Ownership Rights over Ones Person Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ownership Rights over Ones Person - Essay Example However, quite a few pundits have believed that Locke's argument is only applicable in the state of nature but not in civil society, where property is decided not by one's work or effort but by laws. (Arneil 1996, p. 155) On the other hand, ownership is defined as "a particular type of property interest in which the person designated as owner is deemed, in some sense at least, to have the greatest possible interest in the thing." (Clarke 2005, p. 180) Another definition of ownership categorizes the owner as an individual who has ultimate control. (Waldron 1988, p. 47) But this theory cannot be said to be without any flaw. Although it has been said that ownership carries with it property rights and incidents, it is to be understood that ownership has a social aspect and the interest over it is not unbounded. The right to ownership is not absolute; there are some limitations to the enjoyment of one's right to property and ownership. Basic examples of these limitations include the prohibition of nuisance and injurious usage of a property; legal responsibility to taxation, execution and expropriation; State rules intended to regulate the use of property; and sometimes, imposition of certain obligations. While there are some limitations to the enjoyment of one's property a... In the incident of control, the right to possession, use and management are included. The right to possess is that inherent right to obtain physical control over the thing, while the right to use is characterized by the owner's personal use and enjoyment of the thing owned. Both of these rights include consumption and modification. The right to manage, on the other hand, is that right to choose and determine the manner and the person with which and with whom the thing owned shall be used. The income incidents, in contrast, include the right to income or the fruits, profits and rent produced by the thing owned. Other incidents consist of the right to capital, right to security, power of transmissibility, the absence of term, the prohibition of harmful use, liability to execution and the incident of residuarity. Being incidents of ownership, the foregoing rights are inherent in the concept of ownership of property. Now that the basic definition and concept of property and ownership have already been extensively discussed, let's go back to the earlier question with regard to the classification of body and/or its parts as "property". In his book Second Treatise of Government, John Locke wrote: Though the earth and all inferior creatures be common to all men, yet every man has a "property" in his own "person." This nobody has a right to but himself. The "labour" of his body and the "work" of his hands, we may say, are probably his. (Locke 2004, 17) The essential meaning of this connotation is that, a human being has all the right and ownership over his own "person." But does it mean he can have all the incidents of ownership over his person Can one appropriate and alienate his own person What about his own body The answer

Current Issues in Management Essay Example for Free

Current Issues in Management Essay Executive Summary Aim of this study This study is to analysis the selected airline business environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program implementations of some airline and compare with the selected airline. What is CSR CSR is an approach to business that takes account of issues associated with society and the environment in addition to more traditional business concerns of shareholders and profits. The low-fare airline â€Å"Ryanair† doing about CSR We can see the result of Ryanair CSR performance from the interviewee in this section. Analysis and discuss how the airline performance Corporate Social Responsibility. 1. INTRODUCTION In the last few decades, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has grown in importance, which is reflected by an increasing demand from consumers, employees, legislative systems, and the society for inclusive evaluations about how corporations are meeting acceptable standards. CSR plays an important role in the formation of airlines’ strategies due to the unique characteristics of the airline industry. Nevertheless, CSR in the airline industry has received relatively little attention from academics. The purpose of this study are to understand and analysis how the selected airline communicates to the outside world by implementing CSR programs. This research is exploratory by nature and is based on CSR reports published by the selected airline and related CSR information on the company websites. This topic has been chose because of the importance of CSR in business, more specifically in airline industry. What makes the application CSR programs in airline industry a particularly interesting topic to research is the highly competitive and pollutive nature of the industry. This competitive market has been caused by the price sensitivity of customers, and their desire to get good service at a decent price, as well as by the saturated nature of supply market due to multiple operators. In order to compete in the market, companies have to be cost efficient while providing best possible service. This, however, is difficult due to high operating costs that influence the whole industry. CSR is considered to be a vital part of any contemporary business strategy. In our mind focusing on CSR can provide airlines with both operational efficiency, as well as image benefits. People are becoming more aware of the social and environmental effects of their consuming habits, hence it be projected that innovative and responsible companies will continue to do well in the future, as their actions affect the purchasing behavior of customers.  The purpose of this study is to provide overview of CSR, discuss and analysis the performance of selected airline in corporate social responsibility. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN AIRLINE INDUSTRY Corporate are inseparable from society. Nowadays, the responsibility of corporations is not solely providing products and services, it must also take care of the welfare of the various stakeholders in society (Robin, 1987). Corporate nowadays do not primarily focus on profits but being society responsible which generates more intangible value. Consumers prefer to be associated with socially responsible cooperates and as a result of this, corporate will allocate response to this area and play a private role. First, the flying of airplanes will adversely affect the global environment (Miyoshi, 2009). Favorable public image can be created if the airline â€Å"greening† the environment. Secondly, promoting CSR is an attractive differentiation strategy, it gains competitive advantages and growing competition between airlines when airlines are offering increasingly similar products and service in marketplace. For meeting the expectations of various stakeholders and customers, airlines can fulfill their responsibilities as a corporate citizen especially for international airlines operates in multiple countries. There seems to be no universally agreed definition of CSR (Frankental, 2001). He even argues that â€Å"CRS is a vague and intangible term which can mean anything to anybody, and therefore is effectively without meaning†. The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the community and society at large(Holmes and Watts, 2000). It is generally agreed that CSR refers to the obligations of the firm to society (Smith, 2003). 2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORIES AND STRATEGIES CSR includes four kinds of responsibilities: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. The economic responsibility refers to the firm’s obligations  to be productive, profitable, and to maintain wealth. Firm’s legal responsibility refers to carrying out their activities within the confines of legal requirements. For ethical responsibility refers to having ethical codes, norms going beyond mere legal frameworks, and being honest in their relationships with their customers and their own employees. Finally, the discretionary component includes voluntary or philanthropic activities aiming to raise the well-being and development of society as a whole (Carrol, 1911). CSR issues under a variety of headings: Marketplace, workplace, community and environment will be used as CSR components. Safety is the most important social responsibility for the aviation industry. From All Nippon Airways CSR report 2009, the company reports the preventive measures for two incidents occurred in 2008 that influenced stakeholder trust in the airline. In order to improve workplace relationship and employee morale, Korean Air has created an Employee Counseling Center to resolve complaints and receive suggestions from employees. For community, â€Å"I Can Fly† Program from Cathay Pacific, program is designed to encourage young people to fly high and to reach for their dreams. Being an international airline, Cathay pacific’s community investments also extend to communities outside of Hong Kong. Singapore Airline participates â€Å"the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emission (ASPIRE)† Program in 2010, demonstrated green flight, which operated from Los Angeles to Singapore via Tokyo. As a result, it was able to use around 6% less fuel than normally required for a s imilar flight. Nowadays, customers are more aware of ethical consumption so that the airlines act in positive role in society by implementing some corporate social responsibilities’ programs. At the same times, consumers are also vulnerable to the problems and crises they are facing to, such as crisis in values and climate change, huge differences among people and also economic crisis in developed countries. Therefore, company can gain customer satisfaction and market value when they are applying the above CSR components. Corporate social responsibility means that organizations take on responsibility towards others in society, not merely on their shareholders and customers (Holloway, 2004). On the other hand, corporate social  responsibility also can improve our quality of life in the local community to solving environmental or socio-cultural problems locally or globally. CSR has found a positive relationship in both the short and long terms (Lee and Park, 2009). (Kang et al, 2010) examined the effects of positive effects of positive (proactive) and negative (reactive) CSR activities. 2.2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CHALLENEGES AND ISSUES Despite the potential of a Value Chain approach, the following issues need to be considered if the airline is planning to adopt or develop further more comprehensive CSR activities. Financial implications The Low-Fares Airlines business model relies on cost-reduction (Grob and Schroder, 2007). There are costs associated with implementing a CSR strategy but many are already accounted for within existing budget lines such as: Charitable giving, environmental management programs, corporate sponsorship and etc. Staffing Monitoring, evaluation and management of CSR objectives and related actions do require a staffing commitment in order to facilitate accurate reporting of costs and benefits. The size of the staffing commitment depends on the size and commitment of an organization. British Airways at the time of writing employed 30 staff working on CSR related initiatives (GreenAir 2008) Time Implement on CSR is a medium to long-term commitment that can only be fully achieved with realistic timescales built in from the start. However, there are some objectives, or â€Å"quick wins†, that can be realized in the short-term. 2.3 SUMMARY OF KEY CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ELEMENTS Review of the corporate social responsibility theories, strategies,  challenges and issue has shown that most of the international airlines (for example, Cathay Pacific Airline, Air France-KML, British Airways and etc) are very proactive in some of CSR components, for example, climate change and environment; customer relations by proving a level of customer service and comfort that ensure customer loyalty by focusing safety and security; staff personal development of the airline’s staff by offering personalized career advice, training and encouraging job mobility within the group. However, some of budget airlines, they are not really focus on CSR as a business strategy, the reason are airlines didn’t want to spend too much money on CSR because they need to control expenses for other resources to ensure tickets are low prices. Therefore, those budget airlines only focus on environment and community only. 3.1 COMPANY BACKGROUND Ryanair was established in 1985 by the Ryan family with  £1 share capital and 25 staff. Operation started with daily flights from Waterford in the southeast of Ireland to London on 15 Bandeirante aircraft (Ryanair, 2010). In 1987, the company acquired their first jet aircraft and as a result increased their network with 15 scheduled routes from Dublin to Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and opened new routes from Luton to West of Ireland. Consequently the number of passengers increased to over 600,000, but the company soon faced intense price competition with Aer Lingus and British Airways resulting to  £20m loss. During the 1990s, Ryanair decided to restructure the company by copying Southwest Airline low fares model (Ryanair, 2010). 3.2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AUDIT OF RYANAIR From the above audit, it showed that community projects, local skill training, advertising, disability access and ethical policies are not good from interviewee’s view. CO2 emissions, charity giving, pricing, training investment and safety are just fair. However, Ryanair are good in environmental responsibility for example: paper usage, water usage and waste. To understand why the interview gave this result, it will be discussed by using the following evidences. 4. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSS OF RYANAIR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PERFORMANCE Ryanair Corporate Social Responsibility activities report in 2011, it showed  environment, emissions trading, ethical codes and staff benefits will be implemented in coming year. For instance, Ryanair released two press releases about its 2008 Cabin Crew Charity Calendar, seven press releases for its 2009 Cabin Crew Calendar, and one press release for its 2012 Cabin Crew Calendar. Also, they even created a website for greening the environment. However, the charity calendar and other philanthropic efforts were not mentioned since 2008 annual report. In 2011 annual report, it also didn’t mention what kind of activities they did for the environment and how much fuel consumption they used. The following are the Corporate Social Responsibility performance of Ryanair between 2009 and 2012. For community, Fredrick (1986) developed the CSR analysis to include an ethical base to managerial decision taking in the form of corporate social rectitude and terms this CSR3. The theory claims that the study of business and community needs an ethical anchor to allow a systematic critique of businesss impact upon human consciousness and human continuity. When consumers book tickets at their website, charged price at the purchased stage is higher than the showed price at book tickets page. Real price has been hidden, it also counted as unethical. If the companys action can have either a positive or a negative impact on the quality of a group or individuals life, then the group or individual is a stakeholder of that company (Lepineux, 2005). On the other hand, Ryanair was not willing to provide services to those people who are disabled and older passengers has resulted in court ruling and got fines from court. After that, the airline increased the fare to all passengers and started lobbing airport and airlines, not to provide free services to disabled passengers. In 2010, The central London Country Court found it had acted unlawfully due to there was a passenger who I suffering from cerebral palsy and arthritis and be charged GBP18. Eventually, the one claimed GBP1136. Another important example of Ryanairs unethical practices is their advert in 2012. Two UK newspaper adverted for Ryanair have been banned after complaints from readers that they were sexist and treated women as objects (BCC News, 2012). The advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 17 complaints of this advertising, and said they were likely to cause offence. However, the airline said the adverts promoted its cabin crew charity calendar and used  images taken directly from it (BBC news, 2012). The company faced probe by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after a string of complaints and the rules have been breached seven times in two years (BBC News, 2009). Corporate Social Responsibility as the purpose of business and the knowledge and abilities of those that run the business (Worthington and Britton, 1997). Of course, every company is making profit, even Ryanair. Therefore, their operation and the impact on the environment have to be administrated. Ryanair is not very good in marketplace of the CSR components. They got a lot of complaints of cancellations, missing bags and denied boarding. In 2011, the aviation watchdog revealed that Ryanair and EasyJet were subject to the most complaints from British airline passengers in 2010. From Ryanair website, it shows that baggage complaints per 1,000 passengers have increased from 1.18 to 1.88 from 2010 to 2011 respectively. EasyJet had the most complaints with 719 and Ryanair following with 673. It was also noted that Ryanair complaints have risen by 70% since 2005 and the Liberal Democrats said that the numbers proved service standards is a casualty of lower fares (Guardian, 2010). As explained earlier safety is the most important social responsibility for the aviation industry. However, the flight to East Midlands Airport was forced to make an emergency landing and oxygen masks were deployed (The Sun, 2012). There are differences between Ryanair and its competitors in terms of services and how they are delivered. Ryanair pledges simply to get passengers from point A to B safely and at lowest price. Some seats are sold as little as  £1 or â‚ ¬ 1, however, if flights are delayed, passengers should not expect free refreshments (Emerald, 2007). At the same time, the airline treats their employees are different with other airlines e.g. Southwest airline. Southwest airline believes that customers deserve respect, fun and dignity but that their employees come first. This is because employees would treat customers the way they are been treated (Emerald, 2007). Employees from Ryanair are disregard. Also the company is in major dispute with its operation being socially irresponsible. 5. STRATEGIC CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RYANAIR Corporate Social responsibility is very important for growth of the business so that the airline should be more social responsible by addressing the demands of the stakeholders. Building the sense in the organization being socially responsible will improve corporate image to create value. In my opinion, environmental issues should be considered the most important. Despite the airline can only contribute few percent to global CO2 emissions, there still are so many people will consider flying to be much more harmful. Therefore airlines are pressured into contributing to the environment and reducing their environment impact. Moreover, focusing on environmental issues airline can gain competitive edge through improved image and operational efficiency. Fuel efficiency, waste and recycling should be the most important to be addressed. CO2 emissions nowadays can be considered. To tackle the issue of emissions, most of the airlines have implemented programs that aim to reduce overall emissions within a certain time period. For example, Air France aims to reduce CO2 emissions 1-2 % annually. This is also important in order to achieve emissions target set by IATA. Most of the airlines focus on improving fuel efficiency, as it is by far the biggest source of emissions. Ryanair should reduce fuel consumption immediately, improved maintenance and engine washing, improved route planning and navigation. Waste and recycling are the second important environmental topic. Waste produced by in-flight operations comprises of aluminum, plastic, mixed paper and organic waste. Chemical waste includes deicing and antifreeze products, paint and detergents used in washing airplanes and engines. Other waste sources are normal business operations where paper is the predominant material. Most airlines reviewed are trying to reduce waste and focus on recycling. Airlines should move towards recycling and reduction of waste production in all operational areas. In my opinion this can be achieved by favoring longer lasting, recyclable or biodegradable materials i.e. in  catering operations. Airlines have a high impact on neighborhoods and communities surrounding their major hubs. The airline should support communities by recruiting and training staff, offering educational support and etc. i.e mentioned previously â€Å"I Can Fly† Program from Cathay Pacific. Creating the organizational culture of shared values where employees are willing and enjoy to work. Empower employees to do their job, support and encourage them in their decisions. When employees are empowers to do their job and be respected at work place, they will feel that they are part of the organization and their decision are appreciated, then they will work wholeheartedly at the airline. It can improve customer servicing, reduce complaints and improve airline performance. Safety measures also to be one of the most important areas of airline business, concerning customers as well as employees. Therefore various systems should be implemented to support safe business operations. In order to ensure work safety, trainings supported by risk management systems should be implemented. Key performances should be regularly measured and improved according to the legal requirements. 6. CONCLUSION In the recent years the importance of CSR has been increasing immensely in the airline industry. Although in many aspects airlines are still behind in comparison to other industries, it has been made apparent that environmentalism and social responsibility issues will only increase in importance in the coming years and decades. Having a business strategy is as essential as never before due to a high need in business life for forecasting, measuring and developing business actions further. There will always be competitors that are potentially doing better business regarding overall revenue which consequently leads to a need of efficient and structured operations to ensure long lasting business success. Businesses that are going to last and also be profitable in the future are the ones  with CSR incorporated into their business strategy. We therefore believe that implementing it is inevitable. Like many other business aspects a clear vision on how to implement CSR is crucial. Therefore a â€Å"road map† needs to be developed in order to ensure a successful outcome. It allows the firm to be successful whilst using its resources within its unique environment to meet market needs as well as meet stakeholder expectations (Industry Canada 2006, pp. 32-33). 7. References Alle, M. M and Schmitz, A. M. (2004). Ryanair plc. Sà ©minaire delaboration dun Business Plan, p. 1-45. Moir, L. (2001). What do we mean by corporate social responsibility. Corporate Governance, 1, 2, p. 16-22.Y CO Worthington, I and Britton, C. (1997). The business environment. 2nd Edition. Pitman Publishing: London Holloway, C. J. (2004). Marketing for tourism. Harlow etc.: Prentice Hall Lee, S., Park, S.Y., 2009. Do socially responsible activities help hotels and casinos achieve their financial goals? International Journal of Hospitality Management 28, 105–112 Kang, K., Lee, S., Huh, C., 2010. Impacts of positive and negative corporate social responsibility activities on company performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management 29, 72–82. Alle, M. M and Schmitz, A. M. (2004). Ryanair plc. Sà ©minaire delaboration dun Business Plan, p. 1-45. Appelbaum, H.S and Fewster, M. B. (2004). Safety and Customer Service: Contemporary Practices in Diversity, Organizational Development and Training and Development in the Global Civil Aviation Industry. Management Research News. 27, 10, p. 1-26. BBCNews. (2008). Ryanair faces probe over adverts. [on-line] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7337165.stm [Accessed: 13/03.2010]. Bowman, C and Faulkner, D. (1995). The essence of competitive strategy. 1st Edition. Prentice: Hall. Carr, S., Penson, R and Bendell, T. (1995). The quality gurus-their approaches described and considered. Managing Service Quality. 5, 6, p. 44-48. Chilosi, A and Damiani, M. (2007). Stakeholders vs shareholders in corporate government. Munich Personal RePEc Archive. PN, 2334, p. 1-50. Davies, W. (2000).Understanding strategy. Strategy and Leadership. 28, 5, p. 25-30. Data Monitor. (2008). Ryanair holdings plc. Data Monitor Europe: London. Data Monitor. (2009). Ryanair holdings plc. Data Monitor Europe: London. Donaldson, T., Preston, L.E. The stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence and implications. Academy of Management Review. Vol, 20, 1, 1995, pp.65-91. Emerald. Easyjet and Ryanair flying high on the Southwest model. Strategic Direction. Vol, 22, 6, 2006, pp. 18-21.

Peer Pressure and Academic Performance :: Peer Pressure Essays

Quantitative Research Question 1. What effect does peer support have on academic performance? 2. Does peer pressure affect the academic performances of adolescents in School? Hypothesis 1. â€Å"Peer pressure significantly influences academic performance†. 2. â€Å"Students who experience peer support have better academic performances, than those who do not have peer support†. 3. â€Å"Peer support influences academic performances†. 4. â€Å"Academic performance is associated to peer pressure and peer support†. Qualitative Research Question 1. How does peer pressure and peer support associate to academic performances? 2. How does peer support affect academic performances? Cho, Y., & Chung, O. (2012). The researchers investigated the relationship between conformative peer bullying and discovered that peer pressure and its resistance is linked to antisocial conformity. Conformative peer bullying is defined as â€Å"behaviours that supports and reinforces bullying and does not include initiating proactive actions†, (Cho, 2012. p. 521). Peer Pressure â€Å"influences a person to change his/her attitudes, values, behaviours, and relationship in order to conform to the norms of the peer group†, (Cho, 2012. p.521). Peer Conformity is â€Å"the inclination to adopt behavioral patterns that are considered as acceptable to the peer group†, (Cho, 2012. p.521). The researchers used the â€Å"four-point Likert scale† which rated from â€Å"1 = never; 4 = a lot† and the Participant Role Scale (PRS) to measure the variable â€Å"conformity’ and â€Å"peer pressure†, (Cho, 2012. p. 523 - 524 ). The participants consisted of 391 second year students from 21 different classrooms in Seoul, South Korea, out of which 285 were boys and 106 were girls, aged between 13-14yrs old. Between 14 to 18th July, 2008, the researchers obtained informed consent from the teachers and students. After peer assessment was acquired, the researchers distributed the â€Å"four-point Likert scale† survey questionnaires to 673 students in 21 classrooms of three middle schools. Students were given about 20 to 25 minutes to respond to the questionnaires. At the end of the analysis it was discovered that there was a positive correlation between peer pressure, peer conformity and confirmative peer bullying. The effect of bullying is greatly influenced by the bully’s personal characteristics. It also indicated that without a groups influence an individual might not resort to bullying or simply peer pressure drives people to act differently to please others to show their support or capabilities to be in the group. In conclusion, antisocial peer conformity is one of the causes that influences peer conformity bullying. It also showed that those who cannot resist are influenced more than those who can resist bullying.

The Mass Media Should Be Highly Responsible

ELTU 1001 Presentation Outline Name: Chan Yu Yan,Fiona SID: 1155032656 I. Topic The mass media should be highly responsible to the problem of childhood obesity in Hong Kong II. Introduction ?Opener – Ask question; ‘what’s childhood obesity in your mindset? ’ ? Background –To provide statistics about the % of population of having childhood obesity in Hong Kong (To show the seriousness of the problem) ? Purpose/Objective – To persuade the government and the public to agree that the mass media is the key determinant that leads to childhood obesity through the means of television especially. Stance – The mass media is the most influential stakeholder in affecting the severity of the problem when compared to family’s influence and primary education in Hong Kong. ?Preview – To compare the effectiveness of the mass media and the primary schools in solving the problem. III. Body 1. The coverage of the receiver ?The public v. s. pr imary students -Advertisements are published through the mass media, such as television and radio, the recipients of the advestisements are the general public; ? Parents are informed ? teach their children about the correct value -Primary school policies (e. g.PE lessons) only influence the primary students, who may not be able to understand the purpose of these policies? not seriously followed 2. Academic studies showing the influences of the mass media on affecting the lifestyle of the obese children. ? A number of studies have confirmed that obesity is directly related to the number of hours spent watching television (Dietz and Gortmaker, 1985, 1993; Gortmaker et al. 1990). ?Attractive commercials advertising food and drink(Bar-Or et al. , 1998; James, 2002) that promote foods that are not recommended for the optimal development of health and fitness of children(Parizkova and Hills, A.P. , 2005) ? IV. Conclusion – Summary / Concluding statement The mass media is one of the most important channel in affecting the childhood obesity problem in Hong Kong. V. References – Books, Websites, etc. 1. Parizkova & Hills, A. P. (2005). Childhood Obesity: Prevention and Treatment. Florida: CRC Press. 2. Non-communicable Diseases Aware,3(9). (2006). Retrieved November 10, 2012 from Centre for Health Promotion, Department of Health Web site: http://www. chp. gov. hk/files/pdf/grp-NCDAware-en-20060915. pdf 3. Bagchi, D. (2011).Global perspectives on childhood obesity : current status, consequences and prevention. Boston: Academic Press/Elsevier. 4. Hui, S. C. (2007). CUHK Sports Science and Physical Education Department Releases Survey Results on Childhood Obesity in Hong Kong. Retrieved November 10, 2012 from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Sports Science and Physical Education Department Web site: http://www. cuhk. edu. hk/cpr/pressrelease/070525e. htm 5. Kulkarni, A. (2010). Mass Media Influence. Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://www. buzzle . com/articles/mass-media-influence. html

American Airlines Flight Essay

Through his 1997 Airframe novel, Michael Crichton describes Casey Singleton’s response after a plane that was manufactured by Norton Aircraft experiences an accident while in flight. Singleton is a quality assurance officer at Norton Aircraft. Does the story accurately portray an aircraft manufacturer’s response to an accident? By demonstrating that following the accident, Norton Aircraft works hard to ensure that it (Norton Aircraft) does not only ascertain the genesis of the accident, but also to try to exonerate itself from any culpability, Crichton presents an accurate picture of aircraft manufacturers’ reaction to plane accidents. To illustrate, Singleton puts forth great efforts to investigate the facts behind the accident (Crichton, 1996). It is notable that a Singleton is not interested in the numerous aspects that usually surround pane mishaps. Rather, she seeks to establish who erred with regard to the accident. This is the typical reaction of aircraft manufacturers after plane accidents; they seek to apportion blame rather than solve the problem. Does the story accurately portray the media’s response to an aircraft accident? Crichton also presents a credible description of how the news-hungry media usually responds after plane accidents. It is undisputable that media houses jostle to present that so-called ‘exclusive’ story to the public after air accidents. This trend is clearly exhibited by the plans by a local media house to air a sensational news program that has somewhat maliciously dubbed the ill-fated plane a ‘deathtrap’. The author thus describes and critiques the sensational attitude that the media shows towards plane accidents. What was your overall impression of the story? After studying Crichton’s story, I was pleased with the author’s description of events that closely resemble real-life aviation accidents. For example, in describing the circumstances as well as the cause of the accident, Crichton draws parallels with the American Airlines Flight 191 fatal crash. In addition, Singleton’s investigations reveal that the accident was partly caused by the captain’s error of allowing his inexperienced son to take charge of the aircraft. Similarly, the Aeroflot flight 593 mishap in 1994 originated from the pilot’s mistake of permitting his inexperienced son to man the flight. Discerning such parallels to real-life events makes me to like the novel owing to its seeming applicability in contemporary mishaps. On the other hand, after closely examining Crichton’s plot, I have deduced several themes which make the author’s text very significant. For example, the author describes events that seek to show that air accidents are usually blamed on the wrong parties. In this case, John Marder and his associates try to place the blame for the accident squarely on Singleton. After her investigations, Singleton however detects that the fault was in the person who was operating the aircraft, particularity the pilot. The author thus demonstrates that innocent and vulnerable parties usually unjustly carry the blame for plane accidents. This candid portrayal of the blame games that accompany plane accidents is an aspect that makes the author’s work worthy of praise. In addition, I marveled at Crichton’s demonstration that humans, as opposed to mechanical failures, are the main cause of plane accidents. The author thus eradicates the popular notion that machine failure is normally the major culprit behind plane accidents. To illustrate, the aircraft is functional as per Singleton’s investigations. Human error, in form of improper maintenance coupled with operational errors; make the plane to have the accident. Crichton thus debunks a popular myth related to aircraft accidents through the novel’s events. This aspect makes me to really like the author’s bluntness and originality. References Crichton, M. (1996). Airframe. New York: Knopf.

The relationship between employees job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in service business

The relationship between employees job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in service business Abstract This study is conducted within the bank of America and is aimed at showing the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction in the banking industry.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on The relationship between employees job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in service business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The study is necessitated by the realization that customer satisfaction is determined by the perceptions the customers have on the nature and the quality of services offered. Since the study focuses on the correlation between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction at a specific point in time, a cross sectional study design is chosen. 104 participants will be targeted for this study, 53 of which will be employees of the bank of America. Data will be mostly collected through written interviews. However provision for oral interview will be available especially for corpo rate clients who may be too busy to fill in written interviews. Seven aspects of job satisfaction will be measured and correlated with five categories of customer satisfaction. The study concludes that customer satisfaction is directly influenced by employee satisfaction. A number of factors interplay in this relationship. These include job security, work load, motivation, and employee empowerment, among others. Introduction Management experts believe that business success is attained through offering quality service to customers. However, not many of these experts link quality service with the level of employees’ satisfaction. Suffice to state that the service industry is seen as one of the key sectors of growth in any economy. As such, proper management of the service industry is needed to ensure that the value of service offered does not compromise customer expectations. This is because, negative customer perceptions about the nature and the quality of service offered is d etrimental to business growth. This suggests that customers’ perceptions about service quality are directly proportional to the business success achievable.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More There a number of characteristics unique to the service industry. Employees in the service industry put in more hours while serving numerous customers, most of whom have complicated needs. This usually makes the job of customer service providers very cumbersome. As a result, Yagil (2006) explains that service providers are most likely to be fatigued and burned out. Such burn out has a direct influence on the quality of service offered. In a survey conducted by Burke, Graham and Smith (2005), it is found out that customer service is a psychological intercreative human experience. This implies that service provision is relational, face to face, and has got nothing to do w ith the products that the service provider offers. A good intercreative environment thus improves the perception of the customer on the quality of service offered. As such, two major conclusions can be made from the assertion above: perception plays a vital role in determining the nature of service quality; customer service provision is a psycho social activity. Burke et al. (2005) conclude that service provision has to be offered appropriately; otherwise the customer is dissatisfied. This leads to loss of business. This assertion is confirmed in a study conducted within the Indian mobile phone industry by Sathish, Santhosh, Naveen and Jeevanantham (2011). In this study, it is evident that one of the major reasons why consumers of Indian mobile phone services switch providers is poor quality of service offered. Therefore, customer satisfaction is directly connected to nature of service offered. The level of employees’ satisfaction varies and can be attributed to a number of f actors. These include poor salaries, employee attrition, work load issues as well as employee empowerment (Bull 2005; Yagil 2006). Yagil (2006) and Burke et al. (2005) add that the perception of the customer on the quality of service is directly connected to employees’ satisfaction. These factors, coupled with employee burn out determine the kind of behavior exhibited by employees within the customer service industry. As a result, service providers portray loss of enthusiasm and positive regard for their jobs, lack of concern for clients’ needs, both emotional and physical exhaustion among other behaviors (Yagil 2006).Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on The relationship between employees job satisfaction and customer satisfaction in service business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More During the cause of service provision, if employees portray negative attitudes and behaviors towards the customer, the cus tomers’ level of satisfaction with service quality decreases. This assertion can be attributed to the fact that social behavior is determined by the perceptions about the underlying motives and the prevailing environment, within which service is offered (Yagil 2006). As such, the perception of the customer regarding the quality of service offered is influenced by the behavior and attitude portrayed by employees. The studies above suggest a complex relationship between customer satisfaction, employee behavior and the quality of service offered. Customer satisfaction determined by customers’ perception on the quality of service offered. Employees’ conduct is determined by how the customers perceive value of service offered. The perception of the customer is influenced by the level of job satisfaction. As mentioned above, previous studies reveal that employee satisfaction is directly related to customer’s perception on service quality. As such, it is imperat ive to conclude that there is relationship between employees’ job satisfaction and customer perception of service quality which affects the overall satisfaction in the service business. While previous studies focused on hotel, teaching and telephone industries, there does not exist any study that focuses on the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction within the banking sector. As such this study seems relevant. The purpose of this study is to test hypothesis that the there is a relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction and perceived service quality. As such, the following questions seem relevant for this study: Do customers report higher satisfaction with service quality when employees indicate higher levels of work satisfactions? What aspects of job satisfaction that directly effect employees’ morale and behavior and how it effects customer satisfaction? To supply answers to this questions, the cross sectional study design has been chosen. Data for this study will be collected, separately, from employees and customers of Bank of America New York branch.Advertising Looking for proposal on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Since previous studies show that customer satisfaction is dependent on perceptions about employees’ job satisfaction, for the purpose of this study, employee satisfaction is the independent variable and customer’s satisfaction is the depended variable. The bank of America was chosen because of the high number of customers served by the bank as well as high number of employee within the bank. As such, the banks employees and customers will provide sufficient sources of data for this study. Methodology This study targets both the employees and customers at the bank of America’s New York branch. The branch is chosen due to its central location as well as due to the fact that its serves a large clientele base. The study targets both individual and corporate customers, who will be observed at a particular point in time. A total number of 104 customers will be targeted. The number 104 has been chosen not because it has any special meaning in relation to the study but since it is manageable, and will also allow the researcher to collect as much data as possible. The target population will be divided into 53 employees and 51 customers. Out of the 51 customers, 17 corporate will be targeted. All the employees targeted for this study will be from departments that deal directly with the customers. As such, employees from the customer relations desk, tellers, loan clerks, information officers among other will be provide valid data for this study. As explained above, the numbers chosen for this study have no special meaning in relation to the topic of the study. However, odd numbers are chosen for the sake of tallying. Since the researcher targets all types of clients and employees at a particular point ion time, a cross sectional study design seems relevant for this study. According to Rose and Barker (1997), a cross sectional study targets a subset of the entire population with the aim of providing data that can be used to formulate generalized assum ptions regarding the entire population. It is also imperative to mention that the study is based on observations made, whose results are related to the employee satisfaction (independent variable for this study) and customer satisfaction (dependent variable for this study). As Rose and Barker (1997) further explain, studies which evaluate the relationships between variables and seek to establish pattern are descriptive in nature. As such, this study is descriptive. Participants As explained previously, the study targets 104 participants. The participant will be selected from both the employees and customers of the bank of America. In total 53 employees and 51 customers (both corporate and individual) will be targeted. Since the researcher aims at targeting all types of clients, 17 out of the 53 customers will be corporate. Employees targeted will vary in terms of age, race, job description and gender. To ensure that equity is achieved, the study will identify employees for participa tion as follows. 25 women and 28 men will be identified from all departments especially those that deal with customers directly. The researcher will also identify at least 2 employees from each of the major races, namely Hispanics, Caucasians, blacks and Asians. It is imperative to get the perception of job satisfaction form employees in different age groups. As such, the age criterion for participant has been identified as follows. 25 years and below 26 to 35 years 36 to 45 years 46 to 55 years 55 years and above 51 customers are targeted for this study. Due to the complex nature of the customers, written and oral interviews have been identified as the suitable methods of data collection. Alternatively phone interviews will be used for corporate clients who may not be available during the time of the interview. Procedure Due to time, convenience and logistic constraints, it will be impossible contact each of the employees physically for a face to face interview. As such, written questionnaires are the preferred research tools for employees. As such each of the employees targeted will be requested to fill in a questionnaire separately. Emphasis will be made on providing responses to all questions. Data from employees will be correlated with data derived from the customers. Data which will be used to determine the level of job satisfaction will be derived from employees. To determine the level of job satisfaction, several aspects will be measured. These aspects are: job security, career future, financial rewards, work load, work appeal, leadership and direction. To address each of these issues, the questionnaire includes a table which employees will fill in their perceptions about each of the aspects The purpose of targeting customers is to measure the level customer satisfaction. As such customer satisfaction will be measured using a survey consisting of 22 questions based on the SERVQUAL scale that cover the 5 categories of service quality: reliability, res ponsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility. According to Yeck, Morales, Ladhari and Pons (2002) SERVQUAL is the only method which can accurately measure customer service by comparing the expectations of the customer about customer service and the real customer service experience. Therefore, based on Yeck et al.’s (2002) assertions, it is justifiable to use SERVQUAL to analyze findings on customer service in this study The procedure implies that there are two sets of data to be collected for this study. After collection of the two sets of data, an analysis will be done. The criterion for analysis is to compare the live of employee satisfaction and the correlating customer satisfaction. Hypothetical results It is expected that the study will reveal that customer service is determined by customers’ perception about the quality of service offered. It is expected that the study will correlate financial rewards (salaries and other financial benefits) with job satisfacti on aspects. Furthermore, the work load as well as work schedule are expected to portray a significant influence in the employee satisfaction and the overall effect on the customers’ perceptions. Furthermore, employee attrition, work load and labor issues will show a direct influence on employees’ satisfaction. Since, it is assumed that employees of the Bank of America will portray a level of dissatisfaction with their work; the study hopes to find a direct relationship between notable employees’ dissatisfaction with work and the perceptions of customer on the quality of service offered by the bank. The researcher expects to find that employee dissatisfaction directly affects the job morale, and as such the customer perceives low morale with employee dissatisfaction. In this case the researcher hopes that the customer will cite low morale as one of the indicators of job dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the researcher hopes to find data which proves that the customer equates low morale with poor customer service. Within the course of the study, the researcher expects to find a significant level of employees’ satisfaction. This is expected to show correlation with how customer perception on the quality of service rendered to them. As such, the study will find out that in those areas that employee exhibit a high degree of satisfaction, similar degree of employee satisfaction will be noticed. One of the key indicators of employees’ satisfaction with the job is proper remuneration as well as positive perceptions by the customer about the quality of service offered. In this study it is expected that properly paid employees exhibit a high degree of job satisfaction. The study is also expected to expose the fact that positive customer perceptions about the quality of service offered to have a direct relationship with the level of employee satisfaction. As explained earlier, the customers’ perception about the quality of service of fered is founded on the perceptions the customers have about the employee job satisfaction. In this study, it is expected that the researcher expects to identify the speed at which employees offer service, employees’ knowledge about products ad services as well as employees’ willingness to assist customers as having a significant influence on how customers perceive the quality of service. Furthermore, the ability of employees to identify particular needs of each customer, the ability of employees to make the customers feel appreciated as well as confidence portrayed by employees influence customers perception on the quality of service offered. Additionally, both verbal and non verbal communication skills including neatness, dress mode, smiling, use of polite and courteous language, direct eye contacts, among others, as having a directly influence on how customers perceive customer service. Overall, the researcher expects to find out the following correlation between em ployee job satisfaction and the perceptions about the quality of service offered by the bank. In those services which employees exhibited behavior that portrayed them as highly satisfied with their jobs, then customer will be satisfied with services offered in those areas. Conversely, on those areas that employees exhibited behavior that indicated to the customers that they were dissatisfied with their job, customers will equate this as poor customer service. If perception about job satisfaction outweighs perceptions about job dissatisfaction, this leads to increased customer satisfaction, and as such increased rate of customer retention. Discussion The hypothetical results above confirm the hypothesis that employees’ job satisfaction and customer perception of service quality affects the overall satisfaction in the service industry. From the hypothetical results above, it is evident that the quality of customer service is determined by the customer and not the service provid er. As such, this findings support Andreassen and Lindestad’s (1998) assertions that proper management of employees leads to increased employee satisfaction. In relation to this, the hypothetical findings will identify that there several aspects of human resource management, including proper remuneration, affect employee motivation and morale. Additionally, the results above affirm that, as explained by Ahmad, Ahmed, Nawaz and Ahmad (2011) that there are other factors which directly influence employee behavior. These include labor policy issues, work load among others, prolonged contact with customers, among others. These factors are expected to have an influence in the kind of behaviors exhibited by employees and the overall satisfaction with their job. As previously explained, Andreassen and Lindestad’s (1998) assert the need to improve human resource management practices by service industry players. In this regard, Ahmad et al. (2011) stipulates that giving full con trol to employees improves job satisfaction, since employees feel that they are in charge of their work. This corroborates Yagil’s (2006) assertion that empowerment means the process of gaining influence over events and outcomes of importance to an individual or group†. In this case, empowering employees significantly enables employees exert influence over customers. This is as a result of the findings that empowering employs directly influence the performance on the job. As such, the more empowered the employee is, the higher the performance on the job. Coupled with other factors mentioned above, such employees are able to meet the demand of the customers and as such this increases customer satisfaction. It can therefore be concluded that how employees behave determine perception on the nature and the quality of service offered by service providers. These conclusions can be validated through the findings explained above, which assert that there are a number of employee s’ behaviors which are directly related to employee job satisfaction. These behaviors are reflected as follows. The friendliness of employees towards the customers; if employees are friendly the customers perceives such employees as highly satisfied with their jobs. This creates a good relationship with the customers, effectively impressing the employees positively regarding the nature of customer service rendered (Andreassen and Lindestad 1998). Similar effects are realized if employees portray a commendable knowledge of products and services, the willingness of employees to assist the customers as well as the confidence portrayed by employees in handling customer relations issues. Two of the behavior mentioned previously results portray a significance influence on perception of customers regarding customer service. The ability of the employees to identify particular needs of each customer greatly enhances the relationships between the two parties. This creates an immediate positive perception about the nature of customer service. Furthermore, good communications skills by the employees are most like to make the customers feel appreciated, thus raising perception about good customer service. Additionally good communication skills are enhanced by non verbal skills such as neatness, smiling, among others. The discussion above shows that customer perception on the nature of customer service based on observable employee behavior. As such, these findings identify an area of interest of which service providers must consider. While human management issues especially those concerning empowerment and provision of tools and facilities to work are vital towards raising employees’ morale, the study also highlights the need to manage employee behavior. This can be attained through motivation and behavioral training. Furthermore, since this study is cross sectional in nature, it only answers the question of employee’s satisfaction and the relationship it has on customer service, at a particular point in time. This leaves other important questions answered. Such questions include the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer perception on customer service on long term basis. As such, there is need to study this complex relationship over a long period of time. Thus longitudinal studies seem relevant. In addition, this study cannot be used to make valid generalizations, since it is cross sectional in nature. Cross sectional studies are time limited and as such only target a small part of the population (Rose and Barker, 1997). While the data produced is valid, the results cannot used to make generalization about the relationship between customer satisfaction and perception about customer service in the entire service industry, since the target population cannot be used as a fair representation of the entire service industry. Conclusion It is evident that employees’ satisfaction bears heavily on customer percepti ons about customer service and the general satisfaction in the service industry. Despite the fact that there are a number of factors that influence the relationship, the nature customer satisfaction largely depends on the perception the customers have on employee satisfaction. Since customer form their perception based on observable employee behavior, service provider must be keen on the type of behavior exhibited by their employees. As such, other than proving that employees and customer satisfaction are related, the stud provide evidence needed for further action by service providers, especially on the need to train employees on behavior management. Furthermore, the study is cross sectional and as provides opportunities to conduct longitudinal research in future. References List Ahmad, Z., Ahmed, I., Nawaz, M. and Ahmad, Z. (2011). Job Satisfaction of Middle Level Managers in Pharmaceutical Industry of Pakistan Vol. Journal of Management Review, 1(1). Andreassen, T., and Lindestad , B. (1998), Consumer loyalty and complex services.  International Journal of Service Industry Management, 9 (1). Bull, F. (2005). The relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment amongst high school teachers in disadvantaged areas in the Western Cape. Web. Burke R., Graham J and Smith F. (2005). Putting the customer second. TQM Journal, 17(1). Rose, C. and Barker J. (1997). Case-control and cross-sectional studies. London: BMJ. Sathish, M., Santhosh, K., Kumar, K. Naveen, J. and.Jeevanantham, V. (2011). A study on consumer switching behavior in cellular service provider: a study with reference to Chennai. Far East Journal of Psychology and Business, 2(2). Yagil, D. (2006). The relationship of service provider power motivation, empowerment and burnout to customer satisfaction. Journal of Service Management, 17(3). Yeck, S., Morales, M., Ladhari, R., and Pons, F. (2002). 10 years of service quality measurement: reviewing the use of the SERVQUAL instrument. Cu adernos de Diffusion, 7(13).

Life of Francis Crick, Co-Discoverer of DNAs Structure

Life of Francis Crick, Co-Discoverer of DNA's Structure Francis Crick (June 8, 1916–July 28, 2004) was the co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule. With James Watson, he discovered the double helical structure of DNA. Along with Sydney Brenner and others, he demonstrated that the genetic code is composed of three base codons for reading the genetic material. Fast Facts: Francis Crick Full Name: Francis Harry Compton CrickKnown for: Co-discovered the double helical structure of DNABorn: June 8, 1916 in Northampton, EnglandDied: July 28, 2004 in La Jolla, California, United StatesEducation: University of Cambridge, Ph.D.Key Accomplishments: Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (1962)Spouses Names: Ruth Doreen Dodd (1940–1947) and Odile Speed (1949–2004)Childrens Names: Michael Francis Compton, Gabrielle Anne, Jacqueline Marie-Therese Early Years Francis Harry Compton Crick was born on June 8, 1916 in the English town of Northampton. He was the eldest of two children. Crick began his formal education at the Northampton Grammar School, then attended Mill Hill School in London. He had a natural inquisitiveness for the sciences and enjoyed conducting chemical experiments under the tutelage of one of his uncles. Crick earned his Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the University College London (UCL). He then started his Ph.D. work in physics at UCL, but was unable to finish due to the start of World War II. During the war, Crick worked for the Admiralty Research Laboratory, conducting research on the design of acoustic and magnetic mines. After the war, Crick moved from studying physics to studying biology. He very much enjoyed pondering the new discoveries that were being made in the life sciences at the time. In 1950, he was accepted as a student at Caius College, Cambridge. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1954 for his study of the X-ray crystallography of proteins. Research Career Cricks transition from physics to biology was critical to his work in biology. It has been said that his approach to biology was refined by the simplicity of physics, as well as his belief that there were still big discoveries to be made in biology. Crick met James Watson in 1951. They had a common interest in discerning how the genetic information for an organism could be stored in the organisms DNA. Their work together built upon the work of other scientists such as Rosalind Franklin, Maurice Wilkins, Raymond Gosling, and Erwin Chargaff. The partnership proved fortuitous to their discovery of DNAs double helix structure. For the majority of his career, Crick worked for the Medical Research Council at Cambridge in England. Later in life, he worked for the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, in the United States. The Structure of DNA Crick and Watson proposed a number of significant features in their model of the structure of DNA, including: DNA is a double-stranded helix.The DNA helix is typically right-handed.The helix is anti-parallel.The outside edges of the DNA bases are available for hydrogen bonding. The model consisted of a sugar-phosphate backbone on the outside and pairs of nitrogenous bases, held together by hydrogen bonds, on the inside. Crick and Watson published their paper detailing the structure of DNA in the science journal Nature in 1953. The illustration in the article was drawn by Cricks wife Odile, who was an artist. Crick, Watson, and Maurice Wilkins (one of the researchers whose work Crick and Watson had built upon) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology for Medicine in 1962. Their discoveries furthered the understanding of how the genetic information from one organism is passed down to its progeny from generation to generation. Later Life and Legacy Crick continued to study other aspects of DNA and protein synthesis after the discovery of the double helical nature of DNA. He collaborated with Sydney Brenner and others to demonstrate that the genetic code is made up of three base codons for amino acids. The research demonstrated that, since there are four bases, there are 64 possible codons, and the same amino acid can have multiple codons. In 1977, Crick left England and relocated to the United States, where he served as the J.W. Kieckhefer Distinguished Research Professor at the Salk Institute. He continued to research in biology, focusing on neurobiology and human consciousness. Francis Crick died in 2004 at the age of 88. He is remembered for the significance of his role in the discovery of DNAs structure. The discovery was pivotal to many later advances in science and technology, including screening for genetic diseases, DNA fingerprinting, and genetic engineering. Sources The Francis Crick Papers: Biographical Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/SC/p-nid/141.  Francis Crick - Biographical. Nobelprize.org, www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1962/crick/biographical/.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"About Dr Francis Crick.† Crick, www.crick.ac.uk/about-us/our-history/about-dr-francis-crick.  Watson, James D. The Double Helix: a Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. New American Library, 1968.