Mgt602 Case Study Sample

Starbuck’ Strategy and Internal Initiatives to Return to Profitable Growth Shangze Li MGT 602 National University April 13, 2012 Starbuck’s Strategic Analysis Mission From the stuff of the textbook, there are some content about Starbucks’ mission statement. Howard Schultze who is the chairman and CEO of Starbucks would like their mission statement to convey a strong sense of organizational purpose and to articulate Starbucks’ fundamental beliefs and guiding principles. They renewed their mission statement in October, 2008.It is â€Å"To inspire and nurture the human spirit- one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time here are the principles of how we live that every day† (Thompson, 2012). The strategic mission of Starbucks is to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand name in coffee and for the company to be admired for its corporate responsibility. Starbucks has six corporate values as its own internal guideline. Firs tly, provide a great work environment and treat each other with respect and dignity.Secondly, embrace diversity as essential component in their business approaches. Thirdly, apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing process. Fourthly, roast and deliver fresh coffee. Fifthly, develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time. Sixthly, contribute positively to communities and environment, and recognize that profitability is essential to their future success. As such, Starbucks uses these principles as a guideline for all employees to achieve the company’s goals (Starbucks, 2012). Store Expansion StrategyThompson mentioned Starbucks’ expansion strategy in this case. From 1993, Starbucks began their geographic expansion strategy to target areas. They believed â€Å"Starbucks everywhere† strategy cut down on delivery and management costs. The data showing that their operating margin was 14. 3% in fiscal 2007, but declining store sales and depressed economic conditions had driven the margin down to 6. 0% in fiscal 2008 and 7. 5% in fiscal 2009. In 1995, Starbucks began entering into licensing agreements for store locations in areas where it did not have ability to locate its own outlets.Till September 2009, Starbucks had company-operated and licensed stores in 50 countries and expected to open 200 new stored internationally in fiscal 2010 (Thompson, 2012). Revenue growth is decreasing because Starbucks lacks experienced management. Schultz has never led a growth effort of such magnitude and is just learning what the job of DEO is all about. Additionally, the US economic slowdown makes Starbucks experience a steeper fall and the customers are more price sensitive the past year. Customers lose their jobs, they don’t have money to drink coffee in Starbucks.According to this situation, Starbucks should reduce their US expansion efforts. Continued aggressive expansion in the United States by adding as many new stor e locations as in the past will inevitably act to cannibalize existing locations same store sales. The specialty coffee industry in the United State has entered the mature stage. One of the qualities inherent to the mature stage of the industry lifecycle is overcapacity. Any significant expansion efforts in an environment where overcapacity is present will be met with failure.By reducing their expansion efforts in the United States, Starbucks can redirect the capital saved into their international expansion efforts. The international market provides an ideal target for expansion and the penetration rate of specialty coffee in many nations is low and these countries have the potential market share capacity (Larson, 2008). Business Strategy From the mid-1990, Starbucks started their products strategy. The strategic objectives were to capitalize on Starbucks’ growing brand awareness and brand-name strength and create a broader foundation for sustained long-term growth in revenue s and profits (Thompson, 2012).Starbucks should start new independent business unit for new products, with decentralization for products-group structure. They should reduce cross functional tasks to reduce confusion between employees and increase efficiency. Starbucks gets the outsiders of their board to gain potential new ideas in new business. Exploring new business is a blue ocean strategy and gets a first mover advantage (Paydirect, 2012). Marketing Starbucks had spent relatively little money on advertising, preferring instead to build the brand cup by cup with customers and depend on word of mouth and the appeal of its storefronts.Adverting expenditures were $126. 3million in fiscal 2009, versus $129. 0 million in fiscal in 2008. Starbucks stepped up advertising efforts in 2008 to combat the strategic initiatives of McDonald’s and several other fast-food chains to begin offering premium coffees and coffee drinks at prices below those charged by Starbucks (Thompson, 2012) . Store Ambience Starbucks should create a store atmosphere that fits the local settings and by training baristas to increase the personal connection between themselves and their customers.Starbucks encourage s feedback from their customers to induce a family like feeling and instructs all baristas to greet every customer. To further increase this emotional connection with their customers, Starbucks can implement digital picture frames in all store locations and uploads local customer photos and perhaps even customer supplied family photos, customers have the option of uploading some of their family photos into the digital picture frames Starbucks gives them the chance to personalize their local coffee shop and joins a community (Larson, 2008).Research and development Starbucks can continue in their research and development strategy by being the technological leader in the coffee retail business (Thompson, 2012). Starbucks should continually improve the coffee’s variety. Maga zine consumer reports rated McDonald’s drip coffee as tasting better than that of Starbucks in 2009. To ensure the quality of their coffee, Starbucks should continually analyze their brewing systems and practices and considers renovations.The brewing process should at all times be judged based upon its ability to bring out the complexities and distinctive flavors of the world’s different exotic specialty coffees. Starbucks introduces their Tazo tea brand into the Japanese market. After a successful trial run in Japan, Tazo is brought into the US markets. Starbucks should diversify in related business to secure its own business, as customers have brand preference such as Macdonald, Donuts and so on (Paydirect, 2012). FinanceIn March 2010, Starbucks announced it first-ever cash dividend of $0. 10 per share to be paid quarterly starting with the second quarter of fiscal 2010. Net revenues increased 8. 6 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2010 compared with the same q uarter in fiscal 2009 (Thompson, 2012). Starbucks should use the best of their economies of scale to reduce costs. Starbucks should start new independent business unit for analyze the cost and return of new coffee’s product which is a cost driver.Accountants and auditors should follow the corporate governance to control some unnecessary expense and use performance test to identify the financial competitive advantage (Paydirect, 2012). Starbucks should evaluate their performance substantively and symbolically to avoid any accumulative financial losses to take quick corrective actions. The best evaluation method for Starbucks will be measuring ROI for any new investment they made and for the old investments as well. Starbucks should measures net profit for each store to separate between profitable and non-profitable stores.Hence, Starbucks will have a clear financial positioning (Paydirect, 2012). Reference Larson, R. C. (2008). Starbucks a strategic analysis. Retrieved on Sep 22,2012 from http:// coe. brown. edu/documents/starbucksastrategicanalysis_ R. Larson_honors_2009. pdf Paydirect. (2012). About Us. starbucks. Retrieved from Sep 20, 2012 from http://www. starbucks. com/about-us Thompson, A. A. , Peteraf, M. A. , Gamble, J. E. , Strickland III, A. J. (2012). Crafting and Executing Strategy: concepts and cases: global edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Experiment

There were 5 trials of 30 second intervals. After every trial the subject was asked to estimate the number of letters expected to be written correctly in the next trial. As the results showed, only 2 out of the 9 subjects were able to perfect the experiment. Majority of the 9 subjects committed tallest 2 errors in a trial. The most errors committed by a subject were 7 errors. As a conclusion, it can be said that the main objective of this experiment was accomplished. The class exhibited notable scores during the course of the activity and important lessons were relayed. L.Experimenting, although most are unaware about it, is a part of daily living. Say, experimenting with the route when going to school or to work, experimenting with clothes when dressing up, also, experimenting with ingredients when cooking. In life experimentation is simple however when it comes to Science, Experimentation entails so much more. The meaning of the word â€Å"experiment† on a Merriam Webster di ctionary is; a test or trial, an operation or procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown effect or law to test or establish a hypothesis or to illustrate a known law.Wisped on the other hand says that an experiment is a methodical trial ND error procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, falsifying, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis. Furthermore, it says that experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a particular factor is manipulated. Experiments vary greatly in their goal and scale, but always rely on repeatable procedure and logical analysis of the results. Experiments can vary from personal and informal to highly controlled. Uses of experiments vary considerably between the natural and social sciences.Having a clear vision of what experiment means, it would be easier to comprehend he process of â€Å"experimentation†. According to Anne Myers (2003) experimentation is a process undertaken to discover something new or to demonstrate that events that have already been observed will occur again under a particular set of conditions. When experimenting, systematically manipulate aspects of a setting to verify predictions about behavior under particular conditions. Experimentation is sometimes impossible. To do an experiment, predictions must be testable. Two minimum requirements must be met: First, having procedures for manipulating the setting.Second, the predicted outcome must be observable. To use experimentation, it is a must to have procedures to manipulate the environment, and to make predictions about observable outcomes. Experimentation must also be objective. Ideally, we do not bias results by setting up situations in which predictions can always be confirmed. Do not stack the deck in our favor by giving subjects subtle cues to respond in the desired way. Nor prevent them from responding in the non-predicted direction. In Psychology however, experimentation started with the intensive, prolonged study of the individual.This single-participant research strategy followed from the earlier scientific paradigms employed by physiologists. Foremost was the classic research of the great French physiologist Claude Bernard in the sass's. Barnyard's strategy of concentrating on the individual was widely accepted in physiology when he won a scientific argument concerning physiological knowledge of European urine. A proposal had been advanced to collect specimens of urine from a centrally located train station and compute average values. Psychology majors will eventually turn to experimentation to prove personal theories, assessments, beliefs, and curiosities.Hence the subject shall educate on how to conduct experiments reliably and convincingly. The conclusion which should be drawn from this experiment shall inform on the what, why and how of Experimentation. II. METHODS Procedure The experimenter (E) instructed the subject (S) to write the alphabet backwards (from Z to A) as rapidly as possible. There were 5 trials of 30 seconds each with a one- minute rest between trials. After the first trial the S reported the number of letters written and gave an estimate of the number expected in the second trial.After the second, third, and fourth trials the S reported the number estimated, the number achieved and the number estimated for the next trial. After the fifth trial only the estimated and achieved scores were reported. Apparatus For the experiment the tools used were: a pencil some scratch paper and a timer with second hand Ill. RESULTS Summarized Scores of Each Subject The table illustrates the scores of each subject from SSL to SO. Each subject was given 5 trials with 30 second intervals. The Right and Wrong answers are represented by (R) & (W) respectively. Results showed that 2 out of 9 subjects had no errors.SO made 2 errors during the first trial but perfected the activity throughout all the succeeding trials. SO and SO made no errors at all during trials 1 to last. SO showed an alternating score of 24 and 26 through trials 1 to last respectively. SO made an error during the 2nd trial but throughout all the trials the scores were perfect. SO showed a rise in the curve throughout trials 1 to last. Finally, SO showed a rise in the curve through trials 1 to 3 but dropped a point from the previous score in the last trial. For most of the subjects, there was a rise in the curve throughout the trials.

Why should I be selected for this scholarship Essay

Why should I be selected for this - Scholarship Essay Example I am a single parent with two children; the children require my emotional and financial support as well as the normal upbringing. Background is another significant for me. My parents do not have college education and I am the first one in the family to go to college. Am therefore basically coming from a background that has not known the importance of education and as such I have to struggle on my own as there is not even one person to guide me. I have personally interacted with people who have benefited from education and now know just what my goal is in pursuing professional studies. I will overcome the obstacles above by striking a balance between studies and caring for my two children. I will also not allow my background to destruct my focus on achieving professional qualification and in fact will use my education to serve as a role model to other members of the family. This scholarship will therefore go a long way in enabling me not only complete my studies but also contribute to the betterment of

Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Public Relations - Essay Example ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS The focus of organizational functions of public relations is in protecting the company’s reputation and making sure that it maintains a cordial relation with its stakeholders. Following are some of the functions of Public Relations department in an organization: INTERNAL RELATIONS This is one of the most important and crucial aspects of public relations. Establishing a bond of trust between the employees and the employers can be a difficult job; however, it is very important. This directly affects the productivity of the organization while at the same creating valuable and irreplaceable assets for the employers (Lordan, 2003). Analysis has indicated that internal relations managers are responsible for internal communication in an organization that particularly focuses on avoidance of any conflicts, as well as resolution as well to ensure good reputation of the organization. Secondly, another imperative function of the internal relat ions managers is to ensure distribution of information to all members of the organization through company’s newsletter and e-platforms. It has been an observation that such managers also are responsible to arrange and organize different events and activities that work as motivation for the employees. RELATIONS WITH STAKEHOLDERS/INVESTORS It is the prime responsibility of a public relations manager to maintain a healthy relationship between organization and its investors. They make sure that all the relevant data required in maintaining this relationship reaches their investors at time. In addition to that, the manager is also responsible for analysing propositions and decisions for the benefit of the organization as well as stakeholders. The idea of gaining profit maintains stakeholders’ interest in the organization. Other responsibilities of the manager include arranging shareholders meetings, compiling an annual report, making sure that all the deals are legal, and e nsuring financial credibility of investors and stakeholders. COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH Communication research managers are responsible for quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the advertising campaigns. For this purpose, they conduct surveys, content analysis, and interviews with the clients to find out the most efficient means to communicate with the masses. These reports form the basis of the organization’s marketing strategy (Jacquie & Pieczka, 2006). SOCIETAL FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Societal functions concentrate on actions that can benefit the society. Every organization has a moral responsiility towards the society; public relation managers are the face of that organization that fulfills these responsibilities on their behalf. There is no denying the fact that the activities of corporate organizations have a signifcant impact on the public as they are the trendsetters and their products inspire people to look up to them (Lamme & Land, 2008). Public relations h ave two basic societal functions: COMMUNITY RELATIONS It involves evaluating the main community of your target market and making assessments on the basis on their lifestyles, identity, and attitude. Based on these assessmenst programs are developed and executed to gain the trust and acceptance of the community. In short, a business or organiztion cannot fully develop unless it is acknowleged by the community. Public relations make sure

Economics of Human Capital Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economics of Human Capital - Essay Example he justification for this argument was that essentially the amount of available land for production was believed to be limited due to the fact that land cannot grow at the same pace as capital and labor, consequently, land becomes insufficient, and capital and labor in the end become saturated and less efficient and less profitable (Mauro & Fernandez 68). This essay discusses the role of human capital in economic growth. Nevertheless, these early growth framework took in a fourth variable—knowledge, or technological development, that allowed available capital and labor to generate greater yields on specific amounts of land. The rate and extent of transformation of this fourth variable was viewed as exogenous to the framework—knowledge only grew constantly by itself and not as an outcome of investments or capital constituted within the framework. However, examinations of the potential sources of increases in national productivity over time revealed consistently that this inadequately known and non-quantifiable variable-- technological development-- comprised a substantial portion of overall economic development all over the 20th century (Qadri & Waheed 93). Obviously, economists did not accept the assumption that knowledge expanded without help, and hence several adjustments on this framework enable ‘labor’ input to expand not just by increasing work hours and people, but a lso by hypothesizing that the labor force’s human capital could, successfully, expand by means of training and education. This model is quite subjective, and, according to numerous economists, scarcely better than merely considering technological development as a residual variable that provides explanation of the portion of economic progress that cannot be clarified by expansion in physical or human capital (Becker(b) 57). During the 1980s, economists became fascinated with a modeling framework referred to as ‘New Growth Theory’, which viewed the role of growth in technological and

Discuss the types of relational databases and their advantages Essay

Discuss the types of relational databases and their advantages - Essay Example In this scenario, the Join function is used to unite relations, the project operation is performed to identify attributes and the select queries are performed for accessing data. However, like other database models, a relational database also supports several other functions such as insert, update and delete (Oak, 2011). In relational databases, normalization plays a very important role. In addition, the relational activities, facilitated by the relational databases work in an excellent way with normalized tables. Additionally, relational databases support dynamic views, which is an important concept of databases. Though, in a relational database, a view is not acknowledged as an element of the physical design, since it is dynamic. In addition, views can divide data, combine and shorten several unnecessary relations, which reduce the data storage requirements. Another important advantage of relational database is that it uses SQL that is a simple and human-readable language (Oak, 2011). Moreover, relational databases offer an excellent security because they support access permissions, which facilitate the database administrator to apply need-based permissions in order to get access to the data stored in database tables. Furthermore, relational databases offer high level performance, power, and facilities to latest hardware technologies as well as a capability to deal with all types of data and users requirements (Oak,

Warbings case study, Answer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Warbings case study, Answer - Essay Example Equity theory of motivation suggests that all employees must be given rewards according to their individual contributions. Equitable distribution of rewards leads to maximized performance. SMART objectives must be designed (Specific, Measurable w/Measurement, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Oriented) through implementation of reward system. According to Total Rewards theory (TowersWatson 2014): â€Å"Employers can better align rewards with employee preferences to †¦ promote specific behaviors and drive higher productivity.† Off-the-job training, on-the-job training, coaching, mentoring, group/lecture training, and computer-based training (CBT), are some of the formal training forms that are meant to increase the proficiencies of employees, so that they help the employers achieve their milestones (Sarwar, Azhar & Akhtar 2011). Koster, Grip, and Fourage (2011) found that, as predicted by human capital theory and social exchange theory, the contribution of employees in general training encouraged job persistence. Koster, F., Grip, A., & Fouarge, D., 2011. Does perceived support in employee development affect personnel turnover? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol.22, no.11, pp. 2403-2418. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2011.584404 Murayama, K., Matsumoto, M., Izuma, K., & Matsumoto, K., 2010. Neural basis of the undermining effect of extrinsic reward on intrinsic motivation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol.107, pp.20911-2091. Sarwar, S., Azhar, M.S., & Akhtar, N., 2011. Impact of training patterns upon the social relations of employees (a meta analysis). Journal of Management Research, vol.3, no.2, pp. 1-20. DOI:

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Research Paper Example Whatever a child learns in his/her tender age leaves an indelible expression on his mind for the entire life. Socializing agents thus play an important role in establishing one’s persona and making him/her a better citizen. Parents, Media, Peers and School are the major socializing agents. The mass media are impersonal communication aimed at a wider audience. Television, Radio, Internet, Cinemas are various examples of mass media. Mass media, in general influences every man of every age. It spreads information at wider scale therefore it strongly influences one’s opinions, views and thus changing and affecting our attitudes about many things. Television is a main source of entertainment and a major agent of socialization. Mass media influences our political views, views on women, people of color, our taste in popular culture, what to buy and various other beliefs and practices. Through the portrayal of imaginary characters in different programs and advertisements media helps in projecting gender, political, religious, perceptions. Some programs effect people’s orientation towards life and society as well. It also serves as a platform to present their ideas to the world when required. Writer 2 After his parents and caregivers, within the comforts of his home, a child gets the exposure to mass media in the form of radio, listening to the nursery rhymes and then watching them on television in the form of various adaptations and characters. Some studies indicate that the children learn to work together, do group activities, value each other’s presence by means of character description or story adaptations. Some programs for kids like Noggin promote healthy eating and exercise. Wiggles promote education on nutrition and activity. Sesame Street teaches healthy life style and new numbers and alphabets in a playful way. There are meaningful and informative programs for school going children and adults. Thus right programs serve as educating and learning tools. No doubt, Television and media in general serves as educational and informational tool but it has negative influences on children. Studies indicate it shortens attention span, distorts body image and in conjunction with other factors leads to obesity. â€Å".. the mass media socialize children, adolescents, and even adults; a key question is the extent to which media violence causes violence in our society† (Surette, 2011). Some programs showing excessive violence and anti social activities influence children behavior thus spreading violence in the society. Certain advertisements target kids and affect their thinking. Models, famous movie stars and popular sports man who are the role models are shown smoking which appears as an acceptable norm to the children. Another example is presentation of women image on television as sexual object or as a passive home maker leaves a negative impression on kids mind. Models and movie stars endorse beauty products and cosmetic uplift which encourages young girls to experiment with it. Anorexia, bulimia, depression and low self esteem are the outcome of these influences. Another controversy that surrounds mass media is the Writer 3 behavior troubles among youth. By the time the kids reach their adolescence, these influences become prominent on their thought processes. Drugs, violence, petty crimes to satisfy their urges and requirement as they have been watching on the television or in cinemas become acceptable norm for them. Some programs sho

Contemporary Marketing Research - John Lewis bucking the trend on the Essay

Contemporary Marketing Research - John Lewis bucking the trend on the UK High Street - Essay Example This study would be focused on evaluating the performance of John Lewis in previous years and the marketing strategies adapted by the retailer in order to enhance its sales. Similarly, the marketing strategies for the forthcoming years would also be evaluated to identify the performance and productivity of the company in the worrying time of 2013. This study would highlight the reasons for the exceptional performance of the retailer that is not even in the top 4 retailers in UK i.e. John Lewis. Furthermore, the impact of the adapted marketing strategies on the performance of the company would be evaluated. This would help to identify the remarkable performance of the company in the market. In the end, recommendations would be provided for the retail company i.e. John Lewis, in order to enhance its sales and revenues in the industry and to gain competitive advantage over other competitors in the market. This would help the company to enhance its performance which will eventually lead to increase in sales and revenues. The year 2012 was a nightmare for the retailers in United Kingdom. The retail growth in this particular year was just 1.2 percent. This retail growth could be said as the third lowest growth rate in the last 40 years (The Telegraph, 2012). The economic crisis and the recession after 2008 are the core reason for such downturn in the retail industry (O’Donnell, 2011). Due to such recession, it has been observed that the Jessops; one of the retailers in High Streets, has closed down all of its retail stores in the UK due to which almost 1370 people lost their job (BBC News, 2013a). Retail industry in UK is being directly influenced by the growing competition from supermarkets and internet retailers. This is one of the major reasons for the closure of Jessops in UK as the company was not able to cope with the changing trends in the retail industry. With advancement in the technology, the retail industry is moving towards

Philosophy of life Essay Example for Free

Philosophy of life Essay I do not come from the world of development as such I do not have work examples to share. I have many situations in my professional life I can think of where issues related to ethics are of importance. What life has told me that very often the answer is I do not know and that Ethics is very often a luxury that is not understood. Ounce at worked in a new job, in a financial software sales position I was in my first week† offered† a woman. see more:what is your philosophy of life By this I mean, it was a fellow female colleague who was known to be available and instead of working made sure to have â€Å"interactions† with some of male colleagues. I was literally told that she was available and that I should go for it. She in the next few days, quite clearly spent time around my desk and it was rather obvious what was expected of me. Since I decided not to sleep with her, I put myself in a difficult situation, I had literally to look at porn in the office and made sure other guys saw it and make many sexist and homophobic ( I am for gay rights) statements so at no time it could be thought I was gay. ( which I am not) How do you deal with a situation like this? I considered that for obvious moral reasons to have sexual intercourse with her was sick, still society told me it is the opposite. By following my own code of values I did create a difficult work environment for myself. Ethics sometimes can be a luxury. In another situation I was asked to fire someone who had done nothing wrong because that individual: happened to be the ex-assistant of the preceding ceo/founder of the company and that new ceo was unhappy of the business arrangement they had made and the only way he could get revenge was by firing her. Of course, he did not have the balls to do this so he asked me to do it. I decided not to do it. I was aware that the boyfriend of this assistant was out of work, I did try to push her to work harder so she resented me for it. She was not aware of what was happening. The ceo that hired me resented me for not doing do. I was in a difficult situation. Yes this was a toxic environment and I left very quickly from this company (she did get fired so my attitude changed nothing). Again, ethics/confrontation to reality, often do conflict. I happened to be at a time to have the financial means that allowed me to say no. Still, I paid the price for my choice. More when I think about ethics, my vision is that we all have only a certain number of â€Å"right† choices we can allow ourselves in our life and that the rest of the time we just need to follow the herd. Sadly, trying to do the right thing, trying to follow a certain way of interacting is just not possible. People behave within their existing environment and the code that comes with it and human mediocrity is everywhere. Yes, I still do value a â€Å"healthy† outlook on how I want to interact with others, still life has told me that often it is just not possible. I have other stories similar to the one discussed. I have leant from life that people lie to themselves and can tell themselves many stories that justify their conduct and by repeating it again and again they can convince themselves about it. Sadly, my view of ethics is that it is of importance in one’s personal life and should try to be implemented in one’s professional life, sadly often it cannot be done. Human stupidity, arrogance of the little man who wants his power recognized are much strong elements to be acknowledge in one’s decision process. Words like integrity, fairness often have many different meanings. We all live in bubbles where what is right and wrong can be learnt and real life is not what is taught at University. POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Townsends Theories of Recruitment and Selection

Townsends Theories of Recruitment and Selection This essay will argue Townsends research into the paradox of recruitment and selection, training and the high level of turnover that appears in the growing industry of call. His research is based on PowerGrid, which is an Australian Government owned Power Company. There has been an enormous increase in the number of call centres, due to this a large number of interesting issues have arisen such as high level of turnover in call centres, despite companies spending vast sums of money on training and recruiting. The research of Townsend is valuable and meaningful for there has been little academic research conducted in the area of recruitment, training and turnover in call centres. This essay will be based on the critical review of Townsends use of research methods, findings, practical implications and the concepts he used. Townsend adopts a three-step research strategy. Specifically, a seven-month non-participant job observation, ten interviews of managers and leaders in the organization and an analysis of the human resource documents compose the research method. Townsend considers the importance of PowerGrid call centre mainly for two reasons: At first, during the 1990s Australian government deregulation to power supplies session, PowerGrid had grew out of joint efforts by other power suppliers; Next, the PowerGrid call centre was based on Erlang C model which uses mathematical method to calculate and predict call volumes and keep balance of contact within the call centre (Angus, 2001).ÂÂ  Townsends findings suggest that the company was able to reduce its cost of training and recruitment through internal transfers. Moreover, Townsend points out that training should focus more on emotional labour as it is important for call centre agents to show to their customers rather than solely focus on techn ical trainings and the role of the human resource department is to hire the best candidates and filter out the ones who may be incompetent. Looking at the literature, the paradox between high cost of recruitment and training and high ratio of employees turnover in the sector of call centres, could be described as a sacrificial HR strategy (Wallace, Eagleson Waldersee, 2000), this formed the basis of Townsends research. By agreeing with (korczynski, 2002) Townsend accepts the idea that organizations face dual imperatives for instance call centres want to minimise their costs but on the other hand have to provide excellent service to its customers. But companies mainly use call centres to minimize their cost rather than offer customer service, although call centre managers describes customers service as their main goal (Robinson Morley, 2006). Townsend agrees with (Mulholland, 2002) that whatever the type of call centre it may be, Customer service representatives (CSRs) have to show a high degree of emotional labor to the customers. CSRs are also required to have the ability of micro-self manage (Wray-Bliss, 2001).But on the other hand he disagrees with (Hochschild, 1983) that those CSRs who displayed artificial emotional labour suffered from negative consequences. Townsends argument is supported by findings of (Wharton, 1993) who through his research suggested that emotional labour does not cause any negative consequences. Townsend discusses the importance of the role of recruitment towards the future and wellbeing of an organisation and compares it to the role of a gate keeper (2007: 57). It should be noted that by hiring competent applicants the firms productivity and performance can be improved significantly (Russo, Rietveld, Nijkamp Gorter, 1995). It is also better to employ those people who are willing to learn. (2007: 478). Besides, Townsend agrees with (Breaugh Starke, 2000) who suggested that new recruits job satisfaction and initial performance should be more important to organisations. That is, when the applicants are being hired it is important for the employers to see, whether the applicants attitude is suitable to organisations and this should be considered more important than ones technical skills. As mentioned before, PowerGrid is a government-owned Australian electricity supplier. Townsend acknowledges that there is difference between governments owned companies and privately owned companies. As he identifies the unique characteristics, there is a debate on whether the findings of this case could be generalized to private companies. Moreover, its rational to doubt whether Townsend has paid attention to the fact that his research is conducted in Government run working environment. Townsend argues that PowerGrid being a Government owned company has to have its call centers in the country, which increases costs, while on the other hand they need to be efficient in terms of operations. But being a Government owned company it has the protection of the Government in terms of costs. Private companies on the other hand do not have this advantage and may need to outsource their call centres in order to cut down their costs, to low costs countries such as India and Philippines (Snow, 2 005). Townsend identifies that PowerGrid makes internal transfers which it called positive turnover; this is when CSRs moved within the organisation. Due to this the organisation is able to reduce its training and recruitment cost which otherwise would have been spent on hiring and training new candidates. As (Robinson Morley, 2006) confirmed high staff turnover rate in call centres can greatly affect the cost impact on business and that could be direct costs; that are training, recruiting etc. or could be indirect for instance bad customer service. But Townsend fails to give any evidence for his findings as to how we can see if the organization was able to reduce its costs by internal transfers. According to Townsend, PowerGrid used a three stage training programs for the new recruits (2007: 485). He mentions that the first stage is the basic training program away from the computer and it is done in an environment that is decorated with nappies, baby clothes and pacifiers. He mentions that the management calls it the nursery. However, he questions the logic of using this word and shows some reservations about whether using this word is appropriate for this level but then agrees to the concept of the management who call it as part of the fun in the organization. But training programs are at the entry level of the company and may give wrong perceptions of the company, the perceptions may become permanent and in future it would be difficult to change these perceptions (Marchington, 2005). Townsend points out at some of the problems faced by Powergrid with regards to training of new CSRs. Previously the training time for news CSRs was eight weeks (2007: 484). A new system was to be introduced that would half that time to nearly four weeks. Even though the management spend AU$ 30 million on the new system, it turned out to be a failure as it not only doubled the training time as new recruits would have to learn both the systems but also increased employee dissatisfaction. He points out the ineffective communication and low employee involvement during the development and implementation of this new system when he mentions about the training team leader who points out that the management did not disclose to him information about the new system due to which the new system became an add on (2007: 484) to the old system rather than a completely new system. According to Lewis, (1999) there is a direct link between communication process within the organisation and organisationa l change implementation. Townsend identifies that the training for the employees was mostly focused on technical and product knowledge rather than on emotional labour. He believes that money would be well spent if it was spent on trying to improve the emotional labour rather than spend it on other skills. But he fails to provide any ideas on how this can be improved. Townsend points out at the dissatisfaction of the CSRs with the management (2007: 485). The employees are unhappy with the schedule for their trainings because they had to perform their training modules outside their working hours. The employees felt they were already overburdened as they only got thirty minutes of release time which was spent mainly to check their emails. The CSRs would be dissatisfied because a CSRs job is more stressful and less satisfying as compared to other jobs (Holdsworth Cartwright, 2003). Dissatisfaction of managers can be identified in PowerGrid. As a call centre manager called himself between a rock and a hard place (2007: 487) as they had to do continuous recruitment as some of their employees would move through to the larger organization due to internal transfers and many would leave the organization altogether as they would be heavily scrutinized through the software analysis system or will not get enough pay or benefits. So in order to retain the employees the organization must offer its employees good pay and benefits and should adopt a transparent performance management system (Raman, Budhwar Balasubramanian, 2007). There can be weaknesses identified in Townsends research methods. He used three steps to conduct his research. Firstly, he used non participant job observations to carry out his research. Non participant job observations include two types direct or indirect observations (Rowley, 2004). It has not been mentioned if he used direct or indirect observations, as in direct observations questions can be asked and may lead to change in behavior of the people observed, on the other hand indirect observations cannot be used for gaining information on perceptions, attitudes etc. (Rowley, 2004). He made observations only once or twice a week which seem not enough. Effective observation is an art and needs to be honed and perfected overtime (Rowley, 2004). There is nothing mentioned in the article that suggests that whether the author has experience or has gone through training to conduct and observation at this level. Secondly, he then conducted eighteen interviews of key personnel in the company who included contact centre manager, call centre manager, training team leader, roster and planning officer and human resource representatives, out of which he selects only ten interviews that he believed were relevant to topic of his research. The author should provide more detailed criteria for choosing only ten interviews out of the original eighteen. Thirdly, he obtained data from the organisation related to the Human resource department and analysed it to reach the conclusion. He has not mentioned what type of data he used to come to conclusions neither he has mentioned any process or methods that he used to analyse and interpret the data. There are two methods for data analysis; Computer based analysis and manual analysis (Borch Arthur, 1995). So in this case we dont know if he has used manual or computer based analysis or a combination of both. As some researchers use one type of methodology while some use a combination of both (Borch Arthur, 1995). Due to the debatable nature of Townsends research methods it is very difficult to find his results conclusive. However, he agrees with (Mulhollands, 2002) which suggest that CSRs need to show a high degree of emotional labor to the customers. Lack of proper planning and communication can be seen between the management of PowerGrid as they wasted AU$30 million in trying to implement a new software without consulting the training team leader and it turned out to be an add on (2007: 486). He identified that the recruitment and selection department should act like a gate keeper (2007: 478) in order to only let in the right candidates. He emphasized that training should focus more on emotional labour, as it is the most important aspect while communicating with the customers, rather than focusing on technical skills. Townsend fails to identify by how much the company was able to reduce the cost of turnover when they had to keep recruiting throughout the year due to employees moving into th e larger organization or leaving the organization altogether. This research provides useful information for practitioners in the call centres. However, researchers who further study, need to research in depth into industry of call centre and should specially address the limitations found in Townsends study. Townsend wanted to consider the paradox of extensive recruitment and training conducted in call centres that are faced with high levels of turnover. He came to the conclusion that PowerGrid was able to reduce its cost of recruitment and training, by having internal transfers within the larger organisation. Furthermore, Townsend has been able to identify certain problems within PowerGrid. He has failed to highlight is there any difference between this call centre and other private call centres. He has advocated that there should be a great emphasis on training of emotional labour rather than technical training but he has been unable to provide any suggestion how it can be done. Finally, Non-participant job observations, interviews are types of qualitative research methods which can be called problematic because of problems with their validity and reliability (Kirk Miller, 1986) REFERENCES: Angus, I. (2001). An introduction to Erlang B and Erlang C. Telemanagement, (187): 6-8. Breaugh, J. and Starke, M. (2000). Research on employee recruitment: so many studies, so many remaining questions.Journal of Management, 26(3): 405-34. Borch, O.J. and Arthur, M.B. (1995). Strategic networks among small firms: implications for strategy research methodology. Journal of Management Studies, 32(4): 419-441 Catterall, M. (1996). Using Computer programs to code qualitative data. Marketing Intelligence Planning Journal, 14(4): 29- 33. Hochschild, A. (1983).The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human feeling.University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. Holdsworth, L and Cartwright, S. (2003). Empowerment, stress and satisfaction: an exploratory study of a call centre.Leadership Organisation Development Journal, 24 (3):131-140. Kirk, J. and Miller, M. (1986). Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research.London, Sage. Lewis, L.K. (1999). Disseminating information and soliciting input during planned organisational change: implementers targets, sources, and channels for communicating.Management Communication Quarterly, 13(1):43-75. korczynski, M. (2002).Human Resource Management in Service Work. Palgrave, Basingstoke Marchington, M. (2005). Human Resource Management at Work. London: Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks New Delhi. Mulholland, K. (2002). Gender emotional labour and teamworking in a call centre.Personnel review, 31(3):283-303. Raman, S.R.;Budhwar P. andBalasubramanian G. (2007).People management issues in Indian KPOs.Employee Relations, 29(6): 696-710. Robinson, G. and Morley, C. (2006). Call centre management: responsibilities and performance.International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17(3): 284-300. Rowley J. (2003) Researching people and organisations, Library Management Volume, 15(4/5): 208-214. Russo, G.; Rietveld, P.; Nijkam, P. and Gorter, C. (1995).Issues in recruitment strategies: an economic perspective.The International Journal of Career Management, 7(3): 3-13. Snow, J. (2005). UK call centres: crossroads of an Industry. Journal of Property Investment Finance, 23(6): 525-532. Townsend, K. (2005). Considering progress in Greenfield site.International employment relations review, 11(1/2):76-79 Wallace, C.;Eagleson, G. and Waldersee, R. (2000). The sacrificial HR strategy in callcentres. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 11(2): 174-184. Wharton, A.S. (1993). The affective consequences of service work.Work and Occupations, 20: 205-232 Wray-Bliss, E. (2001). Representing customer service: telephones and texts. Customer service. in Sturdy, A., Grugulis, I., Willmott, H. (Eds),Customer Service: Empowerment and Entrapment, Palgrave, London, .

Strategic Management Essay -- essays research papers

Strategic Management QUESTION The study of the external environment is a crucial step in the mapping of business strategy for an organization. Discuss how the assessment of external forces can be performed with business examples to support your analysis. CONTENT PAGE 1. Question Paper 2 2. Introduction 3 3. PEST Analysis 4 (3.1) Political Legal Environment 4 (3.2) Economic Environment 4 (3.3) Social Environment 5 (3.4) Technological Environment 5 4. Industry Analysis 5 5. The Michael Porter Five Forces 6 (5.1) Threat Of New Entrants 7 (5.2) Rivalry of existing firms 7 (5.3) Threats of substitutes 7 (5.4) Bargaining power of buyer 8 (5.5) Bargaining power of suppliers 9 6. Conclusion 9 7. Bibliography 10 8. References 10 Introduction Business environment is an element that will affect all the activities of an organization. Beside, it will bring firms both opportunities and threats because of its uncertainties. Business environment is uncertain, complex & dynamics; organization should apply more flexibility & discontinuity ways to manage them. A firm cannot control the environment because it is unpredictable in its direction and speed of change, such as interest rates, rate of inflation and exchange rate. Business environment can classifies in two categories that are internal environment and external environment. Internal factors close to the company that have a direct impact on the organizations strategy, these factors include employee, customer, suppliers, shareholder, banker etc. External environment comprises those factors and trends outside the organisation that might have an influence upon an organisation and its future. Many external factors can have an effect upon an organisation - from changes in government legislation to the entry of new competition into a market.... ...; more the fact that your supplier realizes you can do it and so needs to respond accordingly Bibliography : http://IMBA 702 Cases.htm Strategic Management and Business Policy Entering 21st Century Global Society (Sixth edition) ?Thomas L. Wheelen & J.David Hunger http://www.Marketing Environment.htm References: Strategic Management and Business Policy Entering 21st Century Global Society (Sixth edition) ?Thomas L. Wheelen & J.David Hunger Business Policy and Strategic Management (Fifth Edition) ?Lawrence R. Jauch & William F.Glueck. Management of Business for GCE A Level & LCCI (2nd Edition) ?Vincent Gabriel Management (Third Edition) ?Kathryn M Bartol & David C Martin Strategic Management Awareness and Chance (Third Edition) ?John L Thompson Strategic Management Theory and Pratice ?G.A.Cole BA MA MIPD MIMgt, Strategic Management (International Edition) ?Alex Miller Gregory G.Dess Strategic Management (McGRAW-HILL International Edition) ?Gregory G.Dess & Alex Miller http://www. Porter's Five Forces.htm http://www.IMBA 702 Cases.htm http://www.Marketing Environment.htm http://www. Business Competition.htm http://Activity 1 - PESTEL analysis.htm

Superman vs Batman Essay -- essays papers

Superman vs Batman Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane. No, it’s Superman. No. Wait. Maybe it’s the Bat signal. Metropolis and Gotham city each have their own unique super heroes that save them daily from evil villains trying to take over the world. Both superheroes have been quite successful over the years in doing so. Batman and Superman. Two household names that strike fear into any evil doers heart, if they even have one. Batman and Superman are both wonderful superheroes and they each have their own unique abilities. They have always come out on top whenever in a battle with an enemy. Throughout the years, however, one question remains in everyone’s mind that concerns the two. Who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman? Easy answer, Superman. Superman, also known as the â€Å"Man of Steel†, is Metropolis’ savior. He stays undercover as a news correspondent for the Daily Planet, Clark Kent. He was sent to Earth on a meteor by his parents when his home planet was attacked. He was then adopted by a farmer and his wife who found the baby boy in a field. Clark Kent was a simple person. He lived in an apartment and kept to himself and to his work. Whenever people called, Clark Kent would enter a phone booth, rip off his shirt, and fly out as Superman. Superman has the ability to fly, can carry things 10 times his weight, and isn’t easily bruised. He has supersonic hearing, laser vision, and x-ray vision. Superman...

Lab Report: Testing How the Length of a Wire Determines its Resistance :: essays research papers

Science Coursework The Resistance of a Wire Aim: To find out how the length of a wire affects the resistance of it. Knowledge: Ohms Law is a mathematical equation that shows the relationship between Voltage, Current and Resistance in an electrical circuit. It is stated as: , V = I x R , R = V / I , I = V / R Where  · V = Voltage  · I = Current (I stands for INTENSITY)  · R = Resistance In order to understand what Ohms Law is all about you need to understand electricity and what makes Voltage, Current and Resistance in a circuit. Current Current is the movement of electrons in a circuit but "What are electrons and what makes them move?" All matter is made up of Atoms. Piece of metal made up of Atoms Each atom is made up of a nucleus that has a certain number of protons and neutrons with an equal numbers of electrons in orbit. The copper atom has 29 protons in its nucleus with 29 electrons orbiting the nucleus. The electrons are arranged in orbits called shells. Notice that in the copper atom, the outside shell has only one electron. The outer shell of any atom is called the valence shell. When the valence electron in any atom gains sufficient energy from some outside force, it can break away from the parent atom and become what is called a free electron. It is very easy to provide enough energy to cause the valence electron to become free. Some sources of energy are heat, light, magnetic fields and a voltage source. When the valence electron becomes free it leaves behind an atom that has a positive charge. Remember that the copper atom has 29 + protons and 29 electrons so if one electron leaves orbit we are left with +29 protons and 28 electrons. That means the atom has a more positive charge because of the one less electron. This is an unbalanced atom and is not natural. The atom will always try to get an electron back into the valence orbit to become normal or balanced again. This is the one fact that you should remember and try to visualize when working with electrical circuits. Electric current is the movement of electrons from one atom to another in a conductor. If you can visualize a piece of copper wire with billions of atoms and each one of them losing an electron and all the electrons jumping to other atoms, you will begin to see what current is.

Munich: A City of Sorrow, Politics, and Culture Essay

In 1923, Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists marched to Munich in an attempt to overthrow the Munich government. The Weimar government ordered the army to quell the revolt. Hitler was arrested and several high-ranking members of the Nazi Party were incarcerated. In 1933, Munich became once again the power center of the National Socialists after Hitler’s assumption to power. The Nazi Party established the first internment camp (usually for political prisoners) at Dachau, several kilometers north of the city. Because Munich was the power center of National Socialism, it was called ‘capital of the movement. ’ The Nazis built several monumental buildings south of the city to commemorate fallen comrades in the 1923 putsch. Westerners call Munich as ‘the city of political distress. ’ It was in Munich that Neville Chamberlain agreed to cede Czechoslovak territory to Hitler. And it was also the site where Hitler announced his desire to annex Austria into the German Reich. Indeed, in some instances, the city was referred to as the ‘city of sorrow. ’ But this generalization is unfounded. Munich was also the headquarters of the White Rose, the Nazi resistance movement. During the Second World War, the city was severely damaged by air raids. Several of the city’s heritage buildings were either damaged or destroyed. After the Allies occupied Munich in 1945, the city was rebuilt. General George Marshall allocated a staggering 100 million dollars for the reconstruction of Munich alone. However, the reconstruction of the city was a superficial break with tradition. The Allies saw an immediate need to eliminate the remnants of Nazism in the city. One such example was the proposed demolition of the monument Giesinger Berg, a stone monument of a naked figure â€Å"strangling a snake that symbolized ‘degeneration and decline’† (Rosenfeld, 112). Around the figure were emblems, symbols, and names of twenty-two Freikorps companies that participated in suppressing the communist revolt in 1919. The Allies ordered the demolition of the structure with the consent of the city council. Munich was the site of intense Denazification. Modernism and populism became the defining themes of the city after the 1972 Olympics. As Rosenfeld argued: The modernization in the city gave rise to inevitable countertendencies as its destructive potential became increasingly evident †¦ This destructive creativity was partially advanced by the modern movement, whose radical city planning principles and universal architectural aesthetic progressively effaced the particularist features of local urban identity. Beginning in the mid-1960s, this trend’s acceleration generated expressions of protests that eventually developed into the new populist historic preservation movement (147). Indeed, the city was being assimilated into mainstream European culture. The city became the center of modernity and classicism. Modernity aimed for the economic and physical reconstruction of the city while classicism focused on cultural revivalism. Both forces worked at ease for more than 50 years. As Rosenfeld correctly observed: The late 1950s marked the beginning of a period of rapid urban growth for Munich. In December 1957, the registration of the city’s one-millionth inhabitants demonstrated that Munich †¦ had now on the eve of its eight-hundred birthday, achieved the critical mass to become a legitimate metropolis. Accompanying this rapid urban development was the rapid advancement of innovation (148). To date, the city is considered to be the global centre for cutting-edge automotive technology. Many of Germany’s leading car manufacturers established their headquarters in Munich. The city is also known as the ‘Silicon Valley of the East. ’ It is also one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Financial and consulting firms listed the city among the top 20 cities with the highest quality of life. In addition, Munich has a strong, solid, and thriving economy motivated by information technology, and highly integrated public sector. From 1950 up to the present, Munich is home to many professional football teams. The Munich territory has three teams playing in the Bundestag system. Munich is one of the main European cultural centers and has been host to several prominent musicians and artists including Rubinstein, Heifetz, Mozart, Wagner, Strauss, and Reger. The National Theater was established by Ludwig II, ruler of Bavaria, and is home to the Bavarian State Opera. The so-called Residenz theatre was established before the outbreak of the Second World War. Other opera houses were founded decades before the construction of the Residenz. For example, the Gartnerplatz Theatre staged the first edition of Mozart ‘K-ballets. ’ From a historical perspective, the city has evolved from a base of radical ideology to a modern, industrialized, and cultural center. As Toynbee noted: I have seen a city which beheld all which is sorrowful. Yet, in reality, I have descended into a state of powerlessness. This is not the idea of Nazism or the defunct ideological history of the city. It is awe and admiration that a city so cursed has become a powerhouse of economics and culture (622). Works Cited Rosenfeld, Gavriel. Munich and Memory: Architecture, Monuments and the Legacy of the Third Reich. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 2007. Toynbee, Arnold. Post War Germany. London: London

The True Hero in the Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare set in 16th Century, Venice. This is a play about a Merchant, Antonio, who borrows money from a Jewish money lender, Shylock. Antonio is borrowing the money for his friend, Bassanio. Antonio wishes to give the money to Bassanio so he can attempt to win the hand of Portia, a wealthy lady. When Antonio finds himself unable to repay his debt, his life is at stake and the drama unfolds. 16th Century Venice was not like the world we live in today. Although it was a very successful city, life for most people was hard.It was a judgemental Christian city where slavery and arranged marriage were commonplace. Shakespeare uses this environment to bring out the worst in his characters. We see greed, prejudice and revenge as each character fights for what they believe to be correct. In these surroundings it is not difficult to find a villain but it is difficult to find a hero. So who is the true hero in the Merchant of Venice? Antonio is one of the main characters; he is the Merchant of Venice.He is wealthy, well known and a loyal friend to Bassanio. However he has hatred towards Jews. Some may consider Antonio to be the hero, for borrowing three thousand ducats for his dear friend Bassanio but some may consider him as a villain due to his prejudice towards the Jewish money lender, Shylock. When he is unable to pay his debt and his life is about to be taken he still holds the values of friendship higher than his own life:â€Å"And he repents not that he pays your debt, /For if the Jew do cut but deep enough /I’ll pay it instantly with all my heart† (Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Sc. 1, 277-279).But I do not think Antonio can be considered a hero because although he was honourable to his friend and to Venice, his treatment of Shylock was unforgivable. Even when asking for the loan he admits his prejudice towards Shylock because he was a Jew: â€Å"I am as like to call on thee so again, /To spit on thee again , to spurn on thee too.† (Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Sc. 3, 125-126)And although he spared Shylocks life and left him half of his fortune, his terms were very cruel:â€Å"He presently become a Christian; The other, that he do record a gift, Here in the court, of all he dies possess’d Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.†(Merchant of Venice, Act 4, Sc. 1, 385-388).Bassanio didn’t have to make Shylock a Christian; he could have just let him go. This cruel term overshadows all the good things that he’s done for others so that’s why I think Bassanio is a villain. Shylock is also a big part of the play. He has the potential to be a hero because he’s a hard working honest man, true to Judaism and endures prejudice in his everyday life: â€Å"You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog, /And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine† (Merchant of Venice, Act 1, Sc. 3, 107-108).His daughter, Jessica, runs away from him to be with her Christian lover, Lorenzo. She also converts to Christianity and steals all his riches. At this point the reader feels sorry for Shylock but when he finds himself in the position of power, he turns out to be as cruel as everyone else: â€Å"I’ll have no speaking, I will have my bond† (Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 3, 17).His attitude doesn’t change when he goes to court and by this stage the reader has no sympathy for him so Shylock is definitely not a heroic or likeable character. Portia is one of the only three main female characters in the play. She is loyal to her late father, intelligent, witty and mischievous. Will she be a hero or a villain? Portia seems a victim at first; how she’s forced into a marriage and doesn’t have a choice.However when Bassanio, the man she’s loved from first sight, picks the right casket she seems content and she tells him that he is her â€Å"king† – (Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 2, 165). When Bassanioâ€⠄¢s dear friend, Antonio, is in trouble and needs three thousand ducats, Portia shows her kindness and love for Bassanio by offering to pay even more:â€Å"Pay his six thousand, and deface the bond. Double six thousand, and then treble that, Before a friend of this description Shall lose a hair through Bassanio’s fault.†(Merchant of Venice, Act 3, Sc. 2, 297-300)Her greatest act is saving the life of Antonio. It is easy for a rich person to pay a bond but Portia makes a greater sacrifice by disguising herself as a male doctor of law and facing the courtroom. When she cannot persuade Shylock to change his mind, she says that he is quite entitled under the law to cut off a pound of Antonio’s flesh.However she outwits him by failing to mention that he cannot legally draw blood and therefore can in fact not take the flesh he so desires. I think this shows that Portia is very heroic and witty. In my opinion I think that the true hero in the Merchant of Venice is Port ia. I think this because she is kind, generous, helps other’s, and saved someone’s live. This makes her stand out as a heroic character above all the others.

Love Is Able to Say Sorry Essay

Love, as in enabling a loving relationship to survive, is all about being able to say sorry. In life, no one is perfect; everyone makes either big mistakes or small mistakes. There is nothing wrong with making a mistake, but there is something wrong about not admitting it. Thus, saying sorry is very necessary in any relationships, especially in romantic love. I have heard that, â€Å"Love means never having to say you’re sorry†. In my opinion, it is not true, but â€Å"love, as in enabling a loving relationship to survive, is all about being able to say sorry†. Apology is not supposed to be easy to all people. Why do people consider saying sorry as such challenging endeavor? Almost of the people find that saying sorry is a sign of weakness. Human often has a high consciousness of their self, so they feel like they are in danger of losing their power and status when they say sorry to others. However, if you want to maintain a relationship, especially romantic love, saying sorry is essential since an apology shows your respect for your partner as well as for yourselves, and you will understand each other deeply. Firstly, an apology shows your partner that you care enough about him and your relationship to be responsible for your hurtful actions. All of us know that respect for each other is the very fundamental factor for a long-lasting love. Obviously, if you do not respect him, you never care what he thinks about you, never want to apologize him. Thus, when you say sorry, you show your respect for your partner. As a result, he realizes your love, your sincerity and your respect for him, so he more easily forgives you. Counselor Paula says â€Å"we are learning that saying sorry is about allowing yourself to be vulnerable, which is actually a sign of strength, not weakness. You learn from experience that saying sorry increases people’s respect for you, rather tha n diminishing it†. (www.mprestige.net) Secondly, an apology can clear up a misunderstanding between lovers, so that gradually they understand each other deeply. Everyone all wants and needs to feel safe with the ones that he allows into his inner circle. Not taking responsibility for wrongdoings makes people seem unsafe or untrustworthy. Surely, when loving ones, it is unavoidable that you will have quarrels, misunderstanding, and whether you have intention or not, you hurt your partner. If both of you are intolerant, do not want to belittle yourselves to admit your mistakes, you are destroying your relationship by yourselves.  In contrast, if you can admit your mistakes, apologize sincerely each other, misunderstandings among you will be cleared up. Moreover, after mistakes, and correcting them, you will understand mutually more, and get on well with each other, so obviously your relationship will be strengthened. In conclusion, saying sorry is a way of keeping your loving relationship survival. Love means being able to say you are sorry and allows you to own up to whatever behavior it was that â€Å"warrants an apology†( http://inspirationaldaze.blogspot.com.). However, an apology is just powerful when it is made by your honesty and heartiness in right moment, if not, it is fruitless. Thus, don’t afraid of saying sorry sincerely to your partner if you make a mistake.

Bacterial Growth Requirements

Bacteria Growth Requirements Microbiology Life as we now it has ended. What is left you ask? Well it is said the only thing that could survive an incident that could end our known way of life is a roach and a pack or Twinkies. In truth the great survivor would be microorganisms. Microorganisms can survive where most cannot due to their size, nutritional needs, energy requirements, and are very good at adapting to different environments (Black 2008).Microorganisms require two things to live a long healthy life, and these are physical and nutritional factors. Physical factors include pH, temperature, oxygen concentration, moisture, hydrostatic pressure, osmotic pressure, and radiation (Black 2008). Nutritional factors include carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, trace elements, and sometimes vitamins (Black 2008). For the purpose of this exercise I will focus on E. coli. Pathogenic Escherichia coli will be discussed since it is a common, but dangerous bacterium.E. coli in humans is fo und in the intestines. This bacterium is very durable, meaning that it is well-adapted to its habitat. For example, it can grow with glucose being the only food source. This bacterium can also grow with or without O2. If located in anaerobic habitat it can it will use the fermentation process producing mixed acids and gases (Todar 2012). This bacterium has shown that it can also use anaerobic respiration when NO3 or NO2 is available.Chemicals, pH, temperature, are a few signals that determines how E. coli will respond (Todar 2012). When it senses a change in the environment it can swim toward or away from anything useful or harmful. Temperature can also affect E. coli. A change in temperature allows E. coli to change pore diameter of its outer membrane to accommodate certain nutrients, or to exclude something harmful. E. coli also rations its nutrient supply by taking in account how much is available in its environment.This means that it will not take in nutrients unless it has enou gh to feed more bacteria that will be produced (Todar 2012). As you can see, this amazing microbe has the ability to adapt to its environment and in some case overcome. Imagine the microbes that are out there that has not be identified yet. Reference Black, J. (2008). Microbiology principals and explorations. (7th Edition ed. ). Jefferson City: GGS Book Services. Todar, K. (2012). Todars online textbook of bacteriology. Retrieved from http://www. textbookofbacteriology. net/e. coli. html Bacterial Growth Requirements Bacterial Growth Requirements Evelyn Lyle ITT Technical Institute Angela Ask, MPS January 15, 2012 Every organism must find in its environment all of the substances required for energy generation and cellular biosynthesis. The chemicals and elements of this environment that are utilized for bacterial growth are referred to as nutrients. Many bacteria can be identified in the environment by inspection or using genetic techniques. The nutritional requirements of a bacterium such as E Coli are revealed by the cell’s elemental composition.These elements are found in the form of water, inorganic ions, small molecules and macromolecules which serve either a structural or functional role in the cells. Bacteria thrive by four things oxygen, food (nutrients), warmth and time but two others can be moisture and acidity. Nutrients are needed for energy, nitrogen (for DNA and proteins), phosphorus (for energy), and others. Warmth is needed so the bacteria can stay warm. Oxygen is needed so the bacteria can make energy and time is needed for the bacteria to complete binary fission over and over again. Acidity is needed so the bacteria can survive in its environment.Highly base or acidic environments may harm the bacteria and hinder its lifespan. In order to survive and grow, microorganisms require a source of energy and nourishment. Bacteria are the most primitive forms of microorganisms but are composed of a great variety of simple and complex molecules and are able to carry out a wide range of chemical transformations. Depending on their requirements and the source of energy used they are classified into different nutritional groups. Most microorganisms grow well at the normal temperatures favored by man, higher plants and animals.Certain bacteria grow at temperatures (extreme heat or cold) at which few higher organisms can survive. Most bacteria grow best in an environment with a narrow pH range near neutrality between pH 6. 5 and 7. 5. Microbes contain approximate ly 80-90% water and I f placed in a solution with a higher solute concentration will lose water which causes shrinkage of the cell. Some bacteria have adapted so well to high salt concentrations that they actually require them for growth. Nitrogen and phosphorus are particularly critical because they often control the rates of photosynthesis.Carbon is significantly more abundant than either of them and oxygen and sulfur are more abundant that phosphorous. Nitrogen and phosphorous are less available to plants relative to their growth requirements than are other elements. Phosphorus is often in short supply and limits plant and algae growth. Nitrogen is a major constituent of all proteins and of all living organisms. A lack of nitrogen can limit growth of plants, since nearly three quarters of its atmosphere consists of natural gas, N2. REFERENCES A New Way to Look at Microorganisms. (n. d). American Scientist, 93(6), 514.

Genetic Drift and the Founder Effect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Genetic Drift and the Founder Effect - Essay Example This reduces variation in genetic characteristics with reduction in population size but retains the developed genetic frequencies as the population grows (Shulka, 2009). An example of the bottleneck effect is the case of white elephants that were protected from extinction. The resultant thousands of the species that originated from about 20 animals exhibits â€Å"no variations in 24 proteins† that significantly varied in the originally large population (Russel, Hertz and McMillan, 2011, p. 440). The founder effect, however, is characterized by movement of a small section of a population to a different locality. The reduced population leads to convergent traits that are retained within an internally growing population (Jurmain, Kilgore and Trevathan, 2008). An example is the â€Å"Old Order Amish of Lancaster County,† a small community that originated from a trio of immigrants. The emergent community however developed a convergent high frequency of â€Å"Ellis-van Creveld syndrome† leading to higher frequency and more significant dwarfism as compared to the original population (Russel, Hertz and McMillan, 2011, p.

Semantics and syntax Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Semantics and syntax - Assignment Example The main difference between sentence meaning and utterance meaning is due to explicit content and implicit content. Proposition expressed is the part of explicit content. Through example proposition expressed will be illustrated. In this example the reply of student is implicitly stating that task is not completed. The student is not stating explicitly that work is not done but from the reply it is clear what student wants to convey. The statement of the teacher is explicit but reply of the student is implicit. Speech act is a term in linguistics. The modern use of the term goes back to John L. Austins doctrine of locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary acts. Speech acts normally include promising, ordering, greeting, warning, inviting and congratulating. In the above example the speaker is requesting and therefore a speech act. In the above example the relationship between the sentences is of presupposition. In linguistics, a presupposition is an implicit supposition about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken for granted in conversation. In the example the affirmative form of (a) presupposes (b). This presupposition is still true in case (a) becomes negative, interrogative or supposition. For example negative form â€Å"She was not appalled that prime minister was wearing flip flops†, still presupposes (b) as true. The same case prevails in case of interrogative and supposition. In the above example the relationship between the two sentences is of implicature. In linguistics Implicature is a term in linguistics, coined by H. P. Grice, which refers to what is â€Å"suggested† in an utterance, even though neither â€Å"expressed† nor â€Å"strictly implied† by the utterance. In the example, the second statement is stating what may not be true but from 2(a) it is implicit that speaker does not know where Henry is. The statement 2(a) is implicitly

A movie that deals in some way with human development or psychological Essay

A movie that deals in some way with human development or psychological issues - Essay Example She is not sure what is going to happen to her, or why, and she is subjected to a process of institutionalization. It turns out that her treatment involves talking therapy with a psychologist called Dr Wick. The film shows how Susanna responds to various female characters in different ways, starting with her suspicion of all staff and patients, and gradually leading to more acceptance and understanding of them. Dr Wicks is patient and kind, drawing out what Susanna has experienced in the past and helping her to find better ways of dealing with things. The African American nurse on the ward thinks that Susanna is just another stupid teenage girl who is not really ill, but just exaggerating. The film shows how Susanna begins to identify with the other patients, seeing herself as one of them, and thus being mentally ill starts to appear to be â€Å"normal† to her. While she is in hospital Susanna meets a number of other patients, many of whom are considerably more ill than she is . One of the most seriously ill patients is Lisa (played by Angelina Jolie) and a friendship forms between Susanna and Lisa which results in the two young women getting into trouble and resisting the authoritarian orderlies and hospital authorities. They run away and are brought back by the police. In the end Susanna is released from the hospital, but Lisa and the others remain. There are many developmental and psychological issues in this film but two of them are particularly important: peer influence in adolescence, and definitions of mental illness. The first is important because the main character in the film appears to be very impressed by Lisa, who is a sociopath, and bonds very quickly with most of the other patients. In standard psychology text books this shift from attachment to parents to close friendships with peers is a normal part of adolescence and an important stage in the development of a separate identity outside the immediate family circle. (Baron and Kalsher, 2004 ) Dramatic gestures like Susanna’s aspirin overdose, and Daisy’s self-harming by cutting herself need not necessarily be a sign of serious mental illness, since there is an element of mimicry and attention-seeking in all adolescent behaviour. The film illustrates what behavioral theory would call modelling and reinforcement as the teenagers drift into patterns of behaviour that are common in their peer group, regardless of societal norms or parental example. (Heilbron and Prinstein, 2008) Susanna feels good when she resists the establishment, and she accords Lisa high status, which she wishes to share. By taking the sociopath Lisa as a role model, Susanna risks sinking deeper into maladaptive patterns and worsening her own mental health. Working with the therapist, Susanna learns to unpackage these assumptions and begin thinking things out for herself. One of the interesting plot lines in the film is the fact that the viewer is never quite sure whether Susanna is ill o r not, and this causes the viewer to reflect on the nature of mental illness and how it is defined. A simple application of the standard diagnosis aids such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (1994) should in theory resolve this question, but in the case of Susanna’s diagnosis, namely borderline personality disorder, the definition appears to be so vague as to apply to almost anyone. DSM IV criteria define borderline personality disorder in terms as â€Å"unstable self-image,†

Aging population in Japan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aging population in Japan - Research Paper Example Despite the challenges, the aging population seems to create new opportunities because people will have longer healthier lives hence extended working years besides different capacities and needs (Lutz 34). The key to survival depends on adaptation on individual, organisational and societal levels. Japan is facing the population-aging crisis now. It is a resource-poor island hence changes in population size and structure tends to present a serious problem. Japan faced a problem of a large not-working population until the 1950s. From 1600-1868, the Edo period, Japan opted to hold down its population through extremely desperate means such as infanticide as well as negligence of the old people (Coulmas 5). Towards late 19 century, the population rose and it was unlikely that japan would ever face a shortage of births. However, that is what Japan is experiencing and has experienced over a couple of past decades. Over the last half century, death rates have reduced and the life span has increased by about 30 years. For women, life expectancy is currently at 82 whereas for men it is 76 (Uhlenberg 134). The number of those aged 65 and above was 14% of the population in 1994 and by the 2010; Japan was among the leading in the world in this measure. In Japan, people in their seventies and eighties are prevalent and even centenarians have increased in number. The difference in population structure is due to factors such as fertility and mortality(Coulmas 25).Women in Japan are no longer in a hurry to get married like in previous generations and when they marry, they sire fewer children. In Japan, unmarried women rarely have babies hence the slow rate of marriages contributes to the decreased young population. Women in japan have also opted on continuing with their education to get better job opportunities compared to those of earlier years. In addition, unmarried men are more than unmarried women hence

Victoria Chemicals Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Victoria Chemicals - Case Study Example Earnings per Share are a portion of profit for the company which is allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. The company had been under pressure from its investors for it to improve its financial performance because of the accumulation of the firm’s common shares by a well known corporate raider. The Earnings per Share had fallen from 180 pence per share by the end of 2007 from 250 pence per share by the end of 2006. To increase its earnings per share, the company required to modernize the Merseyside production process which was old. Lucy Morris, the plant manager at Liverpool believes that the funds for the modernization of the Merseyside Works project could be obtained from the corporate headquarters until several questions were raised. It is therefore quite important for the plant manager and Frank Greystock the controller to address and analyze each question keenly. Based on these issues, Morris will determine the way forward towards modernizing the Merseyside Works project. This way forward includes the analysis of the project in different aspects to determine whether its implementation will be for the good of the overall company. The plant manager will have to choose which category the product lies on based on whether it is a new product or market, market or product extension, engineering efficiency and safety or the environment. The Merseyside Works project is on the engineering efficiency category and will analyzed based on the concerns below. 1. Transport division concerns Victoria Chemicals produces its polypropylene at the Merseyside and Rotterdam works. The Transport Division in the company oversees the transport of all raw, intermediate and finished materials throughout the company. The Merseyside modernization capital project is part and parcel of Victoria Chemicals, and this means that all transport needs should be addressed by the company’s Transport Division. Just as Greystock said, funding from the corporate headquart ers in regard to transport is baseless as the project should make use of the company’s excess capacity. All allocations done on the company, and its subsidiaries go to the Transport Division and hence the division should carry the allocation of the rolling stock required for the project. Transport issues will be dealt by the Transport Division of the company hence no need for funding on this sector. 2. ICG Sales and marketing department concerns Modernizing the Merseyside means improved productivity and increased outputs and with lower costs which enable the company to take business from competitors due to the low prices of polypropylene. The added output will help the company in obtaining full efficiencies. Modernization of the Merseyside plant will help Victoria Chemicals in maintaining its cost competitiveness, and this means that the capital project is a worthy course for the sales and marketing department since it would not lead to cannibalization of the other plants. Be low is the analysis provided by Greystock on the financial performance of Merseyside works 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Output 267,500 267,500 267,500 267,500 267,500 New Gross Profit 21.72 24.83 24.83 24.83 24.93 Old output 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 Free cash flow 1.27 3.92 3.86 3.77 3.08 Incremental gross profit 2.32 5.42 5.42 5.42 5.42 The above table clearly shows how the project will perform. Based on the table above, it is evident that the project at Merseyside works will be of great help to Victoria Chemicals plc. Though it may have its share of disadvantages, the advantages of the project under this concern outweigh the negative ones. 3. Concerns of the assistant plant manager Before proceeding with the capital projec

647 W3D "identify risks associated with a project " Essay

647 W3D "identify risks associated with a project " - Essay Example If a project fails to attain its short term objectives, risks can be easily detected. In an argument by Hubbard (2009) identifying risks at the early stages of a project life span can be done accurately, easily and effectively. In the case of general motors, early detection of risks was effective. The company had rebranded and required to increase its income. The first step in creating the project required the creation of an IPO. The short-term of the project was to identify how the market valued the stock and how much money the process would generate and its impact to the general outcome of increasing company income. In analyzing the risk, the early stages of the project depicted significant increase in the company income. In an instance where the company failed to identify the risks that may arise, the IPO would have been replaced by a less efficient strategy (Hopkins,

Contradicting and Acquisition Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contradicting and Acquisition - Assignment Example Appropriation does not necessarily represent cash. Instead, it represents the amount for a given purpose as stated in the appropriation act which the companies are obligated to during a given period as noted in the appropriation act. It is most important for it helps the companies spend federal funds (Warde, 2010). Difference between authorization and appropriation: The constitution usually grants its Congress the power of appropriation for agencies and federal spending. The federal programs are authorized by some Senate rules and activities of appropriation follows. Congress usually breaks the rules because the rules carry no constitutional weight or no statutory weight. The authorization-appropriation process serves as a highway in enacting federal spending. So the Congress is authorized before appropriation takes place whereby budget authority is provided to federal agencies that incur obligations and make payment out of the treasury (Gibbler, 2006). Obligations: Legal actions or responsibilities made by federal agencies at a given period. The actions may include different transactions made by them and they may include the number of orders received, services received, different contracts awarded among others. Obligation results to the amount of payment made including advances, amount of checks issued, reimbursement and net of refunds during the same period or in the future (Smith, 1976). Expenditure: It is a charge on current cash that results when agencies settle an obligation as evidenced by receipts, voucher, and invoice. Federal agencies spend authorized funds in some of the federal programs. Gross outlays are disbursement that is, cash, and fewer funds received. Net outlays involve disbursement minus reimbursement collected.  

Senior High School English Teachers’ Roles Under the New English Curriculum Essay Example for Free

Senior High School English Teachers’ Roles Under the New English Curriculum Essay He teaches in the society in accordance with his special responsibilities he takes and with the roles he plays. Therefore he is required to be quite sensitive to its expectations and perform rightly and appropriately with his due roles and to change his role rightly and timely with the development of the society and with the changes of his specific responsibility he takes. The educational reform in China requires the study of teacher’s roles. The reform of senior high school education in China at present has been leading to a radical change of educational beliefs which are certain to demand a great change of teacher’s roles. In China, the reform of senior high school education has widely aroused peoples attention. In order to promote the implementation of the new curriculum, experts and researchers of teaching have begun their study of changing teaching methods. Therefore, this thesis dedicates to the research of how the senior high school English teachers today should change their role under the condition of the New Curriculum, and hopes to bring up some new ways apt in teaching. 2 The significance of New Curriculum 2. Embodiment of the Essence of Education The course of education is a course of ideality. Its essence is to strengthen the spiritual power of human beings. Plato wrote in his most famous book Utopia the true notion of education through a metaphor told by Socrates: The â€Å"True Education† is to guide people, its soul, and spirit to reach an authentic world, from darkness to brightness, from an opinion-based world to a truth-based world (Socrates 129). This guidance of spirit is in f act the guidance of one’s living. Knowledge and skills are the ladders by which the soul could climb to a higher level. Our ancient classical book The Great Learning penetrates so straight to the point that â€Å"The way of achieving great learning started with one person’s knowing of the morality, carrying on by performing nice to the other people, and having the goodness in one’s heart. † ( 15). The purpose of learning is to reveal the morality in one’s heart, to make a fresh start of one’s life, and to keep a person’s mind in the stage of best morality. Apparently, in modern or ancient times, in China or elsewhere, almost all the great masters of education believed that the essence of education is to perfect the spiritual world of human beings. And the Curriculum standards must be responsible for the developing and growing of students. In the examination-oriented education system, a student is no more than a container of text-book knowledge. The duty and responsibility of a student is to process knowledge no matter how much it actually relates to reality. The actual use value of the knowledge has been ignored; the activeness of the students has been killed. Paper mark is an evaluation tool for every thing. The Ma Jiajue event of a school boy murdering his three roommates made us feel chilling and begin altering. May I ask how this type of students could have a positive attitude towards the challenges in society? How could they cooperate with people and pursuit a further development?! There is an old Chinese saying â€Å"To teach a student six years, a teacher must foresee his sixty years of life. This is the social responsibility of a teacher. To educate students, a teacher must not only make them masters of the textbook knowledge, but also masters of the method and strategies of learning. A teacher would form a positive mental attitude and active desire of the students and guide them enjoying the happiness through the pursuit of success, build up the student’s sense of accomplishment, and make it the motivation of making prog ress. New curriculum standards proposed a â€Å"tool† (an effective tool for high school English teacher to guide the students) and â€Å"humanism† (the new curriculum put humanism as its core) is the unification of the basic characteristics of English courses. The purpose of the study by English students is to improve the English literacy and lifelong learning for students and lay the foundation for the development of personality. Here, â€Å"exploring ability† and â€Å"personality development† received full attention. And the ability to understand and get to the point of the curriculum integration, appreciation, nderstanding, development, innovation has become a real purpose. Evidently, the new course is surprising, it really practices a â€Å"people-oriented† concept of education, reflects the nature of the education. 2. 2 Reflection of the Policy of Education The New Curriculum reflects the actual need to fully carry out the guiding principle on educ ation. We should establish accurate values on education and fully carry out the guiding principle on education in order to bring up quality talents of a new era. The values on education of a lower gradation are to educate individuals and pay too much attention to the chase of making a living or angling for material profits and prestige, but to neglect or depreciate the values of a deeper gradation formed by a full development of individual characteristics and magnificent states of mind. As the human being itself has a potential of many-sided development, the mission of education is to turn the students potentials into developing reality. Its not only the fundamental concept of democracy but the basic right of every student that all of them could develop themselves. The principle to evaluate the standard of lessons reflects two Faces-firstly, face the fully rise of students qualities and secondly, face the entire group of students. This kind of education can make every student develop himself more completely, which is stipulated by the guiding principle on education and also the intrinsic reflection of carrying out ability oriented education. 3 Suggestions on Senior High School English Teaching During a live observation on English teaching in senior high school, it seems common that the teaching materials are making use of teachers, rather than the teachers are using teaching materials. Needless to say, this phenomenon will definitely affect the quality of English teaching in senior high school and as a result, were not able to achieve the goal of English learning which is brought up by ability oriented education. What should senior high school English teachers do to deal with this phenomenon? 3. 1 New Educational Concepts as the Guidance The new education concept refers to the changing from giving undue mphasis to English language techniques into paying close attention to the development of students entire personality and cultivating their positive attitudes as well as encouraging them to learn how to get information and use it creatively. While in the process of senior high school English teaching, the English teachers should transfer from purely emphasizing instructing s tudents in the complex, troublesome and dull English knowledge in books, into providing basic and various information connected with real life for the students, in order to widen their field of view and make English study more effective and interesting. While talking about the manner of the senior high school English teacher, the new concept requires the teachers changing from teaching knowledge of isolated courses into connecting different but related courses with each other and encouraging students to study by experience, investigation and introspection. With respect to the senior high school English teaching evaluation, the new concept suggests the education transferring from emphasizing distinguishing good from bad, selection in contest, demarcating ranks, etc. nto promoting every students improvement of capability and respecting the diversity of personalities and levels of understanding, so as to help them all gain the feeling of success. And with respect to aspect of the relationship between teachers and students, the new concept suggests the shifting from centering on teachers into considering students main, seeking the equal conversation between teachers and students and joint improvement in interaction. 3. 2 Renewal of the Education Capacity The English teaching ability refers to the English teachers structure of knowledge and ability and they should not only have basic knowledge and ability of English language, but also multiple elements consisting of education, psychology, management, art of literature, philosophy and so on, which will make a composite effect. Owing to this composite effect combined with knowledge of various courses, the senior high school English teachers should renew his/her education capacity. He/she should not only make creative use of new teaching materials, organize fully directed English teaching contents and instruct students lessons effectively according to the education principle. He/she should teach according to ones ability. Whats more, they should inspire the students motivation of learning to the full extent and ensure their healthy study in order to achieve the final goal of cultivating the students ability to learn throughout their life. 3. 3 Building-up of the Self-development Approach Teachers arent able to renew knowledge, learn throughout their life and search for self-development. Through lack of approaches to development subjectively, as well as objective reasons such as busy work of teaching or a heavy burden of housework, some teachers have to live on their own limited fat gained in school and without doubts, its difficult for them to adapt to the continuous development of the situation of educational reform. A number of senior high school teachers complain about the new edition text-book and the general requirement of the new curriculum. They used to teach in a traditional way. They as well feel indifferent to the new material in the textbook and don’t know how to teach it to the students. In order to make full use of the new teaching material and raise the quality of English education, theres no doubt that firstly we should establish a new modern educational concept. 4 New Classroom Roles of Senior High School English Teachers What roles should the 21st century senior high school English teachers have? The society informationization and knowledge economy development of the 21st century propose our education on the intense transformation request; the traditional way of study is transformed to the innovative study. This request the teachers to change from the traditional 40-minute teaching role to the shepherd, the organizer, the participant during the educational process, the teacher must have bigger compatibility and flexibility. With the social development today, the science and technology developed rapidly, the computer and the information technology also have a widespread application in teaching. The relationship between the teachers and students is already not completely the simple transmission and acceptance pattern, sometimes the student may acquire knowledge from other channels, they even know in certain aspects comparable more than some teachers do. Teachers authoritative status has been threatened; the teacher and students relation becomes more and more complicated. The teachers role also multiplies. Having the ability to form the fine personality and the multiplex knowledge tructure of the students, and mastering many skills while specializing in one are requirement for teachers today. The teacher must have rich knowledge and many kinds of abilities. Moreover, it is also the duty of a teacher to form the students’ spiritual world, fills the instructive and the creative essence. In the modern society, the teacher has not only changed with the traditional performers basic function, but also has to transmit the experience directly. The students must participant the learning activity. The teacher must guide the students to explore in the environment which he carefully designs. The teacher is no longer a pure transmitter, but also students’ companions, activity organizer, the supporter and helper in the process of students’ learning activity. I will discuss the teachers role mainly in the following part. 4. 1 Teacher as Organizer As is said by Doll, an American expert in education, the teachers status in the relationship between teachers and students is â€Å"a chief in equality† (Doll 191). This conversion requires teachers to step down from the altar filled with â€Å"teachers respect†. And the teachers ought to interact and explore with the students standing on the same flat and help them grow up, mature and become worthful. To organize means to form into a whole with mutually connected and dependent parts. The success of many activities depends on good organization and on the students knowing exactly what they are to do. To be an organizer, senior high school English teachers have to organize the activities and teaching stages successfully in the classroom. Teachers organizing of the class roughly includes two parts— psychological organization and the organization of activity. The central idea of psychological organization is to stimuli students motivation. The main aim of the teacher when he organizing an activity is to tell the students what they are going to talk about, and to give clear instructions about what exactly their task is, get the activity going, and then organize feedback when it is over. For example, for the topic discussion, the teacher can assign students to groups. Jeremy Harmer (1983) noted that the organization of an activity can be divided into three main parts. First the teacher gives a lead-in. Like the lead-in for presentation or for the treatment of receptive skills this will probably take the form of an introduction to the subject. In senior high school English classrooms, teachers can tell students what they are going to talk about during this period. The teacher and students may briefly discuss the topic in order to start thinking about it. He/She should give clear instructions. When the lead-in stage has been accomplished the teacher instructs. This is where he explains exactly what the students should do. Finally the teacher initiates the activity, which is to get the activities going. He gives a final check that students have understood. So the teachers job is to organize the activity as efficiently as possible, frequently checking that the students have understood. Once the activity has started the teacher will not intervene unless it is quite necessary for gentle correction or promptness. During the first year of teaching senior high school English, role play helps the students to use the language flexibly. While students play their roles on their own, the teacher may walk around the classroom to listen to their talks. When necessary, the teacher can also give guidance and advice. After role play, the teacher can ask students to perform in class, and then make comments on their work. 4. 2 Teacher as Guide As is said by ancient people, Teachers are the people who spread logic, teach lessons and solve confusion. The new standard of lessons requires a conversion from â€Å"teaching lessons† to guiding the students to participate in English activities actively, think by themselves and cooperate in investigation, which aims to develop the students abilities to gather and cope with information in English, to gain new knowledge, to analyse and solve problems and to communicate and cooperate. The basic requirements of a teacher as a guide are as follows: 1) To help students to set up right and feasible goal, both long and short term. Once the short goal within the long-term goal is reached, students may be filled up with happiness of success which further motivates them forward. 2) To make classroom activities interesting and meet the needs of the students. The teacher can present language in meaningful contexts, elicit language from students, make instructions clear to everyone by using a variety of techniques (cards, texts, ICT, open questions), manage pairs and groups to maximize practice, monitor individuals and groups, stand back and view the whole class, try to meet the needs of all irrespective of gender or ability, praise warmly, correct when appropriate, confirm and welcome good use of the target anguage, smile and enjoy their job, with general qualities of sensitivity, flexibility, humor, enthusiasm and stamina (similar to those required by the average parent). Moreover its particularly important to separate the role of the motivator from the role of the expert. Teachers often easily play the role of expert often; hence miss the chance to motivate their students. 4. 3 Teacher as Participant To be a participant means that a teacher may take part in the classroom activities. A teacher might join simulations as a participant. However, the teacher should be careful not to dominate, although the students will both allow and expect this to happen. Instead of being the dominating authority in the classroom, the teacher facilitates the communicative process among all the learners and between the students and the various tasks, giving guidance and advice when necessary. Furthermore, teachers may act as independent participants within the learning-teaching group. Any unnecessary intervention on the teachers part may prevent learners from becoming genuinely involved in the activities and thus hinder the development of their communicative skills. Once a teaching activity is in progress, it is still the teachers obligation to develop the students potential through external direction. Although the teacher may be nondirective in general, it is still the teachers responsibility to recognize the distinctive qualities in the students (Han 1979) and to help the students develop those qualities. In senior high school English class, in different settings, students may be asked to attend different activities. Teacher should not be afraid to attend these activities. It can improve the atmosphere in the class. For example, when students talk about current events, students are willing to listen to different peoples opinions on the topic. Sometimes when the whole class takes part in a debate, teachers can also act as a chairperson, or offer students help when it is needed. 4. 4 Teacher as Trainer We used to say that the teachers should have a bucket of water in order to give the students a glass of water. However, this idea should also be changed, which demands the teachers not to limit themselves to knowledge and experience in their mind, but according to the demands of the students, to choose and exploit English teaching resources, design and launch kinds of English teaching activities, open up the room for teaching, guide the lessons into a larger range, strengthen the relation between the English language learning and social life reality. In short, the teachers should help the students to carve out the source of knowledge. As strategy trainers, the teachers describe, model, and give examples of potentially useful strategies; they elicit additional examples from students based on the students own learning experiences; they lead small group or whole class discussions about strategies including activities designed to raise students awareness of strategies and the learning process as a whole, as well as activities designed to teach students how to use a specific strategy. It is a fact that some senior high school English teachers already use many activities in their classes that can be considered â€Å"strategies-based†. However, what seems to be missing is the awareness on the part of the students of what those strategies are or how to get those strategies to work for them. Effective strategy use is often associated with better students, those who have already â€Å"mastered† the learning process. Thus teachers may well be making a real contribution to facilitating the learning process by discussing selected strategies explicitly in the classroom. In class, senior high school English teachers can explain the purpose of the language activity, or call attention to how the teacher has organized the course materials e. g. laying out the range of possible strategies for reading a text in order to summarize it, addressing the many strategies associated with writing a coherent summary. 4. 5 Teacher as Creator of a Positive Environment This is a change of the teachers role in nature. This conversion requires that the teachers should â€Å"push the students forward† instead of â€Å"pulling them along†, and motivate the students instead of â€Å"pressing them†. Whats more, the teachers should help the students to establish a proper goal for English learning, confirm and correct their paths chosen to achieve this goal, and inspire them to develop themselves actively by means like spur, encouragement and commendation. Senior high school English teachers should provide positive classroom environment for students. Classroom climate refers to the atmosphere of the classroom, its social, psychological, and emotional characteristics (DunkinBiddle, 1974). The importance of lassroom climate as it relates to motivation derives from the notion that teaching is leadership intended to affect classroom behaviors. Classroom climate is often described using such terms as warm, cold, permissive, democratic, autocratic, and learner-centered. The climate in the classroom is largely established through teacher-student interactions. In China, teachers teach students English in non-target environment, which is different from those in the natural environment. The refore it is more important to create a good learning environment. Teachers here play an important role in providing a supportive environment that encourages students motivation, self-confidence, curiosity and desire to learn, and input and production. According to the findings in the investigation, this role also has positive effects on students achievements. The investigation shows that Teacher A provided the best language environment among the three classes. From the classroom observation, it can be found that As English is excellent. This shows that the teachers ability of creating the positive environment has much to do with the teachers language proficiency. In order to provide positive environment, the teacher has to: 1) Be capable of speaking fluent English. 2) Give students as many opportunities as possible to practice English. 5 Conclusion This thesis aims at analyzing classroom roles of senior high school English teachers under the requirement of new English Curriculum. This thesis firstly introduces the significance of the new curriculum from two aspects: new curriculum embodies the essence of education, at the same time; it reflects the policy of education. Secondly, according to the new curriculum, the author gives three suggestions on senior high school English teaching. The suggestions aim at bringing out new concepts on high school English teaching as well as renewing the teachers education capacity and building up self-development approach. Thirdly,in order to set up the roles as scientifically as possible, the author investigates students’ expectation and analyzes the relationship between the teacher’s roles and the students’ achievements. The author makes a profound analysis of each role and gives further suggestions. With limited study and knowledge, the explanations in many places are rather weak. The study can only be considered as a start for further insightful researches and findings.