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« May 2009 | Main | July 2009 »

1360 posts from June 2009

June 30, 2009

Travel Industry Management

TRAVEL INDUSTRY MANAGEMENT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Critically evaluate the issues involved in travel distribution channel choice from the perspective of principals and operators

 

 

            Tour operators are essential components of the travel distribution channel. They are business firms that organize combinations of travel services such as transport, accommodation, food, entertainment, sightseeing activities and so forth, and then sell these services through a mediating travel agent or directly to the customers through direct sale or the Internet (2004). Today, the tour operating industry is in a complete metamorphosis. The key source of revenue for most travel agents is leisure travel and a wide array of services for the clients seems to be the trend. An efficient and automated process of planning and booking trips is a necessity as well. Consumers are also becoming increasingly involved in planning for their trips. They want to have flexibility of choices in determining the components of their travels. The diverse trends in the market require tour operators to be actively involved and present in any area of the distribution channels to ensure that the services would successfully reach the consumers in a systematic and efficient manner (2006).

 

            Today, tour operators are faced with domination of larger tour operators and niche operators. There is a need to know the customers, the competitors, the suppliers, and pricing trends. In order to gain essential power and control over the distribution of their services and respond to the major challenges, tour operators can adopt horizontal and vertical integration strategies. Horizontal integration is a collaboration or merger between various tour operators for the purpose of overcoming or totally removing competition. Competition is prominent as more and more tour operators resort to various services to entice the customers. Tour operators have to address the competition by maintaining close cooperation with customers through consistent promotional activities and successful image creation, and providing specialist, high-quality and tailor-made tour services. Vertical integration, on the other hand, refers to the strategy where tour operators invest in suppliers such as transport carriers, accommodation providers and travel agents. The major benefits of this strategy are giving increased exposure for the tour operator in the distribution channel, control over the quality, access and price of the services, and capability to easily connect with the customer. Vertically-integrated tour operators have the capacity to accommodate large volumes of travellers, cater to the needs of price-sensitive customers, market destinations through owned travel destinations, focus on standard and basic products, and take full control of the demand and supply structures. Vertical integration has been a trend in the British tour operating industry as the four largest tour operators (TUI UK, MyTravel, Thomas Cook and First Choice) all have their own charter airlines, accommodation, ground-handlers, and travel agents (Ashley et. al. 2004). Furthermore, the travel distribution channel today is penetrated by technological innovation. Tour operators and travel agencies utilize software in the Internet to better serve customers’ needs and preferences for optimal service and price. Travel distribution via the Internet is said to benefit the customers in the form of lower airfares and convenient access for resources on travel services (2002).

 

 

Critically evaluate recent changes and issues in the pricing of UK package holidays in recent years

 

 

            Package holidays are regarded as a separate market from holiday travels wherein the customer separately purchases the various components of the trip ( 1999). Package holidays are combinations of flight, accommodation and activities arranged for the customer by tour operators. Accordingly, the customer is guaranteed an ATOL bond, which returns the customer’s money in case the tour operator fails. Bargains and cheaper prices for package holidays usually come when the holidays are imminent. Thus, many travellers choose to book late to ensure a cheaper package. Another trend is early booking bonuses which were introduced by some tour operating companies in 1995. This bonus meant that when a customer books at least nine months before departure, the package holiday is sold at a lower price. Today, tour operators of package holidays are facing rough times as several customers opt to avail of independent travels. Package holidays are costly and have contracted agreements with other organizations. Also, the tour operators are obliged to sell all their contracted holidays to remain profitable (2006).

            Package holidays are designed to obtain large sales volumes and lessen unit costs. They are perishable commodity goods which have “expiration dates”. Thus, tour operators are basically confronted with issues of unsold holidays and high costs. Tour operators selling package holidays typically establish contracts with hotels and airlines about 12 to 18 months before the holiday season. Costs of the airline seats and hotel rooms/catering comprise a high percentage of total costs. This sometimes leads to high levels of discounts in order to lessen unsold holiday packages. It is therefore important for tour operators to entice customers to book early to improve cash flow. After the contract is fixed, the tour operators would publish brochures in time for the selling period. Brochures are usually sold at 25 percent discounts during late or end of season sales. End of season discounts on brochures reflect about 5 percent reduction in a tour operator’s season turnover while discounts provided for early purchase manifest 5 to 10 percent reduction in the turnover. Generally, about three fourths of all package holidays are sold with prices approximate to that of the brochures. The competition in the package holiday market is tough that makes tour operators develop an interdependent relationship where one decision relatively affects another. A tour operator that decides to increase their package holiday sales would result to a general fall in the prices unless other operators decide to counter the increased volume of sales ( 2006).  

 

 

 

Discuss the issues and challenges involved in the process of assembling a package holiday

 

 

            Package holiday or package tour is a tour usually consisting of transport, lodging, and activities advertised and sold by a tour operator at an inclusive price. Transport in a package holiday can be through charter airline to a foreign country or a rental car. Tour operators arrange package holidays and consumers can avail of the service through travel agents who are sometimes provided by the tour operators themselves or are separate entities ( 2006). Package holidays are the major and fastest growing segment of the outbound travel market in the United Kingdom. This purpose of travel registered 66 percent visits in 2001 and increased by 4.3 percent in 2002 (2002).

 

            British organizations in the travel and holiday sector are governed by bonding requirements from the Air Travel Organizer’s Licensing (ATOL) in selling package holidays. The interpretation of the word “package” has been the focus of several discussions between ATOL, The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).  CAA sent a guidance note to the British Court of Appeals regarding a clarification in interpreting the word “package”. The guidance note was founded on the challenging task of interpreting the word “package” and who is the legitimate seller.  The Court of Appeals thinks that if a customer goes to a travel agent to buy a “holiday”, it is likely that the agent would sell him or her a package holiday. Two other arguments are that first, if a package holiday consists of a flight then only an ATOL license holder or agent of an ATOL license holder can sell the package, with a bond. Second, if there is no package, the ATOL obligations for bonds and Package Travel Regulations would not be necessary considerations. Moreover, assembling a package holiday involves contracts and promotional activities. Tour operators have to coordinate with hotels, car rentals and airline companies for accommodation and transport. Afterwards, they have to sell brochures regarding their service. Tour operators solely carry the burden of selling their contracted package holiday services as well as the loss of unsold packages (2006). Thus, it was suggested that to avoid costs and regulatory requirements, package holidays should be avoided. However, many tour operators and travel agents still take the risk of conceptualizing and selling package holidays. To clear out the issues on what package holiday really is, the Court of Appeals suggested that tour operators and travel agents selling combination services like flights, accommodation, car hire, activities, itinerary etc., need to review their advertising activities, aircraft seat or hotel bed contracts, components of the package, common documentations or composite billing, and what the consumers understand about what they are buying in order to determine if they are intending to sell a package holiday (2006).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Compulsory Consumer Protection’ is on the agenda for the UK travel industry. Critically evaluate the consumer protection that is currently in place and discuss whether it is adequate in the light of recent changes in booking trends

 

 

            Compulsory Consumer Protection in the United Kingdom is incorporated in the Package Travel Directive (PTD), one of the Eight Consumer Acquis in 1992 (A 2001). The Package Travel Directive requires tour operating companies offering package travel to meet specified requirements for consumer protection (2006,). The British government implemented the directive through the Package Travel Regulations of 1992 which specify new liabilities and criminal offenses for package travel operators’ violations. The organizer of the travel or the person responsible for arranging and selling package holidays to consumers must have an established bond or any other form of financial protection as well as guidelines or contracts in order to avoid prosecution by Trading Standards Officers ( 2001). Presently, consumer protection in the British travel industry possesses certain deviations from the specifications of the Directive. The deviations fall into two aspects. First, modern customers know their rights to have concise contracts, fulfilment of what is written in the contract, and freedom to make their own travel arrangements. There are reported complaints that some package holiday operators failed in their obligations like booking a hotel, or flight, and failure to respond to consumer correspondence. Still, some customers are losing confidence for some package travel operators due to poor standards, last minute changes in the contract without notifying the customer, poor contract, and failure to provide contractual documentation (2006). A large number of tour operating companies that offer package holidays are also consistently denying any liability in situations where contracts between company and traveller are not honored by airlines, hotels or other organizations. Second, the directive is challenged by the diverse booking and consumer trends nowadays. Most consumers today are lured by the convenience of online booking mainly due to cheaper airline fares. This results to greater confidence for electronic commerce or tour operators who provide Internet-based booking arrangement (‘ 2002). However, it also entails higher level of consumer protection. The Internet only provides consumers with access to travel services alternatives, prices, available destinations, airline fares etc. They do not encounter a human element who can confirm their travel bookings. Some consumers also complain that online booking sometimes gives them difficulties. There are instances when they learn that there are no hotels or flights booked despite confirmation. When they try to coordinate with the tour operator, they are informed that they should directly contact the hotel or airline company since the booking is made online without the intervention of the tour operator (2006). Consumer protection in the United Kingdom has some loopholes just like in other European nations. It is recommended that the Package Travel Directive be subjected to review to cover exact statements of liabilities in the part of tour operators that fail to fulfill contracted obligations or committed inconsistent performance in the contract whether the consumer arranged the travel directly with the tour operator or through online booking (2002).

Enterprise and Business Development

Enterprise and Business Development

 

Executive Summary

 

            Entrepreneurship has been the engine propelling much of the growth of the business sector. One of the best known entrepreneurs in UK is Sir Richard Charles Nicholas. Branson is the person behind the Virgin Group which is internationally recognized from credit cards, to airlines and music "megastores.

            Entrepreneurship is within the blood of this man since he was in his student year. Branson is a school drop out that has started venturing in business since he was still 15 years old. Ventures of Branson has failed however he has persevere for success and now he is ranked at number 9th place in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006 in which Branson was estimated as to worth £3 billion.

 

PART A

Personal Profile

            Richard Charles Nicholas Branson was born on July 18, 1950 at Shamley Green, Surrey, England. Branson was born to a happily married parents Ted and Eve. Ted was a lawyer who had reluctantly set aside his passion for archaeology at the request of his father to follow in the family footsteps. Eve was an airline hostess who originally pretended to be a man in order to become a pilot instructor.

            Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School which is now called Bishopsgate School until the age of 13. He then attended Stowe School until he was 15. Branson, being in a boarding school until he was 15, found success on the field rather than in the classroom. He excelled in a wide range of athletics, which found him popularity at school, but he struggled with his academics because of his dyslexia. Branson suffered from dyslexia and had a generally curious spirit, resulting in him not being a good student. However, he was the captain of football and cricket teams.

Branson is married and has two children.

 

Business Venture

            Richard Branson has started business ventures by the age of 15 which are includes growing Christmas trees and raising budgerigars. However, these first attempts have eventually failed.

At the age of 16, Branson decided to quit school and move to London, where he began his first successful entrepreneurial activity setting up Student magazine. In addition, when he was 17, he opened the "Student Valley Centre" which is a charity that helps young people. As the Student magazine is failing, Branson started his first record business after he traveled across the English Channel and purchased crates of "cut-outs" records from a record discounter.

In 1970 he founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer with Nik Powell, and not long after he opened a record shop in Oxford Street, London. Branson had gained enough profits from his record store to purchase a country estate, in which he installed a recording studio. He leased out studio time to fledgling artists, including multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield.In addition, in 1984, Branson formed Virgin Atlantic Ways, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, Virgin Blue in Australia in 2000, and later failed in a 2000 bid to handle the National Lottery.Moreover, in 1997, Branson enter into the railway business. In 2007, Branson has also developed a Virgin Cola brand, but is now retreating only to the UK market, and even a Virgin Vodka brand, which has not been an overly successful enterprise.

On September 25, 2004, Branson announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind Spaceship One to take paying passengers into suborbital space. The group plans to make flights available to the public by late 2007 with tickets priced at $200,000.

Branson's next venture with the Virgin group is Virgin Fuel, which is set to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and also aircraft in the near future.

Hurdles Branson Face

            Branson’s parents took extreme measures to encourage their children’s independence. Both have ingrained in Branson’s mind the sense of hard work and the need to be financially successful.

            Branson suffering from dyslexia has the difficulty in reading, writing and spelling however has succeeded in the athletic field. With his undiagnosed sickness, the class and the teacher thought of him as stupid or lazy.

            However, with the way his parents has raised them, Branson has also set himself with challenges. With their own challenge, he learned perseverance and determination to be successful in every challenge.

            In his first attempts of business ventures, which includes Christmas tree growing and raising of budgerigars, has turned out to be unsuccessful. However, Branson has not lost hope. He ventures again on Student magazine which did not last long again. However still persevere to find ways to be successful. While the magazine is failing, Branson set up a record mail order in which he found out to have large demand. This has gained him profits and helps him set up other business ventures.

The Virgin Group has now expanded into international music Megastores, air travel, mobile, financial, retail, music, internet, drinks, rail, hotels and leisure, with around 200 companies in over 30 countries.

In 1971 Branson was arrested and charged for selling records in Virgin stores that had been declared as export stock. He settled out-of-court with UK Customs and Excise with an agreement to repay the unpaid tax and fines. Branson's mother Joyce remortgaged the family home to help pay the settlement.

In addition, in 1990s with the continually increasing price of airline fuel and with the terrorism attack which scares people to travel on airplane, Branson has to sell Virgin records. In addition, British Airways has also been secretly trying to put Branson out of business. However, Branson has successfully handled the situation.

Whether a business or a personal challenge, Branson has attacked it with equal passion and determination, making himself not only one of the most profitable businessman in today’s world but also one of the most talked about.

 

Branson as an Entrepreneur

            Richard Branson as an entrepreneur has learned lessons on how to appropriately handle the organization and the barriers and challenges in which organizations face. There are six lessons which Branson has learned being an entrepreneur (www.evancarmichael.com).

1.    Be a Good Leader

According to Branson, “Having a personality of caring about people is important.” He added that, “an entrepreneur can not be a good leader unless you generally like people. That is how you bring out the best in them.”

Branson has always been criticized for his management style. However, “his overall leadership principle rests on the need to treat other people with respect. Branson stresses the importance of time management skills, saying he spends roughly one third of his time on trouble shooting, one third on new projects – both business related and charitable – and one third on promoting and marketing his businesses. In between, he also makes time for his family and vacations.”

Moreover, according to Branson, a good leader should know when to back away from the task. It is also important for a good leader to have the ability to delegate task. “I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me,” says Branson.

“For Branson, the most important factor of good leadership is relating to other people. Treating his employees as important team players are crucial to the success of Branson’s Virgin Empires, putting employees first, customers second, and shareholders third.”

2. Build a Powerful Brand

In 2005, Branson said his goal was to turn Virgin into “the most respected brand in the world.” Branson is not far off from achieving his goal.

Branson has managed to expand his brand so effectively by diversifying his portfolio. He doesn’t strive to take over large markets, but rather to make profits in small pieces of larger markets.

3. Keep Flying

“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming,” says Branson.

“Branson is no stranger to failure. Known for his often wild and dramatic ideas, Branson always knew that he would encounter letdowns along the way. But, the secret to his success has been his ability to make a strong recovery. More than perhaps any other entrepreneur in the 20th century, Branson has been able to successfully move from one venture to the next even after experiencing bitter disappointment.” Determination and perseverance often will get good returns.

4. Break Records

Branson thrives on the adrenaline he gets from taking chances. Whether or not they pay off, he sets his goals high and doesn’t rest until he has left his mark.

By following his own path and refusing to accept the standards that had been set before him, Branson carved out a unique career and an impressive success for himself. He set his sights on the impossible and made it possible, and he had a little fun doing it along the way too.

 

 

5. Have Fun

Branson’s remarkable success has come about largely as a result of his own colorful and enthusiastic personality. The most important driving factor behind all of Branson’s business pursuits has been his desire to enjoy himself. “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts,” he says.

Despite now being worth over $3 billion, Branson’s prime motivation was never the money. Instead, Branson thinks business should be about having a good time.

Branson takes great effort to ensure his employees are enjoying themselves at Virgin. He regularly writes his staff letters to tell them what is going on and he encourages them to send him their own ideas. He also insists on having time to enjoy with his staff outside of work.

In summary, in what Branson learned being an entrepreneur, there are some things that an entrepreneur must possess in order to be successful. One characteristic that an entrepreneur must possess is determination. With determination, an entrepreneur is able to do what he intends to do even beyond his capability. In addition, being a good leader adds up to the success. Having the ability to handle people is important in an organization.  Also, entrepreneur must have fun in what they because without joy in doing what they are doing is worst than doing nothing.

PART B

Businesses

            Richard Branson’s brand “Virgin” is consist of everything from credit cards, to airlines and music megastores. Virgin Records was the first major success as he started the label with a hit record. However, with the challenges that the company had faced it has to be sold to EMI.

Some of the businesses Branson has collected include (woopido.com):

Ø  Virgin Atlantic - An international airline flying to many major destinations.

Ø  Virgin Megastores - Music Super-markets located in major locations in the UK, USA and Australia.

Ø  Virgin Books - Publisher and distributor of books.

Ø  Virgin Credit Card - Branson's attempt to provide credit card at a reasonable price.

Ø  Virgin Holidays - Book a holiday and fly Virgin Atlantic?

Ø  Virgin Trains - Virgin making trains sexy in the United Kingdom.

Ø  V2 Music - Largest UK based independent recording label.

Ø  Virgin Active - Chain of fitness clubs throughout the United Kingdom.

Ø  Virgin Galactic - Branson's planned affordable flight to space venture.

Ø  Ulusaba - Luxury game reserve located in South Africa.

Ø  Necker Island - Branson's own Private Island located in the British Virgin Islands.

Source of Competitive Advantage

“One of Richard's key ingredients to success is his commitment to his people. He believes in promoting from within, thereby providing career opportunities to his staff that might not otherwise be available to them. Even in tough economic times, layoffs are unheard of at Virgin despite employing over twenty thousand people. Everyone from aunts, uncles, cousins, childhood friends, immediate family, even former girlfriends and wives has all been brought into the company's business activities.

Branson has gone to great lengths to create a fun working atmosphere that people would enjoy being a part of rather than simply a place to earn a paycheck. He is a staunch believer in open communication being the key to a stronger infrastructure where everyone is devoted to the overall excellence of the company. This is evidenced by a monthly letter to employees in which he provides much of the details of Virgin's future plans, along with his home address and telephone number for any ideas, suggestions or problems that might arise. He also prefers to make his managers minority stockholders in Virgin's new ventures as they unfold, trusting them with full authority, and is proud to have created new multimillionaires from within his own organization.

One important element in Branson's success is his belief in delegation. His Virgin record company, now divested, was a perfect example of how he organizes his many ventures. Although Virgin Records may have been a collection of many smaller entities, cumulatively, it was the largest independent record company in the world. When any one entity got too big, Branson would take some of the middle management, create a new affiliate company, promoting them to senior management, allowing them remain in close proximity to clients, suppliers, distributors and support staff while giving them greater incentive to perform.

Another important aspect of his success is diversification. Branson doesn't believe in acquisitions. He does believe in building new companies from the ground up, giving 100% involvement during the startup phase, then delegating the ongoing operations to the new management. The Virgin conglomerate now encompasses balloon flights, motorcycles, airlines, trains, books, a bridal emporium, cars, cinemas, cosmetics, credit cards, drinks, gas and electricity, limousines, mega-retail stores, finance, Internet service provider and digital radio broadcasting. And Branson's not afraid of a good fight. He has successfully taken on giants like British Airways and Coca Cola looking to reduce their monopoly and capture just a portion of their market.” (2002)

From the above information gathered, it can be predicted in the future that Richard Branson’s venture would likely to expand or consistently on the top since Branson is capable of handling his people and his organization as an entrepreneur.

 

 


 

 

 

 

           

             

 

 

 



 

METHADONE TREATMENT PROGRAMS ARE EFFECTIVE IN STOPPING HEROINE USAGE

Methadone Treatment Programs: Analysis on the efficiency against Heroine Usage

            Methadone maintenance treatment has a long history of efficiency as a therapy for opioid addiction; however there are variations on the responses of the patients due to the complexities of the methadone treatment and the differences of every individual. This paper examines the efficiency of the methadone treatment in stopping heroine usage; moreover it also evaluates how the differences of the patients affect the success of the programs.

 

Introduction

            Substance addiction is very common all over the world and not just in the United States. Addiction whether it is physiological or substance is a serious matter that needs to be addressed by everyone, from the government officials, up to the family members. One of the most abused substances is the heroine. Heroine according to  (2006) is a semi-synthetic opioid that copies endorphins therefore causing a high-sense of well-being when the drug is inserted into the bloodstream often through injection, it can be used as a pain-killer and for some, a recreational drug. According to  and  (2005), heroin has a very high tendency of addiction especially those recreational users; moreover, regular administration of the drug may cause a quick development of tolerance by the drug user.

 Different programs have been created in order to address this issue. And one of those treatments is the methadone program. According to the  (2006), the Methadone Treatment Program is a procedure for opiate addicts that are often conducted in an outpatient setting. In this program the health workers use a long-acting synthetic opiate for medication, frequently used are the methadone or LAAM, it is given orally for a maintained period at a dosage that is enough to prevent withdrawal from opiate, hamper the effects of illegal use of the opiate and reduce the desire for opiate. Moreover, individuals that are already stabilized on sufficient and maintained dosages of methadone or LAAM can already function normally such as hold jobs, avoid crime and violence and decrease the exposure to HIV through stopping the or reducing the usage of injections. And according to  (2002), the methadone occupies the brain receptors in which it: blocks the euphoric and sedating effects of opiates, reduces the desire to have opiates, reduces the symptoms that is related to the withdrawal from opiates, it does not cause euphoria and intoxication in which allows an individual to participate in the society and is excreted slowly so it can be administered once a day. And aside from it helps in reducing the addiction in opiates, the methadone treatment has significant benefits to the individuals and the society. It includes:

  • Decreases and even stops the usage of drugs that are administered via injection.
  • Decreases the risk of being overdosed and obtaining diseases like HIV, hepatitis B and C, bacterial infections, endocarditis, soft tissue infections, thrombophlebitis, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases.
  • It decreases the mortality for opiate dependent individuals.
  • The probability of decreases in engaging in sexual risk behaviors, however evidences with this regard is conflicting
  • It decreases criminal activity
  • It enhances the stability in the family and the potential of acquiring employment
  • And improved outcomes on pregnancy

The key issues that need to be addressed in an effective methadone maintenance treatment are the following:

Dosage- there are studies showing that higher dosage of methadone is more effective in reducing heroin use.

Length of Treatment- studies have revealed that positive results from treatment of substance abuse are clearly possible on appropriate length of treatment.

Need to tailor treatment to subgroups of injection drug users and to individual patients- the treatment programs must be created to address the specific needs of patients so that the program can respond more efficienty to the various patients.

Continued use of heroin- the expectations of the treatment must be in realistic form, in which there is a great possibility that the user will abuse again the substance if not other types, understanding that the recovery of a substance addict is a daily process and sometimes even relapses.

 

 

Objectives

            The main objective of this study is to identify the effectiveness of the employment of the methadone treatment programs in putting an end to the usage of heroine. The paper also investigates if the differences of the patients affect the success of the treatments.

 

Hypothesis

            The hypotheses for this study are methadone treatments are effective in treating the addiction of individuals to heroine another is that success of the treatments has differs with regard to the level of addiction to heroin and individual have. The working hypothesis is the levels of success in stopping the use of heroine through methadone treatment programs depends on the degree of addiction an individual has.

 

Review of Related Literature

            Heroin and other opiates are the leading illegal substances that are often abused by individuals in the United States and it is also the leading cause for admission in methadone treatment programs. The rising usage of heroin began in 1992 wherein users were smoking or sniffing heroin with users below the age of 26. There are a number of medications that can be used in treating the addiction to heroin some of the effective treatments are: long and short residential treatments that involves counseling, outpatient programs that involves behavior counseling and psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy treatment and the use of opiate drugs and the methadone treatment program. And in this paper it will focus on the methadone treatment program. ( , 2000)

            According to  and  (1996) the National Academy of Sciences determined that the methadone treatment programs are the most rigidly accurate researched treatment modality that has gained positive results. The authors stated that methadone prevents withdrawal symptoms and subdues the desires to take the drugs through stabilizing the blood levels of the drug and the metabolites, and if given in appropriated dosages it lets the individuals function normally. The medication of methadone is consumed orally once a day, the programs also include counseling, medical care and other assistant services. The purpose of the treatment is to give assistance to heroine addicts to stop using the illicit drugs and continue with the normal function of their lives.

            Moreover,  and  (2000), discussed that methadone is mainly a μ-receptor agonist and may copy endogenous opioids, enkephalins and endorphins that have a great effect in the release of other neurotransmitters such as the acetycholine, norephinephrine, substance P and dopamine. In maintenance therapy the main purpose id to substitute methadone for the illegal drug that is heroin. The treatment gives a reprieve from daily life which is related with the buying and usage if heroin and lets an individual reintegrate as a member of the society that has a great function.

            The efficiency of methadone treatment programs for individuals that have abused the drug heroin have shown in a number of early studies, it includes the study of , , ,  and  (1974), the research have shown that the response of the sample population to the methadone treatment programs have been positive. The positive outcomes include the retention in the methadone programs, some decrease in police arrests and a noticeable decrease in the usage of heroin. The decrease in the heroin use and the retention of users in the program reflects the efficiency of the methadone treatment. Moreover, the study has shown that the component in which the methadone program have proven to be responsible for the decreased heroin use is the administration of methadone to users.

            Moreover, in the study of , ,  (2000), methadone maintenance therapy have shown a greater retention in the therapy and lower heroin usage than detoxification. The research have resulted in lower rate of HIV risk behaviors that are drug related although it displayed no difference in groups between employment or family functioning and alcohol use, on the other hand the usage of heroin per month have significantly dropped. The results of the study have shown that the methadone maintenance treatment is a useful tool in decreasing the heroin use and HIV related risk behaviors.

             In addition,  and  (1993) stated that their research have determined that there was a noticeable decline in the use of heroin regardless on the type of methadone program the user have been exposed.

            However, the efficiency of the methadone treatment varies in different individuals. According to the study of , ,  and  (1992), there are a number of factors why most heroin abusers failed to keep the appointments for the treatment. First, intravenous users may have gotten the drugs from a lot of sources. Second, the health workers are more likely to record missed appointments in the notes of the patients enrolled in the methadone programs than other patients. Third is the travel to the surgery may cause a problem and at the same time be expensive specifically in a methadone program wherein it accepts drug users out of their catchment area. And finally, failure to follow the suggested decreasing regimen could have resulted in the missing of appointments due to the desire to end detoxification. There are also factors that influenced the success of the methadone treatment this factors include the treatment environment which includes the philosophy of the clinic, treatment events such as the dosage levels of methadone, take-home privileges, urinalysis monitoring and types of services. (, , , 1994)   

            The study of , , ,  and  (2000) have shown that patients that remained in the methadone treatment in general practice have relevantly lower rate of criminal convictions and considerably spent less time in prisons than before the initiation of the treatment.  

            In addition, to the failed appointments stated by the researchers above, . , , (2003) determined that poor attendance in counseling during the early treatment of heroin addiction may be significant in the constant finding that poor attendance in counseling constitute the patient profile which also involves high degrees of drug-positive urine screens and high attrition comparative to patients that are always on time for sessions in counseling. Moreover, according to the researchers’ study, patients having poor attendance have been present in fewer counseling sessions and dropped out of the treatment at a higher level compare to patients having good attendance, another is patients with poor attendance on the treatment have provided fewer opiate-negative drug screens, in addition these users have considerably lower rate of employment. 

            Another thing is that dosages of methadone also varies in heroin users, according to ,  and  (2003), the opioid substitution medication needs greatly differs, in which it is frequently neglected in treatment researches. The importance of giving appropriate dosages among users is quite apparent in the study; it suggested that health practitioners should be given flexibility in administering dosages of methadone as long as the results are positive, it is due to the fact that very low dosages can be effective in some of the patients while other users require higher dosages in order to attain abstinence from heroin use.

            The methadone treatment program has been used for decades. A number of studies have already came out to test the efficiency of the treatment in treating opiate addiction particularly heroin usage. And most of the researchers conducted resulted favorable outcomes and positive results with regards to methadone treatment programs. In the study of ,  and  (1999), the researchers have determined that over the past years there have been significant improvements in a number of relevant treatment practices in a considerably large panel sample of methadone maintenance units, which is a fact particularly for treatment practices that are related to the methadone dose levels and for the comparison between treatment practices in the years 1988 to 1995.

            Moreover, according to  (2006), the methadone treatment programs is clearly the most cost-efficient treatment for heroin addiction, however the social workers are not that much aware on the efficiency and the advantages of the usage of methadone for treatment of heroin addiction.

 

Method

Search Strategy

            Studies were gathered from different sources. The following electronic database was used in searching for articles: , , ,  and . The search strategy was diverse and used as absolutely essential to match the particular databases. Search terms that were used are “methadone treatments,” “methadone treatment program,” “heroin,” “opioid substances” and “methadone,” in which the terms were either combined or used individually. In addition, journals in the area of heroin addiction and methadone treatments that were available in the electronic journals were also searched and studies that were not available on-line were hand searched.

            This review gives emphasis on studies that were published between the years 1990 and the present; however a study from the year 1974 was also used because it provided relevant information that may also contribute in this study. Studies that used only the English language were used for useful reasons.

 

Inclusion Criteria

            Methadone maintenance treatment is a procedure that is given to individuals that are addicted to heroin. The treatment includes health, social and rehabilitation services in which it alleviates the withdrawal symptoms, it decreases the craving for opiates and normalizes the functions of the different systems of the body. It has been available for over 3 decades and has been proven effective for stopping if nit reducing opiate addiction in a number of researches.    Even though the programs of different treatment facilities or locations differ, the study was includes in the review if the methadone treatment constitutes the following elements: application of methadone, medical care, counseling and support, and health promotion and education. The subjects involved in this literature were over the age of 18 who were heroin users and have participated in a methadone treatment program. The study also includes programs that were prison-based. Studies that involve pregnancy and psychological or psychiatric illness were not included in this review.

 

Outcomes

            The primary outcomes of the studies have shown that there is a considerable decrease in the usage of heroin among users studied that were enrolled in the methadone treatment programs, abstinence from the usage of heroin or other addictive drugs and the retention on the methadone treatment of the patients. The secondary results include the decrease in crime rates and the increase in the quality of life of the users.

 

Discussion

            The studies used in this review are carried out in the United States of America and the United Kingdom. The significance of the findings should be assessed carefully because every country differs on the range of drug problems and the factors in the dependence and usage of heroin. The trials in the studies were conducted both in the outpatient and the laboratory setting. The studies have shown that methadone treatment programs are an efficient procedure in abstaining and reducing heroin addicts from using it. A number of studies have pointed out the effectiveness of the program; in an old research by Cleveland have shown its positive outcomes even though during those times the methadone treatment program is a barely new approach in the treatment of opiate addiction, new studies have shown the efficiency of the treatment and as time passes by improvements with regards to the treatment are being made and developed in order to answer all the possible questions on the methadone treatment programs. Moreover, positive outcomes in different studies on the treatment have been surfacing making the use of methadone for treatment of opiate addiction a favorable approach, from retention in the treatment until abstaining from the use of heroin.

            However, the effects of the treatment differ from patient to patient and country by country. Patients that are inducing more than one drug are most likely be in a longer treatment compare to patients that have induced only one drug or a small amount of drug.  In the United Kingdom, the methadone treatment can be costly and the success of the treatment in the United Kingdom is not as successful as in the United Stated wherein the methadone treatment is considered a cost-efficient method in treating opiate addiction. The dosages of methadone given to patients also had a great effect in the rapid success of the programs. However, higher dosages that are administered in the patients have yielded better results compare to lower dosages.

            The methadone treatment is the most efficient program in reducing and even abstaining an individual from the addiction in heroin, as mentioned earlier, a number of studies have already proven its effectiveness. However, the success of the treatment depends upon the person and the location of the program. A person who is not willing to undergo the treatment is most likely to continue the administration of drugs in his or her system and will be most likely be at risk in obtaining diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C. In order for a treatment to be effective the person with the problem must first agree to admit his or herself in the procedure. Second is the support of the treatment in different health care facilities and health care workers, even though the treatment may have shown huge positive outcomes if the health professionals are not utilizing the program properly, an example given by  in which the authors have stated that the typical suggestion of dosage is 60 to 100 milligrams however there are clinics that still gives patients 50 milligrams or less. In addition, the locations of the units have a significant effect on the dosages given to patients, in the United States units that have less than 250,000 treat the patients with lower dosages compare to units that have bigger population. Another thing in which mentioned earlier, the country can also be a factor on the success of the programs, like in the case of United Stated wherein methadone treatment is considered a cost-effective form of treatment whereas in the United Kingdom it is considered costly.

Moreover, according to Hoffman strong programs are important so that the public are assured of the continued success of methadone treatment; it must integrate with the public health initiatives, patient education, job training and social support in order to increase drug replacement.

Overall, the methadone treatment program is an effective procedure in treating heroin addiction; however the success of the program depends on the person and the location of the treatment units.     

 

References:

FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT AND COMPENSATION

Family Medical Leave Act 1993: Discovering Pertinent Labor Issues

Introduction

Important changes in the understanding and management of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) have been developed in the past 10 to 15 years. Various researchers, practitioners and policymakers now acknowledge that leaves for workers can be conceptualized from a functional perspective and that appropriate interventions involve the development of alternative measures to cope up. It was also noted that the establishment of a conducive environment for employment have served effectively in lowering the prevalence of underachievement among workers. At present, this philosophical shift has extended to various settings, including multinational companies and organizations. Managers and directors here have recognized that most of their employees do need to take leaves over the course of the year in order to recuperate from illnesses or to take care for a sick family member. Hence, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted under the term of former US president Bill Clinton as his government’s alternative way of mitigating these expectations of employees.

All companies and organizations are governed by their basic goals and objectives. These objectives are often regarded to as the “corporate vision” or “corporate philosophy” (, 2001). Thus, certain strategies are being implemented with the aim of achieving these goals and objectives, and this constitutes a key element in the characterization of a company or organization. Personnel are undoubtedly an important indicator in determining the characteristics of a company or organization.

It is a well known fact that human resources play a crucial role towards differentiation and a potent source of competitiveness for any organization or company. Therefore, any organization must constantly comply in the implementation of the (FMLA) even during periods of recession. However, the determination of the extent to which an organization can invest in terms of the implementation of the (FMLA) depends on the financial capabilities of the company or organization (, 2004). Finances will also be carefully considered in determining the target for ample benefits and compensations, because it should jive with the basic policies of an organization’s human resource development strategy.

Law Synopsis

            The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which became effective in August 5, 1993, applies to companies with an employee base of 50 persons or higher. The statute provides for the allowance accorded by employers to their employees in taking leaves of absence for twelve weeks within a twelve month working period for the following reasons: child birth and neonatal care, child placement due to foster care or adoption, serious illness of spouse, children or parents, and serious health condition of the employee preventing him/her from performing essential employment functions. Since the implementation of the statute several issues have been raised by employers and employees alike covering the applicability of the law and the consistency of its provisions with other employment welfare legislations (, 2006).

In lieu of the present developments in society, there have been significant visions of learning regarding FMLA that evolved. A majority of these learning visions are based on the idea that the implementation of the FMLA involves a social process where knowledge is denied instead of being acquired passively. The implementation of the FMLA, then, transforms into an interactive process. The interaction is being verified through the help of the participants in the implementation process such as the employers and the employees. In this framework, high quality of implementation would mean the continued guidance and support of the active learning process of the employers and the employees. Obviously, this would call for an intensive and phased guiding strategy.

When in the active pursuit of the implementation of the FMLA, the interaction of the employers with their employees forms an integral part towards its success. Collaborative learning as a method of implementation is gradually being used by employers nowadays. Through this approach, the employees can learn the advantages and disadvantages of FMLA through the understanding of its policies in the socialization processes. In the process, the employees are able to obtain the chance to see their own ideas in a different aspect and therefore be able to take alternatives into consideration. The relative effectiveness of this approach is determined with the capability of the employees to continuously challenge their pre-acquired knowledge by trying to adapt to the interpretations of their employers.

Aside from the employers and the employees, the different resources of FMLA belong to a third category of factors of a learning environment. Moreover, implementation methods of FMLA have shown signs of significant growth over the past years. Consequently, obtaining knowledge becomes more complicated. This is because the transformation of all this information into knowledge requires the employees to possess the appropriate reference frameworks. But employers can certainly help the employees transform FMLA information into valuable knowledge.

Review of Related Literature

             The implementation of the (FMLA) in most organizations and companies in the past decade has gradually transformed from low-level activities into high-profile contributors to organizational success (. 2002). However, budgets are also elevating at a faster rate than the gross national product. In the midst of this growth and increased influence, managers and executives of companies and organizations are left with confusing question: To what extent should be invested in the implementation of the (FMLA)? Definitely the answer won’t be easy, especially because the actual levels of expenditures needed is often an elusive figure, depending on the financial capabilities of the organization. However, there are basic strategies to could help organizations determine the extent of investment in human resources development.

Let Others Do It

This strategy involves letting other organizations implement first the FMLA and waiting for the right time to see if there have been positive results from those organizations as far as the performances of their employees are concerned (. 2003). While it may be true that these organizations offer paid leaves and large benefits and compensations for capable, high-value employees, they in turn prevent the possibility of having a significant internal investment in terms of human resource development.  Smaller firms and organizations who struggle to operate efficiently pursue this strategy as a cost-effective approach towards the implementation of the (FMLA).

The most appealing advantage of this strategy is that it would provide an excellent alternative for a struggling or financially handicapped organization that cannot afford to implement the serious initiatives under the FMLA. Thus, costs are reduced as organizations are saved from spending too much in the development and implementation of a variety of human resource development programs.

However, serious concerns in this type of strategy have also started to emerge, especially since the character of organizations snatching the strategies of other organizations often draws heavy criticism.

Invest the Minimum

This strategy involves investing only in necessary policies under the FMLA, such as the mandatory twelve (12) workweeks of leave per twelve (12) months and the protection of employee benefits even while on leave. With this strategy, minimal resources are spent by organizations towards the implementation of the FMLA (, 2001).The striking advantage of this strategy is that it utilizes minimal financial resources. The strategy also has a high level of efficiency, especially since the leaves are provided only when they are necessary, and only those people who need the leaves are determined. Another important advantage is that this process is able to adapt to the changing needs and status of the personnel. If efficiency and low costs are needed, this strategy is the most practical for organizations and companies to pursue. As a disadvantage, however, this strategy provides the employees with very minimal opportunities to become versatile on their jobs, as the constant absence in work because of leaves might interrupt their concentration and focus on their respective jobs. This strategy might also be neglecting the preparations for future job opportunities. Also, this strategy may be a hindrance towards the growth and innovation of an organization and its human resources, since FMLA does not include concrete plans regarding the preparation of their employees towards seeking new approaches.

Invest Until It Hurts

This strategy involves the use of excessive investments in the implementation of the (FMLA). An organization that pursues this strategy invests astronomical amounts of resources on activities in order to meet the need of their personnel to have extended leaves than usual, accompanied by ample compensations and benefits (, 2002). There are several factors which contribute to an organization’s overspending on the implementation of the (FMLA). But the most prominent factor is the organization’s desire to develop a pool of high-valued employees in a variety of approaches solutions and activities, like giving leeway to their employees as far as filing their leaves are concerned. Another factor is the continued expansion and growth of the human resources of rival organizations and companies. This situation all the more puts so much pressure on smaller organizations to strengthen their human resources to ensure efficient operations.

The third factor is the sudden emergence of unconventional human resource development options. Due to the innovations in modern technology, organizations suddenly became capable of implementing unconventional options for making their pool of human resources more effective and efficient. The emergence of this type of strategy brings in a critical question: Could an organization invest too much on efforts to implement the FMLA and please their employees? In the advent of changes in the working environments nowadays, the need for vacation and sick leaves becomes imperative for continued growth and development. Therefore, there is a possibility that an organization may invest more than what is necessary. However, when employees spend too much time in their vacation leaves, the costs increase while at the same time depriving them of other important activities they have to accomplish.

The proponents of this strategy single out the relationship between the employees’ desire to learn and job satisfaction, which are determining factors for their decision to stay with the organization. These employees rely on the possibility that excellent benefits and compensations even while at leaves might reduce turnover. However, for organizations having difficulty searching for an innovative benefits and compensation package within FMLA, additional training can lead to new ideas, techniques and methods which can lead into improved operations of the organization. Also, since there are unpredictable changes that happen once in a while, it is impossible to foresee the skills needed in the future. However, what is evident is the fact that employees need to set their eyes off work once in a while for growth and development.

As a disadvantage, this strategy will definitely generate excessive costs because it represents an inefficient approach towards handling the implementation of FMLA. All types of benefits and compensations may be developed, but they are not necessarily based on business needs, but rather on employee preferences on when they will have to file their leaves. Investing too much on the implementation of FMLA may eventually lead to higher turnover. This is because employees sometimes have the tendency to schedule leaves very early for future opportunities on their own ways, and this could create false expectations.

Invest Whenever There Is an Acceptable Return on Investment

This strategy is actually very simple in nature, but needs the firm commitment of an organization in order to be implemented. This involves investing on the implementation of the FMLA for as long as there is a return on investment (ROI) in terms of organizational outputs. This strategy requires determining the payoff of employee efforts for a few selected outputs, but evaluating every aspect at some level. In the programs chosen for ROI analysis, the outputs are translated into monetary values and are then compared to the actual costs (investment) to calculate the ROI. Therefore, the level of investment will be increased whenever the return is positive (, 2004). While it may be true that determining the ROI value is challenging, the rewarding part is that it is already being implemented by a number of growing organizations. These organizations perceive ROI as the best way to evaluate the extent of human resource development investments. According to them, matching the investment with the return is the economic approach towards an effective scheme for the implementation of FMLA.

Most managers of organizations and companies agree to the impending need to review the expenditures of the implementation of FMLA with a more economic-oriented scrutiny. When compared with other evaluation measures, ROI is able to give a sound perspective in determining the payoff of leaves of employees. The ROI process actually develops a tabulation of six types of data: reaction to the program, learning, application, impact, return on investment and intangible benefits. These types of data reflect the effectiveness and efficiency of the human resource development efforts of an organization, and the means for its improvement (, 2003).

This approach also provides a strong link between the organizational needs and employee performance. This is because the ROI process is based on the perspective of beginning with the end in mind. This involves the utilization of predefined organizational measures to determine the success of human resource development programs. The data that will be obtained from this process will represent the critical information needed to secure the continued support for the implementation of FMLA, particularly with managers of small scale organizations. When managers get convinced that the implementation of FMLA is improving their organizational operations and helping them reach critical goals, they will readily support these efforts.

Invest With the Rest

This strategy involves investing together with other organizations no matter what. With the continued patronization of the implementation of FMLA, this strategy would no doubt become very attractive through time. However, the challenging part in this approach is the fact that the company has to find the correct way to implement FMLA. Only after finding the correct way can the company start taking the necessary steps to make sure that they are considered best practices. When in the process of utilizing this strategy, the relevant policies of FMLA and its interpretation becomes a crucial issue. Fortunately, just like most labor laws in the US, a number of alternative measures are readily available. Probably the most common among the available measurements is the investment as a percentage of a company’s payroll. For instance, the United States companies have an average of about 1.2 percent, while other excellent companies spend about 3 percent to 5 percent. These relevant data may have different ranges depending on the definition of actual investments. The disadvantage, however, is that there would possibly be no agreement in terms of what costs should be involved. Some other alternative measures include direct and indirect costs, and direct, out-of-pocket expenses. The actual investment per employee can also be different. The most common measure is the direct cost of learning divided by the number of employees and averages from $1,000 to $1,200. Other measures involve focusing on expenditures as a percentage of revenue or expenses in operations.

The primary advantage of this strategy is earning the benefits of the best practices in terms of the implementation of FMLA. Also, relevant data becomes readily available. If the implementation of FMLA is able to represent excellent practices, the results will undoubtedly reflect what most companies want to achieve. Also, the implementation of FMLA has started to become an approach that appeals to a majority of corporate managers who are very eager to make comparisons of their investments with others whom they admire and respect (, 2003).

However, there are several issues that may cause concerns with this strategy. What one company invests may not necessarily be what another company needs. Each company is different in terms of its employees, systems, philosophy and markets. Because of this, companies may need either a larger or smaller investment as against a best-practice firm. Also, the implementation of FMLA in terms of a medium-level investment may sometimes lead to unsatisfactory results. This would force the company to implement programs in order to meet the minimum requirements. This situation most commonly occurs when there is a specific number of hour or days allotted to formal learning programs.

Current Issues on the Employer’s Side

            A study conducted by the  (2006) to evaluate the operation of the Family Medical Leave Act 1993 showed that the statute pose administrative burdens for employers especially in the area of record-keeping and coordinated compliance together with other labor laws. Apart from this, reports from employers have also shown dramatic increases in the absences of employees for brief periods of time indicating that the reasons for doing so may not be as serious as the situations contemplated by the law.

            These issues on the part of the employers imply that they view the law as administratively burdensome through the requirement of certification and recertification as needed in the processing of the leave request from employees. With the increasing number of requests, the employer needs to allocate company time and even added personnel in the human resources departments together with the need to obtain temporary workers to take the place of the employee on leave for the duration of the employment. These burdens may already exist because of the operation of labor laws enacted earlier than the FMLA but the burden becomes heavier with the compliance requirements provided by the statute. (, 2006)

            In consideration of these employer issues, Congress passed bills intending to simplify the operation of the law in relation to administrative burdens to employers. These bills include recommendations to narrow the definition of the factors considered as serious health conditions to validly support a leave application, establishment of minimum leave requirements of half-day in order to prevent leaves for non-serious reasons, and the increasing of the requirements of notification from employees. (, 2006) Although these bills were accorded a non-priority status in Congress, the emergence or re-emergence of these issues in the future would support their enactment, if these issues become relevant in the future.

Other difficulties that employers encounter upon the implementation of FMLA include:

A. Difficulty in Gathering Information

Employers have the primary role to make specific identifications of all the possible sources of evaluation information which includes observable employee behaviors. However, when employees often are on vacation leaves, then gathering this pertinent information becomes extremely difficult. This is because aside from the observations of the immediate supervisor, performance evaluation information can still come from a variety of other sources, including the employees, subordinates, and work products (, 2001). Whenever a company utilizes performance information from individuals other than the employee’s immediate supervisor to build up the employee’s annual evaluation, the management informs the employees of the possible sources at the start of the performance cycle, where they receive their performance plans.

 

 

B. Difficulty in Development and Presentation of Performance Plans

Employers are the ones who develop their employees’ performance plans according to instructions on the Employee Work Profile form. The plans are signed by the employers and then passed on to the management for approval. But with their employees often on leaves, employers cannot make sure that their performance plans are complete and adequate before signing the forms (, 2003).

The employers also discuss the performance plans with their employees in a clear and organized manner. Generally, discussions are conducted within 30 days of the start of the performance cycle. But this is also the time when most employees take their leaves (, 2003).

 

C. Difficulty in Documentation of Performance

 

Employers encounter a hard time documenting their employees’ performance and provide feedback to them from time to time throughout the performance cycle while they are on leaves. Instead, documentation are done only in the form of memos, and these are retained in the manager’s confidential files, instead of being in the employees’ personnel files (, 2002).

D. Difficulty in Identification of Substandard Performance

Employers also are unable to exercise their authority to determine substandard or unacceptable performance of their frequently on-leave employees (. 2002). Employers normally address minor or marginal performance issues through performance counseling and coaching.

 

 

Current Issues on the Employee’s Side

            The provisions of the Family Medical Leave Act cover the application of law to different situations. Serious illnesses as justification for the leave application include injury, impairment, injury, physical or mental health condition, and continued treatment done by a health care provider. During the duration of the leave, the employer is obliged to maintain the employee’s coverage under the health plan. After the duration of the leave, the employer must take the employee back restoring him or her to the same or a similar job. (, 2006). An issue arises in the accommodation of employees returning from their leave. Since the law requires the employer to restore employee to the same position, this creates a situation that could be beneficial or non-beneficial to the employee depending upon the situation. This benefits the employee, when the employer allows the former to do a reasonably lighter work due to an injury, disability or the inability to temporarily or completely perform pervious tasks. This does not benefit the employee, when the employer expects the employee perform the same tasks prior to the injury or serious illness despite the inability of the employee to comply. This implies that this provision of the law is open to abuse requiring the employer to seek existing modes of redress.

                 Moreover, the  (2006) provides that employers may not require an employee eligible under the FMLA to agree to a reasonable accommodation instead of taking leave. Again, this may work to the advantage as well as the disadvantage of employees depending on their level of information regarding the options available to them and their degree of assertion of their interests. On one hand, employers may opt to recommend an option that offers the least burdens to the company even if this may not work to the best advantage of the employee. If the employee accedes due to lack of knowledge about other options or the merits of available options, the law opens the possibility of employers taking advantage of their employees. On the other hand, well-informed employees able to identify the options and weigh the merits of these alternatives may assert the option that best serve their interests based on the assumption that all the options do not defeat the rights of the employers or other employees. In this instance, the operation of law allows the employee to negotiate application to a different accommodation or take leave.  

            In addition, seeking redress for violations of the law proves to be difficult for employees. FMLA was assigned to the US Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration particularly the Wage and Hour Division together with the responsibility to investigate violations. Upon satisfactory proof of violation, the division files a court action in behalf of the employee. An employee with a valid compliant have the option to bring a civil action directly in court but it cannot file a compliant with the division without first filing the civil action. (, 2006) This implies that employees with grievances have to first go to the courts before seeking redress from the division despite the primary responsibility of the division of investigating violations giving it the best position to settle complaints.

Impact on Industries

The recent efforts of the US government to educate the public of the existence of FMLA would definitely make learning easy for every individual who desires to do so. Also, the growing impact of information and communications technology (ICT) fits in with the larger transformation towards a knowledge-based industry. Most companies and organizations are already adapted to ICT. Nowadays, they are more and more using artificial intelligence systems in order to educate their employees regarding FMLA.

Learning processes of FMLA are being influenced by the interaction of two major factors. On the one hand, the instructional factors: the educational philosophy brought about by the employers / management and its conversion into didactical ideas. On the other hand, organizational factors: the employees, infrastructure and policies related in this area. It is obvious that the employees must possess a sound vision of policies, while the employers must use of the operating budget efficiently in order to effectively perform their educative role in society.

Nevertheless, the employers need an interaction between both factors. This is because in order to respond to the new visions of FMLA, they will eventually transform into a model together with the various aspects of the working environment. In return, the employees will have to continuously monitor their limitations and along the process introduce innovations.

Conclusion

            Overall, the rationale of enacting labor legislations suffices to justify the viability of the legislation despite the issues that have arisen on the side of both employers employees. Despite the claims of employers that many of them provide more than adequate benefits to their employees, the fact remains that there are still employers implementing the barest minimum in terms of employee benefits. The disparity in the benefits accorded by different employers required legal intervention in enhancing the required benefits to improve the standing of employees. The important consideration is ensuring adequate benefits and the implementation of the law is justified by this objective. Despite the issues raised by employees, the legislation has improved the general condition of employees but there is need to direct their issues towards legislative reform channels in order to enhance the law.

Some employers argue that the fast pace of globalization ultimately becomes the driving force behind the formulation of agreements and rules for business conduct, such as the FMLA. The implementation of FMLA may have the potential to create enormous economic and social consequences. They can easily drive away the major employees within a company. They can also determine how and where people should work. However, earning the approval of the US government for the amendments on FMLA would never be easy.

Organizational change amidst the implementation of FMLA undergoes through a series of stages. At every stage, the effective management of human resource (HR) and cultural issues is critical. This is initiated by the identification of the HR issues and their significance for the company’s activities. If not handled properly, this could lead to the further downfall of the organization instead of going upward towards the ladder of success.

It is a common knowledge that the implementation of FMLA benefits companies and organizations especially those which are relatively new and is still in their early stages of development. Through the implementation of FMLA, companies and organizations will show signs of rapid growth brought about by the re-energized workforce. And it is further being expected that within the next years the tremendous growth and advancements in human resource development will continue in companies and organizations because of the implementation of FMLA. Therefore, the continued growth and development will also make it imperative for localization to occur in companies and organizations in the years to come as the impacts of the implementation of FMLA make their way.

The implementation of FMLA offers companies and businesses tremendous benefits in terms of improvement to their human resource policies in terms of the control of the business and the creative aspects of entrepreneurship to co-exist peacefully, However, companies and businesses must not lose sight of its core competencies while introducing the implementation of FMLA. Otherwise, the image of these companies and businesses might be put in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, some see the implementation of FMLA only as something that hinders the productivity of businesses.  However, upon close examination, the implementation of FMLA could actually pave the way for companies and businesses to improve even more their capabilities in enabling the peaceful coexistence of controlling their business and the leave aspects of their human resources. The bottom line is they would be able significantly gain in accepting the implementation of FMLA.

However, the question remains whether companies and businesses could be able to implement and accept the impacts of the implementation of FMLA, and whether these options can be acceptable to the key stakeholders. Any business transformation brought about by the implementation of FMLA may also involve the sharing of expertise. Nowadays, most companies and businesses have traditionally relied on the inside-out approach. It is important to note that the implementation of FMLA would have many implications on a business’ values and culture as well as its resources. The key stakeholders definitely would be concerned with such options and need to be convinced of the positive aspects (. 2002). Somehow, companies and businesses will be able to overcome this barrier in managing strategic changes brought about by the implementation of FMLA in the process of implementing any of the above mentioned strategic options.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Policy Report

 

Introduction

Australia's capacity to sustain a large population is limited because the continent is largely arid with old, nutrient-poor soils and a variable climate as Dryland salinity threatens to destroy up to million hectares of agricultural land and increasing salinity is likely to make the water in many of them undrinkable and unfit for irrigation within a matter of decades, further reducing the possibility of large settlements, reducing its capacity to sustain a large population even further and for Australia to achieve a population of fifty million as some business leaders suggest is desirable, annual immigration would have to exceed 450,000, (1996) level which would be totally disruptive and unaffordable since most migrants would be unskilled and in need of training before being able to contribute to the Australian economy. When the population of a country exceeds its natural resource base, when it becomes unsustainable, the cost of providing infrastructure and basic services such as water supplies increase Australia depends heavily on skilled migrants from poorer countries that cannot afford to lose them, because its educational and training institutions do not provide enough of the skills required for functioning of its economy. ( 1996)

 

 

 

Methodology

The size of any population must be kept within the limits of its natural resource base, social and economic sustainability is dependent on the protection of ecological processes and systems and the preservation of biological diversity. Australia has only a limited capacity to alleviate the social, economic or political problems of more populous countries through immigration, but can and should do more to help others through increased and better directed foreign aid; The Federal Government has prime responsibility for determining who settles in Australia and not the would-be immigrants themselves. (1997)

 

Result – Policy Objectives

To amicably stabilize human population numbers both nationally and internationally as soon as possible and determine what is an ecologically sustainable population at an acceptable level of material consumption, both nationally and internationally and to seek to achieve that in a humane, non-coercive manner as soon as possible. (1996)

 

 

 

 

Discussion – A population policy for Australia

The arguments are strong for avoiding demographic pathways that would lead to a declining Australian population. A declining population inevitably develops a coffin-shaped age structure and, hence, a substantial momentum for population decline. A declining population would mean a reduction in the size of the labour force as well as an increase in the numbers at older ages. The implication of accepting this pathway as the lower end of any acceptable range is that zero net migration, as advocated by One Nation and the Australian Democrats, is not a sensible option. (1996) Indeed, to avoid long-term population decline, annual net migration would need to be in the order of 80 000 if fertility falls to a level of about 1.65 births per woman, as we suggest is likely. (1996) If fertility were to fall below this level, higher levels of net migration would be required to achieve zero growth, and the resulting population size would be larger than the 24-25 million that results from the standard projection scenario. (1997) From an environmental perspective, a smaller population is not a substitute for an ecologically sustainable future. False hopes that population decline is a realistic option for Australia detract from the need for environmental reform. (1997)

 

 

The upper end of any demographically acceptable range of future population outcomes for Australia depends upon the future course of fertility. Thus, those who wish to maintain population growth would do well to note the course of fertility. While it is impossible to be precise, an annual net migration level of 120 000 seems about as high as we should extend under present conditions. ( 1996) Australia's future population will be largely determined by future levels of fertility and mortality. These cannot be predicted with accuracy. Thus, planning for a future population will always be a matter of adjustment to new demographic realities. Accordingly, it is not sensible to specify particular discrete population targets. (1986) However, it is possible that, in the new era of low fertility and low mortality, people are limited to a choice between approximately zero population growth on one side and slow growth on the other. (1986) In neighbouring countries, the fact that Australia's population is tiny in relation to our land area leads to widespread perceptions that it could be much larger. These perceptions will color attitudes to Australia's capacity to accept refugees and regular international migrants. The extreme dryness of the Australian continent needs to be emphasized in our attempts to promote a more realistic perception among opinion leaders in these countries. (1986)

 

 

 

The majority of Australians would appear to prefer a lower immigration intake than prevails at present. Thus our implicit population policy is incompatible with majority views, though probably not sufficiently so to lead to a major backlash. Seeking to respond appropriately to population trends is part of the mandate of all government agencies serving the population. (1996) The total efforts of the various government agencies probably deal reasonably well with adapting to population trends. But they certainly do not add up to an adequate coordinated effort to assess whether population trends are desirable and to seek to modify them if they are not. Policy that is only responsive to population trends rather than seeking to influence them does not deserve to be labeled population policy. (1996) If Australia is to adopt a population policy, there are many issues which need to be resolved. Some of these are: (1996) The need for better and more comprehensive population projections. More fertility scenarios are needed, as well as projections designed to permit the evaluation of the regional impact of demographic trends over a 10-year period. The resource needs and environmental impact of alternative future population trends need to be carefully studied. 'Population growth is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for environmental degradation; it is, however, a strong predisposing factor' (1996)

 

 

Adoption of a population policy would bring a greater degree of certainty to government planning and private enterprise decision making. At least some of the goals of government would be clearer, even if the government's ability to attain those goals remained questionable.  In a number of recent discussions of population policy, the figure of 23 million has emerged as a 'natural' leveling off point for Australia's population, given the projected slowing of natural increase and maintenance of a modest immigration program. (1996) The policy must remain non-discriminatory on the basis of ethnic background, but as the volume of potential migrants will remain much larger than the number of available places, difficult decisions will remain with regard to balance between various categories of migrants. (1991; 1996). Whether or not government decides to formulate a comprehensive population policy, there is a strong case for an ongoing body with wide expert and community representation to advise government on population matters. Such bodies have been in place in the past, but in recent years government has lacked such advice. The population of Australia continues to be considered remarkably small by many people (including well educated people) in neighbouring Asian countries. In Australia, population attitudes have changed remarkably since the time of the postwar immigration drives. Australia's population has more than doubled since those drives began. But it has not reached the size probably considered desirable by most of those who thought about the issue in the late 1940s (1991;1996).

 

A population policy is one whereby government seeks to anticipate and respond to population trends and prospects in the light of their impacts and anticipates impacts of public policy on population trends themselves. It also directly seeks to influence the determinants of population in order to deliberately alter the size and/or nature of the population. (1997) The report made it clear that population policy could embrace not only population numbers and growth but also its distribution and characteristics. Perhaps the best concise definition of population policy is that of  (1995:): a coherent vision of the desired demographic future and a coordinated set of actions designed to move towards it. If Australia is to develop a sensible population policy, with the greatest possible degree of community support, then those issues which remain controversial need to be further examined, and those on which there is inadequate information need to be researched or quantified. ( 1997) The responsive approach is essentially to let demographic trends and patterns take their course, to monitor them and to bend social and economic policy to adapt to them. Given the quality of census, vital registration and migration data in Australia, it is possible to monitor population trends fairly well. ( 1994)

 

 

 

The effective adaptation of social and economic policy to demographic trends requires careful and systematic analysis of the trends and their implications. The continuation of a substantial immigration program seems to logically require the elaboration of a set of goals for population size, composition and distribution to provide an appropriate framework for the decisions that are taken annually with respect to immigration targets. (1994) Adoption of a population policy would bring a greater degree of certainty to government planning and private enterprise decision making. At least some of the goals of government would be clearer, even if the government's ability to attain those goals remained questionable. 'Establishing general demographic goals would also provide a better framework within which policies in non-demographic areas might be better developed for example, the policy would define the direction of changes that are linked with sustainable development, social justice, housing and human resource planning' (1997).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommendations

That the Federal Government: (1994)

There needs to Include a Minister for Population in Federal Cabinet, rather than a Minister for Immigration, recognizing that immigration is but a sub-set of the broader issue of population

Aside, develops and implements an integrated population policy that encompasses immigrant intake, natural increase, aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, tourism, foreign aid, internal migration, and education;

Thus, establishes and funds a Bureau of Population Research that will address all environmental, social and economic aspects of population policy and maintains non-discriminatory immigration to Australia but at significantly lower levels than at present

Aldo, gives higher priority to the Humanitarian Program within this overall reduced migration program as well as makes provision for the intake of some environmental refugees within the migration program, particularly those from the region and those affected by global climate change as there adopts an integrated population, training and labour market strategy;

 

 

Moreover, ensures that Australia's educational and training institutions are adequately funded such that they provide all the skills needed for the functioning of the economy and for the welfare of its citizens

Adopts social policies that allow couples to provide adequately for their children but at the same time discourages them from having more than two children and economic and housing policies, such as encouraging more public housing, that discourage land speculators from reaping excessive profits from population growth;

Ensures that the family planning component within ODA is at least 4 per cent, and that greater priority is given to other measures that reduce the birth rate, particularly primary health care and education of women;

Adopts a precautionary approach to tourism, recognising that temporary residents and visitors also place a burden on resources while travelling to and within Australia; adopts a consumption strategy that will encourage lower levels of resource use while retaining reasonable quality of life;

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, debate about the future size of Australia's population and about its age structure have been debates about immigration, with no consideration of possible future variations in levels of fertility and mortality. We consider this to be a very serious error. Immigration can play an important role in shaping population futures, but its impact must be considered in the context of trends in fertility and mortality. The aim here is to consider the demographic feasibility of population paths recommended by various prominent Australians. (1994) In Australia, policy seems to have shifted back to a model that is unfriendly to the combination of work and family. Child care has become more expensive, employment conditions favorable to families with young children are being withdrawn through new industrial agreements, the tax-transfer system is being modified to provide greater benefits to parents who do not work, and the sense of job security has fallen giving rise to uncertainty. In regard to population policy for Australia, we are not advocating that the fertility rate should rise. (1997) The population would age to a greater extent and more rapidly and we would create a substantial momentum for future population decline that would be difficult to reverse. A population policy for Australia must give due recognition to demographic realities future population is not simply a matter of picking a number that may seem good for business on one hand or good for the environment on the other. (1997)

 

 

It is foolish for people to be wasting time arguing the relative merits of outcomes that are clearly unachievable. It is foolish to specify a number without considering the age composition of the population. While people cannot avoid substantial ageing of our population, it is advisable for us to be considering population futures that minimize the extent of ageing. (1996) Therefore, Australia's population policy is implicit in its immigration program, but it is a policy by stealth, a policy without consensus, and a highly erratic policy, as exemplified by the wild swings in immigration targets over time. (1996) This is not a satisfactory situation. More transparency over long-term aims is needed, and if it turns out that the fluctuations in annual settler arrival targets under different Ministers for Immigration have been based more on gut feelings than on fine tuning in relation to economic and social conditions, then that needs to be more apparent to the general public. Population policy has to be seen as much more than immigration policy. (1997) Whether or not Australia adopts a population policy, it can be argued that provision should be made for a long-term advisory body on population matters that brings together not only government agencies but also representation from academia and community groups.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

Population policy is important for the future of every Australian and therefore deserves to be debated and discussed as widely as possible. (1997) Australia’s future population should not be allowed to distract attention from issues that are of vital importance irrespective of the outcome of the debate.  Whether people opt for the likely population outcome of about 25 million or agree to boost it to a higher figure, the important issues remain the environment, innovation, export growth and productivity improvements. ( 1994)

 

 

 

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Resource Development Report

Executive Summary

It was evident that Asea Brown Boveri Ltd (ABB) needs to enhance the efficient communication between and among superiors and subordinates as well as among colleagues to foster better workplace environment. It was apparent that the employees are challenged by some factors that limit them to fully participate in the organization’s plans and decision-making processes and strategies which make them feel less important.

In terms of leadership among superiors, evaluation of the employees indicated that power and hierarchal distinctions beset the efficient interaction between the heads and followers within the organization. Moreover, the respondents also highlighted the political consciousness that exist in the company and threatens the productive performance among teams and work groups. Furthermore, the importance of training and development in the industry is acknowledged by the research participants.

 

A.   Introduction

In 1988 Asea and BBC merged to form Asea Brown Boveri Ltd (ABB) as one of the largest electrical engineering companies in the world. A year later, the company acquired 40 other electrical companies including the power transmission and power distribution businesses of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The early 1990 paved way for a large-scale program of expansion in central and Eastern Europe, Asia and the Americas through a number of strategic investments, joint ventures and acquisitions. When ABB owned Elsag Bailey Process Automation as its largest acquisition ever, it became the market leader in the global automation market as the company divested its nuclear power, power generation and rail businesses in order to focus on developing its market strengths in alternative energy. The company is at present is concerned with building the world’s longest underwater HVDC power transmission link, connecting Norway and the Netherlands.

ABB’s corporate culture is characterized with competence, ambition and integrity as the core values that inculcated to the member of the business organization. As a successful international business enterprise, ABB believes that the key to achieving the corporate goals and objectives set by the company lies in their ability to understand and apply the business principles of personal, professional and corporate responsibility by showing respect to the views and needs of others. The management likewise believes that the slightest infringement to the reputation of the company has a great impact on the overall business operation of the organization which motivated them to maintain the highest ethical standards to enable them to perform efficiently and effectively so as to meet the needs of their clientele and the people who are part of the business.

Hence, this paper aims to provide discussion regarding the ways in which employee motivation can be improved through the critical evaluation of the importance of employee training and development, the different approaches to the said human resources concern and its impact on the organization and its people putting into context the case of Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.

 

B. Analysis

According to  (2000), the quantitative research approach is most appropriate when conducting descriptive and exploratory study in order to quantify data that seem immeasurable, such as feelings, beliefs, and thoughts. This permits a flexible and iterative approach of analyzing and statistically manipulating the collected information. Hence, the survey method was used for data collection. Surveys are conducted to gather data from the field in order to generalize results from a sample to a larger population. The primary purpose and advantage of surveys is generalization of the results. Surveys are interested in gathering data from many than in obtaining intensive, detailed information from a few individuals; therefore, it is seldom for a survey to consist of one or very few individuals (2000).

The survey form is composed of queries that the respondents assessed using the Likert scale. The survey form constitutes several statements that argue on an individual’s agreement or disagreement on the presented queries. Situations and assumptions which are related to the topic were stated in the questionnaire so as to elicit the different points of view of the respondents. The survey form has five main parts which include the basic demographic characteristics of the respondents followed by the four key areas that were focused on by the research study. The Likert scale format was used to measure the level of agreeability of statements that were categorized according to the concepts of communication, leadership, team work, training and development, and compensation and benefits of the survey participants (See Appendix Section for the Questionnaire).

 

C. Needs Analysis

Communication. It has been argued that through the workplace culture, management can have control in the hearts and minds of its employees towards making them more committed to the organization. One way of manipulating the workplace culture is implementing a “shared value” (1999). Through shared value, each and every member of the organization will work towards adhering to it, thus inappropriate behavior can be lessened. Meanwhile, (1995) indicated that correctly applied employee participation increases productivity. A higher morale of the employees will reflect in their work attitude and will gradually become more committed to the aims of the organization and to the organization as a whole.

According to almost three-fourths of the participants of the study (68.6%), specifications regarding their work duties and responsibilities are explained to them by the management in order to promote a common entrepreneurial aim while the remaining one-third are not sure if that is the case in his/her experience in the company as they declared their uncertainty (19%) and disagreement among others (12.4%). Almost the same results were recorded when the respondents were asked regarding their ways of consulting their superior about the nature of their responsibilities. Majority of the respondents (83.8%) indicated that they can consult their superior regarding matters that concern their job while there are a few who thought otherwise and disagreed (4.8%). Slightly more than ten percent indicated their uncertainty on the issue (11.4%).  See Table 1 in Appendix.

However, other findings of the study focusing on the communication aspect of employee motivation revealed that the most of the employees are not appraised by their superior when it comes to the progress of their work (48.8%) although there not much difference with the percentage of those claimed otherwise (40%) while the remaining one-tenth of the respondents were not sure of the claims (11.4%). The study’s significant finding also revealed that more than half of the participants (56.2%) indicated that they are not able to address their thoughts and opinions during meetings and only slightly more than one-third of them stated that they are able to air their concerns (38.31%). See Table 2 in Appendix.

Leadership. According to  (2002), credibility is the foundation of leadership. In addition, a leader should possess honesty, competence, aspiration, and a forward-looking approach. In the business point of view, good leadership proves to be quite beneficial. Good leadership aids in effectively meeting job-related demands, in creating higher-performing teams, in fostering renewed loyalty and commitment, in increasing motivational level and in reducing absenteeism and turnover of employees. It comprises the aptitude and ability to inspire and influence the thinking, attitudes, and behavior of other people (1991; 1985; 1989; 1985;1988; 1997). Although this specification seems relatively simple, the reality of leadership is very complex. Intrapersonal factors such as ideas and emotions interact with interpersonal processes to have effects on a dynamic external environment and bring complexity to the leadership process.

The results of the survey indicated that there is no significant difference in terms of the number of respondents who agreed (39%) and disagreed (37.1%) when asked if their superiors treat them as equal while the remaining one-third of the participants stated their uncertainty (23.8%). Half of the respondents (50.5%) also indicated that they are not sure if their superiors trust their confidence when it comes to accomplishing the tasks that are designated to them. This is relatively higher to the percentage of the survey participants who claimed clearer answers to the posted statement in the questionnaire. There were more respondents, which is one-third of the total number of participants, who believe that their superiors lack trust in them (29.5%) compared to those who claimed that they are trusted by their superiors (20%). However, when it comes to being a role model of performance and being professional at all times, the superiors of the company were evaluated favorably. Majority of the respondents agreed that their superiors are good performers and ideal model to them (78.1%) and that their bosses are very professional in conduct and behavior in the workplace (83.8%). But there were still few employees who indicated otherwise as 2.9% believed their superiors are not performance models and 3.8% they are not professional. See Table 2 in Appendix.

Team work. Leader skill in the facilitation of interaction among team members is becoming critical in organizations (1995). “Leadership is most appropriately evaluated in terms of team performance”, suggests  (1997). (1992) claimed “the systems theory of management is built upon the tenet that ‘the whole is more than the sum of its parts.” For a quality improvement effort to truly succeed, such a whole must evolve.” According to (1995), teams with “substantive” participation outperform teams where subordinate input is limited to “consultative” participation. A less direct control and new risk for the leader is called substantive participation. Social acuity and interpersonal astuteness are factors needed to ensure leader effectiveness and subsequent group success (2000).

Majority of the research participants believe that the collective knowledge and skills of the entire workforce has direct relation and affects the individual performance of the members of the organization (92.4%). Similarly, there appears to be a common belief that the team where the respondents belong to undergo constructive evaluation of every members’ performance (71.4%). Other results of the study focusing on the aspect of team work in employee motivation indicated that there are relatively more participants who think that members of their teams prioritize personal gains instead of the teams’ overall output and performance. More than half of the participants believe that their team members uphold personal interest more compared to establishing their selves as a team. More than a quarter of the total number of participant indicated that their foster team work effort and interests setting aside individual concerns on performance (25.7%). Interestingly, however, is the majority’s unanimous ruling that enhancing the dynamics within work groups is important and should be encourage by the management through team building seminars outside the company (96.2%). See Table 3 in Appendix.   

Training and development. There are various training and development methods as part of training menus that are all accessible to utilize and relate according to individual training and organizational training needs. Training is also on hand far beyond and outside the classroom. More prominently, training or learning, to look at it from the trainee’s view is anything offering learning and developmental experience. Training and learning development includes facets such as morals and principles; stance and behavior; skills and knowledge and as well as leadership and willpower. Development isn’t constrained to training; rather it’s anything that aids a person to nurture in aptitude, expertise, poise, broadmindedness, dedication, inventiveness, inter-personal skills, understanding, self-control, enthusiasm and some more (1987;1992;2002).

The results of the study indicated that the respondents are updated on the latest developments in respective areas of their work (84.8%) and that they are given trainings in such developments (83.8%). But the results likewise records that there are employees who are lacking such knowledge in the industry developments disagreeing that they are updated (9.5%) and that they acquire trainings (13.3%) on such developments. Consistently, there are relatively more employees who claimed that they are encouraged by the management to take active participation in developmental trainings related to their work specifications and job descriptions (53.3%) compared to those who feel that the company lack support in their training needs (32.4%). Those who stated their disagreement are significant in number which implies that there a number of employees are willing to be trained but the management does not seem to recognize. All the participants in the research activity believe in the importance of the availability of career path planning services in the company. See Table 4 in Appendix.

 

D. HRD Intervention

Human resource management (HRM) is known and accepted in the broadest sense of the term, as a form of management that includes “all management decisions and actions that affect the nature of the relationship between the organization and the employees – its human resources” (1984). The tasks of those belonging in HRM can be complex as it involves all issues that encompass employee and firm relationship. Today, it can be said that role of HRM in the organization has been expanded and improved as new ways to handle employees are discovered.

Believing that the most important asset of a business is the people in order to achieve sustained business success is the core philosophy of human resource management (HRM). Realizing this leads to a strategic management of people within the organization. Its philosophy is based on the simple belief that human resources are the most important asset in achieving and sustaining business success. Human resource professionals basically deal with such areas as employee recruitment and selection, performance evaluation, compensation and benefits, professional development, safety and health, forecasting, and labor relations (2001).

In developing a training program to enhance the productivity of employees the manager will look at the competency problems of the employees and fashion the program to enable the employees to reach and even exceed the competency standard established for their work. This requires a great amount of perceptiveness on the part of the manager in determining what method of training will be most effective in improving employee competence. Some of the training includes computer software training, internet-based training and self teaching by encouraging innovativeness in the workplace (1998). Ensuring employee performance requires establishing a level of competence which the employee should be aware of as a target to be achieved. This is the measure to be used by managers in determining compliance with the standard and in identifying problems met by the employees in meeting the standard.

Employer-provided training is important because studies have found that on-the-job training is strongly associated with wage increases (1987; 1992; 2002). Moreover, training is a form of human capital investment whether that investment is made by the individual or by the firm (1975). A firm has the incentive to invest in the human capital of its workers only if there is an expectation of a return on its investment. (1997) found that firms often delay training to determine whether workers are good matches and therefore have a lower probability of leaving the firm. A strategic approach to training is imperative nowadays for training to be seen to be meeting business needs and adding value ( 2000). For this to happen, the training function needs to examine current and future business needs, and set appropriate priorities for training interventions.

In the present day work environment, expectations exceed regarding the workloads and task requirements among employers and employees. Multi-tasking defines the current situation in most of business organizations as advances in technology especially in the use of the computer and the Internet continues. (2001) highlighted the importance of high work life quality through good supervision, working conditions, pay and benefits as well as challenging and rewarding jobs. She said that these conditions will provide opportunities for employees to contribute in the overall effectiveness of the organization as they become more motivated and productive members of the company’s work force with positive self-esteem and improved morale.

 

E. Evaluation

Performance quality is highly correlated with the appreciation a person garners from his or her colleagues and supervisors which at the same time serves as a personal evaluation of one’s capabilities. The following suggestions state the possible approaches that Asea Brown Boveri Ltd (ABB) could adapt and implement in managing their human resources in order to avail of the benefits of enhancing the potential of the members of the workforce using Kirk Patrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation:

1. Reaction. It was evident according to the employees that Asea Brown Boveri Ltd (ABB) needs to enhance the efficient communication between and among superiors and subordinates as well as among colleagues to foster better workplace environment. It was apparent that the employees are challenged by some factors that limit them to fully participate in the organization’s plans and decision-making processes and strategies which make them feel less important. In terms of leadership among superiors, evaluation of the employees indicated that power and hierarchal distinctions beset the efficient interaction between the heads and followers within the organization. Moreover, the respondents also highlighted the political consciousness that exist in the company and threatens the productive performance among teams and work groups. Furthermore, the importance of training and development in the industry is acknowledged by the research participants.

2. Learning. Equal relations between the employer and the employees should be practiced to encourage productivity in the business organization. Enhancing good working relations among all the employees and preserving a good working environment and atmosphere ideally, will provide harmonious relationship inside the business organization. Maintaining such condition within the office will elicit productivity from the employees as they enjoy their duties of accomplishing their tasks and will help in reducing stress and eventual burnout in the workplace. Encouragement of wider work responsibility of basic skills such as development and learning courses should be given to employees on specified times of the year. This will restore fresh knowledge to old employees. Promoting individual competence and competitiveness among the staff and other members of the organization will be of benefit to the company since this will uphold and advance the initiative work attitude.

3. Transfer. Since workplace learning and training programs in business organizations is a common practice nowadays, more trust should be given to the work team of the company. Entertaining and respecting solicited opinions and ideas of ordinary employees will be of help in setting the corporate goals of the company since the staff is encouraged to think as owners of the business enterprise. Team building exercises wherein work peers as well as the supervisors will be participating should be regularly held. Bonding activities like out of town trips can be psychologically helpful to all the employees that will elicit bond among the people inside the company as well as for the employers to know their work team. In the case of newly hired staff, more comprehensive and rigorous training exercises should be applied to better prepare them of the workloads they will be responsible of in the actual business transaction and work process.

   4. Results. Employers need to enroll their staff in annual or quarterly training courses to upgrade their skills and enrich their knowledge so as to foster individual and personal development and improvement. Possibilities of promotion through their acquired knowledge and improved skills as competitive employees should always be reminded to the staff as a form of motivation to encourage productive outputs. Incentives in the form of financial aids like bonuses and other material compensations as well as intrapersonal rewards such as positive critical feedbacks and recognition should be endorse by the company to boost confidence and motivate the employees. This in turn will also be profitable to the organization itself due to increased output of the work force.

In this light, the management should be able to foster workplace setting that upholds team effort and recognizes individual contribution of the employees to enhance healthy working competition among the members of the organization. As such, their collective perceptions and beliefs were able to clearly state of the high value they place on enhanced skills and knowledge. Such voluntarism among the respondents could serve the company in maximizing the potential of its workforce.

 

F. Costing

Business organizations offer two-way learning experience within the company between and among the employers and the employees. Employers benefit largely from trainings that they offer to staff and members of the firm given that the expected knowledge and skills were learned through the organizations venture on their human resources. At the best possible results, the organization will gain competitive attitude in the business world by housing in competitive and qualified workers. Employees on the other hand, are given the opportunity to improve on their work capabilities as qualified and productive members of the modern and information age work force. Hence, training ensures the achievement of both the long-term and immediate goals of the company.

The importance and demand for workplace learning though is clearly evident in companies that offer integrated learning solutions to different industries. Today, workplace learning is changed into a productive business venture. There are companies now that offer such workplace training services through modules and Internet links and other instructional materials to a lot of business industries. Workplace learning benefit both the employee and the employer in attaining the same work goal of the business company, that is, to gain higher productivity through good working conditions between and among qualified and competitive work teams.

But in a competitive labor market workers should invest in their own general (and to some extent, specific) training: the return on their investment comes in the form of subsequently enhanced earnings. Expectations with respect to future skill requirements and occupational demands may well be less than fully rational, and any inherent biases will lead to inappropriate decisions on investments in training. However, the effectiveness of training depends so much on the trainer: the assessment on the weaknesses and strengths of the company and the workforce, job satisfaction, competency of the employees and several needs assessment analysis and interviews needs to be conducted first before a training program can be chosen from an array of approaches and techniques.

 

G. Challenge

It is a common belief that acquiring knowledge can empower an individual for the notion of facts and truths guides a person on how to proceed on things that must be attended to. In every decision an individual makes, comprehension and weighing of information play a vital role on what and how certain actions and attitudes will be conceptualized and performed. When the complexity of the nature, source and limit of a particular knowledge is exposed in terms of the perspective used by a person, conflict on what point of view to follow along with the beliefs and values a person holds, most often than not determines the behavior, given that the person is a ware of the possible principles and truths he or she could consider. The role of communication in making learning possible has long been acclaimed as the most efficient way of sharing and acquiring facts and information. The relevance of being a knowledgeable individual has likewise been appreciated and credited in evaluating a person.

Businesses have evolved since in the way the staff and employees work. I have been a witness to the importance of effective communication in order to meet the expectations of the clients, customers, suppliers, distributors, middlemen, business partners, business associates, business allies, contacts, colleagues, coworkers and my employees which enable me to attain the objectives I set for myself. Through effective communication and skills with diverse set of people in different cultural and social settings, I was able to work efficiently and effectively to achieve the tasks, responsibilities and duties I am inclined to perform. I take pride in all the effort and hard work I have contributed not just for the overall well-being of the company but also in helping the people whom I work with for the knowledge and skills they have imparted for my career and personal development. I am grateful in any contributions I made in improving their work and the principles they hold as productive members of the company’s workforce.   

 

 

Appendices:

Survey Questionnaire

The researcher is conducting a study on employee motivation specifically the areas of communication, leadership, team spirit and training and development. To enable the researcher to reach the necessary conclusion and make helpful recommendations, it would be very much appreciated if you answer all the items in the questionnaire. It would only take not more than 15 minutes of your time.

Information given will be treated in strictest confidence.

            Thank you very much.

 

Part 1.  Personal Data

 

 

Direction: Please fill up in all the necessary information about yourself.  Kindly don’t leave any item unanswered.

 

a.    Age  ________

 

b.    Sex

Male ( )                 Female ( )

 

c.    Civil Status

Single ( )              Married ( )      Separated (  )            Widow/Widower ( )

d.    Year/s of Employment in the company: __________

 

 

Part 2: Survey Proper

Directions:  Encircle the number that best corresponds to your answer.

 

                        5          -           Strongly Agree

                        4          -           Agree

                        3          -           Uncertain

                        2          -           Disagree

                        1          -           Strongly Disagree

 

A.   Communication

1. I am informed of the reason why a job is        5          4          3          2          1

    done in the particular manner I am

    required to do.

 

2. I can consult my superior if I have any            5          4          3          2          1

    concerns about my job.

 

3. I am appraised by my superior of the               5          4          3          2          1

    content of my progress reports.

 

4. I am able to voice out my opinions on our      5          4          3          2          1

    staff meetings.

 

 

B.   Leadership

1. My superior treats me as his/her                       5          4          3          2          1

   colleague.

 

2. My superior shows trust and confidence        5          4          3          2          1

   in me by giving tasks which are best suited

   to my abilities.

 

3. My superior is a role model in terms                5          4          3          2          1

    of performance.

 

4. My superior displays professional                    5          4          3          2          1

    behaviour at the workplace at all times.

 

 

C.   Team work

1. The entire workforce’s collective                      5          4          3          2          1

    knowledge and skills affect individual

    performance.

 

2. My team participates in a                                  5          4          3          2          1

    constructive evaluation of each other’s

    performances.

 

3. My team considers their goals                          5          4          3          2          1

    and purpose as a team and not

    for individual gains.

 

4. The team should participate in team               5          4          3          2          1

    building seminars to enhance the

    dynamics among team members.

 

 

D.   Training and Development

1. I am updated on the latest                                 5          4          3          2          1

    developments in areas of work.

 

2. I have trainings on the latest                             5          4          3          2          1

    developments in areas of work.

 

3. I am encouraged to participate                          5          4          3          2          1

    in seminars outside the company.

   

4. Employees should have career path               5          4          3          2          1

   planning service available within the

   organization.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1. Communication

I am informed of the reason why a job is done in the particular manner I am required to do.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

72

20

13

Percentage (%)

68.6

19.0

12.4

N = 105

 

 

 

I can consult my superior if I have any concerns about my job.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

88

12

5

Percentage (%)

83.8

11.4

4.8

N = 105

 

 

 

I am appraised by my superior of the content of my progress reports.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

42

12

51

Percentage (%)

40.0

11.4

48.6

N = 105

 

 

 

I am able to voice out my opinions on our staff meetings.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

40

6

59

Percentage (%)

38.1

5.7

56.2

N = 105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 2. Leadership

My superior treats me as his/her colleague.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

41

25

39

Percentage (%)

39.0

23.8

37.1

N = 105

 

 

 

My superior shows trust and confidence in me by giving tasks which are best suited to my abilities.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

21

53

31

Percentage (%)

20.0

50.5

29.5

N = 105

 

 

 

My superior is a role model in terms of performance.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

82

20

3

Percentage (%)

78.1

19.0

2.9

N = 105

 

 

 

My superior displays professional behavior at the workplace at all times.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

88

13

4

Percentage (%)

83.8

12.4

3.8

N = 105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3. Team Work

The entire workforce’s collective knowledge and skills affect individual performance.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

97

5

3

Percentage (%)

92.4

4.8

2.9

N = 105

 

 

 

My team participates in a constructive evaluation of each other’s performances.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

75

3

27

Percentage (%)

71.4

2.9

25.7

N = 105

 

 

 

My team considers their goals and purpose as a team and not for individual gains.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

27

20

58

Percentage (%)

25.7

19.0

55.2

N = 105

 

 

 

The team should participate in team building seminars to enhance the dynamics among team members.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

101

1

3

Percentage (%)

96.2

1.0

2.9

N = 105

 

 

 

 

Table 4. Training and Development

I am updated on the latest developments in areas of work.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

89

6

10

Percentage (%)

84.8

5.7

9.5

N = 105

 

 

 

I have trainings on the latest developments in areas of work.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

88

3

14

Percentage (%)

83.8

2.9

13.3

N = 105

 

 

 

I am encouraged to participate in seminars outside the company.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

56

15

34

Percentage (%)

53.3

14.3

32.4

N = 105

 

 

 

Employees should have career path planning service available within the organization.

Level of Agreement

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Total (N)

105

-

-

Percentage (%)

100.0

-

-

N = 105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quality of Customers' service

 

APPLIED  RESEARCH  METHODS  (ITGM01)

_____________________________________________

 

Improving Customer Service Quality

 

Word count:  2720

(Excluding in cover page, table of contents, reference and appendices)

 

 


 


 

1.0   Executive Summary

Quality is basic for the service business to survive the competition, get acceptance from society, and be able to achieve its missions. Along with the demand for national economic developments, technological advancements, and other aspects of community life there had been changes in the business climate of commercial flight services. This paper attempts to investigate the ways of improving the service quality of the airline companies and the relationship between the airline services dimension and the airline service quality. Mainly, the paper use qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews. In analyzing the results, qualitative and quantitative analysis is used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.0   Introduction

All organizations are concern with increasing customer satisfaction and improving the quality of products and services. Customer service, a management strategy, is based on the concept of reaching organizational goals effectively and efficiently through customer satisfaction. According to  (1988, p.17), this marketing concept is the key to organizational success by determining the needs and wants of target market and delivering customer satisfaction effectively and efficiently.

 

For example, Cathay Pacific Airways, an international airline registered and based in Hong Kong, holds its vision to make the airline the most admired in the world by providing service straight from the heart.

 


 

3.0   Literature review

According to  (1991), companies that implement a customer-driven strategy based on service quality, differ characteristically from those companies that do not, and it is found that the former companies are usually more successful.

The service sector is well aware of the importance of success and failure as determined by those who buy the service. (1990) established the groundwork for customer-focused management, uses the following definition: "Service management is a total organizational approach that makes quality of service, as perceived by the customer, the number one driving force of the operation of the business" (1990).

In the airline industry, service quality is important because delivering high quality service to passengers is essential for airlines' survival. Airline service quality is a significant driver of passenger satisfaction, passenger loyalty, and passenger's choice of airline ( 1992; 1984; 1993; 1980; 1994; 1996). Hence, the delivery of high service quality becomes a marketing requirement as competitive pressures on air carriers increase (1993).

Customer satisfaction is a very important concept in marketing and it is the ultimate goal for service operations. Increasing customer satisfaction leads to improved profits, lower marketing expenditures, and positive word-of-mouth communication (1990).

Service quality has been recognized as a key factor in differentiating service products. Customer satisfaction can be secured through high-quality products and services (2003; 1995; 2000).  (1996) highlighted that the concept of service should be approached from the customer's point of view, since it was his/her perception of the outcome that constituted the service. Customers may have different values and different grounds for assessment and, most of the time, they may perceive the same service in different ways.

Airlines face two major areas of potential focus with regard to customer service, that is, passenger services and ticketing, sales and promotion. 

Previous airline service studies have focused on the effect of the five service dimensions of the SERVQUAL on passenger satisfaction and passenger loyalty (1992; 2000;  2002). However, the perceptions of airline service quality are quite diverse and do not seem to fit any single existing quality model such as the SERVQUAL or the SERVPERF (1994). This implies that service quality dimensions and attributes should be selected to reflect the service environment investigated. Therefore, it is worth deriving the nature of airline service quality dimensions and investigating the effects of derived dimensions of airline service quality, rather than just applying the SERVQUAL dimensions and items.

Corporate image can be defined as perceptions of an organization reflected in the associations held in consumer memory ( 1993). Airline image is important because an airline with a good image is more likely to stand out in the marketplace, as it draws repeat customers and trial users (1997). In addition, a passenger's image of the airline is more important in explaining their loyalty than is the evaluation of the current flight (1993).

Value can be defined as customer's overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given (1988). Value-added services are ways in which companies can gain competitive advantages in the airline industry (2000). For example, value-added strategies such as frequent flyer programs increase the long-term value of the relationship with the airline, offering greater benefits to repeat passengers than to occasional passengers (1998).

The price to be paid for a service determines, in the passenger's mind, the level of quality to be demanded (1991). Airline passengers have raised their expectations with regard to the level of service quality, while seeking better value for their money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.0   Research Questions

Organizations are facing different kinds of problems on the quality of service. Thus, this research paper intends to investigate the different ways in which the public and private sector, particularly Cathay Pacific, might improve customer service quality. Specifically, the study attempts to following questions:

1.    What are the different ways in which private and public sector may improve customer service quality?

2.    Specifically, how Cathay Pacific Airways can improve their customer service quality?

3.    How service quality is affected with the service environment?

4.    What is the relationship between service quality and the service environment?

5.    How nature of airline service quality dimensions affects the airline service quality?

 


 

5.0   Methodology

This dissertation intends to the ways in which private and public organizations may improve quality of customer service, specifically on Cathay Pacific Airways. For this study descriptive method of research will be used to gather information about the present existing condition.  The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain relevant data so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study. Alternatively, a case study on the different airline companies will be conducted to gather information on the different ways in which these companies successfully implemented quality customer service.

 

 

5.1    Research Design

The research described in this document is based solely on qualitative research methods. This permits a flexible and iterative approach. Qualitative models are more able than traditional models to express states of incomplete knowledge about continuous mechanisms (1994). Qualitative simulation guarantees to find all possible behaviors consistent with the knowledge in the model. This expressive power and coverage are important in problem solving for diagnosis, design, monitoring, and explanation.

An in-depth interview (Appendix B) will be conducted with airline staff, airline passengers, and academics in the aviation field. During the in-depth interviews, participants were asked to express their views on airline service quality, especially what comprises airline service quality, what kind of service airlines provide, and how airline service quality differs from service quality in other service industries.

 

 


 

6.0   Data Gathering

The primary source of data will come from published articles journals and magazines, theses and related studies regarding customer service quality. For this research design, the researcher gathered data, collated published studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from business and management journals; and made a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal material. 

 

In addition, an in depth interview would be another sources of information. "In the in depth interview, the interviewer usually listens for aspects of the experience that people seem to feel strongly about and tries to find out more about the nature of their feelings" ( 1988 ). Using in-depth interviews usually involves the use of predetermined questions that are open ended. "If listening to customers is to be a useful effort and not simply an activity trap, you have to decide to whom you're going to listen, what it is you should be listening for, and when, where, and how you can best acquire the information" (1989). There are advantages of interviews which include correct interpretation of the respondents to all questions due to the presence of the interviewer. In addition, it may be possible by means of "probing" questions, for the interviewer to check on the accuracy of the responses. Moreover, the interviewer may be able to collect unsolicited observations from the person interviewed; data unanticipated in the interview schedule may thus be collected. ( 1993)

 

Furthermore, the technique also allows individuals to respond in their own words ( 1990). People are often more amenable to answering questions in person than on paper; there is greater spontaneity in the responses; and answers are more complete and revealing than questionnaire answers. "Moreover, the professional who understands the area of inquiry is more likely to ask better follow-up questions and, thus, to obtain more insight into the problem at hand (1991). A tape recorder will be useful if it is acceptable to the person being interviewed (1991). After a number of interviews, a pattern usually emerges, and the same answers will reoccur.

 

6.1 Pilot Study

                     A pilot study will be conducted to see if any of the statements are difficult for subjects to understand and to assess face validity. A convenience sample of passengers who have recent experience of airline services would be used. First, 50 respondents will be interviewed to assure the clarity of the measurement items. Passengers are asked to answer the interview and asked to give their overall comments about the interview.

6.2 Sampling

The survey will be conducted at the domestic terminal of Hong Kong Airport. Sampling will be done by interviewing randomly selected passengers, at different times of the day, on every day of the week, over a 2-week period. The data would be gathered from Hong Kong domestic passengers who had undertaken at least one domestic flight in the previous 12 months. A total of 650 Hong Kong domestic passengers will be randomly interviewed.


 

7.0   Analysis

7.1    Type of service determinants

Service has seven determinants which include reliability, responsiveness, assurance, access, communication, security and tangibles.

Reliability involves delivery of the promised library service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness concerns the readiness of staff to provide service. It also involves timeliness of information. Assurance refers to the knowledge and courtesy of the staff and their ability to convey confidence. It involves politeness, friendliness as well as possession of the skills to provide information and services. Access means that there are sufficient numbers of staff and equipment as well as hours of operation. Communications means keeping the customers informed in language they can understand and listening to them. It may mean that the organization has to adjust its language for different consumers-increasing the level of sophistication with a well educated one and speaking simply and plainly. Tangibles include the maintenance of the physical facilities and serviceability of the equipment. They encompass various environmental elements surrounding the services.

          7.2 Qualitative Analysis

The technique to be used in the analysis would be the ground theory in which (1990) developed. Qualitative evaluation data usually refers to raw, descriptive information about: programs/products and the people who participate in/use them or are affected by them and; programs/products and the people who develop or use them (1987). Three data gathering strategies typically characterize qualitative methodology: in-depth, open-ended interviews; direct observation; and written documents.

 

7.3 Quantitative Analysis

The instrument for measuring airline service quality encompasses six dimensions namely; in-flight service, reservation and ticketing, airport service, reliability, employee service, and flight availability. A Confirmatory factor analysis will be conducted to validate using six dimensions of airline service quality. Confirmatory factor analysis addresses the situation wherein the researcher specifies a model a priori, and tests the conjecture that a relationship between the observed and the latent variables does in fact exist (2002).

In-flight service, reservation and ticketing, airport service, reliability, employee service, flight availability, passenger satisfaction, airline image, value, and behavioral intentions were treated as latent variables with multiple indicator measures. The observed variables are measures of in-flight service, reservation and ticketing, airport service, reliability, employee service, flight availability, passenger satisfaction, airline image, value, and behavioral intentions which are based on passengers' actual responses to corresponding measurement items on the survey form. It will be used as indicators of the corresponding service dimension. Passenger satisfaction, airline image, value, and behavioral intentions would also be represented by observed variables calculated from passengers' survey responses.

In addition, to assess reliability, internal consistency methods are widely used and generally Cronbach's alpha is used to assess internal consistency. Cronbach's alpha is the average of all possible split-half coefficients resulting from different ways of splitting the scale items and a value of .6 or less generally indicates unsatisfactory consistency reliability ( 1996).

 


 

8.0   Ethical Issues

 (1990) highlights many of ethical issues that interviews must considered. First is confidentiality because respondents may be sharing very personal information, it is important to honestly assess how much confidentiality you can promise. Some information must be reported and respondents must know this from the start. Second is informed consent in which respondent must sign a permission from agreeing to participate after being informed of potential risks and benefits. In addition, risk must be assessed because even though just speaking may seem inherently harmless, people who participate in open-ended interviews may experience psychological stress, legal or political repercussions, or ostracism by peers or staff.

Moreover, since the respondents share their insights with you, the issue is on what they would get. If promises are made for the improvement of some issues, it should be kept.

In order to overcome these ethical issues,  (1994) suggested to use research journals as forms of debriefing that may assist in the clarification of ethical issues, as different viewpoints, possible consequences and the different effects on different respondents are recorded and considered. In addition,  (1994) recommended the return of interview transcripts to interviewees for confirmation as one technique which is aimed at protecting their interests. This will also help in determining whether or not the discussion recorded was appropriate and whether the investigator followed the appropriate course. Moreover,  (1982) points out that consent needs to be sought at regular intervals throughout the research process. Respondents must be informed that consent may be withdrawn at any time.

 


 

9.0   Limitations of the Study

The study is limited to the available sources gathered and on the insights of the respondents. Since the interview could not cover all the consumers of the airline, the study would be limited to the number of the respondents covered.

In addition, this study was limited in the context of airline services for domestic passengers. International passengers' perception of service quality and behavioral intentions might be different from those of domestic passengers. Hence, an empirical examination needs to assess how international passengers' perception of service quality and behavioral intentions differ from those of domestic passengers.

Moreover, the effect of individual dimensions of airline service quality and passengers' behavioral intentions might differ according to passengers' travel experiences--such as seat class, usage frequency, purpose of trip and demographic features such as gender, income, age, education level. Thus, future research that includes the analysis of travel and demographic variables with respect to individual dimensions of airline service quality, passenger satisfaction, airline image, and passengers' behavioral intentions would be valuable.


 

10.0 Conclusion

Service industry is in tight competition especially in the airline industry. Service companies should find ways to improve the services they offer. Customer are becoming more quality conscious today with the greater amount of choices available in the market. Customers preferences have also evolve together with the increase in education and information. To cope up with this rapid changing in customer preferences, service companies must also change or improve the service quality.

Cathay Pacific with its slogan “service from the heart” must internalize this. Management also plays an important role in improving service. Most especially, it is also important for the companies to improve customer service.

 

 

 


 

11.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

12.0 Appendix A – Time Table

 

PROPOSED TIMETABLE

                       TASK

WEEK

 

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

Select topic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Undertake preliminary literature search

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·   Define research questions

·   Write-up aims and objectives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Select appropriate methodology and locate sources of information. Confirm access.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Write-up Dissertation Plan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Undertake and write-up draft critical literature review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secondary & Primary Data Detailed

·   Sources

·   Consulted

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research Findings:

·   Analyzed

·   Evaluated

·   Written-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion:

·   Research findings evaluated and discussed in relation to the literature review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Methodology written-up

(including limitations and constraints)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main body of the report written-up and checked for logical structure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

·   Conclusions drawn

·   Recommendations made

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction and Executive Summary written-up

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final format and indexing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Print

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.0 Appendix B – Interview Schedule for Customers

I.      Opening

1.       My name is _________________________ and as a marketing consultant of Cathay Pacific Airways, the company thought it would be a good idea to interview you so we will have an idea on the necessary improvements that we would take in the out service quality.

2.       I would like to ask you some questions on your perceived quality of the services of Cathay Pacific for us to be aware.

3.       Hopefully, this information would help us to have the idea to improve in our services

4.       The interview would only take 5 minutes. Are you available to respond to these questions?

 

II.        Body

1.       Do you usually travel by airplane?

2.       How often do you travel?

3.       In what places do you usually go?

4.       How do you perceived the quality of service of airlines you have come to travel with?

5.       Are the hostesses courteous and pleasant?

6.       Are the food catered good enough?

7.       Is ticket reservation easy and accessible?

8.       Does the airline give prompt refund?

9.       Does the airline respond promptly to customer complaints?

10.    Are you satisfied with the services you experience with the airline?

11.    What can you suggest for the improvement of the airline?

12.    What other things that you complain about the services delivered by the airlines?

 

III.       Closing

1.       I appreciate the time you took for this interview. Is there anything else you think would be helpful in the improvement of the services of the airline?

2.       I should have all the information I need. Thanks again. It would be a great help for the company’s improvement.

 

 

 

 

 

THE SHIFTS OVER TIME

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

This essay utilized the Berlin and Vienna civilizations as the models to review their previous roles in history and how they dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in the Berlin and Vienna civilizations were then identified, how they worked and its effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess the Berlin and Vienna civilizations with regard to their suitability to critical situations in history, during which the internal capabilities of these roles in relation to the strategy being followed by the Berlin and Vienna civilizations was determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of the Berlin and Vienna civilizations’ roles in history was also conducted to assess and compare the capabilities of these roles with those of others. Gaps in the capabilities and environment were then identified.

Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the educative roles of modern historians in exposing the role of Berlin and Vienna civilizations in history as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well.

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The Berlin and Vienna civilizations that existed in history can be best remembered for their efficient and effective implementation of the policies and tasks necessary to satisfy their citizens, workers and soldiers. Their leadership almost always focused on the careful management of the processes involved in the production and distribution of their products and services.

More often than not, ordinary historians don't really have the capabilities to access the roles of Berlin and Vienna civilizations in history. Instead, these historians engage in activities that various schools of history typically associate with the Berlin and Vienna civilizations. These activities include the researching of the impacts of the great German and Austrian conquerors and rulers as well as their contribution to history.

However, the role of Berlin and Vienna civilizations in history deals with all operations done since the beginning of their existence. Activities such as the management of government, the control of states, logistics and evaluations are often related with the Berlin and Vienna civilizations. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, the roles of the Berlin and Vienna civilizations in history include the analysis and management of internal processes.

 

 

Political Trends

During the early part of the 20th century, the German civilization experienced electoral and political transitions and crises.  There were at least four political trends that emanated from these political events. These were: (a) the cry for democracy and reforms; (b) increased popular and local-level assertiveness; (c) greater public accountability; (d) re-definition of the concepts of power and politics. Also, the forms of political economies have slowly shifted from a bipolar (big government-big business) to a tri-polar structure (authorities - private sector – civil society).

 

            On the part of the Vienna civilization, the implementation of the Free Trade Area, or FTA, which laid out a comprehensive program of regional tariff reduction, was continuously implemented in phases through the 19th -20th century. Over the course of the next several years, the programs in tariff reductions were made broader. Efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers and develop common product certification standards were initiated. In addition, Austria also was able to formulate framework agreements for the liberalization of trade in its services. Industrial complementation schemes meant to encourage intra-regional investment were also approved.

Social/Cultural Trends

With the rise in the middle to upper-middle class households in Berlin, there exists a strategy mismatch for not considering the potential for consumer market.

There have also been social and cultural trends that have been evident in Vienna within the 19th -20th century. These include: (a) the irreversible rise of civil society; (b) the rise of civil society blends perfectly with a tri-polar structure of political economy; (c) the increase in the roles of intellectuals; and (d) the beginning of a period of introspection.

Economic Trends

Despite the adverse economic trends in the first half of the century for Germany, Berlin experienced a relatively robust economic growth. It is estimated that Berlin, taken together, posted a better-than-expected GDP growth last year, slightly higher than the growth that they achieved in 2002.

On the other hand, Vienna has also seen the risk-weighted capital adequacy ratios of their banking systems improve due to government-sponsored bank recapitalization programs, continued progress in financial restructuring, and improvements in financial risk management. The capital adequacy ratio of commercial banks in Vienna is now far higher than the usual Basle norm.

Technological Trends

It is a common knowledge that the mobile devices industry in Berlin is still a relatively new industry and is still in its early stages of development. However, it has shown signs of rapid growth and it is being estimated that there will be more than a million mobile devices that will be shipped within the year. In Vienna, it is being expected that within the next years the tremendous growth and technological advancements will continue in their industries. Mobile commerce and multimedia terminals are just some of the technological advancements already being expected. Therefore, the continued growth and development will also make it imperative for localization to occur in their industries in the years to come.

Legal Trends

Intellectual property (IP) and IP Rights (IPR) creation, commercialization, and protection have been a significant source of comparative advantage of enterprises and economies and a major driver of their competitive strategies. Indeed, Berlin is fully aware of the pressing need for a long-term policy commitment to collectively transform Germany into one which is largely based on knowledge, driven by innovation and sustained by life-long learning.

On the other hand, Vienna has pledged to work together to help accelerate the pace and scope of IP asset creation, commercialization and protection; to improve the regional framework of policies and institutions relating to IP and IPRs, including the development and harmonization of enabling IPR registration systems; to promote IP cooperation and dialogues within the region as well with the region’s Dialogue Partners and organizations; to strengthen IP-related human and institutional capabilities in the region, including fostering greater public awareness of issues and implications, relating to IP and IPRs.

 

Austria’s Relations with Germany

Public relations between Austria and Germany in the past decade has gradually transformed from low-level activities into high-profile contributors to success. However, budgets are also elevating at a faster rate than the gross national product. In the midst of this growth and increased influence, government leaders of Austria and Germany are left with confusing question: To what extent should be invested in restoring public relations?

The recent efforts of Austria and Germany to improve their public relations policies would definitely make them as powers to contend in Europe. Also, the growing impact of information and communications technology (ICT) fits in with the larger transformation towards a knowledge-based country. Most workers in Austria and Germany are already adapted to ICT. Nowadays, both countries are more and more using artificial intelligence systems in order to educate people.

The public relations of Austria and Germany are being influenced by the interaction of two major factors. On the one hand, the instructional factors: the educational philosophy brought about by the respective governments and its conversion into didactical ideas. On the other hand, organizational factors: the staff, infrastructure and policies related in this area. It is obvious that the governments must possess a sound vision of policies and the efficient use of the operating budget in order to effectively perform their roles.

There are a number of interconnected issues that falls under Austria and Germany. Competition, new strategies and changing human resource management trends are among these issues. The main focus however, is on how Austria and Germany will be able to overcome these issues.

REFERENCES

Management communication

MEMO

To all the customer service staff members,

            There have been recent complaints concerning the poor telephone manner of our customer service staff members. This is unacceptable, so I took the initiative to inform all of you regarding proper telephone manners.

The 7 P’s of Business Phone Etiquette reflects about ways where an individual can properly express himself / herself in using the phone. This is important especially in today’s era where modern gadgets and electronic devices such as mobile phones are already being used as a means of communication.

The first P involves Preparation. Whenever making a call, it must be short but concise if possible. All details must have been already summarized to avoid lengthy discussion over the phone.

The second P involves determining the Purpose and intentions of the caller. This must be done to readily inform an individual about an urgent call that he / she needs to respond to. 

The third P involves Particularizing the intent and objectives of calls being made. It has to be direct to the point if possible to avoid having circus discussions.

The fourth P involves the Passing or relaying the information to the person involved while making sure the message is clear, concise and accurate. A slight misunderstanding in the details might start the trouble between the caller and receiver.

The fifth P involves Professionalism in both making and answering phone calls. Being courteous and mild-mannered at all times helps in establishing a harmonious conversation between the caller and receiver.

The sixth P involves Privacy especially of critical information. Mishandling of pertinent information might lead to the destruction of a person or organization’s credibility to handle information.

The last P involves patience. As mentioned earlier, one must stay calm and open-minded even when dealing with pressure from unsuspecting callers.

The tips and strategies on phone calls can be summarized into 8 major steps. These are (1) Sitting up straight whenever answering the telephone; (2) Checking the identity of the caller immediately; (3) Keeping a notepad and pen within reach for the purpose of taking down notes during the conversation; (4) Answering immediately, by the second or third ring whenever possible; (5) Listening attentively to what the caller is saying; (6) Keeping in mind the caller’s privacy; (7) Transferring calls only whenever necessary and follow-up; (9) Finishing the conversation on a positive way.

            I sincerely hope that with the information listed above our telephone courtesy would improve. It is our responsibility to not only take care of sick people, but to treat them also with utmost respect.

 

The Administration Manager

 

 

 

 

 

REPORT WRITING

 

A. Low Staff Motivation

 

Low staff motivation in our organization can be caused by the following reasons:

 

Unequal Opportunity and Employment Practices

 

1) Unintentionally, our organization could be allowing employment discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, or against qualified disabled persons.

2) Unintentionally, our organization could be allowing the lowering of bona fide job requirements or qualifications in order to give favor to any applicant for employment.

3) There seems to be a developing of grudge between and among employees, including, managers, or against any person making allegations of violations of the company policies.

Lack of Compensation and Benefits Management

Our organization determines how it will implement the Compensation and Benefits Management System which is the basis for ensuring the equitable implementation of pay decisions. However, there seems to be a problem in the Salary Administration Plan, which administers the company’s internal compensation philosophy and policies, recruitment and selection process, performance management, administration of pay practices, and program evaluation plan. There seems to be a need to regularly evaluate this plan to make sure that our employees are continuously complying to the company policies as well as to the company’s mission and organizational needs.

 

 

B. Recommendations

All companies and organizations are governed by their basic goals and objectives. These objectives are often regarded to as the “corporate vision” or “corporate philosophy”. Thus, certain strategies are being implemented with the aim of achieving these goals and objectives, and this constitutes a key element in the characterization of a company or organization. Personnel are undoubtedly an important indicator in determining the characteristics of a company or organization.

Human resources development in most organizations and companies in the past decade has gradually transformed from low-level activities into high-profile contributors to organizational success. However, budgets are also elevating at a faster rate than the gross national product. In the midst of this growth and increased influence, managers and executives of companies and organizations are left with confusing question: To what extent should be invested in human resources development in order to increase the motivation of the employees? Definitely the answer won’t be easy, especially because the actual levels of expenditures needed is often an elusive figure, depending on the financial capabilities of the organization.

 

It is a well known fact that human resources play a crucial role towards differentiation and a potent source of competitiveness for any organization or company. Therefore, our organization must constantly invest in human resource development even during periods of recession. Failure to do this is one of the main reasons for low staff motivation. However, the determination of the extent to which our organization can invest in terms of human resources development depends on the financial capabilities of our organization. Finances will also be carefully considered in determining the target for training and development, because it should jive with the basic policies of our organization’s human resource development strategy.

Our organization should provide our various employees with training sessions appropriate for them to be able to help the company in achieving its mission and accomplishing its objectives. This could be achieved through the ff. steps:

1. I can appoint an employee that is capable in helping to implement its training and development programs and serving as coordinator for the duration of training services.

2. The organization as a whole develops a biennial training plan which includes:

a. a training needs assessment;

b. an action plan illustrating the objectives and approaches through which the plan can possibly be done; and

c. funding needed to implement the plan.

 

 

NATURE OF CRISIS

In a broad perspective, nature, is equal to the natural, physical universe, material world or material, this is according to the . Nature is a natural phenomena of the physical world and also to life. The word nature does not refer to manufactured objects and human interaction unless qualified in ways such as human nature or the whole of nature.

The Importance of Public Relations

The Importance of Public Relations: Answers to Questions and Case Study Analysis

 

Executive Summary

            In the first part, this paper will be discussing the importance of public relations as viewed in different aspects and situations in a company. It sites its importance as one of the most important aspects in organizational communications. In the second part, this paper will be talking about a specific case study analysis in relation to the concepts and theories of crisis management and communications.

 

Introduction

            The use of public relations is one of the most important aspects of organizational communications, for it does not only enhance the internal relations and communications of the company or an organization, but it also develops and disseminates the information or knowledge system to all the company’s employees. This will be given emphasis in discussing the importance of internal public relations specifically, through an example from an organization.

            Moreover, crisis management and communication is equally important in an organization, and its importance will be discussed using a case study regarding the July 7, 2005 London Bombings.

 

Body of the Paper

Part A

1) The Importance of Internal Public Relations

           

It has been reported that public relations is a management function, which tabulates public attitudes, defines the policies, procedures and interest of an organization followed by executing a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance, or the process of aligning the perceptions of targeted audiences or publics with the current realities and reasonable prospects of another entity (2006). Public Relations can be classified as being external or internal, where external public relations is aimed at gaining the attention of the company’s target market and at achieving publication in the desired media (2006). On the other hand, internal public relations are concerned with the distribution of information to a corporate community, within the organization or company, or to a group of prospects (2006).

                Moreover, internal public relations involves more freedom and latitude, for the company is not dependent upon anyone to publish it, and its importance is that it is good for rumor control, motivation of employees, clarity of information, announcements and introduction of new products, and management of message and information (2006). It can also be used to introduce and edit the company’s website and not worrying on the confidentiality of the matter (2006).

            Furthermore,  (1995) reports that in developing an organization’s internal public relations campaigns, they have utilized a variety of persuasive message channels designed to influence current and future employees, and this traditional forms of internal communication include house organs, employee newsletters, and corporate reports. Its use is also important in relation to the introduction of new products and technology, the announcement of organization policy and procedures, and promotional messages for worker safety and a variety of personnel related topic (1995). In essence, the importance of internal public relations can be applied through the introduction or indoctrination of new employees to an organization or company. With these, its importance and application will be better understood with the use of a specific example.   

            The socialization process is a process by which a person learns the values, norms and required behaviors, which allow the new employee to participate as a member of the organization, and it represents a crucial time for the newcomer to establish needed role-related and culture-specific knowledge to function successfully as a member of the organization (1995). Through this, the process of internal public relations can be applied, including the work group or coworker interaction and organization and management communication, which are key sources of information in the assimilation stage (1995). In particular, at Midwest Pharmaceutical Company, the process of internal public relations can be seen effectively through new employee indoctrination, where a video presents a 35-minute introduction to the company that is shown to new associates during employee orientation. The narrators of the video consist of the company’s founder and chairman of the board, along with the company’s executive team, including the president, the chief executive officer, the senior executive vice president, chief operating officer, and the executive vice president. The video provides a historical overview of the company, including the development of three dominant themes, such as its growth, product development, and its “spirit”. The growth of the Midwest Pharmaceuticals was discussed by showing the facilities of the company and its most valued resources, such as its buildings, support equipment and its employees who are highlighted to the service of a particular machine. The aspect of the company’s product development presents its variety of pharmaceutical products, which can be regarded as unique products, innovative compounds, and the most sophisticated healthcare products. Moreover, the spirit of Midwest Pharmaceutical was recognized in the video as a unique corporate culture, which presents a fashionable management technique of expressing a desired corporate culture, describing an efficiently operating work group brought together by familial or spiritual bonding, and the commitment to physical growth and respect for technology and for the supremacy of product development (1995).  

            Using the specific example of Midwest Pharmaceuticals, it can be seen that the concept of internal public relations was applied using the video, to introduce the corporate structure of the company to the new employee. The video was used as a medium to inform the newcomer or the new employee of the corporate structure of Midwest Pharmaceuticals, and make sure that the new employee will be able to meet the top executives of the company. Based on the definition of internal public relations, the use of the video shows the freedom of the company in utilizing forms of media in distributing and dissipating information. As a form of internal public relations, the video saves time on the part of the executives by conducting a meeting to introduce and discuss the company’s mission and vision. Through the video, the new employee will also be able to gather new information and knowledge regarding the company and its products. In addition, through the video, the company’s founder was also able to impart the importance and the features of the roles and jobs in the company, which will soon be taken by the newcomer.

            Moreover, through this example, internal public relations were clearly demonstrated, for with the use of the video, Midwest Pharmaceuticals will not be concerned anymore with the publication of the information in the video, and media interference. Its use has even emphasized the clarity of information being distributed by the founder of the company, which can be used by the new employee in his or her utilization of knowledge. In addition, the information gathered can also be used as a basis for decision-making, and for upholding the mission and vision of the company in relation to the actions she or he will taking. In future endeavors, the use of this form of internal public relations medium will be effective as being cost-effective and a time-saver. From this, the importance of internal public relations and its use will be emphasized all throughout the undertakings of the company, in accordance to its corporate structure, mission, and vision.

 

2) Crisis Management in a Soft Drinks Organization

 

            Any business organization or company encounters a variety of problems and crises throughout their operation. However, different organizations have different responses to various crises that they encounter, and the response to these crises is referred to crisis management. Crisis management deals with giving the right crisis response (2006), and involves crisis management approaches, which may be defined as one that recognizes the social and technical characteristics of business interruptions, emphasizes the contribution that managers may make to the resolution of interruptions, and acknowledges the impact, potential or realized, of interruptions upon a wide range of stakeholders ( and Swartz 2002). In addition, the view of crisis management in business continuity recognizes that the organization is part of an environment characterized by uncertainty and change, leading to new challenges, and within this environment, regulation, legislation and stakeholders help to shape the business continuity process through accumulated knowledge within an organization (2002). In relation to crisis management is crisis communication, which involves the behavior and response towards a specific crisis (1998), and the response and behavior of an organization to a crisis must be appropriately assessed to effectively and efficiently provide solutions to the problem.

            In relation to the crisis involving a soft drink organization regarding product contamination, it would be best if the company or organization has a crisis management and crisis communication plan. Similarly, this is also the solution of larger and more prestigious companies, such as Mercedes Benz. It has been reported that more than a billion Deutschmarks had been invested in the development and manufacture of the Baby Benz or the Mercedes Benz A-Class, which captured mass-market sales revenues (2002). However, problem occurred when five Swedish motoring journalists managed to topple the vehicle at only 60 kilometers per hour during an object avoidance maneuver, known as the ‘elk’ test, and this widely reported handling shortcoming represented a major crisis for the company, which is famous for its quality and safety. Instead of providing an immediate response to the incident, the company put the blame on Goodyear’s tires, which were insufficiently stiff for the vehicle’s requirements (2002). This incident has led to the initial failure of the vehicle in Sweden, and the diminishing of stock prices of Daimler-Benz, the parent company of Mercedes Benz and one of Germany’s largest industrial conglomerates ( 2002). With this situation, it is evident that the Mercedes Benz Company was not able to respond effectively to the crisis at hand, which led to the decrease in their sales. This means that the company was not able to come up with an effective and efficient crisis management and crisis communications plan.

            With the crisis of the soft drinks organization on product contamination, the company must have an organized and efficient crisis management plan to be able to provide solutions to the problem.

Event Planning Team - It has been reported that in the initial planning phase, the company should organize and staff an event planning team, which include risk management and information technology professionals, along with emergency management and subject matter experts, who will understand the plans (2005). Moreover, threat identification, risk assessment, and planning prioritization are needed in crisis management, and these processes are related to making the contingency plans for crisis management. With these professionals, the plan will be successfully implemented and assessed, to make sure that the solution will be effective for the crisis.

Contingency Plans - In addition, contingency plans is needed, which include a review of all hazards and threats quantifying the potential for impact, triage to identify processes, systems, functions, and partners that are most critical and at risk, developing contingency and disaster-recovery plans for each process, identification of mitigation steps, a review of the functionality, practicality, and cost-benefit of various contingency and recovery options, and crisis communication and notification plans for employees and stakeholders ( 2005). Contingency plans are needed to evaluate the practicality and effectiveness of the proposed solution to the problem.

Review and Development of Plans – In this phase, the team will be reviewing the existing plans of the company, and be able to develop new ones, which also includes the determination of the events that will generate a plan’s implementation. Testing, experimenting and training are included in this phase, and must employ individual preparedness and community-wide readiness as aspects ( 2005). The soft drinks organization must be able to review their plans in order to know their protocol concerning product contamination and assess if this will be applicable in the present situation. In this phase, the team must be able to know the extent of the contamination, make necessary experimentation and product sampling, and compare the result to the standard product. In this way, the soft drink company will be able to develop new plans and regulations to prevent the same event from happening again.

Managing Plan Execution – During the execution of the new plan, command centers should be open to ensure that oversight and rapid decision-making can occur, alongside training and rehearsing the management team in emergency operations concepts and drilling the team, for it is essential that these teams will be able to manage the information related to the crisis and to the new plan ( 2005).

Technology Concerns – Information management issues will be a key concern for event management, for it is easier to automate message tracking (2005). With the use of an efficient and effective information system, the command centers or teams will be able to coordinate effectively and be able to process the needed information efficiently. With this, the soft drinks organization will be able to double-check the quality of their product and in turn, prevent contamination, thus, preserving the integrity and brand image of their product.

Part B – Case Study Analysis

1) The performance of the management of TfL’s crisis communications can be viewed as successful because the organization was able to immediately respond to the problem presented to them caused by the bombings. It can be deduced that they were able to perform well in response to the crisis because given the fact that TfL was able to switch from managing a celebratory national story to managing an unprecedented crisis ( 2006). The major shift would somehow cause panic and confusion on the part of the organization’s members, but because they were trained for these kinds of situations, they were able to manage the crisis, and respond effectively. Primarily, the organization was able to organize the transportation of the stranded passengers in the tunnel, and make sure of their safety. Secondly, TfL was able to utilize their resources on dissipating the right information to the media regarding the matter. The organization was also successful in coordinating with the emergency services and with the government, and successfully facilitate rescue. The organization was also efficient in impact of the incident, and in reinforcing the message regarding the safety of the citizens (2006).

            In essence, the organization was able to exhibit professionalism and expertise in managing the crisis, for they were they were able to accomplish tasks and responsibilities in accordance to their mission, although busy taking care of other matters that are completely opposite from the crisis at hand. With this, the organization deserves to be given proper recognition and award for the huge responsibilities its members were able to handle efficiently and effectively.

2) It has been reported that the initial messages sent out by TfL placed the emphasis on operational information and practical advice for travelers, where the fast pace of events involved the evacuation of the entire tube network followed by the withdrawal of the London bus fleet and the suspension of the congestion charge (2006). From these actions of the organization, rescuers were able to take out the stranded citizens from the tunnel and other rescue organizations were able to resume regular transportation in the area.

            Restoring passenger confidence through the introduction of buses is a good way of mass rescuing the citizen stranded inside the tunnel. It was also a good strategy, for these buses can take its passengers to their offices. However to restore passenger confidence more quickly, rescue organizations should not have only took the passengers out of the tunnel and made sure they were safe, but they should have made sure that they were perfectly fine by sending them to a hospital and had them checked. This is to make sure that the passengers will be able to be relieved from the shock caused by the incident.

            Another strategy or activity is the government and the organizations’ provision of checkpoints around and in different areas in the tunnel, to prevent the incident from happening again. The government must have deployed police or army checkpoints at the entrance, in the tunnel and at the exit of the tunnel to make sure that no terrorists would be able to put bombs in the tunnel. This action would help regain the confidence and trust of the passengers towards the government and other organizations.

3) Based on the crisis management and strategies of Transportation for London, one of the lessons that can be taken note of is their professionalism in handling two different and opposing situations at the same time. Prior to the bomb attacks, the press team of TfL had been heavily involved in Live8 and 2012 Olympic bid, which London won the day before the bombings (2006). From this, the press team was able to successful shift from the festive emotion and event to a devastating event, and the organization was able to successfully handle the situation.

            Moreover, another lesson would be learning from TfL of their successful and effective coordination with other rescue organizations. This just means that the members of TfL exhibits camaraderie and teamwork among each other, which becomes an easy task in relating with other individuals from other teams. In addition, another lesson to take note of is their ability to gather their resources and dissipate the right information regarding the incident. This helped a lot, especially in informing the relatives of the passengers, for the media were able to confirm the victims of the bombing incident. This just goes to show that TfL exhibits an effective and efficient teamwork, which is evident from their ability to manage and handle the crisis at hand. Furthermore, this also shows that the organization was able to utilize the use of internal and external public relations, both inside the organization and towards the whole London.

 

4) I would respond to this question confidently, informing both the journalist and the Union leader that it is now safe to travel on London’s buses and tubes, for the government was able to successfully deploy checkpoints around the tunnel and bus terminals all throughout London to prevent the same incident from happening again. Moreover, more surveillance cameras have been deployed at different areas in the tunnel to make sure that each and every activity in the tunnel would be tracked. With this, I will inform them that with the successful and efficient coordination of the different rescue organizations and the British government, the tunnel and buses of the London would be more secured than ever. This should somehow give the passengers and the citizens of London confidence and trust in the government, that using the skills and resources of the members of the different organizations in London, everybody will be responsible enough to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities, and make sure that every citizen in London will be safe.

 

Conclusion and Recommendation

            The concept of public relations is such an important application in every business organization and company, such that its application encompasses a variety of functions and responsibilities in relation to the distribution and dissipation of information and knowledge. This is why it is essential to assess its importance and make sure that this will be used effectively in response to crisis management. As a recommendation, in relation to it would be crucial to assign a crisis management team that will be effective in resolving problems and crisis being experienced and will be experiencing by the company.

             

SUPERIOR FAMILY PRACTICE: A MARKETING PLAN

Executive Summary

            Superior Family Practice is an outpatient medical clinic that is composed by 25 individuals or human resources. It is a small-sized medical facility that provides health care for ambulatory patients, as contrasted with in-patients who are treated in hospitals. This specific outpatient medical clinic is governed by general practitioners or medical doctors who offer primary care for those who are in need of it. To be more specific, such health care is provided to patients, regardless of age or gender, in the form of both health education and preventive care.

            In this marketing plan, it is important to take note of one specific department in the organization, called the Trainng and Deisn Department, that is responsible for the clinic’s production of goods and training. This department is composed of 5 human resources, categorized as such—a) one Manager who is responsible for training and design; b) one clerical personnel or secretary who does not train or design; c) three individuals who train and design; d) one trainer or designer who is competent in e-learning and who also possess technical or computer as well as training-related capabilities. He or she also belongs to the three trainers or designers previously mentioned.

 

Analysis of the Situation

            Superior Family Practice is nearing its 10th year of operations and since it has been widely accepted, effective marketing of its goods and services is crucial towards its continued success and development.

Target Market

            As was previously discussed, the outpatient medical clinic caters to the needs of three types of customers—patients, corporate organizations who are in need of the clinic’s products, and medical practitioners in the clinic who require training and further guidance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 1.Target Market of Superior Family Practice

 

Products and Services

            After assessing the target market of the clinic, it is important to give emphasis on the fact that the products and services of Superior Family Practice are of excellent quality and specifically cater to the requirements of its patients, its medical practitioners, and other external corporate organizations.

Superior Family Practice, as could be derived from the name itself, caters to the medical needs of families in the United States. The outpatient medical clinic is in fact home to a number of trained and competent doctors who could effectively attend to the needs of patients with illnesses or injuries that are not severe enough to require serious emergency-room procedures. Moreover, the services provided in this outpatient medical clinic are less expensive as compared to other hospitals, which is why it accommodates the requirements of ailing individuals who are not financially secure. In connection to this, Superior Family Practice does not only provide medical services but also produces its own products for the needs of both patients and corporate customers from other organizations. These products are mostly health equipments such as licensed drugs that are both over-the-counter drug medications and prescription only medicines, as well as first aid equipments, and the like.

            Aside from these mentioned goods and services, Superior Family Practice also provides efficient training of medical practitioners. Such training is handled by licensed doctors also who make use of the clinic’s in-house and sophisticated technical facilities such as its library and production laboratory. Moreover, such training also caters to the needs of internal customers, specifically those who belong in the various numerous departments of the clinic, for their developmental and improvement requirements.

 

SWOT Analysis

            The following SWOT analysis provides the strengths to be maintained and the weaknesses to be improved by Superior Family Practice, more specifically its Training and Design Department. Furthermore, this analysis also provides the opportunities and threats encountered by the said organization and/or department.

 

Strengths

  • caters to the needs and is patronized by almost all types of people, specifically patients, corporate organizations in need of their products, and medical practitioners from the clinic itself
  • the Training and Design Department is able to produce training materials and tools that could be purchased by internal consumers, specifically medical practitioners of the clinic who requires further training and development in the field of health care
  • the Training and Design Department possesses a state-of-the-art production laboratory that generates medical products to be provided for external consumers
  • the Training and Design Department has competent trainers who could efficiently further the skills of medical practitioners for them to be more effective when they practice their profession in the clinic
  • a strong sense of intention or purpose to bring quality services and goods to its target market

Weaknesses

  • the clinic has not yet completely established a positive image to its target market
  • effective and consumer-friendly marketing communication strategies are not yet determined and established

Opportunities

  • innovative and useful technological advancements and tools such as its high standard production facility or production laboratory
  • sophisticated training and technical facilities in the form of a wide-ranging library and competent trainers or staff members

Threats

  • competition from other clinics or companies that have a similar nature and characteristics
  • lack of plan and means to create an effective and successful marketing communication measures

 

Marketing Strategy

            The planned marketing strategies of Superior Family Practice would be based on the requirements of its present and future customers. This could be done through thorough analysis and understanding of the situations faced by the clinic, the Training and Design Department’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as the opportunities and threats faced by the department and the clinic itself. Hence, all marketing strategies would be guided by the following mission or objectives:

  1. to provide efficient health care to patients, regardless of age and gender
  2. to produce excellent and quality medicinal goods for corporate customers
  3. to provide effective training to medical practitioners within the clinic

 

Marketing Objectives

  1. to realize an annual growth rate of 5% greater than the previous year
  2. to create a visible profile and an image of quality and excellence through its goods and services
  3. to maintain an efficient Training and Development Deparment, equipped with competent staff members
  4. to continue to develop its modern and efficient facilities and tools for production and training

 

Marketing Mix

            Through experience, the clinic and the T&D Department has realized that the most essential factor in maintaining its consumers and acquiring new ones is through referrals from the organization’s existing consumer base. In the year 2005, more than 70% of the clinic’s new patrons have both indirectly and directly referred by constant customers and other business clients. With this, it is evident that retention of customers is vital for the organization, and this could be further achieved through the production of quality goods and employment of effective training methods and procedures.

 

Marketing Research

            Further research would be employed by the clinic, to better understand the previously discussed situations that Superior Family Practice face. Supplementary research would also be done so as to take note of competitive activities, track the development of technological advancements in today’s society, as well as to gather significant information on the clinic’s customers and key clients.

 

Critical Thinking Case Study: Let It Pour-My First Assignment as Executive Assistant

Critical Thinking Case Study: Let It Pour – My First Assignment as Executive Assistant

 

Introduction

            The case study presented to us exhibits the problems the new Executive Assistant of the Chief Executive Officer, will be trying to propose solutions with, and these problems, possible solutions, and possible actions will be discussed in this paper.

            The concepts related to this case study involve Organizational Processes, Ethics Issues, and Communication Systems. Briefly, these concepts will be discussed at the latter part of the paper, which will enable us to evaluate its application on the possible solutions on the problems presented by the case study. Moreover, due to the relevance of these concepts, we will be able to fully understand the problems in the case study, and be able to propose conceivable actions and solutions.

 

Problems in the Case Study

            In any business organization or company, problems or issues addressing a variety of functions, concepts and theories are to be encountered. Problems in any business or service organizations are inevitable, which leads many to come up with creative and substantial strategies to solve them. Likewise, certain problems of the Faith Community Hospital were presented to us, in relation to their mission statement, which states that “ With the foundation and commitment of our spiritual heritage and values, our mission is to promote the health and well-being of the people in the communities we serve through a comprehensive continuum of services provided in collaboration with the partners who share the same vision and values

 

  • Work ethics of staffs and members
  • The staffs and members of Faith Community Hospital are not doing their work in accordance to the fulfillment of their mission statement.
  • Pragmatism
  • Medical errors cause many incidences of deaths in the hospital
  • Diversity on the part of the Board of Members, which represents a kaleidoscope of thinking and decision-making and the lack of understanding on ethics, laws, beliefs and oaths
  • Conflict between the hospital staffs and patients, on administering and taking certain medical services, which will clash with their religious beliefs or personal moral convictions
  • Decision-making on the provision of proper treatment, such as resuscitation
  • Hospital staffs not following hospital directives
  • Reliance of the hospital staffs on money and insurance policies, which create problems regarding filling of insurance prescriptions and insurance coverage
  • Collaboration of the hospital with insurance companies and their regulators, in relation to the patients’ coverage, costs, and modes of payment
  • Decrease in the number of patients and increase in hospital costs yearly, due to increase in the cost of hospital admission and treatment
  • Lack of communication and unity or teamwork, and focus on priorities

 

Proposal of Possible Solutions

            For the proposal of solutions to the problems presented by the case study, it is essential that we identify the concepts related to the case study. These concepts include Organizational Processes, Ethics Issues, and Communication Systems.

It has been reported that organizational processes serve to establish and sustain a usable set of organizational process assets, which allow consistent process performance across the organization and provide a basis for cumulative, long-term benefits to the organization (2005). From this definition, problems regarding the focus on priorities, following of hospital directives, improvement of services and facilities, and attracting more patients.

            One possible solution is to propose training on all hospital staffs and members. The training must include the review of the mission and vision of the company, to remind them of their roles and responsibilities in the hospital. In addition to classroom-type discussion trainings, the hospital must be able to propose employee or staff assessment or evaluation, which will tackle the current performance of the staff or member on the basis of following hospital directives, effective administering of treatment, and efficient employee interrelations. Through these, the organization will be able to impose changes and strict adherence to hospital directives, and restrict staff and members from committing violations. These actions will somehow help the company address their aim to focus on long-term goals in improving their services and facilities.

            Moreover, to address the problem regarding the decrease in the number of patients and the increase in hospital costs, hospital staffs and members must be able to have an efficient and an effective inventory of costs and instruments, to make sure that what they are using the hospital are really needed. They can also engage in research and look for alternatives for the expensive materials and instruments used in the hospital, to reduce their costs. However, the use of alternative and more affordable instruments and materials should not compensate the quality of service and provision of treatment that they can provide their patients. These actions are in response only to the aim of the hospital for cost reduction, which should not lead to the decline of the quality of services provided by hospital staffs, for their performance would largely affect the reputation of the hospital. In addition, the improvement in the training and knowledge of the staff and members of the hospital should contribute to the improvement of hospital facilities and services, so the hospital must be able to focus on providing and reviewing treatments and medical processes for the patients. However, the hospital must also allot a specific budget for the improvement of its technology, to be able to provide better services for their patients. In line with the changes and advancements of science and technology at present, the hospital must be able to adapt to these changes, and be able to use high-tech gadgets for a more effective and efficient service.

            Other problems of the company involves the concept of communication system, which can be defined as a system of functions making possible the communication between different parties, the carriers of which can be biological, personal, social, or technical units, and this provides a channel for mutual information exchange ( 2006). Based on this concept, the various problems of the Faith Community Hospital regarding communication can be addressed. The hospital can implement an effective communication system, by constantly having staff and patient assessment. Through staff or member assessment, the hospital will be able to evaluate and appraise the performance of hospital staffs, which would help with their improvement, while with patient assessment; the hospital will be able to identify their needs and feedbacks from the performance of hospital staffs or members administering the treatment.

            In relation to this, effective communication can also be established to be able the company to retain and make good relations with health insurance companies, which will help the hospital cater to the needs of its patients and even add to its features in providing better services. If this problem will be resolved then the hospital members and staffs will not have problems and conflicts with patients regarding health and coverage insurance. With the use of effective communication, the members and staffs will be able to establish and develop teamwork, and this teamwork will be used to resolve conflicts regarding their opposing beliefs on administering treatment and taking medical services. In this way, the staffs will be able to respond properly to the wants and needs, while the patient can also compromise on their treatment. Moreover, with effective communication, the Board of Members will be able to exhibit unity and promote collectivism. In this way, the Board of Members and the rest of the hospital staff and members can avoid pragmatism, and in turn, the whole organization will be promoting and establishing common goals towards their mission and vision.   

            In relation to ethics issues, the hospital and the Chief Executive Officer can promote professionalism and work ethics in the organization through work incentives and rewards. With rewards, hospital staffs and members will become motivated in working and rendering services to their patients, aside from fulfilling their responsibilities as healthcare professionals. Moreover, ethics and professionalism can also be promoted and encouraged through employee trainings and development, which can be managed by hospital Human Resource Management team. 

 

Rationale for Proposed Solutions

            The reason behind the proposed solutions is the aim of the Faith Community Hospital to promote the health and welfare of the people through the provision of adequate and efficient services, alongside the hospital’s partners who also have the same goals, and this purpose and objective of the hospital should be executed in accordance to their giving importance of the concepts and ideas regarding efficient management.  

            In relation to the concepts of organizational processes, the hospital can build on their long-term goals through employing continuous staff and member training and development. From this member or staff training and development, the Chief Executive Officer can emphasize on their attitudes and performance, which could contribute on more efficient and effective rendering of healthcare services. In relation to the hospital’s aim, they can also engage in research, for with in-depth research, the hospital staffs can give more importance on the preferences of their patients in relation to treatment, or find new ways to compromise with their religious beliefs and personal moral convictions. Through this, the hospital can render services and obtain customer satisfaction and loyalty.

            Moreover, in relation to communication systems, the provision and development of effective and efficient communication will enable the hospital perceive the needs of their patients, becoming more intent in providing their needs and wants, and efficient in establishing interrelationships, both among the patients, hospital staff and members, and other group of individuals sharing the same goals and values. Effective communication should be established in the hospital and among the organization because with this, there would be consensus among the members and staffs, which would promote collectivism. Through collectivism, the members of the Board and the whole organization will be able to work on the realization towards a common goal, which to promote the health and well-being of the people in the community. In addition, through effective communication systems, the organization will be focused only on same idea, however, although pragmatism because of individualism is also helpful in their success, maintaining and developing the same vision and ideas, gives them the edge in functioning as a whole.

            In relation to ethics issues, substantial incentives and rewards are helpful because its purpose is to influence employee behaviors, such as membership, which develops behaviors as joining the organization, remaining with the organization, and coming to work regularly and punctually, and performance, which comprises the entire range of behaviors required in the performance of a given job or role (1998). Through these, the organization can promote work ethics and motivation, which can encourage more effective and efficient performance and service of the hospital staff and members. Moreover, these are helpful measures because with incentives and rewards, most employees will be striving to perform better services, to be able to obtain the rewards and incentives they deserve.

 

Conclusion

            From the discussed problems, proposals and rationale of the proposal, it can be deduced that in any organization, including healthcare facilities, it would be essential if the concepts and theories in management, organizational processes, communication systems, and ethics issues will be addressed. This is in relation to the aim of organizations to achieve or attain their short-term and long-term goals, and to be able to establish their reputation in the industry or field they are in. However, due to many problems being encountered and crisis to solve, many of these theories are being neglected, in their belief of resolving the problem using easier strategies. With this, it must be given importance that concepts and theories must be applied to be able to arrive at desired results and consequences.

 

 

 

PEOPLE AND MANAGEMENT

Why is an understanding of people and organisational management principles important for your profession?

 

“Managers know that people make the critical difference between success and failure. The effectiveness with which organisations manage, develop, motivate, involve and engage the willing contribution of the people who work in them is a key determinant of how well those organisations perform” (. 1997).

 

The above quotation was certainly true and correct. Imagine a business environment without a centralized form of manpower? Who will do the job? Even the largest company in the world will not work without human resources or people intervention. Latest technological advancements will not guarantee success as to compare with what human beings can do. In every business to function, human work force is the fuel. In every organization, performance counts. It is the measurement of employees’ capacity and productivity towards success. Thu, it is imperative that any business organisation must understand its people and organisational management principles particularly in the profession due to several reasons:

·         This serves as manager’s guiding mechanism in the effective implementation of specific managerial functions such as decision making and taking, human resources management and the like.

·         It allows managers to work based on the proven, tested and acceptable concepts and universal theories relating to people and management. Similarly, it is where managerial actions are based.

·         The knowledge of the manager about management theory and practice as well as people serves as a critical success factor (CSF) that creates a spill-over effect to all areas covered by the manager and his/her functions.

·         Understanding people and organisational management theory and practice can avoid managerial mistakes, minimize risks, and increase the productivity of the people and the organization as a whole.

·         The knowledge of the manager on the principles of human resources and organisational management also facilitates effective communication among the management and workforce.

·         Productivity is also based on the knowledge of the manager of the principles and fundamentals of people and organisational management.

Any organisation, may it be profit oriented or not-for-profit, the most vital asset is its employees. And for these organizations to maximize their assets, they should manage the employees’ working condition with intelligence and efficiency (, 1998). They must be allowed to be involved in making work-related decisions to further enhance the organisational structure ( and , 1996). Furthermore, the structure of tasks among the employees strengthens the organizational performance (, 1989). It is therefore necessary to understand the employees for the organization to be effective (, 1983). The development, building, motivation, enhancement and enrichment of the employees of any organization largely depend on the leadership, mandate and vision of the organization ( and , 1999).

In the era of globalisation ( and , 2000, ; , 1990;  and , 1990), every organisation must keep itself along with all the other organisations on being globally competitive. Corporate or organisational competitive advantage does not only depend on the organisation’s financial resources but on the knowledge and effective implementation of people and organisational management. That is, for the organisation to achieve competitive advantage, the people involved in the organisation must also be competitive.

As organizations seek to develop sources of competitive advantage, researchers and practitioners have looked to firms' human resources. Recent research by  (1995),  (1995),  and  (1996), and others has demonstrated significant relationships between HR practices and organisational performance. This line of research has estimated that a one standard deviation increase in the use of "progressive" or "high performance" work practices can result in up to a 20% increase in firm performance ( and , 1996; , 1999).

The global market is considered to be in hypercompetition (, 1995) mode and its rate is increasing as technology and industry concentration is intensified. With the international conditions of every particular business, the aim for competitive advantage and market superiority remains to be one of the most important factors at hand. Aside from ensuring effectiveness in management, profit-oriented corporations are also considering a total evaluation of their standards when it comes to people and organisational management. Organisations are now faced with leaner structures and increased competition which in turn are generating a rapid pace of change in the workplace. The greatest barrier to adapting to continual change lies with the management of people rather than technology. The constant efforts of effective implementation and utilization of the HR strategies make it possible for the company to perform well in the market.

Therefore, the knowledge and management of an organisation's human resources is pivotal to its responsiveness. In order to achieve this, the role of people and organizational management needs to change from reactive to proactive. If it is to be used to an organisation's competitive advantage, it needs to go beyond merely attracting and retaining good people. It should strive to gain a complete understanding of its workforce and develop organisational systems and processes that enable individuals to add value within a larger organisational unit ( and , 1989).

Treating the employees as champions and as a significant aspect of the organisation naturally results to other positive outcomes. One of which is the improvement of the overall organizational performance ( and , 2000). A number of empirical studies have concluded that understanding people and organisational practices have a significant effect on the organization, which leads to high performance (,  and , 1999). One good example that identifies this relationship was the study conducted by  and  (1996). Utilizing 590 profit and non-profit-oriented firms, the researchers concluded that HRM practices like staffing selectivity and training are positively associated with organizational performance.

Organizational performance is achieved through HRM functions as they mould the employees as significant contributors to the firm. Having the appropriate skills that are honed to the maximum level, people and organisational management practices will then lead to the attainment of various goals of the organization. From this relationship, it is then appropriate to conclude that the understanding of people and organisational management directly connects to the success or failure of the organisation.

 

How can management theories help meet the key challenges of the 21st century?

 

            In the epoch of various occurrences such as globalisation, industrialisation and technological advancement, the international marketplace including its particular areas and systems is overly affected by the processes intrinsic to these phenomena. Among the observable impacts of such emerging conditions in the business world is competition. Competition among the various industries in every given economy is rapid and stiff. It is as if ‘survival of the fittest, extinction of the weakest’ trend. Today, as various industries are aiming for competitive advantage and sustainable development among its management and operations, there are numerous actions that are being implemented and are directed to the eventual success and growth of the company’s assets (, 2004). In competition, there is motivation in every business to improve and develop their objectives. For an enterprise to succeed in global competition, hence, there is a continuous plan to develop management and marketing techniques with better advantages or higher quality than its competitors.

            Management theories serve as established body of knowledge that will guide the manager in making excellent decisions for the benefit of the whole organisation. Similarly, the understanding of management theories is directly linked to enhanced organisational performance. In times of stiff competition, the knowledge of management theories is the ultimate solution in making sustainable competitive advantage that will differentiate the organisation from others. Also, it serves as a critical success factor of the whole organisation.

Organisation performance depends on the aspect of productivity and maximum contribution of every member to the company’s growth.  The strategic implementation of management theories helps the organisation in improving its performance. The mere presence of premeditated management activities ensures the growth of company. Its success is also rooted on the ability of the managers and related personnel to implement programs, process and directives gained from company employees’ profile, culture, and related demographics.

Meanwhile, understanding the dynamics of management in the application to any industry helps assess the potential opportunities and threats of every business organizations. According to  (2003), there are at least four types of resources which the company can use to achieve its objectives: financial, tangible, human and technological resources. As such, it is necessary to realistically assess potential levels of profitability, opportunity and risk based on five key factors within an industry so as to determine the long-term profitability of a market or market segment.

Critical success factors (CSFs) in business, are the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory can ensure that successful competitive advantage for the company (, 2001). Determining these factors is an old concept in business because there were great leaders throughout history who have identified and addressed key factors to achieve their successes. There is no one definition of CSF but it is considered that these are the areas which the company needs to concentrate on to flourish. Therefore, the activities should be carefully monitored and guided by the management.

(1987) defined critical success factors as managerial factors that create a competitive edge for a company in its respective industry. There is no specific process in identifying and executing critical success factors in strategic management planning. This is the reason why  (2001) asserts that different companies which have similar structure can conduct its market entry forming different strategies which lead to the development of various critical factors. As the primary means for an organisation to achieve its strategy, critical success factors must take into account the differences in the environment and organisation that exists. And by having the knowledge of instrumental and conceptual principles, the manager and his/her knowledge of management theories is to be considered as the organisation’s critical success factor per se.

Based on the discussions above, it is proven that understanding instrumental and conceptual knowledge on people and organisational management particularly in the everyday dealings can serve as strategy that can take to building up or organisational sustainable competitive edge. The ability of a business to stay in significant period of time in the industry where it belongs is one measure of its success (, 2002; , 1999). It is believed that this line of thinking will continue to direct the activities of business into the 21st century (, 1999). Every business is subject to several factors that affect its function as a whole. These factors are the ones attributed for the success or even the failure of a business (, 1997). Thus, the discussion above revealed the benefits of understanding people and organisational management as well as on how management theories help in meeting key challenges in the contemporary era. Through effective and efficient strategic planning and management applied by the managers and other immediate individual personnel, the organisation’s resources, systems, and administrators can add value to the services delivered to customers, reduce risks in the organisation’s business, lessen the costs of business development and service delivery, and encourage improvement in internal business processes and external service implementation.

            To employ these processes, there is the need to consider the continuous learning of the managers to the emerging and latest trends in the management practice. Risks, opportunities, ability of managers to handle and use new knowledge, and the effectiveness in the organisational setting are very imperative. Intensive preparation and study should be conducted in order to ensure that managers are fully equipped and ready to face the challenges as well as to successfully able to perform its deliberate functions. The new information acquired from organisational and management learning activities will have value and increases insight into organisational needs and the way the business is looked at. Adding more and more advantages to the whole organization and solving the problems as they occur will eventually lead to success and growth as mentioned. Having an experienced strategist in helping the management utilises its resources, economic progression and corporate growth and success is promising.

The emergence of digitalisation (, 1998) and globalisation in all operating global industries paved way to the further improvements related to marketing and management techniques. Regardless of the unprecedented drawbacks of such ideas when being used, every organisation and its managers are required to undergo constant knowledge progression and management must administer and control them in the most beneficial ways possible. Every decision made by the management must be directed to the welfare of the whole industry. With the right abilities, knowledge and characteristics of good manager, understanding management theory, strategy and strategic planning plus constant organisational learning will result to eventual business productivity and growth, market superiority, competitive edge, and success.

 

Reflection

            In relation to my experiences, I can affirm that my management competencies are constantly improving each day of exposure to my working environment. During my first stage, I have less knowledge of managerial functions and its related competencies. As I continue to work and learn, I acquired important management competencies based on knowledge, skills and/or values such as leadership and teamwork, improved communication, and enhanced managerial skills.

In terms of leadership and teamwork, I can now lead and direct my subordinate and at the same time yielding the best possible result in every endeavour we partake. For instance, in one of the tasks that my team accomplished, I was able to motivate my whole team to work out our goal. I motivate them through my involvement and cooperation as it creates a feeling of oneness. I can also experiment along with the different styles of leadership as it applies to specific functions. Working with teams is a very challenging task because it means that I should deal with different principles and beliefs. With this, I see to it that I am a leader and at the same time a follower. Also, I see to it that my perception of myself is similar to my team members’ perception. Any conflict of ideas or principles are immediately address in order not to create further damage.

In communication aspect, I have been very efficient in maintaining satisfactory working relationship and environment. Communication within an organisation goes beyond the concepts of effective speaking or listening. It is an interactive model which deals with feedback and reciprocal exchanges. My strength in communication includes my ability to deal with all the people around me. It is important that the communication I provided is clear and consistent from within all people and levels of the organisation concerned. It must address both organisational and individual employee concerns. I learned that management behaviours influence employee behaviour more than the words included in a communication. With this, I recognise the need to assess the communication and its processes involved to see if it meets predetermined objectives. I can say that I have explored my limits in terms of communication and bring out positive results.

            In upgrading my managerial functions, I developed enhanced ability in planning, organising, directing/leading, coordinating and controlling. These functions are goal-directed, interrelated and interdependent with each other. These resources also include people, jobs or positions, technology, facilities and equipment, materials and supplies, information, and money. In developing my managerial functions, I realised that managers should work in a dynamic environment and must anticipate and adapt to challenges. Moreover, managers must create and maintain an internal environment, commonly called the organisation, so that others can work efficiently in it.

All in all, my experiences in the working environment that I belong serve as my stepping stones for the further development of my management competencies. Similarly, my management competencies can relate to the key current management issues evident in my profession and culture by serving as my guide to take the best possible decisions as bounded with the management theories and supported by experiences that I had. My management competencies will contribute to the organisational performance by contributing my knowledge and expertise to a certain management matter. The management culture in which I belong could be described as a learning organisation. Simply because it allows all people not only me to learn and develop their potential in order to become better workers and professionals. This provides everyone the opportunity to excel for personal and organisational advantage. It is like hitting two birds with one stone. It creates a more conducive avenue of professional development. Having said all of these, I can say that I am now capable of dealing with change. For change is inevitable, I acknowledge the fact that I should be flexible enough so as not to disorient myself in the achievement of my duties and responsibilities both to myself and to the organisation I belong. In the advent of competition and technological innovations, my innate ability to think makes the big difference. I will continue to learn and update myself with the latest management trends. With this, personal and professional growth as well as improvement is not far at hand.

 

WORD COUNT: 2809 including in-text citations

 

References

DRAWING UPON FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIENCES IN BOTH RURAL AND URBAN SETTINGS EXPLORE THE WAYS IN WHICH ALL LANDSCAPES ARE THE RESULT OF THE COMBINATION OF PHYSICAL AND HUMAN PROCESSES

Mam Tor Derbyshire Cityscape

 

            The view from the top of Mam Tor in Derbyshire evokes a plethora of mixed feelings to people. Mam Tor overlooking the Edale valley has a rich history in terms of the natural environment and the establishment of people. The natural environment of Mam Tor of having a very steep slope is a product of the last ice age when a portion of the mountain collapsed exposing the inner portion of the mountain. It was through this steep slope that the first road was built (1960). Through the years, the ground has been highly unstable resulting to movements below ground destroying the road. Due to the loose component of the soil, slips and slides constantly occur especially in wet weather requiring constant monitoring by the authorities to anticipate ground shifts to anticipate the possible disasters that could occur and apply preventive measures (2003). The community environment in the Edale valley comprise a typical countryside, with the wide tracts of land cultivated for farming and agricultural activities owned as estates by different prominent families.

               The cityscape also has a beautiful landscape of natural and man-made resources. On one side of the Mam Tor Mountain is a lush green forested area ( 2006) while the steep side of the mountain offers a view of the natural developments brought about by the forces of nature. On the Edale valley below are vast tracts of greenery dotted with huts, cottages and mansions representing the social structure of the people making up the community. With the settlement of people and the growth of the population in the valley, the landscape of the area has become defined by both natural and man-made resources.

            The lush greenery in the Mam Tor Mountain and the fringes of the valley supports wildlife diversity from trees, shrubs and wild flowers to birds and reptiles to fishes and even to deers. To preserve biodiversity in the area, an unpopulated portion was established as a protected area and tree planting programmes have also been implemented in the hope of replenishing destroyed natural resources to support biodiversity in the long run.

            Increase in population requiring more land space for residential zones and the growth in economic activities necessitating the need to utilize greater portions of the area’s land and other natural resources has made the area a cityscape. Due to urbanization, the area has been characterized as a residential area. A community of people made up of families and individuals have established their residence in the area utilizing the resources to engage in farming and agricultural activities to support their livelihood.

            Due to the establishment of a community in the area, the increase in population means that land for farming becomes scarce requiring the people to engage in different economic activities. This made the community an industrializing area represented by the cement factory harnessing the sandstone and other mineral components of the exposed side of the mountain.

            Overall, Mam Tor in Derbyshire is a habitat of contrasts or opposites. On one hand are lush vegetation and wildlife while on the other hand is the community of people engaged in economic activities that highly influence the environment in different ways. Mam Tor Mountain itself reflects the contrast of abundance and scarcity, fertility and bareness and even life and death.

            The trip to Mam Tor in Derbyshire evokes contrasting emotions as an observer. On one hand, one looks towards the valley, breaths the fresh air and absorbs the sites to experience the vibrancy of life. We may not be able to see or hear it but the grass is growing beneath our feet, somewhere in the forest a nest has warmed eggs to eventually bring forth new life. The experience offers pure exhilaration. On the other hand, a look at the loose sandstone and rocks falling down the steep side of the mountain with a strong wind or heavy rains and the cement factory nearby reflects the inevitable loss of life. The loose soil and rock components reminds us of how fragile life is. Heavy rains can cause a massive landslide that would not only bury vegetation and wildlife on the valley below but also affect human livelihood. The cement factory could cause irreversible damage to the flora and fauna of the area in case of unsustainable practices. The experience brings out in me the feeling of concerned remorse over the future of the community.

            However, it is recognized that efforts have been made by concerned groups in lobbying for the conservation of the environment in the area. Knowing this brings me relief because the human influence in the area would be balanced by human intervention to prevent the unsustainable use of resources by people. The small efforts of these groups deserve admiration in bringing about hope for the great future of the community.   

 

Liverpool City Centre

 

            Liverpool city centre offers a very environment relative to the sites in Derbyshire. This is because Liverpool was one of the first cities to develop so that its history is defined by the events that occurred due to its status as one important city centre. Liverpool is an architectural paradise because it hosts three prominent buildings historically dominating the skyline of the city. The ‘three graces’ refers to the three buildings built beside the waterline, which are Cunard Building, Royal Liver Building and Port of Liverpool Building. Cunard Building is known for its Italian palace inspired architecture, Royal Liver Building is popular for its clock towers overlooking the river so that boat drivers learn the time while passing the building from the river below, and Port of Liverpool Building is known for its octagonal halls. ( 2006)

            Liverpool, marked by these three buildings represents the economic strength that built the city. These buildings represented wealth that the economic activities generated. The size of the structure and the elaborate designs translates into the costs needed in hiring experts to design the exterior and interior of the buildings, the materials used in construction, and the labour needed to accomplish this elaborate task (2006). However, what was missing is the representation of the people in these structures since the ‘three graces’ has not been attributed to human spirit or community efforts.

            The Liverpool cityscape only derives a human face through its description as a cultural centre. Liverpool has a number of museums, libraries and cultural and theatrical venues. It may not be as vibrant as in other primarily cultural metropolitan areas but the museums, libraries and cultural venues represent the human side of the cityscape. The fact that the community is able to preserve aspects of the cultural context of the city means that the people place great value over the beliefs, values and practices that have defined and directed the city to its current status.    

            Liverpool city is in itself a historical landmark due to its many historical locations and landmarks such as the internationally known Pier Head, Robin Hood Stone as well as its vast historical archive covering the intergenerational history of family that settled in the area and helped to build the city. It was also Liverpool that witnessed the starting voyage of the Titanic and experienced the brunt of World War II attacks on this allied power. It was in Liverpool that the famous ship Titanic set out to sail to the new world but unfortunate was lost to the sea together with most of its passengers. During the Second World War, it was Liverpool that served as the lifeline of Britain because it was through the city that ships were able to bring food and medicine to the country. ( 2006)

Liverpool city has a rich legacy to impart to the people. It was established as a city and it will continue to be a waterfront city. Due to its metropolitan characteristic, it is more of a business centre rather than a metropolis of people or a community. At present, the city is fast changing. There are now more office, retail and leisure centres including urban residential areas such as condos and apartments located in pockets within a city of tall buildings dedicated to business activities. This has slowly transformed the city into a business centre and has overshadowed the skyline previously defined by the ‘three graces’.

If Liverpool was one of the first city centres, it has now become a bustling business centre. A metropolis evokes the feeling of blurry and fleeting moments, just like watching a fast forwarded movie except that the viewer is part of the movie. Living in Liverpool requires the ability to keep-up with the fast pace of life encompassing adapting to modes of transportation, availability of apartments in areas proximate to the business centres, and high prices.

Due to the characteristic of the city of having been established in the beginning of the past century as a metropolitan area and its current development as business centre, Liverpool reflects the aura of a futuristic city built on the ruins of an earlier city. This means that there would be vestiges of the old city such as the ‘three graces’ in Liverpool but these are overshadowed and locked in between taller buildings dominating the skyline.

An urban community evokes sorrow over the loss of the community spirit, although it may never have been existent in the first place. The further urbanisation of Liverpool means that the interest of the individual would be stronger than the interest of the group because of the shift from community to business interests. The lack of people in Pier Head reflects the lack of time and interest in appreciating this historical legacy of the city.

 However, the library archives and the cultural centre provide hope and optimism that in the future the people and communities would take back control from over the direction of the metropolis.

MARKETING PORFOLIO

Hotel exteriorExecutive Summary     (half page)

 

 

1.0       Introduction

 

Every business is subject to factors that affect the firm’s function as a whole.  These factors are the ones attributed for the success or even the failure of a business.  In the light of this, there are certain ways or techniques that can be considered in order to emerge and continue to be competitive within the market place. The marketing concept has been defined as ‘the key to achieving organizational goals’ and the marketing concept rests on ‘market focus, customer orientation, coordinated marketing and profitability’. In a profit making business the firm obviously has to try and achieve this level of customer satisfaction as a way of staying ahead of the competition and making a profit.

 

It is important that before any business should be established, the management or the investor should create first a comprehensive and complete marketing plan to be able to know the capabilities and the weaknesses of the new business that would enter the marketing arena. In addition, the marketing plan should also include different aspects and key elements of a business to have a successful business not only in the local arena but also in the international market scene.

 

2.0       Market Research

 

In the business arena, it is important that a business organization must be knowledgeable about the different marketing strategies that must be utilized in order to make the business prolong its competitiveness and stay in the marketing world, locally and internationally.  The management of an enterprise that are considering entry into a foreign market must be able to make decisions focusing on uncertain and changeable circumstances that might be faced.  Hence, their decision must include the consideration of the mode of market entry to be used.  These choices is endogenous and self-selected because entry modes are chosen based on the internal capabilities of a multinational enterprise and external contingencies (, 2001).

 

As stated in the normative decision theory, it is suggested that the choice of the international market entry must be based on the trade-offs between the risks that might be encountered and returns ( and , 1986;  and , 1996).  According to experts, each entry mode has an influence for the level of control that the organisation or industry will enjoy over its foreign operations, the amount of investment required and the degree of risk the firm faces in venturing into a foreign market (, 1989).

 

There are two kind of marketing entry modes, the equity based and the non-equity based.  In the equity based modes, the choice is between wholly owned operations and equity joint venture. On the other hand, in the non-equity based modes; the option is between contractual agreements and export.  Internationally, entry modes have long been distinguished as closely related to varying degrees of resource commitment, exposure to risks, control and profit return.  Past studies have shown that the choice of entry modes depends on different types of factors, including firm-specific factors ( and , 1993), industry-specific and country-specific factors ( and , 1986).

 

2.1       Competitors

 

The scope of rivalry in the hospitality industry in Australia depends on whether if the competitor or regional, national or international chain. The competitors are Breakfast Creek Hotel Queensland, Mount Bambier Hotel South Australia and the Arthouse Hotel in Sydney.

 

 

2.2       Operating Environment

 

The number and size of the competitors in the fast food industry is heavily fragmented, Markets with large numbers of firms competitive than markets with small numbers of firms. These small companies behave more competitively than those large firms in the industry (, 1998). In the hotel industry, the size of firms differs on the other hand inclines to be smaller than other industries. Even with a heavy distribution of size in the fast food industry, competitors still have the tendency to have smaller forms than other industries.

Economies of scale are important because they allow competitors to preserve margins in the presence of intense price competition. All the major hotels end of the market, suppliers are weaker in bargaining position, especially with Mount Bambier Hotel South Australia and the Arthouse Hotel in Sydney because these companies have the ability to collaborate with the major wholesalers.

Hotel industry companies profits approximately $18 billion in pre-tax earnings from marketing in 1997, a 4.2-percent decrease from 1996. About 3.5 cents of every dollar went to pre-tax corporate profits in 1997. By 2003, profits increased 6.5%, even though there is some marginal sales increase, despite marginal sales increases, by attracting customers to cheaper hotels and services (, 2005).

 

3.0       Segmentation and Target Market

 

Creating pricing and management systems and processes yielded to maximum performance of the hotel industry. The following are the segments of the market in the hotel industry. Rack rates, here discounting is used as management tool for average maximization during high demand, consortia rates, is for savvy tourist and re educated to inquire for discounts through their travel agent while travel agents do their best to provide value to the customer, in the corporate rates the account are year-round in volume, often hotels give discounts corporate accounts, group rates are usually the fillers of the hotel industry and often negotiated based on the demands and finally, promotional rates, these rates are the lowest rates offered on everyday basis. The target market of the hotel industry are families from the middle to the upper class who can afford the group rates, the tourist who can pay the consortia rates and the companies who can pay for corporate rates.

 

 

 

 

4.0       Marketing Objectives

           

The quantifiable element that would control and monitor the marketing plan will be the profit and the promotional performances. If the company would be able to promote the products strategically and exemplary then the consumer will be encouraged to purchase the products which in return provide good performance with regards to profit.  If these two will have a positive result then the company is assured that the marketing plan is under control and that the company will surely became successful.

 

 

           

5.0             Positioning      (Should include a Positioning Map)

 

The hospitality industry in Australia is in a mature stage, while the international market is in the rapid-growth stage. The industry’s curve is flatter, showing slow in growth and can be considered to be in the stage of expansion (, 2004). The industry’s sales is expanding and continuously gaining profit from their cash cow products. In this life cycle of the hotel industry, there are some late entrants and are trying to put all efforts to have a share in the market. The leading company in the industry like Conrad Treasury Hotel Brisbane is separating their product and services from other lower-cost offering in order to increase volume of sales and gain profits.

source:

 

 

6.0       The Product

 

 

            The Conrad Treasury Hotel offers a world class entertainment. It is a hotel with world-class casino. The other amenities are air conditioning, Alarm clock, Cable / Satellite TV, Hairdryer, Heating, In-room safe, Internet access, Iron and ironing board, Mini bar, Pay-per-view movies, Radio, Refrigerator, Tea and coffee making facilities, Telephone, Television. The other services that the hotel feature are baby sitting service, Business centre, Cafe, Casino, Conference facilities, Currency exchange, Gymnasium, Laundry facilities, Lounge, Massage service, Parking facilities, Reception, Restaurant, Room service, Safe deposit box,  and Sauna

 

7.0       Pricing Strategies

 

Their strategy includes the style of being customer oriented industry in which the customer are considered in the decision-making of the company with regards to its pricing strategy ( and , 19970. ) The company must realize that their customer is one of the essential stakeholders in order for the whole industry to succeed and achieve its objectives, they used the Discount Analysis Containing Optimal Decision Algorithms (DACODA) in determining their pricing and discounting scheme for the convenience of their clients and for the industry’s benefit as well.

 

As part of the DACODA which is also known as the yield management system of the Conrad Treasury Brisbane Hotel, the company has been able to focused on the client company’s most favourable air program not only in the local arena but most especially in the global market place. One of the core functions of the management system used by the company is to find through all the complex airline databases to analyse its pricing and discount system. In this manner, the travellers are given the right to choose from varieties of time, date and locations parameters that they have selected.   With this software also, the company has been able to promote a good relationship with their clients by providing a hassle free selection for their travels.  Further, the company’s software has made it possible to automatically store both booking and billing which provides lesser but effective works for their staffs and their clients as well.

 

 

 

8.0       Promotional Strategies (Media Schedule)

 

To promote the company and its services, the company will use video advertisements, print advertisements and the concept of e-marketing. These promotion and communication strategy will tend to meet the consumers form different places everywhere, especially those target markets or the consumers in the working place.  Moreover, since the trend in the market place today is the usage of e-marketing, the company will provide a website that any client can access.  The use of the Internet is changing high-tech marketing overnight while different industries have been trying to use it as part of their marketing strategy. It does not only reconfigured the way different firms do business and the way the consumers buy goods and services but it also become instrumental in transforming the value chain from manufacturers to retailers to consumers, creating a new retail distribution channel ( and , 1999).  E-marketing is a powerful tool used by different business organizations around the world. It is defined as the process of achieving marketing objectives through the use of electronic communications technology.  and  (2001) have provided a 5Ss’ mnemonic for how the internet can be applied by all business firms for different e-marketing tactics.  These 5S’s are selling, serve, speak, save and sizzle.

 

E-marketing is also known to be the online marketing strategy utilized by different company whose objective is to be the best company in their field.  The main objective of utilizing e-marketing strategy is to keep in touch to different internet users to be able to attract more clients and travellers. All in all, through the website, whether the user is a customer, employee, stockholders, vendors, retailers or end customers, the true strength of e-marketing is acceleration of the business portfolio.

The media schedule will be as follows:

Radio Ads- will be on 97.3 fm because this station caters adults pop music listeners, 96Five that caters families and Nova1069 for events announcements. The ads will take place four times in the morning and twice in the afternoon and twice in the evening, all with the intervals of one hour.

Television Ads-the hotel and casino TV Ads will be on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the ads will take place, during the primetime program schedules of the station.

Print ADS- the print ads will be in Australia’s leading broad sheets news paper and magazines. This will take place for one month.

Billboard Ads- This will take the whole year. The billboards should be in the busy streets of the city of Brisbane.

Internet Ads- The hotel will hire the services of Google and Yahoo Click the City who will manage their websites and searches. This will be effective yearly.

9.0       Place

 

According to the study of  (1994), Internet shopping is increasingly accepted and used by consumers. There is an accelerating trend with regards to air travel. However, there are still some barriers which need to be overcome to ensure that the potential for e-commerce is fully realized. .Access to the Internet is clearly still an issue. Not all potential airline passengers have access to and can use a computer.

 

According to  (2000), it is clear that to benefit fully from e-commerce requires a mind-set revolution among airline managers and executives. They must make the jump from seeing e-commerce as just a faster and less costly way of taking bookings and issuing tickets, to appreciating that it is a fundamentally new and more interactive way of doing business. The old functional divisions whereby, for example, sales, airline pricing and yield management, ground handling and in-flight services were in different departments may no longer be suitable or adequate if a hotel focuses on e-commerce (:2002). The latter requires a much more integrated and co-coordinated approach in servicing passengers. This is necessary to ensure that if one is targeting high-yield passengers they receive the same high level of value-added service from the airline at all stages from initial travel inquiry to disembarkation at the destination and are 'recognized' whenever they interface with the airline or its staff. To achieve this, new organizational structures or paradigms may be needed by airlines with customer relations as their focus. A feature of the new electronic distribution is the speed with which knowledge of new fares or fare changes can be circulated in the market-place. The technology makes this almost instantaneous. This means that lower fares or special offers can be closely monitored by competitors or their computers and rapidly matched. In many cases this might be done by the computerized yield management systems more or less automatically. In turn this may generate a counter response from the original price leader. As a result, in very competitive markets, prices may change several times during the day. Such computerized revenue management systems further reinforce the market power of consumers and the downward pressure on fares and yields.

 

10.0    People

 

In today’s job market, the hospitality industries are both engaged in some sort of “war for talents” as their concern is on the recruitment, development and retention of talented and bright employees. Therefore, it is important to have the right individuals to make up an organization’s workforce at the right time and right place.  To be able to do that, the organization must be able to recruit and retain competent individuals to match the constant changing job skills.

Employees in Conrad Treasury Brisbane are, as in any organisations, increasingly demanding change, choice, flexibility, and variety in their work. Higher performance capability usually begins with planned, structured methods to ensure that cross-training occurs, and with constant evaluation on the basis of application in the work place (, 1988, cited in , 1996). Total quality management writers argue that for the process to be successful, work groups must be empowered to function as a self-directed team ( and , 1990, cited in , 1996). As organisations are likely to increase their reliance upon and utilisation of employee training programs in years to come, the effectiveness of training interventions in organisations is likely to become even more salient in the future ( and , 1999).

 

According to  (1998), the systematic process of training consists of planned programs designed to improve competence and performance at the individual, group, and/or organisational levels.  The scope of training initiatives vary and include operator, technical, sales, customer service, and various levels of leadership training (, 1998). The success of training may depend on the reasons behind it. Conducting training for the wrong reasons may lead to bad training while having the right reasons for it may lead to the improvement, which the organisation aims to attain.  Some of the valid reasons for training would be to improve performance, to improve employees’ skills, to promote job competency, to solve problems, or to orient new employees.

 

 

11.0    Physical Evidence

 

            The guests will surely make use of the facilities of the hotel especially the casino. Because based on the market segment, most of the guests in Conrad Treasury Hotels are tourists. These people visits the place to enjoy the amenities especially the casino. Another reason is that their casino is well-known world wide.    Since families from the upper and middle class goes there for a vacation, the recreations and restaurants are the facilities that these groups will utilize. These groups work very hard to earn money and need time to unwind and relax. Like the casino, recreations and restaurants are one of the superb areas of the hotel.

 

 

 

12.0         Budget         

 

            Sources of Revenues

 

            Casino earnings

            Company Events

            Restaurants earnings

            Café

            Business Centers Rents and Revenues

            Social Events

            Function/ Conference Rooms Rentals

 

            Expenditures

 

            Marketing activities such as print ads, radio, television and Internet

            Maintenance of the Hotels

            Taxes

 

13.0    Action Plan

 

            Conrad Treasury Hotel’s Star Poker Tournament:

 

            The hotel and other willing organizations and establishments will sponsor a poker tournament to be participated in by famous celebrities and personalities both foreign and local. This could be a good way of making the hotel-casino known and boost its popularity since the personalities that the company should target are people like the ff: a local TV news caster, a world famous soccer player (ideally David Beckham), a local government official, a rugby player from Australia, a rockstar (ideally from the world famous rock group INXS), musicians like Michael Bolton, Kenny G and maybe Josh Gorban, other international athletes like Tiger Woods, and Michael Schumacher. This event will take place during summer in order to attract tourist and guests to the hotel and casino.

 

           

 

 

14.0    Monitor and Control

 

The company will provide a monitoring team that will ensure the profitability and growth of the company as this marketing plan has been initiated. 

 

A.  Feedback Mechanism

As can be seen in the website outline the company includes different calling centres or on-line testimonial space to monitor the feedback of the customers. This will help the company know all the reactions, positive or negative comments of the customers so that the management of the company and other stakeholder will easily know what would be the demands of the customer or did the products of the company satisfies their needs.  In this manner the consumer can always give their remarks and comments to the company through its website and that the company will always responds to the consumer needs immediately.  

 

A.                              Evaluation Process

To further evaluate the reactions and comments of the customers the company will have another team which is the research team which is responsible for the analysis of the feedbacks and other performances within and outside the company.

 

B.                              Performance Objective

The quantifiable element that would control and monitor the marketing plan will be the profit and the promotional performances. If the company would be able to promote the products strategically and exemplary then the consumer will be encouraged to purchase the products which in return provide good performance with regards to profit.  If these two will have a positive result then the company is assured that the marketing plan is under control and that the company will surely became successful.

 

 

15.0    Conclusion

 

By and large, the operations functions of a company are important because it directly influence how well the organization satisfies its customers (., 1995).  By guaranteeing that the firm’s strategy is properly executed, it then serves both as a supporter and implementer of the organization’s strategy.  Similarly and oftentimes, operations function also provides companies with all elements of performance needed to achieve its long-term competitive aims, and thus, playing its role as a leader of the firm’s strategy.

 

It is in service operations management where the principles of service operation strategy are encompassed, and before-hand, it is in operations management where service operations management works its standards.   These annotations suggest that the major undertakings involved in service management are analogous to those in operations management.  However, the latter is broadly-focused on the operations of the whole organization, rather than specifically managing a service only.  A basic understanding of what service is could fundamentally and significantly help in the process of crafting a service strategy when facing an odd situation.  Service is intangible and this attribute makes it difficult to make an appropriate decision for such certain situation.  As what was noted earlier, engineers make service designs based on the way how people, think and behave.  And the variability of these facets on every individual customer contributes to the complexity of this design. 

           

In the case presented, there is a section that discusses the different dimensions that need to be taken into account when reacting in a certain situation while providing a service.  As one of its characteristics, it is absolutely apparent that services have highly value their customer.  Service operation strategy, thus, has the responsibility to see to it that the relationship or the encounter between the service provider and the customers is a positive one.  This entails giving service provider the competency and authority required to complete a transaction with the customers successfully and productively. 

 

Reference

 

Management Information System in businesses

Management Information System in businesses

MIS has dimensions. The four interrelated dimensions of MIS are as follows. first MIS involves not just information technology, but also its instantiation; second MIS involves, as reactive and inextricable elements, both an information system and its organizational context; third MIS involves information technology as a form of intellectual technology; and fourth MIS involves the activities of a profession or corporate function which are integral to the essence of what MIS is ( 1999). For the Rank and file level of the company the best information system that can be used is database systems. Database systems can organize, protect and store data that low level members of the company needs.

 

For the middle level management of the company the best information system they can use is Decision support systems. These kinds of systems can help the company and the different managers and supervisors in determining the best decision that they can use in an organizational setting. These systems are adaptable to any business setting and can assist companies in making decisions appropriate for a certain group of people. For the top management of the company the best information system they can use is Executive information system. These kinds of systems help top level management by providing access to external and internal information. The information that will be acquired from such sources can help in achieving the organizational goals and solve the different problems happening in the company.

 

 

E-Cinema

Movie Review

Film Title: The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Genre: Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller

Director:

Two Most Important Member of the Cast:   (Dr. Miles J. Bennell) and  (Becky Driscoll)

Review:

            [1]The Invasion of the Body Snatchers stars by  and directed by  is a 1956 science fiction film which is based on The Body Snatchers’ novel by Jack Finney. Aside from being remade two times, the United States National Film Registry selected it for preservation. ( 2006)

            The fictional town of Santa Mira is the setting of the film. The story is about the local doctor, Dr. Miles Bennell (). He finds a hives of patients condemning that their love ones are impostors. On one hand, Becky Driscoll (), a recent divorcee told him that her cousin has also this identical extraordinary fear.

             Bennell discovers with the help of his friend Jack Belicec (King Donovan) that the townspeople are really being replaced by imitations from plantlike pods, even if assured by Dr. Dan Kaufman (Larry Gates), the town psychiatrist, that the cases are nothing but an epidemic mass hysteria.

            These pods that murder and dispose their victims completely duplicates physically human. Except for their sheer lack of emotion, the pod people are the same from normal people. In order to substitute the entire human race, pods people work together to furtively spread more pods which grew from seeds wandering through space for years.

            In my opinion, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the most brilliant and terrifying sci-fi film genre ever produced in the 1950s. It looks back and draws from the physical and photographic style of noir in its creation of shadowy tension and paranoid uncertainty. Similarly, the fear of night is used by the film than any other horror films ever made. This is interesting because instead of the day and reason, irrationality and night is sided by the film. Certainly, what makes much more sense in terms of dream logic than rational storytelling is the running of Kevin McCarthy crying for help but is ignored by the passing cars. In the same way, his leaping onto the back of a truck where he finds filled with pods also makes such sense.

            [2]In essence, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one of the simplest alien invasion movies ever made. The aliens, firstly, replicate the human form; the premise doesn’t warrant ghastly figures of elaborate design. Foremost, as stated in many reviews of the film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is less concerned with alien presence than it is with alienation. ( 2004)

            Literally, aliens are the conspiring force, though the film can be seen, rather obviously, as political allegory. Further securing this claim is the studio imposed opening and epilogue, involving Miles fleeing to a hospital emergency room and attempting to convince skeptics of his radical knowledge. This sequence employs an illogical and contextually unrealistic happy ending and dumbs the intensifying thematic trajectory of the film.

            [3]On one hand, the film’s interpretation being an allegory about Communism and the McCarthy witch-hunts of the 1950s is the perpetual issue that will forever dog Invasion of the Body Snatchers until probably the film becomes outdated. If Donald Siegel’s intention is really to make an anti-Communist allegory, then it is questionable (1999).  However, in my view, it is too literal if we called the film as a Communist allegory. Conversely, we could interpret it as a parable against conformity equally as much as a parable about communism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES EFFECTIVELY

 

New World PCS Limited

 

 

Company Background

 

Launched in 1997, New World Mobility offers a wide range of quality, value-for-money GSM mobile services including voice services, customized value-added services and mobile prepaid services. New World deployed the EDGE – Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution network and introduced the Push-to-Talk over Cellular service Press 'n Talk last 2004; ‘Video-on-the-move’ video infotainment service last 2005 and ‘Mobile ESPN’ as well as ‘Bubble Talk’ services during June and July 2006 respectively. Thus, New World PCS Limited are wholly owned by the merged entity CSL New World Mobility Group, which was established in April 2006. The major shareholders of CSL New World Mobility Group are Australian Telecommunications Company Telstra Corporation Limited and New World Mobile Holdings Limited.

 

The company is principally engaged in offering superior mobile services including voice service and customized data services tailored to the specific needs of individual customer groups via advanced mobile technology. Operating under the brand name of New World Mobility (NWM), there has emerged to become a leading mobile operator since its inauguration during the year 1997. Through the provision of superb quality mobile network and the introduction of various innovative and value-added mobile data services, the operator has further reinforced its position in the marketplace. There was challenge of changing cost structures would be difficult enough to adapt corporate strategies and national regulations in and of itself. But there are some complicating factors, such as the increasingly global character of the provision of telecommunications services. The company is doing more than sustaining their own platforms, they are expanding platforms across economic and political borders, the challenge of increasing the scope of services is just as significant as lowering the costs of service. Integrating those systems into global networks is certainly critical for the management of each of these companies. Common approaches to marketing, infrastructure development and service integration will provide economies of scope and scale and common infrastructure purchase will reduce the unit cost of equipment supply and responses to change that are integrated into an overall corporate strategy.

 

 

Identify the issue

 

Aside, NWPCS has ceased to be a subsidiary of NWD and NWM while New World Mobility will be embarking on an exciting and historical phase of development.  ‘We are thrilled to announce the completion of the merger, one of the most substantial moves in the Hong Kong mobile industry. The merger creates enormous opportunities and brings about synergies for both companies for further growth,’ said Dr , Managing Director of New World Group and Chairman of NWM.  The merged company is Hong Kong’s number one mobile operator in terms of revenue, profitability and customers, with a 34 percent customer market share. NWPCS will be retained as they enjoy strong brand recognition across key market segments. In order to enhance the profitability of the New World PCS business customers, New World is dedicated to providing customers with a series of innovative and tailor-made wireless solutions and to supporting them with the company’s wide range of professional services and network expertise. Principally engaged in offering superior mobile services including voice service and customized data services, New World Mobility has emerged to become a leading mobile operator since its inauguration in 1997. Through the provision of superb quality mobile network and the introduction of pioneering data services, New World Mobility is leading the market into the world of next generation mobile communications.

 

 

 

For the six months, ‘NW Mobile’ recorded a turnover of HK$859 million, representing a 1 percent increase from approximately HK$848 million for the corresponding period last year. The turnover of the Group mainly comprised mobile communications services revenue and sales of handsets and accessories. Due to intense competition of the mobile communications market, revenue from mobile communications services for the current period amounted to approximately HK$669 million, representing a 10% decrease from approximately HK$742 million for the corresponding period last year. Dr. , Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of New World Mobile Holdings Limited, says, “Although 3G operators rolled out respective services last year an lured users with various promotions that intensified the already fierce market competition, causing revenue from mobile communications services of the Group to decrease by 10 percent, the Group managed to maintain a steady income, thanks to the increasing roaming revenue from mainland tourists as well as the growing revenue from mobile data services and handset sales.” The Group launched various marketing offers to maintain its competitiveness, including giving extra communications minutes away to voice plans and offering rebate to new subscribers who were porting into the mobile network of NW Mobile, which resulted in the decline of post-paid ARPU (Average Revenue per User) from HK$189 in the last period to HK$171 in the current period. Faced with intense market competition, the Group managed to record an increase in the subscriber base of its mobile communications services.

 

 

The company is wishing to define a global presence for themselves in the telecommunications market will have to address the interests of each of these stakeholder groups. With the increased degree of coordination among nongovernmental organizations throughout the world interested in issues like environmental policy, labor relations, the quality of customer service and other areas of corporate citizenship, defining global corporate priorities will be a critical part of a company's success. The process of the telecommunications jungle is rapidly evolving as well, moving quickly away from the undifferentiated substance of plain old telephone service. In fact, there are almost as many theories about how to use the rich natural resources of this competitive jungle as there are new technologies, companies, and government regulators emerging on the scene. The dynamic of change has irrevocably altered the path of telecommunications development and requires a reexamination of the sustainability of telecommunications infrastructures in this new environment. In this regard, the analogy to the sustainability of the jungle is apt and timely. The rainforest, much like a telecommunications network, is a resource. People draw on that resource for the purposes of development. Given the right conditions, the ecosystem can thrive and provide riches for those who protect the forest's sustainability but, then humans come along and mess it all up. Slash and burn policies take away from the viability of institutions.

 

 

Recommendation

 

The company should continue to devote in offering advanced and pioneering multi-media mobile solutions in order to fulfill and exceed the expectations of mobile users. New World Mobility’s quality mobile services are provided by New World PCS Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New World Mobile Holdings Limited (: ). As a leading mobile operator, New World is committed to providing customers with a wide array  of integrated, innovative and quality mobile services such as the following: M kee Multimedia Value-added Services that includes Download Star-ball Games World Star Mobile Info Box: That’s Entertainment: Connecting Tone, K on the move, Sports Addict, Mobile Betting, Spread the Word: Short Message Service, Sight’n Sound MMS and others. Other Services: Homecare Mobile Viewing Service Online Now: WAP dial-up, High-Speed Internet Access and X-Access Value-added services, such as call forwarding, call waiting, caller number display, voice mail as well as BIS. Miscellaneous: SIM Phonebook Copy/Back-up Service IDD and Roaming Itemized Bill In addition, New World Mobility offers a wide range of handsets and service plans that fit customers’ needs.

 

 

 

 

 

Apart from its great success in attracting new subscribers, the Group managed to maintain its churn rate at 2.8 percent, on a par with market level, by offering various contract-binding promotions to existing customers and putting continuous effort in excelling its services. During the period, the Group leveraged the great potential of the mobile prepaid market and put immense effort in exploring this unique market. Having launched various theme-based prepaid SIM cards to different market segments, the Group saw a substantial increase in prepaid subscriber number during the period. As compared to the corresponding period last year, revenue from sales of mobile handsets and accessories for the period was approximately HK$186 million, representing a 75% surge as compared to approximately HK$106 million in the last period. However, as the gross profit margin from mobile handsets and accessories sales is relatively low, and with the decline of ARPU, the Group’s gross profit decreased by 8 percent to HK$436 million as compared to the corresponding period last year. As part of the Group’s commitment in improving operational efficiency and effectiveness, the Group has exercised stringent control over operating expenses, excluding depreciation. The Group will strengthen its position in the market by further developing roaming services and providing mobile users with pioneering data services that exceed their expectations through GPRS/EDGE network and also explore new revenue streams including looking for business expansion to overseas mobile communications markets.

 

 

 

The aggressive pricing strategy of 3G services and handsets has intensified the already fierce market competition and adversely affected local operators’ bottom line notwithstanding the improving economic situation. Even though the market situation was unfavorable, the Group managed to maintain a steady income, thanks to the increasing roaming revenue from mainland tourists as well as the growing revenue from mobile data services and handset sales. Despite the expiration of contract with a mobile virtual network operator in October 2004, the subscriber base of the Group has increased to over 1.3 million by the end of 2004. The Group has remarkable achievement in exploring new market segments and extending its market reach by using customer segmentation strategy. During the period, the Group leveraged the great potential of the mobile prepaid market by launching various theme-based prepaid SIM cards to different market segments, including Avenue of Stars Commemorative Stored-value Card and Roaming Stored-value Card for mainland tourists. The Group has further extended its reach to young mobile phone users by enriching the content of its well-received Star Mobile and launching the first-ever Disney Character mobile prepaid SIM card marie Fantasy in August 2004 and with the aim of providing superb communications services to Hong Kong mobile users, the Group will put continued effort in upgrading its network quality. As a dedicated service provider, the Group will continue to excel its customer servicing and provide mobile users with pioneering data services that exceed their expectations.

 

 

 

Amidst intense competition of the mobile communications market, the Group aims at maintaining its level of market share and improving the ARPU by introducing more exciting mobile data services via advanced mobile technologies. The Group will continue to exercise various measures to contain costs and explore new revenue streams. The Group will also look for business expansion to overseas mobile communications markets. Despite the latest launch of 3G services in the local market, the Group believes that in partnership with renowned content providers to provide mobile users with innovative data services via its existing GPRS/EDGE network is the most cost-effective way to stay competitive, and is in the best interest of customers and shareholders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D. Implementation

 

Strategy change

 

In marketing, product differentiation is the modification of a product to make it more attractive to the target market. This involves differentiating it from competitors' products as well as one's own product offerings with the conditions for perfect competition, which include the requirement that the products of competing firms should be perfect substitutes The changes are usually minor; they can be merely a change in packaging or a change in advertising theme. The physical product need not change, but it could. The major sources of product differentiation to be applied by the company are as follows.

 

Ø      Differences in quality or design among output

Ø      Ignorance of buyers regarding the essential characteristics and qualities of goods they are purchasing

Ø      Pervasive sales promotion activities of sellers and advertising

Ø      Possibility of developing significant product differentiation through advertising is greatly enhanced

Ø      Differentiation in the locations of sellers of the same good where the product fills no technical function but rather can satisfy many different sort of personal needs

 

The objective of this strategy is to develop a position that potential customers will see as unique. If the company’s target market sees their product as different from the competitors then, New World will have more flexibility in developing your marketing mix. A successful product differentiation strategy will move their product from competing based primarily on price to competing on non-price factors. Differentiation has been shown to impact firm performance positively both theoretically and empirically. Differentiation primarily impacts performance through two mechanisms:

Ø      Reduced price sensitivity: Consumers may become willing to pay a premium price for the differentiating factor/s

Ø      Reducing directness of competition: As the product becomes more different, categorization becomes more difficult and hence draws fewer comparisons with its competition

 

Cost Leadership Strategy

 

The type of strategy emphasizes efficiency by producing high volumes of standardized products, the firm hopes to take advantage of economies of scale and experience curve effects. The product is often a basic no-frills product that is produced at a relatively low cost and made available to a very large customer base. Maintaining this strategy requires a continuous search for cost reductions in aspects of the business. The associated distribution strategy is to obtain the most extensive distribution possible. Promotional strategy often involves trying to make a virtue out of low cost product features.

 

To be successful, the strategy usually requires a considerable market share advantage or preferential access to raw materials, components and products without one or more of these advantages, the strategy can easily be mimicked by competitors.

 

Successful implementation also benefits from:

Ø      process engineering skills

Ø      products designed for ease of manufacture

Ø      sustained access to inexpensive capital

Ø      close supervision of labour

Ø      tight cost control

Ø      incentives based on quantitative targets.

 

Differentiation Strategy

 

Differentiation involves creating a product that is perceived as unique. The unique features or benefits should provide superior value for the customer if this strategy is to be successful as customers see the product as unrivaled and unequaled, the price elasticity of demand tends to be reduced and customers tend to be more brand loyal. This can provide considerable insulation from competition but, there can be added costs associated with the differentiating product features and this could require a premium pricing strategy.

 

 

In order to maintain this strategy the New World should have:

Ø      strong research and development skills

Ø      strong product engineering skills

Ø      strong creativity skills

Ø      good cooperation with distribution channels

Ø      strong marketing skills

Ø      incentives based largely on subjective measures

Ø      be able to communicate the importance of the differentiating product characteristics

Ø      stress continuous improvement and innovation

Ø      attract highly skilled, creative people

 

 

’s (1980)

Source of Diagram:

from

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culture structure

A primary reduction is achieved when restricting attention to cultural domains in which implications are unidirectional: once we know that X implies Y, workers do not need to ask if Y implies X and the number of potential questions is reduced by half. The study of serial events constitutes a special case which offers additional opportunities for reduction in questioning. It can be assumed that later events are not prerequisites for earlier events, so one only has to determine which old elements are implied by the new element and half the conceivable questions are eliminated from consideration.

 

Theory X - authoritarian, repressive style. Tight control, no development. Produces limited, depressed culture

 

The management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can. Because of this workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed. A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each level. According to this theory employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can.

 

Theory Y - liberating and developmental. Control, achievement and continuous improvement achieved by enabling, empowering and giving responsibility

 

The management assumes employees are ambitious, self-motivated, anxious to accept greater responsibility, and exercise self-control and self-direction. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work activities. It is also believed that employees have the desire to be imaginative and creative in their jobs if they are given a chance. There is an opportunity for greater productivity by giving employees the freedom to be their best.

 

Source:

 

Leadership

 

The Leadership Grid is a very simple framework that elegantly defines the basic styles that characterize workplace behavior and the resulting relationships. The seven managerial Grid styles are based on how two fundamental concerns are manifested at varying levels whenever people interact.



 

 

 

 

 


The Leadership Grid/Managerial Grid

 

 

Source of Diagram:

 

Grid Relationship Skills

 

The Grid theory translates into practical use through Grid style relationship skills that people experience day in and day out when they work together. These relationship skills depict the typical and vital behaviors for each style that make relationships effective or ineffective. Some behaviors strengthen and motivate teams while others obstruct progress.

 

 

 

Grid theory makes behaviors as tangible and objective as any other corporate commodity. By studying each of the seven Leadership Grid styles and the resulting relationship skill behaviors, teams can examine, in objective terms, how behaviors help or hurt them. They can explore types of critique that work best for them and why. They can openly discuss how to improve decision-making and conflict resolution skills. These and other subjects usually considered "off limits" in terms of productivity are the very subjects that usually impede productivity. The Grid approach makes these subjects not only "discussable" but measurable in objective terms that generate empathy, motivation to improve and creativity.

 

It is crucial for the company to implement the grid theory for the staff as they are often reluctant to explore its benefits as the company should implement the Grid Leadership Seminar but extensive research and development has trimmed the seminar to the absolute minimum length it can be and still produce its unique results. Yet as more is learned about individual and organization effectiveness, the timelessness of the Grid has become apparent. Management will be able to develop a mentality that employees cannot be spared for anything unrelated to task as it adheres to the time required to develop employees and leaders, unless it can be done in “mini-bites” or some other way that doesn’t take a lot of time. There is a barrier in implementation of The Leadership Grid is the four intense days needed for the seminar to accomplish its goals. Because of its unique design, these seminar goals cannot be accomplished in less than four days. Gaining acceptance of this truth from someone who has yet to participate is a daunting task. Past experiences often have shaped the perceived value of management seminars, blocking understanding of how Grid can be unique. While it is difficult to explain the need for four intense days, perhaps the following distinctions about a Grid seminar will help:

It is not designed to simply impart information, but to bring about a genuine desire in participants to change their behaviors, even before they have left the seminar.

Manage conflict

Improve decision making and problem solving

Build a better team

Be more effective team member

Communicate effectively and manage change effectively

 

 

 

 

 

Theory X management style therefore requires close, firm supervision with clearly specified tasks and the threat of punishment or the promise of greater pay as motivating factors. A manager working under these assumptions will employ autocratic controls which can invariably lead to mistrust and resentment from those they manage. McGregor acknowledges that this constitutes a damning statement about the `mediocrity of the masses'. He acknowledges too that the `carrot and stick' approach can have a place, but will not work when the needs of people are predominantly social and egoistic. Theory Y is based on the assumptions that the expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. The average human being does not inherently dislike work. Depending upon controllable conditions, work may be a source of satisfaction, or a source of punishment. External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about effort toward organizational objectives. Man will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to which he is committed.

 

Motivation

 

There believe that reliable and innovative data solutions and services in mobile communications services will bring immense potential to the company’s subscribers. As part of the ongoing strategy, the NWPCS will add excitement to the mobile market by introducing pioneering mobile data services that exceed market expectations as well as customer needs. The Group will continue to explore the prepaid market and expand its reach to mobile youth and other market segments that show great potentials. Before we see the genuine and substantial market needs of 3G services and believe that cooperation with renowned content providers to provide customers with innovative data services via our existing 2.5/2.75G network remains to be the most cost-effective way to stay competitive and is in the best interest of our customers and shareholders.

 

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed about the Theory of Human Motivation, the theory contends that as humans meet 'basic needs', they seek to satisfy successively 'higher needs' that occupy a set hierarchy.

 

This diagram shows Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more primitive needs at the bottom.

 

 

Source of Diagram:

The basic concept is that the higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus once all the needs that are lower down in the pyramid are mainly or entirely satisfied. Growth forces create upward movement in the hierarchy, whereas regressive forces push prepotent needs further down the hierarchy.

 

A manager’s ability to motivate starts earlier than most people think with employee selection.The hiring of employees that are self-motivated is crucial to the success of any business.If an employee is motivated from within, then the motivator aspect of a manager’s job is less difficult.

 

The humanistic psychology of Abraham Maslow, especially his theory of motivation and the hierarchy of needs, has been widely applied in business and social science. Maslow's original hierarchy, adapt it to the company will apply the adaptation to a business cases and then discuss its implications for staff importance within work and research. Maslow's modified hierarchy of needs could be utilized to provide a comprehensive approach for the assessment of every staff needs and the design of interventions to achieve goals that start with comfort and potentially extend to the experience of transcendence. It would be accurate to conclude that the hierarchy is an important element guiding the formulation of waste related policies and programs and regulations in Australia and overseas. It should also be noted however, that there are two schools of thought on the hierarchy and how it should be interpreted within an integrated waste management framework: One interpretation is that integrated waste management is a ‘menu of options’ and there is no such thing as a good or bad technology option.

 

 

A major barrier to implementation of the hierarchy is the fact that solid waste managers have very little control over the generation of waste and therefore have limited capacity to achieve source reduction. Designers, engineers and managers in industry make decisions about what is manufactured, processed or constructed and how this is done. There is increasing recognition internationally of the need to focus more intensively on preventative strategies rather than waste reduction or recovery. Most of the current effort is still on recycling programs, which are important but not as effective as prevention or reduction strategies in achieving sustainability. Accordingly, a technology that can be monitored and managed, can be provisioned, is network compatible and low cost, and can be implemented in the network, will generate less value to the network-service provider than a technology that achieves all seven levels of the pyramid. Of equal importance is the fact that there is a minimum level on the pyramid that must be achieved for any technology to be implemented in the network ever. This minimum is level three, network compatibility. Just as a person whose food, safety, and shelter needs are unmet will die, technologies that fail to achieve a network-service providers requirements for monitoring and maintenance, provisioning, and network compatibility will perish. This is the case even if the technology is the lowest cost, enables new services, is future proof, and provides market differentiation. The final and highest level of the hierarchy is market differentiation. This position on the hierarchy, most often occupied by software solutions, is the goal of all network-service providers. A technology that achieves this unique position has already achieved all of the lower levels of the hierarchy and, just as a person reaching the top of Maslow's hierarchy achieved self actualization, a technology that carries a network-service provider to this lofty position in the hierarchy is one that becomes part of the lore and history of the industry.

Vroom’s expectancy theory argues that motivation is based in values and beliefs of how a person feels effort, performance and outcomes. Vroom’s has developed an equation to calculate motivation using three factors:

 

Ø      Expectancy – the probability that effort will be followed by personal accomplishment

Ø      Instrumentality – the probability that performance will lead to outcomes

Ø      Valence – the value of an individual of an outcome

 

Vroom argues that a manager can use the equation M = E  I  V to predict whether a particular reward will motivate an individual. While the basis of Vroom’s expectancy theory is very good, the equation seems a little awkward today.

 

 

 

Pay system Design for each level staff

 

Performance-related Pay

 

Performance related pay is used by some organizations to reward employees on an individual and used in both the public sector and parts of the private sector, where it is perceived to be a way of giving an incentive to those at the top of their pay band or as a means of progressing through the pay system. Pay increases are linked to individual or team performance measured against targets or objective criteria. Performance pay systems are designed to reward individuals differently for doing the same job; inequality in payments is therefore built into the system. The difference between this system and automatic progression is that with individual or team reward there is an element of discretion and subjectivity and higher risk of bias. If an equal pay claim were to arise the employer would have to explain the difference in pay by reference to reasons that had nothing to do with the sex of the jobholders. The company can find out if there is a problem in the organization by looking at the amount paid in performance related pay, to men and women, over the past year and the need to look at each grade and the distribution of performance pay within each grade. The company also need to be aware of how performance payments affect male and female employees doing equal work. This means that you need to monitor both the payments and the process. The human element is vital  and anyone involved in appraisal or in decisions to award performance related pay should receive advice and guidance on how to avoid sex bias.

 

 

 

Implementing Pay structure reform

Apart from doctors, dentists and the most senior managers, all other staff will be placed on one of two pay ‘spines’, each divided into eight pay bands. Staff will be assigned to a pay band on the basis of 'job weight' determined by local job evaluation, or by 'matching' with nationally agreed job profiles. The Review Body found that delays in releasing job profiles led to many more local evaluations than expected in the early implementer sites. This imposed additional costs and delays, as there was a reluctance to evaluate posts in case a national profile was later produced that differed from the local evaluation. There was also a widespread belief that the job evaluation scheme placed too much emphasis on direct patient contact, so that some professional staffs were placed in lower pay bands than expected. The later report of the shadow executive of the company accepted the validity of these criticisms. In response, it issued revised guidance, produced more non-clinical job profiles, and promised that it would closely monitor the application of the job evaluation scheme to ensure that jobs are evaluated appropriately. The most significant problems arising from the experience of the early implementers concerned the proposed reform of payments for working unsocial hours. This envisaged the replacement of the existing system under which different payments are attached to each kind of unsocial shift worked by different groups of staff. In its place, the reforms envisaged that patterns of unsocial hours should be agreed in advance, and rewarded by fixed rates on broad payment bands within which staff could then work more flexibly. In practice, in areas where working patterns were variable and there were pressures on overall staffing, employees were often unwilling to work extra shifts and managers were often unable to cover shifts at short notice. The proposed system embodied a perverse incentive for staff to work the minimum number of hours required to be allocated to one of the pay bands.

 

 

 

 

 

Action

 

Ø      Look across the company at the different performance payments, who has access, how they are awarded

Ø      Ensure the criteria for rewarding performance are clearly defined and achievable and targets are equal across departments in the organisation

Ø      Look to link the performance to a target like x sales, which can be seen as objective

Ø      Ensure training is provided in equal opportunities and how it affects pay discrimination for all involved in appraisals

Ø      Explain the system to the workers so everyone understands the system

Ø      Consider whether the performance pay scheme is contributing to the problem

Ø      The company will need to make sure that decisions on pay are properly documented. It makes good business sense for employees to understand why they are paid as they are, but if the organisation should ever be challenged, properly documented decisions will enable the employer to explain the reasoning behind the pay difference.

 

 

 

The purpose for performance related payments is often unclear, yet a transparent pay system avoids uncertainty and perceptions of unfairness and reduces the possibility of individual claims and implementation ways can be as follows:

Path 1: Increased Individual Effort. The first path occurs through the effect of profit sharing on perceived reward contingencies. Adding profit sharing to base pay creates an additional performance-contingent incentive to motivate higher worker job effort, in line with the expectancy theory of motivation (1964). The essence of this is simple: if a worker improves his or her performance, and this increases company profits, he or she can expect to receive a portion of the profits so generated. If many employees perceive this linkage and act upon it, this may significantly increase firm productivity.

Path 2: Increased Compensation Attractiveness. Even if profit sharing do not cause individual employees to increase their job effort, there are numerous other possible paths to improved company performance profit sharing may help to create a more attractive compensation package than would otherwise be offered. Many firms also use their profit-sharing systems to create a pension plan for employees.

Path 3: Increased Reward Equity. Profit sharing may also increase perceptions of reward equity. Where firms are highly profitable but are loath to share this bounty with their employees, this may lead to perceived inequity and reward dissatisfaction with all the negative consequences that this may engender.

Path 4: Increased Organizational Identification. Another possible path to organizational performance is through organizational identification. Perceptions of shared characteristics occur when employees perceive shared interests with those higher in the organization and profit sharing should promote this.

Path 5: Increased Cooperation. To the extent that everyone identifies with the organization and its goals, there should be greater cooperation between employees and management and among employees, as well as reduced conflict and less adversarial union-management relationships and help to remove barriers to employee performance, allowing performance to increase even without any additional employee effort.

Path 6: Increased Job Satisfaction. Increased cooperation and reduced conflict may not only remove barriers to productivity, but may also create a more congenial workplace. Along with increased reward satisfaction these changes may contribute to higher job satisfaction, which may, in turn, lead to reduced turnover, absenteeism and grievances.

Path 7: Increased Interest in Company Performance. If profit sharing helps to make employees more knowledgeable about and interested in the performance of the company, this may stimulate employees to suggest money-saving ideas or to share information which will contribute to higher quality organizational decision making and can engender major productivity gains, but only if the company is structured to solicit and utilize effectively employee input in decision making.

 

Profit Sharing System

Profit sharing refers to the process whereby companies distribute a portion of their profits to their employees and provides an important means of increasing employee loyalty and tying employee compensation to company performance. Profit sharing is a particularly attractive option for newer small businesses with uncertain profit levels, as it allows business owners to share the wealth during good times without obligating them to do so during lean years.

 

 

 

 

 

The company may use any number of different formulas to calculate the distribution of profits to their employees and establish a variety of rules and regulations regarding eligibility, but there are essentially two basic types of profit-sharing plans. The main drawback to cash distribution plans is that employee profit-sharing bonuses are then taxed as ordinary income. The company may decide to match a certain percentage of such contributions. The amount of future benefits that employees will receive from their profit-sharing accounts depends entirely on their account balance. The amount of their account balance will include the employer's contributions from profits, any interest earned, any capital gains or losses and possibly forfeitures from other plan participants. NWPCS may establish different time requirements before employees become fully vested. Under some deferred profit-sharing plans employees may start out partially vested, perhaps being entitled to only 20 percent of their account, then gradually become fully vested over a period of years. A company's vesting policy is written into the plan document and is designed to motivate employees and reduce employee turnover.

 

Incremental Salary Structures

 

These arrangements will provide

Ø      improvements in remuneration for many staff

Ø      the basis for the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value

Ø      greater opportunities for salary progression

 

The new single salary structure will be introduced effective from 2007 and the staff will be  assimilated to the new salary structure on a phased basis with a common implementation  date with appropriate backdating arrangements being put in place.

 

Grading Structure

 

A nine grade single pay salary structure will apply to all current and future staff. Progression within each pay range will depend on an individual’s length of  service in the grade and in part on an assessment of their contribution. Staff will have a  normal expectation of annual progression up to the contribution threshold for their grade,  subject exceptionally to established procedures for dealing with performance problems. The assimilation of staff to grades will be based on the outcome of a process underpinned by job evaluation.

 

 

 

Management Skill of each level staff

 

New World Mobile Holdings Limited is principally engaged in offering best-in-class mobile services including voice service and customized data services that truly meet the needs of individual customer segments via advanced mobile technology. Operating under the brand name of New World Mobility, the Group sets very high standards through constant innovations and has made significant achievements in boosting the usage of mobile data services in Hong Kong. We have emerged to become a leading service provider through the introduction of numerous stunning mobile data services over the years. In order to perform the functions of management and to assume multiple roles, managers must be skilled. Technical skill involves process or technique knowledge and proficiency. Managers use the processes, techniques and tools of a specific area. Human skill involves the ability to interact effectively with people. Managers interact and cooperate with employees. Conceptual skill involves the formulation of ideas. Managers understand abstract relationships, develop ideas, and solve problems creatively. Thus, technical skill deals with things, human skill concerns people, and conceptual skill has to do with ideas. A manager's level in the organization determines the relative importance of possessing technical, human, and conceptual skills. Conceptual skills are used in planning and dealing with ideas and abstractions.

 

 

 

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Source of Diagram: , "," , September-October 1974,

from:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Communication

There should be useful formal methods of communication in the company such as:

Ø      meetings with Head teacher/senior managers

Ø      participation in working groups

Ø      departmental meetings

Ø      staff bulletin

Ø      newsletter

Ø      open sessions to keep staff informed

Ø      email

Ø      events with food and drink encouragement

Ø      meetings with new staff

Ø      planning meetings

Ø      involvement of other departments in activities in the library eg study support

 Meetings in informal settings act to underpin the success of formal communication methods, but there is a danger of focusing on certain members of staff you already know. The main problems relating to communication between staff are:

Ø      different priorities

Ø      perception of library staff as ‘support’

Ø      limited time

Ø      lack of freedom to move outside the library to meet teaching staff

Ø      not enough library staff to deal with all departments and to attend all meetings which might be useful

The company in order to achieve effective communication needs to:

Ø      be targeted

Ø      make people aware of what’s in it for them

Ø      act to improve the status and image of library staff

Ø      demonstrate a proven track record

Ø      involve listening as well as informing

 

HR Planning

The process of business in mobile organization is a paradigm shift that recognizes the limitations inherent in separating people, tasks, processes, and places and emphasizes the benefits of moving ideas, information, decisions, talent and actions where they are most needed (, ,  and , 1995). However, existing worker-oriented approaches to job analysis, recruitment based on person-organization value congruence, and selection based on both skills and traits are consistent with the tenets of the company (., 1995). In fact, work has been described as undergoing such a fundamental transformation that employees must necessarily question and perhaps replace the body of knowledge underlying the psychology of work behavior (, 1995). While organizational design and strategic management solutions have been proposed for the mobile telecommunications ( , 1995; , 1995), relatively little has been discussed in terms of the human resource practices and processes to best support it. Indeed, job analysis provides the basis for virtually all human resource functions – recruitment, selection, compensation, training and much of human resource technology is grounded in the notion of individuals holding jobs (, 1994). However, viewing the job as the fundamental organizational unit has been criticized as outmoded and ineffective (, 1994; , 1994). This apparent conflict between the idea of jobs being the central focus of human resources and recent literature proposing that the job is no longer a useful way to organize and manage work is the motivation behind this research. There has argued that one major job analysis method, as well as some existing recruitment and selection practices, can benefit the boundaryless organization because one of human resource management's strategic roles is to find the best potential match between the organization and the individual, the importance of organizational culture, and person-organization value congruence in particular, is discussed. Gaining competent employees at all levels of the organization is more than a matter of training; it stems from changes in recruitment and selection philosophy (., 1995). Specifically, New World can emphasize the development of a shared mindset among all of its employees and the continuous support of the company’s collective culture.

 

 

Although . (1995) don't describe specific recruiting approaches that aid in achieving a cohesive culture, they state the importance of thoroughly screening applicants, sometimes with the help of customers, based on skills and personality traits that match the technical and cultural needs of the organization. It makes sense that an organization's culture would be reflected, to some degree, in its recruitment efforts (, 1992). The HR manager presents the candidate with negative and positive aspects about a particular job so that the degree of match between the candidate's wants and the organization's climate can be assessed (, 1992). The more positive and negative information a candidate receives about the job, the more realistic the individual's expectations, and the less likely voluntary turnover is to happen within the first stages of socialization (, , , & , 1988).  and  (1990) describe creating a culture that allows all levels of the workforce to contribute to business strategy formulation, resulting in a fluid power structure. In fact, it has been proposed that every challenge facing the boundaryless organization deals with people management, "with issues of how things get done, not what gets done" ( & , 1990). Thus, value congruency might also be used to help predict employee performance across jobs within an organization. On the other hand, a perfectly value-congruent workforce may present a different set of problems, namely poor adaptability to change (, 1987) and adverse impact.

 

 

Training is essential both for professional job performance and for organizational development. Without adequate training, it is illogical to assume that people will perform effectively. Additionally, personnel who are not adequately prepared to handle new and unsettling situations often leave a job prematurely, thus setting the turnover cycle into motion. Training is really an ongoing process to improve a job incumbent's knowledge, skills and abilities. It is continuous and challenging. It involves significant amounts of practice. Training is a process that takes many forms and occurs in various phases. Some strategies/resources that can be applied at this juncture include the use of the Professional Security Training Network Basic Security Officer Training Series (BSOTS) as a foundation of learning. The BSOTS provides a comprehensive, recognized curriculum. While video-based, the BSOTS program incorporates an interactive text and Internet testing. Successful completion of the BSOTS program earns the officer a certificate from the International Foundation for Protection Officers. (: .)  New World wishing to use it must embrace the overall aspect of professional development. It must be part of a long-term strategy to develop their staff into productive members of the asset protection organization.

 

 

 

 

Doing so keeps employees stimulated in a positive way and makes a strong statement to them about how management values their services. HR leadership recognized that a clear set of transformation goals was needed; that those goals must be supported by a common approach and language that enabled all of HR to understand client businesses' strategies and the human capital requirements necessary to achieve the desired business results at the division and enterprise level. Doing so would enable HR to align more effectively with the critical needs of the corporation and efficiently deliver a suite of HR services that supported execution of corporate and division business strategy. The transformational goal requires HR professionals across the function to draw a clear and direct connection between the strategies of the company individually and collectively and the human capital implications of those strategies. HR can help the corporation better understand future talent requirements in terms of the quality of people needed to execute on its strategy and understand what actions are required to realize the maximum return from their investments. Greater clarity was still needed as to how these insights could be used to better inform and align HR functional strategy, structure and processes at an enterprise level.

 

 

 

 

The primary concern was to generate demand for the process within the field HR organization and from business unit leaders. Rather than engage in a traditional roll-out process, and run the risk of provoking an organizational immune response that would reject the process, the core team implemented an approach that encouraged initial involvement, excitement, and acceptance of the new tools and process. By incorporating process flexibility, the team allowed the field HR users to engage with their client in the most appropriate way for their business. The result was a curious and interested response and ongoing demand for human capital planning. As the HR function continues its transformation efforts, the human capital planning process has delivered another level of insight into HR staff talent gaps and the actions HR leadership must take to improve functional capability to support the human capital requirements of the business. Furthermore, as of December 2005, the Group had a total of 822 employees (30 June 2005). The increase in the number of employees was attributable to the headcount of the NWPCS Group acquired during the current period. The Group’s emolument policy is to pay salaries that are competitive in the industry in a way that will be motivational, fair and equitable, and that are dependent on individual and company performance. Apart from salaries, the Group also provides other fringe benefits to employees, which include provident fund schemes, medical insurance and bonus on performance basis.

 

 

 

Telecommunications networks today are volatile communication networks which consist of heterogeneous, very often incompatible, multi-vendor environments. Circumstances such as these cause the management of telecommunications networks to be complex and to contain operator-intensive tasks that need considerable human involvement. The purpose of a good HRM program is to recruit, select, motivate, and retain employees with such required characteristics as concern for the firm's success, ability to work in groups and quantitative skills ( and  1994). Most of the published research investigating HRM issues in small businesses is conceptual and has concentrated on various HRM topics like selection, training and development, compensation and industrial relations ( and 1992).  External sources of recruitment like employment agencies and educational institutions provide a rich source of fresh talent to a firm. However, small firms do not pay much attention to external sources. Among other things, the centers assist employers in finding suitable job candidates and provide a list of qualified candidates who meet employers' needs. Given the evidence that one of the most difficult problems for small businesses is finding competent workers, it is surprising that these external sources of recruiting are not widely used by them ( and  1987).

 

 

 

These inexpensive external recruitment sources can be easily exploited by small manufacturing firms to get fresh talent and develop standardized procedures to process a high number of applicants and their ability to finance such programs ( and  1992). Thus, it is possible that New World PCS have realized the effectiveness of sound personnel policies and are now making a concerted effort to address personnel problems as well as the adoption of new philosophies such as just-in-time and total quality management may have forced small manufacturing firms to address HRM issues ( and  1992). Therefore, a number of HRM policies may reinforce and nurture the workforce characteristics that they say are important for the success of their plans and feel it important to have training to enhance group orientation and quantitative skills. On the other hand, some important workforce characteristics said to be important are not reinforced by compensation or performance evaluation policies. For instance, the company indicates that workers' ability to inspect their work, self-discipline, and concern for the firm's success are important, neither type feels it important to have an incentive or profit sharing plan to reinforce these characteristics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

Case studies

Title and reference of the article

(2005) Creating strategic capabilities: organizational learning and knowledge management in the new economy,  

Type of Article

Conceptual paper

Aim/Purpose of Article

The aim of the paper is to participate in giving pieces of information regarding knowledge management and organizational learning literatures to make clear the concepts and introducing a model demonstrating their relationship.

If literature review/ meta analysis or critique:

conclusion

The paper focuses on the generalization of the current situation of management and organizational learning that can be useful in the futures. Sample. Relevant literatures gathered in the sample of this paper, particularly papers that focus on organizational learning and knowledge management. Location. The location of the study is in Thessaloniki, Greece. Methodology. A conceptual discussion and approach were undertaken. Conclusion. Dimitriades concluded that in order to achieve success in the organization with the new economy; efficient and quick innovation and adoption of new knowledge management and organizational learning are needed. Effective learning is transferring the method, process and evolution of learning in an organizational context and it involves the development of strategic learning capability through binding organizational learning and knowledge management in organizations.

If research article:

Findings of research

The finding of the research is it suggested that in order to be successful in the new economy companies must be creative and adapt to changes; therefore companies should learn more quickly and efficiently than their competitors. An effective learning is not only shifting what was learned but also evolving in the organizational contexts. And it requires creating a strategic learning capability by associating learning with management of knowledge among organizations.  

Significance of article in relation to: other articles, your topic generally or prior research

This article can be useful in management of knowledge and organizational learning managers to create and implement efficient learning and knowledge strategies that will lead to the development of sustainable competitive advantage and success of the organization.

The article has related views with the papers by Chermin, Dove and Cavaleri which also discussed the relationship of knowledge management and organizational learning in which are very useful in the success of an organization.

Limitations of article: Location, industry focus etc.

The article focuses only in the development of strategies in organizational learning and knowledge management; other topics related to this were not discussed.

Strengths of article

The literature used was well researched and the paper has a good related literature.

Weakness of article

The weakness of the article is that it did not conduct any experiment and used only papers; therefore it may have probable risks of having a bias result.

 

 

 

 

Title and reference of the   article

(2004) Factors influencing the knowledge creation and innovation in an organization, Journal of European Industrial Training,

Type of Article

Research paper

Aim/Purpose of Article

The aim of the study is to obtain a greater comprehension of the factors that shape the creative authority of organizations.

If research article:

Sample, location, method of data collection and analysis

The paper focuses on the general idea of innovation and the creative power through investigating the association among learning, innovative and knowledge organization. Sample. The sample was gathered in Océ Technologies BV and a total of 12 interviews were conducted over the three departments of the company which are the Research and Development, Production and Marketing and the Strategic Planning.  Location.  An exploratory study that was conducted at Océ Technologies in the Netherlands. Method of data collection.  It is consisted of a qualitative and the quantitative stage and is composed of a selection of two innovation projects separated in time. Analysis. In order to analyze the results the researchers used the qualitative analysis, descriptive statistics, one way analysis and regression analysis. And the Cronbach’s alpha was used in the analysis of the reliability of the scales used.

If research article:

Findings of research

Selection of respondents. Through the use of one-way factor analysis of variance, it displayed that age, years of work and education has significant differences in the cases studied.

Relevant Factors. Strategic alignment is regarded a critical variable in innovation does not display any significant difference between the two innovative cases mentioned in the study.

Process of knowledge creation, innovation and learning.

The learning process is considerably based on the hardware solutions of the company’s products. The degree of meta-learning or learning to learn has not been reached by the employees of the company.

Impact of organizational Factors.

Strategic alignment plays an important and useful role in the significant processed particularly in the innovation spiral.

  

If research article:

Significance of article in relation to: other articles, your topic generally or prior research

This article can be useful in studying the models and factors that can influence the innovation and knowledge of an organization.

The paper is related to the conceptual study that Cavaleri made in the same year which suggested a new form of alignment in organization in order to be successful. And in this study the authors pointed out the strategic alignment as a dominant factor in innovation that will lead to success in the future. 

 

Limitations of article: Location, industry focus etc.

Survey technique as a method in retrieving data has possible risks such as maturation, forgetting, selection and different context.

Strengths of article

The use qualitative interview and quantitative survey was an efficient approach to study knowledge, creation, innovation and learning in a company.

Weakness of article

It is conducted in Netherlands and the companies used were from that country, therefore the factors identified may not be the same in other companies especially those outside of the Netherlands.

 

 

Title and reference of the article

 (1999) Knowledge management, response, ability , and the agile enterprise, Journal of Knowledge Management

Type of Article

Conceptual paper

Aim/Purpose of Article

The aim of this paper is to define the agile enterprise as one which is able to both manage and apply knowledge effectively. And reviews the knowledge portfolio management and collaborative knowledge development architecture.

If literature review/ meta analysis or critique:

conclusion

This paper discusses and gives definition of the agile enterprise, knowledge, agility, response to change proficiency, knowledge management and learning, knowledge packaged for diffusion and purpose and portfolio management. Conclusion. The value of a piece of information decreases as new knowledge emerges in which puts greater pressure in the speed of deployment of these information. And in determining the capacity to redistribute the new knowledge efficiently the change proficiency must be used. An organization must learn these emerging pieces of knowledge faster through shortening the time of acquisition and diffusion of new information. Viability and leadership is identified by the response ability and knowledge portfolio management of an organization.

Findings of research

Agile enterprise is defined as an organization that is able to manage and use the knowledge that is acquired efficiently. An agile enterprise views at the usage of knowledge as demanding change and have a general comprehensive view on analytical work on proficiency change in the systems of organizations. It views knowledge management as a strategic portfolio management responsibility and it presents the concept of plug-compatible knowledge packaging.  And lastly, it examines a knowledge portfolio management and collaborative knowledge development.

Significance of article in relation to: other articles, your topic generally or prior research

The significance of this paper is it provided an additional knowledge regarding knowledge management, ability, response and agile of enterprises. It can also be used as a reference on future studies regarding this topic. 

The study is also related with the other three articles used in these case studies. The discussion on knowledge management is associated with the studies on knowledge management in organizations.

 

Limitations of article: Location, industry focus etc.

The limitation of the study is it focused mainly on American enterprises which have a difference on overseas enterprises.

Strengths of article

It provided a good literature and background on knowledge management, ability, response and agile of enterprises. 

Weakness of article

Explanation on how did the author gather his data and related literature would be beneficial for future studies wishing to use the same procedure or methods.

 

 

 

Title and reference of the article

(2004) Leveraging organizational learning for knowledge and performance. The Learning Organization,

Type of Article

Conceptual Paper

Aim/Purpose of Article

This article investigates the arrangement and fit between knowledge management and organizational learning to find out the probability of incorporating organizational learning in knowledge and performance.  

If literature review/ meta analysis or critique:

conclusion

A conceptual discussion and approach that discusses that the increasing intellectual capital and human capacity for an efficient action are complementary. Sample. The paper uses literature reviews in creating this study. Location. The study was conducted in the United States particularly the Central Connecticut State University. Conclusion. The conceptual and philosophical bases of knowledge management and organizational learning were investigated and evaluated through comparison and contrast of the differences and similarities. Hence there is enough philosophical bases to motivate organizational learning and knowledge management in shared ideas. 

Findings of research

The philosophical foundations of organizational learning and knowledge management are tracked to a philosophy called pragmatism. The early forms of knowledge management are often criticized and a new pragmatic version is proposed which can be compatible with organizational learning.

Significance of article in relation to: other articles, your topic generally or prior research

This study provided other researchers the basis on their future research into the pragmatic issues regarding organizational learning and knowledge management.

This paper is related to the three other articles, it also tackles knowledge management and organizational learning which are also the key themes in the papers of Dove, Chermin et al and Dimitriades.

Limitations of article: Location, industry focus etc.

This article focuses only in knowledge management and organizational learning; other topics related to these two were not discussed by the author.

Strength of article

The paper has a strong related literature and good information regarding the topic.

Weakness of article

The weakness of the article is that it did not provide information on the process of data collection.

 

Psychology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Relative Contribution of Classical and Operant Conditioning

to Problem Gambling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Gambling

            Problem gambling is also called compulsive gambling, addictive gambling or pathological gambling. This refers to the lack of ability of a person to resists the impulses to gamble resulting to serious personal and social consequences. Pathological gambling affects around 1 to 2 percent of adults in general and 4 percent of adults residing in close proximity, within 50 miles, to gambling venues or casinos. Gambling commonly develops during early adolescence in the case of men and between the ages of 20 to 40 in the case women. Compulsive gambling constitutes a brain disease akin to disorders such as drug addiction and alcoholism. All these disorders relate to problems in the pleasure center part of the brain, also called dopamine reward pathway, associated with eating and sexual behaviors. People developing addictive gambling usually start as occasional gamblers until such time that gambling becomes a habit. Stress and stressful situations worsen gambling problems. (1994)  

            People with compulsive gambling usually have feelings of shame and keep their condition from other people. However, according to the  (2004), pathological gambling is expressed through five or more of these symptoms: 1) preoccupation with gambling, 2) tendency to gamble bigger amounts of money to feel excitement, 3) unsuccessful attempts to minimize or withdraw from gambling, 4) irritability or restlessness during the attempts to minimize or quit gambling, 5) gambling as a means of escaping problems, sadness or anxiety, 6) chasing losses, 7) lying or denying the period or amount spent on gambling, 8) turning to crimes to obtain gambling money, 9) loss of significant relationships, educational and career opportunities, and employment due to gambling, and 10) borrowing money to survive due to gambling losses.  

Contribution of Classical & Operant Conditioning to Problem Gambling

            There are several theories explaining problem gambling. It is through these explanations that solutions to the disorder can be derived. Classical and operant conditioning comprise two theories contributing to the explanation and clarification of pathological gambling disorder. There are similarities and differences to these theories resulting to different implications to pathological gambling.

            Classical conditioning comprises a type of learning discovered by Ivan Pavlov while testing the behavior of dogs. Initially, the test involved the feeding of meat powder to dogs to measure their digestive patterns. However, Pavlov observed a change in the behavior of the dogs towards the expectation of being fed the meat powder by the person bringing the food. Thus, as the person enters the door, dogs tend to elicit expectant behavior by associating the person with being fed the meat powder. In humans, this implies that people develop responses to specific stimuli, which are not occurring naturally. People react based on their learning about certain circumstances. A person touching a hot stove naturally acts on the instinct to move the hand away from the stove. However, even when the stove is not hot people have the tendency to keep their hands away from the stove until it is discovered that the stove is not actually hot. Classical conditioning propounds that people make learning associations resulting to generalizations in responses to stimuli such as associating a hot burner with pain resulting to the action of drawing hands away from the stove. (1987)

             In application to gambling, people bet or spend money on casino games with the hope of winning. Once a person spent money and won, associations are made between the act of spending money and winning ( 2003). There is also the added association that betting more money more in more games would increase the chances of winning. Gambling is an odds game so that people involved in gambling weight the odds of winning and the money or time spent in gambling activities. The higher the odds of winning, the greater motivation people have of actually betting or spending their money on casino games. The more times that people win, the more that people are encouraged to play (2001) so that people usually bet their winnings in order to gain more money.

            Based on classical conditioning, people winning from gambling activities associate betting more money and spending more time in the casino with the higher odds of winning. This behavior when it reaches the point of qualifying under five or more of the symptoms provided by the American Psychiatric Association becomes a pathological disorder. People become excessively drawn to the association that they tend to act on impulse on every opportunity to gamble.

            This implies that addressing pathological gambling involves an intervention in the associations made by people between the frequent and extensive betting or spending with the higher odds of winning. If pathological gambling were considered as learning or associative disorder, then breaking the association would result to the severance of the expectation of higher odds of learning. In practice, people with compulsive gambling disorder could be exposed to the consideration of odds in gambling to show that betting only results to a slim chance of winning making it a waste of time and money. Other more radical association disruptions could also be applied in order to address more serious forms of gambling problems.

            Operant conditioning comprises another type of learning. This learning theory developed from the study of a cat’s behavior. The cat was placed in a box with a single point of egress. However, a certain portion of the box should be pressed to open the door. The cat has the initial instinct to get out of the box with freedom as its reinforcement. Eventually, the cat activates the part that opens the door and get out allowing the cat to regain its freedom. When the cat is placed in the box again, it tries to reenact what it did in order to escape the first time by locating the part of the box that operates the door. The cat learned how to free itself from the box through natural boxes the means of achieving the reinforcing freedom. (1987)   

This learning method pertains to the manner that organisms operate in the environment so that operant conditioning occurs in the manner that people respond to the factors presented to people in a given situation or environment. This can be considered as learning based on natural consequences of human actions. In human experience, learning through operant conditioning happens in situations where people commit mistakes resulting to unwanted consequences. The unwanted consequences constitute a negative reinforcement that would motivate people not to commit the same mistakes in the future when faced with the same or similar circumstances. Operant conditioning also occurs in instances where people achieve the things they want by doing certain actions. The affirmative result of their actions constitutes a positive reinforcement that would involve the commission of the same actions given the same or similar circumstances. ( 1987)     

Based on the principles of operant conditioning, gambling involves the act of betting and spending money resulting to both losses and winnings. People then determine the actions they did in the circumstances that resulted to their winnings and the actions committed resulting to losses. People would then try to reenact the actions in their succeeding bets or expenditure with the expectation of winning while preventing the duplication of actions resulting to losses. The continues and frequent process of enacting and reenacting the actions resulting to winnings eventually leads to pathological gambling with people becoming overly involved in the process with the expectation of winning (1999;   2001; 2002).

Since pathological gambling results from learning based on the reinforcement of positive consequences of actions, this also serves as the area for addressing the disorder. It is only when people exhaust the reenactment of the actions linked to winning but resulting to incessant losses that they unlearn the expectations on reinforcements.

Conditional and operant conditioning involve the similarities in terms of the learning stages of starting with acquisition followed by extinction and then by spontaneous recovery and then by stimulus generalizations (1987). This means that both conditional and operant conditioning both recognize that people derive learning through generalizations made from their experiences. However, these theories also involve differences. One difference is the reliance of classical conditioning to stimuli and response associations while operant conditioning has as its core feature reinforcement. Another difference is that classical conditioning centers on involuntary reflexive behavior while operant conditioning focuses on voluntary behavior. The differences imply that problem gambling can be understood as a reflexive condition or a conscious behavior.

Conclusion

            Pathological gambling is a disorder with serious consequences to the personal and social life of individuals with this condition. In order to determine solutions to problem gambling, the various aspects of the disorder should first be understood. Classical and operant conditioning are theories that provide an explanation of pathological gambling by considering the disorder as a progressive disorder influenced by the learning process of individuals expressed through reflexive behavior as proposed by classical conditioning or voluntary behavior as propounded by operant conditioning. Apart from providing an explanation of pathological disorder, these also imply that intervention in the learning process comprise a solution to the disorder.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7-11

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

            Human resource development (HRD) plays a vital function by maximizing employee expertise to achieve the main objectives of an organization. This is done by methods that enable organizations to compete with the emergent changes in business strategies. The key function of HRD evolves from the onset of information technology which is deemed useless without the intervention of skilled manpower. It is in this light that HRD determines the implementation of the needed techniques for business success.

Two factors have influenced the evolution of HRD toward a more active role in the formulation of business strategy: (a) the centrality of information technology to business success, and (b) the sustainable competitive advantage offered by workforce expertise. These two factors work together in such a way that the competitive advantages they offer are nearly impossible to achieve without developing and maintaining a highly competent workforce.

7-Eleven is convenience store in Hong Kong that seeks appropriate strategy to maintain it leadership in the industry. This paper has analyzes its organization and its competitors as well as the industry as a whole. Having analyzed the internal and external environment of the organization, a performance-based development strategy is the identified appropriate strategy for the organization. In addition, an improvement plan is formulated to give the organization a guide for the execution of the plan.

There are already 600 superstores and convenience stores in Hong Kong today not including their outlets. Competition is more dynamic today and organization must possess flexibility in order to cope up with the dynamic changes in the industry. However, with the increase of working women, convenience stores sales have increased in the year 2006. Convenience stores have increasing become popular giving 7-Eleven more opportunities to expand. However, in order to attain sustainable competitive advantage human resource development plays a vital role in the success of any organizations objectives through development of its employees.

 

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

 

Convenience Retailing in Hong Kong

 

             (2006) has reported that “in 2005, food and drinks total retail sales has reached to $6.4 billion which represents a 6 percent growth comparing to 2004. In January to August 2006 retail sales has increase 6.2 percent for traditional markets and 6.3 percent for superstores compared to the same period in 2005.

Retail establishments in 2006 amounts to approximately 15,083, which includes 85 supermarkets and convenience store establishments in which would total to 1,634 stores if branch outlets are included and 14,998 wet market stalls and “mom and pop” shop operators. Retail shops in Hong Kong generally are very small in size, about 98 percent of which hire less than 10 employees.

Traditionally, Hong Kong consumers shop for food daily because of a preference for fresh food. Much of the shopping is still done in traditional markets including wet markets and mom-and-pop shops. However, sales in supermarkets are increasing. The supermarket’s share in terms of retail sales has risen from 44 percent of total sales in 1995 to 54 percent in 2005. Many supermarkets in Hong Kong now have successfully tapped the fresh food market by offering fresh foods at very competitive prices and providing a comfortable shopping environment, which is very different from traditional wet markets. In 2000, only $524 million worth fresh/chilled meat, fish, fruit and vegetables and frozen food were sold in supermarkets. The sales values of the same category in supermarkets greatly expanded to $684 million in 2005, increasing 31% over 2000.”

 

Source:  (2006)

 

Source:  (2006)

 

 

In short, as according to  (2006), “wet markets are strong in fresh foods, while supermarkets are strong in processed, chilled and frozen, high added value, and canned food products. The competition between wet markets and supermarkets has intensified in recent years. Some wet markets have turned air-conditioned and provide free shuttle to nearby residential areas. In the next few years, the Hong Kong Government has earmarked over $77 million to improve the environment of wet markets. Meanwhile, more and more supermarkets have been renovated to make sales of fresh meats possible and to enhance the overall experience of the convenience shopping at a supermarket.”

According to the latest figures available, in 2004 there were 85 supermarkets in Hong Kong but only 9 of them had 5 or over branch outlets. About 63 supermarkets had only one store without any branch outlets (, 2006).

In the past decade, there has been a substantial decline of small supermarket operators. Between 1997 and 2004, the number of supermarket operators decreased by 31 percent whereas the sales and the number of persons engaged in the supermarket industry rose by 11 percent and 29 percent respectively (, 2006). These figures reflected that the supermarket industry has been growing but in a way not favorable to small operators. Many small operators left the market due to severe competition.

Source:  (2006)

 

There are two dominant supermarket chains in Hong Kong: The Wellcome Co. Ltd. (247 outlets with 20 superstores) and ParknShop (over 226 with 46 superstores). ParknShop and Wellcome account for about 80 percent of the supermarket turnover. Both supermarkets are able to work closely with real estate developers to open stores in strategic locations, thus maintaining their significant market share (, 2006).

In the past decade, a “superstore” concept has emerged in the operation of supermarkets, blending the Western supermarket style with a traditional Hong Kong wet market. Superstores offer traditional Chinese fresh food like live fish, meats, ready-to-eat foods and market-style fruit and vegetables as well as the most extensive range of international products.

Almost all Hong Kong supermarkets require listing fees, that is, a fee charged to allow a new product to be put on their shelves. This is a one-off fee for a trial period. The listing fees are extremely negotiable and vary greatly among different supermarket chains. Major supermarket chains, such as Wellcome and ParknShop which have many branch stores, have expensive listing fees. Industry sources revealed that key supermarket chains may charge HK$1,000 (US$130) per SKU for each of its store (, 2006). A 30 percent discount may be offered to certain suppliers. The discount offered varies tremendously depending on the popularity of the products and the bargaining power of the supplying companies. Agents/importers will not bear this cost, which is transferred to their principals. In short, all supermarkets require listing fees except those belonging to Japanese department stores.

Hong Kong consumers usually demands for numerous trading term from Hong Kong food retailers, such as promotional discounts; back-end income (flat rebate per year that a U.S. exporter has to pay to the retail chain based on the annual turnover); D.G.A. (Distribution allowance - the fee that the supermarkets charge for distributing the products from its warehouse to its many branch stores); and incentive rebate (a percentage of turnover rebated to the supermarkets in case sales exceed the agreed amount). It can be expected that the bigger the supermarket, the harsher the trading terms. For general reference, about 15 percent of the annual turnover has to rebate to the major supermarkets and 8 percent to small ones (, 2006). Agents representing very popular items with large turnover usually have a stronger bargaining power and will be able to negotiate for a lower rebate rate.

Different products have different mark-ups. A dried fruit importer revealed that an importer usually operates on a mark up of 5% to retailers who would then mark up another 30% to 35% to consumers (, 2006).

There is excellent potential growth in Hong Kong’s retail food market for U.S. grocery store items, particularly new and different items, as food retail outlets continue to increase and diversify. Because of established ties and traditional relationships, most of Hong Kong’s supermarket chains traditionally looked to Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada for supplies. In recent years, however, buying habits are shifting and many more American items are now available on local grocery store shelves. Supermarkets tend to use consolidators to help them source new products which are popular in the United States.

There are around 950 convenience stores in Hong Kong. Two major chains dominate the market: 7-Eleven (711 outlets) and Circle K (238 outlets). They are targeting the customer age group of 15-35. Convenience stores are characterized by round-the clock operation. Since only a limited choice of brand names is available and prices are generally less competitive, most purchases are “convenience” in nature, i.e. goods are normally bought in small quantities for immediate consumption. Good sales items include packaged drinks, beer and snack food. The average store size of a convenience store is 1,000 sq. ft. Listing fees are also required for convenience stores.

According to a study, Hong Kong can accommodate 1,200 convenience stores (, 2006). The primary strategy of convenience stores is to increase services providing "convenience" to consumers and to increase the number of stores so as to reach economies of scale.

Despite faring below expectations, Hong Kong retail sales witnessed a strong growth in October 2006 as the Asian nation saw its retail sales jumping to US$ 2.3 Billion, up by 6.9% year-on-year, reports  on December 1 2006 (, 2006). Retail sales volume also increased by 5.2 % compared to last year (, 2006).

Current consumer boom boosted by increasing wages, lower lending rates & recent boom in stock market has been the mainstay of Hong Kong retail industry & the current scenario suggests that the consumption is likely to remain stable in near future.

 

7 Eleven Background Information

7-Eleven is an international franchisor, licensor, and operator of the largest chain of convenience store in eighteen countries including: Canada, United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico in the Americas; Norway, Sweden and Denmark in Europe; Taiwan (Republic of China), People’s Republic of China (China), Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan in East Asia; the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia; and also Turkey and Australia.

The company was founded in Oak Cliff, Texas, USA, which is now part of Dallas, USA, in 1927, and started to use the 7-Eleven name in 1946; 7-Eleven purchased a chain of stores in 1964 called "Speedee-Mart", which initiated the company's entry into franchising. Supermarket chain Ito-Yokado, which operates 7-Eleven stores in Japan, purchased the majority interest of The Southland Corporation in 1991. In 1999, The Southland Corporation changed its name to 7-Eleven, Inc.

Initially, these stores were open from 7 am to 11 pm, which was unprecedented at the time, hence the name; however, most 7-Eleven stores are now open twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. 7-Eleven's most popular private label products include: Slurpee, a partially frozen carbonated and non-carbonated beverage, available in a number of flavors, and the Big Gulp super size sofdrink in 32, 44, 52(Xtreme Gulp), and 64 (American) fluid ounce sizes. In 2005, 7-Eleven introduced their largest soft drink product, the 128 fluid ounce (1gallon) Team Gulp.

In November of 2005, Seven and I Holdings Co. completed the purchase of 7-Eleven, Inc., turning the American publicly traded conglomerate into a publicly traded Japanese conglomerate. Seven-Eleven Japan is itself a subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings, which also owns the Japanese Denny’s chain of restaurants and Ito-Yokado.

In Hong Kong, 7-Eleven is operated by Dairy Farm since 1981. There are over 600 stores in the city in 2005. About half of them are franchised stores. In September 2004, Dairy Farm acquired Daily Stop, a convenience store chain located mainly in the territory's MTR and KCR stations, and converted the Daily Stop stores to 7-Elevens in the spring of 2005.

7-Eleven in Hong Kong offers items such as food and drink, magazines, medicines, CDs, and MP3 songs. Extra services include the sale of postage stamps, recharging Octopus Cards, and ATM machines found within the store premises.

The company opened its 711th Hong Kong store July 11 (7-Eleven Day), 2006 in the Causeway Bay district of the city (). With most locations being in urbanized areas, approximately 40 percent are franchised stores.

7-Eleven in Hong Kong offers items such as food, beverages, newspapers, magazines, medicine and cigarettes. Sandwiches, pizza, microwaveable Dim Sum, meal boxes and other Chinese-style snacks are available for purchases.

The Hong Kong 7-eleven 24-hour convenience store was launched in Hong Kong in 1981 and was acquired by Dairy Farm Group in 1989.  Having a long presence in the market and a well-known brand both internationally and locally, 7-eleven has customers from all walks of life and serving some 15 million customers per month.

7-Eleven, operated on a franchise basis, is able to expand the number of stores quickly. 7-Eleven is owned by Dairy Farm, which is also the parent company of the giant supermarket chain of Wellcome. Many of 7-Eleven stores are strategically located in MTR (subway) and KCR (train) stations, popular shopping malls and housing developments throughout Hong Kong.

 

 

Competitor Analysis

            7-Eleven is currently have various competitions which includes superstores, hypermarkets, convenience stores and even traditional markets. However, the biggest competitor of 7-Eleven today are Circle K convenience stores, ParknShop and Wellcome. Currently, in Hong Kong there are already more than 600 supermarkets and convenience stores.

ParknShop opened its first superstore in 1996 with a floor area of 45,000 sq. ft. Presently, its largest supermarket in Hong Kong has a floor area of 72,000 sq. ft. giving customers a modern one-stop shopping solution. The store sells over 20,000 product categories ranging from snacks to electrical household appliances. The ParknShop supermarket chain carries two own-label product lines, namely PARKnSHOP and Best Buy, first introduced in 1995.

ParknShop is also associated with three other supermarkets by the name of Great, Taste, and Gourmet. These high-end supermarkets are after the more affluent clientele. They are ideal outlets for innovative, quality and priced international food products. These stores also carry a wide selection of organic products. Great adopts a stylish international food hall concept and its flagship store offers over 46,000 gourmet items. The first 35,000 square feet TASTE food galleria was opened in November 2004, and features more than 25,000 quality food items sourced from around the world. Gourmet, opened in 2005, occupied 15,000-square-foot store offering a selection of over 20,000 products carried across 30 merchandise categories of quality and premium foods. The average expenditure per customer for Gourmet and Taste is expected to be $18 and $13 respectively.

In addition Wellcome also is a competitor of 7-Eleven which is also is owned of Dairy Farm. Wellcome, will also be opening an upscale supermarket in Hong Kong’s central commercial area catering to the more affluent clientele. The new store called Three Sixty will be opened in mid November. With a floor area of 23,000 square feet, it will be Hong Kong’s largest retail outlet for organic and natural products. About 6,000 items or 70 percent of the items in the store will be organic or natural products. The store will include an organic sector for baby products. “Health” and “natural” are the key concepts of this store.

 

 

Name of Retailer

 

Ownership

 

Food Sales

US$

 

No. of Outlets

 

Location

 

Type of Purchasing agent

 

Wellcome

 

Hong Kong

 

over $1 billion

 

261, 27 of which are superstores

 

Hong Kong

 

Importers/Agents

Exporters Consolidators

 

ParknShop

 

Hong Kong

 

over $1 billion

 

215, 45 of which are superstores*

 

Hong Kong

 

Importers/Agents

Exporters Consolidators

Source:  (2006)

 

ParknShop and Wellcome account for almost 80 percent of the supermarket turnover. Both supermarkets are able to work closely with real estate developers to open stores in strategic locations, thus maintaining their significant market share.  Because of their significant market share, they are able to make suppliers offer goods to them at very competitive prices, so that they are able to set retail prices lower than their competitors’.  Consequently, it is difficult for small competitors to survive and new players to enter into the market.

Moreover, a new development in 2003 is that ParknShop expanded into 24-hour convenience store operations.  The supermarket giant has opened a number of stores under the name ParknShop Express on a trial scheme and may expand the network across Hong Kong if the experiment succeeds.  Currently, there are about ten Express stores.  ParknShop has intrinsic competitive advantages over its rivals because it can use the leverage of the group’s existing infrastructure to offer products at low prices.  The stores carry the products as other convenience stores such as cooked food, drinks, newspapers and magazines.  In a bid to lure customers, the 1,000 products offered by ParknShop Express are priced at the same level as those being sold at ParknShop.  This is in contrast to other convenience store operators charging at a premium of up to 15 per cent from those selling at supermarkets. 

In the convenience store, Circle K is the a competitor of 7-Eleven. Circle K is continuing to expand. A Circle K representative revealed that average purchases per customer had dropped to HK$10.62 (U.S.$1.56) for the first three quarters of 2002, down 7% from a year ago (  , 2006).

Retailer Name

Ownership

No. of Outlets

Location

Purchasing Agents

Year Established

Client’s Age

Circle K

Hong Kong

180

HK

Importers

Agents

1985

15-35

Source:  (2006)

 

 

SWOT Analysis