Koss management Case Essay

1. Why might Koss management have placed so much trust in Sachdeva, along with minimal supervision and monitoring? Koss management might have placed so much trust in Sachdeva because she was is such a high position. She worked in the company as Vice President, when you are that high on the totem pole, you are given trust that you know what you are doing and that you want what is best for the company. Companies don’t hand out positions to people that have no clue as to what they are doing as well as someone that they believe will ruin the company. The same thing goes along with having minimal supervision and monitoring. She was a Vice President, someone that was supposed to be trusted, someone who was a leader, someone who was supposed to set an example. It just goes to show you that it is not always the person on the bottom of chain that needs to be watched. It is easier for higher up management and owners to sneak money away than the one who have minimal access to records and bank statements. 2. What was Grant Thornton’s obligation to uncover the fraud? Grant Thornton was Koss’s internal auditor. An internal auditor is defined as â€Å"An independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization’s operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes.† (p. 23-24) As the auditor for this business, Grant was supposed to make sure that every piece of financial information was in its right place as well as wrote and calculated right. Clearly Thornton did not do his job the right way. By looking at the numbers provided, any auditor could see that something is not right in the company. After seeing it, the auditor would address the issue and deal with it the proper way. I have a feeling he knew all along what was going on but was too afraid to open his mouth. 3. Why should Sachdeva’s lavish lifestyle have raised suspicions? Why might it have been ignored or explained away by her professional colleagues? Sachdeva’s lavish lifestyle should have raised red flags soon after it started to happen. It should  because most people that work in a company roughly know how much each person makes. After seeing her spend the money she was someone should have investigated a little more. I mean it is possible for a Vice President of a company to be rich, but for a life style to go to the extreme as spending $1.4 million on a shopping spree is questionable. One of the number one ways to detect fraud is by a change in lifestyles. Her new lifestyle could have been ignored because of her job title. No one wants to question their boss, let alone someone higher up in management. By doing that, all you are asking for is to get fired. In the book it says that people assumed she used family money or her husbands, but not one person questioned her about it. (p. 116) No one wanted to be the one that was questioning the boss. It is much easier to turn and look the other way than stand up in what you b elieve. 4. How could management, the audit committee, and the auditors have been more professionally skeptical in this situation? The audit committee and the auditors could have checked financial more often than what they did. When they noticed that the income was dropping quite a bit each year, they should have started looking at documents more closely as well as more often. The audit committee is supposed to speak with management on their findings. Well instead of talking to the President and Vice President, they should have only talked to the President. There was really no communication in this business when it came down to financials. It was basically whatever Sachdeva said was right. No one stepped up to double check her work and no one questioned it. Being a bigger company, more than one person should have defiantly doubled checked the financial statement. 5. What was the audit committee’s responsibility to notice that something looked amiss in the financial statements? The audit committee’s responsibility was to look over the accounting and financial reporting process as well as the financial statement audits; appoint, compensate and oversee the external auditor; and to ensure that the company has a whistleblower program. (p. 52) At first glance the committee could notice that something was not right with the company’s financial records. But nothing was done and nothing was said. 6. Sachdeva paid for her purchases using corporate credit cards. What internal controls could the company have used to prevent inappropriate use of the credit cards? One thing internal controls could have done was make Sachdeva turn in receipts along with a credit card statement at the end of each  month. By doing this, every dollar spent on company card can be accounted for. You can see not only where the money is going but what the money is spent on as well as the date and time it was spent. This is just one simple way to keep fraud down. Many companies require this every month with their employees. For every transaction where a receipt cannot be present is deducted from their pay check. Another thing the company could have done is set a limit on the card. By setting a limit, you can make sure amounts are not being spent that shouldn’t be. 7. Some reports have described Sachdeva as having a very dominating personality, and revelations were made about the fact that she would often be verbally abusive of her subordinates in front of top level managers at Koss. How should top-level managers have responded to this behavior? What actions could the subordinates have taken to respond to this behavior? Top-level management should have put a stop to it right at the start. By allowing it to happen, shows her that it was ok. If they would have stated something in writing and verbally, she may have either stopped or possibly could have be let go. Also by allowing this to happen, shows other employees that it is completely ok to act the way to other employees as well as people above her. Some actions that defiantly should have been taken would be to sit her down and just talk to her and let her know that it is not acceptable in the company, especially to her bosses. The next action would be like I said to have something in writing and have her sign it. Not only does this cover the company’s butt, but you have the proof that you said something to her. By doing this, she cannot come back and say that she wasn’t aware she was verbally abusing anyone and that nothing was brought up to her. References Rittenburg, Larry. Johnstone, Karla. Gramling, Audrey. (2012) Auditing: A Business Risk Approach 8e. Mason: South-Western, Cengage Learning.

Hbs Case “Marriott Corporation: the Cost of Capital”

Marriott Corporation: Questions for HBS case â€Å"Marriott Corporation: The cost of capital† 1)Are the four components of Marriott's financial strategy consistent with its growth objective? In my opinion, the four components of Marriott's financial strategy are consistent with its growth objective. As we find in the case, the four components of Marriott's financial strategy: Manage rather than own hotel assets, Invest in projects that increase shareholder value, Optimize the use of debt in the capital structure, and Repurchase undervalued shares; are aligned with the growth objective.Marriott wants to remain a premier growth company. This means aggressively developing appropriate opportunities within our chosen lines of business—lodging, contract services, and related businesses. In each of these areas, their goal is to be the preferred employer, the preferred provider, and the most profitable company. 2)How does Marriott use its estimate of its cost of capital? Does t his make sense? In the case is stated that Marriott required three inputs to determine the opportunity cost of capital: debt capacity, debt cost, and equity cost consistent with the amount of debt.The cost of capital varied across the three divisions because all three of the cost-of-capital inputs could differ for each division. This is the most logical approach due to the fact that the projects related to a particular division should be evaluated using the division’s WACC rather than the corporation’s WACC. 3)What is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital for Marriott Corporation? In order to calculate the WACC for Marriott’s Corporation I’m going to use the following formulas: 1. Weighted Average Cost of Capital: 2. Levered Beta: Marriott’s structure: D= 60% E=40% Marriott’s corporate tax:Tc= 175. 9 / 398. 9 Tc=0. 441 Marriott’s Pre-tax cost of debt: Debt rate premium above government= 1. 30% U. S. Government Securities Interest Rates : Maturity 30 years = 8. 95% Kd = 0. 0895 + 0. 013 Kd= 0. 1025 Marriott’s after tax cost of equity: Leverag. TcAsset BetaEq. Beta MARRIOTT 41%0. 4410. 7991. 11 MARRIOTT 60%0. 4410. 7991. 47 Ke = rf + Beta * (MRP) Rf=8. 95%(U. S. Government Securities Interest Rate) MRP=7. 43%(Exhibit 5) Ke = 8. 95% + 1. 47 * ( 7. 43%) Ke=0. 20 WACC = (1 – 0. 44) * 0. 1025 * 60% + 0. 2 * 40% WACC=0. 1139 The Weighted Average Cost of Capital for Marriott Corporation is 11. 9% a)What risk free rate and risk premium did you use to calculate the cost of equity? Risk free rate †¢30 years Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rate (8. 95%) Risk Premium †¢Spread between S 500 Composite returns and long-term U. S. government bond returns between 1926-87 (7. 43%) b)How did you measure Marriott's cost of debt? I calculated Marriott's cost of debt adding Marriott’s debt rate premium above government (1. 30%) to the 30 years Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rates (8. 95%). 4)What ty pe of investments would you value using Marriott's WACC?I will use Marriott’s WACC to evaluate projects that do not refer to a single division. This can be projects that add are related to the whole company and affect each division. In example, a project related with branding that will increase Marriott overall reputation and value 5)If Marriott used a single corporate hurdle rate for evaluating investment opportunities in each of its lines of business, what would happen to the company overtime? Using a single corporate hurdle rate for evaluating investment opportunities in each of its lines of business will lead to accept bad projects and reject profitable projects.In the case that the IRR of the return was slightly above Marriott WACC you would accept the division’s project although you might be operating bellow the division’s WACC and loosing money. 6)What is the cost of capital for the lodging and restaurant divisions of Marriott? In order to calculate the c ost of capital for the lodging and restaurant divisions I will use the same formulas than in question 3. Hotels ReturnEq. BetaLeverageRevenuesAsset Beta HILTON HOTELS CORPORATION13. 30. 7614%0. 770. 697 HOLIDAY CORPORATION28. 81. 3579%1. 660. 435 LA QUINTA MOTOR INNS-6. 40. 8969%0. 170. 397 RAMADA INNS, INC. 11. 71. 3665%0. 50. 667 Average0. 549 Restaurants ReturnEq. BetaLeverageRevenuesAsset Beta CHURCH’S FRIED CHICKEN-3. 21. 454%0. 391. 417 COLLINS FOODS INTERNATIONAL20. 31. 4510%0. 571. 365 FRISCH’S RESTAURANTS56. 90. 576%0. 140. 550 LUBY’S CAFETERIAS (Operates cafeterias. ) 15. 10. 761%0. 230. 756 McDONALD’S22. 50. 9423%4. 890. 805 WENDY’S INTERNA TIONAL4. 61. 3221%1. 051. 149 Average1. 007 LodgingRestaurant D/V50. 0%75. 0% E/V50. 0%25. 0% Tc44%44% Kd10. 05%8. 70% Rf8. 95%6. 90% Rprem1. 10%1. 80% Ke15. 31%29. 74% Eq. Beta0. 8562. 696 Asset Beta0. 5491. 007 Rf8. 95%6. 90% EMRP7. 43%8. 47% Sales % from total41. 00%13. 00% WACC10. 6%11. 08% a)What risk-free rate and risk premium did you use in calculating the cost of equity for each division? Why did you choose these numbers? Risk free rate Lodging division †¢30 years Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rate (8. 95%) †¢Is a long-term investment Risk Premium Lodging division †¢Spread between S&P 500 Composite returns and long-term U. S. government bond returns between 1926-87 (7. 43%) †¢Is a long term investment Risk free rate Restaurants’ division †¢1 year Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rate (6. 90%) †¢Is a short-term investment, and the next available option is a 10 years rate which is too long.Risk Premium Restaurants’ division †¢Spread between S&P 500 Composite returns and short-term U. S. Treasury bill returns: between 1926-87 (8. 47%) †¢Is a short-term investment, and I used a 1 year Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rate as the risk free rate. b)How did you measure the cost of debt for each division? Should the debt cost differ across divisions? Why? I calculated each division’s cost of debt adding the division’s debt rate premium above government to the U. S. Government Interest Rates that best represented the divisions behave. Risk free rate Lodging division 30 years Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rate (8. 95%) Risk free rate Restaurants’ division †¢1 year Maturity U. S. Government Interest Rate (6. 90%) The debt cost should differ across divisions because each one operate as independent business with different behavior. c)How did you measure the beta of each division? In order to measure the beta of each division, I got the average Asset Beta of the companies that where more similar to the division, and I leverage it with the capital structure of the particular division. 7)What is the cost of capital for Marriott's contract services division?How can you estimate its equity cost of capital without publicly traded comparable companies? In order to calculate t he cost of capital for the contract service division I will use most of the formulas I stated on question number three. Additionally, as we do not have data of similar companies that we can use to extract the contract service division’s Asset Beta, I will calculate the WACC for the contract service division using the following formula: Marriott’s Asset Beta = (Lodging Asset Beta * division’s % of total sales) + (Restaurants Asset Beta * division’s % of total sales) + (Contract services Asset Beta * division’s % of total sales)Cleaning the equation in function of the Contract services Asset Beta, you find the Contract services Asset Beta. MarriottLodgingRestaurantContract Services D/V60. 0%50. 0%75. 0%60. 0% E/V40. 0%50. 0%25. 0%40. 0% Tc44%44%44%44% Kd10. 25%10. 05%8. 70%8. 30% Rf8. 95%8. 95%6. 90%6. 90% Rprem1. 30%1. 10%1. 80%1. 40% Ke19. 87%15. 31%29. 74%21. 91% Eq. Beta1. 4700. 8562. 6961. 772 Asset Beta0. 7990. 5491. 0070. 964 Rf8. 95%8. 95%6. 90%6. 90% EMRP7. 43%7. 43%8. 47%8. 47% TA %100. 00%41. 00%13. 00%46. 00% WACC11. 39%10. 46%11. 08%11. 55% The contract service’s WACC is 11. 55%

Case Study on Organizational Behavior Essay

How will Tony Stark deal and cope with the new environment in the Reece Company? Solution: In my own opinion, since Tony is new in the company, feeling of indifference and resentment from other co-workers is inevitable. He already accepted Reece’s offer, so there’s no turning back now. Second thoughts won’t really help him with his situation. There really is a big difference with O’Grady’s and Reece’s working environment. He probably got so used to the previous company that’s why he’s having issues with the new one he’s in. There are no companies are extremely alike. What he has to do now is accept whatever is happening and exude effort in trying to make things better. He should continue interacting and reaching out to his colleagues. He should also learn to adapt to his new environment by finding out what kind of processes and procedures that the company carries out, do some background researches on what Reece has been a ccomplishing these past few years, etc. By doing such, the indifference he’s been feeling will hopefully diminish and he’ll be able to cope and adapt well. Case Questions: 1. Identify several concepts and characteristics from the field of organizational behavior that this case illustrates. 2. What advice can you give Tony? How would this advice be supported or tempered by behavioral concepts and processes? 3. Is it possible to find an ideal workplace? Answers: 1. Several concepts and characteristics from organizational behavior were illustrated in the context of this case. First, let me start with the O’Grady Company. Their technical, human, and conceptual skills seem to collide on very good terms. But their valuable human skill is the one most profound and evident in the work environment. The leadership style manifested here is positive leadership. This approach is focused on â€Å"rewards-economic†. This can be seen when it was stated in the text that Tony received three promotions and many pay increases while in the company. Now, let’s proceed to Power Styles. In here, the authorities of the leaders can be classified as â€Å"participative leaders†. They decentralize authority. They are not unilateral, and arise from consultation with followers’ participation by them. They inform their employees about conditions affecting their jobs and they are very much encouraged to express their ideas and make sugg estions. On the aspect of Leadership styles, O’Grady is practicing â€Å"Participative Leadership†. The management welcomes employees’ Inputs in decision-making and gives their suggestions great attention in making final decisions. On the other hand, Reece is practicing something very different from O’Grady. First, their human skills seem to be lacking. But their technical and conceptual skills are in good terms. When it comes to Power Styles, Autocratic leaders are very evident in this company. The power is centralized and decision making is up to the top management. They take full responsibility and authority over the company. This is evident when it was mentioned in the case that Reece was structured much more bureaucratically. No one was allowed to make any sort of decision without getting three signatures from higher up, and these signatures were very hard to get. On Leadership Styles, the company is manifesting â€Å"Directive Leadership†. Leaders focus on clear task assignments, standards of successful performance and work schedules. 2. Since Tony came from a company very different to the one he’s now in, he should learn to cope and adapt to his new environment. He should make an effort to learn how things are run in the new company in order to become familiarized and will be able to manage himself well. Also, he needs to network with others within the company. This may allow him to assist in areas of the company which and enabling him to earn recognition from your colleagues and other managerial figures. This will make your positive contributions to the company more apparent, and may cause people to question your supervisor if he fails to discuss your work in a positive light. Although this may be a difficult task to accomplish because of the behavior that his colleagues are exhibiting towards him. They seem to be indifferent and very apathetic. This may pose a challenge to Tony as to how he’ll be able to make this kind of environment work for him. Adapting and easing in to the company may take awhile due to such circumstances. 3. I wouldn’t really say that a person can find a very ideal workplace, but one can make the place you work ideal through risk and reward strategies , as well as figuring out how to apply your skills and passions to the field that you’re in. It’s the whole â€Å"love the one you’re with† scenario. But it is definitely possible. Also, if the workplace isn’t working out for you, don’t go rushing out the door. You shouldn’t expect to find everything that you are looking in a work place. There’s no such thing as a perfect company. There will always be something that will come up and make things uneasy or uncomfortable for you. Therefore, be the change that you are looking for. Make these anxieties and worries as an opportunity for one’s self improvement and development. In conclusion, there is a possibility to find something close to an ideal work place, but it is up to you to if you can make the disadvantages turn into advantages. Recommendation: In conclusion to all what’s been said and done, it is up to Tony Stark to make all of the inconveniences and disadvantages he’s been experiencing in the new company work for him. It’s all about adapting, coping, and being the change himself. He must consider this as a challenge for him to overcome. Running away should not be an option. Indifferent or apathetic colleagues can make your working life difficult or ineffective. These people may routinely fail to notice your accomplishments, or may quickly undermine your work without much hesitation. Although this can seriously disrupt your professional output, it’s possible to minimize the effect which your co-worker’s behavior will have on your career by deciding to emotionally detach from the situation and seek positive support from others within the company. It’s very ideal to stay calm. Although it will be tempting to argue with your supervisor, you should avoid this impulse; you need to remain professional and polite in order to prevent the situation from damaging your reputation. This will also make you appear more reasonable and focused in the event that problems do occur later on. It is also advisable to maintain positivity. Although you may have a professional problem with your negative work environment, it’s important not to take the issue personally. If you remain on friendly terms, the issue may naturally resolve itself over time as the quality of communication between you and your colleagues improves. A positive attitude will also assist you in understanding if your own behavior can be improved to successfully motivate other people into action.

Exclusion clause Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Exclusion clause - Case Study Example In recent years, it has become common that the weaker parties have often challenged the stronger parties for compensations in case some accidents or dangerous things happen to them in the course of carrying out their commercial relationship, even though they were statutorily excluded from their contractual agreement. This essays explains how these exclusion clauses could find their ways into a contractual agreement that the stronger parties would be willing to accept, although grudgingly. For the purpose of explaining how exclusion clauses could become a part of a contract, the famous law case of Sayers v International Drilling Co. N.V is used. This is an example of an employment contractual agreement. Sayers, an English rig worker was hired in England by a Dutch subsidiary of a Texan oil drilling company to work on oil rigs abroad. He had an employment contract with International Driving Co. N.V that stated that if any injury occurs to him while working, he would accept the company's "Compensated Program" as his only remedy, and that he should waive any cause of action he might have in United Kingdom or under any other laws. But, suddenly, Sayers was injured when he was sent to work on an oil rig off the coast of Nigeria. The injury was as a result of his co-workers' carelessness. Sayers then decided to bring a legal action in tort against the Dutch company in England: this is an action expected to force the Dutch company to compensate him other than the "compensati on program" stipulated in his contractual agreement with the company (Nygh, 1999). Possible ways the Dutch Company could include its exclusion clause in the contractNygh (1999) explained that it is possible for Mr. Sayers to compel his employer in the ways described below to include an excluded clause into the contract: in this regard, offering compensations for injury suffered by an employee rather solely relying on limited "Compensated Program". (a) Broader classification: An employee that drags his or her employer to the court seeking an inclusion of a clause may do so on the reason that the excluding clause is inconclusive in its definitions. Take for example; International Drilling Co. N.V may have defined compensated "injury" as the one sustained in the course of duty. However, this classification could be extended to cover the injury caused by carelessness of co-workers, as in the case of Mr. Sayers, if his co-workers injured him in the course of their duty for the company. Indirectly, Mr. Sayers is involved in the process of carrying out such company's duty, even though he may be at rest when the mishap happened. Broader classification like this has compelled employers to re-consider their stance on excluded clauses. Another relative example was in the case of an employee that got injured while using the company's car on a weekend; meanwhile his company stated that all off-duty car accidents would be at the employee's liability. However, extending this classification to cover using the said vehicle to convey another employee on duty for the company could force their employer to accept removing the exclusion clause. In the court of law, cases like these are handled by lawyers who employed the principle of deconstruction to argue with

Strategic Review based on Zara Case Study Essay

Strategic Review based on Zara Case Study - Essay Example The report presents a brief introduction to the capabilities and competence of the organization which leads to the competitive advantage of Zara over its rivals. Resource audit of Zara briefly highlights the physical, financial, and intellectual resources of the company. It also puts some light on human resource and then critically evaluates the intangible assets of the company. The report clearly mentions that vertical integration is the hallmark of Zara which is well supported by its value chain. The paper critically discusses how Zara adds value to its products to gain a competitive advantage to dominate the fashion industry. Zara is one of the most recognized global brands in the world, but it was badly affected due to the allegations of slave-labour. The incident is stated briefly in the middle of the paper. In the end, the case study configures that Zara is practicing a hybrid strategy which is combination of cost leadership strategy and product differentiation strategy. The pa per recommends few steps and target markets where Zara should venture. No doubt, due to globally changing scenario, Zara must take few innovative steps with respect to its online retailing network and expansion strategy. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 1.0Introduction (203 words) 4 1.1 Aims and Objectives 4 1.2 Methodology 4 2.0The External Environment (1201 words) 5 2.1 PESTEL-DG (All information extracted from Appendix-1) 5 2.2 Porter’s 5 Forces 7 3.0The Internal Strategic Audit (1192 words) 9 3.1 Resource Based View (RBV) 9 3.1.1 Resource Audit 9 3.2 Value Chain 11 4.0The Company Reputation and Brand Image (486 words) 13 5.0Zara’s Strategy and Recommendations (1308 words) 15 6.0REFERENCES 20 7.0 Appendices 23 7.1 – Appendix 1 – PESTEL-DG 23 7.2 – Appendix 2 – Porter’s 5 forces 24 7.3 – Appendix 3 – Resource Audit 25 7.4 – Appendix 4 – VRIO Model 26 7.5 – Appendix 5 – Value Chain 27 1. 0 Introduction (203 words) Zara apparel has become the flagship brand of the ?2.5 billion holding group Inditex (Zara Case Study, 2013), Zara has 1,751 stores around the world with 65 in the UK alone (Inditex Group, 2013). The company’s founder, Amancio Ortea Gaona, began retailing clothes in 1963 with the first Zara store opening in 1975. He is current the third richest man in the world with a net worth of ?38 billion (Forbes, 2013). Zara’s strategy has been instrumental to its success, hence why it is so important to analyse it. This report is a strategic report which will review Zara and the industry it is in. It will primarily focus on the UK market but will also include global aspects. 1.1 Aims and Objectives This report has four main aims and objectives: To analyse the external environment To carry out an internal strategic audit To review the company’s reputation and brand image To identify the company’s current strategy and give recommendations on how they should continue in the future. 1.2 Methodology This report took an analytical approach grounded in existing literature and evidence from reliable journalistic, practitioner and government sources. All the research is secondary research based mostly upon qualitative data but also including quantitative information were needed. 2.0 The External Environment (1201 words) This section is focused to looking at the external envi

I haven't picked a topic as yet but I would like it to be something Thesis

I haven't picked a topic as yet but I would like it to be something about education in adulthood - Thesis Example The rationale for undertaking this research was the researchers expectations to make recommendations to the educational institutes about using different teaching styles and methods while teaching the adult learners. The current research was undertaken using an interview method where 5 teachers from pre-adult school and teaching children between the ages of 4-11 years, and another 5 teachers from an adult learning center who taught in higher educational institute years were selected. These respondents were selected on the basis of convenience sampling as both the institutes were easily approachable to the researcher. Further, the researcher himself had taught at the pre-adult school earlier and was currently teaching at the higher educational institute, and as such, it was easier for him to interact with the faculty and get their responses. The research findings revealed that the teachers were indeed making use of some different teaching methods. For example, teachers of adult learners made use of discussion and case study methods in addition to the lecture and question answer methods. In the case of children, the most reported method of teaching was lecture, question and answer, and periodical assessment. The research findings indicate that there is further scope for the teachers to make use of more teaching methods in order to facilitate better learning, For example, there are several methods like the case story method, the course portfolio method, interactive multi-media, critical thinking and demonstration and role playing methods, which have been reported to bring a better understanding of the subject material for the adult students. The research revealed that the teachers were aware of the different motivations and approaches of their adult and children learners and tried to modulate their teaching styles and behaviors in the

Women in Antebellum America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women in Antebellum America - Essay Example Women acquired superiority in social matters, and their voice would thus be heard. Regarding the introduction of education for women, many women joined learning institutions to acquire relevant information which would enable, better their lives. The education provides to women enabled them rear their children properly as well as providing significance influence to their husbands. The same reasoning lead to the opening up of the teaching profession suitable for females since they were considered having moral superiority over men and were innately fit to handle children. The piety morality of women, as well as concern over families, presents the impetus into the involvement in antebellum movements’ reform. Additionally, education gave women the capacity to articulate problems they face, and eventually propose necessary alternatives. Reforms provided women with necessary ideologies, which facilitated the, establishment of this cause. More conservative work charity attracted the upper classes’ members; more radical functions including abolitionism, helped draw men and women from social groups of lower levels. However, reformers of a working -class indicated less integration to such movements. Despite the fact that women suffered divisions from religion affiliation, class, and marital status, they indicated uniqueness in mind in the capacity to help others, a concept which was translated into women’s moral superiority overpowering men. The concept of moral superiority boosted efforts to raise women’s political, economic, and legal position. Women, as well, contributed to the economy of the nation through taxation exercised on their earnings, given that their population was significantly high. The impact of religion was also evident in the history of American woman. The Divine Word (The Bible) puts it, â€Å"The wise women buildeth her house.† The implication of the wisdom in this

The Aviator Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Aviator - Movie Review Example This article is a review of the movie looking into the themes, character, style and narratives. The information presented in this article is obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source is through watching the films and trying it analyze the characters and finding out the themes. The secondary sources are the reviews that have been conducted by various authors on the movie. Different reviewers have given their views on the style and the representation of characters in the film. These sources were used to get the plot of the story and style used. The narrative style together with other techniques of film making is explored. The characters were then analyzed against each other (Marrett, 195). The different themes are then explored and the role each character played in the realization of these themes discussed. The movie starts when Hunges is a young boy where his mother tells him to take caution not to get a flue. Then in the year 1927, Hunges inherits his family fortune in California. He uses this fortune to design oil drilling bits a venture that made him a billionaire. Later when he was 22, he decided to invest in the film industry an area where he had a huge interest in. His first film was the silent Hells Angel which he works very hard to ensure that it turns out perfectly. His next film had some talking and was called The Jazz Singer. During this time, he also produced a sound version of the Hells Angel which became a major Hollywood hit. This was a key to entry into the Hollywood social network and he dated two Hollywood stars Jean Harlow and Katharine Hepburn. However, he did not quite fit into Hollywood and he decided to go back to designing aircrafts. He made new design and even risked his life trying out new aircrafts and flying around the globe. He even got into an accident ov er Beverly Hills when taking XF-11 for a test flight. He got major injuries that

Economic Analysis of the Susan G. Komen Foundation - Philadelphia Research Paper

Economic Analysis of the Susan G. Komen Foundation - Philadelphia - Research Paper Example In this case, public health initiatives to educate the public about the problem of breast cancer have been credited with early detection of cancer, and an increase in the survival rate in many areas. Susan G. Komen Philadelphia is one such public health initiative that brings survivors and activists together in the cause of raising awareness of breast cancer in the community. They are ‘dedicated to fulfilling the promise to save lives and to end breast cancer forever by empowering people, ensuring quality care for all, and energizing science to find the cures’ (Susan G. Komen Philadelphia, para 1). In order to meet these life-changing objectives, the organization must be financially sound and ensure that financial resources are being used in only positive and productive ways. The aim of this paper is to quickly analyze this particular health initiative and determine the extent to which the community is investing in it is proving to benefit all residents of Philadelphia. Analysis Cancer research requires a great amount of both human and financial capital. Organizations that support a public health initiative depend on fiscally sound behaviour in order to continue their operations. The Susan G. Komen organization is certainly no exception. They have proved that they are a responsible entity that is concerned about the work they have chosen to undertake. This was demonstrated recently with their choice of CEO to lead the organization through to the next level. Their new CEO, Judith A. Salerno, M.S., M.S., is nationally known for her work in the areas of health policy and research. She has been chosen to lead the national organization of Susan G. Komen, of which the Philadelphia chapter is a member. Susan G. Komen is the largest breast cancer organization in the world, with over 120 affiliates globally. Community chapters are responsible for serving the needs of breast cancer research through community health and education programs (komenphiladelphia.o rg, para 2). Funding for breast cancer research has turned into a grassroots effort. Much of the financial capital needed to continue operations comes via various charity events. The Pink Ribbon Campaign, for example, is nationally recognized as a way to raise money and awareness of the need for breast cancer research. Susan G. Komen is the architect of this, and numerous other events like it. The aim is not only to raise money but to educate as well. As such, the economic need for this particular health initiative is demonstrated. The financial and emotional cost of breast cancer is enormous. If it were not for Susan G. Komen Philadelphia, an already serious issue would be further exacerbated. The number of breast cancer patients alone were this initiative not in force, would likely be increasing. Research would be stagnated with little hope in sight. Cancer is a health concern that affects not just the individual, but also all of society. Most people personally know someone who ha s been touched by this illness. Economically, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. Individuals might not be able to avoid getting breast cancer, but this health initiative serves to educate women about the warning signs and the importance of getting diagnosed early. This alone makes Susan G. Komen Philadelphia an important part of Philadelphia society, and certainly an organization that is worthy of further funding and consideration. Public health  initiatives are designed to educate an uninformed populace.  Ã‚  

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Operation management - Essay Example Another perspective of operations management comprises: overseeing, controlling product designation process and redesigning business operations in the production of goods and services (Heizer 2010). Thus operation managers have the task and responsibility of ensuring that organizational operations are efficient (Slack 2010). This involves effective utilisation of the resources as well as meeting the client or the customer requirements. Ascribing from this explanation it can be argued that operational management is vital in developing plans as well as strategies in maximizing the organizational opportunities and challenges. Notably is the operating environment which should be focused as effective operations management ensures that quality goods and services are produced and that demanded quantities within the acceptable timeframe is met by the organisation. OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF 2 SISTERS FOOD GROUP 2 Sisters Food Group is a chicken meat processing company in Englan d. According to Heizer (2010) the company started being a retail operating company, it is notable that in the past years the company has expanded tremendously through acquisition and establishing manufacturing sites in UK and other countries it has expanded into, notable acquisition is the Dutch-based chicken processor Storteboom Group. With the expanded operations it offers employment to over 5000 people and having annual sales of over six hundred and fifty million pounds annually. How the company operates The company comprises of three divisions which include: The primary division where slaughtering and the primary processing takes place. The second division involves chicken cutting and removing of bones. The third stage involves preparation where breading and roasting of the chicken takes place (Heizer 2010). This stage is attributed to final products including savoury liquids, ready to cook chicken and the component meat. 2 Sisters Food Group produces owned-brand products which are supplied to the supermarkets and established retailers. Notable brands associated to this company include Buxted brand and the Devonshire Red free range chicken. Therefore attributed to the notable expansion of this company and the complexity of the operations involved, the company ought to have a well established and effective operational management. The company has been successful because of the dynamitic operation management aspects, measures and controls it has develop in its operations (Slack 2010). Attributed to this effective and efficient operational management are the analysis, development, design and implementation of these important aspects of operational management by its management team. In order to achieve this, the company has emphasized on the following aspects of operations. Operational strategy These are the strategies that the company adopts in their day to day production and delivery of goods and services. In the context of 2 Sisters Food Group the operationa l strategy process is mainly used to formulate operations strategies. These strategies have been instrumental in the market positioning of this company. These strategies define the short-run and the long-run operations of this company.

Marketing Strategies of Newspapers Essay Example for Free

Marketing Strategies of Newspapers Essay The newspaper market, like other markets have become competitive to the extent that survival requires a lot of creativity and innovation in the way the business is conducted. This is the situation in which the three major newspapers on the Zambian market, i.e the Post, the Times of Zambia, and the Zambia Daily Mail newspapers find themselves. Currently, the Post newspaper is the market leader with a market share of eighty percent (80%), the Times of Zambia newspaper and the Zambia Daily Mail, together with the rest of the other newspapers share the remaining twenty percent (20%). For this study, the focus is on three newspapers, The Post which is a privately owned newspaper and the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail which are stated owned newspapers. The difference in performance amongst these three newspapers has also been reflected in the differences in the readership of the three (3) newspapers which is indicated below. Source: Synovate Research Center 2005 For any of these papers to gain competitive advantage and long term profitability, there is need to come up with a proper business approach. One such approach is a proper understanding and management of the common business parameters like the quality of the product, the pricing of the product, the distribution of the product, and the promotion of the product. A newspaper firm can then formulate appropriate differentiation strategies based on the above parameters which are commonly known as the four ‘Ps’ of the marketing mix (Kotler, 2003:15). The discrepancies in the market share prompted the researcher to look at the business management aspect of the three newspapers, i.e.how they were applying and using the four ‘Ps’ of the marketing mix. The aim was to determine how the three newspapers were utilizing the elements of the marketing mix in order to gain competitive advantage on the Zambian market. Essentially, this is a comparative study which looks into how the three newspapers were utilizing the marketing mix to increase their market shares. The study was expected to reveal the differences in the usage of the marketing mix and show whether this had a significant impact on the market shares of the three papers. This is not withstanding the fact that the performance of an entity is dependent on the various functional areas of business management. However, in this particular case, what was being put to test was the functional area of marketing, and in this case the application of the elements of the marketing mix. The liberalization of the Zambian economy in 1991 saw the emergence of various entities on the Zambian market. This included the print media. The Post newspaper is one such paper that emerged as a private owned newspaper. Prior to 1991, there were mainly two dominant papers, i.e. the Times of Zambia, and the Zambia Daily Mail newspapers. For this study, the focus was on one private newspaper, i.e the Post newspaper, and the state owned newspapers, i.e. The Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail newspapers. Currently, on the Zambian market, the Post newspaper is the market leader with a market share of eighty (80%) percent by far surpassing the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail which fall into the remaining twenty (20%) percent. This poses the question of why should a newly born newspaper, i.e the Post Newspaper, out match the old newspapers like the Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail newspapers. Obviously, the market share has to do with the acceptability of the paper. And from a business management point of view, this acceptability is dependent on the paper’s marketing strategies which are based on the marketing mix. Hence the reason for the research in this area. The history of each of the above stated newspapers is as follows: †¢The Times of Zambia newspaper The Times of Zambia is a national daily newspaper published in Zambia. During the colonial period this newspaper was known as The Northern News. It was founded in 1944 as a twice-weekly newspaper aimed at a European readership, owned first by Roy Welensky and then by the South African newspaper chain Argus. Argus then sold the paper to Lonhro, under which it was renamed the Times of Zambia on 1 July 1965. Lonhro had just bought out Heinrich Brewery which had briefly operated a daily, The Zambia Times and weekly Zambia News. Criticism of the government under the editorship of Dunston Kamana in the early 1970s and the change of the government to a one party state led to the purchase of Times of Zambia by the United National Independence Party (UNIP) government who then appointed its own editor, Vernon Mwaanga, in 1972. When the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) came to power in November 1991, it went to court claiming UNIP had illegally taken over the newspapers. The courts found in favour of the MMD, and ruled that the papers ownership be transferred to the Zambian Government. The Times of Zambia is now owned by the Zambian Government. After the independence of Zambia in 1964, the print media was run by the private sector with Times of Zambia then been published by Lonrho and the name Daily then Central African Mail was run by Scott and Astor. In 1969 it was purchased by the ruling United National Party (UNIP) (Banda, 2004). In 1983, the newspaper industries along with most other industries were nationalized as part of government’s humanism. The two newspapers were then turned into government companies and heavily subsidized by the government. In 1990, there was the introduction of multiparty government and an open, market –driven economy. Privately owned newspapers were reintroduced and according to the National Archives (2003) 137 publications, both newspapers and magazines, were registered between 1991 and 2002. Most of the registered newspapers were either aborted or died soon after the first few issues. The cover price of the newspapers has remained the same in Zambia at K3000.00 with new newspapers coming in and offering a lower price and then failing to survive all together. The other sources of income for newspapers are through the advertising which has grown with newspapers getting more and more expensive. This case research is intended at studying the various marketing strategies used by newspaper companies in Zambia and how they can increase competiveness. My aim is to find out the current marketing strategies of the major newspapers in Zambia, namely The Post, Daily Mail, Times of Zambia, The Guardian and The Mirror. The purpose of the study is to understand the current marketing strategies and come up with recommendations to increase competitiveness in this sector. 1.2 Background to the study After the introduction of the multi-party system and the subsequent liberalization of the economy, in Zambia, in 1991, the country saw the emergence of various types of privately owned newspapers in addition to the two regular newspapers, i.e The Times of Zambia and the Zambia Daily Mail. In all, the mid 1990s, there were several privately owned newspapers in addition to the two regular state owned newspapers stated above. What transpired is that some private newspapers came and went, whilst the two state owned newspapers have failed to be competitive and increase their market shares, but they have survived through Government subsidies. However, one privately owned newspaper, the Post Newspaper, has continued to grow its market share and today it is the market leader in its relevant market. The question of interest to the researcher is to determine the type and effectiveness of the marketing strategies that the Newspapers are using to increase their market share in the relevant markets. 1.3 Research Problem  Since the Liberalization of Zambia’s economy in 1991, several private newspapers have emerged to join the already existing state owned ones. However, most of the privately owned newspapers have collapsed, and the two state owned ones are failing to increase their market, but are surviving on Government subsidies. But one private newspaper, the Post, has continued to thrive to become the market leader. There is still very little competition in this industry with only a few as newspapers surviving and one major newspaper The Post is getting 80% of the market share (Banda 2004). Given this background, the researcher wants to determine the type of marketing strategies newspapers use, and the extent to which these marketing strategies are effective. Consequently, this will help the managements of the newspapers to improve their marketing strategies so as to provide quality services to their customers, and thereby increase their market share and competitivene ss.

The Human Function in Plato and Aristotle Essay Example for Free

The Human Function in Plato and Aristotle Essay Plato and Aristotle have similar perspectives about human function. They also share some of their ideas about how human function is related to other philosophical notions such as virtue, good, justice, and the soul. According to Aristotle the chief good (and the human function, which has its end in itself) is happiness. But his definition of happiness is different from what ordinary people usually think. Happiness is neither pleasure nor wealth, nor is it even a kind of honor (Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 5). It is rather a final state and all human activities attempt to reach this final state. Plato holds that the human function is justice and that it ensures happiness for both the individual and the society when practiced correctly. But this ideal of justice is not for individuals who have special professions or â€Å"crafts. † Justice is rather an ideal that every person should pursue for himself/herself. While their definitions seem to be more or less similar, the two philosophers differ on the relative importance of these notions. That is to say, while according to Plato justice is the most important ideal (and happiness is its derivative), Aristotle holds the opinion that happiness is the most significant good which has its end in itself. A correct definition of happiness however is not simple pleasure, according to Aristotle, but a state of moral well-being (which assumes both justice and virtue.) The two philosophers agree on the issue that in order to be happy, we must exercise our human function (and reach the ideals this function requires). They also seem to agree that the human function (justice for Plato, happiness for Aristotle) is impossible to exercise without being virtuous. All these concepts refer to each other and they sometimes even seem more or less equal. This paper will therefore argue that the two philosophers share similar views on the nature of the human function and how happiness and virtue relate to this notion. It will also be argued, however, that they disagree on the relative importance of these concepts (and that some of their philosophical definitions are different). The human function in Book I of Plato’s Republic is defined towards the end of the book, on pages 29 to 31. Plato’s definition of the human function comes after a long and complex argument on the nature of wealth, justice, craft, and virtue (and how they all refer to each other). Plato does not seem to favor the particular idea that justice is a kind of craft [techne] (Republic, 7.) â€Å"Craft† here is taken to mean something similar to â€Å"business† or â€Å"expertise† and some crafts mentioned in that part of the dialogue are: cooking, medicine, boatbuilding, horse breeding, being the captain of a ship, lyre playing, â€Å"soldiery and musicianship† etc (Republic 6-9). What all these crafts have in common is that they are individualistic and not universal. Justice will therefore differ from this definition because the exercise of justice is a universal goal. Justice therefore cannot be a kind of techne and there are two major reasons for this exclusion. The first reason is that if justice is a kind of techne, then only those who have justice as their profession would be expected to exercise justice, as opposed to all human beings (only those who have justice as their profession). It makes no difference whether an individual is a cook or a doctor or a boat-builder or a horse breeder in that regard: every professional individual is expected to be just and virtuous in his/her life. The second reason is related to the earlier discussion about the nature of wealth and how it relates to happiness and morality. If justice is a kind of techne, that would mean that the person who exercises justice could make money out of it, being a professional. â€Å"Justice† in that regard would be nothing but another kind of business to earn a living. Plato however rejects this idea very strongly: justice cannot be bought or sold. Justice is a kind of human good but it is neither material nor has a fixed price. Justice is superior to wealth, since it is â€Å"a thing more valuable than even a large quantity of gold† (Republic, 13). When we come to the final pages of Book I, we see that Socrates gives the example of the human body to illustrate what justice means. The specific function of the human ear is to hear, the specific function of the human eye is to see, etc. And the function of the human body as a whole is to be healthy and harmonious. The soul has the special function of ruling over the body in a way that will ensure the happiness of the whole. That is the say, the soul is responsible for both its own happiness and the well-being of the body (which it commands). There are strong political implications of this statement: the rulers of a city are responsible for the happiness of the people they rule (like good shepherds). Moving over to Aristotle, we see that the Nicomachean Ethics opens with a similar discussion about the nature of crafts and how they refer to notions of justice. Aristotle claims that â€Å"where there are ends apart from the actions, it is the nature of the products to be better than the activities† (Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 1). This distinction is of great importance. Aristotle draws a line between goals and actions: actions are towards the fulfillment of goals. Aristotle, like Plato, lists several professions and remarks that these â€Å"arts† have specific goals. The art of strategy has as its goal victory, the â€Å"medical art† has as its goal health, the art of shipbuilding has as its goal the construction of a vessel, etc (Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 1). But these specific goals cannot stand for the human function by themselves. Just like Plato, Aristotle dismisses the idea that justice is any kind of craft. Chapter 2 of Nicomachean Ethics explains this idea powerfully. According to Aristotle, politics is the â€Å"most authoritative art and that which is most truly the master art. † Politics â€Å"uses the rest of the sciences† and therefore â€Å"the end of this science must include those of the others. † Aristotle also claims that this goal (justice) is the same for both â€Å"a single man and for a state. † We may perhaps paraphrase this as: justice for individuals concerns ethics, justice for society concerns politics. We may furthermore claim that, while the human function on the level of individuals is the exercise of virtue, the human function on the level of societies would be political justice. When an individual is virtuous he can reach happiness. When a community exercises justice (or has just rulers) they can reach happiness as a whole. Plato and Aristotle reach very similar conclusions and even though they seem to be discussing justice on an individual level at first, soon we understand that their real intention is to discuss politics. The conclusions they draw (and even the examples they use) concern communities and in particular, the city-state [polis]. Another important aspect of the human function is the exercise of reason. Aristotle, in the Nicomachean Ethics, defines reason as the characteristic human trait (the main distinction between an animal and human being). According to Aristotle, biological facts such as â€Å"nutrition and growth† cannot be considered as characteristically human traits. Even the â€Å"life of perception† cannot be called the human function because â€Å"it also seems to be common to the horse, the ox, and every animal† (Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 7). Aristotle finally arrives at a definition of the human function which includes virtue, reason, and goodness: â€Å"human good turns out to be the activity of soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete† (Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 7). The human good (or the human function) is therefore the activity of the rational soul and not the human body. â€Å"By human virtue we mean not that of the body but that of the soul; and happiness also we call an activity of soul† says Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, Chapter 13). Plato, interestingly, uses the same example of the soul to explain justice. â€Å"Justice is a soul’s virtue† is what Socrates says in Book I of The Republic. The soul (which is rational) is superior to the body just as a good ruler is superior to the people he rules over. Both Aristotle and Plato have same approach on whether virtue has an essential role in the pursuit of happiness. Neither Plato nor Aristotle can imagine happiness without justice and virtue. The relation between virtue and happiness, according to Aristotle, is the relation between an activity and a product. When we consider the totality of his arguments in Book I, it becomes clear that virtue is the activity and happiness is the product. Happiness therefore is superior to virtue: virtue is how an individual reaches happiness. Happiness is its own purpose: it is a final state and all human activities attempt to reach this state. Whether Plato would make such a distinction is unclear. His definition of virtue is somewhat different from the modern term. According to Plato, virtue is not exclusively moral (even though the moral aspect is perhaps the most important). Plato defines virtue [arete] as what makes a good dog good, or a good horse good, or a good human good, etc (Republic, 10-11). Arete in this sense â€Å"applies to things (such as knives) which are not moral agents† (footnote, page 11). Socrates however, through Book I of The Republic, refutes Thrasymachus’ view that justice is simply the advantage of the stronger. Thrasymachus’ view is amoral and Plato rejects this view very strongly. From this we may perhaps infer that the most important aspect of virtue is its moral aspect. This definition of arete is also a description of the human function (i. e. what makes a human a human). The two philosophers, therefore, are in agreement on the issue that virtue, reason, and justice are significant aspects of human happiness. The four concepts are interrelated and each would be a good candidate for the human function. Aristotle formulates the human function as â€Å"the activity of soul in accordance with virtue. † Plato however does not reach at a fixed formula by the end of Republic, Book I. We are told that humans indeed have a function (just as organs like ears and eyes do, on page 29) and that it is impossible for the whole to be healthy unless every part is performing its function in a satisfactory manner. We are also told that every specific organ or individual has a specific kind of virtue without which they would â€Å"perform their function badly† (Republic, 30). The final addition to this argument is that it is impossible for a human being to be happy without the exercise of virtue and justice (Republic, 31). However, the exact definition of justice (without which it is impossible to define happiness) is not given at the end of Book I. Socrates makes an admission of this inability towards the end: â€Å"for when I do not know what justice is, I will hardly know whether it is a kind of virtue or not, or whether a person who has it is happy or unhappy† (Republic, 31). The two philosophers therefore share similar views on the nature of reason, happiness, justice, and virtue: all these concepts are interrelated and necessary for each other to exist. However, even though Aristotle gives a formal definition of the human function by the end of Book I in Nicomachean Ethics, Plato does not. He raises the question but the answer is not yet given.

Affective And Cognitive Impulse Buying Behaviour Psychology Essay

Affective And Cognitive Impulse Buying Behaviour Psychology Essay Unplanned purchasing has been concerned by many companies as one of the most important factor which could have a big pact on customers decision making and this later contribute to their sale volume. Therefore, marketing strategies have been adjusted based on consumers preferences to grasp their attention and induce them to buy impulsively. As there were some contradictories about differences of genders associated with impulse buying behaviour, this research hence compares the affective and cognitive impulse buying behaviour on male and female at INTO pre-sessional course. A total of 20 students from Pre-sessional course were selected as sample, divided to be 10 males and 10 females. The students were asked to complete the questionnaire, which was designed to be anonymous in order to allow them to be as honest as possible in providing the actual information. The significant findings showed that both genders are susceptible to impulse buying, however, female seemed to be more affective in buying, while male tended to be more deliberative. Another remarkable point was also found that their most preference product categories could lead them to frequency of spontaneous purchasing. As the results indicate that impulse buying plays vital role on consumer, the paper concludes that further research could attempt to investigate if this behaviour could become compulsory in the future. World industries currently have moved from mass marketing strategy to penetrate in specific market segmentation (Coley and Burgess, 2003) as marketers have noticed that unplanned purchasing behaviour could have an impact on decision making of consumers which later contribute to their sale volume (Assael, 1995; Clover, 1950). As Assael (1995) and Kollat and Willett (1969) point out, supermarket, store, and retailer have been concerned to be the place where associated with consumer the most, therefore the price, promotion, shelf-position, packaging, and even store-displays become more important in grasping attention from customers. Stern (1962) defines unplanned buying as the general term of impulse buying occurred when a shopper experiences a sudden urge purchasing that he or she has not planned in advance, which is related to the process of affective and cognitive responds. Affective is emotional buying or sense making (Wilson and Gilbert, 2005), in the contrary, cognitive is perceptual component which using awareness to measure before making decision (Day, 1972). While several studies have explored the characteristics and important of buying impulsively, there are only a few studies which have focused on male and female behaviour and comparing these significant factors on their gender differences. Some researchers (e.g. Kollat and Willett, 1967) suggest that both men and women have the same degree in being effected by unplanned buying; however, there has been contradictory finding that women are more susceptible to spontaneous purchasing (e.g. Coley and Burgess, 2003). Therefore the purpose of this project i s to compare the cognitive and affective impulse buying behaviour in male and female students of the INTO Newcastle University 2012 Pre-sessional Course. Hopefully that a comparison of these two groups will expose the degrees in which male and female differ in their susceptibility and conditions lead to unplanned purchasing. This may help the students to understand their characteristics which could contribute them to impulse buying and to let them consider more before making a purchase in order to avoid being stated in money tension. Primary information will be gathered from twenty students at Pre-sessional Course. The size of samples will be equal in order to allow a comparison between both groups. Both closed and open questions will be applied to achieve the aim and for the students to express more ideas and provide useful details. Methodology The aim of this project attempted to compare the affective and cognitive impulse buying behaviour on gender differences. As number of researchers have suggested that women are more susceptible to buy impulsively (Coley and Burgess, 2003), therefore, it was decided to compare buying behaviours of male and female, furthermore, this impulsive buying is likely to rise in youth (Coley and Burgess, 2003 cited in Retail World, 2002), students from Pre-sessional course, hence, were considered to be appropriate sample. The students were divided into two groups based on their genders and in order to obtain accurate result of the comparison between these two groups, the size of each group would be equal. There actually should be a very large sample to gather certain and desirable results. However, it was not possible to collect all data due to time restriction. Twenty students from pre-sessional course hence became the largest accessible sample which could be obtained. A written questionnaire w as applied to execute the primary data during the fourth week of pre-sessional program. According to previous study, Coley and Burgess (2003) selected Affective and Cognitive process components which have been successfully developed and used by Beatty and Ferrell (1998). It was decided that the questions should be adapted and followed from previous research in order to allow the comparison with previous findings, therefore these components were used to create multi-item scales divided to be affective components which are irresistible urge to buy, positive buying emotions, and mood management and cognitive components which contain measurements of cognitive deliberation and unplanned buying (Coley and Burgess, 2003: 288) The students were asked to provide their general information about income and shopping frequency, and then rate the level from strongly agree (4) to strongly disagree (0) in responding to the items on the table. In additions, various types of product categories were provided and required students to choose top three they preferred the most, this helped indicated style preferences of male and female which could lead them to buying impulsively. An other category and open question were also included for the student to provide more details. In order to allow the respondents to be as honest as possible, questionnaire was designed to be anonymous. The first question requested students to specify their genders as this would be correlated with the requirement of data collection. Results Part 1: Personal Information Q1. Gender Male: 10 Students Female: 10 Students Q2. Approximate personal income per month Income per Month Male Female  £500  £1000 7 7  £1001  £1500 2 2 more than  £1500 1 1 Q3. How often do you do shopping in a month? Frequency Male Female Once in a month 0 0 Twice in a month 4 2 Three five times in a month 3 5 more than five times in a month 3 3 Part 2: Consumers expression on impulse buying Q4. Please tick à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡ to the level which explains your shopping style best Figure 1: Comparing Student Attitudes towards Affective Buying Behaviour Source: adaptation from Amanda Coley and Brigitte Burgess Coley, A. (2002) Affective and Cognitive Processes Involved in Impulse Buying, unpublished Marketing dissertation, University of Georgia, Georgia. Coley, A. and B. Burgess (2003) Gender differences in cognitive and affective impulse buying. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management 7:3, 282-295 Figure 2: Comparing Student Attitudes towards Cognitive Buying Behaviour Source: adaptation from Amanda Coley and Brigitte Burgess Coley, A. (2002) Affective and Cognitive Processes Involved in Impulse Buying, unpublished Marketing dissertation, University of Georgia, Georgia. Coley, A. and B. Burgess (2003) Gender differences in cognitive and affective impulse buying. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management 7:3, 282-295 Part 3: Customers shopping preferences Q5. What product categories often have the most influence on your shopping habits? Please choose Three of the followings: Figure 3: The Most Preferable Products among Male and Female students Source: adaptation from Amanda Coley and Brigitte Burgess Coley, A. and B. Burgess (2003) Gender differences in cognitive and affective impulse buying. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management 7:3, 282-295 Q6. What other factors do you think have induced you to impulsive buying? Female: product discounts product design / creativity of product the stores service promotion, member card, member discount, discount events recommendation / persuasion from friends cheap price, big sale, good quality to experience something new Product discount is the most factor impulse me to buy the interesting products because I sometimes feel regret if I didnt buy it and there is not too much chance to buy the products with a lower price Male: price, discounts, packaging friends recommendation. earns a reward and time to replace new collections discount more than 50% quality and product usability In the previous experience, the price discount is very powerful to attract me to go to the store because I will feel like I get the quality product in the cheap price, as you know you have to snatch and fitting on those products first. Sometime, I know what I would like to buy but it has no more my size at all Summary of Results Figure 1 compares the affective buying behaviour between male and female students, the result shows that female students tended to be more emotional in buying as most of them chose I immediately buy if I really like it. However, male students tend to have more positive buying emotion according to their higher-percentage in choosing I feel very good when buying something new whereas attitude of female students towards shopping is to manage their moods reflected from a very salient percentage shown from I buy something to make myself feel better and reduce stresses (Coley and Burgess, 2003: 288). Figure 2 compares the cognitive behaviour between two groups; male students seemed to have more cognitive deliberation comparing to female students as shown from categories I make a list before shopping and buy only what is on the list and I rarely buy impulsively. In addition, female students had higher degree of susceptibility in unplanned purchased as seen from their percentage on I buy things that I had not intended to purchase and I buy it even though I went shopping for other purposes (Coley and Burgess, 2003: 288). There was a significant result correlation with these two figures. While female students were seemed to engage more with buying impulsively in figure 1 and male students are more deliberative in impulse buying as shown in figure 2. The surprising result indicated that male students tended to spend money as soon as they earn it and very distinctive percentage comparing to female students showed that they find themselves in state of tension as they buy thing they cannot afford (Coley, 2002: 88). Both groups, however, shared the same feeling in I regret buying new things and I experience mixed feelings of pleasure and guilt from buying something without considering (Coley and Burgess, 2003: 288). Another remarkable point is in figure 3, represents the most preferable product categories influencing spontaneous purchasing in male and female students behaviour. Clothing could lead both groups into impulsive buying, female students concerned more about beauty and styles with only one male chose health and beauty category, whereas electronics, or sport memorabilia could induce only male students to buy. Discussion This research has aimed to compare affective and cognitive impulse buying behaviour on the students. As Coley and Burgess (2003) argue that women have higher tendency to be involved with impulsive buying on both affective and cognitive behaviour. In addition, women are attracted by apparel, health and beauty, while electronic, technology and sports entertainment induce men more. The overall results of this research founded that women were more likely than men to make an impulsive buying influenced by their most preference products which are clothing, fashion and beauty; however, they are not deliberative when making a purchase. Some findings of the current study do not support the research of Coley and Burgess (2003) who found the women can be patient spending time on shopping and making a good selection therefore they are more engaged in cognitive deliberation. According to information about shopping frequency provided by male students, most of them go to shopping only twice a month , therefore, they probably spend more time on consideration before making a purchase, furthermore, this questionnaire only focused on the behaviour of pre-sessional students at Newcastle University and this could be the possible reasons why the findings differed. One unexpected aspect of the results was that although the male students seemed to be more deliberative in decision making, their percentage towards affective buying was quite high as well. They were likely to spend money as soon as they earn it and found themselves stated in money tension (Coley, 2002: 88) more than female students. The rational of these findings could be explained by answers provided in open question Q6 as male concerned more about product quality and usability, therefore they might suddenly purchase if they really like it without considering its price, while female concerned more on price and discount. The open question also indicated another significant aspect which could lead both genders to buy impulsively, which was the packaging and design that many companies could apply and try to develop their products in order to gain customers interest more. Conclusion This research aimed to compare the gender differences in affective and cognitive buying behaviour on the students. The results of research indicate that male and female are both susceptible to buying impulsively. Within this, their attitudes towards impulse buying are influenced by their most preference product categories. Male will be liable to spontaneous buying more when they find electronics, and technology, whereas female buy immediately when they find fashionable, health and beauty products. Furthermore, female tend to have distinctive degree related to irresistible urge to buy and unplanned buying while male is more organized and having positive buying emotion e.g. male feel a sense of thrill when buying something new. However, both groups shared the same level of experiencing mixed feeling of pleasure and guilt from buying something on impulse (Coley and Burgess, 2003: 288). This research was successful in examining students impulse buying behaviours based on affective and cognitive factors as it could indicate different attitudes of both genders explicitly and also obtained more information that men, sometimes, concern to the quality more than price, and this could induce them to spend more money than women even though the finding showed they are more deliberative in buying. Surprisingly it also created students awareness to purchasing deliberation as a few students informed that they have started to realize their attitudes towards unplanned purchasing which they have never thought of before after they finished answering this researchs questionnaire. The weakness of this research was the size of sample should be bigger and due to all samples were Asian, hence; there should be more nationalities of respondents in order to gather reliable and certain results in order to compare with the previous research. The questionnaire indicated that impulse buying had a vital impact on student behaviour. Previous researchers have described the characteristics of impulse buying (e.g. Kollat and Willett, 1969; Dittmar et al., 1995; Coley and Burgess,2003), future researcher could attempt to investigate if this behaviour can become compulsive behaviour in order to create awareness of buying deliberation and to prevent potential involuntary expenditures in consumers. Word Count: 1813

Analysis of Passage in Shelleys Frankenstein :: Mary Shelley

Letters Frankenstein This passage is out of letter three, paragraph three. I chose this paragraph because it sounded interesting and it plays a very important part of this novel. Mary Shelley wrote this novel during the Industrial Revolution. The characters in this passage approached the North Pole, challenging the Northern Sea in July. The Northern Sea is deadliest sea in the world. The navigation in the sea is only possible for three months of summer. The other nine months your life will be at risk and you may not even survive. Even the Native Eskimos don't travel during the nine months period of deadly winter. They camp near the Big Land to avoid traveling to the Northern Sea. Now a day, it is a very dangerous and risky adventure to take a ship to the Northern Sea. We are so much advanced in technology but still no one would want to risk their lives. The captain and his crew were traveling during the navigation season but they were facing fog and icebergs on their way. They were stuck in ice and mist for a whole day. Finally, around two o?clock the fog and mist was gone and they could only see the endless ice surrounding them. Some of the captain?s crew began to regret their situation and even the captain had some anxious thoughts. They realized that it could be a dead end. They were uncertain where to go and of their situation. Suddenly, they noticed something was passing by them in a distance of a half a mile. ?We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north.? It was very strange to see another human/carriage on ice. It was a shock to the crew to see a single man on sled drag by dogs through Northern Sea. Comparing to a well equipped ship, the sled looked like a deadly ride. As mentioned earlier you could only see the endless ice surrounding them and they couldn?t believe that a single man would travel far from the Big Land. However, the man on a sled was a gigantic stature and most likely he was a strong and a brave man. The crew watched through telescopes, as how the sled rapidly passed by them.

Huckleberry Finn :: essays research papers

Huckleberry Finn Essay   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by: Mark Twain there are two major symbols. One of those symbols is the Mississippi River and the other is the Village in which Huck lives. The two symbols represent freedom and rules respectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Village is a symbol of rules and the law. This symbol is very obvious when Huck is living with the Widow Douglas and Miss Watson. For instance, Huck asked if he could go out and have a smoke and the Widow Douglas said â€Å"†¦it was a mean practice and wasn’t clean†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Twain 2). This restriction was not the only one. The Widow Douglas’s sister Miss Watson would keep â€Å"pecking at him† (Twain 3) and telling him â€Å"don’t scrunch up like that Huckleberry—set up straight.† and when he did that she would say â€Å"Don’t gap and stretch like that, Huckleberry—why don’t you try to behave?† (Twain 2). The Widow Douglas also made Huck go to school and read the Bible, both things he did not want to do. Huck was being pushed into religion and was being corrected and told what he was doing was wrong constantly. Huck needed some freedom, which he found on the river.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mississippi River is a symbol of freedom to both Huck and Jim. Huck escapes from the widow’s house and gets to do whatever he wanted when he wanted. For instance, Huck could pull out his pipe and smoke all he wanted. When the ferry boat came to look for him, he â€Å"lit a pipe and had a good long smoke† (Twain 38). For Jim, the river means a new chance at life. A life without being a slave and not taking orders and doing whatever he is told. Jim wants to do whatever he wants to do. The river also gives Jim a chance to get to Cairo and earn some money. He needs to earn the money so he can buy his wife and daughter from The Widow Douglas. If she will not sell his wife and daughter back to him then he plans to go and steal them back. Then Jim will actually be able to enjoy his freedom with his family.

Hepatitis A Essay -- essays research papers fc

Introduction: Hepatitis is caused by a virus that is targeted at the liver, one of your most important organs!! Specifically, it causes inflammation and injury to the liver. Hepatitis comes in many different forms, five to be exact. There is Hepatitis A, B, C, D & E. Hepatitis is caused mainly by viruses, all of which are set on shutting down your liver. I will be specifically concentrating on Hepatitis A in this report. Hepatitis A is also known as infectious Hepatitis, an extremely contagious viral infection that often effects young children and young adults, especially those in large groups. It has been known to break out in schools, summer camps and music festivals etc. Hepatitis A is also very common in developing nations. Outbreaks occur due to unsanitary conditions such as contamination of the food and water supply. The Liver: The liver is an organ which is located upper right part of your abdomen. It has one main function. This function is to clean out your blood. How this happens is from your inferior venacava, there is a group if veins called the mesenteric veins. They branch off and take dirty blood to your liver to be cleaned. Now, when the virus moves in and stops the liver from doing its job, just imagine all the toxins and unwanted waste and chemicals that build up in your body.!! Causes: Hepatitis A is transmitted almost always by the fecal oral route. It is spread by close personal contact with fecally contaminated water supplies, fruits and vegetables. Poor personal hygiene promotes spread of the virus as well which is why the incidence of Hepatitis is higher in developing nations, where poor sanitary conditions exist. It can also be transmitted by raw or partially cooked clams from contaminated water. Properties of the virus: The hepatitis A virus is a non - enveloped 27 nano meters in size, virus. It is characterized as a RNA based virus. Inactivation of viral activity can be achieved by heating to 100 Â °C for five minutes, and by contact with formaldehyde and chlorine or by ultraviolet irradiation. The virus is present in the liver, bile, stool and blood during the illness. Symptoms: The symptoms of viral hepatitis are not very pretty. Getting Hepatitis is not a fun experience. The first symptoms of Hepatitis A are mild and vague. They generally appear from about 2 weeks to 6 months after ex... ...me up with a new vaccine against Hepatitis A called Havrix. I know about this because last year, before my family and I went on a trip to India, we all got vaccinated against Hepatitis A with Havrix. None of the books from which I researched had any thing about Havrix because they were not that up to date. Prognosis: In most cases of infectious Hepatitis, previously healthy people fully recover with in 2 - 6 weeks. Patients in old age or people with serious underlying disorders such as heart failure, Anemia, diabetes, cancer etc. have a much longer recovery period and are more likely to develop a much worse case of the infection and have a poorer prognosis. However, the over all mortality rate of Hepatitis A is less than 1 percent. Bibliography: 1) Principles Of internal Medicine, Isselbacher, Adams, Braunwald, Petersdorf, Wilson, Mc Graw Hill 1978 2) Medical diagnosis & Treatment, Marcus A. Krupp, Milton J. Chatton, 1980 3) Principals and practice of medicine, Harvey, Johns, Mckusick, Owens, Ross, Appleton - Century - Crofts 1979. 4) Medical & health Encyclopedia, Sidney S. Schipper, Round the world books, 1988 5) World Book Encyclopedia, 1992

Employees are a business’s most important assets Essay

Employees are a business’s most important assets; this is why they created the Human Resource department. Its purpose is to manage, train and look after the workers of the business. It is also their responsibility to implement health and safety legislation at work and look after the employees. There are many roles that this department manages; these ultimately help the business to achieve its objectives. These include: * Manpower planning. * Recruitment and selection. * Induction and training. * Promotion and transfers. * Appraisal and termination of employment. * Rewards and conditions of employment. * Working conditions. * Career development and welfare. * Wage bargaining and disputes. An effective and efficient business manages their employees or human resources well. The better this is done, the more the workers will be happier, better motivated, more productive and more responsive. Badly managed workers are more likely to skip work, be less enthusiastic and less willing to show initiative. The HR department at Chester Zoo fulfils the responsibilities of looking after its staff according to court laws and employees’ rights. It has to deal with employee issues such as equal employment and unjust dismissal, plus in rare occasions, drug testing and â€Å"Aids in the work place†. There are several things involved in human resource, these are: * Planning how to motivate and satisfy workers. * Planning how to develop a certain organisational culture or approach in employees. * Planning how to support or develop employees, i.e. training. * Analysing current employment needs. * Forecasting the likely future demand for employees by the business. * Forecasting the likely future supply of workers that will be available to hire. * Predicting the extent to which workers leave the business. The HR department controls many important parts of the company and without it the business would collapse. There are several areas of importance that the department looks after. * Recruitment, retention and dismissal of staff. There are several stages, which the department goes through to recruit the correct person for the job. Once you’ve got the staff you need, it is very important to keep them happy and inspired about the job, this is where the task of retention comes in. Dismissal of staff can become very expensive if not done properly. Unfair dismissal could mean that ex-employees could sue the company for thousands of pounds. In the Zoo this is done on the advice of the human resources department. If the department has decided to recruit staff they would advertise and read the applications and personal statements. However the department that is looking for staff would undertake the interview. The Zoo’s HR department would do the necessary paper work and help the new employee settle into their job. Retention in the Zoo works around motivating the staff. The HR department has to find ways of motivating staff, other than money. * Training, development and promotion of staff. Through training and development the staff become more experienced and the more experienced they become, the better they’ll be able to do their jobs. Promoting staff not only saves time in having to recruit more experienced staff, but also keeps the employee happy. A disadvantage to promoting staff is that you need to recruit more, less experienced staff that then requires training. At the zoo the HR department would look at the budget and if there was enough money and the rewards out weighed the disadvantages of training then they would go ahead with it. They would also make sure that there were enough staff to cover emergencies. The Zoo’s aims to develop its staff: * Encourage them to attend and be involved in planning meetings. * Give opportunities to attend relevant training courses, conferences and seminars. * Give opportunities to visit other Zoos. * Encourage them to share experiences with other Zoo staff. The Zoo prefers to promote its existing staff, as it not only encourages everyone to work harder, but is also cheaper. * Monitoring and maintenance of good working conditions. Poor working conditions lead to employees becoming unhappy and dissatisfied with their job. Working conditions need to be high to help retain workers. The Zoo ensures that the working environment for its employees remains good by offering coaching, advice and sorting out disputes. * Health and safety. The health and safety standards must be high to keep the workers happy, but also to keep them safe from danger. If a worker had an accident at work then they could sue for thousands if it is proved to be the Zoo’s fault. At the Zoo the HR manager oversees both monitoring & maintenance of good working conditions and health & safety. * Liaison with employee organisations and trade unions. The business needs to get on well with the trade unions and employee organisations, so the groups don’t start making big demands. If the groups are happy with the business they usually don’t start asking for massive pay increases or demands which could cost a lot to the business. The Zoo doesn’t have a union; instead it has a staff association that does the same role. The human resource department has a manager; there are four different types. * Handmaidens. They help other line managers to do their work, but not in a very co-ordinated or systematic way. * Regulators. Set out and put into practice employment rules. They only set out short-term rules about how people should conduct their business at work; they do not develop an overall pattern covering long-term human relations in the workplace. * Advisers. Generally don’t get involved in managing human relations at work, leaving the line managers to do it. However if the line managers need help, the human resource manager is there to advise. * Change-makers. They want to make a deal with issues relating to motivating people. They introduce a range of related initiatives in order that the development of workers is given high priority. Chester zoo has an adviser style manager; they initiate the process of recruitment and decide whether they can afford it. They also decide if they need a full time or part time worker. If they do decide to recruit then the job of interviewing would be handed over to the head of that department, since they would know what type of person would be best for the job. The HR department has the task to make sure that the business sticks to legislation acts, because if they don’t they put the business at great risk of being sued or fined. * Equal pay act 1970. Covers the equal value for the same work performed by men and women. * Rehabilitation of offenders act 1974. Aims to help people who have served prison sentences to have a reasonable chance of securing employment following a period of rehabilitation. * Sex discrimination act 1975. Covers the basic premise that it is unlawful in employment to discriminate on the basis of sex or martial status. * Race relations act 1976. Makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment on the grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin. * Disability discrimination act 1995. Grants statutory rights to people with disabilities and gives limited protection to them. Chester zoo covers all these issues, except with some cases the disability discrimination act. They can justify that they can’t put a disabled person into the lion cage, because it would be dangerous for both the disabled person and the lion. Cages are designed to house animals in the best possible way, and incorporating disability equipment could be dangerous for the animals. Effective HR management can improve competitiveness of the Zoo by analysing the current and future needs of its workers and what other businesses are doing to recruit skilful workers. HR can improve efficiency and save money with effective operating model, e.g. by preventing accidents at work HR could promote safety at work, with the aim of cutting both on and off the job accidents. The Zoo can’t rely on a cheap labour force to keep them competitive, instead they must invest in human resources to train and develop their staff. With new technologies and IT playing a bigger role in business, they must keep up with the necessary skills to stay ahead and innovate new attractions for the Zoo. The Zoo needs to anticipate the visitors’ needs for the present time and in the future. With the help of the HR department they can analysis data and work out what the public needs are. This information can then be used to decide on new and improved attractions. Competition by other firms for workers may affect the supply of labour available to a business. If competitors offer higher wages to workers with specialist skills then a business may have to raise its wage level to recruit the staff it needs. The Zoo’s HR department has to decided where to draw the line between skilful and cheap workers. Task 2 Major conflicts can occur between the HR department functions. Below are examples of such conflicts and what the Zoo would do to sort out the situation. * Finance and the number of employees. The more employees you have the more work can get done and also the less work each employee needs to do. This makes the workers less stressed, but at the cost of employing more people. It’s a choice between more profit for the business or happier workers. At Chester Zoo if two departments wanted seasonal staff, it would be up to the human resource department to work out how many they can afford in each department. However, because the zoo is a charity, it only has a limited budget and so money is always an important factor. * Need for training and constraints of time. The more experienced and knowledgeable the workers the better and quicker they can do their job. Training workers costs money and also means that whilst they are being trained they can’t do their job. Since the job needs to carry on, with or without the worker, other employees will have to cover or temporary workers hired. Human resources have to keep within the budget so they can only allow so much training. Improving workers skills is essential to keeping them motivated, especially since their pay isn’t very high. The department has to balance these two points successfully. The Zoo is a charity and therefore has a small budget to deal with. This unfortunately could lead to the situation where little training goes on. However, the zoo has a small wage bill and therefore one of the ways in which to retain staff is to train them. It works out cheaper to train and retain staff, than recruiting new staff. * Career progression. If for example there was a promotional job and two people applied it would be up to the human resource department to tell the person who didn’t get the place feedback on why they didn’t. At the Zoo it is very important to retain staff and therefore they would tell the unsuccessful candidate what to improve on and what courses/training needs to be done. It is quite likely that the Zoo will also pay for this training; therefore next time the candidate would be in a better position. If the Zoo didn’t do this, it would have a high labour turnover and lose trained workers. * Getting the job done quickly versus health & safety. The HR department needs to make sure that the health and safety laws and legislation are being meet by all departments. A Zoo is a very dangerous environment and with wild animals means that situations will occur which wouldn’t happen in an office. If a worker had an accident at work and it was found out the HR department had failed to do its job then the worker could sue. But following health & safety regulations can slow the job down. In the induction part of a new job, the HR department at the Zoo puts great emphasis on the health & safety instructions, making sure that everyone knows them as it could mean a matter of life or death. * Personal conflict. Employees who experience conflict with each other would be sent to the HR department to smooth problems out. For example if a managing director disliked a subordinate and this affected his appraisal, then a conflict between the two could occur making the subordinate unhappy. The human resource department would then have to chat to the manager about not bringing personal feelings into work and reassure the subordinate. Conflicts in the business place could end in good workers leaving, law suits against the business and/or that company being know as a tough place to work, discouraging new people to join. The Zoo’s grievance procedure is: * Bring the problem to the attention of the line manager. * Or if the employee feels unable to do this, or feels they have not got a satisfactory result. * Bring the problem to the attention of the personnel manager. * Or if the employee feels unable to do this, or feels they have not got a satisfactory result. * Talk to a member of the staff association who will raise the issue on their behalf and accompany them to any meetings with management. The Zoo can’t afford lawsuits or bad publicity; it is quite concerned about person conflict issues and hope to resolve then as soon as possible. Neither do they want to lose workers and gain a reputation as being a bad employer. If this happens the Zoo would have to increase wages to attracted workers back, which would be bad for their tight budget. * Time keeping, commitment, sickness and holidays. If a worker was being consistently late then the human resources department would need to talk to the worker and find out what is happening and whether the issue could be resolved by them starting work 30 minutes later and adding the time to the end. Workers by law have at least some holiday time off and it is up to the human resources department to organise this. They would approve or decline holiday requests depending on whether the business can do without them for that period of time. If a worker were consistently being sick and having too many sick days then again it would be the HR department responsibility to talk to the worker and find out why and what the problem is. For example it could be a stress-related condition. The Zoo is very concerned about issues like this, as they would have to recruit more staff to deal with the work. The Zoo encourages employees to take holidays when the Zoo is closed and maybe offer more time off if they did. Conflicts might also arise between different HR management activities within the Zoo. Some of these possible conflicts include: * Training v recruitment. Training motivates staff, and ultimately training someone is meant to get them a better job. However it might be cheaper to recruit a new member of staff, rather than training an existing one. * Catering v keepers. The Zoo’s mission statement is saving animals and plants from extinction, this requires keepers to look after the animals. Caterers though aren’t needed for the animals; instead they are needed to feed the visitors. A caterer might be employed instead of a keeper just to increase profits by selling more food. * Gardening v keepers. Again gardeners aren’t a crucial to looking after animals, but they are needed to keep the Zoo looking smart and tidy. If the gardens were poor, visitors might not return, as they didn’t like environment. * Pay v holiday. This only applies to keepers. Workers who don’t take as much paid holiday might expect to get increased salaries. The Zoo wants keepers to take as little holiday as possible, as holidays would require more temporary workers. However the Zoo has limited money and therefore can’t pay as well. Task 3 Chester Zoo uses external data to work out future employment trends, how many males and females are unemployed and whether they are looking for full time or part time work. For example if the trend showed in the future there would be a growing female part time workforce, the Zoo might offer part time jobs catering towards female needs. External data can also predict whether there will be skill shortages, if so the Zoo might increase staff training or increase salaries for workers with more skills. Availability of labour locally and internationally and competition for employees can also be attained from the data. Once Chester Zoo knows what the current and future situation is they can plan how to retain and/or recruit staff in the future.