Friday, August 16, 2019
The Horror of the Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness, a novella written by Joseph Conrad, is a sort of monologue by a sailor named Marrow. Marrow's Journey through the Congo left him In a very emotionally shaken state, as he witnessed multiple deaths, corpses, diseases, and other such calamities. But throughout all of this, Marrow fixates on the most elusive character, a European worshipped by the natives by the name of Kurt. Kurt is portrayed as a very talented man; owing his artistic, musical, and literary skills to a high upbringing in Europe. He later becomes known as also the most talented ivory exporter in the Congo as well.Quartz's death, the pinnacle of the novella, reveals to those reading that Kurt Is terrified, of what exactly Is uncertain, as he screams aloud ââ¬Å"The Horror! The horror! â⬠(144) The most correct Interpretation of this statement would be that Quartz's upbringing in Europe made him an ignorant and greedy man, and thus, when he travels to the Congo, leads him to become a tyrannical le ader of both the company (for whom both Kurt and Mill work for) and the natives. Africa had only shown Kurt what was hidden within himself the entire time: A heart of darkness.Kurt was most likely born with a predisposition to money in the same way a dowsing rod is predisposed to find water. Kurt was amazing at getting the ivory he needs, needs, and not wants, as when Marrow first speaks to Quartz's caretaker in the Jungle, the caretaker mentions that ââ¬Å"[Kurt] would shoot [him] unless [he] gave him the ivory,â⬠Ivory given to Quartz's caretaker as a gift for hunting big game. The well-to-do Kurt had his normal personality slowly corroded by his experiences In the Jungle, but these experiences all Involved a commodity collected for vanity purposes.Seeking the class and supposed money he once had, Kurt turns to ivory as an addiction and a symbol of his new found wealth. European Society normal effects on Kurt have no hold over him any longer, and thus his true animal does sh ow. Masked under titles such as artist, writer, and musician, Kurt had been noted as no such ââ¬Å"ordinary man,â⬠(125) and yet, surprisingly, these remnants of his past life follow him Into the Congo, but are no longer apart of himself; Rupee's grasp over his mind Is released and allows him to become Just another ââ¬Å"savage. â⬠Quartz's hoarding of ivory is completely trivial; he has no real use for it, but became addicted to the prospect of gathering more and more, as if ivory were some sort of drug. Though he works for the company, whose goal it was to gather as much ivory as possible, Kurt still does not send his stockpile of Ivory to their base of operations, and therefore does not get paid, meaning Kurt had only his hut and his Ivory to his name. But because Europe values ivory, and Kurt is the epitome of all that is European, he is mentally wired to gather as much ivory as possible and keep it to myself.He even went so far as to slaughter enemies of a certain Af rican tribe only so that they may assist him in his conquest for ivory. He would stop at nothing to get even the smallest amount of ivory, and it was this untamed lust which drives him to lose sight of everything but the dead-elephant tusks. His mind Is gone, and the cause time. Being that ââ¬Å"All of Europe contributed to the makingâ⬠(117) of Kurt, it is not difficult to see why both Kurt and Europe want all the ivory to themselves, and will go to any means to do so.While Kurt threatens the lives of others, Europe sends people Just like Kurt, but with much less of a relevant backstops, into the Congo to also aid in taking down the most dangerous animal in Africa for a cosmetic object of appeal. Quartz's famous finals words, ââ¬Å"The horror! The horror! â⬠(144) point to him finally having his moment of enlightenment, as he ââ¬Å"cried in a whisper at some knowledge[â⬠¦ ] at some image, at some vision[. ]â⬠His realization being that his true being shone thr ough only because of Rupee's abandonment of Kurt. He was fully nurtured there, made to think like aristocrats in a logical way.But once Kurt had been hung UT to dry in the Congo, he lost that sense of care and safety, and also his logic, only to be left with his emotional reactions to each situation he encounters. In his final moments, Kurt had finally regained a sense of this logic and realized what he had become because of Rupee's twisted grip on his being. He realizes how terrible his late existence is because of what level he had sunken to; the level of a savage. Oblivious to his surroundings he says ââ¬Å"the horrorâ⬠twice, twice to reiterate Just how terrible of a person he had always been but did not now.The first cry was a allegation, the second, an acceptance of the truth. In summary, Kurt begins his life with a heart of darkness and carries it with him subtly until reaching the Congo, where he is then unbound and permitted to act how he pleased without any intervent ion from Europe. He only realizes how terrible he had always been moments before death, and how Europe had kept his darker side chained up like a punished dog. Europe made Kurt a time bomb, ready to blow up at any moment. And when Kurt does finally blow, he shows not the well-educated, proper Kurt of Europe, but rather a parallel, the Kurt with a blazing heart of
Thursday, August 15, 2019
Culture and workplace ethics Essay
Culture in the workplace has very little to do with the well known culture of literature, music and art. In the workplace, culture actually refers to the shared work environment, belief systems, behavior expectations and expected efforts, all of which usually characterize a certain organization or business enterprise. The work setting culture mainly includes things like, socialization expectations, dress code, how different groups within the organization perceive issues relating to attendance, problem solving and quality of work output. Finding the appropriate culture to fit an organization is a vital element in ensuring that a particular field or job is successful. Corporate culture has a lot of influence on ethics of an organization. It is through it that right or wrong decisions are made. They determine whether to adopt strategies that will benefit majority of the people in the workplace positively or adopting ones with an impact of affecting most workers in a negative manner (Russell, Para 3). Effect of culture on workplace ethics The organizationââ¬â¢s culture is quite important perhaps more than most people appreciate. It holds various categories of people within an organization together and thus it has a lot of impact on what people within the organization perceive to be right or wrong. Even though certain conducts like corruption might be considered to be vice and thus culturally immoral in some organizations, there are other workplaces where the behavior is considered to be appropriate. Culture is usually deep rooted in an organization since although it is manmade; it takes several decades to grow. New employees in each and every work place are first introduced to the operating culture in the workplace and thus it is usually in each and every person working in the workplace. Ethics comes after culture and it therefore has to sing to the tune of culture (Lagan, & Moran, pp 46). The depth of culture within an organization is usually realized when someone attempts to alter an organizationââ¬â¢s culture in a manner that is not consistent with the shared believes and norms of the organization. Such a person usually meets a lot resistance regardless of whether the intended cultural change is ethical or not. Culture within an organization is usually not stagnant but it is rather dynamical so as to take into account the changing business and workplace environment. Due to the fact that the workplace ethics are tied to culture, they also have to keep on changing so as to be consistent with the workplace culture (Russell, Para 4). Workplace ethics is highly influenced by the leadership of the entire organization. These are the people who are charged with the mandate of running the business and making decisions for the entire organization. The organizational culture determines the type of people to take managerial decisions. Therefore, if the culture of an organization is to be led by men and women of high integrity, then the workplace in such an organization is likely to be ethical. This is due to the fact that when an organization is led by such people, they will always make decisions with each and everyone within and without the organization in their mind. Their decisions will in most cases affect majority of the people in a positive manner. In this case, culture is very important on business ethics since it determines in an indirect manner the type of decisions to be made by the managers leading the organization (Hopkins, pp 78). On the other hand, if the organizational culture of a particular enterprise is one that allows men and women of less integrity to lead it, people who enter these offices via unethical channels where merit is not a priority, then such managers will in most cases be unethical. They will in almost all cases make unethical decisions which are likely to only benefit very few individuals within the organization while exposing the majority, mainly the junior members of staff to unfair treatment. Workplaces operating from such environments are mostly unethical and clearly this is as a result of the organizational culture. Most of the decisions adopted in such organizations are usually only aimed at maximizing the profits of the organization without putting into consideration other parties who are likely to suffer as a result of such decisions. These types of managements are mainly self centered and are only worried about their business organizations with little or no concern at all for other people. They are not worried of whether their actions are ethical or not, as long as business is running and making profits nothing else worry them. This attitude is usually enhanced by the organizational culture which in turn affects the workplace ethics significantly (Russell, Para 7). The corporate culture of an enterprise determines the criteria of promotion. If the culture of an organization enhances promotion based on merit, then the workplace will be more ethical as compared to instances where promotion is not based on merit. Since employees seek for promotion every now and then, they have to look for the criterion that is used for promotion so that they can be well equipped to qualify for promotion. Such a culture of promotion will take decades to develop and will thus be very much deep rooted to eliminate within the workplace (Lagan, & Moran, pp 69). The culture of an organization determines the values that are to be held in high regard within the organization. If a culture holds unethical behaviors in high esteem, then such conducts will be dominant in the organization. Rewards will be awarded to those people who excel in such conducts. In this case, the organizational culture is mainly concerned with appreciating the efforts of its employees who have excelled in certain field regardless of whether their actions were ethical or not. Such a culture therefore, promotes unethical behaviors among its employees (Brooks, & Dunn, pp 120). In other organizations, the culture is very clear and is tailored towards promoting ethical behaviors among its employees. In fact, the employees who excel in ethical conducts in various fields in the course of their work are identified in a fair manner and rewarded so as to encourage them to continue in the same spirit and be even more ethical in future. The other employees are also challenged to act ethically and at the same time they are made to desire to act ethically so as to be rewarded like their counterparts who were more ethical than then in a certain period. This form of culture thus acts as a tool for enhancing ethical behaviors within an organization to develop (Bassman, pp 55s). Culture within an organization determines how the organization as whole perceives the outsiders, more so its competitors. There are cultures which are tailored towards viewing the competitors as enemies and thus it promotes actions which will deal with such enterprises as enemies. Such a culture will promote unethical behaviors to its competitors and enmity arises between the two organizations. Culture is responsible for various unethical actions that might be penetrated to the other organization since it has made everyone within the workplace of the organization to develop a negative attitude towards its competitors (Russell, Para 9). At the same time, culture can act as a catalyst for enhancing ethical behaviors among the various employees of the organization especially in their actions towards the competitors. Culture will in this case promote good relations among the two organizations and it will make the employees to perceive the other organization as a competitor and not an enemy. This form of culture will promote actions that will enhance positive competition between the two sides and thus ethical behaviors will be enhanced greatly (Lagan, & Moran, pp 89). While there are employment regulations and laws governing the manner in which employees are to be treated, the ethics of an organization are more tailored by the organizational culture and not such laws and regulations. The ethics therefore goes beyond the regulations and the laws connecting the business practices of an organization to the workersââ¬â¢ personal beliefs. Culture in this case plays a leading role in ensuring that the actions adopted by the organization are in line with it. In this case, the organizational culture ensures that various employees in the workplace within the enterprise work together for a common objective as well as having the intention of doing the right thing in a world that is quite diverse and complex (Bassman, pp 126). The culture in operation within an enterprise determines how an organization treats its outsiders and whether or not it does anything that is likely to affect them negatively. For culture to be able to promote ethical actions among its employees towards the outsiders, then it must be one that encourages decisions that will affect these people in a positive manner. Among the current issues that has brought a lot of criticism in the entire world is that of pollution. An organization is considered to be ethical if it emits fewer pollutants to the environment. This means that it is concerned about the environment and the consequences of disposing untreated chemicals to the environment. On the other hand, there are organizations that are completely unethical. They pollute the environment without really caring how many people will be affected by the same. This affects the workplace environment indirectly since the employees will face hostility from members of public and will in several occasions be referred to as unethical people who do not care about tomorrow. This might make the organization to loose several employees to other companies which are more ethical as employees will like to be associated with organizations with good reputation (Brooks, & Dunn, pp 258). Conclusion Culture is a very important element in every organization. It is responsible in shaping the ethical behavior of the employees and also the workplace ethics. This is due to the fact that ethics within an organization is driven by the culture that is in operation within an organization. Culture is therefore a very important force in driving ethical practices of an enterprise. This is mainly because the organizational culture takes time to grow and mature and that it is taught to all new employees which make it to be deeply rooted within all employees. Culture has the ability of making an organization to act either ethically or unethically. Work cited: Bassman, Emily S. ; Abuse in the workplace: management remedies and bottom line impact; ISBN 089930673X, Quorum, 1992. Brooks, Leonard J. & Dunn, Paul; Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives & Accountants; ISBN 0324594550, Cengage Learning, 2009. Hopkins, Willie Edward. Ethical dimensions of diversity; ISBN 080397289X, SAGE, 1997. Lagan, Attracta & Moran, Brian; Three Dimensional Ethics: Implementing Workplace Values; ISBN 097574223X, eContent Management, 2005. Russell, Mike; Workplace Ethics & Business for Social Responsibility: Initiatives for corporate cultureââ¬â¢s committed to ethical business practices, concern for the environment and global humanitarian causes (2008): Retrieved on 5th August 2009 from http://sandiego. jobing. com/blog_post. asp? post=8929.
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
A Report On The Strategic Change Issues Facing British
Ancient philosophers always said that the only room that never gets full is the room for change and growth to better levels. Change brings a sound of celebration and relief. In the business sector any change is always geared to the increase in profit. Any business venture has one driving force: creation of wealth and economic growth. This is the reason for existence of businesses like: banking, hotels, airlines, schools, hospitals among others. Operation management is the day to day decisions and ventures that are undertaken to run the company. This can help give a projection into the future 5, 10 or so years.One thing that is very basic is that the world is changing, and an effective business should also help to bring this very necessary difference. ââ¬Å"One of the key roles of a serious manager and entrepreneur is to solve problems decision making is another major role of this officer. â⬠These were the confession of Carleton (2005). Decisions pertaining various departments in a company are made by key management staff in every firm: The key drivers for change that are most likely to impact on the future of business and management are: Stiff and ever increasing competition from key rival firms.One must always be the best in the market place in order to remain advantaged. This will call for several reforms towards improvement, and such challenges will be dealt with as they come. Some decisions to be made, take time and energy. However, the knee-jerk response is to jump straight to the most obvious solution: training and coaching to develop individuals' leadership skills and potential. This conveniently bypasses the problem-diagnosis stage. It also overlooks the disconnect between what happens at individual and organizational levels. Managerial and human resource aspects have always put pressure on firms.Such pressure is sure argent of change. A global trend is another driving factor towards change. Any new standards set up must be adhered to if one need s to e in the market. The main aim is to develop an appreciation to the role of management in the process change in the firms of interest. Management of such a change can never be an individual affair. It explores the forces driving organizational change and offers a contextual understanding of change management principles. Do you do it alone as a manager? Do you involve others? Do you let others make the decisions?Management is an organized, systematic application of the knowledge, tools, and resources of change that provides organizations with a key process to achieve their business strategy. Change Management is a critical part of any project that leads, manages and enables people to accept new processes, technologies, systems structures and values. Changes are inevitable in any firm or sector. Of great interest is change management in British Airline Company. Many such firms as this exist. This calls for real outstanding leadership in the market place. BRITISH AIRWAYS This is an airline with itââ¬â¢s headquarters in London.Europe has increased sharply over the past decade as the introduction of new airlines has helped push prices down significantly. This airline has routes both within and without the great United Kingdom sky. This airline is the world's second largest international airline, with a passenger carrying capacity of more than 27 million passengers from one country to another. Also, as one of the worldââ¬â¢s longest established airlines, it has always been regarded as an industry-leader. British Airwaysââ¬â¢ worldwide route network covers more than 216 destinations in 94 countries (including franchises, subsidiaries and one world partners).British Airways is one of the founding partners of the one world alliance, which took off in February 1999. Fellow members now include American Airlines, Aer Lingus, Cathay Pacific, Finnie, Iberia, LanChile and Qantas and Swiss. The original predecessor airline, called Aircraft Transport and Travel, l aunched the world's first daily scheduled international air service, British Airways traces its origins back to August 1919. At the moment the airline has an amazing fleet of 312 aircraft; including 100 wide bodied long haul aircraft (57 Boeing 747-400s and 43 Boeing 777s).The current world has gone into corporate alliances, with mergers and acquisitions being the common norm of doing business. For this reason, British Airways has one-on-one relationships with a number of airlines. It owns a 17 per cent stake in Qantas and 9 per cent in Iberia. It also fully owns subsidiaries such as British Airways CitiExpress. Members of British Airwaysââ¬â¢ franchise family include British Mediterranean Airways, GB Airways, Comair, Loganair and Regional Air. Some of the main components of British Airwayââ¬â¢s business strategy include investing in its people and products, and continuing to build a competitive cost base.These objectives, along with other strategic goals and values, have been delivered through a program called ââ¬Å"The BA Way,â⬠which was launched in 2004. This was in response to the people wanting real clarity about where company is positioning itself in the marketplace. The leading entrepreneur once observed that major firms often started as either government or public properties. This however is never the case with British Airways. This company is owned entirely by private investors, with more than a quarter of a million shareholders. British airways just like any business have its own problems.The problems always arise in the process of moving to greater heights. As executive assistant to the director of British airways, change issues facing the organization in the next 5 five years are amazing. The major problems are as below: MANAGERIAL The BA Way has five factors for success: be the best U. K. -based network, understand the customers better than the competition, be a powerful brand that people know and trust, foster a competitive cost base and work together as one team. For a progressive development of a business, proper leadership is bedrock to build on.Managerialism, especially in the public and quasi-market sectors, has provided a key development in how organizations are managed, co-coordinated and controlled, and is suggestive of new relationships and a reordering of organizations and management. In the March issue of Fast Company magazine, a fascinating article titled ââ¬Å"What is the Biggest Change Facing Business in the Next 10 Years? â⬠Avram Miler, the CEO of Avram Miller enterprise explained that ââ¬Å"The cornerstone for this millennium is the end of time and space. Most organizations today are run the same way as early-20th-century businesses.Everyone goes to his car, drives to work, has certain hours, and has a certain job. It's all built on the factory model. Moving forward, it really isn't going to be important where you are in order to do your job. Ideas are being worked on 24 hours a day. Nob ody seems surprised anymore if I wake up in the middle of the night and start IM-ing someone in Europe, because the fact is, they don't even know where I am. And it doesn't matter. ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬â¢ He continues to say that ââ¬Å"Fewer and fewer people will want to be employees of corporations, because corporations don't have anything to offer.Corporations don't provide security and provide fewer and fewer benefits. People may find new ways to sell their skills. â⬠This illustrates that many people often get employed in companies, but the never have any intentions of staying for long periods. Tim Brown President and CEO, Ideo, Palo Alto, humorously says ââ¬Å"people are ever on the move to greener pastures. â⬠This is one major problem in management. Employees, some of whom hold very key positions in the company always transfer to the so called green pastures.The human resources manager of British airways observed that many of their staff has often moved to start their ow n ventures. These range from local to international ventures. The best way to manage this problem is to create laws governing employment. Its true that a person performs best only after getting good orientation on an environment. Consistency is another key to excellence. To avoid loosing employees, a minimum duration should be put, such that no employee can leave before finishing some specific time duration. This will help the airline to retain workers for some good time and hence foster consistency.The major hindrance to this implementation is some weakness in management. Friends to departmental heads are always favored and the axe rarely falls on them. This however can be managed by prosecution of any corrupt staff. Another managerial problem often realized in British Airways is lack of commitment in some of the employees. They often take long to finish any assignment given to them, and when asked to give an explanation, this is a ticket to being their enemies. This vice in a comp any leads into loss of money, because people are paid their allowance while they donââ¬â¢t perform their duties.Many researches argue that training and development programs increase the organizations performance and effectiveness. This can help increase the work output because more experience is injected to the generally trained staff. Toward a better understanding of the effects of training and development in the workplace, this research points out the importance of training and development the workforce, determines the major types of training and development programs, discusses the relationship between training and the overall organizational performance, and offers some guidelines for HR managers to design effective training and development programs.Signing of performance contracts has helped to alleviate this vice. This helps to ascertain that an employee indeed deserves to get his salary. Burnes (2004) in his book arrives at a style which enables healthy competition within a firm, resulting into increase of production. He says ââ¬Å"the ability of an enterprise to compete within the prevailing settings relies on two qualities: â⬠¢ The capacity of the firm to identify and understand the competitive forces in play and how they change over time linked together.â⬠¢ The competence of a business to mobilize and manage the resources necessary for the chosen competitive response through time. British Airways have implemented this, and many staff has always been awarded for showing commitment and excellent performance. GLOBALISATION Another method British Airwaysââ¬â¢ learning division has used to promote organizational values is through owning its Future program, which every employee across the enterpriseââ¬âfrom in-flight crews to customer service staffââ¬âmust go through at some point.This is delivered by the internal senior management teams. Itââ¬â¢s about helping people understand the business direction, the environment that they are operating in and the way they are positioning themselves in the business. By understanding that, people will understand the actions the team is taking in driving the business forward (British Airways, 2005) Some of the changes that British Airways has in the next five years include: â⬠¢ BA to increase services between New York JFK and Gatwick, but at the same time drop its link to the US city from Manchester Airport.â⬠¢ BA to enhance the passenger experience at the new London Heathrow Terminal 5 with the installation of art works in its premium lounges. Companies move towards forming alliances, both local and at international level. The environment in which most organizations operate today is continuously changing, and the rate of change is increasing. Almost most organizations are now involving in tremendous increase in international business and foreign assignments. British Airways is not left behind. At the moment, the company has offices in all capital cities in the worl d.At the same time, serious advertisements are on the run. To enhance collisions, BA purchased the small German domestic airline Delta Air Transport in 1992 and renamed it Deutsche BA. By the time it was sold in June 2003, DBA was operating 16 Boeing 737s and was the second-largest German domestic carrier, after Lufthansa. Globalization is a disposition towards international interaction and co-operation. This comes with the general growth of a knowledge based economy. Impacting on the financing structure of organizations and employment practices.The ability of an enterprise to compete within the prevailing settings majorly relies on two qualities: the capacity of the firm to identify and understand the competitive forces in play and how they change over time, linked to â⬠¢ the competence of a business to mobilize and manage the resources necessary for the chosen competitive response through time. . The environment in which most organizations operate today is continuously changin g, and the rate of change is increasing. Almost most organizations are now involving in tremendous increase in international business and foreign assignments.BA aims at increasing the number of passengers greatly. New infrastructure is required for this. Heathrow Terminal 5 was built exclusively for the use of British Airways at a cost of ? 4. 3 billion and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008. It opened to passengers on 27 March 2008. more air crafts are also to be purchased come 2013. for instance, On 27 September 2007, BA announced their biggest order since 1998 by ordering 36 new long haul aircraft. The company ordered 12 A380s with options on a further 7, and 24 Boeing 787s with options on a further 18. TECHNOLOGYTechnological factors are information technology/the internet, new production processes computerization of processes and changes in transport technology (Human Resource Management Journal, 2008). There are also internal triggers for change which inc lude: new chief executive, unionization or de-unionization, structural a change, re-design of factory or office layout, re-design of jobs, new IT equipment or software introduced, cuts in overtime working and redundancies (Epmbook, 2007). As research continues in the energy sector, Bio fuel may be used by BA planes. This is an improvement towards good environment creation.Indeed this is amazing. Currently the test of planes is going on, on their response to bio fuel. The above forces are for easier information transfer, facilitates global structures, requires new competencies and expectations, facilitates telecommuting; new employment relationships, more emphasis on knowledge management, quick competition through globalization, more educated workforce etc (McShane and Travaglione, 2003). Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with, and involvement of, the people affected by the changes and BA has mastered this art.Chan ge must be realistic, achievable and measurable. These aspects are especially relevant to managing personal change. Before starting organizational change, ask yourself: What do we want to achieve with this change, why, and how will we know that the change has been achieved? Who is affected by this change, and how will they react to it? How much of this change can be achieve without? These aspects also relate strongly to the management of personal as well as organizational change (Business balls, 2006). If you think that you need to make a change quickly, probe the reasons ââ¬â is the urgency real?Will the effects of agreeing a more sensible time-frame really be more disastrous than presiding over a disastrous change? Quick change prevents proper consultation and involvement, which leads to difficulties that take time to resolve, (Burns & Stalker, 1994). BA does not sell change to people as a way of accelerating ââ¬Ëagreement' and implementation. ââ¬ËSelling' change to peop le is not a sustainable strategy for success, unless your aim is to be bitten on the bum at some time in the future when you least expect it. Change can be unsettling, so the manager logically needs to be a settling influence.BA has gone through extreme lengths to ensure that they study the market. They are keen on the use face-to-face communications to handle sensitive aspects of customer relations and encourage managers to communicate face-to-face with their people. They discourage the use of email and written notices as they are extremely weak at conveying and developing understanding. At all times involve and agree support from people within system (system = environment, processes, culture, relationships, behaviors, etc. , whether personal or organisational). â⬠¢ In depth understanding of the organisationââ¬â¢s position at all times.â⬠¢ In depth understanding of the direction of the organisation. â⬠¢ Open and clear communication channels. SPECIFIC CHANGES THAT BRI TISH AIRWAYS HAS ENCOUNTERED From a humble background BA has expanded to the giant it is by now. This never occurred in one day, neither was it a very smooth transition. Given time, all have a potential to expand to the highest levels. One of the greatest changes that occurred in BA was mergers and acquisition. During the 1990s BA became the world's most profitable airline under the slogan ââ¬Å"The World's Favorite Airlineâ⬠. The management then saw the need to expand.A merger is the business transaction that takes pace between two firms. One firm acts as a buyer, while the other company is bought. Mergers take place to help cub extreme competition and also to widen the market scope. In 1992 BA purchased the small German domestic airline Delta Air Transport and renamed it Deutsche BA. This widened the market space into Germany. By the time it was sold in June 2003, DBA was operating 16 Boeing 737s and was the second-largest German domestic carrier, after Lufthansa. The lesson learnt is that mergers bring expansion and growth.In the year 1995, BA formed British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, to operate between London and Taipei. Owing to political sensitivities, British Asia Airways not only had a different name, but also had a different livery, with the Union Jack tailfin being replaced by Chinese characters. Many airlines followed the same practice, e. g. , Qantas flew to Taiwan as ââ¬Å"Australia Asia Airwaysâ⬠and KLM's Taiwan operations became ââ¬Å"KLM Asiaâ⬠. British Asia Airways ceased operation in 2001 when the airline suspended flights to Taiwan due to low yield. A change brings with it many resettlements.Some include employment of new staff to handle the expansion. This was the case in the two mergers in Germany and Taiwan. Other changes are indeed not pleasing. An example is the laying off of staff incase of closure. Proper marketing must be done. This is to keep the much esteemed customers aware of the companyââ¬â ¢s developments. The road to success is never a smooth one. Any push to the positive is always met by opposing currents. Some of pitfalls to change into a new market include competition. The main competitors of British Airways are bmi and virgin Atlantic. These offer great rivalry.However BA has managed this through its strategies to make sure that clients are satisfied by the service delivery. Capital is another challenge to expansion. Some expansion ventures require much money. This is money to buy planes and to do office set up, with an aim of getting back the profit. Many a times the company has gone through looses especially when they were forced to pull back. Withdrawal is not very pleasant but it is the best option especially when things are not working. This was the case in Taiwan. The world population is large and ever-growing. This has and will provide market for flight industry.The best way to venture is to do market surveys. Once the costumerââ¬â¢s desires are known, follow up can be made to come up with a product to satisfy the need. It pays a lot to be the market leader in terms of innovations. This will give an advantage over other companies. CONCLUSION It takes commitment and vision to be on the top. BA has one dream, which is to be on top in the flight industry. In the next five years, the company shall have diversified its services in terms of quality and quantity expansion. REFERENCES 1. British Airways(2005): The Wings of Learning.Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 19th April 2008 from http://www. clomedia. com/content/templates/clo_article. asp 2. Buchanan, D & Boddy, D. (1992). The Expertise of the Change Agent. Hemel Hempstead. US: Prentice Hall. 3. Burns & Stalker, (1994). The Management of Innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 4. Businessballs (2006). Change management. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. businessballs. com/changemanagement. htm 5. 5. Change Management (2008). A Thirst fo r Change Leadership. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www.change-management. com/tutorial-change-leadership-mod4. htm 6. DCUBS (1996). Total Quality Management and Organisational Change. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. dcu. ie/dcubs/research_papers/no15. htm 7. Epmbook (2007). Organisational Change Management. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. epmbook. com/orgchange. htm 8. Harvard Business Review journal. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. learnoutloud. com/Catalog/Business/Leadership-and-Management/Change-Management/820 9.Harvard Business Review journal (1995). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article. jsp 10. Human Resource Management Journal (2008). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. blackwellpublishing. com/journal. asp1 11. M cShane S. and Travaglione T. (2003). Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. Australia: McGraw-Hill. 12. Organisation Studies journal (2008). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. mbs. ac. uk/research/organisationstudies/cms5/call-papers/talk-power. aspx 13.Personnel Today Journal of Applied Human Capital Management (2007). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. personneltoday. com/blogs/hcglobal-human-capital-management/2007/04/journal-of-applied-human-capit. html 14. Pettigrew, A and Whipp, R (1991) Managing Change for competitive success. U. K: Blackwell. 15. Strategy + Business (2004). 10 Principles of Change Management. Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. strategy-business. com/ 16. 15. The Economist journal (2008). Retrieved from World Wide Web as from 18th April 2008 from http://www. sciencedirect. com/
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2
Science - Essay Example The main purpose of taking field trip is to allow students a real life experience that they would not be possible to have within the classroom setting or the laboratory. Academics believe that these varieties of activities enhance studentsââ¬â¢ understanding of the processes concerned and conjointly improve studentââ¬â¢s attitudes towards science and within the classroom likewise. These trips have proven to be an effective pedagogy and may be used both effectively as well as frequently. Through a look of the Aquariumââ¬â¢s exhibits and behind the scenes areas, students are going to be exposed to aquarium careers and research. Also students would be able to understand how the Aquarium meets the diverse needs of the sea animals. Animal behavior is another interesting study. Before transferring animals to an aquarium, biologists study and understand how these animals behave and what they require to survive. Training is provided to the staff to take care of the health of those animals. On the other hand, there are Discovery labs. These labs provide great opportunities for different level of classes to dive into science. Through in-depth investigations, students will explore the ideas of marine biology and oceanography. These interactive discovery labs bring science to life and supply a chance for students to engage in group discussion. Few educators question the worth of learning through experience and research. They have indicated that learning outside the classroom setting can be educationally effective from both a psychological feature and emotional standpoint. Non-native speakers in particular who do not experience much success in the academic field might spark a lifetime passion while visiting, as an aquarium may present intricate information in more exciting and varied ways. As a result, these trips help in motivating students to learn more
Monday, August 12, 2019
Are Social Networking Cites a Gateway to Infidelity Research Paper
Are Social Networking Cites a Gateway to Infidelity - Research Paper Example This paper will focus on how social networking has greatly led to promotion of infidelity in the society. Social networking websites have had a long history in our society but the period at which it made its breakthrough was in the twenty first century specifically in 2004. The main reason for invention of these sites was to bring people together; they can be either close friends or strangers who have common interests. The internet does not restrict one to communicating to his specific friends but rather have a chance to meet new people and create new relationships. Face book is one of the most popular website all over the world; most people have embraced this social networking in facilitating communication. It is no wonder that some have even adopted it ii carrying out businesses. This is made possible by carrying out advertisements, the reason why most business people adopt this website is the population that uses face book, and business people understand that they are able to get their target market through face book. Apart from face book, there are other social networks that have greatly affected peoples lifeââ¬â¢s, they include, MySpace, black planet, linked in, twitter and Habbo. Popularity of each website is influenced by factors like race, ethnic and nationality (Buss, 2000 ). As much as the internet has contributed to far-reaching advantages to an individual, other factors have affected negatively to the well being of the society. According to research levels of infidelity are becoming rampant, a factor that has been promoted by social networking. Internet leads to easy access of different individuals of different sexes. The reason to why this has been made possible is the capability of sharing instant messages between different parties by use of emails. Due to this, most marriages have broken leaving most couples single (McKenry, 2009). Different social network websites have different features that have facilitated easy communication between differ ent individuals. It is easy to choose what gender to communicate to due to availability of oneââ¬â¢s profile outlining all details about a person. MySpace for example, allows one to view one profile, which include a photograph. These sites have posed a challenge to most marriages in the sense that, most married men and women participate in flirting using different social networks. Some do not uphold the values of marriage nor societal requirements on marriage but rather, have their own egocentric interests they would like to fulfill. When some couples are faced with challenges in marriage, they choose to seek solace from social networking website. A woman who does not have a voice in her marriage for example, may choose to use the internet as a way of seeking recognition and appreciation from other men, something she does receive from her husband (Harvey, 2006). THE NEW AGE OF CHEATING: ONLINE INFIDELITY Emergence of computers is one of the reasons to why internet access has beco me worldwide. People are now able to get information faster than it was in the past years. People are able to access information through different means for instance, uses of emails, different chat rooms have been introduced to facilitate faster communication and finally use of instant messaging. People are allowed to use different identities while chatting online, therefore if not carefully used the internet can lead to one
Resolving Ethical Business Challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Resolving Ethical Business Challenges - Essay Example Due to his line of work, Albert makes a good decision to adopt a new lifestyle or rather class in order to look and act successful. He made new friends and this makes the profits in the portfolios to rise. On the other hand, this makes the young family spend a lot of money to maintain the stands. Albert makes a wrong decision by accepting Barryââ¬â¢s request. This costs the wife her job due the email scandal. Albert takes a good step to double his effort in extra business by trading in various high-risk markets but this leads to his uncleââ¬â¢s friendsââ¬â¢ portfolios losing badly. A number of factors have influenced the issues facing Albert. The first factor is the new lifestyle that he adopted in order to act and look successful. Albert gains many connections but lastly it seems worthless since the portfolios decrease in value. The pressure from Barry also makes Mary to be mentioned in the email scandal. The portfolios start losing value since he is expected to make up for the loss through the high risk markets. More pressure is exerted on Albertââ¬â¢s side when Barry gets angry and demands for the IPO
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Congressional Representation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words
Congressional Representation - Research Paper Example Moreover, ideology, policy preferences and the nature of information received etc can also affect the Congressmen while they vote. In short, ââ¬Å"congressional voting on specific bills is correlated with the economic self-interest of the representative's constituents and a measure of the representative's ideologyâ⬠as indicated by his broader voting recordâ⬠(Bender, 1991, p.1) This paper briefly analyses various reasons why congressmen vote the way they do, and how their constituencies at times play a large role in that. The role of Hannah Pitkinââ¬â¢s theory; substantive vs. descriptive representation in controlling the voting behaviour of the Congressmen is also analysed in this paper. Factors which influence Congressmen while they vote Fellow Congressmen can influence a Congressman very much while he takes decisions upon certain topic. Fellow congressmen can act as the source of lots of information which may influence the Congressman while he takes decision about a particular topic. In most of the cases, Congressmen may engage in mutual discussion both in and out of the office and that also formally and informally. All these discussions will bring lot of new information which may affect the decision making process of the Congressmen. ... Thus fellow congressmen have wider influence on the decision making abilities of a particular congressman. The influence of Constituent is another major factor which controls the voting of the Congressmen. ââ¬Å"The constituency imposes some meaningful constraints on Congressmenââ¬â¢s voting behaviourâ⬠(Kingdon, 1989, p.68). Moreover, ââ¬Å"a basic principle of representative democracy is that elected officials must pay homage to their districts if they wish to secure reelectionâ⬠(Crespin, n. d. p.2).It is difficult for congressmen to sacrifice the interests of the people in their constituencies since they need the support of the people for their re-election. In other words, a congressman who has planned to seek re-election should vote in accordance with the interests of the people in their constituencies. Only on issues that the constituency doesn't feel strongly, the Congressman may think of taking an independent decision. Ultimately, the congressmen have the moral responsibility or liability to explain his stands to the people in his constituencies since the people are the ones who elected him. Party leadership and the committee members can also influence the decision making or the voting of the congressmen. ââ¬Å"The degree of party cohesions affects the voting behaviour of the congressmenâ⬠(Froman, 1963, p.57). Each party may have a well defined stand on all policy matters. In most of the cases, the congressmen vote in favour of his partyââ¬â¢s stands. However, in many cases, congressmen take stands which are different from that of his party. For example, many democrats opposed Obamaââ¬â¢s healthcare reform bill along with the republicans. If the president is popular in the constituency, the congressman will extend greater support to the policies of the
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