Letters of application and complaint

Dear Dir. Orr: I am writing with enthusiasm after discovering your Swim With Mike scholarship that provides financial resources for advanced education to physically challenged athletes so that they can overcome their tragedies and realize their full potential. The name of the scholarship is what really grabbed my attention, because I was a four year varsity swimmer for Blue Valley High School, and am now bound to a wheelchair. Swimming was one of the most Important things to me before my accident I have a rather diverse athletic background; before I even thought of swimming to be my sport, I ere up as a football and baseball player.Winning tournaments, receiving trophies with my team mates , and earning medals was part of my childhood. It wasn't until highlights that I became a swimmer, and I walked onto the varsity team after the coach described my stroke as natural and the swimmers Joked that I was a prodigy. We won state that year and the following year. Being a part of that Inspi red me to work harder than I ever Imagined possible. I Invested myself In and out of season on a goal of breaking the school's 100 yard breaststroke record after two of my mates came within a tenth of a second at the past two state championships.Lifting weights really helped me take my swimming to the next level; because I was shorter than most of my competitors, my coach emphasized that I put on more lean muscle mass. After gaining 30 pounds of muscle in an a year and a half, I broke the school record by a second and a half at the state championship my senior year. There Is no better feeling than completing a goal that you have been focused on for years. Three weeks after I broke the school record, I dove into the ocean in Playa delCarmen, Mexico and broke something tragically different – my 5th cervical vertebra. I am now paralyzed from the chest down, but there is no way that I am going to let that stop me from accomplishing my goals and reaching my dreams, Just as I did i n the pool some short time ago. This Is why the Swim With Mike scholarship would benefit me so well; when I set a goal, I do what It takes and I never give up. I respectfully request your consideration of my enclosed application for the swim With Mike Scholarship. Sincerely, Alex Dear Icing Customer Service:I would Like to file a complaint and better learn about the process for filing an appeal on a recent claim. I made a claim on May 1 5th, 2014 for a specialty commode shower chair costing $3,220, and was denied for the reason that Icing did not see it as being medically necessary. In the following paragraph I will explain why this shower chair is medically necessary due to the level of my injury. My morning routine consists of a transfer using a sling and a powered lift Into my toilet for a bowel program. This can take anywhere from an hour to two hours.If I didn't have my shower chair I would have to transfer to my wheelchair, transfer to a shower bench, transfer back to my wheel chair, transfer onto a toilet, transfer back to my wheelchair again, and then finally transfer back into bed to change and finish my morning routine. This would take more than three hours. As a C-5 quadriplegic without full functionality of my arms, little functionality of my wrists, and no functionality of my fingers, trunk, or legs, doing six transfers would tire me out before I would even get out of my room to start the day.More importantly, with my limited mobility and no abdominal control or balance, it's not possible for me to sit on a shower bench without falling. I have always been pleased with Icing and have been thankful for good insurance through this time of adjustment since my injury on March 17th. This adjustment would be made easier if I could be reimbursed the $3,220. I respectfully submit my complaint of your denial of my claim for a shower chair and ask for your consideration of my unique situation and direction on filing an appeal. Sincerely,

English Rhetoric Essay

I find it really rewarding to be in the medical practice. Choosing to care for patients, for people who are unable to take care of themselves or lack the knowledge on how to get over their own sickness is something that nurses can be proud of. To care for someone you don’t even know is a profession that is suppose to encourage people to join in medical profession. To ease the pain of cancer patients should serve as an incentive for nurses to help them combat such disease. However, in the 1report released by the America’s AIDS Commission, nursing shortfall points to the state’s funding failure. The report is trying to point out that there has been financial deficiency in nursing education which is the reason why the state is somehow hard up in combating the AIDS epidemic. The report which says’ â€Å"federal funding for nursing education has remained constant instead of increasing†, and â€Å"financial aid for nursing education is a patchwork for scholarships†¦Ã¢â‚¬  seem to be less reliable. There were no data to support the statement. There were no survey results, no research and study figures to prove that the state’s funding failure is the main reason for the continuing decline of the supply of nurses. The report failed to look into the other reasons for the shortfall-cultural and social issues could be reasons. It could be that the younger generation of America is more interested in careers related to finance and marketing. It could be that the entertainment and tourism industry has better advertising technique in encouraging students to be part of the profession. Yes, financial concerns could have been a factor but to prove it right, there should be figures to support the argument.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With regards to the nurses’ knowledge and skills on the care for AIDS patients, the same article, â€Å"AIDS Update†, points to the need of nurses of 2â€Å"continued updating about the disease.† The report made its point-adequate information and continued education about AIDS. It is just that the recommendations seem to be redundant to get to the main point. The first recommendation says â€Å"the health care community mount a coordinated effort to ensure that all its members are adequately informed about AIDS†. The other recommendations call for the health care providers, professional organizations, hospitals and other health care facilities and nursing organizations. If the reader has to analyze the statements, they could be sum up into the first recommendation, thus seemingly made one recommendation. If the author is trying to point out there are many ways as solutions to what they call â€Å"knowledge gap†, I found only one base on my analysis on the article.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the article entitled â€Å"Patient Teaching: Food Safety Tips†, a July issue of the Nursing Journal, I found a simple yet practical food safety tips for AIDS Patients. The tips are presented on the nurses’ perspective but point to the do-it-yourself instructions for patients. Instructional materials must as clear and concise as this one. The patients themselves can understand and follow the instructions with the nurse’ minimal supervision. This way, the AIDS patients are encouraged to care for themselves. Their morale and self-esteem could at least be lifted because they will realize that they can do something to fight against their disease. They could at least prove that they are not that of much burden to their nurses since there are things that they can do for themselves. What was so striking in this article is that the author has paid attention to the anticipated questions of the reader. The use of the if–and-then sentences has been used to answer such anticipated questions. The use of the word â€Å"should† on every instruction was so important to denote that such action is required. It also means that the instructions offer no alternatives to it. Also, that it must be followed to the least detail, no more no less.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   AIDS patients and HIV positive individuals deserve care not only by their nurses and doctors but also from the community. In fact, they need extra care because of their special conditions. They are prone to emotional distress, frustrations and self-pity. They are more likely to be loners and hesitate to associate themselves with others. These are the reasons why they need support from the people around them. This is the only way they can have the courage to go on with their lives. It helps when someone in the group of these patients go out into the world to campaign for support and to disseminate information about the disease. It matters to people that facts would come from someone who have experienced or is experiencing the same disease. If a well-known or respected individual speaks of AIDS, he could somehow catch attention and his testimony could somehow be credible to people. When Earvin Johnson decided to be part of this campaign, there arouse certain level of energy from the victims. Solomon Herbert said, 3â€Å"Johnson opted to retire from basketball†¦and decided to use this opportunity to help others rather than maintain a low profile about his condition.† Whether we like it or not, it is not common to person to strive for something without inspiration. It is but common to look up to somebody for role model, for inspiration. Johnson has won the hearts of many, not only the AIDS victims but also the possible victims-the younger generation. â€Å"I decided to do the book because education-especially for young people is our best weapon in the battle against AIDS† (Johnson). Helping is a matter of giving time and inspiration for the victims. Money doesn’t matter much, rather emotional investment is of much importance the way Johnson and the other did. Caring for AIDS victim doesn’t have to be in way that someone should not be in a way that they will feel that you pity them. Caring, like Johnson did, has to focus more on time. Like Johnson, investment has to be on emotional aspect, not on financial. Like Johnson who has shared his talents, his energy and love for others, AIDS victims and non-victims must have the spirit of sharing. It pays to invest more on love for others rather than for material investments for yourself because it investing on love is more profitable. Like Johnson, people have loved him not merely because of basketball but because of the heart he has for the young ones and the people, who like him is an AIDS victim. REFERENCES Herbert, Solomon J., Magic Johnson: He’s Got Heart, Black Collegian Sep/Oct92 Vol.23 Issue 1, page84, 5p, 2c A.I.D.S Update, More Nurses Needed, Says the President’s A.I.D.S. Commission, Nursing88, May Issue, pages 30-31 A.I.D.S. Update, Patient Teaching: Food Safety Tips, Nursing93, July issue, page 22

Customer Satisfaction on Nokia Essay

Nokia has played a pioneering role in the growth of cellular technology in India, starting with the first-ever cellular call a decade ago, made on a Nokia mobile phone over a Nokia deployed network. Nokia started its India operations in 1995, and presently operates out of offices in New Delhi,Mumbai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. The Indian operations comprise of the handsets business; R&D facilities in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai; a manufacturing plant in Chennai and a Design Studio inBangalore. Over the years, the company has grown manifold with its manpower strength increasing from 450 people in the year 2004 to over 15000 employees in March 2008 (including Nokia Siemens Networks). Today, India holds the distinction of being the second largest market for the company globally. With the global launch of Ovi, the company’s Internet services brand name, Nokia is renewing itself to be at the forefront of the convergence of internet and mobility. From being a product centric company, Nokia is now focusing to become solutions centric. The strategic shift is built on Nokia‘s bid to retain consumers and empower Nokia device owners to realize the full potential of the Internet. Nokia will build a suite of Internet based services like Nokia Maps, the Nokia Music Store and Nokia N-Gage around its Ovi brand. Infrastructure business Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of communications services. The company provides a complete, well-balanced product portfolio of mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions and addresses the growing demand for services with 20,000 service professionals worldwide. Its operations in India include Sales & Marketing, Research & Development, Manufacturing and Global Networks Solutions Centre. Headquartered in Gurgaon, Nokia Siemens Networks has 47 offices and presence in over 170 locations across the country. R & D centers Nokia has three Research & Development centers in India, based in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai. These R&D hubs are staffed by engineers who are working on next-generation packet-switched mobile technologies and communications solutions to enhance corporate productivity. The Center in Bangalore, the biggest R&D site in the country comprises S60 Software Organization, Common Technologies, Next Generation now called Maemo Software, Productization and Software & Services. Design Studio Nokia has set up its first Design Studio in Bangalore in partnership with Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. The first of its kind, the design studio will give Nokia designers and India‘s talented youth the opportunity to work together on new design ideas for India and the global markets. Manufacturing in India Nokia has set up its mobile device manufacturing facility in Chennai, India to meet the burgeoning demand for mobile devices in the country. The manufacturing facility is operational with an investment of USD 210 million and currently employs 8000 people. Nokia has recently announced fresh investments to the tune of US $ 75 million towards its manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai for the year 2008. * To know about the customer satisfaction level associated with the Nokia product and the customer Expectation level. * To increase customer satisfaction and recapture the market share by fulfilling the customer needs. * To study the factors affecting the consumption pattern Need of the study To study the satisfaction level of consumers towards the Nokia Mobile at Kaliyappa nagar, Sivakasi. Scope 1.This study focus on Features, Appearances, Battery backup and Software compatibility of Nokia. 2. This study help Nokia to recognize the factor which is most satisfied and which factor have more dissatisfaction influencing the consumers to buy the Nokia   Mobile Customer’s satisfaction When we talk about customer satisfaction, we talk about creativity. Creativity allows us to handle or diffuse problems at hand or later on in the process of conducting the everyday business. We talk about how, or rather what, does the organization have to do to gain not only the sale but also the loyalty of the customer. We want to know the payoff of the transaction both in the short and long term. We want to know what our customers want. We want to know if our customers are satisfied. Satisfaction, of course, means that what we delivered to a customer met the customer‘s approval. We want to know if customers are delighted and willing to comeback, and so on. Fleiss and Feldman present examples of that delightful-ness in their writings. Fleiss has written about Ben and Jerry‘s ice cream and Feldman has discussed excellence in a cab ride.As important as delightfulness is, some of us minimize it, or even totally disregard it. Level 1 Expectations are very simple and take the form of assumptions, must have, or take it for granted. For example, I expect the airline to be able to take off, fly to my destination, and land safely. I expect to get the correct blood for my blood transfusion. And I expect the bank to deposit my money to my account and to keep a correct tally for me. Level2 Expectations are a step higher than that of level 1 and they require some form of satisfaction through meeting the requirements and/or specifications .For example, I expect to be treated courteously by all airline personnel. I went to the hospital expecting to have my hernia repaired, to be in some pain after it was done, to be out on the same day, and to receive a correct bill. And I went to the bank expecting the bank teller to be friendly, informative, and helpful with my transactions. Level 3 Expectations are much higher than for levels 1 and 2.Level 3 requires some kind of delightfulness or a service that is so good that it attracts me to it For example, an airline gives passengers traveling coach class the same superior food service that other airlines provide only for first-class passengers. In fact, I once took a flight where the flight attendants actually baked cookies for us right there on the plane. When I went to the hospital, I expected staff to treat me with respect and they carefully explained things to me. But I was surprised when they called me at home the next day to find out how I was doing. And at my house closing, the bank officer, representing the bank holding my mortgage, not only treated me with respect and answered all my questions about my new mortgage, but just before we shook hands to close the deal, he gave me a housewarming gift. Brand image Hide links within definitions Show links within definitions. Impression in the consumers’ mind of a brand’s total personality (real and imaginary qualities and shortcomings). Brand image is developed over time through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme, and is authenticated through the consumers’ direct experience. Brand Value Buyers who are considering a purchase scan their service options and develop a consideration set. Within the consideration set, they develop a hierarchy of brands based on their assessment of Price, Product or Service Features, and Brand Name. Typically, they choose the brand at the top of their hierarchy, if available. If a brand is consistently at the top of their hierarchy, the buyer will be loyal to that brand. We believe consumers try to optimize value within a product or service category. Consumers therefore assign utilities (worth) to price, each relevant performance attribute, and brand equity. Consumers then trade off performance attributes and brand equity against price in order to optimize value. The relationships between the individual values of price, performance attributes and brand equity is summative and equal to total brand value. The values each respondent places on price, performance attributes, and brand equity define their value equation for a product or service category. We can derive these values at the respondent level using modified trade-off exercises. A key advantage of the Brand Value Model is that it allows the calculation of utilities and importance‘s at the individual consumer level. This acknowledges the highly individual nature of the evaluation of products and services in many categories. Furthermore, it permits an exploration of value structures across existing consumer segments or the development of new segments based on the components of the value equation. We believe the total value of a brand in a particular product/service category is composed of three parts. One part is due to the physical and readily identifiable (and replicable) features of the brand that delivers specific, tangible benefits to the purchaser, thus impacting purchase choice. We call these the tangible product features. The second part is due to some perceived intrinsic value associated with the brand name due to such things as the image transferred to the purchaser, trust, longevity in the marketplace, social responsibility, consistent performance, and so forth (i.e. the intangibles), and impacting purchase choice. We refer to this as the brand’s equity. The third component is the price/cost of the product. Thus, the total value (or utility) of a product or service is a function of 1.) Its physical, tangible, deliverable features, 2.) its brand equity, and 3.) its price.

Demand and Supply in Organization Success Research Paper - 14

Demand and Supply in Organization Success - Research Paper Example Thus by understanding the consumer demands, the organization can identify their desires and will only stock the commodities that provide utility to the users. Hence, the organization will have a wider knowledge of what the demands are relative to what the supplier can offer at a particular market rate (Bustinza, Parry, & Vendrell-Herrero, 2013). Thus, prices and availability of goods and services are predetermined to the consumer. This ensures that customers do not miss out on their wants whenever they come to purchase a particular commodity. Thus, trust and loyalty are built between the two parties that will result in more sales hence increased profits to the firm. Rain checks are forms of compensations that are usually offered to consumers when the goods and services they had ordered are unavailable majorly due to the organization being out of stock or late deliveries. Customers are thus promised the assistance to acquire the products at prices indicated earlier and did not have to spend more regardless of any economic crisis like inflation. Customers are thus assured to get their services or be compensated and will not encounter any losses that create a mutual trust for both parties. However, to say this is a fair treatment of consumers is understatement due to economic injustice it creates to the consumers. Individuals usually derive their satisfaction at a particular time and have more tastes to it is provided during that period rather than a later date. Thus, postponement of the consummation of a particular good or service may lower the satisfaction of products to customers and reducing their utility.

Organizational Theories to Enhance the Performance of Individuals and Essay - 1

Organizational Theories to Enhance the Performance of Individuals and Groups - Essay Example From the classical theories, performance could be realized after the division of labor, to develop specialization and departments of different tasks to be carried out by different groups of people. This enhances quality output according to the expected standards. Motivation through monetary means and management functions in enhancing performance are also elaborated. The modern organizational theories put across ways of changing the organizational structure and developing the human potential as effective ways to spur performance. Performance is one critical area that managers should be sensitive towards, so as to benefit the organization. It is a domain that challenges managerial functions and its success or failure extends to be felt in other linked sections of the organization. Hence, the management has to come up with logical and focused initiatives to enhance performance and overcome the challenges in implementation and performance management. Organisations have their authority, c ulture, information and the acquired knowledge, as well as the motivational coordinated mechanisms to achieve their objectives. Often, the organization structure could vary from one another with some working with the formal line of management, while others are less formal; as a result, they differ in hierarchical structures and strictness in compliance to objectives. However, with the current trends of globalization, managers have to be keen and tactical to address the organizations problems in performance and decision making. This is because the markets, productions, sales and distribution in dealing with goods and services have become very competitive. Due to these factors, management has been categorized in different levels to lead in specific sections, such that the coordinated efforts of different managers.

Lipstick sales in the Recession Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Lipstick sales in the Recession - Thesis Example Women although consider lipstick an essential but purchase it as a luxury to give themselves satisfaction. The results of the research have been supported by economic theories of Keynes, the income effect, the lipstick index and the elasticity of income theories. The results defy the substitution effect and basic economic theory of demand and supply. An interesting point is that lipstick sales are being depended upon to assess recession however, the trend of buying lipstick is changing and women are substituting it for lip gloss. Thus the question arises as to how much can the lipstick index be relied upon or whether the theory should be revised to include a certain pool of cosmetics for the theory to be more dependable. Recession has the global market and the economic conditions are deteriorating both in the developed and developing countries. The unemployment rate is increasing and the purchasing power of consumers is shrinking (CBS News 2008). Consumers now have to make choices and switch to cheaper commodities. Most cannot afford to purchase the luxuries they could afford in pre-recession times. Thus the overall prices of all goods are increasing due to inflation and according to the law of economics the demand for all products should decrease (CBS News 2008). However, as per Keynes (2009) there are certain products whose demand and supply rises in recession which is against the economic law. Lipstick is one of these products as its demand rises with the recession and increase in prices. The research focuses on why the demand of lipstick rises even with the increase in prices. So much so, that the sales of lipstick are used to indicate the recession patterns and to know whether recession has set in or not. The greater the sales, the more the recession. In the makeup industry the lipstick index is ardently used to see the recession progress. At the same time, it is also

Land Law and Professional Advice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Land Law and Professional Advice - Essay Example However, it can be seen that there is some contribution from her in the land as she helped to â€Å"prop up the business and the farm†. In Jones v Kernott2, the male spouse left the house and stopped paying the bills and the mortgage. In his absence, his wife bore all the expenses. It was held that the wife had an equitable interest in the house and on the basis of equity; the share was 90:19 between the two. But in Lloyds Bank plc v Rosset3, upon sale by the husband who was the sole owner, the wife’s claim to a beneficial ownership was rejected despite her having made contributions in the improvement of the land. Therefore, Andrea’s contribution in the improvements to the land would be regarded as de minimis. From Fred’s letter to his wife, it can be construed that he did not want to authorize Andrea to make negotiations regarding the sale of the farm. Since Fred never really put Andrea’s name in the deeds and now the Land law emphasises on the nee d of putting such agreements into writing, Andrea could not have passed the title to Rachel Buchanan. From another point of view, since Andrea borrowed a â€Å"vast† sum of money from her father, it can be construed that she had made a big investment in the farm and her contribution might not be regarded as de minimis. From the judgement of Stack v Dowden4, it might be construed that Andrea had developed a constructive trust in the farm. This would enable her to transfer her equitable interest to Rachel Buchanan in the farm as seen in Chinn v Collins5. Therefore, Rachel now holds an equitable interest in the farm transferred to her from Andrea. Fred still has his interest and rights regarding the farm. Rachel mentions in her letter that there was an extremely valuable Georgian sun-dial in the garden. Andrea has taken the sun-dial and left the plinth. Rachel wants the sun-dial back. The contract was between Rachel and Andrea. At that time, Rachel had not seen the estate. Hence , she did not know that there was a sun-dial on the estate and it was not essential to her prospective business either. In Berkley v Poulett6, the seller had removed some pictures and a sun-dial. The buyer sought recovery of those items. It was held that the sun-dial was not a fixture and was affixed for mere enjoyment. The seller was entitled to remove it at any time as he pleased. Similarly, Andrea is entitled to have the sun-dial in her possession as it did not form a part of the contract and Rachel had no knowledge of its existence at the time of the contract. Rachel can have the plinth and it might be regarded as a fixture since it might do some damage to the land upon its removal. From Matthew Williams’ letter to Fred, it can be easily construed that Fred had completed the contract of transfer of the extension to the Hopgood farms to Matthew. The legal requirements are fulfilled and everything has been put into writing. Mathew is now entitled to obtain possession of the land and Fred is holding the land for him. However, a letter from Beryl Stanforth, the owner of Grange Farm, to Fred suggests that she has an equitable interest in the land and her permission is required to lease the land. Mathew has written in his letter that when he went to the estate, he had an encounter with Beryl. This means that he could have made

Relations between the Sexes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Relations between the Sexes - Essay Example James Joyce is one of the authors who successfully depicted the relationship between the different sexes in his book titled Dubliners. The book comprises of different short stories, and many of the stories highlight the relationship between men and women in Dublin. In addition, Fritz Lang also depicted the relationship between different sexes in the movie titled Metropolis.   James Joyce authored stories that belong to the Victorian period. Although the book was first published in 1914, James Joyce had been writing most of the stories before that period. Therefore, many of the stories are estimated to have been written in the Victorian period, which spanned between 1840 to early 1900s. During this era, there were distinctive roles for men and women. The Victorian society had societal ideals that defined the relationship between the two sexes. In the story titled â€Å"A Mother†, Joyce tells the story of Miss Devlin, who eventually became Mrs. Kearney after marriage. Joyce introduces us to Mrs. Kearney, who settled down with Mr. Kearney a man older than she was because most of the young men she met did not have the capacity to give her a better life. Joyce depicts her as a perfect Victorian woman in the home setting because she takes care of her homestead, daughters, and husband (Schwarze 2002, p. 67). However, Mrs. Kearney is well educated unlike o ther women of the Victorian era. Joyce introduces the reader to some men in the society who had a lower place than Mrs. Kearney did. From the confusion exhibited by Mr. Holohan, it becomes evident that Mrs. Kearney is more intelligent than him. She is the one who helps him out with organizing his work and determining the right artist for each event. However, Mrs. Kearney respects her husband because she felt secure and protected with him.  Ã‚  

Ethnic Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethnic Studies - Essay Example And now is not different from the past, America, despite of her resources and good life to its people faced countless issues regarding race, ethnicity and varied culture of its immigrants and the so called "native white Americans." These among others are continuously become a subject of heated debates and arguments from scholars, politicians and for every Tom, Dick and Harry. This essay will examine the theories and arguments presented by Patrick J. Buchanan's book entitled The Death of the West. Similarly, the essay will also discuss selected important jurisprudence and laws regarding the Ethnic Population in the United States of America. Buchanan's The Death of the West basically discusses migration of different people to the United States. The author gave his theories and arguments regarding the influx migrants from various parts of the world and how these migrants affects the current society of the United States of America. America was once described as the great melting pot of all the races of Europe which correspondingly paved the movement for reformation. Buchanan argued that the biggest immigration in recent years came from all races of Asia, Africa and Latin America to which Buchanan says "are not melting and reforming." (Buchanan: 3) Consequently, America is faced with an abyss for ethnicity and loyalty. In this line, Buchanan supported this argument by stating that among the US' 31 million foreign born, a third are illegal, tens of thousands are loyal to the regimes which the US are at war with and some are trained terrorists. (Buchanan: 2) These increase in migration are encountered due to varying degrees of social as well as legal factors and as such, it posed as a threat of deconstructing the American nation for the reason that people have more or less nothing in common in matters like common history, language, culture and ancestors among others. And as such, it may bring forth separatism on account of ethnic and racial background and ideologies. Buchanan in his work pointed out that due to this influx of migration, the United States risked itself on a so called culture war which afterward results in divisiveness among people. There are social and moral issues which confront the varied background of the people which lives side by side in the US. These issues might likewise be considered as "Transvaluation" of all values for the reason that old virtues become sins and the old sins become virtues. (Buchanan: 5) These are among the reasons of Buchanan which leads him to ask "Is the Death of the West irreversible" (Buchanan: 10) The work presented numerous data with regards the decline of the population of the so called Western Civilization vis--vis the increase in population of the so called third world countries. The decline in population among these westerners pointed out people of German, Italian, Russian, British and Japanese decent, which in the same way the author regarded to as superior races in terms of thinking and technological advancement and even economic gains. It can be inferred therefore, that the aforementioned races belongs to the world's highly industrialized zones which are considered to be movers and shakers of our time. Such decline in the population of

General Motors Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

General Motors - Research Paper Example From the discussion it is clear that  General Motors Company, normally abbreviated as GM, is a United States multinational automobile company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. The company is among the globe’s prime automakers in vehicle unit sales. It holds almost 202,000 employees, and it does business in around 157 nations. The company is split into five business divisions: GM North America, GM Europe, GM South America, GM International Operations and GM Financial. The firm produces trucks and cars in 37 countries, and services and sells the automobiles through the following brands: Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Baojun, Isuzu, Holden, Jie Fang, Vauxhall, Opel and Wuling.This essay stresses that  General Motors (GM) compensation and benefits system considers the executives’ salaries based on their performance, as well as the company’s performance. As a result, a huge fraction of individual executive compensation is in jeopardy because this compensation is connected to achieving certain quantifiable results aimed at generating worth for shareholders on both a temporary and long term basis. General Motors institutes its intended compensation for the executives annually by taking into account the compensations paid to executives in related internal and external positions, the performance of the company and the challenges being faced. It offers benefits to all employees, together with the executives by considering by and large the package offered by other employees in the same position.   They also have additional benefits for executives as part of their compensation and benefits package that is in line with the labor market. This paper will examine General Motors, an organization that is experiencing challenges with its compensation and benefits systems. A brief history of General Motors will be given before assessing the current challenges it is facing. It will also review other organizations that have been in a similar situation. The paper will seek to draw from the strategy that those organizations have devised to address the issue of compensation and benefits. The paper will show theories and strategies that should be contemplated in addressing the situation. Finally, the paper will give recommendations to the GM management on how to address and resolve the situation. Review of the Literature An Assessment of GM’s Current Challenge General Motors financial crisis started in 2005 when the company posted a loss of US$10.6 billion (Martocchio, 2010). This was enhanced further when they tried to get United States’ government financial support, in 2006, for its pension liabilities, but they were not successful. Their loses, in 2007, were US$ 38.7 billion followed by a drop on sales, in 2008, of 45% and its reports indicated that it would be out of money by the middle of 2009 excluding the amalgamation of the government funding, a merger or sales of assets. At a Congressional hearing, in Washington DC, General Motors representatives and executives stated that they were in dire need of financial assistance, but unfortunately they did not succeed in their endeavor to get legislation to sanction the U.S.s’ government assistance. Instead, they were advised to come up with a new action plan to sustain the company. It eventually submitted its restructuring plan to the U.S. Senate committee in charge of bankin g and the House of Representative committee in charge of financial services, but Congress refused to act on it.

Siddhartha Definition Essay Example for Free

Siddhartha Definition Essay Siddhartha, in the awakening, learns that the life of pleasure isn’t always the best life. In fact the life of pleasure can always bring you pain and sometimes more suffering. Siddhartha had to learn that the hard way because he felt disgusted in himself of what he had become. Just as Siddhartha was about to suicide he heard a voice. He heard the ancient holy word â€Å"Om†. Just from that word his whole life changed. Siddhartha also learned that there was more to the world then having pleasure and goods and that that the world was a beautiful piece of work. Siddhartha learned from the river who he really was and that he shouldn’t just give up because of a mistake, Siddhartha learned that he has to learn from it and take his mistake as an experience. The only way to succeed in life is to have experiences and learn from your mistakes. Although Siddhartha learned something from the river, he still needs to learn more and he does as he meets the ferry man. Siddhartha learned to love the river and treat the river with respect. The river saved him from his death and Siddhartha shall be with the river at all times. The river taught him how to become patient again and helped him awaken from his bad period of time. The river was also Siddhartha’s turning point in because Siddhartha was about to give up and just throw away his goal but he realized his mistake and became a new Siddhartha. The river was a similar to a teacher, it taught Siddhartha more and more about the world so much that his knowledge on the world expanded even more. Siddhartha took things more serious because everything the river taught him, he didn’t judge like his old teachers, he listened and trust the river’s knowledge. Siddhartha taught me a lot of new knowledge and wisdom. Although all the chapters taught me something, the one that taught me the most was the awakening. The Awakening taught me that making a mistake is one thing, but learning from it is another thing and that it is the key to success in life. How I learned this is that Siddhartha had to do all those things to reach Nirvana. Siddhartha also taught me that listening and patience can help you in life because if u can’t listen or be patient, then you won’t get anywhere in life. This novel taught me that you can’t learn anything, if you haven’t tried it out. Meaning if you want become good at a game, you have to try it out. Although the life of pleasure is beneficial, it’s not always the best idea because it  can bring you much pain and suffering because once you lose it, you won’t be able to get it back and that you have to learn how to live without it. When Siddhartha was about to give up and die, but learned from his mistake, it inspired me because it taught me that I shouldn’t give up without a fight. Meaning that even if times are worst, I shouldn’t give up without trying because I would never know the result if I did tried. It also inspired me because it means that I should try harder and harder in school and become successful when I grow up. Another chapter that taught me something is â€Å"The Son†. It taught me that I should act like a spoil little brat and shouldn’t disrespect my parents, because my parents have to go through a lot to keep me who I am and how I live today. Siddhartha reminds me of my dad, although he yells and put me down, he does it because he loves me and wants me to become successful. If my dad didn’t do all those things, I would become another Siddhartha Jr. but worst. This novel inspired me to read more and more novels like this, because there are always morals and lessons that are being taught throughout the story. I hope we read more novels like Siddhartha because it keeps me thinking and it keeps motivated to try harder in life and school.

Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif Essay Example for Free

Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif Essay During his second term, he notably ordered Pakistans first nuclear tests in response to Indias nuclear tests. [1] He was ousted in an October 1999 military coup by Pervez Musharraf. He returned to Pakistan in late 2007 after eight years of forced exile. He successfully called for Musharrafs impeachment and the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. He is a potent force in Pakistani politics. Early life and Education Originally, his family came from the village of Heera mandi His family moved to Lahore before the creation of Pakistan for better farmland. 2] His family also traces their roots to Shopian in the Kashmir valley. [3] He was born in Lahore, Pakistan on December 25, 1949, a year after the nations founding. He came from a family of scrap traders. His father and uncles had a small steel business named as Ittefaq in Landa Bazar Lahore before the creation of Pakistan. He attended St. Anthonys School Lahore. However, he along with his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif later on attended Pakistan Railway High School, Moghalpura, and Lahore. Both passed Matric from this school in 1964 and 1965 respectively. Nawaz Sharif got admission in the Government College of Lahore. He obtained his B. A. degree after appearing in the supplementary examination. He attained his Bachelor of Law degree from the Punjab University Law College, which is also in Lahore. Business enterprise: Ittefaq Group He is a joint owner of Ittefaq Group. Ittefaq Group is one of the largest business conglomerates in Pakistan. He helped establish the Ittefaq Islamic Academy in Lahore, where students receive religious instruction in addition to their secular training. A practicing Muslim, Sharif comes from a religious family and has said he would make the teaching of the Quran, the Muslim Holy Book, a compulsory subject up to the secondary level. He appeared in one 1st class cricket match from Pakistan Railway against Karachi in 1974 where he scored a duck. He and his cousins expanded their family iron foundry. They lost control of their business in the 1972 nationalization by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. It was re-established in 1977 as Ittefaq Industries in Lahore. The business was returned after Sharif developed political links with President Mohammad Zia ul-Haq. By 1990, Ittefaq Industries was one of Pakistans most affluent conglomerates, with more than $450 million in annual revenues, up from about $16 million in 1981. It included the countrys largest private steel mill, Ittefaq Foundries (Pvt) Ltd, eight sugar mills, and four textile factories. Sharifs net worth is around US $4 billion. With upwards of hundred thousand employees, Ittefaq Group has played a significant role in the development and growth of industry in Pakistan. It has likely influenced Sharifs political career and pro-business stance as well. Initial Political Career He principally rose to political prominence as a staunch proponent of the military government of President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq during the 1980s. He maintained an alliance with Rahimuddin Khan. He also had ties with ISI Director-General Hamid Gul, who played a substantial role in the formation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad- a conservative political alliance that supported Sharif. citation needed] Punjab Advisory Council In 1981, he initially joined as a member of the Punjab Advisory Council under President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. He served as the Minister of Finance and Minister of Sports under the provincial government of Punjab. During his tenure, he was credited with increasing funding for sports activities and rural projects. He also wanted to continue the peaceful nuclear atomic program and to make Pakistan a truly Islamic state and to do so he introduced Islamic Laws such as the Shariat Ordinance and Bait-ul-Maal (to help poor orphans widows etc); Moreover he gave tasks to the Ministry of Religious Affairs to prepare reports and recommendations for steps taken for Islamization. He ensured the establishment of three committees. 1) Ittehad-e-bain-ul-Muslemeen 2) Nifaz-e-Shariat Committee 3) Islamic Welfare Committee He believed in forming a Muslim Bloc by uniting all Central Asian Muslim Countries thus he extended the membership of ECO to all Central Asian Countries. Nawaz Sharif was pretty confident that he had majority in the assembly thus he ruled with considerable confidence. He had disputes with three successive army chiefs. He contended with General Mirza Aslam Beg over the 1991 Gulf War, with General Asif Nawaz over the Sindh Operation Clean-Up issue, and with General Abdul Waheed Kakar over the Sharif-Ishaq Imbroglio. To diffuse the tension him and Benazir and to disperse the long march he promised her to release her detained husband and to abolish the Eighth amendment her Party’s co-operation (PPP). Ghulam took this as an attack on him by the ruling party so in order to win the presidential election he on April 1993, with the support of the Pakistan Army, used his reserve powers to dissolve the National Assembly and appointed Mir Balakh Sher Mazari as the Caretaker Prime Minister. In May 1993, Sharif returned to power after the Supreme Court ruled that the Presidential Order as unconstitutional and reconstituted the National Assembly. In July 1993, Sharif resigned under pressure from the military but negotiated a settlement that resulted in the removal of President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Moin Qureshi became Caretaker Prime Minister. He was succeeded shortly thereafter by Benazir Bhutto in October 1993. Second term as Prime Minister U. S. Defense Secretary, William S. Cohen, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at the Pentagon, 3 December 1998. He was elected Prime Minister in 1997 to serve a non-consecutive second term. [7] In August 1997, he passed the controversial Anti-Terrorist Act which established Anti-Terrorism Courts. The Supreme Court later rendered the Act unconstitutional. In 1999, he met with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the Wagah border and signed a joint communique, known as the Lahore Declaration. [8] 1998 Pakistans nuclear tests Pakistans nuclear tests were an important turning point in his political career. Pakistan carried out its successful nuclear tests on 28 May 1998, and on 30 May 1998, in response to the Indian detonation of five nuclear devices roughly two weeks before. When India tested its nuclear arsenal a second time, it caused a great alarm in Pakistan. After weeks of anticipation, Pakistan surprised the world by conducting its own nuclear tests. Sharif proclaimed an emergency on the same day as these nuclear tests were conducted. All the foreign currency accounts in Pakistani banks were frozen to minimize the effects of economic sanctions. Nawaz put the Pakistan Armed Forces on high alert in order to defend countrys nuclear installations. He justified the tests on national security grounds, as they demonstrated Pakistans nuclear deterrent capabilities against an armed Indian nuclear program. Under Nawaz Sharifs leadership, Pakistan became the first Muslim country and seventh nation to become a nuclear power. Constitution Amendment In late August 1998, he proposed a law to establish a legal system based on the Islamic principles. [9] His proposal came a week after 10-year commemorations of the late President Zia ul-Haq. The Cabinet removed some of its controversial aspects. [10][11] The National Assembly approved and passed the bill on 10 October 1998 by 151 votes to 16. 12] However, the amendment failed to achieve two-thirds majority in the Senate. Weeks afterward, Sharifs government would suffer a military coup. Relations with the military During his second tenure, he removed General Karamat over the National Security Council disputes. He later had severe political confrontation with General Musharraf that resulted in a coup detat which removed him from office. At the end of General Waheed’s three-year term in January 1996, General Jehangir Karamat was appointed army chief. His term was due to end on 9 January 1999. In October 1998, however, Sharif fell out with General Karamat over the latter’s advocacy of the need for the creation of a National Security Council. Sharif interpreted this move to be a conspiracy to return the military to a more active role in Pakistani politics. In October 1998, General Karamat resigned and Sharif appointed General Pervez Musharraf as army chief. During the Kargil War in 1999, he claimed to have no knowledge of the planned attacks, saying that Pervez Musharraf acted alone. [13] Military coup Further information: 1999 Pakistani coup detat On 12 October 1999, Sharif attempted to remove Pakistan Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf and appoint Ziauddin Butt in his place. Musharraf, who was in Sri Lanka, attempted to return through a commercial airliner to return to Pakistan. Sharif ordered Sindh IG Rana Maqbool to arrest of Chief of Army Staff and Musharraf. He ordered the Karachi Airport to be sealed off to prevent the landing of the Musharrafs airliner fearing a coup detat. Sharif ordered the plane to land at Nawab Shah Airport. Musharraf contacted top Pakistan Army Generals who then took over the country and ousted Sharifs administration. Musharraf later assumed control of the government as Chief Executive. [14] Trial The military placed him on trial for kidnapping, attempted murder, hijacking and terrorism. The military court quickly convicted him and gave him a life sentence. [15] Under an agreement facilitated by Saudi Arabia, Sharif was placed in exile for the next 10 years. Return to Pakistan Failed Attempt in Islamabad On August 23, 2007, Pakistans top court ruled Nawaz Sharif and his brother, Shahbaz, were free to return. Both vowed to return soon. [16][17] On 8 September 2007, Lebanese politician Saad Hariri and Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz addressed an unprecedented joint press conference at Army House to discuss how Sharifs return would affect relations. [18] Muqrin stated that the initial agreement was for 10 years but these little things do not affect relations. † [18] Muqrin expressed hope that Sharif would continue with the agreement. [18] On 10 September 2007, Sharif returned from exile in London [18] to Islamabad. Post-2008 elections His party had joined a coalition led by PPP but the alliance had been strained by differences over the fate of judges Musharraf dismissed last year and over how to handle the unpopular president. [31] Sharif won much public support for his uncompromising stand against Musharraf and for his insistence the judges be reinstated. [31] The coalition successfully forced Musharrafs resignation. He also successfully pressured Zardari for the reinstatement of judges removed by Musharraf in emergency rule. This led to the courts cleansing Sharif of a criminal record rendering him eligible to re-enter parliament. [32] By-Elections In June 2008 by-elections, Sharifs party won three National Assembly seats and eight provincial assembly seats, all but one in the countrys political nerve center of Punjab province, where Shahbaz Sharif heads the provincial government. [33] The Lahore seat election was postponed because of wrangling over whether Sharif was eligible to contest. [31] [34] 2008 Musharraf impeachment On 7 August 2008, the coalition government agreed to impeach Musharraf.

Comparison between a developing and developed country

Comparison between a developing and developed country The countries I choose to discuss are China representing the developing country and USA symbolizing the developed country. economic system concerns with the production structure of a country. It also includes how to allocate the economic inputs, how to distribute the outputs between the citizens and how to consume goods and services in an economy.(NA 2007) According to Gregory et al (2003), the economic system has four dimensions: decision-making structure, coordination mechanism, productive property rights and incentive system. Decision making concerned with by whom the decisions are carried out, industrial councils, the government, or private owners. In US, excluding only a few national industries, many decisions are decided by the private owners, however, in China, there are a lot of state-owned enterprises which make decisions under the influence of the government. Coordination mechanism is the way of obtaining information and how to use it to coordinate economic activity. The main forms of coordination contain planning and the market. In US, its coordination form is the market: the market is clear, and the exchange of information is highly efficient. While, China has been through a long time of planning coordination, its form, although its government claims the market, is in an interim. Productive property rights is about who takes control of the output. In US, the ownership is protected by the constitution while in China, they are owned by the public or by all the members in the society. Incentive system refers to the reward. There are two major base: material (compensation) and moral (social prestige). In both countries, they have both incentive systems simultaneously since either one is enough. 1.2 financial system 1.2.1 financial system in US In the US, its unit of money is dollar. Its central bank is Federal Reserve who is responsible for making decision concerning to the finance such as financial policy and the base interest rate. since Fed is independent of the government and its chairman has a term of 18 years, it may put focus in the long term. In US, there are many financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, insurance companies and so on. The varied institutions designed many sorts of financial instruments circulating in the financial market in the US which make the US the most efficient financial market in the world. 1.2.2 financial system in China In China, its unit of money is yuan. Its central bank is Peoples bank of China(PBC). Compared to Fed, they have a same job including issuing currency, making financial policy and so on. However, since PBC is also a part of the government, its independence is in doubt in some degree. In other words, PBC may adopt the government leaders opinions when they make their final decision. Chinese financial system is immature and still in the progress of developing. In this way, the kinds of financial institutions in China are limited. There are no private-owned financial institutions in China and theres legal protection that financial institutions can only be emerged but no bankruptcy. The financial instruments are also limited. Time deposit, demand deposit, and treasury bills are individual investors primary choice. Until now, more and more people are taking part in the stock market or buying some fund. 1.3 the unique feature-means used by the central to regulate the economy In China, when PBC wants to express its monetary policy, its main tool is to change the benchmark of deposit and lending rates. If PBC wants to adopt tightening monetary policy, it will increase the benchmark rate, on the other hand, it will drop the rate when adopting expansionary monetary policy. However, the method has its own disadvantage: its effect is so strong that it may hurt the development of the economy. In the US, when Fed wants to regulate the economy, its first option is open market operation. If they want to adopt an expansionary monetary policy, it will buy the treasury bills from the financial market and release more money in the circulation. While, when they want to tighten the market, it will sell its bills and get money in the circulation back to the Fed. By regulation this way, the Fed is able to regulate the economy more proficiently and accurately, and this method has the smallest negative effects to the economy. The main reason why China doesnt use open market operation very much is that its financial instruments are limited and its financial market is not mature enough to do it. The other reason is that Chinese government interferes with the central bank more compared to the US government to the Fed. Q2 2.1 A brief introduction to IMF IMF, short for International Monetary Fund, is the international organization aimed for supervising the global system, especially financial system. Its main targets are keeping an eye on exchange rates and balance of payments as well as aiding the developing countries financially and technically. (Wikipedia) This organization was conceived back to July 1944 when 45 governments held a meeting in the Mount Washington Hotel located in Bretton Woods: in this way, this financial system later was called Bretton Woods system. It was formally founded on December 27,1945. 2.2 Members of IMF At the beginning of its foundation, it had only 29 members and its influence on the global financial system was rather limited. However, as time goes by, its affect on the global finance even economy is increasing gradually: the members it accumulated is more and more. It is not that easily be accepted as a member of IMF. The country or state has to take several strict steps before it is able to sign the IMFs Articles of Agreement. However, that effort is worth endeavoring: every member has its own quota in it. The quota represents the status of the member in the organization since several crucial characteristics including the voting weight and allocation of SDRs are determined by the quota. The member who has the most quota in IMF has the greatest power in IMF. United States enjoys 15.82% while other members only get around 6%, or even less. In this way, the US has always been the country which is able to block a supermajority on its own. This is also the point raised by many critics that how can IMF keep its equity among so many members. 2.3 the objectives of IMF The fundamental task for the IMF stays the same as it was founded: to supply financial aid to the countries in need. 2.4 challenges faced by IMF The financial crisis beginning in 2008 is so devastating that nearly every part of the world is strictly affected by it. IMF is also no exception. This crisis is also showing the world that globalization, if not controlled properly, may turn to be a disaster throughout the world and some international financial organizations, such as IMF, has to face some new challenges. According to the statement of an official in IMF, although the global economy would hit the second bottom since 2008, the whole world still has to face four crucial challenges: the financial sustainability, employment crisis, repair of the financial organizations and global cooperation. 2.4.1 financial sustainability Financial sustainability can be represented as a mutual trust between the government and its citizens on the policy. In this way, it is very critical when government is making policies in the recovery. To explicate it, lets make an example. When suffered from the crisis just now, the countrys economy was destroyed nearly completely. In order to recover quickly, the government chooses the expansionary fiscal policy by increasing the government spending or decreasing the inflation rate. By doing this, the government wants to show the confidence that they want to encourage more investment to the citizens. The citizens, responding to the government, begin to invest more than before, since they have a faith in government. However, with the increase of investment, the government realizes that another problem is showing up: the inflation rate is rising. In order to overcome inflation, the government has to increase the interest rate, which is a signal of scotch the investment. The citizens may feel confused by the governments changing policy, and may lose faith in it. If the trust between a government and its citizens is destroyed, the recovery is totally hopeless. However, usually the government is shortsighted and its lack of financial sustainability cannot help the recovery and even lose the best opportunity, it is the IMFs responsibility to help guiding the government and make sure that they make the right decision. 2.4.2 employment crisis Since the financial crisis in 2008, many developed countries including USA and some major European countries are suffering from the extraordinarily high unemployment rate. Mr. Obama, the president of United States, had promised that the unemployment rate of US would drop. However, until right now, the unemployment rate of US is still above 8%, and there is more rumor that this number will fly to 10% or higher. This phenomenal is very common among the other developed countries around the world. High employment is fatal to a countrys stability. Without a domestic stable economy, how can people around the world make sure of the stability of the economy? While creating a stable environment for the global economy is one of the objects of IMF, how to lower the unemployment and create more job opportunities become their challenges. 2.4.3 repair of the financial organizations As it is well known around the world, five major investment banks disappeared in USA during the financial crisis. Affected by this, many other financial and nonfinancial organizations within and outside US were in danger of bankruptcy. Since financial organizations are the primary elements in the financial system, helping them repair from the crisis is necessary. However, despite the organizations, even some countries are facing bankruptcy themselves. Depending on the government may not be a very good choice. In this time, the job rests on the shoulder of IMF, an international financial organization, who is able to help national ones when they need it. 2.4.4 global cooperation With the pace of globalization, the cooperation within different countries is becoming more and more indispensible to ones own economy. The deadly financial crisis happened in 2008 was first ignited in the US, while, after a short time, this crisis was spreading around the whole world like a cancer. Until now, many parts of world are still suffering from it. From this crisis, it is widely realized that even it is caused by only one section of a country, the influence may be spreading far far way, just like the butterfly effect. Thus, in order to cope with it efficiently, every country should enhance their cooperation with each. To cooperate finely, there has to be an organization to regulate their behaviors and that organization is IMF. Now, how to help each member cooperation with others effectively and safely is the final but not the easiest challenge faced by IMF. 2.5 my suggestions When facing these new challenges, I have several suggestions for the IMF. First of all, I suggest that IMF should guide those countries who have the most serious debt problems, even by exempting from a certain amount of heavy debt. Only by doing this can help them stabilize the domestic environment within the countries. Another suggestion from me is that IMF should appeal that every member enhances its cooperation when making policies. We must abandon the way of recovery based on hurting the other members economy such as the protection to local product by putting more duty on the imports. NA (2007). economic systems, The New Encyclopedia Britannica, V. 4, p. 357. Gregory et al(2003). Comparing Economic Systems in the Twenty-First Century.

During this essay I will be exploring and comparing two of Carol Ann :: English Literature

During this essay I will be exploring and comparing two of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems, Education for Leisure and Stealing Comparison between two of Duffy’s poems. During this essay I will be exploring and comparing two of Carol Ann Duffy’s poems, â€Å"Education for Leisure† and â€Å"Stealing†. In both of these dramatic monologues Duffy clearly portrays a certain persona, the character in â€Å"Education for Leisure† is shown as a young adult, that, because he has been ignored, is trying to find power by killing living things. Similarly the character in the poem â€Å"Stealing† is ignored and friendless and so resorts to stealing just for the thrill of it, often stealing things that aren’t useful to him. The character in the poem Education for Leisure is very egocentric, â€Å"I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name† this shows that he really believes that even the air he exhales is important enough to be classed as talent and he writes his name on it as if it was an autograph. He also says â€Å"I could be anything at all, with half a chance.† This shows that he isn’t given the chance to be anything that he wants to be and that he is quite ignored by others. This helps explain why he goes on his killing spree, its probably because people don’t acknowledge him that he wants that kind of power of someone, or something so he isn’t ignored anymore. The character in the poem â€Å"Stealing† is very lonely, when talking about a snowman he once stole he says â€Å"I wanted him, a mate with a mind as cold as the slice of ice within my brain.† This shows that what he wants is a friend that is just like him, someone he can relate to, because no one else could understand. He also says â€Å"Sometimes I steal things I don’t need† He does this because he got a thrill out of doing it the first time and it gives him a sense of power of who he is stealing from. The quote â€Å"I sigh like this - Aah† shows the satisfaction he gets when he is stealing, and the short sentence â€Å"Mirrors.† show that he likes to see himself, and he sees it as a

A Competitive Audit of Nestles Milo Essay examples -- Business Manage

A Competitive Audit of Nestle's Milo I plan to produce a SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and a Competitive Audit on Milo. This is because I’m going to need to produce a good analysis on the market place, if I intend to create the best marketing strategy. This is important because there are a range of options available when creating a marketing strategy. Without these analytical processes I will not be able to identify, which strategy is appropriate. I am going to produce a SWOT analysis to find out how effective Milo is operating and what internal factors may influence its success. A SWOT analysis analyses the internal factors that may influence the success of a business. The initials SWOT stand for: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Strengths and Weaknesses are internal factors within the control of the organisation. Opportunities and Threats are outside the control of the organisation. For example, products offered by competitors, or market forces such as seasonal fluctuations in demand. It enables an organisation to plan future activities by considering a number of questions such as: * What are our Strengths? How can we build on them to ensure that we offer a better product than our competitors? * What are our Weaknesses? How can we eliminate them? * What are our Opportunities? How are we going to use them to attract new customers or increase the number of products that existing customers buy? * What are our Threats? How are we going to minimise them so that they do not affect sales of our products? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of using a SWOT analysis: Advantages * Identified strengths (value for money) * Identified opportunities for marketing * Identified weaknesses (problems to be addressed) * Identified threats * Structure for analysis Disadvantages * May contain biases (If based whole strategy on SWOT information without considering validity of using other marketing tools could cause strategy to fail) * Results/Importance/Consequences need to be communicated to everyone in company to make it successful not just more paperwork * Prone to Human error * Focus could become too diverse and loose main objectives Here is a SWOT analysis on Milo: Strengths * Only chocolate energy drink * Unique selling point * Big sales in other countries * Part of Nestle (reputation) funds available for relaunch * ... ...ship and adverts in Australia * Advertising on TV, bill boards etc * Sponsorships for large sports events * Last sponsor was the Rugby World Cup * Buy one get on free * 25% extra free etc * Boosts performance makes athletes go 25% longer * Advertisements on T.V, internet websites, bill boards, magazines, etc. To conclude all three process (SWOT, PEST and Competitive Audit) have affected my strategy and marketing decisions. The SWOT analysis has help me to acknowledge and comprehend my weaknesses, which will be a benefit because now I know my weaknesses all I need now is search for a way to eliminate them. The PEST analysis has drawn my awareness to the external forces that may have an influence on the product (Milo). Therefore, when making marketing decisions the factors found will be taking into consideration. The competitive Audit has showed me where Milo’s competitors are (what level they are on) which is also a benefit because I can see what I’m up against, what I have to do to get ahead and whether I’m disadvantaged in anyway. This is very important in the competitive environment because as a competitor, you cannot allow rivals to gain advantages in any form or way.

Medieval Europe And The Renaissance :: essays research papers

When I look at the conflicts that medieval European people faced and the conflicts that modern people face, I see a huge difference. Our government, economics, science, mobility, art, literacy and health are very different. Some aspects of religion are different, but not many. The Black Death and feudalism are some major contributions to the medieval times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Black Death is known as a beneficial divider between the central and Middle Ages. The changes are numerous. They include the introduction of gunpowder, importance of cities, economic and demographic crises, and powerful new currents in culture and religion. Overall, the late middle ages were characterized as a period of chaos. The Black Death did not cause the chaos, but the plague definitely contributed towards it, as well as making more problems. The Black Death erupted in the Gobi desert in the late 1320’s. There is no real explanation why. The plague bacillus was alive and active long before that. Europe had suffered from an epidemic in the 6th century. But the disease became relatively dormant in the following centuries. It is said that it was due to the climate beginning to cool in the 14th century. Whatever it was, the outbreak began and spread fast. It mostly went west, but it spread everywhere. The Asian nations suffered greatly as anywhere. In China, the population dropped from 125 million to 90 million. The plague was so widespread; it was said that there was not enough living to bury the dead. Rodents ran the unsanitary streets that carried the fleas that had the disease. This is how the Bubonic Plague was spread. The people believed at the time that the gods were punishing them for things they had done wrong in the past. The Bubonic Plague is transmitted either though an infected rodent (rats, rabbits, etc.) carrying bugs (fleas). It was first thought that the rats themselves transmitted the Bubonic Plague because when people found dead rats in the towns' streets, they would usually flee their civilization in fear of the rodents. But it was observed that people would only get the disease if they came in contact with a rodent or rat that was dead for a short amount of time. The Bubonic Plague is not very common these days, but that is because we live in the United States where our sanitary level is fairly high. But in Africa, Asia, and South America, several people die from it every year.

Learning Team Reflection Essay

With the advancement of technology and the rise in Internet usage amongst individual companies, businesses, and organizations, they are faced with new challenges in protecting their brand, trademark, and image from competitors (Clark, 2007). This has caused many businesses to take action in the protection of intellection property rights or IPR. For the week three assignment, the members of team A choose to discuss the case in which Premier Technologies wins intellectual property lawsuit. This paper would highlight details of the case. Doug Sayer, the owner of Premier Technologies, claimed that two of his former employees stole private information for trade secret infringement and future sabotage. The former men were members of top management at Premier Technologies. Orr and Schutte, the two men, downloaded the organizations insider information to external hard drivers, and shortly after that, left the organization to work for the competitor. According to Legal information Institute, â€Å"Trade Secret is defined as the information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, or process that derives independent economic value or potential, from not being generally known to or readily ascertainable through appropriate means by other persons who might obtain economic value from its disclosure or use.† The issue is that Orr and Schutte had an intentional plan to use the operations of Premier Technologies against them to make the organization fall into the red and sale for a price less than what the business is worth. In Bannock County, Idaho’s Sixth Judicial District in December 2011 ruled in favor of Premier Technologies in the lawsuit Premier Technologies v. Chadd Orr, Jeff Schutte and Petersen, Inc. Doug Sayer, also Premier Technology’s president and chief operating officer, argued that Chadd Orr and Jeff Schutte was conspiring with Peterson. This made Orr and Schutte breach their fiduciary duties that they owed to Premier Technology while they were high level managers at Premier Technologies. The jury unanimously voted in favor of Premier Technologies and agreed that both Orr and Schutte violated the Idaho Trade Secret Act, and that they both had a fiduciary relationship with  Premier. The jury also ruled in favor of Premier, implicating Petersen Inc. had, in fact, conspired with Orr and Schutte in breaching of their fiduciary responsibility to Premier Technologies. The ruling awarded a little over two million dollars to Premier Technologies. A $905,250 judgment was set agains t Schutte, while a $603,500 judgment against Orr was set for breaching their fiduciary duties. Punitive damages were awarded as such $172,000 against Schutte and $120,000 against Orr. The analysis of the case appears to be quite simple in nature. The court’s decision ultimately stems from Orr and Schutte’s fiduciary responsibilities that they owed to Premier during their employment with the company. The copy of protected data was not in itself the infraction, but when that information was subsequently provided to a direct competitor, an illegal activity had taken place and the two men were liable for their actions. The state laws of Idaho clearly protected Premier, and any business entity, from this form of intellectual property theft. It also awards that company money to satisfy the damages that were caused by these actions, and because of the intentional nature of the act, punitive damages were made possible as well. As there are often no formal means to protect the trade secrets that a company might have in their processes, litigation is sometimes the best option and, in this case, it certainly provided Premier with the chance to recoup their losses. As a future employee hiring procedure, it might be pertinent for Sayer to include an employee clause that gives up their right to work for a direct competitor in the future, as some highly competitive organizations do (Idaho State Journal). Through many trials and errors, laws have come to pass to protect each business from employees who wish to harm them. Orr and Schutte not only jeopardized Premier Technology’s operation, but they also jeopardized their integrity. Once they decided to work with a competitor, they stole valuable information from the Plaintiff in order to make the business fail. Their actions turned into a lawsuit that determined they breached their contract with Premier Technologies. Due to this infringement, both parties and competitor were liable for all damages incurred to Premier Technologies. For Premier Technologies to prevent this from happening again, they should  determine if a clause is needed to prevent employees from working with the competitor. Reference Clark, D. (2007). EBusiness and Intellectual Property. IBB Solicitors. Retrieved from http://www.ibblaw.co.uk/downloads/brochures/2010-05-27-15-05-41-ebusiness_and_intellectual_property.pdf Legal Information Institute, August 2010, Trade Secret. Cornell University law school.http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trade_secret

Research Bank Sohar

Research Project Contents Table ContentsPage number Acknowledgement Abstract Action Plan Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1Introduction 1. 2Rationale of the Study 1. 3Objectives of the Study Chapter 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2. 1 Introduction to the company 2. 2 Meaning of the topic 2. 3 Objectives and research of the topic 2. Different types of employee motivation Chapter 3 METHOD OF RESEARCH 3. 1 Design of the study 3. 2 Methods of collected data 3. 3 Types of research 3. 4 Sample size used in interview 3. 5 Limitation 3. 6 Analyzing the data Chapter 4 FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 4. 1 Findings 4. 2 Recommendations Conclusion Bibliography ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the outset, I would like to thank my Guide who explained to me about this Research Project in a very clear manner and assisted me at every step in completing it successfully, and my thanks are especially due to ———————————–for all his cooperation, in spite of his heavy schedules of work, and ———————– the Trainer who was very helpful in providing me with accurate information to use in this Research, and I convey my thanks to all the colleagues who cooperated with me by participating in the research by way of responding to my interviews and to the questionnaires which helped to lead me to findings and conclusions. Finally I thank all the people whoever helped me and stood by me to provide all the needful assistance to my requirement. ABSTRACT The productivity of the staff depends upon many factors for the bank. Humans are complex beings which ne ed continuous motivation to work without being burdened. Therefore, the Human Resources Department should not only impart motivational triggers but also should encourage the various groups of the staff to maintain a healthy competition; these ensure a continuous boosting of the staff’s energy levels. Dedication and loyalty to the company can also be cultured by providing staff with encouraging means to develop themselves as well as the company. The staff which feels comfortable with the bank will unlikely shift to other banks. Dedicated employees willingly work for the bank. By comparing with other banks, the bank should modify its policy’s and plans so as to not only attract more customers but also attract more staff from the other banks. Motivation thus plays an important role thus in maintaining a productive staff. A dedicated staff will anticipate not only customers’ needs but also try to develop bank through innovative ideas. This research is conducted to study the motivational aspects of Bank Sohar. The findings of the study demonstrate that proper strategies and right procedures are followed in this Bank Sohar. ACTION PLAN ID Task Name Start Finish Duration 1 Introduction: †¢Discussion with the guide about the topic. †¢Determine the requirement and objective. †¢Prepare questionnaires. †¢Planning for interview and making interview. †¢Determine and justify the research methodology. 2 Literature Review: 3 Data collection: †¢Determine and justify the research methodology. †¢Collection of both primary and secondary dates by appropriate methods. †¢Selection and preparing detailed and relevant objectives. 4 Analysis of the research project: †¢Analysis and interpretation of data and carry the research into specified areas. Making reviews with the guide regarding the project. 5 Documentation: †¢Prepare the full project in one accept format. †¢Present and evaluate findings and recommendations. 6 Presentation: Chapter 1: 1. 1 Introduc tion Bank Sohar was established on 9 April 2007. Although it is a very short time since it started its operations, it has been an extraordinary time as this new bank changed the ground rules for banking in Oman. Dr Mohammed Abdul Aziz Kalmoor, the CEO of the bank declared this year that their income of operating profit showed up a 31. 3% increase in 2010 from that of 2009. The bank’s net loans and advances grew by 14% in the last year. Customer deposits have augmented by 20% in 2010. Bank Sohar has introduced friendly financial solutions for everything from the purchase of cars to higher education. Their increased network has given it an added presence and opportunity to reach out their customers. Their new branches in prime locations of the county have given the bank an edge in the market and strengthened its position in the banking sector of the economy. Bank Sohar has developed a tradition of meeting the customers from different parts of the country at informal gatherings and road shows. This has turned out to be a model for modern marketing. Bank Sohar believes that customer satisfaction is the critical measure for bank’s success. All the decision-making processes at Bank Sohar are taken up by its finance team which assists the executive management and the board in planning and provides information and critical analysis of the Bank’s performance on a continuous basis. It is committed to providing quality banking solutions to help customers achieve their financial goals. A small example is that it is the Bank Sohar which introduced for the first time the cash deposit facility through their ATMs. All other banks in Oman emulated this bank soon. By adopting a lifecycle approach to the household sector they have created value-added services such as various savings deposits options, mortgages, consumer lending, insurances and wealth management products etc. In addition, they keep their clientele of small and medium entrepreneurs well informed of the market developments that may affect their enterprises. Bank Sohar always tries to tailor its services to suit the requirements of not only individual customers but also potential customer groups like the business communities. Thus they adopt sector-specific approach to corporate banking. As the network of the bank has increased through opening of several new branches, staff strength has automatically increased to over 500 by the end of 2010. Bank’s Omanisation ratio has steadily improved to 88% year after year. These achievements are due to the efficient management of human resources at the bank. The Human Resource Management (HRM) of Bank Sohar has been strengthening the profile of the bank by implementing its strategic goals through best international practices in human resource management. The bank encourages its staff to expose to the new and rapidly changing areas of banking industry. Facilities for learning and developing professional experience are regularly arranged by the staff at different levels. In short, Bank Sohar can be described as a bank, deeply committed to delivering excellent services with convenience and integrity to their customers. In no time it is sure to achieve their vision statement: â€Å"One stop financial super mall having boutiques of products and services across various segments, each with a unique set of propositions† 1. 2 Study the rationale As an employee in the Bank Sohar, I have the personal knowledge and understanding of the bank’s organization and its activities. Bank Sohar is he fastest upcoming bank in our country. It follows its own strategy to deal with the customers directly. Everybody working in this bank like me is treated respectfully and cordially. Their treatment can be said to be the main key for the progress of our bank during this short span of five years. 1. 3 Goals of the study –The main goal of this study is to recognize the methods of motivating and encouraging the staff at Bank Sohar. –Also it is to identify what makes the Bank Sohar achieve success in all branches in general and in Ruwi Branch in particular. Chapter 2: 2. 1 Introduction to the company: At Bank Sohar, banking is made easy. All the employees in the bank are committed to making the banking experience much smooth and efficient. Bank Sohar is well-reputed for its open and communicative relationship with the customers. They know that you are the best possible source to inform them the best way to cater your needs. Here you get specialized divisions ready to serve you. Customer’s requirement and queries are met by specialized Relationship Manager of the concerned division. They also try to solve all your banking issues with a click. With their e-Channels, your bank has become portable. Accessing your bank account has been made easy as you can access through the ATMs, Internet. Customers can also have online connectivity to their account through mobile phones. They offer a wide range of treasury services to large corporate clients, small and medium enterprises and various government departments and fund managers. †¢RO clearing and settlement †¢ RO payments to Bank Sohar accounts as well as to accounts at other banks having a presence in Oman †¢ Treasury and Foreign Exchange related services †¢ Local cheque collection †¢ Prompt query handling †¢ High degree of automation and straight-through processing †¢ On-line view only access to your account 2. 2 The meaning of the topic: Employee motivation plays vital role in the development of the company in many ways. ttp://www. managementstudyguide. com/importance_of_motivation. htm 2. 3Objectives and research of the topic: Bank Sohar provides the opportunities improvement to the productive staff. It’s in general trying to recognize the achievements and to earn more profitab le results which depends on the on the quality of staff performance, that’s why it always tries to provide their employees a good environment in order to promote personal growth. Bank Sohar gives importance to the group interest which is placed above the individual level. The officials at the bank always treat their customers, suppliers and even their colleagues very fairly and objectively. Behind all of the mentioned above, the following points are the main objectives of Bank Sohar which they are always trying to keep specific principles to help in improving their performance: †¢Provide healthy and safe workplace. †¢Make sure that the work environment is preventing the disabled people work practices and don’t present the prejudices and unreasonable barriers for which they are qualified within the bank. †¢Decrease the number of contribution for employees which can be made to the organization. †¢Recruit and return the right staff at the right time to the right place to work. †¢Promote the qualified and skilled staff based on there performance very fairly, which will gain their trust of fair treatments. 2. Different types of employee motivation: 1. Thanks award letter: Bank Sohar awards their staff monthwise by choosing the employee of the month, quarter and end of the year ,so that it provides them a voucher and including a Shukran (Thank You) Award Letter. Example: Mr / Ms†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Bank Sohar, Danq Branch NSC Department ,Oman 20 February 2010 Dear,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Shukran (Thank You) for your initiative and good support. Congratulations and thank you for your hard work. We hope that your willingness and initiative serve as an example to your colleagues. We appreciate your commitment and dedication in cooperating the department in the absence of two staff who have resigned. You demonstrated that you were willing to shoulder additional responsibility and support the smooth running of the department. In token of our appreciation, this Bank Sohar awards you a Shukran Certificate, Smiley Badge and a Gift voucher. Yours Sincerely, HEAD HUMAN RESOURCE DEPT. 2. Long Term Services Award Upon the completion of 10, 20 and 30 years, staff will be given the following awards: 30 Years: Certificate signed by the Group Chairman, a gift of the employees choice (Approximately cost USD 1,000) and one month’s basic salary. 20 Years: Printed Certificate signed by the Deputy Chairman & CEO, Bank Sohar. 10 Years: Printed Certificate signed by the Area CEO. 3. Training: Overall Aim: To establish and maintain a key competitive advantage, Bank Sohar is committed to investing in human resources development through relevant ,planned and systematic training and other activities, which will contribute directly to the achievements of Banks business objectives, as well as meeting the demands of the Omanisation process. The basic training will be conducted by the Learning and Development Manager. Where necessary, regional training centre trainers at Muscat will conduct courses throughout Oman depending on the training needs. In addition, staff may be nominated to attend various training course held in Muscat and the group training at the Management Development Centre, Liverpool ,UK. External training may also be provided mainly through College of Banking and Financial Studies and other local institutes in Muscat, Salalah etc. On the job training may also be arranged, if line managers identify any such needs. Details of the training courses are available on the intranet or may be obtained from the Learning and Development Manager. 4. Career Development: †¢Employees retiring within two years from the date of drawing up or reviewing the rotation plan will be exempt from further job rotation unless it is deemed necessary to permit the rotation of others. †¢Should line managers be unable to rotate any of their staff in accordance with these guidelines he or she must justify the exceptions ensuring that the department head supports the exceptions made. In small or specialist departments such as HR,TSY, Legal, IT or for translators ,job rotation may have to be less frequent than the guideline suggested above. 5. Retirement: Staff will retire from Bank’ s employment on attaining 60 years (for male staff) and 55 years (for female staff). This is not applicable to temporary employees. Your age is the number of years elapsed since the date of your birth as stated in your identify cards, birth certificate or passport. The bank will write to you not less than one month in advance confirming the date on which you will retire. End of services benefits will be handled in accordance with the laws regulations of Public Authority for Social Insurance. 6. End of services benefits: For the Omanis Pension Scheme: Bank will pay 10% of the monthly deducted salary and contributes to the pension scheme of the retired Omani employees who will be receiving their monthly pension as per the rules and regulations of PASI. For the Expatriate employees Terminal Benefit: Bank will pay the expatriate employee a gratuity at the of half a month’s basic salary for the first five years of service, which will be granted at the time of quitting the job. 7. Occupational Health & Safety at Work: Making sure that they protect there staff health and safety at work is essential . We make the same commitment to our customers and any other visitors who come into our branches or offices. It’s the Bank’s objective is to promote a healthy working environment and a high level of safety management and fire prevention. As an employee of the bank, you have a major responsibility for maintaining health ,safety and fire precaution guidelines of the work place. These are essentially to: †¢Take reasonable care for your own health and safety and those who may be affected by your action. †¢To follow any laid down procedures and guidelines communicated to you. †¢To bring to the attention of management any defects in the building, electrical system and machinery. Chapter 3: 3. 1 Design of the study: Primary Data: This is the data acquired through the distribution of questionnaires and from the personal interviews. The personal interviews are always not possible and require more time. Therefore, Primary data is the un-analysed data obtained from research methods. Secondary Data: The data which on analysis gives perception and information to the grounds of research is called Secondary data. This data is classified into qualitative and quantitative; therefore the Secondary data is important for the formation of new grounds in the research. 3. 2 Methods of the collecting data: Primary Data: 1. Questionnaire: It is a list of questions containing all the possible parameters that the researcher wants to consider. It is the easiest and fastest way to do a research. The advantage is that only desired fields are considered and hence the data obtained is more focused. 2. Interview: In this type, the researcher communicates with the employee or customer for their opinions and thus researcher can obtain personal opinions of the fields that the researcher wants consider. But the data is not focused. 3. Observation: Observation is the method in which the researcher observes the fields without interfering with the process. The researcher deduces the data from his observation. This does not require searching for contacts. 4. Experimentation: It’s a technique used to do the investigations, which will observe the changing and find out where the influences are including the regards. Secondary Data: †¢Magazines: -Business Today Magazine (April 2011) –Times of Oman (dated 23 April 2011) †¢Internet websites: –www. banksohar. com –www. zawya. com –www. ameinfo. com – (http://www. humanresources. hrvinet. com/ questionnaire-method/) †¢Books: – Booklet of summery review of Bank Sohar’s Brand and Values in 2009 (Provided by the HR) 3. 3 Types of research: Questionnaires: In Bank Sohar, the service quality is of utmost importance. To achieve this many strategies are used. The Human Resources Department of Bank Sohar mostly uses questionnaires to collect the data from both the employees and customers. This method, as mentioned above, is easy and efficient. The data thus collected is then further analysed. Such method helps the bank to review its performance and also to know of the popularity of its various services. 1. In comparison with other banks does Bank Sohar provide you best way to get staff motivation: A. Yes B. Some times C. No D. At all 2. What do you think Bank Sohar should focus to achieve more staff motivation? A. Promotions B. Rewarding system C. Salary review D. All above 3. Is Bank Sohar providing the following selections to their employees fairly? A. Yearly bonus B. Promotions C. Increment of allowances D. Pension 4. Compared with other local banks, Bank Sohar provides good conditions to ts staff? A. Yes B. No C. No comments D. No answer 5. What makes you feel proud to work for Bank Sohar? A. Work environment B. Policies and conditions C. Team Work D. Rewards system 6. Does your current position satisfy your motivation level using the specific conditions? A. Yes B. No C. Sometimes D. No comments 7. Which of the followi ng banks would you like to apply in future? A. Current bank (Bank Sohar) B. Bank Muscat C. HSBC D. Nothing from the above. 1. Do you think that the bank is providing you a very fair performance appraisal? †¢Yes they are discussing with us before confirming Human Resources about the final performance results. They are using a very fair system where you can load what you have done during the year including the extra improvements, so it will be very clear for them to apprise each one among the bank. 2. Is Bank Sohar setting a fair targets for each staff? †¢Actually there are some people in the management departments dividing the work not in order to be covered by all staff, so in this some of the staff will feel demotivated as he will be pressurized in compare with others. 3. Does you line manager update you about your performance from time to time? †¢Yes, whenever any mistake is done he will keep me updated and insure that it won’t happen again. 4. Does Bank Soha r provide you a chance to develop your skills? †¢Actually, they are always promoting an online courses which you can go through it any time, but before the due dates. †¢They are sending their staff for external courses in the College of Banking and Finance. In addition they also provide us chances to graduate with higher diploma certificates for such specialized subjects. †¢They are rewarding their staff annually one person from one department by sending them for an attachment to one of the Europe branches, in order to learn more and gain more knowledge. 4. What are the returns which you can provide to the bank if you are satisfied with them? †¢I will do my best to increase the number of quality customers which will help in increasing the profit of the bank. Also I will be proud in front of my family and friends to work for the bank in order to keep a good view for people who are thinking to apply for the same bank specially qualified and experienced people. 3. 4 Sample size used in interview method as follows: Sl NoOrganisationDesignationName of the Employee 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Loan Department Salary & Deposit Cards Department Corporate Department Remittance Assistant Officer Manager Officer Manager Ibrahim Issa Ibrahim Al Zidjali Yusuf Suleiman Salem Al Wahibi Anas Hamad Seif Al Wahibi Juma Ra’shid Juma Al Saadri Fahma Al Mugheini Sl. noLocationCustomer/StaffName of the Employee 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Main Branch Main Branch Main Branch Qurum Branch Qurum Branch Main Branch Al Sarooj Branch Al Khuwair Branch Al Khuwair Branch Main Branch Al Khuwair Branch Al Seeb Branch Al Khuwair Branch Al Khuwair Branch MQ Branch Main Branch Al Khuwair Branch Qurum Branch Qurum Branch Main Branch MQ Branch MQ Branch MQ Branch Main Branch Al Seeb Branch Al Seeb Branch Main Branch Main Branch Main Branch Qurum Branch Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Employee Eyas Sayid Saud Al Mashri Sara Teasdale Iman Seif Al Lamki Tariq Mohd. Al Balushi Assim Ahmed Ali Al Wahibi Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al Wahibi Abdullah Ahmed Al Wahibi Abdullah Siddik Al Balushi Narjees Sa’ad Al Harthy Abdullah Mohd. Al Balushi Amina Seif Al Mussallum Majd Salem Saleem Al Wahibi Mohd. Salem Khamis Al Saithani Mohd. Salem Mohd. Al Wahibi Mohd. Mubarak Sayid Al Oufi Mohd. Mousa Yahya Al Harbi Mohd Nasser Humeid Al Badaae Masoud Salem Al Harthy Frhat Ali Al Zidjali Nadia Issam Al Balushi Dawood Ibrahim A’Salmi Ali Salem Al Shammaqi Salem Manal Al Tourqi Juma Ra’shid Juma Al Saadri Hussain Sayid Al Lawati Saad Salem Al Balushi Sayid Ra’shid Mohd Al Oufi Saifuddin Hisham Aziz Diwidaar Seif Sayid Nasser Al Wahibi Yusuf Yaqub Al Alaawi 3. 5 Limitation: No matter what method the researcher uses, there are always certain disadvantages. And moreover, in most cases the time is limited and therefore it becomes hard to manage the collection and analysis of data. Other limitations that I faced are: Some information about the bank is not accessible and is difficult to find As I chose the method of interview I got mixed up answers. As the level of knowledge and skill differ from one person to another, the responses varied greatly. In order to trace the trend in my data, I had to use large numbers of samples or interviewees. 3. 6 Analyzing the data: 1. In comparison with other banks does Bank Sohar provide you best way to get staff motivation? Conclusion : In the above chart it shows that most of the staff was satisfied with the motivational level which is been provided by Bank Sohar, as the negative answers are least chosen by the employees question (represented by C and D series in graph) are not very satisfied with motivation. 2. What do you think Bank Sohar should focus more in order to achieve staff motivation: Conclusion: Bank Sohar, staff are not happy with their salary as it wasn’t a good review for their salaries, but at least the rewarding system was playing a good part in their emotions. This can be easily understood by looking at the number who was happy with their salaries. 3. Is Bank Sohar providing the following selections to their employees fairly? Conclusion : Bank Sohar staff are not happy at all with the pension policies,where the level of satisfaction in the yearly bonuses was covering that percentage of motivation level which follows the promotion level, then it decreased again in the allowances increments. 4. Compared with other local banks, Bank Sohar provides good conditions to its staff? Conclusion: Bank Sohar staff is happy with the conditions which are provided to them as the calculation was very high in that level. Where some of them only are not satisfied at all, and at the lowest level was calculating in no nswers as most of them didn’t answer the question. 5. What makes you feel proud to work for Bank Sohar? Conclusion: The level of team work satisfaction was very high between Bank Sohar staff as one of the bank’s aim’s is to create a good environment and a strong team work, as it shown in the results that they are ha ppy with that strategy. 6. Does your current position satisfy your motivation level using the conditions? Conclusion: Bank Sohar staff are very happy with the conditions provided to them in their current passion where it was fluctuating between no answers and no comments, but in general they are happy with the conditions provided to them. 7. Which of the following banks would you like to apply in future? Conclusion: The staff are mostly satisfied and wish to continue working in the same environment in Bank Sohar. They are not satisfied to work with other banks in comparison. The highest result was calculating for Bank Sohar, so in general they are satisfied with the future chances which are provided to them. Chapter 4: 4. 1 Findings: On referring the observation depicted in the graphs, the human resources department of Bank Sohar is taking appropriate steps for maintaining the motivational levels of the employees. It closely monitors the employees and then relates their levels to their performances. The staff is happy with the policies and conditions provided to them and the staff satisfaction is in high levels. Highest levels of staff satisfaction in the bank can be achieved through continuous comparison the facilities which are provided to their staff with those of other banks, thus the bank will be able to identify the positive triggers which attract employees and consumers. The bank through this can identify its weak areas. Therefore the bank should look after other bank’s issues seriously and try to learn to not commit same mistakes and plan wisely to leap in the market. Some other measures to ensure staff motivation include: †¢The bank should do salary review from time to time. By improving the level of motivational facilities such as; increase the level of allowances, promotions, more development skills programs and rewarding system show positive levels of motivation. †¢Throughout the year, the staff is to be updated regularly about their performance. â⠂¬ ¢The bank needs to do more comparison with its competitor banks in term of motivating their staff. In general Bank is doing a very good job and they are always trying to motivate their staff and try to keep them for ever specially the experienced and skilled people. 4. 2 Recommendation : 1. Regular surveying is necessary to measure the motivational levels of the staff. This enables management to update various hindrances which cause de-motivation. 2. Personal opinion gatherings are essential to make the bonds between the management and employees which is essential for long term performance development. 3. By increasing the factors that cause the motivation, the company can instill motivation. For example vouchers limit can be enhanced. 4. By involving various levels of employees in the meetings to induce motivation into the lower levels of employees and help in overall staff development. 5. By sending the staff to other institutions for development and other educational programs, the motivation levels can be increased. Conclusion: Motivation level can be developed easily in Bank, as the management should keep in their minds that they are dealing with humans who need a special and very respective standard level. Generally management should follow a proper strategy in treating their staff by following the right procedures so as to intensify motivation and competition. Bank Sohar prioritizes the motivation of the employees as an important aspect in the whole bank’s functioning. The Human Resources Department of the bank regularly surveys and finds various ways to ensure the continuity of the motivational levels among the staff. The bank well understands that healthy competition and motivational are vital for dedicated performance. Bibliography: –www. banksohar. com –www. zawya. com –www. ameinfo. com –http://www. humanresources. hrvinet. com/questionnaire-method/ –Business Today Magazine (April 2011) –Times of Oman (dated 23 April 2011)