9 Page Essay Examples

Abstract

In today’s competitive landscape, an organization must employ all possible means within reach to maximize growth and profitability by focusing on strategic marketing. Classic Airlines has the opportunity and resources to alter the landscape of the airline industry in its favor. In order to succeed, Classic Airlines must correctly forecast market potential and future demand, by establishing both short- and long-term marketing objectives.

Classic Airlines

Classic Airlines faces an organizational issue requiring urgent solution. The current internal and external marketing programs have not been able to satisfy the needs and wants of the stakeholders. Classic Airlines customers have resorted ...

Small and medium size businesses generally comprise about 65% of the world’s business organizations generating approximately 60% of the total revenue collected by economies in this world. This gives me the notion to hold a postulate that small businesses run about 60% of the world economy (Birch, 2007).

Looking at this general term (small businesses) I would define it as a type of business enterprise which has a capital base which is contributed by only one person or a few individuals. This type of business does not have any legal recognition. As a result, these business units are ...

It is well known that man is a social creature. In so doing, there are some aspects of culture that come in through his life. One of these aspects is religion. There are three main monotheistic religions in the world; Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Below is a discussion of these religions and the manner in which they interrelate with each other, with greater focus lying in the manner in which Christianity relates to the rest.

Contemporary Issues

Origin and Historical Account of Interactions

The term Christianity is derived from the Greek word Kristos, which is used by the Christians in Greek ...

1. The American Civil Rights Act amendment act of 1964 emphasized the role of quality education as key to the realization of the American dream. It is not by coincidence that the United States has achieved one of the highest levels of high school graduation rates in the developed world. The United States education system has not only been formidable in its focus on holistic education that includes pursuit of talents and academics at the same time, but has also received accolades for its universality. However, the education system has not escaped controversy regarding quality and mode of operandi. ...

Introduction to Computers

Major Categories of Computers

These computers are regarded as the most powerful computers because of their large storage capacity and a high speed of execution. Most of these computers are developed to be used in sophisticated research project by scientists, for example, space exploration and engineers. The need for faster calculations in the scientific field has increased demand for supercomputers. A good example of the use of supercomputers is in the National Weather Bureau, in the United States, for conducting weather analysis for the whole world. Weather data from around the globe are collected for immediate analysis. Industries ...

A particular feature of the literature is that it can send the author’s message in various ways and reach a target reader out of the crowd of ignorant ones. This can be often achieved through the hidden meaning inside a literary work or through irony, satire and caricature of the reality described. The aim of the present work is to compare and contrast Anton Chekhov’s play “The Proposal” and Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace”. In this context, the comparison will be conducted in the framework of the depicting of the same theme of gender ...

1. Liberalism and Feminist theorist 

Central to the theory and practice of Liberalism is the freedom of individuals to make choices that will result to social outcomes. This particular school of thought believes that “the purpose of society is the advance of freedom, equality, and human happiness” (Auster, 2007, LA reply section). It is important to note though that when one person chooses not to respect the freedom and rights of other people, this violates the concept and therefore could not be considered under Liberalism. The various forms of liberalism: economic, social and political, adopt the central tenet, albeit ...

Evaluating the Successes and Failures of Reconstruction

Bibliography In the aftermath of the Civil War, Reconstruction of the South took place between 1865 and 1877 under the auspices of three American presidents. While Southerners did not embrace the process, which resulted in the germination of various obstacles and problems that ultimately rendered it quite unsuccessful, as slavery reappeared in debt peonage. Moreover, racism escalated due to latent antagonists by Southern Democrats against newly freed African Americans.
When the Civil War was nearing its end in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln began devising a blueprint for the social, economic, physical, and political rehabilitation in the South, which was ...

Introduction:

In this paper, the significance of good quality early childhood education has been discussed, along with the teaching strategies which encourage multicultural education. The relationship and interaction between the teacher and parents is shown to be of vital importance, in order to make a child’s learning successful and meaningful in every aspect. Some light is thrown on how a teacher can motivate children in the classroom and ignite their interest in various activities. Various assessment methods have now been developed and implemented which mainly focus on recognizing and nurturing a child’s strengths and strengthening the weaknesses or ...

Business Report on Tesco

Executive Summary
Tesco is known as the third largest retiling store in the world. From its emergence until now, Tesco earned a lot of profit and is providing a variety of products to its consumers. Geographical diversification in Tesco leads it towards the height of success. When we analyze the internal and external factors that affect the performance of Tesco, we realize that strengths of Tesco make his business very profitable. There is a tough competition that Tesco has to be faced but due to its diversifying products and good quality business operations, Tesco is still among the top ...

Introduction

Communication is one of the most important things for any organization to succeed. A communication structure is an organized system that an organization has put in place to guide its daily operations. It stipulates how the employees are to behave at the workplace. An effective communication system helps managers of the organization in performing basic management functions like leading, planning, controlling and organizing. For managers and other employees to carry out their duties and responsibilities effectively, communication is the foundation of it all. There must be efficient and swift transfer of information between different workers and departments.

An ...

Comparative politics refers to the assessment of the political situations in all the countries across the world. Therefore, it becomes easy to determine the similarities and the dissimilarities that exist among the countries. The citizenry could use the comparative studies to increase efficacy in their nations thereby leading to the economic developments in the countries. As a result, the economic developments enhance the people’s living standards. The comparative politics entails two main methodologies that include; the area studies approach and the cross-national approach. The area studies approach involves an in-depth examination of a specific country or region. On ...

Communication principles and misconceptions

As a newly married couple, it is important for each of you to understand the basic principles of interpersonal communication. Peter and Rose, communication is irreversible. Once one of you says something to his or her partner, it is not possible to take it back. The impact of what is initially said remains in the mind of the partner in an inventible way. This is why it is important for a married couple to think before saying hurting words out of anger. Abuses and arrogance should get no place in marriage context since the partner may forgive you, but the initial hurt will be hard to forget. This principle calls for patience between the couple such that they should always ensure that they do not act of anger, and they do not say something hurtful out of impatience (Rotella, 2001).

Peter and Rose, another vital principle of communication is one that states that communication is contextual. Interpersonal communication takes place in various contexts such as psychological context, relational context, situational context, environmental context and cultural context (Saito, 1989). Psychological context refers to ones’ needs, personality and values that may arise during a conversation. Relational context refers to your reaction in relation to your partner while situational context is the psychosocial location of the persons involved in the conversation. Environmental context is the location and time of the people who are communicating, and cultural context refers to the rules, beliefs and values that have been learned by the people communicating. These contexts of communication must be considered in order for people to understand each other during conversations.
It is absolutely vital for you, Peter and Rose, to understand that communication is inescapable. This principle states that it is not possible for two people not to communicate, either through words or otherwise (Rotella, 2001). It is possible for Peter to keep quiet and assume that he is not communicating to Rose; however, he may be passing a lot of communication through facial expressions, gestures and other forms of body languages. This is why a husband should be cautious of which body-language message he passes to his wife and vice versa.

As much as communication seems simple to many people, it is crucial for you, Peter and Rose, to understand that communication is complex. According to Saito, (1989), in every form of communication, there are six hidden persons involved. For example, whenever your are conversing, there are always six people involved; who Peter perceives he is, who Rose perceives she is, who Peter perceives Rose is, who Peter thinks Rose perceives he is, who Rose perceives Peter is and who the other person perceives you think he or she is. This shows that every communication process is complicated, and every partner must understand that people have different thoughts about any issue that they could be discussing, depending on their perceptions.

There exists a misconception about interpersonal communication, whereby people assume that interpersonal communication is a matter of common sense (Rotella, 2001). This is not true because if it were, people would not be having many problems associated with communication. Peter and Rose, please note that interpersonal communication is more than just a matter of common sense, and both of you must use significant repertoire of skills in order to make the right choices in the relationship. Make sure that you do not assume that you or your partner can communicate intuitively, since the assumption that all people intuitively know how to communicate with the others is a big misconception.
The other misconception about interpersonal communication is that it solves all problems. People can communicate effectively and show exemplary interpersonal communication-skills, but this does not guarantee that all their problems will be solved. Some people assume that the more someone communicates well, the more he or she can solve more relationship problems.

Barriers to Interpersonal Communication

Peter and Rose, it is important for couples to understand all barriers that may affect interpersonal communication. In all instances communication barriers usually affect the bridge between the sender and receiver during communication.

There are external barriers that can significantly affect interpersonal communication. These barriers include physical and environmental obstacles that interfere with effective communication by acting like distractions between two partners (Saito, 1989). In your case, you may want to want to discuss some issues but there could be external barriers such as children making noise. It is possible to avoid some forms of external barriers that you may feel are a nuisance to your conversations. For example, you can look for a quiet place where you can communicate comfortably away from external barriers.

Peter and Rose, internal barriers also cause ineffectiveness of interpersonal communication between couples. In such a case, internal barriers originate from within the communicator. In some cases, one partner may be trying to pass a message but the other one could be too involved in his or her own thoughts such that he may not understand what the partner is saying. In other cases, one partner may not be listening while the other one is talking, leading to a breakdown of communication. Boredom, stress, lack of interest may all lead to internal barriers that can make communication extremely ineffective (Saito, 1989).

Cultural differences and language differences can lead to another type of barrier known as semantic barrier. One of the partners may speak in a language or dialect that the other one may not understand, leading to a barrier in communication between the two persons. In most cases, pronunciation, vocabulary and dialect, can easily lead to lack of effective interpersonal communication between people. Cultural differences may lead to ineffectiveness of communication since one partner may not be conversant with certain things. In some cultures, there exist some taboo topics that cannot be discussed in public. If one partner starts such a topic, the other one may feel uncomfortable to participate due to cultural differences (Saito, 1989).

Assessing Personal Communication and Improving Competencies

As you settle down in marriage it will be crucial for each of you to take regular individual assessments about how you are fairing in the communication areas. According to Belmore, (2009), in communication, it is important to ensure equality such that none of you should dominate his or her participation in conversations. During conversations, a couple should allow bi-directional communication and before embarking on serious issues, it is advisable to start with less serious talk that can effectively warm up the oncoming discussion. As a newly married couple, it is good to refer to each other by names whenever you are conversing since it creates a good rapport between partners. For example, during a phone conversation, it is important to keep on using your partner’s name so as to make him or her feel appreciated and valued. Another way of increasing rapport with your partner is to ensure that you use words and statements that are courteous when you are communicating. When one starts to use courteous words in conversations, it becomes a norm that reflects well on the overall relationship.

This is why it is important for both of you; Peter and Rose, to ensure that you make a personal assessment of how often you call your partner by name and how many times you use courteous words for conversations. Also, it is good to adopt the habit of smiling when you are making conversations with your partner so that your partner can know that you are genuinely interested. Also, maintaining eye contact can help your partner to communicate without fear. Maintaining eye contact and smiling when talking with your partner can enhance levels of attentiveness and increase your partner’s self-confidence (Belmore, 2009).

In order to improve on interpersonal skills, a newly wedded couple can join a course that can ensure that you can effectively understand each other in conversations. Apart from learning through a short course, it is important for each individual to evaluate his or her communication links and come up with any problems that can be rectified for future purposes. Evaluations can ensure that both individuals continue to improve their perceptions of each other, thus making it very effective to be understood and to understand your partner. Improving your communication competencies will impact positive on your overall relationship.

Active, Critical and Empathic Listening Strategies

Peter and Rose, active listening refers to giving your partner full attention whenever he or she is communicating. In active listening, one listens with a purpose at the back of his or her mind since there has to be receiver feedback during active listening (Bodie, 2011). When one partner is talking, it is vital for the one who is listening to do so carefully and attentively so that he or she can assess the accuracy of the message. In active listening, the communicator always expects either positive or negative feedback.

In empathetic listening, partners must put themselves in their partners’ shoes. The listener must listen carefully and understand the feelings of the person who is talking. Peter and Rose, please ensure that when the need arises, you can empathize with your partner so that both of you can feel appreciated and cared for. Through empathic listening, both of you can ensure a deep ability to perceive each other’s point of view as if it were your own (Badie, 2011).

Critical listening follows the steps of active listening, but in this case, the listener must critique the message received and challenge it first before offering a response. In such a case, the listener evaluates the accuracy, utility or meaningfulness of the message received, in a critical manner. In all cases, critical listening goes hand in hand with critical thinking since whenever your partner listens critically, he must think and evaluate the message critically too before responding. According to Badie, (2011) critical listening does not imply that one partner should keep on challenging the other partner every now and then. It should be done whenever it is necessary, and the partner who is challenging the message must give his opinions and explain why he thinks his opinions are right.

How perceptions, emotions, and nonverbal expression affect interpersonal relationships.

Peter and Rose, even when you are not talking verbally, it is vital to note that non verbal expressions can speak a million words! This is why it is vital to use non verbal language in diligent manner to ensure that you do not pass on the wrong messages. Non verbal expressions involve eye contact or positioning of the body, hands and legs. For example, to gauge if your partner is attentive to what you are saying, you can easily check the eye contact. Also, the body positioning can communicate to your partner if you are nervous or relaxed during communication. Happiness, thankfulness, frustrations, anger, politeness and genuineness can be traced using non verbal expressions even when a couple is not talking verbally. Misinterpreted gestures can be rectified by ensuring that each partner is open enough to practice positive gestures as a way of developing the relationship.

Emotions play a vital role in any type of interpersonal relationship, and marriage is no exception (Wider, 2007). During conversations, a partner may use emotions either positively (happiness) or negatively (anger). When a partner speaks angrily out of anger, the other partner may feel unable to continue with a good conversation. In other cases, a partner may portray emotional outbursts that can lead to distrust, fights and fear between the couple. It is clear that emotions can make or break a relationship, and therefore, Peter and Rose, you must strive to contain your emotions as much as you can.

Perceptions, just like emotions, can easily affect your interpersonal communication negatively. Peter and Rose, different people have different perceptions about the world and the environment, and therefore, you need to understand that your partner does not necessarily share in your perceptions. For example, when Peter is talking to Rose, he must understand that Rose has different perceptions of external environment since you both share different contexts of recall, memory, stimulation and evaluation. Psychologists have always cited perceptions as one of the causes of misunderstandings among couples (Wider, 2007), since most couples do not understand that people cannot have similar perceptions.

Conclusion

I believe this letter has come at the right time, just as both of you are settling down in marriage. Unlike dating, marriage is much more serious since you will be confined in the same house; doing every activity together till death do you part. That is why interpersonal communication skills will be very effective in ensuring that your marriage heads in the right direction. Peter and Rose, ensure you are conversant with the five principles of interpersonal communication. It is also to keep away from assumptions and various misconceptions that mislead people about interpersonal communication. This letter will help you to overcome communication barriers and understand your partner in a much clearer way than before. Also, you can now understand active, empathic and critical listening and their effective applications.

References

Belmore, J. (2009). Interpersonal Communication: The Self and Perception in Communication. Online Submission.

Bodie, G. D. (2011). The Active-Empathic Listening Scale (AELS): Conceptualization and Evidence of Validity Within the Interpersonal Domain. Communication Quarterly, 59(3), 277-295.

Rotella, M., Gold, S. F., & Andriani, L. (2001). When anger hurts your relationship: 10 simple solutions for couples who fight. Publishers Weekly, 248(44), 46-46. http://search.proquest.com/docview/197058087?accountid=45049

Saito-Fukunaga, M. (1999). GENERAL SEMANTICS AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION. ETC: A Review Of General Semantics, 46(4), 295-298.

Wider, K. (2007). Emotional Communication and the Development of Self. Sartre Studies International, 13(2), 1-26.

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are fast becoming extremely popular with usage in a variety of applications starting from mobile communication to home security. One of the main constraints faced during the design of the wireless radio sensors is power consumption. Most of the sensors are battery operated and many of them cannot operate without power for over a day. Transceiver is one of the main power guzzlers. Several techniques are used for reducing the transceiver power consumption in order to increase the battery life of the unit. Wake up radio receivers are offering a new way of operating the ...

The SQL injection (SQLi) is one of the most common threats to contemporary computer security. It is also one of the most successful threats because it is easy to execute and moderately hard to detect and prevent, so the success rates are high and the damaged caused by the attack is severe. Furthermore, there are no tools that can accurately detect and stop specific SQLi attacks, so developers are required to analyze the source code and resort to code-based defense strategies if they want to prevent unauthorized access to data. In the worst case scenario, an attacker can take ...

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Zara Fashion Shop Background information

The textile and clothing industry continues to develop since the earliest days because people will always be in need of something to cover their nakedness. Zara Fashion Store started in 1975 as a small store in Spain. Presently the business has ventured into 77 countries and owns more than 1,700 stores worldwide. In the year 2010, Stores accumulated profit amounting to 8 billion Euros. The business model adopted by zara is different from others since it composes of several sectors and sub-sectors. It comprises of the manufacturing unit, the design sector, distribution unit and sales sector. In addition, Zara has many profession designers with good customer knowledge, and are capable of accessing all customer needs and adhere to their requests. This enables the company manage more than 18,000 different models each year (Westfield 2010). Figure 1 represents some of the fashions designed in Zara factories.

1.2 Opportunity for innovation in Zara fashion Stores

In reference to the above the store has managed to increase its sales capacity through innovation and proper management skills. The need for innovation in Zara was stimulated by the presence of company owned factories, combined with external suppliers with excellent experience in the textile industry. In addition, Zara had a team of professionals in the management sector who ensured all the available models got customers all over the world within a span of two weeks. With the current business environment, organization managers have a duty to come up with crucial decisions on how to carryout their business operations. There is a challenge on the high growth rate of the business environment due to globalization the advancement of technology. According to Daft & Marcic (2008), managers face challenges on daily bases since once they come up with a strategy it gets overtaken by another one within a short time.

Another opportunity for innovation in Zara was the development of textile operations that ensured the colours and material used to manufacture clothes were of the best quality. This ensured that the company offered exciting cloth designs and gave a better quality control of its products. The company now has 18 textile-designing-and-finishing operations combined with cloth manufacturing factories. In addition, Zara fashion company is more concerned with design than any other operation. Most customers prefer shopping from Zara stores since they offer different and quality designs thus meeting their demands (Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt, 2005). Customers get satisfied from the services offered they in return bring about rewards to the business resulting to company growth. On the other hand, business managers should approach customers and make them like fashions, brands and designs offered in their organization. Creating customer value enabled the company retain most of its consumers and also acquire more. Zara Fashion Store undertook a number of processes in a bid to attain competitive advantage while serving its customers. Of great importance to them, is ensuring customer satisfaction because satisfied customers most often purchase again and tell other people about it (Kotler & Armstrong 2011).

2.0 Zara Fashion Store recognizes the opportunity for innovation

2.1 How the opportunity was recognized

Gaona developed a modernized management rationality that enabled him maintain the long-term survival for his company. According to Nalbuff/Brandenburger (1996), companies should always diversify their operations through sourcing out their services in order to maintain their competitive advantage, and avoid relying on only one line of production. Zara developed an in-house manufacturing strategy that ensured all the designs were developed and manufactured within the company. This prevented other textile industries from stealing their designs since Zara had patented its designs. Moreover, the use of in-house manufacturing system made the company manufacture old design models, but using the modern technology thus, maintaining culture, religion, and customers’ traditions. When it came to sourcing out the services, Gaona sent almost complete designs to other factories who could add some materials, like buttons and zips. Through this, the company had the opportunity of doing all the manufacturing and assembly of garments in its factories. In addition, while competitors like H & M and Gap developed their new designs in more than four months Zara spent only three weeks (Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt, 2005).
2.2 Who recognized the opportunity

According to Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt (2005), after working in a Spain textile company for many years without any success, Ortega Gaona came up with a decision to start his own fashion store in the year 1963. Gaona had invested a sum of 25 U.S dollars, which he used tom start a small company specializing in thes manufacture of pyjamas and lingerie. Years later the small shop expanded into a retail shop and later developed into a big fashion store called Zara. Another individual who recognized the opportunity was Lotte Freddie, the fashion designer who gave the company credit for its determination in creating designs featuring current styles, and sold at affordable prices. Freddie claimed that the successful growth of the company was due to innovation, but not the issue of low prices and standardization of operations. On discovering the opportunity in developing a fashion store Gaona first concentrated on one store in North Western Spain and developed it before opening up stores in other areas. According to Baden-Fuller, and Pitt (1996), developing innovations require an entrepreneur to have the capability of seeing connections and taking advantage of the available opportunities. Baden_Fuller and Pitt further argues that innovations does not only involve moving into new areas, but also designing perfect ways of offering the services required to the targeted groups (1996).
3.0 Zara Fashion Store innovation process

Zara Fashion Store developed very rapidly from a single factory manufacturing pyjamas and lingerie to big industry with fast turnaround clothing processes and managed more than 2000 stores in 52 countries. Zara’s innovation process ensured once a fashion was ready it was only allowed to stay in the display for only three weeks. The innovation started with the establishment of experienced managing team who possessed the necessary knowledge in the clothing and textile industry. Secondly, Zara developed an international business model that enabled it invest in other countries across the globe. In addition, the innovation process involved the purchase of high class, and technologically advance machines. This gave the company an opportunity to develop many garments within a short duration, which also adhered to the current fashion and style. Finally, the management made exclusive use of information and communication technologies in all parts of their operations. Customers could shop their fashions online and also place orders while in their homes. Also, most of communication was wireless whereby the company sales group could place the inventories on the internet for customers to view(Tidd, Bessant, and Pavitt, 2005). Figure 2 shows the change of allocation processes from the former to the new method.

4.0 Implementation of the innovation

4.1 involved teams

After realizing the need to offer more for his customers, Guona created a team made up of all the senior managers in the company. Each manager was responsible for a given department, but the most sensitive areas were on manufacturing, finance, and sales. The team held several meeting to discus the way forward whereby every staff member was given a chance to suggest an implementation that could assist the company succeed on the innovation process. Appendix I shows the company’s management structure lead by the founder as the chairman.

4.2 Critical areas for the innovation commercialization.

4.2.1 market selection and market entry

The management team at Zara recognized a need to expand their operations internationally as from 1988. The company opened new stores in Portugal, and New York in 1988 and 1990 respectively. Within six years the company had opened 225 stores in Europe, 406 in America, and 66 in Middle East/Asia. Appendix II shows the full details of the number of stores in each country. On the other hand, the selected team were on the keen look out for any market entry opportunity in a certain region and assessed means of getting there (Ghemawat and Nueno 2003). The company made use of demographic marketing selection strategy whereby fashion was used as the parameter. The market segment was developed in order to increase sales of products like, dresses, and handbags. The company management realized that most young people like such products and to attract them, they developed some promotions programs that made them purchase more of these brands. According to Lewis and Slack (2003), a business organization should aim at achieving high profits, but use cost effective ways that creates good customers’ value.

4.2.2 Sourcing and manufacturing

In order to concentrate on manufacturing quality designs Zara bought some of its fabrics, inputs and finished products from the external suppliers. In addition, the company sourced some of its work force from other companies where it owned stores. Zara opened a manufacturing firm in Hong Kong since they produce best fabrics and other raw materials. While the company manufactured about 40 percent of its products, the remaining 60 percent were sourced the suppliers in different countries. This enabled the country implement its innovations within a short duration since all the processes run as speculated and less was time taken to create designs. Most manufacturing processes took place internally since the company has 20 factories within Zara’s headquarters. The company had also a lot of expansion space to cater for future innovations (Ghemawat and Nueno 2003). According to Gereffi, outsourcing services enables an organization compete extensively in the international market since it reduces work load, and cost of production also lowers (2002).

4.2.3 Retailing

Zara innovation strategy was promoted through offering designer-style garments at low prices in many different stores. The retailing department that consisted of merchandisers and store operators ensured customers always received the latest designs at all times. Merchandisers liaised more frequently with buyers to ensure that the purchased products achieved the targeted sales plan. This involves devising the necessary techniques by delivering the production plan to buyers, who in turn, come up with decisions on the products to buy, styles, and colors depending on customer needs. The merchandiser makes decisions on the amount of money to spend, the number of different lines to purchase together with their qualities, and setting selling prices that conforms to the expected profits (Retail Human Resource, 2011). Store operations played a part in maintaining the company’s face, while at the same time acquiring the necessary information. In order to achieve the innovations set, Zara located its stores in visible areas that included; shopping streets in busy markets, and upscale areas occupied by rich people. Over the years, relocation of stores occurred depending on customer availability.
5.0 Why the innovation was successful

Several reasons contributed to the success of Zara’s innovation process. The company was led by a team of determined people right from the corporate departments, business units, and business support areas. The team had a better understanding of the business environment and responded to all issues for the growth of the organization. Organizational environment consists of threats and opportunities that determines the success of any organization strategic plan (Future Seekers 2007). Moreover Zara had a perfect supply chain management that enabled it achieve all its endeavors without much delays, as is the case with other companies. H & G is among the many competitors that use a service system that is close to the Zara. Therefore; Zara evaluated its system and come up with an effective mechanism for achieving the competitive advantage. To achieve this means putting customer satisfaction ahead of any other activity in the system operations. Customer feedback helps significantly in identifying loopholes and areas of concern to customers (Moore and Pereek 2010).

The ability of organizations to adopt current Information Technology and use it effectively determines the success and future of the organizations (Bocij 2008). Zara, on the other hand, kept the spirit of undertaking extensive innovations on the side of IT in all its processes within and outside the manufacturing units. Finance department in a company assisted in giving the necessary funds for improvement of activities that aid in increasing profits. ICT defines the kind of market modality that exists in a given business environment by influencing the market forces of supply largely. This occurrence finds basis on organization, and effective coordination in the utilization of the kind of information gathered. Hence, fashions created had a healthy completion among suppliers, which made them concentrate on production of high-quality products, and carry out extensive innovations on the same. This ensures that consumers get quality goods and services.

References

Baden-Fuller, C. and M. Pitt. 1996. Strategic Innovation, Routledge, London Bocij, P. et al., 2008. Business Information Systems: technology, development and
Management, The fourth edition. London: FT / Prentice Hall.
Daft, R. L. & Marcic, D. 2008. Understanding Management. The seventh Edition. United States of America: Cengage Learning.
Future Seekers. 2007. Organizational Environment. Retrieved from: http://futureseekers.blogspot.com/2007/08/organizational-environment.html\
Gereffi, G., 2002. Outsourcing and Changing Patterns of International Competition in the Apparel Commodity Chain, Boulder, Colorado
Ghemawat, P and Nueno, J., L., 2003. ZARA: Fast Fashion, Harvard Business School.
Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. 2011. Principles of Marketing. The Fourteenth edition. Prentice Hall.
Lewis Michael, & Slack N. 2003. Operations Management: Critical Perspectives on
Business and Management. London: Routledge.
Moore, K, & Pareek, N. 2010. Marketing: The Basics, Second Edition. 2 Park Square, Milton Park. 
Tidd, J., Bessant, J., & Pavit, K. 2005. “Managing Innovation, Case Study”, Exploring Innovation in Action: Sewing up the Competition - Innovation in the Textile and Clothing Industry. Retrieved from: http://www.managing-innovation.com/case_studies/Zara.pdf

Introduction

Communication is the process by which information is conveyed or transferred from a source to a recipient. The process usually involves conveying useful information between two parties (Berlo, 1960). Each of the communicating parties must have a way to understand the information. In communication, there is a medium by which the information is sent or encoded so as to ensure that both parties are conversant with the information exchange mode. In short, communication usually requires a common language for it to be effective. This means that a difference in language (language barrier) can cause a serious problem in communication ( ...

INTRODUCTION

In January 2015, two armed terrorists attacked the office of a popular French weekly magazine named “Charlie Hebdo” in Paris, France. Twelve people, including the chief editor at the time, were shot by assault rifles. Two weeks later, an Islamic terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaeda based in Yemen, took responsibility for the attack which, along with an attack that took place in 2011, were acts of revenge for the public dissemination of a satirical cartoon that targeted Muslims and poked fun at the prophet Muhammad. Such acts of violence aimed at Charlie Hebdo, especially the most one, are viewed ...

In the United States, power is generated from various sources. In 2014 alone, 4,093 billion KWh units were produced. The majority of these came from fossil fuels while renewable energy sources accounted for around 17%. The high percentage of fossil fuels used for electric power generation as compared to renewable energy sources leads to a more a pronounced environmental impact. The table below shows the percentage of the total power produced by the four major energy sources in 2014.

Negative effects of power production

Coal power production
Coal is a fossil fuel that is combusted in steam boilers to generate steam for driving ...

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as it is commonly referred to as, can be considered as the most innovative technology in energy production in the 21st century. Fracking is the process of breaking up the shale found beneath the surface of the earth to extract natural gas supplies (Hasset & Mathur, 11). It involves the process of drilling a series of holes into the ground, which are then pumped with a fluid (mainly water) to create pressure that forces natural gas out of the cracks for extraction. In as much as hydraulic fracturing has been adopted widely as a method of ...

Abstract

Ridly Thomas introduced The CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE assembly bill (AB) 766 to initiate amendment of the existing law. The bill requires the State Department of Public Health and the Department of Education to cooperate and set up public school health centers across schools in California. The amendment of the existing law seeks to ensure that public school health centers provide free health care services to all students regardless of the their social and economic backgrounds. This paper is developed against the backdrop of the debate between democrats and republicans that has characterized the bill. It examines the issue and assesses ...

Women and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: An Analysis

Introduction
“Imagine that your mind got stuck on a certain thought or image . . . Then this thought or image got replayed in your mind over and over again no matter what you did . . . You don’t want these thoughts - it feels like an avalanche . . . Along with the thoughts come intense feelings of anxiety” (International OCD Foundation, 2014; p. 2). It is normal for people to become anxious regarding their safety and life. However, when these anxieties exceed beyond the normal limit this is the sign of OCD which is a serious mental illness characterized by obsessions and compulsive behaviors. ...

The plight of the African American woman is a subject of critical concern in the modern world. In practice, the African American woman faces diverse challenges in the dynamic and complex information society. Key to note, the changes coming in because of world paradigm shifts and developments have continued to redefine and shape the position of women in the society. Developments such as industrialization, globalization, and urbanization have brought unique challenges to the modern family set-up. Precisely, the rising cost of living among other economic factors continues to redefine the role of the women. Practically, women are increasingly adopting ...

Studio Stessia is a form of partnership that is owned by Paul and Nicole. This partnership operates various businesses under one roof. Some of the business activities that take place in the partnership include sale of women’s clothes and salon. This partnership is located in the outskirts of Quebec City. This business is a family business since it was inherited from the grandmother of one of the partners. The two partners are people with other responsibilities in the society and therefore have little time to manage the business. As a result, the partners have employees who manage the ...

Executive Summary

The modern film industry contributes significantly to the GDP growth of countries like United States, China, Japan, and India. This industry also employs tens of thousands of people worldwide. Despite the growing popularity of the film industry, film piracy (particularly the web-based film piracy) poses potential threats to the future growth this industry. The widespread use of internet worldwide increases the industry’s vulnerability to piracy issues because any person can upload/share videos on the internet from any part of the globe. It is not practical to prevent people from downloading/watching pirated movies on the internet due to the ...

Introduction

The current paper is designed to consider the issue of domestic violence towards women in several different aspects. There are three contemporary studies analyzed in the scope of this research. Each study contains different information regarding domestic violence. Thus, Flake and Forste (2006) researched the issue of the reasons of domestic violence in Latin America, Crempien, Rojas, Cumsille, and Oda (2010) paid attention to the correlation between pregnancy and domestic violence occurrence, Green and Kelso (2010) considered punishment with regard of committing violence towards women.

The research aims at analysis of the reasons of committing domestic violence towards ...

This paper will argue that despite habit, custom, and the existence of God, one does not know in fact if the future will be a resemblance of the past. Basing on the works of famous philosophers Immanuel Kant and David Hume, we’ll come to the conclusion that no one can foresee one’s future even on the basis of strict knowledge of the past and even having habits and customs that presumably have to ...

Clinical Case Study

The evidence based clinical literature reveals the difficulties in diagnosing Myocardial Infarction (MI) concomitantly with pre-existing left bundle branch block (LBBB) with the application of 12 lead ECG in the pre-hospital environment (Surawicz and Knilans, 2008). Indeed, the T waves and baseline ST segments incongruently displaced in negative direction in cases of LBBB as evident through the ECG findings. These abnormal variations in ECG findings tend to override the actual ECG results in relation to MI manifestations, thereby challenging the confirmation of MI with the ECG intervention. However, the moving ST segments revealed through the serial ECGs during ischemic ...

Introduction

The IFRS are accounting standards, rules and principles that were introduced by an independent organization in the United Kingdom, known as the International Accountants Standards Board. The institution puts forward that the standards would better serve public companies worldwide than the local standards in the country due to the aspect of comparability, transparency and economic growth. There are several countries that have adopted the IFRS over the recent years. The transition to IFRS for the companies in these countries has considerable costs. There are technical and training costs that are incurred that may cause several companies to be cautious ...

Apple iPad had no real worries from competitors until Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire Tablet so the tech bloggers report. The product most like the Kindle Fire Tablet is Barnes & Noble Nook Color because they are similarly priced and offer similar applications (Rothman 2011). The costumer will make the best choice of tablet if they first consider what they want to do with their new gadget.

Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet is a perfect size for pockets so it can be carried everywhere without any annoying bulges or pokes. It measures 7 inches ...

Introduction

Anxiety is nature’s biological way of communicating that there is something around that necessitates one’s attention. These may be about the environment, medicine intakes, and brain chemical imbalances as well as drug abuse. The effects of the factors that induce anxiety may vary among individuals and with each conditions and the duration may range from a few hours to days or even months. Generally cases of anxiety are allowed to pass and an individual may well perform normally. Psychologists promote the idea that this feeling can be good at normal level as it is needed for the ...

Introduction

Debates in relation to human resource management and its environment continue to gain momentum although the focus has changed with time. The debates first began by trying to find the differences between human resource and employee management (Guest, 1991, p.150). The discussions moved on to scrutinize the associations between human resource approaches and the incorporation of HRM into business policies and practices. In ...

Question One

First, customer loyalty is not only an essential aspect in the improvement of profitability levels but also a critical in measuring the quality of the market. It is forcefully crucial for any organization to develop and implement systems to facilitate the management of customer loyalty. At Choice Bank, the Manager of the Sales Division, Susan Caplan, seems to have sidelined this factor by concentrating on new customers. Going for new customers undermines the maintenance of loyalty with existing customers. Equally related is to customer loyalty is the need to quantify customer satisfaction. Customers tend to be more loyal when their needs are satisfied as compared to situations of reduced customer satisfaction. This can be related to the era of Bob Washington, the Director of Sales and Marketing Division at Choice Bank, whereby majority of customers reported high levels of customer satisfaction. Third, employee loyalty and employee satisfaction is also another critical factor that must be capitalized in many organizations. The Service Profit Model has clearly outlined the ways and advantages associated with employee satisfaction and employee loyalty in driving growth and profitability within the organization. The needs and employees at Choice Bank seems less satisfied as evidenced from claims from a section of employees regarding the behavior of Susan Caplan, who they find to be too demanding and unapproachable. Interestingly, Choice Bank has a high rate of employee loyalty given that employees have strong rapport with each other, high levels of education, and an average experience of eight years.

Another essential factor within the Service Profit Model is the need for establishing strong internal drives to address different factors within the working environment. An essential internal quality is one that contributes positively to the satisfaction of employee needs and value. Internal quality entails the satisfaction of all the dimensions of employee needs and feelings and eventually transforming into value. Speaking of leadership, the deteriorated sales revenue, and performance at Choice Bank can largely be attributed to the change in leadership relations among employees at Choice Bank. According to the Service Profit Model, leadership determines the level of success within the service chain. This entails spending more time with customers and employees in order to enhance the strength of the corporate culture. Leaders must be willing to display a sense of willingness and as well demonstrate the ability to listen to the needs of employees and customers. The advantages of good leadership are evident at Choice Bank and this can be drawn from the achievements of Bob Washington during his 25-year tenure at Choice Bank. His casual and friendly type of leadership enabled to develop personal relationships with employees and customers as well. He totally committed himself to ensure that sales targets and other performance.

Finally yet importantly, there is the need to relate management aspects with individual links within the service-profit chain. Sadly, few organizations have managed to achieve the feat that is critical in the development comprehensive strategies and hence, the establishment of competitive advantage. For instance, the development of strong individual links, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction at Choice Bank is only possible through the establishment strong organizational links with the service-chain management. Increased revenue generating capability and huge sales volume at Choice Bank can be achieved with the realization of the need to increase concern on both the soft and hard values of the management. The current management at Choice Bank must quantify the benefits associated with investment in people, customers, and employee and in turn, helps companies to determine the factors that drive sales and profitability. This should guide members of the sales team to develop strategies that will guide the process of defining loyal customers, customer profitability, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction, and ways of improving the internal quality control.

Question Two

Job satisfaction and employee motivation are some of the essential factors that are necessary for facilitating the realization of organizational goals and objectives. High employee satisfaction and employee motivation characterizes an organizational situation whereby employees are fully committed to their jobs and will work harder to ensure that the organization achieves all the objectives stipulated under its strategic plan. Citing the situation at Choice Bank, the level of employee motivation and/or job satisfaction for sales representatives can be said to be moderately high. For instance, a large percentage of sales representatives and individuals of the marketing force managed to obtain the highest rate of bonuses are realizable within the company. Out of the 100 employees, 80 of them received the highest monetary bonus. Receiving such a reward is only possible with employees who are dedicated to their jobs and those that are satisfied with whatever they are doing. Equally, the sales employees at Choice Bank have strong rapports with each other and they tent similar personality traits. As such, they exhibit high levels of self-reliance, independence, and sociability. Additionally, the employees have formed strong informal groups that enable them to socialize with each other during working hours. Such characteristics can only be found with employees who are committed and satisfied to their jobs.

Another measure that can be used assessing and evaluating the levels of employee motivation and job satisfaction can be evidenced from the success and commitment of Bob Washington, the current Director of Sales and Marketing Division. During his 25-year experience at the company, Bob has studied the nature of managing employees using the friendly style that has enabled him to develop personal relationships. Interestingly, not only did Bob Washington manage to know each employee by name but also went to the extent taking note of additional factors such as the birthdates and family backgrounds of employees. Speaking on the need to voice their concerns, the employees of Choice Bank are more motivated and willing to work with cooperative leaders. Employees are willing to approach their leaders and voice their concerns or ideas. For instance, most of Employee at Choice Bank perceived the management style of Susan Caplan as being overly demanding and as well, argued that Susan Caplan was unapproachable. Employees at the organization prefer managers with approachable leadership styles and those who are capable of getting in touch with their needs and feelings.

On the other hand, the deteriorated sales for the company over the past three years can be attributed to the change in the management style that did not coincide with the needs and aspirations of the employees. Employees might have gradually developed a sense of less job satisfaction or they might have become less motivated. Therefore, Choice Bank needs to study and implement measures that are geared towards the improvement of employee motivation.

Question Three

Even at the best of circumstances and organizational control measures, personality differences play a critical in enhancing relationships between the management and staff members. An individual’s personality characterizes the manner of conducting oneself at different situations and it is defined by emotions, feelings, and thinking patterns. In any given organization, personality is essential factor in defining the behavior of employees or the management staff at favorable or unfavorable situations in relation to their jobs.

According to Myer’s ‘Big Five’ Model of describing personality traits, five personality elements are critical in influencing the personality behaviors of employees within an organization. The five personality dimensions include Agreeableness, Openness to experience, and stability in emotions, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness. In regard to the situation at Choice Bank, Extraversion can be related the type of comfort employees and managers derive from relationships. For instance, Bob Washington, and Jack Tayler can be said to exhibit extrovertive relationships judging from the sociable and gregarious personalities. They lead through influence and are willing to associate with workers and employees. This led to the development of warm and cordial relationships among employees and the management at Choice Bank.

Equally important is the dimension of agreeableness, which determines the propensity of workers and management staff to defer with their fellow workmates and employees. Similarly, Bob Washington, and Jack Tayler depicted high levels of agreeableness leading to the development of cooperativeness. On the other hand, the dimension of emotional stability entails the ability of individuals to withstand different levels of stress depending on the prevailing situation. Despite the unapproachable and rather demanding nature of Susan Caplan, employees at Choice Bank have managed to realize high performance targets. Conscientiousness at Choice Bank can be related to the presence of high reliability measures and this is depicted by the high levels of motivation among workers. Majority of sales staff personalities and their management counterparts are organized, persistent, and responsible on matters relating to the realization of organizational goals and objectives. Finally, the openness to experience represents the last dimension of personality traits under the Myer’s Big Five Model and can be related to the prevailing situation at Choice Bank through the prevalence of diverse fascinations and range of interests among the members of the management and employees. Majority of them are willing to adopt new strategies that enable them to realize their goals and objectives.

Question Four

EQ (emotional intelligence quotient), is always an important component in employees performance and management. It refers to the set of competences in individual, demonstrating the capacity to reorganize her/his moods, impulses and behaviors, as well as managing them to the best depending on the prevailing situation. There are numerous intelligence competencies, which have demonstrated to contribute on workplace achievement, in relation to cognitive ability, personality traits, and technical skill.
In fact, the ability to handle stress and manage feelings is an important aspect of emotional intelligence; it helps in achievement of organizational goals and skills. A lot of studies demonstrate that the ability to stressful situation in an organization, predicted sales as well as profits.
Undoubtedly, EQ is significant in management and employees performance. This is so because it trains an individual to balance between work and personal life. In this case, it is a measure of intensity to which personal and work activities are prioritized in order to maintain equal consideration of both. It has being observed, in an organization, high rating from the managers are associated to emotional intelligence of empathy, impulse control and social responsibility.
In every organization, challenges and crisis come up especially in the process of attaining organizational goals. During this period, EQ directs employees and management toward composure and straightforwardness; this skill instills calmness in times of recovery and crisis. Additionally, EQ competencies add value to performance in the organization by mending and building relationships.
Emotional intelligence captures numerous key competencies issues that affect organizational performance, either directly or indirectly. It helps maintaining and creation of appropriate and accommodative environment for serviced delivery. Certainly, this aspect suggests that individuals in work place vary in their capability to manage, regulate, and process information related to emotions. By and large, EQ competences leads to development of psychological and social self-image, that guides the employees and managers towards observing values, expectations, needs, beliefs, and goals of the organization.
Certainly, emotional intelligence adds value to the organizational goal achievement, by helping employees to develop interpersonal awareness. In this scenario, employees and managers take time in reflect on their importance and relevance in the organization. The training, improves self-awareness, by developing habit responsiveness among the employees and the mangers
Generally, developing emotional intelligence (EQ) competencies adds value employees and management performance in association with the company’s goal. This value is added through development of self-awareness, managing emotion, and self-control, personal motivation, as well as empathy development. The entire process of EQ can be achieved through training and working daily within personal scope.

Question Five

What kind of reward systems and recognition exist for performance

It is evident that the business environment is becoming more competitive than in the recent past. Therefore, the main objective of business organizations is to promote production of high quality products as well as services, but at the same time reducing the cost of production. One of the ways in which an organization can attain this objective is by implementing a reward system as well as recognizing the employees. Within the context of Choice Bank, various employee-rewarding systems have been implemented to improve their performance. For instance, the performance of the sales persons is evaluated from time to time, precisely on an annual basis. Depending on their performance, in addition to their annual salary, these employees are entitled to a given amount of bonus. The last eight employees are entitled to the maximum monetary bonus. Moreover, employees are highly respected within Choice Bank. For instance, the Director of Sales and marketing Division, Bob Washington is very friendly with the employees and he always tries to know each and every employee on personal grounds. This kind of recognition boosts the morale of the employees towards improving their performance.

Another aspect of recognizing the importance of employees in any organization is by involving them in the decision making process, more especially on matters that affects them directly. Choice Bank’s decision-making model takes into consideration the views of the employees. For instance, Susan Caplan, the Division Manager, involves her team members in every decision that she makes. She is constantly in touch with her team members, via memos that she issues on a weekly basis. At the end of every meeting, she is always ready open for any suggestions from the employees on the issues that they would like to be considered. Although some of the employees feel that she is too demanding, her approach of managing the employees, her style of management plays a considerable role in relationship building among the employees themselves as well as the employees and the management.

Why these systems do are adequate or inadequate for maximizing employee performance effectiveness

The type of rewarding system used in Choice Bank plays a pivotal role as far as the general performance of the organization is concerned. For instance, the evaluation process ensures that the performance of these employees is up to the expected standards. Additionally, the bonus motivated the employees to work harder and achieve more so that that could be rewarded with a higher percentage of the bonus. Moreover, to some extent the bonus system forms one of the bases of promoting job satisfaction among the employees.
The type of management that used in this organization promotes the morale of the employees. By involving them in most of the decisions that are made in the organization, the employees develop a sense of belonging or rather identify themselves with the organization. According to studies that have been undertaken by various human resource scholars as well as practitioners, employee recognition with an organization plays a very crucial role in employee motivation. It has also been noted that there is a positive correlation between high motivation and performance of the employees. Based on this analysis, it is evident that this kind of rewarding and recognition system is adequate in improving the performance of the employees in specific, as well as that of the organization in general.

Introduction

Many people have largely ignored child development that often occurs from birth to when the child reaches adulthood. Many people in history viewed children as small adults and thus paid little attention to the many changes in children including cognitive abilities, learning and physical growth. People started being interested in the field of child development in the early 20th century after theorists began giving their views. It is important to understand child development in order to determine the cognitive, physical, social, emotional and educational growth that children go through from birth to mature adults. Child development theories provide an ...

PLACE MARKING RUBRIC HERE

Opportunity Analysis for
Nestle
MKT103 – Introduction to Marketing
Executive Summary
Overview of plan including objective
Summary of Marketplace Environment
The market place environment is affected by a number of things that include the social political and legal factors. Penetrating into the market easily needs that a company develops a strategy that can easily counter all this forces. Without a proper strategy it can hard or even impossible to deal with these challenges.

Target Market and positioning

The target market that company is looking to venture in is the Suburban population. It is quite important to note that the Suburban promise to provide a ...

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The Royal Voluntary Service Fund Raising Mix: An Analysis

Introduction
Charitable organizations were established to address specific problems in the society by providing services or sustenance to those who are in need. The fundamental role such institutions encompass promotion of volunteerism in which the organizational members are working together to make a difference in the society. However, managing an organization that relies of contributions and donations are struggling to meet the financial demands of its activities given the extent of the social problem that the organization intends to address (Nonprofit Research Collaborative 2011). This is when fundraising becomes critically important in continuing the objectives ...

Cyrena R Douglas

Letter of Transmittal

Reference: Electronic report on ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF STRESS IN THE WORK PLACE

This is a letter of notification of transmittal of an original copy of a report on the ECONOMIC IMPACT OF STRESS IN THE WORK PLACE being submitted to the University of Maryland University College on date April 12, 2015. This letter further confirms that exert certified copies of the electronic report were submitted to the institution representative on April 12, 2015. The report has looked at some of the effects that can be realized in the work place due to stress. It further covers some of recommendations that should be put in place.
The file is ...

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Introduction

My place of observation for analyzing a crime spot was a café and bar located in a nearly shady neighborhood, located at the far end of some shops, cornering an isolated alley, which remained isolated most of the time. This neighborhood harbored people belonging to a working class, underprivileged and working hard all their lives. Normally expected in an area like this would be lots of rebellion by the youth, people probably not literate enough because of their lack of resources and low incomes.
The youth in ...

The famous and world widely recognized short story by well-known Chinese writer Lu Xun, the New Year Sacrifice conveys the distressing but touching story of a young woman with a heart-breaking life ultimately compels her to the outer reaches of the societal ethical standards. The story is neither a radical means nor an artistic inclined piece, but a way for encouraging social modification (eNotes.com). It has a special consideration to the dilemma of women in his time by incorporating in the story significant concepts regarding women’s liberty. The story transpired in the period earlier the Revolution of 1911, ...

Each member of the society wants a peaceful, crime-free neighborhood. In the desire to obtain such an environment the government commissioned the work of policemen to main peace and order by enforcing the law. However, despite the importance of their role in the community, police personnel continue to earn negative image from the public. It should be noted that the publics’ perception to law enforcement officers play a crucial role in maintaining peace and order. A positive perception will more likely help in meeting such goals. It is therefore important to understand the causes of the negative perceptions against ...