Personal Adult Life

The purpose of this paper is to explore my personal journey through adult development, while incorporating Erikson’s 8 stages of developmental theory. It will take you on a brief introduction through my childhood up to my young adulthood. Touching on some of the trials and tribulations I have encountered and how they have contributed to my resilience’s. How my life’s journey has caused influenced my desire to obtain a career in criminal psychology Concluding, with the goals that success in grad school will help me attain in the remainder of my life.Life is filled with many twist and turns, up and downs. It is up to us the individual what we learn along life’s journey. People will come into our lives and help guide and changes us as well as the lessons, trials, and tribulations we all encounter. Although we have no control over fate, we do have power over our â€Å"driving skills†, and could thus widen or narrow our chance for a smooth, prosperous jo urney. It is beneficial to remember that we are not alone and that we all take this journey into adulthood.Most prominently, no matter how harsh the terrain of the road becomes, we just have to remember that we will pull through and be transformed for the better because of it. I believe that it is my optimistic philosophy that I’ve adopted which has been much solace to me in my own journey in becoming the level headed young woman I am today. It was not at all easy. However, I have been blessed with a great support system and environment. My childhood I learned a lot and matured faster than most of my friends. During what Erikson called the play age 3 to 5 my mom gave birth to my little brother. I wasn’t too happy about this.It is during this Learning to initiative vs Guilt this is where Erikson believed the healthy developing child learns to imagine, through all sorts of fantasy, cooperate with others, to lead as well as follow, fearful and continues to depend on adult s and is still restricted both in development of play skills and in imagination. (Erikson, E. H. , 1963). At first I wanted to try and hid my brother in the closet. My mom said I had a pretty good imagination and a ball of a good time with myself but I also made friends very easy. One of the hardest times in my life occurred two weeks before my 11th birthday.My father was killed. This is during Erikson’s stage known as School age, where he believed it is during this time where children learn to master the more formal skills of life. Such as relating to peers according to rules, progressing from free play to play that may be elaborating structured by rules and may demand formal teamwork, mastering social studies, reading and the necessity of homework. Erikson stated that the child who trust because of his successive and successful resolutions of earlier psychosocial crises is trusting and autonomous, and full of initiative will learn easily enough to be industrious (Erikson, E . H. , 1963). I had a hard time with this because my friends had both of their parents around and I couldn’t understand why I had my father taken away from me.The following year wasn’t that much easier for me. 2 days before my 12th birthday my mom was involved in a serious car wreck and was almost killed During Identity versus role years age 12 to 18 I went through a great deal of things. This stage Erikson believes that a successful early adolescence aquires self certainty as opposed to self consciousness and self doubt. During this time clear sexual identity is established and develops a set of ideals (Erikson, E. H. , 1963). You could say that this is where I really learned that life will keep throwing things at you and you have to learn how to roll with the punches. Starting off with my mom’s wreck at 12, at the age of 16 I was in an abusive relationship and was raped by my boyfriend at the time. My abuse, for example, had brought me much self-loathing, but then I realized I was able to get out and get out alive and this is where I really made the choice where I refused to be bullied in to silence and allow others to make me a victim. I felt each time I fell; I was obliged to obtain strength in order to rise.Thus each time I rose, I was a little stronger than before. During young adulthood 18 to 35 Intimacy & Solidarity verses Isolation I have done my most growing of finding out who I am. Erikson believes that during this stage The successful young adult, for the first time , can experience true intimacy- the sort of intimacy that makes possible good marriage or a genuine and enduring friendship. (Erikson, E. H. , 1963). I dated a guy who is actually my best friend now for seven years, we moved to Vegas and then realized things were not going to work.I wanted to focus more on school and eventually the family life but I gained a great friendship out of the seven years together. I met some of my best girl friends during these years. Vall iant added a stage which he calls Career Consolidation this is where he insists that adult education should help adults live better. He felt that educators help guide learners in better life style directions through education and counseling (Vaillant,G.. & Mukamal, K 2001). I personally have to say that I agree and have always been taught early on that an education is something that no one can take away from you.While during this stage of my life I have had some serious health problems. I have had cyst removed from my left breast which they later found out were in the beginning stages of cancer. I have had to have my gallbladder removed and found out that I have Celica disease. The one positive trait that had proved to be highly efficient in boosting me out of these pits is ambition. I know that too much of it could corrupt a person, but so far it had only empowered my spirit with much-needed optimism.My greatest ambitions is to become a criminal profiler or help start a victim†™s voice program and help counsel abused women; therefore every hardship and pain to me befits an inspiration a way for me to be able to connect with others and their hardships. It has been my optimistic perception of things, that have succored me through my many phases of emotional turmoil. Although this journey had been difficult and even toilsome at times, I pulled through. One of the merits that I have acquired from my past experiences is strength.Strength in mind and spirit is like steel, and the most sublime of its quality can only be heated through suffering each . Another lesson that I’ve learned through my journey up to this point is to appreciate all that life has to offer. Life is short, and my road could abruptly come to a halt at anytime. Thus it is prominent to savor each and every moment of it by focusing on the positive things. My struggles and desolation have procured me to value what I have in order to overcome depression. My family, friends, and other for tunate events in my life have been lights in times of darkness, eminding me that the world is not completely forlorn and bleak. Optimism, along with strength, is all that I need to carry on. And thus I go forth on this journey with the memories of all the people and places I’ve left behind. I know that as long as I possess a goal, I will never be lost. My goal is to become a successful graduate student obtaining my Masters in Psychology with specialization in Criminal Justice and Victomology. I hope to maybe one day work with the FBI and possible become a Criminal Profiler. It had been a most arduous but rewarding journey. My friends and family, especially my father, had made this journey much easier†¦All of these allies and resources have presented me with guidance in the right course. The bumps and craters that I’ve met along my journey held a large role in constituting the person that I am now. I have fallen so many times into the seemingly abyss of despair and struggled against the mirror for just a speck of self-esteem, but I have survived. I understand that there will be greater obstacles and barriers in the future, but I personally believe that pain is a thing to be prized. Someone who does not know pain would not appreciate joy, nor would he obtain the strength to make his journey worthwhile

The Amish Culture

The Amish Culture The Amish are a fascinating people. They live surrounded by cities full of technology. Yet they live without automobiles, electricity, and most modern comforts that are taken for granted by many. Donald Kraybill asks the question â€Å"How is it that a tradition-laden people who spurn electricity, computers, automobiles, and higher education are not merely surviving but are, in fact, thriving in the midst of modern life? † Though they do not have all of the technology that we take for granted, they live richer lives than many non-Amish people. ecause gender relations are accepted amongst others in the community, they have strong beliefs, traditions and values, and kinship is important. In the Amish community, they rely heavily on their agriculture as a mode of subsistence. This is known as being an agrarian society. Though they have other means of sustenance, they recognize the importance of agriculture to the community. Amish culture does not use electricity or other modern conveniences. This makes the farming a longer process, as this is their means of survival. They have other means for livelihood but farming is their main job. Some build furniture to sell to the surrounding communities. Others will farm for non-amish employers. â€Å"Some stereotypes of Amish life imply that they reject technology and live in a nineteenth-century cocoon. Such images are false. The Amish adopt technology selectively, hoping that the tools they use will build community rather than harm it. In short, they prefer technology that preserves social capital, rather than depletes it. †(Kraybill, 2001). In the technology laden world today, it makes sense that a culture that only uses certain technologies selectively would rely heavily on the land to provide. The Amish have traditions that are considered strange to many people, in addition to the lack of technology. The baptized members of the Amish church marry other baptized members of the church. This does not mean necessarily that cousins marry cousins. While this does happen, some Amish women may choose to leave one community for another. This is often done because the men inherit the family land. The men inherit the land because the Amish culture is a patriarchal culture. The marraiges are not arranged but the parents must give approval. Right before the marriage, the couple is â€Å"announced† and the preparations for the wedding begin. After the wedding, the man will start to grow out his beard to signify his marital status. Another well known tradition is the Amish barn raising. A barn raising is a gathering of men in the community to build a barn for a fellow member of the community. It is used as a way to not only accomplish a task but to also socialize. The Amish community is known for their desire to help one another and reinforce the sense of community. The barn raising is known as a â€Å"frolic† in the Amish culture. There are many men assisting in the building. In addition, the families know that in the future, if there is ever a time they need assistance with something, the community will be there to help. Frolics are not only reserved for the men. The women in the community get together for quilting, shucking, or canning. The traditions and core beliefs were founded in Europe by Jacob Amman based on the writings of Menno Simons, the founder of the Mennonite movement. These beliefs are held fast by every member of the Amish community. The basic religious beliefs are Christian in nature, such as a belief in Heaven and Hell. The Amish believe, however, that salvation is not guaranteed. Upon death, God weighs the deeds and life of the person to determine their worthiness for Heaven. Baptism is done when an adult in the Amish community decides to give themselves wholly to the church. It is symbolic of their commitment. â€Å"Amish youth decide if they want to join the church in their late teens and early twenties, and if they choose to be baptized, they submit themselves to the order of the church for the rest of their lives. In doing so, candidates make a confession of faith and agree to comply with the order of the Amish community, or the Ordnung, an unwritten tradition that spells out expected behaviors and regulations. Church members who break the commitment and refuse to repent and confess their sins are excommunicated and â€Å"shunned. † The Pennsylvania Amish try to persuade the wayward to cooperate with the church, but those who continue to be disobedient must be banned from fellowship in order to maintain the purity of the church. The shunned are prohibited from engaging in any social interaction, cut off from all close friends and associates. Shunning happens infrequently, although it serves as an effective form of social control for the Amish that preserves their spiritual purity. † (http://www. padutchcountry. om/towns-and-heritage/amish-country/amish-religious-traditions. asp) The youth in the Amish communities make this decision by participating in Rumspringa. This translates to running around. Around the age of sixteen, the Amish adolescent participates in activities that are not allowed by a baptized member of the church. These are typical â€Å"English† behaviors s uch as drinking alcohol, wearing â€Å"English† clothing, and not have a requirement to attend the church. Not all youths choose to have a Rumspringa. Some, on the other hand, choose to leave the community for the year and experience life outside of the community. Most return to the Amish culture and devote their lives to the Amish way. Most Americans would not be able to live without the modern conveniences to which they grown accustomed. The Amish are simply fascinating with their plain living and culture rich with tradition. Though they do not have all of the technology that we take for granted, they live richer lives than many non-Amish people. because gender relations are accepted amongst others in the community, they have strong beliefs, traditions and values, and kinship is important. References Hurst, C. E. , & McConnell, D. L. (2010). Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies : Amish paradox : Diversity and change in the world's largest amish community. Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press. Kraybill, Donald B.. â€Å"Amish. † Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. 2000. Retrieved November 28, 2011 from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1G2-3405800016. html Kraybill, D. B. (2001). Riddle of amish culture (revised edition). Baltimore, MD, USA: Johns Hopkins University Press. Mackall, J. (2008). Plain secrets : An outsider among the amish. Boston, MA, USA: Beacon Press.

Inflation and Cost-push Factor Essay

Cost-push factor inflation occurs when there is increase in cost of production of an item, which then gets translated into a higher price for that item in the market. Demand-pull factor inflation occurs when there is more money with the consumers compared to the total number of goods available in the market. With too much money chasing too few goods, prices rise because people are willing to pay more for the same item. This type of inflation generally happened when the demand exceeds supply. On the other hand, when prices fall it is known as deflation. However this is more of a theoretical concept as developing countries rarely experience deflation. Inflation in india: A combination of both cost-push and demand-pull factor exist in india. However cost-push factors are more apparent in the post liberalization period. Prices in india basically increase due to an increase in petroleum product prices, primarily because petroleum is vital input in many manufactured items and also an essential fuel for road transport, aviation and even the railways. As transportation costs rise, the prices of other products tend to rise in general. A noteworthy instance of price rise is the demand-pull factors that led to a steep rise in the price of onions in the year 2000, causing an artificial shortage in the market. In india inflation is calculated on the wholesale price index (WPI), representing the increase in wholesale price market. But it differs greatly if calculated on the consumer price index (CPI), which matters more to consumers. However, calculation of inflation is on wholesale price index because they are more or less same throughout the country, while the consumer or retail prices vary across the different regions (rural and urban) and also among different cities, depending on consumer preference for certain products, the supply and the purchase power. Taxes levied by different states also play an important role in the variation of prices of the same product from one state to another. Though wholesale prices rise at a slow pace (2-3%) comparatively, consumer prices tend to rise at a faster rate (8-9%), which is why we feel the pinch. One of the reason for this is the substantial retailer’s margin, which is built into what the consumer pays. Besides, the way the two indices are calculated differ both in terms of weightages assigned to respective products as well as the kind of item included in the basket of products. However, inflation is a necessary evil for developing and developed countries.

History and Philosophy of Education - Experiential Learning and Essay

History and Philosophy of Education - Experiential Learning and Marketisation of Education - Essay Example In Experiential learning, the question is, does it require the guidance of a practioner in order for learning to take place. Practioners are always necessary in any process of learning, and experiential learning is not an exception. To acquire newknowledge from experience, an individual has to have problem solving skills which willenable him/ herto make decisions. This aspect is essential toenable a studentto apply skillsgained through theexperience undergone while learning (Maxwell, 2011).Experience as an issue in experiential learning is not the main factor thata student can acquire knowledge from. A student might pass through natural processes that might instill knowledge in him. Howeverwithout a guide given, such knowledge will not be helpful to him/ her since with time, skills accumulated, student will not be put into use (Palmer and Cooper, 2003). To Aristotle, passing through an experience, acquiring skills and being unable to implement is not the objective of education. Since by learning, a student has to be able to apply skills gained in real life situations and challenges (Curren, 2000). The applicative part of skill acquisition is the problem and for a student to be able to implement a skill he/she needs guidanceand this normally comes from the practitioners.The idea of learning through experience has a long historical perspective and it isJohn Deweywho proposed it. Dewey (1998) states experience is an integral part of learning; however practitionersalso play an important rolethat is to ensurestudents are able to apply knowledge gained from an experiencein different perspectives of their lives. This notion of Dewey, clearly agrees with my views of experimentation as an aspect of experiential learning. It is necessary for practitioners to introduce thecurriculum whenstudents are taken to the outdoorlearningwith supervision from educators, as it would allow students to learnfrom a series of adventures where real life examples. Another aspect from Dewey (1998)involves the issue of reflection, where student must engage actively in the activity took place and toreflect on the experience later to grasp the new ideas instilled. Based on this, experiential leaning involves experience and reflection and therefore knowledge and skills are gained through various circumstances, an individual passes through which determines the nature of skills attained and only after effective reflection guided by a practitioner.Reflection involves paying attention to the ideas leant and thus consolidating them. Reflection as an issue of experiential learning is not beneficial without supervision. There are many aspects of reflective tendencies during the process of experiential learning. However, it has some drawback (Palmer and Cooper, 2003); student will not think deeper into the meaning of the experience passed as he/shemight take it as play attained. Also it might involvelack of concentration from the student. According to Kolb, learning is a multidime nsional process (Palmer and Cooper, 2003) and it involvesfour stages that are toexperience, observe, reflect and experiment. Kolb advocates for supervision of a learner during the process of reflection. After a period of time, learning will have taken place as students had gained an educative experience with useful guides given from

Athiesm Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Athiesm - Research Paper Example The arguments on atheism base their foundation on science. In his book Atheism: a Very Short Introduction, Julian Baggini presents a discussion of atheists’ responses to the concept of life and deathi. His central concern is about the accusation of atheists for living a purpose-less and meaning-less life because of their lack of belief in the existence of life after death. Concepts and Terms Baggini argues that it is possible for atheist to live a purpose-full and meaning-full life. To set out his argument, he begins by considering whether the believers of life after death have similar problems in finding purpose and meaning given the religious teachings that the experience of an individual in the next life is superior. Baggini also examines the concept that only God gives the life of an individual a sense of purpose, arguing that this undermines the value that people place on their lives in earth. Consequently, humans become slaves to God because the purpose and meaning of li fe only comes through obeying the will of God, leaving little room for people to make their own decisions and choices. Conventional belief in the existence of life after death gives purpose and meaning in life, but Baggini feels that this particular belief undermines the value of the earthly lifeii. He argues that perceiving this life as a mere preparation for achieving better things in the next then makes this life secondary, and may prompt people to engage in horrendous acts purposely to get to the next life and enjoy the better quality of existence. The author further argues that living with the assumption that the life on earth is all there is a better motivation for people to advocate for social justice, despite the conventional belief that God will rectify those who suffered injustices in earth. Baggini argues that accepting the life on earth as the only life will encourage people to sort things out, thus gaining the interest in promoting justice and morality in the world. To him, the eternity of life is a pointless concept. He bases his conclusion on the fact that the belief in eternal life rarely motivates people to do anything, with the argument that an endless amount of time discourages any urgency to accomplish things. On the other hand, the life on earth motivates people as it has a life expectancy of around 70 years, thus individuals seek to accomplish things and maximize their time. The argument on life after death is just one of the rationales presented by atheists in the logical reasons category. Other argument categories include scientific reasons, and practical and personal reasonsiii. Brief History The debate among scholars on atheism has different definition and concepts. A portion of the scholars maintains their atheist perception, others base their arguments on theist perception, yet others reject the perceptions of the two former groups with agnostic arguments. Theist scholars believe in the existence of at least one god, while atheists do not belief on the existence of any gods that are external to human minds. In this both cases however, the arrival, reasons for belief, and what they feel, as well as a series of other factors do not matter. Theism belief in the existence of a god is sometimes difficult to understand, but the embedment in a web of religious beliefs provides a

Retail Marketing (Marks & Spencer) Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Retail Marketing (Marks & Spencer) - Case Study Example The group's merchandise includes clothes, household goods and food sales, with their clothing line contributing half the revenues. It has also diversified into financial services that include accounts cards, pensions, loans, and life assurance and contributes about 5% of its total revenues. Marks and Spencer divides its operation as UK retail, International retail and financial services. The UK Retail division is its major chunk of the business and contributes the most to the turnover. It sells Women's wear, Men's wear, Lingerie, Children's wear, Beauty products, Household goods, and groceries. The International Retail business prevailed from Europe to North America to the Far East a well. The Financial services division offers personal insurance, personal loans and store cards. Until the late 1990's Marks & Spencer was largely successful and Marks & Spencer recorded highest profit growth in the years, 1997 and 1998. In 2000, Marks and Spencer launched lingerie outlets in Paris, Hamburg and Dusseldorf that met with considerable success. It is a leading seller of lingerie in the UK with a 20% market share. It introduced the "Per Una" clothing range designed by George Davies in 2001 that was received moderately well. However, strong competition from other retailers was a big problem for Marks and Spencer. Marks and Spencer had built its business by ensuring customers that the high quality of its products, warranted the higher price paid by the consumer. Its business model was to maintain UK sourcing for its products. Consequently when competitive retailers sourced from low cost Asian suppliers, Marks & Spencer found its core business model a great liability. Its margins would not let it keep up. Ultimately, when it had to be done, the strategy came a little too late. It also lost its appeal to the consumers. Product quality deteriorated and customer dissatisfaction caused it to lose a lot of its base. Its target segment was traditionally women aged 35 and above. However, statistically, the younger generation invest in fashions and styles than the target segment it was aiming at. Therefore Marks & Spencer also lost valuable potential target base in its marketing efforts. Its image as a mid priced company for the middle-aged segment drove these younger consumers to the rival high street retail fashion boutiques offering great discounts. The company did attempt measures like revamping the business model and opening the stores on Sundays, but the results were not good enough. Internal management issues It had serious internal issues and this instability led to low profit margins and loss of customer satisfaction. Sir Richard Greenbury who headed the company has often been blamed for the debacle. The style of management was supposed to be autocratic and feedback from the employees was not encouraged. The lack of input from the actual employees who were in touch with the consumers on a daily basis was a great disadvantage. There was no transparency in communication and therefore Marks & Spencer had no finger on the customer's pulse. It lost valuable information that should have driven its strategy. Managers had no decision making power and were unable to implement even small changes without top management approval. The top management had no perception of the external environments in which the stores operated and was

Trokosi as modern-day slavery in Africa Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Trokosi as modern-day slavery in Africa - Essay Example It is taking recognition for work that is wholly theres (Dayton University). Scholars who rely on their understanding show that they are ready to work dishonesty around work. Students who do not follow academic uprightness of the establishment realize this either through; dishonest collaboration, plagiarism, deceitful aid, enticement and intimidating conduct and should be reported to the penal team of honor codes center in the school. All universities have a code of conduct that students need to observe (Stenford University). Academic honesty is one the kindest. Infringements involve activities such as; cheating, plagiarism, and presenting unauthorized work. These actions are punishable not only in learning institutions, but also in the corporate world (Boston College). Corrective measures are restored and violators are at risk of being shown the wrath. Some of these disciplinary measures include, expulsion, grade disqualification, detention, restitution, above from accessing school facilities and referral to the counselling department among others (Boston College, Cornell University and Dayton University). An experience in the composition lecturer was overwhelming one. An English final exam was to be done with diligence. I was to undertake an exam which was my last chance to prove my worthiness to be given a decent grade. Previously my assessment test had been showing daunting results.

Weekly Business Review #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Weekly Business Review #2 - Essay Example Though this strategy means additional costs, the sales made will cover this cost. Nevertheless, according to the customer survey our services are good, so is our coffee, and our prices are rated as fair. Therefore, the management decision to adopt the cost leadership strategy is worth. According to Kazmi (2008, p.225), when a business adopts the cost leadership strategy, it automatically achieves differentiation in its services, in relation to price. The management has decided not to add on any extra costs in advertising, thus sticking to the previous mode of advertising in order to reduce additional costs. The daily receipt indicates that 1500 cups are being served on a weekly basis resulting to $4,055 in cash. We would like to increase the amount of coffee being served, and the hiring of an additional server to assist in serving all the customers will increase our sales. The local labor reports states that the average turnover rate has risen to 14% as compared to the previous week, which was at 12%. This could be due to workload and demotivation, thus, hiring an extra server is a great move. The management’s decision of not allowing any waste of coffee saves on costs incurred. In addition, the decision of not relying on fair trade advertising is a wise decision, as the newspapers have already advertised, hence saving on costs. Nevertheless, we have decided to replace light bulbs for $100 as a green initiative, other than replacing toilet, which would cost $600. The cafà © business is faced by the challenge of long queues, which is viewed as an advantage in some businesses but which could also limit the number of customers due to the time factor. In order to curb this problem, an additional server will be hired but time will tell. Nevertheless, the cafà © needs to make more profits and as a result, there is need to increase on sales. Therefore, with time, the management may result to increasing the small cup of coffee by a dollar to amount to $3 while

Coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coffee - Essay Example One study that significantly highlights the growth of the US coffee industry was cited in the article written by H. Holmes. (2004) According to Holmes, "specialty coffee consumption has risen from 9 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2004. Every day, more than half of the adult population drinks coffee, 108.9 million people. The United States accounts for 52 million of those coffee drinkers." (2004) More importantly, Holmes cited various data that helps define the current state of the US coffee market. For one, Holmes pointed out that Even though 75 percent of the cups of coffee brewed daily are consumed at home, 66 percent of Americans buy their coffee outside of their homes. The Specialty Coffee Association of America reported at the end of 2003 that the total number of retail coffee shops in the country had reached 17,400 or 4% more than in 2002. The market size of coffee grew from $7.53 billion in 1999 to $8.96 billion in 2003 (Holmes, 2004). Such findings translates to wonderful prospects for current and future coffee establishments such as the Coffee Connection. What such data means is that Americans are very likely to purchase their coffee drinks from coffee shops rather than make them at home. Also, it was pointed out in the same article that coffee bar patrons are younger, more affluent, and educated and are 22 percent more likely to be aged 18-24. This means well for the Coffee Connection primarily because majority of the people in the inner city campus targeted by the said establishment fall between the said age range. In another study conducted by the research group Data Monitor of the US Coffee Industry, several significant findings were made. According to the said study, "Prepared coffee sales continue to outpace packaged coffee sales, becoming more widely available than ever before. Prepared coffee is not only driving growth in foodservice channels, but in retail channels such as convenience stores as well." What this translates to is that consumers are more inclined to purchase coffee prepared in various establishments such as coffee shops and convenience stores rather than buy packaged coffee drinks. Such findings goes well for prospective coffee shop owners. Also, the said research found that despite the rising prices of coffee brought about by the dry weather in coffee growing regions and damage from natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the retail coffee market remained elastic all through out the said increase. This, again, translate to good prospects for future coffee shop owners as it means that the consumer market continues to drink coffee despite of the increase in price. Another article that has significant bearing on the establishment of Coffee Connection was written by Alex Fisenko (2006). In his article, Fisenko pointed out that there is a bright future that lies ahead for coffee shops, even the small and independent establishments. Basically, Fisenko asserts that "The single most important factor for the success of a retail coffee business is the location" (2006). The amount of sales and profit generated by a coffee shop depends greatly on the location chosen for it. Furthermore, Fisenko pointed out that independent coffee shops should not be deterred by the large-scale coffee chains as these establishments concentrate on the larger

Case format in mangment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Case format in mangment - Essay Example Pre-employment tests for controlled substances are really helping various companies and organizations in increasing efficiency of employees by keeping them away from the use of drugs. However, such mechanisms should be made regarding workplace drug testing which should not only help in maintaining a drug-free environment at a workplace but also shouldn’t violate the privacy of an employee during the phase of suspicion-based testing or drug testing. Before probing into the issue of workplace drug testing, we must first get to know what workplace drug testing actually is. The medical analysis of biological specimen of an employee at a workplace is known as workplace drug testing. The main objective of workplace drug testing is to identify the presence of various specified parent drugs and their metabolites in the urine, blood, or saliva of any employee. Some common types of dug tests include urine drug tests, sweat drug screen, saliva drug screen, and alcohol related tests. Its not necessary to perform the drug testing only when an employee joins any specific company or organization. Drug testing can be pre-employment drug testing, post-incident drug testing to determine whether use of drugs was involved in the causation or not, random drug testing, or diagnostic screening. But the most common of all types is applicant testing. Random testing is frequently used for the purpose of safety or security related jobs. Drug testing is an essential not only for keeping the workplace environment drug free but also to improve the efficiency of any specific organization. Sofsian (2005) states that â€Å"Many employers feel it is necessary for prospective employees to submit to a pre-employment drug screening†. Employers of any organization maintain the right to expect the employees working in that organization not to be high on

Eminent domain Essay Example for Free

Eminent domain Essay Eminent domain refers to the authority to sequester the private property of an individual, including his rights, without the need of obtaining the consent of the owner (Ryskamp, 2006). This power is also known as compulsory purchase, resumption acquisition or expropriation in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. The confiscation of private property is generally performed in order for the government of use the aforesaid property. In other cases, the expropriation is conducted in order for the public to make use of the property (United States v. CARMACK, 1946). The most frequent reasons for implementing eminent domain actions include the construction of public utilities as well as highways and railroads (United States v. Gettysburg Electric Railway Company, 1896). The concept of eminent domain should not be interchanged and confused with cases wherein a private property is confiscated by a government that is in a revolutionary situation. Eminent domain is also different from the concept of forfeiture because the sequestration of the private property in forfeiture is based on breaching of a mortgage contract while eminent domain is based on the sequestration of a private property for the use of the government. Eminent domain is associated with condemnation, which pertains to an action that is implemented by the government that results in the transfer of the title of a property from the original owner to the government. The term condemnation that is associated with eminent domain should also not be confused with the condemnation that is related to the classification of buildings that are considered to be unsafe for entry and habitation by people due to natural disasters such as earthquakes and other physical damages due to man- or nature-caused events. Condemnation that is associated with eminent domain states that the government is obtaining a private property or shows an interest in the private property, such as an easement. Generally, the only thing that remains to be determined and finalized is when a condemnation action is filed in the amount of the appropriate compensation. However, there are also some cases wherein the right to sequester is challenged by the owner of the private property, based on the premise that the attempted sequestration is not for public use, or has not been legally approved or endorsed by the court, or simply because the condemnor did not abide by the standard or proper procedure required by law (Greenhut, 2004). The exercise of eminent domain is not solely applied to real property (Galperin, 2007). Governments also have the authority to condemn personal property, including supplies that will be employed for military warfare, franchises, as well as other intangible property such as contracts, patents, trade secrets and copyrights. The first case of eminent domain in English law was known as the Dobbie Process or the Kings Prerogative in Saltpeter Case. The English king required saltpeter as ammunitions of his military and he acquired saltpeter mine that was privately owned. The owner of the private real property sued the king, resulting in the action of the court of establishing the right of the sovereign to sequester any form of private property that has been determined to be needed for public use, without issues of being accused for trespassing. However, such acquisition requires payment or some form of compensation for the taken saltpeter. When the colonies became the United States and the English Common Law was adopted as the law of the new nation, this principle was accepted. However, different from popular belief, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution did not describe this right in the United States because this policy was already inherent in common law. The Fifth Amendment restricted the power of eminent domain by requiring that any confiscations be plainly for public use and that an appropriate compensation be provided to the owner of the sequestered private property.

The history of Automobiles Essay Example for Free

The history of Automobiles Essay Automobiles also known as Cars, Trucks and SUV’s are a very important part of our everyday lives. Automobiles have been around a lot longer than most people think. In Europe, automobiles date back to as early as the late 1700’s. European engineers began thinking of developing the first automobile to make life easier. By the mid 1800’s they began to think over how the automobile would run. Some manufactures tried using stream, combustion, and electrical motors to run their prototypes. The steam engine was invented in the early 18th century and has been applied to a variety of practical uses. But one of the most important ways steam was used was to power an automobile. The first steam powered automobile was built by built by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separate from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front for easier maintenance. The combustion engine was invented in the late 1600’s by Dutch physicist Christian Huygens. He found that using a combustion substance such as kerosene or gasoline. He found that this type method to power a automobile was much more effective than a steam powered because it could go much faster and was able to have enough power to be able to do what was required. Today we still use combustion to power our automobiles, and it is expected that by the year 2020 most automobiles will be electrical powered to save are planet from globe warming and ozone destruction. The electric engine on an automobile was not very popular until recent years ago. But the engine itself was invented back in the early 1900’s and had many advantages over their competitors. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline automobiles. Changing gears on gasoline automobile was the most difficult part of driving, while electric automobiles did not require gear changes. While steam-powered automobiles also had no gear shifting, they suffered from long start-up times of up to 45 minutes on cold mornings. The steam automobiles had less range before needing water than an electrics range on a single charge. Now as time progresses the electric automobiles are becoming more popular especially hybrid models which use both combustion and electricity. Now a day almost every family has one or two or even three automobiles and purchases a new one every two years. Automobiles are becoming more and more popular as the years go by, and are becoming more fuel efficient to run and have more options available than the year before, and are a very important part of our everyday lives in order to transport ourselves around more efficiently than ever before.

Influence of Language Contact on English Language

Influence of Language Contact on English Language To what extent has language contact affected the English language? In discussing the influence of other languages on the English language, the term language contact may be defined as the impact of other languages on English as a result of socio-historical interaction (Mà ¡rquez 90). Languages are dynamic entities, which are constantly evolving to reflect our needs and the state of the societies that we live in (Bex 26). This is certainly the case for the English language, which has been heavily influenced by many languages throughout history as a result of numerous invasions, proselytism, interest in so-called prestigious languages, and many other factors, with the code-switching that ensued as a result of these having a profound impact on English. Therefore, this essay will illustrate the enduring impact that language contact has had by looking at how aspects of the English language like lexicon, orthography, phonology and place-names have been greatly affected by Englishs interaction with other languages, with particular focus on the influence of the Italic languages of Latin and French. Regarding lexicon and place-names, Latin has undeniably left a lasting impression on the English language. For instance, Jonathan Culpeper states that the Romans most successful raid under Emperor Claudius in AD 43 was what successfully laid the foundation for the partial Latinisation of many of Britains Celtic place-names (2, 3). While it remained rare for British place-names to be mostly derived from Latin origins, rare exceptions such as Speen from the Latin Spinis do exist; however, one of the most prominent legacies that Latin left occurred through compounding, with certain elements of the names of numerous cities and towns having Latin roots (Nielsen 154, 155). For instance, the suffix -wich in place-names such as Greenwich was derived from the Latin vicus, meaning village (Ayers and Cherry 7). Regardless, while Latin certainly had an impact on many British place-names, it also left a more general mark on the English language in the form of borrowed lexicon and loanwords. According to Culpeper, while early Christian missionaries introduced approximately four hundred and fifty Latin words into Old English through religious texts, and thousands of Latin loans entered the English Language during the Middle English period from areas such as religion, science, law and literature, it was not until the sixteenth century that borrowing from Latin and Greek became extremely popular (36, 37), which became a defining feature of Early Modern English (c.1500 17000). This may be explained by the influence of the Renaissance (c. 1300 1600), which was a time of significant interest in the sciences and arts, and which led to a renewed interest in Latin as the language of scholars, scientists and philosophers (Minkova and Tunberg xxvi). However, as there were no English equivalents for man y of the complex scholarly terms featured in these texts, approximately seven-thousand Latin loanwords entered the English language, which often represented abstract concepts, unlike English words of Germanic origins (Culpeper 39). Also, several Latinate roots have been borrowed numerous times, resulting in doublets; for instance, the Latin word sal has inspired numerous English words, including saline and salary (Green 35). Nonetheless, borrowing from Latin decreased after the seventeenth century, mainly due to Englishs newfound prestige and status as the language of scholarship (Culpeper 37, 38). Regardless, it is clear to see that Latin has had a profound impact on the English lexicon through thousands of loanwords. On the other hand, because of the Norman invasion of 1066, French became the official language of law and administration in England and, due to its prestigious status as the language of the upper class and the code-switching that occurred after the invasion, approximately ten-thousand French words associated with warfare, rule, law and fashion (Millar 126) were adopted into the English language during the Middle English period (c. 1100-1500) (Mellinkoff 97). However, while some Norman-French terms completely replaced their Old English counterparts, such fortune replacing wyrd, semantic change occurred when both terms survived, with an example being the distinction between the Old English house and the French loan mansion (Culpeper 37). However, much like Latin, French borrowing has been in decline since the upper class stopped speaking French and English became regarded as the new language of administration (Culpeper 37, 38), yet the influence of French has lived on in various levels of borrowings, such as through borrowed food-related lexis like poultry, phrases such as mà ©nage à   trois, and bound morpheme suffixes like -ible (Fromkin et al. 358, 505). Unlike the written lexis of Latin, the fact that French influenced English mostly through spoken vocabulary is significant because it places French loanwords between Germanic and Latinate lexis in that they may convey a mixed register and refer both concrete and abstract concepts (Culpeper 39). However, while Norman-French generally had a small impact on place-names as most British places already had established names by 1066, some elements of French did inspire certain naming practices. For example, the French-speaking aristocracy routinely named castles and estates like Belvoir and Malpas directly after landmarks and places in France, Norman scribes substituted sounds for some more familiar to French (which is reflected in the spelling and pronunciation of places such as Cambridge), and the prevalence of double-barrelled named manors like Kingston Lacy can also be attributed to the French aristocracy, who often gave their properties recognisable names to distinguish their manors from others (Mills xvi). Consequently, much like Latin, it is undeniable that French has had an impact on the place-names and lexicon of the English language. Moreover, it may be argued that both languages have had a significant impact on the orthography and, in turn, the phonology of the English language. The fact that English spellings are not always phonemic, for example, may be attributed partly to the move from the Runic alphabet to the Latin alphabet used by the Romans during the Conversion Period (c. AD 597 AD 735), which meant that there were not enough orthographic counterparts for all of the Old English phonemes, as the Latin alphabet consisted of only twenty-three letters (Culpeper 22). Also, Doreen Scott-Dunne has noted that Latin impacted English orthography and phonology through etymological respellings. For instance, because of the renewed interest in Latin and Greek texts, many Renaissance scholars decided to respell certain words to make them orthographically resemble their Latin origins, which is evident in the change of words like the Middle English det to the modern debt, which now more closely resembles the Latin debi tum (62). However, while this simply resulted in the addition of silent letters to many words (Scott-Dunne 62), other Latin-inspired spelling changes were mirrored by significant changes in pronunciations. For example, Renaissance scholars often added the letter after in words to make English appear as prestigious as Latin, which changed lexis like the Old French loan trone to throne (Algeo and Butcher 155).   This resulted in a change of pronunciation, with the words first phoneme shifting from [t] to [ÃŽÂ ¸]; nonetheless, this was not a universal change for all words that contained the letter , and words like Anthony did not always change in pronunciation in British English, which exemplifies the fact that language contact can often result in a lack of regularity (Algeo and Butcher 155). Furthermore, French scribes during the Middle English period may have caused English spelling variations (House 243), which often led to phonological changes. For instance, the runic symbol , which represented the phoneme [w], was scarcely used after 1300, due to it being replaced by the symbols or , which originated in northern France (Culpeper 22). Also, the letter represented a vowel in Middle English, but a consonantal that was pronounced as [dÊ’] appeared during the Middle English period, which is often attributed to the influence of Norman-French (House 241). However, another significant phonological impact occurred because the importation of French lexis during the Middle Ages encouraged a separation of voiced and unvoiced fricatives into separate phonemes (Millar 126). While Old English had simply represented [f] and [v] as at the start of words and in other positions, the importation of French lexis like voice that began with the phoneme [v], along with the desire to speak with a prestigious French accent, meant that graphological distinctions between the phonemes naturally occurred (Millar 126). Similarly, while lexis such as centre was borrowed from the Latin centrum, the influence of French meant that the grapheme started to represent the phoneme [s] instead of [k] in some words (Culpeper 26), leading to a lack of regularisation. Additionally, while Old English had a strict stress pattern, in which stress fell on the first central (not prefix) syllable, the stress pattern of French was variable depending on each word and, therefore, prosodic changes had to take place during the Middle Ages so that French loanwords could be smoothly integrated into English (Millar 126). However, while etymological respellings of some words took place to show their French origins, scribes sometimes incorrectly assumed the etymology of words like island, meaning a was added to the Middle English iland to make resemble the Old French isle, even though the word was originally from the Old English iegland, and therefore had Germanic roots (Horobin 112, 113). By and large, the profound influence of Latin and French on the English language exemplifies the fact that languages are not static, and continuously evolve organically in order to meet our linguistic and societal needs. In fact, English itself has already split into separate variations like American English and Australian English, which each have unique variations based on their contact history. Moreover, due to advances in travel and technology, English continues to be shaped and changed by more languages in our modern world, as evidenced by recent additions to the Oxford English Dictionary such as dopiaza (dopiaza, n.) and maitake (maitake, n.), which have Hindi and Japanese roots, respectively. Therefore, while syntagmatic, paragigmatic, social and technological changes (including scientific discoveries and the development of the internet) are arguably the primary causes of language change in the twenty-first century (Algeo and Butcher 10), language contact has undeniably had a s ignificant impact on the English language overall, and will most likely continue to play a role in influencing various aspects of the English language for years to come. Works cited: Algeo, John, and Carmen A. Butcher. The Origins and Development of the English Language. Seventh ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. Ayers, Donald M., and R. L. Cherry. English Words from Latin and Greek Elements. Second ed. Ed. Thomas D. Worthen. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1986. Print. Bex, Tony. Variety in Written English: Texts in Society: Societies in Text. London, England: Routledge, 1996. Print. Culpeper, Jonathan. History of English. Second ed. London, England: Routledge, 2005. Print. dopiaza, n. OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2016. Web. Accessed 30 December 2016. Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. An Introduction to Language. Ninth ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Green, Tamara M. The Greek & Latin Roots of English. Fifth ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Print. Horobin, Simon. Does Spelling Matter?. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2013. Print. House, Linda I. Introductory Phonetics and Phonology: A Workbook Approach. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1998. Print. maitake, n. OED Online. Oxford University Press, December 2016. Web. Accessed 30 December 2016. Mà ¡rquez, Miguel Fuster. Working with Words: An Introduction to English Linguistics. Eds. Miguel Fuster Mà ¡rquez and Antonia Sà ¡nchez. Valà ¨ncia, Spain: University of Valà ¨ncia, 2011. Print. Mellinkoff, David. The Language of the Law. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2004. Print. Millar, Robert McColl. English Historical Sociolinguistics. Edinburgh, England: Edinburgh University Press, 2012. Print. Mills, A. D. A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Fourth ed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Minkova, Milena, and Terence Tunberg. Latin for the New Millennium: Level 2: Student Text. Vol. 5. Mundelein, IL: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2009. Print. Nielsen, Hans Frede. The Continental Backgrounds of English and its Insular Development until 1154. Vol. 1. Odense, Denmark: Odense University Press, 1998. Print. Scott-Dunne, Doreen. When Spelling Matters: Developing Writers Who Can Spell and Understand Language. Ontario, Canada: Pembroke, 2012. Print.

Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and W.B. Yeats :: Biography Biographies Essays

Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and W.B. Yeats    Elizabeth Barrett-Browning and W.B. Yeats, examined together in the same sitting are as different as the Victorian and Post-Modernist eras they emerged from, yet they were both independent thinkers of their time.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Browning, born in 1806 before Victorianism came into full play, was celebrated as a woman poet but also quite conformist to the Victorian movement in some regards.   Browning did make use of her family's money to "give herself an exceptional education"   (1858) and she thought outside of traditional lines in regards to gender roles for women as in her poem "Aurora Leigh".   In this poem, the narrator is a woman which is unusual for that era "Place your fecund heart in mine, and let us blossom for the world"   (1877).   It was unusual in the Victorian era - to consider that women added anything substantial to a marriage relationship.   Browning was definitely independent in her thinking and in her personal life - defying her father by eloping with Robert Browning late in life   (1859).        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are other elements of her poetry that are fairly conformist to the Victorian age.   Her poem "Sonnets from the Portugese" describes a courtship that is prudent and in keeping with Victorian age.   This form of a sonnet was taken from Shakespeare's style, yet another element of Browning stepping into territory formerly only occupied by men   (1859).        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   W.B. Yeats, influenced in large part by his free-thinking father, became just that   (2322).   Yeats poetry contains elements of the mysticism that he studied, whether the double worded meaning of "The Second Coming" or the reference to Spiritus Mundi in that poem, Yeats defied the religious conformist thinking prevalent at the end of the Victorian era..   In his poem, "Sailing to Byzantium", Yeats takes on the narrative voice of an old man, sailing away from his "homeland" to Byzantium, where old men stand in "God's holy fire"   (2332).   This reference to Byzantium, a city of the Roman empire, would not have been considered "holy" by traditional religious thinking.        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Yeats borrows from Greek mythology in "Leda and the Swan" and puts words to a sexually explicit tale of a swan raping a girl   (2337).

The Physics of the High Jump Essay -- Science Essays

The Physics of the High Jump The world consists of many phenomena. Some of them are mysteries to us as human beings, while many others can be explained. Progressively over the centuries, science has helped us to better understand the spectacular things that physically affect the human race and the earth. Almost every single thing that deals with the physical aspect of our existence can now be explained through physics, which in turn helps us to better understand our surrounding environment. Where I have always been involved in sports, I am very interested in the specific physics that each sport consists of. One such sport that fascinates me is the high jump, and for this reason I am going to delve into the physics of the high jump and break it down to explain the different laws and physics that encompass it. The high jump can be broken down into three stages: the run up phase or approach, the take off phase, and the flight or bar clearance phase. By understanding these three stages and the different laws of phys ics that make them up, one will have a much greater understanding of the high jump and its mechanics. In order to begin this analysis, I need to start with the very first stage of the high jump, which is the approach or run up phase. The run up phase begins with the jumper standing up vertically, in position to begin running, about ten strides away from the bar that is to be cleared. According to professors Jesus Dapena and Alexander P. Willmott of the department of Kinesiology, from Indiana University,â€Å"[the] run-up serves as a preparation for the takeoff phase, the most important phase of the jump†(2). The run up phase can be broken down into several parts. The first part of the run up phase generally follows a straight-... ... world that are associated with the high jump. The high jump may not be a spectacular phenomena or even a mystery to many people, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is governed by many principles of physics. By understanding the physics that make up the high jump, one can obtain a totally new understanding of the mechanics of this incredible sport, and in doing so can acquire an appreciation for the principles of physics that govern our earth and us as a human race. Works Cited Dapena, Jesus, and Alexander P. Willmott. â€Å"Scientific Services Project: (USA Track & Field),HIGH JUMP #23 (Men) Research Report.† â€Å"Diss. Indiana University, 2002.† Kirkpatrick, Larry D., and Gerald F. Wheeler. Fourth Edition Physics A World View. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. Santos, Jim. Practical Coaching Techniques for the HIGH JUMP. Iowa: Championship Books, 1981.

Countries Can No Longer Exclude Immigrants Essay -- Immigration, Immi

Introduction In today’s world migration is a social phenomenon that affects a variety of countries. Nations are either experiencing an influx of immigrants or have the problem of individuals exiting their country. This movement of people between nations gives rise to a multitude of problems. The issue that this paper will explore, using examples from around the world, is that of incorporation. How are immigrants incorporated into their new social and geographic setting? Is this a smooth process or are immigrants locked in a period of liminality (transition stage) where they are literally and figuratively neither here nor there? In addition, are there possible solutions that can better facilitate the incorporation of immigrants and the movement of people between nations? Taboo, Liminality, and Boundaries â€Å"The idea of Society is a powerful image. It is potent in its own right to control or stir men to action. This image has form; it has external boundaries, margins, and internal structure. Its outlines contain power to reward conformity and repulse attack. There is energy in its margins and unstructured areas. For symbols of society any human experience of structures, margins, or boundaries is ready to hand (Douglas 1966:113).† - from Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger In the above quotation Mary Douglas (1960) describes the fundamental aspect of a society. Any organization of humans forms its own boundaries, whether real or imagined, and these have social consequences if crossed. Likewise, as immigrants cross the literal and figurative border of a state, they transgress both the social and geographic boundaries of the society in question. For most migrants the transition or â€Å"rite of passage† from one country to another ... ...drick A. Praeger, Inc. Espenshade, Thomas J. 1996 Contemporary American Attitudes Towards U.S. Immigration. Migration Review:539-541. Hastings, Donnan, and Thomas Wilson. 1999 Borders: Frontiers of Nation, Identity, and State. Oxford: Berg. Tarvarainen, Sinikka. 2006 African’s Dramatic Odyssey End in Homelessness in Spain. Deutsceh Press: 1-2. Turner, Victor. 2005 Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Periods in Rites de Passage. In Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural. 6th edition. Lehmann, Arthur C., with James Meyers and Pamela A. Moro, ed. Pp. 95-105. New York: McGraw-Hill. van Gennep, Arnold. 1960 The Rites of Passage. Monika B. Vizedom and Gabrielle L. Caffee, trans. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. White, Gregory. 2001 Risking the Strait: Moroccan Labor Migration to Spain. Middle East Report: 26-27.

Analysis of Ryanair

Summary Ryanair, one of the most famous low cost airlines, attracts attentions from people and researchers all over the world. As the financial crisis and the European debt crisis have an obvious negative influence on the global economy, the aircraft industry has experienced some decline for the last few years. However, both the sales and profits of Ryanair have increased during this period. In this essay, we will first analyse the external environment of Ryanair by using PESTEL Analysis Model.Then we will make an in-depth analysis about its strategic capability by SWOT model (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). In the following part, we will compare Ryanair with its biggest competitor easyJet and critically access the effectiveness of its cost focus strategy. Finally we will give a conclusion of the whole result of our research and give some suggestions for its future development. Introduction Ryanair was first established in 1985 by Christy Ryan, Tony Ryan and Liam L onergan.Its headquarters are located in Ireland, while its primary operational bases are at London Stansted Airports and Dublin. In 1989, Ryanair’s businesses saw a decline. At the same time, Tony Ryan persuaded his financial advisor to assume the CEO. Then, Ryanair began to learn experience from Southwest Airline, and was the first one to introduce the cheap air carriers and mode into Europe. Profitability of consecutive years has made Ryanair to become the most profitable airlines in the world. Findings and Analysis Environmental AnalysisPESTEL Model is used in this report to give an overview of the six different environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. Firstly, political factors refer to the political organizations and relevant policies, laws, regulations as well as other factors which have the actual and potential impacts on operating activities (Gillespie, 2007). The charge which was raised by airports of different countries has a significan t effect on Ryanair. Indirectly, Ryanair is also insubstantial to extra charges and taxes, for instance, the â‚ ¬10 tourist tax imposed by the Irish government.In addition, EU imposed a regulation on 17 February 2005, which asked airlines to provide standardized and immediate assistance for passengers who stayed at EU airports for delays, cancellations and denied boarding. This regulation led Ryanair to raise at least â‚ ¬200 million in their budget every year. (O’Higgins, 2011) Secondly, economic factors mean the organization's external economic structure, industrial layout, resource situation, the level of economic development and future economic trends (Gillespie, 2007). There are two interrelated economic factors that affect Ryanair. The first one is the recession of 2008/09.It created adverse economic situations such as high unemployment rates and severe credit crisis, which lead to the leisure spending and business passengers declining. Ryanair's planned passenger volume growth has been restricted by this depression. Moreover, the continuing growth of fuel price is the greatest concern to this company. It is hard to control and predict the wide fluctuations of Jet fuel price and its increase demand. According to Pearce (2011, 3), â€Å"However, the developed economies have seen a much slower recovery and levels of output, income and spending remain well below pre-recession levels†.Thirdly, social factor refers to the historical development, cultural traditions, values, education levels, as well as customs and other factors of society where the organization belongs to (Gillespie, 2007). It can be found in Ryanair's own report (2012) that Ryanair as well as other airlines are facing some social changes–threats from terrorist attacks, the continuing acceptance of the security budget suppliers and more price-sensitive business travelers. These factors make up the social factors which affect Ryanair and aviation industry.Fourthly, t echnological factors include not only the revolutionary innovation but also some relative new technologies, new materials and new ways of operating or management (Gillespie, 2007). For airline industry and airline companies, the contributions of technology could be separated in three parts: to ensure aviation safety, to improve the quality of services and to make operations more efficient. Even Ryanair bought some of second-hand planes, these aircraft are all Boeing 737, which could reduce the training fee for pilots and flight attendants (Box, 2005).More important, Boeing's help to make the unitive structures of plants could decrease the possibilities of incorrect operations and the unsuited spare parts of aircrafts. Although Ryanair is widely regarded as a low cost airline, it is also one of the safest airlines. As some of other airlines rely on the tickets agents, Ryanair built its own website and ticketing system. The cost of agency fee is reduced and the company could make cont rol of the ticket service which could lead to some misunderstandings as some operators of tickets agents would treat customers in a worse mood.Furthermore, through operating the ticketing system, Ryanair itself, could make booking tickets and bounce easier and speedily. Fifthly, environmental factors include ecological and environmental aspects. Countries in the world are faced with the enormous challenges of environmental issues, and sustainable development is an important way to solve this problem (Gillespie, 2007). Due to the report of IATA, air transport contributes 2% of global man-made CO2 emissions. Although Boeing 737 helps Ryanair to save fuel of airplane, it is not enough at the moment.New energy sources such as biological energy source are in the experimental stage and should be used in the further, and most airlines have to adapt to the new development. Lastly, legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety la w (Gillespie, 2007). Ryanair's latest attempt to take over its Irish rival Aer Lingus is investigated by the European Commission over competition worries. Ryanair also has problem with the government. The British government decided to remain the Air Passenger Duty (APD), a ladder-type tax, and raised the tax rate by nearly 10%.This change leads to the increase of cost of daily operation of Ryanair. To cover the costs of the EU's new eco-looney ETS tax, the Ryanair has to raise the prices of tickets, which could make their prices less competitive. Furthermore, BAA, the owner of London's Heathrow airport, is seeking to sell Edinburgh after losing a legal challenge to an order from the UK's antitrust regulator to break up the company, while the bid of Ryanair is rejected by BAA (Rothwell, 2012). Strategic capability analysis SWOT Analysis Model is used to assess the strategic capability of Ryanair by four dimensions: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats.Strength 1. Low-cost st rategy The most significant strength of Ryanair is its low-cost strategy. It uses a young efficient fleet with low cost of ownership and industry load factors to increase benefit and gain high asset utilization. The following statement from their CEO Michael O’Leary proves that â€Å"These quarterly results are a testimony to the strength of the Ryanair ‘lowest cost’ model which – even during the most difficult trading conditions (including record fuel prices and intense competition) – delivers strong passenger growth and profits. †(Sorensen, 2005) 2. Youngest fleetRyanair only choose to use Boeing 737 planes for easier staff training and also can improve pilot’s familiarity with aircraft operation, in this way to keep customers’ safety. According to O’Higgins Ryanair â€Å"reducing the average age of its aircraft to 2. 4 years† which be the youngest planes in Europe and increased the safety of the flight (2011). 3 . New kinds of marketing strategy Ryanair uses newspaper, radio, television and all the possible methods they can to advise, which are proved to be efficient on increasing the number of customers: â€Å"as a result,Internet bookings account for 99 per cent of all reservations†(O’ Higgins, 2011).Otherwise, some methods might be controversial and audacious, such as using the pictures of Queen Sofia, President Sarkozy and his wife’s on the air slipping. Although the action is without permission and also costs damage, it still made the company become famous rapidly. Weakness 1. Customers’ dissatisfaction Ryanair takes a lot of ancillary revenues from customers, which causes customer’s dissatisfaction, such as payment for using the toilet on plane, charge for check-in luggage and â€Å"fat tax† for overweight passengers. These measures will lead to customer’s bad impression to the company. 2. Overstep in increasing scaleRyanair is too addi cted to increasing scale. This will cause the increasing of operating costs. With the growing of fuel and airport charges, the bigger scale of the company is, the more challenges it will be faced to. 3. Single-handed leader and the controversial acts As Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary is a controversial leader. The issues he made such as calling thousands of passengers â€Å"idiots† (Huff Post, 2012), using the Italian minister Umberto Bossi abusive gestures picture for advertising caused great repercussion. Most of people think this measure was not suitable and will give a bad impression on Ryanair.Opportunities 1. New markets With the enlargement of the European Union, a lot of new destinations could be opened up. Skies agreement opened by EU could be a source for increased routes and passenger traffic inwards. According to the opinion of Ryanair’s route development director O’Toole, there remains major opportunities in Spain and Italy, as well as Norway, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Russia (Routes Online, 2010). Besides that, future open skies agreements in Turkey, Tunisia and Georgia could make these interesting countries for the carrier, he added. 2. Benefits from economic recession.Though economic slowdown created unfavourable economic conditions with reduced spending by leisure and business passengers which restricts the growth of the whole airline industry, actually, it can help Ryanair to improve corporate culture, and ‘steal’ customers from traditional carriers as they seek lower fares. Mr. O'Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, stated that the rise in profit came â€Å"despite the economic downturn† in Europe (New Europe Online, 2011), and he intended to double the size of the airline over the next decade. Threats 1. Increasing oil price Ryanair’s earning rate highly depends on the oil market because the fuel cost is influenced by it.With the increasing of global oil price, fuel cost cou ld be a burden for Ryanair and its expansion plans will be challenged by the high fuel price. 2. Increase of low fare competition According to Newll (2006, 3), â€Å"Yet perhaps the price tag has become too much the focus of attention†. Value market segment is being catered by an increasing number of competitors, such as easyJet, Air Berlin, Basic Air, BMIBaby. Slots at some primary airports have been established by them (Air Scoop, 2007). Ryanair have to compete directly with other low cost carriers in the near future.At the same time, additional marketing costs and reduced yields from lower fares force Ryanair to promote additional routes. As a result, Ryanair was likely to encounter increased competition, and continue depressing yields, as airlines struggled to fill vacant seats to cover fixed costs. 3. Customers are very price sensitive Because of the low cost strategy, the customers of Ryanair are much more sensitive to price, that means, any kinds of extra fees could ma ke bad influence on its corporate image. As a result, it is difficult for Ryanair to improve unit profit and have to reduce unit costs through scale expansion (O’Higgins). . Introduction of duty for fuel and environmental charges Since Ryanair is powerless to prevent the environmental charges such as the tax on aviation fuel, its growth potential would be reduced as the unit costs would be increased. SO strategies 1. Ryanair should use the low-cost passenger ticker strengths to attract more customers. Nowadays, global economic recession is a serious problem to all over the world, especially for Europe. Ryanair is a company most facing the European market. Customers now are more concern about the price. The company should catch this opportunity to occupy more market share. . Special â€Å"pay by use† service of Ryanair is one of its characteristics and the unusual features compared with other companies which can decrease costs of services. Ryanair can use the financial crisis of competitor’s and capture the opportunity to attract more customers and earn more profit than others. ST Strategies 1. In the next few years, low cost airlines market expansion would probably slow down because new opportunities would be more limited. As growth slows, labor costs for the low-cost carriers will continue to rise as well as the level of oil prices.Ryanair should be prepared for convergence of costs and conditions and make corresponding strategies, but it should still retain the ‘no-frills’ advantage of high seat density, aircraft utilization and lowest fares in any market (Air Scoop, 2007). 2. In order to achieve the aim to be the biggest player and keep its domination in the low-price market segment, Ryanair will have to expand into more popular routes coupled with retaining its differentiation strategy, such as purchasing newer, more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircrafts and offering best customer services compared with its peer grouping in Europe.Strategic Assessment The core strategy of Ryanair Airlines is cost-focus strategy. The company continuously keeps its cost at a low level to offer low-fares services. Actually, cost control is the central strategy of all budget airlines, such as Ryanair’s main competitor in Europe—easyJet. In this part, we are going to assess Ryanair’s competitive strategy through a comparison with the operating performance of easyJet. EasyJet is a Europe's leading airline comes from the United Kingdom, founded in 1995, which has remarkable positions in some key markets: No. in Gatwick, Milan and Geneva; No. 2 in Paris with over 300 million people within a one hour drive of an easyJet carrier (easyJet plc, 2012). And easyJet is one of the leading lights of Europe's budget flight industry. 1. Financial results analysis with business strategy Table 1 Comparison of operating financial results between Ryanair’s & easyJets in 2012 Ryanair(? million)Eas yJet(? million) Scheduled revenues28273794 Ancillary revenues71560 Total operating revenues35423854 Scheduled revenues /total operating revenue79. 8%98. 4% Selected costs Fuel12841149 Maintenance84203 Marketing145104Total operating expenses29883323 Source: Ryanair Annual Report 2012 & easyJet Annual Report 2012 In their own financial year of 2011/12, Ryanair performed better than easyJet by ? 312 million in the total operating revenues (after exchange EURO to GBP with current rate), which mainly due to the high ancillary revenues from various ancillary services and involvement in other activities connected with its core air passenger services, including non-flight scheduled services, Internet-related services, and the in-flight sale of beverages, food, and merchandise (Ryanair annual report, 2012).Michael O’Leary talked previously about their ancillary strategy: â€Å"If you want a quiet flight, use another airline, Ryanair is noisy, full and we are always trying to sell you something† (O’Higgins, 2009). The ancillary strategy has been working well so far. However, the scheduled revenues which should be the primary business revenue of Ryanair were lower than its competitor easyJet. It might be caused by the cutting routes strategy and lower average load factors, especially the cutting routes strategy carried out in 2009, which has already cut down 389 rotes (1000 routes in 2009).In terms of operating costs, Ryanair had a better performance in controlling total operating expenses in 2011/12, which is ? 2988 million, while that of easyJet is ? 3323 million. However, Ryanair spent more on fuel and oil, which occupied nearly 43% of the Ryanair’s total expenses. Jet fuel is always variable and cannot be predicted previously. And jet fuel prices are dependent on crude oil prices, which are quoted in U. S. dollars. As a result, Ryanair’s fuel cost is affected by currency exchange. â€Å"Based on Ryanair’s fuel consumption fo r the year 2011, a change of $1. 0 in the average annual price per metric ton of jet fuel would have caused a change of approximately â‚ ¬1. 5 million in Ryanair’s fuel costs† (Ryanair annual report, 2012). In order to minimize its loss on fuel price change and currency rate, like many other airlines do, such as Southwest Airlines, Ryanair uses forward contracts to protect against fluctuations. Ryanair’s maintenance cost is relatively lower than easyJet. It might be largely due to the aircraft it adopts. Ryanair uses single fleet type—Boeing 737-800, which is considered to be one of the most fuel efficient fleet type, while easyJet has two types—Airbus A320, A319.The single fleet type reduces the number and cost of aircraft components in stock, as well as its maintenance cost. Ryanair’s marketing cost is more than easyJet’s. This may be a result of its promotion for ancillary revenue. In order to earn a widely range of revenue apart from scheduled revenue, Ryanair advertises its services in national and regional newspapers, as well as controversial and topical advertising (Ryanair annual report, 2012). 2. Growth capacity under strategy: Table 2: Ryanair’s financial performance(â‚ ¬Million) 20122011Changes Total revenue4,324. 93,629. +19% Profit before tax560. 4375. 6+50% Adjusted net profit after tax502. 6400. 7+25% Basic earnings per share (in euro cent)38. 0325. 21+51% Adjusted basic EPS (in euro cent)24. 1026. 97+26% Source: Ryanair annual report 2012 Ryanair’s operations have grown rapidly during 2011/12. This year, net profit after tax had a 25% increase after adjusted, total operating revenues increased by 19% to â‚ ¬4,324. 9 million as average fares rose by 16% (Ryanair annual report, 2012). Furthermore, ancillary revenues grew up by 11%, faster than the 5% increase in passenger numbers.Although the average load factor of Ryanair was lower than its competitor, there is still an incre ase of 13% (Ryanair annual report, 2012). In 2012/13, Ryanair plans to develop 330 new routes and intend to continue expanding its navigation, new destinations and new flights, which are expected to increase Ryanair’s booked passenger volumes to approximately 79 million passengers per year. In addition, there is a strategy of transferring operating flights from high cost airports to low cost airports in winter in order to reduce cost in off season.Overall, the company’s growth has been largely dependent on increasing performance and growing capacity. 3. Star rating & customer satisfaction From Low-Cost Airline Ranking in Official SKYTRAX Airline Star Ranking website (2012), the star ranking of Ryanair is two stars while easyJet is three stars. And easyJet ranked 5th in World's Best Low-Cost Airlines award, however, Ryanair wasn’t in this list. Actually, Ryanair always has a worse public image than its competitors due to its marketing strategy by making stunts.An d in some instances, the extra charges imposed on passengers such as check-in charges and booking fees make customers unsatisfied. What is worse, some flying accidents make its statements of punctuality and safety being doubted by the public. Conclusion Overall, Ryanair is successful in planning and performing its cost focus strategy. Facing with the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, it is recommended that: 1. Ryanair should continue using its low fares to attract price-sensitive customers. 2. Ryanair can keep following its â€Å"pay by use† service, which is an effective way to ensure low price.However, when taking extra charges, it should consider the public’s attitudes to the fee. 3. Ryanair should continue controlling its costs to compete with other low fare airlines, especially fuel and oil costs. 4. Ryanair should pay attention to its brand and reputation, and make some efforts to earn a better degree of satisfaction. 5. Ryanair should take measure s to build a good relationship with authorities and governments. Reference List Gillespie, A. (2007), Foundations of Economics, Oxford University Press: Oxford O’Higgins, E. 2011), ‘Ryanair: the low fares airline – future destinations? ’,IN, Johnson,C. (ed. ) Exploring Strategy: Text and Cases, Pearson Education, pp. 618-627 Pearce, B. (2012), ‘The state of air transport markets and the airline industry after the great recession', Journal of Air Transport Management, Volume 21, July 2012, pp. 3-9 Rothwell, S. (2012), Ryanair Deepens Cuts at Edinburgh as BAA Seeks to Complete Sale [Online]. Available: http://www. businessweek. com/news/2012-04-12/ryanair-deepens-cuts-at-edinburgh-as-baa-seeks-to-complete-sale [Accessed: 12th April 2012]Box, T. M. (2005), ‘RYANAIR (2005): successful low cost leadership', Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies, Volume 13, Number 3, pp. 65-67 Air Scoop, (2007), The Low Cost Carriers Analysis Newslett er, [online], Available: http://www. air-scoop. com/pdf/air_scoop_May2007. pdf [Accessed: 10th December 2012]. Huff Post, (2012), Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary Calls Passengers â€Å"Idiots†, [online], Available: http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2012/09/05/ryanair-ceo-michael-oleary-calls-passengers-idiots_n_1857143. html [Accessed: 10th December 2012]New Europe Online, (2011), Ryanair profits rise despite fuel costs and economic downturn, [online], Available: http://www. neurope. eu/article/ryanair-profits-rise-despite-fuel-costs-and-economic-downturn [Accessed: 10th December 2012]. Newll, I. (2006), ‘Is win-win just pie in the sky? ‘, Strategic Direction: The airline industry, Volume 22, Number 6 June 2006, pp, 3-5 O’Higgins, E. , 2011, Ryanair: the low fares airline – future destinations? , IN, Johnson,C. (ed. ) Exploring Strategy: Text and Cases, Pearson Education, pp. 618-627Routes Online, (2010), â€Å"Major opportunities remain in Europeà ¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬â€Ryanair route director,[online], Available: http://www. routesonline. com/news/36/the-hub/97447/amajor-opportunities-remain-in-europea-a-ryanair-route-director/ [Accessed: 10th December 2012]. Sorensen, T. C. , (2005), An analysis of the European low fare airline industry- with focus on Ryanair, Aarhus School of Business. EasyJet Evidence, 2012. AT A GLANCE. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012]. Ryanair, 2012. Annual report 2011-2012. [online]Available at: [Accessed 1 December2012]. easyJet plc, 2012. Annual report 2011-2012. online]Available at: [Accessed 1 December2012]. STARTRAX Evidence,2012. Low-Cost Airline Ranking. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 December 2012 ] Appendix Selected operating data RyanaireasyJet PASSENGERS (JAN’11 – DEC ’11)76. 4million55. 5million AVERAGE LOAD FACTOR82. 2%87. 5% NUMBER OF DAILY FLIGHTS13531260 COUNTRIES SERVED2730 DESTINATIONS162130 ROUTES6111400 PERMANENT EMPLOYEES75719000 NUMBER OF AIRCRAFT27 5202 AVERAGE FLEET AGE3. 03. 9 FLEET TYPE275 Boeing 737-80035 Airbus A320 167 Airbus A319 Sources: European Low Fares Airlines Association (ELFAA), December 2011

Supportive Work Culture

Need for supportive work culture – Gaming Industry Ravi Shankar Jayaman Today we have so many video games releasing every week. Most of the video games today bring in as much revenue as a Hollywood movie (reference needed). What was once considered a niche industry, thanks to various technological advancements, is no longer a niche industry. We have video games releasing for different age groups. Like movies, we have different flavours of games. We have dance games, party games, racing games, shooting games etc. Today, there really is a video game for everyone An introduction to video gamesIn 1958, William Higginbotham, a nuclear physicist, created what is now known as the very first video game – ‘Tennis for Two’ (reference). It was a two player tennis game played with two controllers. ‘Tennis for Two’ was meant for a small audience and was never seen as something people could make money from. This particular game was the inspiration to the fir st successful video game ever created ‘Pong’. ‘Pong’ was an arcade game that released in 1972. Pong’s success made people see gaming as a means of business and thus the gaming industry started. Today we have so many video games releasing every week.There are many different game consoles – ones that can be played at home and ones that are portable. We can also play video games on PC, tablets etcfor example (don’t use â€Å"etc† in a paper). Even the mobile phones we use every day can be used to play video games. All these factors have made the gaming industry a multibillion dollar industry. Today the gaming industry is worth more than the music industry and even Hollywood (reference). A new video game that is released today has a good chance to earn as much as a Hollywood movie would. In fact in more than a few cases a successful video game would make more money than most of theRavi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 1 movies ever w ould. For example, the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops totaled in at $1 billion worldwide within the first 42 days of its release (reference). Video games have always been something that people associated with fun. People see video games as a means of entertainment especially when they are with family and friends. Video games are good stress busters and can help keep people’s minds at ease. Video games are very helpful even in educational institutions. In fact a few gamers were able to break the AIDS enzyme puzzle that has been troubling scientists for decades (reference).All these factors bode well with the booming gaming industry. Video games today can be both fun and educational. History of video game companies Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney are credited with establishing the very first video game company (reference). They created Atari Inc. in 1972. In 1972, Video games were relatively unknown. So, it was a very bold move by Bushnell and Dabney to venture into the unkno wn. Atari’s Pong was very successful and thus people started venturing into the video game industry. Today’s gaming companies are very different from the ones in the past.There are people working on video games almost throughout around the clock to meet the various strict deadlines. This is a lot of pressure on the video game developers to get their product out on to the market. We all know that video games are so much fun to play and are a great means of entertainment, but are they as much fun to make? Comment [JBC1]: Be careful of sweeping statements. Some people may not find video games fun. Gamers tend to be young and male. The Ugly side of gaming – Work culture in Video game companies The organizational structure in a video game industry is a network organization.Video game companies are virtual organizations in a network organizational structure. The video game console makers make the consoles and usually let the video game companies make games. There are companies that make Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 2 exclusive games for only one of the platforms and there are companies that make games for all the platforms available. Irrespective of the kind of video game Company, such is the video game industry these days that every video game company has to be continuously releasing great games.All the companies compete among themselves to attract the ever growing number of people who are buying video games. Working in such a competitive industry can be challenging for anyone. The kind of work people do in the video game industry is not your regular 9 to 5 kind of work. This industry requires people to put in a lot of work hours. Sometimes at a level that is unsustainable and destructive. This could lead to employee burnout. Employee burnouts are quite common in the video game industry. The term crunch time is used pretty extensively in the video game industry.Crunch time can be defined as the point at which a team is failing to meet its deadlines and milestones which could affect the launch of a video game. The complex nature of video games these days makes it tough to predict when one can achieve a milestone or a deadline. During crunch time situations the video game company exerts pressure on its employees to put in more effort. The sad part is that in a few cases people are not paid for this overtime. There was even a lawsuit filed against Electronic Arts because of the company’s push to make employees work for longer hours (reference).Working for so long can not only make an employee tired, but also affect the employee psychologically. The mental stress involved could have a really bad effect on the employee’s health. Aggressive work schedules and strict deadlines are something that leads to mental stress on an employee. The companies can be too demanding at times and may cross the line by making an employee work more than what he/she was/is supposed to. The necessity of proper work culture an d regulations to keep these kinds of adverse working conditions in check is really necessary. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823Page 3 Team Bondage – The story behind the demise of Team Bondi Team Bondi was an Australian game developer that developed video games for all the video game consoles available in market today. The company was founded by Brendan McNamara, an ex-big gun from Sony, who had had vast experience in making video games (reference). McNamara was very successful with Sony and had made a number of hit games such as The Getaway. So, when McNamara founded Team Bondi in 2003, everyone believed that the company was destined for success. Team Bondi’s first game was announced in 2004 as L.A Noire. Sony had first dibs on this video game and worked out a deal for L. A Noire to be published by Sony. This meant that the game was exclusive for Sony’s Playstation 3. The game was expected to release in 2006-2007. In September 2006 news broke out that Sony has m oved away from the deal of publishing the game. Rockstar took over from Sony and the game was expected to release in 2008. This was the first sign of things not being ‘OK’ with Team Bondi. There were then multiple delays and the game finally released in 2011, seven years after it was announced.The game got rave reviews from critics and gamers alike. It was a commercial hit and everyone thought that Team Bondi was destined for more success. Sadly, in October 2011 news broke out that Team Bondi has closed down. It was not clear why, even after a very successful debut game, would the company close down. All the happenings during the development of L. A Noire were then revealed and the reason behind Team Bondi’s closure became clearer. After the game’s release former staff of Team Bondi came out to reveal the disastrous work conditions while developing L. A Noire.It came to be known that Team Bondi was making its employees work overtime because of crunch. Thes e overtime hours were not accounted for in the pay and there was extensive mental stress on the employees at Team Bondi. The former staff also questioned McNamara’s leadership. The former staff revealed that McNamara was a very angry person and also cited occasions when he shouted at employees. This style of leadership put off many people and many people quit. A Comment [JBC2]: Be explicit to be clear about his position at Sony. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 4 ew people were apparently so put off by McNamara’s leadership style that they vowed never to return to game industry again. Even Rockstar, the publisher of L. A Noire, cut ties with Team Bondi citing poor leadership/management skills of McNamara. The disastrous work conditions and leadership style led to the demise of Team Bondi. The story behind EA lawsuits Electronic Arts (EA) are one of the biggest game developers in the world with revenues of over $3 billion (reference). EA are credited with a great r ecord of releasing highly successful video games for over twenty years.In 2004 a blog showed up on the internet by someone named ‘ea_Spouse’. This blog explained how EA treated their employees. The blog highlighted mainly about the work culture followed in EA at that time. The blog said that employees were asked to work extensively for 12-14 hours six days a week and at times even seven days a week. The employees were reportedly given the occasional Saturday evening off for ‘good behaviour’. Employees were reportedly made to work up to 100 hours a week on a few occasions. All these overtime work done by employees were not accounted for.EA did not pay the employees for overtime. This forced the employees to file a lawsuit against EA (reference). The employees of EA successfully won this lawsuit. This particular lawsuit was a revolution of sorts and ensured that people in the gaming industry were paid on an hourly basis. Since this lawsuit hit EA very hard, E A were quick to take some positive steps to ensuring that no such events happen again. EA has taken steps to positively address work-life balance concerns. EA focused on long term planning, employee compensation and communication to improve work-life balance concerns.EA did an overhaul of its Human resource policies to make EA a better place to work in. John Riccitiello was appointed CEO of EA in February 2007 and he ensured that EA were serious about keeping the work culture good within EA. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 5 Importance of good work culture In these turbulent economic times, a lot is expected from the employees. An employee maybe required to put in the extra hours to get things done. An employee will be willing to put those extra hours only when the management recognizes the effort put by the employee. An employee will be more ommitted and motivated to his work when the management ensures a good supportive work culture within the organization. A good work cultu re keeps an employee more engaged to his work. A good work culture keeps the employee satisfied. A satisfied employee will in turn bring in more productivity and thus the organization is benefitted. Adding to the reasons above, a few other reasons on how a good supportive work culture helps the organization are listed below: 1. It retains talent: When an employee is satisfied with the work culture in an organization, he or she is very likely to continue working in the organization.When the employee is kept satisfied there is no reason for the employee to move out. 2. It attracts talent: A prospective employee looks at the work culture closely when assessing an organization. An employee usually looks for a change when the work culture in not that great. So, the company with a good work culture will be pretty high on the list for people looking for a change. 3. It creates synergy: A strong supportive work culture brings people together. When people can communicate with each other easi ly, everyone gets to know each other well. This brings the people together.When people communicate with each other well it improves the productivity of the employees. 4. It creates energy: Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 6 When the culture shows that people are valued by the organization, it creates a lot of good energy in the organization. In such an organization people can express themselves and this creates a lot of positive energy. 5. It changes the view of work The word ‘work’ in itself does not mean anything fun. It means that one has to do certain things. This understanding of the meaning of ‘work’ can be changed if an organization has a good culture.When an organization takes an effort to have a good culture, work would become more fun and an employee would have fun doing it. 6. It makes everyone successful: Everything discussed above helps not only the employee but also the organization. A good work culture keeps an employee more engaged and more motivated to do his or her work. An employee will thus get more productive. This in turn helps the organization. This is a win-win for both employees and organization. In a very demanding industry such as the video game industry we can see how a good work culture helps.In such an industry the company plays a very important role to help keep the employee morale high. When a company follows a good culture, all the points mentioned above become valid. The organization would benefit in the long run. In fact having a good work culture can become a competitive advantage. Comment [JBC4]: A good work culture is more likely or has the potential to engage employees but it’s not a sure thing. Same comment regarding productivity. Comment [JBC3]: Another sweeping statement. Some people find work fun. Importance of employee satisfaction An unhappy employee is very bad for an organization.The employee will not be able to perform his tasks at his or her full potential level. This may in turn affect the quality of the product. So, it is very Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 7 important to keep an employee satisfied especially in a very chaotic industry such as gaming. A happy and a satisfied employee will always give you a better result. The various factors affecting employee satisfaction are: Comment [JBC5]: Not necessarily. A happy and satisfied employee does not always relate to productivity, for example, they could be happy, satisfied and lazy or poor at their job. . Job Security: This is probably the most important factor affecting employee satisfaction. There is always consistent pressure on employees of a video game company to do well.The video game industry is a hit and miss industry. When a game does well commercially the companies reap benefits but when a game does not do that well the company gets a beating. So, job security is always on top of almost every employee’s mind. When a company can give proper assurances to their employees, the emp loyees are bound to be happy and perform well. 2. Compensation and Benefits: This factor is a no rainer. Everyone wants more money and benefits and the company that gives their employees these benefits and pay are more likely to keep their employees satisfied. 3. Relationship with supervisor: The relationship between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor is very key to understand whether an employee is satisfied or not. The supervisor plays a very important role in keeping an employee satisfied. 4. The work itself: The work itself needs to be fun and engaging for an employee. A company that has a good work culture can ensure that the work is a lot of fun.As long as an employee is happy doing his or her work the employee is satisfied. Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 8 There is a connection between work culture and employee satisfaction. A very good work culture can keep an employee satisfied. A satisfied employee is a boon to an organization. The productivity of the e mployee improves. This means that the quality of output will be pretty good. Isn’t that what every company wants? The way forward for video game companies There is no denying that the video game industry is a very challenging and demanding industry.There will be times when people will have to put in a lot of hours to get a game ready. These extra hours can be very intimidating for employees. Video game companies can make sure that these extra hours put by employees are not seen as a negative. The onus is on the video game companies to make sure that the work environment is more fun. Good Human resources management and supportive work culture can ensure the workplace to be more fun. The companies will then leave very little for employees to worry about. There are video game companies who have successfully done this. These companies have released great products too.These companies are proof to the fact that there is no tradeoff between good product and work culture/employee sat isfaction. Two such companies are listed below: Insomniac Games: Insomniac games are an independent video game developer located in Burbank, California. They have been making video games ever since 1994 (reference). This company has consistently been ranked as a great place to work in. As recently as October 2011, entrepreneur rates Insomniac as the 16th best place to work in. Entrepreneur has highlighted the workplaces practices at Insomniac games. 2K Studios Australia Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823Page 9 It was initially called irrational games. This is a very small video game company that has been doing well financially and also in maintaining a good work culture at work place. Small studios are very vulnerable in a competitive industry and this studio has survived the competition. They released Bioshock in 2007 and this was the biggest game to release in 2007. The company is widely recognized as one of the most innovative development studios in the world. After looking at all the stories in the video game industry, we can come to a conclusion that video game industry is a pretty unique industry.It is a great mix of technology and entertainment, but at the same time it is a very challenging industry. Playing video games can be so much fun, but the making of video games is almost never as much fun. Aggressive work schedules, strict deadlines and mental stress can make jobs in this industry very demanding. In such an industry good work culture is a necessity. A great supportive work culture can keep an employee satisfied and improve employee productivity. With a good work culture in place the employee can excel and be on top of his or her ‘game’ (no pun intended). Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823Page 10 References David Hinkle. (2011, July 5). Report: Game Industry worth $74 billion in 2011. Retrieved from: http://www. joystiq. com/2011/07/05/report-game-industry-worth-74-billion-in-2011/ Don Reisinger. (2010, December 21). Call of Duty Black O ps hits $1 billion milestone. Retrieved from: http://news. cnet. com/8301-13506_3-20026321-17. html CBC News. (2006, October 19). Video games can reshape education: U. S Scientists. Retrieved from: http://www. cbc. ca/news/technology/story/2006/10/19/videogames-education. html Medical News. (2011, September 20). Gamers crack AIDS puzzle.Retrieved from: http://www. medicalnewstoday. com/articles/234664. php Ea_spouse. (2004, November 10). EA: The Human Story. Retrieved from:http://easpouse. livejournal. com/274. html Simon Carless. (2004, November 11). ‘EA Spouse’ weblog Raises Issues On Game Development Quality Of Life. Retrieved from: http://www. gamasutra. com/php-bin/news_index. php? story=4543 Kristan Reed. (2004, February 20). Team Bondi – The First interview. Retrieved from: http://www. eurogamer. net/articles/i_teambondi Brendan Sinclair. (2006, September 25). Rockstar gets L. A Noire. Retrieved from: http://uk. gamespot. om/ps3/adventure/l-a-noire/news/61 58595/rockstar-gets-la-noire Nathan Brown. (2011, October 5). Team bondi to close. Retrieved from: Ravi Shankar Jayaraman 211586823 Page 11 Comment [JBC6]: All these references needed to be embedded in the paper. http://www. next-gen. biz/news/team-bondi-close Ben Maxwell. (2011, june 27). Former Team Bondi staff reveal troubled LA Noire development. Retrieved from: http://www. next-gen. biz/news/former-team-bondi-staff-reveal-troubled-la-noiredevelopment Nathan Brown. (2011, July 5). Report: Rockstar washes hands of Team Bondi. Retrieved from: http://www. next-gen. iz/news/report-rockstar-washes-hands-team-bondi Curt Feldman. (2004, November 11). Employees readying class-action lawsuit against EA. Retrieved from: http://www. gamespot. com/news/employees-readying-class-action-lawsuit-against-ea6112998 David Jenkins. (2006, April 26). Programmers win EA overtime settlement, EA_Spouse revealed. Retrieved from: http://www. gamasutra. com/php-bin/news_index. php? story=9051 Michael McWh ertor. (2008, April 7). EA employees Now Pleased As Punch To Be Working At EA. Retrieved from: http://kotaku. com/377116/ea-employees-now-pleased-as-punch-to-be-working-at-e