Workers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Workers - Essay Example Specialization has become an important feature of complex industrial communities in Canada and worldwide. Division of labor takes place at a number of levels. More often than not there is that perception by consumers that they are making free choice with respect to individual purchases, such view is implausible with production. The first level of production division of labor is between companies. This is in view that one company can only obtain another company’s production product through exchange. Taking the example of steel company and power generating company, production of certain dependent products go hand in hand with the emergence of market by these economic sectors. In division of labor, the process of production in the company is broken down into various sequences of stages, and all workers are assigned to specific stages. It is a fact that increasing the specialization of work might lead to workers with very low overall skills and a lack of enthusiasm for the work they do. Division of labor thus plays an essential part in shaping the individual performance of these firms. Another remarkable level of division of labor exists within the company, and this is between individual workers. Depending on what the company produces, individual workers too can have division of labor. This has been due to the fact that for time workers perform similar tasks repeatedly and become known to them better. The similarities between the two are that in both cases it ignores the tastes and preferences of customers. Notably, in the two levels of division of labor there exist market share. Individuals in the economy require goods and services at all times. Private companies are not the exclusive producers in the economy, but they are also public services and house forms of production. The former avail to the economy roads, hospitals, to individual and the latter avails gardening, house

The first written homework assignment for this course is posted at the Essay

The first written homework assignment for this course is posted at the Content link. You should use the posted sources to ans - Essay Example Question 2 Whitaker (2) says that in June 1973 cod blocks were going for 65 cents per pound, compared to around 22 cents in the same period in 1969. A graph has been provided that shows the worldwide landings and wholesale prices of cod blocks between 1960 and 1972, and the price is clearly 21 cents in 1968 (Whitaker 3). In April 2010, The Fish Site published an article titled US Groundfish Market Report. In the article, a graph was included that showed wholesale prices for cod and other groundfish. According to the graph, the wholesale price of cod blocks in 2008 was US$ 2.50 per pound (US Groundfish Market Report 1). Question 3 Supply (in metric tons) Price 1968 4.2 million 21 cents 2008 1.6 million $2.50 The conclusions I can draw from this table is that between 1968 and 2008, supply has been reducing, demand has remained high, and prices have continued to rise. Question 4 Generally, cod tonnage has been in steady decline (with the exception of a few years) between 1968 and 2008. This is how the demand curve also looks like, showing steady reduction and few increments. This is based on the sources provided. Question 5 The demand curve for cod shifted upwards from 1969-1972, compared to the years between 1960 and 1968. ... The market failure in this case is an inability to plan for the future by using existing stocks efficiently. Question 8 The Canadian government banned cod fishing in its Northeast fishing beds in 1993. The Canadian government did not follow an optimal policy in the regulation of the fishing beds, and that is why cod tonnage declined sharply and rapidly from 1968. Politics greatly affected the government’s decisions because it took almost 20 years for the ban to be effected (Waters 1). Without political interference it could have been done earlier since the issue at hand was very critical. Question 9 Although the ban came late, it was nonetheless effective. Slow cod recovery was brought about by a depression in the population of forage fish (necessitated by a virtual decimation of zooplanktons) and the ban. In the article, evidence is presented that there were sufficient haddock, cod and redfish to lay enough eggs and larvae to support recovery, therefore the ecosystem was â₠¬Å"lucky† in a way (Waters 1). Question 10 In my opinion, and based on research sources, the events in the cod market during the period 1968-2008 are expected to open up new markets for other fish species that were previously playing second fiddle to cod. The reality is that this time period has been punctuated by two things: a steady decline and worrying fluctuation in the tonnage of cod worldwide, and a rapid increase in the prices of cod products (particularly cod blocks). Since it has been established that reliance on cod alone will not sustain existing demand, the alternative has been to push people towards embracing other fish species. These alternatives include pollock and

Strategies to Deliver Service Quality in Healthcare

Strategies to Deliver Service Quality in Healthcare MANAGING SERVICE DELIVERY PASSED BY: RONALD M. INFANTE PASSED TO: BALA NAIR PROMOTING SERVICE QUALITY – AUCKLAND DISTRICT HEALTH BOARD First we have to define what service quality is, service quality this is where we assess either the delivered service is doing well on the client expectations. We are doing the assessment method in order for us to assess our quality service we provide to our beloved customers to make improve to our service and immediately recognize the problems for the sake of client’s satisfaction (service quality, 2015). In order to achieve service quality we have to use the 6 service dimensions, what are those? These are the patient centeredness, equity, safety, efficiency, effectiveness, and timeliness. First is safety, safety means we do no harm to our client with our care example of this is the New Zealand Red Cross, there are promoting first aid training so that when someone experiencing cardiac arrest, heart attack or even drowned they know how to do the proper way of giving CPR to the victim hence promoting harmless safe rescue. Second effectiveness it means matching science to care so if science said if that this drug can help up within this illness or disorder of course we will use that drug but when science said this can’t help we will not use that drug, in conclusion averting overuse of things that can’t help and assuming using the things that do help avoiding under use, that’s effectiveness learning science with care. Third patient centeredness our client have the power to control of his own care, they have the decision on what affects in their health, so by giving these they have the option on what to do in their own care. Fourth timeliness, Air New Zealand have a system build to east the time waste of their clients in result many of their passengers come again to them because of their good services they provide. So we have to follow the footsteps of Air New Zealand by evading delays people are familiar with waiting, we waiting for an appointment to see the doctor or we wait a long time into see the doctor in emergency room, timeliness is important dimensions of service quality, you don’t want a wait everywhere on the health care service so timeliness is decreasing delays. Fifth efficiency like Caltex they doing improvement for their fuel to make a high grade fuel efficiency for their beloved customer that’s is why they are the leading gasoline provider now a days. Efficiency is the way we stop wasting unnecessary procedure or stuff so that the time need on that care is been serve well in the fullness and timely. Sixth equity that means closing the gap in justice of health care basically right now the biggest predictor of your health status in our country remain is your race, you know someone race someone know about their future in health you don’t know most anything I can tell you about them, a black baby born in the city bottom more this years has a life expectancy of a male it’s a seven or eight years less than white baby that’s the quality dimension to equity (Defining Quality: Aiming for a Better Health Care System, 2012). Patient centeredness, equity, safety, efficiency, effectiveness, and timeliness those are the names of dimensions of quality that the Auckland District Health Board should work on. Servqual Model 0c Gap 5 (Futuristic) Gap 3 Gap 4 Gap 1 (Quality) (Design) (Client) Gap 2 (Management) v Gap 1 (Client) this is between what the client expect and what CEO think client’s expect, for example am the client and I go to a five star hotel so I expect when I came there is a parking space available for me, a free movie ticket or a ticket with a best show, a high fast speed free Wi-Fi internet and when I don’t get all this thing no matter what good experience is there is a gap because I don’t get what I expected to have and that disappointed me so what must the CEO do, do a market research, evaluate yourself and your service, put your shoes to client so you will know what is there expecting with your service will provide for them to satisfied there expectation. Gap 2 (Management) this is gap between what Health Care Staff perception what kind of service they provide for the client and what the CEO perception what his Health Care Staff expected to do. For example hand over of the patient to another health care staff, here is the scenario I night nurse shift is waiting for her hand over shift because her time of care is over then the morning nurse shift came and she just told the patient name and where his room number and she walk away, so there is a gap of improper hand over so this is what the nurse perception, so what the CEO do, do a meeting so the address of improper hand over is solve. Gap 3 (Quality) the contrast between what standards a firm is supposed to deliver and the job actually gets delivered. For example vital signs procedure, a nurse is checking the vital signs of the patient without the proper equipment’s he just using his clinical eye for example he touched the forehead of the patient and suddenly said your temperature is 37 degree Celsius so there is the gap about service quality, so how do we solve it by using the proper equipment using to check the vital signs like thermometer. Gap 4 (Design) the difference between what external clients perception and what it actually does for them, example is there is a program for weight loss and it said you can loss 20 kilos for just 2 weeks and there is the gap, so how we solve it tell the most accurate result like loss 3 kilos per week by the use of attending to dietician and physiotherapy experts. Gap 5 (Futuristic) the difference between clients expectation and perception, now if we solve this all kinds of gaps I guarantee you all our client/patient experience our service will come back to us seek medical attention (The GAP Model for Service Quality Improvement, 2012). I also want to implement Kanban in our hospital, Kanban is a scheduling system it can help us to manage our time in dealing with our patient. How can affect us? It scheduled our time by doing the 3 process to do, in process, and done. By this it will help us to list what the things to do example for this day, what are the things that are in process, and what are the things that are currently done. So it help us to simply understand what we are going to priorities to decrease the chance of forgetting it. Also we need to implement the lean system in our hospital it is a process of eliminating useless waste, like overproduction of unnecessary supply. What are the advantages of this first reduce the unwanted supply of medical equipment like gloves, mask, disposable gown, etc., second decrease the unnecessary medicine that usual don’t use. third advantage is we can maximize our profit using this system because we are reducing the useless things in our hospital, means we can focus the money on other things that is useful to prevent shortage of equipment’s, tools, medicines, etc. 10 Principles of Good BPM, First context-awareness example the work must be specific just like to orient someday new so that the rules or procedure he will do are clear. Second continuity monitoring of procedure that is up to date or current. Third enablement all the employee must involve of the organization or in participation in committee Fourth holism every ward or department have the same idea or concept about the procedure of what they are doing. Fifth institutionalization the rules and responsibility of the organization must be implement and practice, it can’t make on the spot the procedure unless it was crisis. Sixth involvement sharing of thoughts and ideas of everyone just like brainstorming it can help promoting good teamwork. Seventh joint understanding, language is the universal tool we use to communicate with each other, especially English language because this is the universal language we use globally. Eight purpose, what is the reason why we doing something, something that we can help our clients/patient in their healing process. Ninth simplicity, the service quality must not compromise by the cost of health care. Tenth technology approach, using technology now a days are great it made our task easier to do, for example using IT in our database it help us to find the data of the patient more easier rather than the old one of searching for a papers or stuff.

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

Huck Finn Huck has a grim attitude toward people he disagrees with or doesnt get along with. Huck tends to alienate himself from those people. He doesnt let it bother him. Unlike most people Huck doesnt try to make his point. When Huck has a certain outlook on things he keep his view. He will not change it for anyone. For instance in Chapter Three when Miss Watson tells Huck that if he prayed he would get everything he wished for. Huck just shook his head yes and walked away telling Tom that it doesnt work because he has tried it before with fishing line and fishing hooks. this tell us that Huck is an independent person who doesnt need to rely on other people. This is a book of social criticism. Twain has his ways of criticizing people of their actions and the things they do. Twain does a good job expressing the characters social behaivors. Instead of upfront making fun of Hulks actions he hints towards them or tries to glorify them when he does something that is socially wrong or unintelligent. Huck stages his death. This is not a real bright thing to do even though Huck's father is real mean and is a threat to his life and Huck's life. Huck wants to get away from him so bad that the first thing that comes into his mind is to stage his death so Pap will think he's dead and won't be looking for him ever again. Twain feels that by making Huck do this Twain is poking fun a Huck's intelligence. Not his nature intelligence but his book intelligence. In other words Twain is making fun of Huck. Twain also portrays Huck and Jim as stupid when Huck dresses up like a girl. Everyone knows Huck will not pass as a girl Jim is very much like a father to Huck. He looks out for Huck and he is respected and looked upon by Huck. This is also more significant because Huckleberry Finn never had a father and he never really had a role model. Jim serves this purpose perfectly. On one occasion Huck and Jim were exploring an old house that had floated down stream. While they were looking in it Jim discovered a dead body.

Performance Appraisal Interview

Conducting the Performance Appraisal Interview The performance Appraisal interview offers an opportunity to discuss and compare perceptions of an employee’s job performance. Through open communication a supervisory and employee can assess job performance, measure actual result against expected results and plan for the future. The interview should not be used as a vehicle to bombard the employee or the supervisor with criticism, failures, faults, and / or errors. a) Opening the interview: The climate of the interview is essential to its outcome. The supervisor should set a tone for the interview that exhibits openness and support. Once this tone has been set, an employee will be more likely to share assessments of his or her performance, discuss strengths and weaknesses and commit to the development plans that are set in the interview. To set the tone, a supervisor should: 1. Review the purpose of the meeting. Clarify any questions the employee has and reaffirm that the interview serves to promote employee development through identifying job responsibilities, reviewing performance roles, Overall rating of performance and preparing a plan for improved or enhanced performance. 2. Regard the employee as an individual. Special concerns should be given to the employee’s communication style, new assignments, increased job responsibilities and performance standards. These considerations should guide the supervisor as he/she deals with the employee. b) Discussing performance. The second component of a performance interview is the actual discussion of an employee’s job performance. Recommendations for an effective discussion include: 1. Come prepared. Both the Supervisor should prepare objectives ahead of time and time and be able to cite specific example support observations and recommendations. . The employee should present his / her self – assessment first. The employee’s objectives are to present information regarding his or her job performance, pointing out strengths, and seeking assistance in areas where problems exist. This promotes openness and provides insight on how the employee view his or her responsibilities and performance 3. The supervisor should present his or her assessment of the employee performance after hearing the employee’s assessment. Areas of agreements should be discussed first, followed by areas of disagreement. Finally, any pertinent topics that were not brought up by the employee should be mentioned. The supervisor’s objective is to help the employee improve performance or develop skills to become a more productive employee. 4. Communication should be two – way. A dialogue should occur between the employee and the supervisor, with neither participant dominating the discussion. 5. Seek agreement on each point. If opinions differ when discussing individual responsibilities, performance roles or ratings, both the employee and the supervisor should express their ideas. Again, focus on behaviors relevant to performance. 6. Setting Training and development goals. Employee should be prepared to state his or her future plans for development. Discuss these plans realistically and set up appropriate goals and time tables. Supervisors should feel comfortable adding or suggesting development goals with the approval of the employee C) Closing the Interview. An important aspect of the entire process is how the interview ends. The following actions should be included in the closing portion of the interview. Summarize what has been discussed and agreed upon, making sure of consensus on all – important points. Do this positively and enthusiastically. †¢ Give the employee an invitation to react, question and share additional ideas and suggestions. †¢ Make arrangements to follow upon specific points if needed †¢ Set a date for the next performance review session. ( -Semi annual or quarterly ) †¢ Thank Each other for the time and energy that went into the review and end the interview on a positive or encouraging note. †¢ Complete disseminate the Appraisal Form as earlier. Avoid these Mistakes when Completing a Performance Appraisal 1. Recency Too much focus on the most recent examples of behavior rather than considering overall performance. This can occur because of inadequate record keeping. 2. Central Tendency Managers tend to rate every one about the same, or ate last, they avoid extreme ratings. The reviewer should use the ends of the scale as well as the middle. 3. Leniency Managers shun low rating to avoid conflict or because they believe that low ratings reflect badly on the reviewer. This can happen when the reviewer is rushed or under pressure to complete the Appraisal 4. Horns / Hallow Effect A tendency to rate the same individual â€Å"Excellent† on every trait or â€Å"Unsatisfactory† on every trait. This may happen when the supervisor feels that the employee has some shortcomings and then rates them poorly on everything as a result (or conversely rates too high on everything based upon a few high ratings). 5. Constancy Some Managers rate their employees in rank – order rather than on an individual basis and adjust scores to match the ranking order. . Similarity A tendency to rate employees, who have similar values and interest to the reviewer, hire. Additional Factors Affecting Performance Appraisal Ratings: †¢ Length of service and the â€Å"compliancy† of the person being rated can affect ratings significantly. †¢ Previous review ratings influence current reviews, whether the current manager or a former one did the pre vious review. †¢ Supervisors â€Å"guess† when they aren’t sure or don’t have a lot of experience with a given employees behavior.

Jetblue Mrketing Essay

Needs, wants and demands are three basic things that each company must have in mind in order to produce a valuable â€Å"market offering† that will bring the so called â€Å"long-lasting and valued relationships† to their table, and JetBlue is not the exception. JetBlue like any other business is competing at the market by offering something to their costumers. But what do they really offer? Simple, JetBlue is an airline, even though their clients claim that â€Å"is more than an airline†, at the end of the day, that is just what they are, an airline. And why would people want to use the services of an airline? Basically because they NEED to transport and fly to another destiny. So when you talk about JetBlue needs, I will say that the most logical answer will be to state all the things that are an essential requirement to satisfy this main NEED of â€Å"transport†, so getting down to the basic things, JetBlue’s costumers’ needs are basically : the need of having FOOD, the need of having a SEAT and of course the need to FEEL SECURE while TRAVELING. And as we can see they are really covering this costumer needs: â€Å"I never fell thirsty. I never feel hungry.† (A customer opinion about is needs satisfaction). On the other hand a costumer may have the need to have food, but they might want an apple instead of an orange, so its really important for JetBlue to know what are some of their clients WANTS in order to satisfy in the best way possible these costumers’ needs by offering the right things. By reading the case I will say that JetBlue’s costumer WANTS may rely in coffee juices and snacks, confortable seats with more space than normal, variety of channels in the TV, nice and confortable terminals with more security lines, free Wi-Fi, etc. and last but not least we have the clients’ demands, these are the products or services for which clients were able to pay, and they expect them to be deli vered as soon as possible. In my opinion the first demand that any JetBlue costumer has, is a low cost fly including all services and products that they promised to make their fly enjoyable (legroom and flatter recline position, dunking donuts coffee, leather sits, LCD TVs, latest movies and favorite TV shows for just 6$, a terminal with excellent restaurants and stores, etc.). These are demands that they’ve been able to cover and that are the reason of the priceless customer’s loyalty that they keep having nowadays, even after the Valentine’s Day nightmare. 2-Describe in detail all the facets of JetBlue’s product. What is being exchanged in a JetBlue transaction? JetBlue is clearly running an airline were everything is about costumer satisfaction. The facets of JetBlue’s service include bringing the best jetting experience from the napkins to the flight security. They implement a lot of things that others airlines does not have, the airline has focused on providing features that are simply not the norm when it comes to commercial air travel. For example they implement 3 inches more in every sit, so now people are able to stretch and cross their legs, a thing that normal airlines lacked, they even have a legroom to offer more luxury to their clients. They also offer the best snacks and free selection of beverages in a way that clients don’t feel like begging for them, instead the flight attendants are all the time walking around giving the best food and overall service of all times. On the other hand, they know that not everything is in their hands and that flight delays may occur, so they are prepared with the best terminals and DVD’s selections of the time in order to keep giving their clients the best service’s features even in the most complicated times. All of this is achievable thanks to an exchange between JetBlue and their costumers. JetBlue gives love to their costumers by adding special value to the normal flight experience in return of, costumer loyalty and profits. 3-Which of the five marketing management concepts best applies to JetBlue? In my honest opinion they are one step left of implementing a â€Å"societal marketing concept†, but they still remain at the â€Å"marketing concept† right now. Their philosophy is to really getting to know the needs and wants of their target market and deliver them the desired satisfaction better than their competitors do, which is exactly what the â€Å"marketing concept† looks for. However they are lacking the humanitarian (GO GREEN!!!) part that a â€Å"societal market concept† would carry with it. Jet Blue is a company that is focused in more than the production, in more than the product, and in more than the sales, they are committed to the costumers, and they are willing to research everything in order to make their service adapt to their clients not backwards. They are also interacting with clients and improving their company, adding more value by taking their costumer’s critics in count to build stronger costumer’s relationships. On the other hand, implementing a new GO GREEN FUEL to their planes, or reusable water bottles (who knows) may get the company into the latest marketing trend, â€Å"the societal marketing concept†. 4-What values does JetBlue create for its costumers? JetBlue is completely focus on delivering the highest value possible to its clients. They are extremely committed to offer the highest valuable experience to their clients and you can see it in the way they treat their clients. They provide value by treating their costumers like family, like the CEO Barger tells, â€Å"The human side of the equation is the most important part of what we are doing†, â€Å"the hard product-airplanes, leather seats, satellite TVs, bricks and mortar-as long as you have a checkbook, they can be replicated† but the culture its really hard to replicate, that’s the superior value they give to their costumer: â€Å"Affordable flights, with the top service ever†, a feature that other airlines are no able to serve to their costumers. However, there is always the extra value of â€Å"having the most confortable seats ever; giving their clients a higher valued experience while flying†, and all the other material things, that if serve as intended might bring the costumer satisfaction to a whole new level. People can’t stop talking about JetBlue’s experience because, it breaks all the standards, the service is just UNBELIABLE. 5-Is JetBlue likely to continue being successful in building customer relationships? Why or Why Not? Yes, they will continue being successful in building costumer relationships as long as they keep delivering their high valued service, and meeting their costumer’s expectations in the best way possible. JetBlue is right now at the very top of the airline’s industry for it costumers, and as long as they keep doing what they are doing and improving the critics they may get, I don’t believe there is a possible way for costumers’ loyalty to fade away. Like I said they have been creating long-lasting relationships with their clients by providing them an excellent service and a high valued experience, unlike short meaningless transactions. On the other hand I do believe that they should try to catch up with the latest trend of marketing, and attempt to get into the â€Å"societal marketing concept† by creating something into the â€Å"Society, Consumers, Company† triangle or better said involving something â€Å"GO GREEN† in their mission. Maybe this will update them even more and would let them get their brand into a whole new dimension. However it seems like they are doing well, and that w e will all become JetBlue lovers in the long run. GO JETBLUE!!

MGT 550 ch4 Essay

MGT 550 ch4 Essay MGT 550 ch4 Essay In chapter 4, Friedman examines the blurring boundaries between companies and workers, relationships between communities, and the businesses that operate within them. He gives multiple examples how individuals and small companies are empowered to compete with large ones, such that identities become harder to define. The traditional roles of consumer, employee, citizen, taxpayer and shareholder have become blurred and intertwined. The Great Sorting Out is a concept portrayed by Friedman in chapter four and basically what it means is the collaboration of all ten flatteners as well as the Triple convergence to create a more flattened, horizontal and frictionless world. Friedman discusses the goal of the great sorting out but saying that its purpose is to eliminate the inefficiencies in the global market, however there are both pros and cons to this process. The great sorting out will create even more convergence for the world and will flatten the world by creating a global platform integrating information which is accessible to anyone with an internet connection. However there are some drawbacks that follow with the great sorting out. For example Friedman states, † Some obstacles to a frictionless global market are truly sources of waste and lost opportunities. But some of these inefficiencies are institutions, habits, cultures, and traditions that people cherish precisely because they reflect nonmarket va lues like social cohesion, religious faith, and national pride. If global markets and new communications technologies flatten those differences we may lose something important.† As I read this I derived the thought from Friedmans words that removing as much friction in the global market and removing as many inefficiencies in the world as possible is important but there are certain â€Å"inefficiencies† that will always remain important to the common people for purposes other than the global market. Simply put removing these inefficiencies that the common people hold dear to themselves and each other may have a negative effect on themselves and the communities that exist and will feel the drawbacks from the great sorting out. These frictions that exist amongst the common people such as religion and personal opinion and individuality feed the morality in common people and society and only support another one of Friedman’s thoughts as he says â€Å"Some Frictions a re worth protecting, even in the face of a global economy that threatens to

HRM for the Service Industries

HRM for the Service Industries Interview The researcher succeeded to carry out an interview that involved two employees who work at Delta Air Lines, Inc. The two individuals gave different views regarding motivation and leadership approaches practiced by the management of Delta Air Line. The two respondents were referred to as person X and person Y in this research, for purposes of anonymity, which was necessary to gather unbiased information from the two individuals.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on HRM for the Service Industries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In relation to motivation, person X pointed out that Delta Airline was a good company to work with since it recognizes the performance of employees. Specifically, he mentioned the Chairman Club, which was established with an aim of giving recognition to best performing employees. However, person Y was not happy about the role Delta Air Lines. She argued that Delta Airline benefitted much from recognition in relation to employees. Person Y emphasized that recognition benefited the company through low cost of operations while employees continued to suffer since they were given paltry salaries (Creswell 1998, p. 12). The two respondents showed similar reactions in relation to leadership approaches. Both person X and Y said that operating manuals provided by the management team enabled Delta Air Lines to attain excellent performance. They claimed that operating manuals issued to every department enabled the company to achieve its predetermined objectives. This is because operating manuals ensured that each department worked hard to achieve the set operating standards. Person Y accentuated that Passengers Service Manual, which is used by Customer Service department to track services delivered to clients, enabled Delta Air Lines to attain admirable performance. Introduction Hospitality industry is classified in the contemporary world as the highest earning industry. A num ber of scholars and businesspersons refer to it as a billionaire industry. Considering that manufacturing era is gone, it is no doubt that we are living in an era characterized by the service industry. The service industry is broad and mainly encompasses food, service delivery and accommodation related sectors of the economy. Lodging, transportation, tourism, entertainment and restaurants among other segments fall within hospitality industry.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Hospitality industry chiefly depends on leisure time and disposable income. Although hospitality industry involves several groups that deal with maintenance of company facilities, operations as well as management, it is confirmed beyond reasonable doubt that managing employees remains a key aspect towards improving the level of performance for a range of companies in the hospitality industry. T his has compelled several managements in the service industry to come up with effective leadership approaches that aim at improving performance of employees, with diverse expertise and abilities. Different techniques of motivating employees are devised on daily basis hoping that the level of performance would significantly improve at workplace. Delta Airlines considers a number of management styles including giving handsome package to its employees, with an intention of improving its airline services as well as revenue. Furthermore, Delta Airlines endeavors to improve the level of returns for its major and minor investors. In addition, Delta Airlines Company ensures that customers choosing the services of the company experience the most appealing flights that would attract them the second time they would be traveling. Such aspects include best entertainment, executive seats and offering flights at affordable prices (Bratton Gold 2007, p. 67). Delta Air Lines, Inc. Delta Air Lines i s amongst the competitive airline companies in the U.S. With its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta operates at domestic and international markets. Due to its aggressive strategies, the company has grown rapidly and today, it claims 11% of the market share. Delta Air Lines is popularly known worldwide for its busiest hub. Delta Air Lines hub, which is based at the Hart-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, serves an average of 88 million passengers every year. Currently, this airline company has about 716 aircrafts, which operate at local markets as well as international markets. This makes Delta Air Lines the largest airline company based on the size of its fleet. In total, Delta Air Lines operates in about 247 destinations, which are located in both the U.S. and elsewhere in other foreign countries. Delta Air Lines closed the financial year 2010 with revenue of 31.8 billion. Its assets stood at 43.2 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2010.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on HRM for the Service Industries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This indicated a strong performance for Delta Air Lines as compared to its counterparts at local and foreign markets. Perhaps, its financial strength over and above quality services would be attributed to its effective management team. Delta Air Lines Management Team and Strategies Richard Anderson leads delta Air Lines as its Chief Executive Officer. Edward Bastian acts as its president while Michael Campbell is the Executive Vice President and chiefly deals with the Human Resources and Labor Relations. Other top personalities include Stephen Gorman who is the chief operating officer; Glen Hauestein the network planning and revenue management, Hank Halter the financial officer, Holden Shannon the corporate strategy and real estate leader, John Walker the corporate communications director, and Theresa Wise the chief information officer. Richard Anderso n ensures that Delta Air Lines maintains its competitive edge in the airline industry by embracing aggressive strategies such as those related to reducing fares, commonly referred to as cost leadership strategy. In addition, the management ensures that effectual measures are set, which merely ensures that investors get high returns for their investments. Employees are as well motivated with diverse incentives such as high salaries and long lasting employment contracts. Strategies are also put in place to ensure that its services are expanded to other emerging markets. Delta Air Line traditional approach of expansion focused on acquisition of other companies at the market. For instance, in 1972, Delta successfully acquired Northeast Airlines. Later on in 1986, Delta acquired Western Airlines. However, in 1994, Delta realized that airline industry had become increasingly competitive and needed contemporary approaches to maintain its competitive edge in the turbulent market environment . Consequently, Delta Air Lines sought to restructuring and streamlining its operations. The new package involved reducing the costs of operations as well as reducing the flight-fare price. Leadership Leadership is defined by a good number of scholars as ability to influence employees in an organization towards attaining predetermined goals and objectives. It is also defined as the ability of an organization to align individuals within the organization in order to achieve set targets.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It also aims at empowering employees with necessary skills and tools to undertake required actions that would meet the common goals set by the management. Although there are arguments concerning whether leaders are made or born, it has been discovered that managers and leaders depict different characteristics. Leaders are said to be innovate, original, people oriented, inspiring, developing and setting long-range perspectives. Leaders frequently challenge the status quo as well as doing right things always among other characteristics. This helps them to convene short term and long-term objectives of the organization. On the other hand, managers rely much on the regulations and rules of the organization to administer policies that encourage employees to focus on achieving the set targets (Storey 2007, p. 102). Managers are perceived as people who are fond of copying, maintaining, focusing on structures and systems, relying much on control and regulations, and more importantly meeting the objectives of an organization. Their characteristics also include, but not limited to short-range view, eyeing the bottom line, imitating previous approaches of management, accepting status quo and doing things right. What fascinates scholars and perhaps what exactly distinguish managers from leaders relates to ‘how’ and ‘when’ questions. Leaders frequently ask themselves ‘what’ and ‘whys’ sort of questions. These are common aspects that distinguish the originality displayed by leadership and imitation aspects characterized by managers. A number of theories have been put forward to explain characteristics of different leaders. Trait Theory Trait theory explains that individuals are born either with leadership characteristics or without. Trait theory focuses on several factors that distinguish leaders from non-leaders. The factors include individual personality, socialization process, physical characteristics and intelligence. Behavioral theory The behavioral theory relates to the ability to initiate a particular system and coming up with some considerations over an event. This would refer to the orientation of the leader regarding the aims and responsibilities of employees. Mangers may perhaps be workers oriented, which could mean that they are concerned more about employees. Task orientation could mean that a firm is more concerned about production levels. Fielder contingency model Fielder contingency model states that an effective team relies on an effectual match between the approach of a leader interacting with employees and the extent to which the environment gives a leader the authority to control and influence his or her subordinates. According to Fielder, the environment or situation refers to the relationship between leaders and staff members. Logically, it refers to the confidence and respect built between a leader and his or her followers. The situation refers to the task structure and the pow er position. Power position refers to the level of authority that is mostly derived from the position of the leader within the organizational system (Winstanley Woodall 2000, p. 112). Fielder affirms that good relations between staff members and their leaders characterize a favorable situation, affective structure of tasks and a powerful position of a manager in an organization. Path Goal Theory This theory relates environmental and subordinate contingency aspects to leadership traits. Path goal theory argues that performance or outcomes depend on traits associated with leadership behavior such as directives, supportive and perceptive features in relation to subordinate and environmental contingency aspects. Subordinate contingency features include locus of control, individual experiences and ones perceived ability and competence. On the other hand, situational contingency features include structures of job assignments, formality of systems and policies, as well as team members. Ch arismatic leaders Charismatic leaders portray features that have considerable influence on performance of subordinates. This type of leaders are said to portray different characteristics from those of other leaders. To begin with, charismatic leaders depict self-confidence. Self-confidence is displayed by their total confidence in their policies and competence. A vision is also another significant feature, which brings about confidence that would lead to a better future rather than relying on an organization’s status quo. A leader should ensure that there is a broad margin between the current status quo and the set goals or objectives. Charismatic leaders are also recognized for their outstanding abilities in articulating vision. They are able to explain and describe vision in a way that employees understand without difficulties. This assists in avoiding issues related to confusions and doubts. However, to articulate vision, a visionary leader should understand his or her emp loyees adequately. Charismatic leader should have high levels of commitment and high personal risk that help organizations in achieving pragmatic goals within a predetermined period. Charming leaders frequently depict behavior that is different from conventional or normal traits of ordinary managers and employees. Although these behaviors appear different from those of common leaders, followers are easily lured to follow such behaviors, especially in the event that a leader becomes successful with his or her unique style of management (Legge1998, p. 56). Other major characteristics displayed by appealing leaders include realistic evaluation of business environments in relation to constraints and resources and coming up with pragmatic strategies. Generally, charismatic leaders are perceived as aspects of radical change as opposed to maintaining organization’s status quo. Relationship between transactional and transformational leaders Several reputable scholars in the field of management have identified distinguishing factors between transactional and transformational leaders. It is believed that old management style was characterized by transactional kind of leadership. However, because of dynamic and competitive business environment, contemporary type of management associates itself with transformational leadership. Transactional leaders Transformational leaders recognize achievements that ensure employees are rewarded in accordance to their level of performance. The management should always identify the disparity existing between performance and predetermined policies. This would help in initiating corrective actions and responses. A more contradicting feature as regards to transactional leadership is its passive system. Passive approach refers to intervening situations when standards tend to fall below or deviate from the track. Transactional leader would assign already laid down tasks and responsibilities to different departments. However, they attem pt to avoid making major and minor decisions regarding the operations of the organization. Transformation leaders Scholars and managements term transformational leadership as contemporary approach (Beardwell Claydon 2007, p. 83). Transformational leaders are charismatic and would occasionally provide followers with realistic vision and mission, which eventually earns them respect and trust. They are too inspiring since they communicate high expectations to their subordinates, use symbols to express directions and targets of organizations. Their level of intelligence is proved by their high level of rationality, as well as extra-ordinary logics mostly expressed in their analytical abilities, especially during problem solving. Transformational leaders differ from their transactional leaders for the reason that they are able to give personal attention to their employees apart from coaching and advising employees personally. What it takes to be an effectual and successful leader What i t takes to be an effective leader remains a contentious issue in the contemporary world of business. However, a number of observable studies have distinguished effective leaders from ineffective leaders. Effective leaders are seen communicating routinely. Their communication is associated with exchanging information and frequent handling of paperwork. Effective managers as well practice traditional management, which is merely known for its controlling, decision-making and planning facets. More importantly, effective management is characterized by networking where leaders are seen often interacting with outsiders in addition to sharing social, economical and political issues with several groups. Regarding the human resource management, successful leaders are seen motivating and rewarding their subordinates on a continuous basis. Furthermore, training and developing careers ensures that employees meet standards set by the firm. Nevertheless, transformational leaders manage conflicts a rising successfully. Motivation Motivation is a process that intends to elicit, control, manage or sustain an individual’s behavior. Motivation is categorized as either intrinsic or extrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is associated with external factors. For instance, a student who is interested in acquiring certain knowledge in a given field for not only getting good grades but also gaining mastery is most likely motivated by intrinsic factors. On the other hand, it would be an extrinsic motivation if an employee were encouraged to perform well at work place by increasing salary or providing other incentives. It is therefore true that employee performance depends heavily on motivation. Nevertheless, to realize good performance through motivation, employees should be equipped with necessary skills, equipments, supplies, time and ability (Goleman1998, p. 72). A motivating agent is principally determined by the needs of an employee. Although money is generally regarded as the main motivator, it is not the only employee motivator. Money would act as a motivator if it were able to meet individual’s needs and desires. In addition, an employee should believe that he or she is in a position to achieve monetary rewards offered by the organization. Generally, financial incentives offered by a range of organizations include production bonus systems, commission, gain sharing, group incentive plans, profit sharing, piecework systems among others. Because financial incentives can be limiting to any business that intends to motivate its employees, other approaches satisfy employees such as good contact with consumers’ brand, job enlargement and rotations. In many cases, organizations motivate employees by giving rewards that have value, providing rewards based on individual performance, treating individual staff members personally, encouraging staff participation and providing immediate feedback regarding employees’ performance. Since motivation conc erns itself with giving incentives to employees with an aim of enforcing compliance, most supervisors frequently use incentives to ensure that employees meet the objectives and goals set by management. With this regard, it would be beneficial if supervisors would have necessary skills regarding employees’ motivation. Managers influence the behavior of employees using various methods. However, the commonly used incentives include flextime and job sharing. Flextime is a strategy used in organizations, which allow individuals to choose when to work for 8 hours assigned in a day or 40 hours in a week. Conversely, job sharing refers to an arrangement in which two individuals working part-time choose to share tasks of a full-time job. Theories of motivation Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Maslow states that a number of unmet needs motivate individuals. In accordance to Maslow’s theory, needs which motivates people fall into five categories. They include physiological need s, security, social needs such as love, needs relating to esteem and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs are basic needs, which an individual requires for survival. Security needs refer to protection and safety. Social needs are those associated with the need for companionship, as well as love. Individuals in the society desire to be respected by their colleagues. This is popularly termed esteem needs. Self-actualization refers to a situation where an individual peruses the full measure of happiness. McClelland’s Achievement-Power-Affiliation Theory This theory states that people develop diverse needs via life experiences. The three needs classified by McClelland include the need for achievement, need for power and the need for affiliation. Need for achievement is one’s aspiration to do better. Need for power is associated to ambition to manage, control and influence people. Need for affiliation is concerned about aspiration to sustain sociable relations. Alt hough people have all the above needs to some degree, strength of various needs depicts what motivates an employee or a worker (Mintzberg, Simons Basu 2002, p. 88). Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory Hertzberg claims that both dissatisfaction and satisfaction are associated with dissimilar sources. In his argument, dissatisfaction is seen to result from lack of hygiene factors such as companionship and handsome salary package. Satisfaction, on the other hand, results from existence of motivating dynamics such as fortunate prospects. Vroom’s Expectancy-Valence Theory Vroom proved that individuals do whatever they do in life with an aim of satisfying their needs. His argument was based on explaining the degree of an individuals’ level of motivation. According to Vroom’s theory, motivation depends on both valence and expectancy. Valence refers to the importance that someone places on result of a specified behavior whereas expectancy is the perception that a cert ain behavior would lead to a given result. In many circumstances, people are predominantly motivated to seek out outcomes that they value. They also believe that such outcomes are achievable. Individual members have different perception as regards to rewards, as well as whether they are in a position to attain the set up rewards. As a result, every employee determines personally the value of rewards and the capability of attaining the results. Since individuals in an organization cannot be generalized, it would be prudent for supervisors to study the needs and abilities of employees within an organization. Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory According to Skinner, people tend to do a particular thing hoping that it would lead to a desirable consequence. The same people would avoid things that may lead to undesirable consequences. For instance, people desire doing things that may give them praises from either fellow colleagues or the management team at work place. The management may influence the behavior of individuals by responding to traits technically. Skinner says that consequences can be classified as either reinforcement or punishment. Reinforcement is a positive behavioral consequence. In other words, reinforcement refers to favorable consequences or preferred behavior. Conversely, punishment is also referred to as negative consequence. Most supervisors tend to stop unfavorable behavior using various approaches, such as demotion and firing employees. Modifying Employees’ Behavior Various organizations use either punishment or reinforcement in modifying the behavior of employees. However, ineffectiveness of punishment, many organizations choose reinforcement. Reinforcement tends to result to positive and favorable behavior, which is desired by a firm whereas frequent use of punishment tends to instill a belief of inability among staff members (Nohria, Groysberg Eling 2008, p. 93). Since motivating factors are different among employees, the manag ement should learn individual motivating factors at personal level and design rewards as per their demands. In addition, the management should consider policies, regulations and labor contracts guiding the process of rewarding in an organization. Financial Incentives The Management assumes that money motivates employees to deliver a quality service. According to theories of motivation, finance is perceived as a motivator if it meets the demands and needs of employees. In particular, an individual earning paltry salary will highly be motivated by its increment. However, an employee who is comfortable with his or her salary may be motivated by other factors, such as achieving a sense of respect and personal esteem. As for finances, employees would be given financial incentives to make them meet or exceed certain set standards. Delta Air Lines: Leadership and Motivation Management’s Systems and Procedures Delta Air Lines has various departments with diverse systems. Delta Air Li nes management offers operating manuals that give standards to every department. The operating manual helps departments to monitor the performance of employees, as well as customers on a regular basis (Storey 2001, p. 57). The most important manual is the Passengers Service Manual, which is used by Customer Service department to track services delivered to clients. This has enabled employees to provide excellent services to their customers. Operating manual, on the other hand, enables the management to access updated performance, as well as easy references that would help in making major decisions concerning the performance of the company. The most important information provided by Passengers Service Manual includes passengers’ acceptance, refusal of passenger, ticketing and luggage acceptance. Delta Air Lines decided to post passengers’ information online where each employee can access it in a 24 hours clock to increase its efficiency. Moreover, the management has mad e sure that employees stand a chance to access information at home provided one is connected to Delta’s intranet. Management performance measures A website that is solely designed by Delta for measuring and controlling performance would help in monitoring and improving services offered by Delta Air Lines. The website categorically provides a section, which indicates standards expected by the management. The website also provides essential applications for monitoring performance of various departments. In addition, the website provides a section through which the management is able to monitor procedures for giving rewards to subordinates. The key performance indicators used by Delta include measure of flights take off, lost baggage for every 1000 passengers, airplanes damages and injuries sustained by employees while at work place or during official working hours. This information is to be collected from various airports, combined and analyzed on a yearly basis to estimate the overall performance of the management team. Performance leaders Performance leaders are concerned about assigning tasks to different employees and ensuring that operations are covered in entirety. Generally, they normally guide employees on various work processes and allocate diverse resources as per the requirement of the job. Performance leaders frequently ensure that workers arrive on time at the work place, apart from ensuring that team members complete assigned responsibilities within predetermined time and as per the set standards. In many cases, performance leaders are seen to handle customers’ conflict either internally or externally. Training and employees performance improvement Delta Air Lines provides sufficient training to its employees with an aim of improving its services. The management emphasizes on continuous training with an objective of improving its service delivery. Delta Air Lines has some school training centers for pilots. A stringent policy relating to training pilots is aimed at improving the standards of its flights. In fact, customer department statement aims at empowering employees with adequate experience and skills in order to provide excellent service. Delta Air Lines offers a reimbursement of $2000 for tuition fee. In addition, the company provides an e-learning technology, which helps to improve employees’ performance for those present at workplace. Employees Rewarding The management concluded that individual recognition is the most effective way of motivating employees. Delta Air Lines recognize that the most important aspect in an individual is his or her attitude. According to Delta Air Lines’ management, for employees to be instilled with positive attitude, his or her morale should be improved. During difficult financial times, recognition of employees has helped to reduce operation costs associated with employees’ rewarding. The management developed Delta Gaining Altitude program, which enabl es employees to be recognized and rewarded for their services. Delta Gaining Attitude program helps to instill a positive approach to its employees. This is aimed at motivating employees by influencing their behavior positively. As a strategy, Delta Air Lines management has empowered employees to recognize and comment on the performance of their colleagues. Currently, Delta Air Lines provides cumulative points for purchasing products, which has been entirely welcomed by all staff members. Delta Air Lines recognizes employee anniversaries where it begins with the first year and then performed at an interval of 5 years. On completing ten years, an employee would receive a recognition letter from the CEO. Chairman Club was established with an aim of giving recognition to best performing employees. On average, the Chairman Club initiates 102 staff members who have contributed enormously to the success of Delta Air Lines. Such employees are to be chosen by their workmates and confirmed b y the management. However, an individual should be registered at a site provided by Chairman Club in order to receive recommendation for good performance. Stiff competition at the Airline Industry Delta Air Lines faces tough competition in the airline industry both at local and international markets. Stiff competition in the market is due to the presence of major airlines that offer excellent services. Recently, a number of airline companies have come up with cost-leadership strategies, which have forced Delta to respond equally by lowering its initial fare prices. The major foreign rivals of Delta Air Lines include Singapore Airline, Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand. However, Delta is responding to the competition through increasingly improving its services. Recommendation Although policies and structures of an organization are important in determining the performance of an entity, it has been recognized by a number of scholars that human aspect is crucial in determining the effe ctiveness and efficiency of a firm (Woods West 2010, p. 75). Human beings control machines and other physical facilities including computers and therefore, a slight change in human behavior might highly affect results of a particular process or activity. Any organization should ensure that it has effectual management team, as well as competent employees in ensure that quality services are provided as per the set standards. Since Delta faces stiff competition in the airline industry, it would be prudent to come up with specific measures that would ensure excellent services are offered to its esteem clients. Such activities would require well laid strategies, which would particularly generate an effective leader. Services improvement, such as fitting aircrafts with executive seats, would help Delta attract a number of customers. Generally, customers require comfort, such as good entertainment and provision of quality and affordable meals and drinks both inside the aircraft and at the airport waiting lounge. Although cost-leadership strategy has been a major strategy used by airline companies, it would be advisable not to lower prices beyond certain levels. This would lead to losses. To ensure that excellence is maintained at Delta Air Lines, the management should provide more appealing rewards that would enhance productivity of employees. For instance, employees should be provided with salary increment, though it has to be realistic to avoid exorbitant operational expenses. Delta is embracing recognition as opposed to other rewards approaches. Although this has an effect of reducing costs associated with rewards, such rewards would have less impact on employee’s level of performance. Delta should in fact consider other non-financial rewarding techniques such as promotions, job rotation and employee empowerment. Such approaches are likely to facilitate high levels of performance amongst staff members. Conclusion This paper has covered a number of issues r egarding leadership and motivation. It has solely discussed issues pertaining to leadership and motivation practices at Delta Air Lines. To understand fully the implication of effective leadership and motivating approaches that would finally help in improving the level of performance at Delta Air Lines, this paper has discussed various types of leaderships, as well as theories that were put forward by different scholars. It has also given more details concerning motivation and related theories. From various reading materials and various managerial perspectives in different institutions including Delta Air Lines, it is confirmed that effective leadership is one that has routine and effectual communication processes. Leaders should communicate complex aspects in a more simple way. They should understand the proficiency and qualifications of individual employees in order to assign jobs accurately. Competent leaders ensure that they give pragmatic directions and vision, which assists in attaining the set objectives and standards. Although traditional modes of management are not popular in the contemporary world of business, it is evident that planning, controlling and monitoring remain key factors in improving employees’ level of performance. In addition, motivation factors, such as offering financial incentives, are mostly used by a range of entities to increase the level of productivity among its employees. However, it is concluded that non-financial incentives to a large extend help in reducing the cost of operations among various organizations such as Delta Air Line. Delta Air Lines has a number of rewarding approaches. However, it considerably embraces recognition technique as opposed to rewarding systems. Recognition is initiated by allowing employees to give comments online. Chairman Club helps to identify some individuals who are rewarded after recognizing their great contribution towards the overall performance of the company. Moreover, Delta Air L ine continues to show competent leadership through the websites that are chiefly designed for monitoring performance of various departments. For instance, customer service department is provided with operation manuals where it records all data concerning customers. This helps in keeping track and controlling operations at Delta Air Lines. List of References Beardwell, J Claydon, T 2007, Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, Prentice Hall, Harlow. Bratton, J Gold, J 2007, Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, Palgrave, Basingstoke. Creswell, J 1998, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing Among Five Traditions, Sage, California. Goleman, D 1998, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Bloomsbury, London. Legge, K 1998, Is HRM ethical? Can HRM be ethical? Sage, London. Mintzberg, H, Simons, R Basu, K 2002, â€Å"Beyond Selfishness†, Sloan Management Review, Issue 2, no. 1. Nohria, N, Groysberg, B Eling, L 2008, â€Å"Employee Motivation: A po werful new model†, Harvard Business Review, Issue 4, no. 6. Storey, J 2001, Human Resource Management; A Critical Text, Thomson Learning, Padstow. Storey, J 2007, Human Resource Management: A critical text, Thomson Learning, Padstow. Winstanley, D Woodall, J 2000, Ethical issues in contemporary human resource management, Palgrave, Mendham. Woods, S West, M 2010, Organizational Culture, Climate and Change, Cengage, New York.

How to Construct an Index for Research

How to Construct an Index for Research An index is a composite measure of variables, or a way of measuring a constructlike religiosity or racismusing more than one data item. An index is an accumulation of scores from a variety of individual items. To create one, you must select possible items, examine their empirical relationships, score the index, and validate it. Item Selection The first step in creating an index is selecting the items you wish to include in the index to measure the variable of interest. There are several things to consider when selecting the items. First, you should select items that have face validity. That is, the item should measure what it is intended to measure. If you are constructing an index of religiosity, items such as church attendance and frequency of prayer would have face validity because they appear to offer some indication of religiosity. A second criterion for choosing which items to include in your index is unidimensionality. That is, each item should represent only one dimension of the concept you are measuring. For example, items reflecting depression should not be included in items measuring anxiety, even though the two might be related to one another. Third, you need to decide how general or specific your variable will be. For example, if you only wish to measure a specific aspect of religiosity, such as ritual participation, then you would only want to include items that measure ritual participation, such as church attendance, confession, communion, etc. If you are measuring religiosity in a more general way, however, you would want to also include a more balanced set of items that touch on other areas of religion (such as beliefs, knowledge, etc.). Lastly, when choosing which items to include in your index, you should pay attention to the amount of variance that each item provides. For example, if an item is intended to measure religious conservatism, you need to pay attention to what proportion of respondents would be identified as religiously conservative by that measure. If the item identifies nobody as religiously conservative or everyone as a religiously conservative, then the item has no variance and it is not a useful item for your index. Examining Empirical Relationships The second step in index construction is to examine the empirical relationships among the items you wish to include in the index. An empirical relationship is when respondents’ answers to one question help us predict how they will answer other questions. If two items are empirically related to each other, we can argue that both items reflect the same concept and we can, therefore, include them in the same index. To determine if your items are empirically related, crosstabulations, correlation coefficients, or both may be used. Index Scoring The third step in index construction is scoring the index. After you have finalized the items you are including in your index, you then assign scores for particular responses, thereby making a composite variable out of your several items. For example, let’s say you are measuring religious ritual participation among Catholics and the items included in your index are church attendance, confession, communion, and daily prayer, each with a response choice of yes, I regularly participate or no, I do not regularly participate. You might assign a 0 for does not participate and a 1 for participates. Therefore, a respondent could receive a final composite score of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 with 0 being the least engaged in Catholic rituals and 4 being the most engaged. Index Validation The final step in constructing an index is validating it. Just like you need to validate each item that goes into the index, you also need to validate the index itself to make sure that it measures what it is intended to measure. There are several methods for doing this. One is called item analysis in which you examine the extent to which the index is related to the individual items that are included in it. Another important indicator of an index’s validity is how well it accurately predicts related measures. For example, if you are measuring political conservatism, those who score the most conservative in your index should also score conservative in other questions included in the survey.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Living in a House versus Living in an Apartment - Essay Example The main advantage of living in a personal house is that the family living in the house has better privacy as compared to a family living in an apartment (French, 2006). Houses are designed in such a manner that two houses are situated at an ample amount of distance from each other. Due to this, it is very difficult for neighbors to identify what is happening in the next door house. In the case of apartments, there is a lack of privacy because apartments comprise of suites that are located exactly next to each other and the walls of the suites are attached to each other. Houses offer less security as compared to apartments. Houses lack security because in case of houses there a limited number of people who are living together and these limited numbers of people cannot deter robbers from breaking into the house (Fennelly, 2012). In the case of apartments, there is more security because apartments comprise of many families living together in a single building. Due to so many people living in a single structure, robbers and criminals may fear that people living in different suites may be able to hear voices and may try to help their neighbors. Due to this fear, criminals may refrain from attacking a suite located within an apartment. One of the major benefits of living in apartments is that it becomes easier for families living in apartments to socialize with more people. People living in apartments tend to know each other; they even share time as well as goods with each other (Berns, 2004). Due to this, they develop interpersonal relationships with each other. Since there are many families living in apartments, these families have the opportunity to socialize with various individuals.  

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Research Methadology - Essay Example If all these above mentioned aspects might be known, then it might prove effective for the researcher or the investigator to evaluate the main points of the research question and whether it is useful for the future steps of the research or not. The research design also acts as a tool to evaluate, whether the investigation is fixed or variable. The researcher might analyze, which type of research design such as qualitative or quantitative might be used. Furthermore, if the research design is develop with the help of hypothesis, the choice of grouping the researchers might be easily evaluated. Thus, it might be stated that, it is the research design that acts as the catalyst in analyzing the entire effectives of the research project or study (Leavy, 2014, 351-357). Semi structured interviews is a sort of interview that is entirely based on a specific list of questions or a specific set of questions. Moreover, semi-structured interview might also be based on certain specific topics so as to understand the personality and attitude of an individual. This type of interviews is conducted in an informal way in order to gather varied types of information and facts regarding the candidate. This makes an interpersonal relationship within the two individual (management and the candidate) that enhances their trust and reliability among one-another. Although, it is not followed but it includes some advantages, presented below. In-depth information: With the help of this interview process, an in-depth evaluation of the ideas and facts of the candidate over a specific topic might be analyzed. It helps the management to evaluate the inner strengths and weaknesses of the candidate and whether he or she is appropriate for the job or not. Experiences might be shared: In this type of interview process, varied types of previous

SMART Goals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SMART Goals - Assignment Example I will attend seminars on time management by participating in the organization’s seminar talks that will help me be more time cautious and better at management, reading books and listening to tapes based on the same matter, reviewing the organization trends on the same, and making plans with the departmental head responsible for the issue starting Monday week 2 Attributes needed to achieve the goal; timeline of when you plan on doing what; explain how, when, and where you are going to meet or talk with your expert; and identify specific resources you plan on using to help you achieve your goals. My evaluation of the â€Å"Successful Goal Setting† source is that it seeks to help nurses have better time management skills as well as help nurses be good at setting goals and attaining the goals set based on the SMART analysis. I plan to attend workforce training planning programs offered by the departmental leads on increasing workforce efficiency with the help of productivity coaches and other peer-reviewed articles in the department and my manager, and visiting laid out procedures described to improve workout put starting Wednesday week 2. Attributes needed to achieve the goal; timeline of when you plan on doing what; explain how, when, and where you are going to meet or talk with your expert; and identify specific resources you plan on using to help you achieve your goals. My evaluation of the â€Å"Taking leadership Serious† source is that it seeks to ensure that the nurse is better placed to become a manager and a successful goal setter with regard to the skills achieved from successful goal setting source. McBride, Angela Barron. (March, 2011). Taking Leadership Seriously. American Journal of Nursing, 111(3), pp.11. Web. Retrieved from: http://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Fulltext/2011/03000/Taking_Leadership_Seriously.2.aspx Davis, Anne J. (January, 1963). The Skills of COMMUNICATION. American Journal of Nursing, 63(1). Web. Retrieved from:

Research Methadology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research Methadology - Essay Example If all these above mentioned aspects might be known, then it might prove effective for the researcher or the investigator to evaluate the main points of the research question and whether it is useful for the future steps of the research or not. The research design also acts as a tool to evaluate, whether the investigation is fixed or variable. The researcher might analyze, which type of research design such as qualitative or quantitative might be used. Furthermore, if the research design is develop with the help of hypothesis, the choice of grouping the researchers might be easily evaluated. Thus, it might be stated that, it is the research design that acts as the catalyst in analyzing the entire effectives of the research project or study (Leavy, 2014, 351-357). Semi structured interviews is a sort of interview that is entirely based on a specific list of questions or a specific set of questions. Moreover, semi-structured interview might also be based on certain specific topics so as to understand the personality and attitude of an individual. This type of interviews is conducted in an informal way in order to gather varied types of information and facts regarding the candidate. This makes an interpersonal relationship within the two individual (management and the candidate) that enhances their trust and reliability among one-another. Although, it is not followed but it includes some advantages, presented below. In-depth information: With the help of this interview process, an in-depth evaluation of the ideas and facts of the candidate over a specific topic might be analyzed. It helps the management to evaluate the inner strengths and weaknesses of the candidate and whether he or she is appropriate for the job or not. Experiences might be shared: In this type of interview process, varied types of previous

Natural monopoly Essay Example for Free

Natural monopoly Essay This report studies what are the various sources of monopoly and real life examples for each source. It analyses how each of these businesses grew into a monopoly and substantiates the analysis with actual facts figures (wherever available). Methodology of study: The subject has been divided into sub-topics based on the source out of which the monopoly arises. The report begins with the introductory analysis of the monopoly functioning. Each source has then been studied with reference to one real life example followed by the conclusion. What defines a Monopoly – Its Characteristics: Profit Maximizer, Price Maker, High Barriers to Entry, Single seller, Price Discrimination: Major sources of monopolies: 1. Ownership of strategic resources: A monopoly is likely to arise if a firm has complete control over a key input or resource used in production. Famous example is diamond trade monopoly firm De Beers. 2. Government regulations: A government-granted monopoly (also called a de jure monopoly) is a form of coercive monopoly by which a government grants exclusive privilege to a private individual or company to be the sole provider of a commodity. Potential competitors are excluded from the market by law, regulation, or other mechanisms of government enforcement. 3. Patents: Patents grant the inventor the exclusive right to produce a product for 20 years (new worldwide patent period established with a 1995 GATT agreement). By granting the right to produce a new product without fear of competition, patents provide incentive for companies or individuals to continue developing innovative new products or services. For example pharmaceutical companies spend large sums on research and development and patents are essential to earning a profit. 4. Natural monopoly: A natural monopoly is a company that experiences increasing returns to scale over the relevant range of output and relatively high fixed costs. A natural monopoly occurs where the average cost of production declines throughout the relevant range of product demand. When this situation occurs, it is always cheaper for one large company to supply the market than multiple smaller companies. An early market entrant that takes advantage of the cost structure and can expand rapidly can exclude smaller companies from entering and can drive or buy out other companies. Monopoly through ownership of key resource: De Beers Diamonds are one of the worlds, and specifically Africa’s, major natural resources. An estimated US$13 billion worth of rough diamonds are produced per year, of which approximately US$8. 5 billion are from Africa (approximately 65%). Global diamond jewellery sales continue to grow, increasing three-fold in the past 25 years, and are currently worth in excess of US$72 billion every year. Chronology over which DeBeers has become one of the world’s most powerful monopolies:1. Ownership of all South African diamond mines: Smaller groups needing common infrastructure form diggers committees and small claim holders wanting more land merge into large claimholders to form larger ones. In no time, it could establish De Beers consolidated mines. 2. Supply and Demand control: The Diamond Trading Company has been formed. The mantra is: Create a scarcity of diamonds and high prices will follow. And while other commodities have seen price fluctuations over the years, diamonds prices have climbed since the Great Depression mostly. Demand has also been consistently good over the years irrespective of economic scenario. [pic] [pic] 3. Business model: De Beers and its Central Selling Organization established exclusive contracts with suppliers and buyers, making it impossible to deal with diamonds outside of De Beers. The structure remained the same for much of the 20th century: A De Beers subsidiary would buy the diamonds. De Beers would determine the amount of diamonds they wanted to sell, and at what price, for the whole year. How the monopoly functions: Sends invitations to 250 chosen clients to attend the 10 annual â€Å"sights â€Å"client receives a small box: uncut diamonds price of the box ($1-$25 million) client can only buy the whole box and he cannot resell it in a rough form. Thus, De Beers decides: How many diamonds of each quality will be distributed in total. How this supply will be divided among the clients and the Price of diamonds. 5. The creation of Debswana: A joint venture between the company and the nation of Botswana meant a significant shareholding claim in De Beers by the African country. 6. Marketing campaigns: Coined world famous marketing campaign, A diamond is forever† 7. Antitrust laws of US and conflict with various governments: During its initial years, it controlled over 90% of world’s diamond production but over time, it has lost its monopoly to various controversies and oppositions from countries with great stockpiles. [pic] Source: CNN Money Report 8. Statistical graphs showing how De Beers fared over years in its sales, production and profitability: [pic] Source: De Beers Group Website [pic] [pic] Source: Rapaport Trade Report [pic]. Above graph indicates how competitors have dampened the monopoly of DeBeers over the years. Like ALROSA, De Beers needs to be assured of a sustainable level of demand for its goods. Monopoly through govt. owned strategic resources: Coal India limited CIL is the worlds largest coal mining company both in terms of proven coal reserves and coal production. It is entirely owned by the union government, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal. It is involved in coal mining and production and contributes around 81. 1 per cent of Indias coal production. It produced around 431. 32 million tons of raw coal in fiscal 2011. CIL currently operates eight subsidiaries, of which, seven are involved in coal production while the eighth is Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) which is involved in mine planning and other consultancy services related to mining. The seven coal-producing subsidiaries of CIL: Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) ,Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL),Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL),Northern Coalfields Ltd (NCL),Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL),South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL),Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL)[pic] Outlook on demand, supply, and imports of non-coking coal and cooking coal in India over the next five years: CRISIL Research expects the total demand for non-coking coal to grow at 10 per cent CAGR over the next 5 years (2012-13 to 2016-17). Production of non-coking coal is expected to rise only at a CAGR of 7 per cent from 2012-13 to 2016-17. Consequently, imports are set to increase to 196 million tonnes by 2016-17 from 83 million tonnes in 2011-12. Growth in steel production through the blast furnace route and pig iron production are expected to increase coking coal demand, to 68 million tonnes in 2016-17 from 38 million tonnes in 2011-12 rising at 12. 4 per cent CAGR over the next five years. On the other hand, coking coal production is expected to rise to 60 million tonnes in 2016-17 at a CAGR of only 6. 6 per cent. CIL hike domestic coal prices in February 2011 Coal India Limited (CIL) has increased the prices of different grades of coking and non-coking coal with effect from February 28, 2011. For the first time in its history, CIL adopted a differential pricing approach by increasing the prices of coal for industrial end-use sectors such as steel, cement, paper, and aluminum, while effecting only a marginal increase in the prices of coal for deemed essential services such as power utility, fertilisers, and defense sectors. This differential pricing is intended to bring the prices of coal consumed by non-priority sectors in line with the international coal prices. Cement and sponge iron players to be affected. The Economic Survey has said that Coal India Ltds (CIL) â€Å"near monopolistic† position has also led to â€Å"supply bottlenecks†. Calling for infusing competition in the domestic coal sector, due to the CIL’s dominance there have been delays in development of new coal fields and inadequate emphasis on cost reductions at operational levels. [pic] Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said the Government should take steps to end the monopoly of Coal India and allow private players in coal mining. As regards coal, today our imports are 15 per cent. By the end of the 12th plan, imports are going to be 28 per cent, he said, adding currently power plants with 22,000 MW capacities are suffering due to lack of availability of coal. What can be done to reduce monopoly of CIL India 1. The gap between demand for coal and domestic availability is widening at a faster pace. There is perhaps need to introduce competition in this sector India must bring in more private miners to develop coal reserves which majority state-owned Coal India Ltd has left untapped.. It will push up the cost of power generation and the resultant pressure on the regulated tariffs in the power sector. Therefore, both the factors should be considered. 2. Coal pricing is also a major issue. It has to be transparent, flexible and based on global norms. Monopoly through the ‘Patent’ way : In the highly competitive pharmaceuticals sector where development programmes last for years and have budgets ranging into six-figure sums, maintaining a monopoly position for an important drug is key to commercial success. Only by securing a monopoly can a company justify the very significant investment of time and funding into the pre-clinical and clinical development necessary to support the stringent requirements for grant of a marketing authorization. The mechanisms for achieving this include: †¢ Patent protection †¢ Supplementary protection certificate †¢ Data exclusivity †¢ Orphan drug status. The European framework for pharmaceutical regulation and authorization attempts to protect the investment of companies in their innovations by providing periods of so-called data exclusivity. The Food and Drug Administration can also protect the company’s exclusive access to the market, independent of the patents. Such exclusivity prevents FDA approval for a competing drug for up to seven years, depending on the type of drug. In addition to the market exclusivity and patents, drug companies already receive incentives to develop so-called orphan drugs used to treat rare diseases. These incentives include FDA research grants, tax credits for up to 50 percent of the cost of clinical research and a waiver of FDA fees. Fewer drug companies competing in a therapeutic class leads to fewer prescription drugs being developed within that class and allows the companies to use their patents and market exclusivity to further increase prices. Effect on price of the Drug before and after Patent expiry The following graph shows the effect on price of the drug when the patent gets expired and more and more generic manufacturers enter into the marketplace. Initially the price of the drug is very high but as patent gets expired and more manufacturers comes in the price of the drug falls[pic] Effect on revenues earned by company before and after patent expiry: The following graph depicts the effect of the revenues due to patent. Initially the revenues earned are in negative because of huge initial investment that is required for the launch. The next few years the revenues earned increases every year till the year when the patent gets expired and more players enter into the market and the revenue earned by the company goes down. [pic]. The case of Zyprexa : Zyprexa (olanzapine), an antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is an atypical antipsychotic medication by Eli Lilly. The patent of which got expired in October 2011, generated more than 20 percent of the company’s total revenue in the year-ago quarter. With new generics now competing in the market, revenue from the drug slid 44 percent to $749. 6 million from $1. 34 billion [pic] The case of Ambien (Zolpidem by Sanofi aventis): The first drug to compete with Ambien was Sonata (active ingredient Zaleplon) introduced to market in 1999, but did little to compete with Ambien. In fact, it did not even make the list of top 200 selling drugs from 2003-2007. By that time Ambien had already captured most of the United States insomnia market. Ambien and Sonata held the market until 2005 when Lunesta (active ingredient eszopiclone) was approved. Lunesta’s popularity steadily grew and sales remain around $900 million. All three drugs are structurally similar, and act on the same class of receptors. The sales of Ambien continued to stay strong until its patent expired in 2007. Shortly after, 13 generic drugs manufactures got approval to manufacture Zolpidem and the sales of Ambien fell from about 2 billion to less than 1 billion. [pic] Total yearly sales of Ambien and Lunesta. A case of Natural Monopoly: Indian Railways At the centre, there is a Union Minister of Railways, under whom there are two Minister of State for Railways. At the national level, the Railway Board is responsible for formulation of policies and effective operation of railways. Operating ratio was 91. 1 percent in 2010-11, improved to 95. 0 percent in 2011-12. How it became a monopoly: IR is a classic example of a public monopoly. Historically, this monopoly was a necessity since construction of railway infrastructure required large resources, investment involved long gestation periods and returns were uncertain. Capital Intensive venture, which can be understood from the fact that Indian railways has a separate budget each year 1. Economies of scale, as Indian railways operate all over India and thus have sufficient operating domain to achieve economies of scale which a new entrant cannot easily replicate 2. Government rules and regulations Factors that enabled railways to engage in price discrimination using up part of consumer surplus: 1. The products or services of Indian railways are not resalable and thereby restricts its discount customers to become resellers and benefit from arbitrage. 2. It has monopoly and hence is able to dictate the pricing terms and conditions to a greater extent, in spite of being owned and regulated by Indian government. Degrees of price discrimination, the tools that express monopolist’s power and capacity of price making: Second degree price discrimination: Usually monopolist sets the block prices, under which prices are highest for first block of quantity bought and it is reduced for each successive purchase. Indian railways charge for every kilometer which is reduced as one travels longer and longer. Thus a train ticket for the Rajdhani’s 1st AC between Bangalore to Delhi (Rs 4555) is lesser than the cost of two 1st AC tickets one from Bangalore to Nagpur (Rs 3245) and Nagpur to Delhi (Rs 2845). The cost differences are negligible if any for providing the same seat on the same train on same day. The price differences are much more than what can be explained by cost, hence this is a case of second degree price discrimination. | |Bangalore to Delhi |Bangalore to Nagpur |Nagpur to Delhi | |Rajdhani 1st AC fares |4555 |3245 |2845 |. * Source: www. irctc. co. in Third degree price discrimination: Here, price usually varies by attributes such as location of purchase, customer segment etc. Indian railways heavily employs third degree of price discrimination as below: |Train |Child (5-12 years) |Citizen (12 60 years) |Senior Citizen (M, F) | |Sampark Kranti |1873 |3560 |2548, 1873 | |Rajdhani |2330 |4555 |3220, 2330 | |Karnataka Express |1806 |3427 |2455, 1806 | |Discount Code |Description |Discount Percent | |SPORTN |Sports National Level |50% | |STDNT |Student Concession |50% | |TEACHR |Teacher |25% | |TLSMIU |Thalassemia Patient |50%. | |KIDNEU |Kidney Patients |50% | |YTH2SR |Unemployed Youth for Interview |100% | * Source: www. irctc. co. in Statistical data showing the indispensable monopoly of Indian railways: [pic] [pic][pic] Conclusion: Whilst we want to be in a perfect competition, sometimes it isn’t possible due to multiple constraints. Sometimes, it is also useful especially when it comes to cost efficiency in terms of natural monopolies. And then there are cases of strangle holding system to exert monopoly like De Beers. All these play different roles under different situations. Going by the examples we discussed, there may not be complete monopoly due to inherent monopoly’s inefficiencies and a constant push to improve market equilibrium for the social welfare of the society. References: 1. Unvieling the diamond industry – 2011 report – Bain and Company 2. www. diamondcouncil. org 3. http://www. businessinsider. com/history-of-de-beers-2011-12? op=1#ixzz25KFAEdXk 4. Crisil Research Report – Coal India Limited 5. Railway Budget Highlights 2011-2012, Govt. of India report. 6. www. irctc. co. in 7. Indian Pharmacy Society Report 8. Sanofi Aventis Annual Report.