Difference Between Artificial Intelligence And Human...

Difference between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence In addressing the differences between AI and human intelligence, one must have a cogent and accurate definition of intelligence. By definition, there is no real difference between true AI and intelligence, as it is only intelligence that is ‘man-made’ and has the ‘ability to learn and change itself’ (Oxford, 2013). The major difference between AI and human intelligence is that human intelligence is the original form while AI is an attempt to improve or model it. As explained by multiple experts, ‘Human intelligence is the beginning while AI is the end.’ (TTC, 2014). Human intelligence is a natural form of nature and AI is an artificial form produced from the natural form/s of nature. Risks of AI: How can AI be dangerous? Over time, one interested in the global phenomenon known as AI has contemplated upon or have been told the possible dangers that AI carries. However are these assumptions realistic at all, or is this a mere stereotypical or fictitious thought overall? Despite, the ‘end of the world’ assumptions as exemplified by many of the sci-fi films on screens today, most researchers do agree that a superintelligent AI could deliver danger (theguardian, 2015). It is worth noting that AI is unlikely to exhibit human qualities such as emotions, hence, there should be no reason to expect AI to possibly be capable of becoming intentionally benevolent or malevolent. However, experts have come to conclusion onShow MoreRelatedA Revolution Is A Dramatic And Wide Reaching Change1582 Words   |  7 Pagesand now Nick Bostrom explores in his book, Superintelligence, how life would advance with a fourth one, a transhuman revolution. 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Many people approach the prospect of artificial intelligence with fear and caution but for intrepid computer scientists true artificial intelligence is the ultimate goal. People are reaching an ever more symbiotic relationship with computers and as the world moves forward the question must be posed: Will computer intelligence ever ec lipse ourRead MoreArtificial Intelligence Essay924 Words   |  4 Pagesthe Industrial Revolution, transforming our social, economic, and political institutions; our understanding of what it means to be human; and the distribution of power in the world. Some may argue that computer professionals have very little say in what technologies get designed and built. This seems to be mistaken on at least two counts. First, we can distinguish between computer professionals as individuals and computer professionals as a group. 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Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Goals

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are, eight goals put in place by the 191 UN states, the goals are set to be reached by the year 2015. Signed September of 2000, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2015, the United Millennium Declaration commits leaders of the world to combat literacy, hunger, environmental degradation, disease, and discrimination against women. Having specific targets and indicators, the MDGs are acquired from this Declaration. The eight goals are, to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty, achieve universal primary education, empower women and promote gender equality, lessen the deaths in children, improve the health of mothers, combat diseases for example HIV/AIDS and†¦show more content†¦The monitoring progress indicator for this would be, maternal mortality ratio and the number of births attended by a skilled healthcare person. o The second target is to have universal access to reproductive health by 2015. T he monitoring progress indicators for this target according to MDG Indicators 2008 are, the rate of contraceptive prevalence, the birth rates of adolescents, antenatal care coverage, and the need for family planning that is unmet. †¢ To Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases Targets and Monitoring Progress Indicator: o The first target is to have stopped and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. The monitoring progress indicators according to MDG Indicators 2008 are, the prevalence of HIV among those between the ages of 15-24, condom use, correct comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS for the population of those of the aged 15-24, the ratio of orphans to non-orphans attendance at school between the ages of 10-14. o The second target is universal access for all of those who need treatment for HIV/AIDS, to be achieved by 2010. The monitoring progress indicator for this is, access to antiretroviral drugs (MDG Indicators 2008). The antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS have increased between the years 2004-2009 (Vandemoortele 2011). o The

Human Resource Management Essay Free Essays

string(81) " goes on for the concluding interview if they are qualified \( Cathay Pacific n\." 1. 0INTRODUCTIONThe organisation that we have chosen is Cathay Pacific Airways. an air hose industry that was established in 1946 in Hong Kong by an American Roy Farrell and an Australian Sydney H de Kantzow ( Cathay Pacific n. We will write a custom essay sample on Human Resource Management Essay or any similar topic only for you Order Now d. a ) . The company has been named as â€Å"Best Airline in the World and Best Airline First Class in the 2012 Business Traveller China Awards† ( Cathay Pacific n. d. B ) . This shows that Cathay Pacific is the one company that has its nucleus competence in the development of universe category employees based on their enlisting and choice procedure that is important as a starting point for any accomplishments. Recruitment is fundamentally the procedure of placing and engaging the best-qualified campaigner internally or externally for occupation vacancies offered in an organisation ( Dessler 2013. p. 172 ) . Likewise. Cathay Pacific has emphasised on a few enlisting methods to ask for people that are interested to use for the occupation offered by them. However. choice is the procedure of choosing the most suited campaigner in order to make full certain occupation place by utilizing screening tools like trials. appraisal centres. etc that was besides practiced by Cathay Pacif ic ( Dessler 2013. p. 202 ) . Then. farther issues on the enlisting and choice procedure of Cathay Pacific are analysed as follow. 2. 0RECRUITMENTTypes of internal and external occupation placeThere are several types of internal occupation places in Cathay Pacific Airlines. Technical Instructor under the section of Flight Operations. Assistant Manager Communication Services / Editor under the section of Corporate Communication and Aircraft Mechanics ( Cathay Pacific n. d. degree Celsius ) . Besides. illustrations of the external occupation places are Flight Crew. Flight Attendant and Flight Simulator Instructor. Internal enlisting The types of internal enlisting are publicity where the 2nd officers must accomplish his or her mark ranking within four-and-a-half old ages to be promoted as the first officer ( Flight Global 2012 ) . Succession be aftering involves development and enlisting in make fulling up employer’s top place. As such. Cathay Pacific offers programmes like the Management Trainee Programme to fix campaigners to acquire promoted and for promotion in themore ambitious function ( Cathay Pacific n. d. degree Celsius ) . External enlisting The external enlisting methods of Cathay Pacific are fundamentally on-line recruiting. advertisement and alumnus programmes. Cathay Pacific uses on-line enlisting as it is considered the most effectual manner engage the best campaigner. As such. they have started utilizing their ain web site and occupation boards like The Pilot Career Centre ( The Pilot Career Centre 2012 ) and The Recruitment Place ( The Recruitment Place n. d. ) as occupation searchers may seek the company and occupation place handily by come ining keywords. read occupation description and other inside informations sing the company or occupations offered ( Pilot Career Centre 2012 ) . Examples of occupations offered on the cyberspace are Customer Service Officer. Flight Crew and Flight Attendants ( Cathay Pacific n. d. degree Celsius ) . The importance of online recruiting is due to convenience. truth and besides environmental friendly. their application signifier is known as Cathay Pacific Green Explorer Applicati on Form ( Cathay Pacific n. d. vitamin D ) . A job that might happen is internet overload where employers would stop up with deluged sketchs. In advertizement that was published in the local newspaper. occupations offered are Pilots. Flight Attendants and many more. Their basic demands are to hold an first-class bid of written and spoken English. be physically fit and measure up for a Class I Medical and run into flight deck range demands. Cathay Pacific will direct their recruits to Australia to undergo a to the full paid preparation upon credence. Then. if completion is successful. they will be based in Hong Kong ( Airlines Jobs 2012 ) . Cathay Pacific is looking for people with a echt involvement in aircraft and winging who will do good representatives of Cathay Pacific and have passionate about winging and have enthusiasm about air power ( Zavadszky 2012 ) . The alumnus programmes are entirely for those who have merely graduated or looking for new exciting occupations to prosecute. viz. there are Management Trainee. Engineering Trainee. Customer Services Officer. Cadet Pilot Programme and Flight Attendant ( Cathay Pacific n. d. degree Celsius ) . No working or winging experience needed. so long as they have completed secondary school. hold good base on ballss in maths and scientific discipline. and are technically appropriate. However. it is an advantage for those who have a grade or sheepskin. or base on ballss in pilot licence topics ( Zavadszky 2012 ) . The enlisting for 2nd officers take topographic point through three entry watercourses. and three different developing programmes which includes the Cadet Pilot Programme. that takes about 61 hebdomads for those with no or small experience in winging. It will be to the full funded in Adelaide. Australia. Cathay Pacific’s flight preparation Centre. Then. for those with winging experience are qualify for a 32-week advanced entry or a 14-week passage preparation ( Zavadszky 2012 ) . After became 2nd officers. they will work on Cathay Pacific’s fleet of Boeing 747-400. Boeing 777. and Airbus A340-300 and A330-300 aircraft. runing worldwide on long-haul paths. 3. 0SELECTIONChoice ProcedureAfter finishing the application signifier. campaigners have to confront some trials and interviews before they are accepted to work in Cathay Pacific. Basically. choice procedure of Pilot. Flight Attendant and Crew. and Officer Staff are about the same. Harmonizing to Cathay Pacific ( n. d. vitamin E ) . the first measure in choice procedure to be a pilot is to go through the first interview and some trials provided by Cathay Pacific ( refer to selection test portion ) . Then. the short-listed campaigners who have passed their interview and trials. they are invited to Hong Kong for the 2nd interview and a medical trial. The last phase of the choice procedure is really a preparation plan. Cadet Pilot Programme. held in Hong Kong. Similarly. for the 2nd officer choice procedure besides need campaigners to go to for the first interview where disbursals are non covered by the company so. the same procedure goes on for the concluding interview if they are qual ified ( Cathay Pacific n. You read "Human Resource Management Essay" in category "Essay examples" d. vitamin E ) . Harmonizing to flightdeckfriend. com ( n. d. ) . in Cathay Pacific. there will be two interviewers ; one is first or 2nd officer ( for officer interview ) and Captain ( for pilot interview ) . and a HR section staff. Furthermore. there will be many inquiries asked by the interviewers. Likewise. they will inquire about personal information. behaviours. motive to work in Cathay Pacific. and knowledge about the company ( flightdeckfriend. com n. d. ) . Besides. for the first or 2nd officer and pilot. they are often asked about general cognition inquiries related to air power or their occupation place and situational inquiries. Choice TrialsCampaigners have to go through some trials provided by Cathay Pacific before continuing to the 2nd interview and they are English trial. Technical cognition trial. Psychometric trial. Aptitude trial. Reasoning trial. and Medical trial after succeeded the 2nd interview ( flightdeckfriend. com n. d. ) . †¢English trial Harmonizing to wowpeter. com ( 2009 ) . after finishing the first interview. campaigners must besides finish the ICAO English trial ( English trial system for all Airlines Companies ) . They will be tested for grammar and hearing accomplishments for the English trial because it is the international linguistic communication and of import for communicating. Then merely campaigner will hold following trials. †¢Technical Knowledge trial Before appraisal. Cathay Pacific will supply Job Knowledge Index ( JKI ) to campaigners as the trial is based on that book ( flightdeckfriend. com n. d. ) . †¢Psychometric trialAll the air hoses company will prove the campaigner about this trial and the intent for this trial is to cognize about the personality and the unity of response of the campaigner. Cathay Pacific is looking for the campaigners who are able to multi-task. to analyse information. to do wise determinations. to work in squad. and have leading accomplishments ( flightdeckfriend. com n. d. ) . †¢Aptitude trial Cathay Pacific trial aptitude utilizing computerized system to prove coordination accomplishment. reaction clip. recall ability. orientation and mental capacity ( flightdeckfriend. com n. d. ) . †¢Reasoning trialLapp as aptitude trial. Cathay Pacific uses computerized system to prove concluding trial. Reasoning trial in here uses matrices to prove the logical ability of campaigners ( flightdeckfriend. com n. d. ) . †¢Medical trial After finishing all those trials. campaigners have to make medical check-up in Cathay Pacific. They normally check blood force per unit area. oculus trial. and ear trial. If the campaigners pass this medical trial. campaigners will go through the Class 1 Aircrew medical for the Hong Kong civil Aviation Department and they can continue to the 2nd interview ( wowpeter. com 2009 ) . 4. 0DIVERSE WORKFORCECathay Pacific strongly patterns and engages with diversified work force. Previously Cathay Pacific has 1. 577 employees and now it has about 20. 000 employees around the universe. of which 9. 700 of them are cabin crew from 14 different districts. coevalss and nationalities. 3. 000 pilots from 42 nationalities. preponderantly from Hong Kong. Canada. New Zealand. Australia and United Kingdom ( Cathay Pacific. 2011 ) . Cathay Pacific believes that multiple civilizations. backgrounds. people and linguistic communications are kernel to beef up and develop a winning squad in the industry ( Cathay Pacific. 2011 ) . With a diverse work force. Cathay Pacific hopes to heighten communications. guarantee that positions and sentiments of people are heard and acted in an appropriate mode. With multicultural employees whom Cathay Pacific has. helps in acquisition and development within the work force. which create chances for readying of assorted functions and duties. These d evelopments and larning to be taught on employees will assist beef up their service. concern consciousness and interpersonal accomplishments. That finally helps in constructing leading and direction accomplishments to heighten professionalism and service quality of crew members. Diverse work force allows battle of labors brotherhood relationships for illustration. Cathay Pacific will cover labour brotherhood relationships in Hong Kong and across all of their outports. which some has mandatory brotherhood acknowledgment statute law. states alike Canada and Australia ( Cathay Pacific 2011 ) . 5. 0CATHAY PACIFIC ISSUES5. 1Racism in enlisting procedureHarmonizing to Leake ( 2011 ) . Cathay Pacific had faced a racism issue in the enlisting procedure. He mentioned that there was an Muslim worker who has been working as a Heathrow flight-handling agent for 17 old ages. applied as a rider services officer in Cathay Pacific and was rejected. Then. Leake farther explained that the applicant tried to direct another application missive with different individuality that was non demoing he is an Muslimism and he received a called for the interview. Harmonizing to Hodges ( 2012 ) . Cathay Pacific employed campaigners irrespective of gender. race. belief. and faith. However. harmonizing to Leake as above it has expressed some racismissue in Cathay Pacific. In fact. administrations have to be cognizant that enrolling diverse work force is truly of import presents. Besides. with the ever-changing environment in demographics. enrolling diverse work force brings more advantages. Harmonizin g to NAS ( 2005 ) . the first advantage of enrolling diverse work force is that administrations can pull and retain the best endowment. It besides helps to make a good image for the organisation where it can so set up in partnership easy with minority groups. Furthermore. NAS besides mentioned that it could assist to spread out the market portion and assist the organisation to be more flexible in accommodating the alterations of market environment. Last. administrations can cut down in the turnover rate because they can make a favourable repute and a good employer trade name ( NAS 2005 ) . There is no such thing as being racialist in an administration. Everyone has to appreciate each other regardless of their gender. faith and race. Hence. Cathay Pacific has to promote and pattern equity when enrolling people. Somehow harmonizing to rumours or intelligence of Cathay Pacific stating that it is non a good topographic point to work or being accused as racism regardless of whether the intelligence is true. people would doubt to direct their application signifier and would non willing to work at that place. Meaning. Cathay Pacific will lose the chance in enrolling gifted people and would make a bad repute in the air hose industry. Furthermore. because of bad repute. Cathay Pacific will lose their market portion and can non pull off to acquire high income. There are some suggestions that can be used for Cathay Pacific to forestall such issue to go on once more in the hereafter. Cathay Pacific can utilize computerised system in prescreening the application signifier. They must besides put certain demands or criterions to obtain choice cam paigner and carry on with the first interview. So. the system will work for them and this helps Cathay Pacific to avoid the subjective judgement in prescreening the application signifier. Apart from implementing the computerised system. Cathay Pacific has to guarantee that their employees understand the importance of accomplishing ends and map of enrolling diverse work force. as it should be align with organisation’s demands. By understanding those things. employees at Cathay Pacific can alter their perceptual experience on the diverse work force enlisting and back up what the administration is seeking to accomplish harmonizing to the enlisting programme. Furthermore. Cathay Pacific have to guarantee the populace that this company is the right topographic point to work by referralsplan. supplying employee benefits. and back uping adult female and minorities’ event. Hence. this can assist in conveying back their good image of a company who has societal duty and supports diverse work force ( NAS 2005 ) . 5. 2Validation of choice planBy looking at the stairss in choice procedure. Cathay Pacific has a good choice procedure. They have used the right choice tools to happen the most suited campaigner by proving them in Fieldss like personality. cognition. logical thought and has three interview phases in order to acquire accurate and more information about the campaigners ( Bartram and Baxter 1996 ) . Furthermore. these writers besides mentioned that Cathay Pacific uses practical testing in the choice procedure. Therefore. with this long procedure. Cathay Pacific expects to acquire the right individual to suit the occupation in the right place. As mentioned before. to be a pilot or a staff in Cathay Pacific. campaigners have to go through some trials and three interviews. Then. finishing those procedures does non intend that they will officially go employees of Cathay Pacific nevertheless. they still have to go through some preparation programmes provided by the company. like Cadet Pilot Programme for pilots. Harmonizing to Bartram and Baxter ( 1996 ) . Cathay Pacific realised that their success is based on their employees. whereas enrolling and engaging incur a high cost. Therefore. they must expertise in engaging the most suited employee in order to cut down cost and meet ends. Besides. Cathay Pacific ensures that their choice procedure is dependable and valid. All campaigners have to travel through the same trials and interviews before they are accepted to fall in the preparation plan. However. there is a inquiry in formalizing the consequence. Cathay Pacific is utilizing computer-based system to execute the trials. As such. the standard cogency is non based on the consequence of the trial and significance that higher consequence does non intend to be accepted in Cathay Pacific ( Bartram and Baxter 1996 ) . However. these writers farther mentioned that the interviewers ( Board of Cathay Pacific ) will make up one’s mind base on their interview and practical in the winging simulation. In here. some job might happen. which is the subjecting judgement and formalizing consequence. When it comes to single to do determination. subjective sentiment is ever at that place. Therefore. the consequence of enlisting may non be accurate and valid. Likewise. the racism issue in Cathay Pacific. enlisting is besides an illustration of subjective judgement happening in the company. Hence. Cathay Pacific has to happen ways to forestall this subjective judgement happen in order to acquire maximum recruiting consequence. First. Cathay Pacific has to reassure the board of managers or interviewers to pattern professionalism in judgment and doing determinations. Next. Cathay Pacific has to come out with a evaluation graduated table that can be used as the guideline in taging the campaigners ( Bruce and Lack 2009 ) . In this evaluation graduated table. Cathay Pacific should advert what objectives or criterions that they are taging on. therefore ; the interviewers may non be misled. Last. these writers farther explained that there should be more than one individual to rate the campaigner in order to acquire accurate consequence and are able to compare the consequences. Then. if there is an every bit weighted in the consequence between Judgess. significance that the consequence is taken accurately and reasonably. 5. 3Conclusion of the IssuesIn a nutshell. both issues in Cathay Pacific are really discoursing about the engagement of personal judgement in enlisting and choice procedure. This should non be happened today because administrations have to be just in doing determination and giving equal intervention for everyone. Furthermore. it has proved that by practising equity. administrations would hold a good repute that can convey benefits. Well. Cathay Pacific might confront some troubles in happening synergisms to work together with different people. However. the workers need some clip and procedure to set themselves with the administration and by supplying preparation is one of the effectual manner to assist. Furthermore. Fairness can so be achieved if the Board of Directors in Cathay Pacific uses their professionalism in recruiting and choosing campaigners. 6. 0CONCLUSIONIn decision. we would wish to state that Cathay Pacific has several stairss in their enlisting and choice procedure where it is important for doing the right pick to use suited employees for the administration. Likewise. the internal and external enlisting provides a great chance for campaigners to develop and heighten themselves for a better success in the hereafter. whereas the choice procedure prepares campaigners for the following trial or interview by supplying them developing and so on. As a consequence. we woulddo a house statement that Cathay Pacific performs a stringent and diligent activity in using people. However. as for some quandary issues sing their employment patterns. Cathay Pacific has made an attempt to turn out it incorrect by supplying suggestions and grounds of their past enlisting consequences and besides by admiting the fact that they are â€Å"the Best Airline in the World and the Best Airline First Class in the 2012 Business Traveller China Aw ards† ( Cathay Pacific n. d. B ) . 7. 0REFERENCESAirline Jobs 2012. Cathay Pacific Pilot – Second Officer Recruitments. viewed 15 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //pramugari. info/category/vacancy-cathay/ . Bartram. D A ; Baxter. P 1996. ‘Validation of the Cathay Pacific Airways pilor choice program’ . International Journal of Aviation Psychology. vol. 6. no. 2. pp. 149-169. Bruce. JC A ; Lack. ML 2009. ‘Using subjective judgement to find the cogency of a tutorial performance-evaluation instrument’ . Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. vol. 14. no. 1. pp. 1-6. Health SA Gesondheid. viewed 16 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. ajol. info/index. php/hsa/article/viewFile/43258/26798. Cathay Pacific ( n. d. a ) . History. viewed 17 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. cathaypacific. com/cpa/en_MY/aboutus/cxbackground/history. Cathay Pacific ( n. d. B ) . Press Release Details. viewed 17 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. cathaypacific. com/cpa/en_INTL/aboutus/pressroomdetails? refID=106930bb7d20b310VgnVCM1000000ad21c39. Cathay Pacific ( n. d. degree Celsius ) . Careers at Cathay Pacific. viewed 14 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. cathaypacific. com/cpa/en_INTL/careershome. Cathay Pacific ( n. d. vitamin D ) . Cathay Pacific Green Explorer Application Form. viewed 20 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. cathaypacific. com/wilderness/jsp/form. jsp? origin=TPE Cathay Pacific ( n. d. vitamin E ) . Frequently Asked Question. viewed 14 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. cathaypacific. com/cpa/en_MY/faq/careers/flightcrew. Cathay Pacific 2011. Cathay Pacific Sustainable Development Report 2011. viewed 20 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //downloads. cathaypacific. com/cx/aboutus/sd/2011/pdf/CX_SDR11_Full. pdf. Cathay Pacific Services Ltd 2012. Career News. viewed 15 November 2012. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. cpsl. com. hk/CompanyNews/News_ 01082012_JobExpo. aspx. Dessler. G 2013. Human Resource Management. 13th edn. Pearson Education. Harlow. How to cite Human Resource Management Essay, Essay examples

Government Business Relations

Question: Discuss about theGovernment Business Relations. Answer: Introduction: Globalization is one of the complex as well as multifaceted phenomenon in both the developed and the developing country. It is called the procedure of intercontinental incorporation as a product of substitute of several different viewpoints, products, thoughts and some other features of traditions in which intercontinental substitute of nationwide and cultural resources takes place in the procedure (De Vos 2012). However, it can be stated that the growth of globalization has brought about an economical and political interdependence of several nations and thus it can be stated that globalization is one of the popular and most discussed terms of the present day. Research works of the eminent professors have found that globalization have shaped the political conditions of both the developed and the developed countries in different ways (Coker 2014). With the course of time and gradual expansion of interaction between the different parts of the globe, several political changes have taken place like loss in jobs for the working class people in the developed countries. On the other hand, in the developing countries, the most common scene is sweatshop condition of the cheap labor and this is generally due to cheap outsource of jobs. Several reports have found that over the last few years, huge numbers of non-governmental and governmental organizations, international corporations and the multi-corporations have emerged on an international scale and their decisions leave impact to others on a great extent (Findlay et al. 2012). It is required to point out that the UK still has around five million industrial jobs out of an active labor market of over thirty million employees. Condition of the working people in the USA as well is not good, though the USA labor force has been highly shaped by millennia of technological procedure (Furlong 2013). However, it is required to mention that the populace of urbanized nations have benefitted from globalization through the buy of products and facilities in the developing nations. Apparels produced in the nations like Vietnam and Bangladesh to the smart phones and televisions produced in China have turn out to be gradually more obtainable to the inhabitants of the developed nations. Cost of labor is comparatively cheap in the developing and under developed nations and the developed countries are taking advantages of this part. The developed countries are hiring the labors at low costs and thus the employees are suffering from sweatshop condition. Lane (2013) has shown in his research work that manufacturing costs of goods and services are low in these nations as well as the manufacturing costs. The consumers of the developed countries benefit from an extensive assortment of goods and services at low costs and this pays positive towards their real income. Therefore, it can be stated th at the consumers of the developed country have benefited highly than the consumers of the developing and under developed country (Mackinlay 2013). Mak, Lumbers and Eves (2012) have said that the developed countries as well as suffering and encountering several issues due to globalization. It can be said that intercontinental commerce and globalization has permitted constructing corporations to shift their construction from the developed nations in order to take benefit of the lower labor costs. Therefore, it can be stated that if some types of goods and services are outsourced and the manufacturing have directed to diminish in the service in these divisions. That populace who were beforehand working in the industrialized business has become jobless now and this has affected the situation negatively. This deindustrialization has negatively exaggerated some countries that were more dependent on the manufacturing like Detroit (Mowforth and Munt 2015). Ontario as well has practiced a steep decline in its manufacturing base, as several other countries too faced stable turn down in their manufacturing basis. This has directed to decl ine in the manufacturing productivity and occupation in the industrialized nations of the globe. Obstfeld (2015) has stated that the losses of manufacturing base, specifically that hold up energetic businesses might have poisonous impact on the nation. Robertson (2012) has stated that it is not only manufacturing that has been shifted in a foreign country but also some particular facilities have been repositioned to the gradually developing republics. Most importantly, it can be mentioned here that the back office jobs and the call centers have been subcontracted to the developing nations that offers comparatively poorer labor costs. Therefore, it is easily understood that subcontracting of these sorts of amenities and manufacturing have unfortunately directed to decline in service in these segments. Due to this reason, those people who were formerly working in the manufacturing industry became jobless. Apart from that, it can be said that the loss of comparatively low-wages call centers and the back agency occupations increased the rate of unemployment (Rupert and Smith 2016). Therefore, it is understood that globalization has severely affected the employees of the developing countries and the employees of these nations have been in a sweatshop condition as compared to the developed nations. This incident has led to the loss of service among the inferior profits group as well as the middle income group in the urbanized nations. As many populaces in the subordinate profits group have less schooling and fewer chances for retraining, it might guide to their long-standing employment (Stevenson 2014). Wright (2016) has explained in details that globalization has played a crucial character in the occurrence of deficiency in many urbanized nations. The people, who live in the inferior salary cluster have experienced long-term redundancy, might slip into poverty and this leave direct impact on the national income of the country. Some recent reports have found that while the rate of poverty has persisted in between twelve percent to fifteen percent in the last ten to twenty years in the United States, the real quantity of people existing below the deficiency line has increased. However, the same trend is observed in the United Kingdom as well and therefore, it can be said easily that globalization might have played a significant role in enlarged unemployment as well as higher number of people living in deficiency in the developed nations (Stevenson 2014). Mackinlay (2013) in his research paper has stated that one major adverse impact of globalization is nothing but the stagnation of wage in the developed nations. The remunerations of individuals who belong to the lesser salary group and the middle class did not suggestively upsurge in the past few eras, as some of the livelihoods have been progressively under the threat of being out-sourced to the developing countries. Therefore, it can be stated that the availability of low-wage workers in the developing countries might have acted as the hindrance for the rise in wages of the low-income group and the middle class workers in the developed countries. From this part, it is understandable that any probable increase in their ages might encourage a business to relocate its production or service unit to a developing country and at the same time, taking advantage of competitive wages. Therefore, it can be easily stated that globalization might have contributed towards stagnation of the wage in the urbanized nations, particularly for the middle as well as inferior income group. The research work done by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation exposed the fact that there are more functioning families in the United Kingdom that live in poverty that the non-working ones. This observation effectively point out the one of the most underlying aspect of contemporary globalization. This particle points to that globalization might play a major position in the appearance of the low-wage service and the sluggish earnings in the industrialized nations that once more guide towards increasing the rate of poverty (Mackinlay 2013). After going through several aspects, it can be seen that both the urbanized and budding nations have been greatly impacted by the globalization. Although it has been advantageous in several customs, there are noteworthy drawbacks as well of unregulated globalization. Talking about most adverse effect of globalization it can be essentially pointed out that globalization movement must be initiated inclusively in order to protect the developing countries workers from the exploitation. At the same time, the salary augments as well as service scope must be cheered middle and low course group employees of the developing nations. Mackinlay (2013) has opined in his research paper that the off shoring as well as outsourcing must be reversed or restricted in order to stem the loss of employment and thereby increasing the political popularity of globalization and international trade in the developed nations. Therefore, it can be stated that globalization would be continuously well-liked and sus tainable in the long-run only when the benefits of globalization are enjoyed by the citizens in both of the developed and the developing nations (Stevenson 2014). Critics like Lane (2013) have opined that the growth of international trade is gradually exacerbating all the income inequalities, both between and within the mechanized and non-industrialized nations. Apart from that, it can be stated that the protectionist policies in the industrialized nations most of the time prevent many producers in the Third World from accessing export markets. References Coker, C., 2014.Globalisation and Insecurity in the Twenty-first Century: NATO and the Management of Risk. Routledge. De Vos, J., 2012.Psychologisation in times of globalisation. Routledge. Findlay, A.M., King, R., Smith, F.M., Geddes, A. and Skeldon, R., 2012. World class? An investigation of globalisation, difference and international student mobility.Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers,37(1), pp.118-131. Furlong, J., 2013, January. Globalisation, neoliberalism, and the reform of teacher education in England. InThe educational forum(Vol. 77, No. 1, pp. 28-50). Taylor Francis Group. Lane, P.R., 2013. Financial globalisation and the crisis.Open Economies Review,24(3), pp.555-580. Mackinlay, J., 2013.Globalisation and insurgency(No. 352). Routledge. Mak, A.H., Lumbers, M. and Eves, A., 2012. Globalisation and food consumption in tourism.Annals of tourism research,39(1), pp.171-196. Mowforth, M. and Munt, I., 2015.Tourism and sustainability: Development, globalisation and new tourism in the third world. Routledge. Obstfeld, M., 2015. Trilemmas and trade-offs: living with financial globalisation. Robertson, R., 2012. Globalisation or glocalisation?.Journal of International Communication,18(2), pp.191-208. Rupert, M. and Smith, H. eds., 2016.Historical Materialism and Globalisation: Essays on Continuity and Change. Routledge. Stevenson, N., 2014.The Transformation of the Media: Globalisation, Morality and Ethics. Routledge. Wright, S., 2016.Language policy and language planning: From nationalism to globalisation. Springer.

How to Drive a Stick Shift Essay Example

How to Drive a Stick Shift Essay Starting the car with a bright smile on my face. Feeling absolutely confident. I released the hand brake and immediately hit the brakes in attempt to stop the car. My heartbeat began to increase as I started to think what I should do next. As the car stood in the middle of the road I visualized my dad driving the car. Taking three deep breaths I quickly released the brake again and pressed on the clutch and shifted to first. As I cruised in the neighborhood feeling proud I saw a hand in the air, as it got closer I realized it was my dad demanding me to park the car. Though my dad hammered me verbally for stealing the car while he was asleep, I had a smile on my face because that day I had learned how to drive a manual car. Driving a stick shift may look easy at first but it’s anything but. Practicing is the key, which may perhaps facilitate the car to run as smooth as an automatic. There are several steps, which need to be taken into account before driving a manual car. In order to have an excellent start there are a few things to keep in mind. The car consists of three pedals, five gears, and the hand brake. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Drive a Stick Shift specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How to Drive a Stick Shift specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How to Drive a Stick Shift specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The first pedal to the left is the clutch, which needs to be pressed in order to change a gear. The brake pedal is in the center, and lastly the pedal to the right is the accelerator. Take deep breaths and relax, focus on the car. Release the handbrakes keeping the brake pedal pressed. Using the left foot press the clutch and using the right hand change into first gear, which is the gear on the top left corner. Slowly, free the brake pedal and keep the left foot on the clutch. Using the right foot begin pressing the accelerator gently. Keep an eye on the RPM, as the needle exceeds one RPM gradually let go of the clutch leaving the left foot to rest and press the accelerator further. As the car begins to move faster, concentrate on the sound of the car and at the same time look at the RPM. Once the engine begins to get loud and the RPM reaches three, press the clutch again using the left foot and change into second gear using the right hand. Once the gear has been changed release the clutch pedal and accelerate again. Continue with this process until it can be down without hesitation. It is possible for the car to close a few times. Instantly press the brake pedal and the clutch using both feet. Change the gear into neutral and haul up the handbrake. Then restart the engine. Though it may take a while to get the hang of, how to drive a stick shift will always stay in mind. There are several steps to take into consideration when learning how to drive a stick shift. Practicing how to drive a stick shift may be irritating but think of it as a goal, which must be achieved. Only practicing will improve ones skills. How to Drive a Stick Shift Essay Example How to Drive a Stick Shift Essay Starting the car with a bright smile on my face. Feeling absolutely confident. I released the hand brake and immediately hit the brakes in attempt to stop the car. My heartbeat began to increase as I started to think what I should do next. As the car stood in the middle of the road I visualized my dad driving the car. Taking three deep breaths I quickly released the brake again and pressed on the clutch and shifted to first. As I cruised in the neighborhood feeling proud I saw a hand in the air, as it got closer I realized it was my dad demanding me to park the car. Though my dad hammered me verbally for stealing the car while he was asleep, I had a smile on my face because that day I had learned how to drive a manual car. Driving a stick shift may look easy at first but it’s anything but. Practicing is the key, which may perhaps facilitate the car to run as smooth as an automatic. There are several steps, which need to be taken into account before driving a manual car. In order to have an excellent start there are a few things to keep in mind. The car consists of three pedals, five gears, and the hand brake. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Drive a Stick Shift specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on How to Drive a Stick Shift specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on How to Drive a Stick Shift specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The first pedal to the left is the clutch, which needs to be pressed in order to change a gear. The brake pedal is in the center, and lastly the pedal to the right is the accelerator. Take deep breaths and relax, focus on the car. Release the handbrakes keeping the brake pedal pressed. Using the left foot press the clutch and using the right hand change into first gear, which is the gear on the top left corner. Slowly, free the brake pedal and keep the left foot on the clutch. Using the right foot begin pressing the accelerator gently. Keep an eye on the RPM, as the needle exceeds one RPM gradually let go of the clutch leaving the left foot to rest and press the accelerator further. As the car begins to move faster, concentrate on the sound of the car and at the same time look at the RPM. Once the engine begins to get loud and the RPM reaches three, press the clutch again using the left foot and change into second gear using the right hand. Once the gear has been changed release the clutch pedal and accelerate again. Continue with this process until it can be down without hesitation. It is possible for the car to close a few times. Instantly press the brake pedal and the clutch using both feet. Change the gear into neutral and haul up the handbrake. Then restart the engine. Though it may take a while to get the hang of, how to drive a stick shift will always stay in mind. There are several steps to take into consideration when learning how to drive a stick shift. Practicing how to drive a stick shift may be irritating but think of it as a goal, which must be achieved. Only practicing will improve ones skills.

The Myth of Individualism Essays

The Myth of Individualism Essays The Myth of Individualism Essay The Myth of Individualism Essay The Myth of Individualism America is famous for the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. The fundamental of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each by hard working regardless of social class or circumstances of birth(by James Truslow Adams). The American Dream is different for everyone, though it is most commonly associated with success, freedom, and happiness. The concept of the American Dream seems to have dwindled from where it was in the past few generations. It has gone from success, freedom, and happiness to having lots of money and the nicest possessions. Also, it is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status. In today’s society we all hope and strive for this dream, but how many actually achieve the American Dream? Is it a reasonable goal that Americans should strive for, or is it a myth that only leads to self-destruction? Repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh reality that opportunity and equality are empty promises, only prove the opposite. The countless stories of failure to reach the American Dream significantly override the few success stories that keep the myth alive. However, these few success stories keep Americans, as well as the rest of the world, believing in the false opportunities the American Dream puts forth. For generations, Americans have been led to believe that the American Dream is realistic. Perhaps the American Dream can only be a myth to the lower classes. According to Maria La Ganga in her article â€Å"Tent City, USA,† many former owners of the American dream are living the American nightmare in the tent city, struggle to stay clean and fed. In the same vein, those who attempt to disprove the American Dream are considered un-American, and so are quickly silenced. However, these few success stories and accusations cannot change the truth; the American Dream is not equally attainable to all. Poor parents cannot offer their children the same attention and motivation as parents of a higher-class can, therefore never providing these children with the belief that they are able to accomplish the American dream. Citizens who live in poverty work long hours for little pay, yet return to a household that in no way symbolizes the hard work put forth. Within this environment, very few people have the positive outlook to mentor children successfully. In addition, many families do not make sufficient income to provide adequate food, housing or health care, and so then health conditions are drastically different than those of the upper class. Although many Americans are proud of the free-trade economic structure in the US, capitalist policy is only widening the gap between rich and poor, keeping the lower-class away from attaining their American Dream. The American Dream was founded on the backs of small business-owners and farmers who at one time had the ability to become self-made men, but as Stephen Cruz pointed out in his interview with Studs Terkel, Its getting so big. The small-business venture is not there anymore. Business has become too big to influence. Because the capitalist economic structure supports private ownership and growth and opposes government intervention to prevent it, companies have grown big enough to have the characteristics of monopolies. Due to this, small companies or farmers cannot possibly compete with larger stores or corporate farms that can easily buy them out or price them out of business. Additionally, capitalism presents another oppressive strength that is beyond individual control: class domination. Therefore, even though America prides itself on being a classless society, a class system is unavoidable with a free-trade economic system because the private and individualistic characteristics force a distinction between the haves and have-nots. Class distinction provides not only feelings of inferiority for the lower-classes, but monetary inadequacy as well. Higher-class children have an advantage from birth since they are guaranteed large sums of money at some time in their lives. Furthermore, it is known that it takes money to make money in a capitalistic system and so the inheritance laws only widen the gap between the rich and poor, keeping the lower-class exactly where they started: on the bottom. The American dream can only offer empty promises of equal opportunity to ucceed. People are driven to work hard by the notion of success without having almost any chance to succeed. However, because the American Dream is so deeply embedded in our culture, it greatly influences our perception of others and our perception of success. The all you need is hard work to succeed mindset has encouraged Americans to flaunt costly possessions to give the persona of a hard worker, while Americans who do not own extravagant objects are l ooked at as lazy or incompetent. In reality, most cases are opposite. It is undeniable that an American laboring long hour for minimum wage works harder than an American who doesnt maintain a job because he lives off inheritance money, but that is not what the myth has taught us. Even for those who have completed the American Dream, it’s not necessary a happy ending. In the story Ragged Dick, Horatio Alger writes about a young man’s progress from poor background that searches for wealth. In this story Dick has gone from rags to riches, immediately after his success he wants to move to a nicer quarter of the city? But will this move satisfy his wants? Even though Dick is moving to a better part of town, there will always be a place that’s even better than this. The American Dream has taught us that each American has an equal opportunity to succeed and because it has been accepted for generations, the myth continues to make us blind to the many inequalities that prevent the lower class from reaching their dream. Therefore, the American Dream will only leave lower-class Americans as they continue to see their dreams die, while they watch the dreams of the higher-class blossom The American Dream does not offer hope, but rather keeps Americans in the same class they were born into. The pattern will persist from generation to generation, making the rich richer and forcing the poor to become poorer unless action is taken. This vicious cycle is a result of a blinding myth that not only gives false hopes, but prevents the inequalities of America from taking center stage. It seems as though the myth cannot be weakened, but then after all, with a little hard work, one can do anything. Terkel, Studs. Stephen Cruz. Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Alger, Horatio. â€Å"From Ragged Dick. † Rereading America. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/ St. Ganga, Maria La. Tent City. Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles] 26 Mar. 2009. The Standard. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Roche Pharmaceuticals Operations Planning Research Paper

Roche Pharmaceuticals Operations Planning - Research Paper Example Sales & Operations Planning At Roche an efficient sales & operations planning is used in order to balance demand and supply, to align mix and volume and for integrating financial and operating plans. This has been facilitated by using of Enterprise Resource Planning systems discussed in later sections. At Roche, the top management takes ownership of the sales and operations planning process. The management considers it a source of delivering business plans and strategies. The medium to long term decisions are taken by the top executives while the short term decisions are taken by the middle management. Various products at Roche pharmaceuticals are divided into families which makes it easier for management to review them for planning. Roche believes in proactive management rather than reactive crisis management. Hence, the sales and operations plan are designed well ahead of time. The sales and operations planning process also encompasses risk analysis and mitigation. The various possible scenarios in the planning horizon are studied and plans are made to tackle sudden rise or fall in demand and resources. After the plans have been decided at the top, they are communicated throughout the organization for smooth and accurate implementation. Broadly speaking, 5 steps are followed by Roche for Sales and Operations Planning. In the first steps, all new product development programmes are reviewed with the help of Research and Development Department. The information obtained acts as input for the sales and operations planning process. The concerned risks and assumptions are also documented. In the second step, a new sales and demand plan is created. The forecasts made here are dependent upon inputs from various stakeholders in the meeting. Roche accomplishes forecasting with the help of SAP ERP tools. The system generated forecasts are shared with all stakeholders. Any changes suggested are incorporated after discussion and the final forecasts are developed. These forecasts act as input for demand planning meeting. The concerned risks and assumptions are documented. In the third step, an operations plan is prepared in order to fulfill demands for each time period. For this the old operations plan is studied and the differen ces are noted. In the new operations plan, these differences are adjusted keeping in view the various resource constraints and inventory levels. The operations plan is multiplied by bill of materials required for each product family to arrive at total required resources. The required resources are compared with available resources. If there are significant differences, solutions to fill those gaps are identified and documented. In the fourth step, the impact of operations plan on other departments such as Accounts, finance, IT and sales is studied. Reconciliations and corrections are done to address concerns of various departments. Finally the key recommendations and potential scenarios are studied to from an agenda for the final Sales and Operations Planning meeting. The agenda is shared before the meeting for everyone to understand. In the fifth step, final Sales and Operations meeting is conducted. In the final meeting, the progress on previous sales and operations plan is studie d, plan for each product family is reviewed, approvals are made and new proposals are decided. The minutes of meeting and action plans are then communicated to various stakeholders (PHS, 2006). 5.3. Aggregate Planning Strategies Roche pharmaceuticals uses aggregate planning for achieving its medium term objectives. The activities are planned at various

Services Based Organisation Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Services Based Organisation Report - Essay Example These developmental processes include coaching, mentoring, eLearning, action learning and blended learning (Becker and Gerhart, 2009). This paper is focused on the employee development of a firm on the grounds of eLearning and how it has been improved over the years to foster employee development and using organisational resources efficiently. The purpose of the human resource management department is not only to look after the employee acquisition and performance level, but also to ensure that the firm is able to improve the employees’ skills and knowledge. An organization with a high skilled employee base is most likely to yield a higher performance level than its competitors. Therefore, it is vital for a firm to engage in employee development to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals (Baumruk and Gorman, 2009). The advent of globalization has made the global business market a more open place; this as a result has also increased the competitiveness of the industry. Therefore the companies constantly seek out new ways to improve their operational and production process so that they can stay ahead of their competitors (Eunmi, 2009). The traditional way to achieve this is to invest in high end manufacturing process and infrastructure. The firms often overlook the importance of the individuals who run the opera tional process. Moreover, owing to the myopic vision of the organization, it is caught up in achieving short term goals only, which as a result deviates the focus from the employees. This as a result reduces the productivity and efficiency of the firm as well as the chances of its sustainability (Sugumaran, 2008). Currie and Kerrin (2010) have stated that one of the effective ways of improving the productivity of the employees is to provide them with proper training. It can be defined as the planned effort of the organization to improve the competencies and knowledge base of the employees, which includes the

The Ancient Art Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Ancient Art Analysis - Essay Example The Indra and Surya are engravings as depicted in this picture. Nonetheless, the two sculptures are a depiction of the final existence and the past lives the Buddhism founder, Siddhartha Gautama. The size of the sculptures is also similar as it ranges from 50 to 200 feet in height. The four-ram Fangzum is a bronze cast sculpture while the Reliquary Buddhist Stupa is cast in gold. The two sculptures have a great significance in the culture of the Chinese and the Indians respectively. These two sculptures depict the respect given to the dead, and especially to sages and religious teachers. However, there is a great difference in the age of their molding with the four-ram fan zun cast in the second Millennium BCE, during the era of the Shang dynasty with the Reliquary Buddhist Stupa cast in the 3rd century CE, which was during the Kushan dynasty. The two sculptures are also a symbol of commemorating significant occurrences in the Chinese and Indian religion. Hence, their main subject or significance is more of spiritual beliefs than political. Their complexity and evident in the way that the bronze is carved into the four-ram Fangzum and the way the pillars erect the Reliquary Buddhist Stupa. This artistic feature is a clear evidence of the prowess and the passion of Chinese and Ancient Indian sculptures of the time. The sculptures also have a gloss finish that clearly distinguishes them from the past sculptures that had a dull finish. The bowl is red and made of earth. The bowl also has designs  of a human head that are  black  in  color  and  imposing  fish designs. The bowl was made for worshiping the ancestors in Ancient China during the Neolithic Period, which was crucial in the Chinese history. Despite the non-development of the potter’s wheel during the time of making the bowl, the bowl is perfectly round with highly polished surfaces. In

A Model Of Consumer Behavior Online

A Model Of Consumer Behavior Online Del Monte operates in a very competitive global food industry. In addition to manufacturing canned fruits and vegetables for human consumption, Del Monte produces pet food such as Gravy Train, 9 Lives, and Meow Mix. Therefore, using market research the company constantly looks for innovative ways to increase its competitive edge. The company also decided to implement social media. Once Del Monte made the decision to deploy social media projects, the company had to decide how best to use social media research to support its diverse product line-in this case dog food. The Solution The basic idea was first to connect and collaborate with dog lovers via social networks. Since the corporate IT department was not equipped to deal with social network research, Del Monte hired Market Tools Inc., a market research firm. With the help of Market Tools Inc., Del Monte began offering an online platform for customers to chat and comment on blog entries about different Del Monte products. Using their propriety software, Market Tools monitors millions of relevant blogs in the blogsphere as well as forums in social networks, in order to identify key ideas and issues that consumers are interested in, analyze them, and then predict consumer behavior trends. To analyze the collected data, Del Monte teamed up with Umbria (a division of J. D. Power and Associates), a pioneer in drawing market intelligence from the online community. Umbria assisted in further analysis of and in profiling the collected information. Such analysis is usually done by using computerized tools such as monitoring consumer interactions, analyzing consumers sentiments, and using social analytics methods (e.g., see Hedin, et al. 2011 and Jayanti 2010). By utilizing social media, Del Monte can conduct market research much more efficiently. The conventional approach was to use questionnaires or focus groups that were expensive and difficult to fill with qualified participants. Using social media, Del Monte can gather much of the same or more qualitative data faster and at a lower price. All that is required now is to monitor customer conversations, collect the data, and analyze the vast amount of information. The software also facilitates subgroup creation, idea generation, and panel creation. The results of the analysis help Del Monte understand its customers and consequently plan its marketing activities, communication strategies, and customer service applications. The results also help evaluate the success of marketing campaigns, how well the business processes accomplished the goals, and better justify proposed new activities. The Experiment Del Monte used the above application first to help improve its dog treat, Snausages Breakfast Bites. For guidance, Del Monte relied on its dog lovers social community. By monitoring customer blogs and by posting questions to customers to stimulate discussions, Del Monte used text analysis methods to investigate the relationship between dogs and their owners. Del Monte concluded that owners of small dogs would be the major purchasers of Snausages Breakfast Bites. The company also found differences due to the age of owners, and discovered other people-dogs relationships. Next, a small sample of the improved dog food was produced and tested in the physical market. As a result of both social media and physical research, the product design decisions were revised. Also, marketing promotions were modified. The product sells better because the dogs love it. Finally, the new approach solidified the community of dog lovers who are happy that their opinions are considered. The Results Product cycle time was reduced by more than 50 percent to only 6 months, and Del Monte was able to develop a better marketing communication strategy. Furthermore, the analysis helped the company better understand customers and their purchasing activities as well as predicting market trends and identifying and anticipating opportunities. Note: Similar research on cat food was conducted in 2012 in an online survey, by Kelton Research, using e-mail invitation and an online survey. For details see Meow Mix (2012). Sources: Compiled from Steel (2008), Greengard (2008), Hedin et al. (2011), Jayanti (2010), Meow Mix (2012), Wikivest (2012), and Market Tools (2008). What we can learnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The opening case illustrates that market research can be useful in a competitive market by providing insights for better product development and marketing strategy. In this case, the company collected data online from its socially-oriented customers. Market Tools Inc. monitored conversations (over 50 millions of them) on blogs and discussion rooms to find the voice of the customers. The collected data were then analyzed. The results of the analysis helped Del Monte improve its dog food and devise new marketing strategies. Market research, as seen in the case, is related to consumer behavior, purchasing decision making, behavioral marketing, and advertising strategies; all these topics are addressed in this chapter. 9.1 Learning About Consumer Behavior Online Companies are operating in an increasingly competitive environment. Therefore, they please customers and influence them to buy their goods and services. Finding and retaining customers are major critical success factors for most businesses, both offline and online. One of the key elements in building effective customer relationships is an understanding of consumer shopping behavior online. A Model of Consumer Behavior Online For decades, market researchers have tried to understand consumer shopping behavior, and have summarized their findings in various models. The purpose of a consumer behavior model is to help vendors understand how a consumer makes a purchasing decision. If a firm understands the decision process, it may be able to better influence the buyers decision, for example, through advertising or special promotions. Before examining the consumer behavior models variables, lets describe who the EC consumers are. Online consumers can be divided into two types: individual consumers (who get much of the media attention) and organizational buyers, who do most of the actual shopping in cyberspace in terms of dollar volume of sales. Organizational buyers include governments, private corporations, resellers, and nonprofit organizations. Purchases by organizational buyers are generally used to add value to materials or products. Also, organizational buyers may purchase products for resale without any further modifications. We discuss organizational purchasing in detail in Chapter 5 (e-procurement) and will focus on individual consumers in this chapter. The purpose of a consumer behavior model (for individuals) is to show factors that affect consumer behavior. Exhibit 9.1 shows the basic elements of a consumer behavior model. The model is composed of two major parts: influential factors and the consumer decision process. [Insert Exhibit 9.1 here] Æ’ËÅ" Influential factors. Five dimensions are considered to affect consumer behavior. They are consumer characteristics, environmental characteristics, merchant and intermediary characteristics (which are at the top of the exhibit and are considered uncontrollable from the sellers point of view), product/service characteristics (which include market stimuli), and EC systems. The last two are mostly controlled by the sellers. Exhibit 9.1 illustrates the major variables in each influential dimension. A more detailed description is provided in Online File W9.1. Æ’ËÅ" The attitude-behavior decision process. The consumer decision process usually starts with a positive attitude and ends with the buyers decision to purchase and/or repurchase. A favorable attitude would lead to a stronger buying intention, which in turn would result in the actual buying behavior. Previous research has shown that the linkages among the previously mentioned three constructs are quite strong. For example, Ranganathan and Jha (2007) found that past online shopping experiences have the strongest associations with online purchase intention, followed by customer concerns, website quality, and computer self-efficacy. Therefore, developing a positive consumer attitude plays a central role in the final purchase decision. The Major Influential Factors These factors fall into the following categories: Personal characteristics. Personal characteristics, which are shown in the top-left portion of Exhibit 9.1, refer to demographic factors, individual preferences, and behavioral characteristics. Several websites provide information on customer buying habits online (e.g., emarketer.com, clickz.com, and comscore.com). The major demographics that such sites track are gender, age, marital status, educational level, ethnicity, occupation, and household income, which can be correlated with Internet usage and EC data. Males and females have been found to perceive information differently depending on their levels of purchase confidence and internal knowledge (Barber et al. 2009). A recent survey by Crespo and Bosque (2010) shows that shopping experience has a significant effect on consumer attitude and intention to purchase online. Psychological variables such as personality and lifestyle characteristics are also studied by marketers. These variables are briefly mentioned in several places throughout the text. The reader who is interested in the impact of lifestyle differences on online shopping may see Wang et al. (2006). Product/service factors. The second group of factors is related to the product/service itself. Whether a consumer decides to buy is affected by the nature of the product/service in the transaction. These may include the price, quality, design, brand, and other related attributes of the product. Merchant and intermediary factors. Online transactions may also be affected by the merchant that provides the product/service. This group of factors includes merchant reputation, size of transaction, trust in the merchant, and so on. For example, people feel more secure when they purchase from Amazon.com (due to its reputation) than from a no-name seller. Other factors such as marketing strategy and advertising can also play a major role. EC systems. The EC platform for online transactions (e.g., security protection, payment mechanism, and so forth) offered by the merchant may also have effects. EC design factors can be divided into motivational and hygiene factors. Motivational factors were found to be more important than hygiene factors in attracting online customers (Liang and Lai 2002). Perceived usability is highly related to user preference for commercial websites (Lee and Koubek 2010). Motivational factors. Motivational factors are the functions available on the website to provide direct support in the transactional process (e.g., search engine, shopping carts, multiple payment methods). Hygiene factors. Hygiene factors are functions available on the website whose main purpose is to prevent possible trouble in the process (e.g., security and product status tracking). Environmental factors. The environment in which a transaction occurs may affect a consumers purchase decision. As shown in Exhibit 8.1, environmental variables can be grouped into the following categories: Social variables. People are influenced by family members, friends, coworkers, and whats in fashion this year. Therefore, social variables (such as customer endorsement, word-of-mouth) play an important role in EC. Of special importance in EC are Internet communities (see Chapter 7) and discussion groups, in which people communicate via chat rooms, electronic bulletin boards, twitting, and newsgroups. These topics are discussed in various places in the text. Cultural/community variables. It makes a big difference in what people buy if a consumer lives near Silicon Valley in California or in the mountains in Nepal. Chinese shoppers may differ from French shoppers, and rural shoppers may differ from urban ones. Other environmental variables. These include aspects such as available information, government regulations, legal constraints, and situational factors. [Comp: please shade the bullet list] Section 9.1 Ã… ¸ Review Questions 1. Describe the major components and structure of the consumer online purchasing behavior model. 2. List some major personal characteristics that influence consumer behavior. 3. List the major environmental variables of the purchasing environment. 4. List and describe five major merchant-related variables. 5. Describe the relationships among attitude, intention, and actual behavior in the behavior process model. 9.2 The Consumer Purchasing Decision-Making Process Consumer behavior is a major element in the process of consumers decisions to purchase or repurchase. A Generic Purchasing-Decision Model From the consumers perspective, a general purchasing-decision model consists of five major phases (Hawkins and Mothersbaugh 2010). In each phase, we can distinguish several activities and, in some, one or more decisions. The five phases are (1) need identification, (2) information search, (3) evaluation of alternatives, (4) purchase and delivery, and (5) postpurchase activities. Although these phases offer a general guide to the consumer decision-making process, one should not assume that every consumers decision-making process will necessarily proceed in this order. In fact, some consumers may proceed to a specific phase and then revert to a previous phase, or they may skip a phase altogether. The phases are discussed in more details next. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Need identification. The first phase occurs when a consumer is faced with an imbalance between the actual and the desired states of a need. A marketers goal is to get the consumer to recognize such imbalance and then convince the consumer that the product or service the seller offers will fill this gap. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Information search. After identifying the need, the consumer searches for information on the various alternatives available to satisfy the need. Here, we differentiate between two decisions: what product to buy (product brokering) and from whom to buy it (merchant brokering). These two decisions can be separate or combined. In the consumers search for information, catalogs, advertising, promotions, and reference groups could influence decision making. During this phase, online product search and comparison engines, see examples at shopping.com, buyersindex.com, and mysimon.com, can be very helpful. (See decision aids in Chapter 3.) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Evaluation of Alternatives. The consumers information search will eventually generate a smaller set of preferred alternatives. From this set, the would-be buyer will further evaluate the alternatives and, if possible, negotiate terms. In this phase, a consumer will use the collected information to develop a set of criteria. These criteria will help the consumer evaluate and compare alternatives. For online consumers, the activities may include evaluation of product prices and features. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Purchase and delivery. After evaluating the alternatives, the consumer will make the purchasing decision, arrange payment and delivery, purchase warranties, and so on. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Postpurchase activities. The final phase is a postpurchase phase, which consists of customer service and evaluation of the usefulness of the product. Customer services and consumer satisfaction will result in positive experience and word-of-mouth (e.g., This product is really great! or We really received good service when we had problems.). If the customer is satisfied with the product and services, loyalty will increase and repeat purchases will occur afterward. [Comp: please shade the bullet list] Several other purchasing-decision models have been proposed. A classic (1925) model for describing consumer message processing is the Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA) model at Wikipedia (see AIDA at Wikipedia). It argues that consumer processing of an advertising message (part of the information search phase) includes the following four stages: 1. A-Attention (Awareness). The first step is to get the customers attention. 2. I-Interest. By demonstrating features, advantages, and benefits, the customer becomes interested in the product. 3. D-Desire. Convice the customers that they want the product or service and that it will suit their needs. 4. A-Action. Finally, the consumer will take action toward purchasing. Now, some researchers also add another letter to form AIDA(S), where: 5. S-Satisfaction. Customer satisfaction will generate higher loyalty and lead to repurchase after using a product/service. (Loyalty, satisfaction, and trust are discussed in Online File W9.2.) A recent version of AIDA is the AISAS model proposed by the Dentsu Group that is tailored to online behavior. The model replaces decision with search and adds share to show the increased word-of-mouth effect on the Internet. It indicates that consumers go through a process of Attention-Interest-Search-Action-Share in their online decision process. This model is particularly suitable for social commerce. Customer Decision Support in Web Purchasing The preceding generic purchasing-decision model was widely used in research on consumer-based EC. In the Web-based environment, decision support is available in each phase. The framework that is illustrated in Online File W9.3 shows that each of the phases of the purchasing model, which were described earlier, can be supported by both a consumer decision support system (CDSS) that facilitates the process and Internet and Web-aiding facilities. The CDSS facilities support the specific decisions in the process. Generic EC technologies and analytics provide the necessary mechanisms as well as enhanced communication and collaboration tools. Specific implementation of this framework and explanations of some of the terms are provided throughout this chapter and the entire text. The planner of B2C marketing needs to consider the Web purchasing models in order to better influence the customers decision-making process (e.g., by effective one-to-one advertising and marketing). [Insert Exhibit 9.2 here] Online File W9.1 shows a model for a website that supports buyer searching and decision making. This model revises the generic model by describing a purchasing framework. The model is divided into three parts. The first includes three stages of buyer behavior (see top of exhibit): identify and manage buying criteria, search for products and merchants, and compare alternatives. Below these activities are boxes with decision support options that support the three top boxes (such as product representation).. The second part of the model (on the right) has a box that includes price, financial terms, shipping and warranty negotiations. These become relevant when alternatives are compared. The third part at the bottom of the exhibit, major concerns are cited. Players in the Consumer Decision Process Several different people may play roles in various phases of the consumer decision process. The following are five major roles: 1. Initiator. The person who first suggests or thinks of the idea of buying a particular product or service. 2. Influencer. A person whose advice or view carries some weight in making a final purchasing decision. 3. Decider. The person who ultimately makes a buying decision or any part of it-whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy. 4. Buyer. The person who makes an actual purchase. 5. User. The person who consumes or uses a product or service. [Comp: please shade the number list] A single person may play all the roles if the product or service is for personal use. In this case, the marketer needs to understand and target such individuals. In many situations, however, different people may play different roles. For example, a newly graduated engineer proposed to buy a car for his mother, which was followed by suggestions from his father and friends. Finally, he followed his fathers suggestion to buy the car. When more than one individual comes into play, it becomes more difficult to properly target advertising and marketing. Different marketing efforts may be designed to target people who are playing different roles. Section 9.2 Ã… ¸ Review Questions 1. List the five phases of the generic purchasing-decision model. 2. Use an example to explain the five phases in the generic purchasing-decision model. 3. Describe the supporting functions available in Web-based purchasing. 4. Describe AIDA and AISAS models and analyze their differences in illustrating an online purchasing behavior. 5. Describe the major players in a purchasing decision. 9.3 LOYALTY, SATISFACTION, AND TRUST IN E-COMMERCE Good online marketing activity can generate positive effects, which are generally observed as trust, customer satisfaction, and loyalty. Loyalty is the goal of marketing, while trust and customer satisfaction are factors that may affect customer loyalty. CUSTOMER LOYALTY One of the major objectives of marketing is to increase customer loyalty (recall the Netflix case). Customer loyalty refers to a deep commitment to repurchase or repatronize a preferred product/service continually in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts that have the potential to cause switching behavior. Customer acquisition and retention is a critical success factor in e-tailing. The expense of acquiring a new customer can be more than $100; even for Amazon.com, which has a huge reach, it is more than $15. In contrast, the cost of maintaining an existing customer at Amazon.com is $2 to $4. Attracting and retaining loyal customers remains the most important issue for any selling company, including e-tailers. Increased customer loyalty can result in cost savings to a company in various ways: lower marketing and advertising costs, lower transaction costs, lower customer turnover expenses, lower failure costs such as warranty claims, and so on. Customer loyalty also strengthens a companys market position because loyal customers are kept away from the competition. In addition, customer loyalty can lead to high resistance to competitors, a decrease in price sensitivity, and an increase in favorable word of mouth. Loyalty programs were introduced more than 100 years ago and are widely used among airlines, retailers, hotel chains, banks, casinos, car rentals, restaurants, and credit card companies. But now, loyalty programs have been computerized and expanded to all kinds of businesses. For example, Octopus Hong Kong (octopuscards.com), a stored-value card operator, launched a reward program for consumers aimed at increasing card usage across Hong Kong. Reward points are gained by purchasing at a number of leading merchants across the territory, including Wellcome, Watsons, UA Cinemas, and McDonalds. Each Octopus card can store up to 1,000 rewards points, which can be redeemed on the next purchase. FANCL, see the company atfancl.com, a Japanese cosmetics and health-care company, offers the FANCL point program where consumers earn FANCL points that are saved for gift redemption. However, the introduction of Internet technologies and social networking has the potential to undermine brands and discourage customer loyalty. The customers ability to shop, compare, get quick advice from friends, and switch to different vendors becomes easier, faster, and less expensive, given the aid of search engines and other technologies. Furthermore, customers are less loyal to the brand because of the lower switching costs for them to take advantage of special online offers and promotions, as well as to try new things. It is interesting to note that companies have found that loyal customers end up buying more when they have an optional website from which to shop. For example, W.W. Grainger, a large industrial-supply company, found that loyal B2B customers increased their purchases substantially when they began using Graingers website (grainger.com). (See Chapter 4 for more information.) Also, loyal customers may refer other customers to a site, especially with word of mouth in social networks. Therefore, it is important for EC companies to increase customer loyalty. The Web offers ample opportunities to do so. E-Loyalty E-loyalty refers to a customers loyalty to an e-tailer or a manufacturer that sells directly online, or to loyalty programs delivered online or supported electronically. Companies can foster e-loyalty by learning about their customers needs, interacting with customers, and providing superb customer service. Another source of information is colloquy.com, which concentrates on loyalty marketing. In an online environment, merchant ratings can be the source of interpersonal communication and are obtained from other consumers, not just friends and family. It is interesting to note that positive customer reviews have considerable impact on repurchase intention. It is not the total number of reviews that influences customer repurchase intention, but the percentage of positive reviews. This increases e-loyalty. (For reviews and recommendations in social networks, see Chapter 7.) Also, online ratings and word of mouth may undermine the effects of competitors low prices. For example, Amazon.com has higher prices than Half.com, but Amazon.com is still preferred by many customers. The difference is that Amazon.com has customer reviews and other personalization services, and Half.com does not. Many factors may affect customer loyalty and e-loyalty. A typical model is to check the relationship quality between retailers and their customers, which often is composed of trust, satisfaction, and commitment. Satisfaction and trust are particularly important because they will lead to commitment. For example, a recent study by Cyr (2008) found that e-loyalty is affected by trust and satisfaction across different cultures. Hence, we shall further discuss these two factors. SATISFACTION IN EC Satisfaction is one of the most important success measures in the B2C online environment. Customer satisfaction is associated with several key outcomes (e.g., repeat purchase, positive word of mouth, and so on) and it can lead to higher customer loyalty. A survey indicates that 80 percent of highly satisfied online consumers would shop again within two months, and 90 percent would recommend Internet retailers to others. However, 87 percent of dissatisfied consumers would permanently leave their Internet retailers without any complaints (Cheung and Lee 2005). Satisfaction has received considerable attention in studies of consumer-based EC. For example, ForeSee Results, an online customer satisfaction measurement company, developed the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) (theasci.org) for measuring customer satisfaction with EC. The Customer Respect Group (customerrespect.com) also provides an index to measure customers online experiences. The Customer Respect Index (CRI) includes the following components: simplicity, responsiveness, transparency, principles, attitude, and privacy. Researchers have proposed several models to explain the formation of satisfaction with online shopping. For example, Cheung and Lee (2005) proposed a framework for consumer satisfaction with Internet shopping by correlating the end-user satisfaction perspective with the service quality viewpoint. The framework is shown in Exhibit 9.3. The ability to predict consumer satisfaction can be useful in designing websites as well as advertising and marketing strategies. However, website designers should also pay attention to the nature of website features including navigational, visual, and information design (Cyr 2008). Different features have different impacts on customer (dis)satisfaction. If certain website features, such as reliability of content, loading speed, and usefulness fail to perform properly, customer satisfaction will drop dramatically. In contrast, if features such as those make the usage enjoyable, entertaining, and useful, they could result in a significant jump in customer satisfaction. [Insert Exhibit 9.3 here] Factors that Affect Consumer Satisfaction with Internet Shopping TRUST IN EC Trust is the psychological status of depending on another person or organization to achieve a planned goal. When people trust each other, they have confidence that their transaction partners will keep their promises. However, both parties in a transaction assume some risk. In the electronic marketplace, sellers and buyers do not meet face to face. The buyer can see a picture of the product but not the product itself. Promises of quality and delivery time can be easily made-but will they be kept? To deal with these issues, EC vendors need to establish high levels of trust with current and potential customers. Trust is particularly important in global EC transactions due to the difficulty of taking legal action in cases of a dispute or fraud and the potential for conflicts caused by differences in culture and business environments. In addition to sellers and buyers trusting each other, both must have trust in the EC computing environment and in the EC infrastructure. For example, if people do not trust the security of the EC infrastructure, they will not feel comfortable about using credit cards to make EC purchases. EC Trust Models Trust in e-commerce is often called online trust. Several models have been put forth to explain the factors that may affect online trust. For example, Lee and Turban (2001) examined the various aspects of EC trust and developed the model shown in Online File W9.2. According to this model, the level of trust is determined by numerous variables (factors) shown on the left side and in the middle of the exhibit. The exhibit illustrates the complexity of trust relationships, especially in B2C EC. [Enter Exhibit 9.4 here] EC Trust Model A newer model expands previous ones to include internal and external factors. Internal factors are directly related to online services provided by the vendor, and external factors are those that have indirect relationships (Salo and Karjaluoto 2007). How to Increase Trust in EC Consumer trust is fundamental to successful online retailing; it is considered the currency of the Internet. The following are representative strategies for building consumer trust in EC. Improve Your Website. The most important factor that affects online trust is the quality of the website. Cyr (2008) found that the navigational, visual, and information design of a website affect consumer trust. Gregg and Walczak (2010) reported a positive relationship between website quality and trust. Higher perceived website quality induces higher trust and price premium based on a survey of 701 eBay users. Therefore, how to design the EC website that delivers high-quality information and navigational experience

Lost Innocence in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne :: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, John Boyne

Evil can be glossed over by innocence but in the end subsumes it. This is vividly conveyed by John Boyne in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a powerful narrative of lost innocence set in Nazi Germany. It all begins simply enough. Nine-year-old Bruno has to suddenly leave a familiar and beloved home where he could slide five floors down on a fine banister, and move with his parents and his twelve year old sister Gretel to a place called ‘Out With', where Father was going to be doing a very important job. ‘ The Fury' had dined with them the week before, and after that Bruno's father was given a brand new assignment, and as Bruno's mother told him, he would now have to wear a grander uniform than the one he had been wearing. So the family, with their entourage of staff and servants, leaves bustling Berlin. Sadly for Bruno, he has to also leave behind his three best friends, not to mention his beloved grandparents; he has to move far away to a much smaller, sequestered house with only Gretel (whom he thinks of as a Hopeless Case) for company. From his bedroom window, homesick Bruno can see groups of people in the distance, all in striped pyjamas moving about slowly behind a tall and endless wire fence. And because Bruno loves exploring, he soon sets out to find out more, although when he had asked his father who the people in the striped pyjamas were, his father had said that they were not people. The language and structure of this novel, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by the Irish writer John Boyne, labelled as young adult fiction in early editions, is deceptively simple. But this is definitely a book that adults must read; it is a fable set in living history that will jolt readers of all ages. Paradoxical While evil hiding among us is an ancient theme (as Agatha Christie once said), in this book evil is the base, glossed over by an innocence that is at one level redemptive, but at another level shocking. Bruno is the much loved child of a Nazi Commandant; but he is also an endearing little boy who adores his parents, is frustrated in typical sibling fashion with his pre-teen older sister, and in all aspects a solid little fellow; curious, full of energy and also trusting and innocent in a manner that sometimes seems a bit paradoxical for someone as intelligent as he is.

Change of Audience †Letter to Peer

Three skills an Administrative Medical Assistant needs to possess are planning, strategy and effective communication. Planning is a criterion that is required in the job description of a medical assistant. Medical Assistants should be able to plan appointments for the specified times needed for the availability a patient needs. Medical assistants should also be able to plan well for ordering medical supplies, if a medical assistant does not have planning or organizational skills the company he or she is working for will be out supplies and cannot care for the patients or use the materials needed to complete everyday tasks.Strategy is a skill that medical assistants need to possess in everyday job experiences. Strategy is something that every person uses on a day to day basis. A good medical assistant should be able to strategize to achieve any goal he or she desires. Working in the medical field there are chaotic days that a person needs to be able to make quick and accurate decision s within an instant. Medical assistants need to be able to strategize each course of action he or she needs to decides and it needs to be accurate and effective because the company is in stake of each strategic decision.Communication is a skills that every person possess however to be a good medical assistant effective communication is important. Medical assistants use communication at the office answering phones, planning patient’s appointments, and greeting patients with professional hospitability. The medical assistant is the first person a patient see’s when entering the office everyday therefore a medical assistant needs to possess the abilities to understand, listen and control the behavior of other individuals and groups.Medical assistants should be understanding of patient’s complaints and should have the ability to be a good listener and give professional feedback to the patients. Patients sometimes need someone other than family members and friends to listen and understand their problems and situations and as a professional healthcare employee medical assistants need to possess these skills.