Human Resources Essay

Human resources involves a wide variety of activities related to the arrangement and implementation of organisational policies, the requirement of opportunities for monitoring, evaluation and change and the application of resources to the fulfilment of organisational ends. Aspects of ‘people management’ include: * The recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff. * The training, development and promotion of staff. * Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions. These are areas with which the human resources staff is involved. The overall purpose of the human resources function can for that reason be identified as: * To attract and retain good high-quality staff. * To ensure that the organisation operates within the law in relation to employment and health and safety. The Philip Markham organisation believes they will not be successful if they do not have the commitment of all staff and intend to look after all their employee’s needs through the functions of the human resources department. Finance The overall contribution of the finance function can be grouped in to three main areas: > Preparing accounts. > Preparing wages and salaries. > Obtaining capital and resources. Philip Markham employs ten members of staff in the finance department. The department makes sure internal customers receive the money they are owed and customers pay their bills. To keep control of finances the organisation allocates different department budgets and expects them to keep to there planned levels income and expenditure. Finance also has the task of preparing all the accounts each year so that they comply with legal responsibilities to the Inland Revenue. They also complete VAT returns to HM Customs and Excise. Pete Martin the management accountant at Philip Markham is responsible for checking that production levels and sales are on target. He advises all internal customers who are the directors, about the current financial health of the organisation on a weekly basis. An additional responsibility for the finance function is advising the organisation about more money for the purpose of expansion to buy raw materials or expensive equipment so it can remain competitive obtaining extra finance, called CAPITAL at the best rates possible. Production The contribution production makes to the overall business is to make a product and provide a service. The core function of the production department is to obtain the resources required by the organisation and transform those into a product. The production function is also concerned with organising the resources to produce the goods and service in the most appropriate way. Philip Markham carry out three different operations in their production department, these are as follows: > Purchasing > Manufacturing > Despatch The layout of the production area has been designed to maximise the flow of materials when producing the shirts from cutting to finishing. The cutting area is near to the stores so that materials can be transported the minimum distance. Quality control is extremely important to Philip Markham and each team cutters, machinists and finishers is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process. The shirts and ties pass to the packing department, which is part of despatch. All items are boxed and labelled and goods linked to the correct paperwork and the dispatchers that each box includes the correct delivery note and advice note for the haulier. Also part of the production function is purchasing staff and the designers. Purchasing is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all raw materials are delivered on time. Sales and Marketing The contribution sales and marketing makes to the overall business is to identify what the customer needs and providing it. The activities of sales and marketing include: > Market research – to find out what customer’s need and customer opinions on proposed and existing products or services. > Promotion – to inform the customers that their particular organisation can fulfil these needs. > Sales – to provide the goods or service the customer thinks he or she needs. The contribution of sales and marketing is vital in that it directly influences the number of sales that are made and as a result the profitability of the company. Each functional area operates to support the business aims and objectives and a range of activities goes on in each one. How the functional areas interact with one another is important. For an organisation to be efficient and effective there must be links between the people who work in different functional areas, especially when their activities overlap. Philip Markham is aiming to set up an e-commerce site to sell classic menswear and their objective is to be the leading British supplier of this type of clothing on the Internet within the next two years and double sales home and abroad within the same period. In order to achieve such a particular set of aims and objectives the organisation will need the support of a representative from finance, production and sales and marketing. The finance representative can present all the facts and figures that need to be considered when exploring this venture. The overall budget set-aside for web-page development and marketing is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½80,000 in the first year. Tina the financial manager believes this is generous given the financial position of the company. She believes it will be vital to control costs of setting up this new venture and to focus on those products that will bring in the most profit for the company. Her key consideration is that the site should be secure (identified by a padlock symbol), as payments will be made over the Internet. She has also advised that because VAT regulations differ, a separate order form would need to be completed by purchasers from abroad. The site would have to have a communications link with finance as all payments must be logged, collected and recorded by finance before orders are fulfilled by dispatch. Finance would have to notify dispatch when payments had been received. Only then can goods can be sent. The production representatives Tariq Choudrey (Production Director) and Marsha Webb (Manufacturing Manager) have concerns about the Internet site. Marsha believes there is a limit as to how much production rates can increase to meet additional orders without sacrificing quality. Details which need to be addressed are as follows: > The cutting tables – new tables have been requested for two years. They are essential if orders increase at a cost of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½15,000 each. > The eleven sewers produce on average five shirts a day each. The maximum which can be produced without additional staff is seven unless quality is sacrificed. > The three finishers spend a lot of time on special orders. More staff will be needed in this area unless the website only allows for ‘standard orders’. > The despatch manager advises unless more mechanisation is introduced more staff will be needed if orders have to be completed quickly. > It would be easier to sell knitwear and overcoats on the website most of which are supplied by other companies. However the suppliers of knitwear and overcoats would need at least two months notice if the volume of orders were going to increase substantially. The manufacturing manager supports the overall ideas but stresses it is absolutely no use trying to sell goods which cannot be produced in a reasonable time period as this would do more harm than good to the company’s reputation. Production need to be involved in the communication process at all times unless they are fully aware of what is happening at all times there wont be any goods to sell. The sales and marketing function are excited by this new venture. Jade Marsh (sales and marketing director) would like to see the task of setting the website given to a professional web development firm who are likely to charge à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½40,000 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½50,000 for a site with multi-media images. This will be vital to show the type of fabric that can be selected, the colour and the designs especially for the ties. The site must be user-friendly quick to access and use and that it can cope with a large number of ‘hits’ without crashing. She believes the key date for it to be finalised is September, so that the company can benefit from Christmas orders. In order for the site to be marketed it will cost money, it must be registered with good search engines. She would like to have special offers to tempt visitors to return again. All stationary must be reprinted to include the website address. During the first year the site needs advertising as widely as possible. The sales and marketing director believes that the e-commerce should be located in marketing (as it is a method of selling goods). Ideally she would like two more staff, one to join the mail-order team and be responsible for Internet orders and another to join customer services in case there are any problems with goods sold over the Internet. She believes this would minimise communication problems as all sales will be controlled in one area. She estimates that the company could sell 200,000 shirts and 150,000 ties if a good job of setting up and marketing the website was accomplished. The human resources function is concerned about three main aspects. > Where the website operations will be controlled. > How the website will be developed. Kim Fields the administration and IT service manager believes she should have control of website operations as she is IT manager especially as computer staff are responsible to her. She believes maintenance of the site will be crucial, it is important to set it up fairly quickly and then it can expand. Kim considers the most sensible route for website development would be to hire their own multi-media web developer to set up the page and sub-contract specialist parts to an outside firm if needed. In addition a programme/copywriter would be needed. The software and other associated costs would be about à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10,000. Having these staff would mean that the website could be continually updated in house. Keith is concerned about the effect on staff, he is anxious that the mail-order clerks should be trained to be able to print off and process orders arriving through the website as well as carrying out their current job. He thinks they will need extra help at busy periods such as Christmas. If the website is to be successful than eventually another member of staff may be required. He believes it to be more sensible to move this group of staff to the HR/Admin department so there would be better communications with the computer staff. Keith considers any communication problems during planning the stages can be solved by regular meetings between the IT and sales staff. Finance will also need to be included. Philip Markham has always aimed to produce menswear of excellent quality at affordable prices. The fabric used for shirts is of highest quality and designers aim to produce new designs each year. The functional areas which relates to these aims is the production department, finance department, human resources and sales and marketing. The first action to take would be in human resources the company needs to recruit the best people for the job including cutters, machinists, and finishers and look after them whilst they work. The finance function make sure that a budget is maintained when buying materials, paying wages and embarking in market research when embarking on achieving these particular aims. The finance function can give up-to-date information on the level of expenditure at any time. The production function uphold quality control at Philip Markham ands each team cutters, machinists and finishers is responsible for ensuring that quality is right at every stage of the process. Production is responsible for obtaining the best quality fabrics at the best prices and making sure all raw materials are delivered on time Human resources relates to these aims because their function is to recruit and train staff to meet all customer needs in relation to providing a service. The function incorporates company policy to treat employees fairly and equally in all aspects relating to their employment. A content workforce will achieve a friendly atmosphere and staff are keen to help consumers as well as each other.

Ancient Greece and Its Influence

Ancient Greece: The Most Influential Civilization Throughout history, civilizations have had many forms of government and many styles of art and architecture. But despite some fantastic architecture and some legitimate forms of government, no civilizations have influenced today’s government, art and architecture quite like the ancient Greeks. The Greeks invented democracy, which is the common government of the twenty-first century. Also, the Greeks were the first to create detailed sculptings and utilize the column, the same columns, in fact, that line the White House today.While some civilizations have also created awe-inspiring architecture, they have not been as influential as the ancient Greeks. Although other civilizations have made contributions to twenty-first century life, none have done more than the Greeks. Their detailed art, stunning architecture and revolutionary idea of democracy have become staples in modern society. While other works of architecture have been p rominent, no contributions have topped that of ancient Greece. Previous to the Greeks, art was primitive. It consisted of just simple pastel drawings or basic sculptures. The Greeks, without a doubt, revolutionized art.For the first time in history, great diligence has been offered in the area of fine details and perfection. John Boardman, a renowned professor of ancient Greek art said â€Å"Greek artists of the fifth and fourth centuries  B. C attained a manner of representation that conveys a vitality of life as well as a sense of permanence, clarity, and harmony† (Boardman 3). Greek art helped initiate the Greco-Buddhist art movement. Also, Greek art has directly influenced and inspired Michelangelo. Not only was the level of detail unprecedented for the time, but also the architecture of the sculptures was truly remarkable.The balance of weight needed to achieve every piece is beyond unthinkable. This is also the first time people have ever been sculpted in motion. For example, the Egyptians would always paint or sculpt people in stationary poses, while the Greeks sculpted people, in particular men, playing popular sports at the time, such as javelin tossing. In the area of architecture, Greeks again have set groundbreaking precedents. Most notably in the area of column design. The Greeks had three main types of columns. In order of simplicity, were the Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns respectively.Since their creation, they have been a defining mark on just about any Greek building. Today, all over the world, these columns are still utilized functionally and as design features. As well, the Greeks built stunning temples devoted to their many Gods and Goddesses. The designers of these temples took many things into account that had never been thought of before. Dr. Robert Guisepi of Cambridge University is a leader in the field of Greek history. In his words, the designers of temples took into account â€Å"Column spacing and height and the cur vature of floor and rooflines† (Guisepi 47).He proceeds to say, â€Å"They were calculated and executed with remarkable precision to achieve a perfect balance, both structurally and visually† (Guisepi). The evidence presented has clearly proven that Greek art and architecture are far from archaic, rather, vital, ubiquitous and, above all, influential in everyday life. Every civilization, both before and after the ancient Greeks have had a form of government. Most civilizations adopted an autocratic system by which one man held the balance of power. Prior to the Greeks, there was little variation in this system.Around 550BC, that all changed. Athens developed the first democratic system of government. In this system, an ecclesia, made up of all male citizens over 18 years of age, would debate bills and advise the higher ups, also, in the later years of democracy, they elected the generals themselves. The council of 500 was comprised of 50 people, (30 years of age or olde r, male, and citizens of Athens) in ten specific governing committee’s. People could only hold this position once in their lives and only for a tenth of a year. Finally the ten Generals would act as the â€Å"Presidents† of Athens.They upheld democratic policy and decided upon military actions. Despite its initial simplicity, this system actually had a fairly modern form of what is now referred to as the system of checks and balances. Athenians figured that if any of the Generals held power for too long, an autocratic system would be the by-product. To keep the generals in line, they were re-elected by the ecclesia on a yearly basis. Dr. Josiah Ober of the Stanford university political science factually has said â€Å"Athens beats all other poleis on all measures of practical success† (Ober 6).It has now been proven that the Athenian government was the most successful government of its time. This is reaffirming and solidifying the thesis statement proclaiming th at the ancient Greeks have been the most influential civilization to the modern world. Not only was their government wildly successful, but also its general form is still followed today. Many say that, in fact, the Egyptians have added the most to today’s knowledge of architecture. The main argument presented here is that the pyramids, in particular, the Great Pyramid of Giza, have influenced modern architects more than any ancient Greek creation.The pyramids led to an advanced knowledge in triangle and subsequently many mathematical formulas. Also, they were not only accurately symmetrical for the time, but even by todays rigorous architectural and building standards they are almost perfectly symmetrical. An amazing feat considering the lack of technology at the time. However, Greek architecture has been far more influential to modern buildings. Firstly, although the pyramids are jaw dropping, they are not longer built today; therefore they have very little influence.The Gre ek columns however, are used quite frequently today on a number of prominent building worldwide, most notably, the Whitehouse, the Abraham Lincoln memorial, and the Blue Mosque. The fact that they are used today clearly shows their influence worldwide. Mark Damen, faculty of Utah State University has said â€Å"In Athens, stands Holy structures†¦which mark an important turning point in the history of Western architecture not only for inaugurating a new type of building design, but also because it suggests that the ancient Greeks had begun to embrace a novel way of looking at the world† (Damen 3).This statement reaffirms the fact that Greek temples were far ahead of their time and set the precedent for thousands of years to come. Also, in terms of worldwide influence, the Greeks have contributed more than just columns and temples. The Greeks transformed the common perception of acoustics by creating the amphitheatre. The amphitheatre was built into a rock face and could s eat thousands. But even those hundreds of feet away from the performers could still hear their voices. This is due to the funnel-like acoustics in an amphitheatre.Even with the invention of microphones, amphitheatres are still being built worldwide today. The Hollywood Bowl and most professional sports stadiums utilize amphitheatre technology. Although it goes without saying that the creation of the pyramids is magnificent, the ancient Greeks have, on a whole, contributed more to modern architecture than any other civilization. Despite the fact that many other civilizations have influenced the modern world greatly, no civilization has outdone the influence of ancient Greece.The Greeks, have reformed the areas of art and architecture by adding a great deal of detail to artwork and sculptures while also creating buildings still marveled today. Furthermore, the Greeks were the first to use a democratic system of government; the basic principles of this system are utilized in almost eve ry country. From the dawn of man, people have tried to create groundbreaking ideas in all aspects of life. It is clear, with the evidence presented, that no civilization has done more to influence the modern world than the ancient Greeks.

Alex Haley

As of now, there are millions of website that can be searched on by people. It helps people to find necessary information in a split of second rather than to go to the library and see lots of books just to find the needed information. In searching the web, there are many troubles that a person can encounter. A particular site may have the needed information but the way it was presented is dull that it may not attract people that are searching.From Ann-Marie Imbornoni site, she group the information on her site so that readers will not get annoyed in reading such a long biography or how she starts in making a novel and how she becomes a successful in writing a children’s story. Although it is much shorter and not all necessary information was written there, the important is some significant events like the year it was released was revealed there (Imbornoni, 2006). But its background color is somewhat irritating to the eyes of the visitor.Its color is so striking that a person m ay not able to stay longer if that person caught the attention of the background. And the way it was written was okay because it is very readable to anybody. The picture of Rowling is so small that visiting person should take a time to look at her picture. And from R. Pettinger site, he gives much emphasis on how the Harry Potter concept all started. He clarifies how some scenes in the Harry Potter Book I was connected to J. K. Rowling’s life (R.Pettinger, 2007). It was quite long compared to Ann Marie Imbornoni’s site, but it was much cleared and unlike to her site, some events here were not that revealed like the title of each series and when it was published. Also, the background of the site was quite dull and it was not that interesting to read if the reader wants to have a fairer background and at the same time information that will surely give that much idea. The way it was written was good because it was also readable.The picture of the writer that the author is giving emphasis was nice because if a person visiting this site doesn’t know who is J. K. Rowling will give a clarification that she is that person. . References Imbornoni, A. -M. (2006). J. K. Rowling The story of Harry Potter's creator Retrieved May 08, 2007, from http://www. factmonster. com/spot/harrycreator1. html R. Pettinger. (2007). J. K. Rowling Biography. Retrieved May 08, 2007, from http://www. biographyonline. net/writers/j_k_rowling. html

The Rise of the European State and the Modern State Essay

The Rise of the European State and the Modern State - Essay Example According to Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson (2009), strong democracies have full fledged institutions that function to dispense the will of the people, effectively. Normally, strong democracies do not only boast of institutions that are fully functioning, but also institutions that discharge the will of the masses. These institutions may include public, nongovernmental and even private institutions, albeit emphasis is placed on public institutions. For this cause, institutions that make up the judiciary, the legislature and the executive are highly considered if they meet the threshold or not. For instance, an event that clearly epitomizes the democratic nature of strong judicial and legislative institutions in the US. Herein, although these institutions effectively and consistently discharge their duties as outlined in the US Constitutions, yet they did not arrogate themselves the authority to make marriage amendments without the involvement of the US citizens. Resultantly, to decide the fate of homosexual marriages in North Carolina, North Carolinians were extended the ultimate decision through voting, on May 8th, 2012. Thus, one can see that the strength of democratic institutions is not only hinged upon consistent and effective discharging of mandate, but also upon proximity of such initiatives to the will of the public. The will of the public is important herein since the legitimacy of these institutions and the government’s authority emanates from their closeness to public will.  ... Mostly, this weakness emanates from the absence of checks and balance and separation of powers. This absence denudates the effectiveness of these institutions by breeding external interference. In most cases, it is the head of the executive who does the interference. In weak states, important institutions such as electoral commissions and courts of law are unable to operate with autonomy, leading to spates of post-election violence and acts akin to crimes against humanity. Again, these states may be weak enough to be infiltrated by sectarian interests, instead of serving the interests of the majority or the people (Rotberg, 2003). States in the International Community That May Be Considered Just Too Weak To Continue Demanding Recognition One of the countries that aptly fit the class of weak states is Somalia. The weakness of Somalia is evidenced by its inability to provide public or social goods such as security, despite the fact that it has all the instruments of coercion (the priso n system, the police and the army). It is against this backdrop that large swathes of Somali land such as Jilib are still under the control of the Islamist organization, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahedeen (commonly known as al-Shabaab). The ineffectiveness of the country is also underscored by the facts that: the presence and operation of al-Shabaab form a parallel government to that of Transitional Somali Government; and that foreign terrorist cells such as al- Qaeda are sponsoring al-Shabaab’s presence and operations in Somalia. The latter is the case since terrorists are bent on destabilizing Somalia as a strategic point to expand to Africa. The same also exposes the vulnerability of the Somali government since it

Evaluating Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Evaluating Human Resource Management - Essay Example After hiring these employees, it is their role to improve the performance of the staff and make sure that their contribution to the company gets larger and larger as they prolong their stay in the entity. Moreover, the management should also make sure that the employees they hired abide by the rules set by the company and to know the demands of these employees to avoid conflict against the company. Aside from employee selection and hiring, the human resource management is also responsible for the benefits and compensation each and every employee is entitled of. The management has to make sure that they meet the needs of these personnel to avoid labour unions forming that ought to go against the company policy. According to McNamara [2005], small scale businesses do not usually have their own human resource management because they cannot afford to acquire either part-time or full-time help from independent contractors. These small scale businesses do the function and activities of the human resource management on their own. The managers of these small businesses have to monitor the employees they hired and make sure they follow the rules and regulations. Although they are small-sized businesses, it is also their responsibility to provide employee’s manuals to their staff to let them know the rules and policies and the rights that they are entitled of. In addition to what McNamara [2005] said, the human resource management have undergone some big changes over the past 20 to 30 years. Before, the human resource department was even called personnel department, which is in charge of just the employee paper works, hiring and giving salaries to personnel. However, drastic changes occurred which improved and gave a bigger responsibility to the management. This big change include staffing, personnel management, giving out extensive training to the

Resistance to Organizational Strategic Change Essay

Resistance to Organizational Strategic Change - Essay Example However the effects of the resistance to organizational change, various ways have been adopted to overcome the resistance. This essay puts into perspective various methods of managing resistance to change through aspects of education, participation, negotiation, facilitation, and coercion. It will further engage in identifying the best strategy to use at a given time, how it is supposed to be used, some of their advantages, as well as the limitations. Opposition to change usually begins with an individual and then spreads to create a faction in the organization (Kavanagh and Ashkanasy 2006). This essay attempts to answer the following questions: 1. What are the strategic developments that BMW has adopted and how can resistance to change be overcome? 2. How can the strategic developments in company be analyzed using the example of BMW? 3. What recommendations can be made in regard to the case scenario of BMW’s strategic developments? BMW is an international motor company that h as engaged in a plan to keep the company top in the industry by making appropriate and timely changes in the organization. The company has gone to the heights of making changes in its operations, staffing as well as in the management to ensure that they conform to the changing trends. Such changes have confronted opposition directly or indirectly. Resistance to organizational change can be overcome through proper policies that involve adequate preparedness and thorough sensitization of all the involved personnel. When confronted with the need for change, there are factors that organizations need to consider before the change is effected. Firstly, the organization should have a prospect of the resistance that is expected from the employees and the organizational system. The organization is composite and therefore, all its facets should be put into consideration before a change can be made. Secondly, it is important to consider the agency of the change in order to plan on how to handl e resistance. Decisions that are urgent and need immediate intervention are supposed to be handled with caution and the resistance handled immediately it immerges. In contrary, long term changes may take more time to implement and may involve extensive consultations. Thirdly, the most accurate information should be available about the change. This facilitates ease adoption and casts any doubt and suspicion. Lastly, it is important to consider the mover of the change relative to the position in the organization (Potter and Schlesinger 2008, pg 1). This is because a junior staff pushing a change alone without the support of the senior staff can be an overwhelming task, it is important that all the employees collaborate in effecting the change. Resistance from the high cadres of the organizational management or indifference can result to failure of the change. Apart from analyzing factors relating to the situation of the change, the rate of the adoption of the change is determined. It is important to analyze the situation carefully if it extensive and is deep. In addition, if the change proves to involve many people and some good amount of information, then it means it will have to be implemented in slow phases. For example, BMW’s change of the board of management structure in 2012 involved extensive consultations across the managers and the stakeholders. The aim of the change was to incorporate a

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

Morality - Essay Example f Catholic moral thinking. Reason informed faith The Catholic Church worked to cease the dichotomy of rational morality and faith morality, otherwise understood as pure humanism and sectarianism (Gula, 1989, p. 1). For the believer, faith and reason can be integrated in its moral tradition to make Christian teachings more understandable for non-believers as well. This is also explicated in Humanae Vitae published in 1968 which pointed that natural law is further made significant by divine revelations as well as in the scriptural writings (Gula, 1989, p. 1). The latter upholds that the moral principles can be taught, using logical inferences of reason, from the perspective of faith (Gula, 1989, p. 32) The bishops have likewise applied this moral framework to resolve the issues on homosexuality which articulated the rational capacity of human beings to understand gender and sexuality; illumined by faith (Gula, 1989, p. 25). This theological position of the issues of morality is also ap plicable to the problems and issues of bioethics, scientific innovation, and other development which put the Christian teachings under social and moral dilemma. Notwithstanding the pressures, the church consistently stood for the dignity of creation and the need to respect human rights. As such, the Catholic Church maintained that such human dignity cannot only be understood separately by reason but by unquestioning faith with conviction that dignity is a gift of God given to any person, even if the same be interpreted using the laws of nature. As such, every person needs to possess an informed faith, illumined by reason, to understand the strategic goal of moral life and on how to behave well as a moral agent. Every Catholic believer must be imbued with wisdom about the role of being as a moral agent. And, as a faithful, must have a reference which served as the criteria for moral judgment (Gula, 1989, p. 9; Blair, 2010, p 1). Common issues with humanity Like other institutions on earth, the Catholic Church is also mocked and rocked with variegated issues (Hamilton, 2013, p. 1). There were instances when the church is being subject of corruption, sexuality, questionable financial relations with state agents, and other social issues such as their involvement in extractive industries, in corporate leveraging, and in amassing real estate properties at the expense of those property-less and those that are bereft of economic capacity to meet even the most fundamental need—food (Hamilton, 2013, p. 1). The resignation of previous Pope was even controversially tagged with varied issues on corruption and political machinations due to some alleged transactions done. There were many priests that were allegedly responsible on sexual relations, which violated the dignity of women;

American Beauty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

American Beauty - Essay Example The flow of this film exhibits the various needs of different characters. Lester’s wife feels that her needs are not met by the husband while the daughter on the other end also observed the inadequacies in her father prompting her to develop negative relationship with him. The boss of lesser is a player in the scenario with high expectations from Lester. However, Lester himself is seeking social freedom and this presents a scenario where every character is in need of something. The major characters in this film include Lester Burnham who acts as the central point where all the actions of the other characters rotate. His wife and daughter Jane are equally significant in making the film. The boss and Jane’s friend also contribute to the development of the film. The central conflict here is Lester’s desire to achieve freedom from the chains of social depression that he has accumulated over time. This he tries out in the form of dating a friend to her daughter a twist that infuriate the wife more and disgusts the daughter.

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

Persuation - Essay Example Failure to be out the game voluntarily and apologize to fellow teammates, I will have no choice but to report Joseph to the coach. Joseph violated a major rule. The captains explicitly relayed the rules to the team members before the season begun and made it clear that it was vital for them to follow the rules. The team further agreed that drinking would lead to a one game suspension. Joseph, as a teammate, agreed to this policy. Therefore, there is no excuse for what Joseph did as he was aware of the consequences and the team’s goal. Joseph is my best friend. Therefore, he should respect my decision. He knows very well how dedicated I am to the team and winning the national championship. Moreover, he knows my work ethics and the importance of following the rules. I did not expect this from him as he is supposed to set a good example for the team. On my part, as the captain, associating with people who break rules and being lenient on them will not be setting a good example. Alcohol has many effects on a person. The dehydration and lack of energy, in particular, will affect Joseph. The team is on the verge of playing the biggest game of the season against the biggest rivals. Therefore, the training is intensive so that the team can succeed in beating the rivals. Dehydration and lack of energy will prevent Joseph from training as hard as he should. Thus, he should really consider the possibility of a poor performance. If I do not punish Joseph, the team might find out about the drinking and get angry, as it will be favoritism. The anger will affect the team’s performance, as there will be no coordination. Moreover, the other members will feel like their drinking and breaking other rules is justified. They will not expect a punishment if they broke any of the rules. If the coach was to find out that Joseph went out drinking and refused to sit out the game, he might actually kick him out of the team. The coach

Sensors and Control Systems (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) Lab Report

Sensors and Control Systems (Electrical and Electronic Engineering) - Lab Report Example Rotating a DC electric motor’s rotor like tacho generators will produce electricity and voice-coil speaker can also act as microphones. It consist of a nickel wire of 0.5-1 mm diameter kept stretched between the poles of a permanent magnet and having a small stylus rigidly attached to it at the mid-point. The wire is prestressed by twisting it, before being installed into the position. Two pick-up coils of fine wire are wound round the wire on either side of the mid-point. Any displacement of the stylus to one side or the other increases the torsion on the side and decreases it by an equal amount on the other side. This results in an increase of magnetic flux in one-half and a decrease in the other half. The corresponding induced emfs are in phase opposition and are processed by suitable networks as in the case of linear variable differential transformer. It is used as phonograph pick-up and is designed to have flat frequency response over 150 Hz- 15 kHz frequency range. Due to the nonlinearity and hysteresis in the performance, it is normally limited for use when time- varying torsions of small amplitude are to be measured. It was discovered in 1879 and belongs to one of the galvanomagnetic phenomena in which the interaction between the magnetic field and the moving electrical charges results in the development of forces that alter the motion of the charge. When an external magnetic field is applied to the current carrying hall element perpendicular to the current flow a Lorentz force acts on the current due to which a voltage called hall voltage is generated perpendicular to both the current and the magnetic field. This voltage is so small and needs amplification. If an electric current flows through a conductor in a magnetic field, the magnetic field exerts a transverse force on the moving charge carriers which tends to push them to one side of the

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Of course, monetary rewards for performance also come into the equation as do the effects of leadership since a good enough leader can motivate a lot more people than a below average leader (Senior, 2002). To better understand this correlates of motivation, it would be useful to examine them individually with practical examples of their use in real world situations. In terms of psychology, it is understood that certain personality types are better at handling certain positions than others and even though personality itself is rather complex to define but the generally accepted notion has been the collection of emotional and behavioural properties as well as the thoughts and ideas of a person (Erdogan, 2005). This idea points towards the notion that certain individuals can be better managers and leaders based on their personal life experiences while others could find it difficult to work effectively if placed in a situation which requires leadership skills (Rosenfeld & Wilson, 1999). The earlier work in the field of personality study is attributed to Jung which was later on expanded by others. While we may say that person X has a cheerful personality, scientists prefer to classify personality in three different models including Factorial models, typologies and circumplexes which are directly connected with how they perform in given situations (Clarke & Robertson, 2005). Depending on the needs of an organisation, certain personalities and behavioural tracts can be more useful for the company than others. A personality evaluation profile can be created to screen candidates for some positions but there is a negative point associated with such a procedure since the ethics of such an approach can be questioned. There is a significant amount of research and information which shows that there is a definite link between personality and certain job roles. Of course much of the evidence presented is based on anecdotes and observations by individuals

Occupation decision Essay Example for Free

Occupation decision Essay My decision to enter medical school started after my grandfather suffered a heart attack at the age of 20. Although this incident hurt me very much because of the medical staff inability to save his life disappointed me. After the grieving process was complete I began to consider a career in the healthcare industry. My initial step toward entering a career in the healthcare industry was to shadow a cardiologist which I believed would provide me an opportunity for me to learn what a life as a healthcare provider would be like. Once I decided that I would like to pursue a career in medicine I enrolled in college and currently completing a bachelors of science in Biology. I found the healthcare profession to be exciting and realized that it afforded me the opportunity to help the sick and injured which I believe I will enjoy and have a talent for. My experience working for the cardiologist affords me the opportunity to learn basic healthcare skills such as obtaining vital signs. Record keeping is an important part of managing a practice and my experience of tracking records has afforded me the opportunity to demonstrate this important skill. My ultimate goal is to complete medical school, a residency and then pursue a fellowship in either cardiology or neurology. One of the goals I have is to help prevent people form suffering an untimely death such as my grandfather by seeking to provide optimal care to prevent the consequences of poor health. I believe that the desire to help people created by my grandfather’s untimely death will help me provide competent and compassionate care. These traits will be advantageous to MUA because of the positive public image perception it will create. My undergraduate instructors and the cardiologist that I have followed I hope to someday model that inspirational behavior. Although I do not have many academic credentials currently but my desire to help people who are sick and injured. I am finishing my last semester with a bachelor of science in biology. This background in biology has provided me with the basic scientific knowledge which has developed a strong foundation for me to build upon with the courses to follow. I am of reputable character which is an important character trait because of the high level of trust needed between a physician and provider. The office work and shadowing I completed prior to my enrollment in college has provided me a unfettered glimpse of the struggles and benefits of pursing a career in healthcare. I believe that because of the reasons I listed I would be an excellent candidate for admission to your program. .

The Study Of Paranormal Phenomena Psychology Essay

The Study Of Paranormal Phenomena Psychology Essay The study of paranormal phenomena or paranormal belief is a component of parapsychology. According to Kennedy (2005), paranormal belief is still a poorly understood aspect in humanity. Some people believe in it but some are strongly opposed to the idea of paranormal phenomena; both parties are standing firmly in their own viewpoint to an extreme. According to Cline (n.d.), parapsychology is a field that engages the study of psychological phenomena which are unexplainable by means of science or can say that it has against the principles and theories of science. The term parapsychology was invented in year 1889 by a psychologist, Max Dessoir. Paranormal phenomena can be divided into three types which are clairvoyance or precognition, telepathy, and telekinesis. Telepathy is the capacity to sense and exchange information across the spaces through mind power. Telekinesis is the using of mind power to move objects. Clairvoyance or precognition is the capability to predict future events. Y et Tobacyk (2004) has divided the belief in paranormal phenomena into seven dimensions namely traditional religious belief, psi, witchcraft, superstition, spiritualism, extraordinary life forms, and precognition. Paranormal beliefs have been found in many cultures for more than a thousand years (Jahoda, 1969 as cited in Wiseman Watt, 2004) and the recent surveys showed that these paranormal beliefs are continuing to flourish nowadays (Newport Strausberg, 2001 as cited in Wiseman Watt, 2004). Paranormal phenomenon was experienced and believed by people of all cultures. This means that people from different cultures will have different belief systems toward paranormal phenomena. According to Irwin (2009), people will normally reckon all these paranormal phenomena as realities or truths instead of just a belief system that should be adopted by them in term of their own cultures. Besides, the paranormal belief within a society also consists of its cultural and chronological contexts. In the cultural context, a particular paranormal belief is largely endorsed by a culture setting but it is not necessary to have endorsed by people from other places who practiced different cultures. On the other hand, in the context of chronological setting, the paranormal belief that is mostly adopted in one time might be abandoned in another time within the same community. This may be due to that particular community has become skeptical and is being more emphasized on scientific evidences in viewing events or maybe the belief is just no longer adopted within that community. Why are there so many people believing in the paranormal phenomena? According to Hood (2009), paranormal beliefs are not simply spreading by people and making others what to think. However, he claimed that human brain has a mind design that guides them naturally to form and understand the world schema and to make sense of it by constructing the intuitive theories. These intuitive theories produce a paranormal sense and feeling. He declares that all these can take place early in the development before culture emerges to lead peoples thinking styles. The influences of culture may happen later during childs development stages. Children will construct information about the world through their own intuitive reasoning which directs them to both normal and paranormal beliefs. Nevertheless, there is something in the human mind that guides people to belief. The sense of paranormal experiences or beliefs is a part of our mind design and thus it is deeply implanted in the ways of how we explain all these paranormal phenomena. On the other hand, according to Fritscher (2012), paranormal belief is a possible sign of  disordered thinking in the field of psychology. There may have some lesions in the brain of the paranormal believers which cause them to have hallucinations. However, it is undeniable that the paranormal phenomenon has formed a crucial part of many belief systems and world views of the people which affected their interpretation of the world throughout their life. Problem Statement A lot of researches have been carried out in order to test the paranormal beliefs based on the demographic variables such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, races and culture. However, the hypothesis of social marginality had been used to predict the paranormal belief in these demographics (Irwin, 1993). Bainbridge (1978) and Wuthnow (1976) as cited in Irwin (1993) had declared that the socially marginal groups such as the people from low society status, jobless or having the low education level were prone to believe in paranormal phenomena. This may because they believe that these can lead them to a better life. On the other hand, a research which examines the social marginality hypothesis in paranormal belief has been conducted by Emmons and Sobal (1981). The finding of their research shows that females and unmarried people will normally associate with paranormal belief. The factors such as age, low education level and jobless usually do not have any correlations with paranormal belief. Therefore, it can be concluded that in terms of education level and employment, the social marginality hypothesis has a contradictory finding which failed to obtain the consistent results in all situations. Many researches such as the study of Irwin (1985), Mc-Garry and Newberry (1981), Randall (1990), Randall and Desrosiers(1980), and Tobacyk and Milford (1983) as cited in Irwin (1993) have showed that there are more female than male paranormal believers. However, according to Gray (1990), there was an absence of gender differences for the students from science or non-science courses. The male students of non-science courses showed the same level of strong paranormal belief as female students. Besides, the female science students showed low level of paranormal belief as male students. Thus we cannot generalize that females have stronger paranormal belief than males. Some researchers have claimed that the belief in traditional religions is same as the belief in paranormal phenomena, but this still remains questionable whether paranormal belief is related to religious belief (Irwin 1993). Some of the researches stated that religious belief was correlated with paranormal belief, for example, the research of Buhrmann and Zaugg (1983), Orenstein (2002), Thalbourne and Hensley (2001) as cited in Tam and Shiah (2004). On the other hand, the study of Ellis (1988) and Rice (2003) as cited in Tam and Shiah (2004) declared that religious belief is not related with paranormal belief. However, according to Rice (2003), in the relationship between religious belief and paranormal belief, there was a lack of confirmation whether their correlation is significant or not. This is because the relationship between them is much more multifaceted and diverse among the theories proposed. Besides the researches stated above, there are also many other researches about paranormal beliefs. There are some psychological inquiries which are very important and needed to be investigated and known by everyone. Why do people believe in paranormal phenomena? Which group of people will tend to believe in these phenomena? In this modern era, most people tend to be more logically and scientifically in forming their ways of thinking which are evidence-based yet it still has many people who believe in these paranormal phenomena. Therefore, it is necessary for us to know what kind of people and what are the reasons that lead them to believe in paranormal phenomena. On top of that, the identification of the effects or consequences of paranormal belief that may have for human life are very important because it may have a great impact on the development of human civilization. Significant of Study The research and career that related with parapsychology or transpersonal psychology are not popular in Malaysia. There is no research done on this topic by Malaysian as their dissertations or theses temporarily. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a research on this topic in Malaysia. People from different parts of the world will have their own unique type of paranormal beliefs regardless of their cultures. These paranormal beliefs will have some influences in different aspects of human life. For example, it can influence the critical thinking or cognitive ability, socioeconomic status and creativity of an individual. Thus, it is necessary to carry out a project at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) based on the students in Perak campus in order to examine their paranormal belief level and to identify the effects of strong paranormal belief in their life. It is important to know whether Asian females are stronger in paranormal belief compared with males, since almost all the western researches showed the consistent results that females will have a stronger paranormal belief compared to males. Moreover, it is interesting to know if religion(s) will make their followers to have strong belief in paranormal phenomena and how they achieved that. Lastly, it is interesting to know whether students from Arts and Science stream will have different paranormal belief level in Asian countries like Malaysia as most of the Western researches showed that Science stream students tend to have less paranormal belief compared to Arts stream students. All these researches carried out to examine gender differences, different religions and Arts and Science streams in level of paranormal belief are aimed to investigate whether the findings have cross-cultural consistency. Objectives To determine whether females are stronger in paranormal belief compared to males as shown in most of the researches carried out by psychologists from western countries. To identify whether Science stream students will have less paranormal belief compared to Arts stream students as they have more scientific knowledge and more scientifically ways of thinking. To find out whether the different religious beliefs will influence the belief of paranormal phenomena. Research Question Is there any difference in paranormal belief between males and females? Is there any difference in paranormal belief between Arts and Science stream students? Is there any difference in paranormal belief among different religious beliefs? Hypothesis Females will have stronger paranormal belief than males. Students from Arts stream will have stronger paranormal belief than Science stream students. There is a difference in paranormal belief among different kinds of religious beliefs. Operational Definition Sex According to American Psychological Association (APA) (2011), the term of sex is referred to the biological category of an individual, which is being classified as male and female. The term of gender was not suitable to use in this study as gender is referred to the behavior or attitude given by culture or society that is linked with the individuals biological sex according to APA (2011). Religion It still remains undefined under the international law (Gunn, 2003). However, according to Yinger (1970), religion is a system of beliefs and practices in which a group of people are struggling with the ultimate questions of life. There are many different religions in Malaysia, such as Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Sikhism. However, this study is mainly focused on Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and Christianity as most of the UTARs students are Chinese and Indian. Nevertheless, other religions like Islam and Sikhism are very rare. Arts stream The faculties of Arts stream in UTAR Perak campus are Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF), Faculty of Arts and Social Science (FAS), Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT). The courses offered by FBF are Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Communication and Network, Accounting, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Financial Economics, and Finance. In FAS, it consists of the courses such as Languages and Linguistics, Psychology and Counseling, Journalism, Public Relation and Advertising. For FICT, the courses offered are Computer Science, Business Information Systems, Information Systems Engineering and Computer Engineering. Science stream The Science stream departments in UTAR Perak campus are Faculty of Science (FSc) and Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology (FEGT). The courses of FSc included Logistics and International Shipping, Agricultural Science, Biological Science, Biomedical Science, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Statistical Computing and Operations Research and Microbiology. While FEGT offered the courses of Electronic Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Petrochemical Engineering, Construction Management and Industrial Engineering. CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW Numerous journals, dissertations and theses about paranormal beliefs have been published by Western researchers. Almost all findings are consistent with the hypotheses stated. Below is the review of some journals, dissertations and theses about the concept and history of paranormal beliefs, its theoretical framework and paranormal beliefs based on the demographic variables of sex differences, religions and different areas of study (arts and science stream). Paranormal Beliefs Besides the term of paranormal, there are also other words which have the same meaning such as superstitious, magical and supernatural. According to Lindeman and Svedholm (2012), psychologists have raised the awareness and interest in the issues of paranormal, superstitious, magical and supernatural (PSMS) since the year of 1800. The term PSMS belief is defined as category mistakes which confuse the basic knowledge of material objects, mental phenomena, living organisms, and the development as a whole. This term has been applied inconsistently in many research literatures. PSMS came out with the conceptual definitions which are classified into domain-general and domain-specific since last two decades. The definition of domain-general consists of five sets, namely belief in scientifically impossible phenomena, false beliefs, and associative biases (irrational acts, co variation bias and laws of sympathetic magic). Nevertheless, this definition failed to differentiate other unfounded b eliefs from PSMS beliefs as they covered a wide range of beliefs. The domain-specific definition can be further divided into two groups which are intuitive and counterintuitive beliefs about the phenomena of biological, physical and psychological. This definition is more appropriate to classify the PSMS beliefs because it can explain some of the types and dissimilarities among them. Overall, there is no significant difference among the operation of PSMS beliefs. (pp. 1-11) Richman and Bell (2012) found that the levels of paranormal belief dropped over the years. This can be seen from two experiments by Richman and Bell (2012) with the university student latest sample (2010) as well as Tobacyk and Milford (1983), which were both carried out in Southeastern US state university. Even though there were similar levels of belief in a variety of phenomena for two samples, there were still some aspects of the paranormal beliefs which decreased dramatically over the period of 27 years. The paranormal belief subscales of precognition and traditional religious belief showed less significant differences for the two samples. Precognition will be endured due to the reality that more people had experienced the predictive dream compared to other paranormal phenomena. In this case, the study of Royalty (1995) showed a significant relationship between the paranormal belief levels and the self-reported history of paranormal experience (as cited in Richman Bell, 2012). F or the subscales of traditional religious belief in paranormal belief, it has been a human continuous lifestyle regardless of cultures and age groups. Furthermore, there were some researches, including Richman and Bell (2012), proposed that traditional religious beliefs have little or no relation with paranormal beliefs, for example, Randall and Desrosiers (1980) and Rice (2003) as cited in Richman and Bell (2012). There are various personalities and factors which cause people to belief in paranormal phenomena, for instance, high fantasy proneness, sensation seeking and high openness, external locus of control and neuroticism may also contribute to paranormal beliefs. (pp. 197-206) Moreover, Oh, Kim and Oh (2011) had done a cross-cultural study and revealed that Korean students have higher paranormal beliefs compared with United States (US) students in general. Nevertheless, the paranormal beliefs, in both religious and non-religious people, have decreased in Korea and US throughout the ten year period whereby it can be seen from the two testing periods which are 1999 and 2009. A dramatically decrease can be seen in Korea. Korean students have higher paranormal beliefs in all subscales besides traditional religious belief compared with US students at the year of 1999. In 2009, Korean students still have stronger paranormal beliefs than US students apart from spiritualism and religiosity although there is more decrease in Korean students compared to US students. Therefore, the differences in paranormal beliefs between Korean and US students were not significant in 2009. This result obtained is most likely due to the advance in scientific knowledge which may affe ct their thinking. The findings showed that people who possess and understand scientific knowledge will have lower paranormal beliefs and this idea is consistent with the study of Lim (1983) as cited in Oh, Kim and Oh (2011). (pp. 35-51) Sex and Paranormal Beliefs There are many researches that have been done to examine the relationship between sex and paranormal beliefs. Many researches reported that females have higher level of paranormal beliefs than males. The review of Irwin (1993) pointed out some of the studies which proved that females will have higher global paranormal beliefs than males, such as Randall and Desrosiers (1980), McGarry and Newberry (1981), Tobacyk and Milford (1983), Irwin (1985), and Randall (1990). There are lots of studies stated in the review of Irwin (1993) illustrated that females will normally has higher belief in ESP than males in terms of precognition and telepathy, for example, Kennedy (1939), Emmons and Sobal (1981), Thalbourne (1981), Haraldsson (1981, 1985a), Tobacyk and Milford (1983), Irwin (1985), Gray (1990b), and Clarke (1991). According to Irwin (1993), females also portray higher paranormal belief in the subscales of psychic healing (Gray, 1990b), superstitions (Emme, 1940; Scheidt, 1973; Blum Blum , 1974; Blum, 1976), traditional religious concept (Hay Morisy, 1978; Emmons Sobal, 1981; Tobacyk Milford, 1983; Black, 1990), reincarnation (Gray, 1990b), astrology (Salter Routledge, 1971; Zarour, 1972; Wuthnow, 1976; Emmons Sobal, 1981; Fichten Sunerton, 1983; Grey, 1988; Gray, 1990b; Clarke, 1991), and hauntings (Haraldsson, 1985a). On the other hand, males have showed higher belief in extraordinary life forms like Loch Ness monster (Tobacyk Milford, 1983; Tobacyk Pirttila-Backman, 1992), and in UFOs (Gray, 1990b; Clarke, 1991). (pp. 8-9) The research of Wolfradt (1997, pp. 15-19) revealed that females have higher level of paranormal belief compared to males because they scored higher on some subscales of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (RPBS) such as superstition, psi belief, spiritualism, witchcraft and precognition. Nevertheless, there were no sex differences at the RPBS subscales of belief in extraordinary life forms and religious belief. On the other hand, Eder, Turic, Milasowszky, Adzin and Hergovich (2010, p. 521) declared that females will generally portray higher paranormal beliefs in the subscales of spirituality and traditional religious belief, but it was less significant to the subscales of witchcraft and psi. Besides, males showed higher paranormal belief in subscale of extraordinary life forms. However, there was no sex difference in the subscales of precognition and superstition. On the contrary, the study of Blackmore and Moore (1994) stated that there were no significant gender differences in par anormal beliefs in term of Paranormal Belief Scale (PBS) score (p. 95). Gray (1990) revealed that females are prone to adopt the paranormal beliefs like psychic, reincarnation, astrology and ESP, while males tend to believe in extraterrestrial life forms like aliens compared to females (p. 181). This is because males will take the initiative to think and learn while females put more emphasis on their feelings or sentiments (Abele, 2003, pp. 768-776). Thus, females are more likely to believe in verbal phenomena such as psychic readings and males tend to believe in physical paranormal phenomena or science phenomena like UFO or aliens (Hauser, 2008, p. 1). Simultaneously, Houran and Lange (2007) concluded this as the cognitive differences between males and females in which males are more headed to naturally related phenomena while females are prone to humanly related paranormal phenomena (as cited in Hauser, 2008, p. 1). Therefore, these researches indicate that there are sex differences in the type of paranormal beliefs, but not the quantity of paranormal beliefs. Furthermore, the study of Preece and Baxter (2000) drew a conclusion that sex differences were basically being discovered at each year group with females are normally less skeptical than males in term of paranormal beliefs such as ESP and psychic ability. This is because according to Preece and Baxter (2000), females have been influenced by the popular media such as newspaper articles or magazines. On the other hand, males are usually less skeptical than females about the UFO belief. Males tend to belief that aliens from other planets had visited Earth in the past. This may due to the particular interests of males in space traveling and universe which are always being portrayed in the films or novels according to Preece and Baxter (2000). Nevertheless, the critical reasons for both males and females to adopt different types of paranormal beliefs might be the combination of biological aspects like genetic and cultural aspects like social norms whereby different roles were being instil led to them based on their gender. (pp. 1147-1156) Kennedy (2003, pp. 27-39) claimed that males will always be extreme skepticism toward paranormal belief because they tend to put a significant assessment on manipulation and rational thinking. Therefore, they may frequently imagine that they are threatened by all these paranormal beliefs and thus showing aggressiveness toward different belief systems. National Canadian survey also obtained a consistent finding which claimed that males are prone to be the extreme skeptics of paranormal beliefs and think that spirituality was insignificant, while females will have the higher paranormal beliefs and think that spirituality was significant. According to Blackmore (1994b), most of the males were not concerned or attracted by the paranormal phenomena in terms of examining the atypical declaration or trying out the psychic experiences by themselves, they just uphold their own belief systems (as cited in Kennedy, 2003). The fact contributed to these phenomena which has been stated by Kennedy (2003) is that males possess the genetic predispositions for analytical thinking and social authority. On the other hand, the findings of Lindeman and Aarnio (2006, pp. 597-599) stated that females possess higher intuitive and lower logical thinking and thus it seems to be the generative mechanisms for females to have adopted more paranormal beliefs compared with males. Art and Science Stream text in Paranormal Beliefs The research of Gray and Mill (1990, pp. 162-172) showed that English graduate students tend to adopt more paranormal beliefs such as ESP, UFO, astrology, psychic healing and reincarnation compared to Biology graduate students who have stronger belief in non-paranormal phenomena like evolution. The Biology graduate students needed fewer signs compared to English graduate students for the analysis of the information in the text they read. Even though less signs are needed by Biology graduate students on the scientific contents, their performances were not significant different with English graduate students. However, there was a significant positive relationship between the number of signs required and paranormal belief in which the more signs required in order for completing a scientific context, the stronger the belief in paranormal phenomena. This is because they do not approach the scientific evidences with a proper critical standpoint. Therefore, this study pointed out that there were more English graduate students who have the higher paranormal beliefs compared to Biology students. Besides, the study of Craig (1991) demonstrated that the students from music-art and English-foreign language majors have stronger paranormal beliefs than the students from social studies and mathematics-science majors (p. 64). Morier and Keeports (1994, pp. 443-453) stated that students from science and pseudoscience class (treatment group) were generally having lower level of paranormal belief compared with the students in psychology and law class (control group). Initially, both groups did not show any differences before the course started. However, the participants from treatment group revealed a significant decrease in paranormal belief than control group in which the standard score units for control group only dropped with an average of 0.17 while treatment group was dropped with an average of 1.08. The ultimate cause that science and pseudoscience course has successfully changed the level of paranormal beliefs may be due to the dealing with such beliefs obviously and clearly during the class. In addition, Jones (1980) also proposed that paranormal beliefs can only be eliminated through the direct confrontation with the paranormal phenomena (as cited in Morier Keeports, 1994). This is because the sci ence and pseudoscience course has provided students with more scientific knowledge which lead them to acknowledge science as a way to investigate and evaluate the paranormal events or misconceptions. Overall, the findings for this study discovered that skeptical behavior can be achieved by scientific teaching or critical thinking abilities. These results support the study of Grimmer and White (1992) whereby it claimed that science education may add to the better skeptical attitude as science students will normally have a lower level of paranormal beliefs compared to arts students (as cited in Preece Baxter, 2000, p.1154). We can see that when an individual has more scientific knowledge or is interested in science, then he or she will tend to have lower paranormal beliefs compared to others who know little or nothing about science. Prichard (2011) had done a research to investigate paranormal beliefs and science motivation among the biology and psychology students. The participants consist of the students from advanced biology, introductory psychology, and advanced psychology. The findings showed that introductory psychology students have more paranormal beliefs compared to the students from advanced biology and advanced psychology. Although science motivation is assumed to have an effect in reducing the paranormal beliefs, there was no significant difference between advanced biology and advanced psychology students in paranormal beliefs, albeit Biology students have higher level of science motivation compared to both introductory and advanced psychology students. Thus, Prichard (2011) had found that s tudy through psychology course may become the greater predictor for reducing the paranormal beliefs compared to science motivation. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that science motivation will lead to a more rational thinking about paranormal beliefs as it is not the only factor for skepticism. (pp. 2-20) Religious Belief and Paranormal Beliefs There are a lot of researches that have been carried out to investigate the relationship between paranormal beliefs and religiosity. In the review of Irwin (1993), Irwin (1985) reported that global paranormal beliefs such as psychic healing, precognition, telepathy, psychokinesis (PK), and astral projection have a positive relationship with religiosity; however there is no relation between the global paranormal beliefs and religiosity reported by Alcock (1975). Besides, Tobacyk and Milford (1983) declared that there is a positive correlation between belief in precognition and religiosity (as cited in Irwin, 1993). Both researches of Haraldsson (1981) and Thalbourne (1984) claimed that belief in ESP was associated with religiosity in which ESP belief is positive correlated with praying, reading the religious materials and attending religious gathering (as cited in Irwin, 1993); but according to Irwin (1993), this was not proved by Irwin (1985) and Clarke (1991). Nevertheless, Jones et al. (1977) claimed that church involvement do not have significant relationship with global paranormal belief and belief in various paranormal phenomena (Alcock, 1975; Sheils Berg, 1977), but Wuthnow (1976) reported that there is a negative correlation between church involvement and astrology belief (as cited in Irwin, 1993). On the other hand, according to Irwin (1993), religious affiliation has been declared that there is no significant relationship with either ESP belief (Murphy Lester, 1976) or global paranormal belief (Jones et al., 1977). Although Sheils and Berg (1977) reported a correlation between religious and paranormal beliefs, Thalbournes (1981) had reexamined the data and pointed out that the result was not significantly different (as cited in Irwin, 1993). Tobacyk and Milford (1983) had examined the religiosity in which it has a positive relationship with witchcraft belief, a negative relation with spiritualism, and do not have significant relationship with superst itions and extraordinary life forms belief (as cited in Irwin, 1993). The study of Clarke (1991) revealed that religiosity have a positive relationship with psychic healing belief and negative relation with belief in UFO or aliens (as cited in Irwin, 1993). (pp. 13-14) The research of Shiah, Tam, Wu and Chang (2010, pp. 367-382) had been conducted in Chinese population to find out the relationship between paranormal beliefs and religiosity. They reported that the believers of traditional Chinese religious will generally have stronger paranormal belief compared to Christian believers and atheists. Therefore, the greater participation of traditional Chinese religious believers in the activities which focus on paranormal experiences might contribute to greater paranormal belief, especially when it was compared to Christianity. The findings are consistent with the connotation that Christianity might have less paranormal belief compare with other religions. According to Hergovich, Schott and Arendasy (2005, pp. 293-303), the findings showed that there was a low but significant relationship between paranormal belief and religiosity. People who are self-reported religiosity and intrinsic religiosity have stronger relation with paranormal belief compared to people who held extrinsic religiosity. Yet, the relation of Catholics and Protestants to paranormal belief is little or even portrayed a negative relationship between intrinsic religiosity and paranormal belief. Besides, there was a stronger paranormal belief with the participants who do not have the religious attachment. However, all these findings proposed that paranormal belief can be a substitute for the traditional religious belief. The main idea of this research is that there was a slightly positive relationship between paranormal belief and religiosity. Aarnio and Lindeman (2007) had conducted a research showing that the different results have been found for the correlations of religious

Strategic Management Of Ryanair Commerce Essay

Strategic Management Of Ryanair Commerce Essay Ryanair was set up in 1985 andzz is one of the oldest and most successful low-cost airlines of Europe. In fact, Ryanair was one of the first independent airlines in Ireland. In 2001, many believed that Ryanair was like the Wal-Mart and Southwest Airlines of Europe. Ryanair transformed the Irish air services market where other airlines like Avair failed to compete with the more powerful national carrier Aer Lingus. 2. INTRODUCTRION RYANAIR: The ‘Southwest of European Airlines in 2007 Ryanair, Europes biggest low-fares airline (LFA ) reported its third quarter results for 2007 with net profits dropping 27 percent compared to a net profit of 48 million a year earlier. Ryanair cited poor market conditions, fuel costs (oil prices at $90 a barrel) and concerns on recession in the UK and many other European economies for its current performance and not so strong future profit expectations. With average winter fares dropping almost 5 percent its underlying net profit in the three months to end December fell to 35 million euros ($52 million). Other factors that contributed included doubling of airport charges combined with reduction of winter capacity at Stinted , significant cost increases at Dublin Airport combined with longer sector lengths and staff costs which increased by 18 pct to 67 million euros. Ryanairs net profit figure excluded a one-off gain of 12.1 million euros ($17.99 million) arising from the disposal of 5 Boeing 737-800 aircrafts. 3. CURRENT FACT THAT MAKES RYANAIR SUCCESSFUL * the Worlds favourite airline * 37 bases and 950+ low fare routes across 26 countries, connecting 150 destinations * 210 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft with firm orders for a further 102 new aircraft * employs a team of more than 7 000 people * expects to carry approximately 66 million passengers 4. ENVIRONMNETAL ANALYSIS 4.1 PESTEL ANALYSIS For determining the key issues will be faced by any of internationally growing organisation such as Ryanair, PESTEL analysis plays a key role to highlight the problems in different sectors of competition issues. These factors are mentioned below: 4.1.1 POLITICAL FACTOR * Strengths and pressure of trade unions. * Global Village (I-e Growth and expansion of EU countries). * Terrorism increased number of security measures. * Involvement of environmental organisations is increasing environmental protection charges. * Support of French government to their own national airlines. 4.1.2 ECONOMIC FACTOR * Day by day increase in fuel charges.  · Devaluation of dollar price.  · Increase use of high speed travelling through cars and trains.  · European Union expansion. 4.1.3 SOCIAL FACTOR * Increase in grey market * Increasing travelling lifestyle * Increasing business travelling 4.1.4 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTOR  · Increasing volume of internet advertising.  · Use of satellite TV.  · Environmental friendly cars (Hybrid technology).  · Internet competition. 4.1.5 ENVIRONMENT FACTOR  · Control of noise level.  · Green house / carbon emission effect. 4.1.6 LEGAL FACTOR * Misleading advertisement driving towards increased number of allegations * Illegal subsidies for Airports * Wheelchair charges 4.2 PORTERS FIVE FORCES 4.2.1 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIER (LOW) 1. Boeing is RAs main suppliers 2. Only 2 possible suppliers of planes Boeing and Airbus witching costs from one supplier to the other is high because all mechanics and pilots would have to be retrained. 3. Price of aviation fuel is directly related to the cost of oil (Ryanair controls these through hedging). 4. Regional Airports have little bargaining power as they are heavily dependent on one airline 5. Bigger airports, where Ryanairs competitors operate, have greater bargaining power. Ryanairs policy is to try and avoid these airports. 4.2.2 BUYER POWER (LOW) LOW Bargaining Power of Customers 1. Customers are price sensitive 2. Switching to another airline is relatively simple and is not related to high costs (Internet-all airlines are online) 3. Customers know about the cost of supplying the service 4. No loyalty 4.2.3 THREATS OF NEW ENTRANTS (HIGH) LOW New Entrants 1. Some barriers to entry (restricted number of licenses for air carriers) 2. High capital investment 3. Restricted slot 4.2.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES (HIGH) 1. Fast speed trains running on short hales. 2. New hybrid technology introduced in the new cars which save fuel of holidaymakers and thay can enjoy nice breaks in different countries. 3. Other competitive new European airlines. 4.2.5 COMPETITIVE RIVALERY (MEDIUM) 1. Deregulations and increase in number of new routes will encourage other people carriers/ competitors to fill the gap which indicates the sign of increase in buyer power. 2. New mergers and alliances by big airlines such as British Airways and Iberia. 3. Other big competitors such as Air France and KLM etc. Will attract the customer by gathering the data of frequent flyers and offering them special perks/ discounts to increase their customer loyalty. 4. Various other airlines are thinking to provide comfort and extra services to their premium business passengers. 4.3 INDUSTRY PROFITABILITY 1. High forces are applied on other industrial competitors specially for new entrants as the gap in the industry is already covered by Ryanair and Easyjet after capturing low traffic airports. 2. By easily building a good infrastructure by Ryanair is made difficult for other competitors in industry to setup a new heavy budgeted cost to compete. 4.4 STRATEGIC GROUP ANALYSIS STRATEGIC GROUP Strategic group is the group of firms in an industry following the same or similar strategy along the strategic dimensions. (Page No. 129 Porter 1980) 1. In the light of all points discussed above, it is quite clarified that other strategic groups such as Easy Jet and Flybe are using nearly same kind of techniques to attract market share towards their company. 2. On the other hand, latest merger between British Airways and Iberia will be a new intimation for Ryanair in U.K as they will introduce low packages for American division where Iberia is already effectively working so that is the barrier for Ryanair to grow its market share in American region. 3. Cheap flights already offered by Lufthansa to get the good competition with Ryanair. 4.5 RESOURCED-BASED OF RYANAIR The resource based view does not focus so much on the actual labour and capital deployed by the company, but rather on the way in which these resources are utilised. (Strategic Planning, Prof. Alex Scott 2008) Resources are tangible and intangible assets a firm uses to choose and implement its strategies. Capabilities are the skills a firm uses to bring its resources to bear. The capabilities of the firm are: * Lowest airfare rates * Simple processes (no frills) * Large brand awareness * Clear offer (focuses on particular market segment) * Innovative strategies on cost cutting * Quick turnaround time The resource-based approach uses various terms for different types of resources. Resources include physical resources, human resources, financial resources and intellectual resources. Competences arise from the continual deployment and integration of resources over time and across activities. Core competences are necessary for successful performance. Distinctive capabilities are competences superior to competitors. Taken together these can be regarded as the companys strategic capabilities. 4.6 ANALYSIS OF CORE COMPETENCIES Threshold Capabilities Resources Competencies Threshold Resources Threshold Competences Tangible Ø Fleer Commonality Ø Quantitative Carrier Services Ø Keep maintaining Low Cost Ø Online Reservation Resources Ø Load Competence Intangible Ø Experienced/ Specialised Management Ø Customer Service Capabilities for Competitive Analysis Unique Resources Core Competences Tangible Ø Flight Frequency Ø Cargo Service Quality Ø Objective to Keep Low customer Fare Ø Provide Good Service of Online Booking/ No Luggage Booking Ø Low Fare Air Carrier in European Industry Intangible Ø Michael OLeary Ø In Flight Customer Care 4.7 USE OF PORTERS VALUE CHAIN MODEL BY RYANAIR RYAN1 4.8 OPPORTUNITIES: Europes bloodbath (again) 4.8.1 RECESSIONARY CONDITIONS SUIT TRUE LCCS BEST The synchronised global economic recession has handed Ryanair and similar carriers near-perfect operating conditions. As Ryanair explains, this recession has encouraged passengers to become much more price sensitive which is why they are switching to Ryanairs low fares and unbeatable customer service over all other competitors. The carriers near term outlook is bloody brilliant, according to Mr OLeary, who has warned, were determined there will be no green shoots of recovery for any of our competitors. In the coming Winter, there will be a bloodbath and we will be causing that bloodbath. The carrier expects a 15-20% reduction in average fares this year to around â‚ ¬32 per passenger. Ryanair is banking on several of its smaller rivals being unable to withstand falls of this magnitude over a sustained period. The resulting rationalisation of capacity would lead to a stabilisation of yields after the bloodbath or so the theory goes. Regardless, Ryanair is in a position to profit handsomely over the next 12 months. Ryanairs CFO, Howard Millar, summed it up; were the only airline in Europe predicting a profit for next year at this point in time. The airline forecasts a profit after tax of between â‚ ¬200 million to â‚ ¬300 million for the year ending 31-Mar-2010. 4.8.2 COLLAPSING AIRCRAFT ORDER BOOKS: Ryanair is also on the offensive for a cheap aircraft deal to cover its requirement for 200-300 aircraft between 2013 and 2016. Talks with Boeing have reportedly been scheduled for late Summer. With its negative net order book this year and a customer that is arguably too big to lose, Boeing may be more willing to deal than Airbus. The US dollar is certainly heading in the right direction for Ryanair at present, with a substantial delivery log. But both manufacturers know Ryanair needs more aircraft to keep its model working next decade and will not be too eager to discount. Contrary to OLearys charge that the aircraft order backlogs of Airbus and Boeing are collapsing, although there has been some churn in orders, the manufacturers still hold the upper hand. 12-18 months from now, it might be a different story. 4.9 THREATS: Distract and conquer 4.9.1 AER LINGUS HOBBLED, LUFTHANSA NEXT? Many analysts view Ryanairs pursuit of Aer Lingus as misguided by delusions of grandeur. It has certainly cost Ryanair dear, with another EUR222.5 million writedown of its investment booked in 2008/09. But Ryanairs total outlay for Aer Lingus shares will be a small price to pay for neutralising what was a well-oiled machine just a few years ago. Thanks to Ryanairs effective interference, Aer Lingus is now leaderless and adrift, discounting aggressively to raise cash to stay in the game. It may not survive the Winter independently. Some sort of rescue possibly involving Ryanair would result in a rationalisation of capacity and a restoration of yields in the LCCs core UK-Ireland markets. That too would help Ryanair, although the carrier would benefit more from simply growing its market even further. The airline posted a net loss of EUR169.2 million for the 12 months ended 31-Mar-2009, compared with a EUR390.7 million net profit a year earlier. Ryanair said it fell into the red chiefly because of a EUR222.5 million accounting write-down on the value of its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus and higher jet fuel costs. Its pre-exceptionals operating profit was down 74% to EUR144.2 million, producing an operating margin of just under 5% well down on previous form. Ryanair operating profit margin FY06 to FY09 Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Ryanair The Master of Distraction, OLeary, has now turned his attention to Lufthansa. The German carrier is unlikely to be flattered that Ryanair has identified it as its next biggest threat, but would do well to maintain focused on the delicate task of empire building. If Lufthansa can effectively integrate Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and bmi (plus one or two others), the group will pose a major threat to Ryanairs dominance, particularly as European economic conditions improve. But Ryanairs organic growth is arguably a better bet. 4.9.2 FUEL THREAT NEUTRALISED Surging world oil prices could hamper efforts by many airlines to stem losses this year. After a hedging misstep last year (which contributed to a 59% surge in fuel costs to EUR1.3 billion), Ryanair looks to have got it right, hedging 90% of its fuel requirements for the first three quarters of the current financial year (to 31-Dec-2009) at USD62 per barrel (although there was no word about currency hedging in the report). If oil prices remain at current levels, Ryanair expects its full-year fuel bill will be EUR450 million lower than last year. This factor alone makes its current earnings guidance appear conservative. Over the longer term, Ryanair faces a massive conundrum regarding fuel costs. Unlike McDonalds, Aldi and Ikea, Ryanair is unable to control its fundamental cost line. It may have missed the chance to lock-in fuel prices at low levels (like Southwest did at the start of this decade) for the next few years. The airline faces a medium to long-term margin squeeze as fuel costs rise on a scale it cannot cover with ancillary revenues. http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2009/06/03/ryanair-swot-analysis-addicted-to-growth-a-great-model-for-bad-times/page1 5. POSITIONING DEFINITION Positioning is the act of designing the companys offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market. The goal is to locate the brand in the minds of consumers to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. (Marketing Management, Philip Kotler Kevin Lane Keller 2006) RYAN-2 Ryanair has the purest form of low cost airline in Europe. Ryanair boasts many No.1s: †¢ No.1 for passenger traffic- over 23m for 2004 overtaking Easyjet. †¢ No.1 for passenger growth- 50% + this year. †¢ No.1 for European routes (149) and bases (11). †¢ No.1 for customer service delivery- punctuality, flight completion and fewest lost baggage. 6. PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGY So as we can see from the above representation Ryanair is the most radical low cost airline, it * Differs from the closest competitor on the graph (i.e. Easyjet) because it uses secondary airports * To lower its cost base whereas Easyjet does not. Virgin Express is nearly stuck in the middle; it * Still offers seat allocations†¦ Aer Lingus is an interesting case as it has been gradually getting * Closer to the low cost model on its short haul flights. Ryanair comes out as the purest low cost carrier. * Also in appendix is a comparison of Ryanair against other LCC and traditional carriers based on * Some key operational measures. (Revenue, employee/passenger, revenue/employee†¦). 7. CRITICAL KEY SUCCESS FACTORS †¢ low ticket prices †¢ frequent departures †¢ possibility of advanced reservations (online reservation and luggage bookings) †¢ reliable baggage handling COST REDUCTION STRATEGY †¢ fleet commonality †¢ contracting out services †¢ airport charges and route policies †¢ managed staff costs †¢ productivity and managed marketing costs 7.1 FLEET COMMONALITY †¢ Only one kind of plane (Boeing Planes) †¢ Limits the costs for: Ø Staff training Ø Maintenance services and facility of obtaining spares Ø Facility in scheduling aircraft and crew assignment 7.2 CONTRACTING OUT SERVICES †¢ ancillary revenue 16% of profit (revenue from non-ticket ources) Ø deals with Hertz car rental hotels Ø ticketing handling (phone cards bus tickets) Ø aircraft handling 7.3 AIRPORT CHARGES AND ROUTE POLICIES †¢ no use of travel agents no agency commissions (saves 15% on agency fees) †¢ direct marketing techniques to recruit and retain customers (Effective use of internet sources) †¢ use of secondary and regional airports encourages: Ø no traffic jams Ø fees incomparably lower 7.4 MANAGED STAFF COSTS †¢ modest salary performance related pay structure helps to increases productivity †¢ pilots recruited when being pilot cadets so that will help and encourage them to: Ø work hard Ø take early promotion Ø move on after 10 years to further their careers Ø cabin crew pay for their uniforms to be cleaned that tends to: Ø invest in their own training Ø responsible for passenger safety and ancillary revenues on board 7.5 PRODUCTIVITY AND MANAGED MARKETING COSTS †¢ spend as little as possible †¢ national and regional Irish and UK newspaper, on radio on television †¢ no advertising agency †¢ OLeary himself overseas promotion †¢ simple adverts (No hidden charges onn time of booking) 8. COMPETETIVE ADVANTAGES †¢ one class travel †¢ ticketless boarding †¢ flying to secondary airports †¢ point-to-point flying †¢ in-house marketing †¢ no frills †¢ reduced turnaround times †¢ no refund policy †¢ corporate partnerships (WITH SUPPLIERS) †¢ no cargo service †¢ bargaining power †¢ new aircrafts †¢ owns own fleet †¢ operations denominated in euro †¢ hedge fuel risk †¢ highly successful ancillary service offering †¢ outsourcing of services at international airports †¢ advertising on airplanes †¢ uniform fleet †¢ high productivity †¢ general cost reductions †¢ eliminating seatback pockets †¢ no blankets or pillows †¢ airsickness bags distributed on request †¢ charges larger penalties for overweight luggage 9. BUILDING BLOCKS OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE  · Hills Jones 2007 According to Hills Jones â€Å"Building the internal capabilities that deliver competitive advantage involves and integrated approach all areas of the organisation. These key capabilities involves in context of Ryanair are: 9.1 SUPERIOR EFFICIENCY (HIGH) As the competitive advantage of Ryanair reflects that the marketing strategy in respect of efficiency is very good (i-e Maximum number of flights to maximum destinations in minimum time interval). 9.2 SUPERIOR QUALITY (LOW) The policy of No Frills reflects the quality of customer services as ryanair promise to offer cheap flights but no extras on the top. 9.3 SUPERIOR INNOVATION (LOW) Ryanair is not that much innovative towards customer attraction in respect of giving them good attractive holiday packages, hotel stay or different classes of travelling (i-e Business class). 9.4 SUPERIOR CUSTOMER RESPONSIVENESS (HIGH) Customer responsiveness of ryanair is always high according to current market recession, as they offer cheapest flights to customer and this is the main key towards customer retention. 10. SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Ryan Air continues acceleration towards the low cost airline in Europe is manages to maintain its leadership in cost reduction despite the presence of other low cost airlines. The successfulness of competitive advantage of the company include its ability to lower down costs to compete with low fares offered by other competitive carriers while at the same time remains profitable. This is done through: 10.1 FLEET COMMONALITY The airlines fleet is consist of Boeing 737, the most common aircraft being used by most of the carriers at present. Keep using the same aircrafts in the fleet made easy for ryanair to get spares and maintenance services easily. 10.2 CONTRACTING OUT OF SERVICES Other than Dublin Airport where the firm maintains its staff and services, Ryan Air outsources its contracts of aircraft handling, ticketing, baggage handling and other functions to third parties, so it makes easy for ryanair to get cheap competitive rates and make the long term contracts on the said rates. Third party contracts also limit Ryan Airs direct exposure to staff retention responsibilities and potential disputes. 10.3 AIRPORT CHARGES AND ROUTE POLICY Airport charges include landing fees, passenger loading fees, aircraft parking fees and noise surcharges. To make reduction in these particular charges ryanair avoids to use main congested airports and chooses secondary and regional airport destinations which works as effective competitive advantage to increase passengers output. 10.4 STAFF COSTS AND PRODUCTIVITY In order to control employee compensation costs, the firm implements a performance related pay structure. Although the company provides lower labor costs, the employees can earn additional pay or remuneration base on their performance. 10.5 MARKETING COST To reduce marketing costs, ryanair tries to avoid the services of travel agents. If it is necessary to get the travel agent services then it will be getting at lowest possible commission. Main advertisement tools of ryanair are newspapers, radio, television and its company website. 11. FUTURE STRATEGY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 11.1 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Most important corporate level strategy in current economical condition of the world is to use mergers and acquisitions policy if necessary. As ryanair continues growth will help the company to think about to exquisite other companies such as Buzz, in order to improve its capabilities and acquire more competitive advantage. 11.2 STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The human resources of the company are not seen as a potential source of competitive advantage. The company do not seem to value its people. The belief is getting stronger that companys human resources strategy is the most important source of competitive advantage. Companys staff retention policy is the main objective of sustainable competitive advantage. In a fast-changing environment where technological innovations and other strategies can be copied, it is the human resources that bring a sustainable competitive advantage. Ryan Air, in its commitment to low-cost airfare have sacrificed its processes and services, but in the future ryanair will have to think to adopt some effective human resource strategies to make their staff work for them in the long run. REFERENCES 1. http://university-essays.tripod.com/porters_5_forces_analysis.html 2. http://www.slideshare.net/The_E_group/Ryanair-Study-version-7 3. Strategic Planning, Prof. Alex Scott 2008 4. Marketing Management, Philip Kotler Kevin Lane Keller 2006 5. http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2009/06/03/ryanair-swot-analysis-addicted-to-growth-a-great-model-for-bad-times/page1 6. Clark, Andrew (2004), No How low can they go? The Guardian, June 5, 2004. 7. http://www.eubusiness.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=17503 8. http://www.grin.com/e-book/50631/the-ryan-air-model-success-and-impact-on-the-european-aviation-market 9. http://www.bitterwallet.com/ryanair-immune-from-ad-regulations-while-oft-dilly-dally/12473