Air Asia Strategic Management Recommendations Essay

Introduction An analysis of the External Environment would be done so as to facilitate a direct comparison between the generic elements where AirAsia has been founded in. The report then would delve into an internal analysis whereby the Porter’s 5 Forces would reiterate the direct forces that would affect the Airline Industry and subsequently, AirAsia itself. The capabilities and core competencies of the firm would be explained in greater detail towards the latter part of the report before a series of analysis would be done to segregate the more influential ones from the rest. A series of strategies would be then recommended for AirAsia to undertake so as to continue building brand awareness and brand equity throughout the world as a low-cost carrier. 1.0 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS 1.1 Industry Identification AirAsia belongs to the airline industry. Competition in the airline industry is very intense and is growing rapidly together with the increase in demand for budget fares across Asia. The different airlines are making use of several strategies to compete with one another in the airline industry and it is crucial for airline companies to identify their competitive advantages so as to be able to achieve profits and brand equity globally. 1.2 External Environment Analysis Political/Legal: Political factors such as changes in regulation and the global trend toward privatisation of government-owned or government-regulated firms have had implications on the general environment. Furthermore, taking budget flights out of Malaysia can be quite a challenge. Many governments have been instrumental in dabbling in the success of airline companies in Asia. Most airline companies in Asia have had full or substantial state ownership as well as management and control. A prime example in Malaysia would be Malaysian Airlines System (MAS). Such companies are often well-subsidized by their governments and do not face much competition. Instead of being profit-oriented, they are more focused on fulfilling national objectives. As such, privatization and de-regulation have paved the way for new routes and airport deals via the use of open skies agreements between countries and permission of entry of private airlines (Dellit 2002) As such, they would give new airlines that are low-cost carriers such as AirAsia, Jetstar and Tiger Airways chances to access domestic routes and tapping into market share of the airline industry. However, in light of globalization, the airline industry has also been hit by threats such as terrorism, accidents, attacks and disasters. A drop in customer confidence in a particular airline company would be detrimental to a company’s profits as well, hence a low cost carrier would be subjected to factors such as aviation restrictions, consumer preferences and geographical infrastructure of Asia (Steverman 2009). To combat such uncertainties, a budget airline company would have to be meticulous in selecting favourable routes in it’s day to day operations so as to avoid any form of possible negative impacts. (Dellit 2002) Economic: Despite standard of living observed to be improving globally, there exist variations within and between countries. Economic downturns in the recent years have cost companies to lose profits in the industry. However, this proved to be an opportunity for budget airlines. The result of the recent global economic downturn which led to a worldwide stock market plunge also caused aircraft leasing costs to be reduced by 40%, and this led to an environment that had lesser competition in the airline industry. This then enabled many budget airlines to lease their aircraft at a cheaper rate, which resulted in cheaper ticket prices for their customers (AirAsia 2009). However, the possible impact of fluctuating oil prices in the economy would take a toll on operation costs when fuel prices appreciate (Milmo 2011). Revenue and profitability of the company as a whole would fall if fuel prices become too high. As such economic factors are not within airline companies’ control and are unavoidable, the opportunities would outweigh the disadvantages, presenting further opportunities for them to continue in its expansion across Asia. During economic downturns, there would be an expected demand for affordable low airfares amongst budget-conscious buyers, especially for travellers who are travelling on leisure (Ernst & Young 2012). Social-Cultural: The changing societal attitudes and cultures such as growing environmental awareness has implications on the emphasis placed on corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, in order to stay globally competitive, firms now have to consider placing more resources into sustaining competitive advantage with being environmental friendly at the same time. Rapid economic growth has also paved the way for a growing middle class within Asia’s large population, especially so in Malaysia (Ernst & Young 2012). Together with the constant and gradual increase in trade and tourism activities within Asia, the demand for travel has also increased. People are now keener on exploring places far away from home and are willing to fork out money for such experiences. In doing so, the idea of low cost airfares that would allow them to save more to spend at holiday destinations is appealing to them (Ernst & Young 2012). The attractiveness of budget airlines lie primarily with their low-ticket prices and hence would present itself as a major opportunity to budget airlines. For an airline to differentiate itself from its competitors, it has to be able to have value-added services apart from low fares to distinguish itself and outstand the rest. This works out to be a competitive advantage, which may present itself as an important factor for airline companies to have so as to succeed as a low cost carrier (DestinAsia 2012). Technological: By utilizing information technology to aid companies in e-transactions and e-commerce activities, the traditional ticketing and travel agent systems were soon replaced by e-ticketing and internet booking systems (Mouawad 2010). This meant that alongside with globalization, even the process of booking tickets have gone through a massive restructuring. Airlines are now able to save the cost of issuing physical tickets and can now do away with large and expensive booking systems as well as tour agency commissions (PRLOG 2010). However, an airline must ensure that it is not over-reliant on the Internet systems as if it is not handled properly, the risk of system destruction and database overload can affect online sales heftily. The technological aspect of the airline business would pose to be a threat if systems are not properly backed up and maintained on a regular basis (Mouawad 2010). Environmental: Global warming has become an increasing issue facing businesses all around the world as there has been increasing number of evidence of rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related harmful greenhouse gases. Global emissions of carbon dioxide experienced a sharp increase peaking in 2010, hence having a greater impact on how most businesses are carried out (The New York Times 2012). Considering the fact that airplanes contribute to a large proportion of about 13% of transport-derived carbon dioxide emissions, is a cause for concern for the airline business (Whitelegg 2000). 1.3 The Industry Environment In order to analyse the attractiveness of the airline industry, Porter’s five forces framework can be employed. This evaluation is crucial to determining the Air Asia’s best strategy later in the report. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: In the airline industry, the suppliers are namely aircraft suppliers and airline employees such as the flight crew and pilots. Depending on the switching costs that are associated with changing airplanes, the bargaining power of the aircraft suppliers will vary. The bargaining power of suppliers is higher when purchasing new airplanes while it is smaller for second-hand airplanes. Labour unions specifically the pilots’ and mechanics’ unions have high bargaining power as their skills are hard to replace. In addition, there has been an observed trend whereby successful union strikes in the airline industry have led to negative abnormal returns (Finance Department Faculty Publications University of Nebraska Lincoln 1991). Furthermore, wage rates accounts for a larger proportion of costs in the airline industries as compared to other industries (Lehn 2000). Bargaining Power of Buyers: The main buyers in the airline industry are passengers consisting of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) and small business travellers. As the majority of airline customers are unable to organize and coordinate, their bargaining power is low. Furthermore, with the need for organizations to negotiate well in advance and that discounts are dependent on airline expected demand, offers, and decisions forecasts and not so much on buyers, the corporate bargaining power stays low. Besides catering for passenger travel, there is also the cargo transportation whereby bargaining power is increasing with it being one of the key drivers of revenue in the airline industry. Threat of New Entrants: Although there is deregulation and liberalization in the airline industry, there are still high operating costs and upfront costs that may deter entrants such as high fuel operating costs and purchasing price of airplanes (Mint 2012). However the trend of deregulation and liberalization in the airline industry has enabled for new entrants in the industry to enter easily despite the high costs associated with start-up and operating (Moorman 1993). Also, considering that there has been an increase in demand for low-budget air travel coupled with the deregulation, there is increased competition as a result. Hence, the threat of new entrants is moderately high despite the high barriers to entry. Rivalry amongst Existing Firms: As seen from the case, there was a rapid emergence of low cost carriers across Asia as well as the neighbouring regions in a fierce competition to succeed alongside established airlines (Lawton & Doh 2008). Hence, the rivalry amongst firms is observed to be very intense. In the Asia region, other competitors that dominate the airline industry include Scoot, Jetstar, Tiger Airways and in Malaysia itself, Malaysian Airlines (Wassener 2012). Firms can differentiate themselves based on factors such as differentiation and cost leadership. Hence, the choice of providing better service or choosing to lower prices on a further and continual basis are examples of strategies that firms have employed to differentiate themselves from their fellow competitiors. This further reiterates that price competition makes rivalry amongst existing firms very high. Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitutes for the airline industry is medium as apart from transportation methods such as rail, ship and buses, there is no direct substitute for freight services. This is due to the geographical location of the Asian region in comparison to the United States and the United Kingdom that makes it time consuming to make use of other means of transport (Lawton & Doh 2008). Hence, ferrying customers via air would reiterate that the threat of substitutes for alternative modes of transport is fairly low. However, there are many other substitutes within the airline industry for alternative low budget airlines that offer the same services with no frills and at a low cost for customers (Sreenivasan 2010). In the case of a low-cost leadership strategy that has been adopted by the industry leaders such as AirAsia, other airlines would follow suit in lowering costs to entice their competitors’ customers. Is the Airline Industry Attractive? Investors may find that the airline industry is a slightly volatile investment, however if the airline has a good establishment in the market, and is cost effective and profit generating, this will highly improve industry attractiveness. 1.4 The Competitive Environment There is a current trend of customers who favour low cost airline hence there is an increasingly number of airlines that are offering the same sort of services and products as AirAsia. This led to stiff competition in the airline industry. AirAsia’s direct competitor in this case would be other budget airlines such as Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia (Sreenivasan 2010). This can be seen by their target market of customers being similar to their competitors across all of these firms and the strategies adopted are often identical to each other (Sreenivasan 2010). As AirAsia is deemed as the lowest cost airline in the world as of 2007, it sustained first-mover advantage, which stemmed from moving directly into undertaking a low-cost leadership initiative (Mahtani 2012). It was only after it happened that that other budget airlines begin to break into the market with replicated strategies. 1.5 Opportunities and Threats Opportunities Stimulated Market Growth: By having a plane ticket cost less than a bus ticket, bus passengers will probably want to switch to air travel. As a result, the demand will increase significantly. This same kind of market stimulation occurred when Ryanair , an Irish low cost airline, was launched. Liberalization of Geographic Markets: Full liberalization of the Asian market would open doors to AirAsia helping them expand their routes. Malaysia’s underdeveloped aviation market: Even though Malaysia’s geography may encourage air travel, a survey held in 2001 showed only 6% of the population was doing so. Therefore, it shows good opportunity for them to promote air travel in their home country. Introduction of Biofuels: Following other airlines initiatives, it is an environmentally-friendly alternative to reduce carbon emissions. Market of Potential Travelers in Indonesia, China and India: Indonesia which is located close to Malaysia has a population of 235 million. These are potential travelers specially with the joint venture already in place. India and China combined have 2.5 billion people. These sizeable markets create a potential to add new routes to and within those countries. Further Expansion into Cargo Tansportation: An agreement with a cargo company was made in 2007 and as stated by AirAsia, it to section of their ancillary income, considerably contributing to the company’s bottom line. Perhaps AirAsia can reach other deals with other cargo companies. Oakland airport: The airport is located on the west coast of the United States and may serve as an entry route into the American market. Passengers would be able to get a connecting flight to many other destinations within the US from there. Threats Firstly, a number of budget airlines would enter the market and become a threat as well existing ones who may become more competitive. At the moment there 50 budget airlines in South, East and Southeast Asia. Secondly, AirAsia may lack bilateral agreements with some counties thus deterring the optimal free flow of passengers. On the other hand, competition in the tourism industry might entice countries to open up their borders. Thirdly, important players from other regions may be willing to join the market posing a threat to AirAsia. Richard Brandson from Virgin Blue, for example, is interested in making investments in a low cost airline in Asia. Lastly, an increase in the cost of fuel may limit the company’s expansion plans as well as compromising the low cost fares brand position they hold. 2.0 INTERNAL ANALYSIS 2.1 The Firm’s Resources: Tangible and Intangible Tangible: AirAsia’s fuel efficient airbus 320 helps to maintain its low-fares brand position and at the same time being environmental friendly. Financially with the company’s IPO, there is capital available for further expansions. In addition, with the company’s hardware costs locked in coupled with the availability through the very strong surge orders that followed, AirAsia’s cost competitiveness and capacity are improved. Intangible: AirAsia has gained great favour with the Malaysian government and this enabled for easier business negotiations and relations in the country. Tony Fernandes, who had started AirAsia, is a valuable asset to the company considering his strong marketing and operational abilities. In addition, Fernandes hired leading low-cost airline experts to restructure the company’s business model and has acquired more valuable assets onboard as such. With AirAsia’s established presence through sponsorship of sports teams such as Manchester United and market leadership in the Malaysian domestic market, they have an advantage over competitors with their brand recognition. The company’s strong relationship with cargo management company, Leisure Cargo, is another intangible resource. Lastly, the airline’s low start-up operating benefit and internet booking and ticketless travel allow for the lowest possible costs structure and low distribution costs respectively. 2.2 Capabilities Identification Use of Information Technology (IT): Making bookings via the internet and having e-transactions for ticketless travels meant that it not only saved customers time but also gave them the convenience of being able to book their travel tickets anywhere and anytime (The Economist 2012). This also helped in reduction of costs when it comes to issuance of tickets and entertaining bookings via the phone or in person. Making use of IT made the overall process fuss-free and easier to handle for the company. Air tickets can also be purchased from designated Automated Teller Machines (ATM) as well as post offices, which showed how far Airasia went in making the purchase of tickets convenient for their patrons. Airasia’s ability to leverage on IT far surpassed its competitors in the field. Transportation Switch: AirAsia also went forth to dominate the domestic market by enticing current and prospective customers to make the switch from road to air transport (Lawton & Doh 2008). This can be seen in low fares that were offered from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, this tactic allowed customers to experience the in-flight comfort of the low cost airlines and boosted publicity for AirAsia (Lawton & Doh 2008). Furthermore, their decision to go into cargo transportation was a significant move in their expansion plans. AirAsia’s Brand Equity: has been rising stealthily throughout the few years that it has established in the airline industry. Having established it’s reputation as the ‘World’s Best Low-Cost Airline’, it has also won many other awards throughout its time in the airline industry (AirAsia 2007). The company’s branding initiatives are deemed to be successful, as they have been continually pushing for aggressive marketing and sustaining their growth organization-wide. (Silverstein 2010) With the airline earning such a reputable name, it has gone into establishing alliances with other airports within and outside it’s geographical region, this further advertises their brand name on a global scale. (Khor et. al 2009) Organizational Structure: The corporate structure of AirAsia is relatively simple and flat as it comprises of few levels of management so as to reduce cost and increase efficiency (AirAsia 2011). The levels of management are streamlined and together with the use of IT, employees are empowered with decision-making skills with only one or two people to report to in the organization structure. Employees are regarded as equals, and inputs are often encouraged regardless of hierarchical positions. Furthermore, as incentives are distributed based on performance of the company, employees are motivated to work harder cohesively. Product development and Innovation: Aircrafts were designed by the company to combat wear and tear as well as costs and reduction of cleaning time. Innovative ideas include setting up their own branded credit card as well as offering corporate travel loyalty points (The Economist 2012). Their aircrafts bear the logo and the name of the company, which makes it a form of advertisement and establishes it’s brand presence in the eyes of the customers (AirAsia 2007). The ‘Fly Thru’ program is an example of an innovative idea developed by the company. It reduces check in time for multiple flights and gives passenger ease of travel from the booking stage to the transit stage, reducing discomfort of having to re-check in at their transit destinations (Periabras 2012). 2.3 Core Competency Analysis From the core competency analysis, it can be deduced that some of the firm’s capabilities outstand others. Brand Equity stands for having a strong brand image and this is deemed to be one of the most sustainable competitive advantage in the long run. Factors such as use of information technology, organizational structure and product development and innovation would also make AirAsia outstand like-minded firms in the airline industry. Whereas transportation switch may be a capability that AirAsia has but it would only sustain the firm on a temporary basis and may be similar to similar capabilities that other companies have. Identifying the more outstanding factors would aid the company in recognizing its sustainable capabilities as the returns would also be higher compared to other factors. 2.4 Value Chain Analysis Primary activities Support activities Firm infrastructure Business strategies; shareholder management; partnership management; relationship building Inbound logistics Monitoring competitors; In-flight catering; flight scheduling Human resource management Pilot and sales force training; in-flight training; career planning; operational training Operations Check-in, baggage handling; bookings; cargo management; coordination of stations and hubs; on-board service; Technological development Computer reservation systems; Flight scheduling system; market research; baggage tracing system Outbound logistics Flight connections; security procedures; baggage systems; commission payments Procurement Monitoring suppliers; branding (online); delivery instruction specification Marketing and sales Advertising and promotion; loyalty card; group sales; online sales; travel agent programs Service Baggage claim service; car and hotel reservation; customer profiling service; customer relationship management 2.5 Weaknesses At the moment AirAsia is disadvantaged in that they have a majority of wide body aircrafts that are not as economical for short haul flights. North American and European low-cost carriers have around 77% narrow-body planes compared to AirAsia’s 29%. In addition, the company is limited in their ability to expand services and volumes due to limited availability of suitable terminals. There needs to be a greater supply of low-cost airlines terminals at national and international airports. These terminals allow low-cost airlines to keep costs down through quick turnaround and taxi times and therefore charging customers cheaper fares. 2.6 SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS  · Lowest cost airline in the world  · Low distribution costs  · Market leader in Malaysia  · Being innovative  · High profit margins – 35%. Amongst highest in the airline industry  · Good brand recognition  · Good management skills WEAKNESSES  · Too many wide body aircrafts instead of narrow body for shorter flights  · Lack of low-cost carriers terminals at national and international airports OPPORTUNITIES  · Stimulated market growth  · Liberalization of geographic markets  · Underdeveloped geographic market in Malaysia  · Use of biofuels; reducing carbon emissions  · Further expansion into cargo transportation  · Large market of potential travelers in Indonesia, China and India  · Oakland airport as a entrance route to the US market THREATS  · Competing budget airlines entering the market  · Lack of bilateral agreement within countries enabling a free flow of passengers  · Important players from other markets willing to join the market  · Increase in fuel cost 3.0 Strategies and Recommendations 3.1 Current Strategies Single Class, Low Fares and No Frills Airasia adopts a single class and no frills service for its airline services. (Airasia 2012) This meant that unlike global airlines, Airasia does not provide meals, entertainment or amenities for its customers. Their sole purpose is charging the customers for the most basic airfreight experience, with the goal of the destination in mind. On the other hand, they do not compromise on customer service as a result of giving reduced cost services. The products offered onboard are also standardized with characteristics that are deemed acceptable to the customers. Establishing ticket prices that are deemed the lowest competitively, Reduced Fixed Costs AirAsia’s strategy is in line with its mission to be the world’s lowest cost airline. (AirAsia 2012) The low cost structure was attributed to the company’s good planning of resources such as fuel consumption and maintenance costs so as to give customers the best yet lowest prices they can offer. (AirAsia 2008) Efficient Distribution System Seats are deemed as single class which means that there is only one class seating and it is not assigned, passengers would seat themselves on a first come first serve basis. This is done so in fairness and to save the hassle of allocating seats on the company’s behalf. (AirAsia 2012) E-ticketing also aids in saving the cost of issuing hardcopy tickets, this makes it convenient for customers and saves costs for AirAsia. (AirAsia 2008) Use of Secondary Airports AirAsia typically operates from secondary airports which mean that they would benefit from lower parking, landing and ground handling fees. Secondary airports are also less busy than main airports with most of them having shorter runways, this in turn reduces fuel consumption during take-off, landing or taxi. Fuel consumption is one of the main expenses that AirAsia has hence this is a beneficial cost saving. (AirAsia 2012) Secondary airports are often closer to urban districts which makes it more appealing to some travellers and hence increases the number of potential customers for the airline. The use of secondary airports help in boosting sales and keeping operating costs low. (AirAsia 2012) Point to Point Network AirAsia adopts a point-to-point network model whereby the flights they embark on are short-haul ones within four-hour radius or less (AirAsia 2008) Their sister airline, AirAsia X would focus more on the longer flight routes, hence the point-to-point network is based on the goal of flying a customer from the origin to the destination. Customer Loyalty Programme – ‘BIG’ AirAsia has implemented a Customer Loyalty Programme named BIG Loyalty Programme which enables for the accumulation of BIG Points and allows for the members to redeem free flights. This programme is also a collaborative approach with other BIG Partners where if customers spend their money at, they are also able to accumulate BIG points. 3.2 Future Strategies Use of E-Commerce AirAsia’s current electronic online booking system expanded to cater to different payment methods like billing and settlement plan (BSP) and computer reservation system (CRS) channels after they realized that sticking to the direct-sales only channel was a self-destructive strategy. This has created an ease of booking for customers. However, to further enhance the organization’s IT capabilities, AirAsia can hire an IT expert team to oversee the electronic commerce systems, improve web design, and include more payment methods as deemed fit. As AirAsia operates in a fast-moving services industry, the IT expert team will then meet up regularly to review the electronic commerce systems, gather the problems that surface, and provide consolidated solutions and recommendations to each problem. In addition, AirAsia has adapted Revenue Management Systems, Inc. (RMS) as their revenue management partner and selected airRM as its revenue management system (Revenue Management Systems, Inc. 2012). This has led to the organization’s ability to analyze historical data and forecast demand in order to create efficiency and hence cost savings (AirAsia 2007). In addition to this already set up system, there could be a collaboration of the IT expert team with the financial and marketing team to determine the most effective way to management inventory and revenue besides just leaving it to the IT expert team. Undoubtedly, there will be risks and barriers that will be faced when implementing these suggested strategies. One of the potential risks of E-Commerce is the fact that it increases the possibility of making wrong decisions and the impact is usually huge and swift (International Symposium on Government in E-Commerce Development 2001). Another barrier could be the culture barrier between the different functional teams (i.e. marketing, financial, IT team) that could possibly cause the collaboration of the teams to be unsuccessful. As a result, this could lead to wastage of resources. In-Flight Advertising Initiatives It is essential for AirAsia to continue building on its brand image and brand equity as it is deemed to be a capability that would not only bring in the revenue but would also establish AirAsia as a niche budget airline across households. This can only be done through further advertising and marketing initiatives. In-flight marketing is an ideal way for AirAsia to reach out to its first-timer flyers and possible returners to continue flying with AirAsia (Kirby 2010). Discounted tickets, package holidays and credit points brought forward from previous travels with AirAsia would entice customers into flying more with AirAsia. This can be done within the aircraft where customers would not be able to leave the premises (Leslie n.d). Such marketing initiatives can be incorporated into mini leaflets or flyers so that customers can explore their future holiday options on board the flight to their current holiday destination. Furthermore, flyers onboard have a receptive mindset which is due to the fact that they are excited about the new destination that they would be heading to therefore advertising to such a target audience would bring forth more responsive results (Leslie n.d). Implementing this initiative would require documents to be printed in precise and bold as well as eye-catching manner that would seize the attention of the flyers on board. It has to be attractive so that customers would enquire about it and not just take a quick glance before chucking it aside. Further reiteration can be done by in-flight staff, which could bring personal marketing into this initiative by offering their knowledge upon request. It is an inexpensive procedure for certain in-flight advertising products and it would require more initiation from interested customers. This method is ideal compared to the more expensive ideas that would require mass media for advertising purposes. In-flight advertising can take the form of magazines, radio, video or catalogs. The downside of running this strategy an in-flight marketing initiative would be the reduced target audience, which stems from having an outreach that is only aircraft wide. Limited availability of flyers on flights that are emptier compared to other flights would make the advertising initiatives redundant. Furthermore, it could incur the irritation of customers who may wish to rest and not have to deal with anything else on the flight. In-flight initiatives such as radio and videos would incur higher costs as compared to paper advertising on catalogs and magazines. Furthermore, if the advertising placement is too intrusive, consumers may in return develop negative attitudes towards AirAsia’s marketing regimes. Use of Biofuels Brazilian airlines as well as American, Canadian, German, French, Australian within many others around the world have started using or have plans on using biofuels (Lane 2012). In Asia, specifically, Thailand and Indonesia announced plans of moving towards aviation biofuels (Lane 2012). AirAsia could join the group: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG) formed in 2008. It may be an alternative when oil prices will likely continue to rise and it is environmentally friendly, therefore they will be able to increase the number of passengers without increasing carbon emissions (Wassener 2011). Since many airlines have started or plan on switching to this kind of fuel, perhaps supply may not be enough and prices go up with high demand (Wassener 2011). Another risk would be the fact that if you are using edible crops to produce biofuel, food prices may go up. Moreover, in an attempt to increase production getting more land, natural habitats might be destroyed by deforestation (Gao, Skutsch, Masera & Pacheco 2011). Finally, a proportion of the market may be skeptical of flying on aircrafts utilizing aviation biofuels. Aggressive Promotional Campaigns AirAsia can continue creating aggressive promotional campaigns as ‘Malaysia with love’. It will make them standout in the competitive airline market. Due to the fact that social media is so widely used nowadays, social media campaigns and efforts are an excellent idea to increase brand awareness and recognition. Statistics show that 58% of firms who have used social media for over 3 years have reported an increase in sales over that period and 85% of businesses say they have had an increase in market exposure (Forbes 2012). Delta Airlines, for example, has introduced bookings through Facebook perhaps AirAsia can do the same or simple create an innovative campaign (The Independent 2010). Risks to the implementation of social media promotional campaigns is the fact that rival low cost-carriers may decide to copy this strategy allowing them to gain market exposure as well and consequently steal market share if their efforts prove to be more successful. In addition, customers who may have had bad experiences with the company will have the story quickly spread in social media networks, making it more harder for firms to contain negative publicity. References AirAsia 2008, AirAsia wins Airline Strategy Award: Finance Category Real 5 Star carrier gets Real 5 Star honour! Available from: . 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If Othello had been set in a modern era, how would it differ Essay

The play Othello is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in around 1603. The story has four central characters: Othello, Desdemona, Iago and Cassio. Othello or â€Å"the moor† is a black general, admired for his superb leadership skills. He falls in love with Desdemona, and against Brabantio’s will they elope before embarking on a campaign against the Turks. However, in Cyprus, a storm destroys the Turkish fleet and the real battle turns out to be the one of Iago against Othello. Iago’s hatred for Othello is mainly caused by his anger at missing out on a promotion added to his racism. This leads to his revenge on the protagonist. In this assessment, I am going to analyse how the play would have differed if it had been set in a modern era. The play opens with a heated discussion between Iago and Roderigo. Iago complains about Othello’s decision to promote Cassio as lieutenant. He confesses that he only remains in service of the general in order to succeed in his evil plan: â€Å" I follow him to serve my turn upon him† act 1 sc 1 l. 42. Othello is described as â€Å"the moor†. This epithet often substitutes his actual name â€Å"Othello†. Moreover, Roderigo describes Othello’s with terms such as: â€Å"thick lips†, â€Å"old black ram† and â€Å"devil† Act 1.sc 1. An Elizabethan audience would not have frowned upon the use of these terms, not finding them disturbing, offensive as it would be in our politically correct, multicultural and mobile society where distances between cultures and races have been significantly reduced. It also important to point out that there were few blacks in London during that period; there is evidence to prove this as the rise of black settlements in London occurred only during the 17th- 18th Century. Christianity further exacerbated these racial ideas as it linked the colour white to goodness and the colour black to the devil and sin. Shakespeare shows that he was open and a brave writer who was willing to stand apart from his society, choosing to make a black individual his protagonist. This choice makes him the tragic hero who the audience is encouraged to sympathize with. The second difference that rises between an Elizabethan Othello and a hypothetical modern Othello is the power men have over women. This can be seen immediately in Act 1 Scene 3 with regards to Brabantio and Desdemona. Othello’s true love for Desdemona is not accepted by Desdemona’s father, who accuses him of having used witchcraft to control Desdemona’s feelings. â€Å"She is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted By spells [†¦] For nature so preposterously to err, Being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense Sans witchcraft could not† Act 1 Scene 3 lines 59 -64 Not only does Brabantio believes that Desdemona belongs to him as if she was of his property, her elopement disturbs him even more knowing that Othello is black. Brabantio cannot fathom how the beautiful and gentle Desdemona is attracted to the black Othello. The only way he can justify this relationship is by accusing Othello of having practiced spells against her. These accusations can be seen as typical of that time- average Londoners, such as those who attended and enjoyed Shakespeare’s plays, had very little knowledge about science and relied on popular ‘wisdom’ and religious doctrines to support their beliefs. A modern audience with a more global outlook would not hold – or be loath to admit to- even though racism has not been eradicated. In modern times the power Brabantio has over choosing his daughter’s husband would also not be accepted. Today in most western countries, it is considered a right for women to choose their own partner. The fac t that Desdemona and Othello elope and show a romantic and poetic union: â€Å"Desdemona: That I did love the Moor to live †¦ with him, My downright violence and storm of fortunes May trumpet to the world: my heart’s subdued Even to the very quality of my lord: I saw Othello’s visage in his mind, And to his honour and his valiant parts Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate.† act1 sc3 line 245 demonstrates Shakespeare’s modern thinking and the independency from accepted views and beliefs of the time. The third important factor that would distinguish from an Elizabethan Othello from a modern Othello regards the character of Emilia. Emilia is Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s close friend. Iago uses this friendship to get access to Dedemona, in particular, asking her to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief (a gift from Othello to Desdemona). Emilia does this to â€Å" please his fantasy † even though she admits â€Å"What he will do with it,/ Heaven knows, / not I† Act 3 scene 3 line 290. and the consequences of her actions lead to tragic developments, which have vital importance in the play. From this quote we can see Iago’s hold over Emilia and how she honours her duty as a wife- something that would puzzle us even though there are also women nowadays who are at the mercy of their husbands and do not leave destructive relationships. However, as the play unfolds, particularly in the last two acts we increasingly note that Emilia is an ambiguous character: she is Iago’s victim but also has a strong opinion about men and women that is now reflected in modern society. â€Å"Emilia: But I do think it is their husbands’ faults If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties, And pour our treasures into foreign laps, Or else break out in peevish jealousies, Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us, Or scant our former having in despite; Why, we have galls, and though we have some grace, Yet have we some revenge. Act 4 sc 3 line 16† This would probably be a feeling shared by Elizabethans but in reverse- they would identify Emilia as a faithful wife initially but would probably be confused and maybe even shocked by her words to Desdemona and equality between men and women when it comes to desire. In conclusion, we can say that elements of the plot would have undergone marked changes if Othello had been written in modern, politically correct times. Brabantio wouldn’t be making such a drama out of the fact that his daughter has married a black man; Emilia wouldn’t be stealing at the command of her husband and racist terms would not have been used by noblemen and colleagues. If the play had been set in modern times, it wouldn’t be the same play and perhaps it wouldn’t be as exciting and powerful either. Despite the fact that the play was written hundreds of years ago and we think that things have changed, racism and sexism haven’t ended and Shakespeare’s play makes us think.

Fish Philosophy Essay

Just finished reading â€Å"FISH Philosophy† the book and so great it was. It’s a tiny book (two hours of focused read would do) that talks about how to transform your work place (or even your life) into a fun place to enjoy and be excited to come to again and again. I don’t want to talk about the great story in the book, and the details of how a fish market ignited the idea – hence the name FISH – for a manager to transform her workplace, as I want to encourage you to get it and read it. The philosophy is simple, and goes by applying four ingredients that will turn the place from stress and dullness into relax and fun. The ingredients of FISH philosophy are as follows: 1. Choose your attitude 2. Play 3. Make their day 4. Be there Ingredient 1 – Choose your attitude: This is the platform to build upon, and the core concept that everything else depends on. You have the freedom of choice of your attitude: an optimistic and happy attitude, or a pessimistic and sad one. Choose to be happy, smiling, easy going, ignorant of mistakes, and you’ll discover how beautiful and shining you and your place would be. On the other hand, choose to be angry, frowning, hard-headed, picky on mistakes, isolated, and you’ll discover how miserable your day would be! â€Å"Choose your attitude† is the hardest ingredients, but sets the stage for all other ingredients to happen. So work on your attitude, and work on it now. Ingredient 2 – Play: Have fun, even if you have lot’s to do with deadlines nearing, and don’t seem to have enough in your schedule. All that stress come from the fact that you prevent yourself from enjoying what you do. Make it a playful project, an enjoyable study, an easy shopping, a fun meeting, etc. If you cannot enjoy what you do, then try to have some pleasant moments between the heavy tasks you work on. Engage with colleagues or family to create a play yard out of your place. Ingredient 3 – Make their day: By having fun yourself, work on extending that to others who surround you. Make their day by expressing how you’re grateful to have them, or by cheering them up. Get them out of their misery by offering advice and help. You cannot imagine how cheerful you would be when giving a hand to someone. Ingredient 4 – Be there: Be present to your family, customers, colleagues, and people by giving full attention to who calls for you to advice or help. Don’t be ignorant to those calls†¦ get to answer them on the spot, or at least dedicate some time to connect with those you care about to listen to. Ignoring a call for help from your wife, your son, a colleague, or a customer could yield to disappointments and sometimes problems that you could’ve avoided earlier. Applying FISH to your life: I actually believe in the importance of these ingredients to have better place whether at home or at work, and below are some ideas I’m thinking of to practice those in my life (both at home and at work): Ideas| At Home| At Work| Choose your attitude| Be happy, smiling, and open-minded, soft, easy going, ignorant to small acts or mistakes. Spell out the good thoughts, and ignore the bad ones. Say hi or salam to everyone you face! | Play| Educate by fun, and stop yelling. Make the shopping a learning experience for your child where he or she looks for the stuff and picks them up. Enjoy home fixes. Watch cartoons with your child while commenting. | Start your meetings with fun or jokesPost some funny pictures or comics to your desk, or common placesHave a board so employees can post some jokesHave a gaming console and work on a gaming competition| Make their day| Compliments, Compliments, Compliments. Bring your wife some flowers. Invite the family to a day out (I really mean the invite here, and not like †¦ we’re bored, let’s go out). Bring your child something he or she likes (candy for instance). | Compliment the work and attitude of your colleagues. Engage with customers and pinpoint their pains and offer solutions with what they already have. Avoid bad news, and be a passenger of the good ones! | Be there| Listen to your wife and don’t offer solutions, just listen (we all can hear, you need to listen! ). Have a conversation with your child on school or how others deal with him. Listen to the unsaid, and express your willingness to offer help if needed. | Listen to pains from colleagues and customers and offer solutionsStop emails and phone calls if someone calls for your adviceGive full attention when talking to your colleagues or customersNot all people are comfortable talking about their problems, so dig deep within the soles and look for faces that need help. | Remember to work hard on setting the stage by choosing the right attitude! Just finished reading â€Å"FISH Philosophy† the book and so great it was. It’s a tiny book (two hours of focused read would do) that talks about how to transform your work place (or even your life) into a fun place to enjoy and be excited to come to again and again. I don’t want to talk about the great story in the book, and the details of how a fish market ignited the idea – hence the name FISH – for a manager to transform her workplace, as I want to encourage you to get it and read it. The philosophy is simple, and goes by applying four ingredients that will turn the place from stress and dullness into relax and fun. The ingredients of FISH philosophy are as follows: 1. Choose your attitude 2. Play 3. Make their day 4. Be there Ingredient 1 – Choose your attitude: This is the platform to build upon, and the core concept that everything else depends on. You have the freedom of choice of your attitude: an optimistic and happy attitude, or a pessimistic and sad one. Choose to be happy, smiling, easy going, ignorant of mistakes, and you’ll discover how beautiful and shining you and your place would be. On the other hand, choose to be angry, frowning, hard-headed, picky on mistakes, isolated, and you’ll discover how miserable your day would be! â€Å"Choose your attitude† is the hardest ingredients, but sets the stage for all other ingredients to happen. So work on your attitude, and work on it now. Ingredient 2 – Play: Have fun, even if you have lot’s to do with deadlines nearing, and don’t seem to have enough in your schedule. All that stress come from the fact that you prevent yourself from enjoying what you do. Make it a playful project, an enjoyable study, an easy shopping, a fun meeting, etc. If you cannot enjoy what you do, then try to have some pleasant moments between the heavy tasks you work on. Engage with colleagues or family to create a play yard out of your place. Ingredient 3 – Make their day: By having fun yourself, work on extending that to others who surround you. Make their day by expressing how you’re grateful to have them, or by cheering them up. Get them out of their misery by offering advice and help. You cannot imagine how cheerful you would be when giving a hand to someone. Ingredient 4 – Be there: Be present to your family, customers, colleagues, and people by giving full attention to who calls for you to advice or help. Don’t be ignorant to those calls†¦ get to answer them on the spot, or at least dedicate some time to connect with those you care about to listen to. Ignoring a call for help from your wife, your son, a colleague, or a customer could yield to disappointments and sometimes problems that you could’ve avoided earlier. Applying FISH to your life: I actually believe in the importance of these ingredients to have better place whether at home or at work, and below are some ideas I’m thinking of to practice those in my life (both at home and at work): Ideas| At Home| At Work| Choose your attitude| Be happy, smiling, and open-minded, soft, easy going, ignorant to small acts or mistakes. Spell out the good thoughts, and ignore the bad ones. Say hi or salam to everyone you face! | Play| Educate by fun, and stop yelling. Make the shopping a learning experience for your child where he or she looks for the stuff and picks them up. Enjoy home fixes. Watch cartoons with your child while commenting. | Start your meetings with fun or jokesPost some funny pictures or comics to your desk, or common placesHave a board so employees can post some jokesHave a gaming console and work on a gaming competition| Make their day| Compliments, Compliments, Compliments. Bring your wife some flowers. Invite the family to a day out (I really mean the invite here, and not like †¦ we’re bored, let’s go out). Bring your child something he or she likes (candy for instance). | Compliment the work and attitude of your colleagues. Engage with customers and pinpoint their pains and offer solutions with what they already have. Avoid bad news, and be a passenger of the good ones! | Be there| Listen to your wife and don’t offer solutions, just listen (we all can hear, you need to listen! ). Have a conversation with your child on school or how others deal with him. Listen to the unsaid, and express your willingness to offer help if needed. | Listen to pains from colleagues and customers and offer solutionsStop emails and phone calls if someone calls for your adviceGive full attention when talking to your colleagues or customersNot all people are comfortable talking about their problems, so dig deep within the soles and look for faces that need help. | Remember to work hard on setting the stage by choosing the right attitude!

Is Debt Relief Possible to Poor Countries Article

Is Debt Relief Possible to Poor Countries - Article Example I will present the article from Stanford University done by Marguerite Religioso that goes to prove in her article†¦ that debt relief is possible only for some poor nations. She cited that the International Monetary fund has been continuing its efforts to come up with an instrument that would help the poor countries who are heavily indebted. Her theory of â€Å"Is debt relief a viable solution to worldwide poverty or a waste of time and money† has pros and cons which she cited in the article. To evaluate the rationality of arguments, the author cited the study done by Stanford graduate students Henry and Arslanalp who used the stock market as a reliable source of the economic indicator. The significant result of the study proved that the stock market of the countries that obtained debt relief from the Brady plan (named after the U. S. Government Treasurer) showed 60% appreciation in 1989 to 1995 in real dollar terms even before debt relief was formally accepted. This is t he period that debt relief is being studied for implementation in sixteen countries identified in Brady Plan. The study confirmed Henry’s theory that the behavior of the stock market is an accurate predictor of economic movement/ Henry says, â€Å"within a year of each country’s Brady agreement, foreign capital began flowing back in, and robust economic growth resumed† that only goes to show debt relief is beneficial. Religiose referred to the study of Henry that explains a debt relief situation that is usually happening when a country suffers temporary difficulty of debt servicing. Its creditors get to be apprehensive and quickly collect their loans all at once. Since no one could be paid at all, a complete economic standstill occurs. When some of the debts are relieved, new funds will come to stimulate growth and investment. While the basic objective of debt relief is supposed to be applied to all poor countries, Regiglioso reported that debt relief doesn†™t work for the poorest of the poor.  

What were the most important successes and failures in Catherine the Essay

What were the most important successes and failures in Catherine the Greats foreign policy - Essay Example Catherine II was one of these heroes. Born in 1729, she faced various challenges, which propelled to her, to pursue various aspirations. She got acknowledgment from her father due to her bright abilities such, as reading and being able to remember the ideas taught. As a qualification, she received formal education after, which she got married to the Grand Duke Peter of Holstein, an heir of Russian throne. This is because during the time women faced negativity to gain education with only few allowed. Catherine was successful in her foreign policies particularly the friendly relations with Prussia. (Madareaga 1998, pp. 44). It is in this regards that the paper attempts to analyze various achievements and failures Catherine demonstrated and experienced in the process of applying her foreign policy. Catherine the great reigned from 1762 to 1996 and during the period, her foreign policies made various changes to both Russia and other countries. Her reputation, which did not only make her earn the name, â€Å"enlightened despot† also made get the name of the, â€Å"great†.... This becomes one of Catherine’s most achievements in the application of foreign trade policies. Consequently, she was able to conduct two Turkish wars with the help of able diplomats and generals (Donnels 1997, pp. 79). This was a considerable considering her feminine nature as well as the economic depression the country faced by the time. Another foreign policy employed by Catherine was in Poland in conjunction with Austria and Prusia. During the time, of her ruling Poland lay midst of the three powers. The country suffered from many problems in the 18thcentury mainly connected to poor leadership. This is because they had an elected king rather than a hereditary king, which caused fractious nobility of the population. In addition, the country developed multinational and multi-confessional masses dividing the population into various groups that one could conquer easily. Settling on the weaknesses, Catherine employed her foreign policy teaming up with other stakeholders to cont rol a third of Poland’s population. She got this extraordinary achievement during the time by conquering Poland. Despite a constitution, arising which protected Poland as a state she did not relent dividing Poland out of existence in 1793 and 1791 (Madareaga 1998, pp. 24). When the Turks declared war on Russia, 25 September/6 October 1768, the Russian envoy refused to remove Russian troops from Poland and got locked in the Castle of the Seven Towers. Thus, Catherine’s policy in Poland led to a civil war that irritated was with Ottoman Turkey. Though Catherina articulated her surprise at the Turkish pronouncement of war, she was eager for soldierly glory against what she painstaking a feeble rival. In July

The decline of tradition of holistic approach to culture in Coursework

The decline of tradition of holistic approach to culture in anthropology - Coursework Example social as well as the political processes to anthropology has had adopted a more scientific approach in their analysis leading to the decline of traditional holistic approaches. The emergence of a different view of culture and culture politics has resulted into a different view of how anthropologists regard holistic culture in their interpretation of key concepts and dimensions. The quest to verify all cultural attributes has led to anthropologist consideration of only specific trends in culture instead of adopting the entire culture of the people being studied. Cultural politics considers political ramifications of all cultures across a number of artistic and academic disciplines such as anthropology. Politics has all along relied heavily on culture to offer explanations for some of the actions of key politicians and general political conduct in the society. However the emergence of academic disciplines such as political science has led to the decline of tradition holistic approach to

NUTRITION RELATED DISEASE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

NUTRITION RELATED DISEASE - Assignment Example The former, is mostly concerned with nutritional value of food and how dietary imbalance can lead to diseases, while the latter is concerned with the effects of ingesting contaminated food. While nutrition related diseases are caused by the inadequate or excessive uptake of nutrients, food borne illnesses are caused by consuming food contaminated by pathogens or poisonous substances (DeBruyne, Whitney & Pinna, 2008). The consumption of food and beverages contaminated by pathogens or harmful substances such as chemicals often leads to food borne illnesses. There are numerous types of food borne illnesses depending on the causative factors, and therefore, the symptoms of food borne infections vary. According to the CDC (2012) an estimated 48 million people in the United States are infected with food borne illnesses every year, with approximately 130, 000 being hospitalized and 3,000 dying. Raw foods, sea foods, animal products, fruits and vegetables are among the most likely foods to contain pathogens that can lead to food borne illnesses. Therefore, to reduce the risk of contaminants, individuals should clean their hands and surfaces before handling food, prevent cross-contamination, cook foods to the recommended temperatures, and chill cold food (Sizer & Whitney, 2014). According to Sizer & Whitney (2014) the possibility of food additives being carcinogenic is highly unlikely since the United States government does not approve such additives. Similarly, although accidental entry of contaminants in food is possible, such foods are monitored to ensure that such contaminants are not capable of risking the health of consumers, thus ensuring food safety. Food borne illnesses can be acquired from different sources, where pathogens have the opportunity to come into contact with food, thus causing contamination. The intestines of most animals contain harmful microbes and when these microbes

Saint Thomas Aquinas and his influence on Western thought Research Paper

Saint Thomas Aquinas and his influence on Western thought - Research Paper Example Aquino has been considered by many as one of the major pillars of civilization in the west. His philosophy exerted much influence not only on the successive Christian theology, but also the philosophy of the west in general. One could only conclude that Aquino’s existence was needed at this time when Catholic politics and the events in the world needed great intervention (Aquinas and Regan 73). At this time, a decision was made in Vatican apprehensively where Aquinas was assigned the task of merging formally Christianity with carnal reason. Aquino was born in Roccasecca Sicily in a noble family of Mr. Count Landulph and Mrs. Theodora (Aquinas and Regan 22). There were expectations that Aquino would pursue his uncle’s (Sinibald) footsteps to the position of abbot in the Benedictine monastery. He started his education at five years of age in a monastery, and the later proceeded to Naples University. While in this university, Aquinas chose to pursue the Dominican Order, de spite the fact that he faced much opposition from his family. The family even went to an extent of incarcerating him in trying to compel him to follow the family footsteps. However, their efforts failed following Pope Innocent the 4th’s intervention, propelling Aquino to the position of a Dominican monk by 1242. He later studied briefly under Magnus A., then later in Paris. While in Paris he vocally distinguished himself during the University champion Guillaume de St. Amour (Aquinas and Gilby 137). After his graduation from the university in 1248 with a degree in theology, he got back to Cologne and started his literary works. Aquino was described as a humble, peace-loving and simple man who loved poetry. Aquinas and Regan (63) assert that through his great learning and personality, he maintained a great deal of self control which saw him win over his rivals. He even refused to take part in an activity known as flesh mortification, a requirement for every Dominican Friar. Fur thermore, he also declined to hold some prestigious positions such as Naples’ Archbishop. He later went back to Naples with the aim of implementing a program of theological studies in the Naples University neighborhood in 1272. During St. Nicolas feast in 1273, Aquino had a vision in which he had a voice speaking to congratulating him for his great writings. The voice asked him for the reward that he wished to be given and Thomas said all that he needed was God himself (Aquinas and Regan 92). From there henceforth Aquino wrote no more. Earlier on, the Paris Bishop had condemned Aristotle’s teachings which were offered in the university, which also aimed at Aquino’s teachings. Gilby and Aquinas (15) explains that later in early 1274, Aquino left for France on a Second Council mission, but died before reaching there after falling sick shortly. On sensing his death, Aquino said that, that was his eternal rest and he had chosen it. St. Thomas Aquinas left back great works that can never be forgotten. His works were first condemned after his death by the Paris Bishop and there was an excommunication of Aquinas in posthumously. It took quite a number of years for his reputation to be revived; in the mid 15th century, his works were revived and taught throughout Paris, and at this time he was termed as the Dr. of the church (Aquinas, Regan and Baumgarth 140). In the contemporary societies, he is recognized by the Catholic Church in particular as the grand theologian philosopher. His works and their influence on Western

Anzaldua and Kingstons Feminist empowerment Essay

Anzaldua and Kingstons Feminist empowerment - Essay Example Largely, a call for feminism marks the initiation of a long journey to empower women and to champion for their rights in a male dominated culture. Anzaldua and Kingston examine the topic of feminism in the context of â€Å"Borderland: La Frontera: The New Mestiza† and â€Å"Woman warrior: China Men† and ending to occupy strong empowering position in the post-colonial male dominated society. The works of both authors also traces the journey of women struggles for empowerment in a larger historical structure. Quite strongly, the works of both authors emerge to represent a defensive and generative debate that aims at countering women oppression of their cultures by providing a strong feminist voice of empowerment in a patriarchal society. â€Å"White Tigers† in the Woman Warrior brings to life the struggles of a woman warrior in the context of male dominated culture. In writing this chapter, Kingston is inspired by traditional myth exploring a woman’s struggl e in a patriarchal culture. Kingston creates Fa Mu Lan to defy traditional Chinese customs concerning the role of women in her society. In a precise manner, Kingston presents a traditional Chinese society that expects its women to merely be at the point of taking up already determined ideas and not being able to determine by their own ability what is best for them. Kingston creates a woman who goes beyond this traditional cultural limitation who can take up traditional roles that are largely perceived to be male dominated. Fa Mu Lan ties up her hair and being able to command a unit of army fighting under her. Kingston uses these acts cement the ability of a contemporary woman taking up the perceived male roles. The feminism that Kingston promotes is a complex one. Her creation of a feminist is one who is able to balance male roles and female traditional roles. This exemplifies a woman’s ability to function both in doing male roles and female roles. The ability to give birth a nd take it enables her to function as both a mother and a wife. By creating a woman who can double task the role of a woman and a wife, Kingston presents a strong feminist voice in Fa Mu Lan representing how feminist voices can go beyond the limits of time and liberty, but also past the rigidity of customs that the society sets for women. (Kingston) While Kingston works can be largely perceived as a strong opposition towards the oppression of women in the society, her writing can also be understood not just as a tool for attacking or competing for traditional male roles. Equally, their works look at the position of women in the society and a strong voice that creates an alternative platform for women empowerment in the contemporary society. As the novel opens, Fa Mu Lan’s mother tells her daughter of the great stories of historical woman who have made it as swordsmen and shamans. At the same time, her mother is represented as a doctor who has accomplished her training in the male dominated society. These representations, however, do not exclusively aim at subordinating the societal concept of patriarchy nor to disprove its existence but rather to enable women have ways to give these women a voice of existing and empowering themselves in the patriarchal context. At the same time, Anzaldua creates a woman being who has to transcend the limitations set upon her by her culture and her customs to live beyond the â€Å"Borderlands† experience she finds herself into. While an Anzaldua’s piece is largely considered a generative story with appropriateness within different cultures, Kingston is more of a defensive essay detailing a woman’s refusal to be limited by her male society and chooses to rise above the occasion in defining her true

SUPPLY CHANGE Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SUPPLY CHANGE - Assignment Example Supply chain management refers to the logistics involved in managing the processes involved in availing goods from the producer to the end user. It involves efficient management of resources such as time, labor and finance to ensure that goods reach the end user (Hugos 4). Supply chain management is important for top management as it allows an organization to distribute resources in the best way possible to ensure an organization achieves its goals. It helps an organization to structure policies that will ensure that the supply chain endeavors are achieved. Supply chain management involves designing, planning, execution and monitoring supply chain activities to create value on goods that reach the consumers. Supply chain integration is difficult in the global supply chain because of various challenges, which range from cultural, technological, political cultural and logistic differences. The global supply chain is hindered by these differences because they will affect how good reach the consumers since different countries will have different rules that govern the supply chain. This means that a customers request may not be fulfilled due to the differences hence making global supply chain management

Writing 100 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing 100 - Essay Example Modics analyzes arguments from different witnesses, which support the fact that the deceased woman was a smoker. Raynor’s appellate lawyers, Maureen McBride and James Sargent Jr., immediately filed an emergency appeal with the Superior Court. Their appeal indicated that they had new evidence from Joe Chapman. Chapman, a witness in court, argues that he eavesdropped Raynor telling DR. John Kelly, who was the expert witness, that the court judge (Paul Panepinto) had completely banned the mention of the woman who was in trial as a smoker. However, Kelly indicates in this article that he decided to come forward after learning about Raynor’s predicament in the inquirer. The author indicates that Chapman came forward after obtaining information from the inquirer, which indicated the sanctions that were imposed on Raynor. Joseph Chapman, supports the argument that Wilson was a smoker by indicating that he overheard Raynor talk about smoking to the doctor. Per curiam of the superior court indicated that the judges considered Chapman’s testimony. Panepinto accused Raynor of manipulating the testimony indicating that Raynor had changed her whole story. Plaintff’s lawyer, Mathew D’Annuzo, questioned the extended periods taken by Chapman to testify. He argued that two years was a very long time. D’Anozo supports this argument by indicating that he had noted the presence of Chapman in the court room. This happened when Kelly testified that Raynor was a smoker. Dr. John Kelly also supports the argument that the deceased woman was a smoker by indicating that she went to hospital complaining of short breath. The physicians conducted X-ray that showed a suspicious nodule. The doctors, however, failed to inform her about the nodule. The woman later died of Lung cancer. As a result of this, the author indicates that Panepinto banned any testimony that would be requested by Plaintiffs’ lawyers. Panepinto believed that the testimonies would divert the attention of

Childhood Obesity Essay Example for Free

Childhood Obesity Essay Obesity is such a hot topic in America today and childhood obesity and the ethical arguments over obesity has greatly increased over the last 10 years. Health problems that occur from this deadly disease is something that no one wants to talk about. When people think about health, what usually is discussed is cancer or heart disease. Not many people really think about one of the biggest issues out there that is really not taken very seriously and that is obesity. In America there are hundreds of thousands of children that are overweight. Obesity is a disease, a disease associated with many other health issues, including congestive heart problems, diabetes among other physical and mental complications associated with this disease. We will discuss throughout this paper how one of the classical theories would help resolve the problems that are associated with the dangers of childhood obesity, then discuss the perspective of society and how it relates to relativism in todays world. There are many arguments about how childhood obesity starts, whos to blame for allowing this to happen and societies ethical and moral obligation associated with fixing the problem. Who or what is to blame for the increasing levels of childhood obesity? Some believe it is the parents themselves; others accuse the food industry and government. One fact cannot go unchallenged and that is the longer this disease is allowed to grow and is not brought under CHILDHOOD OBESITY 3 control, the higher the percentage of childhood obesity will increase and the effects and diseases will become an even greater risk to kids. It is important to recognize childhood obesity as a disease condition and the role that is played in aggravating the development of other diseases (Barton, 2012). There are numerous health issues that will happen to our children now, and as they reach adulthood if we do not act now to help prevent these ramifications from happening. Childhood obesity is associated with an increase for other diseases not only during childhood but as the youth become adolescent and then into adulthood. â€Å"Obesity in childhood causes a wide range of serious complications, and increases the risk of premature illness and death later in life†. (Strauss, RS, 1999) Obesity in children if left neglected, will increase the risk of developing chronic adult diseases. There are substantial risk for obese children even before they reach adulthood. Of equal concern is that obese children could become obese adults. (Papoutsakis, 2007) Childhood obesity not only affects todays generation but will also affect tomorrows adulthood. Obesity in children has become a major ethical and moral challenge for todays society and is now threatening to become a disease with multiple health risk for today as well as beyond. Obesity is a disease, a disease that if not taken seriously may have health ramifications for years to come. The problem with childhood obesity is not just the weight issue but the other diseases associated with the neglect of this disease. Understanding and working CHILDHOOD OBESITY 4 towards solutions will only improve the chances of solving this disease and all other diseases associated with childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma and other breathing issues, and heart disease on the physical side of this disease. On the mental side, childhood obesity can be associated to depression, low self esteem, and learning problems are associated with childhood obesity. Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, which previously affected only adults, have begun to show up in with increasing frequency in youths in recent years. The primary cause is the growing number of overweight and obese children. (CDC,2011) As the number of childrens weight have increased their cholesterol levels have also increased, adding for concern of cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure. Childhood obesity is also linked to depression in youth as well as young adults. Obese children face ridicule and teasing from other students in school as well as a decrease in friends. This leads to isolation and depression which could lead to low self-esteem into adulthood. Obese children are sometimes withdrawn in the classroom which diminishes their learning ability and social skills development which affects social interaction in adulthood. What causes childhood obesity? Obesity in childhood is influenced by social and family matters as well as their DNA and activity level through out the day. Childhood obesity is the result of eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity.2 (CDC, 2011) In todays society, most children spend most of their day playing video games or sitting around CHILDHOOD OBESITY 5 watching television. â€Å"It has been estimated that roughly 60-92% of children play computer games daily†. (Papoutsakis, 2007) With the staggering number of television viewing, the role of food advertisers must be addressed as one of the causes of obesity. â€Å"Nearly half of U.S. middle schools allow advertising of less healthy foods, which impact students decision making of healthy food choices†. (CDC, 2011) Portion control has also changed for kids in the last five years. â€Å" Portion sizes of less healthy foods and beverages have increased over time in restaurants, grocery stores, and vending machines. Research shows that children eat more without realizing it if they are served larger portions. This can mean they are consuming a lot of extra calories, especially when eating high-calorie foods.† (CDC , 2011) Another factor that is affecting obesity is children is the fact that most families in todays world are way to busy to enjoy a meal at home and spend more time eating out on fast food. In summation, in todays world, kids are not exercising like they should and are eating the wrong type of food as well as eating more to satisfy their appetites. Television and video game playing is a contributing factor because it takes away time that is needed to exercise and influences kids to make unhealthy and irrational choices concerning food consumption based on food advertisements. By not confronting childhood obesity, we are not facing the challenges associated with this disease. It is not a matter of who is to blame for childhood obesity, we all know that this disease is very prevalent in children today. â€Å" Obesity now affects 17% of all children and adolescents in the United States – triple the rate of a generation ago† (CDC, 2011). The numbers are staggering and the health ramifications associated with this disease cannot be discounted. The CHILDHOOD OBESITY6 preliminary findings are disturbing with regards to the disease and consequences of not finding solutions to fight this disease. Obesity is a worldwide epidemic that is causing life threatening diseases. Obesity has become a serious health issue and causes 2.6 billion deaths each year. (Raj, Kumar, 2010, p.598) The threat of of this disease cannot be discounted and must be addressed before its too late for this generation. There are many different ways to combat obesity in children. There must be a plan in place for it to be successful. The plan must include changing the eating habits of todays youth. Children must eat planned out meals, eating meals as a family instead of eating out on the run. Limiting the amount of snacking throughout the course of the day, knowing what the children are eating when they are in school. Controlling the portions or the amount of food that is consumed and increasing the physical activity. Putting a plan in place will help manage and hopefully decrease the chance of childhood obesity in todays youth. Executing the plan and trying to resolve the problems associated with this disease is high on the political, public health and research agenda. However, programs to prevent overweight and obesity are susceptible to various ethical shortcomings and need assistance for a successful remedy to eh problem of childhood obesity. One classical therory that should help with the success to combact obesity is deontology. CHILDHOOD OBESITY7 Deontology theroy is to make the correct moral choices, we have to understand what our moral duties are and what correct rules exist to regulate those duties. When we follow our duty, we are behaving morally. When we fail to follow our duty, we are behaving immorally and this is where we have to step in and take moral actions to reduce and prevent childhood obesity. A common criticism of deontological moral systems is that they provide no clear way to resolve conflicts between moral duties. a deontological moral system should include both a moral duty not to lie and one to keep others from harm so we can see why this theory best fits with childhood obesity, although it is our duty to help and support there really is not a clear way to resolve the problem relating to this terrible disease that affects million of children each and every year. In conclusion, childhood obesity has risen to significant levels nationally with serious health consequences. In addition to diabetes, heart complications, emotional, and social issues, this disease poses a serious hazard to the health care of America. Unless this disease is taken seriously, the implications of this disease of future generations will be devastating and might be unrecoverable. CHILDHOOD OBESITY8 References Barton, M. (2012). Childhood obesity: A life-long health risk. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica, 33(2), 189-93. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/aps.2011.204 Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Childhood Overweight and Obesity, 2011. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/index.html Manu Raj and R. Krishna Kumar (2010), Obesity in Children and Adolescents. Indian J Med Res. 2010 November; 132(5): 598–607 Papoutsakis, C. (2007). Genediet interactions in childhood obesity: Paucity of evidence as the epidemic of childhood obesity continues to rise. Personalized Medicine, 4(2), 133-146. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/17410541.4.2.133 Reilly, J. J. (2007), Childhood Obesity: An Overview. Children Society, 21: 390–396 Strauss RS. Risks and consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity. Int J Obesity 1999; 23 (suppl): S2–11.

Personal Development: Strategic Manager

Personal Development: Strategic Manager Introduction The concept of personal development covers a wider field than self-development or self-help. Personal development also includes developing others. This may be a function within the role of teacher or mentor, a personal competency (such as a managers ability to develop the potential of employees), or as a professional service (such as providing training, assessment or coaching). Strategic development in many organizations is viewed as a process for determining where an organization is going over the next year or more -typically 3 to 5 years, although some extend their vision to 20 years. In order to determine where it is going, the organization needs to know exactly where it stands, then determine where it wants to go and how it will get there. The resulting document is called the strategic plan. It is also true that strategic planning may be a tool for effectively plotting the direction of a company; however, strategic planning itself cannot foretell exactly how the market will evolve and what issues will surface in the coming days in order to plan your organizational strategy. Therefore, strategic innovation and tinkering with the strategic plan have to be a cornerstone strategy for an organization to survive the turbulent business climate. This assignment covers the personal development plan as a manager in TESCO organization. The study focuses on the personal development as a strategic manager. Here several issues such as identification of personal skills, ability to manage personal leadership development, evaluation of effectiveness of leadership development program and the ability to develop healthy and safe environment are studied. 1. Identification of Personal Skills Personal development plays an important role in propelling the company towards its strategic direction. This development is not only required during the implementation stage but also in the formulation stage. Strategic direction of the organisation Strategic direction is an organizations process of defining its strategy, or planning, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats ) and PEST analysis(Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis) or STEER analysis (Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors) and EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatics, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal) Strategic planning is the formal consideration of an organizations future course. All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions; What do we do? For whom do we do it? How do we excel? In many organizations, this is viewed as a process for determining where an organization is going over the next year or more -typically 3 to 5 years, although some extend their vision to 20 years. In order to determine where it is going, the organization needs to know exactly where it stands, then determine where it wants to go and how it will get there. The resulting document is called the strategic plan. It is also true that strategic planning may be a tool for effectively plotting the direction of a company; however, strategic planning itself cannot foretell exactly how the market will evolve and what issues will surface in the coming days in order to plan your organizational strategy. Therefore, strategic innovation and tinkering with the strategic plan have to be a cornerstone strategy for an organization to survive the turbulent business climate. Organizations sometimes set the direction by summarizing goals and objectives into a mission statement and/or a vision statement: A Mission statement tells you the fundamental purpose of the organization. It concentrates on the present. It defines the customer and the critical processes. It informs you of the desired level of performance. A Vision statement outlines what the organization wants to be. It concentrates on the future. It is a source of inspiration. It provides clear decision-making criteria. Strategic skills required of the leader to achieve the strategic ambitions The leaders possessed certain degree of management skills inculcated during their years of experience in business. But leadership is beyond just management skills. The leaders prepare organizations for change and help them cope as they struggle through it. While management is about coping with complexity, leadership is coping with change While Managing comprises planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling and problem solving, Leadership comprises setting a direction, developing a vision of the future and aligning motivating and inspiring people (Kotter. 2001) Strategic skill is the ability to make excellent strategic decisions, and implement them effectively is one of the most significant leadership skills. Here are five strategic skills we can use to stretch and strengthen our organisation. The following diagram defines the strategic skills required of the leader to achieve the strategic ambitions; 1. Use scenario planning First, identify the variables that create the highest risks and opportunities for your company. Then imagine the extremes positive and negative that could happen for each of these critical variables. Next, push your imagination further. Envision much more positive and much more negative circumstances than originally came to mind for each critical variable. Now, having stretched your sense of what might happen by envisioning extreme alternatives, choose a few scenarios that you think are most likely to happen. Then, choose the most likely scenario. You may find it valuable to gather data to help you hone and verify your instincts about your choice. Finally, consider what actions you would take for the scenario you think is most likely. Also consider actions youd need to take if some of the other also-likely scenarios happened, rather than the one on which youre placing your bets. 2. Design for the solution after this one The strategy you choose now, and the actions you take, as a result, will affect the future. That could prevent or solve future problems, and it could also create other problems. To minimize the negative impacts of the strategy you choose, imagine when your company may need to choose its next strategic direction, whether in 5, 10 or more years. Envision your strategic choices now fitting into the choices that must be made then. See if that perspective changes the strategic choices you planned to make now. 3. Learn and practice games of strategy This idea doesnt need a lot of elaboration. Learn and practice leads to experience of the managers. This alternatively helps in improving the personal skills of manager. 4. Learn from the masters Choose a few people who are or were legendary for their strategic abilities, whether in your field or another one. Read about them, watch documentaries and learn from other resources about their work, thought process and achievements. What did they do that enabled them to be so successful and strategic in the way they worked? Find ways to apply what you learned to your own work and strategic challenges. 5. Create the time and space so you can think strategically A big part of strategic success is carving out the time and space so your strategic skills can be tapped. You must get away from the day-to-day to be able to fully see the big picture, to anticipate issues well before they become problems, and to recognize great opportunities and how you can make the most of them. Create the time and space regularly so that strategy and strategic skills can emerge, be implemented, and improve, as needed, as you move ahead. Relationship between existing, required and future skills to achieve the strategic ambitions The owners had the operational skills to certain extent. But the required skills were more of leadership. If the vision is set, the skills required for meeting the vision are the future skills to achieve strategic ambitions. While management is about coping with complexity, leadership is coping with change. The important skill in leadership is setting the direction through the inductive process of gathering broad range of data and looking for patterns, relationships and linkages. This direction setting will result in vision and strategies. The leaders should ensure alignment of the team with vision through communication. Alignment will lead to empowerment and goal congruence. Good leaders should coach, provide feedback and role models. They should recognize and reward success. Leadership hinges on strong networks of informal relationships. They should create a culture of leadership by recruitment of people with potential and managing their career patterns (Kotter, 2001). According to Daniel Goleman emotional intelligence would be the most important ingredient for a leader. When the he calculated the ratio of technical skills, IQ and emotional intelligence as ingredients of excellent performance, emotional intelligence proved to be twice as important as the others for jobs at all levels. This had direct link to performance. His research further showed that emotional intelligence played an increasingly important role at the highest levels of the company. There was also a close link between companys success and the emotional intelligence of its leaders. Therefore, the company in order to prosper in future should focus on developing emotional intelligence amongst top echelons in the company. Personal leadership development to support achievement of strategic ambitions The organizations are supplied with opportunities to support leadership development. The opportunities can be categorized into hardships, challenging assignments, learning from others and other events. Leadership lessons are obtained most during hardships and challenging assignments. Leadership development refers to any activity that enhances the quality of leadership within an individual or organization. Anybody can become a member of management if they know the right people and say the right things at the right time. But not everybody can be a leader. A manager or boss is somebody with a certain organizational title that heads or oversees a select group of employees. A leader, on the other hand, is somebody with that same title who commands and receives respect from the employees he or she oversees. What is that difference and how can you make that transition from manager to leader? The opportunities to support leadership development There are many different sources of information and advice to help the managers to improve the leadership and management skills in the organization of TESCO. The most appropriate will depend on the managers individual needs. Following opportunities and supports are available to managers for the personal development plan. These are; Train to Gain: Leadership and Management Advisory Service This innovative Leadership and Management programme will help to equip the managers with the skills to become a more effective leader. A leadership and management broker will help managers to diagnose their skills needs and those of their management team and put together individual development plans. They will offer bespoke guidance on how to consolidate existing skills and improve in areas that will fast track personal development and ultimately boost the performance and competitiveness of their business. LEAD LEAD is a 10 month leadership programme designed specifically for owner-managers of businesses with less than 20 employees. It has a proven track record in delivering business growth for its delegates 90% of businesses that have attended LEAD over the last 4 years have reported a significant increase in sales turnover as a result of attending the programme. The programme works by taking a very practical approach to both the development of the business and to the personal development of the owner-manager. LEAD tackles practical issues that owner-managers are facing in running their business rather than focusing on theoretical concepts and as a result has a direct impact on the growth of delegates businesses. High Growth Coaching Programme The High Growth programme is a three year business coaching initiative aimed at high growth businesses and entrepreneurs. It will support budding entrepreneurs with ideas that can achieve a turnover of  £500,000 within three years, and established small and medium sized enterprises with ambition and capacity to expand by at least 20 per cent a year. The Mentoring Programme Mentoring for Northwest Businesses offers business owners, leaders and managers the chance to develop and fully realise their potential through a long term mentoring relationship. Networking This is another important type of skill development for business owners and directors. A wide variety of business networks exists including those for new businesses, young owners and women owners. These allow employees to learn from people running similar businesses and facing similar obstacles. Professional bodies All the following professional bodies offer leadership and management development courses and opportunities: Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is the only chartered professional body that is dedicated to management and leadership. It is committed to raising the performance of businesses of all sizes by championing management. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is the professional body for those involved in the management and development of people. Construction of personal development plan to direct leadership development The Personal Development Plan would focus on two facets of leadership development. The first is the managerial aspect and the other is the leadership aspect. Though the traditional management model includes leadership under management, many management gurus have propounded theories which focus on leadership. The area of managing comprises Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling. These activities will enable the person to manage complexities. The most important aspect is that of leadership, which would demand tremendous amount of emotional intelligence. The managing encompasses the appreciation of process, seeks stability and control and instinctively tries to resolve problems far too quickly. Leadership, in contrast emphasizes on tolerance to chaos and lack of structure and willingness to delay closure in order to understand the issues more fully. Leadership inevitably requires using power to influence the thoughts and actions of other people. In terms of personality, manager i s a problem solver with emphasis on rationality and control. Leadership is a practical effort to direct affairs and to fulfill his or her task. In terms of attitude towards goals, Managers tend to adopt impersonal, if not passive, attitudes. In sharp contrast, the leaders are proactive in shaping the ideas instead of responding to them. They adopt a personal and active attitude towards goals. Implementation process for the development plan The implementation process would have a mechanism. This mechanism will not only lay down the program but also will ensure the employee to go through it. In the first phase, the candidate will go through the concepts of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. The development plan in the area of planning would cover the process of identifying and selecting appropriate organizational goals and courses of action. The development in the area of organizing would cover creation of a structure of working relationships that allow organizational members to interact and cooperate to achieve organizational goals. Leading would involve articulating a clear organizational vision for its members to accomplish, and energize and enable employees so that everyone understands the part they play in achieving organizational goals. Controlling is the task of managers is to evaluate how well an organization has achieved its goals and to take any corrective actions needed to maintain or improve performance. The outcome of the control process is the ability to measure performance accurately and regulate organizational efficiency and effectiveness. The development plan would then focus on enhancing the emotional intelligence of the candidate. The components of emotional intelligence are; Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skill. While all other skills are not normally appreciated, social skills gets recognition as a key skill for a leader. Emotional skills can be learnt through well structured training. The effectiveness of the leadership development plan Assessment of the achievement of outcomes of the plan against original objectives The original objectives were to develop the skill to plan, organize, lead and control. Further it was to enhance each component of the emotional intelligence. The outcomes were quantified in terms of the number of people exposed to the training period. These development programs would result in tangible improvement in performance parameters with a lag. Therefore outcomes were categorized into two categories; the outcomes and performance drivers. The performance drivers would result in outcomes. Assessment of only the outcomes will not help in ensuring the implementation. Since outcomes have already happened, there is no way to alter them. On the other hand monitoring of performance drivers would give valuable insights that would help in formulating mid-course corrections. Every year the number of man-hours of development in terms of each of the areas of development, which are Planning, Organizing, Leading and controlling is targeted. Similarly the number of people trained in emotional intelligence in areas of Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skill is recorded. Tests were conducted periodically to assess the progress. A 360 degree assessment by people from different functional areas is done continually and plotted to see the growth. Statistical methods are used to assess the spread and standard deviation among the candidates. The development program would be thought to be extended, if the candidate does not show improvement. The impact of the achievement of objectives on strategic ambitions The strategic ambitions are framed in the form of a vision statement. The statement of vision was The Company will be a global conglomerate with dominance in the chosen field of endeavor. In this context, the objectives of the company were: To be a market leader in each business pursued To be an ideal employer with attrition below 10% To be profitable company with margin on sales exceeding 15% To conform to ethical practices of business To ensure maximum return to shareholders with return on equity exceeding 15% To ensure the growth of business of over 20% per annum To ensure succession plan for every leadership position in the company To be proactive on environmental issues. The development of managerial skills and leadership skills are crucial for the fulfillment of objectives. Unless leaders were developed in each functional area, it would be impossible to achieve the objectives. By focusing on the implementation of objectives through proper strategies and also monitoring through a suitable mechanism, we can move fast towards the vision of the stakeholders. Review and update leadership development plan Research on the most admired companies reports that top organizations take aggressive, innovative approaches to improve leadership at all levels by focusing on the following: Disciplined leadership assessments and selection Intensive leadership development programs that address individual needs and the organizations strategic goals Values that emphasize the importance of people as well as financial results Leadership models that include such attributes as self confidence and self control, achievement orientation, empathy, and teamwork components of emotional intelligence The career paths and leadership is shown in the following diagram. The leadership development plan would be reviewed at every stage in the career path culminating in leadership. Periodic reviews take place every quarter. While technical competencies are inculcated till the middle management levels, the training in styles of leadership is provided as inputs after the middle managerial levels. The reviews would focus on the extent of technical competencies absorbed by the employee up to a certain stage. Later the emotional quotient of the individual is assessed to make sure whether the person is ready to don the leadership role. The emotional quotient is measured to see the improvement over a quarter. If no improvement is found, the curriculum of training is modified to make it more effective. Here the assessment of the candidate by people from different functional areas at various levels is considered to arrive at a measure of leadership capability. Promoting Healthy and Safe environment that supports a culture of quality Impact of Corporate and Individual health and safety responsibilities on the organization Corporate and Individual health and Safety is one of the most important ingredients of an organization. This is not an event but a process. It is being inculcated that safety is not just the corporate responsibility, but the responsibility of everyone in the organization. The promotion of this aspect demands substantial cooperation between employers and employees in initiating, developing and carrying out measures to enhance the health and safety of employees at work. All these form a part of the Corporate and Individual health and safety policy in the company. In order to ensure an accident free environment in the company, a mechanism needs to be instituted. This mechanism should monitor the safety practices within the company. The parameters that would be monitored are; number of accidents, absences due to injury and insurance premium. The routines would be developed to control hazards which would be in consonance with regulations and standards. An objective should be the promotion of co-operation between employers and employees in initiating, developing and carrying out measures to ensure the health and safety at work of employees. The accidents could be due to unsafe acts, omissions or unsafe conditions. The company should monitor with data on accidents, diseases, near misses and the trends. Analysis of this data would enable risk assessment and also redesign or reengineering of processes to make them safer Ways to promote healthy and safe environment in the work place At the outset, it is necessary to draw the attention of the employees to the importance of health and safety to the individual and the organization. Suitable posters and regular mails are necessary to keep alive the spirit of health and safety in the organization. There is a need to have a manual on safe and healthy practices integrated into System of operations. It is necessary to convene regular meetings to impress upon the employees and also to monitor the success of action plans to promote safety and health. A proper organizational setup for safety and health depending upon the size of the organization is a must. It must be headed by a safety officer. He may or may not have an elaborate setup. The top managements commitment should be communicated strongly with the CEO occasionally attending the safety meetings. The existing employees should be constantly reminded about the importance of health and safety. The new entrants to the company should be imparted training in safety and h ealth as a part of the induction program. Estimation of organization culture of quality on the achievement of strategic ambitions: There are four types of cultural orientations which represent different values about motivation, leadership and strategic orientation in organizations. But normally an organization reflects a combination of the four cultural orientations. These four cultural orientations do not exclude each other and the relative emphasis placed by the organization on the orientations varies. The group culture focuses on flexibility and internal integration. Organizations Emphasizing a group culture tend to value belongingness, trust and participation. The strategies used in these organizations concentrate on the development of human relations and member commitment. The leaders encourage teamwork, empowerment and concerns for employee ideas. The developmental culture emphasizes flexibility and external orientation. Organizations with emphasis on this cultural orientation tend to focus on growth, resource acquisition, creativity, and adaptation to the external environment. The strategies used to manage business include innovation, resource acquisition, and the development of new market. Leadership styles in such organizations are entrepreneur and innovator-type. The rational culture is focused on the external environment and control. Organizations with emphasis on a rational culture encourage competition and the successful achievement of well-defined goals. The strategies are oriented toward efficient planning and control of production to achieve competitive advantages and high productivity. The leaders tend to be directive, goal-oriented, and functional. The hierarchical culture emphasizes stability and internal integration. It stresses centralization and regulations. The strategies emphasize clear rules, close control, and routinization. The leaders are conservative and cautious. (Xingxing Zu et al, 2006) But in the company under study, the prevalent culture was hierarchical. In various studies by different researchers, it was found that group culture and development culture, two cultural orientations which emphasize flexibility and people in their underlying values, are commonly believed to be the ideal cultural orientations for implementing quality management programs. Conclusion Every organization has a vision or picture of what it desires for its future, whether foggy or crystal clear. The current mission of the organization or the purpose for its existence is also understood in general terms. The organization under study began as an apparel exporter and later diversified into various unrelated areas. These areas did not provide synergy to the existing businesses. Due to recession, all the businesses ran into losses. The leaders in the organization were found to be lacking strategic skills to meet the strategic ambitions. A leadership development program was launched with emphasis on twin areas of management and leadership. While Managing comprises planning, budgeting, organizing, staffing, controlling and problem solving, Leadership comprises setting a direction, developing a vision of the future and aligning motivating and inspiring people. The development plan would also focus on enhancing the emotional intelligence of the candidate. The components of emotional intelligence are; Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skill. While all other skills are not normally appreciated, social skills gets recognition as a key skill for a leader. Emotional skills can be learnt through well structured training. The organizations are replete with opportunities to support leadership development. The opportunities can be categorized into hardships, challenging assignments, learning from others and other events. In the midst of opportunities a personal development plan was formulated so also an implementation plans. This was also reviewed and updated. The evaluation was also done about the impact of corporate and individual health and safety and also on the support received by quality.