An Introduction for Ryanair

INTRODUCTION Background in Brief Ryanair was established by the Ryan family with a staff of 25. Its first route was launched in 1985 with a 15-seat aircraft ferrying passengers between Waterford in Ireland and London. In 1986, Ryanair launched its route from Dublin to London to challenge British Airways and Aer Lingus, the two dominant airline carriers on that route, by offering fares at lower prices. With two routes in operation, Ryanair carried 82,000 passengers in its first full year of operation. By 1993 Ryanair has carried over 1 million passengers.In 1995 Ryanair overtook Aer Lingus and British Airways to become the biggest international scheduled route carrier in Europe. The Organization Today Ryanair now operates more than 1,500 flights per day from 57 bases on 1,500 low fare routes across 28 countries. It connects 178 destinations and operating a fleet of 305 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. In 2012, Ryanair had a team of more than 8,500 employees and carried over 78 million pas sengers. Ryanair’s main business is to provide â€Å"low-fare-no filling† airline services.Ryanair also offers various ancillary services including in-flight sale of beverages and food, car hire services, internet-related services etc. To expend its network, Ryanair, which already owns 29. 82% of Aer Lingus in 2012 announced its intention to acquire Aer Lingus by making an all cash offer of â‚ ¬1. 30 per share for its entire share capital. Ryanair recorded a profit of â‚ ¬503 million in 2012 fiscal year, increased 25% compared with year 2011 despite a â‚ ¬367 million rise in fuel costs. Revenues rose 19% to â‚ ¬4325 million as traffic grew 5% to 75. 8 million passengers. Ryanair’s return on equity (ROE) is increased from 12. 7% to 16. % in fiscal 2012. In addition, the company’s free cash flow is increased from â‚ ¬-610. 9m to â‚ ¬702. 7m due to high net income and reduced capital expenditure. Mission Ryanair' mission is to â€Å"become Europe’s most profitable lowest cost airline by rolling out our proven ‘low-fare-no-frills’ service in all markets in which we operate, to the benefit of our passengers, people, and shareholders†. To emphasis its focus on low fares, low frills, the CEO has stated, in response to criticisms of Ryanair's sub-standard customer service, that â€Å"any worthwhile passenger service commitment should involve commitments to low prices and high punctuality†.Ryanair has the cost minimizer's aim of generating the most benefit to both its shareholders and its passengers through offering the lowest fare service. It offers customers the choice of exactly which services they want to pay for rather than forcing them to pay a high price for the bundle of services the airline wants to offer, as legacy carriers usually do. Passengers benefit from paying less money by selecting and purchasing only the services they need. As a result, Ryanair is able to attract more cus tomers, which helps Ryanair to grow its market and profits. Goals and Objectives Generate greater passenger traffic through offering low fare services. †¢ Expand the air passenger market and network by opening up new bases and routes. †¢ Capture a larger market, such as by entry to the US airline market. †¢ Gain additional profits through increasing passenger traffic while keeping its cost base low. †¢ Maintain its low cost leadership position through continued cost efficiencies. Stakeholders There are many stakeholders involved in Ryanair’s business. As Table 1 shows, they have different expectations toward and demands on Ryanair. TABLE 1: Organizational Stakeholders Stakeholder Group |Group Demands / Attributes | |Product Market | | |Competitors |They want to carry more passengers at higher fares and would like to reduce Ryanair's market share. | | |They would like regulation to force Ryanair to offer travel agent commissions. | |Travel Agencies |They would like to organize Ryanair staff. | |Customers want the lowest fare price, and luxury services at no extra cost. | |Trade Unions |Boeing, Airbus would like to Ryanair orders at list prices. Airports would like regulations allowing | |Customers |them to charge higher fees to airlines, and to collude on capacity management. | |Suppliers |Legislators want to avoid high levels of controversial public complaints, and want higher airport and | | |route taxes. | | | |Government | | |Capital Market | | |Shareholders |Shareholders want to see Ryanair’s market and profit increased. |Banks |Banks want Ryanair to make loan payments in full on time. | |Leasing Company |They want Ryanair to lease more planes, i. e. expand routes. | |Organizational Market | | |Employees |Employees want higher income and better benefits | |Managers |Managers want to effectively use the human and capital resources of the company to meet the goals and | | |objectives set by top executives. |Top Executi ves |Maintain Ryanair’s cost-leadership position to gain profit while looking for more opportunities to | |(Michael O'Leary) |further expand its market | EXTERNAL ANALYSIS General Environment Demographic Segment: Airline travel passengers are mostly aged 18 to 65. Among them, passengers of age 25 to 55 years account for almost 75% of the total. The ageing of the post-1945 baby boom generation has reduced the numbers in the older higher income segment of this demographic.The resulting tendency is for a greater proportion of air travellers to be younger and less affluent and more oriented toward lower cost transport as opposed to seeking a luxurious flying experience. Political/Legal Segment The political and legal issues that concern Ryanair include regulations of regional and national governments and the European Union (EU), various legal actions, terrorism and security. Because many airlines are fully or partially owned by national governments, the airline industry has been affected by political regulation of both operation and ownership.For example, the EU regulations charging all airlines for their carbon emissions, and the rules on flight and duty time limitations, both increase the operating costs of Ryanair. Furthermore, O'Leary's ambition to start an ultra-low cost transatlantic airline using Aer Lingus planes and US airport landing rights has been blocked by the European Commission's Merger Office. The Commission has refused to allow Ryanair to go ahead with purchase of control of Aer Lingus. In addition, the threat of terrorism has increased insurance and security costs in the airline industry. Economic SegmentThe global economic recession and fuel price increases have greatly affected the European airline industry. The recession has impacted the purchasing power of consumers. Ryanair’s low cost strategy has enhanced Ryanair’s ability to compete in these conditions. Through offering low fares, Ryanair enables airline passengers to continue travelling despite the economic crisis. The floating exchange rate also has a direct effect on Ryanair’s profitability. Ryanair collects fares in various currencies and has its expense mainly in US dollars for fuel and in Euros for labour.In addition, the number of airline passengers could decline if their national currency loses value. Ryanair uses futures and options to hedge its fuel price, foreign exchange risks, and financing interest cost. The price for 90% of Ryanair's forecast fuel requirements for fiscal 2013 is hedged. Hedged prices for 2013 are significantly above 2012 prices. Socio-cultural Segment Due to changes in traveller’s behavioural  and psychological patterns, the European airline industry has changed from traditional patterns.People’s perspective towards air travel has been changed by the low cost revolution of air fares in Europe. Air travel is no longer being seen as expensive and is now accessible by low income people. Consequ ently passenger traffic in the Europe airline industry has increased. Ryanair's initial routes from Ireland to England were intended to provide a service to ethnic Irish people who had migrated to England to work due to lack of jobs in Ireland, but who still had most of their family in Ireland and wanted to visit often. Technological SegmentAdopting advantageous technologies has helped Ryanair constantly reinvent its processes to maintain its low cost advantage. For example, by using its online booking system, Ryanair reduced its distribution costs by eliminating travel agency commissions. Better technology has also allowed other transportation industries to cut costs such as the innovation of lower fuel consumption cars and high speed trains. These changes both increase the competitiveness of the substitutes for airline travel and also increase the complementarity of airline and other travelling tools.Global Segment Globalization increases the demand for international air travel. T here are an increasing number of people travelling between counties for work or to take vacations in foreign countries. Industry Environment Bargaining Power of Suppliers The bargaining power of Ryanair’s aircraft suppliers is relatively high. Because Ryanair wants very low prices and many special conditions on aircraft purchases, so Boeing has refused to extend their supply contract with Ryanair, and Airbus has not been interested to seriously negotiate with Ryanair.Moreover, the switching cost of changing supplier for Ryanair is moderately high due to the significant amount of expense needed in terms of pilot, mechanic retraining and spare parts inventories. Ryanair is reportedly negotiating to buy the new C919 aircraft being developed by COMAC, a Chinese manufacturer, due to its greater amounts of seats and the lower fuel consumption. This availability of this substitute increases Ryanair’s bargaining power with Boeing. Ryanair’s bargaining power with its sup pliers of airport services is high, due to the current overbuilding of regional airports.Bargaining Power of Buyers The bargaining power of Ryanair’s buyers is high. The competition in the European short haul airline market is very intense, and many airlines have cut their cost in response to deregulation and availability of new cost saving technologies. Though Ryanair offers travel fares to passengers at very low prices, there is low switching cost for customers to change to another airline. The lack of brand loyalty in the air travel market increases buyer’s bargaining power. Threat of EntryThe threat of new entrants in the European short haul air travel market is high due to the relatively low cost of entry and the commodity nature of the capital required. However Ryanair has achieved economies of scale which would be difficult for a new entrant to achieve. Ryanair has a large network which would require a moderately large capital investment to duplicate. Availabili ty of access to some routes is another barrier for new entrants due to the intense competition for primary routes and primary airport landing rights for some routes. Threats from Substitute ProductsThe threat of substitute products and services for Ryanair is relatively low. Substitute services of Ryanair include trains, ferries, cars, as well as other low fare airlines. However, according to the record, it was shown that usually the tickets of train, bus or ferry are more expensive than Ryanair’s flight tickets. According to Ryanair's 2012 financial report presentation, Ryanair's average ticket price including bag is â‚ ¬45 (2013Q3 â‚ ¬50) and its closest price competitor's average ticket price is â‚ ¬71 (2013Q3 â‚ ¬79). This shows the threat to Ryanair's from substitute low ost airlines is relatively low as they are unable to achieve Ryanair's economies of scale and offer similar fares. Competitive Rivalry The competitive rivalry for Ryanair in the airline marke t is high. Its competitors include Aer Lingus, easy Jet, Air Berlin, Whizz, IAG/British Airway, and Lufthansa etc, the carriers which also offering low fare flights. Many airline companies have lowered the prices of airfares to avoid losing more market share. Competitor Analysis An analysis of major competitors, Aer Lingus, Easy Jet and British Airways is shown in Table 2.TABLE 2: Competitor Analysis | |Aer Lingus |Easy Jet |British Airways | |Future Objectives |Aer Lingus focus on generating revenue per |Easy jet wants to build strong |British Airways want to become the | | |seat rather than maximization of load |number 1 and 2 network positions |world’s leading premium airline by | | |factor as well as more emphasis on |while maintains its cost advantage. offering the best customer services. | | |partnerships and connectivity. | | | |Current |Moving to discount airline model, focusing |Easyjet focus on primary airports, |British Airways focus on satisfied | |Strategy |on pr imary airport routes. Focus on serving|and especially slot constrained |customers.It provides high level | | |Irish travel to visit relatives in New |airports, to provide service on the|premium tickets and offers first class| | |York, Boston and Chicago areas of US. |top 100 routes in Europe |ticket holders access to premier | | | | |lounges. | |Assumptions |They assume that low fares are mbedded in |They assume passengers want |They assume that customers will like | | |the Irish market place. |convenience. |to pay more for a better and | | | | |outstanding service. | |Capabilities |Aer Lingus operates 43 planes with an |Easy Jet has 214 planes flying 605 |British Airway has a fleet of over 245| | |average age of 7. 3 years.Carries about 10 |routes serving 133 airports with 23|aircraft over 600 destinations | | |million passengers per year on 92 routes. |bases, which makes it the 4th |worldwide. It operates in engineering | | | |largest short haul carrier in |provides engineering se rvices to BA | | | |Europe with 8% market share. |and many other airlines. |General Notes |Aer Lingus is the lowest fare long haul |EasyJet focuses on low fares |It is the flag carrier airline of the | | |airline in Europe, partly due to having to |without removing the services which|UK & the largest airline in the UK | | |compete with Ryanair on 46 routes. |are standard on most airlines. |based on fleet size. | Analysis of Interaction of External Force In summary, the external environment provides Ryanair both opportunities and risks.Though some political issues limited its operation and the intense competition in the airline industry poses some threats to Ryanair, the company has great opportunities to grow. The demand for air travelling is increasing as the reduction in fares has expanded numbers of passengers who can afford air travel, and existing travellers are choosing low cost carriers due to the economic recession. Ryanair has put itself in the right position to generate pa ssenger traffic and market shares. INTERNAL ANALYSIS Resources Tangible ResourcesAirports: Ryanair has established distribution channels with low cost and uncongested airports, which enable it to deliver a 25 minute turnaround, which helps to create Ryanair’s competitive advantage. Not only secondary airports, Ryanair’s primary airports also delivered it a great value. Locations: More than 1,500 routes across 28 countries in Europe and North Africa to 178 airports (of which 57 are ‘bases’, where Ryanair bases aircraft and crew). Aircraft Fleet: Ryanair has a fleet consisting of a single aircraft type, the Boeing 737-800.The average age of its 305 aircraft is around 4 years, which is younger than the 9-11 years of typical European airline carriers. This gives advantages in terms of fuel efficiency, maintenance costs and customer perception. Ryanair also benefits from its planes higher seating capacity (189 seats per aircraft, compared with Easyjet’s 156 on A319s and 174 on A320s). Financial Resources: The financial resources of the company come from the Ryan family, shareholders, investors and creditors. In addition, Ryanair has a high cash flow balance, which enables it to make emergency adjustments or further investments.In addition, Ryanair has the Aer Lingus shares with a market value of â‚ ¬150 million which could be converted to cash. Organizational Resources: Very sophisticated and precise controlling and coordinating systems to allow high operational efficiencies including shorter aircraft turnaround times than competitors. Technological resources: Online booking and checkin system which allows near elimination of airport checking counter costs. Intangible Resources Human Resources: Ryanair employs approximately 8,388 employees, as of March 31, 2012, including 1,636 pilots and 2,867 cabin crew employed on a contract basis.Ryanair’s Brand Recognition: Ryanair has a strong brand image as a cost leader and no-fri lls carrier. Rights: The landing rights and airport terminal slot rights for Ryanair as well as the government approvals to fly each particular route. Innovation Resources: Ryanair's senior management team has a strong capacity to constantly innovate and to cut costs by negotiating with suppliers to pressure for supply cost reductions and to change service routes to drop high rising cost suppliers in favour of low cost suppliers. The senior management team has the capacity to innovate by nbundling the components of major airline service and offering the components individually allowing travellers to choose lower cost combinations. Innovative use of secondary airports distant form major cities allows Ryanair to profitably offer ancillary car rental and bus and accommodations services through the online booking and ticketing system. Capabilities Primary activities Inbound Logistics: Ryanair’s main supplier, Boeing, provided Ryanair discount reported as approximately one third o ff for purchasing aircraft.Ryanair outsources the labour, airport services, and employee training they need at low cost. Operations: Ryanair provides â€Å"low cost no frills† airline service. About 50% of Ryanair’s flight crew are contractors employed only when required. Ryanair uses uncongested airports and only makes point to point trips. Outboard Logistics: Ryanair has quick 25 minute aircraft turnaround times. Ryanair has developed an online booking, ticketing, and confirmation system which eliminated the role and margin of travel agents taking the Ryanair service direct to the traveller.Marketing and Sales: Ryanair has the biggest website in Europe which allows them to do the marketing- internet sales. They also generate ancillary revenues by selling products in flight and encouraging customers to buy alliance services such as hotel bookings, car rentals and travel insurance etc. Service: Ryanair provides limited free services to passengers, and a full variety of onboard and travel services is available to customers for purchase. Customers decide which services they want to pay for. Support ActivitiesManagement Information Systems: Ryanair has efficient MIS systems to minimize airport turnaround times and to very tightly control on-board fuel inventories to minimize the cost of carrying excess fuel carried any flight. Firm Infrastructure: Ryanair has 57 bases. The cost of Ryanair airports are low due to its use of airports are mostly uncongested secondly airports. Ryanair has only one type of aircraft (Boeing 737-800). Therefore, Ryanair only trains pilots to fly one type of plane, which cut costs of training employees.Human Resource Management: In order to reduce costs, Ryanair pays relatively lower salaries to employees than other airline companies. The employees are paid by the hour on contracts. Ryanair employees get no benefits from Ryanair, but pilots like Ryanair because they can build their hours of experience quickly and be promote d to senior pilot positions. Technological Development: Use of online booking by Ryanair reduced their costs. In addition, by introducing self-check service to the passengers, Ryanair was able to reduce staff and cost. Procurement: As Ryanair only provide services, they have to outsource the material they need, such as fuel and equipment as well as leasing some operated aircraft. Core Competencies Ryanair has the following core competencies based on the VRIO framework: | |V |I |R |O | |Fleet of 294 -737-800s |Very fuel efficient and |Boeing list price of $90 |No competitor has as large |Ryanair has organized a 1500| | |about 4years average age so|million per plane or $26. |a fleet of short-medium |route network and short | | |low maintenance costs |billion for a similar fleet|haul fuel efficient jets |turnaround times to maximize| | | | | |the flying time of the fleet| |Supply chain management and |Forcing irports to compete|Very costly to imitate the |Competitors try to do this |Or ganized to operate the | |operations management |on fees for Ryanair's |scale of Ryanair's |also but Ryanair does it |fleet of 737-800s on | |including MIS systems |business and forcing Boeing|operation of 1500 routes |better |whatever routes offer low | | |to reduce prices on their |between 178 airports, so | |costs | | |huge order of 737-800s are |smaller network operators | | | | |keys to Ryanair's low cost |have less bargaining power | | | | |structure |with airports | | | |O'Leary's strategic vision, |O'Leary's strategy is the |Not available in the market|There is only one O'Leary |O'Leary is dedicated to | |marketing strategy and PR |basis for the company's | | |building â€Å"ultra-low-cost† | | |profitability.His | | |airlines | | |controversial PR saves | | | | | |millions in advertising | | | | | |costs | | | | Performance: Ryanair’s performance compared with its main competitors: | |Ryanair |Easyjet |Aer Lingus |British Airways | |Revenue |US$6. 35B |GBP 3. 85B |â‚ ¬1. 39B |â‚ ¬16. 1 B | |Operating Margin |15. 3% |8. 1% |3. 94% |3. 2% | |Profit Margin |12. 54% |6. 62% |2. 44% |3. 49% | |ROA |5. 59% |4. 74% |1. 90% |3. 44% | |ROE |18. 99% |14. 58% |4. 07% |13. 21% | |Market Cap |US$11. 51B |GBP 4. 18B |â‚ ¬0. 679 B |US$ 6. 7 B | STRATEGYBusiness Level Strategy Ryanair follows a cost leadership strategy. By controlling the cost of operations, Ryanair has a low cost base, which enables it to offer the lowest fares to passengers with acceptable service across Europe. Corporate Level Strategy Ryanair has a low-level of diversification. Ryanair's dominant business is passenger transport, with ancillary revenue from its ancillary services. According to Ryanair’s 2012 annual report ancillary revenue accounts for about 25% of the total revenue, while 75% of revenue come from is major business, which is scheduled airline service. International Strategy Ryanair follows a global strategy.Ryanair offers standardized services to all passengers across Europe, while the strategic decisions centralized in headquarters office to achieve economies of scale. Ryanair does not customize its products to individual national or regional market demands. Cooperative Strategy Ryanair has cooperative or alliance relations with a broad range of hotel and other accommodation providers, as well as with airport car rental companies and airport bus transport companies. Ryanair offers the services of these companies through the Ryanair website and the companies rebate a portion of the revenue to Ryanair. SYNTHESIS Ryanair has the strengths, and weaknesses, and faces the opportunities and threats as shown in Table 3: Table 3: SWOT Analysis |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Customer Service |Low Fares: The advantage of Ryanair’s low cost base |Low Frequencies: Ryanair offers less frequent flights on some | | |allows it to offers the lowest average fares in |routes and often schedules departures at low demand times, | | |European shor t haul markets. It was report that |which may not be convenient to passengers, but provides lower | | |Ryanair’s fares are about 37% below those of easyJet. |costs and faster turnaround times. | | | |Brand Perception: Recently published surveys vote Ryanair to be| | |Unbundling Services: Unbundling of inflight services |one of the weakest brands in the European airline industry. | |allows Ryanair to expand the travel market by serving|Ryanair offers limited free services to passengers and the | | |lower willingness to pay customers, which supposedly |media portrayal of Ryanair is often of a mean and | | |is a large segment of Ryanair’s home market in |money-grabbing. | | |Ireland. | | | |Punctuality: Ryanair has the best punctuality | | | |compared to other airline companies, since Ryanair | | | |only offers point-to-point short haul service. | | |Financial Resources |Cash flow: According to Ryanair’s 2012 annual report,|Seasonality of Earnings: Many Ryanair ’s customers are vacation | | |Ryanair has Euro 3. billion in cash, which allows it |travellers who tend to travel in the July to September period | | |to make further investment. |so Ryanair’s earnings are highly seasonal. | |Network: Economies |Ryanair flies more than 1,500 routes across 28 | | |of Scale |countries in Europe and North Africa, 178 airports of| | | |which 57 are bases. It carried almost 80m passengers | | | |in year 2012 with a market share of 12%.It has the | | | |lowest cost per passenger, which is one third lower | | | |than its major competitor EasyJet. | | |Network: Secondary |Due to the use of secondary airports and its |Many secondary airports are many kilometres away from a major | |Airports |excellent operations systems, Ryanair has a 25 minute|city, which may cause travel inconveniences to passengers. | | |turnaround times, which allows the airline to | | | |maximise aircraft utilisation. | |Fleet |One type of aircraft, the Boeing 737- 800 |Fleet is not certified for transatlantic service expansion | | |Largest short haul fleet in Europe 305 aircraft | | | |Average age of fleet 4 years (9 to 11 years for | | | |competitors) gives better fuel efficiency, and lower | | | |maintenance costs. | | |Executive Management|Introduced a series of innovations to achieve low |Portrayed by the media as mean and uncaring. | |costs and economies of scale | | | |Eliminated check-in desks; put advertising on | | | |boarding passes and overhead bins; persuading | | | |passengers not to check in hold baggage | | | |World leading skill in negotiating low cost supply | | | |agreements | | |Management Systems |Highly efficient MIS and standard operating | | | |procedures to efficiently operate at lowest costs. | | | | | | | |Opportunities |Threats | |Customers |The CEO of Ryanair has talked of plans for a |Ryanair’s competitors may learn how to imitate its value chain | | |long-haul transatlantic service under a n ew company |and copy its operation strategy.In addition, by focusing on | | |named â€Å"RyanAtlantic†. Purchase of Aer Lingus is a way|efficiency, Ryanair may overlook changes in customer | | |of gaining landing rights at New York, Boston and |preferences. | | |Chicago airports, which are favorite destinations for|By using the cost-leadership strategy, Ryanair needs to carry | | |Irish people travelling overseas to visit their |the risks of losing competitive advantages due to the dramatic | | |relatives. In addition, Aer Lingus has transatlantic |change of technology. | | |certified aircraft. | |Supplier Competition|Ryanair has the opportunity to get a better deal on |Airport and navigation charge increases: Increased airport | | |aircraft ordering. Ryanair has indicated interest in |charges in Spain’s AENA airports and Italy's ATC airport will | | |buying the C919 aircraft as a strategy to negotiate a|boost the ex-fuel unit cost. | | |better deal with Boeing. |Air t ravel taxes: Increases in air travel taxes reduce the | | |Stansted Airport: Ryanair cut its flights at Stansted|demand of air travel.Airport travel taxes are charged | | |Airport as a result of increased airport charge |independently of ticket price and therefore make up a higher | | |increases, and offered that if the airport charges |percentage of lower priced short haul tickets. Ryanair's costs | | |are reduced Ryanair will reverse the reductions in |are affected proportionately more by these taxes than are its | | |service levels and frequency at Stansted Airport to |higher fare competitor's costs. | | |transport about one million more passengers per day |Fuel price and currency: The price of fuel is highly volatile. | |by using spare fleet capacity shifting some flights |The international oil market is priced in US dollars so fuel | | |and routes from competing airports to Stansted. |expenses are in US dollars. Ryanair does not have US dollar | | | |revenues, and therefore mu st hedge its US dollar costs against | | | |its British Pound and Euro revenues using futures, options, and| | | |currency swap. |Government |Regional or local governments build airport capacity |Possible regulatory backlash in response to bad publicity about| | |in excess of local flight demand to attract tourism |service levels | | |dollars provide an opportunity for Ryanair to obtain | | | |very low cost or subsidized airport services. | | SWOT Matrix | |Strengths |Weaknesses | |Opportunities |Low cost base and low fares help to attract passengers |Low flight frequencies reduce the appeal of Ryanair | | |and grow its market. services for some travellers | | |Ryanair’s strong cash flow enables it to make further |Low level of free services reduces the attractiveness of | | |investment in aircraft |Ryanair flights for some travellers | | |Ryanair's strategic negotiating ability allows it to take|Unfavourable publicity causes regulator resistance to | | |advantage of secon dary airport suppliers to provide air |Ryanair operations | | |services to major cities at low cost | | |Threats |Large pan-European network allows Ryanair to shift |Revenue seasonality with lower winter time cash flows | | |business out of regulatory jurisdictions which raise |could make fuel price fluctuations more problematic | | |travel taxes or airport fees |because fuel prices tend to have a seasonal peak during | | |Ryanair's expertise at hedging fuel and exchange rate |October to January | | |fluctuations allows it to minimize the impact of oil |Ryanair’s disregard for customer luxury and convenience | | |price fluctuations compared to legacy airlines |could worsen declines in customer numbers during periods | | | |of economic prosperity when higher income levels give all| | | |travellers more choices of travel service level. | SWOT Fit with StrategyRyanair’s cost leadership business strategy is built on (1) senior management’s strength at negotiating lo w cost supplier agreements, and (2) unbundling air travel services from basic transport fares to allow lower willingness to pay customers to choose lower cost service. The cost leadership strategy and ability to negotiate lowest cost supplier agreements also puts Ryanair in position to exceed competitors network scale and thereby achieve competitively superior economies of scale. Ryanair’s focus on cost leadership minimizes the negative effect that their disregard for customer inconvenience could have on a differentiated supplier. In summary Ryanair’s strategy is a good fit with its strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVESAlternatives 1. Shift to primary airports and move upmarket by focusing on primary airports and increased customer service levels and fares, competing more closely with EasyJet. 2. Expand secondary airports network, with the same customer service level but the lowest price. 3. Expand secondary airport network and upscal e the customer services with a bit higher price. 4. Expand Network to US through buying Aer Lingus. 5. Expand Network to US Irish destinations by buying planes, routes and airport slots. 6. Develop a greenfield network in a non-European regional market. Criteria for Analysis of Alternatives †¢ Increased Profit / ROE †¢ Financial Feasibility Maintain low cost leadership / Increase Economies of scale †¢ Government Issues Evaluation of Alternatives | |Government Issues |Profit/ ROE |Economic of Scale | Financial |Total Point | | | | | |Feasibility | | |1. Shift to Primary Airports (Increase |3 |2 |2 |2. 5 |9. 5 | |Price) | | | | | | |2.Expand Secondary Airport Network |4 |5 |5 |4 |18 | |(Low Price) | | | | | | |3. Expand Secondary Airport Network |4 |3 |3 |3. 5 |13. 5 | |(Upscale Services) | | | | | | |4. Expand Network to US through buying |1 |5 |5 |5 |16 | |Aer Lingus | | | | | | |5.Expand Network to US Irish |2 |3. 5 |4 |3 |12. 5 | |destinations | | | | | | |6. Develo p second Network in |3 |Short run: 2 |Short run: 2. 5 |2 |Short run: 9. 5 | |non-European regional market | |Long run: 5 |Long run: 5 | |Long run: 16 | Explanation of Evaluation: 1. Issues of government approval of new runs and cost of buying airport slots.As the primary airports will charge higher fees and tend to be more intensely competitive, the cost and fare price will be increased with a higher customer services level. The primary airport routes are served by many discount fare and major airline feeder service competitors 2. The lowest cost way to achieve additional economics of scale. 3. Shifts the company cost structure to a higher cost curve and may reduce its economies of scale. 4. Issue of European Commissions Merger office disapproval 5. Combination of regulatory issues and cost of acquiring transatlantic certified aircraft. 6. High start-up cost for a greenfield network and time required to build up revenue and profit. Recommended AlternativeBased on the evaluation, the best alternative for Ryanair is to continual to develop its network serving secondary airports, as it will generate more profit while and achieve greater economies of scale. Short Term Continue with company’s current strategy of expanding the network of secondary airports served. Maintain current levels of customer service and continue to emphasize the value of the levels of customer service provided to the Ryanair customer niche to avoid regulatory backlash. Long Term The secondary airport network in Europe will eventually be saturated by Ryanair’s expansion and to continue growing faster than demographic growth Ryanair will have to expand into other markets.The recommended alternative is to make greater accommodations to the European Commission Merger Office regarding routes where Aer Lingus and Ryanair currently compete in order to gain the Merger offices approval for Ryanair to buy Aer Lingus. This will allow Ryanair to expand to the US market with guaranteed prof its from the Irish traveller traffic visiting relatives in Boston, New York, and Chicago. Further the cost to buy the additional Aer Lingus shares to give Ryanair controlling a share in Aer Lingus is very inexpensive compared to other overseas expansion options. If the European Commission Merger Office does not give approval then Ryanair should consider development of an alternative regional network. IMPLEMENTATION Action PlanExpand the secondary airport network by expanding service to the Balkans, Macedonia and Morocco. |Time Line | |   |April |May |June |July | |Average fare: |Euro 50 |Euro 51 |2% |Low competition in new route area allows | | | | | |higher fare level | |Costs per passenger excluding |Euro 27 |Euro 25 |-7. % |Using excess plane capacity so reduces | |fuel: | | | |average fixed cost | |Revenue per passenger: |Euro 51 |Euro 51 |0% |Travellers in the new route area very frugal. | |Passengers per year: |75. 8 million |79. 6 million |5% |New route volume | |ROE: |16. 9% |18. 4% |1. 5% |Higher utilization of aircraft results in | | | | | |higher ROE | By meeting the figures in the Target column Ryanair will have succeeded in expanding its revenues, profits and economies of scale.

Health and safety needs of individuals Essay

Introduction Write a reflective account that evaluates your own contribution to the health and safety needs of individuals whom you have worked with in your placements over the last 9 months. Reflections – Domiciliary Care Work. The purpose of reflection stated by (John, 1995) â€Å" is to promote desirable practice through the practitioner’s understanding and learning about his/her lived experiences†. The key laws and policies that have an impact on my work as a social care worker are The Health and Safety at Work Order (NI) 1978, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (NI) 2000, Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR), The Manual Handling Operations Regulations (NI) 1992, Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 2002 and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (NI) COSHH 2003. The organisation that I am employed with provides a domillicillary care service to vulnerable adults within the community in their own homes. Before any work can commence with a service user, â€Å"a skilled assessment of clients needs and strengths is essential to effective planning† as stated by (Taylor & Devine, 1993). A risk assessment is then carried out by the occupational therapist. The law states â€Å"you are required to protect people as far as is reasonably practicable†, (Hse, 2014). The findings of the risk assessment are recorded and included in the care plan. At the service user’s home I would familiarise myself with their care plan. I need to ensure that as a social care worker I contribute to the welfare, health, safety and security of that individual as outlined in my employers code of practice and other relevant recommendations of safe moving and handling that is listed for my attention and other care workers. I used â€Å"PPE in accordance with training and instructions†, (Rsi, 2014) supplied by my employer to ensure I protect the service user and myself from infection. On one occasion, I found that a service user was afraid of the hoist because of a fear of falling, feeling vulnerable and embarrassed. I felt empathy for the service user but stated that all moving to and from the bed or chair had to be carried out using the hoist which is stated on the risk assessment for her safety and it is against the moving and handling policy not adhering to the care plan. The service user was further advised that since she had refused to allow the hoist to be used, unfortunately she had  to stay in bed or be lifted by a member of the family. It was my responsibility to have adhered to the moving and handling policy for my own safety and that of the service user whose mobility is impaired. As an employee within the health sector it is my responsibility to conform to the health and safety policy. By adhering to this, I feel that it has enabled me to observe all the safety rules and regulations that are required by law for me to follow. Wearing of gloves, apron s and footwear at all times are standard precaution to take for infection control. Infection control practices are adopted to minimise the spread of infection from one person to another. I feel that it is also my responsibility to report all potential hazards, accidents or incidents to my line manager. Yesterday when I arrived at the home of a service user who has mental impairment, I was confronted by newspapers strewn all over the room, split urine bottles and bags of soiled pads that was taken from the rubbish bin outside. The service user was hoarding these in his room. I felt uncomfortable and immediately, I called my line manager where arrangements were made through his social worker to get his room cleaned to avoid any potential infection from the soiled pads and spilt urine. By attending all mandatory training on moving and handling, food hygiene, administering of medication and first aid. I feel I am kept up to date through training and have improved my own awareness and skills whilst working with service users in a health and safety environment. Recently a service user was walking in the kitchen with her walking stick when she fell and sustained multiple br uises. On my visit I was informed of the incident, which I immediately recorded and reported to my line manager. Since the service user mobility was impaired I encouraged her to use the zimmer emphasising that by using the zimmer it would reduce the risks of her falling and causing potential injury which could be serious. Another issue I had recently was with a co-worker who had decided that in order to save time, we would drag lift a double amputee service user instead of using the glide sheet to glide him up the bed. I was uncomfortable with that suggestion and I refused to partake in that method of moving and handling which was against company policy and I feel I could have potentially caused serious damage to the service user and ourselves. I now think that by insisting that we were to follow the correct moving and handling procedures this prevented any incident from happening and did not leave us open to  disciplinary action. Conclusion Health and safety is an important part of my work out in the community and I need to continuously reflect on this in my every day practice. I feel more secure I the knowledge that it is acceptable to use reflection as a tool in order to turn any unpleasant experience into a positive one

Terrorism and the Law (law295) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Terrorism and the Law (law295) - Essay Example aterial support as â€Å"any property, tangible or intangible or service, including money, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communication equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substance, explosives, personnel, transportation, and with the exemption of medicine or religious materials (Samaha 468). The government must be able to prove that the â€Å"donor defendant acted with culpable intent knowledge† so as it is safe to say that such individual has provided material support to a terrorist organization (Samaha 468). There are varying definitions of terrorism which makes it controversial and it is defined by different kinds of laws such as the following: International criminal law, National criminal law (e.g. United States Law Code), and general insurance policies. The United Nations and the council on the suppression of terrorism seek to define it by adopting general legislative measures against it which results to serious legal consequences. As a result to this, the United Nations is encouraging every state to define terrorism in the context of National Law (Saul 141). On the other hand, the Arab Convention is very particular in excluding armed struggle against oppression from the definition of terrorism and its suppression. The threat to right of securing self-determination and independence which can be counteracted by armed struggle in whatever means is particularly excluded in the definition of terrorism (Williamson 59). This therefore paves the way for the difficulty in coming up with universal definition of terrorism. European Convention on the other hand on its suppression of terrorism encourages States to consider terrorism and its acts not as political offences or as being inspired by political motives (Dumitriu 587). The US District Court decision of United States vs. Yunis case stands for the acceptance of certain principles of extraterritorial jurisdiction allowing

Hate crime Against Arab Americans Research Paper

Hate crime Against Arab Americans - Research Paper Example The increase in hate crime is however slowing down but still higher than the periods before 2001. The major objective of this paper is to outline the nature of hate crimes against Arab Americans that have been witnessed in the U.S. and outline the possible solutions to the problem. This paper has also outlined the rooted discrimination against the Arab Americans in the job market. As reported in this paper, the government agencies such as FBI, police, INS and the American airlines have been discriminatory against the Arab Americans. This paper also reports how the private sector has been discriminatory as well as providing unfavorable work conditions to the Arab Americans since the September attack. Hate crimes have not only focused on the Arab Americans but have also been witnessed against their property and their families. As reported in this paper however, the statements by high profile government officials like the president, the clergy, politicians as well as the involvement of the learning institutions is very important in ensuring that hate crimes are reduced in the US. Introduction The September 11, 2001 attack on the world trade center marked the beginning and the rise in the hate crimes mainly towards against the Arab Americans. The September attack which is claimed to have been engineered by the world most terrorist and leader of the Al-Qaida terrorist group Osama Bin laden also saw a number of Muslims being listed as either participated directly or indirectly in the attacks. This has resulted into the development of bad relationship between the government of the United States and the Muslim community. The level of hate crimes that has been reported against the Muslims, Arab Americans and Sikhs rose to five percent in the year 2001 just immediately after the September bomb attack that left property worth millions of dollars destroyed and several people dead. The statistics show that out of the total 9,730 victims of hate crimes, 481 were either of Mu slims, Arab Americans or Sikhs (Leadership conference, 2009). However, the highest victims of the three have been the Arab Americans. At present, statistics have shown that this trend has reduced compared to the year 2001. However, it is important to realize that the levels of hate crimes against the Arab Americans have stood higher than the days before 2001. During the year 2007 and 2008, at approximately 115 hate crimes were reported against the Arabs Americans which is above those that were reported during the year 2000 and the previous years. In 2009, there have been serious deaths committed by assailants against two Arab Americans, Mohammed Al Hadi and another clerk of the Middle East origin (leadership conference, 2009). The perception of the Arab Americans as terrorists has resulted into the increasing hate crimes against the Arab Americans. These are just but few examples that reveal clearly that the law enforcement agencies have either failed in their duties to report these hate crimes or are just reluctant to end the problem that is fueling hatred between the Arab Americans and the other Americans. Hate crimes in United States of America against the Arab Americans is therefore a problem that has to be managed immediately. America is likely to ignite civil war or war between civilians if hate

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 8

Project Management - Essay Example Literature has suggested a number of benefits which can be achieved by outsourcing the payroll system. Majorly, it is considered to outsource in order to achieve the cost reduction benefits, where the exceptional contractor’s performance and its low-cost structure can reduce the cost directly, as well as it converted the fixed cost into the variable costs and also by lowering the in-house staff (Seth & Sethi, 2011). Other indirect benefits resulting in the cost reductions are increasing efficiency by more focus on main business operations, employee retention with specialized programs designed strategically by vendor, bettered the risk management, and also minimizing the firm’s politics (Turnbull, 2002; Rubery, Cooke, Marchington, & Earnshaw, 2003). The outsourcing Payroll system has some other benefits resulting in revenue enhancements. The direct revenue enhancement occurs through more cash generation and savings, which is achieved by transferring the assets needed to manage payroll towards the vendor, so it lowers the investment and make the resources available for further purposes (Seth & Sethi, 2011). While it also increases the revenues indirectly by improving customer services and satisfaction resulting in increased sales, gaining more contacts through vendor PR, speeding up, expansion, legal compliance and also by accessing the advanced technology through vendors’ specialized services (Adler, 2003). On the other hand, there is little evidence found in literature to realize these benefits. As (Dickmann & Tyson, 2005) has argued that there are more costs incurred while outsourcing the payroll system due to more transaction costs. Additionally, according to (Mellewigt, Madhok, & Weibel, 2007), there is an ethical is sue of payroll outsourcing, which is the critical employee’ information security breaches. Moreover, the lower control over HR functions,

Victimless crimes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Victimless crimes - Research Paper Example Victimless crimes include such activities as; prostitution, abortion, drug use, gambling, assisted suicide, not wearing a seatbelt, consumption of pornography among others. In some circumstances, the crime is an individual act such as not wearing a seatbelt and sometimes it involves consent by two or more adults to commit a criminal offense such as prostitution in which no other person is involved hence are referred as consensual crimes (Fernandez, 11). Although they are considered victimless, the persons involved are harmed in one way or another hence it is considered a serious public health issue which should be dealt with. Criminalization of victimless crimes has often been considered as a waste of state resources as the desired effects are in most cases not achieved. Hardaway Robert argues that the costs involved far outweigh the benefits since the results are counterproductive. For example, the war on drugs has done little to curb drug abuse as US comprises 5% of world populatio n and consumes 50% of cocaine produced not forgetting the ruined lives of those incarcerated (7). He also notes that Netherlands has the lowest abortion rate in the world despite legalizing abortion whereas Romania has the highest abortion rate in Europe despite its criminalization policies. Richards (1218) also notes that the moral arguments advanced by the proponents of criminalization do not hold any ground as they are contestable. This paper will discuss the legislations passed pertaining to criminalization and legalization of victimless crimes as well as the harms and benefits of such legislations. Left to act like a free market without any form of government interference, victimless crimes can lead to health problems for the individuals involved as well as costs to the society as a whole hence minimal intervention is required to correct failures and achieve public order. History of Victimless Crimes The issue of victimless crimes arose with the prohibition of alcohol and tobac co. The 18th amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, import and export of alcohol for beverage use (Fernandez, 14). Alcoholic beverages are consumed widely and prohibition thus resulted in search for illegal means of satisfying their needs. Illegal taverns were therefore set up to manufacture the illicit beverages in uncontrolled manner leading to loss of lives, blindness and increased violence. Legitimate brewers were kicked out of the market and the price of the product escalated as the mafia class emerged which controlled the trade. To be able to purchase the illegal drink in the black market, some users resulted to crime hence the growth of organized crime in the US (20). Violence also increased as gangs fought for the control of the lucrative business. Corruption was also evident as government officers aided cartels to operate their illegal businesses without interruptions. Violent criminals were handed down reduced sentences to allow space for convicts of alcohol Due to th ese negative consequences; the amendment was repealed in 1933. According to Friedman (445), in the early days, prostitution was not criminalized. However, owning a brothel was considered a crime. Adultery on the other hand, was a crime that attracted corporal punishment (Gaines & LeRoy, 5). Fornication was

Several topics. See below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 16250 words

Several topics. See below - Essay Example The research conducted in this study points to the lack of assertiveness in political and social goals which risks political irrelevance. Methodologies The researcher conducted quantitative research of existing literature related to many aspects of the civil service organisation/union. Firstly, the researcher conducted a review of actual standards through publications of the Public Service Union, and German Civil Servants' Union (DBB). The researcher then considered the organisational structure of these associations, taking into account the principle-agent theory. Next, the researcher addressed the role of lobbying in the trade union environment on order to explain the basic tasks of interest group representatives, and to evaluate the significance of the associations. Through this analysis, the researcher documented the operating techniques of lobbyists. The researcher, throughout this process, gained insight into the potential influences of planning association, financing, personnel policy and leadership. The researcher then began investigating the importance of strategic alliances and networks by listing selected alliances and networks and then constructing a block model analysis.In order to assess stakeholder networks, the researcher narrowed down the subject to one important field of activity which is non-profit marketing. This activity includes finding considerations which take buy-out-reflections into account. The researcher further investigated the application of risk management and corporate governance. Through the investigation of existing literature and current organisational examples, the researcher was able to summarize theoretical results and future challenges and how organisations can meet those challenges through organisational re-structuring both in the organisation and through its networks and alliances. Contextualisation of Research The research conducted in this study does not aim to define a single solution; its main intention is to document the role of lobbying in within the union environment and the related need for the use of strategic alliances and networks. As such, the researcher aimed to reflect upon theoretical analytical foundation, also known as stakeholder value. The research conducted can be helpful in the design of sustainable lobbyist work and the optimization of organisational ideas. It also opens the doors for improved operational and organisational structures. The primary research result of this study is the importance of transparency within organisations; meaning there is a need for clear and specific communication of objectives both internally and externally. Currently, organisations lack clearly defined objectives and networks and organisational structures are not efficient. Therefore, the goal of organisational success should be to increase efficiency within organisational structures and networks through the clear definition of objectives; which includes: Legal objectives Economic goals Social goal s Target group This also requires improved approaches to representation inside and outside of the organisation, which can be achieved through increased transparency and respect both for and by the unions. The overall objective of this research was achieved and the researcher is excited about the implications of this research on further study or organisational restructuring as it pertains to the civil service organisation. Research Results

Marketing Management Class Discussion wk1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Marketing Management Class Discussion wk1 - Essay Example Branding is vital for mineral water, as one may copy products and a place on quality. The main distinct factor that may distinguish the mineral water from other brands. Specialists in marketing urge that any given product (Douglas, 2010) For instance, water can get branded viably. The wellspring of the water gives us a decent establishment to differentiation if youre going to take advantage of the brand society; you begin with the peculiarity of the source The main proposition within branding the product is to make sure is recognized and identified easily within the market. This will ensure there is a mass loyalty in reference to quality and trust of the customers. It is vital to portray positive reaction of the product within the target market and the buyer.The item, product and, a physical item offered to the market is bottled mineral water. In regards to physical items, it likewise alludes to any product or service that is a piece of the advertising. Item choices incorporate viewpoints, for example, appearance, bundling, administration, guarantee, and so forth (Douglas, 2010) the pricing of the product and the estimations should be affordable to the target buyers. Valuing incorporates the rundown cost, as well as rebates, financing, and different alternatives, for example, renting. The place where the mineral water will be sold includes to wholesalers and retailers in the. Spot (or position) choices are those connected with channels of distribution that serve as the methods for getting the mineral water the water to the target clients. In conclusion, for the mineral water to be used within the entire market, the manager should deploy great marketing concepts, starting from communication, production, advertising, distribution, and brand positioning and customer retention. The manager should also apply the marketing mix to ensure the mineral water penetrates the market. Furthermore, the information about competitors and how to deal

Music and Soundscapes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Music and Soundscapes - Research Paper Example That simply illustrates the power of the musical score, or the music that is played in the background of a scene as action takes place (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). The clip from the film â€Å"The Mask,† benefitted most from the power of sound effects. In general, rompy comedy clips do use a lot of exaggerated sound effects to enhance the humor in the scene and basically, to cue the laughter from the audience. The sound effects from the clip no doubt exaggerated the aspects of the scene but in a good way. The last category of sound is dialogue. This is simply the conversation that goes on among, and sometimes within, the characters (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). In my opinion, this is also the part that turns off most men from â€Å"chick flicks,† with the clip from â€Å"When Harry Met Sally† to stress my point (Ladies, we get enough of that from you at home so imagine what two hours of that will do to

Methods of Navigation in SAP Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Methods of Navigation in SAP - Assignment Example It means that each order must be identified with a specific reference number that acts as an identification number for the transactions. It is different from a manual system in that the manual system such as SUA does not require the creation of reference alongside any sale order. Moreover, the manual system such as SUA does not rely on any specific order of making sales order. This format is beneficial to the company since it facilitates faster retrieval of information and reduces the time spent in searching for sales order in case of a high volume of transactions. In addition, the method helps link a sales order to various financial and administrative functions like customers and suppliers in the company (Cleveland 45). The document flow screen is used to indicate the movement of documents within an organization. It helps indicate the real-time location of a document within an organization thus reducing the complexity of sorting and storing documents. from an accounting perspective, post goods issue is any matter relating to goods after the transaction has been closed up. In addition, the accounting perspective states that when such matter arises it must be recorded as a bad debt when creating an invoice. SAP gives an alternative of providing credit checks through screen features that link credits to the due dates that have been set up by the organization. Moreover, the SAP provides for counter referencing to enable create a track on the credits due dates. Through an integrated financial and administrative functions of an organization, an SAP is capable of relating a wide variety of transactions to the general ledger accounts. This is done by linking the transactions to the general ledger in the transaction screen.

The Birlings and Gerald Essay Example for Free

The Birlings and Gerald Essay An Inspector Calls is located in the made up city of Brumley in 1912 when business in Britain was doing well. The play concentrates on a wealthy industrial family called the Birlings who are holding a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft, the son of a wealthy businessman. The party is going rather well until it is interrupted by a man claiming to be an Inspector who is investigating the suicide of a young working class women called Eva Smith who later goes by the name of Daisy Renton. He questions all of the Birlings and Gerald Croft and then exits rather abruptly leaving the question of who is responsible for the death of this girl. The Birlings and Gerald find the Inspectors behaviour rather peculiar and begin to suspect he was not genuine. They investigate their theory and find that there is no girl in mortuary who has committed suicide. This news delights Mr. and Mrs. Birling and they look back at the evening with laughter for them all being so naive to have been taken in by a man claiming to be an inspector. The celebrations are short lived though as the phone rings and they hear that a girl has just died on the way to the infirmary and a police inspector is coming round to question them. This ends the play and leaves the imagination of the audience to decide who is responsible for Eva Smiths suicide, if it is in fact Eva Smith who has just died. Mr. Birling is a successful factory owner, ex-Lord Mayor of Brumley and a local magistrate. He is blind to the concerns of his workers, his own actions and the world outside of Britain. He is obsessed with himself and his search to make more money, he says that industry is prospering and cant see why anyone would wont to interrupt it by starting a War. He does not take into account that other people might value different things more highly than money. The only thing he worries about when he finds that someone has died is that whether he will loose the chance of his knighthood and that a public scandal might occur. Mrs. Birling is very arrogant, judging people by their social position. She expects others below her social class to naturally respect her and never to question her opinion. She is generally unaware of what is going on around her and deliberately blind to what she does not wish to see. When she finds that Eva Smith committed suicide Mrs. Birling cannot see how it has anything to do with her as Eva is lower class. Mrs. Birling feels that the lower classs are totally different breed of animal from her own class. Eric is the youngest of the group. He is a drunk, robber and a humiliation. In the eyes of his father he is a failure, as he will never make as much money as his father has done which is the only important thing to his father. Eric particularly disagrees with his father over the reason for not giving workers more money. Mr. Birling points out that the reason why Eric thinks workers should average more than 22 and 6 a week is why he is not commanding the Birling empire. Eric finds his father distant and particularly heartless. Gerald is a businessman and a member of a family with higher social class than the Birlings. He is in many ways like Mr. Birling straight away trying to conceal his involvement with Eva. The difference is that Gerald unlike Mr. Birling feels remorse for what he has done. He is least to blame for Evas suicide as he genuinely made her happy for the time he knew her. Sheila is very suggestible; she respects the Inspector and does what he asks. Sheila is honest and this helps her to realize what she has done to Eva. Her parents do not like her honesty and see her as being disloyal to them. Sheila sees the gruelling interview as a learning curve and even when she finds that Inspector Goole was not a real Inspector unlike the others she still cannot let go of the guilt, which she carries for being partly responsible for Evas death. Inspector Goole is a strong persuasive man. He can also be seen as some one sent from the future to try and convince people to change before its to late. In the book it shows us that the Inspector intimidates the person he is interviewing by looking hard at the person before speaking. This tactic works to the extent that no one dares to challenge him while he is in the room.

Leadership in Paramount Furniture

Leadership in Paramount Furniture I am working in the paramount furniture and our organization running from 1989. We make a sofa sets, bed, bed sofa with New Zealand products. The organization located in 12 FG Dalgety Drive, Wiri, Auckland, New Zealand. The email address is [emailprotected] and our website is www.paramountfurniture.co.nz. I am the leader of one team in paramount furniture. The vision and value of paramount furniture are, we are make sure we will be one of the best furniture company in the New Zealand, making new and loyal customers with good quality of products, open new branches in out of the Auckland, the paramount furniture making a plane dealing with international companies and making good quality of products for customers. My team members are apricate with visions and values. They follow the all rules and regulations, they all are honest, hard worker and all are good communicator. I received feedbacks from customers about the products and then I held a meeting with my team member for telling the ir performance about their work. All customers are happy with the paramount furnitures products so that means my team member understand the companys vision and values. I am the leader of the one team in paramount furniture and I applied some time participative leadership while working in a team. It is good leadership style with working in the team on project. For example, When I need some suggestion regarding the project work, I asked to my team member give their own views then after the team members review I put all members views on the project and which idea is good for project, so I going with those ideas. In this way team member work with me and they give lots of ideas about the project work. Â   Â   Â   Some time I working with autocratic leadership. For example, if any team member didnt follow the rules of company so I mark their absent according to the companys handbook. Either if any team member come late daily I mark their absent for first tea break and said to him get out from here now. In this way, all team member will follow the companys rules and they concentrate on the project work, if they concentrate on the work the project will be finish easily in managed time. The work start in paramount furniture at 9oclock and I reach there at 8:30 am and set all the things about the work. I wear companys uniform while working which is showing the health and safety and all members come factory come early and wear proper uniform and all members know about the vision and values of paramount furniture so, all are working hard in factory and making a good products and new customers also. when we start working on the project, my behavior for my team members is like a friend and a family member not like a leader. In this way, all team member feel free and they work very well on the project. Good communication is the big difference between a company with a vision and values statement and a company with a clear sense of vision is that a company with a clear sense of vision to his employees who have very strong alignment with the organizations core values. According to the working style I have made the vision plane for my team members I know it will be good for achieving goals and objectives. With the help of this plan all team member can concentrate on the project and they work according to the vision and values of the company. On the other hand, in the paramount furniture there are different people from different culture who are working and I have to understand all the culture because it is important for me and for companys production. If I understand all peoples culture they apricate with me and doing work properly. In this way, I can motivate the all member easily and terms to achieve the companys goals and objectives. Moving further, first I gave the coaching to all team member about the project and how we can make it fast and easy and manage the time. If we work in a team our behavior should be very friendly and we should treat all team members like a family members. I am the leader so I should know about which members behavior is good or bad and if anybody have a bad behavior its my responsibility to teach them about good behavior in team. For example- there is 2 boys which are in my team they fight every time while the working and they didnt do work properly so one day I called those boys in meeting room and listen their problems. They didnt talk with each other after the meeting I solved their problems. Then I called meeting of team members and ask everyone if anybody have any problem with anybody tell me and I also told about the work in discipline with the team members. Task 2 Section 1 Behavioral expectation I making a gathering meeting of all my team members and give the information what does the vision and values of our company have and what they expected from you, the all vision and values also related with the clients needs, I give the all discussion which should be good at all time for the team members in the project working. I also told about our team rules to all members like- All members should be come factory at a time. Good and positive attitude with other members. Hard working while work in a team or on a task. All worker should be wear proper uniform while working. No mobile phone using while working. Performance agreements After finish the project I made performance agreements for all the members. This agreement shows their Responsibilities, outcomes and Actual performance. Minutes of meeting In the meeting, we decide the problem about the work with all team members and then give the possible solutions for solving the problem also tell about the work process according to the time management. Date- 7-03-2017 Time- 10:00 am to 10:30 am Place- Paramount staff room

No child left behind and school accountability education essay

No child left behind and school accountability education essay The United Nations Convention on The United Nation Rights of the Child (1999) is not law but it has been ratified by 177 countries throughout the world and Scotland is bound to it by international law. It gives children a broad group of economic, social and cultural rights. The UNCRC (1999) has influenced legislation in this country today for example The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 reflects a number of articles such as Article 23 States Parties recognize that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self reliance and facilitate the childs active participation in the community. The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) is very important due to the fact it brings to the forefront that fact you cannot discriminate against people with disabilities. It tackles discrimination against disabled people enabling them to have equality in all areas of life. It is illegal to refuse a child a place in a nursery setting due to their disability. Children in nursery settings must not be treated less favourably than their mainstream peers and should be included in all activities with adjustments made if required in order for them to participate. The standard of care and education must not be lower than that of mainstream children. All these measures help to encourage inclusion in society. The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 fulfils the governments obligations to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Act has three overarching principles one of which is In relation to the provision of services for children by local authorities, due regard should be given, without discrimination, to a childs religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background The Equality Act (2010) is very important today as it promotes integrated services. It places the onus on public bodies to fulfil certain duties, one of which is working closely with their key partners, enabling and supporting organisations. This act brings together 9 existing discrimination laws, simplifying them and making it a more cohesive approach to equality and inclusion. It tackles barriers that hold people back giving everyone an opportunity to succeed. It shows a commitment to narrowing gaps in society arising from social class and income between rich and poor. These acts meets the needs of disabled children and are in place to protect them from discrimination. Children should not be treated any less favourably than mainstream children in the setting. It is important that practitioners are supportive and positive about peoples differences as stereotyping can stop you seeing the child as an individual. Making assumptions about someone based on stereotypes could lead to limiting of expectations of their abilities. Young children do not have any fixed ideas about society and therefore practitioners could affect change through being good role models and accepting everyone for who they are. This would help to stop stereotyping. According to Siraj-Blatchford (2000) children can only learn to be tolerant, challenge unfair generalization and learn inclusiveness and positive regard for diversity if they see the adults around them doing the same. In this setting there is a mixture of mainstream children and children with disabilities and I have obser ved that all children interact with each other, accepting each as friends, not noticing the differences. These children with disabilities are clearly valued. This will affect the way they see themselves and should give them confidence that they are accepted which in turn will help to achieve a positive identity. Children in this setting are growing up without prejudice. In this setting children with disabilities are encouraged to participate fully in all experiences and are not treated less favourably than others in accordance with The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) eg in order for this child to participate no specialist equipment was required. The experience was adopted to her level of ability. This meant that she could engage fully with her peers. According to Dickins and Denzilioe (2003 pg61) Whenever possible, our aim should be to make the usual range of play and learning opportunities offered by early years services accessible to disables children. Having special activiti es for the special children and buying lots of expensive special needs equipment does not help the development of inclusive services. Staff in this setting work with other agencies in order to break down the barriers of participation that children face. A child in this setting has speech and language communication difficulties but by making reasonable adjustment with the help of a speech therapist and the use of a number of communication tools she is able to make her views known and can engage with others in the setting, see task 1b, observation 1, appendix ? 1, and task 1c appendix 1 (The Equality Bill 2010). Local authorities cannot discriminate against children with disabilities with regards to their education, they must identify the childs needs and ensure a child can attend a mainstream setting or special school, whichever is in their best interest of the child (The Children (Scotland) Act 1995). This setting works in partnership with parents and other professionals in order to decide what is the best decisions for the child, see task 2b, appendix 1 ?. Principles of equality and inclusion should underpin all work in the setting but practitioners will have to look at their own belief system when dealing with children with additional needs. Legislation wont change anything if they do not have an open mind when dealing with children. Their actions could damage childrens self esteem, affecting how they feel about themselves. This legislation has made it possible for children to attend a mainstream setting and through the interactions with other children they have felt valued and made to feel included. This will shape their multiple identity in a positive way. The Scottish Government policies put the law into practice. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child underpin all policy. The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the increasing social divide in society today. With 17% of the population affected by relative poverty, of which 210,000 are children, the government has put in place policies that aim to tackle the root causes of these significant inequalities (Scottish Government (2008a). A cause of these inequalities is poverty. According to Giddens A (2001) there are two approaches to poverty. The first being absolute poverty when an individuals basic needs such as food and shelter cannot be met. The second being relative poverty which relates to the overall standard of living in a particular society. Poverty and social class can have a major impact on childrens lives. According to Yeo and Lovell (2002) class affect peoples life chances. Yeo and Lovell note in general middle class people are wealthier and healthier than working class people. Children may find it difficult to break out of cycles of deprivation because of discrimination relating to social background. People can end up being socially excluded through poverty, a lack of money preventing them from engaging with the wider society. The Scottish Government (2008a) have introduced the policy Achieving our Potential which is a framework put in place to try and address problems that are related to poverty such as income, poor housing and poor health. The Scottish Government (2008a, pg13) note that the distribution of poor health has an impact upon income inequality and can pass from generation to generation. This is not a stand alone framework, together with The Early Years Framework the government hope to tackle inequality, which is closely linked to poverty. The Scottish Governments (2008b pg4) policy Early Years Framework vision states children should be able to achieve positive outcomes irrespective of race, disability or social background. This policy focuses on working in partnership with children and families, supporting parents to support their children to secure the best outcomes for them. One of its key aims is prevention rather than crisis management later on in a childs life. It advocates play as a way of raising educational outcomes. According to Siraj-Blatchford (2000 pg 3) Researchers have shown the connections between academic success and self esteem. Positive interactions and relationships are very important if a child is to develop good self esteem therefore practitioners should use the curriculum to develop this. The Curriculum for Excellence is followed in the setting using play based learning. The child is at the centre of practice, engaged in active learning, see task 2a, appendix 1. Together with using child led plan ning and positive interactions children will have better outcomes and hopefully this will set a template for lifelong learning. This should mean better job prospects and a way out of the cycle of deprivation caused by poverty. It is important for practitioners to engage with parents advising of the importance of the home learning environment in relation to social and cognitive development as this may counteract social deprivation. Caneiro, (2006) as cited Johnson (2008) showed that children with good social adjustment stayed in education. Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) is another Scottish Government approach to help improve the outcomes of children and families which complements the above frameworks. This sees the child at the centre of practice. Early intervention is the key to this policy. Children and families are at the centre of the framework working together with inter agency services such as health and education. One key worker will co-ordinate the plan to support the child and family. This approach also recognizes the importance of the childrens voice. The Scottish Government (2008a) Believe There is a strong positive relationship between having the best start in life, enjoying good health , a good education, and having enough money to provide for yourself and your family. All these policies emphasise the importance of putting the child at the centre and treating each one as an individual, catering for their own needs which can only be a good thing for inclusion and social justice see task 2, appendix 1. These policies all advocate working closely with children building nurturing relationship which will help the children build a positive identity. To promote inclusion and equality in the setting staff must adhere to government frameworks and be aware of legislation that affects children such as UNCRC. Working in partnership and having good relationships with parents is important to continue the childs learning across home and the early years setting, see task 3, appendix 1. The ethos of the school should help children feel valued, safe and nurtured in order to help children learn. Good adult interaction with the child, listening to their ideas and acting upon them will make the child feel valued and respected (UNCRC). All planning should be centred around the individual child see task 2 appendix 1. S Blatchford pg notes 116 All children have the right to an early childhood curriculum that supports and affirms their gender, culture and linguistic identities and background. Treating each child as an individual is very important to ensure that their needs will be met. The Nation Framework for Inclusion is a tool that can be used by practitioners to help them embed inclusion into their practice. It challenges practitioners to think about their values and beliefs and how they may affect others. The Child at the Centre (2007) is a government issued guide which enables settings to evaluate their practice against performance indicators. Practitioners can reflect on the quality of their provision and identify the way forward for children. The type of exercise is useful as practitioners can become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. HMI Inspectorate of Education (2007) note Since the first publication of The Child at the Centre, self evaluation has become increasingly embedded across Scottish Education and has contributed well to improving achievement for all children. The National Care Standards provide a framework for assessing the services provided in the setting and focus on the quality of the setting (Scottish Executive 2005). The standards are underpinned by the rights of children laid down in the UNCRC (1999). This can be used by the setting as a guide to monitor service provided in the setting. A policy of inclusion should be available for anyone to see in the setting which is easy to understand Jones (2004). Legislation exists to affect social change. It is the duty of local government and their partner agencies to work together to address the issues associated with poverty and disability that children face. Steps are being taken in the right direction with early years staff working in partnership with parents, see task 3, appendix 1 in order to improve childrens outcomes.. Children are having their voices heard and their learning experiences are tailored to their needs, see task 2a, appendix 1 The laws on equality and inclusion regarding disability do seem to be having an effect. Children with additional support needs are having their needs met in an inclusive environment, see task 2b, appendix 1. The policies are working towards eradicating poverty in the future therefore it is impossible to say if they are effective. Childhood practice has changed in the last twenty years, staff are required to be more highly skilled. The Scottish Government (2008b pg17) note The skills knowledge, attitudes and qualifications of the workforce are a key focus in improving quality, and the mix of those skills is also critical. We want the best people working in early years where they can have the biggest impact on outcomes. The issue of knowledge and skills for existing staff has to be addressed in order for them to meet the aims of government policies. Quote Middle class children as still more likely than working class children to be successful in education. This is so even when the children are of the same measured IQ. Inequalities of income between the classes are important in this, but so are attitudes. Yeo, A. And Lovell, T. (2002)

Inherent Evil in Lord of the Flies :: Lord Flies Essays

Inherent Evil in Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies provides one with a clear understanding of Golding's view of human nature. Whether this view is right or wrong is a point to be debated. This image Golding paints for the reader, that of humans being inherently bad, is a perspective not all people share. Lord of the Flies is but an abstract tool of Golding's to construct the idea of the inherent evil of human nature in the minds of his readers. To construct this idea of the inherent evil, Golding employs the symbolism of Simon, Ralph, the hunt and the island. Golding drives the point that the instinctual evil within man is inescapable. At one point in the book, when the Lord of the Flies is representing all evil, this theory is stated as, "The Lord of the Flies was expanding like a balloon" (Golding 130). Along with this idea is the religious symbolism that is used for ineffectively confronting the evil. At a point in the book, Golding has Simon, symbolic of Jesus Christ, confront the Lord of the Flies. This is a pig's head on a stick that is imagined to talk and represent the evil in all humans. Simon tries to act and spread the knowledge of this evil to others but is killed. This is a direct reference to the death of Christ, alluding to the Holy Bible. At many points throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding writes for the characters to become gradually more and more evil. This attribute even reaches the symbols of goodness and order, such as Ralph. Once, when Ralph and Piggy go to the feast on Jack's beach, they begin to meld with the others and their evil ways. "Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society" (Golding 138). This really only proves their common longing for a place with others, not any depth of evilness. Golding also has all of the characters eventually participate in the hunts, his representation of an evil ritual that humans perform. By having all of the characters practice this, he illustrates his belief that everyone is susceptible to turning evil. This is not necessarily true. Humans develop their own dedications to their own beliefs, morals, and ethics.

Best Friends :: Friendship Essay Personal Narrative

Best Friends Steam hung heavily in the air as Ashli Jacobson stood with her head bowed, letting the streams of hot water beat against her back. The radio by the sink blared a heavy bass line and undecipherable words. Reluctantly, she turned the shower off, wiped the water from her eyes and stepped from the dripping shower stall. A sudden pounding on the door jerked her out of her reverie. What was I just thinking about? Blast- "Ashli? Are you going to be out soon?" Ashli sighed, suppressing the urge to yell, No! I'm staying in here forever! "I'll be out in a minute," she called instead, wiping vapor from the mirror. "Hurry up, would you?" Ashli turned off the radio and secured a pink, fluffy towel around herself. Her bare feet making tiny puddles on the cool tile floor, she went to the door and opened it. Chilly air from the hallway hit her sharply and she shivered, clutching the towel closer. Jenny waited in the hall. Her blue eyes flashed with impatience. "I have to put my face on before my date." She brushed past Ashli and planted herself in front of the mirror. "What time is it?" Ashli asked, aware she was dripping on the floor. She raked a hand through her sopping wet hair. "Almost seven," Jenny answered, searching for her mascara. Joshua will be here soon." Ashli's brain began to make a list of all the things she had to do before her best friend arrived for their Saturday night ritual of popcorn, television, and conversation. Jenny looked at Ashli doubtfully. "Are you sure? He hasn't called." Ashli impatiently swiped away a lock of wet hair before answering. "He never calls. He'll be here. It's Saturday night. We never miss a Saturday together." "I noticed." Jenny began to apply blush to her cheeks. "You two are awfully close, " she commented. Ashli rolled her green eyes and sighed. "That's why he's my best friend, as opposed to just a friend. "How did his doctor's appointment go?" The question caught Ashli off guard. Not only did it come out of nowhere, but Ashli never shared important information like that with Jenny. "Well, since you apparently listened to our telephone conversation, you know the doctors are satisfied that there isn't any trace of leukemia left. He has a clean bill of health," Ashli answered through clenched teeth. Best Friends :: Friendship Essay Personal Narrative Best Friends Steam hung heavily in the air as Ashli Jacobson stood with her head bowed, letting the streams of hot water beat against her back. The radio by the sink blared a heavy bass line and undecipherable words. Reluctantly, she turned the shower off, wiped the water from her eyes and stepped from the dripping shower stall. A sudden pounding on the door jerked her out of her reverie. What was I just thinking about? Blast- "Ashli? Are you going to be out soon?" Ashli sighed, suppressing the urge to yell, No! I'm staying in here forever! "I'll be out in a minute," she called instead, wiping vapor from the mirror. "Hurry up, would you?" Ashli turned off the radio and secured a pink, fluffy towel around herself. Her bare feet making tiny puddles on the cool tile floor, she went to the door and opened it. Chilly air from the hallway hit her sharply and she shivered, clutching the towel closer. Jenny waited in the hall. Her blue eyes flashed with impatience. "I have to put my face on before my date." She brushed past Ashli and planted herself in front of the mirror. "What time is it?" Ashli asked, aware she was dripping on the floor. She raked a hand through her sopping wet hair. "Almost seven," Jenny answered, searching for her mascara. Joshua will be here soon." Ashli's brain began to make a list of all the things she had to do before her best friend arrived for their Saturday night ritual of popcorn, television, and conversation. Jenny looked at Ashli doubtfully. "Are you sure? He hasn't called." Ashli impatiently swiped away a lock of wet hair before answering. "He never calls. He'll be here. It's Saturday night. We never miss a Saturday together." "I noticed." Jenny began to apply blush to her cheeks. "You two are awfully close, " she commented. Ashli rolled her green eyes and sighed. "That's why he's my best friend, as opposed to just a friend. "How did his doctor's appointment go?" The question caught Ashli off guard. Not only did it come out of nowhere, but Ashli never shared important information like that with Jenny. "Well, since you apparently listened to our telephone conversation, you know the doctors are satisfied that there isn't any trace of leukemia left. He has a clean bill of health," Ashli answered through clenched teeth.

North Korea Famine Essay -- North Korean Famine World Essays

North Korea Famine Abstract Famine is the one of the biggest problems in the world. More than 800 million people are suffering from hunger. The people of North Korea suffer from hunger on the level of the notorious Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia famines. They just suffer in silence behind the world media. There are several facts about the North Korea famine. One of the main factors for the North Korea famine is political problems: The North Korean government ignores s people’s everyday lives and only does things for preparing war. Moreover, the North Korean government, North Korea dose not like allow relief agencies to personally deliver the grain to those who need it most, causes some general problems for getting contribution from other countries. My research paper reports fact about the North Korean famine. For example, how serious the North Korea famine is, what problems North Korea have. This paper suggests before considering a lot of problems; everybody in the world should help North Korea hungry peop le for economical, political, and national reasons. There are a lot of innocent people, especially children. Introduction Famine is the one of the biggest problems in the world. A lot of children die from hunger. What is famine? The problem of famine is manifold. Famine is not only a condition of a lack of food but of inadequate planning, inadequate notification, slow responds, government pride, misdirected aid, politics, ignorance, and incompetence. North Korea is a current example of all of these facts. In North Korea, many people are suffering in silence without attention of the world’s media. The tragic Ethiopian famine of 198... ...e.abcnews.go.com/sections/world/koreafood108/index.html (Mar1999). 2. The campaign to stop Famine in North Korea. "Things Korea" Auguest 1997. http://soback.koornet.nm.kr/~pixeline/heeyun/korea/factsht.htr (February 12 1999). 3. Agency France-Presse (AFP). "Starving Nkorean Children Filmed Searching Rubbish for Food" 21 Dec 1998. http://www.reliefweb.int ( April 10 1999). 4. Relief Web "World Food Program" 31 May 1996. http://www.reliefweb.int ( April 21 1999). 5. Mennonite Central "Famine in North Korea" 1997. http://www.reliefweb.int (February 5 1999). 6. The Brawn Daily Herald, Inc "Silent Disaster" 1997. http://www.pbs.org/newsshour/forum/august97/korea4.htm (2 April 1999). 7. Online Newshow "The North Korea Famine" August 26 1998. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/august97/korea4.htm (6 February 1999)

Comparative Advantages and Disadvantages

With China being a market of more than 1. 3 billion people, competition for this newly emerging market Is rich. The following brands are omitting In the Chinese market. 1. 3 National comparative advantage The theory of comparative advantage propagated by the classical economist David Richard proposes that a country attractiveness to foreign investment is determined by its inherent natural factors such as land, natural resources, labor, and the size of the local population.Michael Porter's Diamond of National Advantage extends the theory to propose that a nation can create new advanced factor endowments such as skilled labor, a strong technology and knowledge base, government support, and ultra. Kicker uses Porter's model here to determine the national comparative advantage. 1. 3. 1 Factor conditions China can offer quality products because of its comparatively cheap labor. China has become the location of choice for global manufacturing. This is usually attributed to its low wages.Ch inese factory workers today earn 50 cents to $2 an hour and often work long shifts, getting minimal time off for weekends and holidays. [Prosperity, 2005] Competitive Labor: China's workers are not Just inexpensive but literate, hard irking, already reasonably skilled and desperate to be trained. There is also a sizable and growing cadre of university-educated technologists and professionals. For example, China is now graduating 330,000 engineers and scientists annually, as compared with 398,622 for the United States [Prosperity, 2005].Abundant resources: Apart from competent and cheap human resources, China also boasts of huge natural resources. All the raw materials required for producing Kicker are easily available in China at very competitive prices. 1. 3. 2 Demand Conditions The demand for car audio is increasing rapidly in China, as already noted in a previous chapter. The demand has increased steadily, however, not from Kicker's current target market, which is the higher inco me earning group.The demand for Kicker products will stagnate if it does not lower its price to suit the needs of the upcoming middle class group. Growing market populations: China offers a huge market population of 1. 3 billion people. As seen earlier, the middle class car purchasing group, which is Kicker's new target group, is increasing phenomenally wing to national growth. 1. 3. 3 Related and Supporting Industries Kicker sources most of its raw materials from China, who are suppliers of global standard raw materials.Kicker can benefit from the existence of its support industries in China. 1. 3. 4 Firm Strategy, Structure, and Rivalry Kicker is not a single player in the market. This is good because the existence of competition ensures that there is sufficient motivation for product innovation. It also indicates that the demand for foreign car audio exists in the market and has the potential to expand. All the factors together indicate that the time is ripe for Kicker to begin i ts operations in China. . 3. 5 Government attitude towards FED / foreign firms The biggest advantage for China is its open policies on foreign direct investments. China is attracting multinational companies by improving relevant policies to attract multinationals to invest in China [China's Absorption of Foreign Investment, n. D. ]. The efforts are paying off well, as indicated earlier, the phenomenal increase of over 142% in foreign direct investment from 1999 to 2003.

Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates Obesity Critique Essay

According to Wil Haygood, it’s his best opinion that the health concerns in this town of Manchester are due to the lack of exercise facilities and excess amounts of fast food restaurants and unhealthy foods offered in their local stores. I somewhat agree, to a point, that it is more difficult with so much temptation around. However, I also feel that a lack of self control is a contributing factor in any case such as this, as well as the fact that some people turn to food in times of stress, while others may also be in denial that there is a problem at all. In this story as well as actual situations, I have heard reasons and â€Å"excuses† as to why someone may be overweight. For example, in the story the Mayor of the town says, â€Å"I just don’t know a lot about obesity.† Until you realize it, you’re blinded. Then you get to an age where you suddenly say, â€Å"Oh, my God! What have I done to myself?† On the one hand, it seems as though the mayor is admitting that at one point in time, she was oblivious to the fact that she was overweight. At the same time, I do not understand how any individual could not be aware of such changes to his or her own body, especially if it is a drastic change. I would have to say that she demonstrates a definite lack of self control, and denial that the problem has or had anything to do with her own actions. By focusing on anything but the root of the issue, this woman may be overlooking the deeper problem of her health actually being in jeopardy. I feel that these type s of problems can be solved by individuals simply assuming responsibility that they have a lot to do with their weight gain. They can make better decisions, though they may be hard to follow through with, they can take action to correct their issue. Focusing on one man by the name of Charlie Rawlins, he chose to do this. He was a twenty year old man who stood five foot nine inches tall, and weighed two hundred and fifty one pounds. His weight was problematic to the point that it caused him to have to have several knee surgeries. The pain that he had to experience from his weight applying so much pressure on his body was more than he could handle. Mr. Rawlins educated himself on nutrition. He  started eating healthier, making better choices with his eating habits, and he began working as a personal trainer at a physical therapy facility inside a local hospital. With such positive choices, determination, effort and a lot of dedication, he was able to lose a total of sixty six pounds. He shows a lot of concern towards the local kids. He attempts to get them to come and see him at work, but they always refuse. His concern for them is sincere and personal because as he puts it, â€Å"The kids around here, they’ll eat corn b read and taters for lunch. They’ll get a 20-piece chicken meal. It’s killing them.† He figures that the reason that people do not go is due to a lack of resources, however he also argues that with the amount of money that these people spend on fast food they could easily afford his prices. Another local, Regina Stevens, who is the town’s pharmacist, states that it is her opinion that the residents are â€Å"unaware of the consequences of being overweight.† The pharmacist admits that a good share of the medications, which she prescribes, are â€Å"things that can be adversely affected by increased weight.† â€Å"These medications are for conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and hypertension†. She also admits that while she is most important to some people, others would not need her help at all if they would simply lost weight. Some of these individuals could be taken off of their medications all together. She even states that â€Å"they would have increased longevity in life.† If Regina Stevens is right about this, which I believe that she is, then it is a shame that so many people still believe that losing weight and living a healthier lifestyle is so difficult to attain. One former local, Jill Day who grew up in this town was astounded by the amounts of overweight people, children and adults as she looked around after coming home on a break from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. It was her opinion that the issue would make â€Å"an interesting academic study.† She did a study on the underlying causes that can lead to obesity. She conducted the study using elementary school students, by using fourth and fifth graders, although only two hundred and seventy seven students total participated out of seven schools. She did different tests, and as it turned out, exactly half of the students were either overweight or obese. Her next comments are hand in hand with what was stated before, about the problem  with denial. Day, who is now an assistant professor of human development and kinesiology says the people have a fear of talking about the issue of obesity, â€Å"a fear of knowing the truth.† She even states that some claim that obesi ty by in large is heredity however she disagrees. She states that â€Å"Since 1980, obesity has tripled in children, so we can’t totally blame genetics for this increase.† She blames the issue on a lack of physical activity combined with poor eating habits, and makes a valid point that attitude can make a large impact on willingness to make such changes. She talks about how people do not want to work hard to get to where they want to be. Instead, they just want to take the easy way out and the outcome of taking that ‘easy route’ is that these people are having severe health problems. Some other people mentioned in this story are two sisters, Carlin and Brittney Robinson. These girls are sweet and full of personality; however the main topic of conversation for them is food. Carlin states that she has started to notice that she is bigger than most kids at school and that she gets picked on. Her sister Brittney says that she would like to talk to Carlin about her weight but she does not want to â€Å"push her buttons.† She states that it is uncomfortable to talk about. Carlin even admits that she will not weigh herself because it is embarrassing. The girls do not even have full length mirrors in their home, so they cannot see the extent of their weight gain. Brittney is right that she should talk to her sister and help her in any way that she can, but she seems to be more hesitant when she claims that her reasoning for not doing so is to not upset her. It is my opinion that by not reaching out to her she is enabling the situation. At the same time, she wants to keep from hurting her sisters’ feelings, possibly making her feel worse about herself. The better thing to have done would have been to reach out, especially as a family member, which is a lot less embarrassing than an outsider, and voice her concern in a way that showed that she cared, carefully. In conclusion, I would just like to say that I hope that more people will start taking the initiative like Charlie Rawlins did, and be able to understand that it is okay to admit that they have a problem and to ask for  help if they truly need it. If you are embarrassed about your appearance, and know that you need to lose weight, it isn’t as hard as you think. It will be hard at first, but keeping a positive attitude and staying determined to reach your goal, then you will be able to succeed. References: Kentucky town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis (published in the Washington post, July 17th, 2010), by Author Wil Haygood Pages 406-416 of â€Å"They say I say† by Authors Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. Haygood, Wil. â€Å"Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis† Washington Post, 2010 July 12.