Genetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Genetics - Essay Example If the F1 generation is further paired among itself by a yet another monohybrid cross than an F2 generation of plants will be produced. The expected phenotype of F2 generation would be 75% tall plants and 25% short plants. In F2 generation 25% of plants would be tall but would be homozygous for their trait of tallness. Another 50% of plants would also be tall but would be heterozygous for their trait of tallness while the remaining 25% of would be short and would be recessive for their trait. Dihybrid cross: A dihybrid cross is a cross between two individuals that involves two pairs of contrasting characteristics. If two plants that are pure bred (homozygous) for two contrasting traits for example one plant that is tall and produce yellow seeds (both dominant traits) and the other plant that is short and produces green seeds (both recessive traits) are crossed with other, than the F1 generation produced would be all heterozygous for both characteristics. But only dominant trait would appear in the phenotype of F1 generation and all plants of this generation would appear tall and would produce yellow seeds. If the members of this F1 generation are further crossed with each other than an F2 generation would produced which would have different types of plants: tall plants producing yellow seeds, tall plants producing green seeds, short plants producing yellow seeds, short plants producing green seeds in a ratio of 9:3:3:1 b) If a boar that is homozygous for lop ears and spotted skin is sow that is homozygous for pricked ears and unspotted skin than the F1 generation produced will all have pricked ear and spotted skin, as these two traits are dominant. The genotype of F1 generation would be PpSs. (Key: P= pricked ears, p=lop ears, S=spotted skin, s-unspotted skin). However the phenotype and genotype of F2 generation produced is shown as follows The Punnett Square

Philosophy - Is Memory Reliable Essay Example for Free

Philosophy Is Memory Reliable Essay How would I prove that my memory or reasoning processes are reliable? There really is no good way to answer this question. My first thought was, well that should be easy, because I can prove my memory is reliable by the fact that I remember where class is every day that I show up. If I can remember where the classroom is, that must show my memory is reliable. But then I realized that I’m relying on a memory to come up with that example. This makes the question seem like a paradox to even try and answer, because in order to figure out if there is a way to prove my memory is reliable, I must use my memory to recall memories that might apply, and I must also assume the accuracy of the memories I might draw from as example. I cannot prove memory reliability by using logic drawn from the assumption that the memories I used are reliable. This seems to create a fallacy in logic before even getting started. In reality it seems easy to say that yes, although our memories are sometimes wrong, generally more often than not they are right. We know this because we recall from our memory many times each day to do the simplest tasks. If our memory was that flawed, we would be unable to survive on a day to day basis. Where do I get water? How do I get food? How do I drive a car? While this does show that we are able to rely on our memories to complete everyday tasks, it doesn’t prove our memory is consistently true. We cannot be sure that any memory we’ve ever had actually happened exactly the way we remember it (unless material sources are used, like video or pictures to back up the memory) because of a multitude of problems with memory like delusion and distortion. Memories can be easily manipulated and altered in many different ways, from simple re-telling where little details may be unwittingly changed each time a memory is told, to the power of suggestion in which an entirely false memory can be implanted into a persons mind and believed to be true by that person. Although these memories may seem very real to us, even to the point where we are willing to fight for their reliability, they are still factually false. This actually happens a lot! Although it practice these issues with memory exist, they are mostly ignored because we typically use other methods beyond memory alone to help collaborate what we remember. We are validated by others who share the same memory, photos, ect. So although in a philosophical world it seems impossible to find solid clear evidence that memory is truly reliable, but it seems silly, and even dangerous to continually doubt that memory can be reliably called upon. For example, I decide to cross the road without looking both ways because I cannot be sure that being hit by a car would kill me. I might have seen and heard of people being killed by cars in the past, but if I doubt my own memory how could I be sure that speeding cars have the potential to actually kill people. Because of this seemingly correct logic I might then be hit by a car and become a victim of what many would say is clear common sense. So although there is no good way to prove the reliability of memory, we must still rely on it all the same.

Hospitality And Tourism Marketing Strategies

Hospitality And Tourism Marketing Strategies Tourism and hospitality industry has become one of the largest industries in modern and competitive business world. It is a common remedy for development and the world travel and tourism industry supported 234 million jobs (8.7% of total world employment) and contributed 10.3% of world gross domestic product in 2006 (Opening up Trade in Services :Key for Tourism Growth, 2008) . The tourism and hospitality industry has been as a helpful force for world peace; the benefits of mixing together different types of people and different cultures. The travel industry has contributed to the accomplishment of millennium development goals especially in the third world countries. Despite a huge expansion in the travel industry fuelled by opportunities created by the internet and emerging markets consistent profitability for many airlines and travel-related firms remains elusive due to terrorism, recession, the SARS virus, strikes, and the Icelandic ash cloud: the list piles up. Before people tr avel for survival or to better themselves but, now people travel for entertainment, business purpose and amusement. Airship or air-ways business have become easier, faster and cheaper to travel around the globe and the airline industry such as Ryan air plays an important role in the tourism sector. 1.1 Over view of Ryanair airline: Ryanair is an Irish low-cost, first and largest low fares airlines in Europe. From Ryanair case study analysis (february19, 2008) it is shown that Ryanair head office situated at Dublin Airport, Ireland, and has based in London Stansted Airport (the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom). The late Dr. Tony Ryan and his family have established Ryanair in 1985 with just 25 staff. In July 1985 they had launched their first route from Waterford and London Gatwick which is operated by a 15-seat Bandeirante twin-turboprop according to About Us (1985) www.ryanair.com. To defy the oligopoly market between British Airways (BA) and Aer lingus in Dublin-London route, the newly stabilised Ryanair obtains permission from the regulatory authorities. According to Ryanair website,( About Us ,1986 www.ryanair.com), Comparing the price of the BA and Aer Lingus lowest return fare of  £209,Ryanair launched the first Dublin-London Luton flight in May 1986 for only  £99.So in response to stay in the market those rivals cut down their high fares. Inspite of having three conjugative years growth in aircraft, routes and competitive price, they face a massive loss of  £20m which made the company to follow the model of Southeast Airlines leads a change of its management and structure according to Ryanair website(About Us, History of Ryanair, 1990, www.ryanair.com) .For getting a competitive position in Airline industry, The Ryan family put in an additional  £20m in the company and change their management which is a copy of Southwest Airlines low fares model(A bout Us,1990 www.ryanair.com). Thus they are going to begin their innovative management which generally based on low cost with low fare and starting first low fare business in European airlines sector. Now Ryanair offers lowest fares but high frequency flights, moving in to a single aircraft fleet type. It reduces its Dublin-London Luton flight fares from  £99 to just  £59 return by cutting down free drinks and meals on board. The Easter weekend seat sale fares of  £59 return that launched in 1990 was overcoming customers or passengers demand. A vast of people wanted to get this demanding Easter weekend seat and It was such demanding that in Dawson street there was more than halfway traveller s line for three days to get that bargain (About Us, www.ryanair.com). After taking the Southwest airlines low fare model and establishing cost reduction in their strategy Ryanair is rapidly growing in airline market. Their revenue is increasing rapidly which is shown in their annual report. According to annual report of Ryanair (2003), Revenues have risen increasingly and in 2002 revenue was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 624.1million.After one year it was increasingly from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 624 (2002) to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬842.5 million (2003) and over the same time, net profits had increased from à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 150.4 million (35%) to à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬239.4 million (59%). Thus Ryanair increasing their business rapidly and get the huge amount of profit. Now Rianair is distinctive from their competitor .Currently introducing a fantastic team which consist more than 8000 people and it operates a massive number of 51,100 flights per year which is more than 1400 flights per day (About Us, History of Ryanair, www.ryanair.com). By operating a fleet of 250 new aircraft which includes short to medium range, single aisle, narrow body jet airliner 737-800, Ryanair becomes the worlds best budget airline (www.ryanair.com). Providing more than 1100 low fare routes from 44 bases across 27 countries, Ryanair connects 160 destinations. According to Ryanair website (www.ryanair.com), Within next 02 years before taking account of planned disposals, Rainair want to introduce 64 new aircraft in their fleet and currently it carries 73.5 million passengers (approx) which is almost 15% {(73.5/63.5100}higher than the last year (63.5m). Safety is a most important priority for the management of Ryanair. Their commitment to deliver great safeties for their pa ssenger and this obligation begins with instructing or training of Ryanairs pilot, cabin crews and maintenance human resources and includes a policy of maintaining its aircraft in accordance with the highest European Airline Industry Standards. 2.0 Marketing Concept: Marketing is a process which helps to find out what consumers want, and then provide it for them. It is a system of business activities which is designed to plan, price, promote and distribute services to target markets, in order to achieve organization objectives. Baker (1992,p.20) pointed that marketing is concerned with the establishment of mutually satisfying exchange relationships in which the judgements as to what is satisfying depend upon the perception of the parties to the exchange. Basically, it involves creating the right product with right price and then putting it in the right place with the right promotion; everything is done for making customers or target market happy. Marketing is identifying the target market and satisfying customers now and in the future. In most organizations, an analytical function, strategic direction and facilitates are tactically set to attract customers. Marketing strategy is important for every business. An effective marketing strategy can help a business to get more profit and also getting high position in competitive business market. Marketing strategy can be the life or death of a business. Having a wrong strategy, business will go down. Beginning an effective strategy is the key of success for business. Marketing strategy is the way and compass of an organisation over the long turn. Effective marketing strategy can bring advantages for the organisation. For creating effective strategy company always organized and proper utilized companies resources within a tough and challenging environment, to assemble whatever market needs, to fulfil what customer wants and also fulfil whatever stake holder expect. Successful strategy always examine the present situation and then set up plan which help to deal with all operational aspects needed to realize the achievement of organisational goal as argued by Jain (2000). Its a plan of action that summarizes what will be done to reach the stated objective. Jain (2000) identified the significant characteristic of strategic marketing as putting emphasis on long-term implications and monitoring the business environment, taking into consideration the corporate culture, business resources and the corporate stakeholders and varying roles for different pro ducts or markets. Marketing Strategy deals with the proper selection of marketing opportunities to pursue, examining and analysing target market and creating a right marketing mix that will satisfy customers in the target market. It basically deals with four essential elements which include sale or promotion, product, place and pricing. 2.1 Marketing strategy of Ryanair: Marketing Strategy is the most important business element for an organisation. It helps an organisation to identify organisations target goal and explain how organisation will achieve the target goal within a stated time frame. Generally all organisations have strategies that would maintain or enhance their competitive benefit in the market, and Ryan Air is never an exemption. There are different types of marketing strategy which is followed by organization or company to create an effective strategy, such as guerrilla marketing and viral marketing. Guerrilla marketing and viral marketing both are followed by Ryanair. 2.2.1 Guerrilla marketing: Guerrilla marketing is a marketing process hit hard, hit fast, get in, and get out and also a tactic which help to focuses on low cost, and fast-to-market, promotions. Guerrilla marketing is a marketing process of alternative ways of pursuing straight goals and an established technique of achieving profits with least amount money. The main aim of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, appealing and stimulating idea to create buzz (buzz is used in word of marketing), and subsequently go round viral. Tom Richard (2005) pointed that with guerrilla marketing business can be able to increase the amount of traffic which comes from their business without spending a huge amount of money. 2.2.1.1Guerrilla marketing of Ryanair: In Ryanair marketing strategy, they follow guerrilla marketing technique which is unquestionably winning in realistic applications, are still new, fresh and not as clearly explored academically as other marketing technique. Strategy of Ryanair based on cost reduction strategy, minimum standard of service, short haul flight, very low prices and no frills, point to point frequency, all these are designed to achieve their goal and having a competitive position within the airline market. Here I discuss some guerrilla marketing techniques of Ryanair. Cost reduction strategy of Ryanair: Low fares and no frills are the key elements of Ryanairs marketing strategy. Low fares are offered by Ryanair to get large amount of passenger traffic while maintaining a continuous focus on cost-containment and operating efficiencies. Strategy of Ryanair is based on cost leadership strategy, in this strategy management manage and do all value adding activities with the lowest manufacturer of product in business and attract customer with their lowest price. Cost reduction strategy helps them to gain competitive position in airline market. Lowest price help them to get many customers. Their assured aim is to divide into constituent parts of air travel and cut costs in every possible area which help them to offer lowest fare to their passenger than other competitor airlines. A particular part of passengers are targeted by Ryanair and they are just absorbed all their energy on that. Their target customers are the ones who are not capable to travel on a main or highest fare airline. Ryan air has established a relationship with consumers by using low cost product which helps them to sell additional higher-margin products and services that develop the consumers interface with the low-cost product or service. Ryanairs strategy, achieve competitive advantage through cost leadership and differentiation across broad and narrow target market so that superior profits could be generated by charging the market average price while holding costs down and this is consistent with Porters (1985) generic strategies. Being reliable: To deliver the best customer service performance is the strategy of Ryanair. According to the reports of Association of European Airlines (2004) Ryanair has achieved better punctuality than their competitor, less lost bags and smaller amount of cancellations than all of the rest of its peer grouping in Europe. Ryanair achieved all these good will because they are purposeful to carry out their services on powerfully or strongly and operating their services from secondary airports which are not congested. Monthly customer service statistics for September, 2010 was published by Ryanair, substantiate that they deliver Europes No 1 airline customer service to their passengers. For the duration of the month of September 2010, it shows that on time arriving flight of Ryanair is 85% of over 42000, fewer complaint which is 1 complaint per 2,000 passengers and less than 1 missing bag per 3,000 passengers was received. Ryanair are more concern about the safeties for passenger. According to Ryan airs annual report (2009), in their twenty years working history they have not had a single occurrence involving major injury to their passengers or flight crew. Point to point Flight frequency: Ryanair also provides frequent point to point flights on short haul routes and this route allow Ryanair to give frequent service. Ryan air use secondary or regional airports because this Secondary and regional airports are usually not as much of crowded than major airports which helps Ryanair to provide superior rates of on time departures, quicker turnaround times (the time an aircraft expend at a gate loading and Unloading passengers), less terminal delays, more competitive airport entrance and handling expenses according to Association of European Airlines report (2004). Point to point flying allow Ryan air to provide non-stop routes and keep away from the expenses of service for connecting passengers, baggage transfer and transit passenger assistance costs. Faster turnaround time is an important factor for Ryanair to exploit aircraft utilisation. Association of European Airlines published on time performance record of some airlines in their statistics reports and the airlines sta tistics (2004). According to their statistics, for the first six months of 2004 Ryanair arrived within 15 minutes of schedule time which was 92%, on the other hand its main competitors like Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa) 84%, Air France 84%, easy Jet Plc (easy Jet) 82%, British Airways 81% and Alitalia S.P.A. (Alitalia) 80%. Building achievement in the Ireland-U.K. market and increasing service to continental Europe, Ryanair intends to pursue a manageable growth preparation targeting precise markets. Targeting specific market will have opportunities for sustained growth by initiating supplementary routes from the U.K. or Ireland to other locations in continental Europe that are currently served by higher-cost, higher-fare carriers; increasing the frequency of service on its existing routes and this are believed by Ryanair. 2.2.2 Viral marketing of Ryanair: According to Allen.K (2008) viral marketing is a marketing technique that employed the concept of using the social networks of other people so that they can spread and expose their business product and services. Viral marketing strategy is a strategy that encourages individual to pass on a marketing message to others, creating an ever-expanding nexus of internet users spreading the world pointed by Hutchison. T, Macy. A et al (2009). This marketing strategy help organization or company to pass their information by using website, video clips, e-books, brand able software, images or text messages. It also can be word of mouth. Some viral marketing strategy is included here which is followed by Ryanair. Straight marketing technique: Ryanair has been using straight marketing techniques for recruitment and maintenance of customers to widen products and services. Travel agents are not used by Ryan air so that they do not pay agency commissions. Customers book online over the internet which helps the company to save agency fees. According to About Us, History of Ryanair (2000) www.ryanair.com, on January 2000 Ryanair started biggest booking website of Europe which is www.ryanair.com. This largest website helps them to reduce their cost and getting huge amount of booking. After launching the website weekly it was taking over 50,000 booking and this huge number of booking was established within three mounts. This website also allows passengers to get the lowest possible cost hotel rooms, car hire, lowest cost travel insurance as well as cheapest rail services (www.ryanair.com, About Us, History of Ryanair (2000). According to Ryanair website (About Us,2000, www.ryanair.com) the weather report in Skynews gets sponsored by Ryanair, The first airline sponsoring weather news by doing this they reach to millions and thousands of people watching television in their homes and people in hotels all over the European countries. The flexibility of getting Online tickets within the wide time span from 15 days up to 4 hours which is prior to the departure of their scheduled flight. Boarding pass too can be reprinted up to 4 hours before the scheduled flight according to online booking, ryanair.com 2009. Ryanair Magazine: For focusing customer and creating good relation with customer Ryanair publish their monthly magazine. In their monthly magazine, it is generally described directly to the interests and purchasing behaviour of Ryanairs exceptional audience and essentials include charming destination guides, travel tour ideas, property and real estate guides, select hotel reviews, seasonal recreation guides, technology updates and individuality profiles according to www.ryanair.com (advertise with us). Their magazine provide their passenger do not need to pay too much and provide them too get cheapest travel tour, cheapest hotel etc.Ryanair also involve to do some social activities. They are donated all money whatever they raise by selling their charity magazines. Their first charity calendar was published in 2008 which features their cabin crew and it raised à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬75,000 for childrens charity Angels Quest in Ireland (www.ryanair.com). 3.0 Public relation tactics: In every organisation public relation strategy is very important to the success of a business. It helps to communicate with customers all over the world. Public relation (PR) is a relation between company or organization and public which provide a service for the company by serving to provide the public and the media a better thoughtful of how the company works. It helps the company to attain its full potential and provide feedback to the company from the public. This usually takes the form of research regarding what areas the public is most happy and unhappy with. Within the tourism industry, public relation is not solely the work of PR department but also the entire employees. Public relations help an organization to develop its mission and vision and also meet customer or public needs and desires. Most times companies take some tactics to make relation with consumer which help to keep the customer coming back for more time. Ryanair also follow some tactics to create a better relationship with customers. Statistics from Association of European Airline (2004) shows Ryanair topped the list of customer satisfaction. In customer satisfaction figures Ryanair has got the pole position by providing best punctuality, the smallest number of lost bags and the least cancellations .Ryanairs head of communications, Peter (Holiday extras, Ryanair best for customer service,2007) said that the high fare airlines basically cannot contend with Ryanair either on price or on customer service satisfaction. Recently, Ryanair revealed that they have entered into agreements with a number of companies to present advertising space on the seatbacks and overhead baggage storage areas on their planes. 3.1 Relationship marketing of Ryanair: There have been many attempts to define relationship marketing. Berry (1983) pointed that Relationship marketing is attracting, maintaining and in multi service organisation-enhancing customer relationships which help to strengthen the relationship with customer and also transforming indifferent customers into loyal ones. Todays competitive market relationship marketing is important to get more customers. Successful relationship marketing helps business to get loyal customer which is important for business. Ryanair has created relationship marketing with public by providing better service quality such as best punctuality, the least lost bags and least cancelation, creating their own website which provide all information and resent news of Ryanair, publishing their monthly magazine, donating charity and sometime offering special offer. For giving special offer 1st November 2010 Ryanair announce that passengers can book their à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬6 seats for travel and booking their à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬6 seats, passenger can travel on more than 500 European destinations in December and January. If passengers want to get this offer they have to booked these seats until midnight (24:00hrs) Thursday (4th Nov) according to Ryanair news (1st November 2010).This offer announcing by Ryanair to make relationship with thei r customer. For making relationship with public Ryanair donated for charity by selling their calendar. From this calendar they got 100,000 euro and donated this money to Dublins Simon Community which is a charity works with homeless people in Dublin city(About Us,www.ryanair.com). 3.2 Customer loyalty tactics of Ryanair No business exits profitability without customers, which means customers are main element for a business and business would be more profitable when they are loyal. Loyal customer is king buy more, buy longer and tells more people. That customer who doesnt return or doesnt make partnership to the organisation or doesnt spread positive word of mouth has no value to an organisation. If any company or organisation wants to win the market place they must be customer-centered. Creating customer loyalty is important for every company and according to Reichheld (1996) greater customer loyalty brings about superior employee satisfaction and improves returns for shareholders. Richheld (1996) identified that customer loyalty, employee loyalty and investor loyalty are the key for the success of an organisation. That means loyalty is the key element to create relationship with public. Like every company Ryanair wants to encourage its repeat visit. Ryanair needs to drive repeat customer business which will give an extra little help to its loyal customer and at the same time boost its revenue. To maximise the number of repeat customer, Ryanair appointed the well recognised incremental revenue provider for online business-Webloyalty which is revealed from webloyalty news on march 2010 (www.webloyalty.com). Webloyalty has a vast experience in online businesses which work on driving repeat customer business by providing an option, named discount scheme to its online shopper. Customers who are booking online with Ryanair, they will have the option to join shopper discount and rewards. This offer provides passengers the option to join a 30-day free trial of Shoppen und Sparen. It also provide year-round discounts of up to 20 percent at over 400 top online retailers and EUR15 cash back check from Webloyalty for their next Ryanair purchase after joining the program. Martin Child, managing director of Europes Webloyalty (2010) said this model will help Ryanair to reward its repeat customers whilst providing a revenue stream and repeat business to their web pages with minimal effort required by them to implement the programme. Sinead Finn(2009), director of commercial revenue (Ryanair), insisted the passengers of Europes largest low fares airline Ryanair has already save billions each year with the lowest guaranteed fares, now in partnership with Webloyalty across three European markets, even more of our passengers can choose to join membership programs of Webloyalty and save more with ongoing discounts. For keeping to its customer, on Thursday 20 August Ryanair, low fares airlines, has announced details of an amazing flight good deal in Bangor as well as Belfast to commemorate A-level results day (Stakeholder media news August 2009). Europes largest low fares airline Ryanair announced that Ryanair Company will benevolent to give away free of charge flights to A-level students. They give these free amazing flight offers for those students who have gained admission test of those colleges and universities which are situated in their five destinations from George Best Belfast City Airport to East Midlands, Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow Prestwick and London Stansted,. This amazing offer can get those first students who can come in Major Street Bangor and Belfast at 11.00 am to 14.00 pm next Thursday with their A-level results slip as well as letter of offer to the Ryanair Company. Only these students can win these free flight tickets towards university according to Stakeholder media news ( 2009). From Stakeholder media news (2009) ,Laura McCormack, management member of Ryanair said that University can be costly time for students and their parents, but the special offer of low fare airline, Ryanairs guaranteed means that guardian or parents of students as well as students can fly their house and vacation at the lowest fares. All things are done by them for keeping customer. 4.0 Effectiveness Marketing strategies and Public Relation Tactics of Ryanair: Developing and managing effective marketing strategies are important for company to achieve the broad goal and with effective marketing strategy company can beat with other competitor which helps them to get high position in business market. Effective marketing strategy helps company to satisfy their customer and get the target market. A successful marketing strategy must be tractable. Marketing tactics are essential to create an effective strategy. Marketing tactics are the day-to-day actions that marketers undertake and involve the main marketing decision areas. This tactics help to make relationship with customer. Public relation tactics is the first step for an effective strategy. This marketing strategy helps the company to stand in competitive market and to gain competitive position in the airline market. Effective marketing strategy and public relation tactics is a way which helps company to growing revenue, increasing profits and reducing costs. With providing cost reduction strategy, point to point frequency, punctuality and minimum customer service now Ryanair is getting the largest low fares airlines in Europe. Revenue of Ryanair and increasing number of passenger provide that the strategy and public relation tactics of ryanair is so effective. According to About us, full year result 2010 (www.ryanaor.com), on 1st June 2010 Europes largest low fare airline Ryanair announced their full year Profits, it shows that after tax they get à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬319m profit and last year it was à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬105m profit that means it is increasing 204% when most of the competitors of Ryanair such as Bluewings (Ger), Globespan (UK) have announced sufferers or losses because of global recession .It provide that how effective there low cost marketing strategy is! Today customers are so concern about price and Ryanair use these things to attract their customer. Ryanair knows how to make relationship with their customer, what is their customer wanted, what is their expectation. Todays customers are kings for business so that they are always trying to make relationship with their customer by providing on time service .For making relationship with their customer Ryanair launches largest booking website which is www.ryanair.com. According to Ryanair website (About us, 1995, www.ryanair.com)by their effective strategy Ryanair achieve vast quantity of passengers in their Dublin-London route and go beyond some major airlines like British Airways as well as Aer Lingus. In Europe, Dublin-London is the major intercontinental scheduled route than other routes and Irish Airline Ryanair has turn into largest passenger airlines on their all route that is operated by Ryanair to or from Dublin. That means lowest fares, on time and high frequency of Ryanair co ntinues to win success in every market which is operated between Ireland and the UK. Though Ryanair provide minimum services to their customer, their passenger number is increasing day by day because of their cost reduction strategy. According to Ryanair news (4th September 2010),September 2010 their passenger number is 6.84 million and last year it was 6.12 million, it means it is increasing more than 12%. Their biggest growing number of passengers provide that they are doing successful Airlines business in Europe. 5.0 Recommendation and conclusion: Every organization should try to satisfy their customer by providing product and services to achieve their goal. Customer satisfaction is the main intend of the marketing concept. Beyond any doubt, by their effective marketing strategies now Ryanair is the largest low cost airlines in Europe and achieve recognisable brand name. It can be said that their Low cost or no frills marketing strategies helps Ryanair to be able to gain huge amount of passengers. If the company cannot fulfil customer expectations then this company will go down. It can be recommended that their low cost marketing strategy is so effective. It can be said that their low cost strategy is a fundamental reason for them to get high profit. Making relationship with customer is most important to get long term business and customer loyalty is the most powerful for increasing companies advert, rising companys good will and getting more profit. But Ryanair provide minimum service, getting a position in competitive market they should think about that customer is valuable and it is recommended that they should think to increase customer loyalty.It can be said If Ryanair increase their public relatio n, they will get superior success and also can increase their business in competitive business world. Ryanair marketing strategy is based on cost leadership strategy that mean their main marketing concept is to cut their cost in every possible way and attract customer with their lowest fare. As their business is airlines business which depends with oil price, this oil price is increasing day by day. So, if they want to do their business, it is recommended that they should think about their price strategy and increase the price of their fare to stay in business. 6.0 References and Bibliography: 1. Opening up Trade in Services :Key for Tourism Growth(2008)[Online] Available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/38/11/40191324.pdf 2. Laura Lake,(2010)Content Marketing[online] Available:http://marketing.about.com/od/strategytutorials/a/contentmarketing.htm 3. Baker, M. J. (1992),strategic marketing management, New York; Wiley 4. Jain, S. (2000),Marketing Planining and Strategy,6th edition, Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing 5. Dibb, S.; Simkin, L.; et al (2006)Marketing Concept and Strategies fifth edtion, New York: Houghton Mifflin 6. Brennan, R., Baines, P.et al a(2003)Contemporary Strategic Marketing New York; Palgrave Macmillan. 7. Marketing teacher.com Ryan Air case study[Online] Available: http://marketingteacher.com/case-study/ryanair-case-study.html 8.Strategy-Ryanair-Strategy Available: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/Strategy.pdf 9.Thinking made easy(2008)Ryanair case study analysis [Online] Available http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2008/02/ryanair-case-st.htmle: 10. Casestudyinc.com (2010)case study on ryanair, the biggest low-cost European airline [Online]Available: http://www.casestudyinc.com/ryanair-low-fares-airline-case-study 11. Ryanair.com (2010) [Online] Available at http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-no-1customer-service-stats-august-2010 12. Smith+co (2009) Ryanair-a branded customer experience?[Online

Lady Macbeth :: essays research papers

(1.5.57-58) In this scene Lady Macbeth believes that Macbeth lacks the ability to fulfil the witches’ second prophecy. She learns that Duncan is coming to visit her and she calls upon supernatural agents to fill her with cruelty. Lady Macbeth says â€Å"Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In this quote she is asking the supernatural agents to fill her with the darkest smoke of hell. (5.1.38) In this scene a gentlewoman who waits on Lady Macbeth has seen her walking in her sleep and has asked a doctor’s advice. Together they observe Lady Macbeth make the gestures of repeatedly washing her hands as she relives the horrors that she and Macbeth have carried out and experienced. Lady Macbeth says â€Å"Hell is murky.† She is remembering the murder that she and Macbeth committed. She states, â€Å"Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?† remembering how bloody the Macbeth’s hands were. She felt horrified that they had committed this evil act of murder. These two quotes go together because first she is asking to be filled with the darkness of hell and then says later in the play that hell is murky. These two quotes show that she had asked to be filled with hell and then later after committing these sinful actions she describes hell as being dark and unclear. (2.2.82-83) Here in this scene Lady Macbeth is talking to Macbeth about the murdering of Duncan. Macbeth’s hands were red with blood from killing Duncan and Lady Macbeth says â€Å"My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white.† This quote means that she is in the middle of this incident but she wishes not to be in it because of its brutality. She feels ashamed because she made Macbeth make sure he fulfilled the witches prophecies. (5.1.44-45) In this scene Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and is commenting on the wife of the Thane of Fife. â€Å"The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?† This quote shows that she is afraid now for her and her husband. She realizes that the consequences of their actions will now decide their future, and her future does not look good. She is also wondering if she will ever be forgiven for her and her husbands evil actions. These two quotes show how Lady Macbeth feels about being a wife of a thane and about the murdering of Duncan.

Compare and Contrast: Muslim Empires

Between 1450 and 1750, three great Muslim empires arose—the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals. The Ottomans arose after the Seljuk Turkic kingdom of Rum in Eastern Anatolia collapsed, which occurred because of a Mongol invasion in 1243. The area fell into a chaotic period after that because the Mongols did not directly rule it. In search of riches, Turkic peoples, including the Ottomans who dominated the rest, flooded into the area. By the 1350s, the Ottomans were advancing from their Asia Minor strongholds.Under Mehmed I, they conquered a large part of the Balkans, and, in 1453, they captured Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire under Mehmed II, â€Å"The Conqueror,† thus establishing an empire from the Balkans that included most of the Arab world. Like the Ottomans, the Safavids arose from struggles of rival Turkish tribes. In the fourteenth century, there were decades of fierce struggles, until, finally, after three successive Safavid leaders died, a Sufi com mander named Isma’il survived. He and his followers conquered the city of Tabriz in 1501, as well as most of Persia in the next decade.They then drove the Ozbegs, neighboring nomadic Turks, back to Central Asia and advanced to Iraq. Lastly, the Mughal Dynasty was founded by Babur, who descended from Turkic warriors. He first led an invasion of India in 1526 and conquered the Indus and Ganges plains. After Babur died of an illness, his son, Humayan, succeeded him and was attacked from enemies of all sides because of Babur’s death. He was expelled from India in 1540, but eventually restored Mughal rule by 1556. Humayan’s son, Akbar, would later succeed him and become the greatest ruler in Mughal history.The Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals constructed significant empires, but each adopted different ways of treating their conquered people and developed diverse methods for managing social, political, and economic systems. In order to promote the expansion of their emp ire, the Ottomans adopted many practices to include non-Muslims in the military. At first, the Ottomans’ first concern was to collect tribute from their conquered people. This first happened in 1243 when the kingdom of Rum was conquered.However, in the fifteenth century, the Ottoman Empire’s imperial armies became increasingly dominated by infantry divisions made up of troops called Janissaries. Most of these Janissaries had been forcibly recruited as adolescent boys in conquered areas, such as the Balkans, where most of the population was made up of Christians. Sometimes the boys’ parents willingly turned their sons over to the Ottoman recruiters because of the opportunities for advancement that came with service to the Ottoman sultans. And although they were legally slaves, they were well-educated and converted to Islam.Some of them even went on to serve in the palace or bureaucracy, but most became Janissaries. These Janissaries, however, later gained politic al influence. Commerce within the empire was in the hands of Christian and Jewish merchants, who as dhimmis, or â€Å"people of the book,† were under the protection of the Ottoman rulers. The Safavids espoused the Shi’a variant of Islam unlike the Ottomans, who espoused the Sunni variant of Islam. These two variants despised each other, and their hatred showed during the battle of Chaldiran on August 1514 in northwest Persia.However, the Safavids were easily killed because of the Ottomans’ advanced warfare technology. Under Abbas the Great, the Safavid Empire thrived with toleration for captured and conquered people. For example, captured Russian youths were educated and converted, and they formed the backbone of the Safavid’s military forces. They monopolized firearms that had become increasingly prominent in Safavid armies. Also, some Russians were granted provincial governorships and high offices at court. Although the Safavids tolerated the Russians, they were not as kind to the other inhabitants of present-day Iran.For example, Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and followers of Sufi preachers, were all pressured into converting to Shi’ism. One of the greatest rulers in all of history was the son and successor of Humayan, Akbar the Great. The Mughals, under Akbar, developed the most enlightened social, political, and economic methods for treating their conquered people. He not only extended the Mughal Empire with conquests throughout north and central India, but also made the Mughal Dynasty sustainable because of his social and administrative policies.He pursued a policy of reconciliation and cooperation with the Hindu princes and overall population of his realm. For example, he encouraged intermarriage between the Mughal aristocracy and families of the Hindu Rajput rulers. In addition, Akbar abolished jizya, which was a head tax on Hindus. He also allowed Hindus to be promoted to high ranks in the government . Further, Akbar ended the longstanding ban on the construction of new Hindu temples, and he ordered Muslims to respect cows because the Hindus viewed them as sacred. He even invented a new faith calledDin-i-Ilahi, which blended elements of the many religions with which he was familiar. He believed that this would unite his Hindu and Muslim subjects, but it failed. Similar to the Ottomans’ collection of tribute, Akbar did leave some areas of his empire alone so long as they swore allegiance to Mughal rulers and paid their taxes on time. However, these areas were only left alone because of a shortage of administrators. The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Dynasties each treated their conquered people and non-Muslims differently through political, economic and social procedures.Akbar the Great and the Mughals had the most enlightened approach on how to treat these people, such as encouraging intermarriage, abolishing the jizya, and ending the ban on the building of new Hindu temple s. This approach ultimately led to greater success for the empire as a whole. In contrast, the practices utilized by the Ottomans and Safavids resulted in more discontent for the conquered people and non-Muslims. Overall, these three empires over a three hundred year span conquered thousands of people and had to develop administrative practices and policies. These methods greatly impacted their success.

Wisdom Derived from a Rotator Cuff Injury

Wisdom Derived from a Rotator Cuff Injury Today I did an arm balance in yoga. Six months ago, this feat would not have been anything remarkable. I grew up doing gymnastics, and maintained my strength and balance so that I could still, at age 46, support myself on my arms in various poses and postures. I prided myself on my ability to do things the 20-somethings next to me were too weak or unpracticed to do. I posted pictures of myself on Facebook doing yoga. I even made it into the video my yoga studio produced. Then, something happened. My rotator cuffs, which had been hurting on and off for years but not really cramping my style, started screaming loudly enough that I had to listen. I experienced days where I was unable to lift a glass, much less support my entire body weight on my arms. I knew something needed to change. The first step in my process was somewhere between giving up and acceptance. The challenge was to accept the possibility that I might never do arm balances again, while at the same time not completely giving up on the possibility. This balance was much harder to achieve than a side crow pose. I realized that a big part of my identity was wrapped up in what I could do physically. And now I couldn’t do those things. Who was I now? As human beings, we have a tendency to wrap up our identities in a lot of things: our jobs, our children, our relationships, our bodies, and more. The fact is, we are still ourselves when any of these other things change. But this truth is a difficult one to remember. â€Å"I am not my arm balances.† â€Å"I am not my arm balances.† â€Å"I am not my arm balances.† I repeated this mantra daily as I went to yoga classes and skipped my favorite poses. I repeated it as I kept my hands on my hips instead of stretching them out in Warrior Two. I repeated it as I went to â€Å"Therapeutic Yoga† class instead of my beloved Vinyasa Flow. I shared with my yoga teachers, both old and new, that I was not able to do the things I used to do. I felt scared and sad telling them. I felt like I was admitting failure (does this sound familiar?). But soon I became a model of caring for myself and modifying poses to what my body needed. I cried through classes sometimes, but I kept going, and even got compliments from new teachers on my practice. Ha. All this time I thought they were complimenting me because I could do those fancy poses. But, as it turned out, I really was more than my arm balances. Taking Action Over these many months, while accepting my limitations, I also was doing everything I could figure out to do to heal my shoulders. I went to physical therapy and did my exercises regularly. If something hurt I didn’t do it. I asked strong-looking guys to lift my bag when I traveled on airplanes. I stopped swimming, which was my other love, and started working out on the elliptical machine. I spent time lifting light weights to strengthen my upper body in new ways. I discovered cold laser therapy and started going for weekly treatments. I put Arnica and Helichrysum oil on my shoulders. I got MRIs and visited with a surgeon who told me (thankfully) that he did not see a need for surgery. He gave me new exercises that my physical therapist had not provided. I started to heal. Sharing As I have shared with more and more people about my pain and my process, I’ve heard that many others are going through similar shoulder challenges. Several of my yoga teachers have rotator cuff pain, as do some of the students in my classes. My mom and a few of my cousins have these issues too. I am excited to share with them what I’ve learned and what they can do to prevent further injury to themselves. So many people have this pain, and so few know what to do to strengthen themselves. Even physical therapists don’t know this stuff. I now want to share with anyone who will listen. Don’t keep doing what you’ve been doing, hoping things will change. I tried that, and I ended up unable to lift a glass of water. To some of you, doing an arm balance might sound like something impossibly difficult that you might never achieve in your lifetime. Thankfully, you are not your arm balances, or your lack of arm balances, or whatever physical feats you can or can’t do. You are not your job or your relationship. You are your inner strength and being. And you can build outer strength that might make new things possible. Today, I went to yoga class and did an arm balance. I am still not my arm balances, but it sure feels good to have gotten myself here.

The Classical Definition of a Tyrant

The Classical Definition of a Tyrant A tyrant- also known as a basileus or king- in ancient Greece meant something different from our modern concept of a  tyrant as simply a cruel and oppressive despot. A tyrant was little more than an autocrat or leader who had overturned an existing regime of a Greek polis and was, therefore, an illegitimate ruler, a usurper. They even had some measure of popular support, according to Aristotle. Before Turannoi Were Tyrants: Rethinking a Chapter of Early Greek History, by Greg Anderson, suggests that because of this confusion with modern tyranny, the perfectly good Greek word should be removed from scholarship on early Greece. Peisistratus (Pisistratus) was one of the most famous of the Athenian tyrants. It was after the fall of the sons of Peisistratus that Cleisthenes and democracy came to Athens. Aristotle and Tyrants In his article, The First Tyrants in Greece, Robert Drews paraphrases Aristotle as saying that the tyrant was a degenerate type of monarch who came to power because of how insufferable the aristocracy was. The people of the demos, fed up, found a tyrant to champion them. Drews adds that the tyrant himself had to be ambitious, possessing the Greek concept of philotimia, which he describes as ​the  desire for power and prestige. This quality is also common to the modern version of the self-serving tyrant. Tyrants were sometimes preferred to aristocrats and kings. The article, ÃŽ ¤Ã Ã ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š. The Semantics of a Political Concept from Archilochus to Aristotle, by Victor Parker says the first use of the term tyrant comes from the mid-seventh century B.C., and the first negative use of the term, about a half-century later or perhaps as late as the second quarter of the sixth. Kings vs. Tyrants A tyrant could also be a leader who ruled without having inherited the throne; thus, Oedipus marries Jocasta to become tyrant of Thebes, but in reality, he is the legitimate heir to the throne: the king (basileus). Parker says the use of tyrannos is common to a  tragedy in preference to basileus, generally synonymously, but sometimes negatively. Sophocles writes that hubris begets a tyrant or tyranny begets hubris. Parker adds that for Herodotus, the term tyrant and basileus are applied to the same individuals, although Thucydides (and Xenophon, on the whole) distinguishes them along the same lines of legitimacy as we do. Greg Anderson argues that before the 6th century there was no difference between the tyrannos or tyrant and the legitimate oligarchic ruler, both aiming to dominate but not subvert the existing government. He says that the construct of the age of tyrant was a figment of the late archaic imagination. Sources Before Turannoi Were Tyrants: Rethinking a Chapter of Early Greek History, by Greg Anderson; Classical Antiquity, (2005), pp. 173-222. The First Tyrants in Greece, by Robert Drews; Historia: Zeitschrift fà ¼r Alte Geschichte, Bd. 21, H. 2 (2nd Qtr., 1972), pp. 129-14 ÃŽ ¤Ã Ã ÃŽ ±ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š. The Semantics of a Political Concept from Archilochus to Aristotle, by Victor Parker; Hermes, 126. Bd., H. 2 (1998), pp. 145-172.

The Andes Essays - Communes Of Chile, Racing, Sandboarding

The Andes Essays - Communes Of Chile, Racing, Sandboarding The Andes offer a number of trekking trails where you can marvel at the natural beauty of this small country, which practically hangs off the edge of the map. Options include northern altiplano treks at altitudes of over 4,000 meters, climbing circuits (of varying skill levels) at the world-renowned Torres del Paine National Park in southern Patagonia, and paths leading through native forests on the island of Chilo and northern Patagonia. Keeping with the mountain theme, the area surrounding Santiago and the southern part of the country are home to skiing and snowboarding runs that attract tourists from around the globe each year. With an endless array of rivers and lakes and an unusually long coastline, Chile is a premier destination for water sports like surfing, kayaking, rafting, scuba diving and fishing. The rivers and lakes of Patagonia offer world-class fly fishing thanks to their abundance of trout. Adventure seekers will find plenty of places to practice sandboarding, canopy ing, paragliding and other exciting sports throughout the country. If you're looking for something more peaceful, southern Chile is the place for you. Its lush forests, waterfalls and lakes are a delight for travelers looking to connect with nature in its purest form. Relax as you take in its canals lakes and volcanoes. Snapping photos will be your only care in the world. !Canopying Whether you find yourself near Santiago or in southern Chile, there are plenty of opportunities to try canopying, a sport that involves zipping through forests among the treetops, combining fun, adrenaline and an opportunity to appreciate the natural wonders that surround you. The sport gains new fans every day in Chile, and dozens of companies offer this thrilling and ecologically-friendly activity to locals and visitors alike. In Cajn del Maipo (15 km from Santiago), you can zoom along a line over the Maipo River at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour. The Via del Mar Botanical Gardens offer both adult routes (which are about 1,500 meters long) and shorter childrens circuits. This activity is very popular in Pucn, Villiarica and Valdivia. In fact, the longest canopying circuit in South America is Pucns El Cndor, a 3,500 meter long route with six stations and views of the Villarrica, Quetrupilln and Lann Volcanoes and two lagoons. Another renowned route is in the basin of Lake Llanquihue, near Puerto Varas. The circuit reaches heights of 100 meters and includes 11 segments that are accessible to canopying fans of all ages. The Huilo-Huilo Reserve has a route that combines canopying and trekking along trails that lead through its forests. Finally, in the Northern Patagonia, youll find canopy routes that run through the forest that links Lake General Carrera and Lake Negro. Featured Destinations ! 1 Araucana 2 Highlights of the Central Valley 3 Osorno 4 Puerto Montt Puerto Varas 5 Santiago !Tips 01 !Precautions Its important to make sure that you work only with certified operators who provide the necessary equipment: a firm harness with two straps that connect to the cable, a helmet and gloves, and a solid infrastructure. !Sandboarding Sandboarding is becoming more popular in the countrys central and northern regions, which offer large dunes with fine sands and majestic views. Best of all, the sport is still so new that you wont have to deal with hordes of tourists. The best known place for practicing this sport is Valle de la Muerte, located 2 km from San Pedro de Atacama, where local agencies provide sandboards, guides and transportation to gigantic dunes of fine sand. The slopes allow you to reach high speeds and offer the unique colors and textures of the Atacama Desert at sundown. You can also surf the dunes by starlight. Next, head to Cerro Dragn, in Iquique, which offers soft hills, strong winds and a panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean. Youll find the solitary dunes of the Quebrada de Quisma further inland along with the picturesque town of Pica, where you can enjoy relaxing hot springs after a day of sandboarding. Another northern destination for fans of this exciting sport is Medanoso, near Copiap. At 1,600 meters, its the tallest dune in Chile and part of the Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally. In the evening, it turns a deep

Berkshire Hathaway Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Berkshire Hathaway - Case Study Example Warren Buffett did not overreact in firing Peat Marwick. There was no time that could be given to Peat Marwick to correct the mistakes that were made in their accounts. From the quotes, Berkshire there was no sense in accounting books of Peat Marwick Reverse in 1984 annual report was done to treat sales of stock not as a dividend distribution. The auditors have considered the potential for future transactions in their decision as thy compared the reports with those in 1983. There were many necessities in restating 1983 financial statement to be much considered in 1984. The treatment with proportionate stock redemption enables correction of errors that occurred in previous instances. Handling of the issue would not have been different in today’s context since accounting has not much changed from the time the corrections were made. Principles of accounting used are still recently

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 42

Journal - Essay Example This notifies the audience that the author is in support of the fact that there are fake scientific data published in journals and ignoring such information can have a detrimental impact on people. The content of the article is detailed giving examples of numerous instances where scientists have linked vaccination to autism and where a scientist disagreed that HIV results to AIDS. It also gives an instance where John Bohannon disclosed that it was easy to put out deceitful scientific information in available publications (Wong 1). The use of these examples makes it interesting and easy for the reader to understand. The author also uses quotation marks to show emphasis on numerous words within the article such as â€Å"mental retardation†, â€Å"knowledge† and â€Å"scientific counterfeits. Wong, the author, uses a comparatively formal language. The article’s tone is resentful evidenced by the last two sentences of the article. Additionally, the author appeals to the readers by clearly emphasizing on his

Health care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Health care - Essay Example The Sage online dictionary defines health as ‘the general condition of body and mind’, as well as ‘A healthy state of well-being free from disease’ (The Sages Dictionary Online, 2012). This literal meaning assumes relative proportions when visualized through the glass of personal viewpoint on health, which might differ in individuals, or be heavily influenced by cultural and ethnic identity. A more comprehensive definition, as standardized and agreed upon by pertinent authorities in the World Health Organization (WHO), framed in the year 1946, states that ‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (Awofeso, 2012). The WHO bulletin claims that health was considered a divine gift in antiquity, until Hippocrates rationalized its comprehension as a physical state attained by following the basic tenets of sanitation and a good lifestyle. A more recent definition which includes the element of psychological health, with particular emphasis on human health, is the one given by Bircher, which states that health is a dynamic state of well-being characterized by a physical and mental potential, which satisfies the demands of life commensurate with age, culture, and personal responsibility (Bircher, 2005). The WHO definition has persisted for 60 years but has come under criticism due to the emergence of new patterns of illness due to the high number of aged persons in the world, who ironically survive due to better healthcare facilities developed over the years (Huber, Knottnerus, Green, et al 2011). Health promotion literally translates into any activity undertaken to maintain good health, as comprehended as a layperson. Technically, however, definition of the phrase is again provided by WHO which, in its Ottawa charter adopted in Geneva in the year 1986, states that ‘Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health’ (WHO,

Communication within an Organization Term Paper

Communication within an Organization - Term Paper Example To achieve this, teamwork should be established between doctors, nurses and other health professionals concerned with the provision of health services. Such team work entails effective communication. However, due to organizational and personality factors that bring about more issues such as the hierarchal positioning of hospital personnel, scheduling, and the management of multiple tasks, among others, communication within the organization usually suffers. This is emphasized further in multidisciplinary cases wherein health professionals from various fields work on a case. Transfer of knowledge from one professional to another may be impaired due to a host of factors. Personal Communication Human beings communicate their thoughts and feelings to one another in verbal and non-verbal ways. Verbal communication, or speaking out to another person is often accompanied by non-verbal language which includes facial expressions, gestures, posture, body language and tone of voice. Sometimes, s uch non-verbal expressions say more than the verbalizations of a person. The way one communicates and receives information matters much in the quality of relationships he or she has with others. Effective communication takes practice and hard work especially for those who are not skilled in interpersonal relations. Several factors need to be considered when communicating: age, gender, relationship to the person, nature of the communication exchange, temperament and personality and even culture. The adage â€Å"Actions speak louder than words† rings true in a variety of situations. In the workplace, people manifest explicit verbal communication and implicit, non-verbal communication (Lee, 2008). Explicit verbal communication takes the form of direct reprimands or written memos to delinquent workers. Implicit, non-verbal communication is more action-oriented. An example is a boss deliberately showing a delinquent worker that he is taking over the tasks formerly assigned to the worker. The boss may not say anything, but the message comes across very clear to the worker that his inefficiency is noted by the boss. In times of conflict, the impact of implicit, nonverbal communication and explicit, verbal communication (that is, the written norm) is never equal. The more visible and stark the image, the more effective the message is delivered and received. Lee (2008) gives the example of a Fortune 500 chief executive choosing to lunch spontaneously in the cafeteria with employees he has never met. He approaches them and asks for their perspective on street-level obstacles to strategic execution. A little while later, he begins to take notes on the back of an old envelope. His action of lunching with ground-level employees communicates the message that he values ideas of his people no matter what position they have in the company. His non-verbal language goes way beyond body language, facial expression and vocal intonation. To sum up, verbal and nonverbal inter actions play a part in the effective exchange of ideas. LeFebvre (2008) advises that when speaking, one must also be aware of body language and tone and inflection of voice. She notes that different ideas may be conveyed by simply emphasizing different parts of the statement. Being an active listener helps one understand the message being

The U.S. government reaction to the Enron Scandal Research Paper

The U.S. government reaction to the Enron Scandal - Research Paper Example This paper focuses on response made by the government as a result of Enron scandal. The chaos caused economic losses to it stockholders and people have lost trust to the financial community. It has rendered the Code of Conduct and Ethics an insubstantial piece of covenant that could be disobeyed by seniors when they chose to do so. This paper used published literatures and materials in order to review government’s reaction on the said scandal so that risks of same incident are apprehended. An aftermath of the investigation showed perpetrators of the crime were persecuted, and the creation of a legislative Act that offered strict regulations and changes on the financial reporting. Enron was the 7th biggest corporation in the United States in 2001. It was founded in1985 and was involved in electricity, natural gas, communications and paper companies. The collapse of Enron in 2001 created ripple effects to its investors, its creditors, banks, employees, and the government. It has shattered the confidence of people to the financial markets and brought financial losses to its stakeholders, unemployment, and closure of two giant corporations, the Enron, and Arthur Anderson (AA). AA was also one of the largest accountancy and auditing firms in the world, and was the auditing firm of Enron. A long period of time has passed since then, and it is the duty of the government to take action on this big financial mess. Focus of this paper is to know what have been the reactions of the U.S. government toward this. Methodology Qualitative research using secondary sources of information, published articles, and journals will be used to establish information required. Knowing what the government has done to give justice to the people who lost money and employment will rebuild its trust to the financial system. Background Enron was the 7th biggest corporation in the United States in 2001. It was founded in1985 and was involved in electricity, natural gas, communications an d paper companies, but was better known for its matchless style of business operation of futures trading of gas and electricity and creation of new unusual markets of commodities as broadcast time for advertisers, internet bandwidth, and weather futures. From a $9 billion revenue in 1995, its annual revenues rose to over $100 billion in 2001. So, the world was shocked to find out that it has filed for bankruptcy in the mid -2001. What was unknown to the public before the bankruptcy was that Enron’s reported financial condition was covered with systematic, organized and planned activities to cover up the losses of Enron. The drop of Enron’s stock price from $90 per share in the mid-2000 to less than $1 per share at the end of 2001 caused 11 billion dollars of losses to shareholders (Yuhao Li, 2010). Findings and discussions a. Violations of Ethical Practices Causes of bankruptcy in Enron is a tangled web of unethical practices committed by the Auditor, senior management , laxity of government rules, investment houses, banks and board of directors, stock analysts who kept on pushing Enron’s stocks and media frenzy.(Tesfatsion, L. 2011) Causes of bankruptcy is also deeply seated on breaking the rules of The Code of Conduct and Ethics wherein truthfulness was not followed by management by not announcing the true health of the company and conflict of interest. There was conflict of interest between the role of Andersen as Auditor and as a Consultant for Enron. The report of accounting irregularities on reports of Enron, and the admission of AA’s employees tearing of documents and evidences related to Enron’s involvement had totally eroded AA’s reputation and the quality of his audits on the Accountancy field were put to doubt by his clients. As an Auditor and Consultant of Enron, AA has the duty to inform the shareholders the correct information as the report influences economic benefits for its shareholders. But in this ins tance, Anderson chose to betray the stockholders for his best

Aldemar Hotel and Spa [Operations Management Case Study] Essay

Aldemar Hotel and Spa [Operations Management Case Study] - Essay Example Yield management has become particularly important in the travel and hospitality industry. This is primarily because the resources such as airline tickets and available rooms in a hotel are fixed and cannot be increased or decreased to manage the demand of the consumers at different periods of time (Barnes, 2008). This is also the main reason that yield management is so important for Aldemar. It allows the owner to manage the hotel’s limited resources which includes its rooms in the best possible manner. The managers at Aldemar cannot increase or decrease its room capacity to facilitate the demand of the customers. When there is increased demand of the rooms during holiday season, the management risks losing its important and loyal customers when the rooms are already booked and they cannot overbook due to its long-term impact of the customers’ perception and the hotel’s reputation. Similarly during low demand of the rooms, Aldemar faces issues of decreased reven ues and increased costs as rooms require maintenance and the organization has to pay for its overhead costs that remain more and less constant during all seasons. With the help of yield management, Aldemar can hope to move certain customers during the off-season thus keeping room occupancies more or less constant. What other approaches to capacity management could Aldemar use? There are other different approaches to capacity management that Aldemar can benefit from. One of them includes promotion. Aldemar Hotels can use promotion as a mode of attracting consumers during the off-peak season. They can offer rooms at discounted prices or could introduce new features during the off-peak season. They could use their online website to promote such offers. Another approach to capacity management is product development that falls under the category of demand management. Demand management includes managing price, promotion, reservations, and waiting etc. During the off-season, Aldemar Hotels can offer certain services and products that would attract a high number of customers. Aldemar can for example shift the opening and closing times of their hotels to accommodate their guests. They could allow guests to benefit from tour guides for discounted rates during off-peak season. Aldemar could particularly benefit from using its spa for product development. It could introduce new offers or products for consumers during the off-peak season. The third approach is to adjust the changeable resources in line with the demand of the organization. This is known as chase demand that involves sub-contracting, hiring part time labor, multi skilling and participation of the customers. For example, during peaks seasons, Aldemar can hire extra part-time labor to make up for the increased work load. They could add or share their equipment through partnership agreements. Furthermore, Aldemar can delegate extra work during off-season period such as renovations in the hotel rooms. Critically assess Aldemar’s current yield management practices (e.g. the organizational structures, procedures, performance monitoring). Even though yield management has come forward as one of the best approaches for managing capacity for the hospitality industry, many organizations fail to incorporate this management strategy in the best of manner. In this manner, they lose a

Communication within an Organization Term Paper

Communication within an Organization - Term Paper Example To achieve this, teamwork should be established between doctors, nurses and other health professionals concerned with the provision of health services. Such team work entails effective communication. However, due to organizational and personality factors that bring about more issues such as the hierarchal positioning of hospital personnel, scheduling, and the management of multiple tasks, among others, communication within the organization usually suffers. This is emphasized further in multidisciplinary cases wherein health professionals from various fields work on a case. Transfer of knowledge from one professional to another may be impaired due to a host of factors. Personal Communication Human beings communicate their thoughts and feelings to one another in verbal and non-verbal ways. Verbal communication, or speaking out to another person is often accompanied by non-verbal language which includes facial expressions, gestures, posture, body language and tone of voice. Sometimes, s uch non-verbal expressions say more than the verbalizations of a person. The way one communicates and receives information matters much in the quality of relationships he or she has with others. Effective communication takes practice and hard work especially for those who are not skilled in interpersonal relations. Several factors need to be considered when communicating: age, gender, relationship to the person, nature of the communication exchange, temperament and personality and even culture. The adage â€Å"Actions speak louder than words† rings true in a variety of situations. In the workplace, people manifest explicit verbal communication and implicit, non-verbal communication (Lee, 2008). Explicit verbal communication takes the form of direct reprimands or written memos to delinquent workers. Implicit, non-verbal communication is more action-oriented. An example is a boss deliberately showing a delinquent worker that he is taking over the tasks formerly assigned to the worker. The boss may not say anything, but the message comes across very clear to the worker that his inefficiency is noted by the boss. In times of conflict, the impact of implicit, nonverbal communication and explicit, verbal communication (that is, the written norm) is never equal. The more visible and stark the image, the more effective the message is delivered and received. Lee (2008) gives the example of a Fortune 500 chief executive choosing to lunch spontaneously in the cafeteria with employees he has never met. He approaches them and asks for their perspective on street-level obstacles to strategic execution. A little while later, he begins to take notes on the back of an old envelope. His action of lunching with ground-level employees communicates the message that he values ideas of his people no matter what position they have in the company. His non-verbal language goes way beyond body language, facial expression and vocal intonation. To sum up, verbal and nonverbal inter actions play a part in the effective exchange of ideas. LeFebvre (2008) advises that when speaking, one must also be aware of body language and tone and inflection of voice. She notes that different ideas may be conveyed by simply emphasizing different parts of the statement. Being an active listener helps one understand the message being

Aldemar Hotel and Spa [Operations Management Case Study] Essay

Aldemar Hotel and Spa [Operations Management Case Study] - Essay Example Yield management has become particularly important in the travel and hospitality industry. This is primarily because the resources such as airline tickets and available rooms in a hotel are fixed and cannot be increased or decreased to manage the demand of the consumers at different periods of time (Barnes, 2008). This is also the main reason that yield management is so important for Aldemar. It allows the owner to manage the hotel’s limited resources which includes its rooms in the best possible manner. The managers at Aldemar cannot increase or decrease its room capacity to facilitate the demand of the customers. When there is increased demand of the rooms during holiday season, the management risks losing its important and loyal customers when the rooms are already booked and they cannot overbook due to its long-term impact of the customers’ perception and the hotel’s reputation. Similarly during low demand of the rooms, Aldemar faces issues of decreased reven ues and increased costs as rooms require maintenance and the organization has to pay for its overhead costs that remain more and less constant during all seasons. With the help of yield management, Aldemar can hope to move certain customers during the off-season thus keeping room occupancies more or less constant. What other approaches to capacity management could Aldemar use? There are other different approaches to capacity management that Aldemar can benefit from. One of them includes promotion. Aldemar Hotels can use promotion as a mode of attracting consumers during the off-peak season. They can offer rooms at discounted prices or could introduce new features during the off-peak season. They could use their online website to promote such offers. Another approach to capacity management is product development that falls under the category of demand management. Demand management includes managing price, promotion, reservations, and waiting etc. During the off-season, Aldemar Hotels can offer certain services and products that would attract a high number of customers. Aldemar can for example shift the opening and closing times of their hotels to accommodate their guests. They could allow guests to benefit from tour guides for discounted rates during off-peak season. Aldemar could particularly benefit from using its spa for product development. It could introduce new offers or products for consumers during the off-peak season. The third approach is to adjust the changeable resources in line with the demand of the organization. This is known as chase demand that involves sub-contracting, hiring part time labor, multi skilling and participation of the customers. For example, during peaks seasons, Aldemar can hire extra part-time labor to make up for the increased work load. They could add or share their equipment through partnership agreements. Furthermore, Aldemar can delegate extra work during off-season period such as renovations in the hotel rooms. Critically assess Aldemar’s current yield management practices (e.g. the organizational structures, procedures, performance monitoring). Even though yield management has come forward as one of the best approaches for managing capacity for the hospitality industry, many organizations fail to incorporate this management strategy in the best of manner. In this manner, they lose a

Ideas Live Forever Essay Example for Free

Ideas Live Forever Essay The film â€Å"V for Vendetta† directed by James McTeigue and the story â€Å"V for Vendetta† written by Alan Moore, is about a shadowy freedom fighter known only as V who, along with his companion Evey Hammond, completes V’s vendetta of blowing up parliament and removing a repressive governments control on the people. In â€Å"V for Vendetta† V fights for an idea. The idea that V fights for compels him to take action and fight against a corrupt government without concern for his own safety. He does this because â€Å"ideas are bulletproof†. He may die and be stopped but the idea which he fought for cannot be silenced. What â€Å"V for Vendetta† has to teach us is that ideas are very powerful and live beyond the death of the one who envisions it. This is shown throughout the film by the use of costume, dialogue, and symbolism. The use of costume in â€Å"V for Vendetta† is clearly illustrated by the mask that V wears. V wears a mask that represents a man named Guy Fawkes. Guy Fawkes is one of several people that attempted to blow up the parliament building in England on November 5th. They were stopped but not before their message was heard. This event later became known as Black Powder Treason. The Guy Fawkes mask allows the people to see him not as an individual but as a metaphorical creature portraying the idea of hope. This is explained at the very start of the movie with this voiceover in the background. â€Å"We are told to remember the idea not the man, because a man can fail, he can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later an idea can still change the world.† The idea in this quote represents the hope that the people of London seek for freedom, to be free from the government and to live a normal life. This teaches us that no single man would be able to take down the government as represented by â€Å"because a man can fail.† However in the case of V, he did not want to be known as a man, but to be associated to the hope and courage he gave to the people of London. He essentially lives as a messenger, a symbol of hope for the people of London. Apart from Evey, nobody knew him personally but everyone knew what he symbolized and what his motives were and why he was trying to take down the government. Even though V died just before the end of the movie, his idea will live on through the  generations. Even though V wore a mask throughout the entire novel and movie he was able to convey his emotions clearly with the use of his impressive dialogue. Dialogue is important in the film as it is the only way V is able to communicate as we cannot see any of his facial expressions. His wide range of vocabulary and convincing speeches that were broadcasted nationwide win the hearts of the people of London, making them re-think their current situation and how different life would be without the government dictating ev erything they can and cannot do. His quote â€Å"Words will always retain their power†Ã‚  illustrates to us how the media is an influential tool of social and political control. The biased media uses this to their advantage labeling V as a â€Å"psychotic terrorist† when he breaks into BTN (the television network). We can learn from this that some events that are put in the media are not the full truth of what is going on. We believe what the news presenters are saying on the television because they work for the government and the government should only report the real events from true stories. Instead BTN uses this to their advantage and edits news stories to reflect their point of view. The government uses the media to convey the message and to trick the community into thinking that life is so much better with the government in control. However during his speeches V gives the people of London hope and shows them just how much better life would be outside of the government’s control. Through these speeches V shows us how an idea of hope and a better future for everyone rises up against the brute force of the government and is the ultimate turning point in convincing the citizens to support him over the government. Symbolism is illustrated at the end of the film when the people of London remove their Guy Fawkes masks revealing the faces of some of the characters that died throughout the film. This example shows us that even though the characters were killed throughout the course of the film because they believed in V, they had someone to look up to and the characters spirit and their belief lived on. This belief and hope of a better future is all the people of London have to hold on to during the rough times they are being put through by their government. After V is shot multiple times by Creedy’s men he ironically says, â€Å"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh, there is an idea, and ideas are bulletproof.†   As no normal man could survive being shot, this further illustrates how V is more than an idea, he is that little voice in your head telling you what to do,  your conscience per say. This quote means that the flesh of a man can be killed; however an idea can never be killed and removed from society the same way. A famous document can be burned, or a famous structure such as the Old Baily can be destroyed but by no means of destruction can an idea ever burned or destroyed. V lives as a spokesperson, symbolizing and preaching his vision of a better London for everyone to live. Therefore, â€Å"V for Vendetta† teaches us that ideas are very powerful and live beyond the death of the one who envisions it. This is proven by the costume that V wears. The mask he wears makes him more than a man; the mask makes him the embodiment of an idea and hope for the people of London. V’s use of dialogue is also important as it was the only way V was able to communicate as we cannot see any of his facial expressions. Because of this his dialogue and speeches had to convey all of his emotions. Doing so made his speeches more compelling and allowed him to tell the people of London the idea which he embodies. The use of symbolism showed us that V lives not as a character but as an idea of change and hope for the people of London.

Business Essays Environmental Management System

Business Essays Environmental Management System Environmental Management System Abstract The number of enterprises certified an Environmental Management System due to the Eco – Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS) and to other Environmental Management System raised in the last few years. Especially companies from the industry sector realized how important it is to be certified. The majority use and implement environmental management systems due to the Eco – Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS) or due to the ISO 14001 regulation. Lots of them prefer to implement the ISO 14001 regulation because of the worldwide acceptance but others prefer the EMAS norm because the ISO 14401 certificate is absolutely contained into the EMAS regulations. The EMAS certification seems to be very interesting for entrepreneurs because of the incorporations of all employees of a company. This can result that employees could get more ambitioned and the employee loyalty could rise. Additionally, companies often get subsidized by the European Union. Organisations have to pass several stages to achieve the certification, the EMAS registrations and to benefit from it. Chapter 1 Introduction Implementing an environmental management system (EMS) is one of the best ways to show how an enterprise can act environmentally interested and efficient (Emilsson, 2002). An EMS due to EMAS regulations shows to clients and the public that entrepreneurs take care about environmental impacts which are caused by the productions of goods. Additionally, the implementation of efficient environmental management systems improves a company’s processes and brings other economic benefits. Now more and more companies realise how important an EMS is and how much they can profit from it. The two most important and famous regulations are the international standard ISO 14001 developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the regulation the Eco-Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS). The majority of the companies certified their EMS under these two systems because of the worldwide acceptance of the ISO 14001 regulations and the European Union regulation EMAS, which was developed by the European Union. The EMAS regulation is European wide accepted but the included ISO 14001 regulation is as mentioned before worldwide into force. Because of the additional cost and the additional time which is needed to implement an EMS due to the EMAS regulation a lot of companies decide to implement an EMS due to the ISO 14001 norm. The purpose of the following study is to demonstrate how an EMAS EMS should be constructed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). In order to get a better overview the current Business and Environment will be defined and Environmental Management Systems will be elucidated with the corresponding literature. The Stages of an EMS due to the EMAS regulation will be shown with its relevant literature in the literature review chapter as well. In addition, the differences between the EMAS regulation and the ISO 14001 norm also were examined and are being treated in the literature chapter review. Followed with the methodology chapter in which the author presents how the corresponding research is done by using the relevant literature research in the secondary research area and by doing a questionnaire in the relevant primary research part. In chapter Four the author presents the results which where discussed in the preceding research and analyses the results which where worked out with the help of the primary and secondary research. Chapter Five considers the research and a conclusion can be worked out. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Business and Environment 2.1.1 Identification of Business Business has experienced dramatic change since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution which took place in Western Europe two hundred years ago (Blair, 2001). New businesses appeared such as chemical industry, motor industry, and retail industry; new technology was applied in everywhere; and new market was opened all over the world. All these changes of business area caused environmental impacts which totally different from two hundred years ago. In order to discuss the environmental impact of business we have to answer a basic question: what is business nowadays? Strictly speaking, business is the range of commercial organizations and their activities that characterize the way in which trading is conducted in a capitalist economy (Blair, 2001). However, commonly the words â€Å"industry† and â€Å"business† are used interchangeably and this is the case in this article. Business with the same meaning of industry which is seen as the collection of firms who operate essentially the same series of processes that result in a related set of products (whether tangible products or services) that a third party wishes to buy (Blair, 2001). By convention, industries are divided into primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Primary industries include fishing, forestry, agriculture and the extractive industries (essentially, the quarrying and mining of minerals). They involve the collection, harvesting and exploitation of resources directly produced by physical processes. Secondary industries are the manufacturing industries. They take raw materials and by a variety of processes produce tangible goods by adding value to the raw materials. The tertiary industries produce services, for either individuals or for other organizations. The way in which primary, secondary and tertiary industries effect the environment are seen as being sufficiently different to warrant separate analysis. 2.1.2 Environmental Impact of Different Businesses The environmental impacts of different industrial sectors vary enormously (Welford, 1998). For example, the oil industry may cause serious environmental impacts while the retail industry has less direct impacts to the environment. This is because the oil industry belongs primary industries while retail industry belongs tertiary industries and the characteristics of these two industrial categories are totally different. Because of their intimate relationship with the environment, the primary industries have a widespread and significant environmental impact. Firstly, they cause high pollution. For example, oil and gas flares, which happened in oil industry, contribute to global warming. Additionally, oil spills can cause great localized harm to marine ecosystems. Secondly, the primary industries generate considerable wastes. The fossil fuel and mining industries are the main culprits in waste generation. However, the wastes of factory farming also should not be neglected. Thirdly, farming and forestry of the primary industries have the greatest overall impact on habitats because they occupy the greatest areas of land. The type of farming or forest has a profound influence on the nature of flora and fauna of a region. Finally, farming and forestry also has significant landscape impacts because they form important landscapes in much of the developed world. Manufacturing is the core of the secondary industries. Raw materials and components are brought together and manufactured into either end product or a component for some other manufacturing process. Manufacturing processes consume huge amount of energy and inevitably produce waste products and pollution. Waste is seen as part of the process, whereas pollution is seen as an inevitable consequence of the process that should not happen in the perfect industrial process but which, in practice, results in the degradation of some physical resource. This is most usually the air, watercourses or the ground. Sound and visual impact may also be included under the broad banner of pollution. In addition to the manufacture process, the products itself also cause environmental impact during its delivery, use and disposal. Tertiary industries or so-called service businesses received relatively little attention on their environmental impacts. This may be because in comparison to primary or secondary industries they appear to depend far less on physical resources and they often deal with a more intangible product. However, the environmental impact of tertiary industries is less obvious but does not mean that it does not exist. For example, compared to an oil refinery, a supermarket seems to be much less environmental impact but it is not without impact. The transfer of goods within the supermarket chain, and the customers travel to the store especially those suburban stores all cause air pollution. Other environmental impacts which tertiary industries cause include energy consumption in heating, lighting and equipment, pollution through the travel of their employees and clients, produce waste from canteens, consume waster and materials and certainly produce large volumes of paper waste. 2.1.3 Strategy Towards Environmental Impacts Since the 1960s, there has been a growing interest in the environment, or more specifically in the damage being done to the environment (Welford, 1998). During the first two decades, it was felt that growth and development and protection of the environment could not go hand in hand. Hence most of the theories that developed during this period were anti-growth. However, the 1980s witnessed a shift in thinking. The concept of ‘zero growth’ was replaced by sustainable development which has been broadly accepted nowadays. Sustainable development, in its simplest form, is defined as development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). It implies that it is possible to make development and environmental protection compatible. However, the old ways of development which cause pollution and atmospheric damage, disrupts traditional ways of living, destroys ecosystems and feeds more and more power into international oligopolistic industrial structures must be changed into sustainable ways (Welford, 1998). The Brundtland Report, commissioned by the United Nations to examine long-term environmental strategies, argued that this would require quite radical changes in economic practices throughout the world. As an ultimate objective, the concept of sustainable development is immensely valuable. However, strategies are needed to translate conceptual theories of what sustainable development means into practical ways of achieving it over time within the corporate context. Firms clearly have a role to play in the development of substitutes for non-renewable resources and innovations which reduce waste and use energy more efficiently. They also have a role in processing those materials in a way which brings about environmental improvements. Additionally, firms have the opportunity for considering both the use and disposal of the product during the design period. In order to achieve these goals, companies must seek to develop management strategies which will improve their environmental performance (Welford, 1998). 2.2 Environmental Management Systems Many companies have adopted environmental policies and carried out environmental audits or reviews in response to legislative pressures, green marketing opportunities, increased public pressure, ethical concerns and the commitment of local and central government (Netherwood, 1998). However, companies still be faced with a problem of finding a systematic way of implementing commitments to environmental management within their existing organizational structure. In practical, one tool which companies have generally accepted to facilitate implementation of environmental policy is an environmental management system (EMS). An EMS is defined by the British Standards Institute (BSI) as: the organizational structure, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for determining and implementing environmental policy (Netherwood, 1998). Similar definitions are found in the EU eco-management and audit scheme (EMAS) and ISO 14001. Not like legislation, EMS is a voluntary tool which can help companies to control environmental impact caused by their operations (Roberts, 1998). Despite the fact that different companies may develop different environment management system, usually there are some common steps can be found in these EMSs. This is because most of them were designed based on the steps of quality management system such as ISO 9000 (Netherwood, 1998). Therefore, it is possible to create a standard for environmental management systems in order to ensure a certain quality for the EMS, and to encourage organizations to improve their environmental performance. In the last few years a number of voluntary environmental management schemes have been developed. The standard-BS 7750- was published by BSI in March 1992 and was the world’s first environmental management system standard. At the same time that BSI began work on BS 7750, the European Commission was setting out its proposal for an eco-audit scheme and it was from this proposal that EMAS eventually emerged in 1993. In the same year of EMAS publishing, the activity relating to environmental management system standardization began on the international scene. And after a development time of a little under three years, ISO 14000 series were published in October 1996. The standardized environmental management systems are voluntary and are designed to be externally verified by nationally accredited bodies, in a similar way as the quality standard ISO 9000. It is argued that companies which register with the schemes, gaining the EMAS and ISO14001 accreditation, will experience added value such as market advantages, and legal compliance (Netherwood, 1998). 2.2.2 Stages of Standardized Ems Environmental management systems are very much related to quality management systems. They are mechanisms that provide for a systematic and cyclical process of continual improvement. As can be seen in Figure 1, the cycle itself begins with planning for a desired outcome (i.e. improved environmental performance), implementing that plan, checking to see if the plan is working and finally correcting and improving the plan based on observations form the checking process. Logically then, if the original outcome desired remains the same, a system of this nature will, by default, generate increments of progress that continually move toward the desired outcome (Roberts, 1998). In order for a company to achieve environmental performance through a management loop as mentioned above, it will need to define responsibilities for environmental management, deploy resources to ensure that action is taken on environmental issues, train staff to become aware of their environmental responsibilities, monitor environmental performance and audit and review the system of achieving environmental improvement. The basis of all of this activity is an organizational commitment to continual environmental improvement and an environmental policy (Netherwood, 1998). The stages of a typical environmental management system were shown in Figure 2. 2.2.3 Why Develop an EMS? Develop an EMS within a company will definitely cost resources such as time, human resource, and money (Bansal, 2002). Such costs become more apparent when a company applies certification for their EMS. Furthermore, it has been suggested that EMS and the standards will just add another layer of bureaucracy for the company. So why do a company need an environmental management system? The answer is creating a successful EMS could bring more benefits than the costs. The advantages of improved environmental management can be divided into two broad categories (Roberts, 1998). The first category addresses the fact that improved environmental management is good for our planet and a fundamental requirement of global sustainability. This is because respecting that present business patterns are fundamentally unsustainable, improved environmental management will serve at least to move our business patterns towards sustainability. The second category, which seems have a more direct relationship with companies, addresses the fact that improved environmental management could benefit the company a lot. The table 3 lists some of the benefits. 2.3 ISO 14001 2.3.1 Background Information of ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a series of international standards for environmental management. In order to satisfy the increasing demand of establishing international environmental management standard, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) started to develop it in 1993 and after nearly three year’s development, ISO published this series of standards (ISO 14001 and ISO 14004) in October 1996. It is the first such series of standards that allows organizations from around the world to pursue environmental efforts and measure performance according to internationally accepted criteria (Roberts, 1998). The 14000series consists of over a dozen separate standards. But all these standards are fallen under two categories: specification standards and guidance standards (Krut, 1998). ISO specification standards are prescriptive documents: they describe what a company must do or not do in order to get certification. ISO 14001 is a blueprint for the company’s environmental management system, and it is the only specification standard in the ISO 14000 series. It describes how a company might manage and control its organizational system so that it measures, controls and continually improves the environmental aspects of its operations (Krut, 1998). ISO 14001 is intended to be applicable to ‘all types and sizes of organizations and to accommodate diverse geographical, cultural and social conditions’ (ISO, 1996). The overall aim of both ISO 14001 and the other standards in the 14000 series is to support environmental protection and the prevention of pollution in harmony with socio-economic needs. ISO 14001 applies to any organization that wishes to improve and demonstrate its environmental performance to others through the presence of a certified environmental management system (Roberts, 1998). With the exception of requiring the commitment to continual improvement and commitment to comply with relevant legislation and regulation, ISO 14001 does not prescribe environmental performance requirements. ISO 14001 specifies the requirements of the management system itself, which, if maintained properly, will improvement environmental performance by reducing impacts such as air emissions and wastewater effluents (Roberts, 1998). 2.3.2 Stages for Implementing ISO 14001 2.3.2.1 Environmental Policy Environmental policy is a formal and documented set of principles and intentions with respect to the environment. Essentially, the environmental policy is the guiding document for corporate environmental improvement and adherence to it is fundamental to the integrity and success of the entire EMS (Roberts, 1998). A policy must contain commitments to: Continual improvement; Prevention of pollution; and Complying with relevant environmental legislation and other relevant requirements. 2.3.2.2 Planning The company must then set itself objectives and targets relating to its three policy commitments and devise a plan to meet these objectives and targets. Here the environmental objectives are the broad goals that your organization sets in order to improve environmental performance while environmental targets are set performance measurements that must be met to realize a given objective. All environmental objectives must have at least one target (usually more) and all targets must relate directly to a stated objective (Roberts, 1998). 2.3.2.3 Implementing and Operation Having devised its plan, the organization must then put in place the various elements necessary for its successful implementation and operation. 2.3.2.4 Checking and Corrective Action Having implemented its plan, the organization must then check to see whether it has been successful in meeting its objectives and targets. If any have not been met, then corrective action must be taken. The entire management system must be periodically audited to see that it meets the requirements of the standard (Welford, 1998). 2.3.2.5 Management Review Management must periodically review the system to ensure its continuing effectiveness and suitability. Changes are made to the system as and when necessary. 2.4 Eco-Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS) 2.4.1 Background Information of EMAS EMAS the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, is a voluntary initiative designed for companies and other organizations to evaluate, report, and improve their environmental performance. It should be highlight that EMAS is a European Union Regulation, which applied within the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA) — Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. An increasing number of candidate countries are also implementing the scheme in preparation for their accession to the EU (EMAS, 2004). The scheme has been available for participation by companies since 1995 (Council Regulation (EEC) No 1836/93 of 29 June 1993) and was originally restricted to companies in industrial sectors. The aim of EMAS is to recognize and reward those organizations that go beyond minimum legal compliance and continuously improve their environmental performance (EMAS-UK, 2004). In addition, it is a requirement of the scheme that participating organizations regularly produce a public environmental statement that reports on their environmental performance. It is this voluntary publication of environmental information, whose accuracy and reliability has been independently checked by an environmental verifier, that gives EMAS and those organizations that participate enhanced credibility and recognition. In June 1997 The Commission undertook a 5-year review of EMAS, taking into account experience gained during its operation. The final revised Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 761/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2001) published in April 2001, is often referred to as EMAS II. This new Regulation has been open to all economic sectors including public and private services. In addition, EMAS II was strengthened by the integration of EN/ISO 14001 as the environmental management system required by EMAS; by adopting an attractive EMAS logo to signal EMAS registration to the outside world; and by considering more strongly indirect effects such as those related to financial services or administrative and planning decisions. 2.4.2 Stages for Implementing EMAS The objective of EMAS shall be to promote continual improvements in the environmental performance of organizations by (EMAS, 2001): (a) The establishment and implementation of environmental management systems by organizations as described in Annex I (b) The systematic, objective and periodic evaluation of the performance of such systems as described in Annex I (c) The provision of information on environmental performance and an open dialogue with the public and other interested parties (d) The active involvement of employees in the organization and appropriate initial and advanced training that makes active participation in the tasks referred to under (a) possible. Where they so request, any employee representatives shall also be involved. 2.4.2.1 Conduct of an Environental Review Consider all environmental impacts of the organization’s activities: production processes, products and services, assessment methods, the legal framework as well as existing environmental management practices and procedures. 2.4.2.2 Establish an EMS Based upon the results of the environmental review, establish an effective environmental management system aimed at achieving the organization’s environmental policy as defined by the top management. The management system needs to define responsibilities, objectives, means, operational procedures, training needs, monitoring and communication systems. 2.4.2.3 Carry Out An Environmental Audit Assess the management system in place and the organization’s environmental performance in light of the organization’s environmental policy and programme as well as of legal requirements. 2.4.2.4 Prepare an Environmental Statement The environmental statement should specify the results that have been achieved against the environmental objectives of the organization. It should also lay down the means by which the organization plans to continuously improve its environmental performance. 2.4.2.5 Get Independent Verification By an EMAS Verifier An EMAS verifier accredited with an EMAS Accreditation Body (UKAS in UK) of a Member State must examine and verify the environmental review, EMS, and audit procedure as well as the environmental statement. 2.4.2.6 Register With The Competant Body of the Member State The validated environmental statement must be sent to the appropriate EMAS Competent Body for registration and be made publicly available. 2.5 Drivers and Barriers of EMS Implementation In SMEs SMEs face internal and external barriers when seeking to address their environmental issues and adopt and implement EMSs, but it is the internal barriers that initially have the more significant role in impeding progress (Hillary, 1999). Negative company culture towards the environment and the disassociation between positive environmental attitudes and taking action cause the uptake of environmental performance improvements and EMS adoption to stumble at the first hurdle (Hillary,1999). On top of this general culture of inaction on the environment, SMEs are also very sceptical of the benefits to be gained from making environmental improvements (Hillary, 1999). In many cases, especially for the smaller organisations, low awareness and the absence of pressure from customers (the most important driver for environmental improvements and EMS adoption) and insufficient other drivers mean that no efforts are made to address environmental issues (Hillary, 1999). SMEs also face the problem of locating, and having the time to locate, good quality advice and information. Once a SME has embarked on EMS implementation the process is often interrupted and resources are frequently diverted to core business activities (Hillary, 1999). It is the lack of human resources, not financial ones, which SMEs find most difficult to secure and maintain for EMS implementation. The more multifunctional the staff, as is common in micro and small companies, the more likely the process of implementation will be interrupted. Some studies indicate that SMEs, once on the route to certified EMSs, face inconsistency and high charges in the certification system. SMEs are subjected to a variety of stakeholder pressures related to their environmental performance and their adoption of EMSs. Customer and supply chain are also prominent in driving SMEs environmental improvements (Hillary, 1999). However the regulator and local authorities exert greater influence on the general environmental performance of SMEs, in particular medium-sized enterprises, than customers. 3 Methodology 3.1 Introduction This chapter provides a detailed explanation of the research methods used by the author in order to complete the study. White (2000) stated that â€Å"research should be focused, not general† therefore the research conducted for the study will be to specific objectives. Academic theory is used to explain the advantages and disadvantages of research methods. The study will also aim to outline research limitations at the end of the chapter. 3.2 Quantative Approach In this thesis a study is applied to gain information and to fulfill the purpose: â€Å"how can small and medium sized enterprises profit from environmental management systems†. Questionnaires are made with people from 12 different German companies. Two types of methods can mainly be used in the scientific research, they are positivism and hermeneutic. Positivism starts with one well defined knowledge as an ideal, while the hermeneutic methods relate to different knowledge (Proctor, 2003). Conclusively can be said, that the hermeneutic method is about the interpretation and the usage of feeling and understanding when interviews are performed, which is also known as qualitative approach (Thomas, 1997). Thus the quantitative approach has received some critique, mainly when the data is collected. The risk is that the researcher could handle the topic to much facile way, without being aware of it (Thomas, 1997). 3.3 Why Qualitative Approach? The choice of the research of the core and the structure of environmental management systems has led to the discretion of the quantitative approach which was essential due to the interpretation of the environment and the experiences of several companies (Deacon et al, 1999). Furthermore, since the authors wanted to examine the meaning of environmental management systems on different levels, it is preferably to use a quantitative research method (Casell Symon, 2004), given that environmental management systems have potential exploration. What differs a qualitative method from a quantitative method is that the qualitative method a first qualitative perceptive of the fundamental motives and reasons is received, in the quantitative method the researcher is generalizing data from a sample to the population. To enhance the reason of using a qualitative method in this thesis the quantitative approach will help to develop a good definition and a highly topical view of environmental management systems. This is due to the fact that the author will have a better understanding of the different definitions that exist today. 3.4 Literature Study The process of gathering data starts with the secondary research existing of the study of literature such as articles, books and journals. The author chose to use literature resources of the library of Northumbria University and furthermore literature such as articles and journals via databases like Emerald, Ebsco Host, Business Source Premier, FT.com (Financial Times), Science Direct and Nexis. The usage of keywords was as follows EMAS, ISO 14001, sustainability, environmental management systems and continual improvement, thus several gave more hits than other. In order to cover other aspects, in especially the theoretical framework the author tried to use other keywords connected to the specific area. Also sources more connected to the entrepreneurial part of marketing have been used in order to get a broad and specific picture of environmental management systems due to the EMAS and ISO 14001 regulation. The author pointed out that the literature parts into primary and secondary sources. Primary resources are written by an author that also took part in the research behind it. Secondary sources are literature that covers a certain topic but without a specific research behind it. Secondary literature sources do not always give enough