Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is when a person is forced or under strong influence from their friends to do something be it good or bad. Peer pressure can have both positive and negative effects. Hence this essay will discuss about the positive and negative effect of peer pressure. Firstly, a little peer pressure can be a tool to motivate students to achieving great heights. For instance, when a weak student is struggling with his studies, his classmates can help by encouraging him in every little improvement he makes. This will not only make the weak student feel motivated to study, but also to improve his friendship with his friends. Secondly, with peer pressure, students can help their friends who are addicted to smoking. They can constantly remind, nag and scold the classmate who is smoking to not smoke. This will pressure the student who is smoking to quit his bad habit as all his friends are against it. This is another positive effect of peer pressure. Lastly, peer pressure can help in situations when 2 students are fighting. Students can use peer pressure to strongly discourage the two parties from fighting and instead, help to mediate and let them talk things out. Thus resolving all conflicts. However, There are negative effects to peer pressure too Firstly, there are numerous students who smoke in schools. These students may go around forcing their wills onto other innocent students to smoke. Because they are in groups and are intimidating the innocent students maybe forced into smoking. There is a high chance that they will pick up the bad habit too. Secondly, peer pressure can cause students to be depressed. For instance, when a student is being picked on in class by a group of ‘popular’ students. He might feel that he is unwanted and that the class hates him. Sooner or later, he will be depressed and hate coming to school. This is damaging to the student’s mental health as he is constantly afraid of people attacking him verbally or even physically. To sum up, there are many effects of peer pressure, both positive and negative effects. Peer pressure can be used to motivate, inspire and build up relationship with one another. However, they can also be destructive as they can corrupt and destroy people’s lives. ï » ¿Peer Pressure Have you ever been forced to do anything ? Have u ever felt that you are in a tight corner because of someone's comment? We all could face situations like that; we all could have faced peer pressure. What is peer pressure? â€Å"Peer pressure is when someone or a group of people influences or encourages others to do things they do not want to do or tries to change people’s attitude, or behavior towards something or it is the feeling that someone of your own age is pushing you towards making a certain choice, good or bad†( http://www.thecoolspot.gov/pressures.asp). Peer pressure is mostly common among teens, they could accept to do something they don't want to do as their friends would make fun of them or everyone is just trying to fit in.Because when you act in a different way you are considered an outsider and not cool. The desire to fit in can go as far as doing things you have never imagined. We all are influenced by our peers, both negatively and positively. It help s us to define who we are. It is how we chose to react to peer pressure that defines who we are as individuals. Are we a leader or a follower? Both types of people are needed to make the world go round or just you may lose yourself and forget who you are just to satisfy your peers. Peers influence your life, even if you do not realize it, just by spending time with you.You learn from them, and they learn from you. It is only human nature to listen to and learn from other people in your age group. Peers can have a positive influence on each other. For example, a student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember something related to the subject. You might admire a friend who is always a good support for you and try to be like him, these are examples of how peers positively influence each other every day.Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways. For example, some people in school might try to get you to cut class with them, or your friend might try to convin ce you to try to start smoking or taking drugs with him, or your friend in might want you to shoplift with  him. The causes of peer pressure are so many, One of the main reasons that can lead to peer pressure is lack of self-confidence, the feeling of being alone, not accepted by anyone or by society, everyone is making fun of you and the desire to fit in, these reasons can affect anyone easily and put him under this pressure.One of the causes also is changing the environment you are used to, like leaving high school and going to University, meeting new people with different characters and personalities. Or the big problem might be in the way parents bring up their children. This can affect society in good and bad ways. The effects of negative pressure can lead to the presence of cloning minds different people but have the same mentality, thinking in the same way and acting in an inappropriate way that is unacceptable by the society. A question that always comes up.Why do people g ive in to peer pressure? People give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, may be Others go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that everybody is doing that thing can influence some people to leave their common sense behind and the way they judge things. How can people combat peer pressure? The normal way of just saying no does not work. Sure, it sounds good to say no but in reality, a person may want to say no, but just cannot as it is tough to be the only one who is facing this pressure, but on the other hand you can pay attention to your feelings and beliefs about the right and wrong things that can help you more self-confidence and having a strong pack up from parents, family even from your teachers can help you stand firm.One of the solutions that help you to run away from peer pressure is to have at least one friend, who is willing to say no too. This takes a lot of the power out of this pressure and makes it much ea sier to resist. Try to ask for advise from your teacher or your family and they will support you facing peer pressure, stay away from friends who use drugs, smoke cigarettes, or even lying. Also try to help a friend who is facing peer pressure or having troubles resisting it, it can be so powerful to one of them by joining the other in order not to  feel alone in this nightmare.To sum up peer pressure is like a nightmare chasing us all, so If you continued to face peer pressure and you are finding it difficult to handle, talk to someone you can trust and don't feel guilty if you have made mistakes. Stand up again and continue your way and prepare youself for the next time you face peer pressure.

Digital Fortress Chapter 43

A jaunty forty-five, Chad Brinkerhoff was well-pressed, well-groomed, and well-informed. His summer-weight suit, like his tan skin, showed not a wrinkle or hint of wear. His hair was thick, sandy blond, and most importantly-all his own. His eyes were a brilliant blue-subtly enhanced by the miracle of tinted contact lenses. He surveyed the wood-paneled office around him and knew he had risen as far as he would rise in the NSA. He was on the ninth floor-Mahogany Row. Office 9A197. The Directorial Suite. It was a Saturday night, and Mahogany Row was all but deserted, its executives long gone-off enjoying whatever pastimes influential men enjoyed in their leisure. Although Brinkerhoff had always dreamed of a â€Å"real† post with the agency, he had somehow ended up as a â€Å"personal aide†-the official cul de sac of the political rat race. The fact that he worked side by side with the single most powerful man in American intelligence was little consolation. Brinkerhoff had graduated with honors from Andover and Williams, and yet here he was, middle-aged, with no real power-no real stake. He spent his days arranging someone else's calendar. There were definite benefits to being the director's personal aide-Brinkerhoff had a plush office in the directorial suite, full access to all the NSA departments, and a certain level of distinction that came from the company he kept. He ran errands for the highest echelons of power. Deep down Brinkerhoff knew he was born to be a PA-smart enough to take notes, handsome enough to give press conferences, and lazy enough to be content with it. The sticky-sweet chime of his mantel clock accented the end of another day of his pathetic existence. Shit, he thought. Five o'clock on a Saturday. What the hell am I doing here? â€Å"Chad?† A woman appeared in his doorway. Brinkerhoff looked up. It was Midge Milken, Fontaine's internal security analyst. She was sixty, slightly heavy, and, much to the puzzlement of Brinkerhoff, quite appealing. A consummate flirt and an ex-wife three times over, Midge prowled the six-room directorial suite with a saucy authority. She was sharp, intuitive, worked ungodly hours, and was rumored to know more about the NSA's inner workings than God himself. Damn, Brinkerhoff thought, eyeing her in her gray cashmere-dress. Either I'm getting older, or she's looking younger. â€Å"Weekly reports.† She smiled, waving a fanfold of paper. â€Å"You need to check the figures.† Brinkerhoff eyed her body. â€Å"Figures look good from here.† â€Å"Really Chad,† she laughed. â€Å"I'm old enough to be your mother.† Don't remind me, he thought. Midge strode in and sidled up to his desk. â€Å"I'm on my way out, but the director wants these compiled by the time he gets back from South America. That's Monday, bright and early.† She dropped the printouts in front of him. â€Å"What am I, an accountant?† â€Å"No, hon, you're a cruise director. Thought you knew that.† â€Å"So what am I doing crunching numbers?† She ruffled his hair. â€Å"You wanted more responsibility. Here it is.† He looked up at her sadly. â€Å"Midge†¦ I have no life.† She tapped her finger on the paper. â€Å"This is your life, Chad Brinkerhoff.† She looked down at him and softened. â€Å"Anything I can get you before I go?† He eyed her pleadingly and rolled his aching neck. â€Å"My shoulders are tight.† Midge didn't bite. â€Å"Take an aspirin.† He pouted. â€Å"No back rub?† She shook her head. â€Å"Cosmopolitan says two-thirds of backrubs end in sex.† Brinkerhoff looked indignant. â€Å"Ours never do!† â€Å"Precisely.† She winked. â€Å"That's the problem.† â€Å"Midge-â€Å" â€Å"Night, Chad.† She headed for the door. â€Å"You're leaving?† â€Å"You know I'd stay,† Midge said, pausing in the doorway, â€Å"but I do have some pride. I just can't see playing second fiddle-particularly to a teenager.† â€Å"My wife's not a teenager,† Brinkerhoff defended. â€Å"She just acts like one.† Midge gave him a surprised look. â€Å"I wasn't talking about your wife.† She battered her eyes innocently. â€Å"I was talking about Carmen.† She spoke the name with a thick Puerto Rican accent. Brinkerhoff's voice cracked slightly. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Carmen? In food services?† Brinkerhoff felt himself flush. Carmen Huerta was a twenty-seven-year-old pastry chef who worked in the NSA commissary. Brinkerhoff had enjoyed a number of presumably secret after-hours flings with her in the stockroom. She gave him a wicked wink. â€Å"Remember, Chad†¦ Big Brother knows all.† Big Brother? Brinkerhoff gulped in disbelief. Big Brother watches the STOCKROOMS too? Big Brother, or â€Å"Brother† as Midge often called it, was a Centrex 333 that sat in a small closetlike space off the suite's central room. Brother was Midge's whole world. It received data from 148 closed circuit video cameras, 399 electronic doors, 377 phones taps, and 212 free-standing bugs in the NSA complex. The directors of the NSA had learned the hard way that 26,000 employees were not only a great asset but a great liability. Every major security breach in the NSA's history had come from within. It was Midge's job as internal security analyst, to watch everything that went on within the walls of the NSA†¦ including, apparently, the commissary stockroom. Brinkerhoff stood to defend himself, but Midge was already on her way out. â€Å"Hands above the desk,† she called over her shoulder. â€Å"No funny stuff after I go. The walls have eyes.† Brinkerhoff sat and listened to the sound of her heels fading down the corridor. At least he knew Midge would never tell. She was not without her weaknesses. Midge had indulged in a few indiscretions of her own-mostly wandering back rubs with Brinkerhoff. His thoughts turned back to Carmen. He pictured her lissome body, those dark thighs, that AM radio she played full blast-hot San Juan salsa. He smiled. Maybe I'll drop by for a snack when I'm done. He opened the first printout. CRYPTO-PRODUCTION/EXPENDITURE His mood immediately lightened. Midge had given him a freebie; the Crypto report was always a piece of cake. Technically he was supposed to compile the whole thing, but the only figure the director ever asked for was the MCD-the mean cost per decryption. The MCD represented the estimated amount it cost TRANSLTR to break a single code. As long as the figure was below $1,000 per code, Fontaine didn't flinch. A grand a pop. Brinkerhoff chuckled. Our tax dollars at work. As he began plowing through the document and checking the daily MCDs, images of Carmen Huerta smearing herself with honey and confectioner's sugar began playing in his head. Thirty seconds later he was almost done. The Crypto data was perfect-as always. But just before moving on to the next report, something caught his eye. At the bottom of the sheet, the last MCD was off. The figure was so large that it had carried over into the next column and made a mess of the page. Brinkerhoff stared at the figure in shock. 999,999,999? He gasped. A billion dollars? The images of Carmen vanished. A billion-dollar code? Brinkerhoff sat there a minute, paralyzed. Then in a burst of panic, he raced out into the hallway. â€Å"Midge! Comeback!†

University Store Case

FIFO or LIFO In the case, the university Store provided plenty of goods and services with various costs. They frequently have their costs, selling prices and discounted prices changed. This process would contain a large amount of work since the Store kept large number of books. Although the Store has planned to record data by establishing a new software system, they used the retail method easing and simplifying inventory tracking. Comparing the FIFO or the LIFO method, the retail method would be the better to value Inventory with two major reasons. One reason is that GAP would accept the report under the retail method.While applying the FIFO or LIFO method, the Store would calculate historical percentages to estimate ending Inventory cost. However, they would use the â€Å"current cost-to-retail† ratios, which are more acceptable and reliable for GAP financial report. The other is that the Store could be easy to record inventory. The Store could record numbers including the to tal cost and purchase retail value, costs and retail prices, and total sales in a period. Also, the Store sometimes marks up the original sale prices, which should be marked down before calculating ending Inventory.By acquiring same Information, cost-to-retail percentage in FIFO or LIFO method are able to be calculated with omitting beginning inventory or only using beginning inventory respectively. Causes and Procedures for Inventory Obsolescence The Store realized that they needed to consider the inventory obsolescence problem. They have found the large volume of â€Å"inactive† books, which could re-adopt in the next semester or could not be returned to publishers. The major causes of this problem could be divided Into four parts. Firstly. E turnover rate of returns manager was significantly high in the recent years, causing difficulties to clear the unneeded textbooks before the new edition published. If the textbooks became obsolete and unable to be returned to publisher s, they would be stored in the bookstore or the warehouse, making losses in the financial report. The first procedure to improve the problem could be to find the reasons of high turnover rate like large workload, high-pressure environment or unexpected salary. Then, the Store should address the problem with different strategies depending on the reasons. Secondly, the Store distributed little employees to work on arranging the inactive textbooks since total employees were insufficient. This problem caused the obsolete books would stored increasingly making financial losses. To solve the problem, the Store could recruit more employees in order to pay more attention on the Inactive textbooks If the Store has ability to hire more. Moreover, the Store tried to actively pay back the used books In order to lower costs. TLS caused the Store would possibly obtain the unneeded books, which professors would stop using next semester.These textbooks would be unable to return to the publishers an d would become losses for financial reporting. The procedure solving the problem could be firstly asking professors or teachers whether the used textbooks would be continually used in the future. Next, the Store would be able to decide which book should pay back depending on their requirements and recommendations. Last but not least, the would lower sales of textbooks recently. If the Store obtained the same number of a specific textbook with decreasing usage, the books would become inactive causing financial losses.In order to solve the problem, the Store could establish a survey about the decreasing demands or possible cancellations of the books. After that, they could estimate the future inventory of fewer books with low demands. Inventory Practices Cause Misstatement Risk of Inventory While calculating the inventory value, some practices would possibly increase the risk of misstatement. At first, errors would appear in recording different costs, selling prices and price changes in sale while organizing hundreds of products.The Store should arrange at least two employees to check the values are correct although they eve already faced the problem of insufficient employees, which would cause individual workload increases. Secondly, the part-time workers with insufficient training and frequent turnover rate would create calculating mistakes. Although heavy reliance of part-time employees could lower the operating cost, it would increase the risk of inventory misstatement. To detect this possible misstatement, the Store should hire more full-time employees or provide a position to monitor the process of switching different part-time employees.Also, the revisions of college extols were published more frequently, which increase the risk of inventory misstatement. The Store needs to obtain the information about the time the revision would be published in the future and content comparison with old version. Likewise, the textbook demand is hard to determine or estim ate since currently students are able to purchase cheaper from different sources like friends or online. The Store can provide some promotion or sale to attract the students. It can obtain small volume of inventory, and then decide to purchase more depending on the demand.

The effects of cell phones in the busness workplace Research Paper

The effects of cell phones in the busness workplace - Research Paper Example It is based on observation and anecdotal evidence, with some recourse to published material as cited. Chapter 1: The Effects of Cell Phones in the Business Workplace Early adopters of the cellular phone, as it was originally and briefly known, pioneered a new era of business communication, even if at some considerable expense. Not unusually for breakthrough technology, the cost of a Motorola DynaTac in 1983 was $3,995.00, which, in today’s terms and taking inflation into account, would be in the region of $8,500. (1) The cost of acquisition, however, was overall perceived to be outweighed by the benefits of the new technology and the status conferred on those who used it. The race to produce more affordable, smaller and more versatile handsets for a market that could only grow is till showing little sign of slowing. Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Grew 17 Per Cent in First Quarter 2010. (2) Figures released in 2002 by the International Telecommunication Union (3) rev eal that, in terms of units per person, Taiwan topped the list at 106.45 per 100, with Burma at the bottom. Weighted average was 59.3 per 100, with the United States at 48.81. The cost of initial models confined sales almost exclusively to the business sector, and indeed the benefits were immediate and enormous. On another level, the magical new device lent an aura of power to its owner; if you were in a position to purchase one of these vastly expensive, exotic devices, you clearly needed to communicate with other powerful, decision-making corporate warriors. Either that, or you were a very savvy criminal (3), which, to some sideline observers not yet equipped to enter the game, was also an exotic and enviable career. So we can safely say that the cell phone changed business for the better as soon as it became clear that to not have one was a disadvantage. Let us call this ‘Effect One’, the addition of a vital tool to the company toolbox, sometimes one you had to earn by distinction until the price enabled the purchase of a handset for personal use. It needed little to no effort to sell this new, potent symbol of progress and dynamism. It also introduced a set of changes in etiquette and behavior, both in and beyond the workplace, which can be referred to as ‘Effect Two’. Effect Two, like most changes to social norms, started with a minority who took on the role of being at the forefront of change, leading the charge, brushing past the fuddy-duddies on the way to wherever it was they were going. And, for a while at least, the alpha males in the workplace were the ones who got the cell phones, and who changed them as soon as the next model with better features came along. The rest waited their turn and resigned themselves to being followers. Here, like a well-cut suit, an expensive wristwatch and hand finished shoes, was an accessory that set the owner apart, allowed them to adopt a different attitude. Indeed, the new power prop had a far more immediate effect than good tailoring or discrete and tasteful jewelry, as its appeal to many lay in its ability to be the opposite of discrete and sophisticated. Chapter 2: Now, whereas in conventional ordered, civilized workplaces it would once have been considered rude or inappropriate to ignore, interrupt loudly or suddenly terminate a conversation with a colleague, the

Global marketing strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Global marketing strategy - Essay Example Argos was found by Richard Tompkins in the year 1973. The company was formed by rebranding an existing company known as Green Shield Stamps in the United Kingdom. The first store of Argos was opened up in Canterbury, United Kingdom. Argos presently has more than 737 brick and mortar stores and has an average of 340 million website clicks in a year. The company is one of the largest retail companies operating in the high street retails segment of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The retail company is a part of the Home Retail Group and runs alongside two sister companies, Habitat and Homebase. Argos owns a number of brands including the famous consumer electronics brands Bush and Alba, the currently dysfunctional jewellery and watches brand, Elizabeth Duke, Chad Valley along with, many other varied brands. It was estimated in the year 2012 that 96% of the total population of the United Kingdom resided within the 10 miles radius of a branch of Argos located in the country. Before 2004, the stocks of Argos were independent constituents of the FTSE 100 index. Currently, the stock of Argos is the constituents of the FTSE 250 Index as a part of its parent company Home Retail group. Also, the stocks of Argos are listed in the London Stock Exchange since 1990. The company Argos has operation in UK and Ireland. The company has 737 stores. If the company wants to expand its business then Argos has to make plans and forms strategies according to the marketing environment of the countries. In Japan the market environment of the retail industry is positive. The government of this county have made many new policies which influence the customers for spending more money in different types of goods and services. Japan’s retail market is presently targeting the ageing population. It offers different types of products and services to them for making them feel comfortable in the retail marketing environment

Leadership Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership Case Analysis - Essay Example he didn’t falter a bit when he told the men that the Japanese would attack the front lines and that it is going to be a long night.His effectiveness lies in his immediate action over a problem. When it comes to organizational Leadership, General Cummings is a seasoned person and it seems that no amount o f pressure would ruffle his feathers. He was only quite a bit peeved when found his coat dirty with mud after the storm which is an indication of his humanity. When it comes to developing people, he knows very well how to sharpen them by experience. He doesn’t spoon feed , mentor, or pat your back. On the contrary, he antagonizes and throws Hearns into situations that will challenge his weakness- emotions. This reflects that attitude not intelligence is valued in the battlefield. When it comes to delegation , it is very apparent that he delegates well since he can bark orders to any one with precision. Aside from this, In fact, he is very keen on details because he even knows almost all the equipment in the camp as well as the personlaities of people around him. One can see his planning skills when he sent the tanks to beef up the forces ahead of time since he alway s consider the worst to happen (n whether man-made or act of God). Communication skills is also a strength of the General. He manages by walking around and talking to people concerned. His hands-on leadership style with a charismatic tinge elicits respect , awe, and fear from among his men. General Cummings strength was his brilliance, courage , and experience that almost makes him complete. However, the end of the case ( or the story ) reveals that he has a weakness which was very crucial since it indirectly cost him Hearn’s life. He overlooked the verification of facts and reports that reached him. Since he is a man of action, his quick decision based on the immediate facts provided to him made him create the scenario he wants to believe in: that island is a stronghold of Japanese army.

Economic Implications of the EU's Single Currency on German Economy - Dissertation

Economic Implications of the EU's Single Currency on German Economy - Research Plan - Dissertation Example Research Questions and Rationale for the Chosen Research Questions 1. What are the negative effects being created through the introduction of a single currency Euro on the German economy? 2. Does the benefit outweigh the disadvantages of using fixed exchange rate policy? 3. What are the economic consequences of using fixed exchange rate based on the economic experiences of Germany? Several authors suggest that it is wrong to believe that the use of a single currency could solve economic problems related to high unemployment rate, high inflation rate, low exportation volume, and economic stagnation (Carbaugh, 2009, p. 282; Frankel & Rose, 2002). For this reason, the first research question in this dissertation plan aims to identify and determine the negative effects associated with the introduction or use of a single currency on the economic situation in Germany. The EU’s single currency was implemented for the purpose of enhancing the inter-regional and inter-state trading amo ng the members of the European Union easier (European Commission. The EU Single Market, 2011). On top of the significant reduction in the cost of inter-regional and inter-state trading, the use of EU’s single currency could increase the market opportunities and promote price stability for the EU members (Canuse & Driga, 2010; Goodhart, 2007; Luker & Townroe, 1999). Considering the economic advantages associated with the use of a single currency, the second research question aims to determine whether or not the disadvantages of using a single currency under a fixed exchange rate policy outweigh its economic benefits. As a huge country, Germany was highly dependent on the exportation of agricultural, mining and industrial products since 1950s (Boyes, 2007). As part of examining the economic consequences of using a single currency, the third research question aims to explore how the use of a single currency under a fixed exchange rate policy has adversely affected Germanyâ€℠¢s ability to export agricultural, mining and industrial products today. Detailed Overall Planned Structure of Dissertation The proposed structure of the dissertation is based purely on secondary research data. In gathering related literature for this research topic, the researcher utilized the available books and other academic research materials and journals from the library of ____________(insert name of school) on top of the electronic reading materials which can be easily located using the Internet. In providing the readers with a better idea behind the need to introduce a single EU currency among the members of the European Union, the introduction part identified the 27 countries that agreed to become a part of the European Union. Aside from discussing the main purpose of conducting a literature review on this subject matter, the introduction part also provided a clear explanation behind the need to implement the Euro currency back in 1999. Since this study aims to determine t he economic implications of using EU’s single currency on German economy, the body of this research paper focused on addressing the research questions which served as a guide in conducting a literature review on this subject matter. In line with this, the body of the research paper includes determining the negative effects of introducing a single Euro currency on Germany’

International Financial Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

International Financial Reporting - Essay Example It is expected that the framework would assist the IASB in not only developing new international accounting standards, but also in the revision of the existing ones. It may also help in reducing the many alternative accounting treatments which are outlined by various accounting standards and regulations (Pounder, 2009). The conceptual framework presents key issues relating to the preparation and presentation of the financial statements. These include objectives, underlying assumptions, qualitative characteristics, recognition and measurement of elements of the financial statements, and the concepts of capital management. Though there are other ways measuring the elements of the financial statements, â€Å"historical cost† is the most commonly used by entities. This basis renders accounting information of less value in the prediction of future performances of the entities. Before the introduction of a conceptual framework, the accounting system could be said to have been â€Å"rule based†, governed by rules on how to treat each and every transaction. Such a system was inflexible and rigid but it promoted excellent comparison of financial performances. Contrastingly, the introduction of a conceptual framework which is â€Å"principle based† has led to the development of accounting standards from a generally accepted conceptual basis with clear and specific objectives. It could be argued that the conceptual framework ensures that the information in the financial statements present a â€Å"true and fair view† financial position of the entity. This means that based on the management estimates and judgment, the financial information presented is fairly accurate. It could also be taken to mean that the financial information does not have material errors, and the users of such information can used it to make meaningful decisions. It is also worth

Demings Plan-Do-Check-Act Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Demings Plan-Do-Check-Act - Coursework Example She faced many problems for the settlement of her infant child. Therefore, the idea came to my mind that she and many others like mothers are facing the adverse situation. In this case, a child may be disturbed. Therefore in order to save mothers and children form this adverse condition I planned to open a day care centre which actually provides the best services to the people regarding the care of their children that they feel fully satisfied after leaving their child here in the day care centre. The project of day care centre is done through a formal process even from the building to the hiring of staff. Initially the day care centre faces many problems. There was a little awareness about the day care centre in the public. In some cases, people do not rely on the environment and services of a day care centre. In my opinion, the problem was in the marketing of the project. We did not focus on the promotion and advertisements regarding day care centre. Some people are even unaware of the day care centre. A newly introduced project needs a high level investment on the marketing schemes. At the end of first year, the project of day care centre was a partial success just because of the lack of advertising promotions. The project could be fully successful if there was market analysis before its start. Therefore, in my opinion, a business manager should analyze the whole market in order to check the demand awareness of the project. Initially there should be a high-level investment on the marketing purpose. For these projects, there should be a marketing manager so that they can perform the duties in a regular manner (Lake, 2012). Then the management of the business can take right decisions. The concept of process management groups is very much similar to Deming’s plan, do, check and act strategy. This approach is very helpful in the problem just because of the division of work

Devise an online lesson Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Devise an online lesson - Assignment Example This will greatly assist them in understanding and sharing of newly introduced concepts The plan will try to satisfy all the course objectives by helping students to expand their knowledge and grasp such key terminologies as pronunciation, nouns, verbs, tenses adverbs, vocabularies and many more others. The plan will also help the students appreciate English as a language and demystify any stereotypic beliefs surrounding it. The quote will depend on the topic of the day. Most quotes will be drawn from great thinkers like Aristotle, Hobbes and Rousseau. The quotes will help the students focus on the topic of the day and motivate them to complete their assignments within the provided time frame. Students will be instructed on which online methods to use during teaching. Some classes like pronunciation will require computer conferencing while others like tackling assignments will require World Wide Web. The three media above have been chosen because they will increase the speed at which students will converse with their instructor. They will also give them an opportunity to interact among themselves thus creating room form lively forums. Online communication is good because it helps the students open up and tell the instructor what they would have otherwise never said in an open classroom (Anderson, 2008). It also saves time and resources as students will not be required to appear physically in class. By so doing, they will be able to engage in other activities like spending time with their families and attending their jobs without any worry. The methods have also been chosen because of their ability to help students from different cultures interact and appreciate one another’s

Purhsing Paper Can Be Fun Essay Example for Free

Purhsing Paper Can Be Fun Essay Question: What Performance problems is the captain trying to correct. Ans: 1 Poor Reporting Performance among the employees. Question: Use the MARS model of individual behavior and performance to diagnose the possible causes of the unacceptable behavior. Ans: 2 Possible causes for the unacceptable behavior is as follows: MARS Model: There are four main factors that directly influence an employee’s voluntary behavior and resulting performance. Employee Motivation: There was no clear motivation for employees to do their job perfectly as required. Motivation does not mean only financial motivation; people are motivated not only with money but also with an appreciation by the leaders of the company is enough to motivate them and pump in the force required to do the job with intensity. Captain must have set some goals which on achieving, the employees get recognition through an appreciation letter at least from the higher ranked personnel in the organization, keeping in mind that he was under the budget crunch which limited him in motivating employees by rewarding them financially. Ability: Analyzing the employees based on their capabilities was one of the cause. You will find some people whose interest is in doing the office work, captain should have recognize the skills and knowledge and segregate the work within depending on their capabilities. Coaching was also missing by the captain. Role Perceptions: They were aware about the consequences for inadequately doing the reporting as they were having issues when the case reached the court. Captain should have given them priorities from their various responsibilities by explaining them that the what matters is the quality of the work and not quantity. This would have helped them to improve. Situational Factors: As captain explained they set-up the team competitions based on the excellence of the reports, but the leaders were not committed and none of them were receiving any type of rewards for winning the competition. Leadership is responsible for the well-being of the employee in the company so they need to be committed. Question: Has the captain considered all the possible solutions to the problem? IF not what else might be done? Ans: NO What else can be done is as follows: 1. Task related trainings should be provided to strengthen the capabilities of the employees. 2. Improved Employee Engagement should be done, by recognizing the best employees, rewarding them which will boost their moral and they will feel that they are an integral part of the team. He can set-up a mechanism, like Employee of the Month Award and can display it in the office. 3. Coaching is also an important aspect of the leader, as a leader he should coach his team as and when required.

Utilitarian View on Modern Day Situations Essay Example for Free

Utilitarian View on Modern Day Situations Essay Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is the traditional understanding that the right act is the act which will actually, or most probably produce the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure throughout the world. The view was most famously founded by Jeremy Bentham, and later adapted by John Stuart Mill. Utilitarianism focuses on the consequences of an event rather than following strict rules and in general can be classed as a type of naturalism that offers a reductionist approach to ethics. Natural Law Natural Law is the theory that all humans can discover what is right, due to moral being written into our nature in some way. This theory suggests that there are some absolute ethical standards are the set by the way the universe is and the way humans are. Natural law lies a great deal of importance on applying reason and science and the use of inherent values such as fairness. Situation Ethics Situation ethics are based on the principle of love, and how all right and good actions result in the greatest amount of love as a result. Due to this, human beings should always act lovingly but the values of acting lovingly largely depend on the situation and cannot be predefined, instead the values of situation ethics are free to change in any shape or form from example as they relate the circumstances. Proportionalism Proportionalism is neither deontological or teleological, but rather it lies somewhere in between the two. It is an extension of Natural law, that can be easily compared with rule utilitarianism. It has moral rules (generally of the Christian variety) and says that it is never right to go against a principle unless there is a proportionate reason which would justify it. So some things are always right or wrong, but in certain situations it could be tolerated, e. g. murder is always wrong, but there may be an exception in a just war. Toleration is not saying something is right or wrong, but rather is used to choose the lesser of two evils. Virtue Ethics Virtue Ethics describe the right action to be the action which a virtuous person would do in the same situation, and for this reason, Virtue Ethics are not absolute, they are relativist. Instead of looking at the consequences of a particular action Virtue Ethics looks at the character of the individual and as a result provides us with guidance of what are the ideal characteristics of a good person. Utilitarianism Perspective In Vitro Treatment Even though IVF has been criticized because many people think that it is an unethical method of creating a child, utilitarians have said that it can bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people, yet some people do not see how. Bentham’s hedonic calculus enables us to find out whether or not IVF will bring about this about. When Bentham came up with the idea of the hedonic calculus he asked seven questions that all try to predict. Regarding the length of the effects of IVF treatment, the answer to is that the effects will last a life time. When creating a child you don’t expect the effects to last for a short period of time, you want them to last for the rest of your life and the rest of the child’s life. For example the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, is now actually a mother herself. Furthmore, there is also the case of whether the embryo will attached to the inside of the mother womb and investigations have shown that there is a one in five chance that this will happen, even though this may seem a high risk factor there is a twenty per cent chance of at least one of the eggs taking if ten are fertilised. As a result of this IVF treatment, both the mother and the father will be greatly effected in the majority, because they will have to donate their zygotes and then have them fertilised. Afterwards the woman will have to have the eggs implanted into her womb and even then the embryos may not take. There is also the financial side to this treatment, it costs a lot of money and even then the embryos might not take to the woman’s womb therefore it would just be like burning money because it is, in a sense, money wasted. The doctors will be affected because what they are doing is hard work, but they will be affected in a good way because they are getting paid a lot of money for this. There is no saying how many lives the child will affect in the future. That maybe is one of the drawbacks of IVF treatment, the child might grow up to be hooked on drugs or be a rapists or serial killer but then don’t you take that risk with any child? Then the weakness is in Bentham’s hedonic calculus i. e. it is not possible by any means to predict the future yet we still try to through means like this. The IVF treatment could also take as long as you want it. Then there would of course be there is the process of waiting for the baby to be born if the IVF is successful but it could be born late or early, so again we cannot predict the future because of the fact that it is too uncertain. The final and question is whether the act of IVF treatment will cause happiness or un-happiness in the future, and my answer to this is that the future is so uncertain it is almost impossible to predict what is going to happen. From the evidence above it is clear that a utilitarian wouldn’t support IVF treatment, because it isn’t certain whether or not this treatment would avoid pain and create the most amount of happiness, because the IVF treatment might not be successful and then there is a lot of money wasted on embryos that didn’t work. There might be a lot of future un-happiness more so than future happiness. Then there is the factor that the IVF treatment takes a long time and might not last a long time because the baby may miss-carry. This is definitely one of the drawbacks to utilitarianism, because the future is so uncertain it is not possible to predict whether or not this baby will become something that will go onto help others and create happiness or be something that ruins peoples lives and ruins their own lives. Natural Law Perspective In Vitro Treatment The underlying principal of natural law is that as God has created us then we should let nature take its course. In doing this, we are therefore allowing the will of God to be performed. If you take this stance then clearly you would be against any form of fertility treatment. This type of treatment is seen as interfering with nature and therefore offends the principles of Natural Law. If a woman cannot conceive then it is natures way of saying that she should not have children we should not interfere with that decision is the view of the proponents of natural law. They would also be against genetic engineering and designer babies. Utilitarianism Perspective Voluntary Euthanasia The definition of the word Euthanasia is A good and peaceful death. Utilitarianism is a moral theory which stresses that the goal of moral endeavour ( or to put it another way, the measure) is the production of Good. any action is to be assessed by their production of good consequences. If the definition of Euthanasia is applied then as it is supposed to bring about good in the form of a peaceful death then utilitarianism can be brought into play because the result is good the action must be morally correct. Natural Law Perspective Voluntary Euthanasia Natural law holds that human beings by nature do good and avoid evil and these goods are observable goals that we are fundamentally born with in our nature. Natural Law deals in moral absolutes that cannot be broken regardless of the situation, The end never justifies the means, so no amount of suffering can justify an evil act. To aspect of protecting the innocent is seen to be very important by those that follow Natural Law, therefore it would seem that euthanasia is always wrong. However, the principle of the double effect must not be disregarded. As whilst it is seen as wrong to kill, is giving someone pain relief if a secondary effect is that they die wrong? In this situation, you are asking Is death a proportionate outcome? For this reason, while Natural Law doesnt support active euthanasia, I believe that in some cases it might well allow an action whose intention is merely to relieve pain, even if the action leads to death. The Implications of Benthams Theory on Animal Treatment In my opinion Jeremy Bentham would claim that the morally relevant question about animals is not Can they reason? or Can they talk? but, Can they suffer ? And, animals do in fact suffer, and do in fact feel pain. Therefore he would argue that pain is an intrinsic evil whether it is experienced by a child, an adult, or an animal. If it is wrong to inflict pain on a human being, it is just as wrong to inflict pain on an animal. For this reason, animals should be treated with the same amount of respect as human beings are treated as it has yet to be proven, it will likely will never be proven, that animals do not suffer. Why punish criminals? Utilitarian Perspective According to utilitarianism our duty is to do whatever will increase the amount of happiness in the world. Utilitarians view punishment as treating people badly, by taking away their life or freedom through capital punishment and imprisonment. In Bentham’s own words, he wrote, â€Å"all punishment is mischief: all punishment in itself is evil. † So what do Utilitarians think about capital punishment? At first it may seem obvious that they oppose it, because by punishing someone, this person will suffer thus will be unhappy. Because punishment is a means of producing suffering, nd suffering is bad, punishment can only be justified on utilitarian grounds if the amount of suffering is outweighed by benefits to society and that good cannot be produced in any other way that does not involve suffering. In other words, if punishment will bring about more good than bad for society, and that good cannot be produced in any other more advantageous way, then it can be justified on utilitarian grounds. Here are many ways where punishment can benefit society: First, capital punishment can help to reduce crimes by being a deterrent to would-be criminals. Someone who is tempted to commit a crime might not commit the crime now that he knows that he would be punished, thus introducing the threat of punishment. Second by making people who have already committed crimes incapable of committing future crimes. By executing criminals, they will be taken off the streets, they will be removed from this life, and further crimes that they were going to commit will be avoided. In this way there will be less unhappiness. Third, the act of capital punishment may in some case provide comfort and gratification for the victim’s family. The victim’s family may be comforted if they knew that the killer has received what he deserves. In conclusion, a utilitarian would advocate the death penalty only if it is the only way of generating benefits to the society which are greater than any harms, or evil which its use may cause. A society might be happier to know that a murderer can never kill again, and it may in fact make the murderer himself happier with his life ending immediately rather than spending his whole life imprisoned. How does Mills approach to justifying any majority inflicting pain on the minority address the difficulty of Benthams hedonic calculus? Mills approach to pleasure wasnt simply based on quantity, he instead described there to be two levels of pleasures, higher and lower. The higher pleasures were intellectual pleasures, whilst the mower pleasures were purely sensual. Mill also stated that most ordinary people should generally follow the traditional moral rules rather than calculate every situation. This is the reason why some people state that then surely John Stuart Mill is a Rule Utilitarian, who should generally following moral rules, even if the rules are decided through Utilitarianism. How does Rule Utilitarianism prevent the justification of executing any minority, as issued by the majority? Rule Utilitarianism ensures that the traditional moral rules should be followed, therefore whilst rules are in place, these rules may be decided by Utilitarianism. This will prevent extreme cases from taking place and general rules in society being overturned by the majority.

Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Abstract: Purpose The primary goal of this paper is to review the literature that critically addresses the importance, application, influence on business and quality service of CRM and impact of CRM application on customer satisfaction and loyalty which consequently affects profitability and performance. Specifically, this paper seeks to present shifting view from transactional business to relational business, which shows significant importance of relationship marketing. Managers knowing the importance of customer focus business should act on time to retain customers, and fulfill their needs and wants in current competitive business environment analyzing and capturing valuable information regarding their customers for better forecasting of future. Design/methodology/approach This paper critically reviews the literature, with regard to importance, views, business application and overtime shifting from transactional marketing to relational one and application of CRM in businesses in the academic literature over the past years. Findings CRM is a new choice for business performers through which they can reach customer satisfaction and loyalty and they can improve profitability and performance of the company. CRM is a business strategy and philosophy that fulfills customers changing expectations and needs and provides individualized and customized service to customers. CRM improves pricing strategy and enhances decision-making. CRM enables better allocation of resources across the customer portfolio. Research Limitations/implications According to vast amount of literature that is published by different experts in this area it is difficult to provide brief review regarding CRM, besides CRM it self is a very wide topic including managerial perspective and technological side. However the researchers have done their best for such an ambitious undertaking. Obviously there is a need for more detailed studies of each and every elements of CRM. Keywords- CRM (Customer Relationship Management), loyalty, Customer satisfaction, retention Paper type- literature review 1. Introduction The way companies do business has changed tremendously during the last fifty years, changing from a product-oriented industry to a more market-oriented where the customer is in the center. This has increased the competition between the companies on the market, where each company has to work out a strong updated competitive strategy if they want to stay in the business because they can not rely on old competitive advantages any more, as for example technology. (Lindbom Jonsson, 1992). Besides, a key driver of this change is the advent of CRM which is underpinned by information and communication technologies (Ryals Knox, 2001). Globalization, increasing competition and advances in information and communication technology has forced companies to focus on managing customer relationships in order to efficiently maximize revenues. Customer relationship management (CRM) is the key competitive strategy businesses need to stay focused on the needs of the customers and to integrate a customer- facing approach throughout the organization. By using information and communication technology, businesses are trying to get closer to the customer so that they can create long-term relationships. Thus, deploying CRM initiatives has become very common (Sevki and Rifat, 2005). Firms are embracing CRM as a major element of business strategy, because technological applications permit a precise segmentation, profiling and targeting of customers and competitive pressures require a customer-centric culture (Gurau, Ranchhod, Hackney, 2003).It is known and as many experts believe, it takes up to five times more money to acquire a new customer than to get an existing customer to make a new purchase. Hence, customer retention is in particular important to every business because of their resources and competition. Moreover, a dissatisfied customer causes market damage because they are more likely to defect to competition and more likely to persuade others to defect. It is therefore no surprise that CRM is an important topic of conversation in business world (Feinberg, Kadam, Hokam, Kim,2002), so firms have to look at CRM as comprehensive business strategy for fulfilling the needs of customers and differentiating their service for different customers, besides concerning CRM as a key tool for reaching customer satisfaction and loyalty in a mutual beneficial relationship. 2. Evolution of Relationship The evolution of relationship management is described by different stages by different scholars (Bauer, Gottgens, Grether, 2001). Several different process models of relationship development have been proposed. In a widely cited article, Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh (1987) distinguish between five general phases in a dynamic model of relationship marketing: awareness, exploration, expansion, commitment, and dissolution. Broadly speaking, their framework suggests that, after becoming aware of the company for the first time, customers search for exchange benefits and perform trial purchases. There is an increase in the benefits obtained from the relationship once transactions have been evaluated positively, and a commitment towards the relationship develops. Finally, as relationships rarely last forever, the customer eventually withdraws from the relationship for whatever reason and switches to another supplier. Other authors have taken closely-related approaches, using lifecycle theory to mo del the dynamics of relationship marketing, sometimes varying the number of relationship stages (e.g. Diller 1995b). 3. Emergence and Evolution of CRM The discipline of marketing grew out of economics, and the growth was motivated by a lack of interest among economists in the details of market behavior and functions of middlemen (Bartels 1976; Sheth, Gardener, and Garrett 1988). Marketings early bias for distribution activities is evident as the first marketing courses (at Michigan and Ohio) were focused on effectively performing the distributive task (Bartels1976). Early marketing thinking centered on efficiency of marketing channels (Cherrington 1920; Shaw 1912; Weld 1916, 1917). Later the institutional marketing thinkers, because of their grounding in institutional economic theory, viewed the phenomena of value determination as fundamentally linked to exchange (Alderson 1954; Duddy and Revzan1947). Although institutional thought of marketing was later modified by the organizational dynamics viewpoint and marketing thinking was influenced by other social sciences, exchange remained the central tenet of marketing (Alderson 1965; Bagozzi 1974, 1978, 1979; Kotler 1972). The demise of the distributive theory of marketing began after World War II as marketing focus began to shift from distributive functions to other aspects of marketing. With the advent of market research, producers, in an attempt to influence end consumers, began to direct and control the distributors regarding product merchandising, sales promotion, pricing, etc. Thus repeat purchase and brand loyalty gained prominence in the marketing literature (Barton 1946; Churchill 1942; Howard and Sheth 1969; Sheth 1973; Womer 1944). The marketing concept evolved and consumer, became the focus of marketing attention (Kotler 1972). However, marketing orientation was still transactional as its success was measured in such transactional terms as sales volume and market share. Only in the 80s, marketers began to emphasize customer satisfaction measures to ensure that they were not purely evaluated on the basis of transactional aspects of marketing and that sale wasnot considered as the culmination of all marketing efforts. Several ideas of relationship marketing emerged much before Berry (1983) who introduced the term relationship marketing into the literature. For instance, McGarry (1950, 1951, 1953, and 1958) included contractual function among the six activities in his formal list of marketing functions. The contractual function falling within the main task of marketing supported McGarrys relational orientation and his emphasis on developing cooperation and mutual interdependency among marketing actors. He stated contractual function as is the a structured cooperative action focusing on the long-run welfare of business with continuous business relationship developing a two-way communication for mutual interdependence attitude knowing that cost of dealing with continuous contact is much less than casual contacts; by selling only to regular and consistent customers costs can be reduced by 10-20% (Schwartz 1963). Wroe Alderson (1965) focused on inter and intra-channel cooperation, and many relationship marketing scholars have emerged from the tradition of channel cooperation research (Anderson and Narus 1990; Stern and El-Ansary 1992; Weitz and Jap 1995). They supported development of relationship marketing knowledge. In USA, several scholars began examining long-term inter-organizational relationships in business-to-business markets, while in Europe, the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group laid emphasis on business relationships and networks (e.g., Anderson, Hakansson and Johanson 1994; Dwyer, Schurr and Oh 1987; Hakansson 1982; Halen, Johanson and Seyed-Mohamed 1991; Jackson 1985). As relationship marketing grew in 1980s and 1990s, several perspectives emerged. One perspective of integrating quality, logistics, customer services, and marketing is found in the works of Christopher, Payne, and Ballantyne (1992) and in the works of Crosby, Evans, and Cowles (1987). Another approach of studying partnering relationships and alliances as forms of relationship marketing are observed in the works of Morgan and Hunt (1994), Heide (1994), and Vardarajan and Cunningham (1995). Similarly, conceptual and empirical papers have appeared on relationship-oriented communication strategies (Mohr and Nevin 1990; Owen 1984; Schultz, Tannenbaum, and Lauterborn 1992); supply chain integration (Christopher 1994; Payne et. al. 1994); legal aspects of relationship marketing (Gundlach and Murphy 1993); and consumer motivations for engaging in relationship marketing (Sheth and Parvatiyar 1995a). As observed by Sheth and Parvatiyar (1995b), relationship marketing has historical antecedents going back into the pre-industrial era. Much of it was due to direct interaction between producers of agricultural products and their consumers. In recent years however, several factors like de-intermediation and computer and telecommunication technologies have contributed to the rapid development and evolution of relationship marketing. A greater emotional bond between the service provider and the service user also develops the need for maintaining and enhancing the relationship. It is therefore not difficult to see that relationship marketing is important for scholars and practitioners of services marketing (Berry and Parsuraman 1991; Bitner 1995; Crosby and Stephens 1987; Crosby, et. al. 1990; Gronroos 1995). Furthermore, Key account management programs led to the foundation of strategic partnering relationship programs within the domain of relationship marketing (Anderson and Narus 1991; Shapiro 1988). In the current era of hyper-competition, marketers are forced to be more con cerned with customer retention and loyalty (Dick and Basu 1994; Reicheld 1996). As several studies have indicated, retaining customers is less expensive and perhaps a more sustainable competitive advantage than acquiring new ones. Marketers are realizing that it costs less to retain customers than to compete for new ones (Rosenberg and Czepiel 1984). On the supply side it pays more to develop closer relationships with a few suppliers than to develop more vendors (Hayes et. al. 1988; Spekman 1988). In addition, several marketers are also concerned with keeping customers for life, rather than making a one-time sale (Cannie and Caplin 1991). Therefore, concerning evolution steps of CRM, obviously its application affects different aspects of business on top of all profitability for both parties, better supply chain management and marketing channel management, customer satisfaction and loyalty, higher retention rate in lower cost and sustainable relationship could be mentioned. 4. The definition and scope of CRM Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become a leading business strategy in highly competitive business environment. CRM can be viewed as managerial efforts to manage business interactions with customers by combining business processes and technologies that seek to understand a companys customers (Kim, Suh, Hwang, 2003). Companies are becoming increasingly aware of the many potential benefits provided by CRM. Some potential benefits of CRM are as follows: (1) Increased customer retention and loyalty, (2) Higher customer profitability, (3) Creation value for the customer, (4) Customization of products and services, (5) Lower process, higher quality products and services (Jutla, Craig, Bodorik, 2001). CRM is fundamentally an improved tool in marketing and branding practice (Brunt, 2001; Chablo, 2001; Fournier et al., 2001; Wang, 1998). Others present it as a sophisticated information technology project, if not only that and usually with the caveat that it should not be framed as such (Gentle, 2004; Sharp, 2003; Davis Joyner, 2001; SAS Institute, 2001). Still others see it primarily as a toolkit for developing service management processes (Buttle, 2005; Peelen, 2005), or argue that it is fundamental to the extended enterprise which requires integrating supply chain management with customer relationship management (Kracklauer et al., 2004; Piller et al., 2004). Most by now agree that CRM is about growing customer equity and frame it in profit-driven terms (Gupta Lehmann, 2005; Blattberg et al., 2001). But some disagree, arguing that the final result will be higher profits but the foundation is relationship development to grow loyalty and strengthen barriers against customer defect ion (Peppers Rogers, 2005; Prahalad Ramaswamy, 2001). A narrow perspective of customer relationship management is data base marketing emphasizing the promotional aspects of marketing linked to database efforts (Bickert1992). However, this doesnt mean that CRM is database marketing. Customer information and knowledge is used in CRM to better understand and serve customers. Based on customer knowledge the right value should be selected, created and communicated to customer to reach customer satisfaction and loyalty. CRM is based on the ability to facilitate communication and decision-making to provide consistent, high-quality, and cost-effective services to all stakeholders (Andrade, 2003). Attract, retain and develop customer relationship where the main purpose is to create faithful customers, who are pleased with their choice of supplier and who think that they get value for their money (Berry and Parasuraman, 1991). CRM is an active, participatory and interactive relationship between business and customer. The objective is to achieve a comprehensive view of customers, and be able to consistently anticipate and react to their needs with targeted and effective activities at every customer touch point (Piccoli, OConnor, Capaccioli, Alvarez, 2003). Relationship marketing is to identify and establish, maintain and enhance and when necessary terminate relationships with customers and other stakeholders, at a profit, so that the objects of all parties involved are met, and that is done by mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises (Gronroos, 1996).) Relationship marketing is marketing based on interaction within networks of relationships (Gummesson, 1993). A relation means that there are at least two parties who are in contact with each other, networks contain of several complex relationships and interaction means that the parties perform activities and work together (Gummesson, 2002). Similarly, Morgan and Hunt (1994), draw upon the distinction made between transactional exchanges and relational exchanges by Dwyer, Schurr, and Oh (1987), to suggest that relationship marketing refers to all marketing activities directed toward establishing, developing, and maintaining successful relationships. Consider the following summary from Peelen (2005: 3-5) supplemented by other sources as noted. CRM is: A comprehensive development process Customer differentiation Data warehousing and mining The core business strategy Integrated collaboration Empowering the customer (Newell, 2003) A total company reorientation (Buttle, 2005) Customization in products or services (Sharp, 2003) Building mutual value (Peele, 2005; Targetbase, 2001) Building customer equity (Gupta and Lehman, 2005; Shaw, 2001) CRM is a set of business processes and overall policies designed to capture, retain and provide service to customers (Scott, 2001), or a coherent and complete set of processes and technologies for managing relationships with current and potential customers and associates of the company, using the marketing, sales and service departments, regardless of the channel of communication(Injazz and Karen, 2004). CRM is a process designed to collect data related to customers, to grasp features of customers, and to apply those qualities in specific marketing activities (Swift, 2001). So in a single view, CRM is a business strategy enabled by managerial philosophy and technology which applies customer knowledge and database to deliver the quality product and service to provide the best value to customers looking at each customers different needs and wants by customized and individualized service or product to reach customer satisfaction and loyalty in current competitive market. 4.1. CRM; Retention and Loyalty Some experts consider CRM only as customer retention in which a variety of after marketing tactics is used for customer bonding or staying in touch after the sale is made (Vavra, 1992). A more popular approach with recent application of information technology is to focus on individual or one-to-one relationship with customers that integrate database knowledge with a long-term customer retention and growth strategy (Peppers and Rogres 1993). Similarly, CRM goals are to symbiosis and fulfillment of promises (Rapp and Collins, 1990, Ndubisi, 2003). In other words, a key objective is to foster customer loyalty_ a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product or service in the future despite there are situational influence and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior (Oliver, 1999). CRM requires organizations to lay more emphasis on retaining existing customers rather than on creating new ones (Clark and Payne, 1997). And in a very close definition, the shift in emphasis from customer acquisition to customer retention has been at the heart of relationship marketing (Payne, 1995). While retaining customer loyalty has been a sales principle for a very long time, CRM is actually a tremendous step forward in creating a system that can provide a means for retaining individual loyalty in a world of nearly 6 billion souls (Croteau Li, 2001). In order to understand CRM, you must also understand the changing nature of the customer because customers are not what they used to be (Greenberg, 2001).CRM is a combination of people, process and technology that seeks to understand a companys customers. It is an integrated approach to manage relationships by focusing on customer retention and relationship development (Chen, 2003). It is the number one focus when todays competiti ve market has become more saturated and competitive (Xu, 2002), and it is to turn customers into partners (Arun Balakrishnan, 2003) or to turn current and new customers into regularly purchasing clients, and then to progressively move them through being strong supporters of the company and its products, to finally being active and vocal advocates for the company (Christopher, 2003). Acquiring a better understanding of existing customers allows companies to interact, respond, and communicate more effectively to significantly improve retention rates (Chen Popovich, 2003).Therefore, customer retention depends on the relationship substance built up due to interaction between the parties (Eriksson and Là ¶fmarck, 2000). In summary, CRM struggles to build the relationship with customers and retain them to profit the company in long-term and reduce the cost of attracting new customers. 4.2. CRM; Customization and Individualization CRM is an integrated effort to identify, maintain, and build up a network with individual consumers and to continuously strengthen the network for the mutual benefit of both sides, through interactive, individualized and value-added contacts over a long period of time (Shani and Chalasani, 1992), it is about managing data to better understand and serve customers (Arun Balakrishnan, 2003). Jackson (1985) applies the individual account concept in industrial markets to suggest CRM to mean, Marketing oriented toward strong, lasting relationships with individual accounts. In other business contexts, Doyle and Roth (1992), ONeal (1989) and Paul (1988) have proposed similar views of CRM. CRM is a concept that enables an organization to tailor specific products or services to each individual customer. In the most advanced scenario, CRM may be used to create a personalized, one-to-one experience that will give the individual customer a sense of being cared for, thus opening up new marketing opportunities based on the preferences and history of the customer (Wilson, 2002). CRM is also a costumer-focused business strategy that aims to increase customer satisfaction and customer loyalty by offering a more responsive and customized service to each customer (Fayerman, 2002). So value-laden relationship supported by data management for individual accounts offering personalized service or product is in heart of CRM, that results in customers unique experience of being with the company and makes barriers in front of brand switch, and this is the step forward to customer satisfaction and loyalty. 4.3. CRM; Value Creation CRM is the process of creating, maintaining and enhancing strong value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders (Kotler, 1998; Payne, 2004). It is ongoing collaborative business activities between the supplier and a customer on one-to-one basis for the purpose of growing the total market by creating better end user value at a reduced cost (Sheth, 1998). CRM is the infrastructure that enables the delineation of and increase in customer value, and the correct means by which to motivate valuable customers to remain loyal; indeed, to buy again (Dychà ©, 2001). 4.4. CRM; Customer Knowledge Management CRM is about managing customer knowledge to better understand and serve them. Meaningful customer relationships are those characterized by high level of emotional value, which is created by more than functional and instrumental components; the company and the customer should share something in common, it can be background, interests, values and beliefs. This can be attained by gaining knowledge about the customers, what role the brand plays in the customers life, now and in the future, as well as being aware of the expectations of the customers. Real meaning derives from anticipation and a company addressing issues that the customer does not expect them to address (Barnes, 2003). The company should keep track of everything they buy and ask them if they were satisfied with their last purchase. The customers should bee seen as the most valuable assets of the service company because they do not only pay for the service, if the company listens to them they will tell the company how it ca n get them to spend even more (Geller, 1997). Organizations and their staff need not only to empathize with the customer, but they need to respond appropriately to his/her needs. Once that is apparent, they need to respond by providing what is necessary on time and at the expected cost. This can be much more difficult than meets the eye, since customers do not always have a clear idea of what they want and sometimes require the vendor or service provider to simulate their imaginations (Solomon, 1999). The goal of CRM is to create as effective customer relationships as possible and during that time also develop future competences within the company. Although satisfied customers opinions make it easier to continuously improve the competences of the company, these are not enough. The company needs to detect the customers unexpressed needs, and primarily the customers future needs. The worst scenario that might occur for the company, when using these types of customer feedback activitie s, is that the company realizes that it needs to bring new innovations into their customer relationships (Storbacka Lehtinen, 2000). So, innovation and creativity besides better understanding of customers present and future needs and changes in customers tastes and values lies under better relational factor that gathers valuable knowledge for the company. 4.5. CRM; Information Technology Some scholars have applied the importance of information technology to define CRM. CRM unites the potential of IT and relationship marketing strategies to deliver profitable, long-trade relationship (Simon Knox, Stan Maklan, Adrian Payne, Joe Peppard and Lynette Ryals). CRM is not a technology, though. Technology is a CRM enabler (Greenberg, 2001). CRM technology applications link front office (e.g. sales, marketing and customer service) and back office (e.g. financial, operations, logistics and human resources) functions with the companys customers touch points (Fickel, 1999). A companys touch points can include the Internet, e-mail, sales, direct mail, telemarketing operations, call centers, advertising, fax, pagers, stores, and kiosks. Often, these touch points are controlled by separate information systems. CRM integrates touch points around a common view of the customer (Eckerson and Watson, 2001). As stated previously, CRM is a technology based business strategy that manages cu stomer data through data collection and data mining systems and data warehousing and transforms the customer data to valuable managerial supporting knowledge. Technology supports better marketing channel and customers touch points management. 4.6 CRM; Organizational Strategy Today, customers are more highly educated, under higher stress, more specialized, living longer, and more influenced by global culture than those of the 60s and 70s when our view of marketing was formed (Wilson, Daniel, McDonald, 2002). This as well as the emergence of e-Business, organizational dynamics, and cultural change issues has dramatically shifted organizations ´ functional units to focus on the customer. Consequently, organizations have recognized the need to develop customer-centered orientations (Romano, 2003). Organizations are learning more about their customers and their preferences, needs, and expectations (Jukic, Jukic, Meamber, Nezlek, 2003) According to Schultz (2000) the practice of planning, creating, and managing customer relationships has nowadays become the heart of organizational strategy and the key to customer retention. Similarly, CRM is the core business strategy that integrated internal processes and functions, and external networks, to create a nd deliver value to targeted customers at a profit (Francis Buttle, 2004). 4.7 CRM; Profitability It is shown that the large impact on profitability of small increases in customer retention rates, was the start out, making the marketing community more conscious of the need to manage customer relationships in the long term as well as prior to the first sale (Wilson, 2002; Reichheld and Sasser, 1990). Similarly, CRM can help businesses enhance their customer relationships by attracting more profitable customers and establishing stronger and more durable customer relationships (Falk, 2004). Blomqvist (1993) proposed the following key characteristics of relationship marketing: every customer is considered an individual person or unit; activities of the firm are predominantly directed towards existing customers; implementation is based on interactions and dialogues; and the firm is trying to achieve profitability through the decrease of customer turnover and the strengthening of customer relationships. The long-term orientation is often being emphasized because it is believed that marketing actors will not engage in opportunistic behavior if they have a long-term orientation and that such relationships will be anchored on mutual gains and cooperation (Ganesan 1994). CRM is the set of methodologies and tools that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way (Lawson-Body Limayem, 2004). In other words, CRM can be defined as an interactive process achieving the optimum balance between corporate investments and the satisfaction of customer needs to ge nerate the maximum profit. It involves (Gebert, Geib, Kolbe, Riempp, 2002): Measuring both inputs across all functions including marketing, sales and service costs and outputs in terms of customer revenue, profit and value. Acquiring and continuously updating knowledge about customer needs, motivations and behavior over the lifetime of the relationship. Applying customer knowledge to continuously improve performance through a process of learning from successes and failures. Integrating the activities of marketing, sales and service to achieve a common goal. Implementing appropriate systems to support customer knowledge acquisition, sharing and measuring CRM effectiveness. Constantly flexing the balance between marketing, sales and service inputs against changing customer needs to maximize profit. There for, customization and individualization besides long-term relationships aiming to build loyal customers and increase retention rate will directly profit the company. 4.8. CRM , LTV and Customer Selectivity CRM is business philosophy and set of strategies, programs, and systems that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with a firms most valued customers (Michael Leavy and Barton Weitz, 2004), it is a cross-functional process for achieving a continuing dialogue with customers, across all their contact and access points, with personalized treatment of the most valuable customers, to increase customer retention and the effectiveness of marketing initiatives (Day and Van Den Bulte, 2002) CRM is a management approach that enables organizations to identify, attract and increase retention of profitable customers, by managing relationships with them (Bradshaw and Brash, 2001; Hawkes, 2000). When evaluating customer profitability, marketers are often reminded of the 80/20 rule (Gloy, Akridge, Preckel, 1997). Similarly, companies have come to realize that in order to develop long-term, successful relationships with their customers they need to focus on economically valuable customers while eliminating economically valueless ones, instead of treating all customers equally, it is better to develop customer-oriented strategies (Verhoef Donkers, 2001). To cultivate the full profit potentials of customers, many companies already try to measure and use customer value in their management activities (Rosset, Neumann, Eick, Vatnik, Idan, 2002). Therefore, many firms are needed to assess their customers value and build strategies to retain profitable customers. As several researc h studies have shown not all customers are equally profitable for an individual company (Storbacka2000).Customer relationship management is a comprehensive strategy and process of acquiring, retaining, and partnering with selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer (Sheth2001). Furthermore, Diller (2000) has id

Hamlet: In His Right Minds Eye :: Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

Hamlet: In His Right Mind's Eye         Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Crazy, or not crazy- That is the question.   The matter of Hamlet's so called madness, has been an item of debate since the first performance, and will probably be a continuing argument well into the future.   I believe Hamlet was not crazy, because he proves to be in complete control of his psyche   in several parts of the play.   These three reasons are the main points of argument for Hamlet's sanity.   His behaviors is only erratic in front of certain people, he shows logic and reasoning in his plotting,   and finally, actually admits to several people to be only â€Å"acting† mad.   These are hardly the actions of a madman.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First of all,   the fact that Hamlet's irrational behavior emerges only in front of certain individuals shows he was only acting.   He acts insane in front of Polonius, Claudius,   Gertrude and Ophelia, while remaining perfectly normal in front of Horatio, Marcellus, the players and the gravedigger.   Hamlet convinces Ophelia of his madness by going   into her room   â€Å"with a look so piteous in purport as if he had been loosed out of hell to speak of horrors,† (2.1.92)and grabbed her and examined her face.   Then he let out †a sigh so piteous and profound as it did seem to shatter all his bulk and end his being.† (2.1.106) After that incident, Polonius believes, that Hamlet's madness â€Å"is the very ecstasy of love.†(2.1.115)   Claudius is convinced, however, that that is not the case.  Ã‚   He believes that something else is troubling Hamlet. â€Å"Love?   His affections do not that way tend;   Nor what he spake, though it lacked form a little, was not like madness.   there's something in his soul o'er   which his melancholy sits on brood† (3.1.176)   After Hamlet kills Polonius, Gertrude becomes completely convinced that Hamlet is â€Å"Mad as the sea and the wind when both contend which is mightier.†(4.1.7) With these characters convinced of his madness, Hamlet is able to carry out several plans to avenge his father's death.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The logic he uses in his plots is proof of a sane mind.   He successfully uses the players to reveal Claudius is the murderer by changing the play   they perform to reenact the murder of Hamlet's father. â€Å"Let the galled jade wince; our withers are unwrung.† . When the murder scene is enacted, Claudius calls for lights and storms out of the room.   Claudius, knowing Hamlet is a threat, has him sent to England along with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.   the two bear a letter that was to have Hamlet executed upon arrival in England.

Searching for Knowledge and Expert Opinions Essay -- Expertise Knowled

In the search for knowledge and truth, there are times in which assumed experts provide insubstantial and useless, if not uneducated, opinions and guidance on their assumed field of expertise. In most of these cases, the assumed expert is not truly an expert. An expert is one who is highly knowledgeable and skillful in a particular field, through an unusually large amount of experience, training, and studies, to the point that he or she is sought after to receive opinions, guidance, and wisdom on the particular field by people that are not highly knowledgeable and skillful on the particular field. A definition equal to the previous one for ‘expert’ is, a master in a particular field. The opinions of true experts in their particular field of expertise are very important and should be highly valued in the search for knowledge. People are able to seek guidance and educated opinions from experts because of the vast and lengthy expertise in their field. People, contrastingly do not normally seek the opinions of non-experts because they lack sufficient knowledge, experience, and wisdom to be able to give educated and worthy opinions on the supposed field of interest. Experts, however, have enough knowledge and experience to give worthy opinions and ideas for the search for knowledge and greater understandings in the particular fields of interest. Both Payton Manning and Tom Brady are expert quarterbacks. Peyton Manning’s â€Å"anticipation and accuracy are virtually unmatched because he throws the ball before defenders are ready and puts it in a place where only his guy can catch it† (Tucker 3). Tom Brady was an incredible leader who put up astounding numbers at times while seemingly willing his team to multiple Super Bowl titles... ...ecessary training and experiences to be extremely proficient, knowledgeable, and skillful in their specific fields of interest to the point that they are sought after for guidance and wisdom and further knowledge searching. Works Cited Marine Corps News Service. "Marine Corps Scout Sniper Training." US Military. About.com, 3 Sept. 2003. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. cs/marines/a/marinesniper.htm>. Naik, Abhijit. "Famous Economists." Buzzle.com Intelligent Life on the Web. N.p., 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. famous-economists.html>. Tucker, Ross. "Why Manning Is a Better NFL Quarterback than Montana, Brady." Editorial. SI.com. Ed. Ross Tucker. Ross Tucker, 3 Feb. 2010. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. peyton.manning/index.html>.

Women of the Revolution Essay examples -- History, War, Feminism

Women are frequently overlooked when it comes to history in the 18th centuries. They were there in the flesh for all of the historical events, but they are rarely mentioned. Everyone has heard of the â€Å"Founding Fathers†, but students rarely hear about the â€Å"Founding Mothers† in their curriculum. Although women did not directly plan out our government, they still deserve to be given some credit for it. The roles that women played during the Revolutionary War greatly influenced the outcome of the war and the country that resulted from it. Women had all kinds of roles to play when it came to the Revolutionary War. Although their roles might not seem as important to the public as the other women involved, women at home is one of the many factors that helped keep the United States in the war. Many women just kept control of the house and farm and made sure nothing went wrong (Hanafore). Others housed wounded soldiers that were in need of refuge. A few women even started organizations that regularly sent supplies like food and clothing to the soldiers that were fighting (Zitek). There was even a woman who wrote a book to inform the public of the affairs of the war (Pavao). Esther Reed was one such woman who helped start an organization to help the soldiers who were fighting. Her organization was known as the Philadelphia Association. The Association felt sympathy for the soldiers and decided to take action. They raised money to send to the soldiers, however, George Washington did not approve of this. Instead, the women decided to send warm shirts to the soldiers. They each stitched their names into the shirts they made as a little spirit-raiser to the soldiers out in the cold. The soldiers were reminded that everyone was appreciativ... ...-war-women.html>. "Revolutionary War — Central Intelligence Agency." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 4 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . "Women and the Revolutionary War." American History and World History at Historycentral.com the Largest and Most Complete History Site on the Web. MultiEducator, Inc.Ê, 2008. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . "Women Spies- Miss Jenny." Spy Letters of the American Revolution. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Zitek, Carl. "Women in The American Revolution." SCORE History/Social Science. Sunnyslope Elementary School. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. .

Modern Business Environment Essay

To what extent is the ‘soft’ HRM model achievable and desirable for organisations in the modern business environment? The modern business environment For the past few hundred years the business environment has been mostly based upon turning man hours and materials into hard products (produce). What we are seeing now is a shift away from this production by mass labour, to a system whereby goods are produced by machine and the services needed to facilitate this are produced by man. Taking the UK economy as an example, the latest economic forecast by the TUC (Fig 2) shows a steady decline of manufacturing in favour of service sector jobs. This reinforces the view that the emphasis is shifting from producing goods to providing services. â€Å"The only advantage many companies have are the competencies and abilities of their people† (Dewe 2002). With firms using the same machines competitive advantage (or disadvantage) is created by the knowledge and skills of the employees. Tom Watson Jr, former President of IBM recognised the shift: â€Å"all the value of this company is in its people. If you burnt down all of our plants & we just kept our people & information files, we would soon be as strong as ever. Take away our people & we might never recover† (People Management 1998:34). Knowledge therefore is power, we are moving from a physical economy to one A UK government report (Competitiveness White Paper 1999) sees this new environment as requiring â€Å"†¦greater receptiveness to know-how and the ability to see its commercial potential; eagerness to keep on learning at all levels in a business; and a flair in spotting new customer needs and fresh business opportunities.† This suggests that the modern business environment is a place where knowledge is key. In his speech to the Business Link annual conference, Peter Mandelson MP Secretary of State for Trade & Industry saw the knowledge economy as â€Å"transforming old jobs as much as creating new, with implications for manufacturing and service industries alike.† This leads us to the idea that the modern business environment is a place where investment is required in human capital to produce this knowledge economy. In the modern business environment, with the emphasis on value of human capital, security can no longer depend on a job or organisation but upon the employees own skill and competences (Van Ruysseveldt 1995:3-4). Organisations may not be able to guarantee long term employment, but to entice workers of quality they must look to other means. Hard & Soft HRM HRM can be divided into two approaches: ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ (Fig.3). As we see from the diagram ‘hard’ HRM is primarily financially driven, with a fairly hard view of controlling the wages bill, workers are seen as a cost rather than as an asset to the organisation, the emphasis is on getting the best return on their money, creating efficiencies. The company position will take precedent over the collective views and concerns of employees. Such a way of managing human resources was demonstrated by ‘Fordism’ where the workers on the assembly line were under tight controls and even had to divulge personal information to be able to work for Ford (White Heat 1994). The work of Taylor (Taylorism) and the principles of scientific management were used in the late 19th century to allow factories to be managed through scientific methods rather than by â€Å"rule of thumb.† This idea also treated the workers as just another cog in the wheel of production and worked out the best way that the worker could operate. The modern business environment has changed greatly since the days where all workers were seen as tools to be maintained, much like machines, with regulations and tight controls. This was the hard school of HRM where peripheral workers are disposable and labour is directly productive (Beardwell & Holden 2001:98). This model can also be viewed as ‘managing headcount in a rational a way as for any other economic factor’ (Storey 1987:6). The workforce was merely a factor of production or cogs in the wheel. This ‘hard’ HRM policy suits a workforce that is involved in a repetitive job; each process is standardised to allow tighter controls. The theory is that the firm should maximise human efficiency in the same way as any other resource. This was made a success by businessmen like Henry Ford in the days of mass industrialisation. However, with the advent of high technology machinery much of the repetitive work is now done by robot leaving only jobs for skilled maintainers and operatives, not leaving much scope for hard HRM practices to survive. McDonaldisation has built upon the ideas of scientific management and the successes of men like Ford. Each part of the process of bringing the food to the customer has been scientifically scrutinised and adjusted to make it more efficient. As a result of this approach, they have a controlled workforce and a set of strict rules and procedures that ensure the workforce is working exactly as the employers wish them to. McDonalds have recognised that there is still a place for the unskilled worker, as machines cannot be relied upon to do all the jobs. In this instance there is still a place for the hard school of HRM. ‘Soft’HRM (fig 3) revolves around the development of employees. Employees are viewed as assets to the company, rather than as purely another cost of production. This requires the management to regard the workforce as partners in the work process and nurture them to maximise their output. Heery and Noon (2001) suggests soft HRM is an approach recognising the need to treat employees as assets that must be looked after. A soft HRM policy would therefore place the emphasis on training and development in order to get the best out of the workforce as opposed to tight controls (Beardwell & Holden 2001:98). Therefore, a policy of ‘soft’ HRM seeks to increase production by ‘communication, motivation and leadership’ (Storey 1987:6). Becker (1992 Nobel prize winner for economics) suggests that expenditures on education, training and medical care could all be considered as investments in human capital. â€Å"They are called human capital, because people cannot be separated from their knowledge, skills, health or values in the way they can be separated from their financial and physical assets† (Donkin 2002) If employees have an inherent capital value for their knowledge and skills, it would be reasonable to assume that an organisation can improve its competitive-edge through the excellence of its people (SHL group 2002). The work of Maslows goes some way to explaining the reasons why humans need this development and training. Maslow suggests that individuals have a hierarchy of needs (fig 1). Fig 1 outlines Maslows theory that human nature drives individuals to satisfy ‘instinctual’ needs. The theory suggests that once an individual has achieved one set of needs they are no longer motivated to seek this (as they already have it) and will continue to want more thus rising up the hierarchy. Maslow’s theory would seem to suggest that a firm must ensure that employee’s needs are continually met not only the safety and physiological aspects (the legal requirements of an employee’s contract) to increasing employee productivity. If a firm has to continue to meet ever increasing needs to motivate staff then this theory would be a good explanation of why firms use ‘soft’ HRM. Types of ‘soft’ initiatives * Flexible working, working from home or allowing workers the choice of hours outside a core time of 10:00-15:00 for example. * Job Sharing, by allowing employees to become multi skilled (training) they can operate in a variety of roles thus making their job appear more interesting but also allowing a backup if an employee were to be off work at any time. * Parental leave, with the increased pressures on family life many firms now offer special breaks for staff with children, from allowing days off for hospital appointments to paid paternity leave. * Performance related pay; this could be seen as a hard or soft perspective dependant upon viewpoint. If a system of bonuses exists for good work this would be a soft measure. If (‘tele’ sales) you only get paid if you hit certain targets, this would be a hard measure. The primary argument in favour of PRP is that it acts as a motivator, through both providing incentives in the form of monetary rewards and by recognising achievements. Further benefits cited include the fact that individuals can identify closely with their employers’ goals and that this can increase productivity and encourage quality, flexibility and teamwork (Armstrong and Murlis, 1991). As we can see from the above examples ‘soft’ HRM is much more difficult to quantify than hard HRM. It is more an overall approach to staff welfare and development than a clear set of rules and procedures. What makes it so difficult to quantify is that two firms may claim to be operating the above ‘soft’ HRM policies but in practise they maybe very different systems. For example, the concept of flexible working can be interpreted as allowing employees freedom to choose to work from home or the office, or the firm may use the system of core hours (as above). These are two very different systems but both however come under the heading of flexible working. To decide which method a particular firm is using will require a broad look at the pay and conditions and the freedom employees enjoy. It is also useful to note that it is seldom a case of an employer operating one form of HRM, it is necessary for firms to allow their workers some freedom but at the same time retain control. A good example of this is Microsoft; they operate a seemingly soft policy on HRM with a whole range of employee benefits and training programmes (24hr nurse line, free entry to local events and professional development programmes). However, to retain the knowledge and skills that they develop the firm insists that if an employee is to leave the company they must not work in the computer industry for a period of 6 months. This shows that the organisation is willing to invest time and money to maintain a highly trained workforce but at the same time keeps a tight control on them. Why is ‘Soft’ HRM Desirable? To examine the reasons why a firm should adopt policies of soft HRM we must look at the dangers of not doing this. A recent CIPD survey (CIPD 10/2001) has outlined the costs of organisations for not retaining and motivating staff. The survey has shown that one in four employees left their organisation in 1999 (the highest figure since the survey was created in 1995). What was even more alarming was the cost of replacing these lost staff. The average price for replacing a management level employee was à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½6086 which was an increase of 28 percent on 1999 the highest cost was to replace a professional services employee which was à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½8316. The danger for organisations is how this turnover effects company performance, two thirds of organisations believe this to have a negative effect with 13 percent claiming that it has a serious negative effect. The CIPDs findings suggest that staff feel freer to leave an organisation when they know they can acquire employment elsewhere. In a labour market of low unemployment it seems that firms must make themselves more attractive to their employees. RebusHR, a firm that deals with outsourced HR issues for a range of companies sees soft HRM as â€Å"a good way of retaining and attracting the best staff†¦giving people choice and a feel-good factor†¦it shows that you’re interested in them and listen to what they say†(Shepherd K 2002). In the article entitled â€Å"Profitable personnel† (People management 1998:28-31) West and Patterson suggest that good employee relations are directly inked to increased performance. In their survey the ‘Sheffield effectiveness programme’ they found that people management ‘†¦is not only critical to business performance: it also far outstrips emphasis on quality, technology, competitive strategy or research and development in its influence on the bottom line.’ The survey looked at a firm called Zotefoams, which operated an ‘enlightened’ HRM policy. Workers on the shop floor operated in teams and were multi-skilled; they also had a certain level of responsibility for dealing with work priorities and quality problems. The aim was to create a multi-skilled and motivated workforce with more responsibility at the lower levels freeing up management for other tasks. With the management freed up for other duties this allowed the firm to be that much more flexible. Out of the 100 firms surveyed, Zotefoams enjoyed the highest profits and productivity over the seven-year period of the survey. In the final paragraph of the article, West and Patterson sum up their conclusions ‘†¦ those in which the managers have eagerly addressed these challenges [developing skills and ownership] that have experienced rapid improvements in financial performance.’ The findings in the ‘Sheffield effectiveness programme’ are backed up by a study by the Sunday Times (100 Best Companies to Work for 2002) in which 21,000 people were studied over a period of months from the bottom end of the corporate ladder. In an article within this publication, Milton Moskowitz and Robert Levering suggest that ‘Being a generous employer is not just good public relations – it’s also good for business, especially when times are hard.’ This viewpoint makes sense if we take into consideration the negative effect of labour turnover on a company’s performance and the high cost of recruitment. Entering into ‘soft’ practices in human resource management should save the organisation in the long term. The Human Capital Index, developed by the consultancy Watson Wyatt (Overell 2002) is based upon data of HR policies and practices gathered from 600 companies. This data is correlated against financial information. The firm believes it has identified how HR policies are effective predictors of value – and which policies bring most value to the organisation. Organisations with â€Å"the best† HR practices deliver twice as much value to shareholders as their average competitors (Overell 2002). Is soft HRM achievable? According to RebusHR (a large human resources organisation which handles HRM issues for clients such as DaimlerChryslerUK) the biggest barrier to the concept of soft HRM practices is the administrative burden of co-ordinating the information (Shepherd K 2002). This stems from the problem that ‘soft’ HRM is intangible, whilst it is possible to relate high staff turnover to lack of ‘enlightened’ HRM policies, it is not possible to directly quantify the benefits derived from the existence of ‘soft’ policies. This leads organisations to see the cost and extra burden placed upon the HR department with an introduction of a soft HR policy, but it is difficult for this to be weighed up against the benefits on paper. In the IPD survey â€Å"Benefiting from a balanced life† (July/Aug 1999) of the firms questioned many were operating soft policies with 75% offering paternity leave and 57% offering parents special dispensation for time off to look after their children. Popular also were job sharing schemes (57%) and flexi-time systems (47%). From this survey we can see evidence that firms are operating soft HRM policies, what is unclear from the research is to what extent these policies affect the bottom line. The impact of soft HRM is intangible which means it leads us to the problem of quantifying any real benefits. The whole concept of soft HRM appears to be to retain and motivate staff, in the TUC economic forecast we see a high level of employee turnover in the services sector (hotels, restaurants) show the highest levels of employee turnover, but is this as a result of hard HRM practises? true turnover costs are more complex than simply figuring out the average cost of replacement. The costs of losing a good performer are greater than the costs of losing an average performer. The true cost of losing a key seasoned player is hard to estimate. There is the investment in development of the employee, the value of the knowledge and experience gained, and the lost productivity that also have to be considered to arrive at a true cost figure. In the case of McDonalds we see a split between management staff and shop floor workers. Whilst the management have many flexible benefits (PRP, bonus, life/health insurance etc) the workers on the shop floor do not (McDonalds 2002). They are regarded as cogs in the wheel and are treated fairly but firmly as in the hard school of HRM. As a consequence of this, shop floor turnover is higher than that of the management. However, is this higher turnover a result of the HRM policy? Or is it a nature of the type of work? What I would suggest is that the sort of work involved with working on the shop floor of McDonalds is not conducive to a long career in that position. The result of this would be the high staff turnover for low skilled repetitive jobs. The dilemma facing HRM managers is that they need low skilled workers to provide the services such as discussed and to operate soft HRM policies such as training would move these workers away from where they were needed. We therefore cannot have it both ways there must be a balance between employee development and retaining quality people for their positions. If soft HRM seeks to address the retention and motivation of staff we must not lose sight of the fact that we do still need low skilled workers. Soft HRM assumes the existence of a knowledge society (Livingston 2001), the emphasis is on the human resources manager the harness the knowledge. Knowledge work is typically considered to be about variety and exception rather than routine. It is generally considered to be performed by professional workers with high levels of skill and expertise. Livingstone makes the point that the potential for waste of this knowledge through bad management is ‘immense and gut wrenching.’ This claim is given substance by Thompson. In his research only 14 percent of employees received any training at all and that almost half of that lasted for less than a week (figures referring to the UK 2001). For HRM to work effectively we must reorganize work to firstly make the most of existing knowledge and human capital but also to develop this human capital to maximise future performance. In this modern business environment knowledge takes the leading place from other drivers of economic change such as labour, technology and markets. The dilemma we face with soft HRM is that (as explained above in the McDonalds example) a lot of routine work is done by workers with minimal training and knowledge and only small numbers of highly skilled employees are required. Thompson pointed out that if employment growth is not dominated by knowledge work it’s going to be dominated by something else. There are strong and clear indications that it is dominated by low skill, routine work largely in the service sector. We can’t make every job high skill, high wage, and high learning because there are jobs that neither the employee nor employer can grow. One of the reasons they can’t be grown is because, in our other guise as consumers, a lot of us want the cheapest possible flights, goods, services and so on. We can’t have it both ways. If we want cheap, controllable, efficient service, we’re not going to create a lot of high wage, high skill, high learning jobs. There are many dilemmas associated with the ideas of hard and soft HRM. We must realise that we cannot expand the knowledge and skills of all members of society infinitely. There will always be a place for the unskilled worker and as such there must be a place for hard HRM. However, in todays changing environment soft measures must come to the fore. The notion of ‘the velvet glove concealing the iron fist of hard HRM’ (Beardwell & Holden 2001:93) shows that even soft measures are still measures of control. No matter how soft a companies HRM policies appear to be, they will still be designed for the benefit of the organisation rather than of the individual. The bottom line must always come first. Figures and tables Fig 1 Fig 2 : TUC (2002) Fig 3: Cornelius et al 2002    Bibliography ACAS, found at http://www.acas.org.uk/ [accessed 10/11/02] Armstrong, M and H Murlis, 1991 & 1994. Reward Management – A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice Second & Third edition. London: Kogan Page ltd. Beardwell & Holden, Human Resource Management, A contemporary Perspective, 2nd Edition, 1997 Beardwell & Holden, Human Resource Management, A contemporary Perspective, 3rd Edition, 2001 Becker, G, cited in Donkin R, 30/10/2002 – Employees as investors – FT 30/10/02 Bexhill College, http://intranet.bexhillcolledge.ac.uk [Accessed 18/10/02] CIPD, Labour turnover survey, October 2001 found at: http://www.cipd.co.uk [accessed 30/10/02] Cornelius N, Gagnon S, Found at: http://www.thomsonlearning.co.uk/businessandmanagement/ cornelius2/intro.pdf [Accessed 13/11/02] Derek Duffy, TMS Institute, http://www.tms.com.au/forum/dcforumid5/59.html#1 [Accessed 18/10/02] Dewe, P, cited in Overell, S, 30/10/2002 – The metric system for performance – FT 30/10/02 Heery, E. and Noon, M. (2001) A Dictionary of Human Resource Management, Oxford University Press IPD, Benefiting from a balanced life, July/Aug 1999http://www.cipd.co.uk [accessed 30/10/02] Livingston, D. (1999). The Education-jobs gap: Underemployment and economic democracy. Toronto, ON: Garamond Press. Livingston, D. (2001). Worker control as the missing link: Relations between paid/unpaid work and work-related learning. In Second International Conference on Researching Work and Learning Conference Proceedings. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary Faculty of Continuing Education. Mandelson P, Business Link annual conference – 7 October 1999. Microsoft Website, http://www.microsoft.com [Accessed 19/10/02] Overell, S, 30/10/2002 – The metric system for performance – FT 30/10/02 People Management, 8 January 1998 Peoplesoft, Available from Financial Times 31/10/02 Sennett, R. (1998). The corrosion of character: The personal consequences of work in the new capitalism. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. Shepherd, K, cited in Murray S, 30/10/2002 – Marrying Performance with Reward – FT 30/10/02 SHL group, Available from: http://www.shlgroup.com/cases/philips.htm [Accessed 31/10/02] Storey J, 1987, Developments in the mangenment of human resources: an interim report, Warwick papers in industrial relations, Vol 17 Storey J, 1989, New perspectives on Human Resource Management Sunday Times, 100 Best Companies to Work for 2002, 24th March 2002. Thompson, 2002, Available from: http://www.ucalgary.ca/cted/confer2001/pres_summary.html [Accessed 31/10/02] TUC Economic Forecast, 2002, http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-4028-f0.cfm UK Government White Paper , Competitiveness White Paper, Our Competitive Future; building the knowledge driven economy 1999 Van Ruysseveldt et al, 1995, Comparative Industrial and Employment Relations Watson T, cited in Mayo A, 1998 – Memory Bankers – People Management 22(1) 34-38 Welton MR, 2002, Available from: http://www.ucalgary.ca/cted/confer2001/pres_summary.html [Accessed 31/10/02] White Heat 5, Video recording, Beat of the System, London BBC, 1994