Proposal about an article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Proposal about an - Article Example However, organization culture of the two firms proves to be incompatible and will likely yield the greatest conflict of interest. It has been an issue of pubic debate in respect of Burger king takeover of Tim Hortons in Canada for various reasons. The article explores the cost cutting strategies of Burger King which is possible in the United States. It is therefore portrayed as having a possibility of carrying this culture into Canada after merger with immediate layoffs which will result into unemployment and reflect on retrogressive economic consequences. The culture of Burger King is clearly conflicting the Canadian overwhelming spirit of team work and favorable social welfare of the employees as practiced by Tim Hortons. Burger king is known for gambling with diverse brands which is likely to conflict with Canadian based Tim Horton with a strong brand identity. It is therefore critical to note that the author of this article addresses reality of merging or firms in respect of cultural

No namecan the writer make a name for me Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marks and Spencer as One of the Biggest Retail Companies - Essay Example In April 2004, the prospect of the company seemed blurred. The brand of the Marks and Spencer got a great push back and lost its confidence due to the consecutive decline in sales and continual negative PR. The company has started to lose public faith and love and the fear has taken over by Philip Green of Arcadia Group was on the threshold. Rejecting the offer of Mr. Green, Mr. Stuart Rose has restructured the company through promoting its brand and has formulated a method of treatment, which worked in a significant way for the M & S to get back its health. (Thompson, Neal, Threadgould and Trillo, June 30, 2006: 3-4) There were different thoughts on the vulnerability of the company. Analysts told that decline of sales of the company in a continuous basis and lack of enthusiasm for change was mainly responsible behind such weakness whereas the journalist reported that the company listed itself in one of the worst performers among the 100 companies. Besides the customers were also not satisfied with the product of the company. The garments of the company were believed to be old-fashioned. People thought the company might have fallen in the vicious circle of loss. Fall in sales of the M & S in one way led to falling in share price and in another way led to negative captions producing the negative impression in the market. These movements caused to loss of confidence over the company by the customers for the purchase and also by the investors to invest. In this situation when Mr. Green came with his proposal to acquire M & S, the senior team of the company including the new Chief Executive of the company, Mr. Stuart Rose and the Executive Director for Marketing, Store design and Development, Mr. Steven Sharp has formed a new plan regarding the business of the company and successfully crush the proposal of Mr. Green.

Swot And Pestle Analysis Of Tesco

Swot And Pestle Analysis Of Tesco Executive Summary: This report outlines the Introduction of Oyster Cards and Mobile Phones Top Ups Counters at all TESCO Retail outlets in UK. The SWOT and PESTAL analysis reflects that TESCO has currently the strengths and resources to successfully offer this service to enhance the customer services to the clienteles. This report also envisages the process and implementation of change and its impact on the current structure while moving towards the service enhancement with the facilitation of marketing and change management tools, theories and framework. More emphasis would be on implementation of strategies for successful adaptation of newly introduced service. Introduction: Tesco is a well known Britains leading food retail group with an existence elsewhere in Europe, Asia and the United States. Tesco runs more than 2,300 supermarkets, hypermarkets, and convenience stores in the UK (where it is the market leader in food retail), Ireland, Central Europe, and Asia. Its operations include convenience and gasoline retailing (Tesco Express), small urban stores (Tesco Metro), hypermarkets (Tesco Extra), and financial services through Tesco Personal Finance. A global leader in online grocery sales, it owns a 35% stake in US grocery chain Safeways Grocery Works. It is the leading online grocery store and it is now expanding its business with a TV channel and a retail based education institution. The Tesco offers to its customers a wide range of food and non-food items under the single point of sale, non food items range includes clothing, furniture, Home electrical, personal care, computing, cameras and phones etc. Vision Values We talk about Every Little Helps a lot, but its not just a catchphrase or marketing slogan, it represents everything we stand for. For our people and our customers, its how we run our businesses from China to Chorley. (www.tesco.com) Literature Review My core books will be Essential Guide to Marketing Planning by Marian Burk Wood and Kevin Kellers Strategic Brand Management. Which has been the essential tool for helping me in devising the right approach for my dissertation? Furthermore, I will be using some of Change management books Making Sense of Change Management by Esther Cameron and Mike Green and John P Kotter s Leading Change Which can be useful in the analysis of change management process and tools for successful interventions. List of some of the resources that I will make use of it is as follows: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW. JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATINAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ARTICLES OF EMRALD. WEBSITES CIPD, TIMES 100 AND PERSONNEL TODAY SWOT and PESTLE Analysis of Tesco A PEST analysis of the industry will examine the local, national and global influences of political, economic, social and technological factors to understand opportunities and threats well. INTERNAL STRENGTHS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Diverse ranges of products à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Open 24 hours a day à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Strong Cash Flow Position à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Increase turnover and trading profits à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Strong Balance Sheet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Leading Supermarket Chain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Brand Awareness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Human resources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Online Shopping à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Capabilities to turn resources into advantages OPPORTUNITIES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Develop brand awareness globally à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ New Markets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Market shift to globalization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Health awareness growth -GM crops à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Innovation Alliances à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Low cost brand growth à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Diversification à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Non-food offers untapped new markets with higher margins EXTERNAL WEAKNESSES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Perception of low quality -(Tesco value brands) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Lack of local knowledge of customers and culture à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Foreign brand THREATS à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ New existing competition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Volatility in Price of raw materials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economic recession à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Market shift to globalization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Takeover bids à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Far-East low cost brands à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Extremely high competition for customers and resources External Environment PESTLE Analysis All of those (political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental) factors will to some extent apply to the retail industry in Sweden. POLITICAL Following the European Integration and Free Trade Agreements, the market has opened up for British Companies to invest in Eastern Europe. Tesco already has 60 Hypermarket store in Hungary. Lidl is uncompromisingly fighting to maintain its market share with an aggressive pricing strategy. ECONOMIC the Retail sector is fairly recession prawn and also very sensitive to changes in interest rates. Since the events of September 11th the world economies have suffered heavily, stocks plummeted and prices are at all time lows. The world economy is however, now on the up post September 11th. Consumers are optimistic and the retail industry is once again booming. SOCIAL changes in consumer taste and lifestyle represent both opportunities and threats for the industry. Opportunities in terms of new market and consumers, however, there are added threats in terms of alternative established Swedish national retailers (foreign company bias). TECHNICAL Changes in retailing methods as such clothes sales via the Internet is now a common place in retailing. Paperless operation, the management and administration of the company are undertaken on IT systems, which are accessed through secure servers; provide flexibility in the running of the business. As Sweden is at the forefront of technological advancement with national companies like Ericsson, Tesco would enjoy the comprehensive logistic and distribution channels already in place. LEGAL National legislation for health and safety both in terms of consumer rights and also in terms of production of own natural renewable resources for making clothes. ENVIRONMENTAL The renewable source of resources used in production, namely cotton and wool are environmentally friendly. The threats are in terms of legal consequences for livestocks in terms of health and safety. Critical Analysis: Todays world competition is very strong in every kind of businesses. Every organizations must provide excellent products or services in order to stay in competition, however their competitors also providing the same or comparable products or services. An important way to an organization to get an edge over its competitors is to identify the customer need and extra service to satisfy and delight their customers, which can retain them and also gain new customers and leads to ultimate profits. Therefore, the achievement of customer satisfaction must be a major objective in all organizations. To achieve customer satisfaction, an organization has to provide high quality products and also provide an excellent customer service. When the service and product that the company provided is good, they can obtain customer loyalty. The customers will go again and again. The above SWOT and PESTLE analysis shows that the TESCO is fully capable to introduce the Oyster card top ups counters at TESCO retail outlets to facilitate the customers and yield reasonable profit share from the market, where small retailers used to earn from the market. The cost of the entire project could be workout and oyster top up machine could be purchase in bulk at economic price from the suppliers. While introducing this new service certain structural changes would be under taken by the management and few strategies to adapt to successfully implementing the change process. This new service will engaged the attention of the huge existing customer base; nevertheless it will also attract the new customer who could be facilitated by this new service as an enormous people travels through rails, tubes and buses to their work places, schools, shopping malls, amusement centers from morning to evening. Until this report none of the competitor such as ASDA and Sainsbury has given this service to customer, so this service will give a competitive edge to TESCO on its leading competitors. Change Management: Everybody has a game plan until they get hit in the mouth. -Mike Tyson Change management is a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Change_management Change management frameworks à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Lewin à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Bullock Battern à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢John P Kotter à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Beckhard Harris à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Nadler Tushman à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢McKinsey à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢William Bridges à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Senge à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Stacy Shaw Approach Uses Lewis Good for analyzing change at the start Bullock Batten Good for simple isolated changes Kotter Great approach for large or small changes, does imply a linear approach Beckhard Harris Simple change formula (C=[ABC]>X) for analyzing change at any point in the process Nadler Tushman Good checklist for what should be covered in change McKinsey Seven S Encourages problem focus looks at change from interdependent subsystems. William Bridges Good at tackling inevitable change Carnall Another good checklist Senge Different approach, start small and grow. Dont plan everything up front as you cannot control change. StaceyShaw A new framework promoting the fact that there are no easy solutions. Not very prescriptive. Aims and Objectives of Change: Change management is not an end in itself. Nor does the organization really care about how cutting edge the solution happens to be. The Objective is to see the resultant benefits actually being delivered: As fast as possible Completely Across all the end users With an enthusiastic adoption by stakeholders and end users Delivering the targeted benefits back to the client who invested all the time and money In this regard, change management has a real contribution to make. Change Process/ Methodology: Following the above change model Tesco strategic management will firstly develop the project team for the initiation of the oyster card project. A team/ project leader will be selected depending upon he required skills and experience. A team leader will create a clear vision about the installation of oyster top up machines at TESCO retails outlets in UK. After creating a comprehensive vision he project team will develop a concrete Project Plan and utilized all the available resources of TESCO including human resource. Will take assistance from the current IT team to link the oyster top up machines through networking and execute the necessary IT support to the newly developed project. Furthermore, work force would be hired and trained for the project and finally a test run would be executed for successful launch. After a launch, an appropriate monitoring will be done to review the short comes of the project and continuous feed back will be taken from the stake holders i-e employees an d customers. In this scenario a desired state will be achieved and result could be seen in terms of revenue. Implementation of Strategies in Change Management process: For the successful implementation of Oyster cards top up machines at TESCO retail outlets, two following strategies would be used for the analysis of the existing driving forces and restraining forces and an analysis of stakeholders to identify the readiness of stakeholders for the change. Lewin (1947, 1951) Force Field Analysis Force field analysis (Lewin, 1951) is a diagnostic technique which has been applied to ways of looking at the variables involved in determining whether organisational change will occur. It is based on the concept of forces, a term which refers to the perceptions of people in the organisation about a particular factor and its influence. Driving forces are those forces affecting a situation and which are attempting to push it in particular direction. These forces tend to initiate change or keep it going. Restraining forces are forces acting to restrain or decrease the driving forces. A state of equilibrium is reached when the sum of the driving forces equals the restraining forces. Lewin formulated three fundamental assertions about force fields and change. Increasing the driving forces results in an increase in the resisting forces; the current equilibrium does not change but is maintained under increased tension. Reducing resisting forces is preferable because it allows movement towards the desired state, without increasing tension. Group norms are an important force in resisting and shaping organisational change. As far as TESCO is concern, its driving force is leading position and rapport in retail industry and availability of huge finances along with structured frame work of outlets. In additions technology advancement and skilled work force is also considerable driving force in TESCO, however, established work patterns, complacency and lower profit margin would be resistance occurring factors. But driving forces at TESCO are stronger as compared to restraining forces. Stakeholder Analysis and WIFM In their book Organisational Transitions: Managing Complex Change (1987) Beckhard and Harris describe and illustrate two techniques for analysing relevant sources of energy. They analyse respectively the sources and potency of forces for change, and the readiness and capability of individuals and groups to enact change. First, the nature of the change demanded must be specified, using tools and techniques associated with environmental and organisational analysis. Then all the forces for change, both inside the organisation and external to it, are listed along one axis of a grid. On the other axis the potency of the forces is indicated, as high, medium or low. Sources and Potency of Forces (Beckhard Harris, 1987) Early on in the change process, organization need to identify which specific groups and individuals will be required to support the change if the change is to be successful. When they have done so they can determine the readiness and capability of these individuals and groups to enact the roles required of them in the change process. Understanding the readiness involves analysing attitudes: willingness, motives and aims. Capability is determined by whether they have the power, the influence and the authority to allocate resources, and the appropriate information and skills. Beckhard and Harris (1987, p.63) have developed a Readiness-Capability Assessment Chart which enables the user to list individuals or groups who are critical to the change effort, and to rank them (high, medium, or low) each according to their readiness and capability with respect to change. The following chart will be used to develop an analysis related to stakeholders readiness to develop the change or adopt the new procedure. Readiness and Capability (Beckhard Harris, 1987) Stakeholders (Key Individuals or groups Readiness Capability Action required to increase the readiness or capability Need to rate as high, medium or low Where a change must be implemented from the outside, ie when it has not been defined as necessary by the people involved, then it is unlikely to succeed (yield the full results of which people have ambitions) unless some of those involved are in favour of it. Several observers (Rogers, 1983) have suggested however that not everyone needs to support a change, and that not everybody needs to support it to the same extent. Senge in The Fifth Discipline (1990) talks of the difference between commitment, enrolment compliance, Suggesting that while it is more pleasant (and reassuring) to have considerable commitment, it is not necessary for everyone to be as fully signed-up as this. There exist a number of positions along a continuum, along which players may position themselves in response to proposed action and change TESCO implementation Plan: Clearly communicate the vision of TESCO via effective communication tools. Manage employee and customer prospects Project manage and measure the process Be seen to add value to organizational goals Build on some quick wins or shorter rewards. Use the line managers/ first line managers as well Be realistic about personally and corporately Manage conflict Repeat key messages and communicate even when important to say Manage Resistance Remain visible and out of the bunker Keep eye on the ball and dont forget about customers and competitors Conclusion: After conducting a thorough research it has been finally in the recommended that TESCO should have introduced Oyster Card top up counter at its all retail outlets in UK to acquiesce the maximum market share on the consumers product, this would be a unique step in the gain retail industry and satisfy the customer numerous population travels through underground metros, tubes, buses, daily to commute their workplaces, universities, schools, amusement centers etc. While introducing the oyster top up card facility, certain change process should be adopted by TESCO to analyze the readiness of stakeholders in acceptance of the change. However, TECO driving forces are tend to be stronger than its restraining force, so the change could be easily absorb by the employees and other associates. TESCO has a well establish infra-structure that appropriately supports the change. By this strategic move, I am sure that TESCO will not only increase the revenue but also attain the customer loyalty in ad dition to the competitive edge over the competitors.

Taiwan Earthquake - The 9-21 Earthquake (September 21 1999) :: essays research papers

Taiwan Earthquake - The 9-21 Earthquake (September 21 1999) CNN: A special news report-This morning, there was an earthquake registering 7.6 on the Richter scale shaked Taiwan at 1:45am on September 21,1999. The epicenter is a mile under the ground in Nantou near Puli. There are many buildings crushed, and even a twelve floor-high rise building suddenly became a two floor- high rise building (the first to the sixth floors dipped into the underground, and the seventh to the twelfth floors went diagonally down and damaged the road.) As of press time the Disaster Management Center said 2,034 people were confirmed dead. Another 6,536 were injured and 2,308 were trapped, while 208 were still listed as missing. The number still increases, Taiwan has many earthquakes, and although most are centered under the sea and cause no damage. Some have brought disaster to the island, but this time is the biggest earthquake in Taiwanese history. Taiwanese call it the 9-21 earthquake because it happened on September 21 1999. I was at my work place, I had heard the news: there was a building crushed in Taipei because of a serious earthquake was registering 7.6 happened in Taiwan about an hour ago. I was so happy and careless because my entire family dose not live close to Taipei and I did not have any bad information about central Taiwan. During my lunch break, there was updating news from CNN station: the epicenter of this earthquake is in Nantou near Puli. My heart was stony and cold, after I knew the epicenter was in my grandmother’s hometown-Puli. Nantou County is approximately 200km south of Taipei, and it is the only place not around the ocean in Taiwan. There are only mountains around Nantou, and Puli is a small town in Nantou County. There are about two thousand people in Puli, and its wine, rice noodles, and beauty are the most famous things in Taiwan because Puli has very good and clean spring water, and the air quality is the top of the line- no pollution. Moreover Puli is a small town, and all the people in Puli are like a big family. People know everything in the town, and they knew me since I was born. It is a very different environment and experience in Puli than in America, and I love it very much. It was hard to believe that Mother Nature punished Puli and Taiwan so badly.

Moral philosophy analyzes Essay

Judith A Boss has clearly brought out an overview abstract in her book Ethics for life. She employs an up to date tone in bringing out the moral development which makes it easy for the reader to relate their own experience on moral growth. Having explored the moral issues in real life, this book aims at significantly improving the readers’ ability to make key decisions on their morality. Book Review – Judith. A. Boss, Ethics for life In contrast to Judith Boss view on ethics, Aristotle held that ethics is something that helps man to be able to keep from error which may subsequently result due to a weakness thus making him have a good happy life. In other words, he associates ethics with the happy life which is enhanced by virtue. Based on his definition of ethics, a person should posses a set of character that will lead him into being a better person thus making the people have morally good characters. He further explains that a person’s virtue has to come from within. His theory is that virtue is a natural choice or principles that a man uses in determining what is right and wrong for him to live a good life (Huener, 1992). Based on her book, the social aspects of life is significant to ethics due to the fact that they analytically act as a foundation for testing ideas about moral development and human nature. Judith A Boss view on ethics is seen as an incorporated structure of philosophy. She analyzes the issue by attempting to explain how a person can grow ethically to be able to develop the society by establishing what is right from what is considered wrong (Boss, 2001, p. 3). Additionally, the book clarifies and gives examples on how ethics acts as a guide to moral decision making for realization of a complete life. In her argument, Boss explains that making the wrong choices in life tend to lead to unhappiness (Boss, 2001, p. 47). Various theories on morality have tried to come up with justifications and guidance for decision making about the right and the wrong. According to Judith Boss, moral theory is not only a means of providing the reasons underlying decision making but it also calls for consistency in our thinking as well as ignorance of beliefs that are usually held in common and are not consistent. Boss explains that a good moral theory is one that provides guidance for resolving and thinking about moral issues (Boss, 2001, p. 3). While looking at the justification of morality, Boss looks at how moral philosophy points out that there is a higher morality. Moral philosophy analyzes and evaluates the principles, virtues and attitudes that are usually used by specific groups of people or culture with regard to principles and concerns that are universally accepted. However, moral philosophy also holds that the justification of morality should not be motivated by self interest; therefore ethical conduct can only be accepted if it is viewed from a somewhat universal perspective (Boss, 2001, pp. 100-132). Besides, Boss explains the importance of social sciences to ethics by saying that they test ideas about moral development, human nature and society systematically. She also adds her view on concepts of human nature by saying that they are useless and highlighting that they could be harmful if in any case they are not grounded in reality. According to Boss, our moral decision making can not be guided sufficiently by good intentions alone (Boss, 2001, pp. 100-132). Such are the ideals brought out in Aristotle’s life history. Aristotle viewed ethics as an attempt to establish the major end or highest good. Aristotle also holds that as humans, our most important activity as humans is the pursuit of good life and since morality is what expresses our human nature fundamentally, it is only when we are being moral that we are happiest (Iloveindia. com). Reference Boss J A. (2001). Ethics for life. McGraw Hill. Pp. 3-132 Huener. , M. (1992). An examination of Aristotle’s ethics. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://home. sprynet. com/~owl1/arist2. htm Iloveindia. com. (2008) Aristotle. Retrieved October 1, 2008 from http://festivals. iloveindia. com/teachers-day/famous-teachers/aristotle. html

Poetry Final Exam Essay

Directions: Answer the questions below. Use full sentences when applicable. 1. Give two examples of each of the following elements of poetry from the poems you have read in Units 4, 5, and 6. Metaphor: â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud† â€Å"By the side of the pale-faced moon.† Simile: â€Å"Nothing but a hot Swish of strings like silk Ten feet out.† â€Å"This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again  like flags we share, a country so close  no one needs to name it† Personification: â€Å"The seven days war that put the world to sleep† â€Å"The tractors lie about our fields† Onomatopoeia: â€Å"Ball goes in (thwack) to mitt, and goes out (thwack) back to mitt.† â€Å"Sometimes ball gets hit (pow) when bat meets it.† Imagery: â€Å"Sokoya, I said, looking through the net of wrinkles into wise black pools of her eyes.† â€Å"A shade of feeling rippled the wind-tanned skin.† Sensory Language: â€Å"This bed whose covers I straighten smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket and nothing hangs out.† â€Å"Outside was a scene of total destruction. Their house was gone, a few planks in its place.† Look more:  types of satire essay Rhyme: â€Å"Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt, five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.† â€Å"Maggie and milly and molly and may went down to the beach (to play one day)† Alliteration: â€Å"When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrance of things past, I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought, And with old woes new wail my dear times waste† â€Å"His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed; His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake.† Assonance: â€Å"Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim.† â€Å"Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter.† Consonance: â€Å"Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before† â€Å"Eagerly I wished the morrow—vainly I had tried to borrow from my books surcease of sorrow.† Repetition: â€Å"There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place, There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.† â€Å"To the swinging and the ringing Of the bells, bells, bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells.† 2. Cite examples from the texts you’ve read in Units 4, 5, and 6 to briefly explain the answers to the Big Questions. A. Unit 4: How does communication change us? Communication allows us to transfer information between each other and comprehend what we are being told. Communication it what allows us to feel what we feel and perceive things the way we do. B. Unit 5: Do our differences define us? Difference makes everyone individuals; nobody is absolutely the same because of differences. Sometimes our differences cause feuds, arguments, and controversies. Everyone is their own person due to differences and that what makes us the people we are. C. Unit 6: Do heroes have responsibilities? Heroes make important choices and selflessly get involved when others might stand back. Heroes have follower and those followers follow their actions. If heroes don’t have responsibility’s there giving others the idea that it’s okay to not have them. Discuss the role of conflict in three of the texts you read in Units 4, 5, or 6. 4. Discuss the role of allusions in three of the texts you read in Units 4, 5, or 6. â€Å"I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales1 and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils;† â€Å"Forsythia-forays and hydrangea-raids Were but preliminaries to a war Against the great-grandfathers of the town, So freshly lopped and maimed. They struck and struck again, And with each elm a century went down.† â€Å"The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls; He watches from his mountain walls, And like a thunderbolt he falls.† 5. Is satire an effective method of conveying a message? Explain your opinion using examples from the satirical texts you read during Unit 5. Being sarcastic in text can often be misinterpreted for being the truth rather than sarcasm itself. â€Å"Although a satire may make readers laugh, it may also aim to correct the ï ¬â€šaws that it criticizes.† Depending on whom the reader is satire writing can be a very good way to convey a message or a unproductive way to get your message across.

Envrinonmental issues of the 80s essays

Envrinonmental issues of the 80's essays Environmental issues are more and more becoming part of the American society. We have gone from a people who have no need to conserve items such as power, water, and oil, to people who are infatuated with the idea of cleaning up the environment. Once litter ruled the road sides, and now we have programs that are meant to clean the gutters and roadsides. From the late 70s through the 80s Americans as a whole began to see the good that conservation, and environmental protection bring to our nation. In the early 70s the big three automakers went from creating large, fast and powerful muscle cars, to moving toward the more fuel economic, and environment friendly compact cars. Rather than consume gasoline at the alarming pace the muscle cars did, these vehicles were specifically designed to save gas and emit less carcinogens into the environment. Up to this point Americans had never even thought of conserving oil and gasoline. But after the gas shortages of the 1970s people began to realize that oil was a resource that we could not do without. America had turned itself into a nation of motorized vehicles. Considering that our relations with the Middle East highly depicted prices of oil, and therefore the prices of gas, it was imperative for people to find ways to use less gas, as relations are typically fragile with these countries. This resulted in the compact vehicle revolution mentioned above. And lead to less and less pollutants being emitted into the air and environme nt. Another interesting outcome of the 80s conservation movement is the classification of wild lands into new and differing access areas. I remember in the early to mid 80s when you could pretty much drive anywhere your car or truck could go. However, those times have changed. Conversationalists have lobbied to make wild lands more and more protected. Progressively throughout the 80s it became harder and harder to...

Test Your Familiarity With These Puzzling Word Pairs

Test Your Familiarity With These Puzzling Word Pairs In our Glossary of Usage, you will find more than 300 sets of confusableswords that are commonly mixed up because they look and sound alike. In the glossary, youll also find links to definitions, examples, and practice exercises that should help you keep these words straight. To test your familiarity with 50 of these often puzzling word pairs, set aside 10 or 15 minutes to take this big quiz. Select the word in each set that completes the sentence accurately and appropriately. (If youre not sure of the correct answer, follow the links for explanations and examples.) Youll find the correct answers on page two. Affect or EffectOur ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will _____ us. (Stephen R. Covey)Allusion or IllusionThe single biggest problem in communication is the _____ that it has taken place. (George Bernard Shaw)Aural or OralWhile visual learners prefer to learn information through charts and graphs, _____ learners prefer to hear information.Capital or CapitolBismarck is the _____ of North Dakota and the state’s second largest city.Cereal or SerialHeres what we do. We leave the car here, we take the plates off, we scratch the _____ number off the engine block, and we walk away. (Kramer in Seinfeld)Chord or CordThe governor touched a responsive _____ with voters of both parties, especially with her promise to veto any budget plan that included an increase in taxes.Click or CliqueThe vice president of China belongs to a _____ known as the princelings, descendants of prominent communist officials.Climactic or ClimaticThe new music director favors full-bodied, robust sound, which can build to daring decibel levels in _____ moments. Collaborate or CorroborateThe prosecutor closed the case, admitting that he was unable to find witnesses to _____ the allegations made against Mr. Soprano.Credible or CredulousThe most imaginative people are the most _____: for them everything is possible. (Alexander Chase)Dazed or Dazzled_____ by months of glad-handing and posturing, the candidates stumbled around the stage like finalists in a dance marathon.Defuse or DiffuseGossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those who _____ it: it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker. (George Eliot)Eminent or ImminentIf so _____ an establishment as a three-star Michelin restaurant can serve toxic shellfish, what hope is there for anyone else?Fair or FareThe driver teased the poor child who had forgotten her bus _____.Faze or PhaseIm happy to say that the first _____ of our operation has met with considerable success.Finally or FinelyMy sisters bringing up had made me sensitive. In the little world in whic h children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing so _____ perceived and so _____ felt as injustice. (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations) Flare or FlairThe bright spot in the sky was an unusually large solar _____, a stupendous explosion that belched radiation and billions of tons of matter far into space.Flaunt or FloutThe first priority of the commission should be to identify restaurant owners who knowingly _____ public-health laws.Flew, Flu, or FlueThe Wright brothers _____ right through the smoke screen of impossibility. (Charles F. Kettering)Formally or FormerlyHome computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework _____ eaten by the dog. (Doug Larson)Forth or FourthA reformer is one who sets _____ cheerfully toward sure defeat. (Lydia M. Child)Gibe, Jibe, or JiveDo you promise to jump, _____, wail, groove, rock steady, and at all times lend a helping hand to your fellow music lovers? (The Little Mermaid: Ariels Beginning)Hardy or Hearty_____ laughter is a good way to jog internally without having to go outdoors. (Norman Cousins)Homed or HonedLast year scientists re-engineered E Coli bacteria so that instead of swimming toward food they _____ in on substances released by dangerous pathogens. Hurdling or HurtlingThe ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is _____ around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. And I can feel it. (The Doctor in Doctor Who)Ingenious or IngenuousSalvatore was now a great big husky fellow, tall and broad, but still with that _____ smile and those trusting, kindly eyes that he had had as a boy. (William Somerset Maugham, Salvatore)Leaches or LeechesYou are feeding off the violence and the despair of the drug trade. You are a parasite who _____ off the culture of drugs. (Maury Levy in The Wire)Lead or LedWe can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has _____ to the present. (Adlai E. Stevenson)Liable or LibelIf you shoot me, youre _____ to lose a lot of those humanitarian awards. (Chevy Chase in Fletch)Loose or LoseThe best way to find yourself is to _____ yourself in the service of others. (Mohandas Gandhi)Miner or MinorParents are conditioned to put up with a few _____ acciden ts when they leave their children home alonea broken vase, spilled milk on the rug. Official or OfficiousJulia Child once grabbed a pepper mill from the hands of an _____ waiter before he had a chance to spoil her carefully ordered dish.Palate, Palette, or PalletYes, gentlemen, I have here just about the handiest, dandiest little bookful of gastronomical surprises that ever tempted the jaded _____ of a fastidious f-f-food fancier. (Daffy Duck)Peak, Peek, or PiqueThe man who unified China in the third century B.C. conquered six other feudal states to do it, built the first version of the Great Wall and in a fit of _____ may have buried hundreds of scholars alive. (Time magazine, May 18, 2008)Plain or PlaneI remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher _____ than any politician. (Charlie Chaplin)Pole or PollA public-opinion _____ is no substitute for thought.(Warren Buffett)Prescribed or ProscribedThe Canadian government added the Somali al-Shabaab group to its list of _____ terror groups.Principal or PrincipleAll animal s, except man, know that the _____ business of life is to enjoy it. (Samuel Butler) Prostate or ProstrateMiss Everglot, what are you doing here? You should be at home, _____ with grief. (Pastor Galswells in Corpse Bride)Regretful or RegrettableThe movie is beautiful, luscious, and elegiac, but it has the _____ drawback of being dreadfully boring.Reluctant or ReticentThe teacher tried to make conversation, but the boy remained _____ and refused to make eye contact.Restive or RestlessMy _____, roaming spirit would not allow me to remain at home very long. (Buffalo Bill Cody)Riffled or RifledWith quiet precision, the thief _____ the pouch, placed most of its contents in a briefcase and walked confidently out of the embassy.Role or RollChange does not _____ in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)Stanch or StaunchTheres an evil on these seas that even the most _____ and bloodthirsty pirates have come to fear. (Tia Dalma in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End)Suit or SuiteId walk through hell in a gasoline __ ___ to play baseball. (Pete Rose) Tack or TactThe Viper, to me, is the quintessential American muscle carbrute power, great looks and about as much _____ as a grunge band crashing a cotillion. (Bill Griffith, The Boston Globe)Troop or TroupeIn the end, the plucky singing Scot lost out to a dance _____.Vale or VeilOur own self-love draws a thick _____ between us and our faults. (Lord Chesterfield)Whos or WhoseNever go to a doctor _____ office plants have died. (Erma Bombeck) Here Are the Answers illusionauralcapitalserialchordcliqueclimacticcorroboratecredulousDazeddiffuseeminentfarephasefinely, finelyflarefloutflewformerlyforthjiveHeartyhomedhurtlingingenuousleechesledliableloseminorofficiouspalatepiqueplanepollproscribedprincipalprostrateregrettablereticentrestlessrifledrollstaunchsuittacttroupeveilwhose More Big Quizzes The Third Big Quiz on Commonly Confused Words

Analysis Of Marketing Mix Of NAPCO Group

Discuss About The Analysis Of Digital Marketing Mix Of The NAPCO Group? Digital marketing can be used a term that collectively includes all the marketing activities that are done utilizing the technology. It uses digital channels such as social media to market its products.   Today’s organisation utilise digital marketing to achieve new heights of success. The major motive of digital marketing is to create brand awareness and engaging the customers. Social media promotions have turned out to be the most important and productive medium of digital communications. This report deeply analyses digital marketing mix of an Saudi Arabian company NAPCO group which deals in packaging. It also studies the marketing mix of its competitor firm. The report involves recommendations for the company that could be taken for the betterment of the digital marketing mix. NAPCO is one of the leading manufacturing groups in Saudi Arabia. As seen in the appendix the company has well designed , simple and   attractive logo. The company has its headquarters in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. NAPCO is a commercial organization working to maximize its profits. Today the company conducts its business around the globe and it is one of the top ranked companies of Middle East. The group owns 10 companies with over 5540 employees. It basically deals in three strategic segments consumer products, flexible packaging, and paper containers. (NAPCO 2017). From the appendix it can be seen that NAPCO’s consumer products brands range from baby care products to family care and household products. NAPCO’s brands are licensed from INDEVCO. NAPCO’s flexible packaging segment serves the Europen, GCC, Middle East in African markets. This segment consists of 7 companies situated in Dammam and Jeddah in Saudi. The paper container segments serve European, GCC and Le vant markets. This section produces a wide range of corrugated containers to serve the needs of various industries. The major competitors of the company are   FIPCO, Saudi Pack, Al Sharq Flexible Packaging Factories, Al-Ghadeer Group, Saudi Arabian Packaging Industry WLL, Noor Carton & Packaging Industry and Gulf Packaging Industries Ltd.   The customer base of the company includes both B2B and B2C companies. The company’s current digital marketing practices include responsive website design and social media presence. The company is does not have well developed digital marketing activities it is working in this field to enhance its digital marketing and grasp more opportunities. The company is a popular name in the Middle East. Middle East is on the verge of digital revolution. Digitalisation has increased with high smart phone adoption rate and increased use of social media. The Middle East companies are ready to lead digitally enhanced lives. Although businesses and government have still not exploited those opportunities (Elmasry, Benni, Patel, Jan and Moore 2016).Three opportunities presented by changes in external environment- This is the most emerging opportunity in Saudi markets. This technology will replace the old search engine optimization. The new SEO trend would provide a better way to target the potential customers (Albhaishi, Wahsheh and Alghamdi 2014). The online audience optimization will encourage the target audience participation by social media networks, innovative and creative blogs and informative online articles. This technology will help not only in advertising but also effectively integrates mobile strategy (Lee, Jalali and Dasdan 2013). This is a kind of new digital platform is an emerging opportunity for NAPCO group. It can implement this technology. This technology provides the benefits of linking to the potential clients more effectively and efficiently. The use of mobile phones has increased worldwide. More and more people now own a smart phone. This provides the businesses and opportunity to do their marketing and reach to the potential customers through smartphones. According to a report, 90 per cent of the sales of the connected device will be smartphones and tablets by 2020 (Lunden 2015). To exploit best from this opportunity the companies should provide a mobile friendly content on their websites. Also, they should approach their customers utilizing this technology. It is necessary to provide a great experience to the customers that are browsing company’s websites through mobile phones. It provides benefits of enhanced customer relation, maintaining a constant touch with the customer and gets more genuine clients than the competitors (prolines 2015). Another opportunity is available in the field of content marketing. To exploit this opportunity company must publish high quality and informative content on popular websites (Jà ¤rvinen and Taiminen 2016). For Saudi markets optimizing unique Arabic content will help the firm to attract more B2B customers. The Arabic content marketing strategies such as press releases, blog posts, articles, newsletters etc. will help to reach millions of customers. This will ultimately enhance the profitability of the firm (prolines 2015). In today’s era customer is considered as the king of the market. Today’s customer does not rely only on to a single firm. He has a variety of options available in the market. The customer does not rely only on the company website and marketing force for getting information about the products of the customer (So, King, Sparks, and Wang, 2013). The customer has various other sources such as review sites, blogs, and social media to gain information about strengths and weakness of the product.   Today’s customers have complete control over the buying process. Therefore today’s marketers need to develop effective digital marketing strategies to create an outstanding experience for its customers. The customers now are now well informed and they have various choices therefore if the company does not want to lose its customers it needs to be customer focused.   Right digital marketing strategies can only be developed if the company is customer focused. It is a lso very important to analyze customer behavior if the company uses customer behavior statistics it will be able to create hyper specific digital marketing strategies. The company’s digital marketing strategies will only be successful if it helps customers to discover the value. To make the appropriate digital marketing strategies for the customers it is required to get insights about customer behavior so that the ideal experience in terms of customers can easily be predicted. NAPCO should identify different needs of its customers both for the B2B segment and B2C segments. This will help the company to build different digital marketing strategies that will effective strive at each of the segments. Also, it needs to develop different digital marketing strategies for markets of Europe, Middle East, Africa and GCC. Consumers in every market have different characteristics and analysis of these character tics is necessary to develop effective marketing strategies.   Analyzing co nsumer behavior is more important for determining effective digital marketing activities because it gives the ideas about the trend in the market (Polizzi 2016). Example: 80% of targeted customers use smartphone they are tech savvy, will help the firm to develop digital marketing strategies taking smartphone as an important tool. Therefore, importance of being customer focused and understanding the consumer behaviour for developing effective digital marketing strategies cannot be neglected. How company uses digital marketing across marketing mix The digital marketing mix of NAPCO can be categorized into 4Ps. The digital marketing mix is simply an adoption of traditional marketing mix it is impacted the growing use of the internet. The company has expanded its product portfolio. Initially, the company just manufactured just paper products but now the company has expanded its product portfolio to consumer products, flexible packaging, and paper containers. The effective product can only be developed by using technology and conducting online surveys (Gruner, Homburg and Lukas 2014). These online surveys helped the firm to know what customers actually want and saves the time and efforts. NAPCO also does research and development using technology. Online sources have given the firms access to know how much the product actually costs and they can also really know the prices of the competitors. NAPCO does not make use of online sources to determine the prices of the products. It has adopted the value based pricing strategy and prices are quoted according to the value that it provides to the customers (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker, and Brennan 2015). Company’s products are available in the Middle East, European and African market. The company takes orders online but it does not have a well-established e-commerce website. It takes B2B orders through emails. The company does not take retails orders online. The company also do not have a proper product catalog with prices on its website. It just sends the catalog to its regular customers. The company makes an effective use of digital marketing activities for the promotion of its products. Apart from the traditional sources such as TV, Radio and print media, it is using various other sources for promotion. The company is shifting its focus from traditional promotional sources to digital marketing. It is using social media, content writing and providing a responsive website to its customers. The digital marketing mix of the company demonstrates although the company is effectively using digital media in research, development and promotional activities it is not using it effectively to determine the price. The customers of the company also expect an online e-commerce website so that it becomes easy to shop for the products but currently the company does not hold any such website. The company should make more effective use of digital marketing to stand up to the customer expectations. Gulf packaging Ltd is the competitor of the company. The digital marketing mix of Gulf packaging is given below: The firm does not have wide product portfolio. It produces all types of BOPP films (gulfpack 2015). The product portfolio of NAPCO is much wider than the Gulf packaging. The company works in its selected portfolio and does not use technology for further research and development. The firm uses the technology to fix the prices of its products. It constantly monitors the prices of its competitors and the market trends and frames its prices accordingly. It charges different prices in the different nation by drawing information about each of the nations.   This helps the firms to generate more profits. The firm sells its products in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. This firm does not accept online orders they accept the big orders from the regular customers over the phone. The company do not provide product catalog to the customers over the website it sends the quotation for different products over the email, on demand. South American Commercial premises of the company are responsible for marketing and promotional activities. The company is engaged in traditional promotional activities basically using print media. The company does not use much digital marketing activities from the promotion. But recently the company has opted for social media marketing as a promotional activity. Gulf packaging Ltd does not make effective use of digital marketing. It has used technology for deciding the process of its products and also uses social media marketing for the promotion of its products. The digital marketing mix of the company is not well developed.   The firm does not sell its products online. The digital marketing mix of the company is just in the growing phase. The digital marketing mix of the company is can be improved in various ways. It can be improved if a company the company learns few things from its competitors. The company should use technology for determining the prices of its products. It should learn from its competitors they use the same strategy to earn its profits. Also, the NAPCO is in the beginning phase of digital marketing. The company should engage in activities such as press releases, use LinkedIn profile this will help to build a network and attract more B2B customers (Hannouz 2015). The customers of the company expect an online website for buying and selling of products. The company should pay attention to this expectation and offer its products for sale online. The other measures that can help the firm to improve its digital marketing strategy are finding creative ways for customer acquisition by using digital media. The company should utilize its data efficiently to create a personalized experience for its customerâ €™s web analytics solution can help the company in collecting and analyzing the data. The firm is already engaged in social media marketing activities, the firm can make use of live streaming to develop its digital market mix. Live streaming is the recent trend in digital marketing but the content chosen in live streaming should be really brainstorming (Shoolian 2017). Another way in which firm can effectively use the ephemeral content. Now a day’s websites such as Instagram, snap chat, and Facebook provide the opportunity to upload data that automatically disappear after a set time period.   This can help the companies to upload special offers and deals. SMART objectives of the company can be defined as the goals which are specific, measurable, actionable, relevant and time bound (Bjerke and Renger 2017). The two objectives for the company to enhance online customer experience are: Achieve online 10% online revenue contribution within 2 years To increase the online revenue by 10% NAPCO needs to work very hard. First of all, it needs to set up its e-commerce website. The company needs to take feedbacks from the customers about the website and make all the possible changes required. The company needs to effectively manage the delivery time so that the orders are reached to the customers within the time range. The companies should also provide a column for customized orders from the customers. The next step is spreading awareness in the customers about the online availability of products using the digital media for advertisement. The company should also provide some offers at the initial stage when the website is launched. All this will help the company to achieve 10%online revenue contribution. To increase the brand awareness of NAPCO’s product the company needs to increase the number of followers on twitter. It needs to achieve the target of 1000 followers within a year.Twitter is a powerful business tool and could be a great help if utilized optimally (Moody 2016). There are many ways NAPCO can increase the number of followers on twitter by using tools such as Hootshoot and Sproutsocial. NAPCO can also use Twiends to find the new users whom the company can connect. Another strategy that can be adopted by the company to increase the number of followers on twitter is following more people because there is a correlation between numbers of people followed and the number of followers (Demers 2015). The above two stated are SMART objectives that should be the key targets of the company to develop the digital marketing mix. The company should lay emphasis on enhancing customer experience. Suggested digital marketing mix for NAPCO to improve its online customer experience: The company has wide product portfolio. It can enhance its portfolio by using technology for research and development. It can use integrated tool set for SEO, email and lead intelligence tools to get consumer information and design more customized product to satisfy individual customer demands. The firm operates on value based pricing strategy. To earn more profits the company should use technology to determine the appropriate prices. NAPCO should constantly obtain upgraded data by using information technology to gain information about prices of the competitors and current market trends. The company y needs to sell its products on an online platform. The company should sell its products on the online website to reach a large number of customers. The company can use online network partners to enhance the availability of products at various products (Lien, Wu, Chien, and Lee 2017). The company uses digital marketing activities such as social media marketing. The company should adopt more digital marketing promotional activities such as innovative and creative blogs, search marketing Pay-per-click advertising (PPC), Affiliate marketing and email marketing. People are the main aspect for the success of every company. The company needs to hire some specialist from the field of computers and digital marketing. It also needs to provide training to its staff about successfully implementing digital marketing processes in the organization (Parmenter 2015) There is the need to effectively manage old processes and implement some new processes needs to be implemented. The company needs to implement a new process to start the online sale of its new products. It needs to effectively manage the product delivery process to ensure that goods are delivered within the stipulated time (Stadtler 2015). The suggested changes will also help to attain the above stated two SMART objectives for the company the changes made should help to increase the number of followers and also increasing the online revenue generations these changes are directly related to the Smart objectives. These tactical activities will provide direct benefits to the consumer and thus help to improve online customer experience. The company can monitor and control the recommended marketing mix by various metrics and methods. The company can use Google analytics to monitor and control the recommended marketing mix. This tool provides a huge summary of data related to your website (Cain 2012). NAPCO can analyze this data on the weekly or monthly basis to analyze the effectiveness of the recommended marketing mix. For example data about people that visit the website will help to monitor the trend about brand awareness. Another effective method is designing a response-attribution infrastructure to support all channels. Digital marketing mix uses multiple channels, therefore, campaign hierarchy must account for each channel along with the appropriate roll-ups so that measurement aligns with business goals (Ewald and Krishnamurthy 2009). It includes developing a framework to measure each and every step is monitored individually. The company can also use automated tools for analytics and visual reporting. Nowadays there are a variety of tools available in the market that help to regularly track selected metrics. NAPCO can get access to these tools and effectively analyze its reports regarding the operations. The recommended digital marketing mix for NAPCO has suggested changes in the process by using the latest technology these changes can be effectively monitored if the company uses the automated tools. Their company can monitor and control the effects and performance of recommended marketing mix but there is no set unit of measurement for this. Although the measurement can be done on the basis of ROI and online revenues this will only provide with the estimates, not the exact figures (Holloman 2014). This is because the recommended marketing mix involves both qualitative and quantitates terms. After implementing the recommended marketing mix the company should analyse its ROI and online revenues time to time to know the effectiveness of the process. It can be concluded that NAPCO does not have a well-developed digital marketing mix. The company is in its beginning phase regarding the use of technology in marketing. It has grown tremendously but now it has come to a stagnant position. Its customers now demand online selling of products. The company only takes online orders that also through emails, but not it needs to set up its e commerce website for growing further. The company already uses social media marketing but now it needs to design and use social media marketing campaigns more creatively. The company has already adopted the path of digital marketing, now it just needs to make some recommendations efforts to achieve the corporate excellence. Albhaishi, A., Wahsheh, H. and Alghamdi, T., 2014, May. Evaluating Web Ranking Metrics for Saudi Universities. In  Zaytoonah University International Engineering Conference on Design and Innovation in Sustainability 2014  (No. 156988). Zaytoonah University, Amman, Jordan. Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015.  Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education. Bjerke, M.B., and Renger, R., 2017. Being smart about writing SMART objectives.  Evaluation and program planning,  61, pp.125-127. Cain, K., 2012. Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: 6 Metrics You Need to Track, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/10/measuring-marketing-effectiveness-metrics/ Demers, J. 2015. 50 Free Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2015/06/17/50-free-ways-to-increase-your-twitter-followers/#6d92ab9525a8 Edward, B., and Krishnamurthy, R. 2009. Five Essential Strategies for Measuring Marketing Effectiveness, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://www.marketingprofs.com/9/essential-strategies-measuring-marketing-effectiveness-krishnamurthy-ewald.asp Elmasry, T., Benni, E., Patel, J. and Moore, J.M., 2016. Digital Middle East: Transforming the region into a leading digital economy, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj6pcDRkL3VAhVIFpQKHecwAjkQFghFMAM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mckinsey.com%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fmckinsey%2Fglobal%2520themes%2Fmiddle%2520east%2520and%2520africa%2Fdigital%2520middle%2520east%2520transforming%2520the%2520region%2520into%2520a%2520leading%2520digital%2520economy%2Fdigital-middle-east-final-updated.ashx&usg=AFQjCNHioXhFY692mS_Qwa6hkBT6UiXYVg Gruner, R.L., Homburg, C. and Lukas, B.A., 2014. Firm-hosted online brand communities and new product success.  Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,  42(1), pp.29-48. Gulfpack, 2017. Welcome to gulf packaging industries ltd website,viewed on 5 August from https://gulfpack.com.sa/ Hannouz, M., 2015. Three Ways to Improve Your Digital Marketing Strategy, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/campaign-management/three-ways-to-improve-your-digital-marketing-strategy/ Holloman, C., 2014.  The Social Media MBA Guide to Roi: How to measure and improve your return on investment. John Wiley & Sons. Jà ¤rvinen, J. and Taiminen, H., 2016. Harnessing marketing automation for B2B content marketing.  Industrial Marketing Management,  54, pp.164-175. Lee, K.C., Jalali, A. and Dasdan, A., 2013, August. Real time bid optimization with smooth budget delivery in online advertising. In  Proceedings of the Seventh International Workshop on Data Mining for Online Advertising  (p. 1). ACM. Lien, C.H., Wu, J.J., Chien, S.H. and Lee, C.Y., 2017. Anxious Attachment, Relational Embeddedness, Trust, Co-production, and Performance: An Empirical Study in Online Business-to-Business Relationships.  Telematics and Informatics. Lunden, I., 2015. 6.1 b smartphone users globally by 2020, overtaking basic fixed phone subscriptions.  Techcrunch. com. Moody, A., 2016. How To Set Digital Marketing Objectives, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://cariadmarketing.com/digital-marketing-objectives/ NAPCO, 2017. About NAPCO group, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://www.napcogroup.com/#works Parmenter, D., 2015.  Key performance indicators: developing, implementing, and using winning KPIs. John Wiley & Sons. Polizzi, M., 2016. Why Your Brand Needs a Customer-Focused Marketing Strategy, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://www.brandfolder.com/blog/customer-focused-marketing-strategy/ Prolines, 2015. 8 Top Online Marketing Trends in Saudi Arabia 2015, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://blog.prolines.sa/marketing-trends-in-saudi-arabia-2015/ Prolines, 2015. Digital Marketing Service – Boost Your Business Online in Saudi Arabia, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://blog.prolines.sa/saudi-arabia-digital-marketing/ Shaoolian, G., 2017. 5 Digital Marketing Ideas That Could Improve Your Brand Growth in 2017. The Forbes, viewed on 4 August 2017 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/gabrielshaoolian/2017/01/11/5-digital-marketing-ideas-that-could-improve-your-brand-growth-in-2017/#686c26a92015 So, K.K.F., King, C., Sparks, B.A. and Wang, Y., 2013. The influence of customer brand identification on hotel brand evaluation and loyalty development.  International journal of hospitality management,  34, pp.31-41. Stadtler, H., 2015. Supply chain management: An overview. In  Supply chain management and advanced planning  (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Ethics & Criminal Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics & Criminal Justice - Essay Example Moreover, Schafer also contends that when confronted with an ethical predicament, most of us would try to involve balance in our decision making process which has either long term or short tem consequences. The author, furthermore, describes a 'fit' - a 'good fit' results to equilibrium while a 'bad fit' increases conflict. Thus, according to the author, leading an ethical life decreases our confrontation with ethical predicaments. As constraints in time limit clear thinking, individuals must make ethical choices giving sufficient considerations to the consequent 'dilemmas' which may arise from the previous choices we have made. For the author, ethical decisions 'consist of a series of choices', not a single decision, hence, as ethics cements and builds strength of personal character, it does not come free of pain (Schafer 2002). Similarly, defining ethical behavior does not come free of pain and constraints. Each of us has her own definition of ethics and morality molded mainly by our environment, our individual perception or our personal experiences and our cultures. Thus, the dilemma in ethics is also a dilemma in bestowing it 'justifiable' definitions. Our predecessors, as well as contemporary thinkers and philosophers from the age of antiquity, of various cultures and beliefs were not spared of this predicament. Consequently, one takes a subjective characterization of ethical standards based on our justice system, local regulations, religion, education, culture and our surroundings. What results is a more relative view of ethics versus the ideal ones proposed by Plato or Socrates or Heraclitus. The relative view versus the ideal and universal definition of ethics presents a dilemma since we do not know when to draw the line between realistic ethical applications from the ideal ethical propositions or wh en and how to apply both principles. Hence, I take the prevailing social and cultural view of what ethical behavior should be. Since society is a result of adaptation to the changes that occurred in our environment, and aims to provide protection of right and promotion of justice, social, legal and cultural standards - standards enshrined, for instance, in our Constitution, laws, social norms, acceptable behavior - of ethical principles, these standards should be the guiding principles of ethical behavior. However, the implications of these principles as defined by our system and aforementioned ethical bases are that, ethical standards and principles evolve over time. 'Evolve' for me, does not really mean 'improve' or 'progress' but rather 'change' for the purpose of adaptation or the preservation of life, liberty, respect for the rights of others and justice or fairness. These ideals, norms and even 'realities' of ethical standards are evident in almost every culture in every commu nity and units of society all across the globe. Thus, even though they are not perfect, ethical principles in my society are 'justifiable' definitions as, apparently, the same ideals exist in other societies, and therefore I take that what is right and 'just' in the society I live in, should be applied using the full force of the law, even if the application of such principles cause much grief. As aforementioned, such principles and ideals of ethics should evolve and

Three elements of a poem Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three elements of a poem - Term Paper Example Aside from the form, another appealing element of the poem is its theme which is about undying love. It aims to show that love goes beyond life. It is an everlasting devotion to one’s loved one. The universal theme of the sonnet is one of the reasons why it has gained literary acclaim. The major figure of speech used in the sonnet is anaphora or the repetition of a word or phrase. This theme is emphasized through the poet’s repetition of â€Å"I love thee† in several lines of the poem. Of the fourteen lines of the poem, the phrase â€Å"I love thee† appears in eight of the lines. The use of anaphora further reinforces the theme of the sonnet. Another figure of speech employed by Browning is the use of alliteration which is the repetition of consonant sounds. Example of these are in line 3, where the words â€Å"soul† and â€Å"sight† are used and in line 8, where the words â€Å"purely† and â€Å"Praise† were utilized. Lines seven and eight indicate the presence of similes, which is, â€Å"I love thee freely; as men strive for Right, I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise† (Clugston, 2010). The form, the theme and the figures of speech that one finds in the sonnet has made one appreciate this poem more. It inspires one to fall in love because of the joy that it brings. The sonnet gives one a yearning to learn to love and be loved in the way that is described by the poet. One is affected even after reading only the first two lines â€Å"How do I love thee, let me count the ways†. The first two lines impact on the reader is somehow that of irony. It leaves one into thinking whether one can really count the ways, much more, measure the extent of one’s love for another. It is ironic because at the end of the poem, one realizes that, the number of ways to show love is beyond counting because it an emotion that goes beyond one’s life. This poem is considered by one as very typical of an English

Proposal writing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Proposal writing - Research Paper Example interaction with clients with little extra expense; the writers state that the business owners must specify the main reasons for using social networks. Cooke and Buckley (2008) explain that business owners should identify the appropriate social network for their business depending on their benefits or drawbacks to the business structure. Salo and Karjaluoto (2007) recommend involvement of all internal and external stakeholders in the strategy, especially by anticipating the reactions and concerns of external stakeholders to the new communication models, and developing a reaction strategy. Shin (2010) states that the main determinants of the social network to adopt are the target market, the likely return on investment and the costs of using social networks in terms of time, money and other resources. Burrus (2010) has a word of caution for would-be users of social networks for business purposes, especially due to increased chances of negative publicity by using social networks necess itates that the firm comes up with a team to protect its online

Historical Developments that Presented New Opportunities and Desires Term Paper

Historical Developments that Presented New Opportunities and Desires for Women - Term Paper Example Introduction Today, with women occupying many high ranking positions at work both in the private and public sectors, it is difficult to imagine and contextualize a time in the past when they were confined to the household and generally restricted and discriminated upon when it comes to the issue of working and employment. It is even no longer fashionable to talk about the glass ceiling in the corporate ladder presently because many female executives are making waves in the corporate world. While, America is yet to see a female president, there is no shortage of powerful female politicians that became influential in Washington and overseas. It is, unarguably, the best time yet for American women to live, work, compete and achieve things for themselves. Looking back, the women of the past were not that lucky. They have to fight for equality and for the recognition that they, too, have rights and capabilities that can be as useful and meaningful as those of men’s. Remember the La dies In the early years of the United States as a country, the first opportunity for change emerged. It was in search for the values, norms, identity and character that would define the nation. There are several notable women who made a difference and helped shape the course of the path that America took during these times. For instance, there is the case of the documented correspondence between John Adams and his wife, Abigail Adams, which demonstrated how Mrs. Adams led the women of her day to empower women and fight for their rights. In a letter dated March 31, 1776, she wrote her husband during the Continental Congress, which is on the process of drafting the Declaration of Independence. She reminded Adams that: I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. The correspondence did not reveal the extent of the impact of Abigail Adams’ admonitions. In the end, the Founding Fathers came up with the classic line in the Declaration that, â€Å"all men are created equal.† Her experience depicted how the American society during this period has displayed a stereotypical view of women, wherein they are widely seen to belong at home in the so-called cult of domesticity. Nonetheless, Abigail Adams is considered one of the pioneering women that launched the process of women emancipation and gender equality. Her actions served as an inspiration for many feminists that would come after her. More and more women became educated as schools were set up for them by individuals who advocate equal rights. There are numerous other developments driven by individual personages and they all influenced the trajectory of women empowerment later on. In 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt became influential in advancing many of the women’s causes. During the Great Depressio n, she was at the forefront of those exhorting women to contribute something to their country and to alleviate the crisis. In one of her pronouncements, she stated that, â€Å"The women know that life must go on and that the needs of life must be met and it is their courage and determination which, time and again, have pulled us

Social Problems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Problems - Coursework Example Hence, it is critically significant to minimize or eradicate the seeming inevitable social problems in order to have healthy societies. Alcoholism is a social problem that has deleterious effects on the abuser, the close family, and the wider community (Zimberg, 2013). It is thus important to manage alcohol abuse at local levels in order to avoid undesirable ramifications. Creating awareness about the dangers of alcoholism at the societal level is a significant step towards eradicating the social problem. Typically, educational campaigns and seminars can equip the society with skills to prevent or moderate their drinking behavior. Abstinence from alcohol can be a challenging endeavor, but it does not involve any risks (Lessa & Gilbert, 2009). Thus, educating the community on the significance of avoiding alcohol can save the society from the social problem. It is crucial for the alcohol drinkers to set realistic targets for alcohol use and keep an honest record of their drinking habits. Similarly, collaborating with the policymakers and local government to establish rehabilitation centers can yield good results towar ds instilling behavioral changes on the alcohol abusers. Additionally, controlled drinking support groups can assist the drinkers to moderate their drinking habits and regain

Proposal writing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Proposal writing - Research Paper Example interaction with clients with little extra expense; the writers state that the business owners must specify the main reasons for using social networks. Cooke and Buckley (2008) explain that business owners should identify the appropriate social network for their business depending on their benefits or drawbacks to the business structure. Salo and Karjaluoto (2007) recommend involvement of all internal and external stakeholders in the strategy, especially by anticipating the reactions and concerns of external stakeholders to the new communication models, and developing a reaction strategy. Shin (2010) states that the main determinants of the social network to adopt are the target market, the likely return on investment and the costs of using social networks in terms of time, money and other resources. Burrus (2010) has a word of caution for would-be users of social networks for business purposes, especially due to increased chances of negative publicity by using social networks necess itates that the firm comes up with a team to protect its online

Social Problems Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Social Problems - Coursework Example Hence, it is critically significant to minimize or eradicate the seeming inevitable social problems in order to have healthy societies. Alcoholism is a social problem that has deleterious effects on the abuser, the close family, and the wider community (Zimberg, 2013). It is thus important to manage alcohol abuse at local levels in order to avoid undesirable ramifications. Creating awareness about the dangers of alcoholism at the societal level is a significant step towards eradicating the social problem. Typically, educational campaigns and seminars can equip the society with skills to prevent or moderate their drinking behavior. Abstinence from alcohol can be a challenging endeavor, but it does not involve any risks (Lessa & Gilbert, 2009). Thus, educating the community on the significance of avoiding alcohol can save the society from the social problem. It is crucial for the alcohol drinkers to set realistic targets for alcohol use and keep an honest record of their drinking habits. Similarly, collaborating with the policymakers and local government to establish rehabilitation centers can yield good results towar ds instilling behavioral changes on the alcohol abusers. Additionally, controlled drinking support groups can assist the drinkers to moderate their drinking habits and regain

Liminality in Dracula Essay Example for Free

Liminality in Dracula Essay History has taught us that rebelling against your people or religion almost always results in displeasure, as the members of the community usually frown upon it. Throughout the novel Each Man’s Son by Hugh MacLennan, there are two themes which are linked to this topic of defying your origins, though never plainly affirmed: the Celtic identity and the Puritanical predestination-like values. Not conforming to these ways of life demonstrates two themes at which Archie the fighter and Ainslie the dreamer display: the attempt to foster new values will doom you to failure and resisting your religion will only let you yearn for escape but haunt you forever. This paper, will first analyze the meaning of these two themes; second show that Archie fights against the Celtic identity and that Ainslie tries to escape the Puritanical values. First, it is suitable to grasp onto these concepts with the history from the novel concerning the Celtics and the Puritans since it frames the foundational richness of the story. In Each Man’s Son the symbolic references on the history concerning the Celtic identity is manifested as â€Å"a Homeric people† in ultimate solitude, which proves to be symbolic due to the fact that it ties meaning to the Highland people as a â€Å"desperate and poetic/race of hunters, shepherds and warriors† (MacLennan 1, 2). The novel is full of richness, which provides ironic information about the people: who were found â€Å"older than France† with â€Å"no organization† (MacLennan 25-5). This characteristic given to the men of Cape Breton is highly relevant to the plot as Archie choses to literally fight the regulatory social norms of the Celtic identity when he follows his dreams to become an American boxer. In the novel, the Celtic identity is in direct conflict with Puritan values within certain characters, especially Ainslie. Presbyterians note that they â€Å"live and die under the wrath of an arbitrary God who will forgive only a handful of His elect on the Day of Judgment† (MacLennan 2). The value of the quote symbolizes an underlining view on the Puritan religion as it describes how the Calvinists must live a basic life in order to be resurrected with eternal life. In the Bible, which Puritans follow unfailingly, it is written, â€Å"you must be born from above† meaning that you must have â€Å"been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father† (John 3:7, 1 Peter 1:2 NIV). Furthermore, religion takes a crowning importance in the novel as it acts as the basic yet powerful feature of the story. Numerous characters struggle to adopt their identity, namely Doctor Ainslie for he attempts to darken his religious distinctiveness. The lacing of the Celtic identity and the Puritan religion represents tension, which Archie the fighter and Ainslie the dreamer must overcome. Second, Archie is a clear example of a character who conflicts with the Celtic identity because although he is acclaimed as the â€Å"bravest man in Cape Breton†, â€Å"fierce and unpredictable†, unlike the flock of people, he was a â€Å"hero whom nobody understood and everyone admired†; unfortunately, he is also destined to fail (MacLennan 12-8-6). â€Å"Archie is a hero† with grandiose â€Å"physical strength† who was loved â€Å"because he was giving significance, even a crude beauty, to the clumsy courage they all felt in themselves† (MacLennan 19-9). Generally Celtics feel that destiny works against them; they feel that luck must have been against them. This illustrates that the repercussion of rebelling against the Celtic identity is absolutely forbidden. The Celtic character is normally condemned to a life of simplicity, total depravity and unconditional fellowship of God and as Archie ventures the unknown he distorts the norm. Animalistic Archie emphasizes that some men will â€Å"live their whole lives like oxes and cows and that he is â€Å"not one of them† this statement, in other words, means that Archie does not intend on living a reclusive life as he fully intends on going out into the world, in spite of the consequences, to create a new life for himself and his family. He had â€Å"left his home to find wider opportunities in the United States† (MacLennan 3). Ironically, as Archie attempts to make money and follow his dream of becoming a boxer he refuses to obey the Celtic norm and is doomed to fail; he is left defeated by his embedded Celtic identity. The final character, which shows prominent struggles, concerning following norms is Ainslie: the dreamer. This is due to the fact that he is resistant to his Puritan religion, which leaves him yearning for an escape from societal pressures. Quite like Archie, Ainslie is also hopeless, yet in different matters: his religion haunts him not only consciously but also unconsciously in dreams as he is disturbed by religious stories. Traditionally, Puritans live a life in profound guilt, constant criticism and austerity because they believe in predestination at which God has chosen the elect to enter heaven. Though he is living in the pressures of this community he continuously denies his belief in God however it is hard to believe that he is a nonbeliever for he continuously shows signs of religious identity. Ainslie craves for a purpose in his life, an attainable goal a dream to escape this community, yet as the novel unfolds he is left haunted forever by his religious mental state. Ironically, because of the fact that he resists his religion and yearns for an escape, he will be left him undeniably haunted forever. In summary, historical details, Archie and Ainslie in Each Man’s Son emphasize conflicts between the Celtic identity and the Puritan religion. Contrasting the two characters, I find it much more rewarding to explore who you are and discover your identity instead of fighting or denying it because then you will not become a failure or be tormented by it. Unlike Archie and Ainslie, I had opportunities to participate in accomplishments that have given me a positive understanding of my identity while I was growing up, which undeniably shaped who I am today. Works Cited MacLennan, Hugh. Each Man’s Son. Toronto: The New Canadian Library, 2003. Print. New International Version Holy Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986. Print.

MA as a Growth Strategy

MA as a Growth Strategy Introduction: Project Management (BS 6079, 1996) is the planning, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all those involved in it to achieve the project objectives on time and to the specified cost, quality and performance. For any project to become a success, team work plays a major role. One of the most renowned and widely used practical and management team developments is the Belbin team roles. The argument from Belbin is that team composition plays a major factor in influencing the performance of the team (Water et al, 2008). The fundamental aspect of human existence is the working together as groups. The main purpose of this is to survive, adapt and thrive to different situations by using individuals intellect and co-operation (Riding and Rayner, 2001). The team roles are classified into organisational roles and the functional roles (Atkinson, 1999). A team role is a set of behaviours grouped in a cluster (Belbin, 1993). The main objective of this essay is to evaluate the teams performance based on the Belbin self perception theory discussing the teams roles, team life cycle and other aspects with respect to the project management exercise. Belbin Team Roles: Team roles are defined as a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another (Belbin, 1981). Every individual will take preferred roles in the management exercises and the outcome purely depends on the balance in the team (Riding and Rayner, 2001). It is always a good team with a good balance of individuals will result in a good outcome and vice versa (Belbin, 1993). Belbin has differentiated nine team roles based on the behaviour of people and is classified by feeling, will power, thinking and decisiveness. In the Belbin later research, he added one more role called as SP (Specialist) which refers to single mindedness, acting always alone and dedicated to specialism. The main function of this role is that people will behave in a extremely silent, introvert and will not contribute other than their special interest areas. This is considered as the negligible contribution to the team (Atkinson, 1999). Belbin uses an instrument for quantifyi ng the team role preferences which is called as the Self Perception Inventory. This consists of 70 points by evaluating seven statements in each questions. For each question 10 statements are given and can be prioritised based on the individual behaviour in which 10 points can be distributed. In predicting the performance of the team Belbin succeeded based on the information from the role profiles of each member. In this view a team is balanced when each role appears in atleast one team members profile as high-scoring role (Atkinson, 1999). From the Henley workshops, Belbin was able to specify the composition of the team and arrived at conclusions. This was characterised by (Furnham, 1992): attributes of a leader are similar to chairman profile (CH) now called as Co-ordinator (CO) and the team should have a range of mental abilities which includes a person generating creative ideas and giving practical solutions to the problems encountered. The team should include one Completer Finisher (CF), Implementer (IM) and the members can suit the other team roles based on their personal characteristics and ultimately the team which can identify and improve on their competencies by doing mistakes is considered as the best team (Riding and Rayner, 2001). Teams Belbin profiles: For the project management exercise, the teams were divided based on the Belbin team roles. As said earlier, in a team it is must to have a Completer Finisher (CF) and Implementer (IM). The team were asked to choose from Team Workers (TW). Person having primary reference as Team Workers are few and so persons having secondary and tertiary references as Team Workers were called for choosing the team. Evaluating the team roles and functions: First, from the team balance sheet it is clear that the team has no primary references for SH, PL, RI, TW, CF and can be considered as scarce for the team. This team has three implementers (IM) which is good in terms of delivering the project fast. Having more implementers is not a problem in any team as they move towards implementing the project. But having more shapers is a problem because of their characteristics. Person 1 who is ME can act as a CF and TW because of his secondary and tertiary preferences. Person 1 shows major characteristics of ME because of the feasibility characteristics. In this exercise, person 1 is very much interested in calculating the Critical path, always analysing the situations, showing temperament and whenever anything goes out of plan again doing the critical path whether there is feasibility of completing the project on time. The main advantage with person 1 is that he maintains good temperament in all the situations even if it is good or bad. The disadvantages is that in some situations person 1 whose Belbin profile shows weakness as decision making is very true. Sometimes person 1 took some hasty decisions which have affected the teams profit (decision of choosing the manufacturing subcontractor). Always took more time in making next moves since the basic nature of ME is analysing situations. Sometimes person 1 also did the role of CF when it comes to planning the project. The project plan was for 140 days with 7 periods of 20 days. One of the persons in the team were modifying the plan for days and the person striked the number of resources and wrote the new allocation of resource. Person 1 thought that this can make confusions and he acted as a CF by rubbing of the resources and wrote the allocation as clear as possible so that everybody can understand. Person 2 who is CO acted as a RI and PL in the initial phase of the exercise. As depicted by Belbin, RI used to interact a lot with the external environment is very true. Person 2 whenever any problems are faced by the team, he used to interact more with the teacher understanding the problem and gives new ideas to solving the problem. Person 2 organises well with the resource facilities for the game with the flip charts, pens and other requirements for smooth functioning of the game. At only one stage person 2 acted as a CO in the decision of choosing suppliers. Person 2 behaves more as RI and PL in this exercise. Person 3 who is IM, SP and has two tertiary references as CO and ME has shown good characteristics of implementer role in this exercise. Sometimes person 3 behaves more as ME than CO which is good for the team, because one or more COs have different approaches for the project. Person 3 is always striving hard to implement the project on time and sometimes showed good character for team worker. Person 3 always strives hard to stick to the plan and whenever plan changes, organises well for implementing the plan. The disadvantage is that this person lacks flexibility sometimes when it comes to implementation. Person 4 who is IM, secondary is CF and tertiary is SH initially has shown SH characteristics by challenging and arguing the facts that were made by the team. Person 4 is always interested in results and sometimes behaved as CO by taking decisions. Person 1 and 4 since showed shaper characteristics sometimes had difference of opinion but were well managed by team members. Person 4 showed good implementer characteristics in the final stages of the exercise. Person 5 who is IM, ME as secondary and CF as tertiary initially were helping the team with PL characteristics, sometimes RI when CO has to take decisions by going to the external world and discussing with people. Very sincere, hard working when it comes to implementation. Main advantage is that very well organised in implementing things, interested in sticking to the plan and sometimes resources were provided by him. Person 5 showed a major of Team Worker in many aspects because of the fact that TW always want to harmony among the teams. The team Belbins profiles helped a lot in choosing a balanced team and are 60% accurate with respect to our team. For a project to become a success, it is always helpful with people taking new roles under a good leadership. Finally, good team work will always succeed and makes the project success. Persons took roles which are not their primary, secondary or tertiary references sometimes worked out well and made benefits to the team but many of the times it failed. The people showed majority of the characteristics as depicted by Belbin and is helpful in the teams success. One important learning with Belbin self perception theory is that having two or more shapers in a team is dangerous and will lead to poor project management. It is always helpful to have one PL and one CO as their primary reference. Team Life Cycle: The basic behaviour of any team is that they are dynamic. As an individual, they can perform effectively but as a team they can fail and vice versa. Attention and maintenance are always required for the teams. The first person to bring a chart for teams progression is Tuckman. He has identified four stages in a teams development which are forming, storming, norming and performing (Kakabadse et al, 2004). In the forming stage, team members got to know about each other and started establishing their relationships. The learnings are based on the organisations culture and standards. Project task behaviours and interpersonal relationships are very important in binding the team together. In the storming stage, a person starts expressing the views and there is a chance of difference in opinion. Leadership challenges occur and may lead to rivalry between people because of their behaviours. Because of these conflicts, the main objective of the organisation cannot be met which lead to separation of groups. In the norming stage, groups will start gelling towards one another and each strengths and weaknesses can be known. The teams will set their standards and roles can be clearly defined at this stage. In the performing stage, actual team working takes place and people starts performing their tasks together. If the team loses the energy or support, then a stage called restoring or declining stage may follow. Further in this stage, the strengths, weaknesses of the team is analysed with respect to the task is discussed and learnings are recorded for effective project management in future. Evaluating the teams life cycle: In the project management exercise, different sets of problems are encountered by the team and creative solutions are identified to solve these problems. Some of the solutions clicked and some lead to major failures for the team. The forming stage provided opportunities for the new team to understand each other and gave different settings. When first given the exercise, some team members easily understood the process and some found difficult to understand the process. In the initial stages it took more time for the team to decide the strategy for proceeding with the project. Person 1, 3 expressed their views which were not agreed by the team whereas person 2, 4 had expressed their concerns which again not accepted by the team members. Finally, a conclusion has been made with the project plan and the identification of first, second and third critical paths are identified. This stage is all about trusting and building confidence on other team members. The team lacks leadership in this phase. A leader is clearly needed in this phase to provide direction and guidance (Lee, 2008). The storming stage provides openness for feelings and the team discusses the issues very seriously even if the point is not valid. The existing plan with respect to the actual working is modified and refined well. Person 1, 4 had conflicts in choosing the suppliers whether to go for delivery or quality. Person 2, 3 and 5 also contributed but a single decision has to be taken by the team. The team debated on these issues and finally person 1 compromised person 4 for going to a quality supplier by explaining with the fact which will not affect the delivery of the product. The teams weaknesses are that for first three periods did good jobs but didnt celebrate any success. The other weaknesses are builds, integration points between team members, conflicts within the team and sometimes role conflicts. In the norming stage, the teams had fewer conflicts and started communicating more effectively with others. The team emerged with good practices; loop integration exists because of better communication, the person understands their balance and develops their required skills and role clarity is clearly defined. Person 1 decision will be treated as final since some of the decisions worked out well in the earlier periods and didnt analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the decision which lead to a disaster in period 4, 5. The team didnt properly review the operation in a regular basis which also leads to a failure (not delivering the product on time). The team didnt celebrate success in this stage also. In the performing stage, since person 1 decision went wrong it is important for the team members to chip in with leadership and person start taking responsibilities for leadership which is a very good sign for the team. This allows rotation of leadership and helps team members to grow their own skills. The team started to treat seriously the views from team members as well as outside members which is done for the betterment of the project work. Finally, the team made a little profit and starts celebrating the success which has to be done earlier. In this stage it is always good to have an outsider to comment on the teams performance which helps in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the team. In the last stage, the team learnt their mistakes and starts working on improving individual competencies and the advantages of team work. Every individual is important for a team and it is the individuals who are building the team. The project management exercise can be done more effectively if the same team is given one more chance based on their learnings. The output required from this phase is the prevention of failures for a future project. Decision making procedures: The teams success depends on the decision making and it is the key factor in project management. The working definition of decision making (Ullman, 2006) is that Decision making is a process that commits resources to resolving an issue. Making a decision is not an event; it is a process for arriving at the correct decisions based on uncertain, incomplete, incomplete, inconsistent and evolving information. It is important for the team to get the best out of these results. In practice, every decision the team trying to make must address two issues: Merit decision quantitative way of taking the decision based on merits Acceptance decision acceptance by the people by the decision taken by the team. A decision is a choice made from several alternatives (Lewis, 2004). The decision is going to be effective when merit and acceptance are considered. For any decision the important criteria is to understand the problem and issues are to be clarified. Then as a team alternatives are generated and criteria are developed for robust decision making. The next important step is the evaluation part which tells the importance of the criteria. This also generates value to the alternatives that are developed for the criteria. Fuse is the next step in decision making which generates decision measures by evaluating process. The last stage is what to do next which reduces consensus, uncertainty, criteria and further revising the alternatives. Hence, (Ullman, 2006)A robust decision is the best possible choice, one found by eliminating all the uncertainty possible within available resources and then choosing with known and acceptable levels of satisfaction and risk. Some of the problems that are encountered during the decision making are team members have different judgement and their outcomes may be different due to different knowledge level, preferences. In order to evaluate a decision, managers have to choose a proper method (Fan Fu-Rong et al, 2008). Consultative approach is the most widely used approach for decision making. For handling group decision, the rules are shown in the below table 2. Evaluating the decision making procedures: Decisions taken in project management exercise by the team sometimes based on merit and sometimes based on acceptance and sometimes a combination of both. A consultative approach is followed when taking a decision. Initially for the first two decisions, it took more time for the team to understand the problem and team is not clear in the issues. The project delivery time is 140 days and the CPM shows that there is 285 days for the product to come out. A project plan is made for getting the product on time and it is always difficult to stick to the plan. Team members initially found difficult to generate alternatives for the decision and initially the team followed a consensus with team members. The first decision is based on merit as to reduce the lead time from 285 to 140 days. The teams weaknesses in the understanding phase are took more time for taking a decision, no clarity on problems, no criteria developed for taking the decision. Also, initially since team members are of diffe rent competencies it took time for gelling together. Then after the decision the team started to develop criteria for the decisions. The team in evaluating phase started to understand the importance of criteria developed and started generating alternatives for the criteria. One important thing is that decisions are always subject to change and it is important to review the earlier decisions. In the exercise, the team decided to go for good quality suppliers which actually paid very well for the team. When it comes to manufacturing sub contractors, due to cost pressure some compromise has to be made by the team and went ahead with the cheap sub contractor. The team took a risk but didnt work out well. The teams decision is partially a combination of merit and acceptance. The teams weakness in this stage is that it never had a backup plan till the failure has happened. In this stage, the resources are shuffled inorder to deliver the product on time which is a good move based on earlier decisions. But in actual practice it is difficult to execute as per the plan and is important to review the decisions as a team by d iscussing the merits and demerits of the team. In Fuse stage, the result from the earlier decisions gives the team of measuring the decisions. In the initial stage, Person 1 took the decision of going ahead with the good quality suppliers and convinced the team members, since it clicked the team went ahead with that persons decision for the future also. Every time when a decision is taken it is important to discuss as a team by evaluating the results of the decision and have a backup plan if that decision went wrong. During the periods 4, 5, 6 the teams took decisions in a fast, accurate way by learning from the mistakes earlier. It is important to learn from mistakes as a team. Finally, in the decide stage, the team started looking at the future in what has to be done next by reducing the uncertainty, refining the interpersonal skills. In this stage, the team started to work on a consensus basis. Even a single member points are taken seriously and started discussing the merits and demerits with refining the criteria. The team started to work on the alternatives and focus more towards for addressing the next issues. The team weakness in this stage, it is important to document the deliberation so that these failures cannot happen in the future. The key learning from the decision making procedures are decisions are subject to change and have to be reviewed consistently. Consensus approach has to be followed inorder to make a decision which can be based on merit and acceptance. Conflict within the team: Many organisations have changed to project management structures because of their inability to resolve conflicts. In a project life cycle, conflicts are part and parcel of life and can happen at any levels of the organisation. The project manager is often described as a conflict manager (Kerzner, 2001, 2009). Conflicts generally happen because of misunderstanding between team members and have different interpretations of companys objective. Inorder to avoid that, projects have to be defined in a clear way so that it can be understood by all the team members. Some people use SMART criteria for defining the project which says; S- Specific M- Measurable A- Attainable R- Realistic or Relevant T- Tangible or time bound (Kerzner, 2009). Time management is crucial in any project and it is important to manage time by avoiding conflicts. Some conflicts are relevant and provide valuable results. Most common types of conflict involve in the allocations of manpower resources, using the equipments and facilities, expenditure on capitals, cost and technical opinions and trade offs (Kerzner, 2001, 2009). Moreover the seven potential sources of conflicts are shown in the Fig 4. Goal, Plan and Belief conflicts are the three types of conflicts (Jain et al, 2007). If a conflict happens in a project, there are five different ways of resolving the conflicts which are shown in fig 5 which are confrontation, compromise, smoothing, forcing and withdrawal. Evaluation of conflicts: The team initially had conflicts in allocating the man power resources like employing in design, assemblers and testers. The team had a conflict over schedules in attaining the project on time. The team members person 1, 2 and 4 had difference of opinions in schedules and the resolution mode of compromise is used to resolve that issue. Person 1, 3, 4 had conflicts in priorities in choosing the suppliers. Person 1 suggested a supplier part can be taken just before the assembly but the team members took a decision by smoothing mode. In case if anything fails the team need to reorder again this may take time. Inorder for the project manager to be effective an understanding of how to work with various employees who must interface with the project is necessary (Kerzner, 2001, 2009). The various members in the team include upper management, functional managers etc and it is important to understand the sub ordinate and functional conflicts. The relationship between conflict causes and sourc es is shown in the figure 6. The teams strength is that none of the members in the team had personality conflict which is very important for project success. When deciding the manufacturing sub contractor person 1 suggested for a reliable sub contractor, but all the other members in the team are cost conscious in which person 1 and other members had a conflict over cost. The teams choice of choosing a good quality supplier had a conflict with other members which is a functional conflict provides good benefits for the team in terms of quality, time and cost. During the period 3, 4 the team members had a conflict of allocating the inspectors which is the conflict over schedule and had a good result during the period. But during the period 5, the team had a conflict on schedule in resource allocation of assemblers but not with the inspectors. All the five resolution modes of conflicts are used for resolving conflicts in almost all the stages. The team weaknesses include conflicts have to happen and has to be resolv ed systematically. But as a team, conflicts at the initial stages of the project give good results and when it comes to final stages conflicts started coming down. The figure 7 shows the conflict intensity in the team during the project life cycle. The key learnings from the project management exercise are that time management is important and the conflicts have to be resolved within the time. Team members have to understand the sub ordinate and their opinions and have to be evaluated inorder to get a good result in the project. It is important to have a plan for resolving conflicts in the planning phase itself. Constant communication of the project objectives to the team members will help in minimising or even eliminating the conflicts. Sometimes direct contact with people will reduce the conflicts. In project management hierarchical issues are to be resolved and there shall not be any domination from the project manager or the functional mangers. Companywide policies can be adapted for resolving the conflict issues for smooth functioning of the project. Role clarities have to be clear which will reduce the conflicts. Team Leadership: Team leadership is one of the main aspects in the project success. In any projects, leadership becomes a problem because project management involves group of people who are frequently in interaction for a specific project. The following tasks are required for a leader to achieve the tasks; Tasks are defined and shall be achieved Team shall be build and can be properly co-ordinated Leader shall satisfy individual team members Task needs It is important for the leader to clearly define the objectives of the project and leadership shall aim at achieving these goals. Team needs The element of leadership shall hold the team together inorder to produce efficient results for the project. If the team have conflicts, then it is the leader who has to convince the team members effectively. Individual needs The performance and contributions of the project by every member of the team have to be understood by the leader and sometimes can reward for good work (Reiss, 1995). From the moment the leadership is taken it is important for the leader to ensure that the project is heading in correct direction (Heerkens, 2002). The biggest problem that a leader is facing in the project management is that managing the anxieties which were developed by the team members. Sometimes if it is not evaluated may lead to slow down the project and work output. The anticipation by the leaders when questioned by the team members are: Whats in it for me? What will be expected out of me? What will life on your team like? (Heerkens, 2002) Evaluation of team leadership: In the project management exercise, the team leadership was with no one and totally a team effort. But it is always important to have a leader for the team for the above reasons stated. Sometimes Person 1 took the leadership in choosing the suppliers, sub contractors, person 2 took the leadership in periods 4, 5 of the project. Person 4 took the leadership in the periods 6, 7 and person 3 during the period 2 of the project. The teams strength is that everybody in the team understands the leadership attitudes which are important for project success. The anxieties by the team members can be reduced by having conversations within the team. The team members frequently had meeting openly for achieving the following: Project objectives were reviewed (the true need for the project) and the justifications were explained as a team (benefits). Project planning and its proposal were reviewed (the solution) and the team leader took a decision for the preferred approach. Initially the team faced problems of leadership and all members expressed their views and constraints. Roles and responsibilities are not clarified clearly by functional categorisation which leads to some problems within the team. This is considered as one of the teams weaknesses. It is important to honestly characterise the style of leadership (free, open, trusting, reacting to situations) The leader has to explain the expectations that are required from the team members regarding the delivery by frequent conducting of meetings. Communication plays a major role in leadership and the leader has to explain the behaviour style. (Adopted from Heerkens, 2002 Modified for Project Management exercise). The team initially went ahead with no leader and later person characterised by Belbin as CO started taking leadership which was helpful for the team. The team had good mutual relationships with other members and used visual charts when sketching the plan, reviewing the plan. Professional ethics are maintained throughout the project which is the biggest advantage for the project success. Celebration of project milestones and its success are very important to improve the morale of the members is considered to be one of the team weaknesses. Any team before starting the project must have a leader and it is the leader who assigns the roles and responsibilities of the team members clearly. One of the main leadership qualities is the flexibility in their approach, style in adapting to the situations, communications with the team members. It is not always necessary that leader should have technical skills, but a little amount of knowledge in the particular field is sufficient for managing the project. Conclusion: Organisational behaviour is very important for project management and using Belbin profiles in dividing the organisation is helpful in achieving the objectives. Team work is important for the project to succeed and lies on every individual of the team. It is important for the leader to motivate the members and constantly encourage them for the effective functioning of project teams. Belbin team life cycle shows that evolution of teams and tells the effective functioning of teams. The decision making procedures are important for projects success and has to be reviewed consistently. Project planning is considered to be the important phase in project management and plan gives only the direction. It is important for the team to learn from mistakes. Introduction TVS Motors is the third largest two wheeler manufacturers in India and one among the top ten in the world with annual turnover of more than USD 1 billion 2008-2009 and is the flagship company of the USD 4 billion TVS group. The company has four plants located in Hosur and Mysore in South India, Himachel Pradesh in North India and one in Indonesia. The company has a production capacity of 2.5 million units per year. TVS strength lies in the design and development of new products. TVS delivers total customer satisfaction by anticipating customer needs and presenting quality vehicles at the right time and right price. The customer and his ever changing need is our continuous source of imspiration.TVS always stood for innovative, easy to handle, environment friendly products, backed by reliable customer service. TVS manufactures a wide range of products as shown below. Motorcycles Apache RTR, Flame DS 125, Flame, Jive, Star City, Sport Variomatic Scooters Wego, Scooty Streak, Pep+, Teenz Mopeds TVS XL Super, TVS XL Heavy Duty Step thrus TVS Neo, Rockz (TVS Motors, 2010). The main objective of this essay is to evaluate the project management of a sub system (Fit and Finish Engineering section part of RD) in the TVS Motors and suggesting improvement points for betterment of the project management. Organisation Structure Any organisation exists to achieve the objectives by maintaining good relationships with its customers and its employees. The main objective of organisation is profitability. TVS Motor Company Mission Statement We are committed to being a highly profitable, socially responsible, and leading manufacturer of high value for money, environment friendly, life time personal transportation products under the brand, for customers predominantly in Asian markets and to provide fulfilment and prosperity for employees, de MA as a Growth Strategy MA as a Growth Strategy Introduction: Project Management (BS 6079, 1996) is the planning, monitoring and control of all aspects of a project and the motivation of all those involved in it to achieve the project objectives on time and to the specified cost, quality and performance. For any project to become a success, team work plays a major role. One of the most renowned and widely used practical and management team developments is the Belbin team roles. The argument from Belbin is that team composition plays a major factor in influencing the performance of the team (Water et al, 2008). The fundamental aspect of human existence is the working together as groups. The main purpose of this is to survive, adapt and thrive to different situations by using individuals intellect and co-operation (Riding and Rayner, 2001). The team roles are classified into organisational roles and the functional roles (Atkinson, 1999). A team role is a set of behaviours grouped in a cluster (Belbin, 1993). The main objective of this essay is to evaluate the teams performance based on the Belbin self perception theory discussing the teams roles, team life cycle and other aspects with respect to the project management exercise. Belbin Team Roles: Team roles are defined as a pattern of behaviour characteristic of the way in which one team member interacts with another (Belbin, 1981). Every individual will take preferred roles in the management exercises and the outcome purely depends on the balance in the team (Riding and Rayner, 2001). It is always a good team with a good balance of individuals will result in a good outcome and vice versa (Belbin, 1993). Belbin has differentiated nine team roles based on the behaviour of people and is classified by feeling, will power, thinking and decisiveness. In the Belbin later research, he added one more role called as SP (Specialist) which refers to single mindedness, acting always alone and dedicated to specialism. The main function of this role is that people will behave in a extremely silent, introvert and will not contribute other than their special interest areas. This is considered as the negligible contribution to the team (Atkinson, 1999). Belbin uses an instrument for quantifyi ng the team role preferences which is called as the Self Perception Inventory. This consists of 70 points by evaluating seven statements in each questions. For each question 10 statements are given and can be prioritised based on the individual behaviour in which 10 points can be distributed. In predicting the performance of the team Belbin succeeded based on the information from the role profiles of each member. In this view a team is balanced when each role appears in atleast one team members profile as high-scoring role (Atkinson, 1999). From the Henley workshops, Belbin was able to specify the composition of the team and arrived at conclusions. This was characterised by (Furnham, 1992): attributes of a leader are similar to chairman profile (CH) now called as Co-ordinator (CO) and the team should have a range of mental abilities which includes a person generating creative ideas and giving practical solutions to the problems encountered. The team should include one Completer Finisher (CF), Implementer (IM) and the members can suit the other team roles based on their personal characteristics and ultimately the team which can identify and improve on their competencies by doing mistakes is considered as the best team (Riding and Rayner, 2001). Teams Belbin profiles: For the project management exercise, the teams were divided based on the Belbin team roles. As said earlier, in a team it is must to have a Completer Finisher (CF) and Implementer (IM). The team were asked to choose from Team Workers (TW). Person having primary reference as Team Workers are few and so persons having secondary and tertiary references as Team Workers were called for choosing the team. Evaluating the team roles and functions: First, from the team balance sheet it is clear that the team has no primary references for SH, PL, RI, TW, CF and can be considered as scarce for the team. This team has three implementers (IM) which is good in terms of delivering the project fast. Having more implementers is not a problem in any team as they move towards implementing the project. But having more shapers is a problem because of their characteristics. Person 1 who is ME can act as a CF and TW because of his secondary and tertiary preferences. Person 1 shows major characteristics of ME because of the feasibility characteristics. In this exercise, person 1 is very much interested in calculating the Critical path, always analysing the situations, showing temperament and whenever anything goes out of plan again doing the critical path whether there is feasibility of completing the project on time. The main advantage with person 1 is that he maintains good temperament in all the situations even if it is good or bad. The disadvantages is that in some situations person 1 whose Belbin profile shows weakness as decision making is very true. Sometimes person 1 took some hasty decisions which have affected the teams profit (decision of choosing the manufacturing subcontractor). Always took more time in making next moves since the basic nature of ME is analysing situations. Sometimes person 1 also did the role of CF when it comes to planning the project. The project plan was for 140 days with 7 periods of 20 days. One of the persons in the team were modifying the plan for days and the person striked the number of resources and wrote the new allocation of resource. Person 1 thought that this can make confusions and he acted as a CF by rubbing of the resources and wrote the allocation as clear as possible so that everybody can understand. Person 2 who is CO acted as a RI and PL in the initial phase of the exercise. As depicted by Belbin, RI used to interact a lot with the external environment is very true. Person 2 whenever any problems are faced by the team, he used to interact more with the teacher understanding the problem and gives new ideas to solving the problem. Person 2 organises well with the resource facilities for the game with the flip charts, pens and other requirements for smooth functioning of the game. At only one stage person 2 acted as a CO in the decision of choosing suppliers. Person 2 behaves more as RI and PL in this exercise. Person 3 who is IM, SP and has two tertiary references as CO and ME has shown good characteristics of implementer role in this exercise. Sometimes person 3 behaves more as ME than CO which is good for the team, because one or more COs have different approaches for the project. Person 3 is always striving hard to implement the project on time and sometimes showed good character for team worker. Person 3 always strives hard to stick to the plan and whenever plan changes, organises well for implementing the plan. The disadvantage is that this person lacks flexibility sometimes when it comes to implementation. Person 4 who is IM, secondary is CF and tertiary is SH initially has shown SH characteristics by challenging and arguing the facts that were made by the team. Person 4 is always interested in results and sometimes behaved as CO by taking decisions. Person 1 and 4 since showed shaper characteristics sometimes had difference of opinion but were well managed by team members. Person 4 showed good implementer characteristics in the final stages of the exercise. Person 5 who is IM, ME as secondary and CF as tertiary initially were helping the team with PL characteristics, sometimes RI when CO has to take decisions by going to the external world and discussing with people. Very sincere, hard working when it comes to implementation. Main advantage is that very well organised in implementing things, interested in sticking to the plan and sometimes resources were provided by him. Person 5 showed a major of Team Worker in many aspects because of the fact that TW always want to harmony among the teams. The team Belbins profiles helped a lot in choosing a balanced team and are 60% accurate with respect to our team. For a project to become a success, it is always helpful with people taking new roles under a good leadership. Finally, good team work will always succeed and makes the project success. Persons took roles which are not their primary, secondary or tertiary references sometimes worked out well and made benefits to the team but many of the times it failed. The people showed majority of the characteristics as depicted by Belbin and is helpful in the teams success. One important learning with Belbin self perception theory is that having two or more shapers in a team is dangerous and will lead to poor project management. It is always helpful to have one PL and one CO as their primary reference. Team Life Cycle: The basic behaviour of any team is that they are dynamic. As an individual, they can perform effectively but as a team they can fail and vice versa. Attention and maintenance are always required for the teams. The first person to bring a chart for teams progression is Tuckman. He has identified four stages in a teams development which are forming, storming, norming and performing (Kakabadse et al, 2004). In the forming stage, team members got to know about each other and started establishing their relationships. The learnings are based on the organisations culture and standards. Project task behaviours and interpersonal relationships are very important in binding the team together. In the storming stage, a person starts expressing the views and there is a chance of difference in opinion. Leadership challenges occur and may lead to rivalry between people because of their behaviours. Because of these conflicts, the main objective of the organisation cannot be met which lead to separation of groups. In the norming stage, groups will start gelling towards one another and each strengths and weaknesses can be known. The teams will set their standards and roles can be clearly defined at this stage. In the performing stage, actual team working takes place and people starts performing their tasks together. If the team loses the energy or support, then a stage called restoring or declining stage may follow. Further in this stage, the strengths, weaknesses of the team is analysed with respect to the task is discussed and learnings are recorded for effective project management in future. Evaluating the teams life cycle: In the project management exercise, different sets of problems are encountered by the team and creative solutions are identified to solve these problems. Some of the solutions clicked and some lead to major failures for the team. The forming stage provided opportunities for the new team to understand each other and gave different settings. When first given the exercise, some team members easily understood the process and some found difficult to understand the process. In the initial stages it took more time for the team to decide the strategy for proceeding with the project. Person 1, 3 expressed their views which were not agreed by the team whereas person 2, 4 had expressed their concerns which again not accepted by the team members. Finally, a conclusion has been made with the project plan and the identification of first, second and third critical paths are identified. This stage is all about trusting and building confidence on other team members. The team lacks leadership in this phase. A leader is clearly needed in this phase to provide direction and guidance (Lee, 2008). The storming stage provides openness for feelings and the team discusses the issues very seriously even if the point is not valid. The existing plan with respect to the actual working is modified and refined well. Person 1, 4 had conflicts in choosing the suppliers whether to go for delivery or quality. Person 2, 3 and 5 also contributed but a single decision has to be taken by the team. The team debated on these issues and finally person 1 compromised person 4 for going to a quality supplier by explaining with the fact which will not affect the delivery of the product. The teams weaknesses are that for first three periods did good jobs but didnt celebrate any success. The other weaknesses are builds, integration points between team members, conflicts within the team and sometimes role conflicts. In the norming stage, the teams had fewer conflicts and started communicating more effectively with others. The team emerged with good practices; loop integration exists because of better communication, the person understands their balance and develops their required skills and role clarity is clearly defined. Person 1 decision will be treated as final since some of the decisions worked out well in the earlier periods and didnt analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the decision which lead to a disaster in period 4, 5. The team didnt properly review the operation in a regular basis which also leads to a failure (not delivering the product on time). The team didnt celebrate success in this stage also. In the performing stage, since person 1 decision went wrong it is important for the team members to chip in with leadership and person start taking responsibilities for leadership which is a very good sign for the team. This allows rotation of leadership and helps team members to grow their own skills. The team started to treat seriously the views from team members as well as outside members which is done for the betterment of the project work. Finally, the team made a little profit and starts celebrating the success which has to be done earlier. In this stage it is always good to have an outsider to comment on the teams performance which helps in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the team. In the last stage, the team learnt their mistakes and starts working on improving individual competencies and the advantages of team work. Every individual is important for a team and it is the individuals who are building the team. The project management exercise can be done more effectively if the same team is given one more chance based on their learnings. The output required from this phase is the prevention of failures for a future project. Decision making procedures: The teams success depends on the decision making and it is the key factor in project management. The working definition of decision making (Ullman, 2006) is that Decision making is a process that commits resources to resolving an issue. Making a decision is not an event; it is a process for arriving at the correct decisions based on uncertain, incomplete, incomplete, inconsistent and evolving information. It is important for the team to get the best out of these results. In practice, every decision the team trying to make must address two issues: Merit decision quantitative way of taking the decision based on merits Acceptance decision acceptance by the people by the decision taken by the team. A decision is a choice made from several alternatives (Lewis, 2004). The decision is going to be effective when merit and acceptance are considered. For any decision the important criteria is to understand the problem and issues are to be clarified. Then as a team alternatives are generated and criteria are developed for robust decision making. The next important step is the evaluation part which tells the importance of the criteria. This also generates value to the alternatives that are developed for the criteria. Fuse is the next step in decision making which generates decision measures by evaluating process. The last stage is what to do next which reduces consensus, uncertainty, criteria and further revising the alternatives. Hence, (Ullman, 2006)A robust decision is the best possible choice, one found by eliminating all the uncertainty possible within available resources and then choosing with known and acceptable levels of satisfaction and risk. Some of the problems that are encountered during the decision making are team members have different judgement and their outcomes may be different due to different knowledge level, preferences. In order to evaluate a decision, managers have to choose a proper method (Fan Fu-Rong et al, 2008). Consultative approach is the most widely used approach for decision making. For handling group decision, the rules are shown in the below table 2. Evaluating the decision making procedures: Decisions taken in project management exercise by the team sometimes based on merit and sometimes based on acceptance and sometimes a combination of both. A consultative approach is followed when taking a decision. Initially for the first two decisions, it took more time for the team to understand the problem and team is not clear in the issues. The project delivery time is 140 days and the CPM shows that there is 285 days for the product to come out. A project plan is made for getting the product on time and it is always difficult to stick to the plan. Team members initially found difficult to generate alternatives for the decision and initially the team followed a consensus with team members. The first decision is based on merit as to reduce the lead time from 285 to 140 days. The teams weaknesses in the understanding phase are took more time for taking a decision, no clarity on problems, no criteria developed for taking the decision. Also, initially since team members are of diffe rent competencies it took time for gelling together. Then after the decision the team started to develop criteria for the decisions. The team in evaluating phase started to understand the importance of criteria developed and started generating alternatives for the criteria. One important thing is that decisions are always subject to change and it is important to review the earlier decisions. In the exercise, the team decided to go for good quality suppliers which actually paid very well for the team. When it comes to manufacturing sub contractors, due to cost pressure some compromise has to be made by the team and went ahead with the cheap sub contractor. The team took a risk but didnt work out well. The teams decision is partially a combination of merit and acceptance. The teams weakness in this stage is that it never had a backup plan till the failure has happened. In this stage, the resources are shuffled inorder to deliver the product on time which is a good move based on earlier decisions. But in actual practice it is difficult to execute as per the plan and is important to review the decisions as a team by d iscussing the merits and demerits of the team. In Fuse stage, the result from the earlier decisions gives the team of measuring the decisions. In the initial stage, Person 1 took the decision of going ahead with the good quality suppliers and convinced the team members, since it clicked the team went ahead with that persons decision for the future also. Every time when a decision is taken it is important to discuss as a team by evaluating the results of the decision and have a backup plan if that decision went wrong. During the periods 4, 5, 6 the teams took decisions in a fast, accurate way by learning from the mistakes earlier. It is important to learn from mistakes as a team. Finally, in the decide stage, the team started looking at the future in what has to be done next by reducing the uncertainty, refining the interpersonal skills. In this stage, the team started to work on a consensus basis. Even a single member points are taken seriously and started discussing the merits and demerits with refining the criteria. The team started to work on the alternatives and focus more towards for addressing the next issues. The team weakness in this stage, it is important to document the deliberation so that these failures cannot happen in the future. The key learning from the decision making procedures are decisions are subject to change and have to be reviewed consistently. Consensus approach has to be followed inorder to make a decision which can be based on merit and acceptance. Conflict within the team: Many organisations have changed to project management structures because of their inability to resolve conflicts. In a project life cycle, conflicts are part and parcel of life and can happen at any levels of the organisation. The project manager is often described as a conflict manager (Kerzner, 2001, 2009). Conflicts generally happen because of misunderstanding between team members and have different interpretations of companys objective. Inorder to avoid that, projects have to be defined in a clear way so that it can be understood by all the team members. Some people use SMART criteria for defining the project which says; S- Specific M- Measurable A- Attainable R- Realistic or Relevant T- Tangible or time bound (Kerzner, 2009). Time management is crucial in any project and it is important to manage time by avoiding conflicts. Some conflicts are relevant and provide valuable results. Most common types of conflict involve in the allocations of manpower resources, using the equipments and facilities, expenditure on capitals, cost and technical opinions and trade offs (Kerzner, 2001, 2009). Moreover the seven potential sources of conflicts are shown in the Fig 4. Goal, Plan and Belief conflicts are the three types of conflicts (Jain et al, 2007). If a conflict happens in a project, there are five different ways of resolving the conflicts which are shown in fig 5 which are confrontation, compromise, smoothing, forcing and withdrawal. Evaluation of conflicts: The team initially had conflicts in allocating the man power resources like employing in design, assemblers and testers. The team had a conflict over schedules in attaining the project on time. The team members person 1, 2 and 4 had difference of opinions in schedules and the resolution mode of compromise is used to resolve that issue. Person 1, 3, 4 had conflicts in priorities in choosing the suppliers. Person 1 suggested a supplier part can be taken just before the assembly but the team members took a decision by smoothing mode. In case if anything fails the team need to reorder again this may take time. Inorder for the project manager to be effective an understanding of how to work with various employees who must interface with the project is necessary (Kerzner, 2001, 2009). The various members in the team include upper management, functional managers etc and it is important to understand the sub ordinate and functional conflicts. The relationship between conflict causes and sourc es is shown in the figure 6. The teams strength is that none of the members in the team had personality conflict which is very important for project success. When deciding the manufacturing sub contractor person 1 suggested for a reliable sub contractor, but all the other members in the team are cost conscious in which person 1 and other members had a conflict over cost. The teams choice of choosing a good quality supplier had a conflict with other members which is a functional conflict provides good benefits for the team in terms of quality, time and cost. During the period 3, 4 the team members had a conflict of allocating the inspectors which is the conflict over schedule and had a good result during the period. But during the period 5, the team had a conflict on schedule in resource allocation of assemblers but not with the inspectors. All the five resolution modes of conflicts are used for resolving conflicts in almost all the stages. The team weaknesses include conflicts have to happen and has to be resolv ed systematically. But as a team, conflicts at the initial stages of the project give good results and when it comes to final stages conflicts started coming down. The figure 7 shows the conflict intensity in the team during the project life cycle. The key learnings from the project management exercise are that time management is important and the conflicts have to be resolved within the time. Team members have to understand the sub ordinate and their opinions and have to be evaluated inorder to get a good result in the project. It is important to have a plan for resolving conflicts in the planning phase itself. Constant communication of the project objectives to the team members will help in minimising or even eliminating the conflicts. Sometimes direct contact with people will reduce the conflicts. In project management hierarchical issues are to be resolved and there shall not be any domination from the project manager or the functional mangers. Companywide policies can be adapted for resolving the conflict issues for smooth functioning of the project. Role clarities have to be clear which will reduce the conflicts. Team Leadership: Team leadership is one of the main aspects in the project success. In any projects, leadership becomes a problem because project management involves group of people who are frequently in interaction for a specific project. The following tasks are required for a leader to achieve the tasks; Tasks are defined and shall be achieved Team shall be build and can be properly co-ordinated Leader shall satisfy individual team members Task needs It is important for the leader to clearly define the objectives of the project and leadership shall aim at achieving these goals. Team needs The element of leadership shall hold the team together inorder to produce efficient results for the project. If the team have conflicts, then it is the leader who has to convince the team members effectively. Individual needs The performance and contributions of the project by every member of the team have to be understood by the leader and sometimes can reward for good work (Reiss, 1995). From the moment the leadership is taken it is important for the leader to ensure that the project is heading in correct direction (Heerkens, 2002). The biggest problem that a leader is facing in the project management is that managing the anxieties which were developed by the team members. Sometimes if it is not evaluated may lead to slow down the project and work output. The anticipation by the leaders when questioned by the team members are: Whats in it for me? What will be expected out of me? What will life on your team like? (Heerkens, 2002) Evaluation of team leadership: In the project management exercise, the team leadership was with no one and totally a team effort. But it is always important to have a leader for the team for the above reasons stated. Sometimes Person 1 took the leadership in choosing the suppliers, sub contractors, person 2 took the leadership in periods 4, 5 of the project. Person 4 took the leadership in the periods 6, 7 and person 3 during the period 2 of the project. The teams strength is that everybody in the team understands the leadership attitudes which are important for project success. The anxieties by the team members can be reduced by having conversations within the team. The team members frequently had meeting openly for achieving the following: Project objectives were reviewed (the true need for the project) and the justifications were explained as a team (benefits). Project planning and its proposal were reviewed (the solution) and the team leader took a decision for the preferred approach. Initially the team faced problems of leadership and all members expressed their views and constraints. Roles and responsibilities are not clarified clearly by functional categorisation which leads to some problems within the team. This is considered as one of the teams weaknesses. It is important to honestly characterise the style of leadership (free, open, trusting, reacting to situations) The leader has to explain the expectations that are required from the team members regarding the delivery by frequent conducting of meetings. Communication plays a major role in leadership and the leader has to explain the behaviour style. (Adopted from Heerkens, 2002 Modified for Project Management exercise). The team initially went ahead with no leader and later person characterised by Belbin as CO started taking leadership which was helpful for the team. The team had good mutual relationships with other members and used visual charts when sketching the plan, reviewing the plan. Professional ethics are maintained throughout the project which is the biggest advantage for the project success. Celebration of project milestones and its success are very important to improve the morale of the members is considered to be one of the team weaknesses. Any team before starting the project must have a leader and it is the leader who assigns the roles and responsibilities of the team members clearly. One of the main leadership qualities is the flexibility in their approach, style in adapting to the situations, communications with the team members. It is not always necessary that leader should have technical skills, but a little amount of knowledge in the particular field is sufficient for managing the project. Conclusion: Organisational behaviour is very important for project management and using Belbin profiles in dividing the organisation is helpful in achieving the objectives. Team work is important for the project to succeed and lies on every individual of the team. It is important for the leader to motivate the members and constantly encourage them for the effective functioning of project teams. Belbin team life cycle shows that evolution of teams and tells the effective functioning of teams. The decision making procedures are important for projects success and has to be reviewed consistently. Project planning is considered to be the important phase in project management and plan gives only the direction. It is important for the team to learn from mistakes. Introduction TVS Motors is the third largest two wheeler manufacturers in India and one among the top ten in the world with annual turnover of more than USD 1 billion 2008-2009 and is the flagship company of the USD 4 billion TVS group. The company has four plants located in Hosur and Mysore in South India, Himachel Pradesh in North India and one in Indonesia. The company has a production capacity of 2.5 million units per year. TVS strength lies in the design and development of new products. TVS delivers total customer satisfaction by anticipating customer needs and presenting quality vehicles at the right time and right price. The customer and his ever changing need is our continuous source of imspiration.TVS always stood for innovative, easy to handle, environment friendly products, backed by reliable customer service. TVS manufactures a wide range of products as shown below. Motorcycles Apache RTR, Flame DS 125, Flame, Jive, Star City, Sport Variomatic Scooters Wego, Scooty Streak, Pep+, Teenz Mopeds TVS XL Super, TVS XL Heavy Duty Step thrus TVS Neo, Rockz (TVS Motors, 2010). The main objective of this essay is to evaluate the project management of a sub system (Fit and Finish Engineering section part of RD) in the TVS Motors and suggesting improvement points for betterment of the project management. Organisation Structure Any organisation exists to achieve the objectives by maintaining good relationships with its customers and its employees. The main objective of organisation is profitability. TVS Motor Company Mission Statement We are committed to being a highly profitable, socially responsible, and leading manufacturer of high value for money, environment friendly, life time personal transportation products under the brand, for customers predominantly in Asian markets and to provide fulfilment and prosperity for employees, de