Race and Your Community Essay

My community is very diverse. On the left side of my house you will find a young, white on white, married couple and to my left the opposite is true; you will find an older, black on black, married couple. If you walk down my street you will find a wide range of colors and ages any of which may be married or single, in an interracial relationship or of the same race. The feeling tends to be live and let live, or so I thought until I actually spoke with some of my friends that are either of color or are in interracial relationships. What I found was shocking to me and that is that racism is very much alive in my community. I am a white female and I am 35 years old and I am married to a white man that is 30 years old. I have three children from a previous marriage and they are also white. Because the media tends to be geared toward people of white skin I would have to say that they represent people like me. Our local news station consists of two Hispanic news anchors and the rest of the journalists are primarily white, but I do know of one black gentleman. Every where you go in my community the two races that you see represented are whites and Hispanics. I’m not sure what the thinking is concerning the lack of recognition for the other races, but it does bother me that it is so very obvious in its exclusion of others. I am assuming that these decisions are made by leaders within the community, but who they might be I am not sure. I really don’t have much to do with â€Å"leaders† in my community outside of my Pastors and their view is very much the same as mine and that is that people are people and God made us all to be equal. My Pastor has a daughter that is mix and maybe this is one reason he is so open to all races and people. The one thing that you will notice when you walk into my church is that it looks like a racial rainbow. There are a great many races and ethnic groups represented and it is a great place to be. You have pretty much every kind of interracial marriage that you can put together with the races represented and out of this you have some pretty awesome children. I have the honor of working with the little ones and I think that it is so cool that they are growing up in a world that is so open and colorful. At least this is what I thought before I actually spoke with some of the adults about their daily lives as a person of color or in a mixed marriage with mixed children. I spoke with one woman named Roni; I have known this woman for 8 years and what I found out I will have to say was a shock to me. I was telling her some things that I was learning in this class and asked her what she thought about racism and if she experienced any form of it. I have to tell you that I honestly did not expect her to yes. Well, she did and she went on to tell me how when her oldest son was in Kindergarten she was at the Principals office on numerous occasions because of how her son was being treated. He even came home singing a song once that was slanderous towards black people. Obviously her son didn’t know what he was singing but she did and it grieved and angered her. Roni is a Hispanic woman that is married to a black man so keep this in mind when picturing her in the office of a white principal discussing racially slanderous songs that her son was taught in his class. I had such a hard time even empathizing with her. As a white woman I do not even think I have ever been a situation remotely like this. Needless to say she had to be very careful how she worded things to make the principal take responsibility for what was going on in the school. She went on to tell me many other stories of how her children were mistreated in class because of their skin color and how people look at them and stereotype them because they are not white. I would love to tell you that this was the only example of racism but I would not be telling you the truth. My best friend is a white woman in her mid-twenties and she is married to a black man and they have 4 children together. Her kids call me Aunt ShaSha. I was there when these children were born and I love them dearly. I see them as children and it never occurred to me that others may see them as anything else. Well, as I mentioned before I do not have any issues within the community. Everyone is friendly and helpful and I am usually welcomed with a smile, well if I am dressed nice but that is another paper, so imagine my shock when I took her children out to the grocery store and people actually treated my differently because I had mixed children with me. This was not the first time I had been in public with the children but it was the first time that I was out with them alone and to my dismay people actually looked down their noses to me and for the first time I realized what it must feel like to be a woman living in an interracial world. At first I thought maybe I was just having an off day so I talked to Alanna (the children’s mother) about it and she confirmed that she is treated like this on a regular basis. She went on to tell me a story about being at the doctor’s office and how the doctor was ugly to her and her son and even went so far as to refuse to treat her son. She complained to the department head and the issue was resolved, but she assured me this was not the only incident concerning racism. There is a section of my community where the racism is in reverse; it is blacks being racist towards whites. I honestly couldn’t figure it out and I was upset about it as well. In my ignorance I was upset about them always complaining about the slave days and how their ancestors were mistreated and so on and so forth. I wanted to shout to them to let it go and move on and to look around because those days were over and not everyone is racist anymore. Well, through this class I have learned so much about them and what has transpired over the last 100 years and have come to realize that it really hasn’t been long enough for the younger generations to separate it in their thinking yet and that they are upset for many reasons but one valid reason is that they have never been apologized to for the travesty they had to endure at the hands of greedy and self-serving people. I am so thankful for this class because it has afforded me the opportunity to get shocked out of my little bubble and to really get to know my brothers and sisters and some of what they go through on a daily basis. I think that my community does a good job at representing minority group interests. Our schools have ESL programs in place and there is a community health clinic that runs off of a sliding scale for those that cannot afford medical insurance. There’s child care provided at no cost by the government. I don’t mention these things to portray that all minority groups are poor, but the numbers show that there is a poverty issue among some minority groups and so I am thankful that these services are provided. I am one such person that cannot afford medical insurance at this time so I am grateful for these services. I honestly don’t know what other services need to be implemented but you can be sure that I will be talking to more people and finding out. I feel so liberated! I find myself wanting to stop people and ask them what their experiences are and how it affects them and what they would change and why. I am just not sure how people will receive those kinds of questions from a 115 pound, white woman. I think that if there was one area that I could change it would be advertising because I honestly do not believe that America is represented by the people that model for these pictures or advertisements. I would love to use people of color. Not just black or Hispanic, but the real color of America, at least in my community, is mix. It is Philippine and white or Puerto Rican and Black, but it is definitely colorful and diverse. I love my community. I know that it is not perfect but no community is or will ever be, but what my community has is a huge mix of people who the majority of love one another or at least accept everyone. Through this thinking I would have to say that we are the same. There are the ones that still have some growing to do, but progress is being made and through education and time more progress will be made.

Child Prodigy Essay

| Child Prodigies: A Blessing or a Curse? | Term Essay| | | Mona S. November/28/2012 | Child Prodigy: A Blessing or a Curse? A child prodigy is an individual, who at a very early age (mostly under the age of 10) is a master of one or a couple of skills or arts. These individuals or children display expert ability or a deep grasp of the fundamentals in a field usually only undertaken by adults. Using a specific term which expresses or defines a child prodigy can change attitudes portrayed towards such individuals such as gifted, talented, superior, rapid learner, able student, bright, exceptional, and even genius.Although there are many terms used to define a child prodigy, the most accepted and preferred terms used are gifted or exceptional (Laycock, 1957). Barbara Clark (1997) identifies a child prodigy as an exceptionally gifted individual who seems to have different value structures, which usually allow them to cope with the conflict or difference they find between their perceptio n of life and that of the average person. According to D. Feldman (1993), a child prodigy may have a reasonably high, but not necessarily exceptionally high, IQ.Prodigies tend to be unusually focused, determined, and highly motivated to reach the highest levels of their fields. They are often marked by great confidence in their abilities, along with a naive sense of these abilities. Thomas & Crescimbeni (1966) refer to the gifted or child prodigies as individuals that have an IQ of 115 and higher. However, that could only be implied to highly intellectual individuals as there are many different forms of child prodigies.I am interested in child prodigies for many reasons as it plays a huge role on how they are raised and how they socialize with others. To others a child prodigy might be a blessing but to child prodigies it is a curse depending on how they are treated. Here are some reasons as to why it is perceived that way: Most child prodigies are denied from having a normal and he althy childhood especially by their parents as they want them to focus on improving their â€Å"gift† and sometimes it happens for the child’s own benefit or in other cases to be used to obtain fame and fortune.It might be a good thing, especially for child prodigies that are â€Å"gifted† in the arts field, to improve and practice on it for future use but it must be done in a healthy and proper way so that children can have a childhood which would help them interact and engage within a society in a normal and functional way, however, denying child prodigies from having a normal, play balanced childhood might eventually turn out disastrous as they will not know how to engage or behave in an acceptable behaviour within their society and it would probably cause them to develop a non-friendly, egoistic, and obnoxious attitude towards others as they believe they are better than the rest. This might cause their lives to brake or be unfulfilled for many reasons that I will expand on throughout this essay. And there is also the widespread belief that young geniuses are pushed and nudged to extremes by one or both parents. Von Karolyi and Winner (2005) believe that the ‘talented’ train and practice extensively, and this practice is necessary for the development of performance. However, thoughtful practice is a very special form of activity that differs from mere experience and mindless drill. Unlike playful engagement with peers deliberate practice is not inherently enjoyable.It also differs from successful performance in front of an audience, which is rewarded with applause, praise and receiving prizes. According to Yoga (2008), parents who wish or hope that their child is a prodigy need to rethink that whole notion especially due to the recent reports that have been portrayed within the media about child prodigies. When a child receives a reputation for excellence, originality, and brilliance for their gift, parents become so please d with the child’s performance and deny any involvement and although this might cause the child to feel delighted with their successful outcome, they face the difficulty of defining their own contributions and would eventually acquire feelings of doubt and ambiguity about their own abilities.What makes things worse is that parents’ standards keep increasing after each accomplishment which causes new projects difficult to start and this would only make the child feel that their finishing product will never be good enough therefore causing them to pick simple tasks where they will not worry about failing in. Goal setting may become defensive, aimed at protecting against feelings of failure or low ability (Covington and Beery, 1976). Competition encourages and motivates gifted children to perform to the best of their high ability, and the recognition they receive for their successes provides the motivation for continued competition. However, there are some negative side e ffects of extreme competitiveness.Child prodigies have to deal with a lot of stress and pressure on their performance because of the expectations that the people around them have of them and from the repeated adult praise such as being perfect, best, or the smartest. The world imposes adult expectations on them, and they are really only children. The challenge of allowing and encouraging gifted children a childhood remains the challenge to the parents and teachers of such children. In my opinion, too many children are pushed too soon into a world that they shouldn’t really be expected to live in. It’s up to the parents to shelter them from harm, and gently show them or introduce them to the real world and its negative side with clear and loving understanding.I don’t know any child prodigies personally, but I am guessing that for a long time they live in a protected bubble where everyone thinks they are special for their talent and not for being a person, when th ey grow up there talent is not as noticeable anymore and therefore their novelty appeal has worn off, they are then expected to live in the â€Å"real world† with no understanding of what it entails and how to interact on a social level. Parents would unintentionally be treating their â€Å"gifted children† differently from their â€Å"normal† children which would only cause sibling rivalry which can be minimized and adjusted but will not disappear. Usually sibling rivalry occurs due to the competition for parent’s attention and sometimes their resources.Cornell (1986) found that â€Å"non-gifted† siblings of gifted children were less well-adjusted than a control group of other non-gifted children. Some child prodigies feel entitled to special treatment yet rarely get it. This could include being excused from certain activities or classes to be given the opportunity to work on their â€Å"gift†. By receiving such special treatments child pro digies could fall in two paths, one of which they are being bullied by others due to their special treatment. Gifted children today experience many disruptions in their lives. Some of these disruptions are relatively unique to them, such as needing to hide how well they do at school as a means to fitting into an anti-intellectual school environment (Coleman & Cross, 2001).All children are affected adversely by bullying, but gifted children differ from other children in significant ways, and what they experience may be qualitatively different. The personality traits and interests of many gifted children may make them targets of bullying by their classmates. At the same time gifted children may be more susceptible to the emotional damage that bullying can inflict. Usually the bullying will occur verbally in order to avoid a lot of trouble from physically abusing their targets and would include segregating the gifted child from peers and other activities, whether it is within class or outside. The gifted children would be called names such as â€Å"teacher’s pet† or â€Å"smarty-pants†. These days bullying can be done very easily that it would spread virally, i. e. cyber bullying.Some gifted children tend to be more timid than other gifted or non-gifted children due to lack of socialization if parents insist on them practicing their â€Å"gift† all the time for their future’s sake therefore they might keep it to themselves about being bullied and sooner or later without seeking help, or even though they do seek for help they are ignored by the adults within the society who believe that the bullying will eventually stop which it does not, it might cause the gifted children to commit suicide as they are tired of the endless bullying. Sometimes the bullying can also cause the gifted child to feel hatred or lose interest in their â€Å"gift† and would not want to engage in such activities again. The same thing can happen if t he child is forced to practice their â€Å"gift† all the time, such as the piano, and is denied their childhood or freedom and is treated as a tool for fame and success.Another path the child prodigy could fall under would be self-social segregation where the child prodigy would not want to spend time with the other normal children as they view themselves to be way better than others. Sometimes, when denied the access for special treatment, it might frustrate and cause them to be even more aggressive, driven, and overachieving than they are by nature. As the child is dehumanised and instrumentalized or taught to ignore reality and to occupy the parental fantastic space, such an unfortunate child feels almighty and all-knowing, perfect and brilliant, worthy of adoration and entitled to special treatment. The empathy, compassion, a ealistic assessment of one's abilities and limitations, realistic expectations of oneself and of others, personal boundaries, team work, social skil ls, perseverance and goal-orientation, not to mention the ability to postpone gratification and to work hard to achieve it are all lacking or missing altogether. Sex or gender differences do matter in accordance to being gifted. Reis and Callahan (1989) emphasize the importance of distinguishing between sex or gender differences, i. e. relating the biological and the sociocultural differences. The possibility of gender differences in interests, and perhaps even in cognitive activity, which would lead girl and boy prodigies toward different domains for study and mastery. These differences might also be biologically based to some extent; they are undoubtedly heavily patterned and reinforced by cultural values.Whatever their origins, it appears at first blush that girl prodigies are better represented in some fields than others, and further exploration of why this might be the case is in order. When we know more about such relationships, we may understand more about gender differences or at least individual differences in the development of specific talents. Why prodigies are found in some fields and not others, and whether certain fields attract more children of one gender than the other, is a matter for further attention. Being gifted or a prodigy also differs on what culture you are from, i. e. if a specific culture views you as a prodigy or not, as well as your socio-economic status because they might be rarely identified or described as gifted or talented if they are from a poor rural area.Peers of economically deprived or culturally different gifted children usually do not place a huge value on school achievement. Family, cultural, and language differences and testing circumstances must be considered as values and beliefs can affect ability testing. An understanding of different cultures is an important factor in both identifying who is gifted and how to set up a program that would help nurture their gift in a non-smothering manner. According to Bernal, 197 9; Bruch, and Curry, 1978, an interesting way to find such gifted people in these cultures would be to meet with students named by peers as out-of-school â€Å"leaders† who can explain characteristics of culturally valued giftedness within their own peer culture.Overall, I would like to state that child prodigy might be something good but only if the child was handled with care and love and given a lot of freedom of choice and opportunity to pursue their dreams otherwise they would be perceived as tools or mini adults with no mind or will of their own that are forced to do what pleases others. Brainstorm/Web Chart Here is a Brainstorm of ideas or a web chart of my term topic paper â€Å"Child prodigy: A blessing or a curse† References Bernal, E. M. (1979). The education of the culturally different gifted. In A. H. Passow (Ed. ), The gifted and the talented (pp. 395-400). Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education. Bruch, C. B. , ; Curry, J. A. (1978). Persona l Learnings: A current synthesis on the culturally different gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 22, 33-32 Clark, B. 1997). Growing up gifted: Developing the potential of children at home and at school. Upper Saddle River, N. J: Merrill. Cornell, D. G. , ; Grossberg, I. N. (1986). Siblings of children in gifted programs. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 9, 253-264. Coleman, L. J. ; Cross, T. L. (2001). Being gifted in school: An introduction to development, guidance, and teaching. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. Covington, M. V. ; Beery, R. G. (1976). Self-worth and school learning. New York: Holt. Feldman, D. H. (1993). Child Prodigies: A Distinctive Form of Giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37, 4, 188-93. Laycock, S. R. (1957). Gifted children.Toronto: The Copp Clark Teacher's Handbook Series. Reis, S. M. , & Callahan, C. M. (1989). Gifted females: They’ve come a long way—or have they? Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 12, 99-117. Thomas, G. I. , & Crescimbeni , J. (1966). Guiding the gifted child. New York: Random House. Von. Karolyi, C. and Winner, E. 2005. â€Å"Extreme giftedness†. In Conceptions of giftedness, Edited by: Sternberg, R. J and Davidson, J. E. 377–394. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2nd edn) Yoga, S. S. (2008, April 14). Child prodigy: Two sides of genius. The star online. Retrieved from http://thestar. com. my/lifestyle/story. asp? file=/2008/4/14/lifefocus/20902655&sec=lifefocus

Tourism and employment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tourism and employment - Essay Example The competition involved shows growth in the tourism sector. There is a need to meet the requirements of the ever growing tourism sector through innovations and upgrade of tourism products. There is also an increase in the number of hotels. This calls for more employment to cater for manpower, so many people are employed as caterers. Tourism has provided 10% of global employment as stated by the International Labour Organisation. Tourism as a service industry will require high workforce (GheorghilaÅŸ and DincÄÆ' 90). Gender: Tourism has created many opportunities for women usually in the hotel and accommodation sector. In this sector, 60% are women employees (GheorghilaÅŸ and DincÄÆ' 92). Many women are employed on a full time basis while a few are part timers in many countries. Age: Generally, the tourism accommodation sector offers jobs to young people. 40% of all tourism employees are young people mainly below the age of 35 years. This is due to their productivity in this sector. Many countries prefer young people, as opposed to old people, for their energetic nature, high rate of social networking and an advertisement strategy to win many customers. Qualifications: The level of education will determine the number of opportunities an individual can get in the tourism sector. Tourism accommodation has a high number of employees with a lower level of education while employees in management, human resource, and accounting in tourism normally hold university degrees. Therefore, tourism can accommodate a high number of employees who are not highly learned but have basic skills. Job status: Tourism offers both temporal and permanent jobs. Full time jobs depend on the duration of work. Usually tourism offers part time jobs and temporary jobs depending on the tourist turnover. Temporal jobs include tour guides and accommodation staff. Time of the year: Seasonal outcome factors the number of employees to be employed, so a high tourist turnover will result in a

Nursing Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing Theories - Essay Example This is fundamental since nursing theories are derived from models comprised of the following components: the person or self, environment, health and nursing. These four metaparadigm concepts can be observed in all nursing models and forms the framework from which each theory as a whole functions (Rogers, 1989). This paper aims to evaluate the definitions of the concept of health and illness in two nursing theories namely, Margaret Newman's "Health as Expanding Consciousness" and Martha Roger's "Science of Unitary Human Beings." Margaret Newman's systems model recognizes the person as a comprehensive system. Within this system are constituent elements including the physiological factor, psychological factor, sociological factor, spiritual factor and developmental factor which according to her are in a complex interrelationship (Newman, 1992). With regards to health, Margaret Newman maintains that health is the manifestation of the realm of consciousness. Consciousness is defined as the capability of the human system to gather and process information regarding the self and the environment. However, according to Newman, consciousness is not limited to the cognitive and affective faculties that characterize the basic notion of consciousness but also includes the dynamism of the whole living system (Newman, 1997). The consciousness of the system, accord... "Science of Unitary Beings" by Martha Rogers Martha Rogers's system model considers the person or individual as a unit or unified whole which is constantly in direct interaction with the surrounding environment. According to her, health and illness are the products and manifestations of the human life process. She gives a scientific model for nursing that is based on concept of health as the systematic function of the physical body and illness as the state of dysfunction of the components of the human life processes (Rogers, 1975) Health is seen by Martha Rogers as the integration of the physicochemical properties of life that is constant interaction with the immediate environment which are also imminent in the energy fields inherent in the two areas. The energy field that constitutes the person's or the individual's complex systems are in direct contact with the energy field of the environment which may be assigned as the surrounding living and non-living forms. Therefore, the energy fields that is present in this larger system is made up of the living and the non-living forms of the person and the environment. The open mode of the person and environment energy fields promotes an interchange of energy between the two which leads to the kind of nature or state of the system classified into either health or illness (Rogers, 1989). Health Concepts Comparison and Analysis The main point of comparison between Newman's and Rogers' use of the concept of health in their respective theories arises in the nature and impact of the perception of constitution of the person. The first similarity lies in the consideration of the person's physical and

A Positive Concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Positive Concept - Essay Example It should be known that truth is immortal and man without truth is nothing but life less. Life is not meant to be lived just for the sake of pleasure of senses, but for the purpose of realizing truth and living by it in all means. One of the greatest philosophers who strived for truth and righteousness was Socrates, the famous Greek thinker. â€Å"Socrates' main focus throughout his public teaching life was the acquiring by the individual of self-knowledge. He believes that goodness and truth, positive essences and pure ethical and moral† (Burgess,2011) . This indeed explains us the value of truthful living and the way in which it helps a person to attain bliss and immortality. However, living a truth life is not simple and comfortable as one has to come across many difficulties and hurdles in the process. Only a person who has attained the knowledge about self has the motivation and passion to walk the journey of life with truth. A person has the freedom to live life at his o wn will, but wisdom and knowledge prompt him to discard immoral life and return to virtuous and happy life. â€Å"We all tend to intellectualize the road of a virtuous life , when all we need to do is believe in a few simple natural laws , formulated thousand of years ago by interacted with God† (Joubert,2009,pg.1).It is not very difficult to follow the path of truth if you realize the law of nature. Nature being the mother of all beings, has bestowed us with all bounties to achieve happiness and bliss. Fortunately, every human being knows that happiness is the element that he is seeking and desiring in every phase of his life. As Per ( Babuta, 2010)â€Å"Some people may be created happier than others, with enjoyment of life programmed into their hardwiring. For others, getting to happiness isn't always that simple. You weren't programmed that way†. It may be a surprising fact, that the truth and happiness are the two things that go hand – in – hand and o ne who is leading an immoral life can never be happy in true sense. To be moral and truthful to oneself is the biggest achievement of life and every person should work and strive to achieve this purpose. â€Å"A moral skeptic might be the sort of person who says â€Å"All this talk of morality is tripe† who will reject morality and take no notice of it all. Such a person in a way is rejecting all moral judgments and truth wholly†(Mc cord,1988,pg.96) Most people think that morality and truthfulness can be attained solely from religion. However, religion is a basis and foundation for finding truth but only self realization and truth of divine can persuade someone to persuade a truthful living. â€Å"Once the ultimate metaphysical or religious position is takes as truth, morality or truthful living becomes impossible without religion, and religion become impossible without reality† (Chacko, 1986,pg.9).The truth is the reality and one has to go on a long quest to un derstand and establish truth in one’s life. By truth it is meant that, a person will achieve bliss and happiness eternally and not only in his present life. However, to achieve blissful life the most important think is to understand divine and love all the creations of the Almighty with true heart. The most important aspect of truth is love, this feeling and emotion is what makes the foundation of universe. The Almighty has

Work and leading people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Work and leading people - Essay Example Mark Williams (refer to the appendix). As can be observed from the CVs of the two referred personnel, both can be identified to possess considerable experience in their respective fields. While many of their features can be identified as similar, there are particular dissimilarities in their degree of versatility that must be taken into consideration when evaluating CVs for the intended position. For instance, Mr. Thomas Crown can be observed to have handled more staff members than Mr. Mark Williams. On the other hand, Mr. Crown had switched three jobs within his 2 years of professional career, with his first job assigning him for only three months. Contradictorily, Mr. Williams has been engaged into one organisation for his 5 years of professional career. This indicates that chances of attrition shall be higher in the case of Mr. Crown while on the other hand, Mr. Williams might offer the privilege and advantages of greater experiences and loyalty. As a precautionary measure, it wil l also be important to have a verification done for the information presented by the two candidates prior to taking any firm conclusion regarding their ultimate recruitment in the organisation. This will help to omit any possible chance of conflict or dilemma post their recruitment, making the trustworthiness and mutual cooperation of the recruited personnel more binding for the long-run. Besides evaluating the CVs, it will also be important to conduct face-to-face interviews with the personnel, individually, so as to learn about their personality features in a better way, before drawing any conclusion to the professionalisms of the candidates. Leadership styles are of different types that include democratic leader, autocratic leader and laissez-faire leader. From the provided scenario, it has been identified that Mr. Worthy is a type of leader who does not have a relationship with his employees though his office is in the top floor of the building, which is

The Water Babies and Victorian Childhood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

The Water Babies and Victorian Childhood - Essay Example At the outset it is submitted that the diverse nature of Victorian literature highlighted how â€Å"novels became a means through which readers defined their social identity and formed their attitudes to such issues as nationalism, gender differences and the nature of the family† (James 2006, p.xi). To this end, the Victorian novel developed as a realist concept.For example, on the one hand, in Oliver Twist, Dickens utilises dramatic irony and satire within lengthy descriptive sentence paragraphs in order to highlight the situation of many poor homeless children. For example, in the preface to the 1841 edition, Dickens depicts the â€Å"cold, wet, shelterless, midnight streets of London; the foul and frowsy dens, where vice is closely packed and lacks room to turn; the haunts of hunger and disease; the shabby rages that scarcely hold together – where are the attraction of these things?†The paragraph is comprised of a characteristically long sentence, listing the dire circumstances faced by the children. Moreover, the use of alliteration and assonance further highlight the predicament of homeless children and the use of words with reference to â€Å"foul† and â€Å"vice† depicts the reality of lost innocence of children. This is further heightened when Dickens reverses the Victorian puritanical blame back onto the upper echelons of society by creating a pause followed by the rhetorical question â€Å"- where are the attraction of these things?†

Emirates Customer service management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Emirates Customer service management - Essay Example KIS uses the company database to understand their customers through the records of their previous travels. KIS enables the cabin to know the seating preference and wine. The information is also used by the company to segment and target thus enhancing focusing and personalization of the services given to customers. The Business Rewards and Emirates Skyward and are some of the loyalty programs that Emirates Airlines has on offer. These loyalty programs are integral for repeat sales as they create lock-in systems as customers prefer to get stuck with airlines that promise rewards. The contact centers of the Emirates Airline also remain one of the integral points of expressing their heartfelt concern for the wellness of their customers. The contact centers of the airline have received great reviews from plaudits due to their flawless response to bookings, baggage claims, and complain (Ahamad 4-5) The customer service of Emirates airline is focused on creating value and delivering satisfaction to their customers (Squalli 139). The company has managed to achieve these objectives through focusing and personalizing the services they offer customers. Engraved in the company’s overall strategy is their deep concern for their esteemed customers. The company has installed a work culture that gives the workers the sense of urgency while dealing with the customers. The workforce of Emirates Airline boosts an impressive 50,000 dedicated employees. The company has devised a comprehensive plan of ensuring that their customer service targets synchronize with the training of their workforce (O’Connell 10). According to the Executive Vice Chairman of the airline, Maurice Flanagan, the company selects the best workforce and gives them avenues to increase knowledge and skill. ` The company has used International Computer Driving License (ICDL)

Rights for the Non-human Animals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Rights for the Non-human Animals - Essay Example Many noted theorists such as Tom Regan, Julian Franklin, Evelyn B. Pluhar, Paola Cavalieri, Mark Rowlands and Gary Francione have made critical contributions to the cause of animal rights. The issue of animal rights involve many legal dilemmas about the direction of changes in the law, the degree of animal welfare must be sought, animal suffering-reduction, compulsory animal rights education and the nature of proto-rights for all animals. The purpose of the essay is to look at the possibilities of broadly defining rights theory in order to recognise the rights of nonhuman animals. The Background: Human-Nonhuman Animal Relations and Postmaterial Society Inglehart’s (1977) theoretical elaboration of the concept postmaterialism well captures the changes occurred in the last fifty years, especially with the developed countries. Postmaterialism also involves the changes brought about in the realm of human-nonhuman relations. Postmaterialism mainly deals with the value changes in th e society as result of the profound transformations. Inglehart’s major point is that â€Å"the new â€Å"value-orientations† among people born after World War II yield better empirical purchase in the study of political movements than the â€Å"interests† at issue in the commonly deployed class-based theories. Referring to â€Å"quality of life† rather than to the instrumentally economic rationality typical of modernization, â€Å"Postmaterial values† arose from the conditions that liberated most people in developed countries from spending their lives on basic material demands and that opened new opportunities for self-expression and aesthetic satisfaction† (Franklin, Tranter and White, 2001, p. 129). Scarcity and socialisation are the basic themes which Inglehart follows in defining the attitude change towards animal rights. It is important to note that people can have differing opinions based on the resourcefulness of their background. Ing lehart’s notion of existential security highlights the â€Å"the fundamental difference between growing up with an awareness that survival is precarious, and growing up with the feeling that one’s survival can be taken for granted† (Inglehart, 1997, p. 31). It does not mean that there is no place for materialism in the developed countries; materialism certainly could come to the forefront but postmaterialism is the dominant trend in the lives of the people in the advanced Western countries. Sica (1988) too has forcefully asserted that postmaterilaism is also essentially a product of postmodernisation. No more the societies in the developed world are determined by the forces of materialism either class based or rational-legal. Present world is increasingly characterised by cultural differences in which lifestyles play a prominent role in defining distinct social groups. Human-animal relations too are being completely reconstituted by the postmaterialist values. I t is argued that â€Å"one of the most significant postmaterialist values that emerged on several fronts concerned the extension of civil rights and social inclusiveness, the breaking down of boundaries drawn on the basis of ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, and age.

Motorcycle and financial services Essay Example for Free

Motorcycle and financial services Essay Abstract The strength of Harley-Davidsons brand and dominant market position give the firm a wide moat, in our opinion. However, weaker consumer spending and tight credit markets are presenting the firm with some significant near-term challenges. In addition, we believe the firm must carefully broaden the appeal of its brand to secure its long-term success. Harley-Davidson is a cult brand that resonates around the world. There are more than 1 million members of the Harley Owners Group, and every year several hundred thousand Harley fans attend biking events at Daytona, Fla. , and Sturgis, S. D. Its no wonder that over 50% of Harleys revenues are generated from repeat sales and these sales are at premium prices to other motorcycle brands. In addition, with almost a 50% share of the U. S. market, Harley also achieves economies of scale greater than most of its competitors. A Harley is not just a bike it is an investment. brand loyalty, its economies of scale, and its network of mostly exclusive dealers have created significant barriers to entry, and as a result, Harley has achieved historical operating margins of over 20% and returns on invested capital of over 40%, excluding the financial services segment. JIT Principles JIT is an operational strategy which helps in making inventory levels lean. An organisation which goes for synchronous manufacturing incorporates JIT to have lower inventory levels. Synchronous manufacturing encompasses techniques of JIT to achieve the target. Organisations which have implemented JIT and are using synchronous manufacturing have a very lean system. It has minimum wastage and the highest possible quality. These organisations are cost effective and generally have higher margins than their competitors. This results in higher level of efficiency in the organisation and a better work environment. BPI helps in management of inventory and related operations. It is very important that organisation understand the importance of new methods and reengineer their processes in line with the requirements. The minimum level of inventory which is required as WIP is determined by the organization and then control efforts are put in so that there is always the minimum level available and it would never cross the maximum level. This is done because one cannot hold high levels of inventory because it comes at a very high cost and is an occupational and can be a operation hazard. The strength of Harley-Davidsons brand and dominant market position give the firm a wide moat, in our opinion. However, weaker consumer spending and tight credit markets are presenting the firm with some significant challenges and we believe the firm must carefully expand the appeal of its brand to secure its long term success. Harley-Davidson is a cult brand that resonates around the world. There are more than 1 million members of the Harley Owners Group, and every year several hundred thousand Harley fans attend biking events at Daytona, Fla. , and Sturgis, S. D. Its no wonder that over 50% of Harleys revenues are generated from repeat sales and these sales are at premium prices to other motorcycle brands. In addition, with almost a 50% share of the U. S. market, Harley also achieves economies of scale greater than most of its competitors. The intensity of the firms brand loyalty, its economies of scale, and its network of mostly exclusive dealers have created significant barriers to entry, and as a result, Harley has achieved historical operating margins of over 20% and returns on invested capital of over 40%, excluding the financial services segment. Despite its strong brand, sagging consumer spending on high-ticket items is likely to continue to depress volumes in the near term, and we expect the economic downturn to prolong the period of failing sales through 2010/11. The firm has already cut production in an attempt to trim costs in line with faling demand. in addition, just over half of Harleys motorcycle revenues are derived from retail sales made on credit. We think that the lack of available funds on the wholesale markets and the shrinking of the number of qualifying customers will make it difficult for the companys financial services division to continue to support retail sales by providing credit to customers. Harley must address some long-term challenges. The firm has been focused on a narrow demographic group (around 89% of customers are male) and the median age of Harleys customers has been on a long-term upward trend. We believe that the firm must find ways to broaden the appeal of its brand without alienating its core customer base. Harley has grown in recent years in the international market , and revenues generated abroad have risen to 25% of total revenues in 2007 from 19% in 2004. Although the firm has recently introduced a performance motorcycle for the European market, I think that it may find it difficult to deliver customized products for overseas markets while supporting its brand franchise. Risk Harleys revenues could be severely hurt by a further weakening of the global economy and increased reductions in consumer spending on high-ticket discretionary items, and the firm may not be able to securitize its receivables if the asset-backed security market is slow to recover. Harleys sales are focused on a thin demographic segment: 35- to 54-year-old males. In our opinion, the firm must broaden its appeal in order to secure its long-term profitability, but any missteps in marketing its products to other demographic segments could damage the brand. Harley-Davidsons brand resonates around the world, and it has particular strength in its key target market of 35- to 54-year-olds. Â  Historically, Harley has generated free cash flow at around 15% of revenues, allowing the firm to develop a strong track record of returning cash to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases. Â  Through the downturn, Harleys management has been careful to maintain spending on research and development and marketing, important steps in maintaining the strength of the brand, in our opinion. The firm has worked successfully with its network of dealers to significantly reduce dealer inventory over the last 12 months. Â  Harleys core demographic, the baby boomer generation, is aging, and thats likely to reduce demand for Harleys products in the future. In order to mitigate the negative impact on revenues, the firm must improve its penetration in other segments. * Harley is likely to continue to face some severe short-term head winds, with anemic consumer spending likely to hurt revenues through 2010. The large inventory of used Harley motorcycles is likely to contribute to Harleys near-term challenges, as a greater number of under-pressure consumers may opt for a cheaper used model in the secondary market. Â  The turmoil in the credit markets is likely to raise the cost of the short-term capital required to fund HDFS. Â  Despite raising the retail rate on its loans, I expect the operating margins of HDFS to come under severe pressure through 2009. HDFS may also find it difficult to raise financing for retail credit in the wholesale markets. This could restrict the number of loans the firm can make to customers and thwart the firms attempts to support retail sales volumes. Inventory Management in Harley Davidson Growth: Historically, the strong spending power of the baby boomers, Harleys core demographic, has been favourable for the motorbike manufacturer. As the baby boomers age, however, I expect slowing domestic revenue growth to be only partially mitigated by international expansion. Profile: Harley-Davidson is the worlds leading manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles, parts, and accessories. It sells the Softail, Sportster, Dyna, Touring, and VRSC models under the Harley-Davidson name, and it also manufactures the Buell brand. Harley-Davidson Financial Services provides wholesale financing to dealers and retail financing and insurance brokerage services to customers. Strategy: Harley leverages its strong brand to sell a broad range of motorcycling-related products. The firm is attempting to broaden its appeal to more demographic groups by expanding its product line-up. It is also focused on international expansion, and it has introduced a new performance-based bike in an attempt to increase its share in overseas markets. Management: I think the quality of corporate governance at Harley-Davidson is above average. I applaud the firm for splitting the chairman and CEO roles between two individuals, although I am concerned that the relationship between the two individuals serving in these roles may weaken the chairmans ability to provide independent oversight. CEO James Ziemers career at Harley blossomed under the leadership of former CEO and current Chairman Jeffrey L. Bluestein. In addition, although nine of the firms 12 directors meet the NYSE definition of independent, a total of six of them have served on the board for over a decade, and I believe that their long-term relationships with management, together with some related-party transactions, may further compromise their independence. Having said that, the Harley-Davidson board does contain a solid range of legal, accounting, and executive experience. Management compensation is skewed to long-term incentive components, and I think that this aligns the interests of the management team with those of shareholders. The firm has a strong track record of returning cash to shareholders, both through dividend disbursements and share buyback programs. Harley Reports Lower 3Q Earnings I am leaving our fair value estimate for Harley-Davidson in place following the release of third-quarter earnings, which were in line with our expectations. Revenue fell 8% year over year, to $1. 42 billion, as the economic downturn hurt retail sales volume, which declined 14%. The bright spot was international sales, but only a small part of the 11. 3% rise in international revenues was attributable to volume increases; most of the increase was caused by favourable currency movements. At Harley-Davidson Financial Services, the customer finance division, third-quarter earnings fell 28% from the same period last year, to $35. 6 million, because of lower securitization income and the write-down of some finance receivables held for sale. I was pleased to note that the firm is being proactive in securing alternative sources of funding for the finance division, in the event that it cannot raise funds in the unsecured debt market. However, we expect that Harleys funding requirements would be met comfortably by its bank credit facility, if required. Supply side Economic Scenario Given the continued macroeconomic deterioration and tightness in credit markets, I am raising our fair value uncertainty rating for Harley-Davidson. The companys growth has decelerated during the last three years, and year-over-year shipments were down 15% last quarter. In addition, we see significant downside risks to the contribution from Harley-Davidson Financial Services. Last quarter, financial services income was down 43% because of a $20 million reduction in securitization gains. Financial income was also affected by a $6 million write-down in retained securitization interests. Since that time credit markets have seized up, and its likely the firm will report increasing charge-offs on consumer loans in the coming quarters. Summary Business process reengineering is very critical for companies and industries which survive on innovation. Sometimes there are cases when old processes in the company are dying and their is a pressing need to rejuvenate then. This process of is known as business process reengineering. A company that does not innovate dies out in the market. Old operations over time die down and new process needs to be rebuilt into the system. This is where the concept of business processes engineering is very critical. The objective of the paper is to critically evaluate symptoms which suggests organisation to go for business process reengineering then come up with one of those symptoms and write a detailed analysis of it. References: http://www. emeraldinsight. com. / Gao, F, Li, M. Clarke, S. (2008). Knowledge, management, and knowledge management in business operations. Nonaka, I. (2005). Knowledge Management: Critical Perspectives on Business and Management. Taylor Francis. Tait, A Richardson, K. A. (2010). Complexity and Knowledge Management Understanding the Role of Knowledge in the Management of Social Networks. IAP Goldman, A. (n. d. ). Eliminating Bottlenecks. Retrieved 28th March, 2011, from http://www. gaebler. com (n. d. ). Retrieved Mar 27th, 2011, from Customer Relationship MAnagement: http://www. customerthink.com (n. d. ). Retrieved Mar 27th, 2011, from More is not value Proposition: http://sinekpartners. typepad. com Auction site. (n. d. ). Retrieved MAr 27th, 2011, from Harley Davidson Value: http://harleyauctionsite. com Harley Davidson USA. (2011, MAr 27). Retrieved Mar 17, 2011, from Harley Davidson: http://www. harley-davidson. com Impact Factory. (2010, Feb 2nd). Retrieved mar 27th, 2011, from http://www. impactfactory. com http://www. h-dsn. com/genbus/links. jsp Management Research Review. (2000) Johan Van Nimwegen, Brian H. Kleiner, Volume 23 issue 7/8.

Sears lack of employee involvement and empowerment

Sears lack of employee involvement and empowerment Sears is a leading retailer providing merchandise and various services, which offers a wide variety of products with more than 2,300 stores in the U.S. and Canada (Sears home page). The company has a strong cultural base with effective operation systems, of which internal and external environment scans can be identified with a SWOT analysis. Internal Strengths Since established in 1886, Sears has developed a strong retail network with extensive customer database of more than 60 million Sears credit card holders (Prentice-Hall, 2003). The company has gained good reputation as a reliable retailer and great trust from consumers thanks to its flexibility in identifying need and adapting strategies to provide best service (Rucci et al., 1998). Even during the crisis period, consumers faith was basically unchanged. It has many nation-wide known brand names with focused range of products and attracts large attention from both male and female customers. Internal surveys also revealed that employees had high expectation from the company and great desire to contribute to the companys success. Internal Weaknesses During the 1980s, the company expanded its business into other fields, for instance insurance, investment and banking, real estate, which resulted in loosing strength and prestige position in its core business as a retailer (Rucci et al., 1998). It was no longer the leading company in retailing but ranked number three after Wal Mart Stores, Inc. and Kmart Corporation. Lack of focus made the company fail to follow new trends in selling and respond quickly to changes in the marketplace. Another problem was the inappropriate attitude towards consumers. The senior managers in the head office were said not to listen to customers need, which resulted in high proportion of dissatisfaction. Other factors, for instance, low inventory turnover, bad service and poor sales companion also contributed to the companys downturn. Opportunities: The company started to realise the importance of female customers and changed the image of a mans store to attract more women by offering new ranges of apparel and cosmetics (Rucci et al., 1998). On the other hand, the application of the employee customer profit chain had positive effect on operation as employee satisfaction on the Sears TPI was high and employees were highly aware of the need for performance improvement. The development of learning maps, town hall meetings, and later maps, including Voices of our customers, The Sears money flow and Ownership, seemed to significantly promote learning environment in the organisation and enhance realistic action. External Threats: The intense competition in retailing was a comparatively significant threat to the company. The industry with a variety of old names like Wal Mart and Kmart as well as new arrivals caused great pressure for Sears to compete and required the company to apply the most suitable strategies without fault to survive and develop. Main issues In a previous study, Sears used an employee-customer-profit chain to collect data from up to 800 stores and found that a five percent increase in employee satisfaction drives a 1.3 percent in customer satisfaction, which results in 0.5 percent increase in revenue growth (Rucci et al. 1998). Thus, the company itself realised the necessity to employees attitude improvement. Although the company was on the fast track of recovery, there were still many issues to be identified and tackled in order to achieve sustainable growth as described in Rucci et al. (1998). First, lack of communication and cooperation between different departments and functions in the company resulted in poor operation efficiency. Customers satisfaction had decreased significantly and it was frontline employees who seemed to know this situation the best. However, they had little opportunity to deliver their messages to the management. The next problem was lack of employee involvement and empowerment. The companys strategies and expectations were poorly transferred through to them, and thus, they were lost in ambiguity about the tasks they were assigned. Moreover, employees are not given enough creative power to have influence on the shaping of companys future. Moreover, employees had to opportunity and support to realise their personal goals. The company aimed to create a compelling and motivated working environment. In reality, however, they still had a long way to go. To some extent, the old control and command culture had prevented the company from advanced development and employees were not highly valued enough as an ultimate resource in the organisation. Misunderstanding was another major issue which the company had to pay much attention to. According to a survey conducted by Sears itself, employees believed that Sears made profit of 45 cents on each dollar while the real figure was 2 cents. This was seen as a barrier to trust. While the company had to implement some changes in operation such as cost cuttings and reduced rewards to cope with crisis, employees might oppose them because they thought the company was doing well. Consequently, there was a lack of sense of urgency and commitment to change through the company. Another point is that the company should have invested more on develop their reward practices although the company was in a crisis and struggling to survive. It becomes even more important to have reward strategies supporting business objectives during hard times as they will strengthen existing resources and help the company overcome difficulties (CIPD, 2009). Approach to reward management With the emergence of the global knowledge and service oriented economy, more attention has been paid to the value of human resource to improve operation capability and create sustainable competitive advantages (Thompson, 2002). However, it is increasingly challenging to attract, motivate and retain employees with the most appropriate reward strategy which can maximise the benefits and perceived value of the rewards at an affordable cost to the company. Although managers at Sears recognised the significance of reward management and executive incentives were based on both financial and non financial performance, they still lack of a systematic approach to the issue. Consequently, a total reward system consisting of financial and non-financial, direct as well as indirect, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards is what Sears needs to improve reward and compensation strategies and reinforce its core values. Total reward, as defined by CIPD (2011), is a concept that encompasses all aspects of work that are valued by employees, including elements such as learning and development opportunities and/or an attractive working environment, in addition to the wider pay and benefits package. Under this concept, employees are empowered and engaged in operation, and can have positive attitudes towards the company. In return, employers get to know more about staffs work life and receive commitment and high performance from employees (Zhou, Qian, Qi Lei, 2009). A useful total reward model was developed by WorldatWork (2006) with five elements as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Elements of Total rewards (adapted from worldatwork.org) Total reward approach helps to allocate resources properly and guarantees that all aspects of reward offering are monitored and utilised (CIPD, 2009). When all elements are delivered, employees are increasingly motivated and satisfied with the package, and thus, more engaged in fulfilling responsibilities, improve customer service and enhance performance. The company may choose different strategies from each element to give employees offers aiming at attracting, motivating and retaining them. Compensation It is widely recognised that pay plays the most important role in staff recruitment, motivation and retention process (CIPD Mercer, 2010). Pay at least needs to be set at a reasonable rate to render employees effort and contribution. Apart from fixed pay, employees can earn bonuses for better than expected performances or results achieved. It is especially suitable for Sears where bonuses can encourage employees to perform better and improve customers experience. It also keeps the companys reward package stay competitive against that of other retailers. Benefits The company needs to design a flexible benefit programme, which is available to all levels of employees, to supplement cash compensation and promote the companys image. The offerings may contain: social insurance (e.g. social security, unemployment benefits, shopping discounts, workers compensation,), group insurance (e.g. life insurance, savings, health vouchers) and paid leave (e.g. sickness, holidays, vacation). Good benefits may assist employees in avoiding financial risks and obtaining a stable life, while at the same time, mirror the companys positive values and deliver promising messages to its stakeholders (WorldatWork, 2006). Moreover, well-designed benefits schemes can even lower the expenses and make some savings (Silverman Reilly, 2003). The company can attract employees attention to the most cost effective benefits, for instance, discounted gym membership, child care facilities or cheap loans. Benefits can also be designed as a percentage of salary, then the company may avoid the fluctuation of benefit cost and transfer part of this risk to employees. For instance, employees may choose to withdraw a cash allowance of four percent of salary each year, or invest it in a health and well-being programme offered by the company. Work-Life It contains the experienced working reality in the company, which includes the physical and emotional environment (Higgs, 2006). Policies are designed with an aim to support employees to get the balance and success both at home and in the workplace. In order to achieve this element, the company needs to have an open management style in which everyone is highly involved as a strong community and empowered. There should be flexibility at workplace and great concern from management about employees health and well being, with occasional financial support, if necessarily. Performance and Recognition Performance: This is a significant component in determining the companys success, in which performance of all employees is assessed to evaluate the efficiency. The management as well as employees must invest properly on planning process to link expectations with individual, team and organisational goals. Then, feedbacks are provided to all levels of staff to examine whether performance is up to expectations and goals or not. Appropriate feedback is important as it can motivate employees and improve their working efficiency. Recognition: After performance has been assessed, recognition is psychologically necessary to appreciate ones efforts and acknowledge his/ her contributions. Public recognition is important as it not only affects ones behaviour but also has impact on the others as well (Wiscombe, 2002). Awards can be cash or non-cash (e.g. certificates, restaurant or movie tickets, verbal or written notes of thanks). It is crucial that recognition be proper and fair as the company can gain greater employees loyalty and commitment with such programmes (Boxall Purcell, 2008). Development and Career Opportunities The company is supposed to provide employees with continuous development to enhance their skills and competence as it is an important part in the psychological contract between both sides (CIPD, 2009). On the other hand, a plan for career advancement not only makes employees be more responsible to their work but also deliver greater value to the company (Higgs, 2006). For development strategies, the company may offer different learning opportunities, for instance, short term training courses, on the job learning, coaching and mentoring, leadership development. As Sears already has a corporate university, more employees should be given the chance to attend it rather than managers only. For advanced opportunities, the company may offer some internships, apprenticeships with experts, attendance on meetings and lunches with senior managers for best performers. Each employee will be consulted with individual career ladder plans so that he/ she can know clearly what to do to be promoted. The company should also consider about succession planning to prevent job gaps and operation disruption. Elements to consider Although Total Reward has been proved to be effective in many companies already, it is necessary for implementers to apply its elements in correspondence with each companys specific situation. Contractual arrangements The company must regulate clearly what benefits are offered to employees in the contract to avoid any ambiguity or misunderstanding in reward strategies. Besides, as employees may change their choices or obtain new benefits regularly, the contract needs amending accordingly. Communication to employees It is important that the company deliver the right messages to its workforce explicitly or implicitly to obtain sustainable high-performance (CIPD, 2011). The company must provide employees with enough information about benefits schemes and update regularly about new policies or offers in different forms, for instance, through intranet, posters, emails and in verbal. As many people tend not to see the true value of benefits realistically, good communication may help them to get an idea of basic mechanics of the plans and their operation (Silverman Reilly, 2003). Managers can discuss with their staffs about salary progression, potential for higher salaries, promotion possibility to give them clear vision and expectations of what they can have and how to get these benefits (Armstrong Murlis, 2004). Valuation of benefits Evaluation of the benefits schemes before and after deployment is crucial to achieve the best efficiency. Reward practitioners need to design a plan which is both cost-effective for the company and advantageous to employees. After execution, the outcomes need to be reviewed and lessons are to be learned for improvements. Cultural dynamics Reward management must be considered in the context of the organisations culture (Armstrong Brown, 2006). Companies have different styles of work culture, which significantly affect the way employees work and behave. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the companys culture thoroughly before deciding the type of reward strategy and ways to deliver them to employees. Conclusion This paper attempts to analyse Sears case study with some key drivers for change and main issues, then propose an applicable model for implementing reward management at the company. Given the urgent need to design and deploy applicable strategies for the company to follow, it is hoped that the proposal bring about expected outcomes for the companys sustainable growth in the future. Word count:

Is Financial Compensation Beneficial Or Detrimental In An Empowerment E

Introduction What is an Empowerment ? Basically empowerment means giving the employee the ability to do their work, i.e. through the right training, the right environment, the right information, the right tools and the authority that they need. It is thought that by giving the employee increased power and responsibility that the employee will have increased motivation. Organisations have developed a number of new programs in which it is hoped that employees will have empowerment and so increased motivation. What is an Empowerment Program ? There are six different forms of empowerment programs. i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pay for Performance. This gives employees rewards in relation to their performance on the job. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gain Sharing. Employees are rewarded when performance targets are met. iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Employees are given shares in the company and so co-own the company which allow them to share in the improved profit performance. iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lump-Sum Bonuses. Rewards are given to employees in a lump sum based on performance. v.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pay for Knowledge. When employees learn new skills they are rewarded. This leads employees to learn new skills and so become more flexable within a company. vi.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Flexible Work Schedules. Workers can set their own working times. Motivation Motivation is a force which pushes a person to take a particular course of action, i.e. being motivated to go to school, to get something out of it, be it, to learn new things or just to get a good job out of it at the end which will bring high earnings. A basic model of motivation is shown below: NEED  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  BEHAVIOR  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  REWARD This shows motivation in action, from the previous example we can show that the need is the desire to learn or to get a good job, the behavior is to go to college or university and then the reward is gaining knowledge or a good job. There are two different types of reward ; intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards. Intrinsic are rewards gained in performing an action, i.e. f... ...with his two factors that workers have a set of motivators that it is best to concentrate on as this will lead to more job satisfaction and so improved motivation, of these motivators none of these were financial rewards. Improving financial rewards will lead to less job dissatisfaction and not job satisfaction or improved motivation for the work. Taylor argues that workers are like donkeys and that money is the main motivation, this is because in the capitalistic world today money does make a lot of difference and as in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to satisfy the lower levels of the needs, money does make the difference and employees will be influenced by the amount of money that they can have, it will leave them feeling secure. Overall I feel that financial rewards can be very beneficial in an empowerment program and lead to job satisfaction which will lead to increased motivation from workers. Bibliography Management, Fourth Edition. Richard L. Daft. Business Information Technology, Systems, Theories and Practise. Geoffrey Elliot and Susan Starkings. The Practise of Management. Peter F. Drucker. Information Systems – A Management Prospective, Second Edition. Stephen Alter.

Staying Fit Without a Gym Membership :: essays research papers

Life has change in the way people get in good physical condition. In the past three decades, one of the many popular trends has been receiving gym memberships. People go out of their way to buy memberships to gyms which they hardly even attend. Three ways that young people can stay in fit physical shape without having to pay, drive and join a gym are running, using the school gym and substituting exercise in their daily routine. If one does not want to pay to get a membership to the gym but still want to stay in physical shape, they can always exercise by running. Running helps with anything you are having problems with. Running strengthens your leg muscles and many other muscles as well. By running, one will stay in great physical conditions. Having daily runs will improve all chances of staying in good physical conditions without having to pay to join a gym. Furthermore, using the school gym is a great substitute for someone who does not want to get a membership and join a gym. They have the same quality equipment and so there is no difference. Access to the local school gym will save you a lot of money throughout the years on membership alone and yet it is the same quality exercise as if one were to pay for it. Finally, by taking time out of their schedules to do daily routines will help one stay in fit physical shape without having to pay for it. At work, one can take a quick five minute break and do some standing exercises. Or while at school, one can take physical education and practice daily on staying fit. Anywhere, anytime, one can make a little time for exercise. Keeping this up daily will ensure good physical condition. Running, using the school gym and substituting exercise in a daily routine will help young people stay in fit physical shape without having to pay, drive or join a gym.

Alexander the Great: Establishing the Supremacy of Western Thought Essa

The conquests of Alexander the Great and the significance of those conquests in establishing the supremacy of western thought. Alexander the Great started his military career on such a stellar note in 340 BC at the young age of 16. His father, Philip II was on a campaign in the east against Byzantium, having left Alexander in charge of Macedonia and during this time, a rebellious tribe attacked but was crushed by the troops led by Alexander. His efforts were lauded, he was rewarded by founding the first town of many to bear a version of his name and with Alexandropoulos, his military adventures began gloriously. During his father’s next campaign, Alexander leads the cavalry charge against a combined threat and strengthens his stance as a military leader. With Philip II’s death in 336 BC, Alexander sought approval of the army generals for the kingship, the generals agreed and Alexander was proclaimed king and ruler of Macedonia. To ensure his initial days as leader were uninterrupted he killed all other competition. 334 BC Alexander has demonstrated his ruthless actions are...

Eating the Right Food

â€Å"You are what you eat† said for the first time Anthelme Brillat-Savarin back in 1826 and since then this phrase is being used a lot by nutritionists. If this is really true, then a lot of Americans would appear to be unhealthy, treated with chemicals and, commercially raised animal flesh. While this does not sound very nice, it is nonetheless a description of the typical Americans who survive on the consumption of big macs and greasy French fries. â€Å"Unfortunately, studies show that over eighty five percent of Americans no longer eat even one meal at home together every day† (Bond, 4). It is true, and what should the average Americans do about this problem? They should better choose what they eat. Eating the right food is like getting an A at school. If you eat right food you will most likely be healthy. If you are getting A’s at school, you will most likely be successful. Eating the right food will contribute to your healthy living. By making the right choices, you will help yourself avoid some very serious problems. Making poor choices like eating too much wrong food, increases your chances of developing cancer, heart disease, diabetes, digestive disorders and aging related loss of vision. An example for that is the obesity, which is a major health concern in the United States. â€Å"Obesity can be linked to some 300,000 deaths and $117 billion in health care costs a year† (Espejo, 11). This statistics is very scary and it shows us how serious can be the wrong choice of our food. If we want to live healthy, we have to eat right. Eating the right food is not a hard thing to do. We just have to know some basic rules. One way to choose the right food is to follow the Food Guide Pyramid, developed by The Ivanova 2 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). More than one hundred years ago in 1894, the USDA published its first food guide, where the author, a nutritionist, introduced the idea of food groups. The five food groups defined in the food guide were milk and meat, cereals, fruits and vegetables, fats and fatty foods, and sugars and sugary foods. The guide made recommendations about eating food from each food group to remain healthy. MyPyramid is the most recent food guide, designed to provide Americans with a wide variety of food recommendations that will promote their health. MyPyramid was a major revision of the Food Guide Pyramid. It was designed to illustrate recommendations found in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 released by the USDA in January 2005. MyPyramid is intended to help Americans choose the right food to eat. It is designed to help people learn how to eat a healthy diet and live an active lifestyle. The latest food pyramid makes recommendations in seven categories: grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans, oils, discretionary calories, and Ivanova 3 physical activity. Each food category is a different color in the pyramid with different recommendations. The highest recommendation according to the pyramid is for grains, milk and vegetables. The lowest recommendation is for oils and meat. MyPyramid assumes that people will eat from all food categories. I have found that following MyPyramid is the simplest way of balancing my meals. It separates foods into groups and graphs the amount of each group needed in an average person’s diet. The second way to choose the right food is to eat local and seasonal food. Eating local food has a lot of advantages. The shorter the distance that food travels from farm to table, the better. The long-distance transport of food requires more preservatives, packaging, refrigeration and fuel. By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your money spent on food goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Eating locally does not mean to give up products like coffee and tea, which are grown only in certain regions. But it does mean to make choices when possible in favor of those foods that are produces near you. â€Å"Get out of the supermarket whenever you can† (Pollan, 33) is one of the Michael Pollan’s food rules. This rule implies the importance of going to the local farmer’s market. In the farmer’s market you will find fresh whole foods picked at the peak of nutritional quality. You will find food that â€Å"your great-great-grandmother would have recognized as food† (Pollan, 7). There are a lot of programs that try to promote growing fresh produce. South Central Los Angeles’ â€Å"Food from the Hood† program has brought ttention to the potential of its embattled Crenshaw district, while providing with Ivanova 4 college funds for the high school students who maintain organic gardens. San Francisco’s Fresh Start Farms employs homeless families to grow produce forthe city’s many restaurants. And U. S. prisons have taken to garden ing projects in a big way, like San Francisco County Jail’s Garden Project, which has prisoners growing food for local soup kitchens† (Motavalli, 17). These programs are great examples of promoting growing fresh and organic food. But that should embrace a larger number of people engaged with growing fresh produce. Not only homeless people, prisoners and students. Different programs should be developed in larger areas, where people can join and help grow fresh and organic food. Try to eat most foods only when they are in season, or can seasonal food in order to eat and enjoy it all year round. Buying seasonal produce also provides an opportunity to try new foods and to experiment with seasonal recipes. And it simply tastes better! Every region of the world has its harvest seasons. In order to eat locally, we have to be familiar with what is local and seasonal in the area we live. For example, in my country Bulgaria in winter time there is not a big variety of local foods that you can buy, because of the severe weather conditions. So we usually buy bananas and oranges, that are imported. But in spring, where everything comes to life, we start buying strawberries and cherries. I was not used to eat strawberries all over the year before, because in my country we grow strawberries only in spring and this is the only time of the year that you can buy and eat strawberries. Here you can buy strawberries any time of the year, but I do not do that, because they do not taste good. In summer time in Bulgaria we buy peaches, apricots, tomatoes, corn and a lot more. In California on the other hand, in winter we can enjoy grapefruits, lemons, oranges, lettuce, mushrooms, and potatoes. An important part of buying local is making an effort to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables when they are in season in your area. Although today's global marketplace allows us to buy foods grown virtually anywhere in the world all year round, these options are not the most sustainable. Even if you do not want to change any of your eating habits, you can at least make sure to buy local produce when it's available, rather than purchase the same type of food from three thousand miles away! The third way to choose the right food is to eat fresh food and a lot of fruits and vegetables. Fresh food comes out of the ground and comes to your plate with as little interference as possible. The freshest produce is what you grow yourself and pick just before you eat it. Eating fresh food is as simple as it sounds. It does not mean avoiding frozen or canned food, but it rather means to eat food as close to its natural state as possible. Frozen foods and vegetables are nearly as good as fresh ones and they may even be more nutritious than fresh fruits and vegetables that have been stored for weeks or months under conditions that prevent ripening. Canned fruits and vegetables are usually fine, though many come loaded with salt and added sugar. (Willet, 126). â€Å"Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables† (Willet, 114). As child you hated to hear it. As a teenager, you promised yourself you would never say it to your children. This wisdom however is passed from generation to generation. This is a timeless advice, simple and easy to remember. The National Cancer Institute recommends that each of us eats at least five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day, since they play a very beneficial role in protecting against cancer, heart disease and other health problems. But what exactly are fruits and vegetables? â€Å"To a botanist, a fruit is any plant part that contains seeds, any by process of elimination, a vegetable is everything else: leaves, stems, flowers, roots and bulbs† (Willet, 115). The reason experts recommend so many servings of fruits and vegetables is that they offer the best way to prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer. We should simply â€Å"Eat food† (Pollan, 5). It is easy to say, but hard to do, especially with all the new food products that are introduced annually to the market. Most of these items do not even deserve to be call food. They consist mostly of ingredients derived from corn and soy that no normal person keeps in their pantry. Lastly, the right food to eat will be anything, but fast food. Most people choose fast food because it is convenient, fast, and cheap. Fast restaurants are everywhere, on every corner. They always have the best deals for food. Everything seems so delicious and in most of the times it is really delicious. But the problem is that is not healthy and this is absolutely the worse choice of food that we can make. â€Å"It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car† (Pollan, 43). Fast food cannot be called food. We should avoid fast food restaurants if we care at least a little bit about ourselves. There is almost always a healthier choice. It may not be the cheapest or the fastest route, but I think that overall nutrition is more important than the thickness of our wallet. Cost, convenience, and lack of time all contribute to the bad eating habits most people have. Not everyone can afford to eat well in America, which is shameful, but most of us can. â€Å"Americans spend, on average, less than 10 percent of their income on food, down from 24 percent in 1947, and less than the citizens of any other nation†(The New York Times, January, 28, 2007). And those of us who can afford to eat well should. Paying more for the right food will contribute not only to your health also to the health of others who might not themselves be able to afford that sort of food: the people who grow it in the farms. Planning what to eat can eliminate impulse and over eating. In conclusion, choosing the right food to eat is not always easy. These are different ways to choose better our food. Choosing the right food to eat is choosing a better life. When we choose better our food we contribute actively to our health and to our life. MyPyramide is one way to choose the right food to eat. It gives us an idea how to balance the food we eat and what food to eat more and what to eat less. Another way to make a better food choice is eating a local and seasonal food. This is also not a very hard thing to do. We just have to make a little research on the local farmer’s markets and what kind of produce is grown seasonally in the area we live. The third way is to eat fresh produce and as many fruits and vegetables as possible. The last and maybe the most important thing to eat right is to avoid fast food. These are easy steps to living a happy, healthy and right life.

Siebel’s Critical Success

The definition of Customer Relationship Management is providing exceptional customer service. This entails rapid responses to all customer inquiries and demonstrations of active concern for customer satisfaction. CRM is a comprehensive sales and marketing approach to building long term customer relationships and improving business performance. It is a way of helping an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail. The best Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems include: 1) The ability to provide faster response to customer inquiries 2) Increased efficiency through automation 3) Having a deeper knowledge of customers 4) Getting more marketing or cross-selling opportunities 5) Identifying the most profitable customers 6) Receiving customer feedback that leads to new and improved products or services 8) Obtaining information that can be shared with the company's business partners. How Siebel's Critical Success Factors assists in the internal growth of the company and their competitive advantage. Siebel Systems enable organizations to create a single source of customer information that makes it easier to sell to, market to, and service customers across multiple channels, including the Web, call centers, field, resellers, retail, and dealer networks. This is done by providing a comprehensive family of multichannel eBusiness applications and services. Built on a proven, component-based architecture, Siebel eBusiness Applications are designed from the ground up to be completely Web-based, deliver support for multiple computing platforms, and provide automatic upgrades and software distribution that significantly reduce the total cost of ownership. By using the web Siebel use a common channel to market their wares which financial feasible, considering the amount of information they have to make available to existing and potential customers. The fact that one of their CSF's is to satisfy customers through any service channel, is an advantage that would benefit Siebel in terms of internal growth and competition. Since they have such a multiplicity of service channels incorporating many aspects of customer cohesion, they have a competitive edge over other companies offering the same services. How Siebel address it's clients needs – Siebel eBusiness Applications allow organizations to create a single source of customer information that makes it easier to sell to, market to, and service customers across multiple channels, including the Web, call centers, field, resellers, retail, and dealer networks. The multiplicity of the informative avenues that they provide is very compatible with whatever variety of customers they may come into contact with. – They provide support for all the major computing platforms including mobile clients, connected clients, thin clients, and handheld clients. – Create a single source of customer and product information that can be used to tailor product and service offerings to meet the unique needs of each customer across all channels of customer interaction – Deliver the only integrated, multichannel, Web-based configuration solution that is easy to use, deploy, and maintain Critical Success Factors of Claritas Claritas is a provider of marketing data. This data is arranged so that their customers can more easily initiate contact with customers in whatever field they choose to apply. Their users can target their own consumer needs so that the product or service they use can be tailored to fit the desired customer. The vast areas that their data covers i.e. trends, geographical locations and important events, ensures that they offer the best service possible for the service that they are offering which is a resource for marketing needs. This is a competitive advantage and as their clients speak of their efficiency to colleagues, this can only mean internal growth in favour of the company. Claritas addresses its clients needs by combining customer data with unique market information and insights enabling its clients to systematically identify, quantify, reach, and retain their most profitable customers. Their ways of doing this are by providing geodemographic information, qualitative audience research, and highly detailed data on advertising spending across all media. This is a main Critical Success Factor. It involves providing customers with all the information that is available and necessary to gain and retain customers. The service Siebel offers is providing comprehensive application software that can reach a plethora of customers by travelling through many avenues such as the Web, field, retail networks. This service can be improved by Claritas marketing data which can help direct Siebel's customers to choose the appropriate channel to reach the customers through. In layman terms, Claritas provides the information about the customers and Siebel provides the means in which to contact the customers. This can help both companies and allow them to mutually benefit from each other's strengths. What is a call centre infrastructure? The call centre is a central information point, which the rest of the company can use to gather data about the relationship between companies, products and customers. Murphy Brewery has 9,000 customers base. The problem with them is that their customers were presented with various points of contact within our organization without any one individual taking responsibility for a specific order, query, or request. Customers found that their requests and queries often went unresolved. This information was derived through conducting a self-commissioned survey. The solution was to establish a Customer Care service, i.e. a call centre, that would integrate all concerned information for any agent dealing with a customer. By understanding how customer trends are moving, a company can control the bases of their existence, their customers, and thus maintain a competitive edge over their rivals like Murphy Brewers. This relates to CRM because it is providing the best customer service possible by knowing the customer needs. Activity 2: A Power Analysis of your position Activity 3: Research Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Benchmarking. The definition of ERP is an attempt to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments' particular needs. It facilitates communication and enables information to be shared more easily. In the business sense for example, if an order is made, it can be done with all the information about the product or service being ordered available and by eliminating the need to go into different departments, it saves time. Benchmarking involves setting a baseline against what a company should have done or being doing to remain competitive. This follows certain criteria such as portability, flexibility, geographical application, facility of integration and facility of implementation. PeopleSoft run a client server architecture supporting Windows, cell phone technology (WAP), Unix, Linux and Macintosh. They are able to cater for industries, the federal government, Healthcare, manufacturing, Higher Education, Retail and Utilities. This shows an ability to tailor packages for almost any given enterprise. PeopleSoft can implement applications that can handle enterprises on a world wide basis.Facility of integration They offer an open integration platform to connect your enterprise to almost any form of enterprise which links to their application on worldwide basis. Facility of Implementation Their software can be easily implemented and installed if desired. PeopleSoft offers a complete packaged software solution for medium sized companies. Since 1987, they have built global enterprise application solutions that meet the changing business demands of organizations worldwide. Portablity The company whose ERP systems are being benchmarked is called SAP. Linux, WAP (Mobile phone communications) and Unix. Flexibility Offers custom made solutions and off the shelf industry solutions. Geographical application Supports global e-commerce, allowing the organisation to trade world wide with their systems. Facility of integration All major departments can be integrated into a large software solution. Facility of implementation Support provided after the software package has been purchased by a company. Activity 4: Profiling a Strategic team: Executive EQ test The company mission statement appears to be the best British garden magazine. They aspire to become the leading focus of expertise in garden designing, house decoration and culinary worldwide. For example, the service of providing gardening lessons through the Internet could be offered, and eventually they would expand into other educational areas. They seek to explore other medium attaining international coverage. A means of doing this could be by using SPY IN THE SKY services enabling HiMAC to take aerial photos of any garden and sell specialised tours. This would serve as a means to provide course over the Internet. This involved aligning financial activities and reports for all titles. In terms of business change, they proposed to have a team solely devoted to dealing with customer queries. They recognised the need for the customer base to expand in order to deal with a greater diversity of customers. They noted some supplier that could help the primary set up of computer based courses as a support if HiMAC took up more educational courses for other organisations. There was a recognition for the need of some departments to receive training for these new technologies. The accounting functions needed to be integrated into one single report. The decision to copy the model of an Internet based course from SurferTeaching Company was both good and bad. It was good in the sense that by copying, it reduced labour content with less work being involved than if one was innovative. It also provided less work by speeding up processes. It was bad in the sense that by copying another practice, it might not have been tailored for HiMAC as a specific company and thus caused problems like internal division. By not being specifically tailored for their company, its design would not cater for their CSF, goals and objectives. Secondly, the practice may carry inherent imperfections which HiMAC might not recognise and breed into their companies thus bringing new issues to consider.

Current Events in Business Research Essay

INTRODUCTION There are six basic stages to the research process. Stage 1 is clarifying the research question. This would be the process in identifying the problem that is prompting the research. Stage 2 is proposing research, which would be the act of identifying the resources necessary to do the research. The third stage is designing the research project, or deciding which method to use to gather the information. Stage 4 involves data collection and preparation, which is gathering the data and making it ready to be evaluated. Stage 5 would be the data analysis and interpretation stage. Stage 5 is defining what the data is saying about the problem. The final stage, stage 6 is reporting the results. This is breaking down the interpretation into a presentation that shows the meaning of the data collected. (Cooper & Schindler, 2014) This is the process used by Paramount Pictures recently when it was in contract negotiations with the DVD rental company, Redbox. THE DILEMMA As the major Hollywood studios took sides for and against Redbox, Paramount Pictures was staying neutral. The studio had signed a first-of-its-kind trial deal guaranteeing that its titles will be available from the fast-growing $1-a-night DVD rental company through the end of the year. During that time, Paramount would study the effect of Redbox rentals on its total home-entertainment revenue, examining whether there is any decrease in the sales of its DVDs at stores that house Redbox kiosks. Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount would have the option at the end of the year to trigger a five-year deal with Redbox similar to ones recently struck with  competitors Sony Pictures and Lionsgate. The estimated value of the agreement was $575 million. Redbox President Mitch Lowe agreed because Paramount movies performed better at the box office that year. A Paramount agreement would give the studio a share of rental revenue, meaning it could earn more than $575 million if its movies prove popular. Sony and Lionsgate are selling their discs wholesale to Redbox. Though it doesn’t have a formal deal with the company, Walt Disney Studios allows its wholesalers to sell discs to Redbox as well. (Fritz, 2009) â€Å"There has been a lot of debate in the industry about the impact Redbox is having and will have, and we felt the best way to make a decision is by getting the information,† said Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore. â€Å"Then we can make an informed decision based on what we will have learned over the next four months.† Guaranteed access to Paramount’s movies was important for Redbox. The studio released two of that summer’s biggest movies, â€Å"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen† and â€Å"Star Trek.†(Fritz, 2009) A movie that plays well in the theaters tends to do well when it is available to rent. Rental revenue could also provide a much-needed boost to the bottom line of Paramount. Lowe said he was confident that providing detailed data to Paramount would help resolve the heated disputes in Hollywood about his company’s effect on the entertainment business. Lowe has previously said his company’s research found that DVD sales dropped less than 1% in stores that installed a Redbox kiosk. â€Å"Many studios do their own analysis that we know is not as reliable and is aimed at coming to the answer they want to hear,† he said. â€Å"We find that when we can form a relationship with a studio and share real data, it results in a positive step forward.† Moore said he hadn’t reached any â€Å"definitive conclusions† as to what steps he would take if the data showed that Redbox rentals do in fact reduce overall revenue. So, the dilemma that Paramount has is w hether or not partnering with Redbox will reduce its sales income more than it will increase its rental revenue. THE PROCESS Paramount and Redbox did the research to determine whether or not rentals available the same day to buy decreased the sales revenue any more or less than those studios who decided to wait 28 days to make them available. Despite some content executives recently having touted the benefits of a  28-day window for DVD titles, Coinstar Inc.’s CEO Paul Davis said the company’s own research showed Redbox Automated Retail LLC kiosks have a minimal impact on DVD sales. â€Å"We did a major study, a little over a year ago, with a major studio and a major retailer and we found that the impact on new product sales as a result of our $1-a-night being out there, day and date, was less than 1%,† Redbox worked closely with Paramount, and they did a lot of testing as well, and the fact that they decided to go with day and date (of release) I think speaks volumes.†(James, 2010) CONCLUSION After reviewing the data collected by themselves and Redbox in 2009, Paramount Pictures made their decision. In June, 2010, Paramount exercised its option to extend its revenue-sharing license agreement with Redbox, which gives Redbox access to Paramount’s newly released DVDs and Blu-ray titles on the same day they are released in the sell-through market. Paramount’s extended agreement with Redbox runs until the end of 2014, though the studio will had the option to terminate the agreement early at the end of 2011. (James, 2010) As a result of the research, Davis thought that studios that have the 28-day window might opt to tweak their Redbox agreements to get certain DVD titles out for rental sooner. â€Å"Especially as more and more data gets out there and †¦ as the studios that have opted for the 28-day window, as they have a year or so to look at the data, see how it’s impacted their new product sales †¦ it could move that we get some titles earlier,† he said.(James, 2010) The process that Paramount and Redbox used, and the data they collected, could prove to be useful data to the other studios as to whether or not they should wait the 28 days. Reference Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods (12th ed.). New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Fritz, B. (2009, Aug 26). COMPANY TOWN; paramount to give redbox a spin. Los Angeles Times Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/422289074?accountid=458 James, S. B. (2010). Impact of day-and-date redbox rentals on DVD sales less than 1%. SNL Kagan Media & Communications Report, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/869743836?accountid=458