Communication Barriers Essay

â€Å"So the whole war is because we can’t talk to each other,† Orson Scott Card. Ineffective communication is a major risk when working in health care. Both speaker and listener need to be in agreement about the message transmitted between each other. There are many factors that influence the way we communicate, and the intended message may not be understood. A person’s gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, age, culture, language, economic status, stereotypes, regional differences and noise are several barriers to effective communication. For communication to be effective, everyone needs to be responsible for clear communication, endeavoring to send and receive clear messages with as little distortion as possible. What is communication? Communication is a process involving several steps, among two or more people, for the primary purpose of exchanging information. It takes place when people interact in both verbal and nonverbal conversations. To get the point across to a person that is going to be involved in the conversation the information must pass through various channels. There are different steps required to get any information across. The first step is to transmit your idea or message. This begins with the source or the originator of an idea. The source takes this idea and puts it into a code and then transmits this message through a channel. The channel is a means by which the message is expressed, and there is a variety of channels that can be used. Various channels include phone, face to face, text messages, emails, and even Twitter. Next the receiver takes the message and interprets the code, or decodes it. Once this is done the receiver responds or gives feedback. The message or code can be misinterpreted due to noise or barriers.  Communication barrier is what makes communication complex, difficult, and sometimes frustrating. Communication barriers can have a large impact on getting the message across. People tend to erect barriers hindering their ability to  communicate. Physical barriers are defined as the specific area of transmission of communication. There are various kinds of physical barriers like the presence of closed office doors, separator screens, specified cabins, cubes, workstations, sections for people of different status and task or anything that physically separates people from one another. In organizations, physical barriers can be effective in the overall spread of the message. With a variety of checks and a strong platform, they can avoid encroachment of strangers and create cohesive teams.  Emotional barriers are related to the emotions of both the source and receiver. A person’s emotions can have a great effect on their message. When various emotions are involved, the message could be no more than an emotional outburst. People will focus on these emotions rather than focus on the message. The challenge is to examine and evaluate emotional barriers in communication and focus on what the other person is saying. Cultural barriers are created when people of a different culture communicate. When they communicate there is a tendency to share less information than those of our cultural heritage. Translating messages into words and behaviors is based on a person’s cultural background and is not the same for each person. Culture is a combination of various formative influences placed on us as we grow up. The major factors in this development of culture are religion, caste, creed, nationality, social status, values, beliefs and many such elements. Cultural elements have their big role to play when a person participates in communication. When someone becomes a part of a group and become attached to it, sooner or later, they get adapted to that group in terms of the cultural code of the group. Intercultural communication occurs when people who have different cultural traditions start a conversation. In order for you to have an error-free communication, you need to study and understand the cu ltural differences of your receiver as well. Technological advancements have made the communication process far more speedy, accurate and smooth. The development of smart phones and computers has made communication more comfortably accessible. All business practitioners and modern managers understand the importance of multidimensional moving of communication at multi-location stations traveling through innumerous ways of channels and mediums. In the  circumstances, when the whole social-networking and business functioning depends on technological tools of communication, it becomes highly significant to operate these tools ensuring that they 14 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. VI, No. 3, 2012 are error-free. On the contrary, devices are electronic systems and they keep facing errors now and then, causing unpredictable communication errors in terms of its delivery to the desired end. Sometimes even the accuracy of these gadgets is questioned. The more we depend on these technological tools, the higher the chances are of getting error harms involved in the process. Sometimes, poor signals or unreceivable frequency of the transmitted messages cause trouble in getting those downloaded or decoded, resulting and leading to the failure of accurate message delivery, and sometimes it becomes tougher to ensure even its partial delivery to anyhow run the activity. Devices like cell phones, Internet and various other technological applications keep facing such errors depriving us of comfortable transaction and transmission of messages. Such system failures and its non-competing performance as desired by the sender or receiver lead to technological noises. The world of language is full of variety and pleasing choices. In a country of various languages like India, language keeps slightly changing every fifty miles. In the southern part of India, organizations prefer the regional language of communication, while this practice is not found in the northern region of India. Language is a highly important tool to describe our opinion, likes and dislikeness, preferences, thoughts, and ideas while communicating. It is always important to ensure that the language of the sender and the receiver is the same for a successful transmission of communication, but most of the time, language proves to be a potential barrier in the course of communication. Gender Barriers Gender has its own specified impact on the pattern of communication. As has been observed by the researchers, a woman uses approximately 25,000 words a day while talking, whereas a man uses around 10,000 words. As per the various medical reports, the speech ability of girls begins far earlier than boys. There are certain things that the girls cannot express due to gender barrier what boys can do and vise versa. The physiognomy of the boy and girl is responsible for language ability differences. The reason for  this lies in the neuronal wiring of a man’s and woman’s brains. The communication model of man remains linear, logical and sectioned, while woman’s expression is a combination of logic and emotion. Normally, during an interaction, woman uses different types of words while explaining any incident, and man uses a different set of words while explaining and describing the same incident. This difference is majorly because of the gender barrier. Interpersonal Barriers Interpersonal barriers comprise differences between the source and the receiver. There may be multiple differences between the encoder and decoder which result either in failure or partial delivery of meaning or content. The success ratio of communication is far higher when the person who communicates and the person who receives it are Comprehensive Modeling of Communication Barriers: A Conceptual Framework 15 on similar wavelength in terms of language, understanding and both ensure alike interpretation of the message in question. The lesser the interpersonal gap, the stronger the chances of communication success. Noise Barrier Noise is an external factor which causes interruption in the flow of communication. There are various types of noises available in the environment blocking the communication flow fully or partially. The major types of noises are discussed in detail in Figure 3. Description of Components of the Model Communication Noise Communication is an intricate process which encompasses various ideal conditions for the message to pass through successfully from the sender to the receiver. The factor of noise is very important, as it has been given due representation in almost all the communication models propounded by various researchers. In communication models, noise interference occurs during the decoding process of messages transmitted over a channel by an encoder. There are many examples of noise, and some major noise problems have been discussed in the comprehensive model of noise barriers in Figure 3. Environmental Noise According to Adler (1991), since we are constantly bombarded with more stimuli than we can absorb and more perceptions than we can keep track of, we only perceive those images that may be meaningful. We group perceived images into familiar categories that help to simplify our environment, which become the basis for our interpretations and allow us to function in an otherwise overly complex world. Environmental noise majorly springs from physical disturbances causing disruptions and creating problems in the smooth flow of communication from one point to another. For example, it is highly difficult to listen or understand the message if the speaker transmits communication from a noisy place like near the loud speaker during party/celebration. Sometimes, it becomes very difficult to respond over the phone or to a person nearby communicating with you if you are at the railway platform or a bus stand as these places are known for high decibels. Physiological Noise Physiological reasons are also effective noise barriers in the communication process. In this category, biological reasons like physical maladies that prevent effective communication, such as actual deafness or blindness are also taken into account. Sometimes intricate problems in clear utterance also cause physiological barriers in the process of communication. In this category, all those physical deficiencies or impairment causing obstruction to clear and smooth flow of communication are taken into account. Psychological Noise The psychology of the source communicator and receiver has its inevitable influence on the process of communication. The final shape of a thought or opinion does undergo structural changes based on the psychology of the person who communicates. The psychology is such an important factor that it sometimes makes the opinion of one person appear differently to the others. Our psychology consists of perception, attitude, vision, experiences, feelings and emotions, including various experiential amalgamations collected from our childhood to adulthood. The psychological metamorphosis is an ongoing process. The communication pattern and the contextual value of it are very much demonstrations of one’s psychology. Similarity of a  psychological approach solves this noise barrier to some extent. Difference in psychology between the sender and receiver magnifies the complexity of psychological noise. Specific mental condition can influence communication. For example, the mood of communicator or receiver naturally influences psychological noise and sometimes severely hampers effective communication. Cultural Noise â€Å"As we are different from others in various areas so is our culture. While language and communication systems are part of the culture, and language has often been used as a proxy for culture, the overlap between language and culture is only partial. For example, Comprehensive Modeling of Communication Barriers: A Conceptual Framework 17 Spanish speakers come from a variety of countries with distinct cultures† (Del Pinal and Singer, 1997). Cultural differences cause cultural noises. Taken-for-granted assumptions most of the time cause misunderstanding. Stereotypical assumptions can be potential contributors of cultural noise. Diversity of culture and cultural background is the mother source of noises of this category. Organizational Noise The most significant activity of any organization is a constant flow of communication in multi-directed locations internally and externally. Communication is a constant happening in organizations in various structures, formats and modes channelized at various hierarchical levels. The possibility of lapses in communication always remains very high and needs to be given due care and attention through continuous monitoring. The most common directional flow of communication in the organization is upward and downward. But the horizontal flow is also the integral part of the process. In the cross-functional movement of communication, the poorly structured messages do create a lot of troubles. If a message is poorly crafted by the higher-ups, it might create confusion and improper decoding of the intended meaning. Such types of instances are considered as organizational noise. Syntactical Noise Grammar of any language is the base framework to provide a structure to our  thoughts and expressions. But converting thoughts at a fast pace and applying suitable grammatical structure to it and ensuring correctness while speedily interacting and exchanging sentences, whether verbal or written, may be difficult at times. Molding thoughts into sentences and at once following the appropriate grammatical pattern is a very intricate process, and sometimes the user of a language does not have the efficiency or dexterity required to do so effectively. For example, when any incident is described by a communicator, he might commit mistakes in altering tenses at a fast pace, which results in syntactical noise. Mistakes in grammar can disrupt communication, leading to syntactical noise. Semantic Noise Most of the times, words have more than one meaning. The context of the interaction also prefixes the preciseness of the meaning of a particular word. Each one of us, as a communicator, has got his own style of using different words in different contexts. Sometimes the meaning of a word is presumed but it is not the intended meaning. Adler (1991) commented that â€Å"misinterpretation can be caused by inaccurate perceptions of a person or situation that arise when what actually exists is not seen. It can be caused by an inaccurate interpretation of what is seen; that is, by using my meanings to make sense out of your reality†. Thus, the variety of interpretations causes semantic noise in the communication process. 18 The IUP Journal of Soft Skills, Vol. VI, No. 3, 2012 Conclusion Communication is an integral and underlying element in any relation, whether personal, social, professional, global or business. Communication is the key factor that helps any business to progress substantially. The advent of new technologies has ensured the availability of efficient tools of communication through which the percolation of message, sending and receiving, has become much faster. Even then, dependence on electronic gadgets begets new system errors, either haulting the communication process or transmitting it inaccurately or after much delay. There are innumerable factors which may disrupt the communication flow, and these disruptions are known as potential barriers or various types of noises causing unexpected interruptions. The models displayed in the paper are rich resources to  monitor the active zones where the barriers might occur and can cause difficulty in the delivery of the message intended. The proposed models describe the barriers in the overall communication process and the respective points at which the probabilities of such disruptions are higher. No doubt, the barriers create complexity, difficulty and interruptions in communication, but the suggested model will naturally help in understanding such undesired occurrences. The conceptual framework does provide an exhaustive understanding of such complex situations caused by barriers and noises and shows how to remove them from the path of communication flow to enjoy constant and accurate flow of communication from one to another or many. Hahn Gail (2007), The Communication Coach II, Coloring Outside the Lines. Palazzolo Sam (September 2008), â€Å"Influential Communication†, available at http:/ /findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5286/is_20080901/ai_n28118653. Accessed on November 1, 2014 . Sanchez Nick (September 2008), â€Å"Communications Process†, available at http:// web.njit.edu/~lipuma/352comproc/comproc.htm. Accessed on November 2, 2014

ESL teaching methodologies

The techniques and approaches found in TESOL differ dramatically from those of other areas of teaching because of its student centred and dynamic nature. Furthermore, since TESOL takes place in a multicultural environment; that is, the ESL classroom, intercultural aspects should also be considered, addressed, and ideally, taught. As a result, the cultural diversity found in TESOL and the interactive nature of this field of teaching has an impact on the way language is presented and practised.According to the online articled Why to activate your ESL students' Background Schema, published by Laura Greenwood (2011) on bridgetefl. com, â€Å"it is important to activate your students' experiences with and knowledge of the topic of the listening/ reading†. By activating students' schematta, the teacher is not only directing the students into the topic and creating interest in it but also encouraging them to use language in context.Additionally, experienced and creative ESL teachers may be able to pre-teach contextualized vocabulary whilst activating students' schematta because any unknown lexical items found in listening and reading passages are in fact related to the topic of the text/listening, so the teacher has a context to teach (elicit) these words. Another important strategy adopted by ESL teachers is language elicitation.Rather than introducing a word by saying: â€Å"this is a word and that is what it means† or teaching a grammar point by simply telling the students its rules and form, TESOL teachers often use an essential technique called elicitation, through which students can be involved in the process of discovering and understanding anguage; that is, the teacher uses different techniques to elicit lexical items or grammatical structures that they want to introduce to their students.However, it is usually the case that ESL learners may not know the word or grammatical item that the teacher is trying to elicit, but they will at least know th e concept of the linguistic item intended to be taught, which is still relevant, because knowing the concept of a word or grammar point is considered to be as important as knowing the form. Eliciting† (2009, section 4) states that there are cultures where students are more sed to a teacher centred way of knowledge instruction, which means that they see the teacher as the only person who has the authority to provide knowledge, therefore when eliciting language, TESOL teachers should consider the fact that students from these cultures are less likely to actively participate when the class are asked open questions (who can tell me†¦? Does anybody know†¦? ), and instead try to nominate students to answer questions more often. In fact, the ideal ESL teacher is described by Harmer, J. (2007, p. 08) as â€Å"one who is democratic rather than autocratic, and one who fosters learner autonomy through the use of group work and by acting more of a resource than a transmitter of knowledge†, which contradicts the role of the teacher in many cultures, where they are seen as the sole provider of knowledge.However, when activating schematta and eliciting language, which are essential techniques adopted in TESOL, the students' input is vital, and in order to achieve that, different teachers with different personalities and teaching styles use different techniques to It is common knowledge that language and culture are interrelated, and through the language, English in this regard, ESL learners can, or ideally they should, acquire intercultural knowledge in order to communicate more competently. With this concept in mind, Ability English – an ELICOS centre in Sydney – included an intercultural communication program in their syllabus.Nicholas Kirk, who is the director of studies and designed the course, argues that â€Å"it is almost impossible to teach language in isolation from culture†, therefore he believes that cross-cultural ommun ication should be taught in order to help ESL students use their language skills more effectively. Role plays, group activities, reading and listening passages, videos, among other resources and types of activities can be used to practise language skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) and other linguistics elements, such as grammar, lexis, and pronunciation, while training students so that they can achieve intercultural competence.In other words, ESL teachers can raise students' awareness to cross-cultural areas, including eye contact, personal space, body anguage, face-saving, individualism and collectivism, and concurrently, or possibly subsequently, use the contextualized content to practise and/or introduce language, enhancing not only their students' language skills but also their interpersonal and interactional effectiveness.Having the language skills is undoubtedly necessary in order to be in contact with people from different cultures, but understanding such culture s is also important in this globalized world, especially in the workplace, since the ultimate goal of ESL learners is to be able to use English to successfully ommunicate with people from other cultural backgrounds. Considering the fact that TESOL allows more flexibility than in other fields of teaching, and that language is a vital element of culture, linguistic and cross-cultural aspects may be taught in conjunction by ESL teachers.In sum, I would like to stress that the teacher's knowledge of the linguistic items being taught is unarguably important in TESOL, as it is in all areas of teaching; however, in the ESL teaching context, it is equally important to use a variety of ethods and strategies to get the students to actively participate in their learning process, since the ESL classroom is an environment where the focus is on the students, rather than on the teacher, resulting in more STT than TTT, which is a primary concept in TESOL.ESL students have one goal in common: to lea rn English to be able to communicate with people from different cultures, but due to multicultural nature of ESL classes, TESOL teachers need to be culturally sensitive, and if possible, in addition to teaching language, devote some time to training their students to be ore inter-culturally competent to help them use language in a multicultural context more effectively.

Important Characteristics of a Co-Worker Essay

We all work or will work in our jobs with many different kinds of people. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a co-worker (someone you work closely with)? Use reasons and specific examples to explain why these characteristics are important. Answer It is efficient to work with co-workers. We can cooperate to successfully accomplish a job. However, not all co-workers are good partners. There are characteristics to be a good colleague. Of them, three of the characteristics are described in the following paragraphs. First, good co-workers are cooperative. We tackle the same work together. Thus, we have to cheer ourselves. For example, if one of the members mistakes, the others should encourage him or her. They make up for the mistake together. We get to trust each other by this event. Therefore, we can do our best by cooperating at any time. Second, good co-workers are smart. When smart workers work together, the work goes on well. It is strong for business if people gather together to make an elite group. Nowadays, business is very combative. We have to win the game to any other groups. Otherwise, we will lose in the society. People want to work with smart co-workers to succeed. The group will give benefits to any members of the group. Third, good co-workers are ardent to any job. It is fundamental, but is very significant. When people work with somebody, they have to work enthusiastically. This behavior stimulates other people. Unenthusiastic people look lazy. They look to work as they want if they are not. That is because other people of the group do not feel good to work with them. A project should tackle cheerfully. If they do not work enthusiastically, the ambience of the group will changes very badly. To work with unenthusiastic people is a disadvantage for the group. Overall, characteristics of co-workers are important. To encounter the best co-workers is rare. However, the characteristics above are at least sought by our society. These conditions are manners to work with other people.

Chinese landscape painting between pre-20th century and modern time Essay

Chinese landscape painting between pre-20th century and modern time - Essay Example The essay "Chinese landscape painting between pre-20th century and modern time" analyzes Chinese landscape painting. However, similarity exists in the painting displayed in the 20th century and the 21st century. The similarity in the Chinese painting is based on the focus of the artists which largely was on the landscape and the nature environment. The focus of the Chinese artist or painters was not only to capture the issues displayed by the landscape, but to also capture the essence of the energy. Chinese art was based in the teaching of the Ying-Yeng which is viewed as the source of energy. Even in the landscape paintings the focus was on the essence of energy. The successful western artistic movements cannot be replicated in the Chinese art because the Chinese art and painting were not based on movement or similarity but based on the view of the individual artists. Therefore, when focusing on the Chinese landscape painting, it is vital to understand the similarities and differenc es of the modern and the 20th century landscape paintings in terms of material and the focus of the painting. In Maoism china, the focus was on oil based painting which is different from the traditional ink based painting. Oil based painting was a feature associated with the western world especially the Europe countries with the focus being on the view of the artist. The Chinese art did not follow the feminism approach are era experienced in the western art but focused on the conservatism presented by the Chinese culture.

Information Technology in Supply Chain Management Essay

Information Technology in Supply Chain Management - Essay Example This led way to the concept of forming a network of resources, raw materials, components and finished products rolling in and out of a factory, coined as supply chain management. Supply chain management is the discipline of managing the movement of raw materials into an organisation and the finished products out of the organisation. SCM is an approach that encompasses every process concerned in manufacturing a product, from source to consumption. There has to be a linkage between the suppliers that provide inputs, manufacturing and service support operations that transform the inputs into products and services, and the distribution and local service providers that localize the product (Chase. et al., 2003). This involves building a network that allows a flow of materials, without a break or hitch, throughout the process of production. This flow is fuelled by co-operation, and co-ordination among the diverse channel partners. Supply chain management thrives on improving efficiency and reducing cost of production by focusing on the core competencies of a company. Functions such as procurement of raw materials and distribution of products are outsourced to companies that are better equipped and more cost-efficient to perform them. Strategic planning is necessary to develop a network to monitor the supply chain so that it is efficient, costs less and delivers high quality and value to customers. Information technology has helped integrate the various components of SCM by building a network that aids in sharing necessary data between all supply chain partners within a system. 5. Information Technology in Supply Chain Management (800 words) Today the survival of most companies depends on intelligent supply chain decisions. Firms today have to take full advantage of the internet to become more responsive and to better penetrate customer markets (Chase. et al., 2003). With the advent of IT and internet, communication between supply chain partners has become easier and more cost-efficient. Internet has paved way for integrating the varied partners in the SCM system, to bring them closer through the power of electronic communication. Automating SCM is the process of building an electronic information network for transactions among supplier-manufacturer-retailer-customer in virtual space using IT. Every company in a large supply chain or distribution chain is dependent on each other. Thus, the unit of value creation has shifted from individual firms to value-networks that consist of partner firms and their close collaboration. SCM consists of choosing what work to outsource to suppliers (make vs. buy) and selecting suppliers to use and negotiating contracts - both the legalities and the culture of the supply chain relationships. (Milak, 2006) One area where Ford and Toyota have diverged is supplier relations. Armed with cost and quality control at the process level, Toyota can concentrate on a value-based enterprise product strategy focused on customer value. Instead of building and maintaining collaborative supplier strategies, Ford and other American companies concentrate their expertise on mere cost-cutting strategies. Toyota recognizes that fulfilling the enterprise potential of TPS requires a substantial

Sarajevo Graduate School of Business Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sarajevo Graduate School of Business - Case Study Example After its inception, the school gained a good reputation across Eastern Europe whereby it attracted many young managers across Bosnia and had a diverse population of young students from six different nations (Sarajevo graduate business school Web). The country of Bosnia, similar to Herzegovina had been in a regional war for a long time, which devastated the country, as well as its capital city Sarajevo. The country of Yugoslavia was largely a communist nation, which followed and supported the ideologies of the USSR. However, not all parts of Yugoslavia supported these ideologies. This led to the conflict of interest since other people supported the capitalist ideologies while the others were a neutral ground. Yugoslavia was highly unified under the central control of Tito until the year 1992 when countries such as Serbia gained independence from Moscow. This led to a war with an objective of all countries involves gaining the same independence from Yugoslavia. Later on, after 10 year s, Bosnia gained its independence from Yugoslavia and continued to support the capitalist ideologies (Sarajevo graduate business school Web). It was the countries quest for capitalist ideologies, which attracted investors into that country. ... This was done under a four-year contract whereby the USAID was to develop and implement a sustainable MBA program (Sarajevo graduate business school Web). John Stocker joined the Sarajevo Graduate Business School of business in 2005 as a chief party where he also represented FLAG, a project management and investment firm in which he was a principal. Stocker, being a finance PhD holder had vast experience as lecturer where he had taught as a professor in the United States, Bulgaria, and Afghanistan. By the year 2007, the Sarajevo graduate school of business had taught and graduated three groups totaling to 100 students from its two-year MBA program. These graduates were all employed immediately since the school provided both the operational knowledge and the opportunity to come up with a network of professional contacts. However, in the year 2007, things began to change in the objectives of the University Of Delaware. The University of Delaware did not place significant value on the s trategic link of both universities. In addition, the low-income levels in Bosnia prevented University of Delaware from charging U.S.-level tuition fee for the program, which led to the expensive salary for lecturers from the US. This led to the withdrawal of the USAID support from the business school. Consequently, the Sarajevo graduate business school withdrew the provision of its MBA degree program under the schools banner. However, there were two possibilities which john stocker developed to the program. one of the alternative was to develop a new U.S. partner institute to offer a program comparable to the University of Delaware platform while the other was to develop

Project two Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project two - Essay Example She reads out to her grandparents that she killed all the butterflies and continues by saying, â€Å"this is me and this is all the butterflies.† On the other hand, when the grandparents ask her if the teacher liked what she wrote she responds by saying that the teacher told her that butterflies are good creatures that should not be killed. Her grandfather then responds by saying, â€Å"because you see, your teacher, she buy all her cabbages from the supermarket, and that’s why.† The story of butterflies tells much about miscommunication taking place in the learning institution. It is clear that what the grandparents view as dangerous to their farm is viewed as a beautiful creature that do no need to be killed. Our experience together is what comes out clear after considering the two different settings, home and school settings. There is a definite gap created in the story of how indigenous topics or subjects are covered in school setting. Both the teacher and the grandparents hold different opinions on butterflies and the young girl writes about what she is convinced and believes in, that butterflies are bad. Differences in perspective from two different cultures shows that things are never as simple as they are thought out to be. The author of the story has clearly showed that difference in culture may determine an individual’s opinion although she does not show an acknowledgement of the same. Indigenous topics are rarely taught in schools and therefore cultural diversity is not taken into consideration. This creates a knowledge gap because students, researchers, teachers, and other people in the society are not presented with information that can help them relate various things. Conventional culture tends to act as a block that prohibits the society to have an agreement on a specific issue regarding native beliefs. Bridging the knowledge gap such as the one created in the Butterflies

Starbucks Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Starbucks Case - Essay Example Starbuck has been seen using the Horizontal Integration variable in many of their strategic acquisition, joint undertakings, and partnerships. The use of Vertical Integration constituted one of the key success factors for the success of the firm. The company has integrated backwards in opening many coffee roasting plants; and in the same way, integrated forward in controlling the distribution chain of its products. Such segmentation variables enhanced the growth of the company form a simple shop in Pikes Place Market in Seattle to an international company with sales turnover of more than $2.1 Billion. It has acquired market in more than thirty countries for the past 21 years. The success of the Starbucks can be attributed to their name branding. In addition, getting in contract with TAZO tea and Albertsons, and introducing new products into the market greatly contributed to its growth (â€Å"Starbucks: Just who Is..†). The Starbucks brand experience has changed over the time. Customers now see Starbucks as a place to grab a quick cup of coffee with them to their office. The customer behavior has changed a lot for the recent years. The Starbucks has utilized the principles of market targeting in order to keep up with the changing consumer preferences. Such changes evolved within the firm constituted for a change in the Starbucks experience. The brand experience is the ‘soul’ of a firm in its successful operation. Besides, the firm’s willingness to be a part of a social setting also plays an important role in its operation. On the other hand, some of Starbucks customers have changed over the time; because they might not be feelin g quite comfortable with the new strategies of target marketing. And they might not be feeling quiet good about paying heavy prices for the new Starbucks experience. The Starbucks accomplished

Planning and Land Use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Planning and Land Use - Essay Example This was compelled to protect the historic character of the town. Nevertheless, according to the planning balance between the homes and places of employment, and the notion of sustainable development today it has led to negative impacts. This city is of interest because it is a medieval city, which has a rich history and the pressure of developing threatens to wipe away the rich history of this town. For this reason, the core of the city has become limited because the research and development activities have been concentrated within the sites of employment on the edge of the city. Under the Cambridge phenomenon there were four hundred high-tech organizations in the area, which employed over sixteen thousand people (Morrison, 2010). These organizations stemmed from the departments of the university and spun offs from companies, which had had origins of the university. Ever since, it has been concentrated. During this period, the trans-European highway provided the main road link between the parts and the midlands that were industrialized. The decision to improve the infrastructure of the city was made at the National Level, whereas, the land use of the planning of Cambridge was under the Holford Plan of 1950 (Waters & Lawton, 2002). Despite all these plans, the structure plan of the Cambridgeshire sought means to control the growth of the city outwardly. This was done through maintaining the tight green belt. The reason for this plan was to secure the historic character and setting of Cambridge. Green belts have been an essential mechanism for planning in England. Within it, it is hard to get permission for planning for development. The purpose of that is to preserve the setting and memorable character of the town, check unrestricted emergence of built-up areas, assist safeguarding the countryside from encroachment and finally to restrain the neighboring towns from merging into another (Wicksteed, 2005). For Cambridge, without the green belt then the city

Assessing functional status Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assessing functional status - Essay Example The ambulatory status is done to determine the patient’s mobility capability. The assessing physician should check if the patient uses a wheel chair, a cane or prosthetic devices for movement. If otherwise he should establish whether the ability is excellent, good or fair by checking the ease with the patient can climb stairs. The ability of the senses often range from excellent to poor beyond which specific descriptions are employed. In the case of hearing ability the other options are either deaf or use of hearing aids. When assessing vision, the patient should either be using glasses, contacts or is blind. Cataracts, glaucoma, DM retinopathy and Macular degeneration also form part of the scoring system. The assessment of speech is aimed at recognizing speech problems such as verbal apraxia, Aphasia, Dysphonia and abnormal tongue and lip movements. Ill-fitting dentures too are checked. Touch is scored in terms of normal sensitivity, decreased sensitivity or numbness to temperature. Smell and taste sensitivity cannot be described as excellent, good or fair. It is either having no problem or is changed. The checking physician notes down the changes in the score card. Assessing functional status of a patient is important in many occasions. According to Preeti (2009), one situation where it is necessary is a patient is about to undergo an operation. In most cases, the results of the assessment are compared with the possible outcomes of the operation. Pre-operation functional status assessment is aimed at identifying the impairment. It is reported that most patients who after operations develop delirium depression and general inability to recover had functional and cognitive impairments which were not considered before operation. Under this situation, the studies would have helped prevent postoperative health decline in the adults (Preeti, 2009). Generally, geriatric assessment is necessary in determining a patient’s functional

Poverty in the United States Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Poverty in the United States - Research Paper Example He cited the example of children, who have been raised in underprivileged environment, faces noticeable shortcomings in terms of cognition, academic achievements and emotional wellbeing. Poor individuals, he says have a lower mortality rates and unhealthy lifestyles, they have small opportunity of good education and an unstable family background. He is of the opinion that declining levels of poverty results in enhancement of healthy economy as it increases the purchasing power of the masses which in return boosts the economic growth and living standards. Also, he states, poverty provokes social disorder and sets the stage for criminal acts and furthermore, it reduces public confidence in the constitution (2-3). It is important to note, however, that poverty has always remained existent in the world since its inception, the unequal distribution of resources, social ostracism, inequality in justice and the accumulation of wealth within a few have been characteristics of mostly all huma n settlements. Lawson and Lawson shares that a basic diet consisting of the required amount of calories, shelter and clothing is the need of the humanity, they further elaborate that poverty varies from time to time and to location, as the dietary standards and conditions of clothing and shelter changes, therefore, the parameters of poverty in the United States is completely different from that of poverty in Somalia (15). In the seventeenth century, the English government wanted to relief themselves of their poor population and convicts, and was of the intention to unload them in the new land, the Americas. A company called the Virginia Company, chartered by King James I, financed the transportation costs in return for labor; many convicts migrated (Axelrod 10). Axelrod further states that for some of these new colonizers, the risk paid off and they were employed as contracted laborers, finished their period of service and became freed farmer, but others found barren land and broken promises in the new land. Reef describes the conditions of these free indentured servants, she says, it was a matter of great hardship for them to move up from being the most underprivileged society since they lacked the necessary resources, it is estimated, she revealed, that a mere tenth of indentured servants became wealthy farmers, another tenth artisans and the rest, if their death did not occur, became labored workers or nomads, who roamed from cities to cities in the quest for food, employment and change of fortune (4). According to Lawson and Lawson, the Industrialization began in America at the end of eighteenth and the beginning of nineteenth century and accompanied some very drastic changes in the American society. They argue that even though, the industrialization era brought about greater productivity and capital to the nation, but it also invited poverty and rendered a number of people homeless. They stated that the increasing population of emigrants from Europe who s ettled in America, increased competition in terms of employment and accommodation amongst the colonizers; this led to increased form of demarcation in relation to race, ethnicity, class and poverty (17). Reef reveals that between the period of August 1619 to January 1808, when the act of importing slaved to the United States became illegal, the traders, smuggled about 400,000 African

Teletech Case Essay Example for Free

Teletech Case Essay Background The Teletech Corporation operated in two business segments: Telecommunications Services (TS), and Products and Systems (PS). Though Teletech was a dominant service provider in the area, the company has been experiencing a downtrend of earning growth and stock prices due to keener competition and worse performance in certain segment. Problems statement Teletech has been using economic profit as a measure of value creation at the segment and business-unit level and net present value as a measure of value creation at the project level; and both these values were calculated using the hurdle rate. The main problem faced by Teletech was that the company leaders had to decide what hurdle rate(s) should be used for evaluating performance and budgeting of each segment; and what would be the future of the PS unit, having in mind the accusatory letter of the new 10% stakeholder, Victor Yossarian. By October 2005 only one corporate hurdle rate of 9. 30% was used for performance assessment, and the rate was based on the Teletech’s WACC as a representation of the opportunity cost of money. There was an ongoing debate if one common corporate hurdle rate should continue be used for valuation, or different hurdle rates which take into account the associated with the investments risk should be implemented. There was a doubt that the returns of the PS segment were relatively high because they were compared to the not risk-adjusted corporate hurdle rate, and that in fact the PS segment was reducing the shareholders’ value. Victor Yossarian’s opinion was that Teletech had to get rid of the PS segment as it was not providing adequate return. Hurdle rates recommendation We recommend that Teletech should use two different hurdle rates for both segments. First, using WACC as a corporate hurdle rate is not appropriate since different segments have different investment risks. The Products and Systems segment (with the beta of 1. 36) clearly had higher risk than Telecommunication services (with the beta of 1. 04). Thus, instead of using one hurdle rate calculated based on the corporate beta of 1. 15, using two rates will allow the returns of the segments to be compared to more suitable risk-adjusted rates. See Exhibit 1) Second, our calculation shows that using two hurdle rates would result in higher economic profits of each segment as well as in total (See Exhibit 3). Higher profit would make company more attractive to investors. Third, using different hurdle rates also would help the assessment of capital-investment proposals more accurate. Since different segment has different risk, when evaluating a project, the firm shoul d classify the project into each segment and use an appropriate hurdle rate of the corresponding segment to calculate NPV of the project. That would make the NPV of the project more precise. For example, the Telecommunications services had lower risk, lower beta, thus it had lower cost of capital. So, if everything else equals, the NPV of a project in the TS segment should be higher than that of the PS segment. This should be reflected in a lower hurdle rate for TS and a higher hurdle rate for PS. PS recommendation We recommend forming PS as separate entity (financially) , considering possible unit reorganization or sale. Our reasoning is: †¢ The PS segment does not provide satisfactory return, although it is shown as profitable when compared to the corporate hurdle rate of 9. 30% (or even with a PS segment hurdle rate see detailed calculation in Exhibit 1 and returns-hurdle rates comparison in Exhibit 2), or in terms of Economic profit (see Exhibit 3). However, the reported high returns are mainly because PS is able to receive low-interest debt based on the higher aggregate corporate rating. However, if the PS segment is organized as a separate entity (with assumed BB rating), then it will need at least 86% equity financing to be break even, assuming that PS 11% ROC will remain constant (see Exhibit 4 for the calculation). †¢ The TS segment will be able to provide higher return; because of the expected A rating and the associated lower loan rates and higher leverage. The TS will have a higher price per share, closer to the industry, as a result of the reduced investment risk (surpassing the risk of higher leverage). Assuming that the company activities are transparent, the price per share could go even higher, as there will not be doubt that a profitable segment of the company will cover the unsatisfactory performance of another segment. Other recommendations We recommend that the company should disclose more information. The view that â€Å"All money is green† and investors do not know as much about the firm’s operations as the company, should be rejected. More transparency would narrow the gap between uninformed (or small) and informed (or large) investors, thereby lowering the cost of capital.

Quality Services Improvement

Quality Services Improvement The Quality of Services in Emirates Airlines: The Challenges of Continuous Improvement Summary This study examines quality of services at Emirates Airlines and reflects on the associated market orientation. The study also examines challenges and avenues for continuous improvement. These inter-connected objectives shape three research questions that are addressed based on customer responses to a structured instrument. This instrument has its origins embedded in the wealth of developments in methodological aspects to do with service quality assessment. The ‘perception- expectation gap and the gap with respect to ‘service delivery are reviewed across a multitude of research studies that are pegged around the central conceptual feature of SERVQUAL. This concept is discussed in detail including instances of its use in examining the airline industry. A structured close ended questionnaire informs this study that uses data generated from 250 respondents. The study is limited in methodological rigor due to use of descriptive statistics alone but at the same time provides a rich narrative using the data that is often not possible unless results are very strongly skewed in the case on inferential statistics. The lack of robustness has arisen due to data gaps which the study acknowledges. Findings suggest that staff training on understanding the scope of service quality, and continuing with modernization and infrastructure upgrade- should be on top of the agenda at Emirates. The results also show that personalized attention provided to customers is a key selling point in why customers choose Emirates, but that there is lack of understanding related to proper customer relations management. Some conflicting results also tend to suggest that the dichotomy between customer expectations and perceptions is influenced by the relative offerings competitor airlines make. There is also a hint that short term resource impetuses like frequent flyer schemes do not do much to improve service quality perceptions. It is the long term embedded development of staff capabilities and understanding about the holistic nature of service quality that may prove to be ‘the competency for sustained competitive advantage. The study posits a need for further research in developing comparabl e service quality metrics across international airlines that are available only in the US at present (AQR), and also a need for comparative case studies in the industry to inform globalization intentions. Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1. Background Emirates airlines is one of the largest and probably the most consistently profitable airlines of recent times. Since its inception in 1985 it has grown astronomically and in the last couple of years it has embarked upon a fleet upgrade and expansion that dwarfs other major airlines. It sailed through the 9/11 related downturn in aviation business, and the disturbance in the gulf to become an airlines whose success formula mystifies management wisdom. Off the cuff solutions to issues and problems as they arise seems to have worked exceedingly well for the airline. The airline claims to have an open culture and an open agenda where the need of privacy does not subsume the need to deliver from individual competencies under what can be termed a ‘fluid strategy process (Sull et al, 2006). The focus on fine issues and macro aspects alike are shared across all management levels comprising a multi-cultural workforce like no other airline. The company is used to making leaps whether it is by using the recognition from airline of the year award in 1994 to establish itself among the giants, to the massive fleet expansion in 2004-2005- to become the envy of even the giants. Surviving the 9/11 depression clearly points to the merits in Emirates approach. The key issue seems in operating as a family, where when other airlines were downsizing and cutting staff, Emirates kept status quo on these fronts and communicated a feeling of belonging in its staff. This was the crucial lever that kept Emirates going- and in fact even prosper in times that were so trying for the industry. As Carlzon (1989) notes in his aft cited work ‘Moments of Truth this is flattening of structure in the true sense so that messages get across quickly and effectively makes for a â€Å"powerful organisation that serves customers better and unleashes the energy in employees†. However, putting both these together to fine tune the market orie ntation through service quality is a challenge especially in times of growth and high momentum in external factors affecting the industry. Other beliefs at Emirates like around the prosperity of Dubai that it keeps as the nerve centre of its network, and keeping a rather conservative outlook towards alliancing with other airlines are not conventional. These shape a flexible core around which other attitudinal and behavioral aspects of the business model emerge. This emergence has often been punctuated with imposed or deliberated change this study takes place at a time of deliberated change that of rapid expansion of Emirates airlines across the globe (Leckic, 2007). The openness also transcends into the beliefs the airline has. The airline now seeks to grow more aggressively and reduce overt centering on Dubai. Creating a global brand based on current success is on the agenda. The airline realizes that reputations in a service industry are leveraged around service quality. In this light as it stretches out to routing across the globe and hiring more staff and acquiring physical infrastructure, that service quality does not get compromised remains a concern close to heart (Sull et al, 2006; Byles, 2007, Leckic, 2007; Sending 2008). 1.2. Motivation The international airline industry has seen a struggle to deliver profitability alongside ‘truly satisfying the flying public (Van Pham and Simpson, 2000). The alliancing arrangements, route mapping and offering packaged services through such alliances have tried to affect industry standards of service quality- which may not be the true reflection of customer expectations. The perception of customers about what is central to service quality vis-à  -vis the state of affairs in crucial for informing service quality initiatives and the market orientation of a firm. Needless to say given the dynamic nature of offerings that exist across industries including the airline industry, such expectation-perception balances are continuously shifting, and are even more fast moving for an airline that is growing rapidly and encountering new customers around the globe. The challenge also thus extends to one of continuous improvement (Emirates, 2005-2007). Given the success of Emirates and its unprecedented growth and plans for growth, it is clear that customer perceptions will be central to deciding performance in the future. In times of growth and expansion to new routes the probability of variation in service quality levels and variation in customer expectations is likely to be higher. How the airline can absorb such feedback to modify and fine tune its strategic marketing in the global environment is intriguing for managers, academics, and the wider industry -all having been amazed at the Emirates story so far. This study examines customer perceptions about service quality and relates it with market orientation to ponder over the way forward for Emirates, clearly something very central to research and practitioner interests in Emirates. The recommendations may also have some food for thought for the airline itself as it seeks continuous improvements for a story that is already a bestseller. From a methodological perspective the use of service quality assessment approaches like the SERVQUAL and its interface with the market orientation of the company has been a motivation (Webb, 2000; Engelland, 1998; Devlin et al; 2002; Van Pham and Simpson, 2006). That these have informed the airline industry among others on service quality, customer and market orientation among others make this research founded on robust theoretical and methodological grounds. 1.3. Research Questions This dissertation seeks to examine service quality at emirates, and examine the way forward as the airline seeks to market its image in times of rapid investment and growth. The first builds upon the second as it is service quality perceptions as customer views that need to be the focus when shaping marketing strategies. This is in particular for a business model that is well resourced as in the case of Emirates and the main concern seems to be of monitoring and improving customer uptake of service quality as the airline grows. This is to be contextualized with the market orientation of the company so far for shaping key initiatives that can augment the alignment between customer perceptions of service with their expectations of the same. Thus three central questions that inform this dissertation are: What factors affect service quality perceptions about Emirates airlines? What factors are perceived to be central in informing continuous service quality improvement initiatives? How do these perceptions associate with the market orientation of the airline from past initiatives? 1.4. Dissertation Outline The dissertation starts with an introduction to the context, scope and potential contributions from this study as here. The next chapter examines the literature in detail examining the concept of quality before leading on to the idea of service quality and research to develop methodological and conceptual paradigms around it. The idea of market orientation as a complement and associated aspect is also dwelled upon before closing the literature review that also uses research evidence across industries including the airline industry. The hypotheses development chapter links the research questions to the backdrop of service quality drawing upon the research site of the airline industry and the conceptual orientation from the literature review. The Hypotheses are aligned closely with a structured instrument that is discussed in the approach and methodology chapter. The approach and methodology chapter also provides for a rationale for selection of methodology, issues in conducting the study, limitations, and a time plan based narrative of how the study has been conducted. The sample profile, data and methods in analyses description here is carried forward in the findings chapter where results associated with each of the hypotheses are presented. A discussion chapter connects the results for a further discussion on implications and then leads on to conclusions. Here the recommendations are once again highlighted as study deliverables under each of the research questions. This is followed by a discussion on study li mitations that include revisiting methodological limitations discussed before. The final chapter closes by some focused suggestions about future research in the area of service quality that are argued to be of much use for the industry and for globally expanding firms like the Emirates Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction This comprehensive literature review builds up the agenda of examining service quality in extant literature by starting off in the realm of Quality itself. In discussing TQM and consumer expectations it opens up a window to start examining the specialized concept of service quality. This concept is discussed in all its nuances especially around SERVQUAL definite leap both conceptually and methodologically in this area. This is linked up with the idea of market orientation to extract a conceptual backdrop relevant to the investigation under this study. The use of extant research both in the airline industry and in other industries provides for resources to adapt the concept of ‘gaps and dichotomy between service expectations and perceptions to shape hypotheses and instrument to collect data for this study. 2.2 The concept of Quality Quality has always concerned the societal intent of consumption. The reasons are fairly colloquial at one level where lack of quality can result in insufficient and unsatisfactory delivery of requirements from a product or service. At another level given the growing complexity of the business processes over the last century quality has evolved into a discipline characterized by an equally intertwined interface between control, assurance, and management in general (Dooley, 2006). Broadly speaking in the business context quality is the ‘perception of the ability of a product to satisfy its users. By extension it also applies to the processes and management of the processes that shape the product. However, the satisfying paradigm underpinning quality has multiple manifestations: â€Å"conformance†, â€Å"fitness for use†, â€Å"basic minimum requirements vs. attractiveness†, and as a matter of â€Å"interest and individual disposition† to name a few (e.g. Juran, 1945; Pirsig, 1974; Corsby, 1981; Kano, 1984; Reeves and Bednar, 1994). The definition of quality is rather difficult to come by because of the sheer nature of its wide applicability and strands of origin- ranging from the practical business origins to metaphysical origins. The American Society for Quality aptly captures this subjectivity in understanding quality by stating it as †¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"a subjective term for which each person has their own definition† (Wade, 2005; ASQ, 2007). Quality management is made up of two complementary aspects one is quality assurance and the other is quality control. The former is about ensuring a basic minimum standard through upfront production process design. The latter is about reviewing and monitoring output to wean out the ‘defectives. Assurance is thus inherently preventive and control is mainly curative in a functional sense (Gunter, 1998). Irrespective of the disparate origins, quality management can be safely said to be largely associated with the idea of excellence. A range of concepts and their operationalisation stem from this broader view of quality and mark the growth in research and practice of quality management. Six Sigma, Quality Circles, and Total Quality Management- are but a few from amongst numerous such frames of reference (dti, 2007). The idea of quality at the advent of the century had been around as a selection paradigm- accepting the superior and rejecting the inferior and biased towards ‘control at best- most of the time the evaluation came from the end user. Along the business value chain as production became large scale after the 1st World War- quality assurance procedures started becoming formalized. It was not only the ‘end of the road customer assessment but also a series of filters ensuring only the better quality output being delivered to the customer made control and assurance an important in house practice . The inspection oriented quality control schema had its problems mainly in terms of competent individuals that could ensure monitoring despite not being the ‘know all skill set champions. Formalized roles of inspection and quality manager thus emerged and along side assurance models provided a great lift to quality management as a capability. Generic tools for quality management l ike the control chart emerged in the 1920s and statistical process control matured towards the middle of the century. The revival of the manufacturing of war torn Japan on mature principals of quality control and management finally brought quality management into the forefront. By the end of 1970s it was a global pre-occupation with everyone trying to imitate the success of Japanese low cost and high quality products (dti, 2007; Dooley, 2006). When the word total quality came to the fore in 1970s and finally pinned quality management as a fundamental capability that ran through the organization. The Wests take on quality management was more about ‘standards than ‘culturalisation-but based around the same operational frameworks as in Japan. These gave rise to national standards in response to the need to have a quality association with the national economy as a whole. At the business level quality is now a key management responsibility and a functional paradigm that has continuous improvement at its very heart (Gitlow et al., 1989). Aside from the generalized profile of emergence of quality management above there are a few key landmarks that need to be noted. The first is probably the statistical developments in the 20s and 30s and the emergence of concepts related to probability of acceptance, risk, tolerance levels, and sampling aspects (Shewart, 1931; Dodge and Romig, 1959) establishment of standards and societies also marked the 1930s and 40s (Hutchins, 1995; Dooley, 2006). Industrial production was never under as much pressure as in the II world War. While quality assurance could not keep up with the pressure control came to the forefront to ensure acceptable working products. The maturing of the statistical processes and standards in this regard was a key development. The large scale transmission of these standards to the then military suppliers ensured that the War provided an acceleration to the diffusion of quality management standards and systems (Dooley, 2006; Grant and Lang, 1991). With the end of the war in the formative phase of reconstruction quality was again given a ‘less rushed attention. The role of top management, the interface between organisation wide processes, among others found attention. Total quality control came to the fore as a holistic concept with a stage gate approach right from design to delivery to consumer (Fiegenbaum, 1951, 1957, 1961). As mentioned, the post war Japanese revival is a key factor in development of quality management. Over the 1950s and 1960s the ideas of cultaration of quality with pride in workmanship, top management support, liberalized communication and quality circles took hold stemming from Japanese success. The good practice concepts like quality circles emerged as competencies that were tightly woven into the culture of business unique to Japan and required some effort when it came to imitation by the west (Koyangi, 1964; Deming, 1967; Juran, 1967). Quality became integral to organisational behaviour, goals, and associated personnel development. 2.3 Total Quality Management, Consumer Expectations and Continuous Improvement The coining of ‘Total Quality Management (TQM), encapsulates this coming of age of quality management as an indispensable competency in the competitive arena that is augmented by increasing customer expectations (Deming, 1986; Anderson et al., 1994; Akers; 1991; Stratton, 1990). The main characteristics-changes and developments though numerous can be safely said to be around making quality: -a responsibility for everyone, -a necessity rather than a differentiator, relate better to services and information, and ever increasing set of non-manufacturing industries. relate to best practices, dissemination and learning -recognized a key function and accordingly resourced in organizations reinforce the primacy of the customer (Green and Welsh, 1988; Marquardt, 1991; Dooley, 2006) As TQM goes from strength to strength the balance between assurance, control, and the new fangled third strand learning is becoming vital given the dynamic nature and complex requirements that are associated with quality (Green and Welsh, 1988). The standardized tools need to be customized for organisational applications with a sense to create the competitive edge-because the omnipresent paradigm itself is tending to defeat the objective to seeking the competitive edge through quality (Dean and Bowen, 1994). Context specificity or in other customization of model and tools is the call of the day for research and practice alike The generic nature however needs to be preserved in the background given wider economic and societal association of quality management. For instance, as new frontiers like e-commerce open a fertile bed of quality concepts and models will be very valuable for learning and adaptation to the economic and social context (Doty et al., 1993; Dooley, 2006). . However, having an adaptable bed for quality management across diverse industries to draw from is not sufficient. The societal realties have also undergone transition quality needs to broaden its founding grounds to reflect on new aspects like information management and the virtual realm where quality may have to question its own foundations that are deeply rooted in manufacturing. The successful adaptation to non-manufacturing i.e. services however, is evidence of the emergent nature of quality management that can take on fresh challenges that include alignment to ever changing marketing and consumer orientation needs. 2.4 Service Quality Service quality is a subjective concept that remains challenging to define and to measure (Cronin and Taylor, 1992). This associates itself and can be understood as the application of total quality in the service sector in the main and also implying the service function in frontline delivery of product in other industries. The understanding of service quality has been synthesized from extant literature by Jennifer Rowley (1998). In her work it is seen as a â€Å"perception judgment from a comparison of what they feel service organizations should offer and the performance of the organisation offering the services†. There is no dearth of definitions that try to pack in comprehensiveness to this abstract concept. For instance, Hedvall and Paltschik (1989) refer to ‘willingness and ability to serve with a mention of ‘access, Lehtinen and Lehtinen(1982) view service quality in a three-dimensional space that looks at ‘interactive, physical and corporate quality fac ets. Furthermore Gronroos (1984) simplifies the idea by seeing service quality as shaped by ‘technical and functional aspects of quality (Rowley ,1988). The link between service and performance and by extension satisfying the customer is challenging because services have a unique combination of characteristics. The first of these combinations is their intangibility- causing issues in measurement as they are a function of the ‘experience of the customer. The next is their perish ability -meaning that they cannot delivered from existing stock and thus lending a dynamic nature to service delivery that is difficult to condition. The third is inseparability between production and consumption of service and the last is heterogeneity or customizability as each end user receives a different level-nature of service partly owing to individualized perceptions that are involved in assessment (Zeithaml et al., 1985; Rowley, 1998; Engelland, 1998; Webb, 2000;; Devlin et al; 2002). The need is thus to work on ‘perceptions to assess quality given the cognitive frame of reference that dominates the characteristics of service. The associated requirement is to be able to classify services so as to peg a cognitive frame on a type of service. Such an attempt has provided for groupings within the service industry as a starting point to deliver customized measurement models (Dotchin and Oakland, 1994). The influences on consumer expectations have also been classified to augment such efforts (Gronroos,1994) . While the seminal work towards generic developments like SERVQUAL (Parasuram et al., 1988), provide founding grounds to service quality measurement- literature sees several issues in the applicability of this generic framework. This also relates to the inclusion exclusion and reconfiguration of the understanding of service attributes and the industry categories discussed before (e.g. Sasser, 1978; Dotchin and Oakland, 1994). A critical perspective on SERVQUAL comes later but upfront it is of essence is to recognize the importance and complexity in measurement given the sheer abstractness of the idea of service and its quality. The customization of measurement efforts and models in light of different service industry groups has been key to efforts at improving measurement (Dotchin and Oakland, 1994). In SERVQUAL the conceptualization of satisfaction has been found to be too simplistic and the multiplicity of the ‘total experience is arguably not captured this is in addition to the non-customized generic nature of the SERVQUAL. A longitudinal and sometimes phenomenological analysis is suggested to capture these nuanced but important characteristics of service quality (Singh, 1991; Rowley, 1994). However, the difficult in devising a comprehensive tool still disposes wider practice of measurement to simplistic methods. Important adjustments and realizations like the use of ‘importance and satisfaction grid (Harvey, 1995) provide a very useful feedback and prioritization. For instance, high importance and poor satisfaction is a combination that merits urgent management attention. Another important variable in the service quality metric that needs to be accounted for is the nature of the contract. Again this is because of the attribute of ‘psychological contracts that is unique in nature to services (Thornrow, 1998). This has found particular appeal in measurement related to provision of public services. Having formal, informal and psychological components in service contracts provide a platform for balancing expectations and perceptions. These are otherwise very difficult to manage given the basic characteristics of service discussed at the onset of this section. Finally the perceptual plane needs to be also looked at with a balance though by classical definition the perception of the customer is the defining feature of quality-for service quality in particular the perception of the provider and the resultant psychological interface is also key to the metric. The role of customers is also not to be taken uni-dimensionally. There are different stakeholde r brackets eg. users, influencers, deciders, approvers that associate with a service category and also vary in their significance (Rowley, 1988). These influence the generic satisfaction and associated performance variable. Given this multiplicity and the psychologically complex nature of interactions, the ‘relationship exchange process (Morgan and Hunt, 1994) is key to providing some cognitive stability to overtime service quality measurement. It is also a suitable conduit to ensure that feedback is smoothly translated into strategic action for improvement. Such relationships can be supported by associating service with some ‘bonds (Chu and Lin, 2004). For instance, providing unique services, incentives, and even building social ties between provider and customer. However, on the other hand, the impact of such relationships on service quality needs to be moderated for a reliable assessment. They provide grounds for stabilizing the psychological map to better associate performance and expectations but at the same time bias it. 2.5 Customer Satisfaction and Service Quality Perceptions Broadly speaking customer satisfaction is a performance indicator of the extent to which a firm has managed to meet customer expectations through its business deliverables. Having formed the foundation of the marketing concept for nearly half a century the attempts at harnessing the good practices and measurement approaches is a much explored realm when it comes to customer satisfaction (e.g. Drucker, 1954; Levitt 1960; Gronroos, 1990). Over the last few years customer satisfaction has received a reinvigorated interest. Possible reasons for this have been seen as the after effects of a maturing TQM paradigm that is linked with several recognition awards, and also, arrival of national customer satisfaction barometers (Garvin, 1991; Johnson et al., 2001; Helgesen, 2006) The associated concept of customer relationship orientation is posits a strong link between customer loyalty and profitability with customer satisfaction (Zeithaml, 1988; Oliver, 1996). While customer loyalty has been referred to as central to ‘competitive advantage (Porter, 1985; Chao, et al., 2007)- this is delivered through customer -satisfaction. This is the basic rationalization behind customer satisfaction being so central to both short term and long term performance assessment. That the ‘ultimate aim of any firm is to achieve customer satisfaction remains the central thesis of market orientation (Levitt, 1960). Customer orientation seeks to align â€Å"organizational values, beliefs, assumptions and premises† to deliver a mutually enabling relationship between the customer and the firm (Day, 1994; Strong and Harris, 2004). Strong and Harris ( 2004), define a set of tactics that can deliver customer orientation. They define three sets of tactics. The first define relational tactics (essentially relationship marketing) that engages a nurturing philosophy for long run gains. The second tactic as human resource tactic is more about the direct interface with frontline of the customer and rest of the organisation -essentially empowering the front line through training and support to reap rewards of realized quality of experience of the customer. The final tactic relates to procedural aspects that routinise and systemize customer care and support systems. The study posits that there is a strong interaction and dependency between the three tactics. This key work that examines customer satisfaction and its manifestations under the customer orientation paradigm shares ground with some key extant literature (Narver and Slater, 1990) However, other studies tend to put one set of such aspects though differently labeled as more important than the others. For instance, Chao et al. (2007) say that while satisfaction remains an abstract idea sometime there is an overt component of interpersonal relationship building that because of over emphasis- instead of complementing customer orientation tends wean resources away from conditioning deliverables to meet consumer expectations. Research suggests that such a lopsided drive is ill-found in the long run While relationship marketing remains important it has to be pegged on consumer satisfaction from products and services for sustainability (Chao et al., 2007). Businesses need to focus attention on relationship building. This however has to be conditioned for long run profitability. Customer satisfaction through meeting expectations from goods, transaction services and pure services, and a sustained follow up and support culture has to be the basis for relationship building. For instance, financial incentives/offers are likely to be ineffective and short lived if quality is undermined. As most of the research in customer orientation gets focused on relationship building this is an important consideration to use as a moderator. Value to the customer can never be undermined for seeking short term profitability. This is because such profitability is not suitably tied in with satisfaction which in turn guides customer loyalty. Views to the contrary also exist mainly from some practitioners. Bruce Clapp (2007) of the Carlson marketing group says that â€Å"relationship strength is more important than satisfaction as a true indicator of loyalty. Customizing the experience of our customers, in-branch and in home, impacts the strength of relationship as it builds. In the experience, ensuring our message is relevant requires that we be closer to our customer. The communication we use, whether direct mail, e-mail or in person, must be tailored to the needs of the customer at an individual level. The term mass customization has gained ground as we look for ways to become partners with our customers and be there when they have a financial nee

History Essays French Revolution Violence

History Essays French Revolution Violence French Revolution Violence When historians and others engage in discussion of the French Revolution, they often begin with discussions about why the French people became unhappy and turned towards popular violence as an effective means of dismantling the Ancient Regime. Popular violence became an enduring form of achieving the population’s goals, just as it helped to bringing about a violent abolition to France’s monarchy on August 10, 1792. The French Revolution’s aims however, were not solely focused on replacing the King of France, Louis XVI with an alternative government, but also to completely recreate French Society. The events that occurred following August 4, 1789, were matters focused on religion and politics, and set in motion the Revolution detaching itself from the liberal ideas originally intended for a constitutional monarch, and instead heading down the path of violence and bloodshed. At the heart of the problem, is that the revolution collapsed from within, because of a document presented to a stunned population. This document, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, created the French Catholic Church as a branch of the new revolutionary government. Previously, the Church and State government had acted in synchronicity. People throughout France were unhappy with this fundamental change to their Church, and millions began to desert the ideas of the revolution for the sake of their religion. Ultimately, this would lead to an escalation of violence that would cause the French Revolution to become progressively bloodier. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy introduced a division between Church and State and the Revolution in such a way that it increased the level of violence and executions to harrowing levels. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was proclaimed by the National Assembly on July 12, 1790 (Desan 5). The document was the product of the ecclesiastical body of the assembly (Desan 5). The impetus behind its creation was to create a document that would add a â€Å"rationalized structure† to the Church that would cause the Church to operate separate from the government, and to eliminate its financial discretion over the people of France (Desan 5). The document reflects the thinking of the assembly’s ecclesiastical body by reason of what it attempted to accomplish, but it reflects the inexperience of the group in matters of politics. The document essentially turned the bishops and priests of France into state employees because it created their responsibility to the state where none had previously existed (Desan 5). This might have met the satisfaction of the low echelon church priests, but it would not have been to the satisfaction of the bishops. Most of the bishops in France were from families who had previously been members of the Second Estate. The document would have essentially not just the authority that they exerted over the populations residing within their parishes, but it would greatly impair their relationship with the Papacy and, in some cases, mitigate the ambitions of the bishops. As state employees, the bishops would have been reported to the government on their communications with Rome. It would have been necessary to discuss applicable Church doctrine with the state official or department that was put in charge of the state employees. More importantly, however, is that the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was a blow to the Church’s finances. It eliminated certain sources of revenues, such as the fees charged by the Church to perform certain services in the community (Desan 5). Suzanne Desan (1990) states that while the bishops and clerics were probably willing to work with the revolutionaries to make the Constitution work for them, the vast majority of the clergy were fundamentally against it (Dessan 5). To some extent, Desan says, the bishops and clerics agreed with the reform represented by the Constitution (Desan 5). However, they still could not take affirmative action in that direction without guidance from Rome (Desan 5). While everyone waited for Rome to respond, the assembly grew impatient and acted without Rome’s authority or guidance and imposed the Constitution on the Catholic bishops and clergy (Desan 5). Whether or not the assembly predicted that Rome would withhold its approval is unclear. However, the events as they unfolded might suggest that Rome recognized that the potential for division amongst the revolutionary forces if the Pope withheld comment and let the events unfold as they would. The assembly also attempted to force the bishops and clergy to take an oath to the document, the King (who sanctioned the document), and to France. It is here that it might appear, as Desan suggests as well, that the French Revolution began to go wrong (Desan 6). â€Å"The incidence of oath taking was highest in the center, the Ile-de-France, and the southeast. In those regions later known for a high level of religious practicethe northwest, northeast/east, and the Massif Centralwell over half the clergy refused the oath. 8 Historians have frequently seen the requirement of the oath as one of the critical errors of the Revolution, for it provoked unending controversies among the clergy and laity alike and persuaded many villagers to oppose the Revolution (Desan 6).† There were conflicts within the assembly on the document as well. F. A. Aulard says that Robespierre and the ecclesiastics differed because Robespierre held that religion was an individual choice. He envisioned the government of France as one that was non-religious and focused on matters of state. The idea that the people of France would pursue their religious choices and obligations independent of their state responsibilities was truly revolutionary (Aulard 45). This was very much a Girondist sentiment, and quite different than that held by Couthon. It was Couthon who wanted to see a religious state where the â€Å"Supreme Being,† was at that center of State and Church policy. With that, The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was intended to deal with what the revolutionaries perceived to be a dangerous situation with which they were faced (Thompson 1952 22). The Catholic Church was not just the wealthiest institution in France, it was also the most powerful (22) The revolutionaries were faced with a need to take that power away from the church, but in a way in which the National Assembly would be able to absorb and make use of the power themselves (22). The holdings owned by the Church were rich and extensive in land, buildings and endowments (22). The wealth held by the Church was badly needed by the revolutionaries in order to continue moving towards their democracy. That too remained precarious, because in the first year of the revolution there was what anyone should have anticipated as chaos as people sought to bring to a violent end France’s monarch and wealthy (22). In the second year, the year in which the Constitution of the Clergy was created, there was a need to create infrastructure within the revolutionary government; as well as the desire by the vying parties to gain leadership roles in the new government (22). To allow the Catholic Church to continue to hold greater wealth and power than the revolutionaries was contrary to their movement, and it could not be allowed to happen (22). This is the way in which the National Assembly was divided in religious ideology. The Jacobins were philosophical in nature, and, as reflected in Robespierre’s ideas, saw the state independent of religious influence. Robespierre especially wanted France independent of Catholic Church influence because it stood in stark opposition to the ideological state he envisioned. Regardless of Robespierre’s aspirations for France, â€Å"The republic, once it was Montagnard, became a religion; it had its martyrs and its saints (Aulard 125).† It is at this point where the assembly began to divide, with the Jacobin and the other ideologies separate sides. This division arose out of the Constitution of the Clergy because it revised the Church in policy, and it revised the relationship the Church had with the state and with the French people. Considering that these factions existed within the assembly prior to the Constitution being imposed upon the State, it might be concluded that some of the assembly members saw potential conflict as predictable because of the relationship that the provinces had with the Church. The conflict would present for the assembly members the opportunity they needed to wrest control of France away from the Jacobins. Since Robespierre was in large part behind the Constitution of the Clergy, it was predictable, too, that the response of the people to the altered relationship between themselves and the Church would be a mitigating factor in Robespierre’s popularity. Robespierre had been raised a Catholic, but his goal was, Thompson says, to unite the country in faith if not religion â€Å"freed from Catholic dogma and clerical fanaticism (Thompson 24).† Robespierre was at heart a classical Republican, dedicated to equality, a constitutionally guaranteed order of freedoms and a document that served as a direction for the government. In dire need of cash, and on behalf of the state, Robespierre began to auction off confiscated church properties â€Å"bit by bit (Thompson 25).† The state also devised a scheme that was innovative for its time, allowing people to buy in co-owners of national properties (Thompson 25). The government program created a new class of landowner, and, more importantly, that their newfound status and land came out of the revolution meant that those people felt a loyalty to the government, and to Robespierre. It meant, too, that they would fight to prevent the nobility and royalty from returning to their previous status in France, because it would mean they would lose their newfound positions and property (Thompson 25). The Civil Constitution of the Clergy served as the basis for allegations that it was atheist in nature, and that was a document intended to further the cause and position of France’s Jewish population (Van Kley 1994 121). These two elements served as the prongs with which to separate the revolutionists, and to fuel the Church’s own quest to regain some of the power it lost to the government by the Constitution of the Clergy. By late 1791 the Constitution of the Clergy began showing the cracks of its weakness. Many people believed that the traditional Church had a place in the new government of France (Van Kley 416). As unrest spread, more attention was being focused on the Civil Constitution as undermining the people of France. That rhetoric, encouraged by Robespierre’s enemies, permeated the minds of the people who associated with the document with an anti-faith notion and with officially empowering Jews in a way that had never been done before in France. Because of this, the people of France grew restless, became agitated, and began to turn again to popular violence as a means of achieving their goals (Van Kley 417). France’s population in the provinces was feeling especially agitated and defiant. â€Å"Religious rioters mixed the sacred and the violent in powerful ways (Desan 1990 165).† After this point, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy began to fall apart with what it meant to accomplish. Disgruntled Catholics who were convinced that the revolutionary government was moving towards atheism grew angry, and mob mentality permeated the countryside. Robespierre’s government based on philosophy, which left room for the monarchy had role as did the Church began crumbling under the weight of the very document intended to help ensure a government representing greater freedoms for everyone in France. Rather than swear an oath under the Civil Constitution, a majority of bishops in France had taken flight or gone into hiding. This break in relationship with the people with whom they had built constituencies left a void in the lives of those French people who had close ties to their Church and religious leaders. Albert Soboul (1988) says that enlightened reformism does not maintain the same shape in the sovereign setting (Soboul 2). That remains true even today (Soboul 2). Suggesting that Robespierre’s ambitions for France never took the form necessary to withstand the trials and tribulations of church and state. The research of John Markoff (1996) involved creating tables for violence that Markoff directly relates to the Constituion of the Clergy (231). Violence against clerics in religious events was 58%. Violence against â€Å"old regime roles† of priest, bishop, canon, and monks was at 7% in connection with religious events, and 18% against baillages in connection with religious events (Markoff 231). Violent acts committed against nonjurors in connection with religious events was 14% (Markoff 231). Violent acts against nonjurors bailliages in connection with religious events was 34% (Markoff 231). Violence resulting in the damage to constitutionals during religious events was 26%, and those events against the constitutionals associated with bailliages was 20% (Markoff 231). The percentage to monasteries from violence or even total destruction of the monastery was 18%, and the events of violence damaging or destroying monasteries in connection with billiages was 36% (Markoff 231). Across Markoff’s chart, the events of violence and the destruction associated with the violence was greater than those incidences of violence associated with non-religious events. Markoff found that the attacks by the people related to anti-tax events were 25%, while the attacks on anti-tax ballialages was 40% (Markoff 234). Attacks on person or property of tax collectors was 30% s compared to 41% on tax bailliages (Markoff 234). Violent attacks on â€Å"all indirect taxes,† were highest of the overall anti-tax related violence (although Markoff does not define those any clearer) at 61% for anti-tax evens and 66% for anti-tax billiages events of violence (Markoff 234). The figures are consistent, and the incidence of violence that Markoff has identified as arising out of those events directly related to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy are more numerous than the events he identified as related to anti-tax incidences of violence. Markoff says that the sources he relied upon for his information in compiling the figures are reliable and thorough in recounting the events he has charted (Markoff 235). His conclusion is that the violence of the revolution was a greater reflection of the change in the relationship between the church-state-population than it was about taxes. It would suggest, too, that the pre-Civil Constitution of the Clergy relationship of between the church-state and people was such that it might even have served as a circumvention of public reaction to other matters, such as taxes. Markoff also cites documentation from Philippe Goujard which demonstrates that the rural petitioners expressed sentiments indicating that they respected the taxes but did not support the revolutionary government’s enforcement of seigneurial rights (Markoff 235). This would explain the higher percentage of attacks on local jails, police, military camps, or other type office during the post Civil Constitution of the Clergy period. Markoff cites Eugen Weber, who held that it was late in the nineteenth century that French peasantry began to look beyond their own parish and be interested in the politics and events going on elsewhere (Markoff 241). Markoff says that his work has demonstrated that it was much earlier than Weber had originally believed, and that it was really the degree to which the peasantry expressed an interest that Weber was detecting (Markoff 241). Whereas, Markoff says, his events tables show that the peasantry was responding earlier (Markoff 241). As Desan points out, there was a difference in perspective held by those people in the cities and the rural peasants (Desan 123-124). For Catholics during the Directory, liberty meant the freedom of religious expression (Desan 123-124). It is clear that the goals of the rural countryside were not as philosophical as those of the Parisians. That it was widely miscalculated as to what the rural populations were most passionate about, and that the religious relationship the rural people had with their local parishes went a long to satisfying their total philosophical curiosity. The response of the rural peasantry was one that became increasingly violent, and directed towards individuals that Markoff describes as â€Å"frequent mismatch of clerical and communal political leanings, violence against clerics rose sharply (Markoff 506).† The likelihood, Markoff says, of personal in religious clashes is, as demonstrated by the statistics cited above, much higher than any other issue arising out of the revolution (Markoff 506). There were surely to be people who anticipated some of the reactions that led to more and more violent responses on the part of the rural peasantry, and who hoped to exploit that violence to their own benefit. However, it would be a fair conclusion to say that based on the evidence presented by Markoff in his statistical tables of violence and events, that post Civil Constitution of the Clergy, as a result of that document, by way of the changes that it ushered in, the counterrevolution was indeed much more violent than it might have otherwise been had not those changes in the relationship between the people of France and their parishes taken place. Works Cited Aulard, A. The French Revolution: A Political History 1789-1804. Trans. Bernard Miall. Vol. 2. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1910. Aston, Nigel, ed. Religious Change in Europe, 1650-1914: Essays for John McManners. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997. Desan, Suzanne. Reclaiming the Sacred: Lay Religion and Popular Politics in Revolutionary France. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990. Markoff, John. The Abolition of Feudalism: Peasants, Lords, and Legislators in the French Revolution. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996. Soboul, Albert. Understanding the French Revolution. New York: International Publishers, 1988. Thompson, J. M. Robespierre and the French Revolution. London: English Universities Press, 1952. Van Kley, Dale, ed. The French Idea of Freedom: The Old Regime and the Declaration of Rights of 1789. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994.