Globalization or Cultural Imperialism Essay

The concept of cultural imperialism is not a new one. The idea of winning the hearts and minds of another society via exporting values and cultural tendencies dates back to at least the Roman Empire (Rothkop 1). The basic concept of cultural imperialism is that a stronger, usually larger and with more military might, has forced its culture on another nation, usually a smaller and less politically powerful nation. Cultural imperialism can be either deliberate, as a conscious effort of the more powerful society, or as an unintended consequence of the larger society’s actions. Generally, those who use the term cultural imperialism use it as insult against the larger nation. The claim is that cultural imperialism, sometimes also referred to globalization, is detrimental to smaller cultures around the world, including the destruction of the indigenous cultures, languages, foods and art forms. This paper will examine the claim that this is a detrimental effect and determine if globalization is a negative force on the world or an acceptable part of an internationally aware world. â€Å"Cultural imperialism involves much more than simple consumer goods; it involves the dissemination of ostensibly American principles, such as freedom and democracy. Though this process might sound appealing on the surface, it masks a frightening truth: many cultures around the world are gradually disappearing due to the overwhelming influence of corporate and cultural America. The motivations behind American cultural imperialism parallel the justifications for U. S. imperialism throughout history: the desire for access to foreign markets and the belief in the superiority of American culture. † (Galeota 1) The first discussion of cultural imperialism in the mainstream discussion of political science began in the 1970s in relation to Latin America (Tomlinson 36). â€Å"The definitions of cultural imperialism appear to range along a continuum. On the one side, there are quite narrow and polemic definitions of cultural imperialism as ‘the domination of other cultures by products of the U. S. culture industry. ’ On the other hand, there are more formal and abstract definitions like Shiller’s which states that cultural imperialism is ‘the sum of the processes by which a culture is brought into the modern world system†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hamm 3). But then what does it actually mean? The short version is that the United States’ exports of everything from movies to McDonald’s are destroying native cultures around the world. The longer argument is that cultural imperialism is part of the growing process, a natural aspect of development. Determining which of these theories is the actual reality of the process is a sociological debate that has been raged for nearly forty years. The first question is whether the exportation of American culture is responsible for the destruction of native cultures around the world. To determine this, we must first look at the track record of history and use it as a measuring stick. When the term cultural imperialism began to take root in the 1970s it was universally applied to mean the impact, primarily by American media, on the remainder of the world. While it was initially applied primarily to Latin America and other regions where the United States displayed a colonial type relationship with the emerging nations, it would later be applied to the American media domination worldwide and credited/blamed for everything from the downfall of Soviet communism to the rise of English as the primary language of business worldwide. (Dunch 302). But this argument needs to be placed in a historical context. â€Å"The Soviet Union fell in part because a closed society cannot compete in the Information Age. These countries will fare no better. They need look no further than their own elites to know this. † (Rothkop 4). While American media is popular worldwide, many of the countries which have adopted English as an official language in conjunction with their native culture are former British colonies, part of the great empire. It may be, then, that people who were once citizens, reluctant or otherwise, of the British Empire have assimilated that portion of their history into their national identity and the loss of historical culture has more to do with the history of conquering nations than the worldwide media. (Dunch 304). And, as Rothkop points out, it is the Information Age that is making the difference. Further complicating the question is the discussion of what â€Å"lost cultures† are under consideration. Certainly, traditional values have changed worldwide, but nowhere more so than in the United States itself. The country was founded largely by religious, agrarian people seeking to be free from state-sponsored religion and the only one of those things that is still representative of American society is the desire to avoid state-sponsored religion (Dunch 308). Who then is to be blame for the deterioration/changes in American society? The possibility exists of course, that American media has even influenced its own culture, drawing it away from its Puritanical roots, but another explanation would be that this is the natural progression of civilization. No longer are we the nomadic hunters and gatherers of prehistory or even the agrarian societies that we once were (Chilcote 81). Perhaps, the destruction of these â€Å"indigenous cultures† is in fact a move away from prehistory to a modernization. That is not to say that there are not things being lost and that this loss does not profoundly affect society, it does. However, evidence that the blame should be placed on the prevalence of American-based fast food chains worldwide or an international love affair with â€Å"Grey’s Anatomy† seems weak, at best. Likewise, the discussion and blame of the American culture for the loss of indigenous languages also seems far-fetched. Americans cannot even agree on a single language of their own. While countries around the world often have standards adopting a native language as one of their official languages, the United States as a whole does not recognize a national language. In New Zealand, Maori is recognized as an official language as is Welsh in the United Kingdom, protecting the indigenous languages. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, there are major portions of several states where as much as 25 percent of the population does not speak English in the home and in some parts of Alaska, Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico and Florida more than 50 percent of the population is non-English speaking (Census 2000). It would then seem off to hold the United States responsible for the decline of native languages around the world when the country does not even enforce English-speaking within its own borders. Another oft thrown brick in the debate about cultural imperialism is the concept that the proliferation of American fast food around the world is leading to a decline in the native foods of some regions. The concepts centers on the idea that somehow the existence of McDonald’s means that people have stopped eating whatever their native cuisine is in favor of a quarter pounder and fries. But despite their prevalence worldwide, McDonald’s is by no means homogenous everywhere. In India, for example, where the great majority of the population is Hindu, the traditional Big Mac has been replaced by a lamb and chicken â€Å"and there is a vegetarian burger, the McAloo Tiki† (Adams 1). If American fast food were the demise of national cuisines, why would the menu ever vary from one country to the next? But here are just a few variations on the traditional American McDonald’s menu served worldwide† †¢ In fish-loving Norway, they have the McLaks, a sandwich made of grilled salmon and dill sauce. †¢ In parts of Canada, have a lobster dinner with the McLobster lobster roll. Pardon me – â€Å"McHomard† (in French). †¢ Japan totally reinvents McDonald’s with its Ebi Filet-O (shrimp burgers), Koroke Burger (mashed potato, cabbage and katsu sauce, all in a sandwich), Ebi-Chiki (shrimp nuggets) and Green Tea-flavored milkshake! †¢ In Israel, McDonald’s has 3 kosher restaurants where cheeseburger and dairy products are not served because Jewish Law forbids serving â€Å"the child [cow/beef] in its mother’s milk [dairy]. † They have McShawarma, meat in a pita bread roll (Adams 1) The accusation then that America is destroying international cuisine with the exportation of American fast food companies is a bit like saying that Chinese food as made in China is the same as Chinese food made in America. Food, lie civilization, evolves and adapts. As more things become available around the world, local cuisine adapts. Oftentimes, the cuisine was dictates by a local prevalence of certain foods, spices, etc. and now with refrigeration and shipping techniques evolving, so can the local foods. Another criticism some scholars have of globalization is that it destroys local art forms, but again, the international community has taken action to protect international indigenous art. Furthermore, the globalization of the world environment has meant that there are more markets for international art, giving greater exposure to the traditional arts and artists. To argue that globalization is destructive to the artistic community is a broad statement with no real basis (Winslow 711). Ultimately all the critics of globalization, who use loaded terms like cultural imperialism to describe what might be a natural process, point to factors that may be just part of the natural development process. Globalization may be a nature function of the move forward into the information age. â€Å"Globalization has economic roots and political consequences, but it also has brought into focus the power of culture in this global environment – the power to bind and to divide in a time when the tensions between integration and separation tug at every issue that is relevant to international relations. The impact of globalization on culture and the impact of culture on globalization merit discussion. The homogenizing influences of globalization that are most often condemned by the new nationalists and by cultural romanticists are actually positive; globalization promotes integration and the removal not only of cultural barriers but of many of the negative dimensions of culture. Globalization is a vital step toward both a more stable world and better lives for the people in it† (Rothkop 1) The problem is that people are not willing to understand that the economic power of the United States is going to mean that it plays an important role in globalization. That the economic development of globalization has to revolve around the economic powerhouses. Instead of blaming the changing world culture on the economic domination of the United States, countries need to look at the valuable consequences of the process. The best potential affect of globalization is a new understanding of other cultures and their interrelatedness to our own. â€Å"Language, religion, political and legal systems, and social customs are the legacies of victors and marketers and reflect the judgment of the marketplace of ideas throughout popular history. They might also rightly be seen as living artifacts, bits and pieces carried forward through the years on currents of indoctrination, popular acceptance, and unthinking adherence to old ways. Culture is used by the organizers of society – politicians, theologians, academics, and families – to impose and ensure order, the rudiments of which change over time as need dictates. It is less often acknowledged as the means of justifying inhumanity and warfare† (Rothkop 2) The question becomes is the decision to move to a world culture a bad thing? And, if the answer is that it helps do away with potential sources of conflict then it might be a good thing. The easiest way to make the argument in favor of globalization is to look at the cost of culture in the 20th century. Before we even discuss the individuals who lost their lives because of cultural conflicts, let’s talk about the entire groups lost. â€Å"As a reminder of the toll that such conflicts take, one need only look at the 20th century’s genocides. In each one, leaders used culture to fuel the passions of their armies and other minions and to justify their actions among their people. One million Armenians; tens of millions of Russians; 10 million Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals; 3 million Cambodians; and hundreds of thousands of Bosnians, Rwandans, and Timorese all were the victims of â€Å"culture† – whether it was ethnic, religious, ideological, tribal, or nationalistic in its origins. † (Rothkop 3). The hope then is that as the Information Age leads to international globalization that culture as point of contention leading to war can be avoided. â€Å"Inevitably, the United States has taken the lead in this transformation; it is the â€Å"indispensable nation† in the management of global affairs and the leading producer of information products and services in these, the early years of the Information Age. † (Rothkop 4). While some people fear this will lead to a homogenous world, sociologists assure that it will not happen with 6 billion people on the planet. The key though will be to allow globalization to bring people together instead of simply creating a new reason for warfare: economics. â€Å"Though the United States does boast the world’s largest, most powerful economy, no business is completely satisfied with controlling only the American market; American corporations want to control the other 95 percent of the world’s consumers as well† (Galeota 2) As the formerly Third World countries emerge and become a larger part of the global market place, the question will be whether the United States can maintain its economic superiority. â€Å"It is in the general interest of the United States to encourage the development of a world in which the fault lines separating nations are bridged by shared interests†. (Rothkop 5) The fear becomes that economic development will be the next issue to create international incident. Indeed, just as the United States is the world’s sole remaining military superpower, so is it the world’s only information superpower. While Japan has become quite competitive in the manufacture of components integral to information systems, it has had a negligible impact as a manufacturer of software or as a force behind the technological revolution. Europe has failed on both fronts. Consequently, the United States holds a position of advantage at the moment and for the foreseeable future. (Rothkop 5) The United States clearly wants to maintain this position of economic superiority and other countries will attempt to take it over. However, if the world’s nations can learn a form of economic interdependence that goes beyond the borders, then the world may be able to find a way to continue to evolve and to improve conditions for all citizens. As the world’s economies go beyond national borders, the wealth of the world can be more evenly distributed and all people can live happily. The reality of cultural imperialism or globalization is that it is a fact of life, not something that can be hidden from or condemned. Civilization is progressing and globalization is part of that progress. Is it destroying indigenous societies, via their art, culture, language and cuisine? Probably not. Are those cultures adapting to the world of the 21st century? Yes, they are. The world is completely different that it was and to be a part of it, cultures must adapt with it. Those who chose not to can attempt to close their borders and minds to the progress that is going on elsewhere, but the reality is that they are cursing themselves and their people to life less rich. While it is possible that shutting out the world can preserve outmoded traditions and cultures, it also restricts the natural processes of life. When life is not allowed to grow, it begins to die. The same with culture. If it is not allowed to grow and develop into a new world order, it will regress and lose the benefits of technology and modern science. WORKS CITED Adams, Beatrice. â€Å"McDonald’s Strange Menu Around the World† July 19, 2007. Census Data, (2000) December 2, 2007. Chilcote, Ronald H. â€Å"Globalization or Imperialism? † Latin American Perspectives > Vol. 29, No. 6, Globalization and Globalism in Latin America and the Caribbean (Nov. , 2002), pp. 80-84 December 2, 2007 Dunch, Ryan. â€Å"Beyond Cultural Imperialism: Cultural Theory, Christian Missions, and Global Modernity†. History and Theory , Vol. 41, No. 3 (Oct. , 2002), pp. 301-325 , December 2, 2007. Galeota, Julia. â€Å"Cultural Imperialism: An American Tradition† May 3, 2004. Hamm, Bernd and Russell Charles Smandych. â€Å"Cultural Imperialism: Essays on the Political Economy of Cultural Domination. † Broadview Press: USA, 2005. Rothkop, David. â€Å"In Praise of Cultural Imperialism? Effects of Globalization on Culture† Foreign Policy, June 22, 1997, , December 2, 2007. Tomlinson, John â€Å"Cultural Imperialism† Continuum International: USA, 2001. Winslow, E. M. â€Å"Marxian, Liberal, and Sociological Theories of Imperialism† The Journal of Political Economy , Vol. 39, No. 6 (Dec. , 1931), pp. 713-758 , December 2, 2007. .

Singapore Airlines

The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/researchregister The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/0960-4529. htm MSQ 15,3 A case study of service failure and recovery within an international airline David Bamford Manchester School of Management, UMIST, Manchester, UK, and 306 Tatiana Xystouri Ministry of Finance, Nicosia, Cyprus Abstract Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the effectiveness of internal processes of service quality recovery for an international airline. Design/methodology/approach – An action research methodology was adopted. The research involved: a review of available service quality literature; the identi? cation of causes of failure/errors within the host company; the development of key lessons and management guidelines. Findings – It is argued that, for service recovery to be effective, it must be external (to the customer) as well as internal (to the organisation). The need to incorporate employees and not overlook their signi? cance, power and in? uence on the delivery of quality service is highlighted. Through comparison with another airline the ? ndings re-assert that service quality excellence can only be achieved through employee satisfaction, commitment and loyalty as a result of senior management commitment, focus and drive. Research limitations/implications – The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and from which to draw speci? c conclusions. A perceived limitation is the single case approach; however, Remenyi argues that this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge. For further investigation, there is an ongoing opportunity for future research n the area of service quality, failure and recovery, as well as the service quality gaps within the airline. Practical implications – Key lessons and management guidelines for improving service quality are presented. Originality/value – The paper describes how an international airline has tangible service quality failure and recovery systems in place, but fails to cap italise on the data and information generated. Keywords Customer services quality, Service failures, Service improvements, International travel, Airlines Paper type Research paper Managing Service Quality Vol. 15 No. 3, 2005 pp. 06-322 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0960-4529 DOI 10. 1108/09604520510597845 Introduction Services marketing and management literature widely acknowledge that keeping current customers and developing relationships with new ones is a key business strategy (Piercy, 1995). The growing sophistication of consumers does represent an ongoing challenge to all manner of service organisations. According to Zemke and Bell (1989) nothing is as common as the organisation committed more to lip service than customer service; more interested in advertising than action. This is not helped in the link between customer satisfaction and pro? s being neither straightforward nor simple. Zeithaml (2000) highlights three major problems in measuring relationships as: (1) the t ime-lag between measuring customer satisfaction and measuring pro? t improvements; (2) the number of other variables in? uencing company pro? ts such as price, distribution; (3) that other variables (such as behavioural issues) should be included in the relationship as they explain causality between satisfaction and results. However, a number of studies have demonstrated a clearly positive relationship between organisation performance and customer satisfaction/service excellence. Wirtz and Johnston (2003) highlight the positive correlation between the pro? ts and service excellence of Singapore Airlines (SIA). Commenting on the competitive nature of the airline industry, one of their interviewees states: [. . . ] it is important to realise that they (customers) are not just comparing SIA with other airlines. They are comparing us against many industries, and on many factors (Wirtz and Johnston, 2003, p. 11). A case of service failure and recovery 307 Van der Wiele et al. (2002, p. 191) ? d the same result for an employment agency, stating â€Å"perceived quality is related to organisational performance indicators in the same year and/or in the next year†. Service failure and the subsequent complaints from customers are a likely occurrence over a product/service lifetime and the rapid, effective handling of these has proven to be vital in maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Indeed, the importance of service recovery reinforces the need for or ganisations to ? nd approaches that are effective in both identifying service failure and in developing strategies to recover successfully. Service recovery should be the cornerstone of a customer satisfaction strategy. This paper examines the effectives of internal processes of service quality recovery for an international airline. Literature review The changing environment in the service sector ? According to Gronroos (1987) the dimensions of service quality are diverse and relate to both the basic service package and augmented service offering. Two important contributions in developing models for measuring service quality are from Johnson et al. (1995) and Silvestro et al. (1990, cited in Dale, 1999), who assessed service quality in the UK. They identi? d 15 aspects of service quality, and categorised them into three factors: (1) Hygiene factors: those expected by the customer. (2) Enhancing factors: those that lead to customer satisfaction, although failure to deliver is not likely to cause dissatisfaction. (3) Dual threshold factors: those whose failure to deliver will cause dissatisfaction while delivery above a sp eci? c level will cause satisfaction. While the above model gives a clear view of what criteria a customer may use to judge service quality, it is not as widely reported as the one proposed by Parasuraman et al. (1985) who condensed ten original factors into ? e categories (tangibles, ? responsiveness, reliability, assurance and empathy). Gronroos (1988a, b) later added a sixth factor and called it recovery. Parasuraman et al. (1985) also suggested quality consists of the gap between what the customer expects and receives and that this gap is affected by four gaps on the MSQ 15,3 308 provider side (customer expectations; management perceptions of consumer expectations; service quality speci? cations; actual service delivery). Unfortunately when customers are asked for feedback the methodologies used sometimes lack empirical rigor and are often a response to a speci? crisis in the organisation (Berman, 1996). This loss of data at the organisational level means that operational change s are not tied to customer priorities in a routine manner. Dale (2003) summarises three major changes in the service sector. Stating the present emphasis on the service encounter, in particular the contribution made by service providers in enhancing and maintaining service quality, arises from environmental trends relating to: . consumers’ awareness and expectations; . technological developments and sophistication; and . competitive elements. In terms of consumers’ awareness and expectations, as society gets wealthier and the marginal utility derived from additional increments of goods declines, people turn to service expenditures. The growth in ? nal demand from consumers may be attributed to consumer expectations of quality, which are believed and accepted to be increasing (Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 1998). With regards to technological developments and sophistication, computerisation and technological innovations are radically altering the way in which many organisations do business with their customers. They can make a major contribution in the delivery of quality service. One view is that technological advances offer an opportunity to increase service in a variety of ways to improve the competitive stance (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). In terms of competitive elements, since entering the new millennium, it has become clear that most organisations are increasingly, in their quest for progress and advancement, interested in how they can achieve differentiation and competitive advantage (Verma, 2000). Globalisation and value driven business imperatives therefore mean that mistakes will not be tolerated. Services failures, recovering and learning The impact of active recovery strategies on a company’s revenue and pro? tability is dramatic. For example, Hampton Inn hotels in the USA realised $11 million in additional revenue from the implementation of its service guarantee and scored the highest customer retention rate in the industry (Ettorre, 1994). Research by the Of? ce of Fair Trading (OFT, 1990) illustrated when people make a complaint about goods and services and the complaint is satisfactorily resolved, three quarters of them will buy the same brand again. Where the complaint is not resolved, less than half will buy the same brand again. Clearly there is a pro? t to be made by retaining the customer loyalty of those whose complaints the company resolves (Citizen’s Charter Complaints Task Force, 1995). The ability to deal effectively with customer problems is closely related to employee satisfaction and loyalty. These are critical concerns in industries where customer relationships are closely associated with an individual service provider (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). Heskett et al. (1994) identi? s a number of factors that are considered important for employee satisfaction. These include: satisfaction with the job itself; training; pay; advancement fairness; treatment with respect and dignity; teamwork; the company’s interest in employees’ well-being; and the service worker’s perceptions of their abilities to meet customer needs. Of course the greatest barrier to effective service recovery and organisati onal learning is that only 5-10 per cent of dissatis? ed customers choose to complain following a service failure (Tax and Brown, 1998, p. 7; Dube and Maute, 1996). Instead, most silently switch providers or attempt to get even by making negative comments to others (Singh, 1990). Why are customers reluctant to complain? Several authors such as Dube and Maute (1996) and Singh (1990) uncover four reasons: (1) customers believe that the organisation will not be responsive; (2) they do not wish to confront the individual responsible for the failure; (3) they are uncertain about their rights and the ? rm’s obligations; and (4) they are concerned about the high cost in time and effort of complaining. To counter this several approaches have been highlighted that are effective in identifying service failures: setting performance standards; communicating the importance of service recovery; training customers in how to complain; and using technological support offered through customer call centres and the internet (Dale, 2003). According to Bitner et al. (1997) the level of customer participation in a service experience varies across services and customers can play a variety of roles. Through a review of the literature Bitner et al. 1997) identify three: (1) the customer as productive resource; (2) the customer as contributor to quality, satisfaction and value; and (3) the customer as competitor to the service organisation. These roles are not mutually exclusive, meaning individuals’ behaviours in a speci? c situation may apply to more than one of the three roles. What can ? rms do to improve recovery performance? Academic evidence, for example Hart et al. (1990), Mason (1993) and Bowen and Lawler (1995), suggests there are speci? practices that improve service-recovery effectiveness: hiring, training and empowerment; establishing service-recovery guidelines and standards; providing easy access and effective responses through call centres and maintaining customer and product databases. Bitner et al. (1990) in a study of 700 critical incidents found that it is not necessarily failure itself that leads to customer dissatisfaction, most customers do accept that things can go wrong. It is more likely the organisation’s response/lack of response to the failure that causes resentment and dissatisfaction. Boshoff (1997) surveyed 540 travellers, presenting them with a constantly negative service situation (a missed ? ight connection caused by ? ight delay) and looked for the most successful recovery strategies. They were: a fast response by the highest possible person in terms of seniority; a fast response accompanied by full refund plus some amount of compensation; a large amount of compensation provided by a high ranking manager. An apology was of limited use unless accompanied by some form of tangible compensation. A market-driven approach to service recovery consists of many tools in addition to identifying and responding to complaints: surveys; mystery shopping; focus groups; customer and employee advisory panels; and service operating performance data (Day, A case of service failure and recovery 309 MSQ 15,3 310 1994). In identifying opportunities to improve services, many ? rms integrate complaint data with data gathered through one or more of these research methods. Firms determining investment priorities in service improvement examine the impact of various options (e. g. ncreasing the speed of front-desk check-in versus expanding the room-service menu at a hotel) on customer satisfaction, repurchase intention, process cost, and market share. The goal is to identify those process improvements that will have the greatest impact on pro? tability (Rust et al. , 1995). Investment decisions should also be driven by customer pro? tability assessments. For example, United Airlines determined that business travellers account for 40 per cent of its business by headcount, but supply 72 per cent of its revenue; â€Å"mile-collecting vacationers† constitute 60 per cent of travellers but provide only 28 per cent of revenue. The most frequent business travellers, dubbed â€Å"road warriors†, generate 37 per cent of revenue even though they make up only 6 per cent of the passengers. United learned through complaints and survey results that the road warriors were the customers least satis? ed and most frustrated with air travel. Based on the data, the company invested $400 million to provide business travellers with better seats, food, and lounges; a pre-departure service to avoid long lines; more frequent-? ier bene? ts; and perks such as showers in terminals (Rust et al. 1995). The relationship between service recovery and organisational pro? tability can be clearly seen by examining the service-pro? t chain (Heskett et al. , 1994). This argues that pro? t results from customer loyalty, which results from customer satisfaction with the service system; customer satisfaction (value) is generated by satis? ed, loyal, and productive employees. The impact of service recovery can be traced through impro vements in the service system and through the direct effect on satisfaction of resolving a customer complaint. Resolving problems effectively has a strong impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty (McCollough and Bharadwaj, 1992). Conversely, poor recovery following a bad service experience can create â€Å"terrorists†, customers so dissatis? ed that they actively pursue opportunities to criticise the company (Heskett et al. , 1994). Loyal customers expect problems to be dealt with effectively and are disappointed when they are not, making service recovery key (Zeithaml et al. , 1993). Examples from the airline industry Wirtz and Johnston (2003), comment how SIA continues to get service quality right. They have consistently been one of the most pro? table airlines in the world and are routinely voted â€Å"best airline†, â€Å"best business class†, â€Å"best cabin crew service†, â€Å"best in-? ight food†, â€Å"best for punctuality and safety†, â€Å"best for business travellers†, â€Å"best air cargo carrier†, and even â€Å"Asia’s most admired company†. SIA seems to follow many of the normative models that are well researched and published in the service literature such as: a strategic focus on customers; adopting a â€Å"total company† approach to service excellence; incremental improvement and periodic process redesign; and continuous benchmarking. The company strives for a constant â€Å"exceeding of expectation† (e. g. Berry, 1995) and has active customer feedback systems (e. g. Berry and Parasuraman, 1997, Wirtz and Tomlin, 2000). SIA’s culture of service excellence at a pro? t is in line with the service pro? t chain (Heskett et al. , 1997) and the cycle of success (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). Final observations made by Wirtz and Johnston (2003, p. 18) include what they term as these â€Å"somewhat surprising ? ndings†: SIA’s holistic process perspective – a culture were all staff look at all processes all the ime to search for incremental improvement; SIA strive to maintain consistency in service excellence that meets the needs of every customer (maintaining the dif? cult balance between standardisation and customisation); a simultaneous focus on service excellence and costs/pro? ts, pushed right out to the front line staff. Their conclusion is that SIA has no secret formula for succe ss; they just follow widely known and applied frameworks and models. At British Airways (BA) in 1983, the then chief executive, Colin Marshall, launched the Customer First campaign. The cornerstone of the Customer First campaign was detailed research into what customers expect in terms of personal service. BA established monitoring mechanisms, which continually told them what the customers expect, and how well they were doing against these expectations. The market research covered both customers and staff, so as to form the starting point for a fully integrated campaign to improve standards of service. The training programmes included a personal development course looking at such aspects as handling feelings, understanding and coping with stress, and being assertive. The programme was then extended to embrace all non-customer contact staff. Great emphasis has been placed on teamwork and on an appreciation of the contribution that each individual and each role makes towards the success of the airline as a whole. Further, the Quality Assurance Unit, whose activities were to focus on de? ning detailed customer service standards, and develop quality control mechanisms by which BA could measure their local performance against customer expectations, monitored the progress of improving service quality. At the same time, a service quality audit was developed to meet the needs of overseas stations. The objective has been that all staff within the company becomes actively involved and committed to the corporate objective of improving customer service, with the slogan: â€Å"Putting our customers ? rst – if we don’t, someone else will† (Hamill and Davies, 1986). SAS suffered an $8 million operating loss in 1981. Within two years, they achieved a gross pro? t of $71 million on sales of $2 billion, although the industry as a whole lost a total of $1. 7 billion (Albrecht, 1985). The success story at SAS was claimed to come from an organisational commitment to manage the customer’s experience through so-called â€Å"moments of truth†, â€Å"the ? rst 15-second encounter between a passenger and the front-line people† (Carlzon, 1987, p. viii). Carlzon, SAS President at the time and later author of ‘Moments of Truth’, his take on successful customer service quality, put all 27,000 employees through a company-wide training programme. Everyone, from baggage handlers to company vice presidents received the training in a two-day workshop, speci? cally targeted to meeting the needs of their customers. According to Carlzon this cross-functional training is essential; if only front-line staff have it then their best efforts to satisfy customers may be blocked by back-room staff. He goes on to propose that the link between tactics and strategy is not made in many customer service organisations, ultimately resulting in failure of service quality. Research method An action research methodology was adopted (Remenyi et al. , 1998). Action research was developed during the 1960s and has proven particularly useful in the area of managing change and identifying areas for improvement (Remenyi et al. 1998). Moore (1999) states that to be properly regarded as action research, a project must contain a continuous thread of objective evaluation and a mechanism whereby the results of the A case of service failure and recovery 311 MSQ 15,3 312 evaluation and the lessons learned during the project can be fed back into the process so that it becomes something which is dynamic and constantly modi? ed in the light of experience. The main advantage of action research is that it is done in real-time; produces a concrete result and everyone in the organisation can see what is going on. This can have its disadvantages as well – mistakes made are very public, but on the whole it makes for research which has the support and backing of people who might otherwise have shown little commitment to the idea. Its distinguishing feature is that it integrates something of real, practical worth into an organisation. This has to be the case, otherwise the research would never have been sanctioned – ? rms do not have resources to spare and would not waste their own time and resources on a futile project. As detailed above, one potential weakness of the adopted research methodology might be its very public nature. If the project did not produce tangible real-time results, those supporting it may lose interest and bias any future initiatives. The applied methodology needed to be systematic so that it ? tted with the basic aims of the research. Informal interviews, observation and company documentation were all used. This investigations objective was to make an assessment of the airline’s process of service quality recovery with respect to service failure, driven by the goal of customer satisfaction and internal improvement. Once access was established key measurables, and causes of failure were identi? d through a detailed examination of company processes, informal discussion with Company personnel, and formal interviews with various employees. This process, over a period of time, allowed the identi? cation of sources of errors within the host company. The case study The research presented here involved full participation from an international airline. During the 1990s the airline concen trated on improving customer service, reducing costs and aggressive marketing. Signi? cant effort and new approaches were initiated to improve the quality of service delivered to the customer, in order that the organisation remains ompetitive in future years. A central pivot of the airline’s approach was a commitment to improve service to the customer and they subsequently won a number of passenger accolades. Service failure in the airline Among the key data was the record of passenger complaints during a four-year period. These records included the revenue-passengers carried by the airline, number of complaints received, number of complaints offered compensation and the amount of money paid out during each of the four years. They are represented in Table I. The number of recorded complaints increased by nearly 60 per cent and those offered compensation increased dramatically by 147 per cent during this period. The Year Revenue passengers carried Complaints received Instances paid Amount of money paid (? ) Table I. Passenger complaints records 1 2 3 4 1,298,000 1,355,000 1,346,000 1,400,000 545 684 715 870 253 403 462 626 22,736 47,048 70,253 73,869 manager of the complaints department commented on these numbers by asserting the increase re? cted â€Å"only a small extent of the increased passenger movement†, even in year three when a slight trough was observed, the numbers of complaints showed no sign of decline. The percentage â€Å"complaints paid† increased from 47 per cent in year one to 72 per cent in year four. The complaints department manager af? rmed that increasing customer complaints have been a factor for the previous decade indicating the complaints/passengers ratio has been st eadily increasing. In 1990 one complaint was recorded for every 2,700 passengers, a decade later, one complaint is recorded for just over 1,500 passengers. Figure 1 represents the number of complaints per 10,000 passengers during an 11-year period. In year 1, the complaints average was 3. 6 per 10,000 passengers, within ten years that became 6. 2. Due to this upward trend in complaints, the airline’s expenditure on compensation is increasing noticeably year-by-year, demonstrated in Table I. Expenditure on compensation increased by more than ? 50,000 in the period year eight to year 11, with the most fundamental increases being witnessed in ? scal years nine and ten. Table II demonstrates which recorded complaints are the most frequent and re? cts the main causes of recent service failure in the airline. Commenting on the ? gures of Table II, a senior manager identi? ed the majority of complaints concentrating around three areas: (1) delays, usually technical in nature; (2) service interruptions, e. g. through frequent strikes; and (3) complaints regarding the attitudes of ground staff. Complimentary letters were seldom received b y the airline and were never logged or recorded. Anecdotal evidence suggests when a passenger compliments an employee it is done face-to-face, not in writing. Interestingly, all current effort at the airline is put A case of service failure and recovery 313 Figure 1. Number of complaints per 10,000 passengers MSQ 15,3 Nature of complaint Act of God Cabin staff attitude Downgraded Flight cancellations/diversion of ? ights/delays Food and beverage Ground staff attitude Lack of facilities Mishaps during ? ight Overbooking Reservation problems Strikes Travelled on jump-seat Cases 1 4 6 544 5 103 7 17 18 39 124 2 314 Table II. Passenger complaints records into recording complaints not compliments; senior managers believed this was because the board of directors (BoD) expected complaint data to discuss ithin their meetings. The service recovery plan The airline’s activities for service recovery and in-house improvement are proceduralised through a detailed ? owchart shown in Figure 2. Monthly â€Å"service recovery†, â€Å"customer voice† and quarterly meetings with cabin crew supervisors take place to allow issues to be raised and discussed to seek improvement. Appreciation for outstanding performance is provided through gifts (e. g. free business class two-way tickets to any destination), and printed letters of appreciation, signed by the president of the airline. Discussion The research data revealed that 89 per cent of customer complaints resulted from 25 per cent of the problem areas, evidence of the Pareto principle in action. Evidence indicated the service recovery plan of the airline was not addressing these priority areas according to their signi? cance. Presented in Figures 3 and 4 are cause and effect diagrams (Dale, 2003) re? ecting the main service failures of the airline. With regard delays, diversions and cancellations, senior managers asserted that some causes, such as the weather, are predictable yet cannot be controlled – little can be done to avoid their consequences. According to the US Department of Transportation (1989) 70 per cent of delays in the commercial airline service are caused by weather. In addition, external factors beyond the immediate control of the airline can cause service failure (? ight diversion or cancellation due to air-traf? c congestion, a failure in another airport where the airline’s aircraft are engaged). For the airline the planned purchase of new aircraft and a scheduled upgrade of existing ? eet should reduced problems caused by purely technical failure. Service quality should improve and expenditure on compensation reduced. Findings here also con? rmed assertions from the literature that technological advances can offer opportunities to increase service in a variety of ways to improve competitive stance, and lead to cost savings (Mulconrey, 1986). Although this contrasts with the view that customers insist on â€Å"client-centred† performance as opposed to â€Å"technical-centred† A case of service failure and recovery 315 Figure 2. Flowchart of service recovery and in-house improvement processes performance (Kotler and Connor, 1977), the ? dings indicated that a reliable â€Å"personal touch† service is what the airline’s customers perceived as being good service quality. Findings indicated the perceived â€Å"bad attitude† of ground staff was a major area of service failure. The airline’s senior management team agreed that for employees to be competent in offering soft quality, rigorous se lection procedures and appropriate training was vital. However, research evidence suggests that these principles were not applied throughout the company. Dobbs (1993) af? rms that without formal training staff have few tools to meet the expectations of customers or managers. The level of consistent, appropriate and focused training was found to be a key issue within the airline. Ground staff were not suf? ciently trained for the highly MSQ 15,3 316 Figure 3. Cause and effect of delays/ diversions/cancellations Figure 4. Cause and effect diagram of bad ground staff attitude â€Å"customer centred† aspects of their jobs and therefore lacked appropriate key skills and diplomacy for handling the demands of customers. This is demonstrated in Figure 5. The ability to deal effectively with customer problems is closely related to employee satisfaction and loyalty (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991). Customer satisfaction is also increased when company management attempts to couple the service recovery process with offering initiatives to the employees (Reichheld, 1993). However, within the airline employee satisfaction is not as important as customer satisfaction. That ground staff are perceived as having a bad attitude con? rms assertions from the literature (Heskett et al. , 1994, p. 164) that important factors for employees are: satisfaction with the job itself; treatment with respect; and the company’s interest in employees’ well being. A case of service failure and recovery 317 Figure 5. Ground staff attitude complaints Research ? ndings indicated a range of reasons for employee strikes. The diffusion of the single union 20 years ago (the Union of the Airline Staff) and the creation of several resulted, according to one senior manager, in â€Å"the power to in? uence events in the hands of an uncompromising few†. Employees who felt their needs were not taken into consideration used their union to make demands. Weak management support, in combination with discontented employees, results in continual strike action that gives an impression of a disorganised company (see Figure 6). The management of the airline failed to work towards a process of identifying and resolving the issues triggering employee dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the senior management team has been unsuccessful in attempts to improve internal company communications. Although researchers have studied the concept of service for several decades, there is no real consensus about the conceptualisation of service quality (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Rust and Oliver, 1994). Different researchers focus on different aspects of service Figure 6. Cause and effect diagram of strikes MSQ 15,3 318 quality. The most common de? ition is the traditional notion that views quality as the customer’s perception of service excellence (Berry, 1995; Parasuraman et al. , 1985). Attempts have been made to provide applicable conceptual models, see for example Zhu et al. ’s (2004) paper on â€Å"A mathematical model of service failure and recovery strategies† for an example. Of perhaps more direct use here is a simple comparison of how the Airline operates re service quality, with one of the best in the business, SIA. Table III offers a straightforward comparison between various service recovery elements of the two airlines. Taken from Wirtz and Johnston’s (2003) paper on SIA, which took SIA’s senior managements perspective on sustaining their service excellence, we used ten key service recovery elements. Of these, all of which SIA excel at, our research indicates the airline actively pursue only one, acknowledging the challenge of delivering service excellence. Disappointingly, they would appear to fail on every other element. As the two companies have similar systems in place the key difference would appear to be the level of senior management commitment. Indeed this comes across compellingly in the Wirtz and Johnston paper. If similarities exist in the perceived execution of objectives, a difference in perception of what the â€Å"long-term† view actually is may be key (see Bamford and Forrester, 2003). The research does indicate the airline BoD is actively trying to improve its service quality. Through enhanced organisational intelligence they are striving to improve the fundamentals of their service delivery. They can ? x what they can see; they can ? x what they can directly in? uence. New equipment is easy, though expensive to bring in; changing company attitudes is another issue. The comparison with SIA highlights key differences between a so-called â€Å"best in class†, in terms of airline service quality and an airline that is trying very hard to survive in an increasingly competitive market sector. Key lessons and management guidelines As business and management research is essentially a ? eld of applied studies it is appropriate that research of this type should convert at least some of its ? ndings into a series of practical management guidelines (Remenyi et al. , 1998). Therefore, although it Singapore Airlines (Wirtz and Johnston, 2003) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Service recovery element Acknowledge the challenge of delivering service excellence Adopt a â€Å"total† systems approach Strive for consistency with personalisation in service delivery Understand customers and anticipate their needs Listen to both customers and front-line staff Log compliments and complaints Continuously training and motivate the front-line staff Provide dedicated resources for communication and motivation Manage the organisation with an eye for the detail in everything Focus, above all, on delivering consistently high quality at a pro? t for the company The airline Yes No No No No No No No No No Table III. Airline service quality set-up and recovery comparison is not our main purpose to present prescriptions, the following maybe useful for practitioners. The key lessons presented below offer straightforward advice: . Do not lose focus of internal service quality: quality of the workplace; job content and variation; recruitment; selection and suf? cient training of employees; management support; rewarding employees for good job performance; recognising employees for good job performance. The latter is said to wield signi? cant in? ence over the quality of employee job performance (Piercy, 1995). . Put evaluation and reward systems into practice to ensure good performance is monitored and rewarded (e. g. with cash bonuses or free tickets). . Empower front-line employees. This is a tool for improving employee motivation, as having the power to own, manage and resolve a problem makes roles more meaningful and interesting. . Frequent ser vice education and training can enhance the ability of front-line staff to provide greater levels of customer care. It also prepares them for handling the differing demands of customers. A case of service failure and recovery 319 Conclusions This research has reported the main causes of service failure within an international airline and through comparison with another airline the ? ndings re-assert that service quality excellence can only be achieved through employee satisfaction, commitment and loyalty as a result of senior management commitment, focus and drive. The paper has assessed the organisation’s process of service recovery with respect to the main causes of service failure, in its goal to achieving customer satisfaction and internal improvement. The analysis of the ? ndings conformed to the Pareto principle, by which the majority of the organisation’s failure resulted from a small proportion of the problem areas (technical problems; strikes; ground staff attitude). The ? ndings indicated that for service recovery to be effective, it must be external (to the customer) as well as internal (to the organisation) so that internal improvement can be ensured. The ? ndings also substantiated previous claims of the need to approach service quality in a manner that goes beyond unsophisticated and narrow-minded practices that verlook the signi? cance, power and in? uence of the employee on the delivery of quality service and the smooth operation of the organisation’s activities. Finally, the ? ndings con? rmed previous assertions that employee satisfaction, commitment and loyalty require high levels of management commitment, as well as frequent communication. This research raises a number of implications for management. T he interactive concepts of external and internal quality and their importance raise issues of recruitment and training to achieve the right blend of employee skills and motivation. There appears to exist the need for the organisation to adopt management-employee relationship strategies, to ensure it manages and gets the best out of this key resource. Periodic review of performances and reward schemes are considered of vital importance, to aid the co-evolution of mutual understanding between managers and employees, and hence the development of superior service quality. A further implication for management is re? ected by the importance of understanding the positive effects of internal marketing on the pro? tability of the MSQ 15,3 320 rganisation. As the literature suggests (Albrecht, 1985; Hamill and Davies, 1986), satis? ed employees have all the means to make customers happy by offering superior quality service and thus reducing the occurrence of complaints substantially. The eventual result on the pro? tability of the organisation can only be encouraging, even at its most basic level fewer complaints mean less complaint expenditure and thus improved pro? ts. The methodology applied for collection of the research data was wholly appropriate and consistent with the perceived outcomes required. It generated ample data, which facilitated discussion and the drawing of speci? c conclusions. A perceived limitation is the adoption of a single case approach; however Remenyi et al. (1998) argues that this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge. As a result of this research the Airlines senior management team have recognised the need to address internal marketing in a manner that will be translated into the company’s philosophy and cultural attributes. This research has also provided a foundation for future work. Although many valuable insights were revealed through this research, there is an ongoing opportunity for future research in the area of service quality, failure and recovery, as well as the service quality gaps within the airline. References Albrecht, K. (1985), â€Å"Achieving excellence in service†, Training and Development Journal, Vol. 39 No. 12, pp. 64-7. Bamford, D. and Forrester, P. (2003), â€Å"Managing planned and emergent change within an operations management environment†, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 546-64. Berman, E. 1996), â€Å"Implementing TQM in state welfare agencies†, Admin. Soc. Work, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 55-72. Berry, L. L. (1995), On Great Service – A Framework for Action, Free Press, New York, NY. Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1997), â€Å"Listening to the customer – the concept of a service-quality information system†, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 38, Spring, pp. 65-76. Bitner, M. J. , Booms, B. H. and Tetreault, M. S. (1990), â€Å"The service encounter: favourable and unfavourable incidents†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54, January. Bitner, M. J. , Faranda, W. T. , Hubbert, A. R. and Zeithaml, V. A. 1997), â€Å"Customer contributions and roles in service delivery†, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 193-205. Boshoff, C. (1997), â€Å"An experimental study of service recovery options†, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 110-30. Bowen, D. E. and Lawler, E. E. (1995), â€Å"Empowering service employees†, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 36, Summer, pp. 73-84. Carlzon, J. (1987), Moments of Truth, Ballinger Publishing, Cambridge, MA. Citizen’s Charter Complaints Task Force (1995), Complaints Handling in the Public Sector: A Research Study Conducted by MORI, HMSO, London. Cronin, J. J. and Taylor, S. A. (1992), â€Å"Measuring service quality: a re-examination and extension†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 56, July, pp. 55-68. Dale, B. (1999), Managing Quality, 3rd ed. , Prentice-Hall International, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Dale, B. (2003), Managing Quality, 4th ed. , Blackwell Publishing, Oxford. Day, G. S. (1994), â€Å"Continuous learning about markets†, California Management Review, Vol. 36, Summer, pp. 9-31. Dobbs, J. (1993), â€Å"The empowerment environment†, Training and Development, Vol. 47 No. 2, February, pp. 55-7. Dube, L. and Maute, M. (1996), â€Å"The antecedents of brand switching, brand oyalty and verbal responses to service failures†, in Swartz, T. , Bowen, D. and Brown, S. (Eds), Advances in Services Marketing and Management, Vol. 5, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp. 127-51. Ettorre, B. (1994), â€Å"Phenomenal promises that mean business†, Management Review, March, pp. 18-23. Fitzsimmons, J. A. and Fitzsimmo ns, M. J. (1998), Service Management: Operations Strategy and IT, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. ? Gronroos, C. (1987), â€Å"An applied service marketing theory†, Working Paper, No. 57, Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Helsingfors. ? Gronroos, C. 1988a), â€Å"Service quality: the six criteria of good perceived service quality†, Review of Business, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 10-13. ? Gronroos, C. (1988b), â€Å"Assessing competitive edge in the new competition of the service economy: the ? ve rules of service†, Working Paper, No. 9, March, First Interstate Centre for Service Marketing, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Hamill, B. and Davies, R. (1986), Quality in British Airways: Are You Being Served? , Phillip Alan, Oxford, pp. 77-87. Hart, C. W. L. , Heskett, J. L. and Sasser, W. E. (1990), â€Å"The pro? table art of service recovery†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 8 No. 4, July-August, pp. 148-56. Heskett, J. L. , Sasser, W. E. Jr and Schlesinger, L. A. (1997), The Service Pro? t Chain, Free Press, New York, NY. Heskett, J. L. , Jones, T. O. , Loveman, G. W. , Sasser, W. E. Jr and Schlesinger, L. A. (1994), â€Å"Putting the service-pro? t chain to work†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72, March-April, pp. 164-74. Johnson, R. L. , Tsiros, M. and Lancioni, R. A. (1995), â€Å"Measuring service quality: a systems approach†, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 5, pp. 6-19. Kotler, P. and Connor, R. A. (1977), â€Å"Marketing professional services†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 1 No. 1, January, pp. 71-6. McCollough, M. A. and Bharadwaj, S. G. (1992), â€Å"The recovery paradox: an examination of consumer satisfaction in relation to discon? rmation, service quality, and attribution-based theories†, in Allen, C. T. , et al. (Eds), Marketing Theory and Application, American Marketing Association, Chicago, IL, pp. 102-7. Mason, J. B. (1993), â€Å"The art of service recovery†, Retailing Issues Newsletter, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 1-4. Moore, N. (1999), How to Do Research: The Complete Guide to Designing and Managing Research Projects, Library Association Publishing, London. Mulconrey, B. G. (1986), â€Å"High-tech that create high touch†, Best’s Review, October, pp. 28-33. Of? ce of Fair Trading (1990), Consumer Loyalty, OFT, London. Parasuraman, A. , Zeithaml, V. and Berry, L. (1985), â€Å"A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, pp. 41-50. Piercy, N. F. (1995), â€Å"Customer satisfaction and the internal market: marketing our customers to our employees†, Journal of Marketing Practice: Applied Marketing Science, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 22-44. A case of service failure and recovery 321 MSQ 15,3 322 Reichheld, F. F. (1993), â€Å"Loyalty-based management†, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 71, March-April, pp. 64-74. Remenyi, D. , Williams, B. , Money, A. and Swartz, E. (1998), Doing Research in Business and Management, Sage Publications, London. Rust, R. T. and Oliver, R. L. (1994), â€Å"Service quality: insights and managerial implications from the frontier†, in Rust, R. T. and Oliver, R. L. (Eds), Service Quality: New Directions in Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA. Rust, R. T. , Zahorik, A. J. and Keiningham, T. L. (1995), â€Å"Return on quality: making service quality ? ancially accountable†, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59 No. 2, pp. 58-70. Schlesinger, L. A. and Heskett, J. L. (1991), â€Å"Breaking the cycle of failure in services†, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 32, Spring, pp. 17-29. Singh, J. (1990), â€Å"A typology of consumer dissatisfaction response styles†, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66 No. 1, pp. 57-99. Tax, S. S. and Brown, S. W. (1998), â€Å"Recovering and learning from service failure†, Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 75-88. US Department of Transportation (1989), Federal Aviation Administration Airport Capacity Enhancement Plan, US Government Printing Of? e, Washington, DC, p. 3. Van der Wiele, T. , Boselie, B. and Hesselin, M. (2002), â€Å"Customer satisfaction and business performance†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 184-93. Verma, R. (2000), â€Å"An empirical analysis of management challenges in service factories, service shops, mass services and professional services†, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 8-25. Wirtz, J. and Johnston, R. (2003), â€Å"Singapore Airlines: what it takes to sustain service excellence – a senior management perspective†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 10-19. Wirtz, J. and Tomlin, M. (2000), â€Å"Institutionalising customer-driven learning thro ugh fully integrated customer feedback systems†, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 205-15. Zeithaml, V. A. (2000), â€Å"Service quality, pro? tability and the economic worth of customers: what we know and what we need to learn†, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 67-85. Zeithaml, V. , Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1993), â€Å"The nature and determinants of customer expectations of service†, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 1, pp. 1-12. Zemke, R. and Bell, C. R. (1989), Service Wisdom: Creating and Maintaining the Customer Service Edge, 2nd ed. , Lakewood Books, Minneapolis, MN. Zhu, Z. , Sivakumar, K. and Parasuraman, A. (2004), â€Å"A mathematical model of service failure and recovery strategies†, Decision Sciences, Vol. 35 No. 3, p. 493. Further reading Zeithaml, V. , Berry, L. L. and Parasuraman, A. (1988), â€Å"Communication and control processes in the delivery of service quality† , Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52, April, pp. 35-48.

Tybcom Exam Time Table

(203) FIRST HALF 2012 ( Unique Exam Code 22300001) PROGRAMME OF THE THIRD YEAR B. COM. (THREE YEAR DEGREE COURSE) EXAMINATION Candidates for the above examination are requested to be in attendance at the place of examination, fifteen minutes before the time appointed for setting of the first paper and ten minutes before the time fixed for setting of each subsequent paper. THEY ARE FORBIDDEN TO TAKE ANY BOOK OR PAPER INTO THE EXAMINATION HALL. Seat numbers and places of examination will be announced on the college notice boards four days prior to the date of commencement of the examination. Smoking is strictly prohibited in the examination hall. The written examination will be conducted in the following order :- Days and Dates Wednesday, March 21, 2012 Time Paper 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Financial Accounting & Auditing : Paper-III – Financial (FOR FRESH Accounting. CANDIDATES Economics – Paper III APPEARED FIRST TIME FOR T. Y. B. COM. EXAM) Business Management : Paper III- Management & Organisation Development. Commerce: Paper III International Business Relations. IIIQuantitative Techniques : Paper III-Mathematical Methods. Banking & Finance : Paper III- Introduction to Banking in India. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Financial Accounting & Auditing : Paper-III – Financial (REPEATERS & I. D. E. STUDENTS) Accounting. Economics – Paper III Business Management : Paper III- Management & Organisation Development. Commerce: Paper III- International Business Relations. Quantitative Techniques : Paper III-Mathematical Methods. Banking & Finance : Paper III- Introduction to Banking in India. Thursday, March 22, 2012 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Financial Accounting & Auditing : Paper IV-Audition (FOR FRESH and Cost Accounting. CANDIDATES APPEARED FIRST TIME Economics – Paper IV. FOR T. Y. B. COM. EXAM) Business Management : Paper IV – Financial Management. Commerce : Paper IV – Management of Service Industry. Quantitative Techniques : Paper IV – Statistical Methods. Banking & Finance : Paper IV – Introduction to Financial Services. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Financial Accounting & Auditing : Paper IV-Audition (REPEATERS & I. D. E. and Cost Accounting. STUDENTS) Economics – Paper IV. Business Management : Paper IV – Financial Management. 2 Days and Dates Thursday, March 22, 2012 Time Paper 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Commerce : Paper IV – Management of Service (REPEATERS & I. D. E. STUDENTS) Industry. Saturday, March 24, 2012 Quantitative Techniques : Paper IV – Statistical Methods. Banking & Finance : Paper IV – Introduction to Financial Services. 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Financial Accounting & Auditing : Paper V(FOR FRESH Management Accounting etc. CANDIDATES Economics – Paper V APPEARED FIRST TIME FOR T. Y. B. COM. EXAM) Business Management: Paper V-Marketing Management. Commerce: Paper V-Commercial Administration. Quantitative Techniques: Paper V- Operations Research, Quality Control & Reliability. Banking & Finance: Paper V- Finance of Foreign Trade and Foreign Exchange. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Financial Accounting & Auditing : Paper V- Monday, March 26, 2012 Management Accounting etc. Economics – Paper V Business Management: Paper V-Marketing g p g Management. Commerce: Paper V-Commercial Administration. Quantitative Techniques: Paper V- Operations Research, Quality Control & Reliability. Banking & Finance: Paper V- Finance of Foreign Trade and Foreign Exchange 11:00 a. to 01:00 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper – VI/VII Direct and Indirect Taxes. 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Direct and Indirect Taxes. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Direct and Indirect Taxes. 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Business Economics. : Paper III. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Business Economics. : Paper III. (REPEATERS & I. D. E. STUDENTS) Tuesday, March 27, 2012 Wednesday, March 28, 2012 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m . Commerce : Paper III –Marketing and Human Resource Management. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Commerce : Paper III – Management and Production Thursday, March 29, 2012 Planning. (OLD) Commerce : Paper III –Marketing and Human Resource Management (REV) 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper – VI/VII Export Marketing. Vocational Subjects : Paper VI – Tourism and Travel Management – Emerging Concepts for Effective Tourism Development and Information, Communication and Automation (V) Tax Procedures and Practice – Central Excise (V) Advertising Sale Promotion & Sales ManagementManagement of the Sales Force, Sales Promotion and Public Relations (V) Computer Application – Java Programming I & II Foreign Trade Procedures and Practice – Shipping and Insurance & Foreign Trade Documentation (V) 3 Days and Dates Thursday, March 29, 2012 Time Paper 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Principles & Practice of Insurance – Property and Liability Insurance (V) 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper – VI/VII Export Marketing (OLD) Export Marketing (REV) 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Export Marketing Vocational Subjects : Paper VI – Tourism and Travel Management – Emerging Concepts for Effective Tourism Development and Information, Communication and Automation (V) Tax Procedures and Practice – Central Excise (V) Advertising Sale Promotion & Sales ManagementManagement of the Sales Force, Sales Promotion and Public Relations (V) Computer Application – Java Programming I & II Foreign Trade Procedures and Practice – Shipping and Insurance & Foreign Trade Documentation (V) Principles & Practice of Insurance – Property and Liability Insurance (V) 11:00 a. to 01:00 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII Business Insurance. Computer Systems and Applications Literature in English 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII Friday, March 30, 2012 Business Insurance (OLD) Business Insurance (REV) 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Business Insurance 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Computer Systems and Applications Saturd ay, March 31, 2012 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Literature in English 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII- Labour Welfare & Practice Psychology of Human Behaviour at work Vocaitonal Subjects : Paper VII- Tourism and Travel Manangement – Entrepreneurship Development, Case Studies and Problems etc (VI) Tax Procedures and Practice – Enterpreneurship, Central Excise, Problem etc. (VI) Advertising Sales Promotion and Sales Management – Enterpreneurship Development, Case Studies etc (VI) Computer Application – E-Commerce/ Entrepreneurship Development Foreign Trade Procedures and PracticePractice Entrepreneurship, Case Studies etc. VI) Principles and Practice of Insurance – Entrepreneurship and Group Insurance and Retirement Benefit Scheme (VI) 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII- Labour Welfare & Practice. 4 Days and Dates Saturday, March 31, 2012 Time Paper 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Labour Welfare & Practice Psychology of Human Behaviour at work Vocaitonal Subjects : Paper VII- Tourism and Travel Manangement – Entrepreneurs hip Development, Case Studies and Problems etc (VI) Tax Procedures and Practice – Enterpreneurship, Central Excise, Problem etc. VI) Advertising Sales Promotion and Sales Management – Enterpreneurship Development, Case Studies etc (VI) Computer Application – E-Commerce/ Entrepreneurship Development Foreign Trade Procedures and PracticeEntrepreneurship, Case Studies etc. (VI) Principles and Practice of Insurance – Entrepreneurship and Group Insurance and Retirement Benefit Scheme (VI) Monday, Monday April 02, 2012 02 11:00 a m to 01:00 p m A li d C a. m p. m. Applied Component G t Group : P Paper VI/VII Marketing Research. 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Marketing Research (OLD) Marketing Research (REV) 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Marketing Research Tuesday, April 03, 2012 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII- Inventory Management and Cost Reduction Techniques Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations Investment Analysis Portfolio Management International Marketing Regional Planning Literature in Hindi. Literature in Gujarati Literature in French Literature in German Literature in Sindhi 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII- Inventory Management and Cost Reduction Techniques 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. . Inventory Management and Cost Reduction Techniques 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations p 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Investment Analysis Portfolio Management 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Investment Analysis Portfolio Management 5 Days and Dates Tuesday, April 03, 2012 Time 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. International Marketing. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. International Marketing. 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Regional Planning. 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Regional Planning Paper 11:00 a. to 02:00 p. m. Literature in Hindi (OLD) Wednesday, April 04, 2012 Literature in Hindi (REV) Literature in Gujarati Literature in French Literature in German Literature in Sindhi 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Banking Law & Practice Purchasing and Store Keeping Rural Marketing 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Banking Law & Practice 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Banking Law & Practice 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Purchasing and Store Keeping (OLD) 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Purchasing and Store Keeping (REV) 11:00 a m to 02:00 p m P a. m p. m. Purchasing and Store K h i d St Keeping i 11:00 a. to 01:30 p. m. Rural Marketing 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Rural Marketing Saturday, April 07, 2012 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Applied Component Group : Paper VI/VII- Enterpreneurship & M. S. S. I . Transport Management. 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Enterpreneurship & M. S. S. I (OLD) Enterpreneurship & M. S. S. I (REV) 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Entrepreneurship & M. S. S. I. 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Transport Management 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Transport Management Monday, April 09, 2012 11:00 a. m to 01:00 p. m. Merchant Banking Literature in Marathi Literature in Urdu. Elements of Operations Research 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Merchant Banking Literature in Marathi Literature in Urdu. 11:00 a. m to 01:30 p. m. Elements of Operations Research 11:00 a. m to 02:00 p. m. Elements of Operations Research IMPORTANT NOTICE: STUDENTS ENROLLED IN THE COLLEGES (OTHER THAN I. D. O. L) FOR T. Y. B. COM. PRIOR TO THE YEAR 2006-2007 AND STUDENTS ENROLLED THROUGH THE INSTITUTE OF DISTANCE AND OPEN LEARNING THE DURATION OF ALL THE APPLIED COMPONENT SUBJECTS WILL LEARNING. BE OF 3HRS. MUMBAI- 400 098. th 24 November, 2011 PROF. VILAS B. SHINDE CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS

Animal Liberation Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Animal Liberation - Term Paper Example Singer equates treating animals lesser than human beings to other forms of discrimination like racism and ethnicity. Furthermore, Singer equates animals with human beings who have irreversible brain damage. The utilitarian views of Singer are opposed and refuted by Cohen. Cohen argues that rights can only be restricted to moral agents. To refute Singer’s argument that animals have equal rights to humans, Cohen proposes a definition of rights as claims. A right according to Cohen is a claim made against somebody else. Cohen further argues that an obligation to ensure animal welfare cannot constitute a right. To prove this Cohen clearly shows that rights entail obligation but obligation cannot entail rights. However, Cohen’s fails to show how humans without the ability to claim their rights can enjoy rights. These groups of humans include human infants and mentally handicapped persons. Cohen’s speciesist theory failure to explain how humans without the capacity to claim rights can enjoy moral rights assists Utilitarianism answer his criticism for their explanation of animal rights. The starting point for answering the question â€Å"Is there such thing as a moral saint?† always starts with an attempt to define the term. This is occasioned by the fact that any author who attempts to tackle the controversial question must have a standard of morality that the supposed â€Å"moral saint† satisfies. This approach is reflected in Wolf who starts his work by giving a brief description of what the moral saint is supposed to be. Wolf defines a moral saint as a person who strives to be as good as possible everyday and in every situation. Similarly, Carbonell in his work article Moral Saint Reconsidered also starts his exploration of the issue with a description of the term moral saint.

Difficulties of Having a Foreign Professor Assignment

Difficulties of Having a Foreign Professor - Assignment Example When English is taught, it should be a must that the instructors are not comprised of individuals who are not from the English domains. What this would mean is the fact that non-native English speakers must not have the right to teach English because it is not their language and if they get within such domains, there would be immense grammatical errors and mistakes which will come to the fore (Wilson, 1971). What this implies is the rationale that the non-native English speakers will make mistakes which they would not even know about; hence it is understandable that they should be kept at a safe distance from the realms of teaching the English language. One is usually against the dictum of hiring non-native English speakers as the instructors who instill within the students the English language because they themselves are not at par with the understanding and comprehension levels, and hence it is a very common thing that could be taken for granted under such realms. The stance is aga inst hiring the non-native English speakers as the instructors teaching the English language because they will get it all wrong and therefore teach the students what they must not learn in the first place (Viete, 2011). There is a dire need to understand that the non-native English speakers are always looking at shortcuts for their own selves because they aim to learn English without much trouble and efforts within their fore. Now if they get their hands at learning the English language, rest assured there would be immense problems for the English learners because the former will not be able to gather within them the confidence to speak it in an out and out fashion. What remains to be seen is the fact that the non-native English speakers or the foreign professors are bringing a bad name to the English language, as has been witnessed through proper evidence and research. There have been a number of problems within the English curriculum, and this has been manifested with the passage of time in this day and age. The difficulties in having foreign professors are such that there is a lot at stake that needs to be corrected, and the students of the English language are usually on the receiving end whenever the talk goes out loud regarding the non-native English speakers and their pertinent trade (Brown, 2010). The non-native English speakers rely on the short term success pointers rather than emphasizing deep upon the very basics that remain within the aegis of the English language, and hence the problems seem to start out of nowhere. The non-native English speakers who are teaching the English language are doing a great injustice to this language and its followers. Now is the time to realize where the shortcomings are cropping up from, and how these could be resolved amicably to ask for a proper replenishment of the teachers who know how to teach the correct English dictum and thus allow the people to be one step ahead of where they are within this languageâ€℠¢s domains (Walker, 2010). Thus all-out efforts are required by the people within the helm of affairs to take the call and allow the people at large to experience English in its truest form and manner. In the end, it would be sound to state that the difficulties of having a foreign professor are significant to understand, analyze and properly decipher.

Quiz two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Quiz two - Essay Example The average cost of repairs under warranty is $45 for labour and $75 for parts per unit. During 2012, 2,500 exercise machines were sold at an average price of $800. During the year, 60 of the machines that were sold were repaired at the average price per unit. The opening balance in the Warranty Liability account is zero. 30. Taylor Companys payroll for the week ending January 15 amounted to $50,000 for Office Salaries and $120,000 for Store Wages. The following deductions were withheld from employees salaries and wages: On January 1, 2010, Andrews Corporation issued $900,000, 8%, 5-year bonds dated January 1, 2010, at 100 (this value was assumed as it was not given in the document) to yield 9%. The bonds pay semi-annual interest on January 1 and July 1. The company has a December 31 year end. On January 1, 2010, Callahan Corporation issued $600,000, 9%, 5-year bonds, dated January 1, 2007, at 104. The bonds pay interest semi-annually on January 1 and July 1. The company has a December 31 year end. Assume amortization of $1,700 and $2,100 respectively for the first two semi-annual interest periods. Hanna Manufacturing Limited receives $240,000 on January 1, 2010 when it issues a 6%, 3-year note payable to finance the purchase of equipment. The terms provide for annual payments each December 31. The first payment is due December 31, 2010. (a) Hillman Corporation purchased $150,000 of its bonds on June 30, 2011, at 102 and immediately retired them. The amortized cost of the bonds on the retirement date was $137,700. The bonds pay semi-annual interest and the interest payment due on June 30, 2011, has been made and recorded. (b) Dalton, Inc. purchased $200,000 of its bonds at 96 on June 30, 2011, and immediately retired them. The amortized cost of the bonds on the retirement date was $196,500. The bonds pay semi-annual interest and the interest payment due on June 30, 2011,

Sony Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Sony - Case Study Example A critical analysis of this project discloses various value drivers as well as cost drivers. Tawfik and Enders define value created as the difference between alleged use value which is positively influenced by value drivers, and real costs increased by cost drivers. Use of UMTS technology and handset, applications that promote interaction and individualization are seen to promote the products quality, with UMTS technology also advancing speed and thus improve value. The implementation of the project comes together with some extra cost. However, it is worth noting that the increase in value is still larger than the increase in cost. For this reason Sony focused on capturing the value e which calls off for a wise tradeoff between consumer surplus and producer surplus; given that the company does not operate in a monopolistic market. Moreover, following the advancement in Sony’s operation with time, there is need t to include in the case study some other operations such as virtua l payment fee which Sony has recently introduced to capture the real value of their

Transition Of Corporate Power And How It Effect Fashion Industry Assignment

Transition Of Corporate Power And How It Effect Fashion Industry - Assignment Example The paper "Transition Of Corporate Power And How It Effect Fashion Industry" discusses Transition Of Corporate Power And How It Effect Fashion Industry. In the fashion sector, the corporate should be focusing on the governance so that they maximize residuals and in thecases of investor-owned firms, theyhave to make a pro datadistribution to theshareholders. The pro-data distribution allows accountability when it comes to government subsidies and the role of labor laws and community interest. An example of a transition of corporate power in thefashionindustry is China. China is one of the largest consumers of textile with its population of 400 million, giving a high demand for textile. In the past, the fashion industry has faced problems starting from insufficient raw materials and inadequate technology. In 1950, the Chinese government started it five-year plan with the construction of cotton mills, printing and dyeing plants. The plan was not only meeting the demands of the growing p opulation but also to provide employment. The government solely embarked on the production, structure and distribution. It however failed to meet the requirements of its population, so the government introduced a modernized method of the open policy. Therefore, allowed foreign direct investors to do businesses in China. It also enabled China to renovate its outdated industry rapidly and also make new economic ties with other countries. The result was a transformation of the intermediate products like thread.

Black Book movie 2006 (European film CRITIQUE) Review

Black Book 2006 (European film CRITIQUE) - Movie Review Example Betrayal is one of the things that makes the movie interesting. Also, the soundtrack blends well with change well with the environment to reflect the mood of the film. In addition to that, techniques used in finding out people secrets in the movie gives one the desire to keep watching (Pamuk, Orhan, and Maureen, 2006). For instance, the hidden microphone that was planted by Ellis on Franken’s office which enabled them know that it was Gein who betrayed Rachel’s parent. Finally, the tactics the character use to gain advantage over others allow one keep watching, seduction of Commander Ludwig by Ellis after she disguised herself. The major conflict in the movie is the warfare between the Germans and Holland. It is resolved when Holland gets victory though The Hague resistance. Other sub-major conflicts are race conflict these shall be settled by people accepting to live with one another even though love centers everything. Another conflict is greed people are seen to love money. This conflict is resolved when the greedy people are killed. Finally, there is a conflict of love. Ellis has a natural tendency to fall in love with people who had significant positions the resistance. She resolved this internal conflict by sleeping with them in return for information. The main protagonist of the movie, Rachael meets the antagonist leader Van Gein whom later she realizes was a betrayer of her family. In the event of escaping, the protagonist meets Rob, a tertiary character which enables her escape and connect her to another tertiary character Smaal, who assist her financially. The film has won several award having nominated for four Golden calves for the best actress, best director, and the best film. Though the movie was positively received by the Dutch press, it had some question. For instance, some said that the movie director, Verhoeven, failed to put emphasis on the moral dissertation and focused only

The Accountability Strategy read chapter 8 Article

The Accountability Strategy read chapter 8 - Article Example To measure activities used in teaching mathematics in a school, the most important measure involves imparting new skills thus the need to evaluate the learning resources applied by the teacher. There is also need to assess the amount of time spent in effective instruction and the means used. For example hands-on learning is more effective, thus by this assessment, activities can be measured. In measuring output, keys aspects to look into entail, attendance can be used as a measure since high attendance of the lesson indicates interest, while the outcomes can be measured against the objectives of the lesson, which in this case would be application question in a test depicting real life events. This is particularly possible in algebra lessons, which are both abstract and applicable. Therefore, effectiveness can be measured using the amount of time spent teaching and this can then be put against the goals and objectives. More time with poor results indicate low efficiency, while less time and better results indicates otherwise. Collection of information about efficiency, output, outcome and activities can be obtained from official records since all teachers are required to keep records of the work they have taught. As such, this makes it easy to obtain information unless the data is confidential, as is the case with test scores. If the names of students are not required, then the acquisition of this data becomes fairly easy. Collection of data is meant to evaluate effectiveness of methods of teaching and the resources allocated to the teacher, as well as the time taken to teach (Berman, 2006 pg. 150). As a result, the most important aspect of the data is in the learning outcomes, where learning outcomes take centre stage. This affects the choice of performance measure in that the outcome has to be reflected on most in spite of the purposes overlapping. The difference between accomplishments and activities is narrow as there is

Adapting to terrestrial living Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adapting to terrestrial living - Essay Example Adaptations to tackle this problem include animal like skeletons and specialized plant cells and tissues which support the plant. A transition from aquatic to terrestrial life also meant a competitive struggle for sunlight; as a result plants had to be tall, which also necessitated strong stems and an extensive root system to anchor the plants firmly in the ground while they grew upwards towards the sunlight (www.countrysideinfo.co.uk) and this is turn led to the development of trees. Another requirement for air based living as opposed to aquatic life is the need to conserve water, because a plant may face constraints in obtaining an adequate supply of water from the soil. As a result, they have developed a cuticle or protective layer on the surface of leaves to prevent excessive loss of water by transpiration (www.countrysideinfo.co.uk). At the same time however, plants must also be able to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to carry on the process of photosynthesis and give out carbon dioxide. This objective had to be achieved without sacrificing the modes for preservation of water through the use of the cuticle. The adaptations made in plants to specifically cater to this requirement are stomata on the underside of the leaf, which allow the exchange of gases to take place without excessive loss of water from the surface of the leaf. For example, in drought prone areas, plant leaves are reduced to spines, so that the leaf surface from which loss of water can take place is considerably reduced. Plant species growing in drought ridden areas may demonstrate high levels of stomatal conductance, photosynthesis and photosynthesis during periods when water is available, but enter into periods of dormancy and lose their leaves during a period of intense heat (Lambers et al, 2008) Plants have evolved from simple unicellular organisms into complex multi cellular ones. A unicellular organism

Trend in Hr Outsourcing Essay Example for Free

Trend in Hr Outsourcing Essay In business world today, the main focus is delivering company’s core competency as to generate sustainable competitive advantage. The core competency is being described as what company does the best and in the same time, generates profit for the company. As the company focusing on their core competency, other components of the company require as much attention as the core to keep the company stable. However, it difficult for company to maintain all the aspect of their business at top level and even by that will cost them fortune. That’s when Outsourcing concept come into the picture. Outsourcing is the alternatives for company to hired external company to be their part of function. The execution of specific function for the company will enable the company to focus on their core competency. One of the most commonly function of management to be outsources today is the human resources department. Delmotte, J and Sles, L. (2008) stated that their researches on outsourcing of Human Resources lead to better time management as well as resources that support both tactical and strategic contribution. These factors later on enable stable and longer focus on supporting the core competency of the company. In other words, once company enable their human resource to be handled by the expert of the fields, the company now can focus more on their main competency. As the expert of the field charge on the HR, better result is shown which coming back in enabling company to perform better on the overall view. Extending the view from another point, the trends of outsourcing not just imply to company function that they are not well managed only. (Kosnik Hoover, 2006) The situation lead to outsourcing might be caused by lack of expert on that field. Kosnik, T. and Hoover, K. (2006) find in their research that outsourcing in term of staffing firm enable a company to obtain more expert into the workforce. In a way, instead of hiring single personal that course higher, outsourcing for a team of expert to be combined with current staff will returned more than it should. This staffing firm method can lead the form to better manage their expenses to better portion of the company where it is needed. For example, Telekom Malaysia in their Unifi consumer service development has outsource their customer interface system to Accenture Sdn. Bhd. by joining force their programmer and system analyst to work side by side in completing the system. Focusing on the outsourcing human resource of company, it leads to a chance for Host Company to have knowledge transfer from the external expert to the internal expert. Previously, considering staffing firm of expert to be part of the team, the host company can now develop their staff to be more expert. Schlosser, F., Templer, A., and Ghanam, D. (2006) discover in their research that organizational knowledge learning process can be enhance from the outsourcing of staff. Ads explained, the logic apply that to ensure everyone perform at the same level, internal training by the outsource expert will be done. This is to ensure after the contract done, the maintenance can be continue by the host company team force. There are several trends that change the nature of human resource outsourcing in today’s world. According to Rosenthal (2010), the first one is by shifting adoption patterns in order to take much more focused approach. Current outsourcing clients have become more critical when evaluating the benefits that they gain from outsourcing their HR functions. They would likely to focus on outsourcing on one specific area at time instead of outsourcing a broad function of the organization. Rosenthal explained that the clients are more likely to compare their investment in outsourcing cost with the returns and benefits that they gain from it thus, lead them to only outsource one defined area. Another trend stated by Rosenthal is integrating the benefits area and administrations together and outsource them. By doing so, the clients are able to ensure that every roles of the department can operates smoothly and efficiently. With that, any cost related to the employees’ benefits process can be kept at minimal thus, allowing the organization to provide more benefits for their people. For example, a more efficient off-boarding process can ensure that the people get paid no longer than it should moreover organization can minimize their healthcare costs with a wellness program to change behavior. Outsourcing enables the organization to hire another company to perform and operates certain functionalities for them like Human Resources. There are several factors that lead organizations to choose outsourcing their HR functions such as to focus more on their core competency, the lack of expert on that field and to promote knowledge transfer from the external expert to the internal expert. In today’s world, there several trends in HR outsourcing for example shifting adoption patterns in order to take much more focused approach and integrating the benefits area and administrations. Works Cited DELMOTTE, J., SELS, L. (2008). HR outsourcing: threat or opportunity? Belgium: EmeraldInsight. KOSNIK, T., HOOVER, K. (2006). Outsourcing vs insourcing in the human resource supply. United State : Emerald Insight. ROSENTHAL, B. E. (2010, January 1). Four Trends That are Changing Human Resources Outsourcing Article. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from Outsourcing Center: http://www.outsourcing-center.com/2010-01-four-trends-that-are-changing-human-resources-outsourcing-article-37457.html SCHLOSSER, F., TEMPLER, A., GHANAM, D. (2006). How Human Resource Outsourcing Affects Organizational Learning in the Knowledge Economy. Canada: JOURNAL OF LABOR RESEARCH.

The persuasive speech

The persuasive speech Persuasive Speech Did you know that 50% of kids in foster homes die from child abuse a year? There are a half of a million children in the foster care system. Many people are unaware of this hidden tragedy that happens behind closed doors and away from the public eye. We should take a stand and fight for stricter regulations with Child and Youth when children are placed in foster care. We should advocate tougher laws and guidelines for social workers, foster families and the ?system? that runs it. First, we should talk about the social workers that work for Division and Youth services. The regulations for social workers are poor and unethical. Most states do not have requirements to work in this profession only a high school diploma and the ability to pass a criminal background check. In Pennsylvania, the state does not demand a license for these workers. Social workers believe that their actions they take violates the law but say ?they are necessary to comply with ethical standards. Fredrick Reamer a PHD writes, ?social workers follow their own personal option and reasons of why they do the things they do? and ?believe that the laws are unjust and harmful? (Reamer 1). They are suppose to follow the laws that are in place by our Constitution and by the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. What gives them the right to be above the law? In my case coming from New Jersey, the social workers came in and took us out for good reasons. In Pennsylvania, my neighbor was going to have her kids taken away because they missed so many days of school. Child and Youth came to her house and demand a reason for this. Jess, my neighbor, told me ? the lady came into my house and yelled at me in front of my kids, calling me an unfit parent and said that they were going to take the kids? (Jess, PI). Children and Family Justice Center says that technique is a criteria and ?see the bully fight as worth having, stand up for despised, demonized, brilliant and tenacious children? (Bernadine Dohrn 1). What should be done with these so called social workers? We should demand that all get a license in this field which requires a masters or a doctrine degree. We should tell the National Association of Social Workers to enforce penalties on those who do not follow the law and ethical standards that are in place to protect the families and children that are innocent. We have to come together as families and protect ourselves and know the laws in our state. Another problem we face is the foster homes and state run facilities. Agencies fail to investigate abuse reports, find permanent homes for children or track children under care. In Pennsylvania a judge wrote, ?In recent years, the system run by DHS and overseen by DPW had repeatedly failed to fulfill its mandates and unfortunately has often jeopardized the welfare of the children in its care? (Rick Thomas 1). Did you know that there are 20,000 kids in foster care in Pennsylvania and 30 percent of them have no prospect of having a permanent home? Or that ?28% of children in foster homes are abused a year and half of them die of abuse? (Donna Devane 1). There is more abuse occurring in foster homes than the general public and it is increasing each year. For example, Gilbreanie Wallace was placed in foster care because her grandmothers house became unlivable when her pipes broke and flooded her house. Instead of Division and Youth helping the family out and finding them another house, they took Gilbreanie and placed her with a family. A few months later, she was killed by the foster mother, who had several complaints against her already and a record of a troubled history. Thousands of children are removed from homes a day, mostly from non-abusive parents. Why does this occur? States receive thousands of dollars for grant money which taxpayers pay from the Federal government when they put children in State Protective Services, foster care or state run facilities. They get even more money if the parental rights are terminated after 15 months. This is destroying families and our country. Innocent families cannot afford the thousand of dollars to get an attorney to defend their rights and by that time it is too late. Even if they are proved to be innocent they are forced into treatment. Devane writes, ?falsely accused families run up the National Defense Budget by 4.1 billion dollars a year? (Devane 1). The taxpayers are left to pay for this bill. What impact does this have on the kids that go through the foster care system and are abused? Children experience separation anxiety disorder, trauma, physical and sexual abuse and sometimes death. It is a scary and traumatic experience being taken away from your family and your home. To be put in a home that sometimes are classified as unfit and not healthy for children to be in. Many states are cracking down on these homes and facilities but it is not enough. California alone had last year ? 3,000 cases of foster care facility problems that were not reported to the state? (Ben Tanzer 1). Lets put a stop this abuse in foster care settings and demand to the government to enforce stricter laws. We should advocate that every state has the same standards in foster and adoptive homes. We should fight for the right to have every person gets background checks before they let children stay with them. The government should have mandatory classes that teach these parents instead of throwing kids at their door with no prior knowledge. The law states in Pennsylvania, ?only a Police Officer is allowed to remove the children from the home and put them into protective custody when their in danger? (Rutherford Institute 1 ). Many states in this country have this law, except a few like New Jersey, where they are allowed to take the children without consent of the parents. So why does Pennsylvania allow social workers to slip through the cracks or have our homes searched without probably cause? We should crack down on the government and stand up for our children. The Federal government should have more investigations on child abuse reports that occur in foster care facilities. The states should start penalizing more homes and facilities that fail to provide promised medical and health services, and not checking children in their care. They should also change their reviews on each case. The Federal law requires a six month review for each child in foster care. We should petition for them to change that review to more frequent ones. I believe this would lessen the children that are waiting for homes. We should also demand that Pennsylvania change their adoption policy to an ?open adoption?. Right now the law states, ?adoption is a closed adoption, where you have no ties and cut from your birth family? (Adam Fleming 1). Many children in foster care do not want to have permanent homes because of them loosing ties with their birth parents. Changing the laws would encourage families and the children to move into permanent homes. The goal with the foster care system is to look after the children and defend them when abuse is at hand. I believe somewhere along the line we got off track and now the government set out to help is destroying our children. Cases that involve birth parents abusing their children should be top priority and the children should be taken out. Social workers and the Federal Government should not try to intervene with parents trying to raise their kids for something they do not like.