global expansion plan, they were hit by worldwide financial tsunami which tested their resilience. Their well formulated and proved business strategy has shown resilience and ability to withstand the unprecedented highs and lows of a future that often comes unheralded. They have taken proactive initiative across all geographies to minimise aftermath shock of recession. Their strategy began to pay off towards the last quarter of year 2009, when they rebounded to profit after the turmoil of recession. Undeterred by the economic turbulence, the Company continued to place emphasis on working practices in health, safety and corporate citizenship, with specific initiatives taken in all these areas. In addition, a continued focus on engineering solutions for customers is helping it maintain its position of a product pioneer. Tata Steel believes in staying alert to future opportunities while never letting go of its core values. This is the philosophy that has underpinned its growth over the years and one that remains its key driving force. The strategy adopted by Tata Steel during last five years to become a global player paid off. They increased their revenue and production by six fold by capacity expansion or acquisition. They achieved raw material self-sufficiency of 50% by year 2010 and by year 2012 they aim to increase it to 60% by more investment in mines acquisition. In last five years Tata Steel became a global player from a local steel producer with currently global presence in 50 markets and manufacturing operations in 26 countries. Appendix A: Reference List Tata Steel Group Annual Report 2009-10 G Johnson, K Scholes R Whittington (2008), Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th Edition Text Cases, Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall http://www.tatasteel.com Barney, J. 1991. Firm Resources and sustained competitive advantage, Journal of Management, 17 (1): pp99-120. Barney, J.1995. Looking inside for competitive advantage, Academy of Management Executive. 9(4). Pp49-61. Peteraf, M. A. (1993). The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view, Strategic Management Journal, 14 (3), 179-191 Porter, M.E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy, Harvard Business Review, January, 78-93. Porter, M.E. (1996). What is Strategy? Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec, 61-78.

Preparing for and Having a Baby :: Pregnancy Childbearing Essays

Preparing for and Having a Baby There are many different areas to consider when preparing for and having a newborn. Whether the pregnancy was planned or unplanned or the couple is married or not, a newborn baby brings new responsibilities. Having a baby also forces people to make adjustments both financially and within the family. Parents also express concerns and expectations when having a newborn comma especially when it is their first; including what roles each parent and family member should play, how much confidence they have in their parenting skills, and how much financial strain would be placed on the family once the newborn has arrived. The newest issue in today’s society is the fact that many women are delaying childbirth and having more children in their later years of life. This paper will examine three of the areas associated with planning a newborn child, including single parenting, concerns and expectations parents have when planning for and having a child, and financial issues that mothers face when planning a pregnancy. (Specify if you are talking about single moms or parents/couples, if talking about all of them you might want to consider narrowing your research.) (Introduce this quote, where did you find it, how did you find the site, remember that this is a narrative, you are walking me through the steps of your research. ) â€Å"Today, about one in every three U.S. births occurs outside of marriage. The proportion of births to unmarried women has risen monotonically over time, and attitudes toward non - marital fertility have become progressively more tolerant† (Musick, 2002, p. 915). Sometimes these births are planned and at other times they are not. â€Å"Dramatic increases in cohabitation and associated delays in marriage have changed the composition and character of non-marital births. Unmarried mothers now tend to be older, to have other children, and to be living with a partner at the time of their child’s birth† (Musick, 2002, p. 915). What significance does this have to your research? What does it prove? Why did you include it? The article that I researched regarding this area explores the reasons why women may be taking the steps to start a family without marriage, whether these pregnancies are planned or unplanned. The study was conducted using a couple of different methods including the National Survey of Family Growth and a Discrete-Time Hazard Model. â€Å"The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic, nationally representative fertility survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Human Potential – Of Mice And Men

In the novel Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck Illustrates human potential and its effects on Lennie Crooks and George. Steinbeck suggests humans have the natural potential to seek happiness although the potential can be fatal or harmful. Although Lennie does not have the potential to be smart, Lennie has the potential to be a hard worker. However, Lennie s strength did not work with him and the result was fatal. Lennie is an extremely large man who had the strength of a bull. With the use of his strength, he was great worker but did not understand how strong he was. George explains Lennie s strength by: â€Å"that big bastard can put up more grain alone than most pairs can†( Steinbeck 34). Through his size and his enormous amount of strength Lennie could out work the other men of the ranch by himself. Through the use of Lennie s strength he became a great worker who knew nothing more than to work. Lennie uses his potential to work hard, but does not understand how strong he is. Without George, Lennie does not understand what to do. Lennie gets frightened and uses his strength to hold on to objects. Lennie is just like a child. He will do what ever George tells him to: â€Å"Curely was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie s hand. George slapped [Lennie] in the face again and again and still Lennie held on(63). Through Lennie s actions we can see that Lennie is very similar to a child. Lennie s first instinct when he is scared is to hold on. Just as a little kid holds on to its mom or dad when they become frightened, Lennie holds on to objects. Because of Lennie s low intelligence to understand his strength, he becomes frightened and kills Curley s wife and as a result, she ends up being killed by is otential: â€Å"She took Lennie s hand and put it on her head And then she cried angrily. Lennie s fingers closed on her hair and hung on. He shook her and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still†(91). Lennie did not understand his strength and became frightened, and once again just like just like a little child he held on. But he ended up breaking Curley s wife neck. As a result of his actions Lennie ended up dead. Lennie had an extremely great potential to use his strength and become a great worker. However his difficulty to understand his strength lead to his death. Unlike Lennie Crooks potential is his knowledge, and Crooks has the ability to use his knowledge to, try to escape the problems he has on the ranch. However Crooks falls back into a 1930s attitude and chooses to neglect his knowledge. Crooks also uses his knowledge to express his ideas and feelings to Lennie. â€Å"Books ain t no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him A guy goes nuts if ain t got nobody†. (72) Crooks is proving that he is a very knowledgeable man When around others he may chooses to use his knowledge to express his ideas and become a stronger influence. Crooks uses his wisdom to express his ideas and eelings and leave a very strong impact. Crooks has the likelihood to use his knowledge, but how he uses his wisdom will determine his fate. â€Å"I said s pose George don t come back no more. S pose he took a powder and just ain t coming back. What ll you do then? He won t do it Lennie cried. He ll come back tonight —†(71). Crooks is using his knowledge as a power trip on Lennie who does not understand what Crooks is saying. Crooks is doing this because he has never had a chance to use his knowledge in such way before, but is really abusing it. Crooks chooses to use his knowledge around Lennie. But when a higher authority is around Crooks chooses to ignore it for his own safety. â€Å"Listen nigger, [Curley s wife] said, (y)ou know what I can do to you if you open your trap? Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. Yes ma am, and his voice was toneless†(80). When a higher authority is present Crooks chooses to ignore his knowledge because he is scared to speak out for fear of losing his job. Despite Crooks, knowledge he chooses to ignore it around higher authority, this ending up in a 1930 s attitude with his knowledge going to waste. Unlike Lennie or Crooks George has the potential to be his own boss. If George does not work hard enough his potential to be his own boss will be lost and his dream will be crushed. George has always wanted to be his own boss. When he sees that the potential is there, George tries to act on it. George says: â€Å"We d just go there, we wouldn t ask nobody if we could â€Å"(61). George would love to be his own boss and do his own thing, mainly because George would not have to take orders from any one. To accomplish being his own boss, George tries to save his money so that he can buy the ranch: â€Å"If me an Lennie work one onth an don t spen nothing, well have a hundred bucks† (60). To fulfill his potential to be his own boss, George says he will save his money and not spend any. If George can accomplish this he will be his own boss. When Lennie breaks Curley s wife s neck, George realizes that the potential to be his own boss is lost. Candy says: † You an me can get that little place, can t we George? Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew†(94). Now that Lennie has broken Curley s wife s neck, George realizes that his possibility of being his own boss is gone. Without Lennie, George feels here is no hope. As a result the potential to be his own boss is lost. George has a great potential to be his own boss, but with the death of Lennie, George loses hope. George has chosen his fate to be a worker and not to be his own boss. In his novel, Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck illustrates to us that all humans have the potential to do well, but how they use their potential will determine their fate. Lennie, Crooks and George all have one thing on their mind: to accomplish their potential and make it reality. If they do not use their potential It can a source of pain and an unfulfilled dream.

The Evolution of DNA

The Evolution of DNA Free Online Research Papers Man has sought answers to the meaning of life trying to understand the fundamentals of our existence. Over the past couple of decades we have been able to uncover a substantial amount of knowledge pertaining to the instructions that allow life to continue. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid has been identified in all forms of life. We have discovered that the human genome, are the codes for manufacturing proteins, which carry out the necessary tasks to ensure the stability of life. DNA is made up of 3 components; a phosphate group, nitrogenous base, and a five-carbon sugar. Together these components form nucleotides, which in turn are bound together forming segments called genes. A gene is a sequence of base pairs coding for a specific trait or characteristic. Essentially DNA is the blue print for life. Having identified these instructions, scientists are now intrigued by the possibilities of which this new area of research is generating. Applications of this knowledge range from the simplest forms of cloning, treating hereditary illness as well as biological warfare. The pursuit of this research has raised many questions regarding ethical issues that will play a key role in any further developments. Currently the Federal Bureau of Investigation is developing techniques designed to link criminals to crime scenes. In October of 2000 they unveiled The National DNA Index System, which catalogues every U.S residents DNA sequence. This will allow authorities across the country to match criminals to crime scenes using remarkably little evidence. Another booming area of this field involves genetic manipulation. Within the next 10 to 20 years scientists predict that through laboratory breakthroughs we will have sufficient knowledge to select desi red characteristics to be displayed in our offspring. The applications and issues previously mentioned as well other hot topics of discussion will be covered in greater detail throughout this report.   DNA fingerprinting was first developed as an identification technique in 1985. Originally used to detect the presence of genetic diseases, DNA fingerprinting soon came to be used in criminal investigations and forensic science. This method of identification compares fragments of the suspects DNA and any DNA found at a particular crime scene. This procedure has proved to be the most reliable means of identification because no two persons in the world, excluding identical twins, have a matching sequence. A DNA fingerprint is constructed by extracting a DNA sample from body tissue or fluid such as hair, blood, or saliva. A process called electrophoresis creates a detailed mold of the DNA sample. Electrophoresis is the phenomenon of the movement of electrically charged particles through a gas or liquid as a result of an electric field formed between electrodes immersed in the medium. In an emulsion of rubber latex in an aqueous medium, for example, the rubber droplets tend to acquire an electrical charge opposite to their own. If this electrode has a particular shape, the rubber particles deposited on it will coalesce to form an article of this shape. The DNA fragments have a slight negative charge, so they move towards the trays positive end. (As with magnets, opposite poles attract.) But the medium acts like a strainer: Smaller DNA fragments travel through easily and thus travel farther towards opposite electrode. Radioactively labeled probes (pieces of DNA) are applied to the system. The probes attach themselves to the DNA fragments. X-ray film is applied. The radiations from the probes, which are now present at only a few locations, expose corresponding areas on the X-ray film. Scientists in coordination with the National Institute of Justice are now developing credit card sized chips that will have the ability to analyze DNA right at the crime scene. Essentially the cops go to the crime scene pick up the evidence, drop it into a cartridge and stick it into their portable reader. This tool in a matter of minutes performs the whole process of electrophoresis mentioned previously. This process is so incredibly efficient that police will not have time for a coffee, before the DNA profile is completed. This device is still being developed and is expected to be completed and ready for used within the next five years. In most cases, courts have readily accepted the reliability of DNA testing as an accurate method for acquiring evidence. However DNA fingerprinting is controversial in a number of areas: the accuracy of the results, the costs of testing, and the possible misuse of the technique. The possibility of providing our children with genetic enhancements is becoming ever closer. Scientists have hypothesized many possibilities. They include ideas such as: appearance, slowing down aging, resistance to viruses and diseases as well as intelligence. For example, the risk of heart disease depends on the levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, being present in higher levels is better. In the human body, a gene called ap0-A1 makes a major piece of HDL. In mice, its possible to acquire basically any HDL level required by introducing more copies of this gene. Theoretically this could be applied to humans. Another example of how resistance of illness can be obtained is: Those who are born with two defective copies of a gene called CCR5 can escape HIV infection despite numerous encounters. The reason is that CCR5 makes a protein that the AIDS virus locks onto when it invades white blood cells. If the there is no CCR5 protein on protruding from the cells membrane then the virus cann ot infect. Essentially, scientists predict that these alterative enhancements will be available possibly within the next 10 to 20 years. After experimenting with rodent’s intelligence through genetic engineering, scientists claim that results from the genetic enhancement suggest that an increase of mental and cognitive attributes such as intelligence and memory in mammals is feasible. For example the hippocampus, found inside the brains of mice and humans, is crucial to learning. It is here where short-term memory is transformed into long-term memory. The gene NR2B helps build a protein called NMDA, which acts as a receptor for specific chemical signals. These chemical signals train brain cells to fire in repeating patterns. They are what we experience as memories. Again, through introducing the desired genes into a freshly fertilized egg, the genetic information will be made their own and passed on through future generations. The future of this field of research looks promising. In addition to the potential to cure disease and prolong life – the use in the criminal justice system will surely continue to produce results with pinpoint accuracy. Once the backlog associated with the lengthy amount of time in which it takes to process DNA evidence is addressed it will enable the courts to clear many outstanding criminal cases. Continued research will eventually assist courts in rendering verdicts that are without controversy. As with any other form of science it may never be perfected, but its use in criminal investigations and the improvements in quality of life will far exceed any current gene mapping theory currently available. References 1.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Haney, Daniel Q. Popular Science Online. Building a better baby. popsci.com/scitech/features/building_babies/ 2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lander, Dr. Eric S. Uses of DNA in identification. http://esg-www.mit.edu:8001/esgbio/rdna/landerfinger.html 3.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lemonick, Michael D. Time Magazine: Canadian Edition. Smart Genes?. September 13, 1999. Page 40. 4.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2001. Electrophoresis. http://encarta.msn.com 5.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sinha, Gunjan. Popular Science Magazine. DNA Detectives. August 1999. Page 48. 6. Bennett, Wayne W. and Hess, Karen M., Criminal Investigation (8th Ed), 2007. Pages 133-138. Research Papers on The Evolution of DNAGenetic EngineeringRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfStandardized TestingRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andOpen Architechture a white paperResearch Process Part OneCapital PunishmentMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever Product

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buy custom Short History of America essay Home protection was advocated for in the US which came as a result of the request of forbidding liquor which led to the considerable irresponsible behaviors in marriage. A more elaborate method of politics and economy-related issues was put in a place where a democratic right to vote was implemented. A president by the name Frances Willard was made by women to abort the misconception that they were feeble, highly parasitic and could not get on their own. The turning point of the ideology of feminism was seen at the time when much of race-related concepts and ethnic niche were governed. The ancient feminism of equal rights had never been practiced. Women were given greater consideration in the field of employment, education capacities and even politics. Some other leaders in suffrages argued that the educational concept and the voting ideologies were not in contradictions to the movements interests provided that gender equality was upheld. One National American Women Association was created in 1890 to pull bodies of suffrage that had been formed after the civil war (Drehle 624). Establishing the new imperialism took place in the late 1890s and was taken to a broad projection at its definition. This ge is dated back in the final quarter of the 19th century as dominant European powers secured substantial parts of the world to themselves. American imperialism took considerable center stage in the North American continental parts. The Monroe Doctrine made people believe that America had taken hold of the northern hemisphere. America could not get to a compromise and let itself to be outdone in the fight for imperialism. Finally, America got to be the world power in the Spanish eyes with some accidental bombing afterwards. 270 deaths were experienced which sought for diplomacy but it was never there (Zinn 626). The two texts, "The White Man's Burden," and "New York Fire Kills 148 gives the political, cultural and economic values of Americans are clearly drawn out. The history matters of the US gives an experience of the Americans all over that time. The cultural values of the Americans with Indian origin had their faith in the norm that any kind of body pain had a good recommendation from God for healing. The availability of medicine men was also upheld with a critical responsibility of giving medication and food. The Indian culture in the American ground gave for the celebration of visitors celebration overnight events (Kipling 1). Land had a great consideration as a background of the economic sector with its main product in food being tuna .The energy source at this time was mainly firewood from the timber around them that is why they had to collect it all through their journey. In this very economy the practice of medicine men also played a major role in the provision of income. That is why their influence was felt at all levels. Many of the economic activities of this time 1911 faced a lot of challenges. One most known challenge is the March, 26, 1911 which resulted to too many deaths. The society had good treatment of the fire out break at the time since the safety measure had bit improved. The hospital facilitation also shows that level of social care was up to task. Police forces at the fire site gave relevance of the political image with the government of that time. In political aspect .the police were of varied responsibilities since they were to keep calm at the same time be a rescue tool. People of the state of New York give note of fairness in judicial system since a transcript on the criminal trial against the factory was made. Investigative commission were also done to give measures of curbing such challenges as political vision (Murray 2) Buy custom Short History of America essay

Literary Perspectives on New York City History Essay

Literary Perspectives on New York City History - Essay Example This essay takes a look at the literary works of a Frances Trollope, Charles Dickens, George G. Foster and William Dean Howells with a view to presenting an overview of the wide literary perspectives on New York's history. 19th century New York was arguably a city to behold. It might not have been as glamorous as London, but it could compare favorably well with the great cities of the time, and like London compared to Liverpool, or Paris to Rouen, Trollope believes that the New York of the 19th century was the finest city in all the colonies making up America. The beauty of New York City was reported in several historical documents. The elite section of the city was well organized and richly furnished. The opulence that radiated from this section of the city was easily comparable to what was obtainable in both France and England. Though gardens and flowers in front and around houses were not a common culture as was the case then in London and Paris, the elegance of the houses and their decoration was not less enticing. In this regard, Trollope1 writes that: "Every part of their houses is well carpeted, and the exterior finishing, such as steps, railings, and door-frames, are very superior. Almost every house has handsome green blinds on the outside; balconies are not very general, nor do the houses display, externally, so many flowers as those of Paris and London; but I saw many rooms decorated within, exactly like those of an European petite maitresse" Talking about the elegance of the 19th century New York City, one meeting point for most historians was the uniqueness of the area known then as Broadway. Broadway was, reportedly, the major road that cut across the whole New York City and it brought most of the city's business and elites together. Describing Broadway as the 'main artery' of New York City, Dickens2 report that the street was about four miles long, stretching from the Battery Gardens to terminate on the opposite end in a country road. Broadway was a very busy business area and was known for its well polished pavement stone and red brick houses, neat and well organized shops well dressed pedestrians. While Dickens argues that there possibly was no other street as 'sunny as Broadway' referring to the width and space of the street; Trollope writes that for its beauty, organization and businesses, Broadway was comparable to, not only Bond Street, but also Regent Street. 1. Mrs. Trollope Visits New York City In 1832, the English novelist Frances Trollope (1780-1863) published a memoir of her recent travels in the United States. Entitled Domestic Manners of the Americans, it contained the following observations of New York as it was only a few years after the opening of the Erie Canal 2. "A Dickensian View of New York" by Charles Dickens from Charles Dickens, American Notes (1842) Beside the uniqueness of Broadway in the early New York City, one interesting fact that appears to be common to all the historians is that like their counterparts in France and England, the female New Yorker of the 19th century was astoundingly fashionable. This fact was perfectly conveyed in Dickens statement thus: "Heaven save the ladies, how they dress! We have seen more colors in these ten minutes than we should have seen

Cultural Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Cultural Analysis - Essay Example since the horrific images of September 11, 2001, one of the greatest obstacles proponents of a global community overcome is the image of the Muslim people as blood-thirsty, murdering terrorists. There are in fact millions of Muslims around the globe, in virtually every country of the world, who are in fact not terrorists and have little desire to do more than – like most people – provide for their families and live out their lives in a peace. In Arabic, the word â€Å"Muslim† means one who surrenders, and for Muslims the surrender to God, or Allah (Merriam Webster on-line dictionary). Mary Pat Fisher (1999) describes how the Arab people received the Word of God through the Prophet Muhammad (p. 346). Just as those whose faith rests in Judaism and Christianity, Islam can also be traced to the patriarch Abraham (p. 344). Also, just as the expression of Judaism is held within the Old Testament of the Bible, as is the expression of Christianity held in the New Testament of the Bible, the expression of Islam rests within the Qura’an (p. 344). The revelations of the Qur’an unto the Prophet Muhmmad by an â€Å"angel in human-like form, Gabriel†¦,† began about 600 C.E., which began with the words â€Å"Proclaim! (or Recite!) In the name of they lord and Cherisher, who created – created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And they Lord is Most Bountiful – He who t aught (The use of) of the pen, - Taught man that which he knew not (p. 347).† The revelations made unto Muhmmad by the angel Gabriel continued â€Å"intermittently,† says Mary Pat Fisher (p. 347). The central theme of the revelations was that there was but one God, and that one God was calling the people of Islam unto Him (p. 347). The word â€Å"Islam† means â€Å"complete trusting surrender to God (p. 347).† At first Muhammad shared his revelations only with those people he believed he could trust; his wife, Khadijah; his cousin Ali; a friend named Abu Bakr; and a freed slave

Topic in Cultural Studies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Topic in Cultural Studies - Assignment Example Greek philosophy had many school of thoughts, which were advanced by philosophers such as Socrates and Plato. Greek philosophy was influenced by old literature and myths (Hanson-Harding, 2000). The roman government was made up of three branches, the senate, the consul, and the assembly. It was characterized by monarchy, democracy and aristocracy. Greece had a parliamentary republic headed by a president and a prime minister. It was dominated by socialists and conservatives. Greece was mountainous and a number of islands. Rome was established on a flat plains made up of fertile soils. On the other hand, Romans were farmers. According to Hanson-Harding (2000), the Greeks were mainly sailors. The Greeks mainly imported goods due to poor soils. They used retail markets to sell their own wares. The Greeks had merchants organized in groups called the guilds. They practiced pottery and metalworking. Romans cultivated grapes and olive trees. Rome was endowed with natural and human resources. They imported grains and exported olive oil and grapes (Thomas,

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay Example for Free

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay Abstract The present research explores the issue of poor customer service that airline industry is said to practice with regard to their product and services. The paper examines this issue from the approach of triangulation of the data. It critically analyzes the situation from three perspectives. For the first one is the issue of customer satisfaction in accordance with recent empirical findings. The paper highlights what customer satisfaction empirically means. The next section explores the present operations and services provided by the airline industry from a number of sources. The last section examines and cross-examines the state of customer satisfaction to be found in the present day airline industry operations. At the end of the paper, findings of the research are discussed along with suggestions and recommendation for policy making and airline industry’s operation with relation to customer satisfaction. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the advent of new technology, extensive human intrusion in the mysterious space, and expedited communication in the twenty-first century, the demands, wants, and needs of the customers are said to be so finely met today as never before. With the state-of-the-art approach to any customer-related segments of today’s business world, it is claimed by the business sector in general that today’s customer is the luckiest one to have had so much ease of choice and liberty of opting from one product to another. This maxim goes from the small gadgets to the massive transaction held across countries. However, analyzing the perspective of the customer may not yield the same level of happiness and satisfaction from the side of the customer in today’s world. Airline business has seen a marvelous boom with the high-tech trend and massive investment throughout the world. As such, it becomes the point of this paper whether today’s airlines are really providing their customers the best of what is available to them. The present paper looks into the issue of the effects that poor airline customer service has had on today’s customer. The present study looks at the issue from a multifaceted approach. It aims to critically analyze the issue from a three dimensional view, that is to say, it extensively reviews current literature on customer-airline area; it goes on to investigate the point of view of the airline business itself and point out the major findings; as well as, the present paper critically analyzes the kinds of effects that the poor airline customer service has to have on the prospective customer. Customer Satisfaction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customer satisfaction that a customer derives from a product bears enormous significance for the success or failure of a particular product. A product however technically sound and however economic in terms of use and feasibility cannot be regarded as successful unless and until the customer defines it as satisfactory to their needs and wants. As such, success of a product, we can say, is related to the level of satisfaction that a customer derives from it. Today’s situation, particularly in US business market, is alarming. According to Maier (p. 20, 2002), â€Å"Keeping the customer satisfied no longer is the mantra of American businesses, as studies show a steady decline in customer satisfaction that is projected to continue†. As such, in this section of the paper, the present writer deems it appropriate to critically examine the notion of customer satisfaction; how important is it in today’s business world; and what significance does it hold for the airline customer service? This is important with relation to the understanding of the poor customer service that is reported in today’s airline context. This section is intended to serve as scaffolding or mirror to the later research and findings of our issue of the poor airline customer service. It is important for every firm to offer a bunch of values along with the material product that is the focal point of business to that firm. Only offering the product cannot prove to be successful for a firm’s business. Henceforth, the business firm which has at its disposal superior package of services in the competitive market can certainly win the customer with greater profitability and mounting volume of market reputation. Research has revealed that even most satisfied customer can entertain to defect. According to research while examining the link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, it is known that customers, of any product whatsoever, come to feel satisfied with products at different levels and with different degrees of satisfaction. As such, the differential levels of satisfaction of the side of the customer have to give birth to a diverse range of conformity to the product of customer loyalty, â€Å"which in turn result in varying levels of behavioral disposition to patronage with a provider†. What this finding of the logical link suggests is that with regard to a product and customer satisfaction, the range of satisfaction is varied. However, another important point here is that although a customer may be satisfied with a product, they can opt for any other competitor’s product. This suggests that customer satisfaction may not necessarily bear customer loyalty. The point is that a customer opting for another competitor’s product may be allured by the services that the competitor is offering. â€Å"Therefore, firms have to strive to achieve higher levels of satisfaction than their competition by providing superior customer value†. This approach is basic to attaining what is regarded as â€Å"sustainable competitive advantage† (John, p. 07, 2003). Now the point of concern at this stage is that what kinds of business strategies are needed so that a firm can offer a bundle of service to address higher customer satisfaction that other firms in the competition cannot. The primary component here is to have a crystal clear understanding of the competitive market. John (p. 7, 2003) cites Pine and Gilmore who may regard such context of competition as â€Å"experience economy†. It is the very stage or state or level of competition â€Å"where products are quickly commoditized and firms compete on other aspects of the total offering†. According to this very researcher, there are three prime factors that contribute toward the success of higher or superior customer satisfaction oozing out of a product either material or service-related. The first is the employees of the firm that engineer the entire operation of the firm starting from the very scratch and ending it while in the front line interacting with the customer. The other is the processes that are observed by the firm both in the micro and macro level. The last one is the use of technology that the firm undertakes in order to address and meet higher customer satisfaction. All of the above must work in higher order harmony if superior customer satisfaction is needed. And, of the three, the least effective is the adoption of technology alone and depending on the use of technology alone. The author gives its reason. This is that technology can be easily replicated. A firm with required capital can do that. As far as the replication of processes and system goes, it should be noted that these two factors may also be at the disposal of any other competitors because â€Å"processes and systems can be designed appropriately to deliver customer satisfaction, but they can be relatively easily replicated†. However, what is significant in this connection is the attitude that the employees offer. A firm’s employees’ attitude is something that â€Å"less easily replicable† as such there is the entire focus of a competing firm should fall in order to meet superior level of customer satisfaction (John, p. 07, 2003). If we look at the present scenario of the services provided by the present day airline industry, one thing is to be noticed that the airline industry is giving more and more importance to technological advances which are apparent from bottom to top operations of the industry. Whether the airline industry does also offer higher customer satisfaction in connection with their employees’ attitude remains a point of concern which will be explored later in this paper. Before we move on, it is necessary to examine as to what it is that the customers in today’s context want from a product or firm so that they can derive superior level of satisfaction. In keeping with the view of John, (p. 08, 2003), it comes to our notice that there are three basic features which customers look for in order to feel highly satisfied by use of a product which can either be a service or a material product. Convenience is something that can be put on the top of the list. Customers want to be conveniently handled when it comes to opting for a product; they want ease of dealing, interaction, and productivity. Next is the matter of cost. Customers want to buy something as less costly as possible. And the last but not least is the quality of the whole product experience that remains with the customer for a considerably longer period of the former two. At this point in the present research, it has been highlighted as to what is customer satisfaction from the viewpoint of an industry as well as from the perspective of the customer themselves. Now it seems feasible to look at the present state of the airline industry so that a sound critical examination can later be made with relation to our point of examination, that is to say, it will later be explored what effects have been held by poor airline customer services on the customers; what are the causes and reasons for this poor customer service; as well as, how can these factors, causes, and reasons can be appropriately eliminated so that higher customer satisfaction can be obtained. Airline Industry in Today’s Context According to the observation of Dempsey and Goetz (1992), there are few industries that inspire the passion and rigor that the airline industry does. It is due to the cross-border voyages that airlines make letting their passengers feel the romance and allurement of the air-travel which is hardly as forcefully evident in other means of transportation as in the air travel. Henceforth, the airline industry can be viewed as â€Å"the most glamorous of industries† (p. 03). Another reason is the defiance to the law of gravity which â€Å"still gives many travelers sweaty palms on takeoff and landing†. And the highly critical issue with respect to the importance of airline industry is that â€Å"few industries are as â€Å"fundamentally important to the nations commerce, communications, and national defense as is aviation† (p. 03). Moreover, the present air travel has become an element of glamour that many people year to attach to. There are exclusive club memberships of entrepreneur power in the industry; celebrity chase of specific kinds of air travel with a bundle of exclusive services and things like that. In addition to the above, â€Å"ticket prices, route patterns, the margin of safety, and the identity of the carriers painted on the fuselages of aircraft on an unprecedented roller-coaster ride† is now a dream voiced in most of advertisement by the airline industry players. However, this very glamorous and alluring picture must be critically viewed with a magnifying-glass like examination so that hidden secrets and fallacies can be brought forward. One such is the poor customer service by the airline industry (Dempsey Goetz, p. 03-04, 1992). In today’s context of airline services, newer concepts and terms of air travel are emerging by the day which enhances the feeling of a customer to be going for an air travel. Today, global carriers, globalization, and mega carriers are catch words that may allure anyone intending to fly for any purpose. However, these terms remain without precise or definite definitions as do the agenda of customer service that the airline industry has to provide. It is note-worthy that the expanded canvas of airline industry is not something recent; in fact, it all can be chased as farther back as the 1930s. By then, Pan American airline was flaying transatlantic and transpacific; it also had a massive network in Latin America. The same time such carriers as the British and Dutch were expanding their services to (as they were known by then) their colonies at a distant location in Asia and East Indies. Moreover, â€Å"Pan American by the 1950s had a round-the-world service† (OConnor, pp. 57-59, 1995). In the present context of the twenty-fist century, however, things have taken a different stance in the business world; now market forces and competition is giving way to more and more mergers, amalgamation and business associations which may be seen as an approach toward more globalized airline industry. More foreign investment is coming to such countries as the US. Today, this all looks like so powerful an airline industry as never before. Air travel becomes more and more feasible so the services provided by the airline industry need to be critically examined with due attention so that real picture of this global trend can be taken (OConnor, pp. 57-59, 1995). Changing Trends in the Twenty-First Century Today, more than ever before, the climate for airline industry is every changing and opting to more and more uncertainty in terms of international scenario with relation to a number of waves flowing over the international scenario. The twenty-first century has experienced huge calamities like the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers which caused the airline industry to meet a sudden decline. As such uncertainty of business is more apparent today. The entire climate is wrapped in an element of fear which has given rise to issues such as what kinds of customer services do the airlines provide today to both their international and local customers? According to Doganis (2001), in this climate of continuous change and uncertain aura, the coming years for the airline industry will bring more complicated issues and critical problems and serious challenges with them. One more point here is that not only the structures of the airlines will undergo a change, â€Å"but markets too will become more unstable† (p. 211). What is essentially needed of the airlines in such a situation is that they must clearly define their corporate mission with regard to every single aspect of their operations from employees’ attitude to customer service. â€Å"The key issue which needs to be resolved is whether the airline is to be a global network carrier or a niche player† (p. 212). Moreover, the essence of this entire climate of change will put immense pressure on such areas as ticket prices, services provided by the customers, and it will be enhanced by the new entrants who will be carrying more sophisticated business strategies and tactics to destabilize the present market condition. In this very context, the issue of customer satisfaction seems to linger even more loose than every before. There is danger in the coming times that airline products will be commoditized in which the key player will be fare prices only (Doganis, p. 212, 2001). Thus now it is highly important to critically analyze what is happening in the domain of customer services and the experiences that today’s customers are having with regard to the poor customer service. Airline Industry and Customer Service   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this section of the paper, the writer highlights the pertinent issues which are regarded as the real cause for poor customer service by the airline sector. This is very significant if a through analysis of the effects is intended to be drawn. By bringing forward the issues of to the forefront attention, it will be easy to reach an empirical analysis. a) An overview Airline industry with regard to the services that are being provided by this very sector, is facing severe criticism from a number of critics from a number of areas of professional and general walks of life. For example, Reed, (usatoday.com, 2008) notes that the â€Å"shoddy service† of the airline is even coming to USA’s big airlines. In addition to this, Ramon A. Avila, professor of marketing and director of Ball State Universitys Professional Selling Institute, Muncie, Ind. makes a very clear warning about the poor quality of customer service by airlines: â€Å"When it comes to poor customer service, expect more bad experiences in the airline industry† (Avila, p. 01, 1999). There are heaps and heaps of complaints being logged by the day. If we look at the present situation, it seems that airline sector is degenerating instead of rising for a number of pluses on its credit in the twenty-first century. The things that have become commonplace in today’s airline climate are confusing fares with no predefined schemes or policies; the flights are getting more and more mismanaged; delays of flights are nothing but a routine now hinged on the practices of cancellation without regard of the passengers psychological and other troubles being suffered. Avil also notes that Expect rude treatment and expect companies to do the bare minimum because their bottom line is more important than a disappointed customer† (p. 01). The critic also maintains that it seems as if the airline industry is moving toward a fatal end due to so meager performance and stature in the overall picture. To him American airline industry is going to die. The most important point, according to Avil is that â€Å"Good customer service is the keystone to retaining and attracting consumers, and many businesses are missing the point† (p. 01). Although it is important to keep an impartial view of the entire situation, it seems equally important, as of now, whether or not the observations of Avil are up to the mark. For this very reason, a number of different sources will be analyzed to see if poor customer service has really become the norm of today’s airline industry or not. b) Airline industry in context of 9/11 terrorist attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As according to Russell (2007), â€Å"Airline customer service is notoriously bad†, a very important issue with regard to poor customer services by the airlines to the customers is linked to the more recent wave of global terrorism in which the Twin Towers of World Trade Center were hit nothing but by airplanes. A number of officials blame the poverty of service and operations of the airline industry to this horrible event. However, critically examining the situation reveals something else of the position, particularly of the US airline industry. According to Whalen (p. 33, 2004), although it seems very tempting to attach the poor airline services to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it is not the case altogether. The author reveals a different picture in this regard. The author states that the prime factors for such poor service by the US airline industry are the â€Å"decades-old legal and labor laws, and the U.S. bankruptcy code [which are] at the core of what is wrong with the airline industry† (p. 33). There is, as such, no other industry in the US which is so much kept on watch. And this really creates a problem. Washington, according to author, is busy in keeping the record of each and every activity taking place everywhere in the airline operations from bottom to top. This includes the airlines, their operational nature, watching of the airports, and so on. The author reminds of the 1991-92 crisis when â€Å"five major carriers [went] through bankruptcy† but the government â€Å"did little to change the basic economics† (p. 33). These rules and regulations are influencing the services and the poor quality of the services is directly related to them. Therefore, in the entire US airline industry seems to have been locked in a known financial cycle of growth and stagnation, which if hereby followed by economic default and bankruptcies. According to the author, this entire situation is directly influencing the customers of the airlines who have to suffer a poor level of services. Moreover, â€Å"Overcapacity exerts downward pressure on ticket prices, generating fares that dont allow the airlines to cover the cost of providing service, making the average private airline look more like a public utility think of Amtrak with wings† (Whalen, p. 33, 2004). From this very viewpoint, it is very easily noticeable that there is little to go to the credit to such events as the wave of global terrorism but to the policy making and regulation of the US airline industry. According to the context discussed above, one this must be noted that the customers have yet to suffer. It seems that no attention is being paid to this very area which is both disappointing as critical both for the US authorities and the airline runners. Poor Customer Service Examined   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we wish to take examples or incidents in which poor airline customer service is intended to be reported, there is no doubt in stating that there are load and loads of such instances that would require tones of paper to be put down and which may not end as the situation continues by the very day. However, to the point of this paper, take the example of the great airline disastrous time of January 2, 1999. It was when a massive snowstorm had his Detroit the afternoon of the day. This virtually gave birth to historical crack downs in the area of customer service. It stranded many airplanes of Northwest Airline on snow-coated taxiways and tarmacs. It was not possible, then, to deplane many of the passengers mounting to more than 7000 who were then returning from New Year’s vacations. Their waiting spanned as long as eleven hours. The available food was insufficient in case of a number of planes; and what is more, many of the planes’ toilets became overflowed. Although the airport had closed, Northwest persisted to hope that the planes would take off; it was all forced in spite of the pleas that the on-site managers of the very company had recorded. This all resulted in what can be regarded as the nightmare of air travel in which the travelers had to let go of even their basic rights (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specifically looking at the canvas of the poor customer service by the airline in this regard purports us to look more closely at the issue. Major areas of customer dissatisfaction in this respect are quoted as of the following. These all examples that follow are caused for the Deregulation act that is the root cause of these and other possible poor customer service in which the customer does not entertain any right even to voice their genuine concerns. Delays and Cancellations of Flights   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the matter of everyday when the customers have to face delays and cancellations of flights for nothing but a number of various reasons. It is possible that in some cases the contract between the airline and the passenger may even be breached. It was the day of August 4th, and the year was 2000, when United Airline’s night-scheduled flight – destined from Washington D.C., to Paris – just stayed in the airport for countless hours only before the airline merely cancelled the en route schedule for â€Å"mechanical reasons†. However, the later published report revealed something that surprised the common and innocent citizens. The reports said that the flight cancellation had nothing to do with any mechanical reason whatsoever. It was actually that the United pilots had just turned down the idea of taking the plane off because Stephen Wolf, former United Chairman was on the flight as a passenger. This single instance is so horrible with regard to a number of passengers who had to suffer only because some people in the cockpit were playing the ego game. What is to be said to Stephen Wolf, who, whatever his past status to the United Airline was, was merely a traveler who really did buy a ticket on the flight. And the passengers were not able to hold any say due to the Deregulation Act. Inattentive Provision of Alcohol   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inattentive provision of alcohol is also permitted as a service onboard to passengers. This service may be harmful in a number of reasons because of disciplinary actions caused by drunken passengers to the common citizens. In one instance, a flight attendant continued to serve alcohol to a group of inebriated passengers onboard of first-class passengers; afterwards, the drunken person insulted a fellow traveler; it was later to cause great controversy and mayhem because the passenger sued the flight attendant and the airline. However, what about a number of other innocent citizens that were also onboard the plane and could do nothing but suffer the entire scene of drunkenness and insult? The court, as such, plainly ruled the suing passenger for the same reason as the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002) Lost Baggage and Other Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A couple on the honeymoon trip was on their schedule flight to Anguilla from New York City. The couple lost one of their two suitcases en route. They made repeated phone calls to the airline’s concerned office nothing but to track down their lost bag. All that the representative of the airline did was to repeatedly tell the couple that the airline knew the exact location of the lost bad and that it is just coming along their way. So they asked the couple not to worry. However, this very effective communication by the airline came to a fiasco as the bag was never found. The enraged couple rightly went forward and sued the airline. None the less, a surprise waited to compensate their psychological sufferings, the accused fraud they the airline did with them, and the negligent behavior of the airline. The surprise was that the couple had no remedy and this was just because of the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Besides these instances and incidents, there are a number of other incidents that can be quoted here. Feltner, in her article â€Å"Airline customer service ratings down, and it show† discusses at length the massive misadventure that the author had to undergo while on board of a flight. So many things happened to the author which are discussed at length. According to the author, â€Å"the Airline Quality Ratings survey showed poorer performances for 16 of 18 U.S. carriers over the year before† and â€Å"J.D. Power and Associates released the results of the 2007 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, which included similar findings† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com). The author goes on to discuss the poor ratings report and lower customer satisfaction rankings. She cites that â€Å"The new report shows customer satisfaction rankings for seven out of nine major airlines, as well as low-cost carriers†¦dropped this year† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All this mayhem on the part of the airline industry has caused great panic and psychological distress on the part of the customers. Either it is the Deregulation Act of the legitimate law, or competition, or inappropriate rules or labor law, the entire burden is left dangling on the week shoulders of the customer who is already burden with so many other societal, social, and ethical problems. There seems to be no way out with regard to the problems that customers have to undergo on the hands of the airline poor performance and poor customer service. In the next section of the paper, the present writer discusses the requisite measures that need to be taken if poor customer service has to be eliminated or at least has to be reduced to a tolerable level. One such important point is the notion of customer relation management. This specific area and studies in this area are examined in the following section so as to reach a possible ground that leads to a healthier climate in which the ill-struck airline customer can experience better services by the airlines and breathe in fresh air. Poor Customer Service and Customer Relation Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To the present day, what is required to meet higher customer satisfaction in the lucrative business of airline is known as Customer Relation Management or CRM. It was actually in the 1980s that airlines started to introduce frequent-flyer segments of their program in order to enhance the loyalty level of their prospective customers. This trend gave birth to a new approach in marketing known as CRM. In today’s context, CRM programs are used in a number of businesses with focus on customer satisfaction. However, when it comes to the airline industry, it is not very surprising to note that the situation is not very satisfactory here. According to Binggeli et al. a survey was conducted for 17 major airlines around the globe. This very survey disclosed that even the most technologically equipped and sophisticated of the airlines â€Å"have only a rudimentary understanding of who their most valuable customers are or could be, which factors affect the behavior of these customers, and which CRM levers are most effective in ensuring loyalty† (p. 06, 2002). What in subsistence was being practiced was that airlines lagged behind best practices in CRM due to the fact that they were merely self-satisfied; they, as such, gave little importance to systems which were not functional and which were non-critical; or they did not worry about grasping financial implications of getting matters in the right place. â€Å"The result: today. Airlines [sic] know only marginally more about the people who fly on their planes than they did ten years ago† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the researchers, today, more than ever before, the airlines need to make an urgent approach toward effective implication of the CRM approach if they really want to make a difference. This is fairly for the reason that if an airline adopts the CRM approach, there is empirical evidence that such an airline can easily increase its revenue by as high as 2.4 percent growing by every coming year, â€Å"representing a bottom-line annual impact of $100 million to $250 million for a large carrier† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the present scenario, most of the working airlines do not have sufficient feasible conditions and lack systems and other processes that are required to implement a CRM program and therefore they do not have absolute or reliable data on their customers. For example, though airlines have contact with their customers through a number of channels, such as the Internet, customer service desks, airports, and airplanes, what is simply the matter, data on these sites are not collected with a consistent pursuit or are not accurate at any of these points of customer-interaction activity. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most of the airlines cannot recognize their most precious customers, â€Å"because their frequent-flyer programs are little more than general-ledger systems that track accrued and spent miles. Although a general correlation does exist between the tiers of a frequent-flyer program and the value of the customers enrolled in them (meaning that in most cases a frequent flyer in the elite category is the most profitable kind of customer), further analysis can prove illuminating† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). It must be noted in the same connection that different customers within the very tier usually hold widely differential degrees of value to different airlines, additionally, a small but noteworthy number of customers in the category of lower tiers. In this example, we can take the regular customers who let go of full fare out of their pockets. Such passengers can carry great value for the airline as compared to those customers who travel in the upper ones. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). One more critical problem is the reality that they scarcely know how much money their customers let go of with their competitors in the very market. For example, it is possible that a customer who travels by airline A, may also extensively travel by airline B, and â€Å"would thus be a more fruitful target for marketing than its own frequent travelers† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). Thus what is required in the overall picture to meet greater customer satisfaction is CRM approach which not only has to yield great profitability conditions and enhanced market reputation for an airline, it also goes a long way on the continuum of customer satisfaction that can definitely satisfy today’s aggrieved and frustrated customer. The Experience of Singapore International Airlines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One airline that has surprised the critics of airline customer focus is the Singapore International Airlines. According to Smith (customerservicezone.com, 2008) Singapore International Airlines (SIA) is â€Å"so superior that it leaves other carriers in its vapor trails†. The very point that the author makes here is that the entire success story of the SIA is that â€Å"It places the needs of passengers first, and offers services above and beyond the ordinary†. With this airline, even the experience in the economy class is something that a traveler forgets hard. It is simply a remark that all classes seem to enjoy benefits with equal share of customer satisfaction. â€Å"One of the primary reasons Singapore Airlines provides superior service is because they only hire people that enjoy a service roleenjoy serving others† (Smith, 2008). Thus the example of SIA should be an eye-opener for other airlines too. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be fairly stated that there a number of complex matters which give birth to poor customer service by most of the present day airlines both public and private. If customer satisfaction means superior services on the part of airlines, it can be openly calimed that most of the airlines both local and global fail to meet this criterion. Although it is a right remark to suggest that much of this is credited to the regulations and rules that a government (in this case USA and the Deregulation Act along with decades-long labor laws, for insatnce) holds, it is not right to suggest that only government rules and regulations are solely responsible for a number of dissatisfactory segments of poor customer service by the airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of airlines do not practice such important approaches as CRM due to a number of reasons. Whatever they want, one thing empirically becomes clear that today’s customers continue to suffer on the hands of the airlines. Moreover, as quoted above, the suffering customers do not find a proper channel to voice their concerns with relation to massive frustration caused by airlines. Today, â€Å"little attention is being paid to the effect poor internal customer service has on overall customer satisfaction† which is a real problem (Harrison, n.d. principledprofit.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now according to my personal analysis of the entire situation, the poor customer service can only be reduced to an acceptable level only if three-dimensional approach is adopted. On this triangle first come the government that need to make policies that support the customers as the most important part of any airlines related rules and regulations. Next corner of this triangle is the airlines themselves that need to make sure that their customers do not feel that their services are still poor. For this very issue they need to look more closely at the area of customer contact and gather as many data as possible and sort them out in a technically sound manner so that they can be used to make sound empirical investigations. The last corner of this triangle is the customer themselves and airlines need â€Å"information about prospective new customers† (Hagel and Rayport, p. 3, 2002), for successful operations. Unless and until the customers are not considered an integral part of any policy and regulation, no better improvement toward the present meager state of poor customer service can be carved on the canvas of airline business. For this reason the customers must be involved in the process of change and alterations of any kinds. References    Avila, A. R. (August, 1999) Customer service is bad-and getting worse! USA Today. 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