Airbus A380 and Company Airbus Company

i Ministry of Higher Education Colleges of Applied Sciences (Salalah) Department of International Business Administration International Business Environment (BUSN 3401) SPRING SEMESTER 7 (2012 – 2013) BOEING COMPANY Name: Mohammed Ahmed Salim al-moqimi ID number: 2008399331 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS:2 INTRODCTION:4 BACKGROUND OF BOEING COMPANY:5 Mission:6 Vision:6 Objective:6 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS:7 SWOT:9 Strengths:10 Weaknesses:11 Threats Implications:11 Opportunities:12 THE STRATEGY:13The problems that the company faced are:13 The causes of problems are:13 Action planning:13 Alternative strategy:14 PEST ENVIRONMENT:14 Politics, Legislation:15 Economy, Business Environment:15 Socio-Cultural and demographic forces:15 Technology:16 Competitive forces:16 Physical and natural forces:16 CONCLUSION:18 RECOMMENDATION:19 REFERENCES:20 INTRODCTION: Nowadays, business is vitally affected by the economic, social, legal, technological and political factors. These facto rs collectively form business environment.Business environment is the total of all external forces, which affect the organization and operations of business. The environment of an organization has got internal, operational and general lives managers must be aware of these three environmental levels and their relationship and importance. Therefore, I will talk about Boeing Company as an example. Boeing Company is American Company. It was founded in 1916. Boeing consider as the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems.The company design and make rotorcrafts, electronics, defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and information and communication system. The biggest competitors of this company Airbus Company. Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and it consistently captures approximately half or more of all orders. In the coming lines, I will talk about the following po ints which are the background of Boeing Company, mission, vision and its objective SOWT analysis, competitor analysis, action planning, strategies, and the effect of the PEST environment forces on that company.BACKGROUND OF BOEING COMPANY: Boeing consider as the world's largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. A top American exporter, the company supports airlines and American. and allied government customers in more than ninety countries. The Boeing products and tailored services include commercials and military aircrafts, satellites, weapons, electronics and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and erformance-based logistics and training. Boeing Company has a long tradition of aerospace leadership and innovation. Company continues to expand its product line and services to meet emerging customer needs. Its broad range of capabilities includes creating new and more efficient members of its commercial airplane family; integrating military platforms, defense systems and the warfighter through network-enabled solutions, creating advanced technology solutions and arranging innovative customer-financing options.With corporate offices in Chicago, the company employs more than 159,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries. This represents one of the most diverse, talented and innovative workforces anywhere. More than 123,000 employees hold college degrees, including nearly 32,000 advanced degrees and in virtually every business and technical field from approximately 2,700 colleges and universities worldwide. Our enterprise leverages the talents of hundreds of thousands more skilled people working for Boeing suppliers worldwide.Boeing is classified into two business units: Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Boeing Defense, Space and Security. Supporting this units are Boeing Capital Corporation, a global provider of financing solutions; th e Shared Services Group, which provides a broad range of services to the company worldwide; and Boeing Engineering, Operations & Technology, which helps develop, acquire, apply and protect innovative technologies and processes. Mission: The mission of the company is to maximize the number of services and opportunities while establishing Boeing’s leadership in NMA activities.Functions that control Boeing are business development and strategy, communications, engineering, operations and technology, finance/shared services group/Boeing capital corporation, human resources administration, international, law and offices of internal governance and public policy. So Boeing Company has many values work to achieve it. First, Leadership is the world class leader in every aspect of our business and in developing our team leadership skills at every level, in our management performance; in the way it design and build support our products and in our financial results.Secondly, Integrity is always takes the high road by practicing the highest ethical standards and by honoring our commitments. It takes personal responsibility for our actions and treats everyone fairly and with trust and respect: Third, the Quality of striving for continuous improvement. So that it take rank among the world’s premier industrial firms in customer; employee and community satisfaction. Finally, Customer satisfactions are essential to our success. Vision: It seeks redressing from the other for unfair government subsidies in the development of new airplanes.Also, it is important for people to work as a global enterprise for aerospace leadership â€Å"People Working Together as One Global Company for Aerospace Leadership. Also, it works hard to develop the education for her employees. Objective: 1. Improve Performance: †¢ Sponsor outstanding dinner meetings and special events. †¢ Exploit multi-media member communications. †¢ Provide effective NMA metrics and reporting. †¢ Address direct support of Boeing’s business goals. 1. Spearhead Expansion †¢ Team with current chapters. †¢ Maintain and increase membership. 2. Implement Training Provide regular development seminar †¢ Apply NMA training tools and courses. 3. Support education and community †¢ Award high school scholarships. †¢ Speech Contest. †¢ Hold Explore Engineering Programs. †¢ Support volunteer activities. 4. Ensure Recognition †¢ Acknowledge Boeing leaders. †¢ Reward chapter contributors. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS: Airbus is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blanca, France, near Toulouse and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners.Airbus Industry began as a consortium of European aviation firms to compete with American companies such as Boeing. Airbus Industries were formally established on 18 December 1970. It had been forme d by a government initiative between France, Germany and the UK that originated in 1967. In the commercial airline business Boeing operates in a duopoly with Airbus. Airbus has been the largest producer of large commercial jetliners for many years, but Boeing has been gaining ground since recent problems at Airbus, especially the 2005-6 massive production delay for the A380.The delay gave Boeing a large advantage in the market for wide body aircrafts which include Boeing's successful 747, 777, and 787 models. Although the Boeing has pushed back the first flight and delivery of the 787, the Airbus 380 delays have been far more substantial. Still, even with Airbus' problems, the race is far from over and competition remains intense between the two companies. In February 2007, the U. S. Air Force awarded a controversial $35 billion air refueling tanker contract to rival Northrop Grumman (NOG) that was widely expected to go to Boeing.During March of 2007, Boeing had filed a formal appea l against the deal with the Government Accountability Office. In June of 2008, the GAO sustained Boeing's appeal against the Air Force and effectively reopened the contract for bidding. As of August, Boeing is currently requesting an extension past the October 1st deadline in order to alter its design to meet the government's new specifications. Airbus employs around 52,000 people at sixteen sites in four European Union countries: Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. In this table I will show you some statistic about Boeing and Airbus Industrie: Company |1994 Sales in $m |1994 Earnings in $m |Market Share % | |Boeing |16,851 |1,022 |62 | |Airbus Industrie |8,000 |N/A |24 | |Company |Gross orders |Cancellations |Net orders | |Boeing |120 |46 |74 | |Airbus Industrie |125 |54 |71 |SWOT: SWOT Analysis of Boeing Company is defined as a framework used extensively for an assessment of the internal as well as external business environment as a part of the strategic or corporate pl anning process. The framework is including the firm's strengths & weaknesses as part of internal environment assessment and opportunities & threats as part of the external environment assessment that aids strategic decision making which may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and socio-cultural Changes, as well as changes in the marketplace or competitive position. Strengths |Weaknesses | |Workforces and planning |Loss | |Innovation |Lack of technological innovations | |Management system |Threats of Substitute Products or Services | |Leadership |Competition of trains | |Knowledge |Affect of technology development | |Highly Skilled Managers | | |Provide global customer support | | |Outsourcing | | |High quality of products | |good services | | |Threats |Opportunities | |Competitor |Market developments | |Trade Barriers |Competitors' vulnerabilities | |Deregulation of Airlines |Industry or lifestyle trends | |Threats of Substitute Products or Services |Technology development and innovation Global influences | |threat of the Airbus |Information and research | |Lack of planning |New aircraft to gain market share | | |Increase demand for point to point routes | Strengths: 1- Workforces and planning: Boing has trimmed its workforce to the minimum and it has plans to further cut 7000 jobs and has completed family of planes from the small 737 to the world's largest carrier the 747 which allows it to serve any airline in any category. 2- Innovations: boing has innovated in many areas and has a very strong technological position it is well established. 3- Management system: It has improved its inventory management systems. 4- Leadership: It still has a leadership position in the industry. 5- Highly Skilled Manager The operation of the company will run smoothly.The performance of the company will improve and would lead the company to be successful. 6- Provide global customer support it would serve the customers better and it wo uld be very convenient to those customers in other countries to ask for help. This would help the company to gain a better image due to the provided services to help the customers. 7- Outsourcing: It can save time for the company to manufacture or assembly its products. 8- High quality of products: Emphasizing the product quality to ensure that the durability of the company is lasting for long period of time. 9- Provide Good services. . Weaknesses: 1. Loss: balance sheet and income statement point to some weaknesses.R spending of $1,661 million, around 8% of sales is rather low for this industry. Its long term debt is also increasing and its overall return on common equity is around 8. 9%, below the average industry rate which is 13. 1%. This, associated with its declining defense revenues, may restrict its access to additional capital in times of crisis. 2. Threats of Substitute Products or Services: for example people don’t use planes to travel they will use train and other way. 3. Competition of trains: Customers run away from aircraft to trains because of its services. Threats Implications: 1. Competitor: The competitor might overcome them and the threat is increasing the competitor’s market share. 2.Trade Barriers: They may encounter difficulties in the regulation regarding aircraft imposed by the country to which they export their products to. 3. Deregulation of Airlines: The regulation of the company for its customers would compromise in order to gain favor of the customers. 4. Threat of the Airbus because Airbus is the big competitor for Boeing Company. 5. Lack of planning. Opportunities: New aircraft to gain market share: with the impressive show of Airbus A380 recently, Boeing also plans to release its powerful weapon in the competition with Airbus. The new version Boeing 787 which inherits the most advanced technologies and advantages of the previous models is hoped to be a big hit to the airline industries.At the moment, Boeing has re ceived a number of orders for Boeing 787- Dream liner and this opportunity actually shows that Boeing still insists on its successful business strategy to build longer-range, more capable, smaller aircraft that could go point-to-point and therefore, serve city pairs directly rather than having to hook them up through a hub. The new 787 is the proof that Boeing does not lag behind the competition. THE STRATEGY: The problems that the company faced are: 1. Unwinnable competition, which is wasteful. 2. Design and engineering problem. 3. Poor cost control. The causes of problems are: 1. Poor engineering expertise. 2. Poor marketing research. 3. Using wrong strategies. Action planning: 1. Merge to companies 2. Get good engineer (work with university). 3. Get good marketers. 4. Do comprehensive. 5. Marketing research. 6. Restructure. 7. Use cooperative strategies. 8. Improve design and R. 9. Make the right aircraft. 10. Cost leadership.There are many problems that come from the using of wr ong strategies, poor engineering expertise and poor marketing research. The basic problems are unwinnable competition which is wasteful, design and engineering problem and poor cost control. Boeing Company uses poor engineering and poor design that actually will affect the nature of the working of company. Boeing Company is unwinnable competition because their competitors have high quality management and good services better than them so, customers prefer to deal with their competitors. It has also problem with marketing research. However, good marketing research can help company to know strength and weakness of their competitors and to know how to improve their works and to be able to face new technologies.Boeing Company has poor cost control that will lead to lose their money and the profit will be low. There are many actions that the company should follow to overcome any problems such as get good engineers who graduated from university and have high qualification and experience. Boeing Company has to restructure its strategies and use cooperative strategy. Also, if it merges with companies, get good marketers, do comprehensive, marketing research, improve design and R and make the right aircraft, it will achieve competitive advantage and maximize the profit. Alternative strategy: Cost leadership, it focuses in decreasing the cost and price.It is a good strategy for the company, if it follows this strategy, it will be more successful and it will reduce its economic costs. Also, this strategy will help company to develop and grow very fast. PEST ENVIRONMENT: Political, Economic and financial, Social, physical and natural, competitive, demographic, Technological forces (PEST) analysis is concerned with the environmental effects on a business. The term PEST stands for the Political, Economic and financial, Social, physical and natural, competitive, demographic, Technological issues that could affect the strategic development of a business. New I will explain th e forces that effect Boeing Company in Us: Politics, Legislation: Political forces refer to country's political system.The ability to support or disrupt business operations of domestic & international firms that mean Influence of politics & political interests. Also, Governmental topics, taxation issues, environmental controls and dependencies, subsidies and quotas regulations, employment and labor laws, consumer legislations and regulations, competition issues, health & safety concerns and issues. Economy, Business Environment: The economic environment refers to differences between countries economic systems in the country which the organization operates. Therefore, when we talk about condition of economic system I mean the economic growth, inflation and unemployment.As we know, the economic crisis affects all the businesses around the world. Boeing Company effected by this crisis so what happened in the economy will have a big effect on the company. Despite Boeing's 2008 revenue h as declined to 8. 25% and that because of the economic crisis. In particular, revenue in the Commercial Airline division fell by 15. 34%, as a strike by the International Association of Machinists in 2008 resulted in 104 fewer airplane deliveries than planned. Furthermore, net income fell 34% and contractual backlog expanded to a record level of $279 billion. Net income declined by 22. 1% over the first half of fiscal year 2009. Socio-Cultural and demographic forces:The social dimension or environment of a nation determines the value system of the society which affects the functioning of the business and Refer to way shared beliefs, values & attitudes affect employee & consumer behavior & management of foreign subsidiaries. And demographic forces refer to the characteristics of population, e. g. size, growth, spending power. Socio-Cultural has changed when the country get developed. The changing maybe in education, public opinion social mobility, and attitudes so the socio-culture c an affects the business: ? Population growth rate and age profile. ? Population health, education and social mobility, and attitudes toward those. ? Population employment patterns, job market freedom and attitudes to work. Press attitudes, public opinion, social attitudes and social taboos. ? Lifestyle choices and attitudes to those. Technology: Refers to technology-induced changes that have altered the way firms undertake & coordinate their international activities. Transportation and communication technologies – firms able to outsource R and back office processing. Technology is used in many of life fields. First, we use technology in the process of manufacturing and that through buying effective and modern machines and equipment. Second, we also use it in design techniques and in management of our company through using computers and other tools of technology.Third, technology provides us with some ways in marketing and advertising via TV, Internet and others tools. Technol ogy influences the company in terms of investment in technology, consistent application of technology and the effects of technology on markets. Emergent technologies have a big Impact on company. It can speed up the work in the company so it can apply all the orders. Also, the internet has its own impacts which are reducing communications costs and increasing remote working. (Reference: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Boeing) Competitive forces: A competitive force refers to the pressures imposed by other firms in competing industries.Boeing company faced strong competitive from Airbus Company because these two company work in same field. These two companies compete in price, service and product. Physical and natural forces: Physical and natural forces refer to environmental pressures and risks that influence international business strategy. These forces divided to two types. First, natural risks arise from environmental disasters (e. g. earthquakes). Second, Manufactured risks are e nvironmental risks created by human intervention – pollution, threat to eco-systems, climate change, genetic modification, and terrorism. This factor can effect in Boeing company very clear. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, I am going to summarize the points that I have talked about in my report.First, background of Boeing Company which is a major aerospace and Defense Corporation, founded by William E. Boeing in Washington its international headquarters has been in Chicago since 2001 and its mission, vision and objectives. Second, I have analyzed their competitor which is Airbus and it is the biggest its competitor. Airbus is one of the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and it consistently captures approximately half or more of all orders for airliners with more than 100 seats. Third, I analyzed its internal and external environment factors which are referred to SWOT. Fourth, I have talked about the strategy which includes problems, causes and action plan of the company.Boein g Company has to restructure its strategies and use cooperative strategy instead. I recommend Boeing Company to merge with companies, get good marketers, do comprehensive, marketing research, improve design and R&D and make the right Aircraft; it will achieve competitive advantage and maximize the profit. Finally, I have talked about the term PEST which stands for the Political, Economic, Social, and Technological issues that could affect the strategic development of a business. RECOMMENDATION: In fact, Boeing Company is a popular company in the world, but there are several forces and challenge which face it and make it in a bad situation. So I explained them in my assignment.Therefore, I recommend this company to develop their abilities such as employee’s skills, investment, competitive advantage, consumer relationship management and advertising. In my opinions, I think Boeing Company can develop their employee’s skills through training. Also, I should invest in rich countries which pay more money to increase the profitability to company. A good idea to the company creating new and develop aircraft to unique it from other companies. Finally, I think if Boeing Company does good advertising that enough for it to monopoly aircraft manufactured over the world. REFERENCES: http://www. boeing. com/companyoffices/aboutus/brief. html http://manonamission. blogspot. com/2005/08/boeings-ba-mission-statement. html : http://www. boeing. com/news/speeches/1998/980121. htm http://www. boeing. om/companyoffices/aboutus/community/focus_objectives. html – http://www. soe. ucsc. edu/classes/ism158/Winter03/boeing. htm – http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Airbus http://www. writework. com/essay/boeing-s-strength-weakness-threats-oppotunities-and-its-im : http://www. soe. ucsc. edu/classes/ism158/Winter03/boeing. htm http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Airbus http://www. companiesandmarkets. com/Summary-Company-Profile/boeing-company,-the-swot-analysis-145568. asp http://www. wikinvest. com/stock/Boeing_Company_(BA)) http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Boeing Books: (Principles of Marketing) Thirteenth Edition, Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong. Books: (Management 9e ) John R. Schermerhorn, JR.

Chemistry Design Prac Essay

Investigate one chemistry related factor on the deflection of the liquid flow in the presence of a charged rod Research question How will the amount of time spent rubbing a glass rod affect the angle of deflection of flowing water in the presence of the charged glass rod? Background Research Static electricity is formed in contact with two objects, where one object gains electrons from another, resulting in one object having a positive charge while the other having a negative charge. Some materials tend to lose or gain electrons during contact with other objects. Materials with electrons bonded to it weakly, tend to lose electrons while materials with fewer electrons on the outer shell tend to gain electrons. Therefore, when an object is imbalanced of a positive or negative charge, it has static electricity. Polarity is the separation of electric charges, caused when electrons are not equally shared in a molecule. This is caused when some atoms in the molecule have a higher electronegativity than others, causing more electrons to be attracted to it, leaving one side of the molecule more negative than the other. An element or molecule with an electro negativity value of 0.5+ is considered to be polar. When a polar liquid such as water is flowing in a presence of a charged rod, the liquid tend to bend towards the rod. This is because the rod will either be positively or negatively charged, and the dipoles of the polar molecule will be attracted to the charged rod. The charge on the rod is determined by the material which is used to rub against it, however, it does not matter whether the rod is positively or negatively charged because either way, the opposite dipoles of the polar molecule will be attracted towards it, causing the flow of the liquid to bend towards the charged rod. Defining Independent and Dependent Variables Independent The amount of time rubbing the glass rod with a piece of silk. – 10 seconds – 20 seconds – 30 seconds – 40 seconds – 50 seconds – 60 seconds Dependent The angle of deflection of the flowing water will be measured with grid paper with a smallest increment of 1mm. A line will be drawn on the grid paper from the point where the glass rod was places to the point where the water was deflected. A protractor with a smallest increment of 0.5 degrees will be used to calculate the angle of deflection of the water. Controlling Variables Table 1 – Variables and Method of control Type Variable Method of Control Controlled The rate of the flow of water Adjust the burette to deliver the smallest stream of water possible but without being discontinuous. The water will be kept flowing at the same rate, throughout the experiment. The glass rod The same glass rod with a diameter of 1cm will be used throughout the experiment. Pressure when rubbing the glass rod Use the same person to rub the glass rod against the silk, applying the same pressure every time. Placement of the glass rod A line will be marked on the grid paper so the glass rod will be placed at the exact point and the exact angle to the flowing water every time. Placement of the grid paper The grid paper will be sticky taped to the burette and placed as close as possible to the flowing water. The same grid paper will be used and left at the same position throughout the experiment. Weather conditions The experiment will be conducted in a room with all windows closed and air conditioning switched off to reduce effects atmospheric effects on the angle of deflection of the water. Stopwatch The one person will be using the same stopwatch every time to reduce systematic errors. Material The same piece of silk cloth (20 cm in length, 15cm in width) will be used throughout the experiment The experimenters The same two people, (person with stopwatch and person controlling the glass rod) will conduct the experiment to keep random errors in measurements and readings consistent. Materials and Equipments List: – 50 mL Burette – 20cm x 15cm silk cloth – 1cm diameter glass rod – Distilled water – 200 mL Beaker – A4 Grid paper with increments of 1mm – Protractor with increments of 0.5 degrees – Retort Stand – clamp – Pen – Ruler – Sticky tape – Stop watch Method 1. Attach the clamp to the retort stand. 2. Fill the burette with distilled water to approx 1cm from the top and attach it to the clamp 3. Draw a straight line on the grid paper with a ruler and sticky tape it to the bottom of the burette, lining up the line on the paper exactly with the flow of the water coming out of the burette. 4. Also Draw a line 90 degrees towards the line if the flowing water but stopping at 0.5 cm from the line. This line will be where the charged glass rod will be placed 5. Also mark the origin (the tip of the burette, where the water comes out) on the grid paper 6. Place the 200 mL beaker under the burette and let the water run down 7. Start the timer on the stopwatch and simultaneously, begin rubbing the glass rod against the piece of silk 8. Stop the stop watch at 10 seconds and immediately place the charged rod as close as possible to the line drawn on the grid paper 9. Mark the angle of deflection of the water on the grid paper 10. Wait 1 minute until the rod is completely uncharged 11. Repeat steps 6 – 9 12. Repeat the experiment from steps 6 – 10, changing the time rubbing the glass rod against the silk cloth by 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 seconds. 13. Remove the grid paper and line up all the points of the deflected water to the origin 14. Measure the angles with a protractor and record the results into the table below 15. Pack up the experiment Table 2 – Raw data table Time charging the glass rod Angle of deflection of water Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Trial 6 Average 10 seconds 20 seconds 30 seconds 40 seconds 50 seconds 60 seconds Table 3 – Risks involved in the experiment and safety precautions to reduce the risks Risk Safety Precaution Action to take The burette is very long and is made of glass and can be broken easily Hold the burette with two hands and always watch for obstacles when carrying around the lab. Wear closed in shoes, lab coat and safety glasses in case the burette breaks. Carefully pick up the large pieces of broken glass one by one and throw in the glass bin. Use a brush to sweep all the small bits into the bin. Make sure there is no remaining broken glass in the lab. Bibliography 1. Columbia University Press (1978-1979). New Illustrated Columbia Encyclopaedia 2. Neuss, Geoffrey (2007). Chemistry Course Companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 3. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nkwM28diKF4C&pg=PT109&lpg=PT109&dq=deflection+charged+rod&source=bl&ots=dk2TPy7IOf&sig=g-MDZP6Q5kDsur57EIejpgJ54bg&hl=en&ei=48FrSp2bFIzusQOsy72WBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2 4. Department of Physics and Physical Science, University of Nebrasky, Kearney Falling Water http://rip.physics.unk.edu/CyberTextBook/fallingwater/ 5. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=nkwM28diKF4C&pg=PT109&lpg=PT109&dq=charged+rod+deflect+water&source=bl&ots=dk2TQr4PPg&sig=iwM-1qHxsAtaF9XoGZ1Mw9UCn6g&hl=en&ei=OStsSqjFIo6qtgOT16WWBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3

Juventus FC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Juventus FC - Essay Example won by Juventus would be handed over to Inter Milan who had finished second in the league behind Juventus and in addition to this Juventus were also relegated, which meant that they were supposed to play in the Serie B which is an inferior league for a club like Juventus, the punishment did not stop there, points were deducted for Juventus even in Serie B. The whole scandal was discovered in May of 2006 by Italian police who had tape records of football managers and referees trying to rig football games, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Lazio and Reggina were all involved in fixing the games of the Italian league, these are some of the top clubs in Italy and it was really shameful. The fans must have also felt cheated when they came across this shameful incident. It was found that games were fixed by selecting referees who would favor their clubs, the recorded tapes were heard by the Italian police and it was found out that most games were indeed rigged much to the dismay of all the football fans across the globe. Luciano Moggi who was the general manager of Juventus back then tried to heavily influence the appointment of referees for top Serie A games, he wanted referees who would favor his club so that they would easily win the Serie A title. Once the clubs were found guilty it was earlier suggested by prosecutors that Juventus should be sent to a division below Serie B, the prosecutor also suggested heavy punishment for the other clubs involved which also included points deduction. The prosecutor also wanted Juventus to be stripped of their Serie A titles which they had won in the year 2005 and 2006. The initial punishment suggested by the prosecutor was wavered; Reggina stayed in the Serie A but had to face a 15-point penalty and a hefty fine. The club president of Reggina was banned from the game for a few years but this punishment was just a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment that Juventus received. Juventus were stripped of their titles which they had

Comparing Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini's use of light Essay

Comparing Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini's use of light and shadow in their architecture - Essay Example In their architectural works, Borromini symbolized the imaginative and idiosyncratic sector of the baroque while Bernini represented the purposes and ideas of ancient Rome (Zelanski & Fisher 172). During their architectural works, both architectures used light as a building material so that they can cause visual and ornamental effect to describe the planned space. Therefore, both the architecture perceived light and shadow in their buildings for identity. Comparing Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini’s use of light and shadow in their architecture Both Bernini and Francesco used light and shadow in different sectors of their architectural works for varying functions. First, they considered the rays of light very important in their work since they used windows to act as lighting holes. They used windows to attract sunrays as seen on the church of the monastery. These architectures also used window lights in their works to show the cyclic values of time on varying seaso ns. They ensured that they built their windows in a systematic manner to have an opening, which allows rays to penetrate into specific areas within a house. Second, both Bernini and Francesco included light walls in their architectural works (White 27). ... An example is the church at Walsenburg Abbey. They enabled uniform lighting in their works by including several windows. Both architectures blended light and shadow in their work to make them appear livelier. This is because; both architectures believed that good lighting improves the surfacing texture, depth and the form of the work. They used different types of lighting and shadow in different areas; for example, they used homely lighting during the interior designs for domestic homes. Bernini and Francesco used light and shadow in their art works in order to bring about decorative effect (White 28). This is because light effects on any artwork clearly show the design of that work hence helping many people in defining such work. Both architectures considered light and shadow to rhyme; therefore, they used glass and other translucent materials in order to avoid brightness hence creating shadows in their artistic works. During their time, both architectures used light mainly in inter ior designs. They integrated fenestration together with artificial light hence creating illumination, which gave their works a sense of movement and emotion. They applied interior lighting to lessen focal prominence hence increasing a sense of openness as well as height of the objects. Both architectures used natural light to draw attention to specific parts of a given space and this was commonly applicable in churches and uniform tall windows. They also used light and fire to make their surfaces more reflective and the candle encouraged spectacular illumination (Ficher-Rathus 400). ContrastingGian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini’s use of light and shadow in their architecture Bernini and

Ethics in Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics in Finance - Essay Example This paper will evaluate the various ethics theories and analyze how they can be used to solve the ethical dilemma. Utilitarianism Utilitarianism ethics theory holds that the right action is the one giving the ultimate form of satisfaction for every one that is affected (Snoyenbos & James 17). It is notable that utilitarianism is a consequentialist moral theory that seeks to evaluate the outcomes of an action rather than the action itself (Van Staverin 21). According to this theory, the rightness or wrongness of an action is dependent on the general effect that the action has on the people it affects. Suffice to say, utilitarianism holds that an action cannot be judged in isolation to be good or bad. In this regard, an action is right if it produces more intrinsic good than any other action that would have been taken. For instance, utilitarianism could hold that cheating is right if it resulted in the saving of lives of people in danger. Actions are right when they maximize happiness and good for all the affected persons. One of the basic objections of the utilitarianism ethics theory is that the judgment of an act is based on its future outcomes (Singer 41). It is not possible for a person to know the precise consequences of his or her actions in the future. Thus, the utilitarianism ethics theory cannot be applied to justify the morality of present actions since the outcomes have to be evaluated first. However, the counter-argument to this objection is that a person can use the subordinate rules to choose the course of action in a particular situation. If in the particular circumstances greater good would result by discarding the subordinate rules, the utilitarianism ethics theory can be applied to justify an alternative action (Van Staverin 23). In the case study, the manager has to make a decision that would result in greater intrinsic good for all the people affected. Linda has had a good financial history with the bank for the past twenty years. In her twe nties, she was financially prudent and made significant savings. In the recent past, she has been in a financial turmoil culminating in frequent overdrafts and exceeding her credit card limits due to depression. Despite this, she has never defaulted on her repayments although her sister Sophie has had to bail her out twice in the recent past. Linda points out that she took care of their mother, Catherine, when Sophie was setting up her businesses. Catherine has been a faithful customer of the bank for the past fifty years. In fact, her account with the bank has been prudently managed over the years and she managed to save some money for her funeral. Her financial position has changed only in the recent past since she has to cover the costs of accommodating her daughter Linda. Sophie has successfully established herself as a business lady with a growing empire of companies. She has bailed out Linda and Catherine twice but she insists that they have to take charge of their financial i ndependence. She proposes that the bank should cut of off their credit card facility as well as overdrafts. According to utilitarianism ethics theory, it would be appropriate for the manager to keep the credit facilities for both Catherine and Linda. The credit facilities would help Linda to obtain money to fulfill her personal and family needs considering the fact that she was no longer working. Also, the credit facility would help Catherine to pay rent and buy food for herself and Linda’

Managing Organizational Change - Project proposal Essay

Managing Organizational Change - Project proposal - Essay Example While going through literatures, I found impressing that ‘resistance is a resource, an opportunity and a power’ (Palmer, Dunford and Akin, 2009 and Ford and Ford, 2009) as resistance can help managers gain more ideas and feedback about the proposed changes. The course project paper will consider this as a personal model for specific change management and describe its theoretical perspectives and practical evidences based on relevant literatures. Exploratory research will be used in the paper to describe the change management concept of ‘resistance to change’ and to explore strategic initiatives to manage resistance, based on reviewing various relevant literatures in the field, taken from books and journals accessed from sources like EBSCO, Emerald etc. Apart from the course text book, journals will be used to review the literature that explores organizational resistance to change. Out of journal sources, the scholarly articles, Decoding Resistance to Change: Strong leaders can hear and learn from their critics by Ford and Ford (2009) and Navigating Organizational Change: Change Leaders, Employee Resistance and Work-based Identities by Dijk, R. V and Dick, R. V (2009) will be of greater use in the research paper as these sources have detailed much about managing resistance and approaching it as power and

System of Structuring Cities and Understanding Interactions between Essay

System of Structuring Cities and Understanding Interactions between Individual Components within Sets - Essay Example Jane Jacobs illustrates this point most clearly in her chapter in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, â€Å"Uses of Sidewalks: Safety.† In this chapter, Jacobs attempts to analyze the ways in which sidewalks serve as a safety network for various cities. They do this in several ways, from the most basic, elevating and separating pedestrians from bikes and cars which could be dangerous to them, to much more complex systems. It is incredibly important, however, that Jacobs recognizes that the sidewalks in and of themselves do very little to create or destroy a safe environment. Jacobs indicates that people are not merely â€Å"passive beneficiaries of safety or helpless victims of danger† on sidewalks (30), but rather, everyone who participates in the interactions involved on sidewalks, from people in houses and businesses bordering the sidewalk, to the cars bordering the other side, to the pedestrians actually on the sidewalk, all have an important part to play i n keeping these sidewalks safe. She then identifies the human factors that help to keep a feeling of safety or un-safety on sidewalks. Things like high turnover of housing, little community feeling and empty streets with occasional traffic but easy access all lead to feeling (and reality) of un-safety – people are not likely to intervene on each other’s behalf and there is not a high enough mass of people and inter-person respect to provide a feeling of safety. But Jacobs is quick to point out that this safety is not merely a reflection of population density, because if it was, Los Angeles, which is nearly entirely suburban, would have a low rather than high crime rate (32). She also makes it very clear that police cannot solve this problem, and that in fact places with high police presence tend to be the most dangerous – police cannot solve the problems of unsafe cities (31). So to Jacobs the problems of creating safety in cities must rest with people – how to create public spaces in streets and sidewalks that discourage feelings of un-safety while encouraging feelings of community that create a safer environment for everyone. The idea of people being the fundamental unit of architecture appears in the works of Christopher Alexander and Le Corbusier as well, though they take almost opposite tracks to understanding how to fascilitate people’s use of cities. Both recognize very clearly that the living, breathing city is created by people – not the physical spaces, but the people that inhabit them. Alexander takes a natural view of cities, using semilattice and set theory to describe the ways a cities parts interact, through people. He strongly dislikes artificial cities, saying that there is something necessarily missing from them, and that artificial cities tend to create a â€Å"tree† system, where each component is only interrelated to each other through its connection to the whole (80). Each leaf is only conn ected to each other leaf because they are connected to the tree – not because they have any particular relationship to each other.

The effect of using learning styles with young learners Research Paper

The effect of using learning styles with young learners - Research Paper Example It is the innovation that is never ending; constant improvements can bring dramatic improvement in the performance of students and bring good results in terms of developing a conceptual learning with deep understanding. This model provides assessment to determine individual’s learning style. Any student will definitely understand with one of the four styles of learning- accomodating, converging, diverging and assimilating (Kolb, 1984). Basic learning begins at home and therefore parents involvement is also essential in making a child develop an understanding for the environment he/she is exposed to learning syles. Each child has own psychology some kids are fast learners while others take time to understand. For children, following metods work well: 2. Auditory learning: some children they learn things by listening to them. They are capable of keeping the data what they hear. In addition, they listen to music and respond very well, they learn while lisening especially rhymes and songs. They develop an understanding for various tunes and thus can develop a sense of distinction between different notes of sound. It is observed that children belonging to this category rely more on sound and they tend to commit mistakes in spellings as they are more phonetically oriented rather than visualizing things. 3. Kinesthetic or manipulative learning: this methodology incorporated performing activities. This is the best method to build confidence in children as when kids do the activity they have visualization and also they develop confidence to do the work all by themselves. This builds an independence in them and they become self reliant. A class has varied students and each student has a particular background and psychology. If a teacher is teaching with a style which a particular group of students is not able to follow then

Marketing case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing case - Essay Example ions were manifested regarding the introduction and marketing of casual runners and walkers in 11 new designs, instead of focusing on the 5 designs that the company has produced for the last 15 years. There are different symptoms that were identified in the case such as: (1) an eroding regional share; (2) eminent failure to increase the share in the broader market; (3) inability to cope with production of more designs using the present workforce; and (4) ineffective advertisements that confused old customers more than attracting new ones. From these symptoms, one could deduce that using the 5 Why Analysis: why was there an erosion in regional share? (could be due to increasing competition where more product options were available); why did they fail to increase the share in a broader market base despite increasing the number of designs? (could be due to their inability to cope with the required high quality expected of the products they produce); why were they unable to cope with the production of new designs (maybe their present staff of 35 production workers could not comply with the increased product designs or there were failure to detect the quality of work outsourced from t wo plants in South Korea); and, why was there ineffective advertisements (maybe due to the increase product designs, management could not focus on the product and marketing strategies that they want to project to the consumers). In this regard, after closer evaluation, the root problem actually stemmed from the overexpansion in product lines and designs that have not been supported by appropriate marketing strategies to enhance public awareness and to establish core competence and competitive advantage for a particularly strong product brand or line. 1. What had Henry done right? Actually, Henry was right in identifying that Pacer must respond to the changing and increasing demands of the athletic shoe market. The industry’s largest players begun to go after their established market

Luxury consumer behavior in Mainland China Essay Example for Free

Luxury consumer behavior in Mainland China Essay China recently became the world’s second largest market for luxury goods with an annual increase of more than 30% in 2010, even surpassing Japan. Further estimates predict that China will become the largest upscale product and consumer goods market in the world. How does a country with an average GDP per capita of $3,800 USD, and classified behind 105 in the world ranking possess such a strong propensity for consuming luxury goods and products? Specifically, how does one make sense of Mainland Chinese luxury buyers and their respective consumer behavior? This article answers these strategic questions for foreign companies and marketers who are interested in the luxury industry in China, and for those who want to develop a greater understanding of one of the world’s largest market and its 1. 3 billion consumers. â€Å"At the core of this paper is an explanation of Mainland China’s 21st century value system that can only have been shaped from the country’s rich history. † At the core of this paper is an explanation of Mainland China’s 21st century value system that can only have been shaped from the country’s rich history. Answering how China has become the buoyant socialist state economy it is today, is to shed light onto the country’s various economic, social, cultural and psychological histories. The history of luxury consumption in China is one of the country’s oldest. It remains deeply rooted into China’s cultural and sociological landscape and has subsequently influenced other Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The contemporary Chinese antique market and auction houses offer a telling explanation of how luxury is consumed in China. During the economic downtown, collections of Chinese antiquities were sold at Christie’s auction house for far more than their estimated value. In 2009, a 12th-century B. C. bronze vessel from the Western Zhou Dynasty sold for over 14 times its estimated value. These antique collectors are, in large part, Chinese or Asian. Collecting an expensive, storied antique is viewed in a similar vein to purchasing a luxury good. To own an artifact at home was tantamount in grandeur to that displayed by museums around the world that also housed ancient Chinese art collections. In sharp contrast, during China’s Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, tradition and Chinese cultural heritage was viewed negatively as something boring, worthless, and divisive. History and heritage were destroyed in favor of new equalizing ideology. The Cultural Revolution created a cultural void, and those affected would go on to be known as the ‘lost generation’. Currently in their 50s, some members of the ‘lost generation’ have attained new wealth. They partake in the purchasing of luxury goods, and often lack subtlety. They are ostentatious and inherently possess a skewed view of what is traditional or socially accepted, subsequently explaining for very extravagant behavior. A few examples include the rebuilding of the Chateau de Maison Laffitte of Paris in a suburb of Beijing, or one wealthy man’s endeavors to build an exact replica of the U. S. President’s White House in a rural area of Anhui province. The underlying theme is the Mainland Chinese desire to mimic emblems of power from Western culture. â€Å"Today, the Mainland Chinese consumer’s 21st century value system is comprised of three salient parts: the traditional Chinese value system persists, the socialist Chinese value system (dominant), and the Western value system which is often regarded like a trend. † As the West represents advanced technology, super powers and modern values, the majority of Mainland Chinese seek to pursue these values the best they can. Therefore the pursuit of Western values can be said to have a strong influence on the Chinese consumer value system. Today, the Mainland Chinese consumer’s 21st century value system is comprised of three salient parts: the traditional Chinese value system persists, the socialist Chinese value system (dominant), and the Western value system which is often regarded like a trend. The updated Chinese socialist value system of Deng’s reform and opening policy brings modernity, wealth, achievement and success, while the Western values bring personal liberty, post-modernism, also modernity, achievement and success. Together, the Chinese consumer’s 21st century value system is a veritable melting pot; strong values of modernity, wealth and success are dominant. Thus, the pursuit of modernity, wealth and success remains the key in explaining luxury consumer behavior in Mainland China. From this explanation of the dominant set of values within Chinese society, it is hardly surprising to discover that Mainland China’s car sales in 2009 averaged 13 million, even exceeding car sales in the U. S.. Additionally, sales for German car manufacturer Mercedes Benz went up 77%. Deng’s Open reform policy in 1978 allowed for individuals to pursue wealth through various means. Economic development transformed the social structure from a model that was horizontally equal to that of vertical extension and growth. Now, after three decades of inexistence from 1950 to 1980, social classes have reemerged. During the following three decades from 1980s to 2010, social wealth increased by an average 10% of growth each year. The Mainland Chinese consumer saw better financial opportunity and became increasingly wealthy. Financial and career success and achievements naturally became a way for people to distinguish themselves from others. It became de rigueur to openly display a person’s individual success, and luxury goods and designer brands effectively communicated status and wealth. However, at the core of this newfound wealth and status was the honest pursuit of better living conditions. Better living conditions meant for higher quality products and upscale brands. Therefore, international luxury brands perfectly fulfilled the needs of Mainland Chinese consumers from all angles – cultural, social, and economic – attributing for a more modern, powerful, and self-confident approach to life. â€Å"At the core of this newfound wealth and status was the honest pursuit of better living conditions. Better living conditions meant for higher quality products and upscale brands. † In Mainland China, one may see a person carrying an authentic Louis Vuitton bag while riding a crowded, public bus somewhere in the rural countryside. Luxury goods are consumed on a mass level, and are not confined to a select few. The central cause for an increased consumption of luxury products results from the country’s socialist value system. During the transitional period from a pure planned system to a market-driven economy, consumers inherently retained the idea of equality. Government authorities also try to maintain and communicate that equality in Mainland China is crucial to national identity. Based on steady economic development and a newfound consumer confidence towards the future’s potential, Mainland Chinese consumers believe that they are, in essence, the same as each other. Even if they cannot afford a luxury brand item today, they will save up several months of savings to eventually have it. It is important to note that all Chinese luxury consumers do not aim to show off. There is a homogenous identity and behavioral patterns that come with new wealth. However, only focusing on this collective homogenous identity, and not pay attention on the differences would cause a marketing plan to fail. The Mainland Chinese market is large and sophisticated enough to use multi-criteria methods to understanding its various crossed aspects, such as psychographic, geographic and demographic aspects. Psychographically, consumers are different from socio-psychological and cultural attitudes towards luxury point of views. These psychographic variables segment in the market into four groups known as luxury lovers, luxury followers, luxury intellectuals and luxury laggards with three dimensions according to the different psychographic aspects: collectivism-individualism, analytical-impulsive thinking, conspicuousness-functionality for luxury goods. Geographically, the regional differences in China (in terms of climates, cultural customs and languages) are varied; they are the equivalent to the collective differences found throughout Europe. China can also be divided into four large regions: North, South, East and West. Cities within a given region can be further classified into tiered cities according to city’s level of economic development. Demographically, the factors classify naturally consumers into traditional groups. For the purposes of this paper, the research sample used is meaningful for study as the income levels are controlled at ten times the national average income. This ensures luxury consumption because of the sample’s disposable income level and the easy affordability of luxury goods. Age is also controlled in the range of 25 to 45 years of age in order to be sure that the sample belongs to members of Mainland China’s new generation, avoiding the inclusion of members from the ‘lost generation’ entirely. All sample participants were educated at the university level and possessed an undergraduate degree. The psychographic segmentation of Chinese luxury consumers as luxury lovers, luxury followers, luxury intellectuals and luxury laggards cross with geographic factors to show the regional distribution difference of the four groups in various parts of the Mainland Chinese market. The results can be found in Table I and Table II. Table I: Psychographic Segmentation of Chinese Luxury Consumers Table II: Chinese Luxury Consumer Segmentation Geographical Distribution in China The segmentation proves the heterogeneity of Chinese luxury consumers although conspicuousness is dominant for luxury lovers and followers, representing 31. 2% of the total market in first tier cities. Still, conspicuousness is very visible and serves as motivation especially among ‘first movers’ for purchasing new products. First movers are often portrayed by the media as opinion leaders, and are they are tactfully used to influence the market. However, intellectuals and laggards focusing on functionality and individualism are still the main dominant groups for luxury consumers in China even in first tier cities. Why are luxury’s main consumers still quiet and conservative about their attitude towards luxury goods? â€Å"After the initial introduction of international luxury brands in China, the curiosity of Mainland Chinese consumers wore off as they began to seriously confront the psychological discomfort associated with the absence of a Chinese luxury brand. † The conservative conspicuousness is coming from the cultural and psychological contradiction: 1) the admiration of ancient China’s luxury lifestyle influences the luxury pursuit today. Currently, luxury brands are widely available from many foreign countries, such as France, Italy, and Switzerland. After the initial introduction of international luxury brands in China, the curiosity of Mainland Chinese consumers wore off as they began to seriously confront the psychological discomfort associated with the absence of a Chinese luxury brand. Why was there no Chinese brand capable of carrying out the essence of luxury found in ancient Chinese culture? 2) Chinese tradition encourages people to be benign and to not have an extravagant life. Exercising frugality and discreetness are seen as the proper way for a person to behave in society. This virtue of frugality and discreetness is also the socially accepted norm by the Chinese socialist value system. Therefore, frugality and discreetness received two confirmations from two value systems (tradition and socialist) in comparison to modernity, wealth and achievement values, which were confirmed twice by socialist and western value systems. As a result, the internal psychological values within the 21st century value system of Mainland China are conflicted. This conflict is reflected in the attitudes and behaviors of its consumers, especially in regard to the luxury market, and accounts for the following: an ambivalent attitude towards luxury consumption and psychological dissonance after purchasing. An exception is gift giving or special product categories. â€Å"The conflict of having a centralized power structure versus liberty and an openness of the market creates individual wealth while limiting the expression of wealth and status. † Conservative conspicuousness can also be understood by the unique socialist system within Mainland China’s market-drive economy. The conflict of having a centralized power structure versus liberty and an openness of the market creates individual wealth while limiting the expression of wealth and status. Those consumers who are typically found in politics or a government related environment are said to be luxury intellectuals. In this setting, wealth should not be overtly expressed or shown off to others. Products that are discreetly designed, such as ties, scarves, business suits, or handbags without logos are most popular. Alternatively, if an individual outside of politics consumes luxury products, it is most likely that he or she is a luxury lover or follower. (Please see Table III) Table III: The Conservative Conspicuousness of Chinese Luxury Consumers The potential for luxury industries to thrive in the Mainland Chinese market is high. With steady economic development, more information on luxury goods readily available online and offline, the increasing relevance of e-commerce, and a greater awareness for a higher quality of life, consumerism will propel to the center of this dynamic market. As consumers get more savvy and sophisticated, the Mainland Chinese market will, in due time, be much more difficult and complicated to operate. About the author Pierre Xiao LU is Assistant Professor of Marketing at School of Management of Fudan University in Shanghai. He specializes in luxury consumer behavior study, luxury brand management and selective retailing. His theories about Chinese consumer formed the fundamental understanding for international brands towards this market and largely adopted by successful upscale brands. Before he joins Fudan University, he received his PhD in marketing from ESSEC Paris where he is visiting professor of LVMH Chair and of its Asian campus in Singapore. Lu is author of â€Å"Elite China, Luxury Consumer Behavior in China† and co-author of â€Å"Luxury China, Market Opportunities and Potentials†. He can be reached at [emailprotected] edu. cn. References †¢ Michel Chevalier and Pierre Xiao Lu, Luxury China, Market Opportunities and Potentials, Wiley and sons, 2010 †¢ Jacques Gernet, Le Monde Chinois, Paris: Armand Colin, 1999 †¢ Alexandra Peers, What’s Still Recession-Proof, The Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2009 †¢ Pierre Xiao Lu, Elite China, Luxury Consumer Behavior in China, Wiley and Sons, 2008 †¢ China car sales top U. S. by Gilles Guillaume, Reuters, January 11, 2010 †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ http://www. reuters. com/article/idUSTRE60A1BQ20100111 †¢ Mercedes-Benz says 2009 China sales up 77 percent, Reuters, January 11, 2010 †¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ http://www. reuters. com/article/idUSTRE60B0EY20100112 †¢ Pierre Bordieux, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, London: Routledge, 1984 †¢ Pierre Xiao Lu, Elite China, Luxury Consumer Behavior in China, Wiley and Sons, 2008 †¢ Michel Chevalier and Pierre Xiao Lu, Luxury China, Market Opportunities and Potentials, Wiley and sons, 2010 †¢ Pierre Xiao Lu and Benard Pras, Profiling Mass Affluent Luxury Goods Consumers in China: a Psychographic Approach, Thunderbird International Business Review, forthcoming.

Performance Appraisal: Functions and Implementation

Performance Appraisal: Functions and Implementation Chapter 1: 1.1 Introduction This dissertation project has been undertaken for the fulfilment of the business degree MBA, General Management from the University of East London. The findings of this dissertation will contribute to concerned company and the author to complete the MBA degree. At the beginning, a leading mobile tele-communication organisation in Bangladesh named Banglalink was chosen as the research organisation. In the middle of the study, the management refused to cooperate with providing information. As a result the author had to find and choose a suitable company to collect research information and data to finish the study. Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM) was the new company chosen to finish the research. The introduction chapter gives an overall idea about the study. In this part, the background, objectives and research questions and the structure of this dissertation will be discussed. 1.2 Background of the Study The study discusses about the functions and the implementation of performance appraisal in the new era. The concept of ‘Welfare Personnel was developed in the end of the British golden colonial history by the humane concerns of some business families like Cadbury and Rowntree. Then within the next century, the concept had changed and became Personnel Management and later on Human Recourse Management. Now the world has just entered into a new millennium and the concept of human resource management has become a strategic partner for the business organisations. (McKenna Beech, 2008:2 3) Organisations require many things in order to be effective, a method for producing a product or service, financial resources, a way of marketing and human resources. While all of these are important to organisational effectiveness, the only factor that represents a potential competitive advantage is human resources. This is why the concept of human resource management is s important to every organisation.. The basics of managing people are getting people, preparing them, stimulating them motivate them. To manage human resources in any organisation the following questions are to be considered: (Dessler, 2005:4-5) Are the persons hired for the job wrong? Is the organisation able to milk out the best from the employees? What is the most frustrated area of human resource management? Is the rewarding system working properly? The above refers to how people worked in the past, what changes are required in future to make the production system effective, what are the weaknesses of the system and how to improve. These actually refer to the evaluation of employees of job which is called Performance Appraisal. Performance appraisal system is an important function of personnel department in any organisation. The system has a close relationship between organisation goals and individual performance. The performance appraisal system represents a year round exercise of managing individual performance in an integrated manner with a view to enabling employees to perform at their performance standards. (Dessler, 2005:310) With the view of increasing organisational effectiveness through the effective management of human resources, the organisations use different methods of appraising performance of their employees. For this research a small security service company named ‘Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM) a private single owner security service company has been chosen. SFM became a successful organisation in the last few years. Their high standard efficient employees are one of the key factors for their success. For that, SFM has been chosen to practice the theoretical knowledge and to get familiar with the existing system of Performance Appraisal of a small private company. 1.2 Research Question In general, most of the organisations have a kind of formal or informal performance appraisal system. Through the performance appraisal system, the employees get to know their performance standards, which area of their performance needs to be developed etc. The supervisor also provides them with feedback, development and incentives to help them eliminating their performance deficiencies. If performance appraisal system is effectively used, it can improve attraction motivation of the employees on the job. If inappropriately used the appraisal process can have disastrous effects (Dessler, 2005:310). Hence the discussion leads to the research questions: What is the level of understanding and compliance of the employees on performance appraisal? What are the reactions of the employees regarding the performance appraisal? What are the constraints of the performance appraisal in practical life? 1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study The research has been undertaken for the fulfilment of the requirement for completion of MBA, General Management for the year 2008/2009. This is mainly aimed to develop the job expertise in the performance appraisal activities under the guidance of expert faculty member of University of East London. It is really a difficult task to assess consistency, relevance and reliability of the tools and techniques of the system, however and effort is made to have some ideas about the matter. 1.3.1 Aims The study mainly aims at knowing about the awareness, the level of understanding and compliance of the employees of SFM regarding performance appraisal system. The study attempts to analyse the present performance appraisal system and the role of both appraisers and appraises in connection with the implantation of the system in real life situation. 1.3.2 Objectives To be acquainted with and acquire practical knowledge regarding performance appraisal system of an organisation. To relate the theoretical knowledge of performance appraisal with practical implication. To determine the acceptability and reliability of the performance appraisal system in a certain organisation. To assess the constraints/factors which influence the performance appraisal system. 1.4 Scope of the Study Target group includes officers of all level. The working forces those who are working in the head office and also in the other sites. Value Perception of both appraisers and appraises of the organisation under study. 1.5 Limitations of the Study While preparing this report, the following limitations had been faced: At the beginning a renowned mobile Tele-communication company in Bangladesh, Banglalink, was chosen for the study but they refused to deliver any information and cooperation just one and half month before the submission date. As a result, the author had to choose a small security company, Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM) to carry on and finish the study within such a short time. SFM has a master plan on performance appraisal, but at present implementing a part of it. As a part of the business strategy, SFM did not provide all information on their performance appraisal procedure. The major limitation of the study was the lack of time for such an intensive work which compelled the author to narrow the scope of the study. All officials were very busy with their own assignments. As a result, they had a little opportunity for giving much time in this regard. Limitation was faced on the volume of the report due to which many relevant and important things will remain unexplored in detail. 1.6 Organisation Profile Introduction to Secure Facilities Management Company Ltd. (SFM): Since its formation SFM has built its reputation by providing security personnel of the highest calibre. This has been achieved by combining sound management with sensible terms and conditions for all staff. SFM strives to ensure that their clients and staff benefit from a focused and well-defined professional approach, the ratio of management to client is kept to no more than one manager per 10 clients. SFM strives to provide the highest standards of efficiency to all its clients, both large and small. SFM understands the importance of first impressions and that their personnel are often the first point of contact for their clients visitors and residents. 1.7 Structure of the Research This structure of this study has the following five chapters: Chapter 1 is the introduction chapter where the background, research question and rationale, objective, company profile and structure of the research are stated. Chapter 2 contains a brief literature review on performance management, history and meaning of the performance appraisal, purposes, functions, types of performance appraisal, MBO, 360 degree appraisal, problems and solutions of performance appraisal and essentials of a good performance appraisal. This chapter will provide a basic understanding about performance appraisal which is related to the research questions. Chapter 3 contains Research Methodology which includes research framework, the design of the research, population and sampling, and questionnaire. Chapter 4 provides Data analysis, statistical analysis and findings of the research. Chapter 5 describes the critical review of the findings. Chapter 6 discusses on recommendation and conclusion of the study and reflection summery. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction Organisations require consistent levels of high performance from their employees in order to survive in a highly competitive environment. In a view of this, performance appraisal can be a systematic system through which evaluation of an employee is done analyze effectively to determine required performance. It plays a key role in rewarding systems. It is the process of evaluating the performance of employees, sharing information with them and searching for ways to improve their performance. Appraisal is necessary in order to: Allocate resources in a dynamic environment; Motivate and reward employees; Give employees feedback about their work; Maintain fair relationships within groups; Coach and develop employees; and Comply with regulations. It is also a formal opportunity to do what should be done much more frequently in organisations to express appreciation for employee contributions. Companies must administer their employee performance reviews, at all levels, fairly and without discrimination. Since all appraisals can be used against a company in an appraisal employee lawsuit, it is critical that these reviews should be completely accurate. This practice of performance appraisal has been given a variety of titles. The academicians call it performance appraisal, performance review etc. In Government services in Bangladesh, it is known as ACR (Annual Confidential Report). In private organisations, it is often described as merit rating, personnel rating, progress rating, annual performance, etc. Performance appraisal plays a major role in Human Resource Management. The subject is a part of Performance Management. It is necessary to discuss the performance management briefly before proceeding to performance appraisal. Performance Management The primary concern of performance management is the improvement of individual and collective performance. It is a continuous cycle of self-renewing. The aim of performance management is make direct link together individual goals, departmental purpose and organisational objectives. It integrates the major elements of HRM like appraisal and employee development, performance-related pay and reward management, individualism and employee relations. In other way it can be called as day-to-day management activity as it deals with organising works to get the best result. â€Å" a strategic integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of tams and individual contributors†. Armstrong (2001:467) According to Armstrong (2001:475) the main activities of performance management are Role Definition, The Performance Agreement or Contract, The Performance Development Plan, Managing Performance Throughout the Year and Performance Review. These activities are a continuous cycle. According to Marchington Wilkinson (2004:187), the process of performance management system involves Induction and Socialisation, Reviewing and Appraising Performance, Reinforcing Performance Standards and Counselling and Support. Beardwell and Holden (2001:538) stated â€Å"Performance Management is not simply the appraisal of individual performance: it is an integrated and continuous process that develops, communicates and enables the future direction, core competencies and values of organisation, and helps to create an ‘horizon of understanding†. Performance Management is an effective tool by which the employees work behaviours are aligned with the organisations goals. There is no one way to manage performance. Whatever system is adopted needs to be similar with the culture and the principles of that organisation. However, most system of performance management has several parts: Defining Performance: Carefully defines employee performance so that it supports the organisations strategic goals. Setting of clear goals for the individual employee is a critical component of performance management. Measuring Performance: Measuring performance does not need to be narrowly conceived, but can bring together multiple types of performance measured in various ways. The key is to measure often and use the information for mid-course corrections. Feedback and Coaching: In order to improve performance, the employee needs information (feedback) about their performance, along with the guidance in reaching the next level of results. Without frequent feedback, employees are unlikely to know that behaviour is out of synchronization with relevant goals, or what to do about it. The major aim of performance management is to find ways of continual improvement of levels of both organisational and individual performance and performance appraisal is the perfect weapon for that improvement. The Rise of Performance Appraisal The performance appraisal has a long history which started China in the third century, the reign of Wei Dynasty. It was mainly used for the civil servants, army officers and managers until recently. Now it is very much wide spread all over the world and has become a popular management tool. In the UK most of the private sector organisations has introduced and are practicing performance appraisal during the last decade or two. Some people suggested that the reason behind for its growth is to use the individualised performance-pay system. Some other factors like market competition, managing change, organisation goal, milk out the best from the employees etc. are also important. Now the terminology ‘performance appraisal is changing to ‘personal development review and ‘performance review and development. (Taylor, 2004:247-248) Meaning of Performance Appraisal Performance Appraisal (PA) is a methodical, on the job-review of an employees abilities and accomplishments. Performance appraisal functions as a valuable management assessment tool and a superior employee motivation weapon. It enables us to strike a workable balance between organisations need for qualified and trained personnel and employees need for feedback and motivation. Performance is the contribution and appraisal is the procedure of measuring the contribution. Performance appraisal is an integral part of a system of managing individuals working in an organisation. Performance appraisal is an inevitable inspire of modern technology and all the systems and controls coming into widespread us, people remain the most important factor in all kinds of business, government agencies, charitable organisations and all other organisation. Performance appraisal is a process of bringing together the approaches of performance management like counselling, training, improving performance etc. that helps the managers to exercise them to achieve the goal of the organisation. It is a procedure of rewarding and disciplining the employees to improve the over performance of the organisation. It is the process of evaluating performance or contribution of an employee to the organisation during a specific period of time by his or her supervisor with relation to his or her job requirements. An effective, reliable and valid performance appraisal system recognizes the legitimate desire of employees for progress in their professions. Integration of organisational demands and individual needs through career management is the part of performance appraisal. Therefore, the performance appraisal program is inevitable for measuring the contribution of both â€Å"employees and managerial personnel†. Performance appraisal program is the basis of determining who is profitable to higher position and who is to be rewarded for better contribution to the organisation he or she belongs to. Performance feedback lets employees know how well they have performed in comparison with the standards of the organisation. Performance appraisal program is the administrative and employee development tool, which is the domain of the management not shared by the employees. Opponents of the performance appraisal attack it on a variety of grounds but without appraising performance of the employees career development, organisational development, recently a number of organisations have revamped their appraisal system in a bid to reduce possible negative outcomes. Appraisal, no doubt is a complex issue and it is clear that to be effective, a system must be designed and implemented with great care. â€Å"Performance appraisal means evaluating an employees current and/or past performance relative to his or her performance standards†. (Dessler, 2005:310) Michael Armstrong (2001:486) says â€Å"Performance review discussions enable a perspective to be obtained on past performance as a basis for making plans for the future.† He explains that the five elements of performance management (measurement, feedback, positive reinforcement, exchange of views and agreement on action plans) can be achieved through performance review. In the conclusion it can be said that, performance appraisal is the process by which an employees contribution to the organisation during a specific period of time is assessed. Performance Feedback then lets the employee know how well they have performed in comparison with the standards of the organisation. Who Should Do The Appraisal? By traditionally a managers authority typically has included appraising subordinates performance. The logic behind this tradition seems to be that since managers are held responsible for their employees† performance, it only makes sense that these managers do the evaluating of their performance. The employees immediate boss conducts about 95 percent of all performance appraisals at the lower and middle levels of the organisation. Purposes Purposes of Performance Appraisal: HRD Employees View Performance appraisal or evaluation serves a number of purposes for Human Resources Department and for the development of the employees. Management uses performance appraisal for general human resource decisions. Evaluations provide input into such important decisions, transfers, and terminations. Performance appraisals identify training and development needs. They pinpoint employee skills and competencies that are currently inadequate but for which programs can be developed to remedy. Performance appraisal can be used as a criterion against which selection and development programs are validated. Newly Hired employees who perform poorly can be identified through performance appraisal. Similarly, the effectiveness of training development programs can be determined by assessing how well those employees who have participated do on their performance appraisal. Performance appraisals also fulfil the purpose of providing feedback to employees on how the organisation views their performance. Furthermore performance appraisals are used as the basis for reward allocations. Decisions as to who gets merit pay increases and other rewards are frequently determined by performance appraisal. Purposes of Performance Appraisal: Organisations View Identify the successful less successful aspects of the employee needs organisational goals. Assist decision makers in allocating resources in planning for future. Assist managers in just frying expenditure accounting for those expenditures. Monitor employee activities to detect any change in activities or the quality of services. Serve as a benchmark, i.e. identifying best practice performance, using that performance as a goal, investigating the factors that led up to that performance, then trying to replicate that level of performance. Functions / Uses of Performance Appraisal Multiple uses of Performance Appraisal are: Development uses. Administrative uses/decision makings. Organizational maintenance/objectives. Documentation. Types of Performance Appraisal There are various types of performance appraisal which includes Alternation Ranking Method, Graphic Rating Scale, Management By Objectives (MBO) etc. (Dessler, 2005:315) These are explained below. Alternation Ranking Method It is the oldest simplest of formal systematic rating is to compare one person with all others for the purpose of placing them in a simple rank order of worth. In doing this, the appraiser considers person and performance as an entity; no attempt is made to systematically fractionize what being appraised into component elements. Graphic Rating Scale This method is widely used in merit rating is similar to the techniques in point-evaluation plan. This involves the supervisor to rate employee performance in terms of prescribed traits i.e. quality of work, quantity of work, initiative, dependability, knowledge of work etc. Each trait is defined various degrees of each are prescribed in some way. From traits degrees over-all rating can be obtained. Forced Distribution Choice Another attempt to counteract the tendency of raters to give average ratings or even sometimes to â€Å"twist† a report to bring about a desired result is the forced-choice technique. Here the rater is faced with groups of three of four statements, he must tick the one, which applies most nearly to the employee under assessment. These statements are so devised that it is impossible for the rater to know which will give the most favourable rating. Grading It is a further development to the guideline approach which attempts to provide a frame work of reference by defining a number of levels at which the characteristics is displayed asking Managers to select the definition which most closely describes the individual they are assessing. For example, in rating effective output the Manager in a typical grading scheme is asked to choose between: Outstanding Outstanding output of high quality work Satisfactory Satisfactory level of output effort Fair Completes less than the average amount of effective work Poor Low output poor worker. Critical Incident Method The critical incident method requires every Supervisor to adopt a practice of recording in a note-book of those significant incidents in each employees behaviour that indicate effective or poor behaviour. These are recorded in a specifically-designed notebook that contains characteristics under which the various behaviours can be recorded. Management by Objectives (MBO) Management by Objectives (MBO) is a critical process that often consists of four steps as a way to attain desired performance: Objective setting-joint determination by manager employee of appropriate levels of future performance for the employee, within the context of over-all unit goals resources. These objectives are often set for the next calendar year. Action planning-participative or even independent planning by the employee as to how to reach those objectives. Providing some autonomy to employees is invaluable; they are more likely to use their ingenuity, as well as feel more committed to the plans success. Periodic reviews-joint assessment of progress toward objectives by manager employee performed informally sometimes spontaneously. Annual evaluation-more formal assessment of success in achieving the employees annual objectives coupled with a renewal of the planning cycle. Some MBO systems also use performance appraisal to tie rewards for employees to the level of results attained. MBO had been taken likened to a modem form of scientific management. It is also subject to the same possible criticisms of too great an emphasis on individual job definition together with a management authority structure, the assumption of no conflict between individual organisation goals. MBO should not be applied simply as a pressure device by which management apply increasingly demanding targets which Staffs are expected to achieve. MBO draws attention to the objectives for individual members of the organisation as a whole. MBO is a potentially attractive system. It provides an opportunity for staff of accept greater responsibility to make a higher level or personal contribution. There is much to recommend it to both the organisation individual managers. 360 Degree Appraisal or Evaluation The latest approach to performance appraisal is the use of 360 Degree evaluations. It provides for performance feedback from the full circle of daily contacts that an employee might have, ranging from mailroom personnel to customers to bosses to peers. The number of appraisals can be as few as three or four evaluations or as many as 25; with most organisations collecting five to ten per employees. The appeal of 360-degree appraisals is to fit well into organisations that have introduced teams, employee involvement, and TQM programs. By relaying on feedback from co-workers, customers and subordinates, these organisations are hoping to give every one more accurate reading on employee performance. Appraising Performance: Problems and Solutions Few of the things a manager does which are more risky than appraising subordinates performance. Employees in general tend to be overly optimistic about what their ratings will be, and also know that their raises, career progress, and peace of mind may well hinge of how they are rated. This alone should make it somewhat difficult to rate performance; even more problematic. There are more numerous structural problems that can cause serious doubt on just how fare the whole process is. Some of the main appraisal problems and their solution are explained below. Dealing with the Five Main Rating Scale Appraisal Problems Five main problems can undermine appraisal tools such as graphic rating scales: unclear standards, halo effect, central tendency, leniency or strictness, and bias. Unclear Standards: The problem of unclear standards is illustrated. Although the graphic rating scale seems objective, it would probably result in unfair appraisals because the traits and degrees of merit are open to interpretation. For example, different supervisors would probably define ‘good performance, ‘fair performance, and so on differently. The same is true of traits such as ‘quality of work or ‘creativity. Halo Effect: The halo effect means that the rating of subordinate on one trait (such as ‘gets along with others) biases the way that person is rated on other traits (such as ‘quality of work). This problem often occurs with employees who are especially friendly (or unfriendly) towards the supervisor. For example, an unfriendly employee will often be rated unsatisfactory for all traits rather than just for the trait ‘gets along well with others. Being aware of this problem is a major step toward avoiding it. Supervisory training can also solve the problem. Central Tendency: Many supervisors have a central tendency when filling in rating scales. For example, if the rating scale ranges from 1 to 7, they tend to avoid the highs (6 to 7) and lows (1to 2) and rate most of their people between 3 and 5. In a graphic rating scale, this central tendency could mean that all employees are simply rated ‘average. Such a restriction can distort the evaluations, making them less useful for promotion, salary, or counselling purposes. Ranking the employees instead of using a graphic rating scale can avoid this central tendency problem because all employees must be ranked and thus cannot all be rated average. Leniency or Strictness: Some supervisors tend to rate all their subordinates consistently high (or low), just all some instructors are notoriously high graders and others are not. This strictness/leniency problem is especially serious with graphic rating scales since supervisors arent necessarily required to avoid giving all their employees high (or low) ratings. On the other hand, when the raters rank subordinates, they are forced to distinguish between high and low performances. Thus, strictness/leniency is not a problem with the ranking or forced distribution approach. In fact, if a graphic rating scale must be used, it may be a good idea to assume a distribution of performances-that, say, only about 10% of the people should be rated ‘excellent, 20% ‘good, and so forth. In other words, try to get a spread (unless, of course, the raters are sure all their people really do fall into just one or two categories). Bias: Individual differences among raters in terms of characteristics like age, race, and sex can affect their ratings, often quite apart from each rates actual performance. In one study, for instance, researchers found a systematic tendency to evaluate older rates (over 60 years of age) lower on ‘performance capacity and ‘potential for development then younger employees. The rates race and sex can also affect the persons rating. However, bias is not necessarily consistently against minorities or women, as it seems to be in the case of older workers. In one study, high performing females were often rated significantly higher than were high performing males. An interesting picture of how age can distort evaluations emerges from a study of registered nurses. When the nurses were 30-39 years old, they and their supervisors each rated the nurses performance virtually the same. In the 21-29 category, supervisors actually rated nurses higher than they rated themselves. However, for the 40-61 nurse age categories, the supervisors rated nurses performance lower than the nurses rated their own performance. The conclusion here may be that supervisors are tougher in appraising older subordinates. Specifically, they dont give them as much credit for their success, while attributing any low performance to their lack of ability. A related problem is described in the Diversity Counts feature. An employees previous performance can also affect the evaluation of h