Magazine Article on E-books

Cassettes-sidelined! DVDs –gathering dust! VHS-retired! Technology mutates and evolves leaving redundant platforms in its place. Much of the time technology is beneficial and change is good, however occasionally change is not so auspicious and we do not realise what we have lost until it’s truly gone. The book. The Bible, The odyssey and The Gruffalo (and that’s not even mentioning the poets).All books which have stood the test of time and are still being read as much today as the moment they were published; with these texts societies were bound and broken; lessons were learned and empires fell; all to the humble book. However the brazen veteran; the book; is endanger of being stripped of its crown by the young and brash E-book. In the words of Northrop Frye books are the only piece of technology which has not become socially defunct–Yet! They have stood firm whilst DVDs, tapes and vinyl like empires, rose and fell.However the frog like e-book with its dul l boring features and its fabulously annoying Wifi connectivity could be the bane of books. E-books are vastly growing in nature, like a weed; multiplying on every train, beach and plane you see them they are growing in number and his suggested by 2016 there will be nearly 10 billion of these dastardly devices roaming the world. Even the mere existence of E-books has created a whole new type of piracy where people are ripping off hard working authors and publishers by getting counterfeit e-books online for free.This illegal practice was consummated by the emotionless e-book. These characterless devices rob the tangible nature you get from books. The feel of the paper the smell of the ink all contribute to the sensation we get from reading. E-books rob this from us and sadly soon children will not understand this interaction as they will be more familiar with the blistering headache the monotonous e-book provides.

Physics Lab Report Cooling Coffee Essay

Introduction: It is Saturday afternoon. You brew yourself a cup of coffee and are just about to pour cold milk into the coffee. The doorbell rings and you realize immediately that your friend needs your help for a few minutes this afternoon. If you want to have your coffee as warm as possible after you helped your friend, what would be wise to do? Should you pour the milk now, or after you come back? Or does it make no difference? I would like to add the milk into coffee after I come back. Because the hot coffee without milk will cool longer than the warm coffee with milk. Aim: To find out the relationship between the time at which the milk is added, and the final temperature of the coffee/milk mixture. Every minute the coffee was getting cooler (milk was getting warmer until the room temperature), but when we added the milk into coffee it started to cool more faster. Variables: Independent: Dependent: the coffee/ milk temperature dependents of the room temperature. Controlled: To control variables we can change hot coffee/water and milk every minute, or put hot coffee/ water into thermos and milk into object that has same temperature. Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that will be better if we won’t add milk into coffee( because it has a cooling effect), so the coffee will be hoter if we won’t add milk into it. Apparatus: 1. 250 ml beaker 2. 50 ml beaker 3. 100 ml 4. 50 ml measuring cylinder 5. thermometer 6. kettle 7. water cooler 8. stop watch 9. stirring rod Thermometer Diagram: Thermometer Hot Coffee (200 ml) Cold Milk (50 ml) Method: 1) Take 2 test tubes 2) In the first test tube pour milk 3) In the second one pour hot coffee/hot water. 4) Put thermometers into both test tube. 5) Measure the temperature every minute. 6) Record the temperature. Data Collection: At the beginning of the experiment the temperature of the coffee/ hot water was 80.9, but the water started to cool and every minute the temperature was getting lower. 80.9| 79.9| 73.7| 71.7| 65.3| The milk was 19.8 and with every minute it was getting warmer. 19.8| 19.9| 20.1| 20.1| 20.1| So the milk and hot coffee had difference of 61.1 but after mixed together-54.5. Substance:| Temperature(c)as is| Temperature(c)after 1 min| Temperature(c)after 2 min| Temperature(c)After 3 min| Temperature(c)After 4 min| milk| 19.8| 19.9| 20.1| 20.1| 20.1| Hot water| 80.9| 79.9| 73.7| 71.7| 65.3| both mixed together| 53.1| 52.1| 51.0| 51.0| 50.3| Graph: Conclusion and Evaluation: Problems: We used only one metal rod, after hot water we put it into milk ( the rod was hot) and maybe it made a effect to results. Also we use only one thermometer in short time, after hot coffee we measured the temperature of the milk promptly, maybe this can changed results. To solve these problems we should use two metal rods and two thermometers. Make sure you read and follow the checklist!!!!! Design Design| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 1 | Define problem and select variables| Formulates a research question and identifies the relevant variables.| Formulates a research question that is incomplete or identifies only some relevant variables.| Does not identify a research question AND does not identify any relevant variables.| Marking Checklist: Research Question (RQ) or Aim clearly stated| | RQ/Aim includes Independent Variable (IV)and Dependent Variable (DV)| | IV correctly identified with units/ range| | DV correctly identified with units| | Prediction is quantitative| | A sketch graph is included, with explanation| | Prediction is explained using scientific theory| | Design| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 2 | Controlling variables| Designs a method for the effective control of the variables..| Designs a method that makes some attempt to control the variables.| Designs a method that does not control the variables.| Marking Checklist Method to manipulate IV, including specific details of range or increments| | Method for recording results, including units| | Diagram of equipment or experimental set-up | | Controlled variables presented as a table: * List all variables to be controlledFor each variable: | | How could it impact the results?| | Exactly how will it be controlled?| | Design| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 3| Developing a method for the collection of data| Develops a method that allows for the collection of sufficient, relevant data| Develops a method that allows for the collection of insufficient, relevant data| Develops a method that does not allow for any relevant data to be collected| Marking Checklist: How will your results be presented?| | Does your plan address the research question?| | Do you have a minimum of 5 different values for the independent variable?| | Do you have sufficient repeats at each value to ensure reliability?| | Is your method clearly presented and can it be easily followed by others?| | Have you addressed safety?| | Data Collection and Processing DCP| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 1| Recording raw data | Records appropriate data including units.| Records appropriate data but with some mistakes or omissions. | Does not record any appropriate raw data OR raw data is incomprehensible.| Marking Checklist: Raw data clearly distinguished from processed data (possibly separate table)| | Units of IV and DV present and correct| | All data are recorded correctly and honestly| | Decimal points consistent throughout| | Decimal points consistent with precision of the measuring equipment| | DCP| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 2| Processing raw data | Processes the raw data correctly.| Processes raw data, but with some mistakes and/ or omissions.| No processing of raw data is carried out OR major mistakes are made in processing.| Marking Checklist Calculations to determine DV carried out, if necessary | | Calculations address RQ| | Mathematics correctly applied| | Worked example calculations given| | Processed data (and decimal places) consistent with precision of recorded data| | Data Collection and Processing| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 3| Presenting processed data| Presents processed data appropriately| Presents processed data appropriately but with some mistakes or omissions| Presents processed data inappropriately or incomprehensibly| Marking Checklist: Does your graph have an informative title?| | Is it an appropriate size with suitable scales?| | Are the axes labeled with S.I./metric units?| | Are all the points accurately plotted?| | Does it have a suitable line of best fit?| | Conclusion and evaluation CE| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 1| Concluding| States a conclusion, with justification, based on a reasonable interpretation of the data| States a conclusion based on a reasonable interpretation of the data| States no conclusion or the conclusion is based on an unreasonable interpretation of the data| Marking Checklist: Have you stated the patterns or trends in your data with reference to your graph?| | Have you offered a scientific explanation of your results?| | Comparisons, if appropriate, are made | | Data related to prediction or RQ – to what extent to they agree/ disagree?| | Appropriate language used â€Å"Supports my prediction† (not ‘proves’ or ‘is correct’)| | Suggestions for further investigation stated| | CE| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 2| Evaluating procedures| Evaluates weaknesses and limitations.| Identifies some weaknesses and limitations, but the evaluation is weak or missing.| Identifies irrelevant weaknesses and limitations.| Marking Checklist: Analysis of reliability of results:| | Are data sufficient to address the RQ? | | Was the range of the IV appropriate?| | Identify & Explain anomalous data points| | Refer to data| | Some attempt to evaluate measurement/ instrument errors, systematic error problems with the method) in terms of:| | Possible effect on data| | The validity of the conclusion| | Time management or human error may be mentioned, though these are not scientific errors – they should be eliminated with good practical skills. The focus here should be on the investigation. List your errors and limitations in order; state the most significant error or limitation first! CE| Complete /2| Partial / 1| Not at all /0| Aspect 3| Improving the investigation| Suggests realistic improvements in respect of identified weaknesses and limitations.| Suggests only superficial improvements.| Suggests unrealistic improvements.| Marking Checklist: For each weakness or limitation mentioned above, how could improved experimental design remove or reduce the effect of the error in terms of:| | Techniques used to collect and record data| | Design of the investigation, including range of values chosen and repeats of each IV data point| | Realistic, specific and achievable improvements| |

What does a firm’s overall cost of capital mean?

Cost of capital is the return necessary to make a capital budgeting process worthwhile. Further, it is the returns that a company gets after an investment. This is the money that evaluates any new project of a company for it determines the minimum profit expected by investors in the business. To satisfy investors, the return on capital employed must be above the company’s average debts, thus making investments worthwhile. That is, the expected output must be more than the invested capital; the returns are more than the capital (Armitage, 2005).Moreover, if a project costs the same as the company’s average business activities, then it is wise to use the average cost of capital of the company as the base. This ensures that the company’s security on the cost of capital is calculated. It is done by first calculating the cost of debt and equity. Afterwards, calculate the expected returns after doing business. This is done by dividing the dividend payment per share wit h the market price then adding the growth rate. One can thus issue dividends to investors.From a financial manager's perspective, discuss the capital budgeting process used to identify projects that add to the firm's value? How do capital budgeting decisions help to define a firm's strategic direction? The capital budgeting process is used to identify projects that add value to a firm. Afterwards, the managers have to calculate the cash required acquiring a new building or equipment without deriving any cash benefits from the disposal of the replaced commodity.Any additional working capital in relation to the new equipment is initially outlaid and the initial investment is included as a part only if changes occur at the beginning of the project. After this, the managers calculate the terminal cash flow after the sale of the assets, savings after the operations, as well as the net present value of the assets. This procedure helps them to calculate the feasibility of purchasing an equ ipment or building. Capital budgeting decisions help to define a firm’s strategic direction by deciding whether to invest in a specific asset or project.This process helps to determine whether to engage the firm in acquiring certain assets which were not formerly used by the firm. In addition, this undertaking can help to replace any outdated assets, thus maintaining their efficiency. How does a firm’s capital structure relate to your personal capital structure? In what ways are they similar? Provide examples of how you use debt and equity in your personal financial life that parallels the basic capital structure decisions made by a firm.Capital structure is the combination of equity, debt, and other finance sources used to fund other long-term finances. It is therefore related to personal capital structure since the 2 represent the money working in the business, thus showing money flow in the business. Both are similar for they are the working capital of a business. T hey indicate the amount of money invested in the business as well as the profit gained. They both indicate the amount of borrowed capital flowing in the business.Further, they indicate any other form of capital that are used to run a personal business, such as, a dealer servicing one’s business with goods then settling the dues later. Debt and equity in personal financial life parallels the basic capital structure decisions made by a firm since the amount of money invested at the launch of the business, together with the sum total of goods provided by a dealer to be paid later in form of equity, is indicated.The amount of money borrowed by an individual to help strengthen their capital is indicated as equity for it represents the total amount borrowed to run the business. Modigliani and Miller [MM] employed the concept of arbitrage to develop their theory. Explain the concept of arbitrage and the role of arbitrage in the MM model. Discuss the assumptions and the issues underl ying the MM model. http://www. rdboehme. com/MBA_CF/Chap_15. pdf The concept of arbitrage can be explained using the analogy two different markets with one selling at a lower price.Sellers will buy from the low-price market and sell in the market with high prices. The prices thus tend to rise in the low-priced market until the difference is bridged. The role of the MM model is to indicate the safety of investments, that is, if a firm runs two companies, then one might have high market value per share but be very risky regarding market price per share. Conversely, the other may be low market price. Investors will then sell the shares of the risky firms and purchase the other’s, thus standardizing the average cost of capital of the group.The assumptions of the MM model are that the capital market is perfect if only the investors know the market forces. Further, the model classifies firms in groups according to business risks. Investors are assumed to use the operating income to determine the market price. It is also assumed that there are no corporate income taxes. The issues underlying the MM model are that it is very hard to run a business without paying of taxes. Further, the market prices fluctuate, thus the knowledge about market prices is not conclusive. It is thus hard to gauge the market price. What does a firm’s overall cost of capital mean? Cost of capital is the return necessary to make a capital budgeting process worthwhile. Further, it is the returns that a company gets after an investment. This is the money that evaluates any new project of a company for it determines the minimum profit expected by investors in the business. To satisfy investors, the return on capital employed must be above the company’s average debts, thus making investments worthwhile. That is, the expected output must be more than the invested capital; the returns are more than the capital (Armitage, 2005).Moreover, if a project costs the same as the company’s average business activities, then it is wise to use the average cost of capital of the company as the base. This ensures that the company’s security on the cost of capital is calculated. It is done by first calculating the cost of debt and equity. Afterwards, calculate the expected returns after doing business. This is done by dividing the dividend payment per share wit h the market price then adding the growth rate. One can thus issue dividends to investors.From a financial manager's perspective, discuss the capital budgeting process used to identify projects that add to the firm's value? How do capital budgeting decisions help to define a firm's strategic direction? The capital budgeting process is used to identify projects that add value to a firm. Afterwards, the managers have to calculate the cash required acquiring a new building or equipment without deriving any cash benefits from the disposal of the replaced commodity.Any additional working capital in relation to the new equipment is initially outlaid and the initial investment is included as a part only if changes occur at the beginning of the project. After this, the managers calculate the terminal cash flow after the sale of the assets, savings after the operations, as well as the net present value of the assets. This procedure helps them to calculate the feasibility of purchasing an equ ipment or building. Capital budgeting decisions help to define a firm’s strategic direction by deciding whether to invest in a specific asset or project.This process helps to determine whether to engage the firm in acquiring certain assets which were not formerly used by the firm. In addition, this undertaking can help to replace any outdated assets, thus maintaining their efficiency. How does a firm’s capital structure relate to your personal capital structure? In what ways are they similar? Provide examples of how you use debt and equity in your personal financial life that parallels the basic capital structure decisions made by a firm.Capital structure is the combination of equity, debt, and other finance sources used to fund other long-term finances. It is therefore related to personal capital structure since the 2 represent the money working in the business, thus showing money flow in the business. Both are similar for they are the working capital of a business. T hey indicate the amount of money invested in the business as well as the profit gained. They both indicate the amount of borrowed capital flowing in the business.Further, they indicate any other form of capital that are used to run a personal business, such as, a dealer servicing one’s business with goods then settling the dues later. Debt and equity in personal financial life parallels the basic capital structure decisions made by a firm since the amount of money invested at the launch of the business, together with the sum total of goods provided by a dealer to be paid later in form of equity, is indicated.The amount of money borrowed by an individual to help strengthen their capital is indicated as equity for it represents the total amount borrowed to run the business. Modigliani and Miller [MM] employed the concept of arbitrage to develop their theory. Explain the concept of arbitrage and the role of arbitrage in the MM model. Discuss the assumptions and the issues underl ying the MM model. http://www. rdboehme. com/MBA_CF/Chap_15. pdf The concept of arbitrage can be explained using the analogy two different markets with one selling at a lower price.Sellers will buy from the low-price market and sell in the market with high prices. The prices thus tend to rise in the low-priced market until the difference is bridged. The role of the MM model is to indicate the safety of investments, that is, if a firm runs two companies, then one might have high market value per share but be very risky regarding market price per share. Conversely, the other may be low market price. Investors will then sell the shares of the risky firms and purchase the other’s, thus standardizing the average cost of capital of the group.The assumptions of the MM model are that the capital market is perfect if only the investors know the market forces. Further, the model classifies firms in groups according to business risks. Investors are assumed to use the operating income to determine the market price. It is also assumed that there are no corporate income taxes. The issues underlying the MM model are that it is very hard to run a business without paying of taxes. Further, the market prices fluctuate, thus the knowledge about market prices is not conclusive. It is thus hard to gauge the market price.

Research Proposal-Intimate Partner Violence Proposal

-Intimate Partner Violence - Research Proposal Example This situation raises further concern because some hospital and clinic-based research bids have also shown that there is an association between increased IPV risk and pregnancy. As such, it becomes necessary for the obstetric-gynecologic nursing department to make rigorous screening so as to handle the health threat posed by IPV. Research has therefore been focused on the significance, completeness, acceptability and accuracy of different screening instruments and methods. Better screening methods and approaches have been identified, but the exercise of screening has not yet attained perfection due to non-disclosure. The problem is disproportionately high among immigrant minorities and this affects implementation of intervention measures to curb IPV. In order to enhance screening there is a need to find out factors that cause non-disclosure, which in turn, affects results obtained and used in decision-making and policy formulation. The determination of these factors will be a helpful step towards finding countermeasures that will help improve the screening process. This paper proposes an approach towards solving the non-disclosure challenge and its underlying causes as well as countermeasures. Key words: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), Immigrants, Minorities. ... pleteness, acceptability and accuracy of different screening instruments and methods have, either indirectly or directly been the focus of obstetric research. These questions have increased awareness on IPV prevalence, accuracy of screening among various groups and optimal approaches and tools to screening of IPV in the obstetric-gynecologic field (Liebschutz & Chuang, 2002). The results from research bids elicited by such questions have informed the formulation of effective screening of IPV among various groups and appropriateness of methods applied. In spite of improving effectiveness in screening and approaches to screening, nursing practitioners in obstetric-gynecologic nursing have become cognizant of the fact that there are still many cases of ineffective screening. This occurs due to non-disclosure, which is elicited by multiple factors. Cases of ineffective screening are prevalent within immigrant and minority groups and occur to a lesser extent within mainstream populations (Kaguyutan & Shetty, 2002; Pendleton, 2003). Specific factors that influence revelation of information during screening are prominently cited in most pieces of literature on IPV. However, there is a lack of a substantial body of research into the component factors and their relative influence on information revelation during screening and the outcomes of screening. Additionally, there is no comprehensive body of research in to how the factors that influence information revelation and screening can be positively influenced to favor screening. Indeed, effectively ascertaining the significance, completeness, acceptability and accuracy of different screening instruments, is not sufficient in helping improve the screening process (Marks et al., 1998). This is because no matter how effective a

International Relations Theories in the British Prime Minister David Essay

International Relations Theories in the British Prime Minister David Cameron's Speech to the Canadian Parliament - Essay Example Cameron emphasized the British and Canadian relationship in many parts of his address. He reminded the Canadians about their affinity to the monarchy - to the Queen and to the royal family. The Canadians are still ceremonially led by the British monarch and the citizens are favorable to such system, having high regard for the members of the Royal family. He highlighted the close relationship of the two countries, serving as a platform to introduce the successes that they achieved when they worked together in the past. Canada has always supported Britain in its military efforts and Cameron was quick to capitalize on the successes of this partnership. He referred to the two World Wars and appealed to the emotion of his audience by declaring the indebtedness of his country to the courage and commitment of Canada: In our darkest hour in World War II, Canadian naval forces helped keep the sea lanes open during the battle of the Atlantic running convoys across the Atlantic week after week, braving mines, submarines and blacked out silent ships. All of which proved absolutely fundamental to our ability to survive as an independent country.   The above variables became significant as Cameron outlined the modern global problems - security and economy. The trends in the global landscape, particularly those as explained by the globalization principle, made it possible for the economic upheavals to be felt all over the world. This is especially true in the case of negative consequences. In addition, to this there is also the fact that as states are incorporated into the modern global system, their coercive capabilities were undermined, in effect, â€Å"weakening [their] legitimacy and subverted [their] capacity to manage the inevitable engagement with the global economy† (Burnell and Randall 25). There is an attempt, as demonstrated, by Cameron’s speech to go back on past alliances to cultivate new and stronger partnerships so that Britain and Canada could effectively navigate the international economic system brought about by the globalizing forces. This in consonance with the liberal theory, wherein states are partners in the development process. It is important to remember that a crucial characteristic of dependency theory and liberal theory is that both are products of history and stages by which international order emerged. By drawing on the two country's unique and close relationship and by highlighting the shared history, Cameron employed the strengths of the dependency theory and built a case for partnership, congruent to the liberal ethos, in order to advance economic cooperative measures. For instance, as previously mentioned Cameron has cited the numerous instances wherein Canada supported Britain. He did not fail to imply, however, that Canada could benefit from such support. He cited the case of Britain’s support for the Canadian resolution at a G8 summit, the Muskoka Initiative. He also hinted at the crucial role of Britain in the capability of Canada to strengthen its defenses. The theme of Cameron’s speech marginalized other theories such feminism and global ecopolitical theories. They were not significant in the themes that he chose to elaborate on. With regards to dependency theory, there was no

Cuban Collection Against the United States Essay

Cuban Collection Against the United States - Essay Example This paper will also examine if the Cubans are just hedging their bets in case the United States decides to launch a regime change against the communist nation. Plans to purchase Cuba from the Spanish Empire were put forward by the United States. This saw the United States having a strong influence in Cuban’s political affairs (Leslie 1994, 24). However, there had been an intriguing collection of espionage cases on the US department of Defense: Defense Personnel Security Research Centre (Collins 2001, 23). After World War II, there were ‘number stations’ all round the globe which were described as shortwave radio stations characterized by their unique broadcasts (Moreno 2012, 15). The best known of the number stations was the â€Å"Lincolnshire poacher†, suspected to have been run by the SIS (Moreno 2012, 17). Later on in 2001, the United States government arrested the Cuban five on charges related to spying for Cuba. They were alleged to have received messages from a Cuban number station broadcast (Collins 2001, 78). Others even claimed that these stations related to illegal drug smuggling (Leslie 1994, 35). However, this was not the end of all the spying cases on the United States. In 2001, Anna Montes who was a senior US Defense Intelligence agency analyst was arrested and charged for espionage crimes. Anna Montes communicated with the Cuban Intelligence Directorate through messages encoded and received by the encrypted shortwave transmissions from Cuba (Moreno 2012, 34). However, this did not end even before the arrest of Carlos Alvarez, his wife Elsa, and even the arrest of Walter Kendall Myers in 2009. Allegedly, Walter Myers was charged with con spiracy to spy for Cuba by receiving and decoding some messages that were being sent from the Cuban Intelligence Directorate’s number station (Moreno 2012, 39). The Cuban government came up with all these ways of spying on the United States in order to avoid the United States government from

Current Issue Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Current Issue - Coursework Example While the U.S. battles with the ranks of fearful parents, the the anti-vaccine movement has grown exponetially in Europe and Russia, much to the detriment of the children involved. That is the claim made by Maggie Fox (2015) in her NBC article â€Å"Vaccinate Against Measles, WHO Tells Europe and Russia†. Basically, the importane of vaccination is not something to be toyed with as it can help to prevent the future spread of diseases as in the case of Polio in the United States. By vaccinating a child early against Measles, he is given a chance to prevent the spread of the illness to other children he comes into contact with and in the process â€Å"kills† a carrier line of the virus (â€Å"Five Inmportant Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child†). This is a reason that I totally agree with as I have seen first hand the effects of Polio in non-vaccinated children in poor countries where vaccination is not possible. However, in other areas of the world such as the Philippines in Asia, where the same vaccine is mandatorily given, there are no active cases of polio. Vaccinating a child against a life debilitating illness such as Measles is not something that a loving parent should be willing to not consider. Afterall, if a doctor told them that there was a vaccine for the common cold, they would be the first one to sign up their child for the vaccine. So, it is important to make sure that children, who cannot protect themselves, are properly protected by their parents against existing viruses (â€Å"Reasons to Have Your Child Vaccinated†). As a future responsible parent, I fully support the idea of prevention rather than having to find a cure. If you prevent the spread of an illness or prevent your child from contracting it, then you have already paid it forward to the next child, whose immune system may not be as strong as his parents might think. Fox, M. (2015). Vaccinate against Measles, WHO tells Europe and Russia. nbcnews.com.nbcnews.com Retrieved

A survey on Finnish SMEs investment Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

A survey on Finnish SMEs investment - Thesis Example 46 4.12 Findings of Secondary Survey†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 47 4. ANALYSIS†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 52 5.1 Interpretation of SME’s Investment Policy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 54 5.2 Analysis of SME’s Employment Strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 55 5. CONCLUSION†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 56 6. SOURCES†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 59 List of Tables Page No Table 1. No of Each Type of Firms in Finland’s Economy in 2009 7 Table 2. Total Tur nover of the Four Types of Firms in 2009 8 Table 3. Comparison of Finnish SMEs Facts with corresponding data average of the EU countries in 2004, 2005 5 Table 4: SME’s Investment Performance in the past one year 26 Table 5: Future Investment Plan of Finnish SMEs for next one year 28 Table 6: SMEs opinion regarding the factors which could limit their investment and growth 31 Table 7: Preference of the SMEs in directing their Investment Projects towards specific Aims 34 Table 8: SMEs Employment Performance in the past one year 36 Table 9: SME’s Plan of Employment during next one year 38 Table 10: SME’s Opinion about the importance of Regulatns in influencing the Firm’s Grwth and Operations 40 Table 11: SMEs Sales Performance over the past one year 42 Table 12: Future Sales Plan of Finnish SMEs for next one year 43 Table 13: SMEs Debt Performance during the past one year 44 Table 14: Future Debt Plan of Finnish SMEs for next one year 46 Table 15: The Role of SMEs in the Finland Economy in 1991 47 Table 16: Number of SMEs in Finland according to Firm Size and Turnover in 2003 47 Table... According to the Business Register of Statistics of Finland, in 2002 the country’s economy was home to 226,600 business enterprises (excepting those related to agriculture). The total turnover of these organizations was EUR 274 billion and they provided employment to 1,315,000 persons in the economy. Out of this total, 99.7% of the firms could be categorized as SMEs, which accounted for 52% of the gross turnover of the industrial sector and employed 61.5 % of the total working force of the economy. Among the total number of business enterprises, 40% were owned by self-employed entrepreneurs (OECD, 2005, p.213). The Federation of the Finnish Enterprises conducted a survey and found that there were 263, 759 business enterprises in Finland’s economy (excluding agriculture, forestry and fishing). They classified them into four categories according to their number of employees and noted the number of firms under each category. They also surveyed the total turnover and the nu mber of employees of each of the four classes of firms. According to the Report of the European Commission Enterprise and Industry (ECEI) regarding Finland’s business scenario, there are about 36 SMEs present in the economy for every 1000 citizens. In comparison, other countries of the European Union (EU) have an average of 40 SMEs per 1000 inhabitants in their economies. In Finland, the micro firms and the small enterprises employ a comparatively lower number of people than their counterparts in the EU countries.

The difference between IT And IS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The difference between IT And IS - Essay Example In the contemporary environment of advancing technology and globalization, dynamic strategies and exploiting knowledge and information become major enabling elements of competitive advantage. Technology has redefined business dynamics with far reaching ramifications for businesses as well as for people at large.Balutis (2009) has emphasized that businesses need to address the challenges of technology and make them integral part of their business strategies. Indeed, technology has emerged as powerful tool of communication which must be innovatively exploited within organizations for creating a wider database of new opportunities and scope. Information system and technology are part of broader spectrum of knowledge application mechanisms that facilitate firms to explore new opportunities and maintain their niche position in the industry. The paper would therefore be discussing the role of information system and information technology in the knowledge management. Differences between Inf ormation system and information technology Cohen (1997, 2000) has contested that information system is very complex because it encompasses diversity of issues and concepts which are open to myriad interpretations. It is therefore an evolving process where environmental changes and scientific developments redefine contexts and mechanisms to give new meaning to an issue or defined paradigm. Drucker (1998) strongly asserts that access to information is the prerequisite element of success within firms. Information facilitates wide ranging knowledge about the existing and emerging paradigms of businesses which is exploited by them to gain market leverage. Most importantly, information greatly improves and improvises the work productivity of workers who are better informed and can make effective decisions (Johnson & Lederer, 2010). Thus, while information can be broadly described as collation of data into meaningful form, the information system is the mechanism of storing and manipulating the strategic business information for higher growth and efficient delivery of organizational goals and objectives (Phillip, 2007: Stonier, 1997.). Information technology, on the other hand, refers to all computing technologies that facilitate information dissemination. It encompasses collaborating tools of communication that are used by firms and people to gain knowledge and apply them within the business processes. The broader precinct of information technology facilitates selection, creation, application, integration and administration of computing technologies so as to meet the goals and objectives of businesses and provide firms with unique capabilities to meet new challenges (Melville et al., 2004)). Thus IT caters to the planning and management of various hardware and software products lifecycle so that technology can constantly meet the changing needs and requirements of the organization. Consequently, information system and information technology primarily differ in their objectives and the context of application. Information system helps develop database of information that is streamlined into defined format so as to acquire value for the user. The fundamental objective of creating information system is to ensure smooth flow of relevant information across people that would help them in making informed decisions for higher performance outcome (Reynolds, 2010). At the same time, information technology provides the facilitating platform of computing technology vis-a-vis hardware and software tools that facilitate networking and flow of information across people and places. Thus IT serves as a key mechanism to integrate various modules of information system regarding the various processes and spheres of business paradigms to produce the desired outcome of efficiency, quality, productivity and revenue or profit. Knowledge management and technology Knowledge management by organizational leadership is inherently linked to the tacit manipulation of informed choices (Bateman & Snell, 2008). The transfer of

Total Integration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Total Integration - Essay Example Technology played a big role in setting the pace for these changes. As we approach the era of globalisation and liberalisation, and the channels of communication become diverse and more consumer friendly, reaching out to the customer is not considered the task of marketing department in isolation. Now the customer can be reached through the online route, different types of web-services etc. besides the traditional methods like media advertising, sponsorships, word of mouth publicity etc. Now an increasing emphasis is being laid on creating goodwill amongst the existing as well as prospective customers. Such efforts require that an integrated approach is adopted towards the ultimate objective. Total integration strategy is a broader term which involves an integrated approach in dealing with human resources, manufacturing, marketing, R&D and other supporting wings of the business entity. Environmental concerns and philanthropic efforts have also become integral parts of the creating goodwill and adding more market space. In addition to adding more features, value addition becomes the key component of product differentiation. Market led forces necessitate that the company should come out with a product which appeals to the customer's requirements. Piercy (2002) points out that total integration calls for change in thinking of the company from the traditional functions like marketing, sales, production etc. to the need for seeking active cooperation and coordination from all the stakeholders in the business. Such an approach in fact divides the marketing function also in four different segments namely; Integrated or Full service Marketing Departments: Such marketing departments are the one's which have become a norm now a days. Value addition and customer care happen to be the topmost priority in these types of marketing wings. Lack of adequate time, a fast life, range of available other brands in the market and evolving needs of the customer necessitate such an approach on the part of the manufacturer and the service provider. The emphasis in such an approach is not on operational effectiveness, but on value addition and other effective strategies instead. Porter (1996) points out that, for a company to outperform its rivals it has to establish a difference and subsequently to preserve it. This can be done in a effective manner by delivering a greater value to the customer, creating comparable value at lower cost or to do both. The full service marketing departments are not only meant for soliciting sales orders, but they also have the added responsibility of reaching out to the c ustomer, by integrating marketing campaigns or otherwise. In view of added responsibilities to such department Piercy (2002) states that such departments can wield 'clout' in the company affairs. In fact while product differentiation is key to an integrated approach, the evolving nature of core competencies has also become the hallmark of globalisation and competitive era. Nicholas (1996) also points out towards the changing nature of core competencies when he points out that Core competences can indeed deliver sustainable competitive advantage, but with competitor making inroads into the turf and affecting the needs of the customer, a phase invariably arrives when companies are supposed to unlearn these competencies and a company which can move easily through such a transition process find the sustainable business goal rather easily.

Histology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Histology - Case Study Example This patient had shoulder pains and later was diagnosed with carcinoma of scapula and spine. It was found that the metastasis was from the lung. Identification of Metastatic tissues: The Fourier transform-infrared statistical models are able to identify the changes in structure of DNA at different levels of development of tumors. The DNA structures that are connected to the development of metastasis are usually foreordained in the progenitor cells much earlier in several steps of tumorigenesis. Biopsy and immunoglobulin methods used to diagnose cancer. People having metastasis in lungs may not show symptoms early but through medical examination and with using imaging techniques can be used to diagnose primary cancer that lead to the diagnosis of pulmonary metastasis. In case of slow developing primary tumor, metastasis can be noticed much early at the initial stages of the disease. The spread is usually through blood, lymphatic vessels or both. Identified cells in sample of lung tissue and their characteristics: The affected cells in the lung tissues are like the goblet cell, epithelial cells basal cells etc. The epithelia cells have a define shape. The following are the characteristics of the epithelia cells i.e. they can be polygonal or cuboidal or rectangular. Few are irregular. They are compactly arranged on a tiny membrane. They usually lack intercellular spaces. They have a lot of cytoplasm. They are uninucleate. They can undergo mitotic divisions. Goblet cells have the following characteristics i.e. they are cup shaped and produce mucous fluid composed of a protein called mucin that is bonded with an electrolyte solution. Identifying cells responsible for the tumor: Melanoma pigment is found on these epithelia cells once they are metastasized. Melanoma can be described as a cancer of cells that produce pigments and are found on the mucous membranes. Their presence is an indication cancer and should therefore

Resistance of a wire Essay Example for Free

Resistance of a wire Essay We undertook an experiment to find the relationship between resistance and a length of wire. Equipment: Variable resister, Wire 1m long, Digital voltmeter, Digital ammeter, 4 X 1. 5 cell, 1m ruler, Connecting wires. Method We collected our equipment needed and set it out as the circuit diagram below. I started by drawing out my results table to record my results on. The headers for the columns where as follows: Length (cm), Current (A), Potential difference (V) and Resistance (I). At every 10cm we took a reading and entered it into our table. Some flickered between two values so I took both down. Starting at 1m and working down. On the second experiment I started at 10cm and worked the other way to see whether it affected the results. When using the variable resistor we kept it on the minimum resistance throughout the experiment. While taking the results we had more than one result for the current and potential difference, which in turn caused some results to have more than one resistance value. Because of this I had to alter our table slightly during the experiment to ensure we took down all the results. To ensure the test was as fair as possible I repeated the test to ensure the experiment was fair and true. Looking at my results in the table they are very similar which proves that it was fair. Results These tables show my results from the experiment and the sum for: V I R First experiment: Length (cm) Current (A) Second reading for (A) Potential difference (V) Resistance ? (I) Second result for (I). Second experiment: Length (cm) Current (A) Second reading for (A) Potential difference (V) Second result for (V) Resistance ? (I) Second result for (I) Third result for (I) Fourth result for (I) I have drawn graphs for these results: see appendix a and b. Analysis My results show that the resistant relates to the length of the wire used. As the current increases the potential difference does and the resistance decreases. As the length of wire is reduced the potential difference reduces and so does the current. There is a slight difference between our first and second experiment. Both graphs show that there is a definite pattern but there are some anomalies. The anomalies seem to be separate from the other results. But this anomaly happened on both experiments on 60cm. There may be some other reason for this. I cannot see why it should happen on both sets of results at the same measurement. Both graphs are similar and follow a very similar line. Graph A shows quite a straight line with only one less extreme anomaly where as graph B show a reasonably straight line with one major anomaly which stand out considerable from the rest. On both graphs the results take a wavelike form rather than a straight line. The results do to an extent follow Ohms law. On graph A, 4 of the plots run on the same line, which agrees with Ohms law, and graph B 4 plots do the same. The second graph started at a lower current and potential difference but I think it should be higher because of the use of the wire before which could have increased the temperature. On the second experiment there was more flickering on the ammeter and voltmeter, which caused the increase in the results. Although the flickering occurred it was constant. On table 1 the potential difference decreased in shorter stages that table 2. When plotting my results on a graph I had to take an average from my results. Conclusion Current id the flow of electrons around the circuit this is pushed by voltage. The resistance tries to oppose it. This is apparent from looking at our experiment results. The resistance stays constant as long as the component does not change its physical condition i. e. The wire does not get hot. George ohm was the first scientist to investigate this theory. The resistance is measured in Ohms Resistance at a constant temperature is proportional to potential difference. The relative size of the voltage and resistance decides how bit the current will be. By increasing the voltage more current will flow but by increasing the resistance the current is less. This is shown in our results. Our results agree with the theory. 100cm of wire = little current but a lot of P. D = lots of resistance 10cm of wire = lots of current but little P. D = little resistance This shows the longer the piece of wire the more resistance Wires of different material have different resistance: Copper wire I Steel wire V The graph shows above that cooper wire has a low resistance and is a good conductor. Steel has a higher resistance and a lower conductivity. Both wires have the same potential difference (voltage) across them. Wire A. I Wire B Wire C V As you can see above different wires have different resistance. Evaluation There were a few problems that occurred in our experiment such as the flickering of the ammeter and voltmeter, which caused us to have to take more than one result. On both graphs there was an anomaly on 60 cm. There may be some other reason for this. Both graphs are very similar and follow a very similar line. Graph A shows quite a straight line with only one anomaly where as graph B show a straight line with one major anomaly which stand out considerable from the rest. On 60cm the potential difference increased on both sets of results. The temperature of the wire was not taken to see whether it had increased in temperature during the experiment. It does not show increased resistance on the second table, which was taken straight after the first experiment, which could have affected it. By taking the temperature of the wire on the same resistance for a period of time we could see how long it takes for the temperature to increase and in turn for the resistance to increase. This could help with evaluating our results and also time the experiment to see how long the wire had current flowing through it and then if it had increased in temperature. The results are reasonably reliable because the do to an extent obey Ohms law. I think the reason for the unreliability could have been because the wire had changed its physical condition (got hotter). To further our investigation we could go on and use a longer piece of wire 2m and also use different types of wire such as steel and copper. Change the temperature of the wire because wire that is colder is a better conductor. I believe our results were reliable but need improving by the suggestions I have given above. Bibliography Hodder and Stoughton AQA GCSE Physics Class notes   CPG Revision and Practice Guide Alison Eatock GCSE Physics 30/11/03 Resistance of a wire 1 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Impact of Beliefs on Learning | Essay

Impact of Beliefs on Learning | Essay CPPD Introduction Reflection has become a fundamental component of professional development of teachers and lecturers in the Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) sector (Harkin, 2005). The lifelong learning sector can be seen to transcend both these paradigms and contexts of post-compulsory learning. This essay addresses some key elements of reflecting upon the experience of a teacher in Beauty Therapy within the lifelong learning sector, addressing the intersection between the personal and experiential and the theoretical/pedagogical aspects of the role and its function. Teaching roles and context within the lifelong learning sector Teaching roles within the lifelong learning sector seem to be related to the kind of teaching, the kind of subject, and the kind of learner (Zukas, 2006), a three-way relationship which I have observed to be perhaps more negotiated upon a day to day basis than founded in one single pedagogical theory or framework. It is notable that within the lifelong learning sector, there seems to be a crossover between the vocational type of education, and more traditional ‘teaching’, and in particular, these roles of ‘teachers’ are very much based on how best to meet student needs. Therefore, it seems that one element of the teaching role within this context is related to learning ‘on the job’ or learning through doing (Eraut, 2004), and the ‘becoming’ element of the process of ‘becoming’ a teacher in this context is a response to the demands of the job, rather than a formal process which prepares you to carry out the role. While t his might run against the theories of pedagogy, being a much more personal take on what the teaching role is, it is based on perceptions of professional identity as well as an understanding of dominant concepts of the role in a formal sense (Beckett and Gough, 2004). Austerlitz and James (2008) describe the emotional journeys that students go through in further education as a process of cognition through which emotions help students to appraise situations and develop knowledge and understanding. This may be an important perspective to consider within the lifelong learning sector, because of the range of types of students and types of subjects that are prevalent within this sector. There is no single student demographic, no single approach to pedagogy, no one-size-fits-all model of teaching and learning. Bathmaker and Avis (2005) carried out research into professional identity formation amongst trainee FE lecturers, and found that â€Å"rather than identifying effective processes of increasing participation in existing communities of practice, a strong sense of marginalisation and alienation amongst trainees was observed† (p 47). Bathmaker and Avis (2005) suggest that this lack of engagement in communities of practice is â€Å"detrimental both to trainees and experienced lecturers if they are to actively engage in building new forms of professionalism for the future† (p 47). I would draw from this the concept that formal training processes do not necessarily pos itively contribute to role formation, definition and professional identity, and that learning is much more experiential and interactive. Hagger et al (2008) support this view, and suggest that experiential learning dominates learning of this type. Own teaching role and context within the lifelong learning sector My own teaching role is to teach and support students to learn on two levels. The first is to learn the practical skills and abilities of the beauty therapy industry, so that they can become capable, effective practitioners. Beauty therapy is no ‘soft option’. In fact, there is a great deal of precision, dexterity and deeper learning involved in acquiring the skills to function as a therapist. The second element of the learning is for students to develop knowledge and understanding of the body, of health, of individuals and their holistic wellbeing, in order to contextualise the activities that they carry out within their roles, and to be able to provide suitable treatments, therapies and the like to appropriate clients. The third element of the role is to support students to develop the communication and interaction skills necessary to be able to bring together knowledge and practical skill into their own ‘professional role’ and identity, and work effective ly as a therapist within a team. My role within this setting is to ‘teach’, but also to facilitate learning, raise difficult issues, support students to resolve complex questions, and act as a role model. Part of my role is to assess practical activities, and then provide feedback so that students can learn from their experiences and learn to improve their own practice through reflection and evaluation (Edwards and Nicoll, 2006; Solomon et al, 2006). My role also involves becoming more aware of the impact of my role on the students, and attempt to be as good a ‘teacher’ as I can be. More and more, however, my role involves other activities, including administration, engaging in marketing and recruitment activities, and looking for new topics and curriculum developments (Chivers, 2006). Impact of own beliefs, assumptions and behaviours on learners and others My own beliefs about learning affect not only the learners who I interact with, but also their interactions with others, particularly clients. I believe that my own actions, reflections, and the way I respond to emergent situations within the teaching context are likely to affect the students and how they learn as much as the formal, planned learning activities I provide for them. It is through reflection on my actions as a teacher that I have realised that reflection itself becomes a reflexive process, which changes the way I behave and react to students, which then changes their responses to me. Austerlitz and James (2008) have developed a model which describes and captures PPD statements which are used in the further and higher education sectors (see Figure 1). Figure 1 PPD Model (after Austerlitz and James, 2008). This model encompasses many of my own beliefs about the ways in which students interact with their learning processes, and in particular, how they respond to my teaching and learning activities. Every aspect of learning must have an emotional element, and to exclude this from pedgagogical processes and theories is to overlook important aspects of how students learn and how they behave when applying that learning. Yet there is some evidence that current perceptions of teaching roles within the FE sector are also changing (Thompson and Robinson, 2008). I believe that the Austerlitz and James (2008) model could provide a means by which students could themselves identify the emotional elements of their learning and address this, through reflection, in proactive ways. Impact of own professional, personal and interpersonal skills, including literacy, numeracy and ICT skills on learners and others. I have used a range of teaching approaches, including some innovative use of ICTs, including using ICTs to make posters and mind maps, to encourage the application of new knowledge and exploration of complex situations. These have had a positive effect on some students who relate well to ICTs, particularly younger students, and have also helped students who are more visual learners. However, in relation to professionalism, I think it is my professional skills and experience which have positively impacted on students’ development of awareness and understanding of the complex interactions between beauty therapist and client. The current social construction of beauty, particularly in relation to ageing, raises issues about client experiences and emotional/psychological wellbeing (Paulson, 2008; Radley, 2000). Students need to understand the emotions and thoughts which underlie the desire that women have for the different kinds of beauty therapies, and be able to interact in a cre dible way with clients and meet their requests in appropriate ways. My own professionalism helps this because I set a good example, exemplify proper interactions, and support students to address often challenging issues such as intimacy, privacy, body-image and the like. Conclusion Overall, the most important aspect of my role as an educator is as a role model, and not simply as a role model of good communications behaviours or good practical skills, but as a questioning, reflective, responsibly practitioner, who sees clients as individuals, not just in relation to their treatments. It is important not to simply perpetuate traditional ways of working, but to question practice and the self in the professional context, and by acting as a reflective practitioner myself, I can encourage my students to develop similar skills and perhaps become better professionals because of it. References Austerlitz, N. and James, A. (2008) Reflections on emotional journeys: a new perspective for reading fashion students’ PPD statements. Art, Design and Communication in Higher Education 6 (3) 209 – 219. Chivers, G. (2006) The work roles and development needs of vocational lifelong learning professionals in British higher education. Journal of European Industrial Training 30 (3) 166-187. Zukas, M. (2006) Pedagogic learning in the pedagogic workplace: educators’ lifelong learning and learning futures. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning 2 (3) 71-80.

General Information And The History Of Beer

General Information And The History Of Beer Beer is the oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic drink in whole world and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. Beer is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mostly produced from cereal grains and usually malted barley, and also wheat, corn wheat and rice may be used as well. Almost all beers are flavored with hops. Hops are also used to add bitterness to the beer and be as a natural preservative. Although there are deferent beers with flavored with herbs or fruit smell. Beer has appeared between 9,000 and 14,000 years ago, being as old as the civilization. Beer is one of the oldest products of civilization, and may even have been a stepping-stone to the invention of leavened bread. The grain, from which beer is made, was the first domesticated crop that started the process of farming during the nomadic times. By that time the beer was cloudy and not filtered, and people were using à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾drinking straws when drinking beer, in order to avoid brewing residue in the mouth (Wikipedia, 2011). In ancient times beer was mostly used as barter, instead of being sold and a Babylonian King had even introduced a daily norm of beer per day. A normal worker received 2 liters, civil servants 3 liters, administrators and high priests 5 liters of beer per day. The Egyptians also have taken part in the history of beer brewing. They have been experimenting with unbaked bread dough and were improving the taste of beer. Beer is an especially important drink in countries such as Belgium, Germany, Ireland , and the UK, with nations such as France, the Scandinavian countries, the Czech Republic, and others having strong and unique brewing traditions with their own history, characteristic brewing methods, and styles of beer producing. RELATION BETWEEN GERMANY AND BREWING The most widely known event in the history of brewing is the establishment of standards for brewers by the Germans. They decided that to the production of beer, only four ingredients should be used: water, malted barley, malted wheat and hops. It is emphasize that beer was for the first time brewed on German soil. Germans brewed beer not just for God sacrifices, but also for their own enjoyment. Germans started to open even brewery family businesses. Beer is in Germany a major part of their national culture. Germany has more breweries than in any other country. There are almost 1,300 businesses producing beer. Figure 1 German Beer Statistics % Age of European Production: 26.5% Total beer consumption: 107,800,000 hectoliter Consumption per head: 131.7 l Number of breweries: 1294 Beer exports: 8,539,000 hectoliter Beer imports: 2,168,000 hectoliter Draught beer percentage: 22% Notes: The only countries with which Germany has a trade deficit in beer are Belgium, the Czech Republic and Mexico. MARKET STRUCTURE On the one hand, Germans are beer drinking nation. Their consumption per/capita is almost 60% higher than the western European average consumption and the beer market from Germany is still the largest in the world. Even if there are 1,300 breweries in Germany, therefore Germanys beer market is highly competitive. Their output is only around a third of the whole beer production in EU. On the other hand German consumers started to move away from the alcoholic drinks, the desire of a healthier way of leaving is rising, and German is tend to consume more mineral water, juice and coffee. The result of this is 7% drop in the beer consumption in Germany since 1998. Even though Bavarian-style beer continued to grow, and beer-based mixed continue to have high demand. Young generations of consumers are trying to discover new and different types of drinks, such as beer mixed with lemon-lime soda or cola etc. Imported beer is account only 5, 9% of the total beer consumption in Germany. This is due to the fact that domestic breweries created a strong preference among the consumers. The import share remains more or less constant in spite of several major international breweries that previously sold their products through exports now producing under license in Germany. Pils is the dominant segment in Germany with a market share of some 60% in total. In addition, there are a number of special German beer types such as Weizen, Alt and Kà ¶lsch. EVALUATION OF MAJOR BREWERY COMPANIES IN GERMANY BECKS BREWERY is a brewing company in the north part of Germany, in city of Bremen, since 1873. Becks was first owned by a local family, and later it was sold to InterBrew. Becks beer is famous of it quality and world-wide known brand, drunk by millions of consumers every year and is ranking number 5 among the most selling beers in Germany. By exported volume, Becks is on the first place among German Beers, and it is sold in more than 100 countries in the world. The largest markets for Becks outside Germany are the United Kingdom, the USA, the Ukraine, Australia, Italy, Romania, and Russia (Brauerei Beck Co, 2011). Products of Becks Brewery Becks the main brand, a pilsner Becks Blue (Alcohol Free) Becks Premier Light Becks Gold Becks Green Lemon Becks Green Lemon Alcohol Free Becks Chilled Orange Becks Level 7 Becks Ice Becks NEXT Becks Dark Becks Oktoberfest Becks VIER Becks Brewery is an attraction of the city, because the company organizes tours in the inside the brewery and gives sample of finished products and afterwards visitors can enjoy food at the Becks cafà ©, or browsing for beer-related souvenirs. Besides the organizing tours, the company also uses other ways to advertise its products. The sponsor various sport events, festivals and have more advertisements on TV and magazines. OETTINGER BREWERY is the best selling beer brand in Germany since 2004 with an output of almost 6.61 million hectoliters sold annually. Moreover a big factor that contributes to this big amount of sales is the low-price strategy. Oettinger appeared in the market, by using a gap from it industry. The brewery started to sell cheap beer in big volumes, so that people would afford it and would have a beer they just wanted for the lowest price and relatively good quality. In order to avoid competition, Oettinger bought the beer brand 5.0 Original and the corresponding brewery in Braunschweig. Braunschweig was his competitor, a brewery from the same segment of market (The Oettinger Group, 2011). Oettinger uses different ways to maintain the beer price as low as possible: No advertisement and promo campaigns. Concentrating only one the one brand, compared to other breweries which have twenty and same times even more brands. Direct delivery from brewery to stores, no intermediaries. The brewing process is highly automated only few employees are needed for production. PORTER 5 FORCES ANALYSIS Force 1: Supplier power Suppliers have small bargaining power in the brewing business, which works in technique brewers goodwill. There are a lot manufacturers and suppliers who provide brewing equipment. Brewers can also buy used or refurbished already existing equipment. Many of the companies that supply brewing equipment do not focus just on that area, they also offer other products and services and the brewing equipment is just one phase of their operation. Supplier concentration is low, which can possibly increase the sustainable profits. As far as supplier substitutes, the ingredients that go into the brewing of beer cannot be replaced. Those ingredients are necessary for the production. Brewing must have malt, hops, barley, yeast, and water. The beer brewing industry relies heavily on supplier input. Especially the ingredients that are in beer, consequently the suppliers are in constant need to keep this industry operational. Which means there is a threat of supplying integration; the larger brewing companies produce enough capital to possibly buy plots of land to grow their own malt, hops, or barley (Beer Brewers Industry Analysis, 2008). Force 2: Buyer power The main buyers of beer in the brewing industry are distributors. There are over 1,900 beer distributors nationwide servicing approximately 320,000 retail businesses. Bargaining power of buyers increase when: there are few distributors in the market; the distribution industry is increasing very fast than the manufacturers industry; and when new competition cannot emerge. The distributors are the ones with all the connections to the consumers retailers, thus the distributor control the prices based on what income margins they require. The distributors are consolidating and increasing in power. Moreover, distributors are limiting new competition. So, overall the Porters force of Buyer Power is a negative for the Beer Brewing Industry (Beer Brewers Industry Analysis, 2008). Force 3: Substitutes Figure 2 Beverage Consumption Category % Of Beverage Consumption Soft drinks 49.0% Beer 19.4% Fruit beverages 13.2% Bottled water 12.2% Sports drinks 1.8% Wine 1.7% Rtd tea 1.6% Spirits 1.1% Total beverages 100.0% Beer has a lot of substitutes as you can see from Figure 2 some of them are wine, spirits, wine cooler, and specialty drinks. But also soft drinks, water, fruit juices, tea, and sports drinks may be considered as its substitutes. According to the figures from the Beverage World Publications Group, Beer constitutes for 19.4% and soft drinks account for 49.0%. This makes beer consumed more than bottled water, fruit juices, sports drinks, wine, spirits and tea. These factors increase the threat of substitute goods for the beer industry, which has a negative effect on industry profits (Beer Brewers Industry Analysis, 2008). Force 4: Rivalry Rivalry is the extent to which companies compete with one another for customers. Rivalry can be price-based or non price-based (Michael Porters Five Forces, 2009) Rivalry is measured by the concentration level of the industry; the more concentrated the industry, the less rivalry. Other factors that increase rivalry are large capital asset requirements and high switching costs. This industry is experiencing significant concentration effects, which decreases rivalry. Also, there are significant barriers to exit, which increases rivalry. The proposed joint venture MillerCoors would act to decrease rivalry overall. Therefore, the overall effect of rivalry on this industry is neutral (Beer Brewers Industry Analysis, 2008). Force 5: Entry Barriers In the Germany beer brewing industry there are a substantial amount of entry barriers that protect the firms currently in the industry from the new entrants. Price competition combined with increasing vertical integration and the inherent production economy of the market leaders makes it very difficult for an inefficient major brewer to compete on a national scale. (CNBC, 2011 Liquor Sales Slow Along With Econom) Overall the German brewing industry faces a large amount of barriers to entry as there are economies of scale, brand loyalty and large capital requirements, product differentiation effects, possibly limited access to distribution channels, and large amount of government regulations. All of these factors reduce the threat of entry into the national beer brewing industry which in turn raises the industrys potential for sustained profits (Beer Brewers Industry Analysis, 2008). 5 FORCE SUMMARIES Force Key Drivers Effect on Industry Profit Bargaining Power of Suppliers Small suppliers relative to brewers + Bargaining Power of Buyers Consolidation of industry; distribution connected to retailers Substitutes Growing substitute industry; low switching cost Rivalry High concentration; high innovation Entry Barriers High capital requirements, economies of scale, closed distribution channels, high government regulation. + Conclusion In conclusion I would like to emphasize that beer market in Germany is very product differentiated and diverse. The competition forces are high and in parallel, customers have different offers from what to choose. Germany is the biggest exporter of beer in the world and has the most breweries. Beer has various substitutes, even though it is on the second place among other drinks. Each brewery is trying to gain competitive advantage. Oettinger lowers the prices and Becks uses more advertising channels.

Was Colonialism Good for Uganda? :: African Africa History

Was Colonialism Good for Uganda? Introduction The past is another country, where it is only possible to go as a tourist, and which we will never fully understand. We can describe what we see, but it is far more difficult to know why people acted in the way they did, or what they believed, and why they believed it. Uganda too is another country, which did not even exist before the white man went there. Even the name reflects the ideas of the first explorers, whose gateway into the new territory was via the Buganda tribe, whom they were later to use as their colonial agents as British rule was extended. Those who 'discovered' Ugandan and the source of the Nile which the first explorers were seeking - men such as Speke and Stanley - and the soldiers and administrators who came after them undoubtedly believed in the superiority of European culture in a way which we today would consider unacceptably racist. Although they were impressed by the sophistication of Bugandan society, they implicitly assumed that Africa was more backward than Europe, that Africans would benefit from exposure to Western standards and practises, and of course from Christianity. To a degree this allowed them either to justify or even to suppress what now looks to be the crude reality that their underlying agenda was the extension of British influence, the promotion of British commerce, and the expansion of the British Empire, all without reference to the actual wishes of the Ugandan people. But then, even in Britain at thattime, democracy was a new idea and many people, including women, still did not have the vo te. Having said that, many Ugandans would today accept that their country had at some stage to be brought into contact with the modern world, and even that they were comparatively lucky in being colonised by the British rather than by, for instance, the Belgians whose brutal rule in the Congo was far crueller than that of the British Protectorate in Uganda. Moreover, the fact that the arrival of the British in Uganda was not accompanied by the theft of African land for white farmers - as it was in Zimbabwe or Kenya - meant that some of the bitterness and resentment felt about European rule in some African countries was not a feature in Uganda. So race relations, even today, are more relaxed in Uganda than in many parts of the Continent.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Essay -- essays research papers

"A Good Man is Hard to Find": The Grandmother's Grace Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" tells the metaphorical tale of a family's fatal confrontation with The Misfit, an escaped serial killer. The incidents and characters throughout the story are aspects of a plot intending to symbolize the spiritual grace passed from one human to another, without regard for kindness or evil. The prominent character in O'Connor's story is the grandmother, who embodies this grace. By including imperfections in the development of the grandmother's character, O'Connor shows the indiscriminatory property of grace she possesses. The grandmother is the most developed character of the story. She contains several traits that coincide with the stereotypical elderly southern woman. Some of her notions are bizarre and trivial, and ignored by her family, such as the possible attack by The Misfit, a trip to Tennessee instead of Florida, and a fear of feline asphyxiation. John Wesley and June Star have little if any respect for their paternal grandmother. "She has to go everywhere we go," whines June Star (194). The grandmother also dresses immaculately, even for a car trip, simply because in an accident "anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady" (194). She calls attention to pointless details such as mileage, the speed of the car, and scenic road-side attr...

The Continuing Importance of Affirmative Action Essay -- Argumentative

The Continuing Importance of Affirmative Action    Affirmative action is about to take quite a beating. Prominent Republicans from Phil Gramm to Pete Wilson to Bob Dole all plan on making the attack on affirmative action a central plank of their campaign rhetoric. The Clinton administration, perhaps trying to stem the attack before it begins, recently announced that it would reevaluate the merit of all affirmative action programs. And many of those to the left of Clinton oppose affirmative action--albeit probably for different reasons than those to his right. Considering the overwhelming opposition to affirmative action, it seems improbable that affirmative action would have much to recommend it. Yet this contention deserves examination. There are a large number of factors contributing to a given policy's favorability; it seems unlikely that all aspects of affirmative action, from morality to reality to the gray in between, count as strikes against it. Concerns over fairness to white males seem to be at the root of most opposition to affirmative action. This argument is difficult to counter; it seems clear that affirmative action does amount, strictly speaking, to reverse discrimination. For some, this fact alone is enough reason to ring the policy death knell. Yet this conclusion seems to me hasty. If affirmative action hurts white males only a little, yet helps minorities and women significantly, then we might well decide to keep affirmative action around, despite its unfairness. Private universities commonly employ policies of preference which are sometimes euphemistically termed "development policies." Development means that there is a concerted effort on the part of admissions officers to admit students who come fro... ...(If you are unconvinced of this point, do a bit more reading and thinking.) More than lowering the hiring and admissions standard by which minorities and women are measured, affirmative action works to counteract pervasive racism. If an employer harbors racist, heterocentrist, or sexist views, then being forced to take a second look at minorities and women may counteract that prejudice. Affirmative action, then, may have less to do with lowering the standard by which minorities and women are measured, and more to do with equalizing opportunities given. That sounds to me like sound policy even Newt would find difficult to oppose--policies designed to ensure equality of opportunity. For as long as it has been policy, affirmative action has been implemented with an eye towards equalizing opportunity. A more admirable, mainstream ideal is difficult for me to envision.

Employee Empowerment Essay

The empowered employee is said to respond more quickly to customer service requests, act to rectify complaints and be more engaged in service encounters. A more reflective approach suggests there are different managerial perceptions of empowerment, resulting in empowerment being introduced in different service organisations in different ways, and presenting different benefits to managers and working experiences for the empowered. This paper suggests that a framework of analysis needs to be developed which goes beyond the more simplistic claims which tend to discuss empowerment as that which is labelled empowerment. The success or failure of an initiative which claims to be empowering will be determined by the experience of being empowered. Employee empowerment in services 169 Introduction Employee empowerment has been hailed as a management technique which can be applied universally across all organisations as a means of dealing with the needs of modern global business (Barry, 1993: Johnson, 1993; Foy, 1994), and across all industrial sectors. However, the service sector is said to involve a unique cluster of tension which managers, employees and customers have to address (Heskett et al. 1990), and the empowerment of employees is an approach which has been advocated for service sector management (Sternberg, 1992; Lockwood, 1996). Investigation of the use of empowerment in service sector organisations reveals a number of different forms of empowerment being applied in practice. These different approaches evidence a range of managerial meanings being applied which are based on different perceptions of business problems, motives for introducing empowerment and perceived benefits to be gained from empowerment. The fact that empowerment can be used as a term to describe different initiatives provides a convenient rhetoric which suggests that empowerment is â€Å"in principle a good thing† and produces a â€Å"win-win† situation for employees and managers. In part these different perceptions of the service need and the appropriate match with the management of employees, is a consequence of the different service offers being made to customers. Some service offers require employees to exercise discretion in detecting and delivering customer service needs. In other cases, the service offer is highly standardised and require employees to practise service delivery in â€Å"the one best Personnel Review, Vol. 28 No. 3, 1999, pp. 169-191. # MCB University Press, 0048-3486 Personnel Review 28,3 170 way†. Reflection on both the specific applications entitled â€Å"empowerment† and on variations in the characteristics of the service offer, question the somewhat simplistic claims for the universality of empowerment, and the supposed benefits which ensue. This paper is based on a cluster of research projects which have investigated different approaches to empowerment in similar service businesses: Harvester Restaurants, TGI Fridays and McDonald’s Restaurants Limited operate branded restaurant chains. All are to some extent â€Å"McDonaldized† (Ritzer, 1993), they use highly standardised menus, â€Å"one best way† production techniques which assist in the delivery of consistency and predictability to customers. That said, these organisations differ in the service offer to customers, particularly in the extent that employees exercise discretion to meet customer service needs. The approach outlined in the paper is informed by these cases studies, though the key concern of the paper is to establish a framework for understanding empowerment in the service sector which questions the universalistic and evangelical claims of some of the advocates of empowerment. This framework of analysis suggests that there is a need to approach the study of empowerment in a systematic manner which goes beyond the label. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988) empowerment describes working arrangements which engage the empowered at an emotional level. They istinguish between concepts of empowerment which are relational and motivational. As a relational concept empowerment is concerned with issues to do with management style and employee participation. As a motivational construct empowerment is individual and personal, it is about discretion, autonomy, power and control. This motivational aspect to empowerment becomes the defining feature of the initiative. The empowered must feel a sense of personal worth, with the ability to effect outcomes and having the power to make a difference (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993; Johnson, 1993). Advocates of empowerment claim that employee empowerment helps firms to enthuse and enable employees to take responsibility for the service encounter (Barbee and Bott, 1991). The paper identifies four different types, or managerial intentions, for empowering employees, which in turn impact on the precise form the arrangements take. Following from this, and so as to better understand the detailed changes in working arrangements which claim to be empowering, the paper provides a five dimensional framework of analysis. By contrasting and comparing the detail of the changes to what the newly empowered employee can now do, it is possible to establish the boundaries and limits which are placed on empowerment in any particular context. Given the need to engage employees at an emotional level and to generate the appropriate feelings about the service encounter, the impact of each initiative on the employee is a crucial ingredient in meeting the objectives set. This paper suggests that there are likely to be a number of factors which generate positive or negative feelings about a particular initiative. At root this will be concerned with the empowered employee’s perception of the state rather Employee than the form of empowerment. Investigation into empowerment must, empowerment in therefore, incorporate an analysis of how individuals feel about the result of services being empowered. Finally this paper suggests that beneath the rhetoric of empowerment, service firms are in different positions in relation to their customers and markets, and 171 this will impact on how managers perceive and interpret empowerment. Factors such as the degree of customisation/standardisation and the relative importance of tangibles/intangibles in customer satisfaction are likely to be influential in determining the locus of control of employee performance. Empowerment in the service sector Interest in employee empowerment in service industry firms has been associated with many of the key issues related to employment practices in general, namely in gaining competitive advantage through improved service quality. Paradoxically, however, attempts to gain competitive advantage through service quality can present some major problems for service operators. In the first instance, there are difficulties in defining the successful service encounter, particularly in the intangible sources of customer satisfaction. Customers vary considerably in their expectations of service quality (Rust and Oliver, 1994). Indeed individual customers may define and re-define their needs from service deliverers as their circumstances, experiences and expectations change. In turn, customer evaluation of a successful service encounter, and thereby repeat visits, will be a product of the extent to which their experience matches their expectations (Foulkes, 1994). Whilst there are these difficulties in defining successful encounters, many writers agree that â€Å"front line staff† (Johnston, 1989; Horovirz and Cudenne-Poon, 1990; Barbee and Bott, 1991) play a crucial role in the service encounter. There are in fact, some base level customer expectations of employee performance, positive interpersonal contacts, service deliverer attitudes, courtesy and helpfulness that are all closely related to customer evaluations of service quality (Adelmann et al. 1994). Hence human resources management and the strategies needed to engage employees emotionally in the objective of customer service take on a new and urgent meaning. This leads to the second difficulty for service deliverers. Unlike other resources used within an organisation there is a problem in predicting the levels of output, efficiency and general effectiveness which will be the outcome of a given level of labour employed. Human resources can be uniquely unstable. Under certain circumstances they physically leave the organisation, they may collectively resist management instructions or individually just not give â€Å"a fair days work for a fair days pay†. Clearly, these are problems shared by all employers but given the pivotal role of service delivery employees these issues are of particular concern to service sector employers. The response of many employers in the sector has been to look to manufacturing industry for models of control which minimised the significance Personnel Review 28,3 172 of individual idiosyncrasies. What Levitt called the â€Å"production-line approach to service† (1972) or the â€Å"industrialisation of service† (1976). Based on essentially Taylorist (1947) views of job design, they establish standardised procedures and one best way of doing each task. In many cases this extended to scripting the interaction with clients and left little to the discretion of the individual service deliverers. The consequence of this has been the rapid growth of organisations specialising in high volume, mass produced, standardised services which minimised the significance of labour inputs (Bowen and Lawler, 1992) in the delivery of predictable tangible and intangible product attributes to customers. Ritzer’s (1993) somewhat overblown comments about the â€Å"McDonaldization of Society† are little more than observations about the application of manufacturing techniques to the production of mass services, which are themselves but one of a number of service offers (Wood, 1997). Whilst this strategy was tremendously successful over the two decades preceding 1990, many of these operators now see the limits of standardisation and control. A point largely ignored by Ritzer. Apart from high labour turnover which has been endemic in many of these firms, any attempt to compete on service quality cuts across the rigidities of the production line approach. Firstly, even the most standardised operation encounters occasions when customer service needs are difficult to predict and a quick response is needed at the point of the service encounter. A small child in a family group at a McDonald’s is getting restive and the quick intervention of a crew member with a balloon or a hat calms the child. A customer knocks over his coffee in a Welcome Break and the service operative replaces it without charge. Whilst these responses may well be prescribed in operational manuals, they still require employees to act with initiative and discretion. The intangible element of the service encounter requires some form employee of participation, even in highly standardised and Tayloristic situations. The second problem is in the quality of the service encounter itself. Hochschild’s (1983) work with air stewardesses reveals much in common with â€Å"the commercialisation of feelings† across the service sector in general. She makes the point that seeming to love the job becomes part of the job; and managing the appropriate feelings of enjoyment of the customer helps the worker in this effort. Fineman (1993) also comments on the interplay between feelings and performance in service interactions. Enabling employees to sense their own power and the significance of their role in the service drama may help employees manage the emotions required of their performance. It is here that empowerment of employees seems to offer the prize of generating feelings of commitment to the service encounter (Barbee and Bott, 1991) with the appropriate amount of power and the freedom to use that power (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993) to meet customer needs as they arise. The extract below is from a series of advertisements by Marriott Hotels which make play of the benefits of empowered employees. It highlights the aspirations for empowerment. Here the night porter’s feelings of commitment to â€Å"delighting the customer† perfectly match the organisation’s commitment to its clients. The Employee advertisement also confirms that empowerment, service quality and empowerment in organisational attempts to gain competitive advantage through improved services service quality are entwined in some operations. It was more than considerate of the Marriott night porter to trace my lost wallet  ± it meant he had to re-trace my entire journey through Vienna. All I could remember was that I’d been travelling on a Southern District streetcar. Miraculously, from this tiny piece of information, the night porter from the Marriott hotel managed to trace the route I’d travelled, the particular streetcar I was on, and my wallet. I was astonished that he went out of his way so much to help me. But, as I now know, everyone at Marriott works this way. personally assuming responsibility for the needs of every guest. It’s called Empowerment. And thankfully, they never seem to find anything too much trouble. (Always in the Right Place at the Right Time, Marriott). 173 For the advocates of empowerment, empowered employees willingly take responsibility for the service encounter, they respond more quickly to customer needs, complaints and changes in customer tastes (Barbee and Bott, 1991). The organisation will experience lower labour turnover (Cook, 1994), there will be high staff morale and employees will take responsibility for their own performance and its improvement (Barry, 1993). Employees’ inherent skills and talents will be put to work for the organisation (Ripley and Ripley, 1993) so as to produce more satisfied customers (Johns, 1993) and greater profits (Plunkett and Fournier, 1991). Research methods The observations reflected in this paper are based on case studies of three organisations who make different service offers to their customers, and who manage their employees in different ways. Each is attempting to empower employees to take responsibility for the service encounter, though each expects employees to exercise discretion in different ways. The case studies provide a valuable context through which to explore employment practice in context (Hartley, 1994), though these are published in detail in other publications (Lashley, 1995; Ashness and Lashley, 1995; Lashley, 1997). This paper reflects on the findings from the case studies to build the framework for analysing empowerment. In each case, the study involved semi-structured interviews with senior managers to explore their perceptions of empowerment, intentions for the initiative and the perceived benefits ensuing from the changes. Interviews were also conducted with the immediate line managers of the empowered. Again the intention was to explore the detail of the changes on the ground, and most importantly the practical responses from both middle managers and those line managers whose role might have been changed by the introduction of empowerment. Finally, semi-structured interviews were conducted with the â€Å"empowered†, that is the subjects of the initiative. In particular, the study explored their perceptions of the changes, the boundaries in which they had to operate and the extent to which employees developed a sense of personal efficacy. Personnel Review 28,3 174 The semi-structured interviews identified key themes which needed to be explored with each respondent. For managers and those responsible for introducing and managing the initiative (the empowering), the questioning explored the background to the change in the way the organisation was to be managed  ± perceived problems and views as to what contribution empowerment ould make to overcoming the problems. Having established the managerial intentions for empowerment, interviewees were asked to describe the form of empowerment and the changes in working arrangements which ensued. They were then asked to comment on the success and weakness of the changes, and comment on any plans for the future development of the approach. For the supposedly empowered, questioning followed similar broad themes but from their perspective. In other words, to what extent did they share managerial views of problems and benefits of empowerment? They were asked to comment on how the nature of their work had changed and how they felt about it. Fundamentally did they feel empowered? Flowing from this, the interviews explored changes in work behaviour and their perceptions of the benefits and limitations of the initiative. Table I shows the total number of interviews in each of the three case study organisations. The table indicates the number of interviews that were conducted with â€Å"empowering† and the â€Å"empowered† in each organisation. The case studies which inform this paper were founded on an approach which suggests that empowerment needs to be based on the systematic exploration of each aspect of empowerment. The more evangelical claims suggest that empowerment of employees will result in an almost automatic improvement in organisational performance (Foy, 1994; Stewart, 1994). These models are simplistic and do not take into account, different managerial intentions, different forms introduced, differences in what employees can now do, different needs of employees to feel empowered and different impacts on the resulting performance exercised by employees. It is more likely that a multistage model is needed to analyse initiatives and outcomes. Figure 1 suggests a model for studying empowerment which assumes that the organisational benefits will not be a simple and direct trade-off. Managerial perceptions of what empowerment is and the benefits it is supposed to deliver will shape the form that is introduced (quality circles, autonomous groups, etc. ), which in turn will shape what employees can now do that they did not do before the change. This in turn has an impact on the feelings of those empowered, do they Number of interviews with â€Å"empowering† 11 8 11 Number of interviews with â€Å"empowered† 28 38 25 Organisation Table I. Numbers of interviews in three case study organisations Harvester Restaurants McDonald’s Restaurants TGI Friday Restaurants Managerial intentions Forms of empowerment Change in working arrangements The state of empowerment Change in work behaviour Organisation objectives: – improved service quality – increased service productivity – reduced labour turnover Employee empowerment in services 175 Figure 1. The form, state and outcomes of empowerment experience the state of empowerment, and if they do, does the state of empowerment result in improved work performance which then results in the desired organisational objective? Managerial intentions for empowerment Once we move away from the generalised claims for empowerment it is possible to see that the term itself is being used to describe a wide variety of practice in service delivery. In the Accor group of hotels, for example, empowerment has been used to describe the use of quality circles (Barbee and Bott, 1991); in McDonald’s Restaurants, suggestion schemes (Bowen and Lawler, 1992); â€Å"Whatever it Takes† employee training programmes in Scott’s Hotels (Hubrecht and Teare, 1993); employee involvement in devising departmental service standards in Hilton International Hotels (Hirst, 1991); autonomous work groups and removal of levels of management in Harvester Restaurants (Pickard, 1993); and the delegation of greater authority to service managers in British Telecom (Foy, 1994). Investigation of these specific initiatives reveals that there is considerable overlap between employee empowerment, employee participation, employee involvement and even employee commitment. Often these terms are used interchangeably (Collins, 1994; Cotton, 1993; Denton, 1994; Plunkett and Fournier, 1991). Thus quality circles, autonomous work groups, suggestion schemes and various employee share ownership programmes are frequently discussed under these different headings without defining the boundaries between them. Clearly, these initiatives do have similar antecedents in that they aim to meet, in varying ways, the individual employee’s psychological needs (Watson, 1986). In addition there is similarity in the intended outcomes. Marchington et al. (1992) say that employee involvement is used to describe initiatives which are largely designed and initiated by management and intended to improve communication with employees, generate greater commitment and enhance employee contributions to the organisation. This Personnel Review 28,3 176 might equally be said of the intentions for employee empowerment (Sewell and Wilkinson, 1992). Indeed empowerment is an integral feature of the â€Å"soft† version of human resource management (Legge, 1995). Watson (1986) suggests that employment strategy tends to wax and wane between managerial concern for control over employee performance and concern for employee commitment. Whilst this is a useful metaphor which does indeed suggest that employment strategy is both dynamic and political, it does suggest that a shift towards employee commitment results in less organisational control. A view frequently expressed by line mangers is that empowerment of subordinates will result in a loss of control. In reality empowerment as an employment strategy is concerned with both commitment and control of employees. It is more a shift in the locus of control (Friedman, 1977). Figure 2 provides a model which suggests that different employment strategies might shift the locus of control along a continuum between externally imposed control of the individual to internally generated self control. In effect employee empowerment, â€Å"increases [top management’s] control whilst creating the impression of lessening it† (Robbins, 1983, p. 67). Under this model, production line approaches to service delivery rely largely on imposed external controls in which employee commitment is less significant for effective performance, it is typical of Edwards’ (1979) â€Å"technological control†. Employee empowerment, in its more participative form, is more reliant on internalised self-control, where the employee works to the desired standard and controls their own performance accordingly (Salaman, 1979). Personal commitment to these standards then becomes a crucial ingredient. The empowered employee has much in common with Friedman’s (1977) employee with â€Å"responsible autonomy†. Having said that, it is possible to detect variations in the locus of control implied within different definitions of empowerment. Bowen and Lawler (1991), suggest that empowerment is defined as â€Å"management strategies for sharing decision making power† (p. 49). Others (Barbee and Bott, 1991) define empowerment as being â€Å"the act of vesting substantial responsibility in the people nearest the problem† (p. 28). These two different phrases reflect more than mere semantic differences. They reflect different assumptions about the nature of empowerment and the power of the empowered. The first implies a shift in authority whilst the second is concerned with a shift in responsibility. Traditional Technological Social Self Organisation Structure and Procedures Technology Leadership/ Management Style Work Groups Empowerment Professionalism Figure 2. Employment strategies and the locus of control External Control Internal Control My own investigation in the hospitality sector suggests that there are probably Employee four distinct but overlapping managerial intentions for empowerment (Lashley, empowerment in 1994). These are summarised in Table II. In principle they reflect the variations services in the assumptions discussed above, but there do appear a range of managerial intentions which have their roots in other initiatives mentioned earlier. For this reason the four categories are labelled with terms which reflect their 177 antecedents. There are three types of managerial intentions for empowerment of operatives. Empowering through participation is closely related to the Bowen and Lawler definition because they are chiefly concerned with empowering employees with decision making authority in some aspect of the work which had been formerly the domain of management. Harvester Restaurant’s use of semi-autonomous work teams (Ashness and Lashley, 1995) provides a good example. Employees not only dealt with and rectified customer complaints, they also were involved in receiving goods, securing the building and â€Å"cashing up the tills†. Empowerment through involvement is chiefly concerned with gaining from the experiences and expertise of service deliverers through consultation and joint problem solving. Managers continue to make the decision but with inputs from employees. The study of TGI Fridays (Lashley, 1997), confirms that pre-service team briefing sessions are used to both provide employees with immediate information about the operation and company objectives, but are also used to test out ideas with employees and gain suggestions. Employees have little authority to make decisions, even complaint handling is the responsibility of managers. Attempts at empowerment through commitment overlap and interrelate with both these other categories because it is hoped that improved employee commitment will result from the changed arrangements. However, some initiatives are distinctly aimed at winning Managerial meaning Empowerment through participation Initiatives used Autonomous work groups â€Å"Whatever it takes† training Job enrichment Works councils Employee directors Quality circles Team briefings Suggestion schemes Employee share ownership Profit-sharing and bonus schemes Quality of working life programmes (job rotation, job enlargement) Job redesign Re-training Autonomous work groups Job enrichment Profit-sharing and bonus schemes Empowerment through involvement Empowerment through commitment Empowerment through delayering Table II. Managerial meanings of empowerment Personnel Review 28,3 178 greater commitment to organisational service quality objectives. As with Barbee and Bott’s definition, these initiatives are ultimately about employees taking more responsibility for the service encounter through a variety of training programmes and appeals to both extrinsic and intrinsic sources of job satisfaction. McDonald’s crew training includes a customer care programme which aims to sensitise employees to customer service objectives. Crew are encouraged to intervene in the service situation, as in the example given above. They can give away some low cost gifts to children. The limits and boundaries of what they are empowered to do are narrow and restricted. Whilst the three foregoing intentions are typically concerned with employees, particularly front line personnel, some initiatives empower managers within the management hierarchy. These I have called empowerment through delayering. The restructuring of the McDonald’s MCOPCO organisation (Lashley, 1995), and the removal of layers of management in the external management of Harvester Restaurants (Pickard, 1993), or empowerment of hotel managers (Jones and Davies, 1991) are examples. Here the intention is greater managerial focus on the source of organisational profits  ± the units, greater responsiveness to customer needs, reduced management costs and the encouragement of entrepreneurialism. In the McDonald’s case, two levels of management were removed and the unit managers were â€Å"empowered†. In reality it meant that they were allowed to operate with reduced contact with their Area Supervisors. In this case, empowerment of the unit managers meant they were not as closely supervised by their superordinates and were â€Å"left to get on with it†. In suggesting these four features of managerial intentions I do not wish to imply that these are mutually exclusive. Whilst managers in some organisations may well be more concerned with one meaning more than others, it is more likely that managerial actions will be driven by a mixture of motives, and hence will encompass more than one, or all, of these. However, it is useful to suggest that managerial intentions are different and there are different managerial perceptions about empowerment and the benefits it will deliver. The form of empowerment Whatever the intentions of managers, initiatives which claim to be empowering will be translated into concrete practical arrangements which set the limits and boundaries within which the empowered operate (Ripley and Ripley, 1993; Potter, 1994). Somewhere, these arrangements will clarify just what the empowered have the authority to do and for what they will be responsible. It is here within the practical objective limits set by management that tensions between the perceptions and needs of management are likely to be set against the perceptions and needs of the empowered (Conger and Kanungo, 1988). Ultimately, the success of a particular initiative will be dependent in the first instance on the empowered being given the authority and freedom to make decisions which they themselves consider to be valuable, significant and important. Whilst this will clearly be subjectively assessed by individuals, who ill differ in their evaluation of these arrangements, it is important to arrive at Employee an objective analysis of the changes which have been introduced. empowerment in Our research has identified a number of dimensions of empowerment which services provide a means of describing, analysing and locating the form of empowerment being introduced in a particular company (Lashley and McGoldrick, 1994). These dimensions are listed in Table III. Essentially they 179 provide a mechanism for identifying the boundaries and contexts set for the form of empowerment being introduced. Consideration of these themes creates a framework for understanding the likely meanings of a particular form of empowerment within a given context. Each of the five dimensions is based on a bi-polar model which assumes a traditional â€Å"production line†, â€Å"top-down† approach at one extreme and a more empowered approach at the other. The task dimension considers the discretion which is allowed to the empowered in performing the task for which they were employed. To what extent are the empowered allowed to interpret the tangible and intangible aspects of the organisation’s services so as to satisfy customers. To what extent are the brand attributes, prices, product sizes, etc. , fixed, or to what extent can they be customised? To what extent does the need to control these issues set limits on the ability of an organisation to empower its members? In the cases we have studied there are frequently limits put on the employee because of the brand attributes being marketed. Hence employees in McDonald’s Restaurants and Harvester Restaurants were not allowed to alter menus or provide dishes off the menu, not even unit managers were allowed to make these decisions. In TGI Fridays employees could get a non-menu item produced if it involved ingredients which were stocked. In most cases, and to varying degrees, employees had some discretion over the service encounter. As stated earlier, McDonald’s had scripted the service in the past, but had dropped this in recent years as part of a strategy to improve service quality. Harvesters and TGI Fridays both relied on training and service values to guide the employee in their interactions with customers. An employee of TGI Fridays reported an incident that seemed typical. A customer had asked for a cigar, the company do Employee involvement in production line organisation (High volume, standardised, short time period, simple technology, theory X organisations) Low discretion Seeks permission Limited to task Calculative Control-oriented Employee involvement in empowered organisation (Personalised service, long time period, complex technology, unpredicatable, theory Y organisations) High discretion Responsible autonomy Influences the direction of policy Moral Trust-oriented Dimensions Task Task allocation Power Commitment Culture Table III. Five dimensions of empowerment Personnel Review 28,3 180 not stock cigars, so the employee went next door to the tobacconist and bought one. The guest was very pleased and wrote a letter to the company congratulating it on its excellent service. The task allocation dimension considers the amount of responsible autonomy an individual employee or group of employees have in carrying out their tasks. To what extent are they directed, or need to ask permission to complete their tasks? To what extent do company policies and procedures lay down what has to be done and then let them get on with it? To what extent are there tensions between responsible utonomy and the objectives for effective performance set by senior managers. In McDonald’s Restaurants, a â€Å"one best way† approach involves a narrow span of control and close supervision of both â€Å"crew† and managers. TGI Fridays, was also tightly controlled in the tangibles, again one best way procedures and close supervision of standards meant that employee performance was directly controlled. However, food and drinks service staff are encouraged to use their initiative in finding ways to customise the service interaction. Having said that, staff are not generally allowed to provide discounts or free meals to customers who complain. In Harvester Restaurants staff exercised more responsible autonomy, they were empowered to deal with complaints, to give free drinks, etc. , without reference to a â€Å"team manager† where they felt it would resolve a situation to the guest’s satisfaction. In some situations staff were able to decide on staffing levels, order stock and decide on how best to meet sales targets without the immediate involvement of the team manager. The power dimension is concerned with the feelings of personal power which individuals experience as the result of being empowered. What is it that the empowered are empowered to do? To what extent is their power limited to tasks? To what extent does it involve issues of policy at a more senior level (Marchington et al. , 1992)? To what extent do management efforts to share power foster feelings of empowerment in employees? What tensions are there between strategic objectives and limits on individual power? In all the cases included in these studies, arrangements were limited to what has been described as being â€Å"task participation† (Geary, 1994). In other words the empowered employee was not able to influence the policies which influence them. Thus at Harvester Restaurants, food service staff were able to decide as a team how best to achieve a sales target which required employees to sell one extra side order per table (Pickard,1993), but had no influence over this as an objective. The commitment dimension explores the assumptions about the source of employee commitment and organisational compliance in a particular form of empowerment. To what extent do they follow patterns in traditional organisations which assume that commitment is calculative and based on material extrinsic rewards (Etzioni, 1961). To what extent does the initiative assume a moral commitment, as the individual takes a personal sense of ownership in their activities and work? To what extent is there recognition that individuals may differ in their attachments and needs from work? How, if at all do the changes address needs for a sense of equity and fairness in the benefits from empowerment? Interviews with employees at Harvester Restaurants Employee revealed that employees working in autonomous work teams liked the empowerment in experience. Many reported that they â€Å"liked the extra responsibility† (Ashness services and Lashley, 1995, p. 27) and some that this was the first time they had been given responsibility. In TGI Fridays, employees reported that they enjoyed the â€Å"atmosphere† and that â€Å"you could have a good laugh†, but many also reported 181 that â€Å"they were working here because the money is good†. Employees are guaranteed a low basic pay, but can substantially add to this through a bonus on food sales and tips. Employees and managers both stated employees could earn over ? 0,000 per annum, some even as much as ? 30,000. The culture dimension examines the extent to which organisational culture fosters feelings of empowerment. To what extent can it be typified as being oriented towards openness, learning, and employee contributions (ChristensenHughes, 1992) and creating a climate of trust (Sternberg, 1992)? To what extent can the culture be described as bureaucratic, role, task or control oriented? To what extent is the initiative to empower a part of a broad organisational culture, or just â€Å"bolted on†? The research with the â€Å"delayered† McDonald’s organisation revealed that â€Å"empowered† General Area Supervisors in the pilot group experienced tensions with senior management because senior managers wanted to retain control over the recruitment of Restaurant Managers, and to get involved when problems occurred (Lashley, 1995). Using this five dimension model it is possible to locate the different forms which empowerment takes in practical organisational arrangements against the managerial intentions and the form empowerment takes  ± quality circles  ± autonomous work groups  ± â€Å"whatever it takes training†, etc. As stated earlier, managerial intentions may not be mono-dimensional, and particular initiatives may be driven by a range of intentions. However, each form of empowerment is likely to represent different sources of satisfaction to employees and represent different benefits to employers. Thus quality circles are usually representative, and may provide intrinsic satisfactions for those immediately involved (Kelly and Kelly, 1990), but they represent a more indirect source of satisfaction for the staff who do not take part. Managers gain suggestions and involvement in problem solving for those closest to the problem, but managers retain the decision making power. Autonomous work groups do give employees more direct involvement, all employees take part. They can provide sources of satisfaction which meet belonging and control needs. They can involve some task dimensions, but in the main, autonomous work groups are about improving work organisation. Frequently they are used in situations where the immediate organisational needs are difficult to predict, but the people directly involved are best placed to respond to changed circumstances. Several employees at Harvester Restaurants reported that when the operation was quiet the team would, â€Å"jointly agree for one member to go home for the rest of the shift, so that the team’s labour costs would be kept under control† (Ashness and Lashley, 1995, p. 27). â€Å"Whatever it takes† is again a direct form of involvement, particularly for service personnel, training is aimed at â€Å"giving Personnel Review 28,3 182 staff confidence to make decisions large or small, that impact on a guest’s stay† (Hubrecht and Teare, 1993). Typically these arrangements are focused at the task and interpreting customer requirements. For employees a sense of ownership, pride in the service encounter and the potential tip are sources of employee satisfaction. For the organisation, employees are encouraged to be responsive to customer needs and a greater level of customer satisfaction is likely to follow. Each of these examples, claim to empower employees, yet the brief discussion above shows that each represents different sources of satisfaction for employees. The arrangements are themselves different and appear to meet varied managerial needs. Certainly it is possible to identify alternative ways of managing and motivating employees which involve different amounts of discretion, autonomy, power, sources of commitment and cultural contexts, all claiming to be empowering. By considering the detail of the changes against the five dimensions it is possible to develop a much closer picture of the form of empowerment, the consistency of the arrangements and the limits placed upon them. My research with hospitality operators provides some useful vehicles for the analysis of forms of empowerment. For example, it is possible to describe Harvester Restaurants as empowering front line personnel through participation. In this case it takes the form of autonomous work groups where employees have virtually no discretion in the tangible aspects of their task, though they have some limited discretion in the intangible elements of the task. There is a high degree of responsible autonomy in task allocation. Power is limited, however, to the task level with little opportunity to influence objectives outside the immediate job. Commitment is in part calculative though, for some individuals, arrangements do meet psychological needs within a culture which is best typified as being control oriented. The state of empowerment The feelings of the empowered are fundamental to understanding the concept of empowerment and variations in form and application. Most definitions of the state rather than the form of empowerment stress the need for the individual to feel in control (Conger, 1989), have a sense of personal power together with the freedom to use that power (van Oudtshoorn and Thomas, 1993) and a sense of personal efficacy and self determination (Alpander, 1991). Similarly, Thomas and Velthouse (1990) suggest a four dimensional model of employee motivation based on a cognitive assessment of the competence, impact, meaningfulness and choice associated with a set of changes. In other words the state of empowerment is likely to be a consequence of the individual’s assessment of their ability to be effective, that they could make a difference, in a task which they feel is worthwhile and they have some degree of freedom to act as they see fit within a given context. Attempts to empower service workers will be tested against the experience of being empowered and the sense of personal efficacy which is created. Empowerment, therefore, involves both the objective facts of what a person is mpowered to do and the subjective feelings which the individual experiences Employee as a result. In these circumstances individual differences, orientations to work empowerment in and needs are likely to be important factors in the way an individual interprets services and responds to a particular change (Alpander, 1991). Managerial initiatives to empower employees are introduced to meet commercial objectives. In the case of service workers, the objectives may be to improve service quality or service 183 worker productivity, or improve job satisfaction and reduce labour turnover. Managerial evaluations of empowerment will therefore turn on the extent that these initiatives result in worker behaviour which meets the desired objectives. Whilst there is some research, on service workers which identifies factors likely to result in outcomes of empowerment as measured by pay satisfaction, promotion satisfaction and intentions to leave (Sparrowe, 1994), few studies draw the links between these feelings of empowerment and increased productivity or improvements in service quality.