Project Life Cycle Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Life Cycle - Essay Example During this stage a suitable response to the problem is documented in a business case alongside recommendations that detail solution alternatives. Feasibility study comes handy to examine if each alternative addresses objectives of the project before making the final recommendation. In the feasibility the team asks the question â€Å"can we do the project?†And in justification the question â€Å"should we do the project?† is asked. Planning is the next stage that serves to further develop the project solution. Here, the team makes a detail study of the work as it identifies the project steps and resource requirements and at the same time come up with a working strategy to help meet the set goals. To accomplish this, the team comes up with an outline of the tasks, activities, dependencies and timeframes. It is this point where the project manager develops the project budget to help control and monitor expenditure during implementation stage. Together all this is referred to as the scope management.The other important consideration is risk management, an aspect which looks into matters that pose possible threats to the whole process. Here, â€Å"high-threat† potential problems are established along with the measures that are to be taken (Kanda, 2011). Finally, the project manager documents a quality plan; detailing on quality targets, control measures, and assurance alongside an acceptance plan. During this third stage, the project plan is set on motion to carry out the task of the project as the team monitors the progress and make necessary adjustments, which are also recorded as variations from the original plan. In addition, this stage involves reporting on progress through regular team meetings. The information gathered here helps to maintain control over the path taken by the project through analysis of activities performance when comparing the output to the project plan. . Status reports delivered in

Court cases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Court cases - Essay Example Frye v United States ruled on in 1933. In this case, Frye was convicted of 2nd degree murder. Attorneys for the defendant proposed an expert witness to testify as to results he discovered using a ‘deception test’, which is similar to modern day lie detector tests. The expert witness elaborated on how blood pressure is monitored by this device. The expert felt that scientific experiments showed that negative emotions, such as fear or anger, produces a rise in blood pressure. The expert then deduced that the same would occur for someone who is lying, since there would be a fear of detection of the lie. It was further reasoned that speaking truth would be natural, and so no emotion such as guilt or fear would enter the picture, and hence no rise in blood pressure. (FRYE V UNITED STATES) The Supreme Court ruled that there is a difference between (1) expert testimony gained through training and lengthy work experience in the field versus (2) expert testimony that is based on experimental research that has not yet gained solid scientific backing in the science community at large. As a result, the proposed testimony of the expert was not upheld as admissible evidence (FRYE V UNITED STATES). The ‘Frye Standard’ thus became a well known basis for future court cases to allow scientific techniques as admissible evidence only if it is already ‘generally accepted’ in the relevant scientific community. The second case is Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (DAUBERT V MERRELL DOW PHARMACEUTICALS, INC) Daubert was a 1993 product liability case where the Supreme Court had to determine what type of scientific evidence is admissible in court. Daubert sued Merrell Dow due to birth defects that occurred in two of their children. The mother was taking the drug Bendectin, which was manufactured by Merrill Dow. Science did not provide a direct link between the drug and any birth defects. Statistical data was proposed as an alternate solution, but

Marketing concepts: Qatar airways

Marketing concepts: Qatar airways Advertising is an indirect way of communication which influences the target segment to consume their product or enjoy their services. The study of this advertisement will help us examine the concepts of consumer behaviour used in the promotion of the Premium Terminal of Qatar Airways. This will help us determine the reasons for requirement of a premium terminal and also study key elements used which attract the passengers. Most of the passengers travelling by first and business class could relate to this advertisement, hence resulting in its success. Qatar Airways is the national airline of Qatar and has its headquarters based in Doha. According to Mr Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Doha International Airport and Qatar Airways For a visitor, the first point of contact with Qatar is generally the airport and it is their driving priority to ensure that the best-ever facilities welcome first-time and return visitors. It gives all its first class passengers an access to the top end spa facilitie s and even body massages to relax themselves. The new Doha Airport will set a benchmark for all the future airports. It will be an international signature for the vision of Qatar, he declared in London during a ceremony to unveil the Master Plan of new Airport. This advertisement is a part of multi-million dollar global campaign designed to demonstrate the assets of the airlines and to increase its awareness among masses. Its one of the three advertisements which are a form of extensive brand campaign launched by the Qatar Airways for its extensive promotion which include the Lounge, the Appetizer and the Journey. However we are going to analyse the Lounge Commercial. We shall now look into background of the product which is Qatar Airways. Background The background is going to give us an insight about history of the airlines and an overview of its current position. Qatar airways is among the fastest growing airlines with an unmatched in-flight service based on what Porter (1985) would refer to as the competitive differentiation (Porter, 1985). Initially the airlines were privately owned by a royal family of Qatar. It became operational from 20th January 1994. But at present, this airline is partially owned by private investors, while the government holds 50% stake. Qatar Airways has managed to push the boundaries in aviation industry achieving what other airlines have been unable to do. The company follows a long term growth strategy, which includes addition of a new aircraft every month to their growing fleet size and inauguration of the New International Airport at Doha by 2011. Qatar airways have a unique Privilege Club which is one of the most generous loyalty clubs in the world. Its members have an access to a range of exclusive services and benefits designed to make their travelling experience comfortable and rewarding. Since we have a rough idea of the product, we will now study the association of this advertisement with different cultural dimensions used by Hofstede, as this will shape a path for the application of other relevant theories. Hoftedes dimensions :- Geert Hofstede introduced the five dimensions of culture which distinguish between different cultures across the world and help the marketers in the development of advertisements. This advert satisfies the Hofstedes dimensions of Culture. High Power Distance- Since the premium terminal at the Doha International Airport is exclusively for the first and business class passengers and not for the economy class, it relates to the Hofstedes high power distance. Its so because there is a lot of difference in the quality of services provided to different classes be it economy or first class. It even relates to the culture of Qatar. Masculinity- According to Hofstede, Masculinity stands for a society in which gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. The main elements portrayed in this advertisement are ego, high status and comfort. The high level positions are mostly held by men in Gulf countries like Qatar. Thus Qatar is a highly masculine country which is very well depicted here. The business class is still considered to be male dominated. Thus we see a man enjoying the premium services at the Qatar lounge. The people in such social cultures give a lot of importance to status and money and are ego-oriented. Thus this brand helps its customers to associate themselves with high status and power. Individualistic This term refers to a culture in which everyone is expected to look after themselves. As we can see, the man shown in advert is individualistic because hes independent. Further the use of a mobile phone and laptop enhance his individuality. As perceived, all the first and business class passengers have the privilege to enjoy unique services like spa, sauna, Jacuzzi etc. Thus as an individual, they like pampering themselves. Now since the idea of advert has become pretty clear after studying the Hofstedes dimensions, we can now focus on some more theories to explain the whole concept in depth. To start with, lets understand the purpose of using some specific objects and signs in this advert. Semiotic Analysis Semiotics can be defined as the study of the correspondence between signs and symbols and their roles in how we assign meanings (Solomon, 2007, p 103). Every advertisement demonstrates a symbolic meaning. Semiotics is an apt way of understanding an advertisement and is often used to analyse it. If we talk in terms of marketing, it is thus the study of how these marketing environments and advertisements of their products make efforts to re-create the meaning of acting on peoples sensual awareness of tastes, sounds, smells, images, and words. Rather, we would not exaggerate the point if we say that as humans, we are the meaning machines in that human beings tend to get through everything that is sensed with meaning (Desmond, 2003, p 183). It is interesting to know that meaning of an ad is based upon the interpretation of the viewer, as much as on the people creating it (Langrehr Caywood, 1995). As a result of this, the people will think at an individual perspective and therefore will interpret the advert in many ways based on their socio-cultural environment, personality and knowledge. However from the semiotic point of view, every marketing message has three components: an object (product), a sign (symbol), and an interpretant or meaning, and is commonly used for analysing different types of advertisements (Schiffman Kanuk, 2004) as a result of which it is selected for this purpose. Many symbols have been used as semiotics in this advertisement each of which defines something different. The object is Qatar Airways, the Iphone is the symbol. It can have different meanings based on the individual interpretations. It can be taken to represent the luxury and high social class of the passengers travelling through the Qatar Airways. Whereas on the other hand, it could be thought to help its passengers connect to their loved ones. While from another perspective it may represent a person as an individual as many scholars consider the use of cell phones as individualistic. They have shown the passenger, a porter and an air hostess in the advert. But if we analyse carefully, they have not shown the face of any of them. This is so because they dont want their target audience to deviate from the product, rather they want them to concentrate just on their product and amazing services they provide to their customers. There has been the use of various elements which can be interpreted to be associated with royalty and high class, like the laptop, iphone, comfortable chair, vintage items, porters carrying the suitcases of first and business class passengers. The market research measures are mostly based on the visual elements, and not verbal elements, used in the advert. The quality work and giving personal attention to each of their customers is their main objective and trademark. The premium terminal at Doha International Airport provides exclusive services to its first class and business class passengers. These services include fine dining and spa facilities and even massages. The passengers can unwind themselves by pampering themselves with a relaxing Jacuzzi, sauna or a soothing spa and even indulge in some rejuvenating treatments from facials to body massages given by strained therapists perfecting in the aromatherapy (See Appendix 1). The whole process of sauna or spa is depicted in a segment of this advertisement (See appendix 2). The use of objects like Gardenia flowers, bamboo, aqua marine stones for massage, steam, bath tub, and wind chimes relate to the exquisite royal services provided at the terminal. The wind chimes can be perceived as a symbol of relaxation and peace of mind while the other elements used relate to the materials used during a spa or sauna. This demonstrates the extra effortsl made by the authorities at the premium terminal to give the highest standard facilities to their current customers and to attract the potential customers. There has been an extensive use of the purple colour in the advert which leads us to give a thought to why they have used purple as the primary colour. Colours:- The colours convey meanings mainly in two primary ways which can be either the natural association or the psychological or cultural symbolism. The association of colours may arise from the political beliefs, superstitions, religious beliefs, historical reasons, cultural beliefs etc. The purple colour relates to the self knowledge. It is the union with your higher self (Colour Therapy). Qatar being a royal country associates well with the colour. The Qatar Royalty Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani and his better half Sheika Moza bint NaseerAl-Missned have been seen supporting this colour many times. In a recent event, the Royalty wore a tie of purple colour while his wife wore a purple dress (See Appendix 3). Thus there has been the use of Purple colour in the logo of Qatar Airways as well as the uniform of the crew. One of the reasons can be that this colour is used in their country flag (See Appendix 4). The use of purple as the primary colour has its own significance (Color Wheel P ro) -The flowers like lilac, orchids are purple in colour and are very expensive and rare, thus signifying wisdom and extravagance. -The purple colour represents the royalty as this colour has been used by people of high rank or authority since ages. Thus implies visionary leadership. It symbolises luxury, comfort, power, wealth, respect and independence. This use of purple colour represents the royalty and high class passengers travelling by Qatar Airways. It also explains the luxurious and comfortable services provided by the airlines at their premium terminal at the Doha International Airport. It shows the passion and dedication towards their customers. The premium terminal of Qatar Airways in Doha is a luxurious brand in itself. It gives us a royal feel and demonstrates a life of luxury and comfort. We are now in a condition to associate the high class and luxurious social life with the behaviour of the consumers. Social class and Consumer Behaviour The behaviour of the consumers differs a lot across different social cultures. This depends highly on their socio-cultural values and their economy as well. Qatar is one of the fastest growing economies and continues to grow at an astonishing pace. It continues to deliver a wide range of high standard products to the International community. Its nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has averaged surprisingly 27.2 % over the time period of 5 years (2005-2009). The Qataris have second highest GDP per capita incomes in the world and hence Qatar is the second richest country in the World. According to the Qatar Economic Review 2010, the people in Qatar spend the second largest amount of money on transportation after their housing. Qatar is a premium brand. The consumption of such a prestigious brand is viewed as a status symbol and whose price, even when higher by the normal standards, is considered to further enhance the signal of wealth. It has been revealed by the researchers that perceived limited supply of products enhances the consumers value and preference for a brand (Verhallen 1982; Lynn 1991; Pantzalis 1995). Items that are in limited supply have high value, while those readily available are less desirable. Rare items command respect and prestige (Solomon 1994, 570). As we know that the number of seats in Business and First class is very less, therefore the rich people take pride in travelling by these classes as it makes them unique. Qatar is a country of royal and high class people. Thus the premium terminal is devoted to this higher and royal segment of the society where they are facilitated with all the desired comforts. We have analysed the product and its features by now. The next step involves the relevance of the product to consumer and how the consumer relates to the brand. Kapferer Brand Identity Prism The branding has now changed from just identifying the product to dealing with the meaning of different brands through expanded brand identity systems. The entry of new system of brand identity is considered to be a great advancement towards a much more sophisticated version of branding, which suggests that in order to be successful and to stand out, different brands need to be imbued with human characteristics and traits (Aaker 1996; Kapferer 2004). Brands are thought to have a personality that consumers use as an avenue for expressing themselves or to experience those emotional benefits which differentiate the brand from others. We will now discuss the role of a consumer in influencing how brand personality is perceived. This is formulated on the basis of the fact that as consumers using a brand tend to build trustworthy relationships with it, they reinforce the positive attitude towards that preferred brand (Phau, L. Lai, K.C. 2000). Now Kapferer has explained the brand identity prism in the form of a six sided prism shown below :- Physical Appearance :- Every brand contains an external specificity which is physical appearance. This is the core of the brand and its value. It is the first step towards the building up of a brand. It represents the product features and attributes. The logo of the Qatar Airways is the head of Oryx gazelle which is an African antelope which lives in herds consisting of dominant males. This goes with the masculine society of Qatar. Since most of the country of Qatar is made up of deserts, therefore they have used this animal to represent the geography of Qatar as well. Use of purple colour is another way of identifying the brand as a status symbol. As mentioned earlier, this colour is perceived as used by royal and high class. So the people travelling by first and business class are able to connect to it. Brand Personality :- This is a way in which the brand talks about the quality of services offered and at the same time, it indicates a human being. Thus it measures those characters of the consumers which relate to the brand. Some of the features as perceived in this advert are high class, status and superiority. Relationship :- Every brand has the aim of maintaining healthy and long term relations with their customers. Thus it stands on the trust and associations. This is achieved through the great ambience, royal and comfortable environment provided by Qatar Airways. As seen in this advert, the facilities like spa, dining facilities with world class wine, porters carrying your luggage, etc add to the ambience and make customer feel special by providing superior customer services. Culture :- This refers to the aim and values of brand. In this advert, the brand i.e. Qatar Airways possesses the culture of Qatar, country of its origin. Most of the brands possess not only personality but also culture. Thus we can see the elements of high standards in this advert. There is commitment to work and hospitality towards their customers. Reflection:- The reflection shows the customers view of product. The reflection has to be such which helps the consumer relate to that particular brand. The Qatar Airways have been awarded the status of 5 star airlines, thus associated with high social class and prestige. For e.g. the passengers travelling by first and business class will consider themselves to be from a rich background as they get all the special and unique services. Self image: The self image relates to the features of advertisement of the brand which the customer can relate to. It goes hand in hand with the personality of brand. It is very helpful when it comes to understanding the behaviour of consumers as they will buy or consume the product corresponding to their self image. Thus it is the internal reflection of customer. The premium terminal for first and business class passengers gives them a feeling of inner satisfaction and thus makes them feel special by providing them out of the world facilities both on and off the ground. Despite the advert being quite apt, there are still a few things that could make it somewhat better. Limitations The advertisement focuses on only the first and business class passengers leaving aside the economy class. This biased behaviour might receive some mixed reactions from the people travelling in the economy class. Then we have noticed that as perceived by the advertisement, the culture represents an individualistic side, whereas Arab countries like Qatar are collectivist countries. Therefore, it may happen that the people may not connect themselves to the individualistic man shown in the advert. Hence they wont interpret the advert as the marketers want them to. Moreover the word count prevented me from interpreting the advertisement on basis of Maslows Hierarchy of needs. Conclusion The advertisement is designed in such a way that helps the target audience to connect to it. The people interpret these adverts differently on the basis of their culture, knowledge and beliefs. We made use of the Hofstedes dimensions in order to get a clear idea of the cultural associations with the advert. Later we studied the semiotics used in it and how it relates to the consumer using the Qatar Airways. The colour theory was explained to emphasize on the importance of the purple colour used for the uniform of the crew and the logo. We can also analyse that how it gives an insight about the culture of Qatar and also associates with the passengers. Last but not the least; Kapferer Brand Identity Prism was used to judge the way a consumer perceives a particular brand as this model says that a consumer is what he consumes. REFERENCES Aaker, D.A. (1996) Building Strong Brands, New York. The Free Press. Bear, Jacci H. Purple Color Meaning Colors That Go with Purple and The Meaning of the Color Purple. Available at: http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/colorselection/p/purple.htm. [Accessed 18 December 2010]. Brand Identity Prism | mba4you.net. Available at: http://www.mba4you.net/index.php/2009/04/11/brand-identity-prism/. [Accessed 9 December 2010]. Brand Identity Prism by Kapferer. Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Brand-Identity-Prism-by-Kapfererid=1215591. [Accessed 9 December 2010]. Color Wheel Pro: Color Meaning. Available at: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html. [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Color Matters Symbolism and Emotions. Available at: http://www.colormatters.com/symbolism.html. [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Corporate Travel a 5-star experience | Qatar Airways Qatar. Available at:http://www.qatarairways.com/qa/en/corporate.html. [Accessed 4 December 2010]. Desmond, J. 2003. Consuming Behaviour. 1st ed. Palgrave Macmillan. p 183. Fredric W. Rohm J. 2010. Inner Resources for Leaders. American and Arab Cultural Lenses. Available at: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/innerresources/vol2iss3/rohm.pdf. [Accessed 11 December 2010]. Hofstede (2001), Cultures Consequences, 2nd ed. p 297. Hofstede Masculinity / Femininity Traits. Available at: http://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/HofstedeMasculinity.html. [Accessed 7 December 2010]. Hofstede, G. 1991. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, London: McGraw-Hill Book Company. Kapferer, J.N. (2004) The New Strategic Brand Management, Creating and Sustaining Brand Equity Long Term, 2nd ed. London. Kogan Page. Langrehr, F. Caywood, C. (1995). A semiotic approach to determining the sins and virtues portrayed in advertising. Journal of Current Issues Research in Advertising. 17 (1) pp. 33-47. Land a Great Career with Qatar Airways | Qatar Airways. Available at: http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/careers.html. [Accessed 7 December 2010]. Lundrigan, B., Biology of Mammals and S. Sanders. 2005. Oryx gazella, Animal Diversity Web. [Accessed December 9, 2010]. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Oryx_gazella.html. Lynn, Michael (1991), Scarcity Effects on Value: A Quantitative Review of the Commodity Theory Literature, Psychology and Marketing, 8 (1), 45-57. Manchester United re-financing: Is Qatar closing in? | Mail Online. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1337936/Manchester-United-financing-Is-Qatar-closing-in.html. [Accessed 8 December 2010]. Porter, M.E. 1985. Competitive Advantage. New York. The Free Press. Pantzalis, Ioannis (1995), Exclusivity Strategies in Pricing and Brand Extension, Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Arizona. Phau, L. Lau, K.C. (2000) Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, Volume 9. Number 1. Palgrave Macmillan pp. 52-69(18). Qatar Airways Spends Over US$ 2 Billion To Create A First Impression Benchmark Airport | Qatar Airways Press Release. Available at: http://www1.qatarairways.com/global/en/newsroom/archive/aboutus_news_07dec03.html. [Accessed 8 December 2010]. QATAR Airways premium terminal ad wins top accolade. Doha Business, classified,, Travel, Advertising, B2B. Available at: http://doha.biz/2010/04/19/qatar-airways-premium-terminal-ad-wins-top-accolade/. [Accessed 4 December 2010]. Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Available at: http://www.qatarairways.com/privilegeclub/en/homepage.html. [Accessed 4 December 2010]. Qatar Airways rebrands 360east | design, media, technology. Available at: http://www.360east.com/?p=353. [Accessed 11 December 2010]. Qatar Economic review. July 2010. p 10-14 QNB Capital. Available at: http://www.qnb.com.qa/csportal/BlobServer?blobcol=urlenglishdocblobtable=QNBNewDocsblobkey=idblobwhere=1276061427064blobheader=application/pdf. [Accessed 18 December 2010]. Qatar Airways India Qatar Airways Profile Qatar Airways History. Available at: http://www.iloveindia.com/airlines-in-india/international/qatar-airways.html. [Accessed 9 December 2010]. Rich Quotes Business Quotations about being rich. Available at: http://www.woopidoo.com/business_quotes/rich-quotes.htm. [Accessed 11 December 2010]. Schroeder, J.E. (2006) Brand Culture, New York. Routledge p-106. Schiffman, L.G Kanuk L.L. 2004.Consumer behavior, 8th ed. New Jersey, Pearson Prentice Hall. Solomon, M. 2007. Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, 8th ed. Pearson Education International. Solomon, Michael R. (1994), Consumer Behavior, (2nd ed.), Boston, MA.: Allyn and Bacon. Using the Colour Violet in Colour Therapy. Available at: http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour_therapy/violet.php. [Accessed 4 December 2010]. Verhallen, Theo M. (1982), Scarcity and Consumer Choice Behavior, Journal of Economic Psychology, 2 (2), 299-321. Appendix 1:- Appendix 2- The narration of the advertisement- Its 36 to 38 degree Celsius No higher, no lower Its soft but not too soft Its just enough to smooth things out Its all of this Half way to anywhere With plenty of time to spare With Qatar Airways premium terminal in Doha Five star service for first and business class passengers Qatar Airways- The Worlds five star airlines. Appendix 3

Times Have Changed Essay -- essays research papers

Times Have Changed Times have changed dramatically in the past thirty years. The style of living, the sizes of families, and education have all changed dramatically. During the fifties, sixties, and most of the early seventies teenagers were thinking about going off to war or starting a family. Very few teenagers coming out of high school were thinking about college. Slowly as times started to change, more and more people were going off to college. Today at the end of the nineties, very few people do not go off to college. Instead of high school students thinking about starting families or going off to war, they have a bigger decision to make. What college to attend. This decision will affect one's entire life; how they live, where they work, what size family they are going ...

The Current Marketing Environment of the Airline

This report will evaluate the current marketing environment of the airline industry in Europe. This will involve looking into different area of the airline industry such as deregulation and open skies, current economic conditions, distribution channels, pricing and revenue management. It has been proved that the airline industry is probably one of the most competitive and complex industry in the world. According to Mintel report (2009) in the past decade, air travel has grown by 7% per year. Travel for both business and leisure purposes grew strongly worldwide. Scheduled airlines carried 1.5 billion passengers last year. In the leisure market, the availability of large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 made it convenient and affordable for people to travel further to new and exotic destinations. Distribution channels In all areas of marketing links must be made between the customer and the product. These links are known as distribution channels. Airlines use a variety of these channels. All of them are giving rise to particularly intense debate at the present time, because the different channels result in different costs, and because they vary in the extent to which they allow airline to exercise proper and necessary control of the channel. S, Shaw (Airline Marketing & Management, Fifth Edition, Page 194). Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) It’s impossible to talk about distribution channel in the airline industry without mentioning GDSs. For nearly twenty years, the subject of Global Distribution Systems has been a controversial one in the airline industry, and it remains so today. S, Shaw (Airline Marketing & Management, Fifth Edition, Page 204). Until the early 1970s, contact between airlines and their distribution outlets was mainly by telephone, this was both time consuming and costly and became unsustainable as the industry grew. As the 1970s preceded, the first, pioneering carries set out to automate airline/travel agency contact. In order to do so, direct links were provided from each agency location into the airline’s reservations computer. Instead of phoning, agents could use the keyboard of Visual Display Unit to make bookings direct with the airline concerned. Besides saving a great deal of time, this also gave agent visual confirmation that required reservation had been made. Airline today In the old, regulated environment, European airlines relied on external channels (travel agents, consolidators, tour operators) to distribute up to 90 percent of tickets. Distribution via these channels typically cost an airline 17 to 20 percent of the ticket price, accounted for by travel agency commissions (including bonus â€Å"overrides†), computer reservation company booking fees, credit card fees, and the airline’s own costs (such as its salesforce). Since then, CRS technology and economics have changed a lot: thanks to the development of alternative distribution channels, such as the airlines' Internet websites or their call centres, consumers have nowadays access to a multiplicity of information and booking channels for air transport services. About 40% of all airline tickets in the EU are booked via alternative channels and about 60% via travel agents and CRSs. Bookings made via the major global distribution systems (GDS) accounted for 64% of all airline passenger revenue in the U.S. in 2008 for U.S. point-of-sale transactions, but the figure has dropped below 50% in Europe, according to (Mintel report realised 2008) in the size, role and value of GDSs in travel distribution. The decline in Europe has been sharper, falling from 56% in 2006 and 51% in 2007 to 47% in 2008.The decline is attributable, in large part, to the rapid growth of low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair, that rely exclusively or primarily on direct bookings. 69% of the nearly â‚ ¬18 billion in air travel sold by European LCCs in 2008 was booked via their own Web sites. Deregulation and open skies Throughout its history, the airline industry has been constrained by decisions made by politicians and governments. Government have controlled where airlines can fly, and aspects of their product planning and pricing policies.’ They have also had a major involvement in the industry through the ownership of airlines. They have always had a role in regulating airline safety standards, a role that remains important and, principle, relatively non-controversial. For many years, and in almost all aviation markets, government controlled airlines’ route entry and capacity and frequency decisions. In recent years, substantial regulatory reform has taken place, giving carries the challenge and the opportunity of responding to a free economic environment. In describing the system of economic regulation of the airline industry, a fundamental distinction has always been between the regulation of domestic services which are solely under the control of one government, and international services, which require the agreement of at least two. Until relatively recently, almost all domestic travel market were highly regulated. The Agreement replaced and superseded previous open skies agreements between the US and individual European countries. Deregulation is also stimulating competition, such as that from small, low cost carriers. The EU's final stage of deregulation took effect in April 1997, allowing an airline from one member state to fly passengers within another member's domestic market. Beyond Europe too, ‘open skies' agreements are beginning to dismantle some of the regulations governing which carriers can fly on certain routes. Low-Cost Airlines in Europe Budget airlines’ have been one of the main drivers of growth in intra-European travel, over the past decade. However, after a period of rapid expansion, it seems that the sector is now reaching maturity and that the growth is likely to slow down in the coming years. The low-cost business model is geared to short-haul routes, which allow for a quick turnaround of aircraft. As such, LCCs are increasingly in competition with other modes of travel, especially rail, which has undergone a substantial upgrading in recent years. The European Air travel today has many more cheap air travel options than a decade ago. The partial deregulation of air travel in Europe in the 1990s allowed the rise of low-cost airlines, and flying even short distances in Europe is often cheaper than taking the train. The days when national flagship carriers dominated air traffic and were regarded as national symbols are gone, and the fierce competition from low-cost airlines has led to bankruptcies and mergers of several large and reputable airlines. But with so many more airlines operating in Europe, comes the difficult choice for travellers to figure out how to get the best prices and the services they desire. Low-cost airlines have exploded onto the European market in recent years, and routes that were traditionally covered by national airlines now face the stiff competition of low-cost carriers. Current economic conditions The correct down fall of the economy has hit hard in all most every industry, but has hit even harder at the European airline industry. The air transport sector has been hit hard by the ongoing financial and economic crisis. Both demand and supply have been retreating at an almost unprecedented pace since early 2008. According to the IATA, international passenger demand fell by 5.6% in January 2009 compared to the same month in 2008, which was a full percentage point worse than the 4.6% year-on The current economic conditions cause consumers to make cutbacks. France, however, remains on a growth curve after several years of declining popularity. City and short breaks are increasingly popular as holidaymakers head for France for a quick-fix getaway. Even with the current economic conditions people are still using the air transport for quick getaway, †¢ European airlines affected The hardest hit has been the ‘flag carriers' who have suffered hugely due to the slump in premium and business travel, coupled with the sharp rise in fuel prices. British Airways Plc in November posted a larger than expected first-half loss and predicted revenue would slump by one billion pounds by the end of 2009. Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG in October provided a gloomy outlook for the airline industry and reported that its third quarter operating profit fell 21 percent. Air France-KLM posted a current operating loss of 543 million Euros for the six months ended in September, compared with a current operating profit of 592 million Euros for the same period a year earlier. Pricing and revenue management Pricing is a crucial activity for the air transport industry as airplane seats a perishable commodity. Before deregulation of the major air travel market, pricing were a relatively a simple matter, as carries generally enjoyed a monopoly, duopoly or at least a cartel situation with other carries on most routes. (Mintel June 2009) Since deregulation, the focus has switched towards filling the aircraft, which has led to greatly increased price discrimination (charging different customer segments different prices). The results has been rising load factors but decreasing real yield, as prices charged to marginal customers can be brought down to very low level (e.g. Ryanair) since the marginal cost of carrying one more passenger approaches zero.( Mintel 2009) Soaring fuel costs and impending EU Emissions measures spell danger for the industry. Load factors are also slipping, as a ‘golden period’ of fleet expansion threatens to cause a state of ‘over-capacity’. To maintain the cheap ticket model, carriers are going to have to drastically raise their ancillary revenues (in-flight sales, charges and add-ons) and increasingly expand into accommodation and transfer services, in order to cope with the economic and legislative storms they are flying towards.

Leadership and Nib Bank

Report-on-organizational-behavior-of-NIB-Bank. doc LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL May 31, 2008 Mr. Retd. Cdr. Tabassum Teacher, Organizational Behavior Bahria University Karachi. Sir: We herewith present our â€Å"Term Report† authorized by you as a requirement for this course. In this report, we have tried to provide analysis on organizational behavior of NIB Bank. We hope we have covered all that was required for the report. If there be any clarification demanded, we would appreciate a call from you to our group members. Sincerely, Maaz Khalid Muhammad Usman Badar Muhammad ZainACKNOWLEDGEMENT In the name of â€Å"Allah†, the most beneficent and merciful who gave us strength and knowledge to complete this report. This report is a part of our course â€Å"Organizational Behavior†. This has proved to be a great experience. This report is a combine effort of, Maaz Khalid, Muhammad Usman Badar and Muhammad Zain. We would like to express our gratitude to our organizational be havior teacher Mr. Retd. Cdr. Tabassum, who gave us this opportunity to fulfill this report. We would also like to thank our colleagues who participated in a focus group session.They gave us many helpful comments which helped us a lot in preparing our report. 1. 3 Objective The general purpose of this study is to determine the satisfactory level of job among the employees of British American Tobacco Bangladesh. We have selected British American Tobacco because this company has a multinational job environment and ensures the maximum level of efficiency among the employees. 3. Research Methodology A. Pilot survey We did a pilot survey for questionnaire testing (Vogt, 1999; Babbie, 2004) to detect error, validity and scale reliability.We used a 5 point- scale (â€Å"1† for Strongly Disagree to â€Å"5† for Strongly Agree) developed by Likert (1932). The pilot survey was done during in the month of January-February, 2008 with 30 respondents from 6 enterprises. A total numb er of 20 HRM items were used for this study. The sample size was 30 at managerial (mid level) jobs and simple random was used to obtain feedback and the scale validity of the survey. The calculated Chronbach’s alpha (? ) value is 0. 9063, which indicates the high eliability of the instrument. B. In-depth Interviews The second stage of our research method was in-depth interviews with the 12 executives. Semi-structured open-ended questionnaire was used for in-depth interviews. A simple random sampling method was used at this stage. The questionnaire was distributed to the executives to get feedback. C. Full-scale survey Full scale questionnaires were administered in the month of April, May and June 15, 2008 within 53 manufacturing organizations out of 103 (BEPZA statistics, May, 2008) organizations in economic zone, DEPZ.That covers 216 respondents from the total of 512 in the surveyed enterprises with the response rate of 42. 18% (26. 18% of 825 total entire populations). A si mple random sampling method was used for selecting the enterprises. From the pilot survey and in-depth survey finding and suggestion, questionnaire was modified and surveyed for this stage. D. Sample For the survey, a random sampling was chosen for selection enterprises from the A, B and C category of DEPZ organizations. A total number of 53 enterprises were selected from 103 and that covered 216 respondents. HISTORY OF THE DHAKA BANK LIMITED: DHAKA BANK LIMITED was incorporated as a public limited Company on 6th April 1995 under the company act. 1994 and started its commercial operation on June 05, 1995 as a private sector bank. The bank started its journey with an authorized capital of Tk. 1,000. 00 million and paid capital Tk. 100. 00 million. It is now one of the most renowned private banks having multiple branches in the major cities of the country. DBL has started its business with all the features of a corporate bank and the products of both corporate and retail banking syste m to facilitate the daily clientele requirements.Among all of its products Credit card is one of the most important financial-tool of the modern banking sector, Though DHAKA BANK is always trying to improve their services in this field, but in today’s competitive business world, banks need to offer additional concentration to the clients’ requirement in order stay at the top. Therefore, besides dealing with the general attributes of the Credit card, they also have been trying to put more emphasis on the customer benefits and other customer related facilities.The Credit Card Division is a new venture for the bank, so the card is only for the use within the city and therefore it is facing a huge competition against the existing local Credit Cards in the market. Moreover, DHAKA BANK LIMITED has expressed tremendous interest to create a competitive market for their Credit cards. GOAL SETTING THEORY: Goal setting theory was born out of Aristotle’s theory of final cau sality and then researched in greater detail by Edwin A. Locke in the 1960s to understand how goals can influence an individual’s performance.The basic theory behind goal setting is that human behavior is galvanized and governed by goals and ambition. Today, goal setting theory is very important not only for those studying organizational psychology, but for anyone seeking to increase productivity, enhance performance and reach for greater heights of success. Goals are able to motivate and spur you to meet your ambitions because it helps you focus your efforts on that objective. Every objective we have requires a list of tasks to be executed.By setting goals, we’re able to persist with the list of tasks and are compelled to develop strategies in order to reach our objective. The incredible results achieved with the goal setting theory explain why it’s not just colleges, universities and sports institutions that use it to obtain results, but in businesses too wher e survival is based on ensuring positive outcomes. Having objectives is not the issue, but striving to attain them is. Following are the points that help you to achieve goals: †¢ State your goals in specific terms.Understand what your goals are and know why you’re selecting these goals. †¢ Make your goals attainable. There is no point setting goals you believe are unattainable. The best way to do this is to break your goals down into actionable steps. †¢ Measure your goals. Set a timeframe, or a milestone that can put the pressure on you to meet your objectives. ANALYSIS: To what extent you and your colleagues feel that the company sets challenging goals for itself and expects quality performance and outstanding production? Answer Log Table: Low |1 |2 | |standards | | | | | |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 | |1 |Tells group members what they are supposed to do. |- |- |4 |18 |3 | |2 |Acts friendly with members of the group. |- |- |3 |5 |17 | |3 |Sets standards of performance for group members. – |2 |5 |12 |6 | |4 |Helps others feel comfortable in the group. |- |- |4 |8 |13 | |5 |Makes suggestions about how to solve problems. |- |2 |4 |6 |13 | |6 |Responds favorably to suggestions made by others. |- |- |6 |10 |9 | |7 |Makes his/her perspective clear to others. |- |- |2 |16 |7 | |8 |Treats others fairly. |- |- |2 |5 |18 | |9 |Develops a plan of action for the group. |- |1 |14 |7 |3 | |10 |Behaves in a predictable manner toward group members. – |3 |12 |2 |8 | We asked different questions relating to the leadership style from NIB Bank employees to know which leadership style their leader uses and we found that two of the leadership styles that are task oriented and people oriented or relations-Oriented. The results we got from employees of NIB Bank that 53% of the employees feel that their managers are relationship oriented leaders and remaining 47% feels that their managers are task oriented leaders so this shows that the NIB Bank has got the com bination of leaders that are task oriented and relationship oriented.This shows that NIB Bank have the leaders that perform better in all situations and can manage their teams more effective in favorable conditions and also in very unfavorable conditions. PATH GOAL THEORY: House’s PATH GOAL THEORY describes how leaders can motivate their followers to achieve group and organizational goals and the kinds of behaviors they can engage in to accomplish that Path Goal theory suggests that effective leaders follow three guidelines to motivate their followers.The guidelines are based on the expectancy theory of motivation. Effective leaders who follow these guidelines have highly motivated subordinates who are likely to meet their work goals and perform at high levels. Determine what outcomes subordinates are trying to obtain in the workplace. For example, what needs are they trying to satisfy, or what goals are they trying to meet? After gaining this information, the leader must hav e control over those outcomes or over the ability to give or withhold the outcomes to subordinates.Reward subordinates for performing at high levels or achieving their work goals by giving them desired outcomes. Make sure the subordinates believe that they can obtain their work goals and perform at high levels. Leaders can do this by showing subordinates the paths to goal attainment (hence the name path goal theory), by removing any obstacles that might come along the way, and by expressing confidence in their subordinates capabilities. House identified four types of behavior that leaders can engage in to motivate subordinates: Directive behavior (similar to initiating structure) lets subordinates know what tasks need to be performed and how they should be performed. †¢ Supportive behavior (similar to consideration) lets subordinates know their leaders cares about their well-being and is looking out for them. †¢ Participative behavior enables subordinates to be involved in making decisions that affect them. †¢ Achievement-oriented behavior pushes subordinates to do their best.Such behavior includes setting difficult goals for followers, expecting high performance, and expressing confidence in their capabilities. ANALYSIS: We designed a different questionnaire especially for the TOP MANAGEMENT OF NIB Bank and the questions were related to PATH GOAL THEORY as the questionnaire belongs to the top management so we asked four top level managers of NIB Bank to fill this questionnaire list of their names and designation are given below: By studying our questionnaire we found different behaviors of leadership and there contribution in the organization’s behavior.We found different results for each behavior after analyzing the answers of our respondents which are given below: Directive Leaders Behavior: The most contributive behavior in leadership behaviors in NIB Bank having 27% share in leadership behavior was found to be directive behavior whic h is being frequently used in the organization we targeted. The benefit of using directive form of leadership which is characterized by greater control, defining what needs to be done, allocating resources and establishing clear expectations.The directive leadership behavior takes a more pragmatic approach to handling affairs in NIB Bank and is characteristically utilized in corporate turn-around situations. Supportive Leaders Behavior: The second most contributory behavior in leadership behaviors in NIB Bank having 26% share in leadership behaviors was found to be supportive behavior the results obtained shows that supportive behavior used in NIB Bank is almost the same as the use of directive leadership behavior with having difference of only 1% which is not a very big figure. Participative Leaders Behavior:Participative leadership behavior is the least used behavior in NIB’s culture with having 23% this shows that the NIB Bank leaders do consult with their subordinates whi le making a decision but at low frequency as compared to other PATH GOAL leadership behaviors. Achievement Oriented Leaders Behavior: The third most contributory behavior in leadership behaviors in NIB Bank with having percentage of 24 this shows that the leaders of NIB Bank set challenging goals for their subordinates with low frequency but they expect from their employees to perform at their highest level.The results of our analysis shows that there is no such big difference in leadership behaviors used in NIB Bank and this is a very good sign for NIB Bank that their leaders manage their subordinates according to different situations with different leadership behaviors. NORMS: â€Å"Norms are shared group expectations about behavior and how members ought to behave. † Norms provide groups with control and predictability and give members a sense of security and comfort. Norms are also the way we express values, attitudes and beliefs.Norms put boundaries on members that may be narrow or wide. Many norms in organizations originate from management expectation or from work rules and procedures of the formal organization. They develop and operate in informal groups. Many central work group norms revolve around productivity. Norms can put lower and upper limits on productivity. Controlling productivity not only spread the work ought to more people for a longer period, but also prevents management from rising its expectation.Some organizations have norms emphasizing social concern for employees this norm foster taking care of people who needed or other wise contributing to the quality of an employee’s life at work. Management can foster many norms that contribute to organizational success, such as norms effecting work quality, helpfulness or customer relation. A norm of secrecy may be critical to keep competitors from stealing ideas. ANALYSIS: Norms are of four types. The one we quire about is social norm. The reason of selecting social norm is that our culture is based on collectivism so the importance of social norms is very high.The situation of norms in NIB’s culture is fair enough according to the result of our questionnaire most of the employees follows the norms set by the organization and they are satisfied with them, but we found some employees who are willing to improve the conditions i. e. norms the calculated value of there willingness is about 25%. The major factors of social norms are friendliness, trust and mutual support. According to the employees in NIB Bank the conditions of trust and friendliness are pretty good and they are willing to increase mutual support.It is necessary to emphasize on social arrangement norms in country like Pakistan because of its collectivism culture and these norms helps the organization to get the participation of their employee in positive manner to achieve the goals set by the organization these kind of norms also motivates the employees to remain in organization because of f riendly culture in organization social arrangement norms also helps the employees to interacts with each other in more friendly manner which will increase trust among them and with there top management.If these norms are valued by the management then it will positively affect employee satisfaction and productivity and it will also enhance the organization culture CONFORMITY: â€Å"Conformity can be defined as a change in a person’s behavior or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or a group of people†. Who does Conformity affect? Conformity can affect people in all different ways, positively and negatively. In task-specific situations, those who are led to believe they do not have the required aptitude, their tendency to conform increases.Individualistic societies are less likely to conform than collectivistic. How does Conformity work? An individual will most likely conform if: ? The majority consists of experts ? The members of the majority are important to the individual ? The individual can relate to the majority on some level–there are similarities between the individual and the group ANALYSIS: Through our questionnaire we analyzed the pattern of answers given by employees and we found many similar answers in regard of questions and it hows greater extend of conformity among employees of NIB Bank as they have almost marked similar options given in each questions of our questionnaire. The level of conformity shows there good relations and understanding with each other which also shows that they will not leave each other in hard times but on the other hand the high level of conformity indicates the danger of employees saying always yes to other’s decision instead of thinking critically about it and there might be a chance of employee saying yes under pressure in the fear of loosing group and may result in loss of any useful idea.After Asch’s study about conformity, in the world the conformity is decreasing as the level of knowledge and awareness are increasing and the result of our questionnaire shows high level of conformity, we can suggest the reason â€Å"collectivism culture of Pakistan† TEAMS: A group whose individual efforts result in a performance that is greater than the sum of the individuals input.Guideline for team leaders set by NIB’s management: |Definition: | |Has a natural authority, generates commitment and builds team cohesiveness by setting a clear vision for the team, reflected in core values. |EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR |LESS EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR | |MORE OF THIS |LESS OF THIS | | | | |Communicates frequently a realistic picture of future plans so people know |Takes independent decisions and asks the team to follow | |what has to be done and why? instruction without questioning. | | | | |Arrives at decision by consensus, where appropriate, to gain team |Waits for team to ask for information instead of proactively | |commitment. | keeping them informed of the ‘big’ picture. | | | |Is supportive of the team / individuals and helps in overcoming problems to|Exhibits high personal energy when initiating action but does not | |achieve targets. |follow through. | | | | |Leads by example; displays behavior which reflects the desired work norms |Talks about the theory and principles of leadership, yet not | |and values. reflected in behavior. | | | | |Spends time finding out the way individuals want to be managed and work |Uses the abilities of staff for own personal and career gains; | |together; adapts leadership by style to match. does not share benefits and praise but passes on criticisms and | | |blame. | |Maximizes the available resource by constructing well-balanced teams; | | |acknowledges and helps others values the unique contributions of each |Does not seek to identify and discuss the values of the team to | |member. |ensure everyone is working towards a common goal. | | | |Identifies own lea dership style and strengths, adapts these to specific |Avoid admitting own mistakes or limitations. | |situations. | | | | | |Follows up with dissenters or blocker to contain negativity. | Guidelines for reducing conflicts between team members set by NIB’s management: |Definition: | |The ability to pull together individuals or parties in conflict by diffusing emotions, identifying the critical issues and helping got reach a| |compromise; keeps the focus on common objective to meet both needs. |EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR |LESS EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR | |MORE OF THIS |LESS OF THIS | | | | |Confronts covert conflict; draws out sensitive issues or relationships. Lets conflict escalate before taking any action. | | | | |Uses all-round knowledge to manage interdepartmental and |Seeks to diffuse conflict after listening to only some of the parties | |intra-departmental conflicts. |involved; jumps to conclusions about others based on earlier | | |situations. |Keeps the focus of conflict resolution on the long term overall | | |interests of the organization. |Adopts a singular style or strategy across different contexts. | | | | |Facilitates open discussion between conflicting parties. |Does not identify brewing conflicts from emotional reactions. | | | |Remains impartial when dealing with others; listen to arguments of each|Suggests own solution to conflict without identifying the source. | |party. | | | |Focuses too much on emotional aspects of the conflict rather than the | |Adapts approach to the situation and the culture of the conflicting |solutions. |parties. | | | |Conveys inconsistent messages to conflicting parties, thus resulting | | |in the further confusions. | ANALYSIS:After visited to NIB Bank we discovered that the NIB Bank employees comprised of self-managed works teams according to employees responses they feel greater level of responsibility on their shoulders and they manage the things like planning, scheduling of work, and assigning task to the member of team, control the pace of the work, make decisions through discussion between the team members, take actions to solve the problem and also interact with their customers and we found that the employees called their colleagues relationship officer rather than sales officer.QUALITY MANAGEMENT: CREATIVITY |Definition: | |Is able to conceive original, imaginative and valuable ideas to solve problems and improve processes. |EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR |LESS EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR | |MORE OF THIS |LESS OF THIS | | | | |Develops ideas and thinks through to an innovative conclusions. Prefers to use tried and tested methods to solve problems rather than| | |think of new and innovative solutions. | |Questions traditional thinking in order to initiate new perspectives. | | | |Sees opportunities as risks; talks about the dangers and risks rather| |Builds on information and ideas provided by others. |than the potential benefits. | | | |Acts quickly to grasp and dev elop novel opportunities. |Actions ideas giving appropriate thought only to short-term benefits | | |and immediate impact. | |Improvises effective solutions when faced with ambiguous and difficult | | |situations. Is overly absorbed in own ideas; hence is not as aware of the | | |environment or important events as required. | |Tests out ideas for practicality and feasibility. | | | |Over relies heavily on past experience; does not think laterally. |Seeks out pools and thinkers and puts them together to generate ideas; | | |uses tools and techniques to simulate others’ creativity. | | CONTINUES LEARNING: |Definition: | |A strong personal commitment to self-development reflected in an underlying curiosity to know more about people, things, issues, stretching | |beyond what is routine or required job knowledge. |EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR |LESS EFFECTIVE BEHAVIOUR INDICATOR | |MORE OF THIS |LESS OF THIS | | | | |Identifies skills needed for the future and takes steps to devel op |Over emphasizes the importance of won professional development at the | |self and others. cost of work priorities. | | | | |Actively seeks professional development opportunities, both inside |Relies too heavily on own knowledge does not accept constructive | |and outside the organization. |feedback. | | | |Seeks opportunities to work with the others of diverse backgrounds, |Sticks to own area of expertise rather than broadening one’s focus. | |experience, viewpoints. | | | |Develops oneself for tangible rewards rather than more and grow. |Has personally established on-going systems or habits for information| | |gathering through professional memberships, literature and contacts. |Waits for others to identify own development needs. | | | | |Sets clear personal development targets which focus on behavioral |Considers skills lifelong; continuously resorts to tried and tested | |improvements as much as professional / technical skills. methods. | | | | |Volunteers for assignme nts which contribute to individual learning |Prefers to cover up mistakes rather than seek feedback and learn. | |goals. | | | | | |Accepts and seeks feedback from others; learns from past mistakes. | CONCLUSION: After studying and a analyzing the results of our research on the various issues related to the organizational behavior within the organization that are affecting the performance of its management and particularly its employee, followed by several general and specific list of questions we asked and the interviews we conducted during our visit to the two branches of NIB bank one on â€Å"Tariq Road† and other on â€Å"I.I Chundrigar Road†, we are able to draw out our conclusions about this report. NIB Bank is a global bank which is also operating in Pakistan. The organization behavior regarding goal setting for employees we have concluded that the management of NIB Bank is effective in setting goals according to the competition in the banking sector of Pakistan . As the requirement of growing banking sector it is necessary to set challenging and effective goals so as to become market leaders.Despite of setting challenging goals the employees of NIB Bank are satisfied with these challenging goals and performing well to achieve the goals which were provided to them. The management style in NIB Bank is kind of participative management in which employees are given chance to share their ideas for decision making so the NIB Bank is utilizing its employees by getting different ideas from different employees this provides greater chances for getting better and innovative ideas.Not only this but from this activity employees feel motivated because they think they also have the authority in decision making process and they are also a part of an organization. During the interview of an employee NIB Bank he told us â€Å"All the employees here are given title of relationship officer rather than any other designation and at the beginning of each month the top level management visits every branch and arrange meeting with all the employees of the branch and discuss the problems faced by every employee and immediately tries to resolve the problem and this is the major motivating factor for us†.For motivating their employees management uses different types of motivating tools the innovative ones we found are ESOP (Employees Stock Ownership Plan) and the pay plan for less productive workers. By providing ESOP the employees gains the ownership of an organization and work hard not only for their benefit but also to maximize the profit of the organization. The next thing about the pay plan for less productive workers the company motivate their employees whose performance is not up to the mark by giving them the salaries equivalent to the market value of the any other employee of same rank.As the motivation and reward systems are up to the expectation of the employees so the employees are very much satisfied and don’t want to leave the organization. The leadership styles in NIB Bank are mixture of both the task oriented and relationship oriented but it is little lien towards relationship oriented leadership style. The leader’s behavior consisting of all the leaders’ behavior provided by House’s Path Goal Theory having almost same percentages with very low variation.Overall we concluded NIB Bank inherits strong organizational culture having values for leaders and as well as for employees and the organization behavior is up to the mark for any company being in Pakistan.RECOMMENDATION: 1. NIB Bank should offer training and development sessions for undergraduates; this will help NIB Bank in future while recruiting employees. 2. NIB Bank should reduce conformity by giving rewards to employees for suggesting more effective idea in the benefit of the organization this will not only provide wider range of ideas but also act as a motivational tool for their employees. . NIB Bank should arran ge extra curricular activities like cricket matches on inter bank level to further improve relations between employees as other organizations are organizing (for example ABN Amro, Mobilink, etc. ) 4. NIB should introduce â€Å"Dress-Down† day i. e. employees should be given permission to wear dresses other than formal dresses on certain days so as to make them relaxed while work.

Abortion Reflection essays

Abortion Reflection essays Some of the general issues with abortion are the conflicts between pro-life and pro-choice. My issues with abortion are whether to abort or not to abort. The general issues and my personal issues are very similar. However, I feel strongly about both sides. And it is with my most recent tragedy that I have come to this decision. General pro-life advocates are for life no matter what the situation or what the person feels. General pro-choice advocates delve into peoples situations and feelings and learn to understand why abortion needs to be a choice. Society needs to find a median between the two. I used to be a pro-life person. I believe that all life is a miracle from God and we should cherish whatever is given to us from Him. However, since the loss of my daughter, who was born with a disease incompatible to life, my views on abortion have changed. I needed to be given a choice, during the 1st trimester when the disease can be found, whether or not to continue with the pregnancy knowing that my daughter would die anyways. Dont get me wrong, I am ecstatic that I had the chance to hold her and meet her and love her while she was alive, but her death was inevitable. Society needs to understand and understand is the biggest word here. They need to research reasons as to why abortion is sometimes necessary. Not just for the sake of a diseased baby, but maybe even for the sake of a mother who may not survive childbirth. I do not believe that abortion should be done if there is not a reason to. And that is where the stopping point should be. Because of these above reasons abortion needs to be pro-choice, within reason. How can this be mandated? We talked about writing letters in class and protesting for attention to the subject. We need to gather women in both groups together and teach the understanding of pro-choice. And we have to provide better centers for women to go when t ...

Jack the Ripper essays

Jack the Ripper essays Jack the Ripper Essay, Page 1 On August 31, 1888, at 3:45 a.m. the body of a woman was found in Whitechapel. Her throat was cut, deeply enough that her spinal cord had been severed. Her abdomen was cut open so much that her skin could be lifted and laid down as a flap to expose her internal organs, some of which were missing. Upon further inspection, the coroner learned her genitals had also been mutilated, with two small stab wounds. On September 8, 1888, at 6:10 a.m. Scotland Yard learns of another murder. The victim was a female, found with her throat cut, and disembowelled. The morning of September 30th would bring a new feeling of unease to Scotland Yard. Two women were found murdered, one of which only had her throat cut. The other, however had facial mutilations so severe that it was nearly impossible to make an identification. Like the previous victims, her throat was cut, and she had been disembowelled. The killer took her uterus and left kidney. Near her body, a bloody piece of her apron, as well as an inscription on the wall reading The Juwes are the men who will not be blamed for nothing were found. Up until this point Scotland Yard was unable to indicate a possible profession the killer may have worked in, as there was no need for a knowledge of the human anatomy. After this murder, however, Scotland Yard began to look for a qualified surgeon, or a surgical student, as the missing organs were difficult to find and remove quickly, unless there was a prior knowledge Then, on November 9, 1888, a fifth woman was found in her home. Her throat was cut, and once again her entire body was mutilated. These women were all prostitutes, or unfortunates as they were called at the time, who lived in lodging houses and workhouses. Fifteen other murders were committed around the same time which tend to be attributed to him as well. Howeve...

Adinkra

The very essence of the word ‘Adinkra’ is ‘farewell’; as such, every symbol that is encapsulated in the whole body of Adinkra communicates or corresponds to a unique message or idea. Documented history has it that, as far back as the nineteenth century, unique Adinkra symbols were used in customary and traditional rites of society to depict the ideological stance of that society as regards to the ceremony or event in question. The art was showcased in various forms during festivals, funerals, marriages among others. Today, the use of Adinkra has been widely extended to cover almost every facet of life. In recent times, Adinkra symbols have become a suitable choice of branding the modern, competitive, and trendy Ghanaian clothing lifestyle. Over the years, Adinkra has gone beyond traditional cloth-making designs and has been fashionably incorporated into the designing of t-shirts, buttons, linen fabric clothes. Today, young people would prefer t-shirts with screen-printing inscriptions like ‘Me firi Ghana’, with an Adinkra like ‘Gye Nyame’ boldly designed beneath. Indeed, some acclaimed Ghanaian fashion designers like Mawuli Okudzeto, Kofi Ansah among others, have received international recognition by carving such niches for themselves, with popular brand names like MKOGH and PKOG, just to mention a few. Beyond that, apparels like footwear have also had a taste of Adinkra art. Artisans who make local footwear like sandals, slippers and ‘ahenema’ have also included these symbols in their designs. For instance, a locally made ‘ahenema’ has a carefully designed Adinkra symbol of three concentric rings encircling each other, known as ‘adinkrahene’ at the nose of each slipper. One other art is the design of bags with Adinkra symbols woven or sewn on the surface with fabric, (often kente pieces). The most popular addition to this art collection is the use of these designs in making jewellery and other fashion accessories. It is popular to see rings, pendants, earrings, necklaces, anklets, beads and many others designed with symbols like ‘ohene aniwa’, ‘epa’, ‘nkonsonkonson’, etc. In Ghana, the Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC) is a typical example of an enterprise in this regard. Thus, on the international stage, Adinkra symbols have been employed as one of, if not the best indigenous symbols that give all manner of clothing, a unique fashion identity easily recognisable as truly Ghanaian. Quite apart from clothing, these symbols have formed part of locally designed fine and visual art. This has been such that, in creation of several Ghanaian sculptures, Adinkra has been one of the most recognisable themes. There many instances of metal and wooden sculpture designed into Adinkra. More often than not, these visual and fine arts have been used by individuals for decorative purposes. It is now commonplace to see a wall hanging in someone’s home, at the lobby of a corporate institution or in the sitting area of an afro-centric restaurant with the caption ‘welcome’ and a popular symbol like ‘Gye Nyame’ underneath it. Without a shred of doubt any Ghanaian who sees this in any institution in any distant part of the world, feels quite homey and comfortable, to some extent, immediately. Moreover, the designs of wooden plaques lately have also adopted Adinkra symbols. For instance, African institutions of late present Adinkra-designed plaques to individuals and entities, as gifts and awards for splendid performances. Woodcarvers as at today, still design stools for domestic as well as traditional purposes with these popular symbols. In Akan traditional homes, stools often known as ‘asesedwa’ are carved out of wood with these designs. Today as a unique of catching up with the west, local artisans have modernized their design of home furniture placed in areas like the living room, dining room and the study. Beautiful and attractive-looking sets are being carved daily. A common example is wooden coffee-table, which has an Adinkra symbol like ‘sankofa’ at the base with a glass plane on the surface. Hence it is ordinary to see the prolific use of Adinkra in fine and visual art because of the inherent artistic merits they possess. In present day, the use of symbols for trademarks and emblems cannot be over-emphasized. In corporate branding and marketing, many institutions have resorted to the use of symbols, both tactile and visual, as a mark of exclusivity and Adinkra are symbols of no exception. There are countless examples of institutions of all sorts who have adopted these symbols as logos, emblem, etc. In Ghana, for instance, a corporate institution like HFC Bank uses the symbol ‘ebankese’ as its corporate logo. Interestingly, Vodafone Ghana has designed their recharge cards such that whichever denomination has a long strip Adinkra symbols in front of the card. A popular plastics company by name ‘Strong Plast Ltd’ also uses the popular symbol, ‘Gye Nyame’ as a brand name for its plastic chairs. A very popular flour mill also uses ‘sankofa’ as the brand name of it flour. On a lighter side, along the coastal area it is fun to see fishermen decorate their canoes with these symbols as an interesting way of ownership.

Prints Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Prints - Essay Example The lines of the frames of the structure in the portraits can be used to illustrate just how irregular lines on artworks resulting from etching can be. Despite the fact that the structure is supposed to have some uniformity in terms of thickness of lines, this is not the case for this portrait. Portraits made from etching also make sure that there are some parts of the art materials that are not reached by the ink. This is because of the ground,which is acid resistant. The surfaces of the metal that are covered by ground are not eroded. In the portrait it can be seen that there is a significant portion of the portrait that are unaffected by the ink. This implies that they are the areas that came into contact with the parts of the metal that were covered by the ground, thus unaffected when the whole metal was dipped into acid. The color of texture and color of these areas are exactly the same as the texture and color on the paper on which the art was

Main plans to turn Motorola around Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Main plans to turn Motorola around - Essay Example As set forth by Crockett and Reinhardt, the first element of his plan was to bolster management, by reviewing performance and then firing the bottom 10% of managers. He then targeted the product line for new development within the mobile phone and semiconductor departments. When Zafirovski came to the company, Motorola had a wide variety of products distributed among its six businesses. His third move was to reassess the portfolio with the objective of determining whether the company should retain all of the businesses or reposition the mix. With those operational and product strategies moving forward, he turned to fiscal concerns. In an obvious move for a company with financial troubles, he sought to cut costs. By reducing the workforce, shutting down some factories, and trimming the number of cell phone platforms, he increase the cash flow of the organization. Finally, he targeted the company's long-term debt for reduction (58). By employing these five broad strategies, Zafirovski was able to increase performance and product lines, focus his team on what was working, and increase the cash-flow and gross profit margins of the organization. As a member of the board of Motorola, the first question is how I would approach the hiring of a successor. With Zafirovski's duties being transferred to the CEO for the moment (Haley 1), it is important that the board move swiftly to replace the operations officer. That said, however, succession planning is an "ongoing and complex endeavor that is necessarily broad in scope. It therefore presents significant barriers to both implementation and long-term maintenance" (Bowley, 6). The board cannot afford to rush the process and take the chance of putting the wrong person in such a key position. Zafirovski's well-planned moves put Motorola into a state of good transition, and the right candidate must be able to consolidate the internal an external relationships of the company. Using key industry contacts and networking with other members of the business community, I would conduct research into finding a pool of qualified candidates. Once I had identified five or six qualified and avai lable people, I would arrange in-depth interviews with them to determine their compatibility with the CEO, mid-level management, and all strategic partners of Motorola. I would also ascertain the candidates' management philosophy and style, as well as ask their opinions of Zafirovski's strategies. I would request that they confirm whether they would maintain the focus set by Zafirovski or, if not, what their strategies might be. Predicated upon the answers I received, I would vote to hire the candidate that presented the best mix of strengths within the parameters I had set. As to keeping Zafirovski's reforms, my answer is an unqualified yes. In two years, his strategies had turned the company around from losses to profits, and positioned Motorola ahead of some of its key competitors, Lucent Technologies and LM Ericsson (Crockett and Reinhardt, 58). The shareholders of the company have to be happy with that

Hydroponics figure with capion and fianl data table Lab Report

Hydroponics figure with capion and fianl data table - Lab Report Example However, the experiment was done accurately as the results were astonishingly bad. This may be due to inaccuracy in the measurement of calcium or other factors. The control of the amount water, sunlight, temperature, the pH value of the hydroponics was also significant as it also contributed to the resulted found. The numbers were arrived at by observing, measuring and recording the values in the above table. We did this experiment to determine the effect of calcium on Spinach Tyee. It was done over a period of six weeks. Throughout this time, we were capable of observing changes in the plants as from group to three, for instance, the color of leaves were different as from group one to three. All the three groups experienced different colors of the leaves, the amount of roots, and leaf sizes, etc. this indicated that calcium has an effect on the growth of Spinach Tyee. I think the first thing that went wrong is that is somehow when measuring the amount of calcium. This might have affected the color, stem diameter, the percentage of leaf discolored among others. It was also challenging to measure the pH of the solution because some people are color blind. The color of leaf was different for all the groups. The diameter of the stem for all groups were different as in the case of group one, the diameter was smaller compared to group 2 and three

Life is college Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Life is college - Essay Example I further hoped that, through healthy relationships both with fellow students and the faculty, I would acquire great approach in learning and handling major courses in my field of choice. To me, being able to value relations with people, time, energy, besides personal abilities is an important duty if one aims for achieving real success. It was in my hope to meet different kinds of people with whom to share ideas or insights for I hoped as well to develop my communication skills and become an assertive and competent student through the span of my college life. Aside from fruitful interactions with other individuals, friends and colleagues alike, I also expected to have a rewarding experience with the academic facilities and resources of ISU, thinking of the possible ways I could utilize them to be equipped with adequate skills and knowledge toward scholastic excellence. On the other hand, however, I was anxious of encountering difficult subjects and instructors who might fall short at teaching the class with efficient tools and methods. I know the subject areas I am often weak at and I normally struggle to cope with subject matters that seem too technical or too analytical to comprehend. Inasmuch as I can, I would typically go an extra mile of studying and asking for all the help I can obtain to prepare myself for major exams and presentations. One of my greatest fears before was being left behind and failing to get by with the mental and emotional challenge of tertiary level studies. I feared loads of curricular assignments and take-home projects that could set me in conflict with time management and especially the potential to produce something that deserves an A. I thought that if I would not be able to interact sufficiently with people due to language barrier and other factors, I might find it hard to pass and finish college with grades that mu st make my parents proud. Now that I am in the eighth week of college at ISU, I must confess

The Cold War (US History) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Cold War (US History) - Assignment Example Therefore, U.S involvement in the Korean War was an indirect message to the Soviets that America would not allow the spread of communism in around the world. (2) TRUMAN-When he left office on January 20, 1953, Harry Trumans popularity rating stood at just 22%. In the decades since his presidency he has risen to between 6-8 in most historians rankings. What was it about his presidency that caused this revaluation of him? President Harry S. Truman’s is more popular today because he is credited dropping two atomic bombs in Japan that ended World War II. Truman’s strong support of the Marshall plan for rebuilding Europe, the creation of the United Nations, the â€Å"containment† of communism, the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO and the creation of the State of Israel also helped his popularity. (3) NATIONAL SECURITY-Was there any way to insure national security against the communist threat than the methods used during the late 1940s and 1950s (sometimes called, collectively, "McCarthyism")? Explain, With the benefit of hindsight, the ‘containment’ policy of the U.S was the best option to confronting the spread of communism. The eventual success of American cold war policy supports this assertion. Although, it is possible the U.S could have achieved success with more diplomatic overtures towards communist regimes like the Soviet Union and China. There is little proof that this method would have been more effective however. McPhee I. (2008). Harry Trumans First Term: The Rising Popularity of One of Americas Great President. Retrieved from http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/harry_trumans_first_term#ixzz0DjFR0hJc&B The National Archives. Teaching With Documents: The United States Enters the Korean Conflict. [Online]. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, MD 20740-6001. Retrieved from

Research Paper About The Business And Operations Of Fedex

About The Business And Operations Of Fedex - Research Paper Example In addition to that, FedEx bought Kinko’s in 2004 and rebranded the offering into FedEx Office. With this brand, the company provides office supplies and printing services to consumers including computer use products, USBs, paper, business and greeting cards, stationery, mailing boxes and supplies, etc. b. Role of technology FedEx uses topnotch technology and MIS in everyday business that allows tracking of big and small packages across the globe. With the most advanced telecommunications and computer networks in place, a customer is able to log into the FedEx online website and track the exact location of the shipment and have an accurate understanding of when the product will reach destination. FedEx also offers FedEx Ship Manager at fedex.com, FedEx WorldTM Shipping Software and well staffed call centers (fedex.com) for the help of customers in tracking their shipments. In addition to that, FedEx utilizes advanced software and programs to assist employees in their everyday work and to be more efficient. For corporate clients, the company has innovative products such as Critical Inventory Logistics service through FedEx Supply Chain. c. Product life cycle FedEx is a mature company that has been in business since 1973. FedEx is in the maturity stage, as shown in the diagram1. However, the company has managed through innovation, new product development, increased customer outreach and efficient business practices to expand this cycle with higher sales volume. d. Price elasticities The logistics industry is highly competitive with not only international players such as DHL, FedEx and Maersk but also an abundance of local (domestic) players in various countries. This means high price elasticity for some of FedEx products. In the U.S. market alone, the two biggest players are UPS and FedEx and customers switch between the two based on the product and service prices. e. Substitute products and service The logistics industry is directly related to businesses and consumer demand for their products. A logistics company is run on a huge investment and requires use of infrastructure. The occurrence of FedEx substitutes is limited to competition such as UPS and DHL; there are no real substitute options for logistics companies that can service the customer need satisfactorily. Market trends Economic activity has a direct impact on the demand for logistics and transport. The logistics industry sees a boom when economies are robust and active: businesses have consumer demand for their products and the timely delivery of the products is based on the performance of the transport company. Conversely, a slow or bad economy shows a sluggish demand for logistics services. The economic downturn of 2007 impacted the logistics industry in a negative way. With a recessing global economy, trade slowdown and conservative consumer demand, logistics industry also faced scarce demand. a. Consumer behavior FedEx has individual customers as well as business or corporate customers. Both types of consumers have a few definite needs. They want specialized, customized products that target their specific needs. While creating a customized product for a corporate customer is more feasible and cost effective than creating one

The Cold War (US History) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Cold War (US History) - Assignment Example Therefore, U.S involvement in the Korean War was an indirect message to the Soviets that America would not allow the spread of communism in around the world. (2) TRUMAN-When he left office on January 20, 1953, Harry Trumans popularity rating stood at just 22%. In the decades since his presidency he has risen to between 6-8 in most historians rankings. What was it about his presidency that caused this revaluation of him? President Harry S. Truman’s is more popular today because he is credited dropping two atomic bombs in Japan that ended World War II. Truman’s strong support of the Marshall plan for rebuilding Europe, the creation of the United Nations, the â€Å"containment† of communism, the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO and the creation of the State of Israel also helped his popularity. (3) NATIONAL SECURITY-Was there any way to insure national security against the communist threat than the methods used during the late 1940s and 1950s (sometimes called, collectively, "McCarthyism")? Explain, With the benefit of hindsight, the ‘containment’ policy of the U.S was the best option to confronting the spread of communism. The eventual success of American cold war policy supports this assertion. Although, it is possible the U.S could have achieved success with more diplomatic overtures towards communist regimes like the Soviet Union and China. There is little proof that this method would have been more effective however. McPhee I. (2008). Harry Trumans First Term: The Rising Popularity of One of Americas Great President. Retrieved from http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/harry_trumans_first_term#ixzz0DjFR0hJc&B The National Archives. Teaching With Documents: The United States Enters the Korean Conflict. [Online]. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, MD 20740-6001. Retrieved from

To Kill a Mockingbird Songs Essay Example for Free

To Kill a Mockingbird Songs Essay Dont Matter: Akon The society didnt want to see the African Americans and White folks living together. However, some wanted to be equal. Talk about the prejudice and how separated they two were and how some tried to stay equal. (Atticus and Calpurnia, and Scout and Jem sitting with the African Americans during the trial are two examples.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIktHTbtn2o Tiptoe: Imagine Dragons- In Maycomb County, everyone always kind of sneaks around, never letting anyone really know what theyre up to, so in a way theyre always tiptoeing and never letting anyone know that theyre there. Little Bird: Ed Sheeran- A way this can Relate to to kill a mockingbird i by saying that if you do reckless things without thinking, youll often regret the. Like when he says And its not complete yet, mustnt get our feet wet,†¨Cause that leads to regret, diving in too soon hes saying that you need to really plan out and think before diving head over heels in something, and thats exactly what Atticus did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkscjEBaEPc Atticus: The Noisettes- In the beginning it says to kill a mockingbird is to silence the song that seduces you why? Which is saying that when you kill the free flying, joy-bringing mockingbird, youre silencing it forever and selfishly ridding the world of a happiness that it could have potentially brought to others. Waiting on the world to change: John Mayer- At one point he says So we keep waiting (waiting) Waiting on the world to change We keep on waiting (waiting) Waiting on the world to change Its hard to beat the system When were standing at a distance So we keep waiting (waiting) Waiting on the world to change and by saying this he is relating it to how Scout and Jem are just kids and although they can grasp the concept somewhat of what is going on, they are too young to actually be able to do something about it Fix You: Coldplay- This song just kind of totally describes To kill a mockingbird because eventually time will help fix the situation while people just keep trying and failing, which is extremely discouraging inside the book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY9b6jgbNyc For the love of a daughter: Demi Lovato-

Gaming in Education

Gaming in Education EDUCATION RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The effectiveness of game playing activities helps students retain English vocabulary CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Vocabulary is a key element in the second language class. Without vocabulary, no message is conveyed. In communication, vocabulary plays an important role, it requires learners have to acquire many of the words and know how to use them to communicate effectively. Although Vietnamese students realize the importance of learning vocabulary, they neglect in some English courses. In a vocabulary lesson, a vast amount of teaching time is consumed by explanation and definition, classroom blackboards are often littered with masses of new lexical items, and students compile page upon page of word-lists that they rarely have chance to practice. Obviously, vocabulary arises in the classroom regardless of the chosen activity, and in spite of any conscious design on the teachers part. As the result, most students, not just those with learning problems, rarely retain the meaning of vocabulary items. That is why, for most students, learning vocabulary in language lessons is time of failure and disappointment in which they gradually feel boring, often resorting to misbehavior in the classroom and a gradual rejection of the work that the teacher is doing for them. Nguyen Khuat (2003) state that students study the second language, vocabulary learning is regar ded as boring because of remembering unfamiliar vocabulary and their learning habits. With the increasing emphasis on vocabulary in foreign learning, nowadays, various vocabulary teaching methods have been introduced to help students to retain vocabulary items. And it is my experience, as a teacher of English, that vocabulary has to be presented in a way that helps students find language lessons, especially vocabulary lessons more interesting and comprehensible for them to learn, I have chosen the topic: The effectiveness of game playing activities helps students retain English vocabulary. Game playing activities not only can help reinforce students vocabulary, grammar, but also can create a non- stressful and effective learning atmosphere. This paper will aim to investigate the effectiveness of game playing activities in English teaching in my College. 1.1. Background of the school and the students. As a teacher of English for non-major English students at Viet Hung Industrial College (VIC), I can clearly see the present situation of students English knowledge and vocabulary at VIC. The students ability to use English for communication is still limited. This is due to: the students level of English when entering college is low and of mixed ability. Many of the students come from the rural areas, they did not have a lot of chances to practice English at the high school. Some of them have learnt English for the three years or seven years at the high school where only written English is taught. Therefore, they can hardly ever communicate in English. They often feel shy because of poor English knowledge and vocabulary. As a result, the teachers often find it confusing to teach to improve individual skills for the students. Thus, my school has used basic material to teach, that is: New English File Elementary. This material integrates four skills, it helps students revise knowledge and practice skills, which is important to their career. 1.2. The aims of the study. The study aims to investigate the effect of using game playing activities in teaching and learning English vocabulary at VIC. It is also to find out the students interest and progress toward game playing activities in lessons. 1.3. Research questions. 1. Are game playing activities effective in teaching and learning English vocabulary at Viet Hung Industrial College? 2. How do the students react upon the use of games in lessons? 1.4. The scope of the study. There are a lot of activities that help students to retain vocabulary. However, in this study I would focus my research on game playing activities in term of English vocabulary teaching and learning in order to help students at VIC to learn vocabulary effectively. 1.5. The significance of the study. It is hoped that the findings of the study will be useful for the researcher as well as other teachers at VIC to help students vocabulary retention be effective. It is also hoped that students and teachers will have a good habit of using interesting and active activities in teaching and learning vocabulary at VIC. 1.6. Structure of the report. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. Teaching and learning vocabulary. 2.1.1. What do learners need to known about words and word learning? Gain Redman (1986) show that learners should attend to two large aspects when studying a word: Word meaning (conceptual and affective meaning, style, sense relation, collocation, idioms etc). Word formation (grammar, word building, and pronunciation). For word meaning and word formation, we find: 2.1.1.1. Word meaning. In teaching the meaning of word, teachers should teach students that a word have more than one meaning when used in different contexts. For example, the word â€Å"string† has at least fourteen different meanings when used in context. It has four meanings as a verb, five meanings as a noun, and five different meanings when used with prepositions as phrasal verbs. One can say â€Å"The string is very dirty†; another â€Å"He strings in the tree†. Teachers should make the teaching and learning vocabulary process clear and easy for their students when learning any meaning, otherwise students feel bored with learning vocabulary. Nation (1990) suggests that teachers teach meaning to students, they can use techniques and activities to motivate students such as: demonstration, pictures or verbal explanation. 2.1.1.2. Word formation. Students also need to know word form like word grammar and word building in order to use them. For example, for the common prefixes and suffixes, if students know the meaning of un-, dis- and able, this will help them guess the meanings of words like unhappy, disadvantage and sustainable. Another way, vocabulary items are built by combining two words (two nouns, a gerund and a noun, or a noun and a verb) to make one items: a single compound word, or two separate, sometimes hyphenated words (bookshelf, stand-by, air letter). Lewis (1993) points out that vocabulary, which includes not only the single words but also the word combinations that we store in our mental lexicons. Therefore, word formation is a very important in teaching vocabulary. In conclusion, relating to words students have to attend to variety of lexical areas such as word meaning, word formation, word grammar and word use, etc. However, which of these areas the teachers choose to highlight depend on the item they are teaching and the level of their students But to whatever word or what level the students are, word meaning and word formation are the first two areas they must acquire well. 2.2. Games for teaching and learning. Linguists, teachers and students think that language games are a negative activity or a waste of time. Many of them, who have not tried using language games yet, still doubt if these language games would be useful or practically possible with their students. However, there are views which are far different from those above. For them, in teaching and learning, games are one of the most useful strategies to encourage language acquisition. They have been used to promote students language proficiency in variety of aspects: grammar, vocabulary, writing, speaking etc. â€Å"Games should not be regarded as a marginal activity filling in odd moments when teacher and class have nothing better to do† (Lee 1979: 3). In this part, we will explore a clear understanding of game in the classroom. 2.2.1. Definition of games in teaching. In order to understand the concept of games in teaching, we see ideas of the researchers about games in general. Deesri (2002) gives the definition to game as one kind of effective activity that you do to have fun. Hadfield (1990) says that game is a language activity with the rules, goals and elements of fun carried out by cooperating and competing players. Greenal (1990) also defines games as an element of competition between students or teams in the language practice. Thus, we can see that games consist of plays governed by rules, relaxation, cooperation and competition. Games can motivate the students to focus on learning, because they do not feel forced and stressed. For this, games are used for developing skills, vocabulary, or grammar, etc. 2.2.2. Advantages of using games in language classes. Games have advantages and effectiveness in the language classes. What are these advantages? Games are used to motivate students very highly, whenever they have opportunity to play a game, they are encouraged to choose their players and this motivates them to participle in playing game. However, sometimes, choosing the player is made by the teacher in order to help the weaker students interact with the more able ones. As a result, the weaker students are helped to gain confidence or knowledge by being guided by their fellow students. Games are also an element of competition between players. According to Saricoban Metin (2000), games provide competition to enhance the motivation of the students. I-Jung (2005) also suggests that games create the competition for students having opportunity to work together and communicate using English with each other. Thus, competition will help students pay attention to learning and engage in the activities in the class much more. And Nguyen Khuat (2003) also point out that games involve friendly competition and they make students intereste d. These help the motivation for students of English to get involved and participate actively in learning. Students always feel tired of grammatical lessons, words and long time learning periods. Games are used to change learning atmosphere to help students reduce the stress in the classroom. As a result, games will bring students fun and relaxation, they will study more effectively. Richard-Amato (1988:147) shows that â€Å"games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition more likely†. It is clear that students naturally want to play language games because these games can help them practice their language through playing. Therefore, it is the right time to offer them a game when they are tired of acquiring new lessons that they do not want to continue. Carrier (1990) suggests that games can be used to emphasize long formal teaching units and renew students energy before returning to more formal learning. Games stimulate students to work together in role-playing, talking, arguing and debating, and using the language in a variety of contexts. Even when played competitively, games demand a high degree of cooperation. It proves that student-student communication is created. On the other hand, when using a game, the teacher acts as a helper. He helps his students what they need to complete the games, such as: new words, new structures or some suggestions. Carrier(1990) claims that games are often used in the classroom to encourage students participation and corporation and can remove the inhibitions of those who feel intimidated by formal classroom situations. When using games with classmates in groups students do not worry too much about mistakes or they will be corrected by other students. In addition, to each game more proficient students or less proficient ones have their strong points so they can corporate to one another to get their teams goal. Therefore, games help students improv e their team-working and group-working spirit. Finally, games help increase students proficiency, so when students play a game they have to work with others, they interact and use skills concerning language. To complete the game, all the members work together to score as many points as possible. To win the game or to solve the problem, students have to think and answer the questions addressed by the teacher or other students. In order to do so they must understand that the teacher or the classmates order to practice. Games in the language classes can enhance students ability in practicing language because students can use language in the situation provided (Deesri, 2002). Zdybiewska (1994) agrees that games are the good way to practice language, they supply for learners to use the language in the real context. Kim (1995:35) summarizes the advantages of using language games as follows: 1. Games are a welcome break from the usual routine of the language class. 2. They are motivating and challenging. 3. Learning a language requires a great deal of effort. Games help students to make and sustain the effort of learning. 4. Games provide language practice in the various skills-speaking, writing, listening and reading. 5. They encourage students to interact and communicate. 6. They create a meaningful context for language use. 2.2.3. Advantages of Vocabulary Games It is not enough if only advantages of using games in language classes are considered in this study. I have decided to study the advantages of vocabulary games, too. These advantages can be understood as follows: Vocabulary games make fun and relaxation for students in learning words because they are not alone in learning process, they are learning in exciting atmosphere of groups. This activity motivates students to enrich their vocabulary. Nguyen Khuat (2003) also affirm that games create relaxed and fun atmosphere for learners, thus, they help learners learn and remember words more easily. According to Urberman (1998), after learning and practicing vocabulary items, students have chance to use language in an unstressed way. Vocabulary games help English used in the classroom be flexible and communicative through real world context which is useful and meaningful. Frost (2002) says that using pictures, interesting contexts and stories can help memory and giving the students the opportunity to practice the new vocabulary in personalized and meaning tasks are also essential tools. The idea is that if the students are asked to analyze and react personally to new information, it will help them process the language more deeply, facilitating their ability to retain it better. Vocabulary games provide students some chances to discover the meaning of words and the form of words by themselves and efforts to understand them, therefore, new words will be remembered and understood much faster and better. Hadfield (1990) states that when introducing word games paid much attention to reinforce vocabulary. In his opinion, to retain a word in one memory after presentation of it, learners should go through three distinct processes: fixing the meaning of the word in their mind, making the word their own by personalizing it so that it takes on a color and a character for them and become part of their individual word store, and then using it creatively in a context for themselves. Therefore, he classified the games in accordance with these processes: memorization games, personalizing games and communication games. Vocabulary games include many encouraging exercises that really help students revise the learned words effectively. â€Å"Word games are useful for practicing and revising vocabulary after it has been introduced† (Haycraft 1978: 50). Frost (2002) suggests that some activities and games as using word cards, word bag, word tour, etc and with which students can revise words in a funny and meaningful ways. He emphasized that by encouraging the students to retrieve the words in subsequent lessons and repeatedly re-exposing them to what has been presented, teachers are able to counteract the effects of forgetting. Teachers are advised to do this as many times as possible. Uberman (1998) also agrees that games are useful for revising any types of words or aspects of word in a more amusing way than most of the other techniques. Playing a game is a great opportunity to repeat the material in a way which is encouraging and not intimidating. Therefore, games in teaching and learning vocabulary are very useful in the classroom and the use of vocabulary games is a factor to create the lessons more enjoyable, interesting and effective to motivate students to learn vocabulary. 2.2.4. When to use games? Games are necessary for language practice opportunities for both general and specific language skills, and they should be seen as a necessary part of a teaching program, and their use should be planned and monitored. Carrier (1990) suggests that games can be used to open or close a lesson, to relieve tension after a test or concentrated practiced session. Rixon (1981) also shows that games can be used for stages of the lesson. Thus, games can be use at any time that the teacher feels appropriate. It is important they are used positively, to give students enjoyment and useful practice, as well as being used as a thing that reduces harmful aspects in situations where students interest or motivation is flagging. Although games should be used regularly, this should not become a meaningless habit. The elements of surprise and variety should be carefully maintained. However, the mount of teaching time for games will depend on the individual teaching context, but it will probably be a relatively small proportion of the total teaching time. According to Deesri (2002), teachers have to cover contents and materials that the curriculum asks, and it is difficult to combine games into the class. Nevertheless, games become one of the means to achieve teaching objectives and improve students communicated ability and help them gain their goals. The difficult task for a teacher is how to choose the suitable type of game, the time devoted to it, and the opportunity of using it. CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY This chapter provides readers the detailed description of the study, namely the research methodology, the data collection instruments, the data analysis and discussion of the findings. 3.1. The English teaching and learning situations in VIC. English have been taught in VIC for.years, however, English department has been formed for 4 years with 14 teachers. The learners in VIC are mainly vocational students; their need of English learning is very low. In particular, the students of technical departments with about 100 percent male students, they almost have no interest in learning foreign languages. In recent years with the development of the college, VIC has trained a lot of students in tourism and business administration, who with high need of English learning. It is a good signal for the college in general and the teachers of English in particular. The course book is being used in the college is New English file-Elementary. This course book consists of nine lessons with grammar structures, vocabulary, pronunciation, and skills to get students speaking English. A curriculum has been designed to teach the units in the course book in 1 semester and in 75 lesson periods. During the semester, students are required to do three tests that concentrate on grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing to be given marks. At the end of the semester students have to do the written final semester test and the speaking test that of course given marks to be qualified together with 3 marks mentioned above. 3.2. Research methodology 3.2.1. The subjects. The subjects in this study were the teachers and the students in VIC. 3.2.1.1. The teachers: There were 14 teacher subjects in this study. They were all trained in universities in Vietnam with MA in English. Among of these, two teachers have had BA and three have been doing a BA course. They are teaching English to non-English major learners at VIC. They are from 30 to 52 years old with at least 5 years of teaching experience. 3.2.1.2. The students: In this study, there are 100 student subjects were selected randomly from different classes represent different departments in VIC. Their ages vary from 18 to 25. 3.2.2. The instrumentation. 3.2.2.1. Interview: The interview questions (Appendix.) were formatted and used for all the subjects in two separate group interviews (the group of the teachers and the group of the students) to discover their opinions, problems and progress toward the games in vocabulary teaching and learning. 3.2.2.2. Observation: 3.2.2.2.1. A self-observation: A self-observation checklist was created (Appendix.) to ask the teachers and students about their teaching and learning abilities. 3.2.2.2.2. Real observation: The researcher observed the classes of three teachers at VIC to discover how they teach vocabulary and how their students learn. 3.3. Data analysis and discussion of the findings. CHAPTER 4: CONCUSION 4.1. Summary and review of the main findings Games have much more advantages, they are used both entertainment and educational purposes. Using game activities is a useful technique in teaching and learning the English language to non-native students because it creates fun, interesting and motivation in lessons. The research aims to investigate the effectiveness of game activities and the real situation of teaching and learning of Viet Hung Industrial College. The experiment was carried out with the participation of two groups (the group of the teachers and the group of the students) at VIC during a period of 8 weeks. An interview and observations were used as data collection instrument. The result of the experiment shows that in retaining vocabulary, games are the most effective and games also receive positive attitude from the students in the experimental group. Although few students did not really like games, the majority of the students agreed with the use of games in vocabulary classes. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that games should be used for vocabulary teaching and learning at VIC because they can bring about a great deal of benefits to learners. However, the teachers have to pay more attention to some unanticipated problems during the conduction of the activity in order to get successful results. 4.2. Limitation and suggestions for further study. Although the paper has accomplished the objectives set at the beginning, the research can not avoid some limitations. The shortcomings of the present study are essentially about the subject of the study and the content of interview and observations. Apart from that the interview and observations focus mainly on the investigation into games activities based on teaching techniques, so there are possible inadequateness of their content. Besides, the research is carried out in a very limited scope in term of classroom based vocabulary teaching and learning: game activities that help students retain vocabulary. 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