Structural Analysis of Myth an Example of the Topic School by

Structural Analysis of Myth by Expert Dr. SOLEMN Writer | 28 Dec 2016 Native American myths: The White Buffalo Woman: White Buffalo Woman is a myth, very popular and adored amongst the Native Americans. This is the central myth of the Plains tribes, especially the Lakota, or Sioux. It tells how the Lakota first received their sacred pipe and the ceremony in which to use it. It has often been related, for example by Black Elk, Lame Deer and Looks for Buffalo. (Living myths.) Need essay sample on "Structural Analysis of Myth" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The people of Lakota used horses for hunting the buffalo. The food was scarce. From the camp of Lakota two young men of the Itazipcho band (the Without-Bows) moved out early in the morning for game. Their only companion was the song of the yellow meadowlark. As the day advanced, nothing tangible happened and they moved towards a hill hoping to survey the vast expanse of the plain prairie. They parried all around, and soon they saw something bright. The emerging figure had two legs, not four. The figure cant be an animal! Soon everything was crystal cleara woman emerged, she was pretty and in glowing buckskin. She came closer, sacred designs adored her buckskin in porcupine quills like the vibrant coos of a rainbow. She carried a bundle on her back, and a fan of fragrant sage leaves in her hand. Her jet-black hair was loose, except for a single strand tied with buffalo fur. Her eyes were full of light and power, and the young men were transfixed.(Living Myths) Satanic thoughts emerged in the mind of one of the men. His friend cautioned, This woman is holy. Fortunately or unfortunately, the woman signaled him to come and instantly he advanced towards her with malicious intentions. Soon, both of them were engulfed in a cloud. When it withered, the woman was there, the young man was not there, but at her feet a heap of bones and the ghastly sight of snakes coiled amongst them, sent shivers in the spine of the other young man. Behold, said the woman to the good brave man. I am coming to your people with a message from Tatanka Oyate, the buffalo nation. Return to Chief Standing Hollow Horn and tell him what you have seen. Tell him to prepare a tipi large enough for all his people, and to get ready for my coming.(Living Myths.) The young man returns to the camp with the message. The Chief and the people wait expectantly for her arrival. The woman gives them the bundle with stern instructions that no one who is impure should ever touch it. The bundle has the pipe and a small round stone. The woman tells them how sacred is the Earth and other significant aspects of the pipe, especially the carved buffalo calf on it. She also explains how the Mother Earth belongs to all types of creatures, not to human beings alone You are all one family, and you will be reminded of this when you smoke the pipe, she says. And what she says next is a revelation. This pipe will carry you to the end. Remember that in me there are four ages. I am going now, but I will look on your people in every age, and at the end I will return. She walks away, and people see her taking the form of a young red and brown buffalo calf, then transforming into a white buffalo, and next, a black buffalo. The black buffalo bows to all the four directions, before disappearing over the hill. Details of the culture and the logic of the above myth: Sinouxn (Lakota) is the living culture of American Indians. They have a glorious past, with a present and a future. The myth above elucidates the important aspects of their life. The Lakota (Sinoux) means, An alliance of people. The advise of the woman for the people of Lakota is to live in cooperation, mutual respect etc. The noble traits like community feeling, generosity and goodwill, mutual respect and strength are evident in the day to day life of the people. Sense of equality prevails in the extended family, even though there are several Heads in such a set up. In the family, children are given lots of importance they are sacred and pure. The holy womans advice to the people to remain pure in the above myth is worth remembering. They believe in the supreme spiritual power. How the man with an evil heart is annihilated by the holy woman, her advice to love and respect all, including the animals and birds merits comparison. Symbolism has great impact and influence on the culture of Lakaota. The number four is revered much. In the above myth, the holy woman refers to four directions, the four ages(the cyclic circles)They also used number four as for the elements, earth, fire, air and water, the seasons, winter, spring, summer and fall, the directions north, south, east and west. Cleanliness and purity are the emphatic themes of the myth and Lakota believe that if one contaminates ones own home, one will be suffocated by ones own waste. The transformation of the holy woman as different types of buffalo-calf shows the unlimited power of the pine powers, before which a human being needs to surrender with reverence. The above myth is culturally and spiritually interlinked to the actual lifestyles and beliefs of the Lakota. This myth is probably the most important one in the life of Lakota. It is also the spiritual focus of the people. The spirit of the woman is highlighted and this is the myth in which White Buffalo Woman appears. She is mysterious; she arrives for a purpose and departs after fulfilling the objective. Note the emphasis of her virgin inviolability. Many Native people have identified her with the Virgin Mary, since the establishment of the Native American Church. Her gift, the sacred pipe, is all important with the people of Lakota. She emphasizes the qualities of self-discipline and endurance. Buffalo has the dominant influence and utility in the lives of Lakota. In any ritual, the pipe is very important for Lakota. It is the link between the humanity and the spirit world. It is offered to the Four Directions, when smoked. The rising of the smoke is compared to the spirit world. Introduction: Myths have the dominant influence on the standard of life (from the cultural aspect) of people all over the world. The Native American myths relate to stories of creation, heroic deeds and journeys. When cultural and psychological developments that make a civilization defy scientific explanations, myths intervene to provide explanations that would satisfy the psyche of the inpidual and society. Myths are faith-based. They are not the subjects of arguments and counter-arguments, they are to be listened to, experienced and enjoyed for self-satisfaction. Myths help to satisfy the physical as well as the cultural appetite of human beings. Important myths dominate in customs, major ceremonies and they assist one in spiritual progression. Levi-Strauss and the Structural Analysis of Myth: Levi-Strauss often refers structural linguistics as the grail of the humanities. How the social sciences can be transformed into exact ones. Influences of various thinkers and his own level of spiritual progression dominate his writings. He is a French anthropologist. Myths are the cornerstones that provide relevant structures to understand the cultural relations. It has been observed by him that myths from different cultures relating to any part of the world are identical. The cultures may be widely separated, but the similarity of the myths is not only apparent, but astounding. Structure of the myth is more important than the contents. Contents will differ widely, but the similarities noticed are dependent on their structural sameness. A myth, according to Levi-Strauss, is both historically specific--it's almost always set in some time long ago--and a-historical, meaning that its story is timeless. As history, myth is parole; as timeless, it's langue.He thus argues that, while myth as structure looks like language as structure, it's actually something different from language per se--he says it operates on a higher, or more complex level. Myth shares with language the following characteristics :(Klages, 1997) To sum up, Levi-Strauss indicates: Repetition as in oral literature is necessary in myth also. That helps to reveal the structure of the myth. Myth tells the story in layer after layer and it is the inherent beauty of the myth. He further says, That the "logic" of myth is just as rigorous and "logical" as the logic of science. It's not that science is somehow smarter or more evolved than myth, but rather that the two modes of understanding and interpreting the world share the same basic structure (that of logic) applied to different things. (Klages, 1997) In conclusion, thisessay: In our haste to apply the methods of linguistic analysis, we must not forget that, as a part of vocabulary, kinship terms must be treated with linguistic methods in direct and not analogous fashion. Linguistics teaches us precisely that structural analysis cannot be applied to words directly, but only to words previously broken down into phonemes. There are no necessary relationships at the vocabulary level ("Structural Analysis," 36; Lvi-Strauss' italics). (Countermemory) Having said this, in any culture myths are looked upon as the repository of cultural traditions, not as the storehouses of reasoning. Emotions and faith score over reasoning and logic. An inpidual needs to have the heart of a child to understand and enjoy the beauty of myths. That the myths have survived for centuries is the proof for their intrinsic strength to influence the lives of people. In the present times, when various societies are deeply impacted by the negativities of materialistic civilization and the impact of industrial and internet revolutions is rampart on the children and combustible younger generation, study of myths needs to be made compulsory. References: LIV I N G M Y T H S: Native American myths: www.livingmyths.com/Native.htm - 29k Retrieved on June 10, 2008 Klages, Mary Dr. (1977) Claude Levi-Strauss: The Structural Study of Myth: www.colorado.edu/English/courses/ENGL2012Klages/levi-strauss.html - 14k - Retrieved on June 10, 2008 COUNTERMEMORY: Some notes on Lvi-Strauss 24 Mar 2008 ... Here are just some.. "Structural Analysis in Linguistics and Anthropology,"mikejohnduff.blogspot.com/2008/03/some-notes-on-lvi-strauss.html - 76k Retrieved on June 10, 2008

The UAE Islands

The UAE Islands Over the last few decades, the issue of the rightful owner of the three islands in the Gulf region has been a highly contested matter between Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The three islands : Greater Tunbs, Abu Musa, and Lesser Tunbs amounts to lesser than 26 KM2 of scrub and sand. However, the islands’ proximity to strategic points in the Persian Gulf has always accorded them a big economical significance.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The UAE Islands specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It should be observed here that this great importance directly associated with the location of the islands does not only extend to Iran and the Emirates, who are said to be the largest claimers of the land, but far beyond. The ownership disputes over the islands dates back over one hundred years ago, and this has consistently drawn the attention and concern of the international communities onto the matter. The three island s belonging to the UAE were taken years ago by the Iranian government and the conflict began to rise again due to Iranian pressures. This big concern about the islands was more of a regional matter than anything else, and in that case, there were unsuccessful interventions by the British forces in the late 1960s, to ensure that both Iran and the UAE had equal control over one of the islands that was of great economical importance. This memorandum of understanding granted the two states equal share on the economic outcomes of Abu Musa Island. However, none of the two countries could renounce full claims on the island’s sovereignty. These new developments had occurred as a result of Britain’s announcement in the late 1960s that it intended to vacate the region by the end of the year 1971. The Iranian government had highly disputed this decision claiming their own historic rights on the highlands, and this would eventually see their troops forcibly gain control over the i slands towards the end of 1971 (Mobley, 2003). However, Iran was obliged to abandon this misguided claim following a referendum that was conducted on Bahrain under the supervision of the United Nations, but this did not stop them from having full control and authority over the islands.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to the claims that were initially presented by Tehran, the three islands were long managed by Iran, before they were later seized by the British government within the Gulf in the nineteenth century (Salman Al-Saud, 2004). The Emirates, however, came up with claims that Arab leaders had ruled the islands for over two hundred years. Iran had tried to raise an ownership claim to the three islands in the early 1920s, but this move was quickly opposed by the British, who had a different perspective on the matter. This would ensure that the control of the t hree islands was retained by Sharjah. The latest tensions on the matter escalated in the early 1990s, when the Emirates accused the Iranians of violating the agreement that gave them an equal authority over the Abu Musa Island. These claims were laid open in the year 2008 when it was reported that Iranians had already established maritime offices in the island, thus prompting serious protests from the Emirate’s side. This increased domination of the island by the Iranians appeared to give power to one side, while exploiting the other, as opposed to the requirements of the memorandum of understanding which had been signed by the two states in 1971, with regard to the control of the Abu Musa. As it would be observed, this prolonged dispute between Iran and the UAE with regard to the true ownership of the three islands has recently necessitated a number of events and incidents. For instance, the controversial and provocative issue has facilitated a wise initiative by the UAE in the recent years, to resolve the matter through negotiations reached upon Iran and themselves, the International Court of Justice or any other suitable forum that involves the international attention. UAE’s government has constantly reaffirmed their claim to ownership of the islands, condemning Iran’s military occupation and domination on the matter (Kozhanov, 2011). In this context, the UAE has gone ahead to offer a number of suggestions on the most appropriate options that should be followed in addressing the matter.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The UAE Islands specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The first option would be engagement in direct bilateral talks between the two major rivals on the matter; Iran and the UAE. This approach will address the question of sovereignty of the three Islands, among other key issues surrounding the Iranian occupation and control of the islands. There are no any prec onditions that have been set by the UAE against the Iranian government, as far as this approach is concerned. The other option that had been proposed by the UAE towards a permanent resolution on the issue was to seek the advice and judgment of international parties such as the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Even though the UAE had expressed their willingness to accept any ruling that might be reached upon by the ICJ regarding the sovereignty of the islands, Iranians have completely rejected anything to do with any of these two options. The above specific phenomenon had triggered new suspicions from the Iranian government who saw this as a plan to rob them of their sovereignty over the disputed islands (Anthony, 2010). In this regard, Iranians would later on accept to engage into bilateral talks on the matter, but on a number of conditions. The officials representing Iran on the matter had clearly expressed their complete unwillingness to tackle the question of the thre e islands’ sovereignty. According to the officials, their main concern on the talks would be aimed at resolving the misunderstandings between them and the UAE on this progressive issue. Even though the International law has been clear on its enforcements that sovereignty cannot be achieved through the way of coercion or military invasion, the presence of Iranians on the three islands continues to raise many questions. This, however, explains the reason as to why the Iranians have been unwilling to allow the involvement of the ICJ in this matter. This is simply because the international court is likely to rule in favor of the Emirates as far this issue is concerned, owing to the weakness stand of the Iranians in terms of the international law on this specific matter. However, Iran has over the years used this as their vantage point from which they can have full control over the matter, since the international court can only exercise their jurisdiction power on the matter where the involved parties have given in to referral of a dispute, and that is something which they have refused completely.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The above approach by the UAE was intended to effectively improve the conflicted relationship between Iran and the UAE, but it has only succeeded at raising unanticipated tensions on whether there would ever be a permanent resolution on this matter, which has threatened to tear the interests of the two countries apart. This is contained in the interests of each of the two rivals to have a sovereign power and authority over the three islands, which are certain to generate significant economical benefits, among other attractive alternatives. Moreover, the outcomes of this move by the UAE would be even more of a serious conflict between the two nations, than an attempt to bring them together through a permanent resolution, as it was previously intended. UAE’s efforts to regain control of the islands from the Iranians through whichever means has subsequently been considered to be a move which is likely to severe more the diplomatic ties between this two adversaries and other gulf states (Nuruzzaman, 2012). This may also result to violence and attacks, considering the much-spread word that Iran has established a strong military presence on the disputed islands as a way of securing them from the Emirates. This security detail, as it will be observed, constitutes of both anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles to ensure maximum safety measures of the islands from any point of attack. This exaggerated security concern is a clear indication that the Iranian government is not ready to surrender the sovereignty of the islands to any other state, and that they are willing to act in any possible manner against any plans to relieve them of this significant right. Some of the major consequences that are likely to sprout from this phenomenon would include poor social fabrics and disintegration of the close and multifaceted trade relationships that have existed between Iran and the UAE. As it would be observed, Iran-UAE economic ties have risen steadily over the past ten y ears. This however, would be expected, considering the fact that the Emirates have emerged as Iran’s key connection and access to global economy in the recent past, as trade sanctions against Iran continue to take serious effect on their economy (Ulrichsen, 2009). No wonder, major global traders such as China and Japan have started conducting bilateral economic activities with Iran, through the UAE. The flourishing Iran-UAE economical relationships, however, may be short-lived following Iran’s failure to honor the UAE’S decision on the islands’ issue. In the events arising from this phenomenon, there have been consistent concerns that the Iranian government poses the biggest threat to Emirate’s political, economical, and even national security. It leaves no doubt that this dispute over the islands has been the most persistent cause of bilateral tension between the two Gulf States, as it is observed from this essay. As a matter of fact, the islandsà ¢â‚¬â„¢ issue remains a constant irritant in the social and economical relationships of the two countries, thus undermining any development efforts applied by the countries. Even though this constant threat over the islands has never escalated to the levels of extreme violence, there have been increased concerns of late that these tensions may eventually result to serious bilateral tensions or conflicts. In order to contain the impact of all these potential consequences, Iranians should stop seeing themselves as an imperial power, and try to cooperate more intensively on the UAE’s idea of peaceful negotiations to resolve this big issue which has threatened to tear them apart. References Anthony, J. (2010). 5 Strategic dynamics of Iran-GCC relations. Industrialization in the  Gulf: A Socioeconomic Revolution, 78(8), 28-35. Kozhanov, N. (2011). US Economic Sanctions against Iran: Undermined by External Factors. Middle East Policy, 18(3), 144-160. Mobley, R. (2003). The Tunbs and Abu Musa Islands: Britains Perspective. The Middle  East Journal, 17(6), 627-645. Nuruzzaman, M. (2012). Conflicts between Iran and the Gulf Arab States: An Economic Evaluation. Strategic Analysis, 36(12), 542-553. Salman Al-Saud, F. (2004). Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf: Power Politics in Transition. United Kingdom: IB Tauris. Ulrichsen, K. (2009). Internal and external security in the Arab Gulf states. Middle East  Policy, 16(2), 39-58.

Lowe's Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lowe's - Term Paper Example Many of the firms involved in the construction industry underwent through tremendous changes and growth during this period. 3 Major Competitors 3 NACIS Numbers 3 Relative Sales 4 Relative Returns 5 Product Life Cycle 5 Stock Performance 5 Works cited 6 Introduction The main aim of this paper is to analyze Lowe’s performance in terms of products offered, financial performance against major competitors and the industry in general and assets base. Lowe’s, being the second largest home improvement company in the united states, has a number of advantages and disadvantages against the market leader, Home Depot. While drawing the forecast for the company’s performance, this report will make an assumption that industry trends and performance will remain as they were for the past 3 years. Theme The management of Lowe’s company strategically placed the company’s product line to focus on home improvement tools and equipment through a restructuring process that took place in the mid-1940s. Providing a range of home improvement products including name branded products and national branded equipment, Lowe’s home improvement company is the second leading home improvement company in the United States from Home Depot Company. ... Although the company faced reduced revenues during the 2008 economic downturn, it hopes to recover from the losses made as the construction business gets back on its feet. To keep up with its increased growth and achieve its target of being the market leader, the company needs to restructure its operations, to include a number of products. History of the Firm Lowe’s is the second largest home improvement company in the United States and Canada from home depot company. Currently, Lowe’s holds about 6 per cent of the total home improvement market, translating to about $140 million ("Lowe's Ranks High"Â  12). The company has had a long history of success, to reach its current 400 stores spread across 24 states in the United States. Initially, Lowes’ concentrated on medium sized markets, with its stores measuring no more than 75,000 square foot. Currently however, the firm builds stores of approximately 100,000 square-foot in medium sized markets and 114,000 square- foot stores in large markets. The first Lowe’s hardware store opened in 1921 in North Wilkesboro, North California. After the death of the founding father, Lucius S. Lowe in 1940, his daughter Ruth, took over the business, but opted to sell it to her brother in the same year. In 1943, Jim took Carl Buchan as his partner. With Carl Buchan as the manager, the store ventured into hardware and building materials. Before this specialization, the company incorporated a range of products such as notions, dry goods, horse tack, snuff, produce, and groceries. In 1949, the company bought a second store in Sparta, North California. The company became an incorporated business in 1952 as the Lowe's North Wilkesboro Hardware, Inc. between 1952 and 1959 with Buchan’s

Internalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Internalism - Essay Example These factors can be fundamentally motivating. Internalists from the motivational background have a belief that there exists an internal connection that is necessary to be put into consideration between an individual’s conviction that something has to be done and the motivation as well to the intended purpose which can be labeled as X (Fischer&Mark 252). This philosophical concept when looked at in an ethical manner, then an individual should have committed to their desires or the goals that they would like to achieve. When taking an example that Peter, a young boy would like to be involved in drug use as used by fellow students in class, Peter has the internal reason to take the drugs as he wants to feel what the rest of the students usually feels when they are taking such like drugs. For an internal’s, Peter has all the reasons as to why he would like to be involved in drug taking but in an ethical perspective view of the internalist, Peter knows that it is wrong to commit such like crimes and he ought not to be involved in taking drugs like the rest of the students indulging in such(Schaubroeck 26). In the contemporary epistemology, internalism based on justification entails that there should be a justification for any action that is undertaken by any individual’s mind. A belief should highly be connected to the subject’s consciousness. Internalism can be distinguished in two sections. These include internalism based on knowledge and internalism that is based on justification and this should be distinguished well. Based on the judgment on justification, this is the most widely accepted form of internalism and is based on the conscious mind of an individual. Based on knowledge, conditions are distinguishable when established on beliefs and the knowledge that is upheld on a particular state of mind of an individual (Hawthorne 215). It is thus important to note that, internalism is can

The different influences of AD and PR in the market Dissertation

The different influences of AD and PR in the market - Dissertation Example tising and Public Relations Departments 56 4.2 Target Audience for Advertising and Public Relations Departments in Various Firms 59 4.3 Insights about Satisfaction with the Work of Advertising and Public Relations Departments 60 4.4 Annual Expenditure for Advertising and Public Relations 61 4.5 The Process Flow for Advertising and Public Relations 62 4.6 The Position of Advertising and Public Relations Departments 63 4.7 The Significance of Advertising and Public Relations in Firms 63 4.8 Perceptions about the Future of Advertising and Public Relations 65 Chapter 5: CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDA... on of Originality MASTERS DISSERTATION SUBMISSION FORM Student’s family name: First names: Student ID No: Course: Supervisor: Dissertation Title: Influences of Advertising and Public Relations on the Market Declaration I certify that this dissertation is my own work. I have read the University regulations concerning plagiarism. I am willing to allow The University of Leicester Centre for Mass Communication Research to use my dissertation as a sample for future students. Signed †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Date †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Abstract This research study presents an attempt to understand better the capacity of advertising and public relations to influence a market. Although this topic of research is not new, the reality of today presents a demand for accountability of significant marketing communication spending in the face of constantly increasing costs associated with advertising and public relations in a tough and highly competitive business environment. Thus, it makes sense to re-examine an old topic of research to decide about how firms should proceed to try to enhance brand recognition, brand image, reputation and consumer knowledge in the market in an attempt to enhance the bottom-line. Relevant themes that emerge from authoritative literature examined in a review of literature and insights made available by those who are familiar with the workings of advertising, and public relations functions in United Kingdom companies emphasise the essential utility of both advertising and public relations. Thus, a need exists to try to maintain a synergy between the two to deliver the optimal in an age of ubiquitous computing that presents new opportunities for innovation in both advertising and public relations. The research suggests that

Service Recovery And Failure In Air Line Industry

Service Recovery And Failure In Air Line Industry Service recovery has taken over the whole world by storm. People hear the word service recovery and service failure over and over again. In the globalized world as people know it, the world seems to be getting smaller and yet it is expanding, the world is developing. Information can travel fast and easily, boundaries are being reduced gradually. This not only happen in the world generally but also in the business world specifically. By looking at this arising phenomenon, service recovery of companies in the management of business is getting more and more important for airline companies who are trying to explore the global market. The airline companies have to come up with the right strategy for different market in different countries. Without a good strategy in service recovery and the way how to decide complaints and resolved problems which called service failure, the airline companies will falter in the international market. While on the other hand, if an airline company has a good service recovery and can solved service failure, it will achieve success. The airlines industry involves a high degree of interaction between employees and consumers and so provides many opportunities for service failures to occur. The quality of service encounters is frequently determined by the action of front-line staff, whose experience and commitment may be limited and whose attitude may vary from one encounter to another. The inseparability of production and consumption means that failures occur at the point of consumption, providing little scope for correction without inconveniencing the passengers. However, failures, errors, mistakes, and complaints can frequently happen in the process of service delivery. A poor service or a service failure will result in dissatisfaction and this in turn will prompt a variety of responses which may include complaining, negative word-of-mouth and decisions not to repurchase. If it is impossible to avoid service failures and dissatisfaction, then it becomes increasingly important for organizations to understand how to manage such occurrences and minimize their adverse effects. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that effective service recovery will generate a range of positive passengers responses with complaint handling being seen as a key element in service recovery. This research paper an overview of existing research relating to service failure, service recovery in airlines industry. The Emirates Airlines was founded in 1985, but it didnt start to show up on Americans radar until 2005, when they began service to New Yorks JFK. They are the fastest-growing airline in the world, and today Emirates has a fleet of 138 aircraft and serves over 100 destinations in 61 countries across six continents. Their North American gateways are: New York, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. Their hub is Dubai (DXB), which is now the 15th busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic (40.9 million passengers in 2009). Literature review Service recovery and service failure in air line industry The service recovery and the service failure may directly influence each other. Generally, the service recovery in airline industry is concerned with the process of addressing service failures, which can be happened in that time when is the flight on the plane or before flight; more specifically, service recovery can be thought of as being concerned with the productive handling of complaints and includes all actions taken by a service provider in order to try to resolve the problem a passenger has with their organization. It is generally recognized that complaints are essential to institute a recovery effort. Without complaints, a firm may be unaware that problems exist and unable to appease unhappy passengers. Ennew and Schoefer (2006) stated that basic of service recovery strategy, which the model is used in airline industry as well, can be classified as: Apology: A first person apology rather than a corporate apology, and one which also acknowledges that a failure has occurred. Urgent reinstatement: Speed of action coupled with a gallant attempt to put things right even if it is not possible to correct the situation. Empathy: A sincere expression of feeling for the passengers plight. Symbolic atonement: A form of compensation that might include not charging for the service or offering future services free or discounted. Follow-up: An after-recovery call to ascertain that the consumer is satisfied with the recovery process. That service recovery also includes situations where the passenger has not expressed a complaint but the provider has recognized the failure and initiated a recovery procedure. Service recovery in airline industry refers to steps that are intended to identify and correct service failure. According Kuenzel, S and Katsaris, N, (2009), the necessity for service recovery is brought about by service failure. Service failure is defined as those situations when the service fails to live up to the passengers expectations or any service-related mishaps or problems that occur during a consumers experience of the firm. Service failure situations are especially inevitable in the airline industry due to the people factor nature of services, the high level of contact between employees and passengers due to the increasingly high demand of todays passengers. As one of the service industries, the airlines industry involves a high degree of personal interaction between staff, which are working in air company and passengers; miscommunication can lead to service failure. Responding effectively to consumer complaints can have a significant impact on satisfaction; repurchase intentions and the spread of word-of-mouth. However, in order to understand how best to deal with service failure and how best to handle complaints, it is essential to understand the way in which consumers react to service failure and how they respond to different approaches to service recovery. The service recovery in Emirates Airline Company, which is defined as all those actions taken by a service provider in order to try to resolve the problem that caused the service failure, aims not only to resolve the problems in order to minimize negative outcomes and retain passengers who are prefer this air company, but also to seek out and deal with service failures. After all, a good recovery, as well as reducing passengers negative emotions, also tries to increase the positive ones. While service recoverys effectiveness depends on several parameters, excellent recovery tactics can leave those passengers who experienced a service failure followed by successful service recovery with greater satisfaction than those who did not experience a service failure incident at all. However service recoverys major importance is owed to the fact that it affects passenger satisfaction and, as a consequence, passenger loyalty. Furthermore, a number of findings have shown that satisfaction with the service recovery directly affects a passengers intention to repurchase and to recommend the service provider. These relationships constitute the vital reasons why providers pay so much attention to service recovery because in financial terms loyal passengers can increase profits. (Kuenzel, S and Katsaris, N, 2009). The Emirates Airline Company believes that satisfaction plays a key role in the service industry and especially in the airline industry. As the airline industry has evolved, Emirates Airline has made great strides to define and understand satisfaction from the consumers perspective. The emphasis to comprehend what truly creates satisfied passengers has lead to an ever increasing body of literature surrounding satisfaction, how service providers create satisfied passengers and the effects that satisfaction has on businesses today. Competitive environment analysis is the factors which influence the air companys competitiveness in the market. It enables the airline company to understand its current competitors. The Emirates Airline, as air company is defined that the most important part in the value of service recovery and failure are consisted of professional staff which can be opened in a time for solving problems with passengers, improving passenger satisfaction, minimizing negatives emotions and making loyalty decisions for complaints. Methodology Service recovery and service failure in Emirates Airline Company For the past several years, many air line companies executives have ascribed to the widely circulated notion that a strong problem-recovery process is the key to enhancing passenger loyalty. Some claim to possess statistics that show a higher intent to return among passengers who experienced a problem followed by excellent resolution, compared to passengers who had a problem-free flight. The Emirates Airline has outperformed their rivals British Airways, Korean Airline and Delta Airline in a service quality report. This airline company is analyses the passenger experience from flight booking all the way through to check-in, baggage drop, boarding, plane conditions, in flight services such as food and beverage, entertainment and shopping, right through to disembarkation and final baggage claim. The Emirates Airline known that the service recovery builds passenger loyalty that brings passenger back from the brink of defection is putting a smile on a passengers face. A poor service reco very in structure of organization will result in dissatisfaction and this in turn will prompt a variety of responses which may include complaints, negative word-of-mouth and decisions not to repurchase. The effective service recovery will generate a range of positive passenger responses with complaint handling being seen as a key element in service recovery. Analyzing the structure inside of Emirates Airline as a large air company in the world and which model of organizations they used, I found that this company is provided and followed by service recovery strategies as an important element in service process. The service recovery strategies are consisted of eight components: 1. Act quickly (usually use as an apology) 2. Provide adequate explanations 3. Treat passengers fairly 4. Cultivate relationships with passengers 5. Learn from recovery experience 6. Learn from lost passengers as passengers 7. Fail-safe the service 8. Track complaints According this type of service recovery strategies, which was chosen by the Emirates Airline Company, I can say that this air company is tried to involves and to improve new methods of psychological behaviours in organizational process between employee and passenger, because it is interested in passengers positive recommendations about their air lines to family and friends are an important, cost-effective method of promotion which are suggested to make profit. The goals of service recovery strategies are consisted how to satisfy the passenger in during that time when the flight is on the board, identifies and corrects the problems in a time without negative effects and improves professional air staff to be helpful and friendly with passengers. The Emirates Airline company, as the biggest air company in the world, is recognized the service recovery as a significant determinant of passenger satisfaction and loyalty. The most common and frequently what they used in service recovery are: 1. apology 2. assistance 3. compensation The apology can be in two forms: verbal and writing. For example, in the Emirates Airline, I found the tactical way which the air staff used in the during flights time. If some kind of the drinks or some kind of the meals are finished in the during flight, and that time one of the passengers needs persistently, so air staff solve the problem by nicely and kindly form in offering to choose another drinks and meals which they have in menu. The writing form is used when the situation or problems are decided by official form from Emirates Airline management. The assistance is used in finding the luggage by air staff which are in the airports (local or international terminals). Emirates Airline is suggested to find luggage by modern technology as operational efficiency between operations and general system of technical supporting inside the airport where were going lost luggage. The compensation is frequent form of the service recovery, which can be financial form, its meant that the Emirates Airline is able to pay the compensation from the negative effects in during the flights time if the occurrences were happened without passengers fault. Another form of compensations are vouchers, free upgrades to gifts or loyalty miles, can also be defined against a complaint category and stored for each complaint. Vouchers can be auto-generated and points can be auto-credited into the members account. Tier upgrades can be provided as compensation, and tier downgrades or expiry of points can also be restricted for members. Why are the air staff so qualified and professional in the service recovery? The Emirates Airline Company invests much more time and money in training each new employee than many of its competitors. There are 18,179 employees work in the Emirates Airline who are qualify after 3 months of 13 indoctrination will receive 450 hours of training in their first year and 160 hours of training every year after. Training programs include methods of the communication with passengers in the board during the flights, how they can make service without negative effects just use the smile or literate speech which are based on the psychological principles. The motivation employees, train them, care about them, and make winners of them are successful steps in the service recovery. The Emirates Airline knows that if they treat their employees correctly, they will treat the passengers right. And if the passengers are treated right, they will come back. Effective service recovery is not just an after-thought but is rather an intentionally designed part of service delivery system that has been planned into the service design in support of the service recovery strategies. The Emirates Airline believes that the service recovery is one of the most important key factors differentiating business performance and success between competitors. Understanding the system of the service recovery in the Emirates Airline Company, how they can solve and decide situations with passengers before the flight, during the flights time, and after the flight without negative effects, I was analysing that this air company however has failures, mistakes and complaints which could be happened in the process of service delivery. The service failure occurs when the passengers do not get basic services from air company. The passengers consider centre of the service failure because they have been promised or contracted, either directly or implied and are basic to the whole service experience, for example, in the Emirates Airline, this is reservations air tickets which could be booked in official website or in the official agency. According statistical report which was established by the Emirates Airline, I could see which kind of service failures and complaints were happened in during flighting process, which are widespread and how this air com pany tried to minimized effects. The service failures, which were founded in the Emirates Airline Company: 1. Ethical problems (conflict of interests) 2. Personnel failures 3. Safety issues 4. Baggage handling 5. Ticketing matter 6. Doing work too slowly in-flight 7. Responses to service failure 8. Employee responses to customer needs and requests The most serious failure in the Emirates Airline was slow the service in-flight, the drink and the meal brought lately, the air staff were unhelpful and unfriendly because on the board were about 175 passengers who were flied on the long destinations. Other frequently mentioned problems related to agent operations which were provided booking and reservation air tickets. After according that statistic report, the Emirates Airline was developed absolutely new model of the service recovery strategies which were helped to solve and minimized the service failures in the organizational process and satisfied the passengers in-flight and on the ground. This air company was organized Service Recovery Management, that the functions are detection, analyzing and solving service failure without negative effects between organization and passengers. Finding à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ It is very difficult to exceed passengers expectations in service recovery. The Emirates Airline typically exceed passengers expectations in problem situations in only one of 10 problem occurrences. This air company are at least four times more likely to fail to satisfy a passenger in recovery efforts than they are to exceed expectations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ When the Emirates Airline resolves problems in a method that meets, but does not exceed expectations, satisfaction scores are significantly lower than when an experience is problem-free. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The only time satisfaction and loyalty are improved after a problem is when service has been outstanding throughout the entire experience. Outstanding problem resolution is seen as a part of a larger service culture within the air company, not as a stand-alone reaction. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Recovery efforts arguably represent a much greater cost compared to the type of service recovery and service failure. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Good training provides air staff with the skills and confidence to perform well. Giving them the opportunity to practice their customer service skills in a safe environment will help them to apply those skills in the sales environment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Good service in the Emirates Airline is tightly linked to good sales. If service standards are poor, sales performance will inevitably be poor as well. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Satisfied, loyal air staff will take proper care of their passengers, resulting in high levels of passengers satisfaction and repeated successful sales. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ On the service recovery in Emirates Airline Company is influenced the elements as the air company will be successful in the organizational process: Environment Qualification staff Performance Motivation Conclusion This research paper has reported the main reasons of service failure within international airline company which is the Emirates Airline Company. The findings shown that service recovery excellence can only be achieved through passenger satisfaction, professional staff and loyalty as a result of senior management commitment. The paper has determined the air companys process of service recovery with respect to the main causes of service failure, in its goal to achieving passenger satisfaction. There are two component consisted service recovery. The first one is service failure and the second factor is satisfaction. In this structural model, I also mentioned about two predictors which can directly influence on service recovery. Qualification employees and loyalty directly impact on service recovery, that I explained earlier the way that how they can increasing high-level, be perfect in relationships with passengers of the Emirates Airline company in details. This research paper is confirmed previous assertions that passengers satisfaction and loyalty require high levels of management commitment, as well as frequent communication and indicated that for service recovery to be effective, it must be external (to the passengers) as well as internal (to the air company) so that internal improvement can be ensured. The Emirates Airline has to conduct surveys from time to time to get the uttermost feedback from employees and first time passengers as well. The Emirates Airline has to improve passengers satisfaction without negative effects after covering failure, tries to provider training programs for air staff, because the service recovery is so important for reputation air company. They should be more focus on the solving problems between air company and passengers by professional way because one of the weaknesses that a bid company faces is the decentralized organizational structure. So controlling the big company such as the Emirates Airline would be very difficult without having the centralized and good structure in the organization. For the huge air companies such as the Emirates Airline that is geographically apart, using the virtual organization in order to control the all aspect of the company is essential. In conclusion, for each air company, especially for large air companies, the service recovery is one the most important part in organization that can make the air company more successful because I can reach all the important success key such as passengers satisfaction and encourages of passengers and employees, better behavior, better communication and highest service quality through the air company. Once a air company decides how it wants its members to behave, what attitudes it wants to encourage, and what it wants its members to accomplish, it can then design its structure and encourage the development of the cultural values and norm to obtain these desired attitudes, behaviors, and goals.

Abortion and Ethics Essay -- Life Pregnancy Fetus Papers

Abortion and Ethics According to the Websterà ¢s New World Dictionary, the first definition of abortion is the spontaneous act in which the body expels an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive, miscarriage (Neufeldt & Guralnik, 4). Yet others define abortion as à £the termination of a pregnancy with resulting death of the human fetus,à ¤ relating more to the planned procedures to produce this specific response (Ashley & Oà ¢Rourke, 141). In our society we have taken on this second view of the meaning, rather than abortion being a spontaneous act, it is a deliberate procedure sought by the mother that removes an embryo or fetus. This deliberate act has arisen throughout a controversial history. Before the procedures were made legal, women used many primitive methods. Some of these methods include jumping from great heights, having others jump on the pregnant womanà ¢s abdomen, ingestion of toxic substances, and the use of invasive probes such as sticks, knitting needles, or wire hangers (Callahan, 252). Although these primitive procedures might result in an abortion, they were unsafe for the women who endured them. Abortion in the United States was illegal until the early 1970s. Once legalized, abortions were localized to the coastal densely populated cities, such as in the states California and New York. Abortion was legalized nation wide on January 22, 1973 due to the efforts the key court cases of Roe v. Wade, and Doe v. Botton. Roe was an unmarried woman from Texas that wanted to challenge the abortion laws because she herself wanted to have the procedure to relieve the unborn child she carried. The second case, Doe v. Botton had a different outlook on the justification for abortion. Doe, a married... ...cities.com/ourlady_dal/abortion2.htm Knight, James, Joan Callahan. Preventing Birth: Contemporary Methods and Related Moral Controversies. University of Utah Press: Salt Lake City, 1989. Kushner, Thomasine, David C. Thomasma. Birth to Death. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1996. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes of Health. 26 Nov. 2002. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/taysachs_doc.htm Neufeldt, Victoria, David B. Guralnik. Webster's New World Dictionary 3rd ed. Prentice Hall/Macmillan Company: New York, 1994. Robinson. 26 Nov. 2002. http://www.religioustolerance.org/abortion.htm Shannon, Thomas. Bioethics, 3rd edition. Paulist Press: Mahwah, 1987. The Abortion Law Homepage. 26 Nov. 2002. http://members.aol.com/abtrbng/pbal.htm

A social psychology final paper Essay

The movie I chose was Easy A because there are many psychological concepts this movie that relate to real-life events and it covers many theories we learned about in this class. Easy A was released in 2010 and directed by Will Gluck. It’s about a teenage girl named Olive who accidentally admits to her friend Rhi that she was having sexual relations with boys. She felt pressured into lying since her friend had already engaged in sexual acts with her boyfriend. A rumor then spread and many people in the school then ignored Olive because they thought what she did was an immoral act, but the guys started giving her more attention. I feel that this applies to many people in the world today and it is not just in this movie. Many social psychological concepts come up in this movie like: conformity, looking glass self, self-presentation/impression management, cognitive dissonance, situational constraint, majority influence, self discrepancy, and social comparison theory to name a few. In the beginning of the movie, Olive lies while talking to her best friend, Rhi and accidentally said that she had slept with someone when in fact she was still a virgin. Rhi was not a virgin anymore so Olive felt that she had to lie to conform to the norms of her friend. The Social Comparison Theory says that to interpret whether our performances are successes or failures, we must often compare them with our own goals and expectations or with the performances of others. (DeLamater, 85) This theory helps us have conformity with others just as Olive compared her views to her friend’s views and then ended up lying to receive positive reinforcement from her friend. Olive was using this theory when she looked at one of her peer’s actions and saw her own behavior as in opposition to the norm. Then because she probably felt inferior to Rhi, she changed her behavior. Had she not gone along and followed what her friend did and changed her behavior and looks she would have been violating this theory. The Asch Conformity Paradigm shows that within limits groups can pressure their members to change their judgments and conform with majority’s position  even when the position is obviously incorrect. (DeLamater, 287) This is shown in the movie when at first she is pressured and says she had sex with someone because her friend did and once she got that reputation the guys persuaded her to act like she was being promiscuous and having sexual relations with them. Even though she knew this was wrong she still decided to do it because the majority influence put more pressure on her to go with â€Å"having sexual relations† to help some of her friends (who were guys) become more popular. This resulted in cognitive dissonance, which is a theory, that deals with consistency between behaviors and attitudes and it occurs after a decision and when one acts inconsistent with their beliefs. (DeLamater, 153) This is shown when she makes the decision to lie to her friend and say she has had sex and afterwards she has second thoughts and starts to regret it because it went against her values that she held. Another outstanding concept in this movie was self-presentation/tactical impression management. Self- presentation and impression management are petty similar because they are both processes by which individuals attempt to control the impressions that other form of them during interaction. (DeLamater, 89-90). Throughout his movie Olive presents herself to everyone at her school as someone she was not. She was viewed as the new school slut and at first she had cognitive dissonance about this but she then started to embrace it. Olive began to look the part by wearing risquà © clothes like corsets and tight revealing shirts. She even sewed an â€Å"A† on her clothes as a reference that she was being portrayed as Hester Prynne, the main character from The Scarlett Letter who was deemed to be adulterous and that was very inappropriate at the time. By presenting herself this way she is going with Cooley’s Looking Glass Self that says we acquire our view of ourselves from the views of others. (DeLamater, 69) By all of her classmates viewing her as promiscuous she started to view herself as that and changed the way she usually dressed to be more racy. This change in style and behavior lead to self-discrepancy which is when a component of the actual self is the opposite of a component of the ideal self or the ought self. (DeLamater, 82) This is seen when Olive goes out in public and portrays herself in a different way than what she believes her actual self as because she is more concerned with social interactions than what her actual self believes. This whole change of self was to boost her self-esteem because she knew if she  didn’t change the way she looked to fit the part she would be embarrassed and humiliated and her self-esteem would be lowered. Throughout this movie you can she the deviant behavior and how she violates the social norms of people her age. She dressed scandalously, she acted promiscuous, she acted out and got a rebellious attitude. These rebellious things Olive was doing changed her behavior and labeled her as deviant. Deviance is not considered deviant until it is labeled as that. So in her case, Olive really considered bad until a group of people at her school started going against what she was doing and even her friend, Rhi joined in. they started protesting what she was doing. This created a lot of aggression and hate for one another and eventually lead to intergroup conflict. In intergroup conflict there is a situation in which groups take antagonistic actions toward one another in order to control some outcome important to them. (DeLamater, 326) The outcome this group sought was to get Olive and other girls to stop acting in this way and being immoral. They went around and held signs around the school protesting what they thought of her behavior. After this, Olive finally realized that she was doing wrong and she made a video telling the truth to everyone and saying that it was all just an act. Everyone then viewed her as a liar for what she did, but she didn’t care because she saw what she did was wrong and it was a better reputation than being called easy. The whole reason Olive took on the role of being the school slut was to keep the type of self-presentation and tactical impression management. I think a lot of people feel the same way today in our world because if because I agree in the looking-glass self because I agree that you think of yourself the same way your peers and significant others see you. So if someone sees you as fat, ugly, promiscuous, or something else I agree that you would start to internalize what they say and take on that role. By the end of the movie, Olive’s beliefs about herself had changed significantly. She knew throughout the movie that the person she was portraying was not truly herself and it did not go along with her values but she kept the role to keep up with the rumor that she had started. In this movie we could see how social rejection affects the way you view yourself and how you carry yourself. In Easy A there are issues that we discussed in Social Psychology and many of them can be applied to everyday experiences, you just have to be  aware of them because they are truly all around especially in movies today. References DeLamater, John D., and Daniel J. Meyers. Social Psychology. 7th ed. N.p.: Cengage Learning, May 20, 2010. Print. Devine, Z., Gluck, W., Emmrich, A., Johnson, M.B. (producers) & Gluck, W. (director). (2010). Easy A [motion picture]. United States: Sony Pictures.

Top 25 US Colleges for Geology Ph.D. Studies

Top 25 US Colleges for Geology Ph.D. Studies Where did most geology professors get their Ph.D.s? Of the teaching faculty of American universities, a study by the American Geological Institute found that an overwhelming 79 percent earned their geoscience doctoral degree from just 25 institutions. These same schools granted 48 percent of the doctorates held by all faculty at the time of the survey. Here they are, ranked from first to last, with their current post-graduate degree programs. This is not the only way to rank colleges, but these ones are all top-notch. In some cases, the doctoral program may no longer by offered by the institution. 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology  Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS) offers undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral programs. They have an active professional organization of graduate students, the EAPS Graduate Student Advisory Committee. 2. University of California, Berkeley  Department of Earth and Planetary Science offers Master of Arts and doctoral programs. 3. University of Wisconsin, Madison  Department of Geoscience offers Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees. 4. University of Washington  Department of Earth and Space Sciences offers Master of Science and doctoral programs. 5. Columbia University  Department of Earth Environmental Sciences offers a Ph.D. in Earth and Enviromental Sciences and a Masters degree in Climate Society. 6. Stanford University  Department of Geological Sciences offers M.S., Engineer, and Ph.D. degrees. 7. Pennsylvania State University  Department of Geosciences offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees 8. Harvard University  Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences admits students for the Ph.D. degree only. 9. University of California, San Diego  Scripps Institution of Oceanography offers three Ph.D. programs, including Geosciences of the Earth, Oceans, and Planets. 10. University of Michigan  Earth and Environmental Sciences has a Ph.D. program. 11. University of California, Los Angeles  Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences has M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Geochemistry, Geology, and Geophysics Space Physics. 12. California Institute of Technology  Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences has a doctoral degree program and you may also be awarded a masters degree en route. 12.  University of Illinois (tie) Department of Geology offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees and notes that the oil and gas industry aggressively recruits in Illinois. 14. University of Arizona  Geosciences department offers M.S. and four-year Ph.D. programs that are research-based. 15. University of Minnesota  Department of Earth Sciences - Newton Horace Winchell School of Earth Sciences 16. Cornell University  Earth and Atmospheric Sciences has a Geological Sciences field with Master of Engineering, Master of Science, and doctoral degrees. 17. Yale University  Department of Geology Geophysics has only a Ph.D. program. 18. University of Colorado  Geological Sciences offers Masters of Science and doctoral degrees. 19. Princeton University  Department of Geosciences offers only a Doctor of Philosophy degree. 20. University of Chicago  Department of the Geophysical Sciences offers a Ph.D. program. 21. Oregon State University  College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences offers M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. 22. Johns Hopkins University  Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth Planetary Sciences offers a doctoral program. 23. University of Texas, Austin  Department of Geological Sciences 2 3.  Texas AM University (tie) Department Geology Geophysics offers Master of Science and doctoral degrees. 25. Ohio State University: No longer lists a doctoral program, but offers BS and BA in Earth Sciences. Thanks to the American Geological Institute for this information, reported in Geotimes May 2003.

Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf State

Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf State Free Online Research Papers Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf State Engineering Research Paper Abstract This paper studies sustainable economic development through energy management with special reference to Qatar. It raises the question on the factors that have propelled growth in the region. There is a need to identify the problems facing a fast paced economy and the measures that should be taken to sustain economic development. Furthermore, natural resource-based growth has largely tied regional development to oil price and revenue fluctuations, and has stymied efforts at economic diversification. Globalization is expected to dismantle barriers in information and communication technologies, but the corresponding opportunities that these advances may bring have not yet been fully exploited, though efforts are being made now. A platform of priorities for action identifies the key challenges that must be addressed, to enhance efforts towards sustainable development in Qatar, during the coming ten or twenty years. Introduction a.Energy Scenario in the Global Perspective Energy has been playing an important role in the economic development all over the world. World population is expected to double by the middle of this century, and economic development will continue at a faster pace in the developing world than that in the developed world. The likely result is a 3-5 fold increase in the world economic output over the next 5 decades. By 2100, per capita income in most of the currently developing countries will have reached, and surpassed levels characteristic of the developed countries today, making current distinction between the two totally obsolete. Energy availability and universal access to energy will play a major part in this growth. However, resulting from this rapid economic development, it is not certain that adequate energy services will become available to every citizen in the next hundred years. Demand for energy will continue to grow. Even though focus will shift from primary energy to final energy form, it is expected that primary en ergy requirement will increase globally by 1.5 to 3 fold by the year 2050. According to a World Energy Congress (WEC) study, energy services will move towards more flexible, convenient and clean fuels reaching the consumer. High quality energy forms will become transitional fuels of choice. Thus, there will be an obvious shift towards electricity and towards higher quality fuels, such as, natural gas, oil products, Methanol and eventually hydrogen. Environmental considerations will hold the key to the future consumption patterns of energy. b.Economy of Qatar One easily notices the rapid growth of Qatars economy in all sectors. Qatar’s gross domestic product (GDP) was over US$ 20 bn last year and it is expected to be close to US$ 22bn by the end of the current year. Such accomplishments are the natural outcome of huge investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals. When investments in huge developmental of projects of firms such as QatarGas and RasGas start bearing fruit, the already buoyant economy is expected to get a further boost by the end of the current decade. This rapid economic growth has enabled it to rank as one of the highest per capita income countries’ in the world within a very short period. Qatar has emerged as one of the world’s wealthiest states since discovery of oil in the 1970s and much later, natural gas. Thus, Petroleum products have continued to be, the cornerstone of Qatars economy for over 30 years and accounts for more than 60% of total government revenue, more than 30% of gross domestic product , and roughly 80% of export earnings. The Qatari economy’s vulnerability to oil price movements, as well as its limited crude oil resources has led the Government, in the early nineties, to explore Qatar’s huge reserve of natural gas by making a strategic business and investment decision to commercialize natural gas reserves by developing the Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) sector. This led to the establishment of two major projects, namely RasGas and QatarGas, which are now major suppliers of LNG to world markets and contribute significantly to the State’s revenue. Also, Qatar has promoted investments in petrochemicals and fertilizer industries namely, QCHEM, QAFCO, QAFAC etc. Qatar has also promoted industries in the non-oil sector of the economy including Manufacturing, Construction, Finance, Insurance, Trading, Services and more recently Tourism. With such diversification in investment opportunities, production and export of natural gas in the form of LNG, pipe lin e gas, GTL and petrochemicals and fertilizers have registered a steady growth of Qatar economy during the last few years. The world demand for energy has been increasing. Table 1 below shows that Qatar’s oil and natural gas production has been increasing to cope up with the world trend. Table 1: Comparison of Qatar’s overall GDP contributors (Source: 2003 edition of the Middle East Economic Review) Overall Percentage Contribution to GDP (%) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Oil Gas Sector 45.76 60.43 57.00 57.61 59.79 Non – Oil Sector 54.24 39.47 43.00 42.39 40.29 A study of GDP growth trend as above shows the following factors which contributed to such growth: The price of Qatar’s crude oil increased from year to year over last five years. During year 2003 the crude oil price was $27.9 p/b against corresponding price of $24.5 p/b as in 2002 registering an increase of 13.9%. The production volume of Qatar’s crude oil registered a steady growth. In 2003 the production was 714,000 bpd against 640,000 bpd in year 2002 showing a growth of 11.6%. The production of natural gas was increasing from year to year since its discovery. In 2003 the production of gas increased by 12.9% from the production of 2002. The production in 2002 registered a growth of 1.9% over the production of 2001. The export of LNG was rising. In 2003 the export of LNG stood at 14.4 million tons against 13.5 million tones in 2002 showing a growth of 6.7%. In real terms, the Non-Oil sector of the economy registered a growth, but its contribution as percentage of total GDP showed decline in growth because of rapid growth of the economy resulting from high contribution from oil and gas sector. (Note: 2004 statistics are not given as the price of crude oil and natural gas is too volatile to provide accurate statistics). It could be observed that contribution of Oil Natural Gas Sector to Qatars GDP has been growing steadily in the recent past. However, volatility of the price of crude oil and natural gas makes the Qatari economy quite vulnerable since revenues generated by energy exports becomes less insecure under such situations and also since the need for revenue is likely to be a source of competition for market share in future. 1. Objective of the Study This study analyzes the operating performances of Qatar Energy Industry under the present business environment for identification of the key result areas (KRAs) that are essential for strategic decision making. The report would cover the KRAs for improving upon business results and decision making as also how funds generated could be employed for sustainable development of socio economic condition of the Country. This is crucial for improvement of the living conditions, dignity and welfare of the people of Qatar. The project report will analyze past performance and the business environment to determine the world trend of business. After a SWOT-analysis, the report aims at preparing a holistic plan for sustainable development and growth of the energy industry in Qatar for its contribution to the society. 2. Methodology Since the growth in the non–oil sector correlates with the growth of the oil and gas sector, analysis of historical Balance Sheets and Profit Loss Accounts of the companies in the oil and gas sector would generate statistical data for determination of trend in the businesses. In modern process industries and in oil and gas production industries, capacity utilization, wastage minimization and cost reduction and cost control, besides energy conservation play a crucial role in improving productivity, quality and profitability in addition to growth. Continuous innovation in technology and management is a matter of necessity for survival in a liberalized economy. In the absence of in-house RD facilities in the areas of respective line of technology, it is essential to embark upon innovative management for identification of diversification areas matching with the line of business. Assuming the hydrocarbon in the world cannot last for very long the researchers have since embarked upon technology to develop clean energy from renewable sources. Already commercial exploitation of such technology and renewable sources has taken place. Attempts are already being made to develop eco-friendly bio-fuel to meet with ever-increasing demand for energy. A mega-research project for production of hydrogen as a fuel is already underway. All such innovation in science and technology will act as competitors to hydro-carbons. However, the results of these futuristic researches may not be applicable to the next couple of decades in this world. Accordingly, attempts must be made to make the best of the available resources in the coming decades. It is essential in the long run to slowly but steadily de-link the economy of the country purely based on exploration of hydro-carbon to a process of sustainable development in line with the movement of the world. However, it is required t o develop indices to be closely monitored so as to ensuring optimal utilization of the available resources during the coming decades. 2.1 Fund Flow and Ratio Analysis The process of determining KRAs will involve analysis of historical operating performances. This could be done initially from the audited annual reports. However, for in-depth analysis, a study may be required to be made at various levels in operating areas. For illustration purposes, the audited annual report of QAFCO (Qatar Fertiliser Company) for the year 2003 was studied against the audited balance sheet for the financial year 2002. The fund flow statement has been prepared as shown in Table 2. Table 2: Fund Flow Statement for QAFCO for the Financial Year 2003 Source of Fund Application of Fund Brief Particulars Qatari Riyal Brief Particulars Qatari Riyal Increase in Paid up Share Capital 100000000 Increase in Investment in Property, Plant and Equipment 522743745 Increase in Legal Reserves 20072377 Increase in Dues from Shareholders and Related Parties 96242101 Increase in Availability of Fund for Payment of Dividend 250000000 Increase in Accounts Receivable 29867635 Increase in Syndicated Loan 651560000 Increase in Other Receivables and Prepayments 25558104 Increase in Accrual of Employers’ Service Benefit 2461760 Increase in Cash Balance and Bank Balance 426388445 Increase in Accrual of Minority Interest 12217130 Reduction in Accounts Payable and Accruals 83100445 Increase in Dues to Share Holders and related Parties 42596559 Increase in Provision for Pension Liabilities 2548042 Reduction in Value of Inventory 22805252 Increase in Retained Earnings 79639355 Total 1183900475 Total 1183900475 An analysis of the important financial ratios worked out from the said annual report is presented in Table 3. Table 3: Financial Ratio Analysis of QAFCO for the Financial Years 2002 and 2003 Brief Particulars of the Ratio 2003 2002 Return on Investment 31.09% 13.65% Margin on Sales 45.43% 26.54% Profit/Fixed Assets 22.82% 11.22% Sales/Fixed Assets 50.24% 42.26% Sales/Current Assts 32.11% 29.33% Inventory/Sales 0.0715 0.0725 Debtors/Sales 0.0415 0.0328 Material/Sales 11.46% 13.45% Employment Cost/Sales 8.47% 12.34% Depreciation Cost/Sales 8.45% 12.34% Value Added Per Qatari Riyal Employment in Riyals 9.44 6.19 Increase in Sales 46.74% Increase in Material Cost 26.42% Increase in Employment Cost 1.85% Increase in Investment in Projects 24.82% From the study of the Tables 2 and 3 the following could be observed: Increase in turn-over in 2003 over 2002 was 46.74% with corresponding increase in material cost and employment cost at 26.42% and 1.85% respectively. The increase in investment during 2003 on productive fixed assets registered a figure of Qatari riyals 522,743,745 which is 24.83% more than that during 2002. Again employment cost which was 12.34% of sales in 2002 became 8.45% in 2003 when the sales registered a growth of 46.74%. This establishes that the employment cost was not KRA for this company. With 46.74% growth in sales, the material cost increased by 26.42%. Again material content of sales, which was 13.45% in 2002 dropped to 11.46% in 2003. This suggests that there are avenues in operations to reduce the material content of production. Ratio analysis in the table above shows that the inventory holding was for 3.77 weeks of sales which was reduced to 3.72 weeks in 2003. Therefore, not much benefit could be obtained from inventory management. This suggests that attempts should be made for price reduction of material, increase in yield of material and material wastage reduction for optimizing material content of production. It is noted that against an increase in investment in productive assets of 24.82% the growth of sales registered a figure of 46.74%. The ratio analysis shows that asset turn over ratio increased from 42.26% in 2002 to 50.24% in 2003 and the margin on sales increased from 26.54% in 2002 to 45.43% in 2003. This shows that capacity of the existing plant and machinery could not be utilized fully in 2003. As the company is highly technology intensive, cost of modernization from time to time may push up the fixed cost which might raise the break-even volume of sales at current price. This suggests a detailed analysis of the operations and also a detailed audit of the cost structure. The strategy adopted may be either low volume of production with high margin on sales if the market so permits. Alternatively, high volume of production at low price strategy could be adopted to cover more market share and ultimately become a monopolist. This practice has been adopted by the Chinese manufactur ing industry which has ultimately become the production center of all manufactured goods in the world today. The fund flow statement shows that increase in investment on property, plant and equipment amounting to Qatari riyal 522,743,745 was financed principally through increase in syndicated loan amounting to Qatari riyal 651,560,000, although there was increase in cash balance and bank balance to the tune of Qatari riyal 426,388,445 which represent 81.57% of the increased in investment. This might have reduced net profit and hence the retained earnings. Subsequently, a look at the capital structure of the company may yield results in terms of reduction in liabilities and increase in return on investment. In view of the foregoing, for identifying the key result areas it would be necessary to study the following particulars: Desk Research: (a) Annual reports of the company since its inception. (b) Annual Economic Review of the Government of Qatar for the last 5 years. (c) Audited Annual Reports of the competitors in the world since last 5 years. (d) Currency fluctuation statistics between Qatari riyals and the currency of the importing country for the last 5 years. (e) The present market segment of the company. (f) Proposed market segment of the company. (g) Statistics of gas and oil price fluctuations in Qatar for last 5 years. (h) Indication of areas of alternative investments of excess funds generated keeping in line with socio economic development goals Field Research: (a) Study of the operation of the plant. (b) Study of the technology and performance of the plant. (c) Study of cost structures and establishing of a management information system. (d) Market research on a global basis. (e) Determination of a techno-commercial model with variation in quantity of sales, price per unit, cost per unit, operation at different percentage of plant capacity utilization, foreign exchange fluctuations and oil price fluctuation in OPEC. Both the above studies must be made for all the companies in the oil and gas sector in Qatar. Above mentioned ratio analysis is an analytical tool for analyzing the performance of a firm. â€Å"While ratios are easy to compute, which in part explains their wide appeal, their interpretation is problematic, especially when two or more ratios provide conflicting signals. Indeed, ratio analysis is often criticized on the grounds of subjectivity that is the analyst must pick and choose ratios in order to assess the overall performance of a firm.† [refer Feroz E.H.et.al.] Accordingly, we apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is basically an application of repeated linear programs, on the historical data on input and output to reinforce the study based on ratio analysis. 2.2 Introduction to DEA DEA is commonly used to evaluate the efficiency of a number of producers. A typical statistical approach is characterized as a central tendency approach and it evaluates producers relative to an average producer. In contrast, DEA is an extreme point method and compares each producer with only the best producers. By the way, in the DEA literature, a producer is usually referred to as a decision making unit or DMU. Extreme point methods are not always the right tool for a problem but are appropriate in certain cases. A fundamental assumption behind an extreme point method is that if a given producer, A, is capable of producing Y (A) units of output with X (A) units of inputs, then other producers should also be able to do the same if they were to operate efficiently. Similarly, if producer B is capable of producing Y (B) units of output with X (B) inputs, then other producers should also be capable of the same production schedule. Producers A, B and others can then be combined to form a composite producer with composite inputs and composite outputs. Since this composite producer does not necessarily exist, it is sometimes called a virtual producer. The heart of the analysis lies in finding the best virtual producer for each real producer. If the virtual producer is better than the original producer by either making more output with the same input or making the same output with less input then the original producer is inefficient. Some of the subtleties of DEA are introduced in the various ways that producers A and B can be scaled up or down and combined. The procedure of finding the best virtual producer can be formulated as a linear program. Analyzing the efficiency of n producers is then a set of n linear programming problems. The following formulation is one of the standard forms for DEA. Lambda (?) is a vector describing the percentages of other producers used to construct the virtual producer. X and Y and are the input and output vectors for the analyzed producer. Therefore, ?X and ?Y describe the virtual input and output respectively. The value of theta (?) is the producers efficiency. DEA Input-Oriented Primal Formulation s.t. ? free, ? ? 0 It should be emphasized that an LP of this form must be solved for each of the DMUs. There are other ways to formulate this problem such as the ratio approach or the dual problem but this formulation is the straightforward. The first constraint forces the virtual DMU to produce at least many outputs as the studied DMU. The second constraint finds out how much less input the virtual DMU would need. Hence, it is called input-oriented. The factor used to scale back the inputs is ? and this value is the efficiency of the DMU. The data required for application of this model are the historical data on input and output of a particular company. However, if this model is used for determination of the relative efficiencies of a particular company visvis its peers/competitors, then the input and output of all the companies are required. If historical input and output data are available, then trends of the relative efficiencies of the companies could also be easily studied. The format for data to be collected for implementing this model can be described as shown in the Table 4 below. Table 4: Format for Data to be collected for DEA Model (QAFCO, as a whole) Year Input Units (Amount/Nos.) Consumed/Used Output Units Produced Raw Materials # Employed Electricity Consumables Urea Ammonia 2003 2002 2001 etc. For determining relative efficiency of each of the four trains of QAFCO, similar format for data collection as shown in Table 5 may be adopted. Table 5: Format for Data to be collected for DEA Model (for different Trains of QAFCO) (For Year 2003) Train Input Units (Amount/Nos.) Consumed/Used Output Units Produced Raw Materials # Employed Electricity Consumables Urea Ammonia 1 2 3 4 (Repeat the same for other years like 2002, 2001, etc.) For determining relative efficiency of many companies engaged in similar kind of operations, similar format for data collection as shown in Table 6 may be adopted. Table 6: Format for Data to be collected for DEA Model (For more than one company like QAFCO) (For Year 2003, say) Co. Input Units (Amount/Nos.) Consumed/Used Output Units Produced Raw Materials # Employed Electricity Consumables Urea Ammonia 1. 2. 3. Etc. (Repeat the same for other years like 2002, 2001, etc.) 3. Research timetable Activity Estimated Timeframe Develop or adapt research objectives 1 day Design research protocol 1 week Recruit interviewers 2 weeks Translate instruments into local language 1 week Train interviewers (include pretesting and revising 2 weeks instruments in training) Collect data 2 weeks Transcribe recordings 1 week Translate transcripts 2 -3 weeks Preliminary analysis in field 2 weeks Prepare for presentation 1 day Presentation 1 day Complete analysis 2 weeks Prepare report 1 week 4. References 1) Doing Business with Qatar – Philip Dew 2) Landmark Regional Review (Arabian Gulf) Booklet – 2003 Edition 3) Landmark Technical Review Booklet – March 2003 Edition 4) Doing Business in Qatar – Qatar National Bank, 2003 Edition 5) Qatar Economic Review – Qatar National Bank, April 2003 Edition 6) International Petroleum Encyclopedia – PennWell, 2003 Edition 7) Oil and Gas in the Middle East – 2002 Edition 8) Qatari Projects: Current and Forthcoming – Qatar National Bank, March 2004 9) Mash’al Magazine – QP in-house magazine, January to August 2004 Editions 10) Structured Corporate Finance – Qatar National Bank, 2004 Edition 11) The LNG Industry – Andy Flower 12) Landmark Corporate Website (www.lgc.com) 13) RasGas Corporate Website (www.rasgas.com.qa) 14) Qatargas Corporate Website (www.qatargas.com.qa) 15) QP Corporate Website (www.qp.com.qa) 16) Official 2005 Business Plan for Dukhan Drilling – QP 17) Official 2004/2005 Dukhan Field Drilling and Workover sequence – QP 18) Business Plan for all QP Oil and Gas Projects – QP 19) Middle East Economic Review 2003 20) RasGas Magazine No. 8, July-September 2004 21) Qatar Economic Review, April, 2004 22) Oryx, August 2004 23) Annual Report – 2003, Qatar Petroleum 24) Annual Report – 2003, Qatar Fertiliser Company 25) Annual Report – 2003, Shaping the Future 26) The Peninsula, Sunday, August 29, 2004 27) Gulf Times, Saturday, August 28, 2004 28) Feroz E.H.; Kim S.; Raab R.L.; â€Å"Financial statement analysis: A data envelopment analysis approach†; Journal of the Operational Research Society; January 2003, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 48-58 (11) 29) David Hawdon; â€Å"Efficiency, performance and regulation of the international gas industry a bootstrap DEA approach†; Department of Economics Surrey Energy Economics Centre, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey,. GUP 7XH, UK. 5. Literature review Fetterman, D. M., Kaftarian, S. J., Wandersman, A., Eds. Empowerment Evaluation: Knowledge and Tool for Self Assessment and Accountability, Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage, 1996 Patton, M. Q. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage, 2002 Research Papers on Sustainable Development Through Energy Management in a Prototypical Small Gulf StatePETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesDefinition of Export QuotasOpen Architechture a white paperAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeThe Project Managment Office SystemMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRiordan Manufacturing Production Plan

Volunteer Internships and Internships for B-Schools Article

Volunteer Internships and Internships for B-Schools - Article Example This article, â€Å"Volunteer Internships Benefit Local Governments and Students† by Robin Popik is about how local governments can attract interns both as a way of recruiting potential candidates to the positions in the local government as well as a means of giving the students the experience of working for a government. The article starts off by describing who an intern is and what are the roles and responsibilities that a typical intern should have when given an internship in a local government office. The article focuses on why it is a great idea for local governments to advertise for positions of internships to prospective students and then introduce them to the concept of a government job. The point here is that many students think of government jobs as not attractive enough when compared to those in the private sector. This perception is mainly because the government is seen as bureaucratic in nature and not serving the purpose of a fast-paced job that brings challenges and offers attractive remuneration for the students. As the article states, â€Å"Government organizations that need temporary staff for special projects are a great place to use internships. Challenge the intern to bring out the value of the project† (Popik, 2009). Hence, the author’s point is that the concept of government service must be made attractive to the students and they should be made aware of the potential benefits that a government job can bring in its wake. The article then goes on to describe the methods in which internships in the government sector and local government offices, in particular, can be structured by the local government officials. To quote from the article, â€Å"Local governments can champion this concept by using interns to teach about the governmental process and politics in a way most textbooks miss.  

Organizational Behavior & Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Organizational Behavior & Leadership - Essay Example This paper explains three different leadership styles from the examples of three different leaders. Leadership style in Executive-A Executive-A seems to be transformational in his leadership quality since he has brought tremendous change in the success story of the company through his strategic activities. Not only his colleagues talk about him as ambitious, but also media and others find his efforts as the cornerstone of the success that the company achieved. A transformational leader influences his subordinates through better behavioral traits, high-valued personality characters, better manners in dealing with others etc and these very evident from his attempts to shying away from the attention of media and others and thus giving the credit of success to others. McShane and Von Glinow (2004, p. 430) noted that transformational leadership explains how leaders change teams or organizations by creating, structuring, modeling and communicating a specific vision for the organization to the people involved. Executive-A has created a vision of greater success and improved organizational performance and for that purpose, he worked hard and ensured that he is successful in achieving the targets. He created a vision, communicated that vision to his people, built commitment to the vision and modeled the vision and therefore he is more seemingly a transformational leader. According to the view of Robbins and Judge (2011, p. 390), this leader inspired their followers to exceed their self-interest for the benefits of the organization and for the achievement of organizational goals and these leaders posses an extra ordinary effect on their followers. Transactional leadership of Executive- B Leader-B was very transactional in the way he managed and run the business. A transactional leader is one who focuses on interpersonal interactions between the leader and subordinates as he clarifies the leadership roles and assess the task-related requirements of his followers (Buelens, Kreitner and Kinicki, 2002, p. 464). Within the organizational setting, Leader-B’s personal and professional qualities have impacted the overall performance of both the employees and the organizational at large since he followed clear chain of command and offered better rewards based on various levels of performance which in turn improved employee performance. As Robbins and Judge (2011, p. 391) pointed, a transactional leader contracts exchanging of rewards for efforts and offers rewards to employee if they attain specific levels of performance. These leaders also watch and search for deviations from rules and standards and then taking actions to correct the deviations. This is the way a transactional leader influences his subordinates and affects the corporation as well as the performance of employees. McShane and Von Glinow (2004, p. 248) are of the opinion that transactional leadership helps organizations achieve the current objectives very effectively such as by linking job performance to valued rewards. Employees will be offered rewards for attaining a specific target of performance. Once leader-B assigns a task to any of his subordinates, he strongly believes that the subordinate is fully responsible for that specific task. Charismatic Leadership style of Executive-C The leadership qualities and personality attributes in leader-C show that he is charismatic in his leadership aspects. A charismatic leader is one who emphasizes symbolic leader behavior, visionary and inspiration messages, showing greater positive