Assignment topic Mentoring Essay Example for Free

Assignment topic Mentoring Essay A brief outline of the plan for the assignment including why it is an issue and you likely conclusions. (If you like an abstract) An analysis of the Delivering Great Service strategy that is currently being applied by Sainsburys Supermarkets in relation to mentoring. And how the objectives of the strategy are being achieved. A list of material and people you intend to consult (give proper details) * Torrington,D and Hall,L and Taylor,S (2002), Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall Europe, UK * Marchington,M, Managing the Team * Megginson, D. and D. Clutterbuck, (1999), Mentoring in Action, Kogan Page Limited, UK. * Parsloe, E. (1999), The Manager as Coach and Mentor, (2nd Ed), The Guernsey Press, Channel Islands. * Norton, B. and J. Tivey. (1995), Management Directions, The Institute of Management, UK. * Delivering Great Service, Colleague Briefing Leaflet, 2001 * Business Update, Sainsburys Intranet, 28th January 2002 * The Importance of Service, Delivering Great Service Store Managers Tool Kit 2001 Approved by Date HAYLEY SCARFE (00957807) BAIB II HRM ASSIGNMENT WITH REFERENCE TO SAINSBURYS SUPERMARKETS LTD, ANALYSE THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND EXPLAIN HOW MENTORING WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THESE OBJECTIVES (WITH DIRECT REFERENCE TO DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE FULLY DISCUSS THE IMPLEMENTATION AND RECOMMEND STRATEGIES PRIORITIES AND TIME SCALES FOR IMPLEMENTING YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC. NOTE: 1. BEFORE I COMMENCE THIS ESSAY IT IS IMPORTANT TO STRESS THAT ITS CONTENTS IN RESPECT TO SAINSBURYS SUPERMARKETS ARE STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL AND ONLY MEANT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ANSWERING THE ESSAY QUESTION 2. THE CONTENTS ARE ONLY TO BE READ BY THE ASSESOR FOR THIS PIECE OF WORK Contents Page 1. Introduction 2. Introduction and Development of Delivering Great Service 3. The Service Promise 3.1 Sainsburys Mission Statement 3.2 Easy, Enjoyable and Inspiring 4. Impact on Company Employees 4.1 Store Structures 4.2 Departmental Management 4.2.1 Departmental Management Role 4.3 Mentoring 4.4 Store and Duty Managers 4.5 The relationship between Duty Managers and Departmental Managers 4.6 How the Service Promise is developed through mentoring 5. Implementation of Timescales 5.1 Store implementation Timescales 6. Conclusion 1. INTRODUCTION Sainsburys Supermarkets Ltd like any other business have a number of strategies in place in order to compete against its main competitors in the supermarket industry. Throughout this assignment I am going to concentrate on the companies most recent strategy called Delivering Great Service and how the topic of mentoring will contribute to the achievement of the Delivering Great Service objectives. 2. THE INTRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE Over a period of years Sainsburys lost the dominant market share of the food retail sector to its main competitors. To try and rectify this situation and attempt to once again become the U.Ks top supermarket chain Sainsburys has commissioned research into what their problems were and how to overcome them. The research concentrated on the identification of the wants of Sainsburys customers and how Sainsburys can deliver these wants. With the results collated Sainsburys head office Human Resources staff developed the Delivering Great Service package. The idea behind strategy is to regain the once strong market share Sainsburys enjoyed over Tesco, Asda, Safeway, Waitrose and Morrisons, the companys main competitors through the strategy objective, Service Promise. The commissioned research uncovered Sainsburys customers want Great Service, outstanding quality and competitive prices, all of which are contained within the objectives of Delivering Great Service known as Service Promise. (THE IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE, STORE MANAGERS TOOLKIT 2001) 3. THE SERVICE PROMISE The Service Promise is used as a tool within the Sainsburys Management Team, this is company wide, to improve colleague skills, store knowledge and confidence within the company name. It is through these improved skills that the Sainsburys Management Team and colleagues can work together to improve the customers shopping experience with Sainsburys and successfully deliver great service. 3.1 SAINSBURYS MISSION STATEMENT To clearly demonstrate the aspects of the Service Promise the following diagram is applied: (DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE, COLLEAGUE BRIEFING LEAFLET, 2001) I have devised the following diagram to demonstrate how the aspects of the Service Promise relate to Delivering Great Service 3.2 EASY, ENJOYABLE AND INSPIRING The three categories contained within the Service Promise (outstanding quality, great service and competitive prices) contain guidelines for Sainsburys employees to adopt collectively, thus enabling the delivery of great service. The guidelines are as follows: 1. Easy Make shopping easier by; * Speeding up customer transactions * Acknowledging their problems and accepting responsibility * Actively seeking out customers who need extra help 2. Enjoyable Make shopping more enjoyable by; * Increasing personal efficiency, politeness and friendliness * Treating customers as individuals 3. Inspiring Present inspiring products and ideas to meet customer needs by; * Presenting quality ranges of products that meet and succeed customer needs and expectations * Interacting with customers to advise them of new products, encouraging them to try before they buy (THE IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE, DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE STORE MANAGERS TOOL KIT 2001) 4. IMPACT ON COMPANY EMPLOYEES The company strategy, Delivering Great Service has massive implications on all Sainsburys employees; it requires everyone to take on new responsibilities and new daily working practices if it is to be successful. Im going to focus specifically on the implications Delivering Great Service has on Sainsburys Departmental Managers and how the topic of mentoring can help achieve the strategy (Delivering Great Service) objectives (service promise). 4.1 STORE STRUCTURES Before I do this I have designed and included a very basic store structure diagram to illustrate the structure of a typical Sainsburys Stores. As you can see from the diagram the Store Manager is responsible for the entire store with a team of Duty Mangers and Department Managers on hand to share responsibilities and the running of the store filtering down to the Store Colleagues. 4.2 DEPARTMENTAL MANAGEMENT I have already discussed the implications Delivering Great Service has on all colleagues in respect of what its objectives require from everyone to be successful (making shopping easier, making shopping more enjoyable and presenting inspiring products), but I havent discussed the implications the Department Manager faces. 4.2.1 DEPARTMENT MANAGERS ROLE The Department Managers role within the company is to communicate the importance and relevance of all business decisions and strategies to his or her Department Store Colleagues. Thus the Department Manager is responsible when explaining the Delivering Great Service strategy to his or her Department Store Colleagues and ensuring that they all have a full understanding and appreciation of the importance and the implementation of the Service Promise targets (previously outlined) and what they have to do. Not only does the Department Managers have to do this, they have to achieve it with the support and co-operation of Department Store Colleagues. In essence the Department Manager has: TO MOTIVATE COLLEAGUES TO WANT TO DELIVER THE SERVICE PROMISE TO OUR CUSTOMERS, EQUIPPING THEM WITH SOME OF THE SKILLS TO DO THISi (DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE THROUGH CUSTOMER OBSESSION, MISSION STATEMENT, 2001) But how are they supposed to do this? The Department Manager would need great leadership and motivation skills combined with skilful use of communication to initiate Department team spirit to enable Service Promise targets to be met. They would need a keen eye to identify those within the Department that need extra help or indeed those who arent willing to work towards Delivering Great Service objectives. Necessary skills would include the capacity to deal with targets being missed and the individuals ability to quickly set more achievable targets. But with no formal training how could Department Managers achieve these skills and successfully achieve Delivering Great Service objectives with the full support of their Department? I believe that Department Managers could achieve these skills by turning to mentoring. The mission statement below accurately sums up what Department Managers are expected to achieve in respect to Delivering Great Service: TO INSPIRE OUR PEOPLE TO CONTINUALLY EXCEED OUR CUSTOMERS EXPECTATIONS, TO DELIVER BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT (DELIVERING GREAT SERVICE THROUGH CUSTOMER OBSESSION, MISSION STATEMENT, 2001) 4.3 MENTORING How could mentoring assist Department Managers to achieve the requirements expected? To begin with the definition of mentoring needs to be identified and questions need to be asked as to how Sainsburys can fulfil the Service Promise by achieving the strategic objectives of Delivering Great Service The Little Oxford Dictionary defines Mentor as Mentor advisor, counsellor (THE LITTLE OXFORD DICTIONARY, 1971, 4THED) A separate textbook definition of Mentor is to help by one person to another in making significant transitions in knowledge, work or thinking (MENTORING IN ACTION MEGGINSON, D. AND D. CLUTTERBUCK, (KOGAN PAGE LIMITED, UK (1999))) 4.4 STORE AND DUTY MANAGERS Store Managers and Duty Managers within Sainsburys receive a wide array of continual training sessions and personal development ran by both internal and external bodies. They are constantly assessed by their Manager who is the Regional Business Manager with regards to their Stores performance and satisfaction of their staff, a survey is conducted every six months talkback to check on staff satisfaction levels in all stores. As Managers they are required to posses leadership, motivational and coaching skills and the ability and confidence to use them as well as the privilege of constant feedback from the Regional Business Manager and constant people skill training. Store Managers and Duty Managers are massively invested in within the company resulting in a large value added resource offering an indispensable skill base, the senior store management team is essential to the companys success. Through such investment they hold the essential, crucial skills that Department Managers need to develop if they are to successfully motivate Department Store Colleagues to implement the Delivering Great Service strategy and Service Promise objectives in their daily working practise. To mentor someone is to advise and council a person whilst developing the learners skills to meet business objectives. The mentor is there to listen and suggest ways in which to tackle a situation promoting a culture where the learner isnt being spoon-fed but independently identifying ways in which to personally improve upon current skill base and achieve targets. 4.5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DUTY MANAGERS AND DEPARTMENT MANAGERS But how will Sainsburys Duty Managers by mentoring Department Managers enable them to contribute to the achievement of Delivering Great Service through Service Promise? Sainsburys Duty Managers are high performers able to implement business objectives and strategies into the daily running of a store in a responsible fashion whilst observing the companys values (which are as follows): 1) We will be HONEST 2) We will demonstrate INTEGRITY 3) We will show our COMMITMENT to each other 4) We will be LOYAL 5) We will take PRIDE in everything we do (REGION 35 BUSINESS PLAN JUNE 2001) Point 3 and 5 are important. When mentoring a Department Manager the companys values would easily ensure the mentor and learner success, by committing to the learner and taking pride in the learners achievement The leadership and motivational skills along with strong communication and a focused approach that are necessary to implement the Delivering Great Service strategy, through mentoring an individual Department Manager could be successfully developed as the Duty Manager already possess and uses the skills the Department Manager needs. Through a series of on the job observations and one on one coaching sessions the Duty Manager can exchange ways of better practice to reflect better results (in Service Promise targets) and encourage the Department Manager to have confidence when communicating with their staff. 4.6 HOW SERVICE PROMISE IS DEVELOPED THROUGH MENTORING. Through the improved skill base the Department Manager will have developed through mentoring and will be able through the Service Promise (objectives if the Delivering Great Service strategy) to achieve stated objectives through actions completed, as seen below: 1) 2) 3) 5.IMPLAMENTATION OF TIMESCALES But what time scale are we looking at? Delivering Great Service is a strategy that is in Stores NOW and Department Managers fully understands its implications NOW, its not planned to reach a Store in 6 months, results are expected to show in 6 months. With such a constraint on time I propose the following timescale strategy: 5.1 STORE IMPLEMENTATION TIME SCALES 6. CONCLUSION In conclusion it can be seen that the implementation of Delivering Great Service has allowed Duty and Departmental Managers to grow in their roles. The mentoring skills of the store management are developed therefore allowing them to implement the strategy outlined and provide the highest level of customer service on the shop floor. As this is what 70% of customers require in order to have a satisfied shopping experience that is easy, enjoyable and inspiring. This will allow them to compete with their market competitors to the highest advantage and regain the market share, which they have lost. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS * Torrington,D and Hall,L and Taylor,S (2002), Human Resource Management, Prentice Hall Europe, UK * Marchington,M, Managing the Team * Megginson, D. and D. Clutterbuck, (1999), Mentoring in Action, Kogan Page Limited, UK. * Parsloe, E. (1999), The Manager as Coach and Mentor, (2nd Ed), The Guernsey Press, Channel Islands. * Norton, B. and J. Tivey. (1995), Management Directions, The Institute of Management, UK. * Parsloe, E. and M. Wray, (2000), Coaching and Mentoring, Kogan Page Limited, UK. * Pegg, M. (1999), The Art of Mentoring, Biddles, UK. * Murrell, A, J. Crosby, F, J. and E, J, Robin, (1999), Mentoring Dilemmas, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, UK * Clarke, D, (1996), Mentoring, Fenman Limited, UK * Ried, M, A. and H, Barrington, (2000), Training Interventions, (6th Ed), The Cromwell Press, UK. * Harrison, H, (2000), Employee Development, (2nd Ed) The Cromwell Press, UK. * Marchington, M. and A, Wilkinson, (2000), Core Personnel and Development, (2nd Ed), The Cromwell Press, UK. * Foot, M. and C, Hook, (1999), Introducing Human Resource Management, (2nd Ed), Longman, Malaysia. SAINSBURYS SOURCES * Annual Report, 2001 * Delivering Great Service, Colleague Briefing Leaflet, 2001 * Business Update, Sainsburys Intranet, 28th January 2002 * The Importance of Service, Delivering Great Service Store Managers Tool Kit 2001

Budget Hotels In Malaysia

Budget Hotels In Malaysia Abstract: The contribution of tourism sector to the economic development is pretty significant in Malaysia. And budget hotels play important role in tourism industry. Budget hotel is defined as a small hotel that is financed by one individual or a small group of individuals, and it is mangers are the same time its owner. Generally the characteristics of those budget hotels are that the managers do not operate through a formalized management structure. At present budget hotels are relatively few in Malaysia. This study tries to find the reason why there are so few budget hotels in Malaysia. We find that the shortage of budget hotels in Malaysia is due to the reason that positive externalities of budget hotels have not been effectively internalized. Externalities of budget hotels means that the development of budget hotels will attract more tourists and those tourists will bring more value to other sectors. When a positive externality exists in a market, the private marginal benefit cu rve is less than the societys marginal benefit curve. With positive externalities, the production and consumption are less than the optimal production to the society. Because the positive externalities of budget hotels have not been effectively internalized, the stimulation for budget hotel owners to supply more budget hotel services is not high enough. Through secondary research, we find that the hotel industry has important influence on the whole tourism industry and the externalities of hotel industry also have significant impacts on the tourism industry. This results means that there is possibility that the budget hotel or other hotels cooperates with firms from other industries and produce more value for customers and for themselves. Furthermore we discuss the needs and wants of budget hotel customers based on Maslows theory of human needs, which he named the Hierarchy of Needs. We classify the needs of budget hotel customers into three levels. The first level is safety, the se cond level is necessary facilities and the third level is the pursuit of happiness. Then we discuss how budget hotels should perform according to the three levels of needs. At last we discuss how a budget hotel is able to control its service quality so as to attract customers and establish customer loyalty. We argue that one characteristic of hotel industry is that the monitoring cost is very high and many behaviors of the servants cannot be easily observed. It indicates that stimulation may be much more important than penalty. Under such a situation, the sense of responsibility is of great importance in the hospitality industry. We argue that the sense of responsibility may arise from good communication between employees. Keywords: Budget Hotel; Externality; Tourism Industry; Cooperation Contents 2 1. Introduction 3 2. Objectives of this paper: 5 3. Literature Review 6 3.1 Price Theory 6 3.2 Determinants of tourism demand 8 3.3 Externalities of hospitality industry 9 4. Theoretical Framework 10 4.1 Classical Price Theory and Hotel Price 10 4.2 Externalities of Hotel Price and Cooperation between Industries 11 5. Research Methodology 13 1. Introduction Tourism is important for the economic development of many countries including Malaysia. The contribution of this sector to the economic development of Malaysia was 37% of GDP in 1970, and increased to 43% in 1980, 47% in 1990 and 53% in 2007 (Abdullah et al. 2011). In addition, the growth rate of this sector has been pretty rapid. The average annual growth rate was 9% during the 1970s, close to 7% in the 1980s, and 8.5% during the most recently. Figure 1.1 shows this trend with concrete data of arrivals and receipts of tourism industry in Malaysia. The significant importance and the rapid growth rate of tourism industry imply a much greater contribution of tourism to the economic growth of Malaysia. It is expected that the contribution of the services sector to GDP will increase up to 60% by 2020. The Malaysian government has recognized the importance of tourism industry and has placed the development of tourism industry at a very important place. At present, tourism has been designa ted as a priority sector in the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Figure 1.1 the Arrivals and Receipts of Malaysian Tourism The Malaysia government tries to promote the development of this industry. But how could we improve the development of tourism industry? The first attention may be focused on the development of hotels or hospitality industry. The reason is that accommodation fee takes a very important weight in the expenditure of tourists, which implies that the development of hotels will pose great influence of tourism industry. The second consideration is that hospitality industry is related with many other industries. Hospitality industry is a huge industry, including not only hotels but also transportation, restaurants and so on. Without any hesitation, the hospitality industry is related to every aspects of peoples daily life. The correlation between hotels and other tourism sectors indicates that the whole tourism may benefit more if the hospitality industry could cooperate well with other related sectors. Therefore we hold the opinion that to promote the development of hotels and to make innov ation in strategies of hospitality industry is fairly important to promoting the development of tourism in Malaysia. In this study, we focus on issues related to budget hotels, because budget hotels play important role in tourism industry and the budget hotel industry has not developed very well in Malaysia  [1]  . According to the existing research, small and mediate enterprises, including budget hotels, are very important in tourism industry and all the business industries. For example, Abdullah (2011) find that firms with less than fifteen employees account for around 79% of all Irish tourism businesses, which is a characteristic of the tourism sector in many other countries recently. Sheldon (1993) find that over 90% of tourist accommodation establishments are represented by small firms in the world. And a similar dominance is reflected within Malaysia where owner operators account for the majority of all hotels. Morrison (1996) argues that the tourism industry has been dominated by the small business traditionally and this is still the fact in 1990s. There are several reasons leading to th e popularity of small hotels. The first reason is the low benchmark of entering into the budget hotel sector. It is not difficult to start up a small hotel business and the professional requirements related to this sector are relatively low in with regard to other industries (Lerner Haber, 2001; Szivas, 2001). The second reason is that demand for small accommodation is high, which enables small hotel providers to offer a wide quality range of products, facilities and special services to the market. The third reason is the flexibility of budget hotels. Budget hotels are small and the small size allows an owner-manager to respond quickly to demand shift and market change. In addition, the costs of budget hotels are relatively low because of the advantage of using family labor (Getz Carlsen, 2000; Lowe, 1988). Because budge hotels are very important in hospitality industry and hospitality industry is pretty significant for tourism industry, it is necessary for us to make clear the in fluence of budget hotel on tourism. Before analyzing the influence of budget hotels on truism industry and discussing the management of budget hotels, we need to make clear the definitions of hotel and budget hotel. A hotel is an establishment providing accommodations and usually meals and other services for travelers  [2]  . Generally there are several categories classifying hotels. Most often we may divide hotels into two subgroups, including star hotels and budget hotels. According to the view of Kim and Mauborgne (1997), there are two market segments in the budget hotel industry and the star hotel industry. Star hotels are generally more expensive than budget hotels while providing more services. Most star hotels have some amenities under certain star rating system, which usually includes private bathroom, color TV, telephone, air conditioner, refrigerator, safety deposit box, daily maid service, 24 hours front desk. The lowest level of star hotels is the one-star hotels, which are the most basic hotels providi ng all the basic amenities for all star hotels. But the rooms of one star hotel are relatively small. Some one-star hotels even do not provide refrigerators and safety deposit boxes. Budget hotels cannot be classified into those standard star rating systems and they are characterized with low price while providing less facilities. Generally these hotels do not offer ancillary facilities on top of the standard basic accommodation facilities. Maybe they are not clean enough, safe enough and do not supply something that you consider as essential for your stay. But many of the budget hotels have their own characteristics which depend on the operation of its managers. But the definition shown above is generally used in other countries than Malaysia. In Malaysia, budget hotels may provide better services than one-star hotels. For example, Malaysia Budget Hotel Dot Com (MBHDC), is an organization uniting some budge hotels, and it specializes in providing high quality and lowest price budget hotels in Malaysia (3 Stars and below)  [3]  . In the understanding of this organization, cheap hotels, youth hostels, low cost resorts, motels, guesthouses and rest houses are all in the category of budget hotels. Based on the definition of Morrison (1996) on a small tourism business, we may define a budget hotel as a small hotel that is financed by one individual or a small group of individuals, and it is mangers are the same time its owner. Generally the characteristics of those budget hotels are that the managers do not operate through a formalized management structure. It is not affiliated to an external agency on a continual basis for at least one manag ement function. In addition, it is small in terms of physical facilities, service capacity, and number of employees. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of hotel industry on the whole tourism industry, and to explore the possibility of making innovations in budget hotel industry, which may improve the development of tourism industry of Malaysia. This study tries to find the reason why there are so few budget hotels in Malaysia. We interpret this phenomenon with theories of price and externalities. It is found that the reason for the lack of budget hotels is that the positive externalities of budget hotels have not been effectively internalized. Externalities of budget hotels means that the development of budget hotels will attract more tourists and those tourists will bring more value to other sectors. Because the positive externalities of budget hotels have not been effectively internalized, the stimulation for budget hotel owners to supply more budget hotel services is not high enough. Through secondary research, we find that the hotel industry has important influence on t he whole tourism industry and the externalities of hotel industry also have significant impacts on the tourism industry. This results means that there is possibility that the budget hotel or other hotels cooperates with firms from other industries and produce more value for customers and for themselves. Furthermore we discuss the needs and wants of budget hotel customers based on the theory Maslows levels of human needs, which he named the Hierarchy of Needs. Then we discuss how budget hotels should perform according to the three levels of needs. At last we discuss how a budget hotel is able to control its service quality, attract customers and establish customer loyalty. 2. Objectives of this paper: Defining budget hotel and compare different concepts. Analyzing the influence of budget hotel price on tourism; Understanding customers wants and needs in relation to budget hotel accommodation; Investigating quality and methods to retain customer in budget hotels; Analyzing principles establishing brand loyalty for budget hotels. 3. Literature Review 3.1 Price Theory This study tries to find reasons why there are so few budget hotels in Malaysia. Because the supply of budget hotels is adjusted by price in a market economy, we need to use a proper price theory to explain this economic phenomenon. Therefore we need to select a best price theory that is able to help us to gain deep understanding about the shortage of budget hotels in Malaysia. Economists have for a long time been aware of the importance of price and try different ways explaining the mechanism of price formation. The existing economic thoughts on price are so rich and colorful that we often feel confused when evaluating different kinds of price theories. The evolution of price theory can be classified roughly as three classes, including Marxs theory of value, economic price theory and accounting theories of pricing. In order to understand the evolution of price theory, we need to start thinking from the exchange behavior. The reason of choosing exchange behavior as the starting point is that exchange is the foundation of the market economy. Exchange behavior is the most common phenomenon in a market economy. In fact there is no price if there was no exchange. But why do we exchange with others? Intuitively, we can get more utilities through exchange. In the process of exchange we can get something useful from others, at the same time we must be able to provide something useful for others. Otherwise the deal cannot be done. The great classical economists like Adam Smith and Karl Marx had paid much attention to exchange behavior. In his famous book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith (1776) wrote down the following words, which have been quoted by numerous economists. Man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren, and it is in vain for him to expect it from their benevolence only. He will be more likely to prevail if he can interest their self-love in his favor, and show them that it is for their own advantage to do for him what he requires of them. Whoever offers to another a bargain of any kind, proposes to do this. Give me what I want, and you shall have this which you want, is the meaning of every such offer; and it is the manner that we obtain from one another the far greater part of those good offers which we stand in need of. It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love. Smith saw the pretty positive aspect of the market economy of compelling people to cooperate with each other through exchange. Smith recognized that to propose an exchange is intending to show other people that your goods or service is useful to them. When you finished exchange, it means the other person recognizes that your goods or service is of value. Exchange can be considered as the fundamental factor of the market economy. Karl Marx does provide a special way explaining value and price although Marxism is generally considered a way of engaging and transforming social reality (Tinker, 1999). Marxs theory of value is based on the analysis of exchange behavior. Karl Marx started his analysis on capitalism from the definition of commodity which was obtained from his analysis of exchange behavior. According to Marx commodities are the fundamental units of capitalism and capitalism can be viewed as a form of economy based on the intense accumulation of such objects (Bourguignon, 2005). He also pointed out A commodity is, in the first place, an object outside of us, a thing that by its properties satisfies human wants of some sort or another (Karl Marx, 1887). After noting that commodity exchange, Marx turned his attention to the question: why we are able to exchange two different products? His answer is that there must be comparable thing between the two different products. Therefore people are able to decid e the exchange ratio based on the amount of the comparable thing in the two different products. If this is true, then what is the comparable thing? Marx thought it is labor  [4]  . Although different products have different uses, they are all made through labor. The labor contained in a product is the value of this product. If one product cost more labor, then this product is more valuable. This is a perspective from cost. This analysis is reasonable at that time, but when the productivity becomes so advanced that a lot of different factors besides labor, such as technology and management skill, begin to make greater contribution to production, Marxs theory of value is hardly able to interpret various complex economic phenomenon. Then another class of price theory was developed and become more attractive. That is the price theory based on the concept of utility. The framework of utility-price theory became well established when Economics went into the 20th century with the development of mathematical analysis (Sandmo, 2010). A lot of economists moved their interest from cost perspective to equilibrium perspective when analyzing the price formation mechanism. In this framework the price of a commodity is decided by the equilibrium of demand and supply. Demand of a product reflects the utility of a certain product to some consumers, while supply reflects the cost of producing this product. If supply superiors demand, then price will go down. The result is a lower supply and more demand, which may lead to equilibrium between supply and demand. If demand superiors supply, then price will go up, which results in more supply and less demand. Equilibrium between supply and demand is also possibly to be realized (Man kiw, 2004). The price at the equilibrium is the equilibrium price. This price theory is widely accepted and applied to explain different kinds of price fluctuations. The neoclassic equilibrium theory of price is mainly static, which is hard to explain some modern price formation process, for example financial asset pricing. As the development of productivity, mainly the development of financial techniques, some new price theory taking time and future into account is necessary. Therefore a new class of theory, the core of which is the calculation of present value, has been developed to meet this demand. The theory argues that the value of an asset is decided by the future cash flow that this asset is able to bring (Jones, 2006; Thomas and Ward, 2009). And this theory has been applied widely to the pricing of financial or other kinds of asset. Because the entering benchmark of budget hotels is very low, the supply of budget hotel is mainly decided by demand. And this problem is not a dynamic pricing issue. Therefore, the neoclassical price theory is the best to be used to explain the shortage of budget hotels. 3.2 Determinants of tourism demand Because the supply of budget hotel is mainly decided by demand, we need to know more about determinants of tourism demand and know how to forecast the demand. It has been widely recognized that accurate forecasts of tourism demand is pretty helpful for managerial decision making. Archer (1987) argues that in the tourism industry the need to forecast accurately is especially acute because of the perishable nature of the product. Unfilled airline seats and unused hotel rooms cannot be stockpiled. Some scholars, such as Edwards (1985), publish some predictions for certain countries. There are also some organizations in the tourism industry that publish confidential predictions on tourism demand. There are a lot of review articles on tourism demand up to now, including Crouch (1994),Witt and Witt (1995), Lim (1999), Li et al. (2005), and Li and Song (2008). According to the reviews, the methods applicable to analyzing the influence of the determinants of tourism demand are relatively lim ited. Multiple regression method is the main methodology in this analysis (Witt and Witt, 1995). Tourist visits may happen for several reasons, including holidays, business travel, visiting friends or something else. The majority of existing studies of tourism demand analyze either total tourist trips or just holiday travel, with only a few concerning on business travel. In the empirical literature, tourism demand is generally measured by the number of tourist visits from an origin country to a foreign destination country (for example, Turner Witt, 2001; Kulendran Wong, 2005; Coshall, 2005; Rossello, 2001). An alternative measure is the tourist nights spent in the destination country. The third measurement is the expenditure of tourists in the destination country (such as Li, Song, Witt, 2004, 2006; Li, Wong, Song, Witt, 2006). But up to now there has not been a best method for tourism demand analysis (Li and Song, 2008). With regard to the researched countries, USA, UK, and France are the most popular researched countries while the research on Malaysia is very limited. The quantitative literature on tourism demand can be divided into two classes, including non-causal time-series models and the causal econometric methods, the difference between which is whether the model identifies any causal relationship between the tourism demand and its influencing variables (Li and Song, 2008). The causal econometric methods are useful for the present study. In the review of Li and Song (2008), there are 121 empirical papers on tourism demand in total. Among those literature, 72 used the time-series techniques to model the demand for tourism, while the others employ econometric techniques analyzing the causal relationship between tourism demands and explaining factors. 3.3 Externalities of hospitality industry One major hypothesis of this paper is that the shortage of budget hotels in Malaysia is due to the reason that the externalities of budget hotel have not been well internalized. An externality is a cost or benefit that is not transmitted through prices or is incurred by a party who was not involved as either a buyer or seller of the goods or services causing the cost or benefit (Bishop, 2012). We can understand externality as a consequence of an economic activity that is experienced by unrelated third parties. We can classify externalities into two categories including positive externalities and negative externalities. An example of the negative externality is pollution. A negative externality happens when an individual or firm does not need to pay the full cost of its production. If a good or service has a negative externality, it implies that the cost to society is larger than the cost paid by consumers. Because consumers make consumption decisions according to their own conditions , meaning they try to make their marginal cost equal to their marginal benefit, without considering the cost of the negative externality, negative externalities will cause market inefficiencies where too many goods or too much service are produced. A positive externality occurs under the situation that an individual/firm makes a decision without receiving the full benefit of production. The benefit to the individual/ firm is less than the total benefit to the society. Therefore when a positive externality exists in a market, the private marginal benefit curve is less than the societys marginal benefit curve. With positive externalities, the production and consumption are less than the optimal production to the society (Mankiw, 2011). There has been a lot of literature discussing the impacts of externalities on different industries or economic activities. For example, Katz and Shapiro (1985) provide an analysis on the influence of externalities on the competition in several important markets. They find that if there are externalities, then consumers expectations can influence the structure of the market equilibrium in their model. Azariadis and Drazen (1990) find that externalities can influence the accumulation of human capital. Henderson (1997) employs panel data for five capital goods industries and estimates dynamic externalities. He concludes that externalities pose significant influence on capital goods industries. Warziniack et al. (2009) develop a general equilibrium model measuring welfare effects of taxes for correcting environmental externalities and evaluate the impacts of externalities arising through exports. They find that externalities from exports are resulted in a number of sources. They argue th at taxes on the sector imposing the environmental externality often presents more negative effects than positive effects. There are many other literature studying the influence of externalities on other aspects of an economy, such as Devereux et al. (2007), Acharya and Volpin (2010) and Foster (2012). But there have been few papers on the externalities of hospitality industry on the development of the whole tourism industry. Most of the researches on externalities in tourism industry are related to city planning, location setting or taxes. For example, Chang et al. (2011) analyze the congestion externalities caused by tourism expansion and the wealth effect generated by the revenues from overseas tourism taxation. Schubert (2010) studies optimal taxation (subvention) when tourism is associated with multiple externalities. Chao et al. (2004) examine the welfare effect of tourism on the host economy. They identify three channels influencing domestic welfare by tourism, the most important one of which is the social externality accompanied with tourists. Calveras and Vera-Hernà ¡ndez (2005) place great emphasis on the presence of quality externalities among hotel establishments when they explore the role played by the tour operator in quality investments. These existing researches are helpful for my analysis of the externality effect of hospitality effects on the whole tourism industry and the welfare of lo cal residents in Malaysia. 4. Theoretical Framework 4.1 Classical Price Theory and Hotel Price Pricing is an art. How to set the price of a good at the best level and achieve the most profits is a hard challenge for any manager in any business field including the hospitality industry. According to the classical price theory of Economics, price is related to two aspects of goods and services: supply and demand. Price has a positive relationship with the supply of goods and services. The reason is that profits would be thick if price if high. As a result of the thick profit, more and more firms will enter this industry and supply more goods and services. At the same time, price has a negative supply with demand of goods and services, because a high price means a high cost of consuming the goods or service for the consumers. The positive relationship between price and supply and the negative relationship between price and demand implies that an equilibrium market state will finally be realized. Market equilibrium means that supply and demand of goods and services are equal to eac h other. The price at the equilibrium state is named equilibrium price. When price is higher than the equilibrium price, it means that demand is larger than supply. At this time, firms will provide more goods or services and price will go down. Similarly, when price is lower than equilibrium price, supply is larger than demand. Then firms will supply less because of the low profits, as a result of which price will go up. This theory fits the normal goods market the best, while remains limited exploratory power for luxury goods market and some other markets. Since hotel is a normal goods instead of luxury goods, the classical price theory in Economics is useful in the studying the price of budget hotel. In this paper one our main objectives is to analyze the influence of hotel pricing on the whole tourism industry. In order to answer this question we mainly analyze from the demand perspective, which means that hotel price influences the demand of hotels and the demand of tourism. The reason is that accommodation fee is the majority of tourism expenditure for most of the tourists. If hotel price is too high, fewer tourists will come and the demand for hotels becomes lower. And there is a second perspective that hotel price also influences the welfare of local residents. If the hotel price is set to be very low, then the profits of the hotel and the wage of local workers must be low, which implies that the welfare of local residents is low. As a result, there must be a best choice of price which is able to maximizing the welfare of local residents, and a best price that maximizes the profits of hotels. Price Quantity Supply Curve Demand Curve Figure 4.1 Classical Price Theory 4.2 Externalities of Hotel Price and Cooperation between Industries But there is a difference between the best price for local residents and the best price for hotels. The best price for hotels should be the one that is able to maximize the profits of hotels. This price is not necessarily the price maximizing the welfare of local residents. The price maximizing the welfare of local residents is the one that maximizing the gross income instead of profits of hotels. The difference between hotels best price and local residents best price exists because of the externalities of hotels. An externality (or transaction spillover) is a cost or benefit that is not transmitted through prices or is incurred by a party who was not involved as either a buyer or seller of the goods or services causing the cost or benefit. The externalities of hotels can be understood as the influence of hotel price on other sectors or industries. For example, if the hotel price decreases, then more tourists will come to Malaysia for sightseeing because of the cost becomes lower. More tourists imply more demand for local restaurants, entertainment industries and some other sectors. Similarly, if hotel price increases, fewer tourists will choose to spend their holiday in Malaysia and the local restaurants and entertainment or other industries would benefit less from tourism. Price Quantity Supply of Hotel Demand of Hotel Demand of Tourism Figure 4.2 Externalities of Hotel Price The logic of externality indicates that if the hotels and other sectors could cooperate well, the whole tourism industry would benefit more from the increase of tourists. Imagine that if the hotel price is set to be lower than the present level, which will attract more tourists and those more tourists may bring more spending on local goods and services. Those incurred spending may compensate the loss of hotel revenue. It means that the total benefits of local tourism increases although at the cost of hotel revenue decrease. A good cooperation between the hotel industry and other industries means that other industries are able to transmit part of the incurred revenue to hotel industry and share the increased revenue with hotel industry. There are some examples illustrating this good cooperation in tourism industry. In some states of Malaysia, the scenic spots are free and tourists do not need to pay gate tickets. The loss of tickets income leads to higher income of ot

John F. Kennedy Essay -- essays research papers

John F. Kennedy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Though John F. Kennedy was only president for a short time, he inspired American patriotism and united a nation behind a common goal for peace. Kennedy was an influential man and a great leader. His faith was tested by the obstacles he had to overcome, but President Kennedy always lead his country with dignity and pride.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts. Known as â€Å"Jack†, he was the second child born to Joseph and Rose Kennedy. Jack was named after his grandfather, John Francis Fitzgerald. He had an older brother named Joe Jr.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Jack was one year old, his sister Rosemary was born. She was mentally retarded. Joseph and Rose later had six more children, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Teddy (Weidman 1). Jack was very sick as a child. At age three, he became seriously ill with Scarlet Fever. He remained in recovery for three months. Jack constantly suffered from allergies, colds or bronchitis. When he was ten, the Kennedys moved to Bronksville, New York to escape religious prejudice. They were Irish Roman Catholics and had faced many hardships because of their religion in Massachusetts. During this time he attended Riverdale Country Day School.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During his childhood years, Jack felt overshadowed by his older brother Joe. They constantly competed with one another. Whether it was sports or school, Jack and Joe always tried to outdo one another. They once had a bicycle race and collided at the finish line. Joe came out Hamner 2 without a scratch while Jack needed twenty-eight stitches.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jack became interested in politics at a young age. He and his family would discuss world events every evening at dinner. Jack learned a lot about politics from his grandfather John Fitzgerald. He was a famous lawyer and politician from Boston. Jack listened to his political speeches and attended political rallies. He also went with his grandfather as he campaigned. Jack read the newspaper everyday and many books dealing with history.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Jack turned fourteen, he followed his older brother to Choate School for Boys in Wallingford, Connecticut. There he participated in many sports. Still, his allergies and other sicknes... ...focused on Jacqueline Kennedy. Still, she never faltered and her dignity was majestic. With her children in hand, she kissed the flag that was draped over her husband’s coffin. The next day, the president was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. As the coffin passed by the family, three-year-old John-John raised his right hand and saluted his father. That single image was stamped in the minds of all Americans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the days after the funeral, there were many unanswered questions. A book was written called The Warren Affair that described in detail how Lee Harvey Oswald might have shot the president. The investigations never ceased, as an accurate answer is still yet to be found (Stein 1-29). Hamner 8   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  John F. Kennedy was a president that will always be remembered for his dedication and devotion to the United States of America. He believed that the forces that bring people together are much stronger than those that divide them. President Kennedy has gone down in history as being a president who never lost hope in his country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

National Honor Society Paper

National Honor Society is known for having extraordinary students whom possess strong leadership, constant determination, and also structured character. Though there are various students who have what it takes to become a member of the National Honor Society I feel that I should be one of them. From the beginning of my Freshmen year, I had a strong desire to find my path early in life and choose a career I would like to pursue as time went on.Realizing my passion for shopping was just the beginning, and though most girls all have this love for clothes I saw it differently, and began to explore the fashion industry by researching and reading up on the latest news. The electives I took in 9th grade, which were studio and art and fashion illustration both had a large impact on my future and also provoked my desire and curiosity for the artistic side of the fashion world.Getting very high grades in these courses made me acknowledge my ability to draw and learn how to sketch fashion desig ns and learn about the career of illustration in fashion, giving me more confidence in choosing my direction in this field. As my sophomore year began, I explored a different side of the fashion industry and enrolled myself in fashion marketing and also fashion apparel and accessories, but also stuck to the arts by taking drawing. In my fashion apparel and accessories class my teacher privately selected 6 people from the class to partner up in twos and compete in the famous DECA competition.Out of three hundred people, my partner and I competed in advertising and placed honorable mention. This showed that out of all those people my partner and I’s work paid off, and my teacher found us to be unique among our class. Because of my teacher Ms. Ehrhardt and also my fashion illustration/ art teachers Mrs. Copolla and Ms. Syska I became extremely inspired to do something about my newfound passion and sign up for FIT’s precollege workshop classes to gain better experience of this fashion world I was ready to journey into.That march until may of 10th grade every Saturday I would independently take the train in early and attend three-hour fashion classes, sewing and an introduction to the fashion industry and take the train home late. The privilege of being in the city on my own helped me develop a significant understanding of myself and who I wanted to be, and the opportunity of taking these classes transformed me into a more social and friendly person. I became much more understanding to the structure of the basis of fashion and felt that though I loved the classes, I wanted to xplore other courses they had in order to expand my interests of fashion as a whole. In the summer I decided to spend most of my time in the city for fashion and took more classes at FIT and also LIM college to assure myself in which area of fashion I wanted to be in. The classes I took in 10th grade at FIT were design classes, but I felt that my abilities would have a larger pos sibility for success in merchandising. The summer FIT class I took was for public relations and I got the chance to visit various museums and also real fashion design floors to become truly involved in the industry.From here, I knew this was the area I wanted to be involved in and believed I would excel in. At LIM, I spent a week in the city with a roommate and dormed while I took a class for fabric styling and fashion magazine during the day. These two classes gave me a lot to offer, from the learning to the activities I became a leader of my own fashion shoot and also got to interview people in fashion, which left me such an empowering feeling.Though the dorms seem to be only temporary living quarters, I was fortunate enough to taste true independence and individuality; making me very excited to take on future challenges life would give me. Into 11th grade I pursued this path of taking fashion classes in the city, and took fashion marketing classes in. From all the hard work and d etermination In these classes through out high school, I was rewarded with high grades, which are hard to obtain in these courses. I also stood out because I was interviewed and placed upon the FIT website itself, under â€Å"who’s in precollege? (When you apply for a course) which holds the information and pictures of a handful of unique and stylish individuals. All of my fashion experiences as a whole have built me into the hardworking, determined, independent individual I am now and I am very proud that was able to achieve these aspects in order to reach my goal of being apart of the fashion industry. I also feel that this has made me eligible and also worthy of becoming a member of the National Honor Society who’s character will be beneficial towards this society.

A Critical Expose of the Effects Of 1914 Amalgamation on Nigeria

Chinua Achebe citing an Igbo proverb in his â€Å"There was a country† tells us that a man who does not know where the rain started to beat him cannot say where he dried his body. The rain that beat Nigeria began more than a decade ago, from the resolutions of the Berlin conference of 1884/1885 to the economic–driven amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria in 1914 by Lord Lugard. When the British set foot on the area presently known as Nigeria, it was a cacophony of many nations; nations which the British preferred to call â€Å"tribes†.Encouraged by the western anthropological binary of the â€Å"self† and the â€Å"other†, the British colonialists saw themselves as destined and equipped to rescue these African peoples from deep-scaled savagery, superstition and statelessness. They could not acknowledge that these peoples had any form of civilization or system of governance. Even if they did, they did not see the need to encourage the maturity and crystallization of such institutions.Theirs, they thought was a superior and more authentic civilization, and history especially that of slavery, had perhaps taught them that the need for European to conquer and â€Å"pacify† the â€Å"other†, the rest of the world, especially Africa was a divinely ordained enterprise (Davison 1991:21-51). Little wonder that when the British came to Nigeria in the 19th century, first as traders and merchants, they did not hesitate to bring along their religion and later, government.With a conjunction of force, tact and artifice, they set up administrative machinery which was later to become a metaphor for the suppression and annihilation of indigenous political and socio-religious structures; machinery which was designed to proclaim and establish the superiority of the European â€Å"self† over and above the African â€Å"other†. For easy administration more than for any other reason, British co lonialists banded several nations together in 1914 to create Nigeria: one of the liveliest housewives composed a national anthem for the new nation.In recognition of the artificiality of the concept of Nigeria, the anthem’s author wrote inter alia: †¦though tribe and tongue may differ, in brotherhood we stand†¦ Throughout the existence of Nigeria, the second line of the stanza above evokes hypocrisy; it represents one of the major falsehoods on which the British founded Nigeria and on which modern Nigeria thrives. Then the questions as to why do the British merge culturally diverse peoples to forge Nigeria? Was it not possible for them to allow these nations (which they called tribes) to evolve with minimum external influence and interference?Amalgamation of 1914; Reasons and ProspectsThe primary aim of the British in amalgamating the northern and the southern protectorates in Nigeria was simply economic. Compared with the colony and protectorate of southern Nigeria , the protectorate of northern Nigeria proved relatively poor neighbor. The entire south was very viable and richly endowed with surplus resources. The north was not as rich as the south, and was costing Britain money since it was not generating enough revenue to sustain itself.It was in the bid to offset the cost of the northern Nigeria that Lord Lugard who was the governor appointed a committee to recommend ways of running the almost barren north at a minimal or no cost to Britain. The group recommended the amalgamation of the southern to northern; to join the two vast areas as one country. On January 1, 1914, northern and southern Nigeria were amalgamated into one country and named the colony and protectorate of Nigeria. The amalgamation hence, was purely for administrative convenience and economic exploitation and as Chinweizu (1978) stated, British profit was too important to be allowed to suffer.The above summary indicates the making of Nigeria and we can observe that the amal gamation of the northern and southern Nigeria was not in the interest of Nigerians as they were not consulted before the amalgamation.Consequences of the Amalgamation: a Toddler After Hundred YearsWhatever Europe did in Africa in those twilight days, she did them solely for her own advantage and almost always at the detriment of the African. The amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 is no exception. It was a political blunder; much of the history of Nigeria supports this thesis, although no one would acknowledge this in modern Nigeria.Before independence, the shadow of ethnicity had grown so tall that even the contradictory colonial national anthem could not exorcise it. When the British granted us independence in 1960, it was certain that they have left not a truly â€Å"pacified† and unified federation built on love and mutual respect and equity but a mere â€Å"geographical expression† as Awolowo, one of the founding fathers of modern Nigeria, put it. When Tafawa Balewa r eceived the independence charter at racecourse in 1960, he, perhaps, also received the charter for instability and disaffection.The history of Nigeria between 1960 and 1967, when the civil war finally broke out, is a testimony. Generally, amalgamation preserved the difference among peoples and their administration. The adverse national issues were now looked at from local interests. Closely related to this was the unhealthy rivalry which developed between respective administrations as they struggle for different group interest which they represented. So that even in Lugard’s time, Nigeria was divided along north-south lines. Thus, the way the amalgamation was implemented left a legacy of tension among component parts of Nigeria.Also, the boundary adjustment which accompanied the amalgamation left some geographical in-balance between the north and south thereby creating same adverse impact on subsequent nation-building efforts. Furthermore, in spite of all efforts since the fa mous amalgamation of the northern Nigeria and the southern Nigeria hundred years ago, an act which the northern leaders to this day consistently and publicily condemn as a mistake, Nigeria as a united country was nothing but a fiction. Certain basic features mark a country out as united. Some of these features are:Common or similar culture, as well as social system.Common citizenship, with equal rights and privileges for all men anywhere in the country.Common laws and a common judicial system.A common electoral system.Equal rights of all citizens before the law.Rights to acquire property and make a living anywhere in the country.Equal rights to employment anywhere in the country.Equal rights to protection of life and property.Most of these features or even more are completely found lacking in our â€Å"dear† country Nigeria.No thanks to ethnic consciousness among Nigerians.Any Way  Forward?To get the right answers presupposes asking the right questions. Amalgamation of Nige ria is in itself not intrinsically evil. The problem is that many critics of this very concept tend to be more emphatic in its exposition of the ills of this principle, relegating to the periphery and obliterating it good aspects. We tend to sound and resound the trumpets of disparity among Nigerians but prefer to be myopic about things that are fundamental to us as Africans.It is true as some critics may choose to argue that our amalgamation was an â€Å"unconsulted† one as against the United States of America’s voluntary amalgamation. As an Igbo proverb will have it â€Å"anyukoo amiri onu o gba ufufu† (igbo proverb portraying that unity is strength), the merging of the northern and southern protectorates of Nigeria could if utilized devoid of ethic sentiments and prejudice will make Nigeria a formidable force in its leadership role as the â€Å"giant of Africa†. This could only be possible when national interest is placed foremost as against ethnic int erests.Furthermore, Nigerians at all level should learn to imbibe and assimilate more readily the African spirit of â€Å"Ujamaa socialism† as propagated by Julius kambarage Nyerere. This brotherly spirit of communalism will help to eliminate every form of division against tribal lines and foster that brotherhood that is deeply rooted in â€Å"Black consciousness†, In conclusion, Nigeria constitutional arrangement should be re-visited and made in such a way that it reflects true federalism by restoring more powers to the regional governments as this will â€Å"de-intensify† the unhealthy struggle to control the center: that led Nigeria where it is today.

Alan Keith as Effective Leader

Alan Keith is a chief accounting officer and controller for the Turner Distribution Company. He was recruited as a part of the acquisition team, but his inborn professional qualities and skills made him effective leader. When he was asked to take the role of vice president of business operations in Hanna-Barbera studies, he agreed and moved to Los-Angeles to meet his new destiny. His task was challenging as he had to re-invent completely Hanna-Barbera studios. He realized that that was the sphere where leadership worked at it best. And he appeared to be true. Speaking about Keith’s leadership qualities, it is necessary to underline that always knows what is important for him, for his working team, he realizes his strengths and weaknesses, driving forces and pitch falls. Moreover, Alan seems to be aware of when it is necessary to draw a line. He is an effective leader possessing clear values and objectives as well as self-confidence, savvy, persistence and knowledge. It is necessary to admit his personal qualities such as passion, empathy strength of a character, humor, wisdom reliability, sensitivity, creativity at work, common sense, etc. Alan Keith states that one should know himself, because it helps to overcome challenges, ethic dilemmas and problems, to communicate with people having different thoughts and ideas, to make relevant and complex decisions, to define the sources of satisfaction and relaxation if necessary. Alan Keith believes that true leader should to be clear about his own values, priorities, and preferences and not let someone else, or society, define them for him, because by clearly identifying those values, priorities, and preferences he can articulate what he wants. One more quality is willing to commit meaning besides being self-aware and shrewd; Alan needs not to be afraid of responsibilities and duties. For him, being a leader requires sacrificing your free time, to put others before yourself, etc. Alan Keith became successful because he confronted traditional culture with fresh radical ideas. Moreover, focus on creativity contributed significantly his personal and career success. Alan realized that studio was ruled by manufacturing philosophy. Keith said: â€Å"It was about doing it cheaply, getting it out the door and getting it on the air as quickly as possible†. (p.9) Studio’s motivation was driven by volume, not quality and creativity. The factor, as usual, had highly centralized structure meaning that all decisions about creativity were made only by several people. That system damped creativity and Alan Keith managed to change the situation and to make studio one of the leading in the world. He realized that something had to be done quickly; otherwise, all efforts would be in vain. Alan Keith managed to re-shape corporate vision and perception of team work at the studio. He emphasized the role of creativity for team members replacing and replaced manufacturing mentality. Cartoon animation is art and only then manufacturing. Keith stressed: â€Å"It was a huge struggle to get to the place where we could actually admit that all we really care about right now is bringing the right kind of creativity into this organization†. (p.9) As a result, studio produced thirty-nine successful cartoons with different characters. Keith managed to change everything: thinking, organizational structure, vision and ways of operating. Keith staked on deeper connection with people and appeared right. Studio climate changed as well: â€Å"We did everything from completely overhauling and doing a face-lift on the space so that it spoke to the creative spirit to encouraging anybody in the company†. (p11) Alan Keith succeeded because he dedicated himself personally to developing leadership within organization. Alan Keith faced different cultures, thoughts, ways of life, and he did seize the opportunity to lead. Actually, I don’t see any weakness in his leadership style. I understand that there are no perfect people and each person has certain weaknesses. The only thing I can mentions is that he should be less emotional. In certain cases, personal emotions may lead to failure. However, this is not Keith’s case. Speaking about exemplary practices of leadership Keith outlines five of them which seem the most important: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable other to act and encourage the heart. The first practice is modeling the way. It suggests finding choice by clarifying personal values and objectives; setting the example by aligning actions with shared values. Alan Keith realized if he wanted to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards, he should be the model of behavior for others. He was always clear about his guiding practices. Alan Keith argued that he leader from what he believed. He stressed that leaders should have their choice give voice to their values and believes. The second practice is inspiring a shared vision. Alan Keith proclaimed creativity as shared vision of the studio. Creativity helped him to rejuvenate decaying organizational practice. The next practice is challenging the process. Keith always ventured out. His success is confronting traditional culture with creative ideas. He challenged the process by innovative products and cutting-edge services. Alan Keith is true pioneer as he steeped out in the unknown. The fourth practice is enabling other to act. Keith managed to foster collaboration and increased trust among leadership and simple workers. He engaged everybody in teamwork realizing that people should feel committed and strong. Finally, the fifth practice is encouraging the heart. Keith created community spirit and celebrated values and victories as celebration is considered effective motivational tool. Alan showed appreciation for individual excellence. Summing up, Alan Keith has all the makings of effective and successful leader. He is perfect both as leader and a person.

Math Enquiries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Math Enquiries - Essay Example This essay will therefore evaluate various mathematical functions involving numbers, measurements as well as how math has developed overtime to get to what it is today. Just like humanity, mathematics is quite old and is said to have originated in Egypt and Greece as simple to the complex one we have today. In the historical times, mathematics encompassed arithmetic, geometry and algebra, making it get known as a science of quantity; while others referring it to as science of simplicity (Rouseball, 2010). Several developments in the field however got realized in the 19th century where mathematics spread its wings to an extent of being regarded as a science of inferences and relations to the fact that it now consisted of logic that was symbolic (Lavine, 1994). To date, mathematics as a discipline now covers a wide range of areas including numbers, geometry, algebra, calculus, set theory and mathematical logic, as well as statistics and probability that are known to be more applied aspects of the discipline. Mathematics also covers other areas like graph theory, differential geometry, topology, model theory, among many others. When it comes to number bases, we have two types; the binary and hexadecimal systems. As for the case of binary number bases, what is contained here is the ones and zeros and zero through nine for the hexadecimal system. In the base ten system, the ten stands for 1 and 0, and not a single numeral 10. In this case therefore, for one to count one more than nine, the ones column is zeroed out ant the tens column added 1 onto. If the tens column gets too big, both the ones and tens column are zeroed out and add one to the ten times ten (Stapel, 2014). Another thing worth noting is that any number raised to power 0 is 1. For instance, in conversion of base 2 numbers to their corresponding base 10, all you need are digits of the