Death and Grief in Midterm Essay

‘Out Out’ was written by Robert Frost who was an American poet born in 1874. He moved to New England, a farming region, where most of his poems were inspired. ‘Mid Term Break’ was written by Seamus Heaney, who was born on a farm in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It is evident that both poets’ backgrounds have had much influence in their poetry writing which can be seen from these two poems. Although, Robert Frost attended Harvard University he had to leave early to support his family by moving to a farm in New Hampshire. He also had six children but four of them died before he did. In ‘Out Out’, he writes about the harsh reality of a young boy from a poor working class background having to work on a farm in order to help his family which led to his horrific and unmourned death. Apparently this was based on a true event. Seamus Heaney was one of nine children. When he was twelve he won a scholarship to St Columb’s College in Londonderry. When he was studying there his four year old brother, Christopher, was killed in a road accident. Mid Term Break is based on this event. In contrast the death of Seamus Heaney’s brother is described as a very emotional event mourned by family and friends. I am able to point out many similarities between these the poems but also a number of differences. The themes of the two poems focus on the death of two young boys. However in Mid – Term Break the focus is on the aftermath and emotional responses of friends and family to a terrible accident. The boy is dead at the start of the poem. In Out Out the boy dies during the poem. This poem is written like a running commentary and his family show little emotion when he dies. I find this shocking. Also, both boys have died due to an accident at the hands of a machine. In â€Å"Mid Term Break†, the boy was killed by a car and in â€Å"Out Out† he was killed by a buzz saw. The difference is that one boy is left with hardly a scar, only â€Å"a poppy bruise† yet the other boy sustains horrific injuries by losing his hand and bleeding to death. One boy is killed instantly by a car and the other boy slowly bleeds to death. Both poems create an uneasy opening and an atmosphere of suspense. In Mid Term Break, Seamus Heaney describes the knelling of bells which is a sinister phrase used to describe funeral bells. He is also waiting to be picked up by his neighbour which indicates something may have happened to a family member. In Out Out, the poem’s tone begins with the description of the buzz saw which is threatening and sinister. The poet uses words like â€Å"Buzz, snarled, rattled.† These words are words used to describe a hungry ferocious animals like a venomous snake or a wild dog. The words are a good use of onomatopoeia. They introduce a sense of threat into the poem as they might be associated with danger and accidents. Robert Frost uses sibilance at the start of his poem. He changes the tone of the poem and refers to â€Å"Sweet scented stuff when the breeze blew across it†. This sentence appeals to our sight, smell and hearing. These are calm, gentle words in contrast to the threatening words used to describe the buzz saw. Seamus Heaney uses alliteration at the start of his poem, â€Å"Counting bells knelling classes to a close†. The sounds used here make you think of the â€Å"tick tock† of a clock. It also a metaphor as knelling bells are also bringing his brother’s life to a close. Both of the poems have shocking endings. In Mid Term break we realise that the dead child was only 4 years old. â€Å"A four foot box, a foot for every year.† Nearly every word in the last line is short. It gives a sense of shortness and comes to an abrupt ending just like the brother’s life. The ending in â€Å"Out Out† is equally appalling as it ends with the family showing little or no emotion to the death of their son. It also had an abrupt ending. Another similarity between the poems is that time is referred to in both of them. In Out Out, reference is made to the sunset far in Vermont. This suggests that light is becoming dimmer and the dim light could also have led to the accident occurring and the eerie atmosphere. In Mid Term break the poet refers to 10 O’clock twice which is a bright part of the day. Both poems use language with attitude. In Mid-Term Break Seamus Heaney uses metaphors â€Å"wearing a poppy bruise† this helps create an image because even though we know the dead child is not literally wearing a poppy bruise we can imagine what the bruise would look like and it is also a symbol of death. Also alliteration is used in â€Å"a four foot box, a foot for every year.† This makes the text seem more aggressive. It uses this technique to show the families anger at the death of the young child. Both poets use caesura in their poems. The effect of this is to build up tension and perhaps prepare the reader for unexpected events. Caesura is used in Mid Term Break just as Heaney is about to enter the room where his dead brother was resting. He does not know what to expect. It is used in Out Out at â€Å"And nothing happened: day was all but done.† The effect of the caesura is to put on pause the scene painted. It is near the end of the working day and the work is nearly completed and everything appears to be normal. In the first line of the poem we had that feeling that something sinister and threatening was going to happen and this pause may be used to allow the reader to prepare us for an expected significant event that was about to take place. Enjambment is used throughout Mid Term break. It gives the effect that the poet is in a sort of daze. There are also many differences between the two poems. The two families are from a different class. One boy comes from a working class background and another boy is from a more affluent background as the other boy is attending boarding school. Also, Mid Term Break was written in 1st person while Out Out was written in third person. You can understand more about the emotions that are felt in Mid Term Break. Although, Out Out has more action in it as it is a fast flowing poem. There is also a striking difference in how the families react to the death of the children. In Out Out there was no real emotion shown when the boy finally died. He is left alone and they then return to their work. In contrast, Mid Term Break describes the scene of the father crying uncontrollably. This would not be an expected reaction for men in Ireland to cry as they would normally bottle their emotions up. The fact that Jim Evans said it was â€Å"a hard blow† shows that it was someone close to the family. Friends and family gather at the house to offer their condolences. The body was then brought home and viewed in a coffin. Another difference is how the two boys are treated by their families. The boy in Out Out is treated as an adult who is doing a man’s job. He is treated no different than anyone else. In Mid Term Break, the boy is being educated. He is however treated like a man when old men stand up to shake his hand as his father is in a bad state, people told strangers that he was the eldest. However, he is then reduced to a small child again when his mother holds on to his hand as she doesn’t want to let him out of her sight. There is also a difference in the acceptance of the two deaths. In Out Out there wasn’t any grieving amongst the family members but in Mid Term Break there is little acceptance particularly from the boy’s mother. The poem says she â€Å"coughed out angry tearless sighs.† She may be blaming herself as should have been with her child or not let him out of her sight.

Village Volvo

1. Describe Village Volvo’s service package. The service package consists of five points: supporting facility, facilitating goods, information, explicit services and implicit services. †¢Supporting facility: The car repair is based in a new Butler building in a suburban location with four work bays, an office, a waiting area and a storage room. Because of the location Village Volvo considers a shuttle service two or three times a day. The waiting room is equipped with a television se, comfortable chairs, coffee, a soft-drink vending machine, magazines and the local newspaper. †¢Facilitating goods: Facilitating goods are on the one hand the parts which are used to replace worn-out parts of the cars and on the other hand goods which are provided in the waiting room like coffee, soft-drinks, magazines and the local newspaper. †¢Information: The client and the mechanic who will be working on the vehicle discuss the problems the client has noticed and sometimes they may take a short test drive. Another source of information is the Customer Care Vehicle Dossier (CCVD) which is a continuing file of each vehicle the garage services. The CCVD can help the mechanic to diagnose problems and provides a convenient record if a vehicle is returned for warranty service on an earlier repair. †¢Explicit services: On the basis of 22 years of training and experience with the local Volvo dealer, they have earned a respected reputation and they offer any repair service on Volvo cars. For services which are not part of Village Volvo the owners developed a network of other service providers who can satisfy the customers’ needs. Care is taken throughout the repair process to keep the car clean, and the inside is vacuumed as a courtesy before pickup. After the repairs are finished, the vehicle is taken for a short test drive. Another explicit service is the availability. They have set aside specific â€Å"drop in† times (3 to 5 PM Wednesdays and 8 to 10 AM Thursdays) each week when clients may drive in for quick routine services. Between 7 and 8 AM and 5 and 6 PM the two owner-mechanics do not repair, because they want to be available for customer contact. †¢Implicit services: Implicit services include good attitude of mechanic, the comforts of the waiting area, and the convenience of the services offered. Mechanics take time to discuss problems with their clients; they even take a short test drive with the finished car and inform the customer about any other steps necessary whilst reparation. Although the customer will be consulted before any work other than the agreed-on job is done. Village Volvo 1. Describe Village Volvo’s service package. The service package consists of five points: supporting facility, facilitating goods, information, explicit services and implicit services. †¢Supporting facility: The car repair is based in a new Butler building in a suburban location with four work bays, an office, a waiting area and a storage room. Because of the location Village Volvo considers a shuttle service two or three times a day. The waiting room is equipped with a television se, comfortable chairs, coffee, a soft-drink vending machine, magazines and the local newspaper. †¢Facilitating goods: Facilitating goods are on the one hand the parts which are used to replace worn-out parts of the cars and on the other hand goods which are provided in the waiting room like coffee, soft-drinks, magazines and the local newspaper. †¢Information: The client and the mechanic who will be working on the vehicle discuss the problems the client has noticed and sometimes they may take a short test drive. Another source of information is the Customer Care Vehicle Dossier (CCVD) which is a continuing file of each vehicle the garage services. The CCVD can help the mechanic to diagnose problems and provides a convenient record if a vehicle is returned for warranty service on an earlier repair. †¢Explicit services: On the basis of 22 years of training and experience with the local Volvo dealer, they have earned a respected reputation and they offer any repair service on Volvo cars. For services which are not part of Village Volvo the owners developed a network of other service providers who can satisfy the customers’ needs. Care is taken throughout the repair process to keep the car clean, and the inside is vacuumed as a courtesy before pickup. After the repairs are finished, the vehicle is taken for a short test drive. Another explicit service is the availability. They have set aside specific â€Å"drop in† times (3 to 5 PM Wednesdays and 8 to 10 AM Thursdays) each week when clients may drive in for quick routine services. Between 7 and 8 AM and 5 and 6 PM the two owner-mechanics do not repair, because they want to be available for customer contact. †¢Implicit services: Implicit services include good attitude of mechanic, the comforts of the waiting area, and the convenience of the services offered. Mechanics take time to discuss problems with their clients; they even take a short test drive with the finished car and inform the customer about any other steps necessary whilst reparation. Although the customer will be consulted before any work other than the agreed-on job is done.

Dreamliner 787 Case Essay

Tara Lentini Week 3 Case Assignment Boeing: Dreamliner 787 Discuss the nature of the market structure and demand for the Dreamliner. What are the implications for Boeing and its customers? The market structure for the Dreamliner is that of an oligopolistic nature which means there are few aircraft manufactures who sell large quantities to its buyers. With Boeings biggest competitor Airbus unable to compete with the Dreamliner product, Boeing has the chance to take over the market for commercial aircraft. The demand for the Dreamliner is derived demand. Due to customer demand for comfortable fair priced airline travel, the demand for the Dreamliner will increase. Customers demand comfort during air travel and the Boeing Airliner promises added luxuries that will increase customer purchases to those airlines with a Dreamliner aircraft. The chief project manager for the Boeing, Tim Cogan stated, â€Å"It’s not Just an evolutionary step†¦ it borders on revolutionary. † This statement is supported by many industry insiders. Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p188) With such support, the emotions of the airline companies umped at the chance to place an order even with the understanding that the estimated time for delivery was at least 4 years and there was little research to support some of the added luxury amenities. What examples of the major types of buying situations do you see in the case? Discuss the implications of each in terms of marketing strategy? A new-task purchase i s seen with the Dreamliner due to the fact that it is a new product being sold by Boeing. The buying team is comprised of numerous members and the team must decide on specifications regarding the product. The marketer (Boeing) â€Å"tries to reach as many key buying influences as possible but also provides help and information. † (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, pl 73) The amenities of the Dreamliner will assist the buying team in making a decision whether or not the Dreamliner would be a good investment for the company and if so, how many to order. A straight rebuy is also seen in this case. Boeing listed the airliner at a price of $162 million with few customizable options for its buyers. (i. e. seating arrangements). Many aircraft buyers may have already been customers f Boeing and are familiar with their business. A straight rebuy is defined by Kotler and Armstrong as the buyer reorders something without any modifications. Once the buyer purchases the aircraft the straight rebuy buying situation will result in a quicker sale with fewer individuals making a decision on options and product specifications. List the specific features of the Dreamliner. What customer benefits result from each? PASSENGER BENEFITS: 60% quieter than other planes in its class – It is always nice to sleep on a plane however, when seated near the engine it is difficult to rest due to the noise. Many corporate travelers will enjoy this benefit with the late and early morning travel legs. With the added legroom there will no longer be a need to specifically sit in the isle and more options that will equal the comfort of isle seats will come available. Lighting that automatically adjusts to time zone shifts – Changing time zones can be difficult for anyone Circadian rhythms, which are the internal clock we all have which tells us when we it is time for bed and when it is time to rise. These â€Å"clocks† are not easily adjusted when changing time zones. The Dreamliner will posse lighting that imulates â€Å"sunrise and twilight which will assist its passengers adjust to the change in time zones. † (Micke, 2010) Higher cabin pressure and humidity – reducing common flying symptoms such as headaches, dry mouth, and fatigue. All of these symptoms are not what most passengers look forward to; knowing the Dreamliner decreases these symptoms will make it a preferred aircraft for many passengers. Large overhead storage bins – It is always daunting not knowing if your carry on will fit into the overhead storage bins. We have all witnessed a passenger beating their luggage esperately hoping it will pop in before the flight attendant comes by to take it to be stored in the cargo area. 19 inch self-dimming windows – This is a wonderful feature for those who prefer a window seat but have to fght the sunlight to enjoy their flight. Wireless internet and entertainment system – many travelers use the internet to stay connected while away. This option will give business travelers the ability to complete business while on the road. Time sensitive information can be conducted in-flight and travel will no longer be a burden for business travelers. The non-business travel can stay connected with family and friends to inform of flight status and arrival time. Also, wireless access will assist the passenger with passing the time during air travel. AIRCRAFT BUYER BENEFITS: For the buyer of a Dreamliner Aircraft, the marketing aspect will be a breeze. Passengers are always looking for comfort when flying and this aircraft offers many luxury amenities. Airlines with a Dreamliner in their roster will have the ability to sell luxury air travel to its passengers without the luxury cost. The Dreamliner will offer a ighter aircraft resulting in less fuel needed for flights. This aircraft could replace outdated aircrafts that are no longer economically fit. The 787 will expand non-stop markets for its customers with a â€Å"fuel range of 8,500 nautical miles and a maximum speed of Mach . 5. † (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p187) Also, the Dreamliner offers passenger capacity of 210 to 330 depending on seating arrangement ordered by the customer. With multiple configurations, the buyer of the aircraft has the option to decide what seating confguration would best meet their airline needs. For example, Southwest Airline only offers economy class, so they would order a Jetliner with one type of seating confguration. There is no need for S outhwest to order a Jetliner with first or business class on a Dreamliner. Other airlines may find it necessary to order multiple aircrafts with different seating arrangement to best meet its marketing and customer needs. Discuss the customer buying process for a Boeing airplane. In what major ways does this process differ from the buying process a passenger might go through in choosing an airline? The buying process for an airline placing an order or a Dreamliner would first have to recognize a need for a new aircraft offering the retire due to age may look at the Dreamliner as good solution to add new innovative products to their fleet. Next the buyer would have to recognize the general specifications and quantity needed of an item. Here a buyer of the aircraft would consult engineers and technical personnel to discuss the options available on the Dreamliner Aircraft. For example, the technical staff should be consulted regarding the wireless entertainment system on a Dreamliner. The control tower may need odifications to ensure interference will not be an issue with this type of system. Product specifications needed to meet the airlines customer and marketing needs would have to be listed. In this process, â€Å"the team decides on the best product characteristics and specifies them accordingly. † (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p177) As for the Dreamliner, the airline would specify the seat options available. For example, Southwest Airlines only offers economy seating for their passengers. If Southwest chooses to purchase a Dreamliner, they would specify one seating option or their aircraft. Once the order is placed for a Dreamliner, the buyer should conduct a performance review to ensure the product will be delivered on time and to ensure they are aware of any problems that may arise. At this â€Å"stage of the buying process the buyer assesses the performance of the supplier and decides to continue, modify, or drop the arrangement. † (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, p179) Most passengers choosing an airline are looking for the least expensive direct flight to their destination. The buying process for an airline ticket for a few hundred dollars is ess complex than that of purchasing an aircraft for over one hundred million dollars. Many travelers have a preferred airline and do not shop around for deals. They use the preferred airline and earn air miles towards free flights. As for me, I do not have a preferred airline, however I do enjoy Southwest because of first come first serve seating. Yet, most travelers will look at price first, direct flight possibilities, and airport location before booking a flight. There is little thought that goes into aircraft options when a ticket is purchased. What marketing recommendations would you make to McNerney as he continues to try to resolve the problems with the 787 Dreamliner program? McNerney needs to stay fully involved in the operations of the Dreamliner to ensure all suppliers and manufactures are completing production on time. Performance reviews of the suppliers must be taken seriously and the decision to drop or modify the arrangement must be made in a timely fashion. With 70 percent of the work being outsourced to dozens of partnering firms, he cannot be blinded by incomplete or inaccurate production. The longer it takes to assess the supplier performance the longer the delay in production and delivery will be for the Dreamliner.

Asymmetric Synthesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Asymmetric Synthesis - Essay Example Hence, it is undeniably interesting to study the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of cinchona alkaloids , which have also been helpful in man's daily living. This includes its role in the production of food flavorings and medicines for different ailments like malaria. Additionally, the popularity of cinchona alkaloids over the years is also because of its qualifications in the three primary criteria of catalysts, which are as follows: 1) the diversity of reactions that the catalyst can trigger; 2) the accessibility of both enantiomeric antipodes of the catalyst at an affordable cost; and 3) the stability of the catalyst. The research aims to study the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of the popular two pairs of cinchona alkaloids which are enantiomeric in nature: cinchonine and cinchonidine, and; quinine and quinidine. The researcher aims to study the two pairs by isolating them through extraction of the bark of the cinchona tree; a native of tropical regions. Due to their widespread use, all four members are readily available in large quantities from most chemical suppliers. Furthermore, before conducting several experiments for the research, the researcher will gather enough materials documenting the history of cinchona alkaloids. ... erature section of the research, which will include information about cinchona alkaloids from one of the earliest uses of cinchona alkaloids in asymmetric catalysis which was demonstrated by Pracejus in the 1960's to catalyze the asymmetric alcoholysis of ketenes (Pracejus, 1964) to its modern uses. Moreover, the study's related literature will consist of theories proposed about the asymmetric synthesis of cinchona alkaloids by chemists of different ages. One interesting theory which will contribute to the study of the alkaloid's catalytic asymmetric synthesis is that the alcohol is activated via a hydrogen bond with the tertiary amine of benzoylquinine. Addition of the alcohol to the ketene is followed by quenching of the resultant enolate by the chiral ammonium salt. The resultant esters are isolated in up to 76% enantiomeric excess. The research will strive to replicate the experiments conducted to support this theory. Also, with the proliferation of recent publications studying cinchona-ketene systems for asymmetric synthesis (Blake, 2001), the study will investigate different assumptions about the asymmetry in the synthesis of cinchona alkaloids. One of the most noticeable of these recent publications which the researcher intends to focus is Lectka's -halogenation of acid chlorides (Wack, 2001). Lectka stated that the benzoylquinine-ketene system reacts with quinone based electrophilic halogenating reagents to yield activated -halogenated esters with enantioselectivities as high as 99%, and with good yields. The study will try to prove this through catalytic asymmetric fluorination, where cinchona derivatives have already been used, though only stoichiometrically (Muiz, 2001). However, despite the efforts to base certain experiments upon previous studies, the

Critique a professional nursing organization Assignment

Critique a professional nursing organization - Assignment Example For the association to succeed in the current internet driven market the organization is imperative to have a dynamic website aimed at efficient and quick service of the members. The website for this association is designed to meet the client partners’ requirements and works continuously, thus optimizing the sites for the new trends and the emerging technologies like the responsive design. Such a website ensures the consistency with the mobile-focused approach to the technology. The entire team of the professionals has experience in the web site cycle where the department collaborates with the partners to create, maintain as well as market the site. Both members and the customers’ empowerment is done through a strong self-service opportunity, which connects to the database of the association in an attempt to offer real-time updates, and the pricing information. It also ensures the members remain engaged in the advanced social networking. The department in charge makes use of the advanced content management system, which mainly separates the content from the design that simplifies the process of adding new content and incorporates additional ele ments into the

Marketing Research- Report on service encounters Assignment

Marketing Research- Report on service encounters - Assignment Example Based on the textbook learning about service marketing, the experiences will be categorised and aging theories will be related to the encounters. The study will be divided in two parts, in this part experience of the service encounters will be highlighted and in the second part, the theories and classifications will be done. Along with that a suitable conclusion and recommendations will also be provided. Service Encounters This section of the report covers the description of the various service deliveries I have encountered in the last week. Although I have come across various service encounters in the recent past, only six of them will be described. The service encounters ranging from banking to tourism services. I have decided to only highlight those service encounters that actually offered something to learn from that experience. Also it should be noted that each of the service encounter that I proposes to shed light on are from different sectors. The entire segment of my service encounters can be found in the appendix section of this study (Refer to Appendix section). PART II Introduction Service marketing is considerably a new concept of marketing and is often dubbed as the subfield of marketing. Service marketing typically refers to the business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) services (Storbacka, Strandvik and Gronroos, 1994). The notion and real life application of services marketing are evident in sectors such as travel, telecommunication, health care and financial services to name a few. The study is meant for the purpose of understanding the nature of services and to test the viability of the statement ‘service customers is a core competency that marketing managers must develop’. In the section of the study, I will reflect upon my experience of service delivery and will try to relate the same with the theories portrayed by scholars across the world. Lastly, suitable conclusion to the study will be drawn and along with th at recommendation will be provided. Service Classification It is an imprudent act to generalise the concept of services because the services offered by the companies greatly differs. The differences in the services of two companies become more visible when these companies belong to different industries. According to industry experts and academicians, one of the wisest approaches to segment the services of the firms is to use marketing relevant characteristics (Lovelock, Patterson, and Wirthz, 2010). In general, the services are classified on the basis of various factors such as the strategic implication of the characteristics of the services by considering the fact that customers are involved in the production process. The services can be classified as the tangibility/intangibility of the service process, on the basis of the direct service recipients, the place in which the service is being delivered, on the basis of customization and standardization, relationship with the customer, discrete and continuous services, and high & low contact services. In the context of my personal service encounters, I will choose the degree of tangibility or intangibility involved in the process of service delivery. This basis of classification describes the fact that whether the services being offered by the company involves anything physical or the process is more intangible. In my cases, all the services are intangible and but involves different

Politics course work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Politics course work - Essay Example The Prime Minster basically looks upon the policies that have been formulated by various members, such as the minister of transportation or minister of defense, and he decides what should be sent to the House of Commons to be presented as a bill, or if a draft should be passed or not. Election took place in the UK in May 2010 and it was between the Conservatives, headed by David Cameron, Labour headed by Gordon Brown, and Liberal democrats headed by Nick Clegg. This was the first time that all three candidates, none of the leaders had led a general election campaign. In 2010 after the election in which the conservative party emerged victorious, there arrived a situation in which conservatives were not of an overall majority. It needed twenty seats to form an overall majority (General Election 2010: the top 20 Conservative target seats, 2010), thus it resulted in hung parliament and so there were talks of a coalition government. (Election 2010: First hung parliament in UK for decades, 2010) After Gordon Brown’s resignation following the humiliating defeat in the elections (Gordon Brown resigns, 2010), Queen Elizabeth invited David Cameron to form a government. since he was already short of twenty-two seats he decided to form a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. the reason behind David Cameron opting to form a coalition government with Conservatives was the manifesto of the conservatives, which was extremely anti ­-labour. Here the role of liberal democrats was extremely important since it did not agree with both the parties on a majority of issues; it was in a catch-22 situation as to with whom they shall form the government. After the invitation by Queen to David Cameron to form the government, there were coalition talks between Liberal democrats and conservatives as to what shall be the strategy to form the government or if they should just go ahead forming a hung parliament. The problems of forming a coalition government with the conser vatives were regarding their manifesto. If they formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats they will not be able to fulfill their party manifesto. But at this point in time they had no choice because if they became part of a hung parliament, every other resolution would be vetoed by a joint action of labour and liberal democrats. And if they formed a coalition government with liberal democrats, they would have to follow a policy of give some and take some. The coalition dialogue took a total of five days and in the end David Cameron came out and successfully announced that the coalition talks have been â€Å"overwhelmingly approved†. Both the coalition parties agreed on the basic 11 principles on which they would act in one voice and there shall be no compromise on the following issues (Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition deal, 2010): - 1. Deficit Reduction The deficit would be reduced and a total of 6 billion pounds worth of cuts would be made to decrease the budget d eficit. 2. Spending Review - NHS, Schools and a Fairer Society National Health Service would be looked into to increase the benefits it gives to the people who need them the most, as well as a review of the replacement of the trident system for the British defense (Trident replacement decision 'after 2015 elections', 2010). This

Obeservation of Users Experience of Samsung Galaxy Phones Essay

Obeservation of Users Experience of Samsung Galaxy Phones - Essay Example An important series feature of this series is that it has android operating system with high speed processors up to GHZ speed. Besides, it supports 3G. Galaxy series phone models are available in both LED and LCD displays. The nine smart phone models which include in the Samsung Galaxy series is (a) Samsung Galaxy 5i5503 (b) Samsung Galaxy Prop (c) Samsung Galaxy 55115510 (d) Samsung Galaxy Fit S5670 (e) Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 (f) Samsung Galaxy 315801 (g) Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830 (h) Samsung Galaxy S19000 (i) and Samsung Galaxy S II. Samsung Galaxy S II is the latest model. Praises for this phone includes statements like: â€Å"Few words for this handset â€Å"Simply the best Smart phone,† yes it is a best Android Powered smart phone with furious and blazing features. It is the successor of Galaxy S, with some improvements† (9 Smartphones in Samsung Galaxy Series [Review & Prices], 2011). The price of this series comes in the range of 165 to 619.98.The latest version Galaxy has online readers functions. The security functions of the Galaxy are much developed, including device encryption in the latest Galaxy series. It also has a feature of Cisco Web EX with the help of this technology a secure online meeting can be done. Dual Core Application Processor: The equipment has high speed capabilities to support multitasking. It also enables high speed web page loading and other features like image editing high speed gaming etc. With these capabilities it facilitates high performance and has a very slim design which makes it very handy for use. It is about 8.49mm and easy to grip. It has a look with its battery cover. A huge gallery of song and music can be stored in this, including online searching, discovering, and downloading track with ease. There are also many applications available on Samsung store for better performance software which we can download and installed without any difficulty. The music system is bass enhanced and gives good quality even at highest volume of sound. Samsung mobile can transfer data by using Microsoft exchange server which keeps the user up to date with contacts, events and so on. Another improvement is the concern about security and its management. Samsung and Sybase work together for managing and securing the android devices. â€Å"This partnership provides the comprehensive capabilities that it requires to allow mobile workers access to enterprise assets using the Samsung GALAXY S II. It can now confidently extend corporate security policies to the Samsung Android platform, allowing for the adoption of both personally owned and corporate owned GALAXY S II’s† (Simply the Best Smartphone!, 1995). â€Å"Making the impossible possible. Samsung Dual Core Application Processor is the ultra responsive answer to mobile performance, providing high-speed multitasking, quick web page loading, quick reaction speeds, a smoother UI, lightning fast image editing and high performance gaming. An d with its screaming fast encoding/decoding ability, which supports all (1080p/30fps) video playing and shooting, outshines the other dual core processors. Seamless video or music streaming gets a big boost with the super fast wireless standard HSPA 21Mbps. outstanding computing power, outstanding performance† (Samsung Galaxy S Review, 2006, p. 1). Thoughts, Feelings and Process: The

Robin Cook Englsh Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Robin Cook Englsh - Research Paper Example At present Robin Cook currently has both occupation and residence in Florida alone. Yet he has in recent times won the awards that include the 2002 "Author of Vision" offered by the RP International organization and in 2004 he was effectively issued an appointment by President George W. Bush personally to the Woodrow Wilson Board of Trustees. In pertaining to the business showground, Dr. Cook is known to be the cofounder of an Internet software company, a partner of a New Hampshire sports complex, and has substantial real estate properties. Previously he has been known to own a restaurant and a construction company. His hobbies primarily comprise interior and architectural design, period renovation, with specific athletics including basketball, tennis, skiing, and surfing. Doctor cum author Robin Cook is generally accredited with familiarizing the term "medicinal" to the thriller genre or fictitious and nonfiction storytelling. Even after thirty-four years subsequent to the periodica l publication of his innovation novel, Coma, he remains to be dominant in the category he shaped. Cook has efficaciously unified medical facts with futuristic fantasy to harvest a string of twenty-eight New York Times bestsellers that have been periodically translated into forty some languages. To date still, they include Outbreak Mind bend Mutation, Harmful Intent, Vital Signs , Blind sight , Terminal , Fatal Cure, Acceptable Risk , Contagion , Chromosome 6 ,Toxin , Vector , Shock , Seizure, Marker ,Crisis , Critical , Foreign Body , and Intervention . Putnam published Cook's most recent novel, Cure, in 2010. His volumes have retailed approximately to 100 million copies. In every novel, Robin Cook endeavors to explicate numerous... Cook's narratives obligated to forestall nationwide debate. Interviewer Stephen McDonald spoke to him regarding his novel Shock; while Cook admits that the timing of book was indeed unexpected. "I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about," he further quoted, "I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know anything about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately really should decide which way we ought to go in something as ethically questioning as stem cell research." Cook articulates he selected to transcribe thrillers because the forum gives him "an opportunity to get the public interested in things about medicine that they didn't seem to know about. I believe my books are actually teaching people." The writer acknowledges he not once assumed that he would obliga te to such persuasive substantial marterial to work with as soon as he initiated writing fiction in 1970.

Tourism Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tourism - Case Study Example Television shows have also played a great part in popularising destinations. And what better example than that of the Australia Zoo; the zoo, located in the Queensland town of Beerwah, became a major tourist attraction by way of Steve Irwin's 'Crocodile Hunter' wildlife documentaries. The Australia Zoo, which started as a small reptile park, became a major tourist attraction thanks to Irwin's popularity as the Crocodile Hunter. (Debbie Olsen, Canwest News Service.) Tourism departments have woken up to the strength of movies in creating the hype about a destination. Though the incidence of movies being made to promote a destination is less usual, the fact remains that movies popularize travel without primarily intending to. When a recce is done to zero down upon a locale, the primary objective is to suit the requirement of the story. In Indian movies or what is more popular globally as Bollywood movies (these are the Hindi language movies that forms the biggest chunk of Indian movies), it is also important that the shot looks picturesque; to shoot a song sequence, the scene can ridiculously shift to the snow-covered Alps, even if the storyline goes nowhere near Europe. However, in the process, movies make certain locales popular and enhance tourism in that place. For example, the Indian film industry has increased the volume of tourism in Switzerland to such an extent that Lakes and Waterfalls are being named after Indian movie stars and produc ers. Tapping the Consumer Base It is a common phenomenon that tourism boards and local administrative bodies offer various incentives such as discounts in accommodation, food, permission for shooting and even cash incentives, to lure production units. (The Financial Express, 2005.) In India, movie making is big business. Over 1000 movies are released every year (the largest in the world), 3.2 billion movie tickets are sold each year (the largest in the world) and 10,000 music tracks hit the market every year. (Indian Entertainment and Media Outlook 2009 Report.) The Indian Tourism sector contributes 6.23 percent to the GDP and generates a total employment of 8.78 percent. In 2008, USD 100 billion was generated by the tourism industry and this is expected to rise to USD 275.5 billion by 2018. (Jaipur Hotel Deals Blog, 2009.) Watching movies in one-screen theatres (I am not talking here of multiplexes, which are expensive) is a relatively cheap form of entertainment in which millions of Indians indulge. Here films a re almost a way of life with the people and movie stars are demigods. The movie songs (no movie has less than five songs on an average) are an industry on its own. No festival or ceremony is complete without film songs. Television shows are churned out based on movies and their songs. No wonder such a huge consumer base is an attractive proposition and even if five percent of this can be converted and directed towards tourism, it would present a huge earning potential. This huge market is up for grabs for both the national and international tourism boards. It works out wonderfully for the producer who gets to save nothing less than 20 percent of the cost. Jaisalmer - the

The Integrated Solution Limited using the criteria of HKMA quality award program Essay Example for Free

The Integrated Solution Limited using the criteria of HKMA quality award program Essay Q.1: The Integrated Solution Limited (ISL) is a specialist in providing professional quality I.T. solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in HK and southern China. There are several factors leading to the success of ISL today. The remarkable achievement of ISL started with its founder and Managing Director, Dr. Ricky LEUNG. Dr. LEUNG personally had in-depth understanding of the needs of manufactures in HK. He recognised that most of imported packages did not provide enough management information to them and no foreign vendors provided MRP system in HK. That is the gap where ISL successfully comes in. With the strong commitment from Dr. LEUNG, ISL has laid down a companys motto ISL is to build quality people, products and relationships and a mission statement ISL is to provide quality products and services towards better data integration and information management for manufacturers that strive to provide excellent products and services to its customers. In this connection, ISL has been very active in improving its products and services through continuous research, service quality improvements, and the changing needs and requirements of customers. Q2: The remarkable achievement of ISL shows once again that producing world-class quality is ultimately a matter of the heart more than the mind It is companies with such emotional pride in their products and with such heroic hopes for their customers that set the quality standards in every industry around the world said by Larry Farrel of the Farrel Company. Quality management has played a significant role in ISLs success. As mentioned previously, ISL has always commits to become the leader in providing professional quality I.T. solutions for SMEs in Asia Pacific. Quality management has always been their main focus in strategic planning, market positioning, and nearly every aspects. ISLs efforts in quality management has lets them successfully to built up an image of a total solution company with prestige quality, as the leading supplier of manufacturing software in Hong Kong by successfully differentiate it from its competitors, and is fast to become Hong Kongs showpiece in innovation and quality. Actually, Total Quality Management is a strategic weapon, which includes a broad set of processes, which helps ISL to enhance its competitive advantages. It is a basic belief that each day it can become better and that all employees are infected with the enthusiasm and religion of improvement. Thus, it accelerates the continuous improvement in products and services, and overall organizational performance. It also helps to develop a Roadmap to business excellence which has attained significantly higher performance levels, therefore, driven to their overall success. Q3: By applying and receiving the HKMA Award, ISL has achieved the following benefits: 1) Gain Competitive Advantage Sound Reputation Successfully Differentiate from its Competitors: ISL received the HKMA award in 1994 for its dedication to quality improvement and customer services. This awards brings the company public recognition for having achieved outstanding standards of quality and for having make a lasting commitment to the process of quality management. Thus, ISL is able to gain many competitive advantages that lead to its success in the IT industry. It not only helps ISL to successfully differentiate from its competitors, but also accelerates the continuous improvement, and gaining prestige reputation from the market. 2) Professional Productive Work Force by Empowerment, Teamwork, Recognition Training : Being a successful company, human resources, is definitely one of the most valuable resources.. ISL understands that keeping the staff growth means keeping the company growth. So, the Human resources development is also one of the focuses in companys strategic planning. As quality management lets ISL to realize the important of empowerment and teamwork, therefore, when ISL recruits new employee, they will measure their ability of teamwork, potential for growth and quality awareness instead of measuring their technical skill only. For the existing employee, ISL also encourage for their involvement. For example, they will have a regular meeting where all employees are welcome to give their own suggestion and opinions. Moreover, the company always tries to strengthen staffs technical skill and quality awareness through various training or seminar from outside experts. Furthermore, the company also empowers the employee and gives special awards to well-performed staff in order to enhance the employee satisfaction. All these efforts helps ISL to achieve outstanding operational results, such as improve in punctuality, reduce absenteeism due to sickness, lower staff turnover rate, faster technical support response time, better trainer quality, higher maintenance incomes, and faster invoice processing time, etc. 3) Clear Strategic Planning and Leadership : By applying and receiving the HKMA awards, ISL has benefits from a very clear strategic planning and leadership. It lets Dr. Leung, the company leader, to aware of the importance of quality, but also pushes him to make some changes in ISL in order to enforce the quality enhancement, such as restructured the company units to a supportive organization structure, and to form a Quality Committee from senior management to co-ordinate and organize quality efforts. Moreover, the HKMA award program ensures ISL to have a very clear goal in quality and performance. For example, at the beginning of each year, ISL undergoes an annual Extensive Strategic Planning Process to plan for the goal and the actions of the current year base on the customer and staff satisfaction and economic factors. It helps ISL to continuously improving in its quality of services and products and leads to its success. 4) Enhance Customer Satisfaction by Customer Focus : ISL has realized that customer satisfaction and a good reputation for quality are vital to the companys survival. Therefore, it uses many marketing tools such as Product Life Cycle (PLC), Product Space Map and GAP analysis to determine market opportunities, segmentation, moving trends and the market position of its product. It helps ISL to be more efficient and be able to continue to understand more about its customers needs and requirements and improve its product and services in order to improve its market position. For example, the amount of repeat sales has grow from 4% to 23% of the total sales from 1992 to 1994. This rapid grow in repeat sales demonstrates that the customer satisfaction of ISL has been improved, and there is pro-active account management and development of long-term relationships with customers in ISL. 5) Profit Maximization and Cost Efficiency : Quality management also benefits ISL financially by maximizing its profits and lets it spends its cost more efficiency. During the eight years before the company applied for the HKMA award, ISLs annual sales grow rapidly. For example, the annual growth rates were 50% or above throughout the period from 1987 to 1994. Besides that, since the company embarked on the TQM programme, profitability has also improved. Moreover, the improvement in various aspects, such as the production process, lets ISL to spend its cost more efficiency. 6) Accelerate Continuous Improvement : The HKMA helps to accelerate the improvement efforts. It helped to set a pace for the quality improvement efforts. It created an accountability that moved the organization faster and further than it could have done on their own. For example, concerning the product improvements, ISL is constantly upgrading it products and services. It also has to keep up its product development programme in order to maintain its competitiveness in the marketplace. Besides that, it also engaged in improving the quality of its internal operations in order to improve in its process. These help to demonstrate ISLs efforts to accelerate its improvement continuously. Q.4: The strengths and weaknesses of ISL in the current competitive environment are as follows: 1) Leadership : * Dr. LEUNG has strongly commitment in promoting quality/products to the industry and to the ISL. For the industry, seminars and articles on Quality Management given by Dr. LEUNG not only educate the public, but also act as outside pressure to push ISL to improve its quality. For the company, he has laid down a companys motto and mission statement stressing on quality products/services to its customers. * Furthermore, a quality committee chaired by Dr. LEUNG has been established to co-ordinate company-wide efforts on quality improvement. The terms of reference for the committee are specified, which includes setting up companys quality standards, developing long- to short-term quality plans, monitoring quality implementation progresses, tackling customer issues, and so froth. * ISL in 1994 established a 3 levels supportive organization structure including front line staff, managers and top management. This organizational structure provides a supportive skeleton from one level to another so as to facilitate the performance of subordinates. ISL also formed the RD Department focusing on product direction and acting as the catalyst for quality improvement. ? Although Dr. LEUNG from time-to-time participates in public activities, ISL itself and other senior staff have not paid much attention to address their public responsibilities and citizenship. 2) Strategy Planning : * To improve product/services quality, ISL has introduced an annual Extensive Strategic Planning Process. At the beginning of each year, the Quality Committee meets externally to examine customer satisfaction and review/access impacts from environmental factors, and internally to motive and satisfy ISL staff and minimize waste and unproductive work. ISL also has set up 5 quality and performance goals, including Product Leadership, Quality Leadership, Consultancy, Implementation and Technical Support. ? Human resources plan has not considered. Key performance indicators are also not considered for tracking the progress of action plan, not to say projecting organizations future performance. 3) Customer and Market Focus : * ISL has adopted a number of marketing tools such as Product Life Cycle, Product Space Map and Gap analysis to determine market opportunities, segmentation, trends and the market position of its product. To collect information from customers, departments of TS and Sales Marketing have constantly contact and visits their customers with the aim to explore possible areas for improving its products and services. ? Mechanism has not formulated to handle customers complaints promptly and effectively. ISL should group all complaints together and analyze it for further improvement. Moreover, ISL should obtain and analyze information and customer satisfaction about their competitors for benchmarks. 4) Information and Analysis : * ISL has introduced an integrated management system, PURSUIT, for its operational processes. A SQL tool, FLEXQL is employed to extract data to generate ad-hoc or routine management reports for the departments of Sales, TS and RD. To effectively use the data, the management adopt the concept of Management-By-Facts and, wherever practicable, make decisions on a factual basis. * Key performance has been constantly communicated to ISL staff, its customers and suppliers via a wide range of communication channels; Internally ISL rely on weekly colloquium, monthly staff newsletter, departmental meetings, annual report, display boards and emails, while externally they rely on user newsletters, press releases, customer visits and customer surveys. ? A system for ensuring the accuracy, reliability and security of data and information has not in place. 5) Human Resource Focus : * The management of ISL in 1994 recognized that exchanges of experience and information among staff and managers were informal, and tasks and functions were mainly performed by a single person. In this regard, ISL has introduced a daily Japanese-style morning meeting for reporting work progress, planning of the schedule, seeking assistance from colleagues with relevant experience, and presenting a topic by members on a rotation basis with assessment. Besides, ISL launches a program, Quality in Action (QIA), which based on facts and data and empowered its staff to respond quickly to customer needs. * All suitable candidates have had at least 2 interviews to judge their competence in interpersonal skills, quality awareness, and so on forth. In addition, TS and the 3D development departments have a work rotation scheme to ensure that everyone receives a mix of job functions. * ISL provides a company colloquium with attendance of all staff on every Friday morning for brainstorming, team building and training of theories, concepts and tools in quality management. Departmental meeting is another place where customer and operational issues can be resolved. Group sessions are also organized for sharing experiences and new ideas. * ISL sends staff to external training courses and provides an annual HK$6,000 education allowance to each employee for job-related external training courses. * ISL has put a system in place to maintain a high level of staff morale. The system consists of communicating changes with feedback, making use the companys supportive organizational structure, coordinating with top managements direction, and providing counseling and mediation. ISL also has a Social Welfare Committee responsible for organization of key annual events. Furthermore, the company put a smoke-free working environment policy in force. * Three front line departments have its own incentive scheme. Employees have an annual appraisal to determine their pay. Special awards would be given to those who have exceptional performance. ? ISL not places much attention on providing assessment methods or measures, like upward appraisal, to determine employees well-being and satisfaction. The company shall also consider formulating a system to ensure safety and health of employees at work. 6) Process Management : * ISL emphasizes the quality of its development process. All software projects are headed by senior software staff and developed in accordance with a software engineering cycle. Moreover, ISL follows the best practice guidelines in the industry by allocating sufficient time and effort for System Analysis and Final Testing stages. To meet customers special needs, ISD also offers a tailor-made software service and develops User Manuals, Technical Manuals, Implementation Guide, and Training Notes Exercises, and provides Customer Training Programme and Implementation Consultancy Services. * To promulgate continuous improvement, ISL regularly upgrades its products and services based on the feedback from listening to customers, getting in touch with the marketplace, and valuing input from staff. * ISL acts as a value-added reseller by organizing marketing and education event, meeting with vendors, and dealing of hardware purchases. 7) Business Results : * ISL has established a series of services and indicators to focus on customers; Firstly, hotline support logging system has been introduced to gauge the performance of technical hotline support. Secondly, ISL offers a one-day training programme to its customers. Trainees request to evaluate and give feedback for the effectiveness of programme. Thirdly, ISL measures the percentage of purchasing maintenance service and maintenance income to reflect the satisfaction of customers. Finally, ISL conducts full-scale customer satisfaction survey to assess the strengths and weakness of its operation. * ISL tracks its annual sales, profitability, amount of repeat sales and number of installation sites to measure the results of company and quality and customer satisfactions of customers. * ISL measures punctuality, absenteeism, staff turnover rate to evaluate staff morale and work attitude. All these indicators move positively since its inception. ? Although ISL has successfully boosted its sales revenue by 50% annually from 87 to 94 with exception of 93, the net profit margin does not grow as much as the sales revenue. It also noticed that the percentage of increment of the sales revenue has been declined from 95 to 97, as compared with the annual growth from 87 to 94. Q. 5: With the limitation of resources available to ISL, we are of a view that ISL should concrete their efforts to target on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in both Hong Kong and southern China. ISL should modify its existing products to suit the special needs of the largest manufacturing sectors in Hong Kong and southern China. (i.e.: Toys, Garment, and Electronic Industries.) 1) Products : Looking ahead, the following products should be provided by ISL to its client. As there is a growing trend for user-friendly software, a new software system with Window/Novell/Web-based application will become a potential product of ISL. In addition, with the growing connection between Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, industrial undertakings headquartered in Hong Kong and with manufacturing plants scattered in Mainland China are on the increase. Coupled with this growth, there is an increasing need for such undertaking having an integrated computer system. Development of an effective communication system that facilitates the connection and communication between offices at different locations will be a potential product for ISL. Furthermore, ISL should explore the feasibility of developing an ERP and Global supply chain management software in collaboration with QAD. As QAD has experience in developing such product, it may reduce the product development time and help ISL stay in the forefront and keep in pace with the logistics business proposed in Hong Kong. 2) Services : On top of its current services, ISL should provide free software to academic institutions for education and promotion purposes. ISL may also provide free-trial software with limited effective date and authority to potential customers and existing customers for evaluation and promotion purposes. Besides that, ISL may regularly organize free training courses to their potential users or customers. Q. 6: As more and more aggressive competitors (e.g. SAP, MPIX, Minx Symix) have launched their businesses in Hong Kong and China, ISL should consider the following actions to further improve their quality or services to its customers. Firstly, it should pursue China market by more empowerment and participating in joint venture or co-operation programmes with China firms. It helps ISL increase/improve its cash flow, distribution channel and technology. Secondly, it should further improve their software systems in order to maintain their market position. It is noteworthy that some features / functions of ISLs software systems are far from satisfactory as compared with similar products offered by their competitors. The limited power of Envision is a good illustration of this. Thirdly, by means of joint venture, ISL should exchange their technical skill with foreign companies. It also allows ISL to exchange its stock shares with various companies for improving cash flow within the company. Fourthly, in addition to its cooperation programmes with the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, ISL shall extend it to various Universities in China. As these institutions have first-hand and in-depth understanding of the needs in China, such cooperation programmes not only help ISL develop its products but also can be their executive arms to disturb new software systems to China. Finally, ISL should set up a website to introduce their company background and new products to all visitors (potential customers) and existing customers. It can also build up FAQ (Frequently asked Questions) to help existing customers to solve common problems. Moreover, as a means of advertising, it can let more people to recognize ISL throughout the world.

Applications of Total Quality Management Essay Example for Free

Applications of Total Quality Management Essay Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy of management that strives to make the best use of all available resources and opportunities through continuous improvement. TQM means achieving quality in terms of all functions of the enterprise. Many researchers attempted to analyze how IT and TQM can jointly add value to organizations and the purpose of this first post on TQM is to evaluate the practicality of TQM in an IT service. In this evaluation, a balance of the service management needs with the reality of bottom-line effectiveness is provided. The post also provides a list of critical success factors to consider in a change management initiative engaged by an IT service. TQM in Practice : The essence of quality is to do it right the first time, and to satisfy customer requirements every time by involving everyone in the organization. The works of Crosby and his colleagues on the evolution of TQM cut across all pervasive philosophies of management. TQM has been a key business improvement strategy since the 1970s, as it has been deemed essential for improving efficiency and competitiveness. TQM aims to achieve an overall effectiveness which is higher than the individual outputs from the sub-systems such as design, planning, production, distribution, customer focus strategy, quality tools and employee involvement. This philosophy of management strives to make the best use of all available resources and opportunities through continuous improvement. As a management philosophy, TQM makes use of particular set of principles, practices, and techniques to expand business and profits and provides a bypass to enhanced productivity by avoiding rework, rejects, waste, customer complaints, and high cost. This can be achieved by emphasizing the organization’s commitment from data-driven, problem-solving approaches to quality accruing. The five basic pillars of TQM are : a) top management commitment for quality enhancement, b) customer centric advancements of processes and building a long-lasting trustworthy relationship between the organization and the customer, c) relentless development by setting goals and deadlines, d) benchmarking with several specific tools and quality-adding techniques, and e) strengthening the employee base by concentrating at any stage of a process on quality, where customer satisfaction is stationed. Table 1 provides a summary of the key dimensions that constitute TQM. TQM key dimensions : 1. Top management leadership : Top management commitment is one of the major determinants of successful TQM implementation. Top management has to be the first in applying and stimulating the TQM approach, and they have to accept the maximum responsibility for the product and service offering. Top management also has to provide the necessary leadership to motivate all employees. 2. Customer relationships : The needs of customers and consumers and their satisfaction should always be in the mind of all employees. It is necessary to identify these needs and their level of satisfaction. 3. Supplier relationships : Quality is a more important factor than price in selecting suppliers. Long-term relationship with suppliers has to be established and the company has to collaborate with suppliers to help improve the quality of products/services. 4. Workforce management : Workforce management has to be guided by the principles of: training, empowerment of workers and teamwork. Adequate plans of personnel recruitment and training have to be implemented and workers need the necessary skills to participate in the improvement process. 5. Product design process : All departments have to participate in the design process and work together to achieve a design that satisfies the requirements of the customer, which should be according to the technical, technological and cost constraints of the company. 6. Process flow management : Housekeeping along the lines of the 5S concept. Statistical and non-statistical improvement instruments should be applied as appropriate. Processes need to be mistake proof. Self-inspection undertaken using clear work instructions. The process has to be maintained under statistical control. 7. Quality data and reporting : Quality information has to be readily available and the information should be part of the visible management system. Records about quality indicators have to be kept, including scrap, rework, and cost of quality. TQM and Change Management Initiative for IT Performance : A business firm achieves world-class status when it has successfully developed operational capabilities through TQM to support the entire company in gaining a sustained overall performance over its competitors. Although there is insufficient statistical evidence to conclude significant simple relationships between TQM and IT services quality performance, many studies investigated the notion that TQM practices provide approaches to improve the economic position in the service sectors in general. Both IT and TQM had, and will continue to have a significant impact on most organizations. I only regret the lack of empirical research on the relationship between the two and how they both relate to business performance.

Individualism in China: TV Case Study

Individualism in China: TV Case Study Individualism Transition in Chinese Cultural Values Through A Case Study of TV Show Super Girl Introduction â€Å"Individualâ€Å", the term by itself means something or someone unique. Thus, â€Å"Individualism† is a revolution which tends to power the rights of an individual. In countries like America, such a practice is followed. The people there wish that there should be enough personal space for every individual without being disturbed by name of any kind of authority or power as well. But the extreme opposite culture or practice prevails in China, which can be shortly called as collectivism. Here, neither the thought of individual nor their wish is given privilege. It is because they believe in group thought and they strive together for group success. If in case any individual in a group is having opinion mismatch with that of the group, then the individual is expected to suppress the thoughts without disturbing the groups activities. (Pratt, D. D.1991) Such a practice could also be viewed as forcing a common thought upon everybody. But this is their culture and they have be en practicing it for quite long years. We have to say that they got used to it. Now, in the recent past a TV show called â€Å"Super girls† has been commenced and succeeded as well. It is a talent reality show which brings out the talents of an individual to the sight of everybody by giving them a suitable platform. Another interesting fact about this show is that, it is the public who judge the show. They vote for their favorite star of the show and thus the winner is selected. But it is been condemned by the commentators that the Super girls show is kindling the individualistic feeling amidst the collectivism practitioners. Many have started protesting against the show fearing that the show may disturb the Chinese culture. But on the other hand the public started enjoying the entertainment. They are glad to vote for their stars. (Ding, Y. 2008) China is a country which always value team success. Simply speaking, they follow collectivism. They give much importance to group thoughts than the individual opinion. This practice is strictly followed by them in the name of culture. Chinese people have not practiced direct election. But recently the situation has changed because of the Super Girl show in China. It is condemned by the analysts that this show has initiated amidst people individualism. Let us discuss whether the show is really spreading individualism among the Chinese youths. The Chinese culture –A History Change – has been the most prominent factor characterizing the world of today. Every second of our life is changed as discoveries and inventions galore the place we live on. This kind of transformation is not new to the least. It has been a constant factor; right from man finding fire to the scientific revolution, travelling from bullock-carts to modern cars, from eating anything to standardizing the meal we take, the world has almost seen everything. Each change in turn was diversified among several groups of people based on their idealistic values, the ethical principles they followed and their welfare corresponding to their geographical region. These diversified changes slowly developed as cultural behavior of that particular group. Then there came a point where all the diversifications attained saturation. In the end, instead of these changes governing the cultural behavior, it turned out the direct opposite way where cultural behavior dominates the changes. (Songhua, F, n. d) For now, the cycle has turned again. Its almost a revolutionizing act if a person does the direct opposite of what their culture intends them to do. Chinese culture gives the Chinese people their basic identity. They have certain core values which are exclusive and consistent, and these are fashioned by a tradition of four thousand years of history and maintained by the same language as well. Considered to be one of the oldest cultures, the Chinese culture has a vast and traditional history. Several groups of people, each having their own unique traits have shaped and nurtured the Chinese traditions and practices. It has evolved through different ages constantly but has always maintained its true identity. ( Destiny: Culture of China,1998) Being the most populous country in the world, and the geographical landscape covering major part of Asia, there were as many as 56 groups of people who followed unique culture in ancient China. (Constitution, 1982) As time passed by, each of the groups lost their identity and their culture got erased with time. Chinese culture is well influenced by â€Å"Confucius†, who is a Chinese philosopher. The teachings of Confucius are called by the name ‘Confucianism, which stress the importance of individuals education based on morals so that the moral virtue of the state will be raised. (Downs, 1971) China-present Scenario In the current scenario, China is considered to be the fastest emerging super power engaging itself to compete at the top most level in almost all fields starting from business to space research. Its economic transition is increasing exponentially when compared to other countries. In such a high paced world, the time spent for conserving the true traits and habitat of Chinese culture is often neglected. Given the exposure to television and internet services, already doubts have risen among several quarters about the sustainability of the age old heritage. The different cultures exposed to people through these commercial mediums have fascinated the current generation of people to explore the then unassailable cultures leaving them unfazed by the deterioration of their own culture. (Child, J., David, K. 2001). Individualism – A theory Oyserman, Coon, et al.s (2002) through their extensive analysis on individualism and collectivism suggest that Individualism can be considered as a stand-alone construct for analyzing cross-cultural comparisons. They suggest that individualism as the core reason for the extensive differences society, emotions and individual behavior. Individualism can be considered to be the most critical factor for modeling a personality of oneself. Mcrae (2001) also suggests that a countrys decision to explore and try out new things depends on their individualistic nature. Since every person contributes to the success of a country, this statement does offer a fruitful thought about individualism and its effects. The thought of exploration and trying new things is termed to be an important characteristic of individualism as it leads individuals to form new relationships based on their needs and tasks. Also, the relationship life is not formed on the basis of solidarity and people often entangle them selves in new relationships, which is completely opposite to Chinese culture. Another important characteristic of individualism is that it plays an integral part in the well being of an individual. The individual may be fully satisfied with the right to choose their own purpose and their own vision in their life. They enjoy complete satisfaction of what they are performing. This is one of the reasons that individualistic countries produce lots of inventions and new kinds of activities every now and then. People are allowed to explore in their own ways. (Lam C 1997) On the other hand, though individualism allows people to have their own relationships, it also lends to an increase in the number of divorces in an individualistic country. But then, by all means, people are satisfied in both ends with their relationships and they enjoy complete freedom. People following individualism provide higher importance to their leisure activities compared to other nations. It has been confirmed through reports that individualistic people tend to make self analyzed decisions based on their own experiences instead of carrying out tasks suggested by others. (Schimmack, Radhakrishnan, et al., 2002) Collectivism versus individualism Basically Chinese people value collectivism rather than individualistic opinion. There is no difference that matter to race, class or community. Their focus is upon the opinion or claim of a group or association. They always demand that a group is more important than an individual. This at times led to suppression of self opinion and interest for the welfare of the group as a whole. Thus collectivists must be able to do sacrifice. But the interesting fact about this is, pure democracy is a form of collectivism. (Jhuener,2006) On the other hand most American countries have developed individualism. They believe, without protecting individuals right, there is no sense in protecting an individual. Thus individualism is described as a revolution which protects an individuals right which in turn protects a man from the other and thus it protects the state as a whole. It opposes collectivism saying that it denies an individual his or her right to life. Moreover they charge against the collectivists that they are poisoning the country. Also they condemn that the ability and efforts of some men are been sacrificed for the sake of others. (Wong, E. Y. 2001) David Brooks, a newspaper editor, has analyzed about the striking behavior of the mentality of the collectivists and that of the individualists. He cites an interesting example. If we show the image of a fish tank to an American, he will focus the biggest fish in the tank and will start explaining about it, whereas if the same image is shown to a Chinese person, he will view the tank as a whole and will start explaining about the contextual behavior of the group of fishes inside. Brooks says (2008) â€Å"An American in general looks into the category but a Chinese will look into the context†. Also Brooks (2008) explains the behavior of people in collectivistic countries and individualistic countries as People in individualistic countries tend to overestimate their skills whereas those in collectivistic societies under estimate their skills. People in countries like China will always tend to contribute more for group efforts. Scientist too has supported his thoughts. They say relationship is the key to happiness. People living in groups tend to flourish whereas those living alone tend to depression and they even commit suicide. Super Girl – the show Any country which gets a feel of something attractive and something they could get attracted too would welcome it with open hearts. Such is a scenario with the television show, â€Å"Super Girl†. It is basically a Chinese version of â€Å"American Idol† TV show. When the show first started in 2005, it attracted as many as 400 million people from China, almost equaling the population of US and UK totaled together. It is a female contested show, where any girl irrespective of our background origin and other details can participate in it and showcase her talent. The show was conducted in a hierarchical round order, where each round filters the number of candidates and only the best of the lot enter the final round. (China Daily, 2005) The 2005 season saw more than a hundred thousand applicants. Everyone was given 30 seconds to perform on stage and in the allotted time they have to impress the judge with their talent. Out of the entire competitors, three were filtered for the final round. They battled it out in one of the most exciting shows that entire China has never experienced. (China Daily, 2005) The exposure was so much that during the final show, almost every Chinese voted for the contestants to show their support. The major feature that attracted people towards the show apart from the glittering display was that the people were in turn played the role of the judges. It involved voting through SMS and other services. This made everyone feel as if they contribute towards the selection of the winner and this in turn motivated each individuals spirits. (Ding, Y. 2008) One of the major factors of individualism that affected the Chinese culture through this show was neither the Government, nor the party had any sort of role to play in its success. Its an ultimately new thing for the people of China. The reason for that is, prior to this show, the only entertainment that was given to people through television was Spring Festival show, conducted by the government itself. And this show was running under strict supervision. Only the party people were allowed to view it, the rest were all watching through television alone. In fact, they were allowed only to watch, not even to participate. Rest of the shows that got aired was all military programs, bashing out all kinds of military anthems and stuffs. And so, in short, with this show, the party and the government were neglected all together. For, the people, any kind of information and policy from the government regarding the show wouldnt have mattered anything. Hence, there was no show as universally accepted as this show was. (Hutong, X. 2005) The country till then had never favored any individual pop star to turn media towards them and gain popularity. So, when the three young lads, in their early 20s, rocked the stage with confidence and superiority, the whole nation appreciated and amazed. It was a freedom of liberty, a freedom of expression to many individuals to show their talent to all in a way they have never done before. (Hutong, X. 2005). This is the most popular as well as the most sensational show as well. But then, it is been condemned by the politicians that this show is offending the traditional custom of China. Inevitably this show has kindled the nationalists to debate upon the democracy in China. Generally the success of TV shows lies upon the comments of certain analysts who could be political commentator. Thus they took in their hands to post-mortem about the sensational show. Yardley, J. (2005). Rise of individualism Since the time when China became as Peoples Republic of China in 1949, ‘Collectivism has been their policy. It still remains the same. It does not have direct elections to select a person to run the country. On this point of view, the â€Å"Super Girl† show has provided the people a new form of election where individual voting matters. It just totally opposes the cultural values of China. (Junbo, J. 2009). It follows the footsteps of ‘individualism which leads to the path of democracy in a non-democratic country. This is the point where the show attracted envys from all corners on a political perspective. As soon as the show gained popularity, the politicians criticized it to be ridiculous and rudimentary, obstructing the growth of Chinese culture and mentioned it as promoting individualism. (Quing, M. 2005). The change in cultural values towards individualism did not stop with entertainment channel alone. The mindset of the people was another major factor that got changed. In China before Super Girl, people were not given an opportunity to vote. This in turn lead people disabled to execute their freedom to pursue their own course of life. In all ways, the government or the path came in their way. After this show, people have an opportunity to exercise their right to participate, execute their will. (Li, B. , 2005). The other change brought about by this show is that the excitement and joy experienced by the people during the show, displayed that people are ready to move away from the idealistic values followed by the communist party. Though this seems to be just a view of people, many critics believe that it has led to a new phenomenon emulating the civil society, where individual people can be given the higher priority rather than the society. Starting from the end of the 20th century, there have been innumerable divisions within the society based on social and cultural values. Zhu Dake (2005) has even mentioned about this, The Super Girls let us see that when the media can grasp public opinion, it can generate a powerful force. I feel that public opinion will be the most productive force in 21st century China. Role of media Coming to the part the media played in this, the â€Å"Super Girls† show has showed that how powerful media can be. It has given a solid strength and evidence to the people that media has the power to change the face of the nation. It has the power to raise the voice of the public, no matter how big the government is. Also, with the advent of internet really making its way into each and everyones lives, the right to express individual view as gathered attention and people are starting to use it. Super Girl-Show for all Before the show was aired, every activity performed in the country was gradually developing a split between the different levels of society. The elite and rich people of China had a better say in each and every activity than the under-privileged. This was turning out to be a major factor cultivating caste and ethnic group differences. The arrival of this show smashed up such theories that were existing and that were been practiced. It cleared the air stating a firm statement that the country and participation is for all. (Lynch, D. 2005) Super Girls – the three finalists and their spirit of individuality Out of the several thousands of people who competed in the Super girl show, three girls were selected in the final. They were Li Yuchun, Zhou Bichang, Zhang Liangying. Out of the three , Li Yuchun emerged as the winner with almost 3.5 million votes. What helped her , irrespective of our weak voice was her personality and undeterred attitude and motivation to succeed. These are the traits of individualism. She had a, very much look of boyish hair style and a smile that could lead 1000 other people smile. Her main characteristic that made her the youth icon of 2005 was her astounding capability to enthrall the public and her fearless competitive nature. She was determined to win the competitions and was ready to show her self-identity. She was an ordinary person with no identity till the show was conducted. Later on, she became the heartthrob of many youths, instilling individualism in many of them. Even after several months of performing, all the three of them continued to improve their singing skill; the way handled the public and popularity was phenomenal. Chinese culture was basically related with human inner feelings and nature. They do not care about the outer looks. But then, through this show, the girls were dressed and prepared like Westerners. The Westerners got this trend only because of individual exploration. They were not afraid of the society for what they were wearing and in-turn led them to different findings. The same principle was followed here by the super girls, leading them to advertise the individualistic love for dresses to general public. They advertised themselves as an example of individualism. The culture of westerners is being imported by the girls but nonetheless, the girls have modified it to their own culture and traditions. (Robertson 1995) An example is the fast food processing identified by U.S but then, the Chinese followed it and created thei r own menus according to their culture. The girls served as the best examples of global advertising and cultural change. Super Girl – reaction from government As a result of the pressure scenarios created by the show, the government, on 2007, banned people from casting their votes through messaging and internet. In addition to this , the government also changed the show timings in such a way that it is not shown in prime time and as a result there wont be as much viewers as there were in 2005. They have also placed rules on who all could participate in the show. ( Kim, N, 2009 ) This is in response to their thought that the contenders are turning out to be bad role models for the current and future generation. They wanted even the dressings and hairstyles of the participants should be strictly in line with the traditional culture of the society. (Bao,. X.J., 2006). Rules were proposed to an extent that they decided to ban the show. But the show went on in 2009 with all these restrictions and is expected to continue. Some critics who are in favor of the show believe the amendments in media rules to be a first step of success against the government. They are also of the opinion that with appropriate and planned teaching, people can be cognizant of the democratic values and can influence democracy to be started in the country. They pose the view that the people of US were not born with the talent of choosing right leaders, it came to them only in practice as part of their lifestyle. They believe that such thing could happen with China if practiced for twenty years. ( Ning, Q., Ning, C.T.K. 2002) Super Girl-benefits in different fields Apart from democracy, this show has been a revelation in providing quality contents to the public, the method of operations being so contemporary, changing the ideal work ethics followed by the orthodox people. In terms of social values and society, the program was able to meet the demands inherent in common people. It helped them satisfy their desire to exercise their rights. In terms of financial changes, this show provided revenue like never before, thus increasing the economical stature of the country from entertainment industry too. (Xinhua., 2006) Super Girl –Negative Remarks As a show, society wise, it didnt cause any problem. But due to its huge popularity, the show gathered crowd wherever it got telecasted. As a result of it, the law men had a tough time to handle the crowd. The crowds near the stadium were relentless to enter and the law men had to use their sources to get rid of them. The whole situation had become unruly. The politicians later on took this as one of the reasons for bashing at the show. The criticism was not a major one and it was forgotten as time passed by. Another issue that occurred was that the selection round was not done properly and there were complaints from some of the participants that though they performed well, they were eliminated and some kind of discrimination is done for selection based on some issue. All this has not been given strong evidence till now and hence the complaints were not taken seriously. These were some of the black marks which happened during its course time. Personal perspective On a personal point of view, life is just a matter of mental perception. One can find a sea of change in life if the view of the same problem is just changed from its current perception. The people who come to participate in the competition are from different traditions and origins. Before they could perform, one could see their culture and tradition being exposed to others, either by themselves, or through their characteristics. Such traditional culture takes a dump when they perform and get publicized after some success. Their individualism takes the front stage leaving out the collectivism and Confucianism. They are prompted to be self-aware, self –conscious, care about themselves and neglect the so called cultural collectivism. This can be seen in two ways. This either affects their own cultural development or in a positive note, helps them liberalize and understand their own self rights. It is obvious that both cannot be achieved simultaneously. (Bodde, D.1957) Apart from the contestant point of view, the other factor that comes in here is the democracy and direct election. In my view, I dont see any kind of relation between the Super Girl show voting system and democracy. Yes, I understand, it is one form exercising ones right to participate. It gives you pleasure that you performed something that could change the fate of other person. But the change doesnt have the magnitude that a democracy election would have over an entire country. (Zhou, R. 2005). This being one view, one other point of view is that this could be seen as a democratic seed sown in a communist land. People tend to exaggerate this simple thing into such a huge issue that it got concerns from the government itself and led to the restriction on the show itself. Here, I have to mention that Chinese people have thrown sand on themselves. They have seen something new, some new change being happening, which they could capitalize on and make it scale greater heights. Instead, they tried to expose the democratic alliance that it minutely had, into a full blown issue and it showed the effects of it. (Jakes S. 2006) It is not possible here to suggest a predicament on whether the democracy interpreted through the show is valuable, deep and thought provoking. There is no compromise on whether it kindled the thought or not. Some people would go for a yes, some would go for a no but there can never be a unanimous decision for this issue. (Time,1954). People all of a sudden forget the mere existence of the central government and without any message or communication from the top level governance; they just started forming groups and started enjoying by their groups. They have merely forgotten the presence of a top level institution in the country. They were living in their reel life rather than their real life. (Ding, Y. 2008). According to D.D Pratt (1991), transformation from collectivistic nature of human being to individualism involves transformation of personality. This in his view is done in terms of perceptual, rational and moral knowledge. On Chinese point of view, it is about perfection and education. Hence their view was fully focused on Confucianism, and their human nature was limited in its view. With the advent of this show, it is shown that the Chinese have found about the innumerable forms that a human nature relationship can take in its entirety. Hofstede, G. (2001). The major highlight of the show that specially characterizes individualism is the way each one is given the freedom to express themselves, how they are given the freedom to express their emotions, there inside thoughts, irrespective of their tradition. The show showed that culture is just nothing but sharing between one another and the resulting boundaries that develop to individual groups. When people from different culture, from different walks of the society are pitted against each other, they make their own assumptions about others only based on their own culture that is their values and principles they follow. These are only reasonable from their point of view, not from others. Hence, these conceptions take a dig when they do something wrong, which in turn, leads them to do self conscious work and that is, individualism. So, self-conscious nature gets into them once they enter the show itself. This in turn affects the already inherent cultural values inside them. (Ding, Y. 2008). The other reasons that I could state for the analysis of individualism in Super Girl show is that it is not only providing the current generation youth, a role model to look for , or a principle to follow for, but the fact is the feel of warmth, a fresh charming wavelength flowing between the contestants and the youth. They give high priority to this warmth, higher than their friends; higher than their colleagues; and most importantly, higher than the model set created on a moral basis by the Chinese government. The other factor is the psychological factor. The youth are able to get psychologically inspired through this show. Psychological inspiration involves , a belief in inside to follow their goal, a head start to achieve their goals and an attitude, that can take success or failure – no matter what comes, taking both in a positive way. So, for all these aspects, the culture of the Super Girls can be used as an instrument in shaping up their career. (Yan, Y 2000) An apt example for this scenario could be, the application of rules and regulations in an apt manner can be followed by other rule making or governing institutions. People who feel are lagging in educational career, can concentrate on their extra-curricular talents with this show as an inspiration. So, this show gives the self confidence to the youth and in the process applies self-realization. Another example that could be provided is how even the under-privileged people can learn from the Super Girls, the ability to persist until the goal is reached. It gives them the confidence not to rest until the limelight is achieved. (Zan, Z.2009). According to Ha Jin, an acclaimed writer, The Chinese youth have changed their own perception. They think about themselves differently. They are self-worthier and they have started to think in terms of earning money for themselves to achieve their purpose. He feels that people are no more thinking that individualism is a bad factor and they are appreciating it Conclusion It is a fact that the â€Å"Super Girls† show has sown the seed of individualism in China. This situation can be compared to a drowning person who gets air mixed with carbon dioxide. It is obvious that the person will try to take as much air as possible without caring the level of carbon dioxide. The same has happened in China. But, this cannot be exaggerated by any means. Though the show is running for a period of 6 years, the amount of individualism impact it had upon the Chinese youth is very minimal. Individualism is a complicated issue and is directly related with the development of the nation. China, being the fastest developer in the world is yet to come in terms with the individualistic nature of U.S on cultural perspective. The national differences are going to continue to be prevalent between these nations. No matter, how many different numbers of shows come, the domination of traditional collectivism in historic China is not going to be replaced by individualism any time soon. References Hofstede, G. (2001). Cultures consequences (2nd ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. McCrae, R. R. (2001). Trait psychology and culture: Exploring intercultural comparisons. 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Moral education in transition: The values conflict in China. Studies in Philosophy and Education. 12, doi:10.1007/BF01235475 Ning, Q., Ning, C.T.K.(2002). Chinese Students Encounter America. Honk Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Bodde, D.(1957) Chinas cultural tradition, what and whither? Source problems in world civilization. London: Rinehart. Schimmack, U., Radhakrishnan, P., Oishi, S., Dzokoto, V. Ahadi,S. (2002). Culture, personality, and subjective well-being: Integrating process models of life-satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 1313–1329. Ding, Y. (2008). A critical comparison of American Idol and Super Girl: A cross-cultural communication analysis of American and Chinese cultures. Retrieved from : http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/377/1/Yding_2008-1_BODY.pdf Zan, Z.(2009). Paradise and paradox : on the Super Voice Girls : elementary discussion on popular culture, youth, media and state politics of contemporary China. Retrieved from: https://dspace.library.ubc.ca/dspace/bitstream/2429/7872/1/ubc_2009_spring_zhang_zan.pdf (n.d)(198