Virtual Lab Report Template Sample

Virtual Lab Report Template Paper In this virtual lab activity, you will be observing the cell cycle in the tip of an onion root. The root tip is responsible for the downward growth of the root and is one of the regions in the plant where cells are actively dividing and growing. Because of this, the root tip is an excellent system in which to observe the entire cell cycle, including the processes of nuclear division (mitosis) and cell division (cytokines). You will be submitting a lab report as the assignment for this lesson. Be sure o read the instructions before completing the virtual lab activity and your lab report. Refer to the lab rubric before you submit your report to your instructor. Cell Cycle Lab Safety Notes: Always handle microscopes and glass slides carefully. Wash your hands after handling the prepared specimens. Materials: Compound Light Microscope Glass microscope slide with prepared onion root tip specimen Purpose: understand and identify the stages of the cell cycle and mitosis. Apply an analytical technique to estimate the relative length of each stage of the cell cycle. Hypothesis: Procedure: Data and Observations: Create a data table containing a tally of the number of cells observed in each of the following stages: Stage Number of Cells in Part 1 Number of Cells in Part 2 Enterprise Prophesy Metaphors Anapest Telephones Cytokines Record any observations about the cells you observed: Data Analysis: Calculate the percentage of the cell cycle spent in each stage. Number of cells in given stage + total number of cells counted x 100 = % of the cell cycle spent in this stage Create a graph that represents the time spent in each stage of the cell cycle. We will write a custom essay sample on Virtual Lab Report Template specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Virtual Lab Report Template specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Virtual Lab Report Template specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

My Struggle for Literacy in America

My Struggle for Literacy in America The main purpose of this presentation is to convince the audience that literacy is one of the skills that a person can and should develop. Moreover, an individual should not become despondent, if he/she has to confront some difficulties. This is the main message that is conveyed to the audience.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on My Struggle for Literacy in America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, it is aimed at increasing people’s awareness about the problem of illiteracy and its influence on the experiences of individuals who have to face this difficulty. This video clip can be of great interest to viewers who may have various cultural or educational backgrounds. Yet, it can be particularly relevant to individuals who attempt to develop his literacy skills. The author skillfully achieves this goal by adopting various rhetorical techniques. First of all, she relies on ethos and lays stress on her credi bility. It should be noted that the speaker presents a personal narrative which describes the difficulties that she faced due to lack of literary skills. Moreover, this narrative shows how the speaker was able to overcome her difficulties and achieve success (â€Å"My struggle for literacy in America†). In this way, the author demonstrates that she is knowledgeable enough to discuss this topic. Additionally, the author makes use of pathos or emotional appeal. It should be mentioned that this presentation tells the story of a girl, who becomes despondent because of academic failures. In this way, the author makes the audience empathize with this character. Apart from that, emotional appeal is created with the help of music which reflects the experiences of an individual who may feel helpless sometimes, but is able to regain one’s confidence. In turn, one can say that logos or appeal to rationality does not play an important role in this presentation. This is one of the aspects that can be distinguished. Overall, the use of these rhetorical strategies makes the presentation more convincing. Furthermore, the speaker is able to address the audience by combining verbal and visual elements. For instance, the viewers can see that the most important parts of this speech appear on the screen. In most cases, these words replicate the author’s speech, especially at the beginning when she mentions the scale of illiteracy in the United States (â€Å"My struggle for literacy in America†). However, they also supplement the ideas that the speaker expresses. In particular, they can throw light on the experiences of a girl named Samantha who cannot overcome her illiteracy. For instance, she becomes obsessed with the idea that she cannot â€Å"keep up with the readings’ (â€Å"My struggle for literacy in America†).Advertising Looking for essay on rhetoric? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF L earn More So, one can say that this text helps the speaker make the presentation more fluent. Yet, this text is also necessary to help viewers who may have some hearing impairments. Judging from the tone of the author, one can say that she is extremely concerned about the issues that she discusses. The word choices of the speaker indicate that she wants to provide encouragement to the audience. Moreover, the author includes various images in the presentation. In particular, one can speak about the combination of cartoons and drawings. These images depict people who are mentioned in the author’s narrative. In most cases, these cartoons and drawings are related to a girl named Samantha who attempts to develop her literacy skills. This story is necessary to make the speech more vivid. It should be noted that while depicting Samantha, the author does not try to describe the face of this character. This is one of the details that can attract the attention of a viewer. Prob ably, the use of this technique is necessary to show that such difficulties can be encountered by a great number of people. One can say that the text and images supplement one another. Moreover, this presentation includes a link to a website which can show how literacy skills should be developed. This is another aspect that should be distinguished. It is possible to say that the author attempts to support her claim with the help of personal examples. In particular, she argues that if she was able to overcome her illiteracy, other people may also cope with this task. Moreover, the speaker mentions that there are various methods that can enable a person to improve his/her literacy skills. The main limitation of this argument is the personal story of Samantha may not be applicable to other people. For instance, some of them may have cognitive or visual impairments. Therefore, they may not be able to follow the recommendations offered by the author. However, this limitation does not und ermine the ideas expressed by the speaker because many people can cope with this problem only because they do not know much about educational methods that can help them. One can argue that the speaker examines the topic from a personal perspective. Therefore, she relies primarily on her own experiences while the problem of illiteracy. This approach prevents the author from identifying the main reasons why many people may lack literacy skills. This is one of the short-comings that should be considered. â€Å"My struggle for literacy in America.† Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 17 Jun. 2013. Web. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poZmf4JFVoQ .Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on My Struggle for Literacy in America specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More

Renaissance Art and Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Renaissance Art and Music - Essay Example Northern painters, especially those from Flanders and the Netherlands, were as advanced as Italian artists in landscape painting and contributed to the innovations of their southern contemporaries by introducing oil paint as a new medium. Although portraiture also developed as a specific genre in the mid-15th century, Renaissance painters achieved the greatest latitude with the history, or narrative, picture, in which figures located within a landscape or an architectural environment act out a specific story, taken either from Classical mythology or Judaeo-Christian tradition. Within such a context, the painter was able to show men, women, and children in a full range of postures and poses, as well as the subjects' diverse emotional reactions and states. The Renaissance was also a period of avid exploration; ships set sail in search of new routes to Asia, which resulted in the discovery and eventual colonization of North and South America. Painters, sculptors, and architects were dri ven by a similar sense of adventure and the desire for greater knowledge and new solutions; Leonardo da Vinci, like Christopher Columbus, discovered whole new worlds. This paper aims to define the characteristics of visual art and music during the renaissance through the use of examples, know a little about the artists of the artworks which were used as examples for this paper as well as to compare the works selected as examples in terms of the elements of art. In so doing, the paper will establish that renaissance art, however old and different the world it originated from is still continued to be regarded as timeless and valuable pieces in modern day art. Body Renaissance Art is any type of art produced... The two principal components of Renaissance style are the following: 1. a revival of the classical forms originally developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and 2. an intensified concern with secular life—interest in humanism and assertion of the importance of the individual. The Renaissance period in art history corresponds with the beginning of the great Western age of discovery and exploration, when a general desire developed to examine all aspects of nature and the world.During the Renaissance, artists were no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been in the medieval past. The renaissance has indeed been a period of rebirth because people at that time were given a â€Å"second chance† to live life again. Along with this chance is the realization of the importance of appreciating life and the environment. People were able to have an identity of their own as they were recognized according to what they do best, just like the painters and the musicians. Although, the period is a time of rebirth, still many of its influences, both in visual art and music, comes from religion. Until today, even how old the art pieces of renaissance artists both in visual art and music, their works are still highly regarded and served as guides and models of aspiring artists today. This is manifested in how these new artists study the life and works of renaissance artists and sometimes compare their works to what the young ones of today have created. Truly, renaissance pieces, in art visual art and music, are timeless for until now it has still been considered to be timeless and priceless works of art.

Homeschooling Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Homeschooling - Research Paper Example Home schooling program has been legal in the United States. Its rapid growth comes as a big surprise to educators both in public and private schools. An estimate from The National Center for Education Statistics of the US Dept. of Education sets it at 1.1 million in 2003 an increase from 850,000 in 1999 and 1.1 million in 2003. Parents cited many reasons favoring this system. But there are evidences that lead me to an argument that this program needs tighter regulation, either banned or to conclude that it is an educational neglect. If you are a parent, and convinced that home study program is right for your child, see the disadvantages first and weigh its consequences after. Disadvantages Personality change. Home schooling deprives the child of the opportunity of gaining social skills that could only be gained or developed when the child is with his/her peers. A child learns to interact with other students from all walks of life in a school environment, thus leading to growth and development. Studies of Scott, White et.al. supports my argument such that their Examination of Previously Homeschooled College Students with the Big Five Model of Personality showed that the unique socialization practices of homeschooled families may impact their children’s personality development. Communication. A regular school gives children a chance to work with other people, hear different opinions, values, and beliefs.

Economic Impacts of the National Transportation Safety Board on the Term Paper

Economic Impacts of the National Transportation Safety Board on the Airline Industry - Term Paper Example There were 21 recommendations in between 2006 and 2008 to this center to addresses the management to conduct more accident investigations and studies related to the safety of air-travels (Dillingham, 1). The NTSB training center follows cutting-edge management practices, conducts investigations after accidents and studies for safety measures. NTSB also studies the usages of the Information Technology can help the aircrafts avoid these fatalities and losses. The organization (NTSB) has staff strength of over 400. The budget of the organization is approximately $100 million (at present). It is in charge of each and every civil aircrafts accident in the United States. It has a training center, which was opened in 2003. The training center provides training for the investigators of the organization, as well as other professionals attached to safety of transportation (Dillingham, 1). This study will reflect upon the impact of NTSB on the Airplane Industry Findings of NTSB on an Airplane C rash: US Air flight 427 operated by USAir crashed near Aliquippa (Pennsylvania) on the 8th of September 1994. It was an aircraft of the type Boeing 737-300. NTSB collected data for the air-crash. The total team of NTSB examined the spot and took a couple of years to arrive at the conclusion. It was found that no evidence of any explosion or collision with bird occurred (Walters and Robert, 5-9). Moreover, no trace of in-flight fire was found. Due to bad weather a lot of information went missing. However, the parts of the aircraft and the engine were working with efficiency till before the hazard (as per the research conducted by the NTSB investigators). The investigators conducted computer generated simulations due to lack of apt evidences. NTSB and NASA aerodynamics experts created a wake turbulence model and concluded that under atmospheric conditions that evening caused the havoc. The wake vortices probably had descended to approximately 300 and 500 feet every minute Additionally , NTSB also found that this turbulence had led to the crash of three other air carriers over the years ranging from 1964 to 1972 (Walters and Robert, 5-9). Role of NTSB in Shaping Aviation Industry and Economy (last 20 years): NTSB has already introduced a bill which will reauthorize the Aviation Administration in the United States. It has implemented fully the three management recommendations given in the earlier meetings by the congress (as of April 2008) (Dillingham, 5). The recommendations in the bill are listed below: (1) To facilitate proper channel of communication between staff and management, (2) To align the structure of the organization and to implement the strategic plans, and (3) To rectify the Anti-deficiency Act Violation pertaining to the purchase of accidental death and the dismemberment insurance towards the employees who meet with such accidents while on official duties. In addition, NTSB has progressed on the seven proposed recommendations (management) since the year 2008. NTSB has initiated sending report to the Congress the status of the recommendations and the actions taken thereafter. Moreover, NTSB has started taking steps to implement all three IT-related recommendations of the Congress (Dillingham, 5). NTSB has learned by researching over many years that the various organizations input unique perspective as well as knowledge during the investigative process. The pilots who fly the airplanes know the

India and UK Financial Insurance Industry Analysis

India and UK Financial Insurance Industry Analysis Chapter 1: Introduction The financial performance of insurance industry can be assessed by knowing either its strategies or by knowing its profitability. Knowledge of strategy will helps in examining internal and external position of a company. Comparative study of insurance sector is analysis of financial performance of any insurance company. This is directly linked with the earning potential and effectiveness of management strategies of a company. Choosing a wise insurance is very crucial because of, balance to the risks and returns. The reason for choosing Indian and UK insurance industry for the research is because of improved economical status of the country and increase in the value of insurance in the country during last several years. The UK Economy is the largest in Europe and is also ranked as the fifth worldwide as per the market exchange rates, in terms of GDP (Broadberry et al, 1992) were Indian economy is now improving and it is now booming growth in insurance companies were greatest effect of Indian economy during the last several years. This would need a grate deal of financial planning knowledge, as well as the knowledge about the current financial market thus it can compare the other to the insurance companies the analysis of different insurance companies from India and UK. Also insurance companies has to manage their investment in such a way that the principal amount should not erode, investor should get the assured returns those company has promised. This would involve a grate deal of knowledge about the portfolio management of the risk and return and comparative study of insurance industries. Comparative study of insurance is also a topic of hunger for many economists. Till date many researches has been carried out for comparative study of financial analysis in banking sector and very few research has been taken on insurance industry. The main purpose of the research is to find comparative study of insurance companies in India and UK. What characteristic will determine of insurance industry is the main thrust behind the research. Further research is carried out to know in depth relationship of various characteristics that will make up the of Indian and UK insurance industry. The main outline objectives of the research are as under; A Research Design is the framework or plan for a study which is used as a guide in collecting and analyzing the data collected. It is the blue print that is followed in completing the study. The basic objective of research cannot be attained without a proper research design. It specifies the methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed to conduct the research effectively. It is the overall operational pattern of the project that stipulates what information needs to be collected, from which sources and by what methods. Objectives of the research This research has been carried out to comparative study of insurance companies and analyzes financial performance between Indian and UK’s insurance companies. The main aims of the research are: To analyze financial performance of insurance companies in India and UK To evaluate factors that determine financial performance of insurance companies To carry out strategic financial analysis of insurance in India and UK The structure of the research paper is as follows: Chapter 2 reviews the literature on comparative study of insurance sector; Chapter 3 describes the subject matter of the research: the Indian and UK economy and insurance industries ; Chapter 4 outlines the methodology and data used in this study; Chapter 5 presents the analysis and Findings and Chapter 6 discusses the results obtained in the context of the underlying theory the findings of other empirical research; Chapter 7 concludes the research outlining the limitations of the current study and makes recommendations for further work. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Theory Insurance is, a contract in which one party agrees to compensate another party fir any losses or damages caused by risk identified in the contract in exchange for the payment of a lump sum or periodic amounts of money to the first party. In simple meaning facilitates recompense during crisis situations, insurance means promise of compensation for any potential future losses. Insurance is a form of risk management mainly used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. It is designed to protect the financial security of an individual, company or other entity in the case of unexpected loss. Insurance is defined as the realistic transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium. It is a contract between two parties the insurer (the insurance company) and the insured (the person or unit seeking the cover) in which the insurer agrees to pay the insured for financial losses arising out of any unforeseen events in return for a regular payment of premium. These unforeseen events are defined as risk and that is why insurance is called a risk cover. Insurance may be described as a social device to decrease or eliminate risk of loss to life and property. Under the plan of insurance, a large number of people correlate themselves by sharing risks attached to individuals. The risks which can be insured against include fire, the perils of sea, death and accidents and burglary. Any risk contingent upon these, may be insured against at a premium commensurate with the risk involved. Thus collective bearing of risk is insurance. Analyzing insurance companies is very different from analyzing corporate and thus presents unique challenges and industry specific issues. The ability of any insurance company to meet its policy obligations is the foundation of the industry. Absent the trust of policyholders in the financial integrity of any insurer and the industry as a whole, this risk transfer mechanism/industry would collapse. This truth is even more acute in the ES industry where no guaranty funds exist, except New Jersey. However, rapid growth of Insurance sector during the situation liberalization period is seen as the most significant event in financial sector hist. in view of the fact that then, lot of changes take place in the sector as it was exposed to new challenges of competitive competition. For the first time, the private and foreign players were given entry and thus the sector saw a wonderful rate of growth in its business. A well-developed insurance sector is needed for economic development for a rising economy like India as it provides long-term funds for physical and social infrastructure progress at the same time make stronger the risk taking ability. The investment supplies for India in the upcoming years are well-known. Thus, Insurance sector, to some extent, can enable investments in infrastructure development to help maintain economic growth of the country. In this backdrop, we raise two questions: what is the contribution of insurance sector growth towards economic development and financial intermediation in India and United Kingdom. Our study does not stop here as we take a step further to examine the financial and economic growth effects of Insurance sector reforms and the rate of growth of reforms. The insurance companies offer a comprehensive range of insurance plans. The most common types include: term life policies, endowment policies, joint life policies, whole life policies, loan cover term assurance policies, unit-linked insurance plans, group insurance policies, pension plans, and annuities. General insurance plans are also available to cover motor insurance, home insurance, travel insurance and health insurance. Due to the growing demand for insurance, more and more insurance companies are now emerging insurance sector all over the world. With the opening up of the economy, several international leaders in the insurance sector are trying to venture into the insurance industry. The comparative study of insurance sector, Analysis of ratios are calculated from companys balance sheet and income statement and are used to evaluate the performance of the company in a particular reporting period. Analysis of ratios can be compared to the previous years in order to assess trends or between the comparable companies across the industry in classify to get the relative performance estimation. It is very important that every ratio should have a reference point the industry (sector) average or median. The ratio analysis works better if comparing ratios not with the complete set of companies within a particular industry, but with a preferred subset of companies that share certain features, produce the similar product, and have identical macroeconomic and governmental factors affecting them. For the study of companies, operating in several industries it can be helpful to run a cross-sectional analysis to identify a group of firms, involved in the same mix of industries. In some cases a comparison to the economy averages can be meaningful, especially in successful or constricting economies. Therefore, stable margins may be a good indicator during the recession, while the industry and economy averages are declined. It is also important to that usually conclusions can not be made from reviewing one set of ratios. That creates a necessity of a complex analysis of one set of ratios against another. The classification of the objective ratio for the comparison may require a substantial amount of work and a good judgment in order to evaluate a range of achievable and acceptable values. Although the understandable simplicity, such ratios have certain limitations that often make them most useful at identify questions to be answered rather than giving answers to them. There are multiple factors affecting and limiting comparative study of insurance sector, in particular the actual comparability of the firms and different accounting policies used by them are among the most important ones. The issue of comparability may become one the critical aspects to pay attention to while performing the analysis. Various macroeconomic or legislative factors may apply to the companies in the same industry but in different countries that sometimes makes a direct comparison inappropriate. Comparisons with other companies may become even more difficult because of different accounting policies, especially outside the US. Thus different accounting methods may result in significantly different ratio values that require normalization by the analyst. 2.2 Classification of insurance sector There are mainly two types of insurance life and non-life (general) Life insurance is concerned with making provision for specific event happening to the individual, such as death whereas General Insurance(non-life) is more commonly concerned with provision for a specific event affects properly, such as fire, flood , theft, burglary etc. The major difference between Life Insurance and General Insurance is the Principal of indemnity. Indemnity means â€Å"making good the loss† i.e. for tangible goods, one can make good for the loss that has been caused due to reasons like – theft, fire or natural disaster. Here basically we can value the exact monetary value of a commodity, but in case of life insurance the principal of indemnity does not work, since we can not value in any way the value of human life. 2.3 There are five main sectors: Life Insurance Home Insurance Auto Insurance Health Insurance Disability Insurance Section 2 (11) of Insurance Act 1938 defines Life Insurance Business as follows: â€Å"Life insurance Business is the business of effecting contracts of insurance upon human life, including any contract whereby the payment of money is assured on death or the happening of any contingency dependent on human life and any contract which is subject to the payment of premium for a term dependent on human life and shall be deemed to include.† (Mukherjee and Hanif, 2007) In simple term we define life insurance as a contract in which the insurer in consideration of certain premium, either in a lump sum or by other periodical payments, agrees to pay to the assured sum of money , on the happening of specific event contingent on the human life. 2.4 Benefits of insurance industries Life insurance has long been a staple in basic estate planning. Life insurance  can provide an income tax-free death benefit* far in excess of the premiums paid. However, much of the life insurance proceeds can be wasted if the ownership and beneficiary designations are not properly structured. Superior to Any Other Saving Plan Unlike any other savings plan, a life insurance policy affords full protection against risk of death. In the event of death of a policy holder the insurance company makes available the full sum assured to the policyholder’s near and dear ones. Encourages and Forces Thrift A saving deposit can easily be withdrawn. The payment of life insurance premiums, however, is considered sacrosanct and is viewed with the same seriousness as the payment of interest on a mortgage. Thus, a life insurance policy in effect brings about compulsory savings. Easy Settlement and Protection against Creditors A life insurance policy is the only financial instrument the proceeds of which can be protected against the claims of a creditor of the assured by effecting a valid assignment of the policy. Administering the Legacy for Beneficiaries Speculative or unwise expenses can quickly cause the proceeds to be squandered. Several policies have foreseen this possibility and provide for payments over a period of years or in a combination of installments and lump sum amounts. Ready Marketability and Suitability for Quick Borrowing A life insurance policy can, after a certain time period (generally three years) ,be surrendered for a cash value. The policy is also acceptable as a security for a commercial loan, for example, a student loan. It is particularly advisable for housing loans when an acceptable LIC policy may also cause the lending institution to give loan at lower interest rates. Disability Benefits Death is not only hazard that is insured; many policies also include disability benefits. Typically, these provide for waiver of future premiums and payments of monthly installments spread over certain time period. Accidental Death Benefits Many policies can also provide for an extra sum to be paid (typically equal to the sum assured) if death occurs as a result of accident. Tax Relief Under the Indian Income Tax Act, the following tax relief is available 20% of the premium paid can be deducted from your total income tax liability. 100% of the premium paid is deductible from your total taxable income. When these benefits are factored in, it is found that most policies offer returns that are comparable or even better than other saving modes such as PPF, NSC etc. Moreover, the cost of insurance is a very negligible. The issue of comparability may become one the critical aspects to pay attention to while performing the analysis. Various macroeconomic or legislative factors may apply to the companies in the same industry but in different countries that sometimes makes a direct comparison inappropriate. Comparisons with other companies may become even more difficult because of different accounting policies, especially outside the US. Thus different accounting methods may result in significantly different ratio values that require normalization by the analyst. Seasonality may also affect the ratios if the business is a subject to seasonal fluctuations in demand, thus year-end values may not be enough representatives and should also be normalized. Most of the ratios are preferred to be within the industry averages or economy norms. For example, all turnover ratios belong to this category. However, for some ratios the extreme deviations from the industry averages may mean that the company is highly attractive for the investors. This is usually true for all ratios dealing with income or cash flows. There are different insurance companies that offer wide range of insurance options and an insurance purchaser can select as per own convenience and preference. Several insurances provide comprehensive coverage with affordable premiums. Premiums are periodical payment and different insurers offer diverse premium options. Insurance companies may be classified into two groups: Life insurance companies (which sell life insurance, annuities and pensions products) and Non-life, General, or Property/Casualty insurance companies (which sell other types of insurance). Life insurance is concerned with making provision for specific event happening to the individual, such as death whereas General Insurance(non-life) is more commonly concerned with provision for a specific event affects properly, such as fire, flood , theft, burglary etc. The major difference between Life Insurance and General Insurance is the Principal of indemnity. Indemnity means â€Å"making good the loss† i.e. for tangible goods, one can make good for the loss that has been caused due to reasons like – theft , fire or natural disaster. Here basically we can value the exact monetary value of a commodity, but in case of life insurance the principal of indemnity does not work, since we can not value in any way the value of human life. 2.5 Introduction of insurance sector India In India, the concept of insurance was never a serious thought as compared to other countries. People still are under insured, life insurance premium to gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is a mere 1.4% as compared to a healthier rate of 8% amongst other developing with poor state of services provided. Presently in India, the insurance sector is nationalized, services are rendered by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Company (GIC) along with its 4 subsidiaries .While LIC provides life insurance, GIC is concerned with non life insurance. – Motor, marine, fire, health and personal accident insurance. LIC employs people in various departments – publicity, public relation department , development department, personal department , accounts department, legal department ,investment department , inspection department, mortgages department vigilance department, foreign department, corporate planning department, building department etc. Of late, parliament’s nod for the insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) bill has changed the whole scenario. With the passage of the bill, entry of Private Indian as well as foreign companies, a long with existing players, in the insurance sector will add variety and quality to the present insurance services. The other positive impact would be on creation of new employment opportunities. Till now employment in the insurance sector was considered akin to any government job, but now with private participation, it will assume significance importance and probably become an exciting career option. UK’s The UK Insurance sector remains a crucial contributor to the UK economy after the public, banking and manufacturing sectors. The industry accounts for approximately 10% of total UK IT expenditure, and positive growth is expected to continue for the next few years as insurance firms begin to realize the benefits to be gained from IT investment. Although the United Kingdom (UK) insurance market is now one of the five largest in the world, relatively little is known about the practices of the major firms and policy-makers which influence its operations. In particular, whilst the determinants of rating agencies’ assessments of United States (US) insurers is well documented, published studies have yet to provide comprehensive evidence about insurance company ratings in the UK. (Hardwick, P and et al, 2000) 2.6 Current scenario of insurance industry Breaking of strict monopoly of LIC was not an easy task where to an audience who spelled insurance as LIC. LIC is working for last 50n years and caved its name for itself in the Indian psyche. Insurance being long term contract, an established name means feeling of security and more importantly LIC policies come with the safety tag-the most touted government guarantee. To enter private insurers with an altogether new agency force, all ready to hawk freshly designed insurance policies. and the market scene – a government owned established insurance entity-the Life insurance Corporation with a field force of over 6,00,000agents and more than 80 products to choose from. Purchase of Insurance is a decision that determine by a number of demographic as well as personal behavior factors. Main responsible factors include Age, Income, Education, Risk, etc. Some of the important determinants as review by different scientists in their research are as under 2.7 Risk and return in industry Risk seems to be a fact of life experienced by an individual as well as by a whole organization. This risk may be economic, physical or financial. There is an increase in unexpected losses caused by natural disasters as well as accidental damage. Wealth is subject to possible loss, and therefore everyone from individual to the whole financial firm desire to invest in loss prevention activities that reduce the probability of loss (Hoffman, 2007). A sense of security may be the next basic goal after food, clothing, and shelter. There are various forms of risk is exist in the market. All the risks are differed from each other. Some risks creates a quick big impact on a business while, the impact of some risks can be seen at a long run. The risk in business is always associated with losses. Prevention and management of risk is only possible after having sufficient information regarding its intensity. Preventing and managing risk is one of the burning issues for the corporate world. The management of any company is always looking for the thing that will reduce the risk on their investment and definitely gives some output on the account of their investment. The ultimate thing that will satisfy this need is the return. Return is the proportionate sum of capital given to the investors for their investment. In other words, return is some kind of security against the investment made for any kind a business. Figure 2.1 Risks management in business Asset Market Credit Operating Business Event Liquidity Catastrophe Non-Catastrophe Risk Financial risk is mainly divided in to 2 main categories i.e. Systematic or Market risks and Unsystematic risk. The risk associated with an investment can be broadly divided into two categories based on nature and occurrence of risk. Some risks are associated with the firm, and that risks are called as firm-specific, whereas the rest of the risk is associated with market condition and generally affects all investments in whole market. The firm specific risk can be further sub-divided in to various categories. Some firm specific risks are affect s project value that is called Project specific risk and in some cases projects value is affected by the nature of competitions and that type of risks are known as Competitive risks. Some risks are affecting the value of a whole industry and so known as Industry associated risks. In some cases, all the companies in a market will affect by macro economic factors and so that type of risk is known as Market specific risk (Friend and Bicksler, 197 7). Default risk is the risk fallen on the part of financial institution or a creditors for your investments i.e. weather they are able to make a monthly return on your asset or not. To achieve short term financial goals most of the investors preferred cash investments. The only limitation with use of cash investments is that, they are unable to produce higher returns over long term as compared to other financial options. The only reason for this is cash investments are unable to adjust inflation rates. In other words cash investments are not preferable source of investment for long term project. So, what are the other options that will satisfies needs for investment of long term project. 2.8 Empirical research Economic decisions are made on both the negative as well as positive issues. Positive issue studies on insurance gradually integrated these issues via assimilating developments in the field of risk and uncertainty following works by Arrow (1963), Lewis (1989), (1953) and others. The economics on insurance demand became more attentive on evaluating the amount of risk to be shared between the insured and the insurer rather than evaluation of life or property values. Economic value judgments are made on both the normative as well as positive issues. Later studies on insurance gradually incorporated these issues via assimilating developments in the field of risk and uncertainty following works by von Neumann and Morgenstern (1947), Arrow (1953), Debreu (1953) and others. The economics on insurance demand became more purposeful when determining the amount of risk to be shared between the insured and the insurer rather than evaluation of property values. Headen and Lee (1974) studied the effects of short run financial market behaviour and consumer expectations on purchase of ordinary life insurance and developed structural determinants of life insurance demand. Morris and Barbara A (2003) study about Risk Insurance and mean study related with a Wedge between Insurers and Reinsurers, authored by credit analysts and legitimate disagreements between insurers and reinsurers about the values attributed. Criteria and claims values, insurers and reinsurers are equally concerned with the Risk. Cole et al, (2008) theoretical in observed research related to the comparative analysis between property-casualty insurance industry, studies commonly focus on either insurers or reinsurers. Richard et al (2008) give article of features a presentation and discussant comments on hurricane and wind insurance organized by Richard A., for the American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA) 2007 Annual Meeting in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Venard et al. (2008) determine in the article of analyzes Hungarys insurance sector as an important part of the countrys economic transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. It details the historic economic development of the Hungarian insurance market from a state monopoly to a competitive. Yu, Tong et al 2008) study about Intangible assets facilitates insurers capacity to retain existing business and attract new clients. In his study it can be shows that analyze how the incentives to protect intangible assets affect asset risk-taking behaviour of property and ability insurers. Browne et al. (1993) concluded that income and social security expenditures are significant determinants of insurance demand. They further concluded that inflation has a negative correlation with demand of purchasing for insurance. Beck and Webb (2003) identified the two main services provided by life insurance: income replacement for premature death and long-term savings instruments. They further found that demographic variables, higher levels of education and greater urbanization as independent factors in explaining insurance demand. Income has been found to be having a positive association with health insurance purchase decision consistently in different studies conducted in different countries Propper (1989) in UK: Cameron, Trivedi (1988) in Australia and Hurd and McGarry (1997) in USA. Health insurance choice essentially entailed a simple decision whether or not to purchase private health insurance (Barrett and Conlon 2003). Binary discrete choice models using either logit or probit has been used to analyse determinants of this type of purchase decision. Cameron and Trivedi and Cameron (1991) specified a conditional expected utility function that is associated with alternative health care regimes. The consumer chooses the regime that maximizes expected utility. Feldstein (1973) has argued that as the price of health care increases, the demand for insurance should increase as well because this causes an increase in the risk of net worth depletion and thus an increase in the demand for insurance. Healthcare expenditure largely depends on healthcare costs. Recent research has documented that most of the secular change in health insurance coverage can be attributed to higher health care costs (Cutler et al. 2002). Zietz (2003) and Hussels et al (2005) has studied about purchasing behaviour of a customer to purchase life insurance over a period of 50 years. The research further concluded that there is a positive association observed between increase in savings behaviour, financial services industry and demand for life insurance. Beenstock et al. (1988) noted that marginal tendency to insure i.e. increase in insurance spending when income rises by 1$, differs from country to country and premium rates are varies directly with real rates of interest. Browne and Kim (1993) found from his study that income and social security expenditures are significant determinants of insurance demand; however, inflation has a negative correlation with demand of insurance. Beck et al. (2003) found out the two main services provided by life insurance: income replacement for premature death and long-term savings instruments. They considered three demographic variables i.e. young dependency ratio, old dependency ratio and life expectancy, higher levels of education and greater urbanization as independent factors in explaining insurance demand. Income is positively co-related with purchase of health insurance product, concluded from various studies conducted in different countries by Propper (1989) in UK: Cameron and Trivedi (1988) in Australia and Hurd and McGarry (1997) in USA. Barrett and Conlon (2003) concluded from their study that choice of health insurance essentially entailed a simple decision whether or not to purchase private health insurance. Binary discrete choice models using either logit or probit has been used to analyze determinants of this type of purchase decision. Cameron and Trivedi (1991) specified a conditional expected utility function that is associated with alternative health care regimes. The consumer chooses the regime that maximizes expected utility. Feldstein (1973) noted that as the price of health care increases, the demand for insurance should also increase. This is because an increase in the risk of net worth depletion. Healthcare expenditure largely depends on healthcare costs. Nyman (1999) noted that higher healthcare costs may led to higher demand for insurance in the face of rising costs. However, people belonging to different income groups are likely to respond differently to these changes. Kronick and Gilmer (1999) argue persons with low incomes and few assets buy insurance primarily to protect their health. Van De Ven and Van Praag (1981) noted that, education and income are generally positively correlated. Higher income generally decreases the opportunity cost associated with the purchase of private health insurance. Overall, increases in both income and education would be expected to lead to an increase in the probability of buying the insurance. Some studies conducted in context with the financial performance of General Insurance Companies of India. The Researcher has studied those research works which are as follows: Performance of various plans marketed by Life Insurance Corporation of India – A case study of Rajkot Division, A dissertation by Mrs.Sonal Naina evalua

the prince Essay -- essays research papers

Niccolo Machiavelli The Prince In ‘The Prince’, Niccolo Machiavelli approaches, the topic of political morality and human nature in a very different way than thinkers preceding him. His argument on political morality and human nature is made very clear in the early part of his book. For him politics is war, no matter which way you look at it. â€Å"You must, therefore, know that there are two means of fighting: one according to the laws, the other with force; the first way is proper to man, the second to beasts; but because the first, in many cases is not sufficient , it becomes necessary to have recourse to the second.† (Machiavelli, p.351-352). He clearly points out towards man’s poor behavior in politics and accepts it as a fact, saying that law is a type of combat. He does not look up to god or any other divine authority for the political morality, like Augustine in his book ‘the city of god’ or try and look at things the way they should have been in the ideal state, but instead probes into the individual. He aims straight at the reality of politics. Machiavelli In his vision, to guide the actions of men in general, turns to the actions of the strong prince. Machiavelli’s higher political morality is to pursue the means to gain and hold power. He is of the view that the ruling prince should be of the sole authority and to gain this authority the prince has to command a certain fear from his citizens. Machiavelli believes that good laws follow naturally from a good military. His famous statement that â€Å"the presence of sound military forces indicates the presence of sound laws† describes the relationship between developing states and war in The Prince. Machiavelli reverses the conventional understanding of war as a necessary, but not definitive, element of the development of states, and instead asserts that successful war is the very foundation upon which all states are built. Much of The Prince is devoted to describing exactly what it means to conduct a good war: how to effectively fortify a city, how to treat subjects in newly acquired territories, and how to prevent domestic insurrection that would distract from a successful war. But Machiavelli’s description of war encompasses more than just the direct use of military force, it comprises international diplo... ...oodwill is never absolute. While Machiavelli backs up his political arguments with concrete historical evidence, his statements about society and human nature sometimes have the character of assumptions rather than observations. He concludes that with so many wretched men around virtue is hard to create in oneself. "The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous." Overall, Machiavelli is very pessimistic about the abilities of the people. He feels that after examining people through history, his conclusions of wretched men is correct. The Prince is an extremely practical book because it does not tell the reader what the ideal prince is, but it explains to the reader what actions and qualities have enabled a prince to best rule. Machiavelli, however, was a realist. He was concerned with how things were in reality, not how things could be if the world was perfect. His reasoning was right for his time because his time was a time of frequent war. Today that advice would not work, for now we are a world most often ruled by laws not war.

British Airways “Flying into a Storm” Essay

Introduction 3 1. A brand new company management 4 1.1- Major evolutions in the corporate strategy 4 a) Several breaking points in the policy statement 4 b) Actions implemented 5 1.2- A less â€Å"people-oriented† leadership 7 a) Before Ayling: a severe but participative management 7 b) After Ayling’s coming: a management centred on administrative and financial objectives 7 2. A failure due to the negligence of three key factors: culture, leadership and structure 9 2.1- An unsuitable management to BA’s culture and identity 9 2.2- Bob Ayling : an ambitious but self-centred leader 11 2.3- A structure which does not square enough with the company 12 3. What should be Eddington’s main concerns for the future? 14 3.1- Increase the level of service thanks to structure and culture 14 3.2- Maintain and improve internal cohesion through a better communication 15 3.3- Go on improving rentability through organization and new values 15 Conclusion 16 Introduction London, March 2000. The reign of Bob Ayling as chief executive of the airline British Airways (BA) is over. The crisis reflects the economic difficulties the company has been experiencing for the last three years. In order to set the outlines of our study, let us define in a few words BA’s field of activity. As airline, BA’s basic function is to carry passengers. This is a customer service industry, which implies that BA also supplies in-flight services/products (various cabin classes, meal supplies, entertainment facilities†¦) and out-flight-services (luggage retrieval, e-sale of tickets†¦). This field of activity is characterized by a tough concurrence, a real sensitivity to economic cycles, thin margins available as well as increasingly demanding clients. In such a context, Bob Ayling didn’t manage to reach his strategic objectives. As one of Ayling’s predecessors puts it: â€Å"the airline’s strategy remained the right one but Mr Ayling was the wrong man to execute it.† This comes down to say that Ayling did not implement the strategy the right way. To which extent do we agree with this statement? We will first examine the major changes that were operated in BA’s strategy with Ayling. Then we will try to understand why he didn’t manage to implement completely his strategy and thus why he didn’t target his objectives. To end with, we will look into what Rod Eddington should do after Bob Ayling’s dismissal to implement the strategy of the company. 1. A brand new company management 1.1- Major evolutions in the corporate strategy a) Several breaking points in the policy statement Since Sir John King came over BA in 1981, strategic speeches followed each other, translating the leader priorities in a given environment. Nevertheless, we can easily notice a change in communication of the corporate strategy with Ayling’s arrival. At the beginning of the 1980’s, Lord King’s first preoccupation was to make as long as he could BA a customer service oriented company, with high standards of quality. He had to take the company out of its public sector approach. All along his reign as the company’s leader, and later within Lord Marshall too, the policy statement kept a focus on the customers without changing the priorities for 15 years. During Bob Ayling’s four years mandate as chief executive, yet really shorter than his predecessors, we can distinguish three very different phases in the announced strategic choices. Read more:  Swot Analysis of British Airways His first concern when he came to power in 1996 was to make costs cuts. He introduced the Business Efficiency Programme in 1996, requiring the company to take heavy structural decisions that were -according to him- vital to ensure BA competitiveness for the future. Costs reduction has always been a concern for BA’s managers, but to put it on the top of the agenda was a new kind of strategic vision. After that one-year quite painful period, he decided the company had to combine customer service excellence with cost competitiveness, with a target of doubling its operating margin during the next five years. This mix policy included concentrating on four key issues: * Customers, by providing the highest levels of service and innovative products * People, with an ambitious target: becoming the best managed company in the UK * Costs efficiency, by keeping a high level of profitability * New alliances (particularly with American Airlines), by using the potential of a global airline industry. This policy had the disadvantage to divide the attention on several problems in opposition to King and Marshall management that kept focused on one main objective. Soon after, Bob Ayling was confronted to a phenomenon of large strikes, and he decided to put people back on BA top agenda. His predecessors used human resources as a means to achieve their target of a high customer service but Bob Ayling was obliged to take it as a whole stake. Finally, we can observe that Bob Ayling’s policy statement changed quite often under the pressure of the environment; such a thing had never happened for the 15 years before his arrival. b) Actions implemented Audacious actions to assert BA as a leader Soon after he had been nominated chief executive, Bob Ayling started to implement a large panel of audacious actions to assert BA as a world leader company. First of all, he dared to cut the top executive team from 25 to 14, to improve its efficiency and limit its cost. One of his first concerns was an alliance with American Airlines, to ensure the two companies to control 60 % of flights between the UK and the US, the world’s most lucrative airline’s routes. In 1997, he decided to make an identity change because the airline, carrying 60% of foreign passengers, had to show off as a â€Å"citizen of the world† rather than a national company. The challenge of the new visual identity consisted in weakening the British nature of the company and modernising it. He chose 50 ethnic designs from artists across the world. Bob Ayling also decided the acquisition of 43 new aircrafts, as well as the building of a new head office. In 1998, to face the emergence of low costs airlines and the increased competition on short haul routes, Bob Ayling decided to launch Go, its own budget airline. Later in 1999, he innovated again with the concept of the â€Å"Lounges in the sky†, a high-standard new service, and some investment in e-commerce. Whatever are the results, we must concede that Bob Ayling did a lot on a short period to put BA as a world leader. An anticipative approach of cost competitiveness Cost cut is a very unpopular practice. Consequently, managers usually do it only when it becomes an emergency. Bob Ayling did not take it like that. He anticipated the future and he kept an unwavering stance to impose the BEP measures while a record profit was announced for the year: he sold sensible activities, relocated the accounting department†¦ He asked for volunteers to leave the firm not because he could not afford to pay them, but to replace them with flexible people having more appropriate skills. At last he decided to concentrate BA strategy on high margins activities, and implemented a rationalisation program, paring down unprofitable routes and cutting excess capacity. This anticipative approach triggered the admiration of financial analysts, but the consequences inside the company were not so positive. A changing concern on HR Unlike his predecessors, he did not invest a lot in human resources programs at the beginning of his mandate as far as he was too much involved in cost competitiveness. Eventually, people were affected by this low concern on them. The consequences were a decrease in the customer service level, and a strong mobilisation for a strike. After those events, Bob Ayling was strained to re-involve the company in people matters. He promoted an intensive drive to lift staff morale, actions to involve people in the company. He even decided, as a pendant to the construction of the head office, to build a hotel in Heathrow just for the staff. Bob Ayling set up many changes in the corporate strategy, but let us now see how his management style was different from his predecessors. 1.2- A less â€Å"people-oriented† leadership a) Before Ayling: a severe but participative management Lord King decided to restart from scratch in 1981, when he became the chief executive of BA, and he transformed the airline with Lord Marshall in fifteen years into one of the best carriers in the world. The two leaders helped their employees to turn the corner of privatisation in 1987; they achieved to manage the change slowly. They started to instil a customer service culture into the staff with two large training programs, and always involved their people in the improvement of the airline. Those participative management methods made people proud to work for BA. Thus, Lord Marshall created a new human resources system, a kind of competency-based management, built on the promotion for the best employees. Therefore, they had a real willing to do always better, and their chief executive progressively replaced the State as a strict but kindly father in their collective mind. Lord King and Lord Marshall always did what they said; they were regarded as strong leaders, but they knew how to inspire the whole staff with confidence and how to command their respect. With that support they could explain that drastic – maybe painful – measures were the only means to improve BA’s results and reputation. b) After Ayling’s coming: a management centred on administrative and financial objectives Everyone expected Robert Ayling to follow the footsteps of his predecessors. However, just before his taking over as chief executive, he clearly announced he would â€Å"throw off for all time the attributes and attitudes of public sector†. That simple first sentence is the symbol of the big change in BA’s management in 1996: Bob Ayling thought that people were ready to accept all the constraints of a private company, in terms of adaptability and competitiveness. First we can notice that Bob Ayling didn’t take so many precautions in his declarations: for example he directly announced in September 1996 that BA would replace 5000 employees by new recruits, supposed to be more efficient and flexible. He thought that internal training was not enough; competences were out of the firm. Eventually some people felt afraid by this new vision. Then, Bob Ayling decided an unexpected relooking of the aircrafts. That was an important symbol of what he intended to do: make BA forget its British identity, to become an international carrier. At the same time, one of the parts of Ayling’s Business Efficiency Plan concerned the freezing of wages. As he took that kind of decisions without consulting the employees and their unions, cabin staff, which had the habit of being well treated, felt deceived and went on strike. During his reign, Bob Ayling was the only leader, he was supposed to have the right solutions, he looked forward and his employees had to follow. He did not listen to them and seemed to believe that nobody could understand his long-term vision anyway. This new leadership did not include the human resources and the culture in the decisions; it was an economic management. These major changes in BA’s management had unexpected impacts ; let us explain the reasons of Ayling’s failure. 2. A failure due to the negligence of three key factors: culture, leadership and structure 2.1- An unsuitable management to BA’s culture and identity There is no denying that culture is often neglected in the field of firms and business in general. However, culture has to be considered as a real success key in so far as people need to feel all right and involved to be efficient. If the gap between the firm’s culture (that is to say employee’s culture) and the top-manager’s vision is too deep, it leads to huge damages for either the firm, managers and employees as we are going to discover it in the case of BA. In the mid 1980’s, BA was considered as a state-owned company with a dire reputation for customer service. Ayling’s two predecessors succeeded in turning it into a high-quality and cost-efficient company, voted from 1989 to 1996 â€Å"world’s best airline† in the independent â€Å"Business Traveller† survey (voted â€Å"airline to be avoided at all costs† in 1980†¦). Focusing on marketing and innovation / technology, both King and Marshall still put emphasis on human resources. They took care of people in the first place, involving and training employees (â€Å"Putting People First† and â€Å"Managing People First†), encouraging â€Å"brains trusts† and putting customers first. People were of course aware of that attention and were confident, loyal and devoted. In 1996, Bob Ayling stepped up as chief executive with challenging and radical changes in mind. The sentence mentioned above he pronounced in one of his first speeches meant that the very first thing Ayling did was to attack the firm culture and identity, thus disturbing and chocking people unwillingly. In June 1997, Ayling praised a striking new visual identity supposed to be based on market research but that generated emotionally charged controversy. The change was radical; symbols were simply scrapped (new design, new colours, new motto, denial of the psychological national belonging) as if it was possible to start from scratch with new company identity and culture. As strikes immediately showed it, BA’s culture was still one of a public sector company. Instead of trying to negotiate, Ayling harshly condemned strikers without taking in account this public sector company background. In spite of Ayling’s desire to eradicate â€Å"Britishness† from BA, employees and people in general (customers, the press, Margaret Thatcher) were not ready to accept it. Strikes were also the result of incomprehension from employees: were the new salary scheme (part and parcel of the efforts to reduce area costs) and the à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½60 million identity change coherent? Was it possible for employees to stay motivated and involved in BA under those conditions? Furthermore, 160 planes stayed with the Union flag instead of the new design in 1999 because BA lacked time to repaint it. The identity change was as a consequence first of all badly accepted and in addition badly implemented. However, Ayling began to understand after the strikes the high necessity of human resources as part of cultural background in a customer-facing business. He launched a campaign to raise staff moral in October 1997 and started to think about focusing on people on the front-line through interviews and speeches praising communication between management and staff. He built a hotel and developed a new concept for BA’s headquarter (no permanent desk-space). Again, in 1999, an opinion survey was sent to all employees, results were alarming, and Ayling introduced training and motivational programmes. We can not say if the improvement of BA’s results in 1999-2000 was linked to those efforts from Ayling concerning people but there is no denying that it was a little late anyway†¦ People had indeed a hard time with him, describing his management as a â€Å"macho-management that’s destroying people’s feeling for the airline†, â€Å"threatening and intimidating†. His vision of change was so ambitious (doing better and better, never enough for him) that he broke the firm culture and identity, introducing fear into staff’s feelings and breaking confidence that staff had always shown to management, in cutting jobs and financial bonus with no evident reason (for employees) or restructuring top-management. He questioned and modified too much symbols, values, norms, he disturbed employees in destroying their marks. Ayling justified himself in saying that he had a long-term vision and staff a day-to-day one, but he should at least have better explained and communicated around his decisions. It is however striking and surprising to notice that BA’s culture and identity was about the same from BA’s beginning to the start of Bob Ayling’s reign. Privatisation, higher competitiveness, globalisation do not seem to have modified anything. This can also explain why the gap between BA’s culture and what Ayling wanted was so deep. His new identity implementation may not have been irrelevant but just inadequate. 2.2- Bob Ayling : an ambitious but self-centred leader Lord Marshall explained in March 2000 that â€Å"the airline’s strategy remained the right one but that Mr Ayling was the wrong man to execute it†. We are going to study why below. Bob Ayling first dealt with BA in the early 1980’s. He began working for the firm in 1985 as legal director, became group managing director in 1993 and chief executive in January 1996. He was â€Å"well-waited† and had a rather good reputation. Following King and Marshall was quite challenging but he seemed to have strengths on his own such as strategic understanding, sharp mind, diplomatic skills or legal training. However, his first official act was to slim down the company’s top executive team of 25 to 14. Again, in September 1999 this executive team was reduced from 14 to 6. Those measures were aimed at â€Å"getting to a degree of unanimity quite fast†. It can also be noticed that at the end of Ayling’s reign, there is no realistic successor to him. Those two facts mean above all in our mind that Ayling can be considered as a narcissistic and authoritarian leader who wants to keep as much power and decision’s liberty as possible. It seems that he does and decides what he wants to without really thinking of all it involves and implies. As a consequence, he needs to change his mind often, and he forgets to focus on important things, he is distracted from the real job of keeping passengers on seats (his attention is for example consumed by trips between the UK, Europe and America to settle an alliance with American Airlines) which is not a good thing at all for his credibility. His credibility seems also to be affected by the gap between his speeches and his actions. He described for example his second objective for BA as â€Å"improving customer service in a more demanding environment†. Few months after this announcement, the Marketplace Performance Unit (responsible for generating information on customer preferences and perceptions) was scrapped. In 1997, a task group was created and responsible for missions including that of â€Å"getting the basics of customer service right†; but basics are supposed to be mastered if customer service belongs to the four main objectives specified one year ago. The same illogical thing can be noticed concerning putting people first or not. Ayling pretends to put people first and a little bit later states he is going to put people first now. His credibility can also be damaged when he promises staff, concerning the value of their BA’s share, â€Å"we are never going back to that price again† and when three months later the share loses 14p. He should not make promises on something he does not master. A leader needs of course to make decisions but needs also to listen to people and especially staff. Ayling thinks he takes employees in account in building a new hotel, create an open concept in the new headquarter but is it really what employees want and need? Several opinion surveys are mentioned but analysis or corrective measures do not seem to be done and taken, which means that those surveys did not match their targets and resulted in losing time, money, frustrating staff and enabling managers to have good conscience. Ayling also wants people to do exactly what he wants them to: â€Å"People have got to be†¦ they’ve got to do†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . â€Å"Often worn thin, revealing an intensely ambitious and stubborn individual who is only happy when he gets his way†. He is excessively exigent maybe with himself but also with others, he seems to be never satisfied and demands a â€Å"constant improvement†. Even when a good news is announced (BA: â€Å"second most admired company in Europe† according to the Financial Time for example), Ayling’s ambition looms (he asks on the same days 5000 volunteers to leave the company†¦), which reveals a huge lack of diplomatic skills. As a conclusion, we could say that Bob Ayling did not take enough people in account and that his vision was blurred by his ambition. 2.3- A structure which does not square enough with the company Firstly, actions on BA’s structure did not correspond to Ayling’s strategy. Indeed, the second objective of Ayling for building on BA’s existing success was to â€Å"improve customer service†. However, his actions on the structure did not match with this objective. For example, Ayling sold BA’s â€Å"in-flight catering operations†, BA’s â€Å"ground fleet services†, which were both significant aspects of BA customer service. By selling them, Ayling loosed any possibility of controlling the quality of this customer services. It was only after the strike of June 1997 that Ayling decided to set up a task force to ensure the airline â€Å"gets the basics of customer service right†. The words used clearly reflect a discrepancy with the initial objective. Thus, it appears that the structure did not emphasis enough the necessary development of customer service. Secondly, BA’s structure did not favour employee’s effectiveness and involvement. As we already pointed it, BA’s staff morale was at a time low. Employees needed to be motivated, to identify themselves to the company. The typically centralized structure of BA (the tasks of BA’s board were not divided into many units) did not foster employees’ motivation and employees’ feeling of identification to the firm. Consequently, the structure did not seem adapted to BA’s culture. In the same way, the centralized structure of BA did not square with environment and activity’s field: environment is characterized with an extreme sensitivity of airlines to economic cycles, which requires the necessity of reducing any risks the company could run, as well as a certain reactivity of the companies of this field. More and more demanding clients characterize the field of activity, what requires a non-negligible adaptability of the company to the market. In that context, BA’s centralized structure did not facilitate the reduction of risks (compared to a more decentralized structure) and did not enable a great adaptability to the market. For these reasons, the structure did not match with the environment. Having analysed the reasons of Ayling’s management failure, we will now consider how Eddington should manage BA internal factors to implement the strategy. 3. What should be Eddington’s main concerns for the future? It seems that Bob Ayling often tried to reach many objectives, which were not completely compatible. For example, he could not at the same time improve the level of service and constantly reduce costs. Now that he is gone, his successor has to focus on his strategy and on a few objectives, so that he can reach all of them before defining new ones. That means he probably will have to define some priorities between all his targets. He will also have to make sure they really are well matched so that they do not cancel each other. Rod Eddington claims that he wants to concentrate on people in the front-line, and to work hard with each level of responsibility. He seems to be conscious that an airline is a very particular type of company, where quality of customer service is decisive. Let us see how he can work and which tools he can use to meet his objectives. 3.1- Increase the level of service thanks to structure and culture Improving quality of service means two things: employing an obliging staff and making new fitting-outs in aircrafts. To achieve a high level of service, BA can use two main tools: – First of all, he can act on structure and organisation. BA could create for instance a marketing department, which could play two roles: studying client’s satisfaction and dealing with complains; and searching far in amount the likings of the customers to offer them what they expect. Thus, they will feel they really are BA’s priority. – Then, company culture could also help reaching objectives. If managers constantly praised the idea of the â€Å"client king†, everyone and especially front-line employees will take as an evidence that clients must be treated as â€Å"stars†. BA could also set up training programs so that everyone has the skills to deal with customers: for instance languages trainings for front-line employees who have to be able to answer any question asked by a client, wherever he may come from. 3.2- Maintain and improve internal cohesion through a better communication As Human Resources represent a precious asset for a company providing services, and especially for airlines for which the prestation is barely differentiating, BA’s managers have decided to focus on their staff. Therefore, they will have to enhance internal cohesion, thanks to structure. Indeed, an internal communication department could be created in order to update and communicate to everyone decisions taken by the CEO and the executive committee. Thus, employees would maybe understand more easily where the company is going and would certainly feel more concerned with the objectives. We can not reach objectives that we are not aware of. Then BA’s managers could use their speeches as a means to reach their objectives. If they let know while officially speaking (annual report, to journalists or directly to staff during trainings periods for example) that staff’s well-being is on top of agenda, and if they prove to be themselves coherent in doing exactly what they promise, then they will probably enter a new era of social relationships. 3.3- Go on improving rentability through organization and new values Since BA has to preserve its margins, it will have to go on saving money. But as one of Bob Ayling’s former co-worker explains, all the easy savings are already achieved at the beginning of the year 2000: it means that there are not many possibilities to cut purely costs any more. Thus, the challenge consists in finding new ways of saving money that would not injure service quality. – Here again, structure can be used: a new service could be created, that would immediately adapt tickets prices to demand: if many seats have been sold for a flight, then prices should maybe increase. However, if a little part of available seats has been sold, then the prices should decrease until all seats are sold. Such an initiative would avoid half-empty flights, and would eventually lead to savings. – Then a work could be done on internal culture: an â€Å"economy-awareness† could be implemented, encouraging everyone in the company to make savings. For instance, managers could show the example in booking middle-class hotels instead of four-stars ones when they have to travel. – At last, BA could go on focusing on rentable activities, providing higher margins, as for instance North Routes and First Class flights. Conclusion British Airways needed a charismatic leader; Bob Ayling was just an economic manager. He overestimated the ability of his people to change the way they considered their company and their implication in its evolution. Although he had got indisputable skills to deal with external constraints and to anticipate the environment evolutions, he forgot to take in account the importance of internal factors, such as the firm history and what it involved. Rod Eddington’s first reaction as he came over was to express his respect and his will to make BA’s employees happy. It is very likely that the new chief executive had drawn the lessons of his predecessor’s experience, and that he wanted to start from new bases. Maybe he is the â€Å"right† man for the job†¦

Convince Me! A Persuasive Writing Activity

Convince Me! A Persuasive Writing Activity ​As your child starts learning more complicated types of writing, she’ll be introduced to the idea of persuasive writing. If she’s the type of kid who frequently challenges or debates what you have to say, then the hardest part of persuasive writing will probably be the writing itself- she’s already working on the persuasion piece! The Convince Me! activity is an easy way for you and your child to practice persuasive writing at home, without the worry of getting a good grade. Persuasive writing puts the everyday challenges and debates into a written form. A good piece of persuasive writing explains the issue at stake, takes a position, and then explains the position and its opposing stance. Using facts, statistics and some common persuasive strategies, your child’s argument essay tries to convince the reader to agree with her. It may sound easy, but if your child doesnt hold her own well in arguments or has trouble doing research, she may need some practice to become convincing. What Your Child Will Learn (or Practice): Persuasive writingResearchAnalytical thinkingNegotiation and written communication Getting Started with the Convince Me! Persuasive Writing Activity Sit down with your child and talk about she needs to do to make somebody else see her side of an issue. Explain that while sometimes she argues, when she backs up what she’s saying with good reasons, what she’s really doing is convincing the other person, given the other person justification for seeing things her way.Prompt her to come up with some examples of situations in which she tried to change your mind about something she didnt agree with. For example, maybe she’s successfully negotiated an increase in her allowance. Tell her that the word for what she did was to persuade you, which means she was influencing what you thought or was convincing you to look at things differently.Together, brainstorm words and phrases that can to try to persuade someone and write them down. Talk about things that happen around the house that you and your child don’t always agree on. You may want to stick with topics that are not going to cause huge fights since this is supposed to be a fun activity. Some ideas to consider include: allowance, bedtime, how much screen time your child has daily, making her bed, the time frame in which laundry has to be put away, the division of chores between children, or what types of food she can eat for after-school snacks. (Of course, these are simply suggestions, there may be other issues that come up in your household that arent on that list.) Choose one and let your child know you might be willing to change your mind about it if she can write a convincing and persuasive essay explaining her reasoning. Make sure she knows her essay has to say what she thinks should happen and use some persuasive words, phrases and strategies.It is absolutely crucial to make sure to set the conditions under which you’ll give in. For example, maybe her goal is to try to convince you to change your mind about eating sugary cereal over the summer, not for the rest of her life. If she convinces you, you must live with the change. Set the rules for engagement first, and dont change them.Read the essay and consider her arguments. Talk to her about what you thought was convincing and which arguments didnt convince you (and why). If you’re not totally persuaded, give your child the opportunity to rewrite the essay with your feedback in mind. Note: Don’t forget, you really need to be prepared to make changes if your child is persuasive enough! It’s important to reward her if she writes a very good piece of persuasive writing.

Sinclair Lewis Biography

Sinclair Lewis Biography Harry Sinclair Lewis was born on February 7, 1885, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, the youngest of three boys. Sauk Centre, a bucolic prairie town of 2,800, was home to mainly Scandinavian families, and Lewis said he â€Å"attended the ordinary public school, along with many Madsens, Olesons, Nelsons, Hedins, Larsons,† many of whom would become the models for characters in his novels. Fast Facts: Sinclair Lewis Full Name: Harry Sinclair LewisOccupation: NovelistBorn: February 7, 1885 in Sauk Centre, MinnesotaDied: January 10, 1951 in Rome, ItalyEducation: Yale UniversityKey Accomplishments: Noble Prize in Literature (1930). Lewis was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1926), but he declined it.Spouses: Grace Hegger (m. 1914-1925) and Dorothy Thompson (m. 1928-1942)Children: Wells (with Hegger) and Michael (with Thompson)Notable Quote: â€Å"It has not yet been recorded that any human being has gained a very large or permanent contentment from meditation upon the fact that he is better off than others.† Early Career Lewis enrolled at Yale Univesity in 1903 and soon became involved in literary life on campus, writing for the literary review and the university newspaper, as well as working as a part-time reporter the Associated Press and the local newspaper. He didn’t graduate until 1908, having taken some time off to live in Upton Sinclair’s collaborative Helicon Home Colony in New Jersey and traveled to Panama. For some years after Yale, he drifted from coast to coast and from job to job, working as a reporter and editor while also working on short stories. By 1914, he was consistently seeing his short fiction in popular magazines like the Saturday Evening Post, and began working on novels. Between 1914 and 1919, he published five novels: Our Mr. Wrenn, The Trail of the Hawk, The Job, The Innocents, and Free Air. â€Å"All of them dead before the ink was dry,† he later said. Main Street With his sixth novel, Main Street (1920), Lewis finally found commercial and critical success. Recreating the Sauk Centre of his youth as Gopher Prairie, his searing satire of the narrow-minded insularity of small-town life was a hit with readers, selling 180,000 copies in its first year alone. Lewis reveled in the controversy surrounding the book. â€Å"One of the most treasured American myths had been that all American villages were peculiarly noble and happy, and here an American attacked that myth,† he wrote in 1930. â€Å"Scandalous.† Main Street was initially chosen for the 1921 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, but the Board of Trustees overruled the judges because the novel didn’t â€Å"present the wholesome atmosphere of American life† dictated by the rules. Lewis didn’t forgive the slight, and when he was awarded the Pulitzer in 1926 for Arrowsmith, he declined it. Nobel Prize Lewis followed up Main Street with novels like Babbitt (1922), Arrowsmith (1925), Mantrap (1926), Elmer Gantry (1927), The Man Who Knew Coolidge (1928), and Dodsworth (1929). In 1930, he became the first American awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.† In his autobiographical statement to the Nobel committee, Lewis noted he had traveled the world, but â€Å"my real travelling [sic] has been sitting in Pullman smoking cars, in a Minnesota village, on a Vermont farm, in a hotel in Kansas City or Savannah, listening to the normal daily drone of what are to me the most fascinating and exotic people in the world- the Average Citizens of the United States, with their friendliness to strangers and their rough teasing, their passion for material advancement and their shy idealism, their interest in all the world and their boastful provincialism- the intricate complexities which an American novelist is privileged to portray.† Personal Life Lewis married twice, first to Vogue editor Grace Hegger (from 1914-1925) and then to journalist Dorothy Thompson (from 1928 to 1942). Each marriage resulted in one son, Wells (born 1917) and Michael (born 1930). Wells Lewis was killed in combat in October 1944, at the height of World War II. Final Years As an author, Lewis was extremely prolific, penning 23 novels between 1914 and his death in 1951. He also authored over 70 short stories, a handful of plays, and at least one screenplay. Twenty of his novels were adapted into movies. By the late 1930s, years of alcoholism and depression were eroding both the quality of his work and his personal relationships. His marriage to Dorothy Thompson failed in part because he felt her professional success made him look small by comparison, and he was increasingly jealous that other writers were becoming literary legends while his body of work was falling into relative obscurity. His heart weakened by heavy drinking, Lewis died in Rome on January 10, 1951. His cremated remains were returned to Sauk Centre, where he was buried in the family plot. In the days after his death, Dorothy Thompson wrote a nationally-syndicated eulogy for her former husband. â€Å"He hurt a great many people very much,† she observed. â€Å"For there were great hurts in himself, which he sometimes took out on others. Yet, in the 24 hours since his death, I have seen some of those he hurt most dissolved in tears. Something has gone- something prodigal, ribald, great, and high. The landscape is duller.†Ã‚  Ã‚   Sources Hutchisson, J. M. (1997).  The rise of Sinclair Lewis, 1920-1930. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press.Lingeman, R. R. (2005).  Sinclair Lewis: Rebel from Main Street. St. Paul, Minn: Borealis BooksSchorer, M. (1961).  Sinclair Lewis: An American life. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Please give a conclusion of this presentation Essay

Please give a conclusion of this presentation - Essay Example For a good student, after graduation, he or she is married and take time to think about the future life. Get money and save for the sake of the future life and for the coming generation. For students, the major aim is to have focus on the future life. For a good student, he or she is supposed to have a good future by passing very well and avoid debts in order to build wealth by saving from the little earned at work. It is health to save money because of emergency and wealth building. Also one can avoid impulse buying because of the stress one faces and may lead to a syndrome problem. In building the wealth one must create a budget that will govern and direct the investment procedures. Wealth has values like creating security to someone and promotes investment. One should avoid credit cards because they facilitate a lot of spending. It is a challenge for the students to focus on their lives and think about their

Discussion- Economics-Topic Choice-How managerial economics affect a Assignment

Discussion- Economics-Topic Choice-How managerial economics affect a publicly traded firm - Assignment Example HP is one of the leading companies that provide products, technologies, software and services in the computer industry. The company offers a many products such as computers, printers, storage devices, networking devices and software. HP also offers personal computing services and enterprise information technology to its customers worldwide. Some of the crucial managerial issues include dealing with competition, and ensuring development in technology and innovation. Managers at the company have to deal with other risk factors in the computer industry for instance, cost and revenue issues, research and development. Abbott laboratories provide pharmaceutical and medical products for its customers. Abbott offers a wide range of products in diagnostic, medical services, nutrition and other established pharmaceuticals. The main managerial issues facing Abbott laboratories is the successful integration of the company with other sister companies and still make it to the top of the pharmaceutical sector. In order for publicly traded firms to be successful in their markets, managers must understand some of the most important economic concepts affecting their firms. This includes competitive strategies that eliminate other companies in the market, pricing strategies that establish customer base, marginal analysis, shareholder wealth maximization and market structure decisions. Most of these economic concepts ensure a firm remains in its market position thus success (McGuigan, Moyer, & Harris,